The Game of Life Isn't Always Fair

Expected Publication:  August 1st, 2013
Canary
By: Rachele Alpine
Medallion Press
ISBN-13:  9781605425870

Staying quiet will destroy her, but speaking up will destroy everyone.

Kate Franklin’s life changes for the better when her dad lands a job at Beacon Prep, an elite private school with one of the best basketball teams in the state. She begins to date a player on the team and quickly gets caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, learning that there are perks to being an athlete.

But those perks also come with a price. Another player takes his power too far and Kate is assaulted at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The world that Kate was once welcomed into is now her worst enemy, and she must decide whether to stay silent or expose the corruption, destroying her father’s career and bringing down a town’s heroes.

Canary is told in a mix of prose and verse.

Review

 

     Kate is desperate to keep her family together, but since her Mom died they've drifted dangerously apart from each other.  So when her Dad gets a new job coaching basketball at privileged Beacon Prep, she is more than happy to start school there.  Especially since it means she gets to leave behind all the 'friends' who deserted her when her Mom got sick with cancer.  Her brother Brett is angry and withdraws even more, especially when Kate starts hanging out with the popular kids who make fun of him all the time.  Enjoying the all of the perks that come with having a basketball God for a boyfriend, when things start to go downhill Kate starts to have serious doubts about who her real friends are and who's even worth her time.  When Kate is assaulted and tries to speak out, she needs to decided whether or not to let herself be silenced, or to speak the truth and maybe begin healing all the poisonous hurts in her life.  Will Kate be forced to choose between herself and her Dad before all is said and done?

     This book was really powerful.  At the beginning, Kate is a typical teenager worried about the shallow things in life.  She's focused on her appearance, popularity, getting a boyfriend and surviving high school.  But as the book moves forward, we get to see her changes as she matures.  The blog posts in a combination of prose and verse were a really nice touch and added an extra element of reality to the book for me personally.  When I was a teen, I wrote poetry constantly to express myself and I know that a lot of teens still do.  A poem can be a life-changing event.  As things go from bad to worse with the basketball boys and the popular girls, readers get to see Kate taking a stand for things she believes in (especially when they all attempt to cheat off of her homework) but letting things go too (like when they make fun of her brother Brett and his girlfriend Julia).  The decision that Brett makes to go into the military and the backstory/thoughts from when their Mom was sick, and how this all affected Kate definitely makes her more relatable.  I could see how after all that personal pain she'd be so mixed up about what her values were and what she wanted.  The way she handles the assault is realistic, but still portrays her as a strong girl who is willing to stand up for herself. 

     I liked that the author managed to show the Father's road back to his daughter from the major disconnect he's been in, without vilifying him to the readers.  When all is said and done, you are sure of the fact that he's a human being, albeit one who made some VERY huge mistakes.  All of the interactions with her boyfriend (who abandons Kate in favor of the team) and the girls who were her friends, but start bullying her after the assault were pretty realistic to how entitled/spoiled teens seem to react to things they see as threats to their freedom or way of thinking.  My only complaint would be the way Kate made excuses for Josh's douchebag/borderline abusive behavior for most of the book.  But I know it happens all the time in reality which makes me sad.  The ending was definitely in keeping with the overall, never-give-up strength and attitude of the rest of the book.  All in all I enjoyed it a lot, even when it was breaking my heart into tiny pieces.  A very emotional and gripping book that I would recommend to teens who like books dealing with real issues, reluctant readers, teachers and librarians.  Or anyone wanting a great book! :)

 

VERDICT:  4.75/5  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. It will be available for purchase on August 1st, 2013.*

You Didn't Quite Measure Up

 



Published:  August 9th, 2012
Measuring Up
By: Nyrae Dawn
CreateSpace
ISBN-13:  9781470313235

Seventeen-year-old Annabel Conway is tired of the Hillcrest High School elite making her life miserable because she’s not a size two. This summer, she's hiring a personal trainer to help her lose weight.

Annabel doesn’t expect her trainer to be a gorgeous guy around her age. Boys like Tegan are jerks. They pretend to like girls like her so they can make an idiot out of them. Been there, done that. Totally not going there again. She kind of hates him on principal. Blond. Muscular. Funny. It doesn’t help that he knows her measurements!

Soon, Tegan's so much more than that. He’s the boy who teaches her to box when she has a bad day. Who jogs with her and lets her set the pace. Who kisses her until she melts. He makes her feel beautiful regardless of what the scale says. Unlike her mom, he doesn’t expect perfection, and he doesn't try to shield her from the world like her dad and best friend. Tegan likes her the way she is.

But what happens when he’s not there? He can’t always be there…

Will Annabel be able to stand on her own and learn that she already measures up? That her worth doesn’t lie in what the world thinks, the scale says, or even what Tegan tells her—but in herself?

Review

 

     Annabel has been uncomfortable with her weight and has despised the way she's been treated because of it for a long time.   But when a humiliating incident with a boy at school makes her feel like she has nothing left to lose, Annabel becomes determined to lose weight and shock everyone at school - so she can be the one doing the rejecting for a change.  Maybe prove to her hypercritical Mother that she is a worthy daughter after all.  Hiring a personal trainer for the summer seemed like a smart idea - until she found out he was a hot guy only a couple years older than her!  Tegan is everything that Annabel could ever want in a boyfriend, so of course he must be too good to be true, right?  Vowing not to trust him, Annabel can only watch helplessly as he breaks through every last one of her defenses.  But Tegan has some serious issues of his own and his guilt over something in the past just might keep them apart from each other.  Can Annabel gain the confidence to love everything about herself, for who she is and not depend on the opinions of others - even Tegan?  And will Tegan finally let go of the past and create a future with Annabel?  Read and find out if love triumphs in the end...

     I have read a few books in the New Adult category so far and this was not my favorite, but from what I've gathered it showcases one of the few semi-healthy relationships in the entire genre (which favors extremely damaged protagonists who tend to inflict serious emotional abuse on each other).  Annabel is definitely NOT the perfect in every way (plus a tortured past) heroine of so many novels.  She's smart, prickly and vulnerable.  Tegan is charming, loyal and has a wonderful sense of humor.  But I didn't enjoy their interactions in the first half of the book, mainly because Annabel had a very bad habit of making the same snap judgments as her tormentors and she treated him like dirt.  As their friendship develops and then becomes something more though, it was very realistic and I appreciated the distinct lack of insta-love.  I honestly love gradual gain of confidence on Annabel's part and the deep relationship between Tegan and his Mom and younger brother.  Overall though, the angst between Annabel and Tegan in their romantic relationship just seemed drawn out and exhausted me as a reader with its repetitiveness after awhile.  Plus, her personal dramas and family issues where about half as interesting to me as Tegan's.  I liked the idea of Annabel better than her actual character which was extremely bland in my opinion.  I wish the book had been mostly about Tegan, instead of mostly about Annabel.  I would have most likely been giving it five stars instead of three.  I do give major props to the author for portraying one of the least fucked up New Adult relationships in the genre as a standard.  Thank you for the respect you've shown to your readers and their thirst for something to break the mold!  Not a bad read, but not quite what I wanted either.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**