The Likeness by Tana French
Title: The Likeness
Author: Tana French
Publisher: Viking Adult
Published date: July 17, 2008
Pages: 480
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Source: Personal copy
So, you all remember how much I loved In the Woods, also by Ms. Tana French, right? Obviously after enjoying her first book so much I was compelled to pick up this, French’s second novel, right away. And did it satisfy? You bet it did!
Why don’t I tell you a little about the plot… the book is told from the perspective of Detective Cassie Maddox, former partner of Detective Rob Ryan from In the Woods. Well, after all of the craziness from the events in the first book, Cassie is trying to lay low by transferring out of the murder squad and into the domestic violence department. One day she gets a call from her boyfriend Sam (who is also a detective, also from the first book), who has discovered a dead body of a woman who looks completely identical to Cassie. Not only that, but her ID carries the fake name that Cassie used years back on an undercover case she did at the local college, Lexie Madison. So what does Cassie do? She goes undercover, posing as Lexie, starts living in Lexie’s house, with her friends, going to her classes, all in the hopes of solving her murder.
The Likeness is even better than In the Woods. I honestly wasn’t sure that was possible, and I would still say that I love the first book. But I have to say that this one grabbed me just a teensy bit more. I think the main reason for that is the fact that Cassie is a far more sympathetic character than Rob Ryan was. She didn’t make nearly as many stupid decisions, she was believable, and I truly liked her and, though her, Lexie. The other characters were extremely real to me as well. I felt like I was living in their cozy house with them, that’s how authentic they felt to me. Although they all had some major issues, and I was suspicious of all of them at different points throughout the story, I truly got a sense that they loved Lexie and each other. They were just such darn great characters!
The mystery in The Likeness is extremely well crafted. There were seriously so many twists and turns in this novel, I never had any kind of grasp on what was really going on. Just when things were starting to seem clear, something else would happen that would cause me to question everything I thought I knew about Lexie and her four best friends. It was such a crazy and exciting ride and I loved every second of it. And although the ending wasn’t at all surprising (meaning that it made sense given the rest of the book), it wasn’t what I was expecting – which I of course loved.
The last thing I will say about The Likeness is that Tana French is still one of the best writers I’ve read recently. She just has a way with language, with making the most ordinary conversation stand out. The book is both lengthy and wordy, but I didn’t notice those aspects while reading it because of how perfectly put together the entire thing is. From the plot, to the characters, to the mystery itself, to the wonderful writing – The Likeness is truly a remarkable book. And I will go out on a limb and say that I think this is a MUST read for mystery lovers. 
It truly is that awesome!
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Filed under: YA, fiction, thriller | Tags: justine larbalestier
Comments (7) There’s so much I DON’T want to tell you about this book! I liked it so much but mostly, I think, because I knew very little going in. There’s some surprises in this novel, and I really don’t want to spoil any of them for you! But let me give a quick synopsis that will, hopefully, entice you to pick it up for yourself. Liar starts out with a bang: Micah’s sort-of boyfriend disappears in the first couple of pages, and then we find out he is actually dead. Then Micah tells us several more important things about herself, her friends, and her family, and then she says – get this – that she is a compulsive liar. But that “you” (meaning the reader) are the only person she can tell the truth to. And then, fairly quickly in the story, it becomes clear that she’s already lied to us about a few things. It becomes very difficult to figure out what’s really going on with Micah, when we cannot even discern what is reality and what is just another lie from Micah.
Talk about an unreliable narrator! The fact that the reader cannot trust Micah is the coolest, but most frustrating, aspect of this book. There’s so much that happens between these pages, so many twists and turns, but throughout the novel I never really could figure out what I was supposed to believe and what was actually a lie. What was also annoying was that I ended up liking Micah – I thought she was such a sympathetic character because of all the stuff she was dealing with at such a young age – but I almost felt that she was manipulating me into liking her. I just hated that I couldn’t figure her out! But the fact this stuff bothered me is the mark of an awesome book – if I wasn’t so invested in this story and its characters, I wouldn’t be so irritated by the fact that I couldn’t figure out the narrator!
