Charlotte's Library

I have a large backlog of reviews that need to be written, so I'm knocking out a bunch by featuring a specific author today. :) Nancy Werlin! Are You Alone on Purpose? This was Nancy Werlin's first book, which is glaringly obvious in some ways, as her writing has drastically improved since this book's publication. Instead of the supernatural books she's recently been putting out, this squarely fits into the realistic YA box. The book itself pushes the envelope, even looking at the title, with more provocative language than you'd see in many books. It all serves an important purpose (no pointless swearing or anything like that), and in the end, emphasizes the importance of certain scenes with that content, making it far more realistic than many YA books on the market. I spent a great deal of time while reading this book thinking about how drama-starved we are as readers. Werlin's book moves along at a slow pace, I will say that, but it depicts the average ...

Matched written by Ally Condie Seriously, if I read one more YA dystopian novel where a significant plot rotates around a love triangle... This felt like reading The Hunger Games all over again, except where Suzanne Collins made the vital distinction of making it a survival story first, romance second, Condie did not. This book certainly focuses on a fascinating premise--what would living in a utopian society where each citizen's life was meticulously planned out be like, and what would its eventual downfall be? The book capitalizes on the "matching" phenomenon of the society intensely, this idea that a government would determine an individual's perfect romantic match. Most other aspects unfortunately fall to the wayside. There are hints of a brewing revolution, cracks in the system, but nothing comes to fruition until the last few chapters. Matched would have been a much more interesting book if the main story focused on the societal flaws and brewing revolut...

The Last Little Blue Envelope written by Maureen Johnson I always thought the prequel was awkward and over-romanticized. I felt like I was reading a travel guide rather than a YA novel. Even from the start of this book, though, I could tell that Maureen has had time to develop her voice as a writer, and I found the sequel to be much more enjoyable than its predecessor. I loved the little added twist known as Oliver who was added to the story of the 13 th envelope. He was a great addition to the quirky little cast of characters Maureen had previously set up. This book managed to pick up plot details that were left unsolved in the previous book, which made for a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. I ended up completely loving the sequel, and I’m incredibly glad Maureen decided to give it another shot. Totally worth it. Rating: 5/5 I got this book from...: Amazon

Cryer's Cross Written by Lisa McMann I went into reading this not having read a plot summary. Lisa McMann had mentioned the book in a Pittsburgh event she did, and I’ve had it on my to-read list since then. I read it in the middle of the night alone on a train, which, in retrospect, not the greatest setting to be reading a horror story. McMann is great at crafting straightforward, simplistic in a sense, plots. Her cards are laid on the table early on, and the reader knows what they’re getting into, for the most part. She does keep some secrets which make for great reveals later on in the story, but there’s no getting lost in too many plot threads or unnecessary verbage. It’s short, sweet, and to the point. I’m not sure what McMann’s plans are for this story, but I do hope it remains a standalone. It functions well as a one-read story, and was great for reading on the train. Rating: 5/5 (Random note: Did any of you read that one Goosebumps book with the Haunted...

Insatiable written by Meg Cabot Since every other YA author has made their opinion heard on the trend in YA vampire novels...Meg Cabot decided to join the trend, responding not with a line or two on the subject, but with a whole new book series. I don't want to bore you all with the never ending T-word comparisons, but yes , they exist, and no, Meg, the ending of the book doesn't really make up for it. This is a really difficult review to write, to be honest. I would rather have written it after reading Overbite, but that hasn't come out yet. I'm really not sure what the set-up in this book is going to be leading up to, so it's hard to make any sort of judgments. Half of this book seemed to be passive aggressive jabs at Twilight , though, with the other half emulating the very novel it appeared to mock. Although, I haven't read Dracula, so I'm not as educated as I should be about the background behind this book. It does appear to fall into many of the...