Wrapping it up

The following are all the books we reviewed for our Hiatus Tour (in no particular order):



You may have noticed there are only six. This is because we are slack, and were a bit unorganized with the creating of the contest. There was an issue with getting out the review to Book~Adorer This brings me to my next point: Aella (the Maelstrom) was right in saying that there was a glitch with the process or something and she didn't get the hint or phrase or whatever. So scratch number four on the ways to gain entries into the contest.

Also, we've decided what the prize will be if you win (we still have to count all the entries and draw the winner, but that will be done within the next few days). The prize is a copy of How To Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, and Sarah Mylnowski, which was the last book we reviewed for the Hiatus Tour.

If you've already read this book or own it, you can just send an email to plentyofpaper234@aol.com with the subject line How To Be Bad and let us know that you would like for your entries to not count. If you still want a copy of the book (even if you have read it or own it), the email isn't necessary.

Thanks for you patience with this contest, all of you.

Heather

Update on Hiatus Tour!!!!!

Hey, guys. We're having issues with email and stuff so there was no post on the 17th, unfortunately. We'll try to have it up when we get back, though.

We'll just forget the clue that leads to today's post and go ahead and tell you who it is.

The post for today, Thursday the 19th can be found at The Page Flipper.

Sorry for the problems, hopefully everything will work out fine, but if you're one of the reviewers and there's something your missing, contact us on myspace, please. I'm pretty sure we're friends with all of you.

Heather

Hiatus Tour (and contest)

Hey guys! It's our first contest! yay!

So here's the basic idea:

Both Caroline and I will be leaving on Sunday to go to a creative writing program for two weeks, which means we won't be here. But don't worry! We're going to be doing a fun special feature/contest called the Hiatus Tour. (Thanks Chelsea for unawarely helping us name this!)

During this tour, we will have a review every other day at different locations around the blogging community--that means seven reviews and seven locations. The days of posting will be the 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 27th.

Maybe your asking yourself right now, "But what makes this fun?" Well I'm answering you by saying that we aren't going to tell you where these reviews will be. The only way you'll be able to find them is if you follow the clues at the end of each post that leads to the next location. Got it? Good, here are the rules for entering the contest:

1) You must comment on the post (1 entry).
2) To gain a second entry you can copy/paste the clue from the previous review in the comment. For example: If you read the post on the 17th and followed that clue to the next location on the 19th, you would put the clue from the 17th in your comment on the 19th post. (I realize this is a bit confusing so if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments or send an email to plentyofpaper234@aol.com and we'll try to answer them before we leave)
3) These methods of obtaining entries can be used on all 7 posts in all 7 locations, for a total of 14 entries in the end.
4) At the end of the last post (on the 27th) instead of a clue, there will be a phrase. The first person to copy/paste that phrase into a comment on this post will get an extra two entries.

Note to review hosts: You guys will automatically get two entries since you won't be eligible for comment on your own post or on the next person's post.

The prize for the winner has not yet been decided, but it will be a book and some bookmarks--we're just not sure which book yet, so go ahead an enter. The day we get back we will announce what the winning prize will be and if you already have it and would like to opt out of the drawing, just let us know and we'll take out your entries.

You guys got it? Okay, then. Get started! Here's the first clue:

mysterious, without a name is she,
she provides us with YA updates weekly,
her multi-tasking blog is sure to be fun,
her lair is location number one.


Heather

p.s. Sorry about the cheesy rhyming hints, but it's the best we could do at the last minute *shrug*
p.p.s. Another note to review hosts, if we haven't sent you your review, please email us. We're pretty sure of the ones we haven't gotten sent out, but we want to make sure. Also, the day you're hosting is a secret--even the fact that you are hosting is a sekrit, so don't let anyone know!

Updates

Sorry about the lack of reviews of the late, but we're trying to get a special feature set up for the next two weeks when we'll both be off to a summer program. (A post about that on Friday! It's really exciting!).


