Review: New Girl by Paige Harbison

Title:  New Girl

Author:  Paige Harbison

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  HarlequinTeen

Format:  NetGalley/Kindle

Release Date:  January 31, 2012

New Girl is a contemporary young-adult novel inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

They call her “New Girl”… Ever since she arrived at the exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy that is what she is called. The new girl, unknown, but not unnoticed, because of her, Becca Normandy. Her picture is everywhere. Her name is on everyone’s lips.  “New Girl” doesn’t compare. And the only reason she is at Manderly is because Becca is missing and a spot opened up. Everyone treats her like it is her fault. Everyone that is except Max Holloway. But everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend, only she is gone and the new girl is there, replacing her. Except it isn’t that easy. Becca’s life must have been so much better, if you believe what everyone tells you.  And maybe she is still out there, waiting to take it back (Summary adapted from the summary provided by Harlequin Teen via NetGalley).

New Girl is narrated by a young lady, who has recently been given admission to a prestigious boarding school, Manderly, in New Hampshire. After she arrives, she discovers that the only reason she is there is because another student, Becca, has gone missing.  Now she must fight against the assumption that she is trying to replace Becca, in every way imaginable.  The reader does not find out the narrator’s name until the very end of the book, so don’t think you just missed it along the way (like I did at first--*grin*). 

New Girl is probably the least enjoyable novel I have read this year. Granted, it’s early in the year, but I have read approximately ten books and this is at the top of my “I didn’t like this” list. There were several times as I read that I literally felt my mouth hanging open because I couldn’t believe that this was happening in a novel intended for the young adult audience (which we all know includes teens). Because of the nature of my job and having teenagers myself, I do read novels with an eye toward the appropriateness for tweens and teens (after all, the blog is called Mom Reads My Books). This one should NOT be read by anyone under the age of 16 and then your teen better be relatively mature. I am a pretty easy-going mom, I don’t usually censor what my girls read, but I am very hesitant to let my girls read this book.  Harbison glorified drinking, drugs and sex throughout the entire book.  The most popular girl at school turned out to be the one who slept around the most and got everyone to start partying.  If Harbison is going to continue to write for young adults, she needs to keep her audience in mind. Or start marketing her books to adults.    

While the premise of the story is great, the execution is poorly done. It is very unrealistic.  No parent in their right mind would ship their straight-A, college-bound, well-behaved daughter off to boarding school during her senior year, especially based on the fact that she last expressed interest in attending it when she was in junior high.  Teachers and parents are not as oblivious as New Girl makes them seem, or as infrequently seen as Harbison would have her readers believe. Harbison also expects the intelligent reader to believe that an entire school full of people will suddenly become hard-core partiers, despite the insinuation that most, if not all, of the students were pretty tame prior to Becca arriving at school.  There was only a cursory mention of classes and school work. This was a boarding school that seemed to forget the “school” part.  Really, it seemed as if the only thing any of the students at Manderly Academy did was party. And party some more. Basically, I found the entire premise of the story difficult to believe.    

There is not one character in this book that has any redeeming qualities. The majority of the girls in the book were vapid, horrid girls who lived to be snotty and rude. The worst character by far was the missing girl, Becca. She was mean, emotionally stunted and selfish. And those may have been her best qualities. The young men were no better; their main goal in life seemed to be to have sex. I didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for anyone in this book except for maybe the main character. Who wants to read a book in which you are unable to relate to any of the characters?

Reading New Girl was like watching a really bad episode of Gossip Girl or something similar. Every clichéd bad thing teenagers have ever done—or may ever do—was in this book:  sex, drugs, drinking, lying, swearing and general overall rule breaking.  You name it; the teens in this book did it.  I felt like I was driving past a horrific train wreck and I couldn’t look away. 

And just a minor point, but I really felt like the main character’s name reveal was very anti-climatic. After devoting so much time to reading this entire book that I really didn’t enjoy, I was hopeful that the main character’s name would be some eye-opening, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel moment that would make the book worth reading. It wasn’t. I actually had to go back and re-read it to make sure I hadn’t missed something, because I really thought it would have some deeper meaning to tie in with the story. Ummm, yeah, so not the case; it’s just a common, everyday name.   

I will not be recommending New Girl to anyone.  It is filled with gratuitous sex, extremely bad language, and even a rape. It disturbed me and I am a grown woman who has practically seen it all.  I don’t feel that this book is appropriate for any one under the age of 17 or 18.

