Expectations vs. Reality: Foreign Identity

Expectations vs. Reality is a feature here inspired by Small Review that will compare my expectations from a book cover before seeing the summary with the summary itself.

This week, I'm looking at Foreign Identity by Becca Campbell. 

EXPECTATIONS

   
This cover is obviously that of some sort of horror novel, from the blood-like font on the canvas to the ghostly hand reaching out, not to mention the creepy feel of the forest in the background. The canvas makes me feel like this is about an artist with a second, murderous personality who perhaps sometimes takes over while painting. This would also certainly explain the title.

REALITY

  

From Goodreads:

Cold. Confusion. Fear. This is how it all begins.

Waking up without your memory in a cell and bound by chains is terrifying.

Two nameless strangers, a man and a woman, find themselves imprisoned together. With no memories of their own identities, let alone their captor and tormentor, escape is the only option. The pair faces a bizarre labyrinth of rooms and clues that confuse more than they explain. Every discovery only brings more questions.

Who captured them? Why were they taken? What does their captor want from them? What can the riddles mean?

Who are they?

Lacking allies and options, the duo must learn to trust one another. Mazes, puzzles, and even strange, lurking creatures force them to rely on their wits--and each other--for survival. But survival isn’t enough. They need answers.

Will the answers be enough? Will the truth bring them closer together, or drive them forever apart? Will discovering their identities finally bring them home?

Well, it looks like I wasn't that close after all. But can I just say that this summary sounds AWESOME?

What were your expectations when you saw the cover? What do you think of the actual summary?

Empty: Review

Title: Empty

Author: Suzanne Weyn

Release Date: October 2010

Published By: Scholastic

Pages: 192

Goodreads Rating: 3.14 stars

Review: It's the near future - the very near future - and fossil fuels are running out. No driving. No heat. Supermarkets and malls are empty. No one ever expected the end to come so quickly, and in the small town of Spring Valley, decisions that were once easy are now life-and-death. There is hope, but only at the price of sacrifices that would force society to rethink itself.

EMPTY brought a frighteningly realistic concept to life in novel form and painted an apocalyptic future in a time not far at all from our present day. This concept itself was interesting to read about, but I felt that by and large, the apocalyptic elements didn't really stand out from other books in the genre. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I did enjoy reading it, but it just wasn't as unique as it could have been.

I also felt that at certain parts of the novel, the story diverged into something a bit too preachy. Perhaps this was just my perception and other readers might feel differently, but the story itself told enough about the dangers of relying too much on fossil fuels. Certain bits of dialogue felt like they were just woodenly expounding on this fact rather than directly contributing to the story.

However, I did find that the characters were well-written and developed nicely. Rather than being flat, each of Tom, Gwen, and Nicki had their own distinct personalities and although they were quite likeable, they still had realistic flaws. Nicki was difficult to relate to at first, but over time, I became more and more sympathetic towards her.

All in all, EMPTY brings an intriguing concept to life, complete with interesting, three-dimensional characters. Unfortunately, this book isn't particularly memorable and doesn't stand out too much among dystopian books, and also sometimes bordered on preachy. I would still recommend this to anyone who really enjoys apocalyptic novels.

Waiting on Wednesday (on Thursday)

This... er... Thursday, I'm waiting on:

Stung by Bethany Wiggins.

Government attempts to save endangered bees by genetic modification causes their sting to induce deadly, flu-like symptoms in humans. A vaccine created in response changes children into ferocious, killer beasts. The uninfected have built a wall to keep the beasts out, and a girl has awakened on the wrong side.

How cool does this sound, not to mention the awesome cover? What do you think of this book? What were you waiting on this Wednesday?

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares: Review

Title: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Author: David Levithan, Rachel Cohn

Release Date: October 2010

Published By: Knopf Books

Pages: 260

Goodreads Rating: 3.93 stars

Review: Lily has left a red notebook on the shelves of a bookstore in New York City, just waiting for the right guy to come along and follow the clues inside. As Dash and Lily exchange dares, dreams, and desires in the pages of the notebook from various locations in the city, they start to wonder. Could they connect as well in-person as they do in the notebook? Or will they be a cosmic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

As you can tell just from reading the summary, the concept of DASH AND LILY'S BOOK OF DARES is adorable. Not to mention that, hello, David Levithan and Rachel Cohn wrote it, so obviously this book is more or less destined to be great. It came as no surprise to me that every word of this book lived up to my expectations of both a fun and heart-warming romance.

Every romance is only as good as the two characters involved, and can I just say, Dash was perfect. He was witty, kind, vulnerable, and oh-so-real, and it was not hard at all to feel that side of the romance. Initially, however, I was lukewarm towards Lily as she came across as a bit too annoying and uptight, but over time, my feelings towards her relaxed and I liked her as well.

But what I loved most about this book is that it wasn't as predictable as you might expect. From the summary, you would think this is a novel where the guy and the girl meet through cute notebook exchanges and then eventually meet up and since they are obviously perfect for each other, they fall into obvious perfect love. But it wasn't like that. Much more realistically, things weren't so simple when they actually met in person, and while the ending wasn't precisely what I'd been rooting for, I could understand it.

All in all, DASH AND LILY'S BOOK OF DARES had exactly the kind of quality you would expect upon seeing the authors' names stamped across the cover. From the adorable romance to the incredibly written characters, everything about this book is simultaneously transporting and real. Even the end is perfect, if a bit on the painful side of honest. I would recommend this to anyone who's a fan of either of these authors, or wants to try them out for the first time.