Book Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Erika

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

4 Stars/5

Sky is a girl who has been homeschooled by her Luddite (adopted) mother for her whole life; she begs to go to school for her senior year. Her mother reluctantly agrees, and thus Sky enters the world of mostly obnoxious teenagers. Unfortunately she has a bit of an undeserved reputation, but she doesn’t really care about that. She meets Dean Holder, another recipient of an undeserved reputation, who is sexy, funny, mysterious and sometimes incredibly angry. She’s intrigued (and attracted) but she doesn’t understand why he runs so hot and cold with her. He does, though, and it’s a secret that he keeps from her until she discovers the truth…

And I’m not going to tell you what it is.

I actually had to think on this one for about 48 hours before I could review it. I had to think about what I loved (most of it), hated (the subject matter) and felt indifferent to (which I can’t address without spoiling it).

The biggest problem was more with ME than with the book: I inhaled this book, and because of the TRICKY subject matter, it’s meant to be enjoyed more slowly and thoroughly. I need to go back and re-read so that I can give it proper credit.

 

My main criticism of the book itself is the sub-characters (if that’s a word). Holder, Sky and her mom were well-fleshed out. Sky’s best friend, her new school friend, and Sky’s mom’s boyfriend were much less so. Other relatives, practically nothing. Those outlying characters were more what they DO/DID/ACTED than who they were. I think the author attacked the subject matter so carefully, and she did such a marvelous job making it believable and real and heartfelt, that some of those lesser characters took a backseat to that. So it felt okay, overall, but I can’t help comparing it to The Sea of Tranquility, which managed to cover a lot of secrets and trauma and characters (and was a lot longer) with a bit more depth. This book was more straightforward. Sky was easier to relate to. She was intelligent and funny and… teenager-ish. She was very real.

Highly recommend.

Plus, the author, Colleen Hoover, is just wonderful and loves her fans and interacts with them regularly on Facebook and Twitter.

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My Birthday On the Island Giveaway Winner

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Erika

First of all, Happy Birthday to me! I am 33 tonight, a little after 7:00pm EST.

And yes, in case you were wondering, I AM mom enough!

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Take that, Time Magazine.

Second of all, I have already received several awesome presents, including a gorgeous mommy necklace from my friend Sarah (winner of my last giveaway) and some healing cream to help my rear end — and any other place I may need to use it in the future — courtesy of Miss Manners.

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My but says THANKS!

This next item was not a birthday present, but my artist friend Angela finished painting my belly cast from when I was pregnant with Cousin It, 18 months ago. Angela’s work is amazing. This is what she did to my cast

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How beautiful is that?!?!? Angela is so talented!

And now for the On the Island giveaway winner: comment #17, Venita!
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Venita, please email me at cincodemommy at gmail dot com and send me your address. You’re receiving a new, signed copy of On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves, and some On the Island bookmarks!

Have a great May 23, everyone! I hope to find a babysitter tonight so I can go out to dinner with My Chemical Romance at a tapas bar in Raleigh called Humble Pie.

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Book Club Cast of Characters

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Erika

I’ve attended several book clubs since moving here — Yuppies with Puppies, Blue Hairs and Shares and Snobby White Women with Lots of Time On Their Well-Manicured Hands.

Here’s what they all have in common:

1. There’s always one woman who sits there with a pained expression like attending book club is some kind of torture

She says nothing. And I’m constantly wondering, Why are you here? This does not seem enjoyable for you. ARE YOU PART OF WITNESS PROTECTION AND THIS IS YOUR COVER?!?!?!?!

2. On the opposite side of the room, is a woman who makes a lot of jokes that only she laughs at and talks way too loudly.

credit: Lisa Williams/Flickr

This may come as a surprise to many but I am not actually that woman! No, really. I’m not. I joke only about the book/books in general, and after spending all day with the kids, I speak fairly quietly.

3. There’s a bitter divorcee who bitches about everything

credit: flickr/tinfoilraccoon

The Hunger Games SUCKED. My ex-husband SUCKS. People who don’t want to read Cutting for Stone because it’s 700 pages long and full of detailed explanations of bowel dissection surgery that no non-medical person ever needs to read SUCK. (But I’m not talking about anyone in particular.) In fact, all people who don’t want to read SUCK. I’m just going to sit here sprawled on a chair with my dare-you-to-defy-me body language and glower at everyone who eats the pound cake. Because I’m on a diet.

4. They Hustle Out Like There’s a Fire

Or, as I might say, They leave with very little fanfare. Book club is over and they’re out. No THANKS SEE YOU NEXT MONTH THIS WAS REALLY FUN I LIKE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT PEETA SOUNDING LIKE THE TYPE OF BREAD RATHER THAN LIKE “PETER”  AND HOW IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF SOCIETY’S DEPENDENCE ON REALITY TV THAT SOMETHING LIKE THE HUNGER GAMES COULD EXIST IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. Instead it’s like a bum-rush for the door and maybe a quick wave as the door slams behind them. What the heck? Have I been out of society for so long that it’s now considered rude to ask if the hostess wants help with putting the food away?

Next month I’m having a book club for the co-op moms, and I sincerely hope that they disprove all these stereotypes!

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I’m a Book Club Socialite

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Erika

I’m currently a member of three local book clubs: Yuppies with Puppies; Blue Hairs and Shares; and SERIOUS Book Club, where we were provided with snacks and drinks, and we discussed the book for exactly 75 minutes (with a moderator) before the evening ended.