My grade for New Girl by Paige Harbison:

            

Teaser Tuesday--February 7

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

·         Grab your current read

·         Open to a random page

·         Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

·         BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

My teaser this week is from Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin:


"And what if I get a part and she doesn't? That would definitely give her a tiny taste of the pain she's caused me this year. Which would totally serve her right.


Oh, petty revenge, don't knock it till you try it." pg. 133


Thanks for stopping by! Leave a link in the comment section to your Tuesday Teaser and I will stop by and check it out!

Hunger Games Chapter 5

"No one will forget me. Not my look, not my name. Katniss. The girl who was on fire."  Katniss Everdeen, Chapter 5, page 70

Chapter 5 of The Hunger Games finds our District 12 tribute, Katniss, going through the humiliating process of being "groomed" for the upcoming introduction of the Tributes.  Katniss is plucked, scrubbed clean and has had her nails done. It is in this chapter that we meet Katniss' stylist, Cinna. Cinna is perhaps the most normal person Katniss has met in the Capitol, he is clean-shaven and attractive, without unnatural skin coloring and he doesn't use the affected accent heard by so many residents of the Capitol. She immediately likes him. Cinna prepares Katniss for the Opening Ceremonies and tells her what she will be wearing. It is customary for Tributes to dress to indicate the industry of their District. District 12's industry is coal and Katniss has grown accustomed to seeing the Tributes dressed in coal miner's outfits and this is what she fully expects Cinna to force her to wear.  But Cinna has a different idea.

"You're not afraid of fire, are you, Katniss?" Cinna, Chapter 5, page 66.

My answer:  "YES!!" Maybe with more exclamation points behind it.  But Cinna convinces Katniss (and Portia manages to convince Peeta) to wear the outfits with the synthetic fire. Okkkkaaaaaayyyyyy.... Ummm, yeah, not me. Here's the picture from the movie before they light them on fire (you can see it in Cinna's hand).

This chapter was probably the one in which I started to figure out exactly how Peeta really feels about Katniss.  It's just evident in the way he talks to her and the way he acts around her. I also like chapter five because it is the chapter in which Cinna is introduced and he is one of my favorite characters. 

   

Hunger Games Read-Along

Hunger Games Read-Along

Hello all!

I am participating in a Hunger Games Read-Along hosted by The Howling Turtle this month! I would like to invite you to take a few moments to stop by and check out the various chapters. This is no ordinary read-along; each chapter will be hosted by a different blog and (hopefully) each chapter post will be unique and interesting and give you some new insight into this wonderful book! I will posting on Monday, February 6, I get to give my commentary on Chapter 5! Just click on the link under the button and it will take you directly to the list of chapters and their participating blogs.


Can't wait to see you there!

Feature and Follow Friday (23)

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Parajunkee’s View and Alison at Alison Can Read. It is a great way for bloggers to make new friends and find new blogs to follow. Go to either blog, and check out the featured blog of the week.  Follow ALL the instructions and add your link to the list. It’s just that easy!

This week's question:

"Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kickass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?"

My favorite books don't really have definitive characteristics. I am an equal-opportunity book lover. There are books that I never in a million years would have thought I would enjoy that have become some of my favorite books (Game of Thrones series, Water for Elephants). I love a story that grabs my attention and holds it and characters that are interesting and dynamic. For me, those two things are an integral part of any story and must be present to even begin to hold my interest.  And I don't want a recycled, formulaic story. Give me some originality, please. 

This isn't to say that I don't love a gorgeous male character or a strong female lead. But I don't base what I read on those factors. Besides, what I find gorgeous might be ugly to someone else and what I consider strong in a female character might seem wishy-washy to another reader.

So, do your favorite books have certain characteristics in common?  Leave a link in the comment section and I will hop by!

Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title:  Incarnate (New Soul #1)

Author:  Jodi Meadows

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Format:  NetGalley/Kindle

Release Date:  January 31, 2012

For the last five thousand years, the same one million souls have always been reincarnated into new bodies, retaining their minds, memories, and skill sets of past lifetimes. Always, that is, until once. Eighteen years ago Ana, the newsoul—nosoul, some call her—was born in another’s place.

