Terra Elan McVoyBesprekingen
Auteur van Being Friends with Boys
Besprekingen
This was a fun little romance that looked at some difficult issues that teens today face: purity, being true to yourself, and learning to stand up for your own beliefs even if it's at the expense of your friendships. The book never really got too deep and stayed somewhat superficial. But at the same time, it did make me think. In addition, it was a good romance that also focused on Tabitha's personal friendships and growth.
This is a story that examines purity ring culture. What does the ring mean to the wearer, but also what do the wearers think it means to others? The wearers- best friends- also question their friendships with each other and their feelings about boys.
It felt okay for me - I was able to get through it without much trouble, but I wasn't full "in" it, and there wasn't much romance until the end.
Young adult urban fiction so gritty and real it will draw reluctant readers from the get-go. Nikki is desperately in love with Denarius. He fills her with the self-worth she lacks. But her blind loyalty ends up implicating her as part of a murder and it's a hard-earned journey before she finds her own sense of self and fully understands her role in the crime. Nikki's transformation from pathetic to I-will-survive is authentically felt; I even cringed at her pleading for Dee's approval and love. The pacing is quick and the dialogue real without being bogged down with obscenities and street talk. The details about life in jail, police interrogations, lawyers, and being on trial will fascinate or be familiar. Anyone looking for controversial elements will find them in spades: obscenities, drug use, sex, murder. Everyone else looking for a burning page-turner will find it here.
Quick & Dirty: A trip across country, filled with adventure, family, friendship and coming to terms with yourself and life.
Opening Sentence: “Wonderful is the only word to I can use to describe it.”
The Review:
This story is told in alternating chapters from Lana and Cassie’s viewpoints. It starts off in Lana’s viewpoint and immediately we get how excited she is to be on the trip with her grandparents, and for chance to really become friends with Cassie. Despite Lana’s worries about her mom she is sure this going to be the best trip of her life. Lana’s mother is sick, but no one is sure how bad. Just as quick when I first read the chapter by Cassie it becomes clear how different the girls are on just about everything. Cassie has recently fallen out with her best friend and fallen in with the popular girls. Cassie and Lana don’t agree on anything but despite that they always seem to find some way to connect.
One of those most interesting things about this book and part of why I loved it is the struggle Cassie goes through in this book. She has taken on the persona of a kind of shallow selfish girl to be like the new friends she has just made, but it isn’t long before we find that she is constantly questioning herself and her choices. I think that we all go through that, not necessarily the same way, but I feel that is a normal struggle in high school. Are our friends really “friends”, who do we want to be, how we treat others, and the people we are drawn too. Lana really helps Cassie on this journey a lot of times simply by just being herself. Now Lana was hands down my favorite, she is a person who chooses to focus on joy, on being real and trying to have as much fun as she can. Her story is really poignant as well, Lana knows her parents sent her on this trip because her mom is sick and they are trying to figure it all out and not worry her while they do it.
Lana doesn’t tell Cassie what is going on, initially I think because she doesn’t want anyone’s pity and she would rather focus on making the trip special instead of adding sadness too it. After that I think she wants to but through a bunch of wasted chances really doesn’t get too. Cassie does find out about it and gets really hurt, which leads to a big misunderstanding between them. However, that misunderstanding leads Cassie to truly figure out who she is and the kind of person she wants to be. This is a beautiful story about friendship and family. I can’t do this review without saying that I seriously want to go to the End of the Road myself, it just sounded so magical. It’s a place that Lana’s parents have been and her Grandpa Howe has been there as well with his first wife. Lana and Cassie are traveling with Lana’s natural grandpa and Cassie’s grandmother who are newly married to each other.
I also have to rave just a bit about Grandpa Howe, and Grandma Tess, seriously they rock. They are so outgoing, understanding and frankly very cool in my eyes. I mean they are on their honeymoon and taking their granddaughters along with them, for a couple of reasons I think they fully intended for Cassie and Lana to bond on the trip, but it is also an opportunity for all of them to get to know each other and really blend the family. It’s really a unique look at blended families from a viewpoint we don’t get to see that often. Sigh, I won’t lie, this book was pretty great; I was hooked from the start, loved the adventures, both the girls and even cried a little.
Notable Scene:
“Her friends at home, they aren’t as understanding as we are.”
“I eke out a small smile, but no amount of dessert tomorrow, or the rest of this trip, will sweeten the bitter fear inside me.”
“We both know without saying that mom could use a little magic.”
FTC Advisory: Katherine Tegen Books/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Drive Me Crazy. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
I put this book down a lot, and was skimming towards the end to finish. However, I do think the author realistically portrayed the 'drama' that goes along with friendships between girls in HS and I liked the protagonist's williness to see many sides of an issue.