Even as I closed the book, I was still feeling extremely unsettled by the events inside. I was still not one hundred percent sure what was true and what wasn’t. Normally if I finish a book and still don’t “get it”, I am extremely irritated and semi-mad at the author for doing that to me. But with Liar, I was definitely still irritated, but almost in a good way. It’s more like I appreciate what Larbalestier did with the novel, and while I still want to know more, I understand why I’m still sort of in the dark and I’m okay with that. That should definitely tell you how much I enjoyed this novel!
I definitely recommend this one. Intense, interesting, complex, and with one supremely awesome (although unreliable) narrator. Liar is a perfect example of excellent YA.
Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman
Filed under: memoirs, nonfiction, review copy | Tags: hannah friedman
Comments (10) Everything Sucks is the memoir of Hannah Friedman’s life from middle school until college. Basically, Hannah was a completely unpopular kid, didn’t have a lot of friends and was bullied relentlessly in her elementary school and middle school years. Plus, she never felt like she really fit in with her own family. Everything changes for her when she gets a scholarship to a very prestigious boarding school, and suddenly she becomes one of the cool kids on campus. But with Hannah’s popularity comes a host of personal issues including an eating disorder and a drug habit. This is the story of Hannah’s gaining everything she thought she wanted, losing it, then learning how to survive as herself in this crazy world.
To be completely honest, I didn’t expect to like this book very much. It just sounded very cliche, very immature, for my tastes. I hate to say that, knowing that the author is probably going to read this review, but it’s the way I felt before I picked it up. Actually, the only reason I accepted it for review is because so many bloggers enjoyed the book. I’m happy to say that despite my expectations, I really enjoyed Hannah Friedman’s memoir. It was equally touching and hilarious, and I sped through the book in just a couple of hours.
I think what made Everything Sucks so enjoyable for me was the authenticity of Hannah’s voice. I truly felt like I got to know her through her memoir, and not only did I know her, I liked her. Even though her and I aren’t much alike, I could relate to many of her struggles. Don’t get me wrong, I have never been the popular kid in school (especially high school – far from it), but I can relate to that feeling of wanting to belong, and being compelled to cave in when the peer pressures gets to be overwhelming. I think every teen goes through that stuff, in one way or another.
One of the great things about Hannah was that throughout this book, she was able to laugh at herself, to find humor in some pretty serious situations. It was almost like she trusted the reader to know that she’s grown up since these events took place, and now that she’s a little wiser she sees the severity of what she was doing with her life, but she also sees the funny side to some of the situations she put herself in. She trusted the reader not to judge her for the decisions she made in high school, and to understand that she’s not the same girl she was when these events were taking place.
I think teens can learn a lot from Everything Sucks. Popularity isn’t everything, for starters. Also, no matter how much you screw up, it’s just high school, and you can easily turn life around if you just put in the effort. There’s a lot to admire about Hannah Friedman, too – she’s extremely intelligent, well-spoken, articulate, and has an excellent sense of humor. I definitely look forward to seeing more from her in the future.
Here are some more reviews of Everything Sucks.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Filed under: YA, dystopia, fiction, science fiction, thriller | Tags: patrick ness
Comments (19) 
Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: September 2008
Pages: 479
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian Fiction
Source: Library
The Knife of Never Letting Go follows Todd Hewitt, who is twelve years old and the youngest person in his entire town. You see, several years ago a germ was inflicted upon the town, killing all of the women and most of the men. And Todd is a boy now, but he’s going to become a man in just a few months. This germ, called the Noise, also caused all of the surviving men to be able to hear every single one of each other’s thoughts. One day, while playing in a part of the swamp that is forbidden to him, Todd stumbles across something that causes him to question everything he’s ever known about his life. And what he finds forces him to be on the run from the mayor of his town. Just him and his faithful dog Manchee, on the run from the most powerful people Todd has ever known.
The thing is that I don’t want to tell you anything more about this book than the above paragraph. I actually would prefer to tell you nothing about it, but I think a short plot summary is in order so that you are intrigued enough to want to pick it up. Because you definitely should pick it up. This novel is gritty and intense and unlike anything I’ve read before.
