Review: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

I was excited to read this book from the moment I read the description - it's not every day you come across a YA novel with a trans* protagonist. Gabe has always identified as a boy, but grew up as "Elizabeth". He's only recently come out to his family and closest friend, and while the latter is very open and understanding, the former are struggling to come to terms with the situation. Isolated at home and bullied at school, Gabe finds solace in music, particularly in the new radio show he hosts on community radio and his friendship with a former big-time DJ who just happens to be his neighbour.

This book was definitely unique, but it felt a little flat to me and I just couldn't connect with the story or characters. Catie from The Readventurer mentioned in her review that Beautiful Music for Ugly Children never really transcends being an "issue" book, and the characters don't feel real. I have to say I agree with her completely. The characters did not feel nuanced and the tensions which you'd expect in a story like this felt very superficial. There was no in-depth exploration of Gabe's feelings and emotions or the changing nature of his relationships with those around him. The bullies themselves are completely two-dimensional, and while their actions are horrific, there was no depth in the storytelling to make them really have an impact.

I sympathised with Gabe but I didn't particularly like him. I cringed at the radio show segments - they came off really goofy to me, and having done a year-long stint in community radio myself, I didn't particularly buy the immediate popularity of his show. Sure, the whole "Ugly Children Brigade" was a nice idea, but it was literally too good to be true. I also found his attitude to girls really off-putting. I get it, teens are horny, but I swear every time he interacted with a girl it was all about how she looked and how she affected him. This included his best friend, Paige, who was really understanding and supportive of Gabe's transition, but all he seems to think about is how much she turns him on. I don't know if the hyper-sexuality was Cronn-Mills' interpretation of the way a teen boy - or a trans* teen - thinks, but it just made me feel uncomfortable, and I'm no prude. Gabe just seemed to objectify all the girls in his life and it wasn't fun to read. It did make me think - is this how guys feel when reading the likes of Twilight, where everything is about the guys' abs and god-like profiles and how much Bella just wants to have the sex?

Anyway, as you can see, I had a lot of problems with Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, but I'm glad it's out there and I'm glad I read it. While, as Catie suggested, it never becomes more than an "issue" book, it is an issue that needs to be thought about and talked about. Unfortunately it lacks the heart to make you really connect with the characters and the story, so for me it just didn't live up to its potential.

Rating: 3/5

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Published: October 2012, Flux
Get It: Book Depository
Source: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley

Related
Obviously, this book mentions a lot of music! Check out the playlist here.

Mag Monday: Amanda Seyfried in Vanity Fair

Amanda Seyfriend is doing the rounds for Les Mis promotion, and the highlight for me is the spread she did for the UK December edition of Vanity Fair. It's so pretty it hurts.

via ONTD

Review: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

What's Left of Me is set in an alternate reality where every body is born with two souls. One soul is dominant, and by the time the body is a teenager, the other soul is supposed to naturally fade away. But it doesn't always work that way - not for Eva, at least, who is still most definitely alive in the body her sister, Addie, controls. Addie has to keep Eva's existence a secret, because "hybrids" are considered against nature and are taken away by the government. Then everything changes when the girls discover a pair of siblings who are both hybrids, and learn that Eva could potentially regain control... and that perhaps being one-souled isn't so "natural" after all...

I first discovered this book when all of my Goodreads buddies started raving about it. I was intrigued and thought the plot sounded ambitious and interesting, so I was keen to give it a go. Now I find myself in a strange position - I loved the book for the characters, writing and pace, but am left with so many questions and frustrations with the world building, I just don't know how to rate it. I think the plot was perhaps a little too ambitious. It's supposed to be an alternate reality where everyone has always been born with two souls, but if this were the case I feel like society would have developed in a very different way to our own. Relationships, families, schooling, work - all would look different if every body had two personalities in it. But it doesn't. Aside from the mildly dystopian creepy government control/conspiracy thing, the society in What's Left of Me looks exactly like ours. Granted, everyone is supposed to have one soul by adulthood in Eva's culture, but this hasn't always been the case, and surely society would have developed differently in some way. It just didn't make any sense.