But right now, you can check out thepageflipper.com where Chelsea's back to having Monthly Contests instead of Fun Fridays.

And there are a few new contests in the sidebar <--, one of which is a contest to win a book by Tina Ferraro over at Words Speak Volumes so check that out.

The Story Siren is out of town (In Disney World!!! Fun!) so there won't be any reviews by her for the next couple of days, but the Author Tales is still on for Thursday as Regina Scott stops by. Also, you should go to her blog to read the post on all this so you can be filled in on an a contest that is soon to come from her. (Also, she now has a domain, thestorysiren.com)

So that's it for now,
Heather

Belated Birthday Wishes!

We'd like to send out a Happy Birthday wish to a favorite author, Sarah Dessen, who's birthday was yesterday. Despite repeatedly saying we were going to do this post yesterday, apparantly both of us forgot. But here it is, just a day late. Here are Sarah Dessen's novels:




You can go to her LJ at writergrl.livejournal.com
Her website at sarahdessen.com
Or her myspace at myspace.com/sarahdessen

Go wish her a Happy Belated Birthday!!!!!

Frenemies, by Alexa Young: A review in which Caroline regrets her nasty habit of being honest.

The rule, to be techinical, is that you should never judge a book by it's cover. And you know, if you take that phrase the way you're supposed to, figuratively, it works. Because people aren't always what they look like, and that is what the mysterious they* meant when they started saying that. But when it comes to actual, literal book... a lot of the time, the cover happens to be right. Frenemies, sadly, is an example of this.

If you haven't already read any of the reviews about this book (doubtful), here's the story: Halley and Avalon** have been best friends and fashion mavens ever since they were wearing [insert impressive name here] onesies and spitting up together***. They're inseperable. In fact, as will become clear later on in the book, they are more or less each other's only friends. (But they're popular. They're the most popular girls in school. They're just each other's only friends.) But it all changes when Halley returns from art camp and- eh. ma. gawd. Suddenly, Halley is wearing clothes that (while still being expensive and label-whorific) are the tiniest bit less pretentious than the things that she and Avalon would normally choose. And then, there's the fact that Avalon's chest grew (to a slightly larger A-cup) and Halley keeps making snarky comments about it. And-now- here's the real deal breaker- Halley has a crush on a boy.

Um, hello? Doesn't she know that they've all got cooties?

Soon, Halvalon is no more. They're at war. They're insulting each other, making fun! They're suggesting that there may have actually been something wrong with their friendship in the first place! There is mocking going on, and I'm not talking about the mocking being done by Caroline while reading and trying not to slam her head against the wall. I'm serious! It's like they're both Ben Afflect in this one!**** Although, shockingly enough, none of their greivences are related to being incesscantly referred to as Halvalon. Because, honestly, that would be my first complaint. Halvalon is worst than Brangelina or Tomkat or even Dramione!*****

I don't think I have to tell you that I didn't like this book.

And, before you start with me, it has nothing to do with the fashion name-dropping. I actually have no major issue with fashion name-dropping. In fact, I went through this whole phase once where I was obsessed with it. In that terrifying six month period, I probably read more books about popular rich kids than most popular rich kids will read anything in their lifetime. I even went as far as trying to write my own popular rich kid book. (There was a boarding school involved.) I'm not even joking. I spent an hour a day on the Bergdorf Goodman website. ******

I've read The Clique, Gossip Girl, and It Girl novels- and while I have very few great things to say about any of them, I liked them all better than Frenemies.

I'm not going to go into all of the issues that I had with this book, though I will say that I had issues with almost every facet of it. I will touch on my biggest problem, though, which was the relationship between Halley and Avalon.

