That's Amore

Expected Publication: May 6th, 2014

Wish You Were Italian (If Only...#2)

By: Kristin Rae

Bloomsbury

ISBN-13:  9781619632851

Pippa is in Italy for the summer, and despite her parents' wishes, she has no intention of just studying the local art!  She has a list of things of her own to do: from swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, to getting a makeover - and falling for an Italian boy!  As Pippa explores the dramatic ruins of Rome and Pompeii, she is swept into her own drama with two guys: an irresistible local she knows is nothing but trouble and cute American archaeology student.....Will she find her true love?

Review

     Bloomsbury has a new imprint, with teen romances, and I saw the blurb for this one and felt more than a passing interest.  I decided to give it a shot, even though the summary hints at the much dreaded young adult "love triangle," which I am entirely sick of and overall burned out on!  This book is about a girl named Pippa, whose parents want to groom her to take on the family's art gallery when she's old enough.  Pippa has no interest in art though, and really wants to take on photography (which she loves) as a career.  When her parents ship her off to Italy for the summer to be imprisoned in a boring art program, Pippa decides to take matters into her own hands.  She fakes an email from her Mom cancelling her place at the school, and uses the large amount of money her Dad sent with her to get a hotel room in Rome.  After spending the day with another American tourist (a cute boy close to her age) named Darren, she is sure she's made the right choice.  Pippa makes a new Italian friend, Chiara, and ends up going to spend the summer with her family near Cinque Terre.  While she's there, Pippa is having the time of her life.  But who should she choose to pursue romantically: Chiara's hot cousing, Bruno, or the American boy she keeps crossing paths with, Darren?

     If you're in the mood for a book that reads like a basic teen movie plot, you'll enjoy this one!  I loved the descriptions of Italy.  I could picture everything Pippa was seeing/doing in my head and since I'm a very visual person I really enjoyed that a lot.  Also, the friendship with Chiara was adorable!  Usually when a girl goes overseas, I've noticed that a lot of authors like to write in a stereotypical mean girl, who serves as competition and only causes problems for the heroine.  Instead, Kristen Rae gives us the cute and funny international friendship of Chiara and Pippa.  It was nice to see a strong girl friendship for a change!  Probably my least favorite thing about this book was the fact that it housed a love triangle.  It was just unnecessary and I am so over it in my books.  Give me one interesting, well-written love interest, rather than two that taking away from the viability of each other in the plot.  Also, the ending was really abrupt.  As pointed out by other readers, the thing with the Grandmother was not needed and served as a cruel wake-up call, in a book that is mostly sugary and of cotton candy consistency.  It didn't fit in or flow well with the rest of the plot.  Not enough resolution and not enough character development for my liking.  Although Pippa's lack of strong relationships withing her family (save for her Grandma) did make her a tad bit more sympathetic.  Overall, I enjoyed this one but it won't be a re-read and I would really say its more of a beach read than anything else.

VERDICT:  3/5 Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is May 6th, 2014.*

Hold My Hand

Expected Publication:  July 1st, 2014

Copper Magic

By: Julia Mary Gibson

Starscape/Tor

ISBN-13:  9780765332110

Can an unearthed talisman found on the shores of Lake Michigan save 12-year-old Violet's fractured family?  Exploring themes of Native American culture, ecology, and conservation, this historical fiction novel comes brilliantly to life.

The year is 1906, and twelve-year-old Violet Blake unearths an ancient talisman --a copper hand-- beside the stream where her mother used to harvest medicine.  Violet's touch warms the copper hand and it begins to reveal glimpses of another time.  Violet is certain that the copper hand is magic -- and if anyone is in need of its powers, it's Violet.  Her mother and adored baby brother are gone, perhaps never to return.  Her heartbroken father can't seem to sustain the failing farm on the outskirts of Pigeon Harbor, on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Surely the magic of the copper hand can make things right for Violet and restore her fractured family.  Violet makes a wish.  But her ignorant carelessness unleashes formiddable powers -- and her attempts to control them jeopardizes not only herself, but the entire town of Pigeon Harbor.

In Copper Magic, land and waters are alive with memories, intentions, and impulses.  Magic alters Violet and brings her gifts -- but not always the kind she thinks she needs.  First-time author Julia May Gibson brings Violet and her community to life in this impressive and assured debut.

Review

     Violet Blake has been living with just her father on their farm for months now, ever since her mother took her baby brother Francis (aka Fry) and left.  Violet doesn't know why she left, when she's coming back and is actually starting to believe that both her Mom and her brother are actually dead.  Twelve year old Violet is stuck between a child and a teenager, outgrowing her shabby clothes and trying to stay a kid, but being forced into responsibility be her meddling Aunt.  The property down by the lake has been "bought" by church people, who are setting up camp for the summer.  Violet makes friends with a preacher's kid and one day by the lake she finds a copper hand, that she thinks is magical.  Maybe the hand can bring back her family and put her life back to normal.  But when the copper hand unleashes powers that Violet can't control and that could cause a lot of harm, and it is taken away by priveleged people who don't understand it, it's up to Violet to save the hand and return it to where it belongs before it's too late.

     The main draw for me was the fact that this book is set in Michigan, near Lake Michigan.  It also didn't hurt that this was a historical fiction book set in my home state.  I love me some decent historical fiction.  The tone was very reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, but without the stately wisdom that seems to assert itself in that novel (even with the main characters being children).  Violet Blake is our protagonist in this one, and while I get that kids were a hell of a lot more innocent/naieve/less jaded in the early 1900s for the most part, I just did NOT feel like I was reading something from the point of view of a twelve year old.  I honestly couldn't think of Violet as any older than nine or so years old.  Especially since most of this book centers around her unwavering belief in the magical powers of a hand made out of copper!

      Probably my favorite thing in this book as I was reading, ended up being the usage of Native American mysticism and culture to bring home the power of belief to make things change.  Also, I really loved the way Gibson portrayed the Native American people in this novel (Violet is actually the product of a half N.A. mother and a white father).  She doesn't ignore the racism and demeaning cultural attitudes of the time period, but still manages to make the characters rich and very developed.  They are never just convenient stereotypes.  There is also some beautiful imagery to do with the beaches, the Hotel that draws in the tourists every summer and the general natural beauties of Michigan.  The biggest complaint on my part would probably be the lack of personal change of Violet's part.  She spends the whole summer apprenticed to a famous lady photographer, trying to make wishes on a magical artifact and trying to retrieve the hand once it's been stolen.  Not to mention her issues with her father and her Aunt, who wants to make Violet into something she's not (and doesn't want to be) - a proper young lady.  Yet for all the heartache and trouble that the hand and her naievte bring into her life, Violet never seems to change all that much during the ensuing drama and tragedy.  Even the aftermath doesn't seem to affect her all that much.  I did appreciate the unresolved nature of the situation with Violet's Mom.  I liked that things were nowhere near as simple as she had made them, and that Violet and her Dad went in search of her Mom, instead of just taking the easy out, and having her return.  Overall, it's a very well written, historical fiction novel worth reading if you like a good mystical mystery.  I just feel like it belongs more in the middle grade catergorization than in the YA pool of novels.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is July 1st, 2014.*