It also didn't make sense that everyone would just pretend like the second soul never existed. If both souls are treated equally in their early childhood, and both loved by their parents, there would be considerable grief over losing one of those souls, not just for the one left behind but for the family, too. Even if it's the "natural" way of things - especially if it's the "natural" way of things - surely there would be some sort of cultural practice in place for this kind if thing. A type of funeral or memorial to honour the lost. To just pretend like they didn't happen, after loving them for years? That's just not logical, and it bothered me.

But. Those gripes aside, I really enjoyed What's Left of Me. Eva was a great character, and I really connected with her frustration and also her burning desire to live and not just exist. It was a smart choice to have the secondary soul as the protagonist rather than the dominant one, as it definitely made for more compelling storytelling. The relationship between Eva and Addie was complicated and fascinating, and Zhang did a wonderful job of exploring the tension that their unique problem created. The secondary characters were also well-written, and I especially liked the blossoming romance between Eva and Ryan - including, oddly enough, the way it wasn't central to the plot. Just a nice part of it. I'm so over YA books where the plot functions as nothing more than a vehicle for a swoony boy, so it's nice when the love story forms part of the plot, and doesn't completely obliterate it.

There's a lot of action in What's Left of Me, making it difficult to put down. I love it when a book stays on your mind even when you haven't got it in your hand. It's been awhile since I experienced that, so I got really excited while reading this. I was also grateful for the sense of closure at the end of the novel. Don't get me wrong, it's part of a series and there's definitely a lot of open threads and avenues to be explored in the sequel(s), but it didn't just end abruptly and frustratingly as so many other first instalments seem to do. It's not a massive cliffhanger, and impatient little ol' me loved that. In fact, despite my misgivings, I enjoyed What's Left of Me so much they I found myself still thinking about it days later. Sure, I wish the world building was stronger, but I can't deny that it had an impact on me, and for that I guess I have to rate it highly. I still have a lot of problems and questions that I suspect won't be answered in coming instalments, but I loved it nonetheless, and can't wait to see what Zhang has in store for us next.

Rating: 4/5

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Dystopia
Published: October 2012, HarperCollins
Get It: The Nile
Source: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

Review: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

In the heady days after I finished the Twilight series, I binged on anything and everything I could get that was vampire-related. I wanted to recapture that heart-racing, page-turning, delicious (and slightly delirous) craze that Edward Cullen had drawn me in to. I discovered the Vampire Academy series, which was awesome, and the Blue Bloods series, which was not. I raced through the Southern Vampire series. I dabbled with The Vampire Diaries. I reread Twilight. And I overdosed.

Once the Cullen-induced haze had lifted, I found myself so incredibly sick of vampires. I wasn't just sick of reading them - I was sick of seeing them. It seemed like every second book was vampire-related. I cringed away from them all in protest of the (over)saturation. I was put off by the money-grabbing appearance of it all, and I was incredibly tired of the many Twilight imitations that watered down the vampire mythology till it had as much blood in it as a tofurkey. Of course I still had a place in my heart for VA, TVD (the TV version) and Sookie Stackhouse (well, Eric Northman, at least), but I wasn't interested in taking on any new vamp stories. So when Drink, Slay, Love came out I rolled my eyes. Judging from the cover alone, it seemed to me to be cashing in on not one but two overdone phenomena (vampires and Eat, Pray, Love) and I didn't want a bar of it.

Then I learnt about the plot, and I started to think, OK, maybe there was more to this book than meets the eye. Like UNICORNS. You add a unicorn to something and it automatically makes it more awesome. Forget vampires - why aren't unicorns in every second book?! Anyway, learning that Eat, Pray, Love was about a vamp girl getting staked by a unicorn's horn and suddenly waking up able to walk in the sun and feeling pangs of conscience definitely piqued my interest, though I was still a bit turned off by the daywalking, deep-thinking tropes I'd seen all-too-much of. Then I read reviews. Many reviews. Many glowing reviews. I was still a bit cynical, but I trusted the reviewers in question, so I got the book and put it on my bookshelf. There it sat for oh, about a year. I considered reading it from time, but was still not that keen on new vampire books, so I passed it over. Finally the day came when, in search for something light and fun to read, Drink, Slay, Love caught my eye. I somehow skipped over the fact that it was about vampires and only remembered that it was about UNICORNS. And what could be more light and fun than that?!