The difficult thing is that I’m not able to point out what EXACTLY is so great about the book. I will say that there is so much love in these pages, in the weirdest possible places. Like a dog that talks, and therefore can tell his owner exactly how much he means to him with just one word. Or a stranger who suddenly becomes Todd’s only friend in the entire world, to the point where he completely depends upon her and must trust her with his life. And there’s a lot of pain in here too. The one scene, if you’ve read it you know exactly what I’m talking about, oh my goodness did my heart get ripped out of my chest. I can’t even tell you how much that part of the book broke me up inside. But there’s so much faith and hope in these pages, too. It’s a crazy contrast where you think all is lost one minute, and the next minute there’s a new development and things start to look up, but no wait more bad is happening and it can’t possibly get any better. This novel is a thrill ride like no other.
And the ending. WTF. I’m in serious need of book 2 after that ending.
All I can say is that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into with this book, in a good way. It is a wonderful story with amazing characters that you will be completely unable to forget. Highly recommended.
Here are some of the (many) more reviews of The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Women Unbound Challenge
I’m supremely excited to announce that I’ll be joining the Women Unbound Challenge. This challenge really has my name written all over it, so I’m thinking I’ll read a ton of books related to women’s studies in 2010 and be very happy about doing so. I plan on participating as a Suffragete, which is reading at least eight books, three being nonfiction. Truthfully I hope to read at least twenty between fiction and nonfiction that would qualify for this challenge.
Here’s the start-of-challenge meme:
1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act?
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people” – this quote, by Charis Kramarae, has always been my go-to quote about feminism. It really sums up my feelings on the subject. Feminism is nothing more than stating the obvious fact that women deserve equal treatment to men. I think feminism has to do with everything … not allowing men to receive favoritism in the workplace, sticking up for oneself in conversations about one’s opinions and such, dressing in a way that speaks to one’s personality, etc. Feminism is a lot of things, but I think the biggest aspect of feminism is just having confidence in yourself and just being genuine. The only way for women to earn respect and be seen as equals is to deserve it, to be intelligent and honest and all these things that it’s taken for granted men are. That certainly isn’t going to fix every issue, but in terms of my personal life, I think it’s a start.
2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?
I definitely consider myself a feminist, because I believe that all people are equal, no matter what. That means that women and girls should absolutely not ever, in any aspect, be treated as lesser beings than men and boys.
3. What do you consider the biggest obstacle women face in the world today? Has that obstacle changed over time, or does it basically remain the same?
I think there are many, many obstacles for women and it’s difficult to name just one. I would say that one of the biggest issues I see is that around the globe, women’s health is not a priority in almost any way, for almost any country. For a woman, having access to safe health care is so crucial to so many aspects of her life, and in so many countries women do not have the ability to make any decisions for themselves about their healthcare. There are a million reasons why this is the case, and I won’t get into all of that now, but there are definitely things that can be done around the world to improve this situation. In some parts of the world, this has improved over time, but even here in the United States there are several states where women and girls don’t have the ability to make choices about their own bodies. So we have a long way to go on this.
I’m SUPER excited about this challenge, as you can see, thinking about and talking about feminism really jazzes me up so I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to read lots of interesting books that are women-focused.
No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
Filed under: fiction, mystery, review copy | Tags: michelle richmond
Comments (10) 
Title: No One You Know
Author: Michelle Richmond
Release date: June 24, 2008
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 320
Genre: Fiction
Source: Author
Ellie Enderlin is a professional coffee buyer who, generally speaking, has a pretty normal and good life. Except for the fact that twenty years ago her older sister, Lila, was murdered. Her beautiful, brilliant big sister, who she loved and respected more than anyone else in the world. Ellie never stops thinking about her sister, but she also never truly expects to find out what happened to her. Until one day, in a remote part of South America, she runs into someone from Lila’s past – and he gives Ellie her sister’s journal, something she thought had long ago disappeared. Now it’s Ellie’s job to figure out if the journal, and this long-forgotten stranger from her sister’s life, can show her what really happened to Lila.
I read and loved Michelle Richmond’s The Year of Fog this time last year, so when I was offered the opportunity to review No One You Know I of course jumped at the chance. I was definitely hoping to love this novel, and it really didn’t disappoint me, which is wonderful. Ellie is a great character, and as she is the force that propels the novel, I’m very happy that I believed in her. I didn’t particularly like her, especially since I thought so many of her decisions were both weird and/or stupid – but I believed her as a flawed, realistic person. She was dealing with so much grief, for so many years, and had all these unanswered questions – so I could see why she would make some of the questionable decisions that she made. I found Ellie to be a bit naive at times – especially dealing with Andrew Thorpe – but again, I believed that to be genuine because of how young she was when Lila died, and how profoundly her sister’s death impacted the rest of her life.
