Have You Read... SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD

SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD by Lindsey Leavitt

I’m a little bit Type-A. Okay, that’s an understatement. But same goes for Payton Gritas, the main character of this book. She keeps a planner, likes charts and graphs, and generally seems to love predictability. And then she discovers her parents have been hiding her father’s MS from her. A disease known for its unpredictability, for its relapses and remissions, highs and lows, guesses and maybes.

Sounds a little heartwrenching, doesn’t it? Here’s the thing: it kind of is. And it’s also kind of hilarious. Like, at the same time. The ability to make someone laugh out loud is hard enough in a book. The ability to make someone laugh out loud when reading about a girl coming to terms with her father’s illness is… well, it should be impossible, right? It shouldn’t work. But it does. It really, really does.

From Goodreads:

According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object—an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas—it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking—er, focusing on—Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

Yes, the main character focuses on the back of someone’s head. As a project. What makes it even funnier is the graphs and charts and outlines that are scattered throughout the chapters. Charts about Sean Griswold’s head. And then, later, about Sean himself.

The humor, though, does not take away from the gravity of the situation. MS isn’t curable, and Payton can’t ignore her family forever.

I promise you will laugh through this book. But you also might get all choked up while reading in your backyard while the kids run around, and then have to pretend a bug flew in your eye or something when they start to notice. Fair warning.

Check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are reading this week:

Elana Johnson shines a light on Clarity

LiLa Roecker raves over The Rendering

Shannon Messenger loves 13 Reasons Why - with a signed book giveaway!

Shelli Johannes Wells is enjoying the view of Sean Griswold's Head 

Scott Tracey is amazed by The Iron Thorn

Kirsten Hubbard raves over these March releases

Michelle Hodkin introduces some marvelous March books

Myra McEntire invites Kim Harrington into the fort

Beth Revis is mad for Matched

Carolina Valdez Miller delights in Delirium

Jessica Kirby adores Across the Universe

Bethany Wiggins marvels at Matched

Shana Silver is a super stop on The Liar Society blog tour

Gretchen McNeil celebrates The Liar Society

Carrie Harris buzzes about Blessed

Rosemare Clement-Moore falls for Falling Under

Katie Anderson shows cover love for Possess        

Matt Blackstone is ecstatic over Edges

Stasia Ward Kehoe is wild for What Happened to Goodbye

Have You Read... DARK GODDESS

DARK GODDESS by Sarwat Chadda

I can't talk about DARK GODDESS without first mentioning DEVIL'S KISS. And by "mentioning" I mean "swooning over." Devil's Kiss has an awesomely twisted plot, action, folklore, the epic battle between good and evil, and 15-year-old Billi Sangreal, the only female member of the Knights Templar. It doesn't slow down for a second and MAN I couldn't wait for book two.

And here it is. FINALLY.

From the book jacket:

Billi Sangreal is a Knight Templar and has thrown herself utterly into their brutal regime, shutting herself off from everyone and everything.

But when Billi finds herself at the heart of a savage werewolf attack, she knows their target -- a young girl -- must be rescued at all costs.

For this is no ordinary girl. Vasilisa is an avatar with an uncontrollable force within -- and it's not just the werewolves who want her. The Dark Goddess wants to sacrifice Vasilisa and use her powers to unleash unimaginable catastrophes and devastation.

Can Billi protect Vasilisa from the ancient goddess -- and at the same time stop her from destroying the world?

Freaking. Fantastic.

Before I start, let me get one thing out of the way: Nobody’s falling in love with a werewolf here. No, most everyone is just trying not to end up dead. Just so we’re clear. Knights Templar vs. the Unholy. Good vs. evil.

Wait, but that makes it seem like the world is clear, black-and-white, good guys are good and bad guys are bad, which it is NOT. No, mostly everyone operates in shades of gray. If that. Sometimes bad guys are really good and good guys weren’t really good to begin with. And sometimes the good guys are good but have to do bad things. Which I guess means they’re not really all that good anymore. Ah, morality. Which is what makes Billi such an interesting character. She wants to remain true to her cause, but she also recognizes its faults. And she recognizes her own faults as well.

Oh, but I forgot to talk about THE Dark Goddess, for whom the book is titled – a ridiculously old witch, hiding out in Russia, who has essentially become a god. Baba Yaga is kind of like mother earth. When the earth hurts, she hurts. When she hurts, the earth hurts. Oh, and she also eats children. So, you know, shades of gray. Baba Yaga wants the girl, she wants her life force, and with it, she wants to unleash fimbulwinter upon the earth. Basically she wants to decimate all life, wait a thousand years for the earth to repopulate, and hope the next species doesn’t screw it all up again. But Baba Yaga is thousands of years old. Practically eternal. She can’t see that not all men are evil. Not all men will destroy the earth, trade life, for nothing.