I'll tell you what - VAMPIRES. Specifically, vampires who drink blood and view humans as food. And then get staked by unicorns and get all these FEELS that they don't want to deal with. But they actually do deal with them rather than being all, like, angsty and broody. OK, I should stop saying "they" because really I'm just talking about Pearl. She's so awesome. I'll admit it was a little confronting at first to be inside her head when she was hunting and viewing humans as prey and all, but I still immediately loved her strength, confidence, power, self-respect and snarky sense of humour. She's a refreshing heroine, and a refreshing kind of vampire. Even when the day-walking wangst started, it worked for me - because it wasn't stale. Pearl really struggled with it, and openly talked about how lame it was. It was the kind of wink wink, nudge nudge humour that appeared throughout, and that I love.

The secondary characters were also great. Pearl's family were hella creepy in the way vampires should be, and her new friends at school were likable and funny. Evan, the love interest, was ridiculously perfect, just like every other YA paranormal love interest, but the cliché is cleverly subverted by a certain spoilery part of the plot. And yes, the whole unicorn thing was a bit campy and absurd, but I think that was kind of the point. The whole thing parodies the many were-animals we see in vamp stories, while at the same time making the device more awesome. Because it's UNICORNS.

While Drink, Slay, Love is a parody, it's not so ridiculous that it undermines its own story; you still connect with the characters and feel for Pearl as she navigates her new situation and tries to balance her duty to her family (and, y'know, trying not to be killed by them) and her feelings for her new human friends. It provides a hilarious critique of paranormal romances while at the same time becoming a fun and fresh addition to the genre. It may just have got me hooked on bloodsuckers again. As long as they're as awesome as Pearl.

Rating: 4.5/5

Eye Candy
I pictured Crystal Reed as the kick-ass beauty Pearl, and Zac Efron as Evan, because he's supposed to be perfect-looking and the Zefron is the most perfect-looking human being on Earth.

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal Romance
Published: 2011, Allen & Unwin
Get It: Angus & Robertson

Friday Link Dump: BSC Fashion, Homo Sapiens and Old-Timey Hotness

I am not obsessed with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. OK, I totally am.

What would Claudia Kishi wear today? I think the clothes on this list - along with the other updates to childhood style icons - are pretty spot on. I kinda want to buy all the things.

Love, love, love this site featuring the stories of the books people have been given by the people they love. 

There's a new Les Mis trailer out, this time with people who aren't Anne Hathaway doing some singing. I haven't seen the musical or read the book, so I have nothing to compare it to, and frankly, I'm excited.

I started this Cracked clip sending up Hollywood's version of high schoolers for the The Lizzie Bennet Diaries stars, but I stayed for the lolz. Speaking of Darcy and Fitz, this happened this week. Then this. The awesomeness of which only makes sense if you've been watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. If you haven't, you don't deserve the awesomeness. (Just kidding. But seriously, you should watch it.)

I love a good pun. But a bad one is often even better.

Buzzfeed has a look at the "now and then" of popular magazines, compiling their first issues alongside their most recent, and it's awesome. Some have changed so much - and others, barely at all (granted they're younger mags). And who knew Better Homes and Gardens started life as Fruit Garden and Home?!

Yep, everything is better in mini.

Are you OCD-inclined? This blog will probably make you happy.

Pedestrian has a pretty great list of their favourite music moments in movies. Some of my faves that they didn't mention include those in Pretty in Pink, Beetlejuice, Wayne's World, Reservoir Dogs and Say Anything.

These cakes filled with hidden surprises are the best things I've ever seen.  

Thing I learnt this week: Our bodies have more bacterial cells than human cells in them. Ten times more. Also: humans started wearing clothes around 70, 000 years ago. Also: Oh, just read the article on the history (and future) of Homo Sapiens; it's absolutely fascinating.

What could be better than hot guys? Old-timey hot guys.

What could be better than old-timey hot guys?* Hot guys with puppies.

Still on the subject of old-timey things, they used to give hilarious (in hindsight) advice back in the day.

Jimmy Kimmel got his viewers to torture their kids on YouTube again by filming their reactions to being told all their Halloween candy had been eaten, and of course it's hilarious. Until the end, when I may have cried just a little bit at the awesome kids who don't mind sharing, especially the little dude who's like: "I don't care that you ate all my candy, mommy, I just want you to feel happy." Awwww.

If that didn't make your heart burst with squee, this cat that adopted baby hedgehogs will.

