Flunked by Jen Calonita, 2015

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Would you send a villain to do a hero's job? An exciting new twisted fairy tale series from award-winning author Jen Calonita.
Full of regret, Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Flora, has founded the Fairy Tale Reform School with the mission of turning the wicked and criminally mischievous into upstanding members of Enchantasia.
Impish, sassy 12-year-old Gilly has a history of petty theft and she's not too sorry about it. When she lifts a hair clip, she gets tossed in reform school-for at least three months. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there's more to this school than its sweet mission. There's a battle brewing and she starts to wonder: can a villain really change?

(256 pages)

This book is so cool.

Honestly, that's all I really have to say about it. In yet another fairytale mashup world, this time we get to see what happens when the fairytales are over and the baddies are either reforming or on the run. Gilly's father was the one who fashioned Cinderella's classic glass slippers - which are in demand all over the kingdom - but Ella's fairy godmother rips off his designs and poofs the shoes up to sell herself. This means that the family is struggling to even stay fed, that Gilly's opinion of the royals is less than rosy, and that she has begun to steal from the obnoxiously wealthy in order to help her family get by.

Needless to say, Gilly eventually gets caught and sent to the "Fairy Tale Reform School" - so called because it's built to transform villains into heroes (or at least respectable citizens). It's a whole new world there, and Gilly finds herself hobnobbing with villains from all backgrounds and walks of life. There are trolls, fairies, mer-creatures - anything you can think of! And their crimes are as varied as their appearances. I just love that premise, don't you?

But it's not all about adjusting to cool new classes and getting along with the Snape-like Evil Queen from Sleeping Beauty (otherwise known as the school's therapy teacher). There are some big baddies out there who might just be threatening the school, and Gilly doesn't know what to do or who to trust. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but it's very engaging from start to finish. It might not be the all-time best book I've ever read, but it's definitely a great premise very well-realized and I'm excited to see how the characters and plotlines will be developed as the series continues.

If you like fairytale spin-offs, then I definitely recommend this one. It's meant for a slightly younger audience than, say, Jessica Day George's Princesses of Westfalin trilogy, but it's still a very engaging read. Definitely check it out if you get the chance - and let me know what you think!

The Key to the Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd, 2016

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Everyone in Emma's family is special. Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, brilliant scientists, and famous musicians--every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream.
For Emma, her own dream can't come soon enough. Right before her mother died, Emma promised that she'd do whatever it took to fulfill her destiny, and she doesn't want to let her mother down.
But when Emma's dream finally arrives, it points her toward an impossible task--finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town's cemetery. If Emma fails, she'll let down generations of extraordinary ancestors . . . including her own mother. But how can she find something that's been missing for centuries and might be protected by a mysterious singing ghost?
With her signature blend of lyrical writing, quirky humor, and unforgettable characters, Natalie Lloyd's The Key to Extraordinary cements her status as one of the most original voices writing for children today.

(240 pages)

This is a really great book.

And I'm surprised by that, because I was expecting a good book, not a really great one. You see, I'm one of the very few people who didn't fall completely in love with the author's debut, A Snicker of Magic. I'd seen a lot of potential in Snicker, though, so I was excited to see what she came up with once she got going.

I just didn't expect her to get going so fast. Wow oh wow, is this a good book. I can't quite put it into words, but everything just comes together in a way that is really satisfying to read. Even though on paper the basic premise of Emma's story is kind of kitschy, it never feels that way - instead it feels meaningful and emotional and real. I devoured The Key to the Extraordinary in a single sitting, and I didn't just set it aside and forget about it when I was done, either. The story and its characters have stuck in my brain in the weeks since I read it, and I find myself pausing to think about them every once in a while. I'm definitely going to re-read it in the future, too - because I really, truly will enjoy rediscovering it once I've forgotten the details that make it special.

