White Space by Ilsa J. Bick Review

White Space (Dark Passages #1), by Ilsa J. Bick
Published On: February 11, 2014, by Egmont USA
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy, Contemporary
Pages: 560
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

Seventeen-year-old Emma Lindsay has problems: a head full of metal, no parents, a crazy artist for a guardian whom a stroke has turned into a vegetable, and all those times when she blinks away, dropping into other lives so ghostly and surreal it's as if the story of her life bleeds into theirs. But one thing Emma has never doubted is that she's real.
Then she writes "White Space," a story about these kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard.
Unfortunately, "White Space" turns out to be a dead ringer for part of an unfinished novel by a long-dead writer. The manuscript, which she's never seen, is a loopy Matrix meets Inkheart story in which characters fall out of different books and jump off the page. Thing is, when Emma blinks, she might be doing the same and, before long, she's dropped into the very story she thought she'd written. Trapped in a weird, snow-choked valley, Emma meets other kids with dark secrets and strange abilities: Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie. What they discover is that they--and Emma--may be nothing more than characters written into being from an alternative universe for a very specific purpose.
Now what they must uncover is why they've been brought to this place--a world between the lines where parallel realities are created and destroyed and nightmares are written--before someone pens their end.

    Ilsa J. Bick is one of the authors that is so raved about that I knew that I am going to have to begin reading a book of hers sooner or later. When I spotted this in the bookstore a few weeks after it was released, I knew that I had to read it. Sadly, I DNFed it at 107 pages and I don't regret it at all.

"Something has bled into this world, all right. Something is storming after them. Something is running them down. Not an aurora. Not clouds. What is coming for them is the fog."

     So for once, I'm not the black sheep in this situation. Most of the times, I actually am and it frustrates me because I can basically agree with my own opinion and that's about it. For this book, I've read so many negative and DNF reviews before reading, and I kind of expected it even though I still wanted to give it a try. So I did—and it was okay for like two chapters, and then I just let go of happiness.

       You see, the thing is I feel confused and mentally abused. I didn't even really understand the plot and the formation of POVs or anything of that sort. All I did catch to understand was that there's a Mirror and something happened that got Lizzie and Emma's dad nuts and no one believes him so the family moves to a remote place far away from London. That's just about it. When the author introduced a new character, the event was never memorable and I didn't seem to even know who was who or who was telling the story at the time since it was confusing. And whenever I'm reading a POV in a book, I always feel like I need a sense of direction of who's reading. This was a total The 5th Wave situation again. 

       Why waste my time being confused by reading an almost 600-paged book? That's horror of readers. Lately I've been finding that I've been DNF-ing a lot of books, and that kind of frightens me for the future of YA.

          "People are always dying for him to hurry up and write the next book already. They love that feeling of being lost somewhere and somewhen else. Sometimes Lizzie doesn't want to pull herself out of a book-world at all, just like kids who pretend to be superheroes and run around in costumes."

         Probably the only thing that was positive in this book was the actual writing. No, I don't mean the plot or characters, but the actual words. We can all tell that Bick is very talented at it, but doesn't do a really good job at actually capturing the reader's attention greatly.

          You see, if the book wasn't as confusing or improbable, then maybe I would've enjoyed the plot and actual story. But since that was out of the story, why just keep on going to read some random mumbo-jumbo that doesn't mean anything to you? Aren't words supposed to mean something and possibly inspire you? So, the plot was out of the question. Don't even ask about my experience, because I'm as frustrated as a scared cat.

               I probably had to like Lizzie better than Emma, but I think Emma was telling the story more often? I'm actually not even sure of what was happening more than half of the time, haha. If you're like me and get easily confused with POVs then I'd suggest to run away as fast as you can. This book wasn't even worth a dollar. I wouldn't even take it if someone gave it to me for free, honestly.

