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Review: Twist My Charm: Love Potion #11 by Toni Gallagher

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Twist My Charm: Love Potion #11 by Toni GallagherTwist My Charm: Love Potion #11 by Toni Gallagher
Series: Twist My Charm #2
Published by Random House on May 24, 2016
Pages: 272
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
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three-stars

Middle school crushes are WAY more complicated when you have a love potion.

Everyone knows love potions don’t really work. But Cleo got one as a gift. And it would be crazy not to at least try it . . . right? The plan is simple: make Cleo’s ex–best friend Samantha and her (secret) crush Larry fall in love. If it works, Sam will be so happy, she’ll want to be Cleo’s friend again! But when Sam gets suspicious, only Larry drinks the love potion. And now suddenly Larry is in love with . . . Cleo?

And then it gets worse. Cleo’s dad drank the other glass of punch, and suddenly he’s in love with Samantha’s mom. Which would have been really cool when Cleo and Sam were still friends . . . but now that they’re frenemies? Disaster! Is there a potion to make everything go back to normal?

Fans of Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Wendy Mass will love this fresh contemporary story with just a touch of magic.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Twist My Charm: The Popularity Spell. So, of course, I jumped at the chance to read the second book. Sadly, it didn’t strike me the way the first one did. The plot wasn’t as interesting, the characters fell a little flat and I found myself struggling to get through it once I hit the half-way mark.

I’ll start with some positives: I loved the friendships in this book. For the most part, they’re sweet and innocent friendships, the kind we all remember having and wish we still had. They’re not without their issues, but really, are there any friendships that are perfect? (Answer: Nope).

I also loved the subtle life lessons that were taught and learned in this book – stuff about making mistakes, trying to fix them and asking for help when it’s needed (also, knowing when to ask for help). Finally, miscommunication and the consequences of it.

Overall, I really liked Cleo and Madison – both as individual characters and as friends. My heart broke for them and the miscommunications they suffered throughout the book, but I was satisfied with the way things ended.

On the flip side, I was very frustrated with Cleo’s interactions with Sam, given what Sam did to her in book one. But I guess in some ways, it does makes sense… I remember being in elementary school and fighting with someone, then making up with them – or even pretending nothing ever happened. Maybe I’m just looking at this from the eyes of someone who’s outside the age range and who has been burned by friends one too many times. I don’t know, but that’s how I felt while reading, so…

I really liked Cleo’s dad and Terri together and I’m VERY satisfied with the direction their story went in. I’d really love a third book, just so I can find out what happens next for them.

Now for the negatives: I didn’t enjoy the plot of this book nearly as much as I enjoyed the plot of the first book. I’m honestly not sure why. It just didn’t pull me in and it dragged a little bit. I’d still really love a book three to see where things will go and how things will end for all the characters.

So… Short review is short. But… I just don’t really have much to say about this one. I enjoyed it well enough but I wanted MORE. And I don’t know exactly what the MORE entails but.. I just wanted more. The characters weren’t as dynamic and I would have liked a more satisfying ending. But the whole “treasure chest” thing has me intrigued – so we DO need a book three!

Overall, this was a quick, fun read. I wanted MORE from it, but it was still enjoyable and I’m really crossing my fingers for book three! I recommend this to those who loved book one!

three-stars

Review: Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo (Blog Tour)

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo (Blog Tour)Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo
Published by Random House on August 26, 2014
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: the publisher
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Goodreads
three-half-stars

Home is where the bodies are buried.

Darkly humorous and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Jennifer Longo’s YA debut about a girl stuck living in a cemetery will change the way you look at life, death, and love.

Leigh sells graves for her family-owned cemetery because her father is too lazy to look farther than the dinner table when searching for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she meets two kinds of customers:

Pre-Need: They know what’s up. They bought their graves a long time ago, before they needed them.

At Need: They are in shock, mourning a loved one’s unexpected death. Leigh avoids sponging their agony by focusing on things like guessing the headstone choice (mostly granite).

Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to stand up to her family and quit. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her grave digger. Surrounded by death, can Leigh move on, if moving on means it’s time to get a life?

Hey everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Six Feet Over It blog tour! Today, I’m sharing with you my review of this young adult coming-of-age story. Enjoy!

Six Feet Over It was a quirky, if not slightly morbid, book about a young girl growing up – and learning important life lessons – in a cemetery. Surrounded by death all day, everyday, Leigh has to learn to cope with life’s many challenges, shocks and surprises (both pleasant and unpleasant).

Leigh was an odd character and it took me awhile to get inside her head, though I never completely did. She’s slightly younger than I realized when I first started reading – just 14-years-old at the start of the book, 16-years-old by the end. Leigh starts out sounding and feeling very young. She takes what life gives her and goes through the motions of day-to-day chores and activities. Leigh has little to no character development for the majority of the book. Then, suddenly, she wakes up one day and – BAM! Her whole outlook on life has changed. She makes things right with everyone, standing up to her father and apologizing to those she wronged. It was a little jarring, if not desperately needed.

I really didn’t connect with Dario. Though his relationship with Leigh was completely platonic (at least in his mind.. She may have thought otherwise at some moments..), it was still a bit odd to see their interactions, with him being five years older than her. He taught her a lot about life and death, though, and helped her cope with so many things. He encourages her to stand up to her parents, to embrace new friendships. In the long run, he helped her learn some valuable lessons. But what he asked of her in the end? It was stupid and dangerous and he never should have asked that of a young girl.

I couldn’t stand Kai. I know she went through a lot. I feel bad about that. But all she does is whine, sigh and cry until she gets her way. Her attitude, on several occasions, resulted in Wade and Meredith (aka mom and dad) forcing more responsibility upon Leigh, responsibility she shouldn’t havet had to bear the weight of alone. Kai was the big sister, but she never acted the part.

I really, really loved Elanor. There was something about her that made me want to root for her. She was brave and strong, kind in ways Leigh was not in the beginning. She reminded me of a girl I knew in elementary school – one I had a falling out with, something I still regret after all these years. Despite Elanor’s odd upbringing, she was more sure of herself and more confident than Leigh. She knew how to stand up for herself and I admired her for that. I’m really happy with the way her story ended.

I couldn’t stand Wade and Meredith. If there’s a Worst Parent of the Year Award, it would be a tie between these two. Though if push came to shove, Wade would win it. Meredith kind of redeemed herself a little bit in the end. Wade was never fair to Leigh. He saddled her with so much responsibility, forced her to handle certain situations that she should NOT have had to handle. Wade, as the adult – as the one who decided to buy the cemetery – should have done more than he did.

A big issue I had with this book was the writing style. It took me awhile to get used to it. It was very choppy, with short, jerky sentences and incomplete thoughts. I didn’t like it at first, though I got used to it after awhile. It slowly blended with Leigh’s voice and character. Another thing I had an issue with is the timeline. The timeline moved freakishly fast and with little to no logic. One second it was fall and Leigh’s birthday, then suddenly it was summer then, out of nowhere, winter. Then summer again, then fall and back to Leigh’s birthday. I will say that this allowed the book to come full circle, which allowed for more closure. But it wasn’t a logical jump and it really threw me off.

Though Leigh’s character development was late in the story and very abrupt, she still did learn some important lessons that allowed her to see the error of her ways and mature in the end. The plot was unique and intriguing. It allows the reader to process the idea of death and change in a safe, comfortable way. It teaches the reader that death doesn’t have to be the end, change doesn’t have to be scary and life does go on after the loss of a loved one.

Overall, though Six Feet Over It didn’t wow me as I’d hoped it would, it was still an enjoyable book, flaws and all. I definitely recommend it to the 13-16 age group, though older readers might also appreciate it. I think it’s safe to say that we can expect great things from Jennifer Longo and I’m still definitely excited for her next book, whatever it may be about.

three-half-stars