I think the reason I hated it so much was that I know what it's like to have that one best friend who knows everything about you, who you've been friends with basically all your life. I know what it's like when that person is the only real friend you have. And it's not suddenly hating each other because of wardrobe choices. I read in one review that this book was unlike anything that Poppy publishes because of Halley and Avalon's friendship, and how deep it runs, and I can't help but laugh at that. Because, like I said, I have read Gossip Girl- and even Blair and Serena, the biggest frenemies of them all, have pretty damn good reasons for ending their lifelong friendship. They do not include new clothes or boob jokes.

There was no backstory about their friendship, either. I mean, if they've been friends all their lives, you'd think that they'd at least have a few fond memories to struggle with. The story starts where the book starts, and it ends when it stops. (Only not, because there will be a sequel.)

On a slightly graver note: I really am sorry to give this book a bad review, because it was so nice of the author to send it to us. And I really wanted to like it. I was all prepared to say that Alexa Young was a super-awesome-amazing writer with an unfortunate publicist. She probably is a super-awesome-amazing writer with an unfortunate storyline. The writing itself wasn't bad. But, as mentioned in the title, I'm dedicated to being honest. And we must be prepared to sacrifice things for our principals. Like, for instance, the luxury of not having people cyber-attack you. (If you do want to cyber-attack somebody, really, I want you to know that I'm actually Heather, pulling an Avalon so that Caroline will be the one punished for the bad review. I just feel to guilty to go through with it.)

1 cup of coffee for Frenemies.

WORD TO YOUR BOOKSHELF*******
Caroline********

* The They that make up all of the cliches. I've always been curious about the They. There have been many rants inspired by They. Especially becasue thinking about They angers me, since it inevetiably leads to getting this really cheesy Hilary Duff song from the Cinderella Story soundtrack I bought when I was eleven stuck in my head.
** Her name was my favorite part of this book. I don't mean this as an insult. I'm saying it seriusly. If everything else was wrong, as it often was, I remembered how much I love the name Avalon and how awesome and creative it is.
***Do babies who wear designer onesies still spit up like normal mortal babies.
****If you don't know waht I'm talking about... where were you in 2004? Clearly, not in the grocery store.
*****Sorry. Had to throw in a Harry Potter dork name. All the celebrity was starting to nauseate me. Of course,the idea of Hermione and Malfoy nauseates me as well, but differently.
******That's my atonement for writing this mean review. Writing something really embarrassing about myself. If you want to read more embarrassing things abou me, check out Steph's contest for How Not To Be Popular. My comment will provide you with ten years of embarrassing stories. (Yes, that is literal.)
*******For those of you who have read Frenemies: What did that mean???
********Or maybe Heather. You never know...

PS: If MJFAN or anyone similarily minded still lurks around, I included the asterixes because there were way too many parenthesis to begin with, and I am html challengd and I have no clue how to do actual footnotes. I am in no way trying to "rip off Maureen Johnson" by using an asterix. Trust me.

Author MeMe! (we just can't get enough, can we?)

So, once again, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do another MeMe. And since it's book-related like the last one, I don't feel too bad putting it up here. (that and we were tagged three times, so I felt obligated).

We/I/Whoever you want it to be were/was tagged by Ambeen (The Ravenous Reader), Jordyn (a new discovery! Man I love meeting new people! haha), and Hope.

Here are the rules (well, they're more like boundaries than actual rules): Link to the person that tagged you (check!), post the rules somewhere in your meme (that's what I'm doing here!), answer the questions (I'm getting to it!), tag six people in your post (picked them already), let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog (will do), let the tagger know your entry is posted (if I must...).

**********

1. Who’s your all-time favorite author, and why?

Well, that's actually a very difficult question, because I like different authors for different reasons. JK Rowling is an obvious choice because of how she created an entire world from her own mind, with names of creatures, places, and characters that fit perfectly. Maureen Johnson because along with extravagant books such as The Bermudez Triangle and Suite Scarlett (my two favorites), she writes an astoundingly hilarious blog--and that is a very good quality, my dears, that I feel I must attribute to Libba Bray as well. Which reminds me, I enjoy her work because it's written incredibly well, with characters, descriptions, and dialogue that feel real, familiar, and perfectly flawed (that's an oxymoron for you!). Last, I feel I must mention John Green, who has the qualities of both the last two (a funny blog, incredible writing), and he has a brother named Hank (who the eff is Hank?) with which he creates the most fascinating and hilarious videos I've ever seen on youtube. Plus, he is the creator and god of Nerdfighters.

