You Can't Keep Me Down

Expected Publication: May 22nd, 2012
Unbreak My Heart
By: Melissa C. Walker
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN-13: 9781599905280

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

Review

   Clem should be getting ready to have a pretty good summer, but instead she's miserable.  She knows that when she gets back from her family's sailing trip she'll still be in social exile, without any friends.  Clem fell in love with her best friend Amanda's boyfriend and even though nothing ever happened, Amanda blamed her.  Now Clem is best friend-less and Ethan, the boyfriend, has been taken back like nothing happened.  At first she spends her days locked in her tiny room, being snarky and withdrawn.  Even her little sister Olive can't draw her out.  But then Clem meets James, an intriguing fellow sailor at one of their stops.  Can he convince her that what happened isn't the end of the world?  Will James be enough to heal Clem's heart - and can she heal his pain too?  I honestly liked Clem a lot.  She didn't give bullshit excuses and whine.  She took responsibility for her actions and the problems that they caused.  I honestly felt like Amanda had a right to be mad, but she was unnecessarily harsh toward Clem and not harsh enough toward Ethan (who seemed like a douche to me, I mean if you like someone else BREAK UP WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND BEFORE PURSUING HER!!!).  Clem's little sister Olive was so cute and hilarious.  I loved how she asked Clem to 'braid' her and all of the ways she attempted to cheer her up, including trying to discuss Huckleberry Finn.  Clem's parents were awesome in that humiliating, adult way.  You could tell they only wanted the best for her.  James was enigmatic and a great character, but I didn't connect much to him personally.  By the end of the book I felt like giving Clem a gigantic hug and I loved her family just as much.  It was a book worth reading and had all the greatness of a Sarah Dessen or Deb Calletti book.  My only real complaint would be the focus of 'cheating' when no actual cheating happened at all!  Seriously, they didn't even do anything.  GET OVER IT.

VERDICT:  3.85/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is May 22nd, 2012.*

Sometimes I Do Dumb Crap...Then I Justify It

Published: July 12th, 2011

Sometimes It Happens

By: Lauren Barnholdt

Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

ISBN-13: 9781442413146

On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Sebastian dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction—and one night, into a passionate kiss. The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Sebastian, and Noah all in one place. Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...

Review

   Hannah and Ava have been best friends for a long time.  So when Ava leaves to be a summer camp counselor during the summer before their senior year, after Hannah is cheated on by her boyfriend Sebastian, Hannah is lost without a clue how to live normally.  Then Ava's boyfriend Noah forces her out of her pajamas and self-pity, and into a job at the diner he and their friend Lacey work at, Cooley's.  Slowly as the summer goes on, Hannah finds herself getting over Sebastian.  This would be great, except for her and Noah's growing feelings for one another. Then on the last day before school starts they do the unthinkable - they sleep together, before he breaks up with Ava.  Can Hannah get the guy, salvage all her broken friendships and survive the first day of senior year?  This book alternates between the start of the summer all the way through the end of it and the first day of school, beginning to end.  I do give Lauren Barnholdt credit for making me read all the way to the end.  Which I regretted, because it was an enormous waste of time.  Ava was a complete and total bitch, Hannah was wimp who couldn't even really defend her decision to cheat, Noah and Sebastian were total d-bags who don't deserve air or space and Lacey was an overwrought hypochondriac who made me roll my eyes a lot.  I did not care for this book AT ALL.  I liked Hannah at the beginning, but that didn't last folks.  The synopsis also gives the false impression that the ending won't be quite so predictable.  It was totally predictable which did nothing to save it's honor in my eyes.  Cheating is NEVER justified people, and it's not romantic.  NOT EVER.  You want a book with self respect?  Read Anna and the French Kiss, not this complete and utter trash.  Recommended only as an overly pricey chew-toy for pet owners.

VERDICT: 1.5/5  Stars and a good, swift drop-kick from my window (not really, but I wanted to...and that's being KIND!)

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*