Review of Hooked by Liz Fichera

Title: Hooked (Hooked, #1)
Author: Liz Fichera
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 368
Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Format: ebook
Rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  Get Hooked on a Girl Named Fred...

HE said: Fred Oday is a girl? Puh-leeze. Why is a girl taking my best friend’s spot on the boys’ varsity golf team?

SHE said: Can I seriously do this? Can I join the boys’ team? Everyone will hate me—especially Ryan Berenger.

HE said: Coach expects me to partner with Fred on the green? That is crazy bad. Fred’s got to go—especially now that I can’t get her out of my head. So not happening.

SHE said: Ryan can be nice, when he’s not being a jerk. Like the time he carried my golf bag. But the girl from the rez and the spoiled rich boy from the suburbs? So not happening.

But there’s no denying that things are happening as the girl with the killer swing takes on the boy with the killer smile....

Liz Fichera doesn't hold anything back in her debut novel Hooked.  While the story focuses on Fred, the first girl on the guys varsity team, there are many underlying issues at work.  Some of them include: racism, alcohol abuse, stereotyping, physical abuse, infidelity, gender inequality and socio-economic status.  This may seem like a lot to handle, but it was presented really well in the story. 

Fred, a Native American girl golfer, joins the varsity team only to cause an uproar.  The guys are not only upset that there is a girl on their team, but that she is better than all of them.  While I wasn't a fan of a lot of the characters I thought most were true to what you'd expect.  I'm not saying I agree with many of their actions, but I felt like Liz Fichera portrayed each character in a manner that suited them and their behaviors.  While we really got to know both Fred and Ryan and their home lives, we only got glimpses of the other's lives.  These supporting characters felt a little flat to me since I didn't know much about them.  Fred on the other hand, I did like but at times I thought she was a bit naive.  She was a tough girl, who has led a rough live and so that aspect of her character didn't fit for me.

The story started off really well, as I love the thought of gender - equality, and if I'm being completely truthful the thought of not only a women, but a minority women showing up all these rich snobby white boys had me cheering Fred on and hoping she would succeed.  Soon though, things started to get twisted up and I felt like there were too many communication errors and other situations that it felt jumbled and like we were hoping from one scenario to the next.  It just happened to be too much drama for me.

While this book wasn't a hole-in-one (sorry I couldn't help it), I still enjoyed it and will most likely read the next book in the series. 

Review of The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten, #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 400
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Format: ARC ebook
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Low and behold, just when I thought The Iron Fey series had come to its end, Julie Kagawa surprises us with a spinoff series. While I didn't love The Iron Fey series, I did enjoy it and Julie Kagawa writes the most amazing world in the Nevernever that I've come across in a while. So did The Lost Prince live up to its predecessors?

I think it surpassed it, and mostly due to Ethan. What is not to love about this brooding, bad boy with a chip on his shoulder? Having been traumatized by the Fey kidnapping him when he was a young boy, stealing his sister away and finally them continuously haunting him, he's had enough and is finally going to do something about it. While Ethan comes across as the bad boy, he can't help but stand up not only for others, but also for what is right. He is truly a good soul who's had to harden his exterior to get by. So when Kenzie gets threated by the Fey he knows he has to protect her.

Kenzie is the type of character that grows on you. At first she is just there, but soon her strength and determination steal their way into your mind and water that seed that has been planted. While I figured out her secret way before it was revealed I still wish we could have seen into her life and personality a bit more. Hopefully she will be more of a focus in the next book.

While the characters were enjoyable, the world and creativity that Julie Kagawa paints is beyond compare. She's taken a small piece of The Iron Fey series and built not only a captivating story-line, but also one that is quite complex and gets you questioning what you believe. The depth and emotion she puts into this story seeps through the pages and into your mind.

If you enjoyed The Iron Fey series, or even if you didn't, I suggest you try The Lost Prince. Ethan and his gang of misfits just may be the spark you needed.

Review of Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Title: Speechless
Author: Hannah Harrington
Published by: HarlequinTeen
Pages: 268
Source: HarlequinTeen/NetGalley
Format: ARC ebook
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.

Hannah Harrington does it again.  This author knows how to capture an audience and turn a simple topic into an powerful story.

Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea...this chicka doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.  It's all fun and games until she lets out two secrets that leads one boy to a coma and another two in prison.  She goes from being the popular girl that people love to hate to literally being hated by many many people.  She is ostracized and decides to take a vow of silence to learn the power that words hold.  Chelsea is a good person that I think has been led astray by the lure of popularity.  At times, I wasn't sure what to think of her and I was often surprised (both good and bad) at some of her thoughts and actions.  I think as crazy as the vow of silence was, it was something she needed.

Besides Chelsea there is a delightful group a characters that work at Rosie's, small town diner.  They are each unique and a bit of social outcasts, but they are truly fabulous people and friends.  Asha is one of the nicest and most thoughtful characters I have encountered.  Sam is just genuinely a good guy and he will easily find a place in your heart.  These supporting characters are some of the best I've read in a while.  They are complex, rich, and make the novel that much better.   