Long-winded enough for you?

2. Who was your first favorite author, and why? Do you still consider him or her among your favorites?

I think my first favorite author was either Roald Dahl, or JK Rowling. I can't be positive, because I've been reading since I was 2 and...a half? Three quarters? Something like that, and can't pinpoint every amazing children's author out there. But as a child, I did completely envelope myself into books like Matilda, Witches, and The BFG, all of which I still believe I own today...somewhere...*goes off to search for them* Well, those, and the Harry Potter series which I didn't start until sometime after the third had already come out, but I remember as being the first time I'd decide 'Hey, here's a great series, here's a great author, here's some of the best written work I've ever read.' So, yes, one of them I still do consider among my favorites. (Don't worry Roald, I still love you, but I don't read you anymore, not really).

3. Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?

Most recent is probably either R. A. Nelson, or John Green. I just began my infatuation with John and his books in January, after reading Looking For Alaska and discovery Brotherhood 2.0, so I guess he's the most recent as far as when I first read his books. I first read an R. A. Nelson book (Breathe My Name) in November, I think, so I guess that means he comes before John Green, but I didn't decide he was one of my favorites until I just recently (as in about two or three weeks ago) read Teach Me, so that makes him after John Green, too. They're tied. That's my final decision.

4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Are there any you’d add on a moment of further reflection?

JK Rowling
Sarah Dessen
Maureen Johnson
John Green
R. A. Nelson
Lemony Snicket
Libba Bray
Jodi Picoult

upon further reflection (my, that mirror is shiny!):

James Patterson
Catherine Ryan Hyde (not sure, because I've only read one of hers, but it was amazing)
Stephenie Meyer
Sara Shepard
E. Lockhart
Elizabeth Scott (just after one, I'm hooked)

So now for the tagging part of this mission...
uno: Tasha (And Another Book Read)
dos: Steph (Reviewer X)
tres: Aella
cuatro: The Opinioned Reader
cinco: Teen Troves
seis: Sam (Words Speak Volumes)

That was really difficult, because everyone's done it already!

So now, I shall commence in the last two parts of the rules.

Heather

EDIT: Reviewer X is having a contest for How NOT to Be Popular!!! Check it out!

M or F?-- Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tebbetts

The issue of book reccomendations is a very tricky one indeed. I mean, we book reviewers do our best to steer readers in the right direction, but good for me isn't always good for other people, and vise-versa. I'm currently reading a book that comes very highly reccomended by the blog-reviewing community, but which makes me want to re-enact the Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets diary-killing scene. Because I do think that it's entirely plausible that this book is posessed with the spirit of Lord Voldemort. But anyway. That's not today's review and that's not the point, either. The point is that a recommendation can sometimes be really helpful and great, but can sometimes not mean much at all.

Sadly, this proved true in the case of M or F? by Chris Tebbetts and Lisa Papademetriou. My friend Allison told me to read this book several months ago, and I got about halfway through before losing interest and getting better books to read. She reminded me about it last week, so I picked it back up... and soon felt the need to put it back down again.

M or F? is the tale of Marcus and Frannie, best friends and brain twins, looking for love. Between Frannie's terrible taste and Marcus's lack of oppertunity, neither of them have any boyfriend prospects. Until, that is, Frannie admits to her crush on Jeffery Osbourne, who is the perfect guy for her.

Or, perhaps, for Marcus??

When Frannie is too shy to talk to Jeffery on her own in the school's on-line chat room, she lets Marcus take the reins. He tells her what to say to Jeffery, and soon she has a date with him, which leads to several dates, which leads to a maybe-kind-of relationship. Things are going great- so why hasn't he tried to kiss her yet?

