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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Mini Reviews: Beauty Queens, Burned (Burned, #1), Wish, Alice the 101st vol. 1

Title: Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 390
Publication: May 24, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Summary taken from goodreads:
The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.
4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

This book was hilariously awesome. Libba Bray really is an epic writer. I can't even begin to describe how ingeniously brilliant this book was.

Some of my favorite quotes in the book:


"What are you even saying? You just made my brain die a little." 


Stud Muffin Body Spray for Guys: Get your stud on with Stud Muffin Body Spray for Guys, the only body spray made with beer and man sweat and guaranteed to make girls frolic with you in a hot tub.
Adiana appealed to the sky. "We asked for rescue and you sent us incompetent rockstar pirates with a broken ship and perfect abs?"
"Thank you, God," Petra said.
"I don't care. If I like somebody, I like her, and that's that." He thumped his chest and made a scowly face. "Let 'em come for me. I will stare down the mob with their pitchforks! I will make a speech about tolerance and love! I will show them the folly of their ways! And then I will grab your hand and run like hell because, Jesus, a mob with pitchforks?" (lol, so romantic! :P)


"I love you for who you are, not for who the world thinks you should be."






Title: Burned (Burned, #1)
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Pages: 544
Publication: October 23, 2007
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Summary taken from goodreads:
Raised in a religious -- yet abusive -- family, Pattyn Von Stratten starts asking questions -- about God, a woman's role, sex, love. She experiences the first stirrings of passion, but when her father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control. Pattyn is sent to live with an aunt in the wilds of Nevada to find salvation and redemption. What she finds instead is love and acceptance -- until she realizes that her old demons will not let her go.
3 STARS - I LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

Every time I read one of Ellen Hopkins's books, I'm always blown away by her originality in both the format of the text and the gritty story that she tells.

But the ending... I knew that there was a small possibility of it happening, but I didn't really expect it to happen afterall. And for it to be just open-ended like that! I went crazy thinking about the many different consequences that could happen since the author never told what happened next.

I hope she writes the sequel soon. :)






Title: Wish
Author: Alexandra Bullen
Pages: 336
Publication: January 1, 2010
Publisher: Point
Summary taken from goodreads:
For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.
With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.
In a breathtaking debut from Alexandra Bullen, WISH asks the question: If you could have anything, what would you wish for?
2 STARS - IT WAS OKAY

MY REVIEW:

I skimmed through the second half of the story. It was written well enough, but the plot was predictable, so I basically knew everything that would happen in the end.






Title: Alice the 101st vol. 1 [Yaoi]
Author: Chigusa Kawai 
Pages: 200
Publication: April 21, 2010
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Summary taken from goodreads:
Mondonville Music Academy attracts thousands of elite musicians' applicants from around the world, but only 100 students are accepted into the program every year. But this year, Alistair Lang - who doesn't know how to read a music score and has no formal music training - was, somehow, accepted into the program as the 101st student. 
4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW:

I bought this manga not knowing that it was yaoi, and after finishing it, I still don't believe that it is yaoi. At most, Alice the 101st could be called shonen ai only because one of the guys at the school likes to hit on Alice.

Really, I would recommend this for anyone who likes manga about music schools and the rivalry and silliness that happens in between classes.

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