Bethany Larson

Review: Drink, Slay, Love

September 5, 2011

Title: Drink, Slay, Love

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (Simon& Schuster)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: September 13, 2011

Format: eGalley via S&S Galley Grab

Pearl is a sixteen-year-oldvampire… fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil… until thenight a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn.Oops.   Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because,obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’reeven more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But theyquickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of NewEngland has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in highschool, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast—asthe entrees.   The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of aconscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy whomakes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if shelets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?—Goodreads

When I first started reading theunfortunately titled Drink, Slay, Love, I was very dubious—I really like the vampire genre and wasn’t too crazy about throwing unicorns in with them.But, Sarah Beth Durst’s unconventional take on the genre wooed me and I endedup having a really good time with this book. And by good time, I mean that I laughed out loud (on a plane) A LOT.

To create her vampire-infused version of Connecticut, Durst takes a little vampire lore from the vast canon of vampireliterature (she even names one of the characters Charlaine, surely in”honor” of Charlaine Harris. I say “honor” becauseCharlaine in the book isn’t treated with very much care.), as well as from Buffy,adds in a unicorn, and churns out a witty romp of a novel.

The main character, Pearl, is a lot offun. She’s vampy (in both senses of the word), intelligent, great with sardonicone-liners, and is all kinds of kick ass. And unlike other teenage vampires whohave gone to high school, she relishes the opportunity and treats it like ananthropological study rather than sulking about and staring at humans untilthey love her. In fact, Durst does a great job in channeling Mean Girls andHeathers into the book via Pearl’s “I am superior to all ofyou and you WILL bow to me” attitude, which is obviously problematic forthe Queen Bee of the school and her adoring minions. It’s not so problematicfor Pearl. *grins*

While Pearl’s mission from hervampire-mafia type family is to find entrées to feed to the King of New Englandwhen he comes a’calling, she ends up making friends, especially in Evan, theteenage boy who is practically perfect AND has a hero complex (le sigh), and the overly-eager, but cunning Bethany (This is the first time I’ve encountered myname in a book. It was weird.) who is described as a “dementedkangaroo.” (I’m pretty sure people might STILL describe me that way. They definitely would have in high school. I’d like to think I’ve settled down a bit since then.) Rounding out the human cast are two guys, one of whom is namedZeke (which is the name of my dog. No lie.), who fancy themselves amateurvampire slayers. Unfortunately for Pearl, she realizes that she actually likes these humans and doesn’t reallywant them to be snacks. But she also loves being a vampire and doesn’t want todisappoint her family. And thus the internal struggle/central crux of the plotis born.

Durst does a really great job ofcreating both a human and vampire world that are believable, and I really lovedthe idea of the vampire family that operates like a mafia. It keeps Pearl onher toes and provides a lot of drama to a novel that would have otherwiseprobably been so clichéd that not even Durst’s incredible wit could saveit.

Overall, Drink, Slay, Love plays into every high school convention and tropeyou can think of—including a big climactic scene that takes place at, yes, the[junior] prom. While there are moments that feel a bit cheesy and perhaps alittle too formulaic, it’s never so heavy-handed that you’re rolling your eyesor throwing the book across the room in protest. So if you have it in you toget past the awful title, idea of unicorns in your vampire lore, and vampireswho do more than just brood and bite, you’ll probably end up charmed by Pearl,Evan, Bethany, and the rest of Durst’s hilarious cast. Take it from the girlwho was skeptical at first—this book is wickedly, deliciously fun.

TGIF: Books That Make a Difference

September 2, 2011

Well hello there new TGIF graphic. You are nice lookin’. *low whistles*

This week the oh-so lovely Ginger at GReadsBooks has asked:

Which book(s) would you put in the hands of today’s teenagers in hopes of making a difference in their lives?

Questions like there are always really hard for me to answer. Part of it is because I tend to avoid books that tackle difficult subjects (yes, that means I haven’t read Thirteen Reasons Why) and those are the types of books that I expect a lot of people would recommend. So I’m going to recommend books that I think help make people better. Or at least, books that help people have a greater sense of understanding or humanity.

