January Genreflecting: Giveaway & The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees review

Frankie Towers has always looked up to his older brother, Steve, and with good reason. Steve is a popular senior who always gets what he wants: girls, a soccer scholarship, and--lately--street cred. Frankie, on the other hand, spends his time shooting off fireworks with his best friend Zach, working at his parents' restaurant, and obsessing about his longtime crush, Rebecca Sanchez. 

Frankie has reservations about Steve's crusade to win the respect of the local "cholos." He doesn't think about them, though, until he gets into a fist fight John Dalton - the richest, preppiest kid in his New Mexican high school, and longtime nemesis of Steve. After the fight, Steve takes Frankie under his wing - and Frankie's social currency begins to rise. The "cholos "who used to ignore him start to recognize him; he even lands a date to Homecoming with Rebecca. 

The situation with Dalton continues to simmer, and after another incident Steve is bent on retaliating. Frankie starts to think that his brother is taking this respect thing too far. He may have to choose between respecting his brother and respecting himself. 

In an honest and humorous debut novel, Coert Voorhees uses a coming of age story to look at where loyalty ends and the self begins.

From Goodreads

The Brothers Torres is a rather fast-paced story. It takes place in a few short weeks during a pivotal time in Frankie Towers' life. I think just as important as the characters, is the setting. I don't think this story would have had quite the same effect if set anywhere else. New Mexico is the perfect location for its mixture of cultures & history without being overwhelming diverse.

As the kid brother of the star soccer player, Frankie has never really had his own direction. He did as he was told for the most part & didn't mind getting in trouble for doing stupid stuff. What he doesn't expect is how quickly things can go wrong when you fall in with the wrong people. While there comes a time in everyone's life where they have to choose to stand up for themselves, having that time chosen for you does nothing to help your personal development. Frankie appreciates Steve and his friends' help, but fears that they may be doing more damage than good.

At times I found the characters one sided because it seemed like they only focused on one thing at a time, but I eventually realized that they all represented different parts of a whole person struggling to coexist. I loved the Spanish mixed into the dialogue with no glossary provided because I think it helps give a little insight into the cultural variations among Borges' townspeople. The story was a bit of a slow build, allowing the reader to formulate their own opinion on the situation before delving into the actual plot. I think that really helped me connect better with the characters.

As a newer representative of the Contemporary Life genre, The Brothers Torres does a fine job. While given the background information on the issues that Frankie faces in his life, the focus remains on his reaction to them & his experiences. We get to see Frankie evolve from a bumbling doormat into a self-respecting guy. The trials he faces throughout the book aren't necessarily any different from ones that other teens might face, but the way he handles them is what makes him unique.

The basic obstacles facing the protagonist are often times the same things just in different manifestations. In this book, peer pressure can be represented by the cholos & jealousy can be represented by budding relationships (both platonic & non-platonic). This book is more than just about a boy & his life, it's about every teen and the types of struggles they face. What do I say to a date's parents? Will I be the laughing stock if she turns down my dance request? These things are so mundane that it really takes a personal experience to bring them to life. Coert Voorhees has done a phenomenal job capturing the difficult stages of adolescence in a unique venue!

Now onto, the fun part! As part of the Genreflecting feature, each month I will be giving away a book in the genre I explored. As this month is Contemporary Life I have chosen to give away 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson! The giveaway is open from now until 10 PM on Wednesday, January 30th to US residents. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Feedback (Variant #2) by Robison Wells review

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't yet read Variant!

Benson Fisher escaped from Maxfield Academy’s deadly rules and brutal gangs.

Or so he thought.

But now Benson is trapped in a different kind of prison: a town filled with hauntingly familiar faces. People from Maxfield he saw die. Friends he was afraid he had killed.

They are all pawns in the school’s twisted experiment, held captive and controlled by an unseen force. As he searches for answers, Benson discovers that Maxfield Academy’s plans are more sinister than anything he imagined—and they may be impossible to stop.

In Feedback, Robison Wells delivers all the answers you’ve been craving—with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very last page.

From Goodreads 

Talk about a wild ride! Feedback picks up right where Variant left off. You're still in the action & your adrenaline is pumping as hard as it can as you watch Benson & Becky try to escape the multitude of robots chasing them down. When they think they are finally safe at an encampment housing the real students, they find that they are just in another form of imprisonment; unable to move forward & unable to undo all that has taken place.

The reality of the situation is beyond grave for our protagonists. There are so many trials & tribulations that at times even I felt like giving up hope. Yet these teens stayed the course & followed their instincts to do what they thought was right & best for everyone involved. Intricate plans & devious plots must be laid with precision in order to deal the greatest blows to Maxfield in the hopes of saving as many people as possible.

