Messy, much like life

I just read my first book by Hannah Moskowitz and it is so dense I am still thinking about it.  I believe it is a book that should be read, and yet, I can't say I love it.  Much like the main characters in Marco Impossible, and much like life, there are the high points, the low points, and the things that get in the way.

Marco and Stephen have been best friends since they were little, and now they are poised to graduate 8th grade.  Their favorite pastime is solving "cases" for which Stephen is the keeper of the notebook.  Their friendship has survived many trials: Marco being a bit of a jerk sometimes, Stephen always playing sidekick, and even Marco coming out as gay.  Their friendship is put to the test in every possible way when Marco decides to declare his crush on fellow classmate Benji at all places, senior prom.  Marco plans to go to attend a different high school, and Benji is leaving the next day to spend the summer in England.  What has Marco got to lose? Their crime-solving becomes planning a "heist" that allows them to sneak into prom where Benji and his bothers are in the band.  Marco doesn't even know if Benji likes boys or girls!  All they need to do is sneak out, forge permission letters to gain entry, come up with money, transportation, and tuxes.... all in one day.  What could go wrong!?!

Themes of family, bullying, taking advantage of friends, and standing up for yourself and for others are handled in a very honest way.  The book also handles the "guys can be friends with gay guys and not be gay" question quite well.  I can truly say that nothing ever turned out the way I thought.  This should be a good thing, but, it also felt very disjointed.  This "disjointed" feeling was underscored by the writing style, which seemed very run-on and did not work well with the way I read.  I found I had to stop and re-read often.  This is why I have a hard time loving this book, but, have no trouble recommending it.  It's messy, much like life

The fault in this book

OK....I seem to be the only person in the world that isn't raving about the The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  It is a typical angst-riddled teen romance...oh, and there's the cancer thing.  Our lovely "Juliet" is terribly sick, struggling to breath, while our brave "Romeo" has beat bone cancer, only losing part of one leg.  What could be more romantic?  You have to know that, when our heroes meet in a group session for sufferers/survivors of cancer, someone isn't going to make it.  The book was saved from being completely schlocky by the snarky sense of humor throughout.  It also has very real moments of speculation about life, the universe, and everything.  I can also say that as a teen, I would have LOVED it.  The dark, mopey tone would have been exactly what sucked me in.  Not anymore, sorry.

Is it possible for a romance to be too contrived?

I was looking for a literary "quickie," so I used Overdrive and perused the romance section.  I decided on Mr Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly.  It was set in Bath, during a Jane Austen festival.  I like Jane Austen, why not give it go?

From the beginning, it had a little more substance than I thought.  The two main characters, Mia and Sarah, are sisters who each identify with the Dashwood sisters of Sense and Sensibility: one practical, one impetuous.  As they each prepare to attend the Jane Austen Festival, it becomes clear that something terrible happened between them and they haven't spoken in years, despite having been so close.  What adds an odd twist is that Sarah reveals she suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Already, not you average fluffy romance.

As the sisters attend events, they each dread/hope they will run into one another.  As the current story progresses, we slowly learn what happened between them, and, of course, it involves a man.  Even that story ends up sort of "twitchy," not your usual romance fair, other than he turns out to be a cad of the worst sort.

Without giving away too much, Mia, Sarah, and Mia's friend Shelley, all meet men, and GASP, fall in love.  Plus, of course, the sisters reunite (I assumed that would happen).  This sort of contrivance is expected in Romance, however, for heaven's sake, Sarah manages to find a fellow OCD sufferer!  The Cad shows up, secrets are revealed, and in the end, no one really learned anything from the terrible thing that happened.  The ending may have worked in a fluffy romance, but there was a serious tone that is at odds with the "happily ever after" ending.  It wasn't carefree enough to satisfy my guilty pleasure, and wasn't serious enough to live up to the problems.

I post mostly teen and children's lit reviews.  This book was written with an adult audience in mind, but there is no objectionable content.  It would be fine for teenagers, but might not appeal to them....too fuddy-duddy in tone, perhaps.

I identified....not sure if everyone will

I read Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande as an e-book using Overdrive, and I was drawn to it simply because of the title.  Without drawing out my life growing up, I was raised in an Evangelical Christian Church.  I am quite familiar with both the comfort of being "right" and the realization that right isn't so black and white.   Mena's journey spoke to me.

Mena's whole life has changed because she did the right thing.  Now her former friends, including the boy she liked, have ostracized her and started a campaign to humiliate her.  To make it worse, her parents are mad as well because her actions impacted their business.  Mena was raised in an Evangelical Church and this all started when she spoke up about bullying behavior their youth group started against a junior high student that was gay.  Now, her whole view on the world has been opened, but, can she survive being the outcast?  And, does she have the courage to support a teacher that is the newest target of the church for teaching evolution in science?  Of course, she can't even think about liking her lab partner....or, can she?

Before you think this is a faith-bashing book, and part of what makes it more thought-provoking is that the teacher who teaches evolution turns out to also be a person of faith.  There is respect for religion in this story.

 

Because I was raised in an Evangelical Church, I understand the culture and the pressure.  I wonder if it would be as meaningful to someone without that background.  If you read it, let me know!