Review: When You Were Mine By Rebecca Serle

I liked this much more than I thought I would.

Initially my interest was piqued by the new take on Romeo and Juliet - a modern adaptation from the point of view of Rosaline, the girl Romeo was desperately in love with until the moment he spotted Juliet. Having recently rewatched Romeo + Juliet and being put in an angsty teen mood, I decided to give When You Were Mine a go. But Rose was soon driving me nuts; she had basically no personality and depended upon her best friend, Charlie, to dictate her thoughts, feelings and actions. Every second line was, "Charlie says this" or "Charlie thinks that". Frustrated, I went looking for reviews to see what other people thought. While there were a fair few positive ones, what struck me were two quite negative, but thoughtful reviews by Emily May and Ashleigh Paige. I had a feeling I'd have the same reaction to the book as them, and came very, very close to DNFing.

I'm glad I stuck with it, because in the end I did like it - quite a lot, actually. While I think the criticisms that Emily, Ashleigh and others have made are valid, I thought that there was a good amount of growth over the course of the novel. Rob was a total dirtbag douchcanoe for ditching Rose the second her cousin Juliet comes to town, and while Rose still loved him, she did blame him as well as Juliet. Granted, Juliet got the brunt of the blame, but as Mandee points out, the slut-shaming aspect of this, though not ideal, is certainly true to life. That is how teen girls - and indeed, many adult women - act towards a girl who "steals" their guy. That doesn't mean the author endorses this behaviour as positive. It is simply true to life. I think what really helped was the way Juliet was given more layers and agency. I felt for her in the end, along with Rosaline. I still hated Rob, but I was sad about what happened. It's not spoiling anything to say this has a sad ending - it is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet after all. I really liked the way Serle developed the tragic aspect of the story, and gave it a unique spin while maintaining an emotional punch.

Although When You Were Mine is heartbreaking at times, it does have quite a few lighthearted moments. The humour came primarily from Rose's friends, Charlie and Olivia. OK, so Charlie was a cow at times, and said some pretty awful things, but she was fiercely protective of Rose and not just a one-dimensional mean girl. Olivia was totally like Karen from Mean Girls, as Mandee mentions, which provided some entertaining moments. Then there was Len, the lovely, funny nerd who saw the real Rose and encouraged her to be herself and stand up for herself. He was very cute and a nice foil for the knobsticle Rob.

I don't think this book is for everyone, but I enjoyed it and found it to be a refreshing take on a done-to-death (no pun intended) story.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Eye Candy
Coz I watch way too much trashy teen drama:

Ashley Benson as Juliet

Penn Badgley as Len

Tyler Posey as Rob

Lucy Hale as Rosaline

Fine Print
Published: April 2012, Simon & Schuster
Get It: Fishpond

Pash, Pick or Pass: The Guys Of The Mortal Instruments

Time to play Pash, Pick or Pass - a game where we pick from a random book trio and say who we'd pash (and dash), who we'd pick for a relationship and who we'd pass on all together.

The Contenders
Having finally read the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare in the past week, I thought it was about time I featured the boys from the books. Note: I'm using the actors I pictured while reading, not who has been cast in the movie.

The badass smartass with a heart, Jace

The BFF-worthy nerd, Simon

The protective brooder, Alec

My Choices

Pash: Alec. OK, he's gay. But he's hot. And... that's all I've got.

Pick: Jace. I like his wit, strength and the fact that he's not afraid to show his sensitive side. He's a bit romantic, which is a bit noice.

Pass: Sorry, Simon, but you're way too whiney for me. Grow a pair, and then we'll talk.

Who would you pash, pick and pass out of this tasty trio?

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I was surprised at the strong reaction I had to City of Bones, the story of the mysterious underworld of New York City (no, not the mob - the paranormal). You see, it made me freaking mad.

I wasn't mad the whole way through, of course. At first, I felt kinda "meh", and wondered why everyone raves about the book so much - more specifically, the love interest, Jace Wayland (he just wasn't doing it for me)...

Then, about a third of the way in, I really got into the action and found it hard to put down. I loved Clary, the strong, smart, quick-witted protagonist, and Jace was growing on me. I enjoyed their relationship, and thought how refreshing it was that there were no apparent obstacles for them being together (though I did wonder how the tension would be sustained throughout the rest of the series)...

Little did I know there was a big freaking twist at the end...