I know I've read a good book when the words start a war within my head long before I've even finished it. And this book did just that. The war was between how conflicted I felt about the characters.
Nikki is so in love with Dee she lets him leave for months without any questions. She can't help it, her life without him is nothing and his dangerous lifestyle is all that she wants. That is until one of his plans turns into a crime. A murderous one at that.
The hardest thing about writing this review is the way I felt about the characters. I wanted so bad to like Nikki, but for the most part I thought she was stupid. But at the same time, it was just her being blinded by love. These things really happen. In the end I found myself just happy that she grew up and got herself together in the end. Then there was Bird. I loved her being so real, raw, and honest, but I also disliked her for a minute for leaving her like that when she needed someone the most. But then again, I understand completely why she did leave.
This was also my first encounter with McVoy and her writing. Her writing style actually surprised me. The words felt jolty and scattered, but the story is about a girl who's scared and full of emotions so the scattered words just felt right. That was my favorite part of the book. I felt every raw emotion pouring off the page. This book is so angst ridden, I was sucked in from the very beginning just to see where the story would end up.
This was a perfect coming of age story where the main character grows up and learns just how powerful love is.
I enjoyed the plot, the subject matter, and the characters portrayed in this book. I would recommend it to anyone who has a daughter who isn't a "girly girl". this book was easy to read, easy to understand, and I couldn't hardly put it down. The beginning was ok, the middle was excellent, and I was hoping for a little more romance towards the end...but it was a good read!
BUT...
I thought is was a slower, harder book to read. I found myself lost because each chapter was another sisters point of view. I found that this made it hard to read and hard to comprehend. However, I do understand that some readers enjoy that type of flow.
I would recommend this book to others-it was just different than what I usually read :-)
It is a book about sisterhood, camp, boys, finding yourself, and sticking up for yourself and others. The camp parts are what everyone wants camp to be, but (at least in my one experience of camp) it never is. There are hookups and sneaking out. There are competitions and dances and everything you see in the movies about camp. Yeah, it may be a little unrealistic, but it is fun and it makes me long to go back to Camp Fitch...even if it was nothing like this book!
It still made me nostalgic, which any good summer camp book should.
The book has a bad guy (well girl) who I was wary of the entire time (and for goo reason!). She is really bad news, but is portrayed in a way that makes her look fun and exciting. It is easy to see why anyone would trust her and want her as a friend, which was great. She felt more real than the usual "mean girls" because she wasn't one.
It is a book with a lot of fun, romance, and heart. I loved reading every second of it and think i will have to check out other books by Terra Elan McVoy (after I go eat some ice cream).
My whole life, since pre-K, my friends have always been boys. I was always the girl out on the black top riding big wheels, playing kick-ball, falling off the monkey bars, and getting dirt under my nails. As I got older, the relationships just solidified, and I found myself spending my high school years with just two girlfriends and ten boys. BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS definitely shows what it's like to, well, be friends with boys. The friendships can be just as intricate and complicated and delicate as one with a girl. Add in possible, or even pseudo romantic feelings, and everything just gets even more contrived.
BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS was realistic without making Charlotte seem like one of those girls who get stuck up just because boys like her. Instead, the friendships seemed authentic and organic and natural. Trip, Oliver, Abe, Fabian, and Benji were noticeably different, and each boy's relationship with Char reflected their personalities. The book easily showed the history with Oliver, the complications with Trip, the easiness of Benji, and the natural click with Fabian.
My favorite parts, though, were the musical parts. I had no idea this book was about music -- making music, being in bands, singing, etc. McVoy used a voice that was easy to understand to the layperson, you don't need to be a musician to understand what's going on. I loved the introduction of Eli and Fabian to the band, and how we were shown how different the band moved forward with it. I wish the summary reflected how much emphasis was given to music -- it was a wonderful addition.
The ending was awesome. It was everything I wanted. I won't give it up, though, I don't want to spoil it. I love that there was no clear cut resolution. What did come though, was natural and felt real and wonderful and made me all gushy inside. And I am not a gushy kind of girl.
All in all this was a great read. I had lots of fun getting to know Charlotte -- who I love! -- and all the boys. I felt that BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS was so realistic, even down to the depictions of the boys' girlfriends and how they reacted around Char. McVoy's voice was fresh and fun and I would love to read some more of her work!