What’s the life of one girl to her? For that matter, what’s the life of the entire planet to her?

Billi’s mission: Kill the goddess. In the event of failure, kill the girl. Try not to die in the process. Remember the mission. Don’t think of the shades of gray. Deus vult.

Check out the reviews from the rest of the Bookanistas:

Elana Johnson thinks Delirium is dope

LiLa Roecker falls for Between Shades of Grey

Christine Fonseca soars Across the Universe

Shannon is hosting an epic Invasion giveaway

Myra McEntire is spreading some cover love for Siren and Undercurrent

Beth Revis is thanking her fellow Bookanistas

Carolina Valdez Miller swoons for Scrawl

Bethany Wiggins is Entice(d)

Jen Hayley and Shana Silver ignite for Angelfire

Matt Blackstone convinces us That Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

Carrie Harris marvels over The Mockingbirds

Have You Read... ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

I am about to explain the awesomeness that is ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, a fellow Bookanista.  But first, a brief sequence of events from last fall:

I saw a link to this first chapter, with a little buzz circulating the internet that this might possibly be the best first chapter I’d ever read.  I am a skeptic.  I clicked the link.

I fainted.  No, not really.  But if I was a fainter, I would have fainted.  I agreed it was the best first chapter I’d ever read.  Then I had to wait two months for the book to come out.  I marked January 11^th on my calendar.

January 11^th rolled around last week.  I was snowed in.  Three days later, when my car could finally make it out of the driveway, I raced to the bookstore.  Then I bought milk.  Priorities, people. 

And then I devoured the book.

But enough about me.  From the book-jacket:

Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future.  But fifty years before Godspeed’s scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.

Someone tried to murder her.

Now, Amy is caught inside a tiny world where nothing makes sense.  Godspeed’s 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader.  And Elder, Eldest’s rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder.  But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship’s cold metal walls?  All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

This book is SO MANY THINGS.

It is science-fiction, but it is also a dystopian society.  A secluded community, literally – with no way in and no way out.  The people of Godspeed have lost communication with Earth and have created their own society.  But the most unique thing about the set-up (I mean, besides that it’s ON A SPACESHIP) is that it’s told from two completely different perspectives.  First, from Elder, who was born on Godspeed and knows nothing else.  And also from Amy, who awakes into this fully-formed society, knowing nothing other than Earth.  The contrast is stark.  And amazing.

This book is twisted.  People aboard Godspeed have been taught a warped history of Earth.  And they function on the principle that the first cause of discord is difference.  The people of Godspeed are mono-ethnic, and Amy looks nothing like them.  She is a cause of discord, and we quickly find out how causes of discord are dealt with onboard the ship.

This book is also a thriller.  People are dying.  Someone unplugged Amy.  And a lot of people are acting totally off.  To Amy, at least.  To Elder, they seem normal.  The only people who act like Amy are deemed crazy, secluded in a hospital, and pumped with meds.

This book is claustrophobia personified.  Because Amy was not totally unconscious for those centuries.  She dreamed, she remembered, she had nightmares.  I can think of nothing more claustrophobic than being trapped inside a frozen body.  And when she wakes, she’s trapped inside the walls of Godspeed.

She wants to see the stars.  They all want to see the stars.

I loved this book.  And apparently, I’m not alone.  Because ACROSS THE UNIVERSE debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List this week!

Congrats, Beth!!

Check out the reviews from the rest of the Bookanistas!

Katie Anderson raves about THE LIAR SOCIETY

Christine Fonseca applauds Michelle McLean's HOMEWORK HELPERS: TERM PAPERS AND ESSAYS with Signed Book Giveaway 

Carrie Harris celebrates THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE

Jen Hayley lauds DELIRIUM

Shelli Johannes-Wells  gives a shoutout to IN LOVE WITH HARLEQUIN

Elana Johnson  recommends Michelle McLean's HOMEWORK HELPERS: TERM PAPERS AND ESSAYS with Giveaway

Jessi Kirby admires MATCHED

Myra McEntire gives some cover love for THE LIAR SOCIETY

Shannon Messenger commends THE LIAR SOCIETY with an ARC Giveaway

Carolina Valdez Miller salutes XVI with Signed Book Giveaway

Lisa and Laura Roecker happy dance for Beth Revis

Shana Silver cheers for HERE LIES BRIDGET

Scott Tracey acclaims DIVERGENT 

Bethany Wiggins praises Michelle McLean's HOMEWORK HELPERS: TERM PAPERS AND ESSAYS

Have You Read... FALL FOR ANYTHING

FALL FOR ANYTHING by Courtney Summers

This is the third book by Courtney Summers.  I’ve read (and loved) them all (for very different reasons), but this is definitely my favorite.  I think contemporary must be very hard to write – it’s human thought, and human emotion, exposed.  And we, the readers, have to believe.  But when it’s done well, it really taps into this shared human consciousness.  And it is powerful.

