Review: Being Sloane Jacobs
Title: Being Sloane Jacobs
Author: Lauren Morrill
Publisher: Delacorte
Pub Date: January 7, 2014
Format: eGalley
Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.
Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.
When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.—via Goodreads
Hockey! Figure skating! Montreal!
Being Sloane Jacobs is a book with a surprising amount of emotional depth. With the premise that two girls, both named Sloane Jacobs and look enough alike, arrive in Montreal for summer intensives in their respective winter sports of choice—Sloane Emily, figure skating; Sloane Devon, hockey—meet in a hotel lobby, and plan to switch places for the summer, it’s easy to get caught up in the various hijinks and awkward moments that ensue. Think It Takes Two and The Parent Trap—cute, fun movies full of identity capers. But what I really enjoyed about Being Sloane Jacobs is that author Lauren Morrill provided a lot more than two girls playing with the system. The emotional depth she provided to each Sloane and the reasons why they both are willing to spend their summers training for a winter sport they don’t play is what really makes this story shine.
I do tend to be more on the girly side (not to mention my fervent love for figure skating), and was immediately drawn to Sloane Emily’s story of a seemingly perfect posh upbringing and the chip on her shoulder because of it. But I have to say that I really enjoyed Sloane Devon’s story as well. As a rough-and-tumble hockey player from a not-great neighborhood in Philly and with an alcoholic mother in rehab, I really felt for Sloane Devon and, though I did not understand her willingness to spend a summer figure skating as much as I understood Sloane Emily’s to play hockey, loved her journey through the book.
Though I did enjoy this book, I don’t necessarily love the premise and construct—I find it too hard to suspend my belief that something like this could actually, really happen successfully. I know that it makes sense theoretically—you have the same name, you look alike, you’re far away from your family and friends—but there’s something about the whole thing that makes me feel like no one would ever really get away with it, especially when the girls at the center of the story are extremely competitive athletes who excel in their fields.
Nevertheless, Being Sloane Jacobs is a really fun, cute story that packs an emotional punch and doesn’t always give in to the conventions of the premise, which makes me a happy reader. (Hooray eschewing conventions!) As we all gear up to cheer on our respective national teams during Sochi (WINTER OLYMPICS ARE THE BEST OLYMPICS), this is the perfect read to pick up!
Review: Going Rogue
Title: Going Rogue
Author: Robin Benway
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Pub Date: January 14, 2014
Format: eGalley
Being permanently based in a local New York City high school as an undercover operative has its moments, good and bad, for 16-year-old safecracker Maggie Silver. Pros: More quality time with her former mark-turned-boyfriend Jesse Oliver and insanely cool best friend, Roux. Getting to spend quality time with her semi-retired and international spy honorary uncle, Angelo. Cons: High school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. But when Maggie’s parents are falsely accused of stealing priceless gold coins, Maggie uses her safecracking skills to try and clear their names. Too bad it only serves to put her and everyone she loves in danger. Maggie and her “new team” flee to Paris where they must come up with a plan to defeat their former allies.—via Goodreads
Y’all! I really liked this one!
I had a bit of a lukewarm reaction to Also Known As, the first book in this series. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, but I got a little hung up on the emotional arc of the story and grumbled about it on this here bloggy blog. And I’m so glad to tell you that I have no grumblings about the second book!
It’s fun and so fast-paced that at times I was breathless while reading it. And there is international intrigue! And some new internationally intriguing characters!
But the root of the story is still Maggie, Jesse, and Roux, whom I adore and want to be besties with. Where I felt the emotions were a bit forced and then rushed in Also Known As, the emotional depth to the relationships between these three characters really works in this book.You get the feeling that these three characters have bonded completely and are able to trust each other without question, which I imagine is incredibly important when you’re all of a sudden on a team of international spies. Sadly, I don’t know this for real and for true since I’ve never been invited to be on a team of international spies, but I can imagine that it would be stressful and that emotions would be running high, and that trust and faith in your team is one of those things that is pretty necessary.
Overall, Going Rogue is an extremely readable spy adventure that will have you practicing your French (and every other language on the planet. You know, for when the time comes.) and trying to figure out which skills you can develop that will make you indispensable as a spy.
Review: Roomies. Plus My Roomie Story, & Giveaway!
Title: Roomies
Authors: Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: December 24, 2013
Format: eGalley
It’s time to meet your new roomie.
When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl’s summer — and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.
As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they’ve never met.
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.—via Goodreads
In Roomies, Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando tell the concurrent stories of Elizabeth and Lauren, two rising college freshmen who learn that they will be freshman roommates. Throughout the summer, the two women begin emailing with each other in an attempt to know each other, at least a little, before moving in to a tiny dorm room together.
The authors do a great job of capturing the mixture of fear, excitement, and uncertainty that you face after high graduation, in that gray area between being a high school student and being a college student, and coming to terms with exactly that means.
