Cover Changes, Good and Bad

I've come across two cover changes, one that I approve of and one that... not so much. First, for the bad!

Here's the original:

I normally am not the biggest fan of covers with people on the covers, but I actually really like this one. It gives a sense of motion, and the cool typography is certainly eye-catching. I especially like the neat colors twisting in the back.

Here's the new:

No no no no no. There's nothing hugely wrong with this cover, but the old one was so pretty! I just don't feel like the new one properly conveys the darkness and intrigue that the first one does.

What's your thought on the cover change?

Narc: Review

Title: Narc
Author: Crissa-Jean Chappell
Release Date: August 2012
Published By: Flux
Pages: 288
Goodreads Rating: 3.58 stars
 
Review: Seventeen-year-old stoner Aaron Foster was offered a choice: go to jail or turn undercover narc to find the dealer who's funneling drugs into Miami's Palm Hammock High School. To get close to the school's biggest players, Aaron lies to everyone--most of all, the cute but troubled Morgan Baskin. With the Everglades party on Halloween night--and a planned drug bust there--just days away, Aaron realizes that he's falling hard for Morgan... and trying to protect her could cost him everything.

NARC opened with an interesting premise and a fast-paced plot, but it ultimately left me disappointed. Even though the actual concept was certainly intriguing, a good book needs not only a great plot but great characters as well, and it was this latter category that failed for me. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with Aaron, Morgan, or Haylie, but they didn't stand out either.

More importantly, their motivations weren't that believable to me. For example, Aaron was purportedly struggling with this issue of whether or not it's ethical for him to be working with the police against the people at his high school. However, the few scenes that attempted to portray him having difficulty with this seemed too rushed to me and didn't really give as much insight into his character as they could have.

I also didn't think their interactions went as well as they could have. The various character relationships seemed forced rather than real, and I didn't always find them believable. I feel like if maybe some more time was spent on developing these relationships, they could have been fleshed out a lot more and provided a better sense of the characters to the reader.

All in all, NARC had a lot of promise but ultimately left me feeling disconnected. Even though the plot was interesting, I just couldn't feel anything about the characters. Their interactions and motivations were unreal to me and definitely could have been a lot better. I still look forward to reading other books by the author but I would not recommend this particular one.
 

Waiting on Wednesday (61)

This week, I'm waiting on...

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

Shooting Stars: Review

Title: Shooting Stars
Author: Allison Rushby
Release Date: February 2012
Published By: Walker Childrens
Pages: 272
Goodreads Rating: 3.63 stars

Review: Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream, but she certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

Jo was the absolute perfect narrator for SHOOTING STARS. She was quick, witty, and full of personality, and her telling of the story was both amusing and relatable. In particular, though, I loved that she was someone that everyone could feel a connection to because even though she was a fun character, she still had her flaws and struggled with a great deal of emotional issues.

The concept behind the book was also an interesting one. Although I've read novels featuring characters that are celebrities or come from families of wealth or are close somehow to such families, I've never come across something quite like this. The world of papping was an intriguing one to explore, and it was both a bit dark and fun. 

To go along with the unique concept, there was a plot twist that I definitely didn't see coming - and right when I'd thought the plot was predictable! Other aspects were a little easy to foresee but not in a necessarily negative way. I especially loved the romance even though I could see it coming from miles away, and Jo and her love interest seemed to fit together perfectly as a couple.

All in all, SHOOTING STARS was a lovely novel with a sweet romance and a feel-good ending - just the perfect thing to read on a sad day. The concept is intriguing and the plot executes it well, albeit predictable in certain respects. There's still a major twist that does come out of nowhere - in a good way! - and I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for something different in the contemporary genre.