Book Review: A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

Goodreads | Amazon

Series: No

Release date: August 2nd 2016

Rating: I don't like her

“Obviously, I didn’t know the couple’s names or anything about them, so I made up my own names and gave them backstories.”

Source

Yup.  Basically, this is what I spend my life doing.  Does anyone else over fixate when they run into sentences like this?  Small personality quirks of your own that you find in books. 

Onto actual things about the book:

Ellison Sparks is a sixteen year old high school junior who is not having a good day.  And getting to the end of the day was just the start of the story. 

I am not sure how I feel about Ellison.  There were lines (starting with the opening line) that were incredibly relatable.  I also liked that there was some character development.  The Ellison and the start of the book grows and learns.  But I felt as if I wanted her to be more.  I think that it came down to a case of the author telling and not showing.  “I feel angry and confused.” As opposed to showing us how Ellison was angry and confused. 

One theme that was explored was the idea of changing yourself to fix the expectations of the people around you.  I think that if you aren’t really sure of who you are and what you want yet it is really easy to just become who other people think you are.  Week of Mondays shows how who other people think of you impacts your own view of your identity.  It also explores what happens after you become aware of this. 

There are, of course, obvious parallels to Before I Fall but A Week of Mondays is much lighter and less “important” for lack of a better word.  Ellison is much less internal and angst ridden than Sam.  It made for a quick read but I am not sure that it will stick with me in any way.  If you were going to choose between the two Before I Fall is a far superior book.

The romance in the book is cute if pretty predictable.  I think that that part of the book was overlooked a bit with all the plot points that had to be tied up every “day”.

Final verdict: Cute, readable, but nothing earth shattering.

Book Review: The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin

The Year We Fell Apart  by Emily Martin

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Series: no
Release date: January 26th 2016
Rating: Coulda been better

This book wasn't as good as it could have been.  It is the story of seventeen year old Harper set in the summer between her junior and senior years of high school.  She has been engaging in some destructive behavior (I am basing this on the fact that she feels frantic, out of control, and unhappy with her choices) since she broke up with her boyfriend last year after he moved away.  Enter Declan, the ex boyfriend, into her life again and the plot is set for many a terrible choice and misunderstanding.

One of the problems that I had while reading was the lack of intimacy.  The book is set up as a girl's intensely personal journey through destructive behavior and towards self forgiveness.  Which I am all for.  However, the reader never really gets close enough to Harper. I just finished the book and I don't really have a mental picture of Harper aside from being tall and not as thin as she used to be.  I never really understood how she thinks, why she feels the way she feels, and what her motivations for acting out are.  It seemed to be self perpetuating, "I am bad because I drink and make out with guys so I am going to drink and make out with guys." If a character is engaging in destructive behavior I need to know what is driving her.  I should ache for her to make the "right" choices, the healthy, safe choices while completely understanding why she doesn't. This also would have made the theme of self forgiveness more powerful.  

Unfortunaely this book was rife with slutshaming.  Yes, it is about a girl in high school and yes she does make out with some guys so I was expecting some towards Harper. I was disappointed that Harper herself often mentally slutshames her friend Sadie and even her other friends.  There is also a scene where she talks about being a virgin that made me uncomfortable.  It was as if the author was saying that if Harper had actually slept with all the guys that she made out with then she would be unforgivable.   It also pissed me off that the whole school and her parents were completely comfortable putting all the blame on her.  Why is it still okay for guys to sleep around and make stupid choices but not for  girls?  Why is having a "reputation" still a thing?  If the book had explored the unfairness of this or how it impacted Harper's life I would have been much more satisfied with it.

I did appreciate that Harper had strong friendships and family relationships.  It was one of the more interesting aspects of her character.  She would get into a situation and need help and know that she had people to call on to come and get her and then actually would call them.  

This wasn't a terrible book.  There was some decent writing and some of it was adorable. It just could have been much better.

Book Review: Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

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Series: no

Release date: October 1st 2008

Rating: my students were right

"Now, in five hours, barring the end of the world, the moon will obliterate the sun. On the one hand I am so excited I can barely think straight. On the other, the eclipse means that everything will start happening really quickly."

I teach seventh grade and during lunch on Wednesdays I run a Middle School Book Club, which may be the most awesome activity ever.  Two of the girls in the group relentlessly mentioned this book every week.  "Have you read it yet? Have you read it yet?  Have you read it yet?" It took me awhile to get to but I finally did read it. There is something exciting about seeing books resonate with the age group with which it is intended so I had pretty high expectations for this book which for the most part it lived up to.

It is the story, told in three alternate voices, of three middle school students whose lives intersect with a solar eclipse. The main characters Ally, Bree, and Jack all have clear and separate voices.  This is important to me because I find almost nothing more annoying then losing track of who is narrating because the author doesn't vary the voice.  The character also acted age appropriately. 

"I am not plain or average or -god forbid- vanilla.  I am peanut butter rocky road with multicolored sprinkles, hot fudge, and a cherry on top. Not that I would ever eat such a thing, because it would go right to my thighs."

Let's take a moment to talk about Bree.  I found her to be the most challenging character to care about and root for.  She is "that girl" in middle school and high school who has embraced and been entrapped by the ideals of popularity and the social norms that we hold ourself to at that age.  It is a realistic depiction but honestly making someone who is shallow (and proud of it) sympathetic is difficult.  I felt as if I was holding myself back from the character almost the whole time that I was reading. 

The science aspect of the story seemed well researched (not my area of expertise but there is a bibliography at the end of the book so sources are cited) but was not at all heavy handed. 

"My heart is pounding so fast I bet everyone can hear it, even over the din of voices. There's not sign of the approaching moon in the bright sky. An eclipse can only happen when the moon is in the new moon phase, when we can't see the sun reflecting off of it. So it's like looking for something invisible."

I really appreciated the nuanced examination of what we can change about ourselves and our life situations and what we should we should accept.  Pretty big themes for middle schoolers and yet Wendy Mass managed make the point delicately without being preachy or losing the fun.

All in all I found this book sweet, satisfying, and compulsively readable (read it in one sitting). And I love the last lines of the book.