In a fun, smart, emotionally on point book about not just learning what it’s going to take to be a good roommate, but also about what it might mean to be an adult.
My Roomie Story
I’ve had a lot of roommates. At 26, I’m still living with roommates since I live in New York, where the shocking cost of housing basically requires that you have a roommate forever. Though I’ve never had a roommate who was out-and-out horrible, I’ve had some not great experiences—roomies who basically ignore your existence, roomies who are passive aggressive, roomies who refuse to close cabinets in the kitchen, roomies who never clean the kitchen.
However, I’ve also had some amazing experiences with roommates. One of my favorite roommate memories is one from college—my sophomore year I lived in a sorority house in a room with three other ladies, two of whom I was close with, and one who I didn’t know all that well, but liked. One very rainy afternoon we all decided to blow off class and sit around watching the first season of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD. We ate ice cream and wore pajamas and just hung out. Though that isn’t necessarily the most exciting story, it’s one of my faves. That day was fullof camaraderie and we-get-each-otherness that arises from something as simple as vegging and watching a very soapy medical drama for hours on end.
All in all, though roomies can be the worst, they can also be the best. You just have to learn to communicate with each other and, perhaps what’s hardest, live with each other.
Roomies Tour!
If you want to see the authors of Roomies live and in-person, you can! Well, you can if you live near one the places below:
- January 12, 2014 – New York, NY: McNally Jackson [venue link]
- January 15, 2014 – Salt Lake City, UT: The King’s English [venue link]
- January 16, 2014 – Provo, UT: Provo Library [venue link]
- February 4, 2014 – San Francisco, CA: Books Inc, Opera Plaza [venue link]
- February 5, 2015 – Petaluma, CA: Copperfield’s Books [venue link]
Giveaway
But wait, there’s more! The awesome people at Little, Brown are hosting a massive giveaway for copies of Roomies, and you could win one by entering below!
Best of luck and Happy Friday!
Review: Crash Into You
Title: Crash Into You
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Format: eGalley
The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that’s who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers…and she’s just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can’t get him out of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they’ll go to save each other.—via Goodreads
I adored Pushing the Limits and blew through Dare You To, but I think it’s possible that Crash Into You is my favorite of these books thus far.
Since meeting him in Pushing the Limits, I’ve had a soft spot for Isaiah, which was only furthered in Dare You To. So, I was probably already predisposed to like this book, and as it turns out, I’m effing crazy about it.
When first meeting Rachel I wasn’t so sure about her—I really loved the family dynamic of her tenuous relationship with her parents and the camaraderie between her and her four (FOUR!) brothers, but I wasn’t exactly sold on her, the reluctant girly-girl who is really tomboy who loves cars and yearns for open roads and a lack of speed limit. Luckily, that didn’t last very long and she quickly came into her own and was able to meet the very high standards I had set for whoever it was meant for Isaiah.
Isaiah. Sigh.
As with McGarry’s other two books, Crash Into You is a fast-paced, emotional read that deftly captures how socioeconomics factors into relationships, as well as the pressure family members can put on each other. And don’t worry, there’s more than enough sexiness to keep you satisfied but not so much that you’re blushing and looking around to make sure no one is reading over your shoulder. Overall, I loved Crash Into You and am basically a slave to McGarry’s books. Trust me on this one—you want to read Crash Into You.
Review: Stir Me Up
Title: Stir Me Up
Author: Sabrina Elkins
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Release Date: October 1, 2013
Format: eGalley
Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She’ll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father’s French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami’s family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.
Julian’s all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami’s starting to feel. And Cami can’t stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He’s got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated…—via Goodreads
I like this book a ridiculous amount.
In Stir Me Up, author Sabrina Elkins does what I feel like is sometimes so elusive for writers to capture—the feeling of anxiety that is inherent in being a high school senior.
Sure, senior year is exciting and fun, but there is a very large sense of fear that accompanies that fun. Even for the most prepared 18-year-old on the planet, who knows exactly what they want out of life, the idea of leaving home and leaving your childhood is at least a little bit scary. And in Stir Me Up, the main character, Cami—an aspiring chef and all-around very mature teenager—has all sorts of fears, confusion, doubts, and anxieties about what her future holds.
But more than that, though she’s realizing what she wants to do with her life, the idea of who she’ll be doing it with is rapidly changing. As soon as she meets her stepmother’s nephew, Julian, a 20-year-old wounded war veteran who moves into her house for rehab, her entire world shifts. But the two don’t get along at first, which, of course, always makes for a fun read due to the slow burn of the romance.
I do enjoy a good slow burn.
Overall, Stir Me Up is a really satisfying read full of food porn, a trip to a ski lodge that will make you want to immediately take to the slopes, a pretty hot romance, and that exhilarating feeling of taking charge of your future and making it your own.
Bethany Larson 