Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (Scarlett, #1)

"Never assume," Mrs. Amberson said. "This city is unique. Every place you go -- everything you do -- you never know who's watching. There's always an opportunity, if you know how to spot it."

After having read the sequel to this book, Scarlett Fever, last month in an ignorant misstep, I was eager to read this book and catch up on exactly what I had missed. Keeping the fact that I knew almost everything about what was going to happen in this storyline (there is a very good reason authors generally point out that sequels are to be read after the original), I still managed to enjoy it immensely. Yes, it took out a lot of the surprises that were meant for the reader, so that was a bummer. Still, the plot was well-written and engaging regardless.

Suite Scarlett is told from the third-person perspective of Scarlett Martin, a fifteen year-old girl who lives in a family-run hotel in New York City. It sounds glamorous, but Scarlett's life has been far from easy. After her little sister was diagnosed with leukemia four years ago, any money the hotel made was funneled into hospital bills. Though Marlene is now in remission, the hotel has been grasping at straws to keep itself going. The Martin family is now the only staff they have and even that may not be enough to keep the business from drowning.

Then enters Mrs. Amberson. An eccentric woman whose roots are in theatre and who is looking for her next big endeavor takes up residence in the room Scarlett has been charged with caring for. Mrs. Amberson offers to make the girl her assistant and Scarlett accepts. She needs the money and, after all, doubts that the woman would take no for an answer.

On top of all this, Scarlett's older brother and closest sibling, Spencer, is desperate to find some way to further his acting career. His parents have given him an ultimatum in which he must find an acting gig by a certain date or go to the culinary school that he has been given a scholarship to attend. When he lands a part in a garage production Hamlet, he and Scarlett have to lie to his parents in order to keep chasing his dream. This adds a whole new level of complexity to Scarlett's problems. Let's not even mention Spencer's cast mate, the Southern boy who has her head spinning from the moment she lays eyes on him.

All in all, Johnson has crafted yet another well-constructed, witty story about dealing with all the curve balls live loves to throw at a person. I love the way she writes her characters and fell even more in love with the Martin family upon seeing where the story began and how they came to reach the point they were at in Scarlett Fever. I think this is a great series and can't wait to see more of it.


Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Actors had other people living inside of them . . . lots of other doubts that the woman would take no for an answer.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)

"He was in there two hours," said Calcifer, "putting spells on his face. Vain fool!"

"There you are, then," said Michael. "The day Howl forgets to do that will be the day I believe he's really in love, and not before."

After reading The Space Between Trees, I immediately went online and bought it on Amazon. And here again I've stumbled upon a book that I absolutely must purchase as soon as I get a bit of money.

I didn't exactly stumble upon Howl's Moving Castle. In fact, I happen to be quite fond of the movie adaptation. When I found that it was based off a book, I knew I had to read it. Once again, I am profoundly glad I did. It is nearly an entirely different story and I loved every second of the journey.

Howl's Moving Castle is the story of a girl named Sophie. As the eldest of three, she is doomed to an entirely uneventful and unsuccessful life. She resigns herself to this fate, even as her younger sisters go out to seek their fortunes. However, fate doesn't seem to agree with her on how her life is supposed to turn out.

When the hat shop she runs with her stepmother is visited by the Witch of the Waste, Sophie is put under a curse that turns her into an old woman. Unsure of what to do and unable to tell anyone of the curse, Sophie decides to leave the home she has always known in order to find her destiny and hopefully an end to the curse.

When she seeks lodging in a moving castle belonging to Wizard Howl, she expects to be turned out almost immediately. However, she makes friends with its occupants: a fire demon named Calcifer, Howl's fifteen year-old apprentice (Michael), and the dreaded wizard himself. Howl is nothing like she had been told. Still, the vain wizard manages to trample on every last one of Sophie's nerves.

That's not the only trouble, though. The Witch of the Waste is hot on their tail, eager to get Howl in her clutches, and she'll stop at nothing to succeed in her aims. On top of that, Sophie needs to find a way to break her own spell. Calcifer promises to break it if she can break the contract between he and Howl, but to do that, Sophie is going to have to find out the terms on her own.

Howl's Moving Castle is a fantastical adventure through a land filled with wonder. I enjoyed every moment of the journey and couldn't wait to see where it would take me next. I would advise it for readers of all ages. It's a compelling read and lovely story.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

[Click here to see my review of book 2: Castle in the Air and book 2: House of Many Ways]

It seems as if those of high ability cannot resist some extra, dangerous stroke of cleverness, which results in a fatal flaw and begins a slow decline to evil.

The Space Between the Trees by Katie Williams

I shake my head and as as I do, a tear shakes off my cheek, and I realize that I've been crying, but I don't know when it started . It's not the kind of crying that you force up and out of your throat but the kind of crying where the tears slip out your eyes and down your cheeks, dissolving into one another at your chin in a stealthy escape.