This is not only a great read, but Speechless also has some powerful messages.  How often do we not realize how much our words can hurt others?  Or how powerful forgiveness can be?  Only after I was finished reading this novel did I realize the impact it had.  Sometimes doing the right thing is not easy and, in fact, may be hurtful and scaring, but it's still the right thing to do.  I hope this book's lessons stick with me for a while and make me think twice before I speak. 

Q&A with Katie McGarry Author of 2012 Debut Novel Pushing the Limits and Giveaway!

Q&A With Katie McGarry

Q: What was your inspiration for writing Pushing the Limits?

A: I had two main inspirations: One, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to write a story in which my characters felt strong enough to leave their pasts behind and create new futures for themselves. The first scene I ever saw in my mind was Echo and Noah leaving town after graduation. Two, I wanted to write two characters who were facing over- whelming issues and who, through battling these issues, found hope at the end of their journey.

 

Q: How did you come up with Echo’s name?

A: Echo went through several name changes as I wrote the man- uscript. For a while, she had a very normal name, but it always felt off. It wasn’t until I looked at Echo from her mother’s point of view that I found her name. Echo’s mother loved Greek my- thology so it made perfect sense that she would name her chil- dren after the myths. I read several Greek myths and the mo- ment I found Echo’s, I fell in love. Echo, to me, was the girl who lost her voice. Thankfully, she finds it by the end.

 

Q: Which character is the most “like” you?

A: All of them. I gave each character a piece of me (though some have larger slices of me than others). Overall, I’d say I’m a strange combination of Echo, Lila and Beth. Echo has my need to please, Lila has my unfailing loyalty to my friends and Beth encompasses my insecurities.

 

Q: Did you experience friendships with Grace types when you were in high school?

A: Yes. And the more people have read this story, the more this question comes up. Grace has struck a stronger nerve in people than I ever would have imagined. It seems most of us have un- fortunately experienced a relationship where a person wants to “like” you and wants “be your friend,” but only if it serves their needs. In case anyone is wondering, that isn’t friendship.

Q: Are there any parts of the story you feel particularly close to?

A: Yes. The relationship between Noah, Isaiah and Beth. Beyond my parents and sister, my nearest family members were over fourteen hours away. My friends became my family. The peopleI grew up with were more than people I watched movies with or talked to occasionally on the phone. These were people with whom I shared life’s most devastating moments, but also my hardest laughs. These were people who I would have willing- ly died for and I know they would have done the same for me. They shared my triumphs with smiles on their faces and con- gratulatory hugs. They held me when I cried and offered to beat up whoever hurt my feelings. These were also the same people who were more than happy to get in my face if they thought I was making a wrong decision.

 

Q: Did anything that happens to Echo happen to you?

A: Sort of. I was bitten by a dog when I was in second grade and repressed the memory. It felt very strange to have no memory of an incident that other people knew about. It was even strang- er to have injuries and not have an inkling where they came from. In college, I finally remembered the incident when a dog lunged at me. I relived the horrible event and sort of “woke up” a few minutes later to find myself surrounded by people I loved. Even though I “remember” the incident, I still don’t remember the whole thing. I only see still frames in my mind and there is no blood in any of the memories.

 

About author Katie McGarry

 

 Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and she remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings and reality television, and is a   secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

 

Writing has given Katie an excuse to pursue her passions. Research for her books has provided her with the amazing opportunity to train with baseball players, ride along in a drag car at ninety-six miles per hour  and experience boxing and mixed martial arts. Katie loves to visit schools and talk to teenagers about her research, writing and the truth that no dream is out of reach.

Check out my review of Pushing the Limits here!

 

Giveaway Rules:

The contest runs until Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 11:59pm (CST)

You must be 13 years of age or older to enter

This contest is open to participants both from the US and Canada

Once the email is sent to the winner they will have three days to respond or a new winner will be chosen

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Review of Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Title: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that  horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. Echo and Noah couldn’t be more different, but they find themselves united by a common goal: to sneak into their court-  ordered social worker’s case files in order to learn the truth about themselves and their families. What they didn’t count on is falling in love -- and now Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

I crave a good love story.  The heat, the passion, the drama...I live for it.  Katie McGarry's debut novel, Pushing the Limits, satisfied that need and more. 

Echo and Noah are an unexpected, yet deliciously scandalous and completely right couple.  They are opposites on the outside, but share so much pain on the inside.  I loved how unique these characters were.  They were not your typical "popular cheerleader and sexy bad boy" couple, instead they had depth and an array of problems that haven't really been touched on much in the YA world.  They were refreshing and while at times you felt sorry for them, or wanted to strangle them, by the end you will admire their strength and who they've become. 

As crazy as it sounds, I absolutely loved exploring the traumatic experiences that plagued Echo and Noah.  Looking into their therapy with Mrs. Collins and how each of them dealt with their situations and waring emotions was fascinating.  I have no experience with their issues and it was interesting to see different techniques that their counselor used.  I liked how unconventional Mrs. Collins seemed and how she seemed to really care about Echo and Noah, not just with overcoming their issues, but also about them and their everyday lives. 

The writing was good, but at times seemed a little disconnected.  However, I loved the alternating points of view between Echo and Noah.  I loved seeing both sides of their times together and also how each person dealt with their circumstances.  They are intriguing people and getting a look into both of their thoughts added immensely to the story.   

Overall this was a great book that I really enjoyed!