Book Review: What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

About the book:

Title: What A Boy Wants

Paperback, 272 pages
Published September 26th 2013 by Headline Eternal 

Genre: YA Romance

Rating: 3/5

Blurb:
Courtesy of watching his mom's relationships, Sebastian Hawkins knows what girls need to do to get a guy. He has what he considers a PHD in hooking up. When he needs extra cash for a car, Sebastian starts up an online venture as The Hook-up Doctor, to anonymously help girls land the guy of their dreams. Of course, his services don't offer a happily-ever-after guarantee. He's seen firsthand getting together never means staying together.

And then he falls in love...
With the last girl he would expect...
Totally not in his game plan.

Suddenly, Sebastian finds himself muddled in the game he's always prided himself on. He can't even pick up girls at parties anymore! Why would anyone want to be in love when it turns you into a stuttering, screwed-up, mess with really lame stalker tendencies? Stalking? Totally not his gig.

But the Hook-up Doctor won't let himself go down easily. He's always known how to give a girl what she wants and now it's time to figure out what a boy wants... and he definitely plans on getting it.

About the author

Is a compulsive reader and writer who loves YA fiction. Loves nothing more than writing about young adults. Lives in Southern California with husband and two children.

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My Review:

I received this book in a giveaway, and was excited by the blurb. I wanted it to be one of those entertaining as hell reads, that makes you double-up when the girl and boy bump into each other, or avoid each other. But...
A very cliched plot. A guy who plays hook-up doctor, much like the beaten-to-death concept of Love Guru, is a witness to failed relationships. He saw multiple break-ups and divorces of his mom and he has no damn to give about relationships.

He also has a steady friend circle, Sebastian Pris, Aspen and Jaden didn't impress upon me instantly, although their banter was amusing, and very amateurish. They talked like really young middle-graders.
Fav line? "If you mess this up, I will mess you up too!" That's what girl best friends are for.
The story does have some feels, and was an enjoyable read when you have a few hours handy, without the energy to commit to a long, deep book.
The part showing love is messy and difficult were really entertaining. But even that dragged a lot.
The fact that Sebastian was getting to know it better, chapter after chapter, was what salvaged the whole romance. Loved that bit.

Maybe it was the first-person narration, but it seemed to stretch for no reason. I almost went over and shouted over the pages, addressing the boy, "pull yourself together!"
Overall, I felt that the book could have been woven stronger than this.

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Source of the review copy: Won in a giveaway

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Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

About the book:

Title: Every Day

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published on: August 25th, 2015

Genre: YA

Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all. 

About the author

David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.




About Everyday, He writes on his website, "2012 brought the release of Every Day , the story of a teen named A, who since birth has woken up in the body and the life of a new person every morning. At the start of the story, A is sixteen, and wakes up in the body of Justin, who’s never really treated his girlfriend, Rhiannon, that well. When A falls for Rhiannon, it suddenly changes the stakes of A’s story – and A’s life. When I started writing Every Day, there were two questions I wanted to answer – first, what would it be like to be a person who grew up without gender, race, sexual orientation, parents, friends, and all of the other things we usually classify ourselves by, and, second, what would it be like to be in love with someone who changed every day – would it be possible? I wrote the book to figure out what my answers were."


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My Review:

I was super thrilled to read this particular book having read Every Day just recently. Although I knew there won't be the freshness in the plot, still there were so many questions left unanswered from Rhiannon's perspective. I finished this book in no time practically, partly because I felt I was going through some parts again, for little utility.So, I skimmed through the dialogues that I found repetitive. Yes- they sounded beautiful from A's perspective, but Rhiannon's words made everything look like it was deceitful, and she was unfortunately made to look like the bad guy here.
I'll give this to the author- he did write R's perspective with so much conviction that it made me empathise with her, overriding the sympathy I had towards A earlier.

But, what goes without saying is the part where A woke up in R's body- I had all my excitement directed towards it. It was worth it. If i am given an option between Every Day and Another Day, I'd choose the latter, though Every Day is the novel that endears me to the author. Another day after ED sounds like a justification! Nevertheless, it was amusing by and by. Sequel is still awaited.