Consequently, these are the types of books that a lot of teens think of as “required reading.” But whatever. These required for a reason, and that’s because they’re good. So! Here we go!

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Alright, I’m gonna stop there. Although, I should probably add in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. And Voltaire. And Dickens. And more women. And The Beats. But. If I start naming EVERYTHING I think has the ability to make a difference in a person’s life, then we’ll be here from now ’til kingdom come. So let’s call it a day shall we? *grins*

I hope that y’all have all had a wonderful week and that you’re gearing up for a languorous long weekend! TGIF!

Review: Fury

September 1, 2011

Title: Fury

Author: Elizabeth Miles

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 352

Release Date: August 30, 2011

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems…

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better—the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel…something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.

Em and Chase have been chosen.—Goodreads

When I started Fury, I was totally into it. It’s dark and creepy and mysterious. I was hoping the book would be a pleasurable romp through the revenge the Furies take on the teenagers in the town of Ascension, Maine, but instead I got a story of what happens when two teenagers make mistakes—one seemingly more serious than the other—and, though they try to atone for their mistakes, they just . . . can’t. It was a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

The two teenagers in question are Em, a popular girl from a well-to-do family who is harboring a crush on Zach, her best friend’s boyfriend, and Chase, the popular quarterback raised by a widowed mother who works at a gas station, who is harboring a lot of angst and anger toward most people at his high school.

Though I liked both Em and Chase well enough, what makes them interesting main characters is that they are flawed and mostly unlikeable. They both do things that they seriously regret, but instead of being able to apologize and move on, they are targeted by the Furies, the three women of Greek mythology who have the power to claim mortal lives so as to take revenge for sins committed against other mortals. And the Furies are hell-bent on claiming Em and Chase.

What makes the book sort of weird is the tone of it all—it’s bleak not only in theme, but in setting as well. That’s not to say that Fury is a book without hope. There are light moments and characters that help with comic and romantic relief (J.D.!!!! <3). But, ultimately, the story isn’t happy. However, the last page is incredibly satisfying for the reader. Like, in the same way the credits of Jennifer’s Body are satisfying. *grins*

In a way, Fury is a cautionary tale for teenagers. At the heart of the story is the fact that humans aren’t perfect and that actions, even those made as a teenager, have consequences. Miles does a great job of harnessing the type of tragedy found in the Greek epics and weaving it into her story—all of the characters change and learn lessons, but the change comes with a price and the lessons are ones that suck to learn.

I’ll admit that toward the middle of the novel I got a little discouraged in my reading, but, luckily, that didn’t last. Overall, I really liked Fury even though it wasn’t the let’s-have-fun-with-revenge romp I was hoping it would be. Miles does a fantastic job creating a modern Greek tragedy that isn’t so tragic it’s depressing. And you’ll definitely find yourself gasping at situations and yelling at Em and Chase throughout this book. That part is actually fun. So if you’re in the market for a mysterious, not-so-happy novel where the author masterfully applies the idea of Greek tragedy to modern life, then pick up Fury.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare

August 31, 2011

Title: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
Author: Melissa Jensen
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 272
Release Date: February 16, 2012

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that’s just fine by her. She’s got her friends— the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She’s got her art— and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it’s hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they’re dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?—Goodreads

LOOK. AT THAT. ADORABLE. COVER!!!!!!

Ok, I’m a sucker for things that have to do with art because I’m a big art history nerd. So as soon as I saw this cover and the title I knew that I was just INTO this book. And then I saw that it’s written by Melissa Jensen and I perked up even more because she wrote Falling in Love with English Boys, which I found to be super charming and fun.

From the description, I’m not quite sure if the actual game of truth or dare has anything to do with the book, but, really, who cares. The title is adorable and the cover is adorable and I like the name Ella and I like the French language.

Basically, I can’t wait to read this. Even if it is to just stare at the cover.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.