Review: THE LIBERATION OF ALICE LOVE - Abby McDonald *****

Will the real Alice Love please stand up?
Alice Love keeps her life running in perfect order, so when her bank card is declined, she thinks it's just a simple mistake. But she soon discovers that someone has emptied every penny from her bank account, spending her hard-earned savings on glamorous holidays, sexy lingerie, and a to-die-for wardrobe and leaving Alice with thousands of pounds' worth of debt.
With her perfectly-organised world crumbling around her, Alice enlists the help of dashing fraud investigator, Nathan, and sets about clearing her name. But as she unravels the intriguing paper trail, she makes a shocking discovery: her thief is closer to home than she ever imagined.
Following the clues from London to Rome and LA, Alice edges deeper into a seductive new world, where honesty might not be the best policy, rules are made to be broken, and the power of a gorgeous cocktail dress shouldn't be underestimated. Perhaps her alter-ego's reckless, extravagant lifestyle is the one Alice should have been leading all along...
But as her little white lies begin to stack up, how far will Alice go to find the truth? And whose life, exactly, is she fighting for?

Abby McDonald's writing career started only last year, but she's already had four books published (including this one)! I've really, really enjoyed her previous three books (Life Swap; The Popularity Rules; Boys, Bears & a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots) so you can only imagine how excited I was about this one - I started reading it almost the second it arrived, hehe. And just like her previous books, this one too was an absolutely fantastic reading experience!

The plot is quite nicely summed up above so I won't discuss it more as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I must admit I was slightly divided about the plot - while I thought it was definitely very original, fast paced and enjoyable, I also found certain bits a tad too far fetched ... I can't really complain though as the story itself really was great and I kept wondering WHY this person did this, what their reals story was and how it would all end - luckily, I wasn't disappointed and I quite liked the ending!

The writing, as always, is fantastic - Ms McDonald was just meant to be a writer. The story flows nicely and doesn't dwell on unnecessary details, there's a lot of attitude and the dialogue is just brilliant with plenty of sass and laugh out loud moments.

I can but give two thumbs up to the characters too. I thought Alice was a great character - independant, determined, funny and all around loveable. Occassionally, I struggled to understand her motives for following that trail and doing all those things, but I do admit I liked how she changed to a more daring and funloving person because of what happened to her. The book would probably be quite boring if it was just about her old life, but due to all the changes it was anything but!
I thought pretty much all the characters were well portrayed, but the one that also stands is Nathan - oooh, I certainly cannot be blamed for developing a tiny crush on him, he was just too ... awesome! I wasn't too keen on how he reacted when he found out the truth, but overall he was just amazing and funny and dashing and ooh. ;)

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I think it would make a fantastic film - there's a lot going on and it was all described so well that I could just see the scenes in my head. I cannot wait to read more by Abby McDonald - sadly, we'll all have to wait for nearly a year before her next book (The Anti-Prom) is out, but luckily she's already signed another two book deal, woohoo!
If you haven't read anything by her yet, then you definitely should - she writes both YA and adult books and excels in both! Strongly recommended!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 4/5

Review: THE MARK by Jen Nadol ****

Cassandra Renfield has always seen the mark—a glow around certain people reminiscent of candlelight. But the one time she mentioned it, it was dismissed as a trick of the light. Until the day she watches a man awash in the mark die. After searching her memories, Cassie realizes she can see a person’s imminent death. Not how or where, only when: today.
Armed with a vague understanding of the light, Cassie begins to explore her “gift,” seeking those marked for death and probing the line between decision and destiny. Though she’s careful to hide her secret—even from her new philosophy-obsessed boyfriend—with each impending death comes the temptation to test fate. But so many questions remain. How does the mark work? Why is she the only one who sees it? And finally, the most important of all: If you know today is someone’s last, should you tell them?

I learned about this book a few months ago when bloggers started receiving ARCs and I was immediately fascinated by the premise - a girl who can tell that someone's going to day on that very day, will she tell them or not? Should she save their lives?
I've read mixed reviews about it so I worried that I might be disappointed, despite the promising concept - but luckily, I wasn't disappointed at all!

The story is narrated by Cassie, a 16-year-old girl who hasn't had an easy life at all. After losing her parents as a small child, Cassie was taken under the wing of her grandmother Nan. As time went by, Cassie often noticed this glow around people and it took her a while to realize that this means the person was about to die that day. She has a hard time coming to terms with this realization, especially when she sees it around her beloved Nan ...
I found the plot to be a bit slow at first, but the pace really picked up once Cassie met someone she really cared about and saved his life after seeing the mark on him. After that, he tried to persuade her that she has this gift and that she should use it to save others too. Unsure, Cassie tries her best, but sadly she's far from successful. On top of her first relationship falling apart, Cassie also uncovers the tragic story of what really happened to her parents and thus learns some shocking things about herself ...

The novel raises some thought-provoking (albeit very hypothetical) questions: If you knew someone was to die today, would you tell them and thus ruin their last day, or should you just let them go about their day unsuspecting? If you tell them, will they believe you? And even if they do, what if this results in something even more tragic? Is someone's life worth saving or is it really their time? How will small choices influence your life? Is it all predetermined or can things still be changed?
I thought the author explored all these dilemmas really well, not only through Cassie's eyes, but also with the help of various philosophical views on the subject and even with a dash of Greek mythology - I thought it was all quite fascinating, really.