*Well, at least as awesome, if not better.

YouTube Clip of The Week
So much logic! It's amazing.

Bookish Buys: Pride and Prejudice

I am completely addicted to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries at the moment, which has in turn renewed my obsession with Pride and Prejudice. Which is why I'm trying really hard not to buy everything on this page (ahem, I may or may not already own the paper dolls)...

LBD Buttons

Pride and Prejudice scarf

Pride and Prejudice brooch

Marathon print

Literary chocolates

Pride and Prejudice map

Set of five postcards

Mr Darcy poster

Characters and places print

Mr Darcy's proposal collage

Mrs Bennet mug

Lizzie and Darcy tote

Pride and Prejudice ring

Pride and Prejudice tea set

Pride and Prejudice paper dolls

Darcy's proposal mouse pad

Pride and Prejudice mug

Pride and Prejudice finger puppets

Pride and Prejudice earrings

Greeting card

Miniature pop-up book

Mr Darcy's proposal canvas

Friday Link Dump: DARCY DAY, Cover Twins and Emergency Compliments

 
Darcy finally made an appearance on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I loved the video, although Darcy seems like he's got something lodged far up his bum. I guess that's appropriate at this point in the story line. I hope we get to see his soft side on video, and not just off-screen. I thought the way they incorporated this scene into the "diary" aspect was clever, and it was a good scene to bring him in on. Does this mean he'll watch all of Lizzie's videos now? Will he film a video response of his own - the modern day letter? I can't wait for the next ep. Meanwhile, Tumblr is having a collective squeegasm.

Cover twins and cousins - when books look alike, things get confusing. And a bit boring. 

This is what happens when two bloggers pair up to write about each other's greatest fears. Spoiler: It's awesome.

Looking for a UK YA book to read? Check out Readventurer's amazing wall of books. It follows their brilliant Aussie YA wall and short YA wall.

There are a crazy amount of adaptations of YA books coming out or in development at the moment.  I'm excited about The Night Circus (though it's not technically YA) and If I Stay, but really dreading The Book Thief - it's such a beautiful story, and there's so much potential to screw it up.

I freaking love it when celebs do Halloween. Chloe Grace Moretz as Bellatrix Lestrange = love! 

Then there's Celebrities in Pony Form. My Little Pony form. Genius.

Did you know Taylor Swift's whole album is basically about Jake Gyllenhaal? Except when it's about Conor Kennedy.

Sometimes, disasters can bring out the best in people. Click here to have your heart warmed.

Still having a bad day? Get an emergency compliment. 

YouTube Clip of the Week (other than Darcy Day, obvs)

November TV Addict Challenge Links

Post your 2012 TV Addict Reading Challenge links for November here!

Top Ten Kick-Ass Heroines

If you haven't already, you need to watch the BAMF Girls Club

1. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy. If you looked up kick-ass in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of Katniss.

2. Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy. She may be socially inept, but she's intelligent, feisty and sure knows how to get revenge.

3. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Without Hermione, I'm pretty sure Voldemort would still be around... and Harry probably wouldn't be. The boys wouldn't have gotten anywhere without her.

4. Anne Shirley from the Anne of Green Gables series. Oh, Anne-girl. I have a special place in my heart for the little ginger. She belongs on this list purely for the moment she broke her slate over Gilbert Blythe's head - although she's all other kinds of awesome, too.

5. Lizzie Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Lizzie doesn't have to be a zombie slayer to kick butt: she does it classic-style, with her sharp tongue and fine eyes.

6. Josie Alibrandi from Looking for Alibrandi. I love all of Melina Marchetta's heroines, but Josie is special to me because I grew up with her. Sure, she's kinda annoying at times, but I adore Josie for her passion and her ability to fight for what she believes in.

7. Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre. C'mon, the freaking book is named for her. How kick-ass is that? What's even more kick-ass is Jane's self respect: She demands to be treated as an equal, and won't compromise herself or her values for anyone (even the swoony Rochester).

8. Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is everything I wasn't as a kid: tomboyish, brave, unafraid to speak her mind... but I think she's amazeballs. She packs such a big punch (in more ways than one) for someone so small.

9. Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series. I read this series straight after Twilight, and it's safe to say Rose is the antithesis to Bella Swan. Forget falling for vampires - she stakes them! And, uh, just falls in love with her teacher instead... moving on.

