Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Yesterday night I started reading Adorkable by Sarra Manning, please notice that I mentioned in my previous post that I no longer read YA but Sarra Manning female characters aren’t just teenagers they are feminist and there is nothing innocent about them, their cheekiness is what makes them so fun and Jeane Smith is no exception.

ADORKABLE

So Far I like it but I only read 30 pages or so and I can already tell that this Michael character is too mellow for my taste (and looks ugly on the cover), he isn’t toxic at all and that I can tell will be an issue for me.

However I am picturing him as the actor from “Seducing Mr Perfect” (urgh…yuck, did I watch that too?):

Daniel Henney

Not bad, right? Em

Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend by Sarra Manning

I have been an avid Sarra Manning’s supporter and reader for many many years.

I devoured Diary of a Crush (Ya Trilogy), Guitar Girl,  Let’s Get Lost, Nobody’s Girl and I was thrilled when she started writing adult romance, I absolutely adored Unsticky, I enjoyed You don’t have to say you love me so so so it really pains me to say that I really disliked Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend.

Recently I only reviewed books that I liked, I have very little time and I have been sleeping poorly for ages (yeah my one year old daughter believes that sleeping is a waste of time, but that’s another story :)) but I have to say something about  Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend because I am afraid that some readers might pick up this one (as their first try at Sarra Manning) and think “nah, not my thing”.

I did the same in the past with a few authors (Paige Toon, Kristan Higgings, …) and I am glad that after initial disappointment I picked up other books and loved them.

Don’t give up on Sarra Manning!

From Goodreads:

Hope Delafield hasn’t always had an easy life. She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can’t wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn’t exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table.

At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He’s sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he’s pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they’re still totally in love. Totally. They’re even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie…

My problem, my big big problem with this book is that it doesn’t have that un-put-down-ability factor that I crave when I decide to buy a Sarra Manning’s book, it was actually boring due to poor characterization, weak storyline, a “who-cares” sort of romance.

Yes Jack is annoying, Hope is hopeless but I cannot  put my finger on what exactly doesn’t work, let’s say I was bored from start to finish.

Yet when Manning’s new book will be released I’ll be there to buy it, she is great, she wrote so many great books that I will pretend that I haven’t read this one, it won’t spoil my love for Sarra.

Other reviews:

Book Harbinger

Handwritten Girl

Em

Nobody’s girl by Sarra Manning

I love everything about Sarra Manning’s books: writing style & characters & references (songs and general culture). J’adore Sarra Manning and I have all her books on my bookshelf.

Nobody’s girl is a coming of age story in which 17 years old Bea, the most boring seventeen-year-old in the world, embraces  a journey that will take her to Paris backpacking with a group of american students.

Every time I pick up a book from Manning I feel a perfect connection with her characters, she writes YA that makes my heart beat faster, it’s intense, it’s compelling.

Bea is a very different character from Edie or Molly (to mention two of my favourite heroines) , at the beginning  I was afraid that she was too passive and mild for my taste, if you find yourself thinking the same do not worry as Bea really grows through the story and she will prove to be a strong minded, kick ass, passive-aggressive girl you’ll find yourself rooting for.

Toph is adorable (he is Texan not just American), again I was surprised by his personality, over the years I got used to Sarra’s toxic boys (moody troubled characters that won’t commit easily) , yet an outspoken, easy going, friendly young man like Toph is a welcome addiction to the YA romantic gallery.

You have to read this because:

* Bea is a dreamer, if you enjoy daydreaming and playing adventure inside your head you’ll probably connect to her deeply;

* there is a great playlist, you can check it out on Sarra’s blog;

* most of the story takes place in Paris, it will encourage you to pack your bag and book an inter – rail in one of the most beautiful city in the world;

* it’s real, this is the kind of adventure that can really happen when you are 17  (when I was 17 I was actually backpacking between Barcelona and Lisbon and that experience was unique and unforgettable);

* it’s a love story;

* once you start you will feel compelled to stay up all night and finish it;

* once you read a book written by Sarra you will feel want to read all the others, she is amazing and it will be worth it;

You can read others interesting reviews on Chicklish and on So Many Books, So Little Time.

My grade: 4.5/5

Em

On Toxicity and Bad Boys

I started posting my blog reviews a few weeks ago, Coincidentally I haven’t been to the gym in the last two weeks as this new passion of mine  is absorbing most of my free time and I am really really bad at multi-tasking plus this job of mine is getting stressful with the extra mile and all that (not that I really go for that extra mile).