But while Frannie and Jeffery are bonding in real life, Marcus and Jeffery are connecting on-line: and Marcus continues to opperate under the alias of Frannie. At first, Marcus is only interested in helping his friend, so it doesn't really matter- after all, Frannie and Marcus are brain twins. But there is the tricky little detail of Frannie not knowing about any of it. And the more Marcus talks to Jeffery, the closer he feels to him.

Add a few slightly questionable habits on Jeffery's part, and soon Frannie and Marcus are both wondering: what's his preference? M or F?

Whatever the answer, it will test their friendship- and maybe even end it for good.

Now, you know, that isn't such a bad concept. It's a decent idea, and this book had potential. It could have been cute, fun, entertaining. It is, to some extent. M or F? does not have the makings of a great work of literature, but it does sound enjoyable.

Only, for me, it wasn't.

The whole book was kind of trying-too-hard. Frannie and Marcus are believable enough characters, but the conversation was stilted. It seemed fake and shallow and somehow off, for two people who are best friends. It's obvious that the authors were trying to be clever- and it wasn't really working. There were many stabs at both situational and verbal irony (M or F?) and all of them were so contrived. The characterization itself was kind of spotty as well- Frannie is too shy to talk to Jeffery in a chat room, but has no problem flirting with him face-to-face? Marcus won't talk to someone he thinks is cute, and Frannie is the one who isn't outgoing? Almost every characteristic and detail seemed like a plot device, so I guess it's not surprising that my biggest issue with this book was the plot.

The ending of M or F? is referred to as a 'twist' and is clearly meant to be surprising- but I had it figured out before I reached the end. Before I reached the middle. And I am terrible at predicting the end of books. This one, however, was impossible not to solve.

M or F? isn't a great book, but it could certainly be worse. Sadly, the two books that I'm reading now are worse. Both of them. I'm on a bad-book roll, so expect some scathing reviews in the near future.

I would not suggest that you put M or F? at the top of your TBR pile, but you shouldn't neccessarily throw it away either. If you're looking for something kind of similar(but better), I'll give you a reccomendation of my own: Pretty Things, by Sara Manning.

Two Frappichinos for this one!

In need of better books to read,

Caroline

it's a new month

So May is finally over. That means a new poll and new music.

The winner of May's poll is...(not that this comes as a surprise to any of you, but) Bookmarkers! Those who bookmark won with an overwhelming 52% and 42 votes. Congrats! (you are the better people, lol). I myself am a bookmarker. I can't stand when people dog-ear my books. It's just awful, but I do have to give credit to those that do dog-ear for coming in second place with 25% of the votes. 20 people voted dog-ear, one of them, obviously, being Caroline/totally unbiased civilian. And those smarty-pants page-memorizers came in third with 18 votes and only 22%. Sorry, guys.

But now we get to have a new poll! Exciting! It will be up soon...just as soon as we actually think of one. If you have any suggestions, leave them in comments and we may use them for later months.

Also, the three songs from May (Frame by Frame by The Honorary Title, We Can Be Heroes by The Wallflowers, and One Week by Barenaked Ladies) are done with. The new songs for June are Money Honey by State of Shock, Dance Hall Drug by BoysLikeGirls, and Keep Your Hands Off My Girl by Good Charlotte. (the second two are in preperation for a concert with BoysLikeGirls, Good Charlotte, Metro Station, and The Maine that we're going to in August, the first is a song we were recently introduced to by our friend Allison).

So there you go, the month of June.

Also, The Page Flipper is officially opening her website (thepageflipper.com). Go on over for tons of exciting contests, reviews, interviews (I forget exactly what, but lots of awesome stuff). New contests and things will likewise begin on other blogs, so right now, the contest information in the sidebar<-- will be blank (exculding Rachel Caine's contest which ends in a few days, hurry and enter!).

Yours,
Heather