10. Matilda from Matilda. Look at that, another title-worthy character. Matilda is intelligent, brave, cheeky, strong-minded and magical - and her favourite thing in the world is books. What's not to love?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Mag Monday: Cleo November 2012

Cleo, November 2012

• Hello, are we in 1995? Also: I can't stand Lara Bingle. Surprisingly I actually kinda like the cover.
• I love the six-page feature on body image and Photoshop. It's a hot-button issue and magazines cop a lot of flak about it - in some cases, it's justified, but in many it's not. There's a lot of misunderstanding about what Photoshop is used for, especially here in Australia, where body shapes and sizes are very rarely altered, unlike some overseas magazines (where a lot of the buzz about the issue generates from). This leads to well-meaning people sending negative emails, Facebook posts, or in this case, starting/signing a petition, which can be incredibly frustrating when they don't have the facts and don't bother to check them. This is what happened when Jessica Barlow, a 20-year-old student, started "The Brainwash Project" and decided, seemingly arbitrarily, to target Cleo. When Cleo responded by saying they didn't in fact alter women's body shapes and did include "real" women every month, Jessica didn't change her stance. So the editor decided to do this feature, revealing what exactly Photoshop is used for (colour correction, contrast, shadows, non-permanent marks like bruises etc) and what goes into all the images in the magazine (it's a lot more complicated than most people think). Media intelligence can only ever be a good thing.
• I liked seeing the article on Pussy Riot, even if it felt a bit late to the party (one of the drawbacks of monthly magazines, unfortunately).
• It's the swimwear special,  and Cleo breaks the up-front styles down into destination inspiration, which is fun: Morocco (lots of prints), Tahiti (tropical florals), Rio De Janeiro (bold block colours), Sydney (apparently we're stuck in the '90s), California (Sunset Strip-inspired prints), Amalfi Coast (bold florals) and Saint Tropez ('50s-inspired). I liked that the first main fashion is a poolside shoot featuring the gorgeous, curvy ex-Top Model star Tahnee (I even spotted some cellulite and thought take that, Photoshop-bashers!), but the following two shoots feature blonde, skinny models, which is a little bland if not disheartening.
• 'New-gen nails' jumps on to the nail art bandwagon, which I won't complain about. Love!
• The story of three young women who each got melanoma, and another two who lost loved ones to the disease, is a timely reminder to be sun smart.
• 'Meet the new superheroes' is a fun feature on kick-butt women in pop culture, and what we can learn from them.
• I groaned at the title 'The simple secret to feeling happier', but actually found the advice about not comparing yourself to others to be quite helpful.
• 'The never-ending work day' covers an issue that is probably quite prominent these days, and offers fantastic advice on leaving work at work.
• 'Why every body is a bikini body' is an awesome headline (what is a bikini body anyway?!) accompanied by a great feature about learning to feel comfortable - and even confident - while you're wearing a bikini in public. I've gotten better as I've gotten older - mainly on holidays, where I won't know anyone - but I definitely don't feel comfortable with my "bikini body" these days. Going to the beach is not so fun when you don't feel good.
• 'Resident evil' is a serious feature about child abuse which includes two case studies. It's an issue that's not often covered in women's magazines, so it's good to see it here.
• It's fab to see a feature like 'Ditch the deadline diet' in Cleo - coz we all know they never work and are so not healthy for your body or mind.
• 'Why all boobs are great' by Guy Mosel seems dubious on the surface but is actually a lovely opinion piece on not judging your own body by what others think - or what you think they think.
• I love pretty things - whether it be clothes, accessories or objects for the home - so the 'Home improvement' spread really appealed to me. And I'm pretty sure I need this teapot.
• Other features include 'Beach confidential' (Bondi lifeguard confessions); 'The Robsten effect' (Why are we so invested in celebrity relationships? Spoiler: Coz we feel like they're our friends);  'Ready to rumble' (the lives of female pro wrestlers - grrrl power!); 'The summer of safe love' (you can never have too much contraception talk); 'My family's fitness trick'; 'Get an A+ in dating' (one writer actually attends "dating" school); 'Open relationships: One couple reveals all'; 'Jump over your sex hurdles' and 'Find your new career here'.

Rating: 3.5/5