Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel

 

Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever found yourself accidentally on a station showing golf and thought to yourself, "man this is intense!" ... Yeah, me either. BUT ... after reading Summer Ever After you'll definitely stop to check for Walker before changing to a different channel. Seriously. If anyone was going to get me to enjoy golf, it is Walker Collins.

Jane has created a foolproof plan to finally find love and that plan involves two main components: 1. basically every single male on Sunset Harbor (except her best friend's brother, obviously) and 2. an extensive list of romance tropes. With those two items, how could her summer not end in a cacophony of love?

Unfortunately for Jane, her tropes keep ending in disaster and Walker Collins (hello best friend's brother!) just happens to be the one showing up to rescue, implement, intervene and ruining romance tropes for her forever.

Needless to say this is a fantastic summer romcom with excellent banter and the narrators, Amanda Friday and Andy Harrington, did an amazing job at bringing these two even more to life.

This is a quick, fast-paced read with AWESOME banter and the worst part is just that the story ends. I am officially a fan of all things Sunset Harbor.

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The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren

by Wendy Toliver

Dedication: "For Lynn Gray: my mom, my inspiration, my hero"

First paragraph: "I want to kiss Zach Parker. Just once. Is that too much to ask?"

Review: Roxy Zimmerman is just a normal teenage band geek trying to survive high school until her 16th birthday rolls around and transforms her into a beautiful siren. She is told that the sky is the limit with her new powers and that there are only two rules. One, don't tell anyone about being a siren. And two, never fall in love.

This book was exactly what I expected it to be. Totally cheesy, a bit far-fetched, and yet, it was still entertaining. My only problem was that there were way too many typos in the book. I'm not an editor by any means, but I think this book had more typos than any other book I've ever read.

Other than that this book was cute. There were even some things that were a bit unexpected. I don't think it gives off the best message. It focuses so much on getting what you want because you're beautiful. It also talked about having inner beauty, etc. but the focus was definitely on the idea that beauty=success.

I did like the greek references to Thelxiepia, the Siren. As stated before, I love Greek mythology so reading about it in modern form is always fun. Besides it brings back great memories of 6th grade recess. Also, did I mention she's a band geek. Yeah, I related to this story way too much. Minus the whole, being a siren thing, that is.

The passage of time in the book isn't very clearly stated. What I thought was a day turned out to be weeks, etc. So that threw me out of my immersion a bit but not enough to make me stop reading.

Not much else to say. Average story with less than average editing but still an enjoyable read if you've got it lying around.

Click here for Wendy Oliver's website of The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren.

The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold

by Cynthia Rylant

Illustrations by Carson Ellis

Dedication: "For Hermes -C.R." "For Colin and Hank -C.E."

First paragraph (of Pandora): "Zues was ruler of the universe, and if there were only one thing to remember about him, it was this: Never cross him. But someone did."

Review: This is a compilation of six short stories. It includes a simple retelling of Pandora, Persephone, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Narcissus, and Psyche.

This book is perfect if you want to brush up on a little Greek mythology. It was also written simply enough that it would work for some quick bedtime stories. As far as the stories themselves go, not my favorite. I guess it's hard to get the interesting details into a story when you're trying to write six different stories in such few pages.

If you're looking for something to read that will inform you of a few Greek myths or you just want something to read for a half hour or so to pass the time, this might be just the book for you. If you are looking for a book for your child to read, this wouldn't be a bad choice. If you want a detailed account of any of these six stories, however, I'd probably suggest looking elsewhere.

Goddess of Yesterday

by Caroline B. Cooney

First paragraph: "I was six years old when King Nicander came to the island of my birth, demanding tribute and a hostage."

Review: Anaxandra is taken from her family and sent to live with King Nicander as his crippled daughter's playmate. Six years later Nicander's island is attacked by pirates and everyone is slaughtered except for Anaxandra since she stays hidden in the ocean - taught to swim by her father years ago. After several days a ship pulls up to the island where she remains stoic and stalwart near her king's shallow grave. She unintentionally misled the sea captain and his men to believe she was the King's daughter and decided it was a reasonable course of action to assume her name. The sea captain was actually King Menelaus who took her home with him to play with his children and meet his beautiful wife, Helen. The rest of the story is about the events leading up to the great trojan war.

When I picked this book up I actually had no idea it was about Greek and Roman mythology. So that was a fun little surprise.

I've never actually bothered to read any of the stories of Troy or the Trojan war. I've read lots of the stories before and after but never this one itself. I knew the general story and figured that was good enough. I did enjoy this creative retelling. The addition of the main character Anaxandra as well a few others made it possible to see the story from a fresh new perspective.

That being said, this story lacked a very important key aspect. It missed that suspense that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens. This aspect should generally be introduced in the first few pages of the story but I never really found it.

So while the characters were interesting and the story creatively unique, you are not in anyway, attached to the book. It probably would have taken me a lot longer to read but I had a deadline so it forced me to keep at it. I'm glad I did because there were several aspects to the story of Troy that I'd either forgotten or just never read about.

If nothing else this story definitely reignited my passion for Greek mythology. I've already gone and checked out several mythology books from the library.

Oh. One thing I almost forgot. I really enjoyed the protagonist in this book. She was kidnapped, made hostage, came to love her kidnappers who were then killed, then forced to travel across the sea to what would most likely be her death and not once did you get the "Oh. I have such a horrible life" whiny dialogue from her. She held her head high and took it like a pro. The only time she ever really let her spirit fall was when she was forced to cut off all her "glory", aka hair (twice), by Helen.

