[Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman]

"I Was Here"
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: None
Pages: 288
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: January 27th, 2015
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Format Read: Purchased hardback

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Summary:

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

-Goodreads
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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To I Was Here,

Well, you just hit me in all the feels. Seriously, there was not a moment where I was not feeling big emotions as I read through your pages. I love that you weren't afraid to deal with some really big topics and that you did it in a way that was filled with such great hope. I cried and I cheered and I just wanted to give everyone in my life a huge hug when it was all over and done with. Thanks for being what you are, because you do it so well!

-The White Unicorn

I Was Here is amazing. Of course, it's also written by Gayle Forman and everyone here knows just how much I love her writing and the way her books speak to me. This book is no different. This book deals with a lot of social issues, but it does it in the most tasteful way. Forman gives us a story of a girl trying to figure out what to do after she gets left behind by her best friend. This book is about suicide, mental health and dealing with the fallout of tragedy.

The book starts out with a death. We don't even get to know Meg before she is taken away from us, and yet, somehow, Forman makes us feel her loss in the pages. There is so much raw emotion coming out of Cody, that we know how sad she is. And we also feel the shock that she feels as she goes on a journey to figure out what made Meg take her own life. 

The book is also drenched in a love story and a mystery. Cody meets all the people who were a part of Meg's life at college and in a way finds a new family there. The background characters are unique and likeable. Which really shouldn't be a surprise. Every single character that gets introduced to us is needed in the plot. Forman has a way of using every person she writes, no matter how small their role is. It's magical.

I don't know how she does it, but Forman knows how to write a love story that is real. And Ben and Cody's story is no different. It's not the main focus of the book, but it's there, and it gets used. I love that Forman touched on the fact that sometimes you meet a person when everything is messed up. It's refreshing. 

In the end, I loved that this book is about Cody finding herself, her life and love (in that order). Meg plays such a large role in the book and I'm glad that she was here. By the time you're done reading it, you will be too.

Rating:

 5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this NOW!

[Review: A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller]

"A Mad, Wicked Folly"
Author: Sharon Biggs Waller
Series: None
Pages: 406
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Date Published: January 23rd, 2014
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Format Read: Hardcover from the library

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Summary:

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.
           
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

-Goodreads  

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To A Mad, Wicked Folly,

Book you gave me a heavy dose of girl power and that's just what I needed! You weren't afraid to make a statement and you gave us some fun/funny characters to make your point. I loved that it all begins with nude posing and then just keeps getting more awesome. You're a book that has a lot to say and just you do it in a way that isn't pushy or annoying. You've got class, just like our girl Vicky.

-The White Unicorn

I've been waiting to get my hands on this book for awhile and so I'm ecstatic that I've finally gotten around to reading it. The book itself has been generating a lot of good reviews and I was hoping that the hype monster wasn't going to kill it for me, and lucky for us, it didn't. A Mad, Wicked Folly is one of those wonderful historical fiction novels that just works. It's got a clever cast of characters, quirky details and it's set in London. What more could I want? Nothing. I could want nothing more than what this book offers.

Waller gives us a historically accurate novel that shows us what it was like to be a woman during the turn of the century in England (or really anywhere for that matter). It was time where woman were still expected to entertain and let the men handle all the "life business" out in the world. I liked that she gave us a few views of women who enjoyed what the time had to offer, but I loved that Waller focuses on the Woman's Rights movement. She gives us strong female characters that surround our rather headstrong, yet docile Vicky.

Vicky herself was a wonderful character. It was so much fun to see her grow and change and she came into her own. As a reader I knew that she was a fire cracker waiting to explode. I mean she did pose nude right in the beginning of the book. It was interesting to see a girl who didn't care about what other people thought, trying to find out whether or not she could be comfortable with the social norms of the time, or if she needed to expand her horizons. It was interesting to see her go from a bystander at political rallies to someone who truly believed in the cause she didn't understand early on. And it was interesting to see how she dealt with the fall out of her actions. Vicky is flawed and that works for the story. Yes, there were times that I didn't understand her logic, but as the story unfolds and she grows, you can't help but root for her.