Without a doubt, the twists & turns in this book will cause your head to spin and you will at times need to stop for a moment to truly take in what all has transpired. I truly believe that it what makes this series so great. Not only is it a whole new take on the idea of a "nightmarish boarding school," but it seems to have re-invented the conspiracy element that many books fail to address. I really enjoyed this aspect as it forced me to really consider everything that happened in the story.

With all that being said, I felt like there was a lot of talking & very little action going on in this book. Don't get me wrong, there needs to be a lot of talking considering the magnitude of what goes down, but it tended to catch me off guard when action suddenly sprang seemingly out of nowhere. That may have been intentional though.

I have to strongly recommend that you read this book if you've read Variant. If you haven't read that, then my review will wait patiently here until you come back yearning to hear what happened in Feedback. :)

ARC graciously provided by Around the World ARC Tours

Variant by Robison Wells review

Benson Fisher couldn't be more excited to have gotten the scholarship to Maxfield Academy. After bouncing from foster home to foster home he's finally getting the chance to really settle in somewhere & maybe have a normal teenage experience. Unfortunately that all goes down the drain as soon as he steps in the front doors. There are no teachers, there are no staff, there is razor wire & a tall fence surrounding the property and no one ever leaves. There are microchips in all the doors tied to each student's id & no one ever comes back from detention. Given all these circumstances, Benson finds himself very confused as to why all these teenagers are willing to stay. And then he starts to put things together.

No one here has family or friends. Nobody cares about these teens. And there is something supremely suspicious going on in regards to how things are run. There are 3 "gangs" at the school who bid on contracts for everything from grounds-keeping to security. So really, is it the other teens keeping everyone at the school... or is there someone higher up calling the shots? As Benson delves deeper into the troubling mystery surrounding this school, he's putting everyone in danger. The question is, who are they really in danger from & what is the worst that can happen?

Robison Wells has got a pretty good formula going in this book. Who could resist the rough & tough, down on his luck kid that refuses to take "no" for an answer? Benson has a bristly personality at best, but he is determined to convince everyone that things aren't as great as they seem & that everyone is being duped. Even more startling is just how well everyone seems to be taking their imprisonment. Granted they've all been there longer than Benson, but they've become complacent & complicit in their own restriction.

The dynamics between the 3 rival gangs really sets the tone for all character interaction. In a way, their divisions remind me of the gangs in S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. Society is very much like the Socs wherein they claim to uphold the law & be of better moral character and yet they dole out punishments that never seem to suit the crime. They take orders without question & believe in their mission.

Havoc resembles the Greasers because these characters do the dirty work that makes the school continue to function, but they enjoy causing mayhem. They toe the line in regards to rules, breaking minor ones that won't cause too much trouble, but never crossing over into major infractions.

What The Outsiders didn't officially have is a third group of misfits, in the case of Variant we have the Variants (Vs for short). This other group is just that, it is the remainder of people who don't really fit in well enough in either of the other groups to have joined them. Benson winds up in this group because he doesn't buy into either of the other groups' missions. The Vs are consistent & kind of free-thinking, while the others are pretty rigid in their tenets.

The dialogue left something to be desired, but what can you expect from miscreants in an unsupervised boarding school? I think the language was intentional, so I can't fault it. The best part though is the twist. And let me tell you, this one will make you do a double-take. Truly masterful, Variant is not one you'll want to miss!

ARC graciously provided by Around the World Tours

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Potential mild-spoilers may follow if you haven't read Perfect Chemistry. Be sure to check my review of that here before continuing. Just in case.

Carlos Fuentes likes to think he is nothing like his brother Alex. Carlos is tougher, is taking better care of the family in Mexico than Alex did in Chicago, and Carlos is a one-man show with no extra baggage to worry about. So then why is it so hard for Carlos not to follow in Alex's footsteps.

After getting in trouble with the local gang in Mexico, Carlos is sent to Alex in Colorado to be straightened out and finish up his last year of high school. Carlos of course has no intention of listening to his brother's warnings and decides to continue living his life on the edge and doing whatever makes his feel numb. Unfortunately those activities land him on the local drug lord's radar. When Carlos is caught with a substantial amount of drugs, he's sentenced to completing an after-school enrichment program and living with a guardian, who just so happens to be Alex's former college professor.

The professor has a lovely home with a tea-house-running wife, a rambunctious six-year-old son named Brandon, and a frumpy-looking senior-in-high-school daughter named Kiara. Things are starting to look up for Carlos. As he continues to rebel and push those nearest to him away, Kiara dares to push Carlos back. She's certainly not afraid of him and manages to pique Carlos's interest. Too bad the local drug lord isn't letting Carlos go easily. Can he protect those he cares for without having to destroy everything?