The mystery of how exactly Lila died, who killed her, and for what reason, was the undercurrent running throughout the entire book. While the question of what happened to her was something I desperately wanted to find an answer to, I have to confess that I was more concerned with Ellie’s development and growth than the actual solving of the mystery. This most likely had to do with the fact that the reader never really gets to know Lila – only through Ellie’s memories – so it’s easy to care about Ellie much more than about solving Lila’s murder. But because Ellie is so invested in finding these answers, I did need to find out those answers along with her. It was easy to see from the beginning that if Ellie just understood why her sister died, she would finally be able to move on and create a future of her own. It was almost as if Ellie felt that since Lila never got a future, Ellie didn’t deserve happiness for her life either – even to the point of sabotaging the most serious and committed relationship she’d ever had over something silly. So because I cared for Ellie, I truly was concerned about her getting a resolution to the questions she’d carried around with her for twenty years.
One more thing about No One You Know – as in The Year of Fog, Michelle Richmond’s writing is excellent. This novel is also set in San Francisco, which is one of my favorite cities in the United States, and she truly brings the city to life through her writing. I could see and smell aspects of the city that I’ve experienced and loved when I’ve visited in the past. She also has quite a way with words when describing interactions between people – she can make the smallest conversation seem so important to the reader, which means that it’s nearly impossible to put the book down!
There were so many things to love about No One You Know. It is an exciting novel with excellent characters and beautiful writing. I am happy to say that Michelle Richmond is now two for two in my book.
For more reviews of this book, please visit the Book Blogger Search Engine.
Orbis Terrarum wrap-up
This was my first time participating in Orbis Terrarum, and I loved being a part of this fascinating and diverse challenge! I’m thrilled to say that I’ve finished the challenge in only eight months instead of ten. Here is the final list:
1. Slave – Mende Nazar and Damien Lewis (Sudan) review
2. Sonata for Miriam – Linda Olsson (Sweden) review
3. Everything Asian – Sung J. Woo (South Korea) review
4. The Good Women of China – Xinran (China) review
5. The Complete Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi (Iran) review
6. Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta (Australia) review
7. Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) review
8. Blindness – Jose Saramago (Portugal) review
9. A Disobedient Girl – Ru Freeman (Sri Lanka) review
10. Haunting Bombay – Shilpa Agarwal (India) review
The best book: Hmm… Blindness takes the cake on this one, I think. With The Complete Persepolis a close second.
Any new authors? All of them, actually! I’ve been reading quite a few new authors this year, which I love!
Least favorite of the bunch: Jellicoe Road. I just did not get this book at all.
What did I learn from this challenge? I should be reading more literature from around the world, because what I read, I usually end up loving. It’s always good to expand my reading horizons, so I definitely appreciate that this challenge allowed me to do that!
RIP Challenge wrap-up
R.I.P. IV was every bit as awesome as I was expecting it to be. I surprised myself by reading six books instead of the two I had planned on reading. Here’s my completed list:
1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins review
2. Blindness – Jose Saramago review
3. In the Woods – Tana French review
4. Sworn to Silence – Linda Castillo review
5. Haunting Bombay – Shilpa Agarwal review
6. The Likeness – Tana French
I haven’t exactly finished The Likeness yet, but I’m going to go ahead and count it since I only have 50 pages left and I plan to finish it before midnight tonight. So it counts.
The best book: They were almost all amazing, but I think if I had to choose I’d say Blindness. It truly blew me away, to a degree that none of the others were able to do.
Any new authors? Yes, they were all new-to-me authors, obviously except for the second book by Tana French.
Least favorite of the bunch: Haunting Bombay. I liked it, came nowhere near loving it.
What did I learn from this challenge? I like these genres more than I thought! And I have plenty more on my TBR list where these came from, which excites me.
A small apology (and I’m back!)
Well, a week has come and gone since I last posted and let me tell you, it’s been a long week. As most of you know, I was in Los Angeles since the 21st for work. I had really high hopes of reading a ton of books poolside, and staying up late every night to blog about them for all of you. Well…. let’s just say I had to spend more hours working than I had anticipated. A LOT more hours. AND I ended up visiting with two family members who both moved out to L.A. within the past few years (separately, they are opposite sides of the family).