       As most books that I DNF, this had a total potential to become something great. In ways, this definitely reminded me of Afterworlds, by Scott Westerfield with the whole book aspect. Don't you just love it when authors write about characters who actually write books themselves? Of course I do, but this was a blur. I can't seem to barely get anything out of it. Not recommended—stay away and trust the reviews.

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay DNF Review

Fan Art, by Sarah Tregay

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, LGBTQ, Contemporary

Rating: 1/5 stars

Publication: June 17, 2014, by Katherine Tegen Books

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)

When the picture tells the story… As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.

DNF @ 50 pages

    WHAT HAPPENED? I expected great things about this book... but then at the same time, I expected bad things as well. There were mixed reviews all around, but I am so sad to have uncompleted it.

     What was I supposed to do or say? For the 50 pages that I read, I found that nothing was happening and it was a no-plot story. It had the potential to become a favourite, I could see it like that, but it ended up totally boring and unimposing.

      Fan Art was diverse. That was probably the only great and positive thing this book had. The rest of the time I was yawning and reminding my eyes to keep themselves open. And for 50 pages? Who would've thought that they'd get that bored so easily? 

       What I did recognize that this book was about was that Jamie Peterson is going crazy, wondering who he'll take to prom. Everyone supposedly has a date except for him, and that drives him bonkers. He has fallen in love with his best friend, Mason. 

         And stuff happens afterwards which drives everyone around Jamie crazy but no one knows that he likes Mason except him and himself... and some giggling chicks in his art class. At least that was supposed to happen... But I didn't get to that part because I decided to not give this book a chance.

          So for those of you who did love this book, I'm totally sorry. *says sarcastically* Okay, I'm #sorrynotsorry. There are a ton of people, who no offense, have began a book and DNF-ed it at ten pages. So you should cut me some slack here and feel bad for me instead. This book has now depressed me because it ended up pretty bad in my opinion.

           I didn't like Jamie, I didn't like Mason, I didn't like the story or the writing. What else was there to enjoy? Nothing, I tell you. The feelings that I got after putting this book down was that feeling when you don't see a speck of snow on the ground on Christmas. Non-white Christmases suck, at least for those of us who have witnessed snow in one way or another.

           There was no happiness for me when reading this book. I sat on the couch with a monotone and poker face until I let it go. And then I grinned like a maniac because I was just so happy it was over. *cries inside* It does make me sad that I didn't find any sort of enjoyment when reading this, except for the fact that the romance could've possibly taken a stand if the chance came, but I let it go. No guilt, no regrets, just sadness is what's left of me after I put this down. 

            I honestly don't even know if I should recommend this book to you or not. In some ways, it's totally worth it if you're not even looking for a good story but just some humour and diversity mixed together. But if you're in for a serious read, I'd run away and hide yourself on top of the tallest building in the world if I were you. Good luck!

Tsarina, by J. Nelle Patrick

Tsarina, by J. Nelle Patrick

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical-Fiction, Romance, Adventure

Rating: 2/5 stars

Publication: February 27, 2014, by Razorbill

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)




Goodreads Summary: Natalya knows a secret. A magical Faberge egg glows within the walls of Russia's Winter Palace. It holds a power rooted in the land and stolen from the mystics. A power that promises a life of love for her and Alexei Romanov. Power, that, in the right hands, can save her way of life. But it's not in the right hands.

Review:

"Saint Petersburg was a city of illusions. There were the little ones, the sorts of illusions that most people would simply call lies: The couples dressed in finery, invited into fancy shops only to quietly slip jewellery and silver spoons into their pockets."

   As you may have known, I hate historical fiction. There were only a few rare times where I actually did enjoy a book that fell under that genre, and the only one that I can think of is A Mad Wicked Folly. Darn, I ADORED THAT BOOK. *giggles* What I do have to say about Tsarina is that it did show a bright point of view of a dark period in Russia, a period where the Romanovs did live in. This was a book that mixed with fiction and fantasy, and it basically circled around the idea of a magical egg.