For me, the book was mostly plot-driven, but I can't complain about the characters or the writing either. The latter flowed nicely - it wasn't spectacular or flowery or anything, but it was good enough and fitting.
I found the characters quite well developed too, especially Cassandra. I enjoyed her narrative and her sadness and panic was almost tangible. It's debatable whether seeing The Mark around people is a gift or a curse, but it certainly is a burden and I felt for her as he had to live with it and struggled to make some sense of it. I thought she really grew after having to cope with so much so suddenly and my only complaint was that the novel was too short - I'd love to read more about how Cassie coped with everything and what her life was like after she moved back home, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a sequel, that would be great!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 3/5

2010 Debut Author Challenge

I've finally decided to take part in the 2010 Debut Author Challenge, which is hosted by The Story Siren. I figured I might as well since I have so many of those debut novels on my TBR list. But if you're living under a rock (I mean, this challenge is HUGE) and haven't heard of it, this is what it's about:

• The objective is to read a set number of YA (Young Adult) or MG (Middle Grade) novels from debut authors published this year.* I'm going to challenge everyone to read at least 12 debut novels! You don’t have to list your choices right away, but if you do feel free to change them throughout the year. I will also be focusing on mostly Young Adult novels.
• Anyone can join, you don’t need a blog to participate. If you don’t have a blog you can always share your views by posting a review on Amazon.com/BarnesandNoble.com/GoodReads/Shelfari, or any other bookish site.
• The challenge will run from January 1, 2010- December 31, 2010. You can join at anytime!

So here's the list of debut YA novels that I'm planning to read in 2010:

1. WISH by Alexandra Bullen
   
2. THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard
   
3. THE MARK by Jen Nadol
   
4. MAGIC UNDER GLASS by Jaclyn Dolamore
   
5. SCONES AND SENSIBILITY by Lindsay Eland
   
6. PRINCES FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt
   
7. KARMA CLUB by Jessica Brody
   
8. DELLA SAYS: OMG! WTF? by Keris Stainton
   
9. THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY by Kay Cassidy
   
10. THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES by Kristina McBride
    
11. HUNGER by Jackie Kessler
    
12. INVISIBLE GIRL by Mary Hanlon Stone

That's just a quick list, but I might add more as I read other people's reviews. :)

Anyone else taking part in this challenge?

Review: WISH by Alexandra Bullen ****

"For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone ... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.
With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.
In a breathtaking debut from Alexandra Bullen, WISH asks the question: If you could have anything, what would you wish for?"

I fell head over heels in love with this book as soon as I saw the ARC cover a few months ago and I knew that I just had to have the book because it was so incredibly gorgeous. And then I actually checked the plot description and realized the plot sounded really good too soooo you can only imagine how excited I was when I managed to get my hands on an ARC of this!

I'm happy to report that the book didn't disappoint. I admit I didn't really expect this book to blow me away, but it was really rather enjoyable. It's a story of Olivia, whose sister Violet passed away recently and her family has decided to move to San Francisco. They're all having trouble coping with Violet's passing and the family is nearly falling apart. Olivia starts going to a new school and thus also has to make new friends. She meets Miles, her future project partner, his step-sister Bowie (their mothers are a couple), the gorgeous skateboarder and a musician Soren and his girlfriend Calla etc., but she also meets Posey, a seamstress who has the gift of making magical dresses. Yeah, we'll get to that later. Anyway, Posey makes Olivia a dress that grants her ultimate wish to have Violet back, even if only as a ghost, Olivia is happy again. She learns that she has two more magical dresses and thus two more wishes to be granted - and thus things get tricky ...

The plot itself requires you to suspend your disbelief. I mean, magical dresses with butterflies? Sounds cute, but I'm not buying it. So I took the whole thing more as a metaphor and then it worked for me. And once you get past that cute magical element, this is actually a really lovely story about coping with grief and moving on, about love and death, about love and friendship and betrayal, about families and last but not least, about the wishes we are sometiems too quick to make - be careful what you wish for and all that. ;) I can't say the plot was gripping, but it was certainly very clever and satisfying.

I can't say anything bad about the characters either - on the contrary, I thought they were all well portrayed and had depth. My favourite characters was probably Violet or her ghost - I loved her sarcasm and her optimism despite the circumstances, heh.

I also have to compliment the author's writing as I thought the novel was beautifully written. Ms Bullen has a way with words and I really appreciate it when authors don't just write whatever comes to their minds and leave it at that, but also work on their writing and improve it, which is what I believe is something Ms Bullen definitely worked on since the novel is just so well written.

However, what I liked by far the most about this novel is the stunning cover. The final cover (above) is slightly different to the ARC one, but I guess I personally prefer the ARC one, just because the dress is more visible and it really fits the final chapter. But wow, what an amazing cover, it fits the book so well (ignoring the hair colour of the model) and the shooting star and the violet dress and everything. Maybe it could just have a butterfly for good measure and it would be pretty much perfect!

All in all, I strongly recommend this novel. It's a quick but deep and beautiful read, inside and out. I can't quite rate it 5/5, but it's a 4.5 for sure!

overall rating: 4/5
plot: 4/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 5/5