Today I couldn’t spare a couple of hours to review a book (sadly it takes me that long, I am quite slow and I enjoy re-thinking all details, I would like to know how long does it take for other reviewers…)

One good thing I did today is buying “Nobody’s girl” by Sarra Manning hopefully Amazon will ship it soon as I am currently reading Looking for Alaska by John Green and having mixed feelings on it, Sarra will surely conquer my heart.

Sarra Manning is so cool, I bought all her books, she is a great writer and I am very  excited about her new book, Sarra posted the book’s  playlist on her blog:

1. Poupee De Cire Poupee De Son – France Gall
2. La Valse D’Amelie (version Orchestra) – Yann Tiersen
3. Les Histoires d’A – Les Rita Mitsouko
4. Moi De Joue – Stereo Total
5. Madame Superman – Elisabeth
6. Oh Comment Ca Va? – Jane Birkin
7. Comment Te Dire Adieu – Francoise Hardy
8. French Disko – Stereolab
9. Ecoute Le Temps – Brigitte Bardot
10. C’est Bon – Adele
11. Ca Plane Pour Moi – Nouvelle Vague
12. Miss Tatouee – Ici Paris
13. Le Loco-Motion – Sylvie Vartan
14. Mathilde – Jacques brel
15 Je Suis Folle De Tant T’aimer – Arlette Zola
16. Un Homme Et Une Femme – Francis Lai
17. Les Cheveus Dans Les Yeux – Cosette
18. Amoureux D’Une Affiche – Les Cappucino
19. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien – Edith Piaf

I know some of those artists (and J’adore Nouvelle Vague, I saw them a few months ago and feel in love with their very a-typical bossa nova post punk) and I am planning to have all those songs on my ipod by tomorrow.

Sarra  recently wrote a post on Toxic Boys guested on Wondrous Reads:

http://www.wondrousreads.com/2010/02/guest-blog-sarra-manning-on-toxic-boys.html

If you have never read a book written by Sarra I would say her post on toxic boys will probably inspire you, if inspiration strikes do yourself a favour and buy one of her book.

“Ultimately the toxic boy is a beautiful illusion when he’s safely contained in the pages of a book. It’s when he’s a real live boy who doesn’t call, doesn’t write, doesn’t Tweet, then saunters back into your arms when you’ve finally given up all hope, that he’s really dangerous”

I do believe sometimes things work out also in real life, toxicity eventually fades away or balances itself in the couple.

Regarding Toxic Boys my awards go to:

* Dylan from Diary of a Crush (trilogy) by Sarra Manning;

* Alex Fuentes of Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles;

* Marcus Flutie of Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty;

I welcome any advise on this subject as I am always on the look out for bad boys, no matter how much trends change (vampires, aliens, angels…) there will always be the good girl/bad boy combination , and I really can’t complain.

Em

Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning

I spent all day running in-an-out of musical instruments’ shops with my significant other, he has been looking for a new electric guitar for a while and finally today we got a fender telecaster, all shiny and new it looks fantastic and sounds even better.  Between books (scattered literally everywhere), guitars (three), amplifiers (two), laptops (three) , housemates and their stuff sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed…there isn’t too much space in here left so I am now packing my books in a suitcase and next weekend I’ll take them to my mom’s place.

Right now I have “Guitar Girl” by Sarra Manning in my hands , I can’t possibly pack this book, I need to have it around me as I believe it releases  good vibes in the room.

I’m a sucker for the “high-school-kid-in-a-local-band-scene-almost-makes-it-big-and-learns-a-little-something-about-himself/herself-in-the-process” novel,  Guitar Girl is not as sophisticated or intense as Nick & Norah’s infinite playlist but it’s just as good.

Sarra Manning is amazing (if you haven’t read the Diary of a Crush trilogy, you absolutely must because it’ uber-cool, it’s everything a YA love lit should be) brilliant, I read all her books and I truly believe she is one of the best ya writer out there.

Guitar Girl is about seventeen years old Molly, Molly and her two best friends  start a band for fun, later Dean and his friend T  join them and this how The Hormones are born, soon they become really good and are signed by a record company.

Life gets difficult for Molly considering  her parents don’t like her new lifestyle, she falls for Dean and she has very mixed feelings about the band’s manager. Pressure increases and Molly is not sure she can or wants to handle this new scenario.  Compromising can be really though and it gets really ugly when you reach the point in which the price to pay is losing yourself in the bargain.

Guitar Girl is certainly not a realistic account of life in a band but it’s worth reading if you have always wanted to be in a band or you dream about dating a sulky hipster rock star or you enjoy reading about troubled unrequited love (I do).

It’s unputdownable, Molly and Dean are very compelling characters and well it’s not really up to me but If I could I will change the end.

My grade: 4/5

Em