REVIEW: My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman

2011-10-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

SYNOPSIS: With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade. Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel.
(from Goodreads)

MY REVIEW: I have to start with the cover. I love the cover of the book. Its quirky,attractive and kinda crazy. It's perfect for the story between the covers. It aptly illustrates the relationship between Roz and Eva.

To move on to the story,Roz is downright crazy! She does these super crazy things and also has an invented life of her own! (well...I guess we all have invented lives of our own. Ummm...yours truly has one too :P) But she's pretty lovable in her own sweet way. And she's really really perceptive. She gets on to her sister's little secret from the very beginning(I am not gonna reveal the secret to you...you have to read the book to know). Eva fails to understand her own self but can't remain hidden from Roz. Roz is quirky. She gave me lots to laugh about. Her character has been interestingly penned.

However I must say I found the relationship between Roz and Eva disturbing,especially from Roz's side. To me,it seemed like Roz was always after Eva's things,her handouts. It's Eva's boyfriends who she wants. In an attempt to idolize and copy her elder sister,and trying to secure her position as her sister's confidante,Roz takes it a bit too far. I found that a little creepy.

In all,the book is a light read. It mainly focuses on issues of sexuality and acceptance and I must give Lauren Bjorkman lots of credit for the delicate way in which she handles such difficult topics. The secondary characters are interesting enough. There are quite a few things I didn't see coming,which is what I look for in a book. Filled with lots of humor,teenage drama,this book is pretty entertaining and a fun,light read. It reads fluidly and is quite a page turner.

MY RATING: 3.5/5

Tighter by Adele Griffin

2011-09-03T02:39:00.000-07:00

SYNOPSIS:When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Brilliantly plotted, with startling twists, here is a thrilling page-turner from the award-winning Adele Griffin.

MY REVIEW:Tighter is supposed to be a loosely based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.Well I have not read it and I still have no idea about the storyline of that book but I liked Tighter a lot.It has a complex plot and none of the silliness that one finds in a young adult book nowadays.The book is absolutely thrilling and engrossing.It keeps you on tenterhooks and you keep on wondering what will happen next.The ending of the book is shocking.The way the paranormal activities are dealt with in this book is amazing.Eerie,creepy and exciting at the same time. The apparitions felt real and omnipresent It almost seemed like Little Bly was haunted.The brilliance of Adele’s writing lies in the fact that you would never guess that the narrator of the book is mentally unstable.The narrator of the book and protagonist Jamie has problems with pills(she enjoys taking them) which made me quite anxious for her,especially since she was entrusted with the responsibility of babysitting a kid,Isa.But she is such a strong powerful narrator that I actually believed all the things that she would say even though she was not in her right mind.Jamie is a round character and well developed.Even the other characters are well fleshed out.Adele Griifin did not hesitate in giving the nitty-gritties about Isa and Milo,the two children.People might find Connie,the housekkeper irritataing,but I felt that she was quite wise and stable.And what can I say about Adele’s writing?Simply superb!She mesmerizes the readers in such a way that you will find it difficult to break away from the suspense of the book.Her narration is smooth and clear.And though the book deals with difficult issues it is engaging and entertaining nonetheless.My only problem with the book is that it winds up pretty quickly.It takes Adele Griffin a lot of time trying to establish the story but she wraps it up too quickly.I wished that the ending could be a little longer.It was exhilarating and refreshing and it will come as a breath of fresh air to those who are sick and tired of reading mushy romantic young adult novels and want something more mature than that.

MY RATING:5/5

Bookaholics Oye!!

REVIEW: My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman

Tighter by Adele Griffin