Incarnate is the story of this one new soul, raised in isolation by a mother who is ashamed of her. On her eighteenth birthday Ana decides to set out alone for Heart, the capital city, to find out why she was born. Ana hopes knowing why will show her what she is supposed to do with the one lifetime she’s been given. Led to believe that nosouls are worthless, she has trouble accepting the kindness of Sam, a 5,000–year–old teenager who rescues her from a frozen lake she jumped in to escape the Sylph, shadow monsters that live in the Range. Sam offers to take her to Heart, where he is assigned as her guardian. They begin to develop feelings for each other, but that is complicated by the fact that Sam is afraid to love someone who, for all they know, will only live once, who will disappear from his world too quickly. But in Heart, Ana is surrounded by people who see her as a danger and an ugly omen for the future—what if nosouls replace more people? The only way Ana can save herself is to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, and find the answer to the question of whether she will be reborn like Sam and the rest of the inhabitants of Heart (summary courtesy of Harpercollins).

Incarnate is a beautifully woven tale of a world where change is not often seen. While technological advancements do exist, who will invent them is never a mystery. Everyone knows everything about everyone. Diaries are archived in the library for all to access; stories of past lives are lovingly retold time and time again. When Ana arrives, Heart is suddenly faced with something they haven’t seen for 5,000 years—a new person or a new soul. Ana is discriminated against and even hated from the day she is born. Because of her, or so she believes, another soul was not reborn. And that is something many people can’t forget.

Once Ana leaves her house and Li—the mother who hates her—she discovers a world she knew nothing about. A world where pain is not her teacher and people actually care about her and what happens to her.  Ana learns so much during her time with Sam, including how to trust and how to love. Ana finds friends in Heart, but she also finds enemies, those who believe she shouldn’t exist and will do anything to make that happen.  Hopefully the mystery that is her existence can be solved before her time runs out.

Incarnate is an absolutely amazing novel! It appeals to the reader in so many ways. It has mystery, action, suspense, and romance.  Jodi Meadows outdoes herself (and quite frankly, a few others) in this, her debut novel. She knows how to write a novel that is appealing to readers of a variety of genres and she does it flawlessly. The mystery of Ana’s existence keeps the reader guessing from the very beginning—who is she, why is she here, will she come back if she dies? We get action—strange creatures called the Sylph, attacking dragons and heart-stopping chases. But the best part, we get a superbly written romance. Meadows is able to completely capture the hesitant yet urgent sense of new love, the fear of opening oneself so completely to another person, and the wonder of discovering love.  The doubt we all have felt when we first fall in love is magnified in Ana because of the horrible treatment she received growing up. Meadows write a love story that is sweet, yet intense, innocent yet passionate and just flat-out good.

The characters in Incarnate are well-developed and dynamic. Despite the fact that every character save Ana has been alive for 5,000 years, they still manage to show growth and development throughout the story. I enjoyed learning about the various characters reincarnations and how they had lived during those reincarnations. Ana is a perfect heroine; despite the horror and the abuse suffered in her early life and the hate that surrounds her, she perseveres. She learns as many skills as she can, she studies as much as possible to discover where she came from and she fights for the person she loves. Ana is a character to be admired.

The mystery of Heart, the temple of Janan and why millions of souls are continually reincarnated is such an intriguing story that it can’t help but keep the reader engrossed in the story. Meadows weaves this mystery throughout the whole book, never letting it fade into the background and giving the reader just enough information to keep them wanting more. And I definitely want more. I am anxiously awaiting my chance to see exactly what the city of Heart holds, not only for readers, but for its inhabitants as well.

I loved this book; I can’t wait for the next in the series. I loved reading a book that wasn’t about vampires, werewolves or angels, something that is becoming all too common in the young adult genre. Also, there is no love triangle, another aspect of young adult novels that is becoming a bit overdone.  That is something to be excited about. Meadows is able to write a love story that relies on the tension between the characters for its conflict, rather than pulling in a third person to create conflict. Meadows is to be commended for her choice to stray for the typical young adult paranormal formula.

If you get a chance, I highly recommend picking this book up. You will not be disappointed. I will be recommending this book to both of my daughters, as well as my teacher and librarian friends.

My grade for Incarnate by Jodi Meadows:

Attention Aspiring Authors! Strange Chemistry Open Door 2012

Strange Chemistry is a global imprint which will launch in September 2012.  It is dedicated to the best in modern young adult science fiction, fantasy and all that falls in between.  They have recently signed three authors--Kim Curran, Sean Cummings and Gwenda Bond. Please visit them at Strange Chemistry Books.


The most exciting news of all is Strange Chemistry's recently announced Open Door 2012. What exactly does this mean?  It means that unagented authors will be able to submit their books for consideration! Now, before you rush off to send in your manuscript, there are certain guidelines that must be met in order to make a submission. All of the details can be found at Strange Chemistry's Open Door 2012. Please stop by and check it out.

Good luck to all the aspiring authors out there!