If you want a refresher course in some Greek mythology or you just want an easy read on the Trojan war this is probably a good book to pick up. I wouldn't, however, suggest this book as a thrilling page turner.

Radiant Darkness

by Emily Whitman

Dedication: "For Kate and Sam - And for Richard: His arm will be my home."

First paragraph: "'PERSEPHONE. Daughter of DEMETER, the harvest goddess. Kidnapped and forced to --'"

Review: Ever heard the Greek myth about Persephone and how she was kidnapped and dragged to the underworld to serve by Hades side as his queen? Well, this is a different version. One that clears up the myth part and tells you what really happened. For starters, Persephone was kind of sick of her eternity trapped with her mother's constant lecturing, scolding, and protecting. She was ready to grow up and her mother wouldn't let her. Well, when a handsome stranger shows up in Persephone's paradise prison she's more then happy to sneak around chatting with him and eventually he asks her to come away with him - to be his queen.

The story is a fun take on the old myth. I think it's a better version and Whitman did her research to make sure all the loose ends were taken care of. She did a great job at creating a picture of Persephone's new home and really made you understand why Persephone wouldn't mind staying in the Underworld for 6 months of every year.

I thought the relationship between Hades and Persephone was fun as well. This book gave Hades a different personality then I've ever imagined for him myself. I guess I always just assumed that the God of the Underworld would have to be pretty grim, dark, and deadly. But this book gives him a side that I quite enjoy picturing him with.

My favorite part of the book was that it is set in a time long ago but it has a very modern feel - It could have happened just a few years ago or centuries before now. This book will definitely go on my list of books I enjoyed reading.

Psyche in a Dress

by Francesca Lia Block

Dedication: "For Joanna"

First paragraph: "I am not a goddess I am my father's"

Review: This book tells the story of a girl's life. It starts with her young, in school, and being forced to be a part of her father's business - making movies - and then progresses through her life's bad decisions and on into her late life. The story is very short. It took me 45 minutes to an hour to finish.

The book is written in verse (I think that's what it is called). The entire book is written in symbolism and since that was one of the reasons I came to loathe English class, I can't really say I understood a whole lot about it.

Several Greek God's are referenced, including Hades, Persephone, Demeter, Eros, Aphrodite, Orpheus, and Eurydice. That made it kind of fun and at the same time still harder to understand.

I think my favorite part of the book was the last paragraph of the book. It just points out perfectly how important it is to love yourself and to know that you are good enough. I was skeptical when I first started to read but the ending made me decide it was definitely worth it.

Goddess Boot Camp

by Tera Lynn Childs

Dedication: "For Sharie, the best sister an only child ever had"

First paragraph:
"I.
Am.
A.
Goddess."

Review: After reading the first book in this series I was more than excited to get my hands on this one and it didn't disappoint.

After Phoebe's adventures in Oh. My. Gods. I didn't know what would happen next but it quickly got interesting.

She is having a hard time controlling her recently received powers and as a result the Gods of Olympus are making her take a test to prove her control over them. The catch is, she only has two weeks to do it. As if she doesn't have enough to worry about someone is lurking around giving hints about her dad's death and how it might have happened differently then she thinks.

This book was fun. I loved it.

It definitely kept up with the humor of the first book while adding in just enough drama and romance to make it interesting.

I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who is looking for a good read - but read Oh. My. Gods. first because that book is the perfect segue into this fantastic alternate reality.

Click Here for Tera Lynn Childs website - Goddess Boot Camp page.

Oh. My. Gods

by Tera Lynn Childs

Dedication: "For Mom and Dad, because they got it right on the first try"

First Paragraph: "When I'm running I can almost feel my dad at my side. He's been gone for nearly six years, but every time I lace up and slap sole to pavement I feel like he's right there. I can feel him talking about my inner strength and how I will be a world-class athlete when I grow up. That's part of why I love running - why I'm running right now, pushing myself a little harder than usual to win this race."

Review: This book is an easy read with a great story line.

I guess I was drawn in by this book because I have been obsessed with both Greek Mythology and running at points in my life and this book has a good dose of both. It also appropriately taps in on the horror of being the new kid at school with the added bonus that everyone at the new school happens to hate the new girl's guts and they all happen to have supernatural powers passed down to them by their ancestors - the Greek Gods.

This book has a good story and it's an easy read. In fact, I would qualify this as "the perfect relaxing Sunday at the park" read. I can't wait to go to the library and get the next book in the series. Let's see how Phoebe can handle Goddess Boot Camp.

Click Here for Tera Lynn Childs' website.

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

Dedication: "To Haley, who heard the story first"

First Paragraph: "Look I didn't want to be a half-blood. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life."

Review: Rick Riordan does a great job of bringing to life Greek Mythology and making it enjoyable for young readers. When I was in 6th grade I was fascinated by Greek Mythology. I spent hours at my local library checking out and reading books into the lore. Because of that I was drawn to this book.

This story takes you on adventures with Percy Jackson. He finds his life turned a bit topsy turvy when his teacher attacks him on a school field trip and things only get worse from there. He makes friends with other "half-bloods" and tries to stop WWIII from happening due to an argument between Zues, Poseidon, and Hades.

This book puts a 21st Century twist on a very old history, making it almost believeable.

Click Here for the Rick Riordan website.