I think what makes The Key to the Extraordinary so appealing is how deep and meaningful it is. This isn't just a fluffy book; Emma's dealing with the hole in her heart (the "Big Empty") that her mother's death left. She's also struggling with the fact that her grandmother, Blue, is considering selling their bakery because she can't afford to run it any longer, and questioning her own special purpose in the world as she awaits her very own magical Destiny Dream. Around Emma, others are struggling to deal with various things as well. My favorite of the secondary characters (though he's major enough I'd really call him a main character) is Earl, who hasn't spoken a word since he was stuck outside during a fierce tornado the year before. I just want to reach into the book and give him a big hug, and tell him everything's going to be okay.

I will footnote my endless praise of The Key to the Extraordinary with this: it's not the best book I've ever read. The ending isn't entirely believable (and no, I'm not just talking about the fantasy elements!), and the conclusion to the mystery isn't as exciting as I'd hoped it would be. It's still plenty thrilling (and very surprising!), so I'm really not complaining too loudly, but I just thought I'd throw these thoughts out there so I'm at least pretending to be presenting a balanced review. I'm not really, though, because I really really loved this book and I totally think you should go read it.

So, yeah. Go read it please. And then come back and tell me your thoughts.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See How They Run by Ally Carter, 2015

Warning: this review will have some major spoilers from the first book in the Embassy Row series, All Fall Down (click here to read my review).

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Inside every secret, there's a world of trouble. Get ready for the second book in this new series of global proportions--from master of intrigue, New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.
Grace's past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.
The twists get twistier and the turns get even more shocking in the second thrilling installment of Embassy Row.

(336 pages)

I reviewed All Fall Down pretty soon after it came out, and I really loved it. Usually I don't go in for hype, but with All Fall Down I actually agreed with all the other rave reviewers: it was a good book. A really good book. And I couldn't wait to read the sequel.

Which is why I bought a copy of See How They Run from Half-Priced Books a few days after it came out. I'm a very impatient person, and the library just wasn't quick enough for me. It was discounted, so I payed like fifteen dollars instead of twenty. Or, really, my aunt did - I used her giftcard to buy it.

Anyway, was it worth it? Um, kind of. I did enjoy See How They Run (and I was infinitely excited that it didn't travel down the campy road All Fall Down's ending hinted at), but the characters and story have lost a certain spark that was so evident in the first book. Alexei is still very sweet, but the beautiful relationship of unspoken trust and dependence that was built up in the first book has morphed into a more aggressive form of attachment that I still enjoyed pretty well but not as much as before.

A lot of other reviewers said that they got sick of how whiny Grace is throughout the book. My mom, who never reads any books reviews, had the same issue when she finished reading it. I can definitely see the basis for these complaints, because Grace spends a lot of time talking about how damaged she is and about how it's really not okay, no matter what people say. She also wanders around saying rude things to people who are trying to be polite about her condition, like "Yeah, you're treating me gently because I'm mentally unstable and killed my own mother. Just come off it and say the truth." That definitely could be annoying. But, for me, I feel like Grace's behavior is simply realistic. I'm very tired of MC's going through big traumatic events and then just shaking themselves off and continuing on like nothing happened. Grace has been through some huge trauma lately, and she shows it - and I may not always like the way she's fixated on her past or the way she interacts with the people around her, but I appreciate that she's being real.

I also love how it takes so long to figure out what the story's about, and we don't ever really know until literally the last sentence of the entire book. There's so much going on in the book I feel like some things got shortchanged (Grace sure brushes off the ancient secret society pretty quickly - I know I, for one, would have been way more interested in finding out the history behind it!), but there's a lot of room for the next book in the series to expand some of the more intriguing elements of the story.

And now for that ending. I can't say anything about it, because of massive spoilers, but I have some very mixed feelings about the big revelation at the end of the novel. On one hand, my inner girly-girl is squealing. On the other, my inner cynic is rolling its eyes big-time. I guess I'll have to wait and read the third book before I find out how I really feel about this particular development.

Until then, I guess I'll just put my two Embassy Row books up on the bookshelf and settle in for the long wait for Book Three.

