Audrey, Wait!: Review

Title: Audrey, Wait!
Author: Robin Benway
Release Date: April 2008
Published By: Razorbill
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.87 stars

Review: When Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, he writes, “Audrey, Wait!” - a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous! Now rabid fans are invading her school, the lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse, and the Internet is documenting her every move. Audrey can't hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi. But soon she has to confront her ex on MTV - and show the world who she really is.

AUDREY, WAIT! is exactly what it sounds: an awesome, fun read that doesn't stop the momentum from start to finish. Although there were plenty of emotions to go along with the ride, the story was peppered with hilarious incidents and moments of laughter, and all this was helped considerably by the fact that the narrator had the perfect voice for a novel like this. Audrey is smart and funny, with just the right amount of dryness in her narration to keep the pace going.

However, this book wasn't all laughs and games, as there was some good old-fashioned drama to shake things up. It wasn't just pointless, for-the-entertainment drama, though; Audrey underwent real struggles in coming to terms with her relationship with Evan and what it meant. I found this aspect of the book to be sweet and emotional without straying too far from the lines of reality. Nothing here made me cringe, which is, of course, always a plus.

While I enjoyed the book overall and didn't have too many quibbles with it, one part that bugged me throughout the entire novel was that of the realism behind the plot concept. I just couldn't believe that merely being the subject of a pop sing hit would make her so overwhelmingly famous. I would expect that from the writer of the song, not the girl whose name is in it. 

All in all, AUDREY, WAIT! was just what you would want in a pick-me-up book. It's light but has a lot of heart, and is sure to bring a smile to your face no matter what kind of day you've had. There is one particular aspect that does not feel very realistic, but apart from that, the characters and romance are all believable, not to mention the very authentic and funny voice behind the story. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a light and fun read.
 

Genres: Likes and Dislikes

I know the idea of genres has always been somewhat controversial because of the difficulty in pinning a book into a pigeonhole of a classification, but I do think genres are necessary to at least give broad approximations of what a given book is about. Without them, it would be difficult to quickly describe a certain novel or even to organize books in something like a library or in an online catalogue.

Despite this obvious usefulness, I still feel that the existence of genres can sometimes be a bad thing, and this arises primarily from stereotyping. This happens at one point or another to most people, and for me it happened with science fiction. I found that I just, in general, do not like "traditional" science fiction, and so for the most part I have avoided such books, sticking mainly to sci-fi like Malinda Lo's "Adaptation" instead of, say, something by Asimov.

Recently, however, I was persuaded to read Ender's Game, which had many of the elements of "traditional" science fiction - spaceships, aliens, a nearly all-male cast, a future society, and so forth. Yet despite this, I found myself enjoying the book a great deal. Because I had stereotyped the genre of science fiction to be something dull with little character development, I prevented myself from trying other works that I also might potentially enjoy.

So, what do you think about the existence of genres? Are there any genres you try to avoid?

Waiting on Wednesday (76)

This week, I'm waiting on...

Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard. Here's what Goodreads has to say: Fifteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson had never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered seventeen people more than twenty years ago. But Jeff’s life changes forever when the man he’d thought was his father hands him a government file telling him he was constructed in a laboratory only seven years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called ‘Project CAIN’.

There, he was created entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer’s DNA. There are others like Jeff—those genetically engineered directly from the most notorious murderers of all time: The Son of Sam, The Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy . . . even other Jeffrey Dahmer clones. Some raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the men they were created from.

When the most dangerous boys are set free by the geneticist who created them, the summer of killing begins. Worse, these same teens now hold a secret weapon even more dangerous than the terrible evil they carry within. Only Jeff can help track the clones down before it’s too late. But will he catch the ‘monsters’ before becoming one himself?

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Every Day: Review

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Release Date: August 2012
Published By: Knopf
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 4.04 stars

Review: Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

I didn't expect any less from David Levithan, but EVERY DAY was an excellent book with an intriguing and inventive concept behind it. The idea of waking up every day in a different body is fascinating, and even more interesting are the questions that come with it, which Levithan explored to some extent. For instance, questions about identity and sexuality are raised, and what it means to be "you" when you're a different "you" every day.

I did, however, want more of an exploration of these topics, or at least more of an explanation. To be honest, I don't really buy the idea that A would be able to form as much of an approximation of a personality as he did (for sake of ease, I will refer to A as male even though his gender is much more fluid than that). I feel like someone who lives like that wouldn't be self-aware, or at least not as much as a normal person is, and because of that, I really wanted a more satisfying explanation for why he was able to be who he was.

This is not to say I didn't enjoy the book, because I very much did. And in fact, I particularly liked the ending, and felt that given the circumstances, it was a pretty satisfying conclusion. I know there are some people who definitely were not fans of it, but I think it's the only one that would've made sense. Any other ending would just be plain unrealistic, and would taste more off than this one.

All in all, EVERY DAY was an excellent novel - one that I would recommend every day (excuse the pun). From the intriguing exploration of difficult topics to unique and original concept, almost every part of this book was crafted with the kind of skill I've learned to expect from this author. I did wish for more of an explanation/discussion on certain aspects, but other than that, this was a near-flawless book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.