Yeah, that about sums up how I feel about the book right now. I liked it overall; though there were a few inconsistencies in the plot, it moved along at a good pace and provided plenty of action, while the characters were all likable and real (er, as real as Shadowhunters can be, that is). I saw one twist coming a mile away, but there was another that, as you might be able to tell, I was NOT expecting. I usually enjoy when that happens - it's definitely a sign of good writing - but this one just made me very cranky. I nearly threw my book across the room, I was so mad; instead I just ranted to my poor fiance for five minutes while he nodded along with a bemused expression on his face that said, "I'm trying to look interested because it interests you, but really I don't care, because it's a BOOK." When that didn't satisfy me, I went to Google - yep, I looked up spoilers. They calmed me enough to make me want to continue with the series... but I'm still kinda mad.

Rating: 3/5

Spoilery Talking Points

• There's not much I can say except... WTF?! I was not expecting incest in this book. I was most shocked that, in all the praise I'd read for it, I'd never come across any mention of this little twist. I wondered how everyone could swoon over Jace if he's in love with his sister. Which made me think maybe she wasn't after all, and sent me searching for spoilers. But I was still surprised the book ended with you thinking Clary and Jace are siblings... in love. Seriously, WTF?!
• One thing I wasn't surprised about was Valentine being Clary's father. What a creep! I was kinda disappointed with Jace in the end when he so readily believed everything Valentine said... but then, I guess he'd be pretty messed up after the years of emotional and physical abuse he endured. That hunting bird story?! Yikes.
• I'm sure there were other things I wanted to discuss, but I'm finding it hard to get past anything other than the brother/sister thing right now... Was anyone else as shocked or angry as me after reading this book?

Eye Candy
With Jamie Campbell Bower and Lily Collins cast as Jace and Clary in the upcoming movie, I automatically pictured them.

I think Lily totally works for Clary, but despite Jamie Campbell Bower's prettiness, Jace was coming off more creepy than cool when I pictured him. So I didn't get far before I switched to picturing...

Alex Pettyfer, circa 2008 when he had longer hair on his head and less on his face. Also, before I knew he was such a douche. Though the douchiness kinda works for Jace (well, the arrogant part of it anyway). As for the others, I pictured Nina Dobrev as Isabelle, Ethan Peck as Alec and Penn Badgley as Simon.

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal
Published: 2007
Publisher: Walker Books
Get it: Book Depository

Review: Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (a.k.a. The Fug Girls)

This was fun but a little disappointing.

I think it was a case of THE (Too High Expectations). Disappointment was probably inevitable because they were ridonkulously high. Go Fug Yourself is one of my fave blogs; Heather and Jessica are so damn brilliant and their blog posts are hilarious, intelligent and extremely witty. So when I found out they were releasing a YA novel, I was super excited - so much that I couldn't wait for it to be released in Australia, and ordered it on Book Depository (that site knows no borders).

I thought Spoiled would be as awesome as GFY, and in some parts it was, but overall I have to say it was nothing I haven't read or seen before. The plot - focusing on a sweet girl named Molly who finds out her dad is a big time Hollywood star and her half-sister Brooke is a big time bitch - was entertaining, but predictable, and while the authors' flare for language shines at times, for the most part I felt anybody could have written this story. I guess that's why I felt let down - I wanted to be blown away by unique quirkiness and instead I got just another fluffy teen read.

Of course, I like fluffy teen reads as much as the next YA addict, so I did enjoy the book - in fact, I really, really liked it. I just didn't love it, and I wanted to SO. BADLY. I adore the authors so much I was tempted to say I loved it, anyway, but I can't lie. I will say there are some gold one-liners in there, which made me mentally fist-pump the Fug Girls and think, "Oh, there you are!" The pop culture references are also a lot of fun, though I think they'll date the book very quickly - I mean, the description of Molly as a homewrecker for allegedly hooking up with Pete Wentz already rings untrue because he's split from Ashlee Simpson. But for now, it's a colourful, glossy, perky read that's enjoyable as a quick pick-me-up (which I needed after Forbidden).

Rating: 3/5

Spoilery Talking Points

• I didn't like the lack of closure at the end. It's pretty obvious what's going to happen, but I wanted to see the big happy family reunion scene for myself. I guess they're saving that for the sequel...
• I wanted more Teddy - he was a cute character and I really loved the romance between him and Molly, but I feel like it wasn't given enough attention.

Eye Candy
Revealing how obsessed I am with trashy TV, I pictured...

Ashley Benson as Brooke

Lucy Hale as Molly

Robert Downey Jr as Brick

Zach Roerig as Danny

Penn Badgley as Teddy

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Poppy
Published: May 2011 (US only)
Get It: Book Depository