I picked up this book at the library because the binding looked nice, but the cover blew me away. A book with a cover (seen on the right) as cool as this one deserves to be read, in my opinion. Once again, my tendency to judge a book by its cover led me to a pretty great book. The Space Between Trees is definitely in my top ten favorite books, if not my top five. 

In The Space Between Trees, Katie Williams tells the story of Evie, a teenage girl with a tendency to improve the truth and straight out lie without thinking of the consequences. After the death of a girl Evie knew as a child, this bad habit is exactly what leads her on a collision course with the girl's father and her best friend, Hadley. 

Somehow, despite Evie's initial lie, she and Hadley become friends. This is a first for Evie, who has always something of a loner. But this new friendship launches the two girls into searching for the person who murdered Hadley's best friend, Zabet. Things quickly grow out of hand and Evie has to figure out where to draw the line in being a loyal friend and putting herself and others in more danger than she could have anticipated.

Altogether, I found this to be a wonderful book. Filled to the brim with intriguing descriptions that really pull the reader in, the detail is drool-worthy. I found myself poring over paragraphs, trying to analyze exactly how Williams was able to describe things in just enough detail to keep you interested without becoming overwhelming. There are plenty of life lessons to be learned within the pages of The Space Between the Trees, as well as a good amount of symbolism and an ending you couldn't have anticipated.

This was a lovely book that I look forward to rereading in the near future. There are few books that I finish and want to immediately read again, but this was definitely one of those. Everything about it was well-done. I ended up purchasing this book because I enjoyed it so much. 

I suggest picking up The Space Between Trees at your nearest convenience.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

And so there it is, the answer. It doesn't feel like how I thought it would at all. I don't feel the urge to gasp or say aha! I am not wiser or safer. The world is not set to rights. It is a small, sad, messy world, and I am a small, sad, messy girl.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (Scarlett, #2)

"Sometimes we all get a little broken." 

I just read a sequel . . . a sequel to a book I've never read.

This was entirely an accident. I had no idea that this book was a sequel. There was nothing on the cover indicating it and nothing in the story that made me think I had missed out on an entirely different storyline. I wouldn't have even found out when I did if I wasn't the type that likes to read the "About the Author" section, no matter how much I already know about said author, and saw that there was another book called Suite Scarlett.

This distresses me in ways you cannot imagine. I do not like reading books out of order. I suppose I'll just have to get over it and read the first book when I get the chance. I was wondering how Scarlett landed  such an interesting job.

Now, to the book review itself!

Scarlett Fever is the story of a fifteen year-old girl whose family runs a run-down hotel in New York City. She works as a personal assistant to her brother's agent. He is an up and coming actor who soon lands a role that has him labeled as "New York's Most Hated" and dodging flying doughnut missiles from angry fans. Scarlett's little sister is up to something questionable and her older sister seems to be drifting further and further away from them.

To add to the drama, Scarlett's boss, being an acting agent, has a new actress she wants to sign. This actress has a younger brother who is more than prepared to drive Scarlett up a wall with his obnoxious behavior and rude manners.

It seems that Scarlett is the only one who has it together, but things are slowly deteriorating and it's going to take quite a bit of work (and a particularly hazardous dance move) to keep this family from sinking under the pressure.

Despite the fact that I just read a sequel first, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Johnson's writing and storytelling is even more compelling than 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I would definitely peg this book as the better of the two.

Johnson's descriptions and wordplay are superb in the telling of Scarlett's story. I couldn't help but admire certain turns of phrase that simply worked. Descriptions like, "The formaldehyde was overwhelming. It smelled like a sterilized headache." I could almost smell my ninth grade Biology class all over again. There are more little gold bits like this sprinkled throughout the text that I wholeheartedly encourage you to keep an eye out for. They were a special delight to me in the reading of this story.

The only criticism I have is the abrupt ending. It worked well enough, but caught me off-guard and left certain bits unresolved. Of course, now that I'm aware that Scarlett Fever is a part of a series, it makes much more sense now.

All in all, it's a good novel and worth taking the time to read.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

[I finally read the prequel: Suite Scarlett. Click here to see my review.]

The feeling of loss was so profound that for a moment, she couldn't breathe. Something wonderful had happened here -- something confusing, but wonderful -- and now it was gone, and it would never come back.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (Little Blue Envelope, #1)

"I liked you because you were mad. And you're pretty. And pretty sane for a mad person."

Maureen Johnson was another author I decided to check out because of John Green. (The other was Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss.) Funnily enough, it isn't the first book I've picked up by her, but it is the first I've finished. That's not to say that she isn't a great author, but the other book, The Name of the Star, was a little too spooky for my taste. I will probably get around to finishing it eventually for the sake of having a review of it up here.

Anyway, because of John Green's recommendation and because she will be at LeakyCon this year, I wanted to give another of her books a go and I'm incredibly glad I did.

13 Little Blue Envelopes is about a girl named Ginny. After her beloved aunt dies, Ginny gets a package from her deceased aunt containing thirteen letters with directions to complete the task on one before proceeding to the next. These directions spur Ginny into the adventure of a lifetime. Her travels take her all over Europe, introduce her to some wonderfully crazy characters, and teach her to experience life to it's fullest.