It was so much fun to see an artist angle thrown into the mix of everything. It kept things fresh and it gave Vicky something personal to fight for. It also put her in a lot of positions to see what she really wanted in life.

The book has two male leads. One is the man that Vicky's parents want to marry her off to and the other is a guy who sneaks in a steals her heart. The contrast between the two gents is like night and day. Edmund is pretty lame. He seems pretty on the outside, but man does that kid have issue galore. Will on the other hand is amazing and the perfect match for Vicky. He pushes her and supports her and doesn't want to lock her away. Wanna know how things turn out? You'll have to read the book...

If you love Historical Fiction, Woman's Rights and Swoony Love Stories, you need to give this book a shot! You won't be sorry!

Rating:

 5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this now!

[Review: All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry]

"All the Truth That's in Me"
Author: Julie Berry
Series: None
Pages: 274
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Date Published: September 26th, 2013
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Format Read: Hardback from the library

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Summary:

Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. This startlingly original novel will shock and disturb you; it will fill you with Judith’s passion and longing; and its mysteries will keep you feverishly turning the pages until the very last.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To All the Truth That's in Me,

Book, you are so strange and haunting and raw.  I adore all of these things, so not surprisingly, I'm also a big fan of you.  You tell your story, or rather Judith's story in such a wonderfully strange way.  I never knew that I could be moved by chapters that are no more then three sentences.  You prove that there is a lot of power in words if they are chosen correctly.  Don't worry, I liked your longer chapters too, but you know what I'm saying.  I think?

-The White Unicorn

  

All the Truth That's in Me was truly a reading experience like no other that I've had in the past.  Even if you read the book flap, you're not sure what you're getting yourself into.  It's part of the book's charm.  Berry writes mute Judith's story in such a way that it pulls you right in.  Oddly enough Judith doesn't talk to you as a reader, she's talking to Lucas, the boy she fell for before she disappeared.  You'd think that it would make the book feel impersonal, but it doesn't.  Instead, it gives the novel an interesting voice.  The size of the chapters varies from a few sentences to a few pages.  All of these things intertwine fantastically and Berry makes them work to her advantage.  I didn't have a hard time getting into the book at all, even if things weren't the norm.

There is something poetic and almost lyrical about the way that Berry tells her tale of mystery and intrigue.  The way she uses words is magical.  The chapters jump back and forth between before Judith went missing, when she was held captive and after she returns.  Even though this could end up being confusing, it's not.

The book's setting and historical timeline are not things that are clear to us as a reader.  This could throw some people off, but I think that it added to the mystery.  It's clear that the book is set during a time of bonnets and strict social rules and buggies though.  People actually think that Judith is cursed when she returns with her tongue cut out.  It almost has the feel of a really dark "Little House on the Prairie" book.

I loved Judith's voice.  She is ridiculed for things that are totally out of her control and still she holds her head high and tries to do the right thing to everyone around her.  That being said, she's still human and she still slips up, but she is someone to look up to.  It takes people coming into her life to help her grow and recover from the horrors that's she has experienced.  But it's the fact that she doesn't ever give up and that she does what she can with what she's given that really makes you want to stand up and applaud her as a main character.

The romance is extremely sweet, but not unrealistic.  It's one of those slow burn things.  It's one of those things that started years ago, but got interrupted by the crazy things that life will do to you.  Lucas is a wonderful match for Judith.  I loved their banter.  It's something like bickering and it works for them on so many levels.

It was also a joy to see such an interesting brother/sister relationship highlighted in a YA novel.  I feel like these kind of relationships don't show up often, but this one was done right.  Darrel and Judith act like siblings.  They fight, they have their issues, but at the end of the day they have each others backs in huge ways.  I was overjoyed to see that Berry added this element into her book.  As a girl with 4 brothers myself, this relationship felt really authentic to me.  

If you're looking for a book that's going to blow your mind and give you a shocking conclusion, this is the book for you.  Sure, I didn't tell you much about the mystery, but I'm not one to spoil things for people.  

Rating:

     5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this NOW!