Was it worth it? You might ask. And my answer would be incontrovertibly, undeniably yes. It was so totally worth it. 

As I said about Every Day, same goes for Another Day: The plot is as refreshing as it gets. It is the story that delves deep into our definitions of friendship, love, companionship and belonging. How far will we go to be with someone? How far are we ready to bend the rules? Is bending the rules worth the breach? Does the breach justify the end? Are we ready for the consequences?

It gets you thinking and keeps you so.

But here is a friendly warning: to fully understand the book, and to let it to what it intends to, you need to accept it as fiction, being a realist wouldn't help. The beauty of the book lies in how it ticks our thinking cells by bringing another dimension to our world. 

This is the story of A. A wakes up each day in a new body- and that implies he misses out on so much. On having an address, on having a family, permanent fiends, and so on. Things we take for granted. Things we'd lose and not realize what hey're worth. 

Apart from the lessons in living, the plot sure does hold a sense of mystery and intrigue. The author has done such a great job in weaving a plot out of nothing, and I am definitely going to read more from the author.

A beautifully written book, provokes you into thinking incessantly, and makes you question the right and wrong.

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Quotes from the book:

“I find myself looking into people's eyes more than I ever did before. And I realize, that's where we stop being a...
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Saturday, July 25, 2015

“It wouldn't be fair to ask you to be around me when I'm so sick of being around me.”
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Saturday, July 25, 2015

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Source of the review copy: Netgalley ARC

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Book Review: Flirty Dancing by Jenny McLachlan

About the book:

Title: Flierty Dancing

Published by: Bloomsbury

Published on: July 3rd 2014

Pages: 300

Genre: Children/YA

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Bea Hogg is shy but fiery inside. When national dance competition Starwars comes to her school looking for talent, she wants to sign up. It's just a shame her best friend agreed to enter with school super-cow Pearl Harris. Bea will fight back! But when school hottie, Ollie Matthews, who also happens to be Pearl’s boyfriend, decides to enter the competition with Bea, she will have more than a fight on her hands.

This warm, nuanced, hilarious story about friendship, fortitude . . . and dancing is impossible not to fall in love with. Jenny’s voice is fresh and convincing, and she handles both darker and lighter elements of the story with equal panache. 

About the author

Jenny McLachlan teaches English to secondary and sixth form pupils. She is also an Advanced Skills Teacher, delivering master classes to pupils, parents and teachers throughout the country. In her spare time, just like Bea, Jenny loves to jive. She is based in Eastbourne.

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My Review:

This is a story of how harsh school life is- everyone at war with the other for friendships, in pursuit of that achievement the glory of which might not last, and being mean over a boy. Friends become strangers, and bullies become allies. The point here is- at high school, weird things happen.
Life has just taken a turn for the unexpected- the should-never-happen unexpected for Bea Hoggs.
The plot goes like this: we have a bunch of people crazy for dance. The passionate crazy. Bea is not our model. She won't fit into skinny jeans, and dancing will take a lot of hard word, because she isn't a natural. So her friends and estranged friends ditch her, form groups and start preparing for the competition. By some really interesting quirks of fate, she is now supposed to pair up with the college hottie, and dance with him.

You should read this book. I say this for two very important reasons.
a) You are so tired from the day that you need to read, and you are so tired that you just cannot dig into some serious fiction with deep philosophical strands, or imagine that impossible sci-fi world. You need this book to make you smile. And, smile you will!
Because, throughout the book, I was smiling: the plot is predictable, right, but the author carries the narration so effervescently that one cannot help but love the vivaciousness of the plot.
b) High school is hard as it is. And then life intervenes. Everything becomes crooked, plans are thwarted, all balance is twisted upside down! You deal with it all, and as it turns out, the destination is worth all the pains. This book is the most humourous and light-hearted example of dealing with the serious issues.

So, yes, i'd recommend you read this book when you are looking for a couple hours of entertainment, similar to that teen movie!

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Source of the review copy: A gift from #brunchbookchallenge

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