This week Yuppies with Puppies discussed Breakfast at Tiffany’s at an Asian Fusion Restaurant, where I ate crab rangoon (Nice-Nice introduced me to this delicacy!) and a chocolate cake that was so chocolate-y, I had a difficult time finishing it. (But I persevered. Because, duh. I’m me.) The women there were, well, yuppies, for lack of a better word. What I mean is, most of them were single professional women living in Raleigh, drinking wine and hiking on the weekends. They seemed to love their animal companions. Several of them skipped dessert — in favor of a drink. What the what?!?!?! Why would you ever skip dessert? Why would you ever have a drink INSTEAD OF dessert??? I really don’t get this at all. I will continue to attend Yuppies with Puppies because I’m somewhat intrigued by these strange creatures, and I like to try new restaurants for the sole purpose of ordering dessert.

My thoughts on Breakfast at Tiffany’s: I was really charmed by the writing style, which is very conversational, and simultaneously miffed at the looooooooooong sentences, although I think it was a cultural thing for the time period. Having read some older books, they punctuated thus. I’m also incredibly impressed that Truman Capote understood these very subtle nuances of society at such a young age — he published Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1958, when he was 34. I was totally oblivious to the fact that the narrator — “Fred” — is gay. I basically thought Holly Golightly was a prostitute who treated her body very poorly. I still don’t understand why she skipped her chance to audition for a movie; it seems like the money she made from that would have lasted longer than what she got from Sally Tomato.

Last week, Blue Hairs and Shares discussed Accidental Birds of the Carolinas at a Starbucks meeting room, in which we all sat in a circle. (This seemed like a really… normal… thing to do for a book club.) And the women who attended it were OLD. Good hell. I am not an age-ist but MY GOD THEY DIDN’T USE GOOGLE. (One of the women starting asking for Ob/Gyn recommendations, and a few of the other women recommended certain doctors, and the woman asking about an Ob/Gyn just took their words for it, without using Google to look up the doctor! What the what?!?!? I don’t go to the grocery store with Googling it to find out what people think! Much less a person who will aim a speculum at my VAGINA, for god’s sake!) I was completely horrified by the entire exchange. I am not sure if I will continue with Blue Hairs and Shares. I’m a big fan of Google.

My opinion on Accidental Birds of the Carolinas: meh. Normally I don’t read short stories, and so for a book of short stories, it was good. But nothing fantastic, and I can’t even recommend it. I was curious as to how the author and editor worked together to decide on the stories that made it in; they weren’t really linked other than being set in North Carolina.  Most were average, some were below average. There were several different styles of writing, although not one in particular that stole the show. It was like the author just wanted to show that she could write in different styles. Nobody in Blue Hairs liked it particularly. Next month is Cutting for Stone.

 

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Young Adult Dystopian Literature: Matched, Hunger Games, and MacGuyver

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Erika

When I’m pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding — basically anytime at any point in my cycle — I am sensitive to topics that fall under the category of “tragic.” Ergo, I have a difficult time reading contemporary fiction, since it revolves around tragedy. I love reading, and yet every time I pick up a book, the blurb always begins with

Trying to pick up the pieces after her 30-year-old husband’s sudden death by tractor mauling…

Since her infant daughter’s death from elephant asphyxia…

After her husband, children, parents, grandparents, and beloved pet parrot perished in a freak Kansas City tsunami…

Good grief — can’t anyone just, like, exist without some epic struggle through mourning? However, I can’t not read, so I’ve been reading Young Adult Dystopian Literature: Matched by Ally Condie, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Here’s a breakdown:

1. World I’d Most Enjoy Living In: The Society in Matched. There seems to be slightly more free will than in any of the other books.

2. World I’d Least Enjoy Living In: The Districts in The Hunger Games. Hunger, sickness, misery and government workers who make Sarah Palin look perfectly sane and reasonable.

3. Best Book for Truly Young Young Adults: The Giver. It’s a much better intro to dystopian literature than, say, 1984 or Farenheit 451, which I read in school and hated. (Looking back, I think I’d like to reread Farenheit 451 and see if I get more out of it than I did as a teenager.) The Giver is a very basic introduction to dystopian society: everything is arranged, human emotions don’t exist, and everything works out in a very neat and orderly fashion.

4. Best Book for Truly Adult Young Adults: The Hunger Games. Okay, yes, there’s a definite love triangle, but perhaps because the Districts are so awful, Katniss is very mature for a teenager. She’s not concerned with clothes, looks, or boys (really), but with keeping her family alive. It’s also the most complicated — although Matched is supposed to be part of a trilogy as well — story of all, with a lot of characters.

5. Book I enjoyed the Most: The Hunger Games (the actual book, not the entire trilogy). It’s well written, the plot is fast paced and intense, and who doesn’t love Gale? Catching Fire (second book) was also good, but Mockingjay (final chapter) felt a little rushed.

6. Book I enjoyed the Least: The Giver. Just because I’m not 12. However, if I was 12, it would probably be my favorite.

Matched was truly mediocre, in terms of writing and story — the main character reminds me a little of Bella in Twilight, which is never a good comparison. She was so blah and forgettable. But the plot was interesting and I look forward to reading the sequel and the final chapter.

I also enjoy reading non-fiction for its tragedy-avoiding plotlines.

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