This is the exciting second volume in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy starring the mesmerizing and scrumptiously yummy Fuentes brothers. While each book can be read as a stand alone novel, it helps to have read the first one for the back story that is referenced in this book. Simone Elkeles really knows what she's doing with this series. The characters are hauntingly accurate and enticingly fascinating. They are all very unique individuals with their own hidden talents. Believe me, there were a few surprise abilities that were showcased in this novel.

The storyline was along the same lines as the first novel with a change in setting and ending mostly. I found that, while basically the same, Carlos was more ardent in his need to prove himself to everyone than Alex was in the first novel, but the girls were opposites. Kiara was much more personally vulnerable than I ever imagined Brittany. Yet in a way, Kiara's vulnerability made her more accessible to the reader. The strength that emanates from the main characters is just phenomenal and something that I think more people should possess.

While there were a few plotlines that dropped off and left me wondering what happened to them (the obligatory mean girl went poof, etc) I found that they didn't bother me as much as usual because they allowed Simone to focus more on the important part of the story. A pleasurable read that I'm sure I'll visit time and time again, Rules of Attraction is a wonderfully pleasant book that I think fans of Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Echols will appreciate. Be sure to check out my thoughts on Perfect Chemistry if you haven't already.

P.S. I LOVE this cover so much. I really want a poster size version of it, but haven't managed that yet. Next on my to-do list after moving. :)

Nostalgic Friday: The Outsiders

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was originally released in 1967. I picked this up on a whim after catching the 1983 film of the same title, staring very young versions of Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, and many others, on tv.

The Outsiders follows the struggle and strife of life on the outskirts of 1960's Oklahoma society. Ponyboy Curtis is a Greaser (lower middle class kids known for their long, greasy hair) along with his brothers Darry & Sodapop. Darry became their guardian when they were orphaned by a tragic car accident. Ponyboy's best friend Johnny is a shy, quiet greaser with a terrible home life. They all mostly do what they want, while trying to avoid confrontations with the Socs (Socials, the upper mid-class kids from the right side of the tracks).

One night after seeing a movie together, Johnny & Ponyboy are seen walking with two Soc girls who also saw the same movie. The girls' boyfriends don't take too kindly to the Greasers messing with their girls. While there isn't a fight immediately, later that evening when the boys are blowing off steam after fights at their respective homes, their are caught by some Socs in a local park. The boys start getting the snot kicked out of them and soon Ponyboy blacks out after nearly being drowned in the fountain. He comes to next to a shell-shocked Johnny and a dead Soc.

They flee the city because they know there's no way they'll get a fair shake in court. While hiding out in an abandoned church, they gather information from town from a fellow Greaser Dally. Eventually, when word comes that the Greasers and Socs are going to go toe to toe in a rumble, the guys decide it's time to return and face up to their actions, after the rumble. When they're getting ready to grab their stuff and head out, someone completely unexpected happens forcing them to make decisions that will forever affect how they are viewed in society.

The book means SO much to me. From the fact that Ponyboy reads from Gone with the Wind when they're out at the church to the way Darry and Ponyboy butt heads is just poetic to me. I felt like I really understood the Greasers and that the Socs really were just spoiled brats. You could fast forward to today and other than the "rumbles" the situation is still pretty much the same. This book is timeless!!

While sometimes it could get a little character heavy (there are SO many names and a few of them are only a few letters different) and there was a little too much testosterone, the plot was rather original and unique in its own right. It was so really and lifelike, almost like the author was writing about something he had actually witnessed. All the guys represent almost extremes of different emotions and personalities, the mixture of which can sometimes be volatile or calming.

This really is a must read book and the movie is quite true to the story. A fanmade movie trailer is linked at the bottom, check it out to see some famous movie hunks way back when. Anybody already read/seen it? If not, whichever one you do decide to experience, I know you won't be disappointed!

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Imagine "Grease" meets "West Side Story" and you've got Perfect Chemistry. Alejandro "Alex" Fuentes and Brittany Ellis are both quite perplexed when they are forced to be chemistry partners. He is a Mexican gangbanger with tattoos and a bad reputation. She is the white head cheerleader with a serious need for perfection.

Alex has Brittany pegged as a bimbo with too much money and not enough sense. After being challenged in a bet, Alex starts to put the moves on Brittany. With her relationship with high school football star Colin in the dumps, she doesn't mind playing with Alex's head a little. Neither of them expects the reaction that they create.

Being forced to spend time together working on their project gives them a chance to catch a glimpse into each others' lives. What they find out about each other not only gives them insight in to the other person's behavior, but it also gives them insight into their own lives. Things start to heat up in their private lives with an escalation that can't be missed.

Something in the way this book is written just absolutely sucks you in. The characters are very likable and relatable, while maintaining their believability. A big selling point is that this book is writen about a sunject that many teens can relate to. Gangs are a prevalent problem, but a "necessary" one for many teens looking to protect themselves and their families. This story takes a hard look at the reality of the danger, but also the hope that is always present no matter how hard the situation.