In addition, the “free” Wi-Fi in my hotel was complete crap. Was it free? Yes. Did it actually connect me to the internet? Most of the time, no it did not. So generally speaking, I wasn’t able to read your blogs, I wasn’t able to catch up on twitter, I could only check my email on my Blackberry, and I certainly wasn’t able to do any blogging.
Grrr. So I’m unhappy about the week I spent away from all of you, and I apologize for my absence. That being said, I’m glad to be back and I have several posts I need to write this week, as well as TONS of reading to catch up on, so expect to see lots more of me soon!
Oh, and one more thing, I really wanted to get together with some book bloggers, and I spoke specifically to Amy about a time we could meet up, so I do need to sincerely apologize for not being able to make that happen. I simply did not have the time I expected to have to do anything besides work and the small amount of time I did have with family. I’m so very sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet any of you, and to Amy especially – so sorry I basically flaked on you! The trip just didn’t work out the way I wanted it to!
Willow by Julia Hoban
Title: Willow
Author: Julia Hoban
Release date: April 2, 2009
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Source: Library
One rainy night, sixteen-year-old Willow was out to dinner with her parents in what she thought was just a regular evening. When they realized they’d had too much to drink, they asked Willow to drive home – on a learner’s permit. Unfortunately, Willow wasn’t prepared to drive in the rainy weather they were having, and she ended up crashing the car – killing both of her parents. The book starts out seven months later, with Willow living with her older brother, his wife, and their baby girl, trying to make sense of her life now that her parents are gone. Because she blames herself for their deaths, and because her brother is so deep in his own grief he can’t seem to comfort her at all, she resorts to cutting herself to deal with her pain. One day Willow meets Guy – someone she, inexplicably, trusts with her secret, and they form an extremely strong bond because of that. But Willow isn’t prepared for Guy’s acceptance, or the fact that he insists she figures out a way to heal. Willow needs to get healthy, and to do that she needs to not only deal with her pain, but reach out to her brother, and accept the love that Guy is willing to give.
Willow is an extremely powerful, emotional read. Willow is in so much pain, it is just palpable – you can actually feel her pain as you’re reading her story. I wanted so desperately to crawl inside the book and give her a big hug and tell her that what happened to her parents was not her fault. She had so much shame for what happened, so much self-hate that the only thing she could do with all those feelings was to physically harm herself. And it just made me so sad, but so hopeful at the same time that at some point throughout the story she would stop.
I really, really liked Guy. Typically I hate when YA books give the message that all a girl will need is the right guy and all of her problems, no matter how big or small, will go away. While Willow does sort have that feel, and I was fearful of that exact scenario happening, Guy really isn’t the answer to all of her issues. He’s simply the catalyst that allows her to start to look for answers within herself. He pushes her to get better, while at the same time he never stops caring for her despite her imperfections. In an uncertain world where Willow truly feels alone, he is her rock, the only person she can depend upon. It’s difficult for me to believe that there are any teen boys as sweet and genuine and loving as Guy, but for the sake of my future daughter(s), I certainly hope there are.
There were so many scenes in this book that resonated with me. I never cut myself as a teen, but I had plenty of difficult moments and plenty of times when I honestly hated myself and couldn’t imagine ever feeling better. I never had an experience nearly as traumatic as Willow’s, but I did a few things that, at the time, I thought were just horrible and caused me to be the worst person alive. And I was a “good” kid! But that just goes to show you that anyone who’s ever been a teen can relate to Willow. The teenage years are difficult if you’re a “normal” kid, but they must be a million times worse for anyone with extraordinarily rough circumstances like Willow’s. The one scene in particular that was especially poignant was the part with the anorexic girl – it was just such a pivotal moment for Willow, when she finally started to see herself as others see her, and consequently she started to want to get better.
With Willow, Julia Hoban has written an unbelievably powerful book that everyone can appreciate. This novel is not just about cutting – it is about the meaning of family, the importance of friends, and most of all about having faith and belief in yourself, enough to get through the worst kinds of tragedies. Willow was an amazing character that really came alive for me in the novel. I just can’t say enough about this wonderful book!
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