My whole life, since pre-K, my friends have always been boys. I was always the girl out on the black top riding big wheels, playing kick-ball, falling off the monkey bars, and getting dirt under my nails. As I got older, the relationships just solidified, and I found myself spending my high school years with just two girlfriends and ten boys. BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS definitely shows what it's like to, well, be friends with boys. The friendships can be just as intricate and complicated and delicate as one with a girl. Add in possible, or even pseudo romantic feelings, and everything just gets even more contrived.
BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS was realistic without making Charlotte seem like one of those girls who get stuck up just because boys like her. Instead, the friendships seemed authentic and organic and natural. Trip, Oliver, Abe, Fabian, and Benji were noticeably different, and each boy's relationship with Char reflected their personalities. The book easily showed the history with Oliver, the complications with Trip, the easiness of Benji, and the natural click with Fabian.
My favorite parts, though, were the musical parts. I had no idea this book was about music -- making music, being in bands, singing, etc. McVoy used a voice that was easy to understand to the layperson, you don't need to be a musician to understand what's going on. I loved the introduction of Eli and Fabian to the band, and how we were shown how different the band moved forward with it. I wish the summary reflected how much emphasis was given to music -- it was a wonderful addition.
The ending was awesome. It was everything I wanted. I won't give it up, though, I don't want to spoil it. I love that there was no clear cut resolution. What did come though, was natural and felt real and wonderful and made me all gushy inside. And I am not a gushy kind of girl.
All in all this was a great read. I had lots of fun getting to know Charlotte -- who I love! -- and all the boys. I felt that BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS was so realistic, even down to the depictions of the boys' girlfriends and how they reacted around Char. McVoy's voice was fresh and fun and I would love to read some more of her work!
If you’re a fan of fun, romantic contemporaries with a huge focus on music (and who isn’t?), definitely do not miss Being Friends With Boys by Terra Elan McVoy.
I loved Charlotte, the protagonist. She was snarky and hilarious and talented. And while I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed by how many boy friends she had and I had very little idea who to root for, my heart was always with Trip. Even when he was totally being an ass.
So yes, despite being completely overwhelmed by all the possible love interests at first, I loved all of the guy characters in Being Friends with Boys. I loved how unique they all were – so different from each other in personality and look and manners. None of them fell flat for me.
The storyline in Being Friends with Boys was cute and fun and also inspirational! I loved seeing Charlotte become braver and more confident in her own musical abilities.
Terra Elan McVoy does it again with Being Friends with Boys. I’ve read some of her previous works, and I think Being Friends with Boys is by far my favourite. Recommended to fans of contemporary books with heavy doses of musical and romantic awesomeness.
I really, really liked The Summer of Firsts and Lasts. I might be a bit biased – I was a camper for many, many years so a lot of the setting was very familiar to me, but I really enjoyed reading the book.
I admit, the beginning was a bit slow. It took me a while to get into it. I was very confused by the changing point of views and I had to keep rereading the summary to figure out which girl was which. I figured it out, though!
I think I liked all of the girls equally. I loved reading about Daisy’s adventures with running. It’s something I don’t know that I could ever do, but the author, through Daisy’s eyes, actually made it sound fun. I didn’t get a whole lot of Violet with her art, but I loved her story with James. It’s always the forbiddenish romances that get me. And Calla. I loved Calla and her desire for everything to be how it was before – I could really relate to that.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Summer of Firsts and Lasts. The feel of the book really made me nostalgic for my summer camp days and I really enjoyed all three of the girls’ stories. I’ll certainly be awaiting more books from Terra Elan McVoy.
With a camp story, you expect: the grand arson of marshmellows at the end of woodland sticks, songs of kumbaya and jolly good fellows, spaghetti food fights, and zombie-apocalypse-survival-training (Wait, that last one might have just been part of my delusions while I was at camp).
But this was a lot of running around, talking, whining and complaining, and more not-so-intriguing things.
I went into this book expecting something like the sisters version of [book:Invincible Summer|8105542] at camp, instead of the beach. But this was not nearly as entertaining as it could have been.
Summer of Firsts and Lasts follows three sisters who are seemingly distinct in personality but not distinct enough in their voices. And guess what? Their names are THEMED! Yay! I love it when that happens. *coughNOTcough*
Their names are: Calla, Daisy, and Violet. Barf. Okay, again. They aren't bad names by any means but I just absolutely hate it when characters in books have "themed" names or similar names, because I can't frikkin keep them straight. And this time, there are three of them. I had a hard enough time with Harmony and Melody in [book:Bumped|8517207].
I would forget which sister was narrating and would only figure it out by the people she was with or the other sisters they mention. Like "Okay, so she just mentioned Daisy and Violet, so then Calla is talking." However, I'm notoriously book ADD, so maybe this was my own fault for not paying enough attention.