The Last Boy at St. Edith's by Lee Gjertsen Malone, 2016

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Seventh grader Jeremy Miner has a girl problem. Or, more accurately, a girls problem. Four hundred and seventy-five of them. That's how many girls attend his school, St. Edith's Academy.
Jeremy is the only boy left after the school's brief experiment in coeducation. And he needs to get out. His mom won't let him transfer, so Jeremy takes matters into his own hands: He's going to get expelled.
Together with his best friend, Claudia, Jeremy unleashes a series of hilarious pranks in hopes that he'll get kicked out with minimum damage to his permanent record. But when his stunts start to backfire, Jeremy has to decide whom he's willing to knock down on his way out the door.
Written with equal parts humor and heart, Lee Gjertsen Malone's debut is all about fitting in, standing out, and finding the place where you belong.

(224 pages)

Honestly, sometimes I struggle more writing the "meh" reviews than I do with reviewing books that incite stronger reactions in me. I think it's because the very fact that they're "meh" books means a) I have a much harder time even remembering the story enough to discuss it and b) I don't have any burning reactions I'm just dying to spit out on the page.

I mean, I liked the book - sure I did. I requested it in the first place because I loved the idea of a boy being stuck as the very last male attending an all-girl school, surrounded by no one but females all day long. I thought it was a pretty cool angle, one that I'd never seen done before, and I was excited to see it put into action.

And on one hand I enjoyed the book, because it does offer what it promises: the story revolves around Jeremy's struggle to fit in at an all-boys school, and his attempts to get expelled through a series of pranks that are mainly the brainchild of his best friend Claudia. The thing that hurts the story, for me at least, is that this is pretty much it for interesting storylines. The other storylines aren't very interesting (to me at least - you might find them more to your taste), and one - with the girl Jeremy has a crush on, and a girl who announces late into the book that she has a crush on him - is honestly just sort of cringeworthy. And I don't really like the thoughtless way Jeremy treats the people around him throughout the story.

I enjoyed reading The Last Boy at St. Edith's, but at the same time I wasn't completely engrossed. I don't usually flip forward to see how many pages are left, but I caught myself doing just that in this book. And it's not because I was thinking "oh, this is such a horrible book," but just because the small void in the back of my head wasn't absorbed enough in the story to stay quiet, and so it started whispering distracting things like, "I wonder how long this book is? Let's flip forward and see!"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying The Last Boy at St. Edith's was the worst book ever or anything like that. It's got a cool premise, and I bet there are a lot of people out there who would absolutely love it. I'm just not one of those people, and while I did enjoy reading it - I swear I did! I'm sorry if this review is too negative! - I instantly forgot it when I put the book down. And I may come back and read it again in the future, if I'm bored and I see it sitting on a shelf, but I'm not so in love with it that I am purposefully planning to return to it someday; in fact, with all the amazing books out there just waiting to be discovered, I doubt I'll ever wind up reading this one again.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Last Boy at St. Edith's by Lee Gjertsen Malone (Feb 16)

Okay, so for those of you who are new to this meme, here's how it works:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My current read is The Last Boy at St. Edith's by Lee Gjertsen Malone.

Seventh grader Jeremy Miner has a girl problem. Or, more accurately, a girls problem. Four hundred and seventy-five of them. That's how many girls attend his school, St. Edith's Academy.
Jeremy is the only boy left after the school's brief experiment in coeducation. And he needs to get out. His mom won't let him transfer, so Jeremy takes matters into his own hands: He's going to get expelled.
Together with his best friend, Claudia, Jeremy unleashes a series of hilarious pranks in hopes that he'll get kicked out with minimum damage to his permanent record. But when his stunts start to backfire, Jeremy has to decide whom he's willing to knock down on his way out the door.
Written with equal parts humor and heart, Lee Gjertsen Malone's debut is all about fitting in, standing out, and finding the place where you belong.

Here's this week's teaser, from page 1:

It was the third day of the ninth week of school when Jeremy Miner decided to get kicked out of seventh's grade.

Let me know what you think of the book, and check back on Friday for my review!