This book was quite good. The plot had me hooked from the start and nothing about this story is predictable. This fact in and of itself has you feeling like all of this is really happening, like you're really on this adventure with Ginny. It's a wonderful testament to her writing ability and how relatable she makes her characters. It was definitely one worth reading.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

[Click here to see my review of the sequel: The Last Little Blue Envelope]

Sometimes, Gin, life leaves you without directions, without guideposts or signs. When this happens, you just have to pick a direction and run like hell.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Remember what Professeur Cole said when he was talking about the lack of translated novels in America? She said it's important to expose ourselves to other cultures, other situations.

What can I say? I adored this book!

I was first introduced to this title when I was still living in Paris. I heard about it via John Green (one half of the Vlogbrothers and the author of The Fault in Our Stars). He talked about it being very well-written and incredibly witty, so I decided it was necessary that I read it.

Yet every time I spotted it on the bookshelf, I couldn't bring myself to buy it. I just couldn't get past the cheesy title and the almost-as-cheesy cover. Yes, I know I shouldn't judge books by their covers, but I can't help it! It just looked so overwhelmingly girly and stereotypical and even the summary made me think that I had the entire story already figured out. So when I made it back to Texas, I decided I'd just get it from the library so I wouldn't have to spend money on it.

Let me tell you, when I finally cracked this book open, I tore through it. No seriously. I started reading it yesterday around nine and finished it at approximately noon today. Yeah, it was that good!

Anna and the French Kiss is about a girl who gets flung into Paris by her well-meaning, but very-much-a-tool father who thinks it will be good for her to go to a boarding school where she will become cultured and sophisticated. She enrolls in the American school there (a school my own dad considered putting my brother and I in while we were both in high school) and quickly joins a small group of friends that includes the most handsome, charming British-American boy she has ever set eyes upon.

But there's more to all of this than meets the eye. The moment she meet St. Clair, she knows he's off-limits. He's been dating Ellie, who graduated last year and now seems to be too good to associate with anyone in their circle of friends besides her significant other. As the school year continues, Anna starts having mixed feelings for St. Clair. Not only is he swiftly becoming her best friend, coming to her defense on all occasions and helping her adapt to the French culture around her, but the undercurrent of mutual attraction between them is steadily on the rise.

As they say: What's a girl to do?

I was honestly surprised with how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was all-around wonderful and every bit as clever and witty as John Green said it would be. Stephanie Perkins captures the "City of Love" quite well. (Though I'll admit that there ought to be a tad more of the strangers that accost you on the street and rude people if she wanted to make it entirely realistic.) I loved every second of the book and it made me miss Paris even more.

Anna and the French Kiss was an incredibly lovely book despite it's cringe-worthy title. I encourage anyone who wants a good read to snatch it up immediately. I'll be buying myself a copy of this book as soon as possible so I can have it on my bookshelves. It shall be money well-spent.

And when I go back to Paris this Christmas to see my family, I will most definitely find Point Zero (which I didn't know about until I opened this book) and make a wish.

Rating: ★★★★★

"You say that I'm afraid of being alone, and it's true. I am. And I'm not proud of it. But you need to take a good look at yourself, Anna, because I am not the only one in this room who suffers this problem."

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool."

If you pay even the slightest attention to the media, you very likely are aware that the movie adaptation of The Hobbit will be in theaters this December. Because of that, I decided it was about time I stuck my nose into a J.R.R. Tolkien book and, let me tell you, I'm quite happy I did.

Going into this, I had rather expected Mr. Tolkien's writing to be a bit, well, stuffy. This was generally because I had heard that his writing was hard to get into and was all too descriptive to follow well. Perhaps they were speaking of a different book, because this certainly was not the case when it came to The Hobbit.

An adventure tale for the ages, this book was incredibly well-written and I was invested in the story from the outset. Being a big fan of C.S. Lewis, a personal friend of Tolkien, I was still surprised to see the similarities in their narratives. They have a similar writing style that really draws you in -- as if you're sitting by the fire listening to that wise old uncle of yours tell you a grand adventure you only dare to believe because he is the one telling you of it.

The Hobbit is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a comfortable little hobbit with more adventure in his blood than most other hobbits. Even still, it takes a good deal of convincing and coercion before Mr. Baggins finds himself on a quest for treasure, the "burglar" in a company of thirteen dwarves. He was specially chosen for the mission by Gandalf the Grey. At first, neither he nor his companions can understand why Gandalf thought he was worth bringing along, but there is more to Bilbo than meets the eye and, soon enough, he may become their only hope of accomplishing their task at all.

Overall, The Hobbit was a fantastic book. I enjoyed every moment of the journey, both "there and back again" and it has made me even more excited for the movie's release. I would definitely suggest this lovely story to anyone who enjoys Tolkien's other works or enjoys any books with a bit of magic threaded through the pages.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.