The amount of nicknames was unbearable, considering the complete lack of consistency in which they were used. Each sister would use two or three different nicknames for each of the other sisters: Violet is Vi and ViVi. Calla is Cal and Cow. Daisy is Daze, Dizzy, Zee and ZeeZee. And I think somebody is Bot or Shaz, or maybe Shaz was a stand-in for a cuss word. I can't really remember or, at the time, I couldn't tell.
There seemed to be too much attention paid to the precise sequence of events and exactly what EVERYONE was doing ALL the time, as well as what everyone was wearing or talking about, or saying about the other minor characters. Sometimes when there are too many details in a book, it can seem not genuine. Not nearly enough character building, setting, or description was involved. None of the boys were swoon worthy. Even one of the main romances developed completely "off screen" and we never really experience it first hand.
Mainly, what I really missed was the ambiance of camp. I wanted to feel the campfire's heat crackling against my forearm and smell the crisp sweet scent of roasting marshmallows. This book never quite did that for me.
Personally, I didn't enjoy this very much, but if you miss the good ol' days of summer camp, give this book a shot. You might like it, anyway.
(Thanks to S&S for allowing me to read this as an ARC.)
The storyline got confusing while reading. Mainly because of the point of view switches. The reader switched pov's many, many times. It was Calla, then Violet, then Daisy. It always switched. What was confusing is because of the constant switching you had to really stay with the storyline in order to figure out where you are at. If you got lost somewhere then switched to another pov, you basically confused until you backtracked where you got lost.
I like that in the book, the sisters not only fought, but needed each other as well. It showed how strong the sisters could be if they relied on one another and help each other out. I loved seeing them be there when one got in trouble, had a heart break, or even volunteer to beat someone up.
This book had lots of first experiences and last experiences. In the end, the sisters learn the greatest lesson of all. That they loved and needed each other. I adored the friendship and seeing them grow. It was a great book filled with love, heartache, and a strong sisterly love.
Violet is the middle sister, and though she isn’t typically one to break rules, this summer is going to be different. She is bound and determined to make her three weeks at camp memorable. James, a boy she has had a crush on, is at camp again this year, and her new friend, Brynn is quite the rebel, if not also a bad influence on Violet.
Daisy, the youngest of the three also has her eyes set on a boy at camp. More than anything she wants for him to notice her, even if she isn’t the sister that boys tend to notice. She’s a bit more shy and reserved, and more of a loner.
I never went to a summer camp when I was younger. They didn’t have them where I grew up, but reading this book makes me wish I had. The only thing I knew about summer camp was what I saw on the Friday the 13th movies, and that isn’t exactly how I’d like to spend a summer. McVoy totally sets the right atmosphere. With every turn of the page, I felt like I was in the woods, hanging with friends, smelling the clean air and swimming in the cool lake. The sisters are all relatable, and every one of them has a distinct voice and personality. The book is written in alternating voices, with each chapter narrated by a different sister. The only thing that bothered me was the nicknames the sisters had for each other. They didn’t always have just one nickname, so when the active narrator would refer to one of her sisters, I had to guess at which one she was speaking about. There was also a lot of exposition. I, personally, feel the novel could have been a little tighter, but all in all this is a delightful summer read about sisters, friendships and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Rating:
(Review copy courtesy of Simon & Schusters GalleyGrab)
The basic premise is that the book follows two girls, who do not meet or technically know each other. I say technically, because their stories overlap. Drastically. Dramatically.
Each girl is allowed to tell her own story ... Camille writes in free-verse, almost stream-of-consciousness, but in third person. It allows for a singular perspective: you're getting to see inside her - as much as she allows herself to look inward, anyway - but you also get to see the dynamics of her world. Becca writes in a variety of poetic forms ... from tributes to Browning and Williams to a very cleverly done villanelle.
Overall, I think the form works - I just wish I'd had a little forewarning. I was caught blindsided and was therefore a wee bit confused. That quickly dissipated, it just took a moment or two of adjusting.
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Becca and Camille don’t know each other; in fact they don’t even go to the same school. After Camille kisses Becca’s boyfriend Alec, their paths begin to cross. Told in alternating chapters both girls describe what happens in their lives after the kiss. Becca tells her story in verse and Camille’s is stream of consciousness prose. Camille is the perpetual new girl having moved around a lot in her life. Becca thought Alec was perfect for her, smart, athletic, and a poet but then he starts to distance himself from her. Both voices are distinct and communicate the pain and confusion of first love. Girls who like Ellen Hopkins will like this one but the subject matter is not as mature and dark.