   

        Yeah, a magical egg. Now although that totally sounds majonkers, it kind of made sense at the right time. The fantasy aspect of this whole book made sense and worked out well. What I had a problem with is how the author captivated us with the concept. What was the real point of this book? I don't know. But what definitely makes sense in this situation is that there's a mystery and the egg is captured which holds romance and love for Natalya and Alexei for the rest of their lives.

         What next? Not much. This was a story with about 300 pages that just revolved around that egg. Now I guess I understand why so many people enjoyed it and gave it 5 star ratings, But I knew it from the beginning that I wouldn't fall for this massacre. I skimmed through the ending because I just had enough of this sadness after 2 hours.

            The perks and the positives that this book had was that the characters seemed real and for once, their love had passion and was bittersweet. Alexei was absolutely adorable, as he was in other books I read that dealt with his family, and Natalya was kick-ass and they suited each other perfectly. The whole book itself was posh and smart, at times.

             "But mostly I was jealous of how easy it was for you and Alexei. It was like you didn't even mean to be in love, you just were. I grew taller, my hair grew longer, my French grew better—well, a little better, anyhow—and you and Alexei grew more and more in love."

            Aw. Instalove? Does that even exist in Russia? xD

            The rest of the book went downhill, fast, and I lost contact with its excellence that it somehow got going. I really don't know why I kept going with this book, especially since I really got annoyed by the end. It probably was because of the gorgeous setting of Russia. *sings Moscow in head*

Somebody Up There Hates You, by Hollis Seamon

Somebody Up There Hates You, by Hollis Seamon

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Death

Rating: 0.5/5 stars

Publication: September 3, 2013, by Algonquin Young Readers

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)


Goodreads Summary: Chemo, radiation, a zillion surgeries, watching my mom age twenty years in twenty months: if that’s part of the Big Dude’s plan, then it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Somebody Up There Hates You.

SUTHY has landed me here in this hospice, where we—that’s me and Sylvie—are the only people under 30 in the whole place, sweartogod. But I’m not dead yet. I still need to keep things interesting. Sylvie, too. I mean, we’re kids, hospice-hostages or not. We freak out visitors; I get my uncle to sneak me out for one insane Halloween night. Stuff like that. And Sylvie wants to make things even more interesting. That girl’s got big plans.

Only Sylvie’s father is so nuclear-blasted by what’s happened to his little girl, he glows orange, I swear. That’s one scary man, and he’s not real fond of me. So we got a major family feud going on, right here in hospice. DO NOT CROSS line running down the middle of the hall, me on one side, her on the other. It’s crazy.

In the middle of all of this, really, there’s just me and Sylvie, a guy and a girl. And we want to live, in our way, by our own rules, in whatever time we’ve got. We will pack in some living before we go, trust me.

Review:

  DNF @ 80 pages.

This was probably one of the worst books I've ever read. No doubt about it. 

   I hated it. "The new The Fault in Our Stars?" Haha, yeah right. This is a childish book with no sense of anything that makes you want to bawl because it was so bad. That's what the book really was fully. 

    I saw this book as fantasy, especially because of the writing. I understand that it wasn't, but the writing was so bad that it made everything seem like a joke and a dream. This was about Richie and Sylvie, who are both dying of cancer. (Wow! There's a TFIOS comparison!) They're basically just living their lives until they die, and that's it.

    ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... That's how I was left from beginning to end.

    I didn't see any point in this book. The writing was hideous, the characters were horrible, and the plot was all over the place. I'd seriously give this book a 0 star rating if I could. It's perhaps the worst book I've ever read. 

    I don't feel like giving a rant here, so I'm going to do a tiny recap, and then end this with a huge blow to a horn.

    I disliked this at page 15. The writing was slow and messed up, and everything was slow-paced and scattered. I think that this book and its premise just wasn't for me. I felt like everything was disorganized and messed up. The idea of death was so wanted and looked forward for! 

    Richie and Sylvie were so... bland. I didn't like them from the start, and if I kept on going, I guess my hate for them would increase even more.

     Overall, I don't recommend this book at all. #SorryNotSorry