But I’m getting away from this review.  And this book, which is so perfect in its melancholy and its yearning and its hope.

From the back cover:

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

Okay, so this is heavy stuff.  This is about the aftermath of a parent’s suicide.  But this is also a page turner.  Eddie wants to know why her father jumped off the roof of an old, decrepit building.  But that’s not what keeps us flipping pages at a frantic pace.  Well, yes, that’s part of it.  But also: we don’t exactly know what happened that night.  *cue page flipping* Her best friend knows, but he won’t tell her. *cue more page flipping*  We also don’t know The Why.  *flip* We also don’t know who this new guy is. *flip, flip* And we’re kind of pissed about the way her mom is grieving. *flip, flip, flip*

And then, we get this hint.  This message, left by her father – a clue.   No, not a clue: a mission.  Because art isn’t small.  And neither are Eddie’s questions.

There are answers.

And there are not answers.

I’m not sure which are more powerful.

Check out these reviews by the other Bookanistas!

But first… A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Beth Revis on her debut ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which came out on Tuesday!  Get thee to a book store, people. Seriously.

Elana Johnson and LiLa Roecker celebrate the release of Across the Universe with giveaways

Christine Fonseca gets lost in Nightshade

Shannon Messenger raves about Like Mandarin with an ARC Giveaway

Jamie Harrington thinks the outlook is good for The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball

Shelli Johannes-Wells celebrates Harcourt winners

Michelle Hodkin, Carolina Valdez Miller and Shana Silver travel Across the Universe

Scott Tracey gets some Clarity

Myra McEntire is In The Fort with Beth Revis

Bethany Wiggins is living for Three Quarters Dead

Jen Hayley worships Unearthly

Carrie Harris flips for Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Kirsten Hubbard goes crazy for Delirium 

Have You Read... THE MARBURY LENS

THE MARBURY LENS by Andrew Smith

I’m not entirely sure how to begin.  There are books that are dark – with war or grief or hungry vampires – and then there are books that are capital-letters-DARK – that you’re not sure you’ll be able to claw your way back out of.  This book is DARK.  Oh, and by the way, completely and totally amazing.

Book Jacket:

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury.

There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.

Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.

Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.

But it’s not.

No, it’s definitely not.  Nothing about this book is okay.  This isn’t just a chase scene through a spooky graveyard.  This book is Fear.  Fear of the external and fear of what is happening inside his own head.  Marbury is terrifying.  And yet, Jack compulsively returns.  He describes it as, “a place that’s kind of like here, except none of the horrible things in Marbury are invisible.” 

Except Marbury is full of the same people.  People he sees there turn up here; people he knows here exist there.  As monsters.

And then the line blurs even further: a ghost in Marbury begins to haunt him outside of Marbury.

Jack wonders if maybe there are layers to the universe, to existence, like those Russian nesting dolls.  That maybe Marbury is a layer just inside the “real world.”  And maybe he’s just another layer inside that.  As you read, you’ll be wondering, too.

And after, you’ll still be wondering.  Was it real?  Is the “real world” real?  Was this an alternate reality for Jack?  Did he ever really escape his kidnapper?  Is he still tied to the bed?  Is he dead?

Does it matter?

Does seeing it make it real?

I can’t really escape Marbury either.  It’s been almost a week since I’ve read it now, but I can't get past it.  I'm still trying to make sense of it all.  Still trying to find the meaning.  Kind of like Jack.

Check out what the rest of the Bookanistas are up to this week!

Michelle Hodkin gushes about The Near Witch

Elana Johnson schools us on The Education of Hailey Kendrick

LiLa Roecker celebrates XVI's book birthday

Christine Fonseca raves about Wither

Shannon Messenger travels Across the Universe with a special giveaway

Shelli Johannes-Wells gets Lost in the River of Green

Scott Tracey falls in love with Across the Universe

Beth Revis is captivated by Prisoners in the Palace

Carolina Valdez Miller is mesmerized by The Healing Spell

Shana Silver is digging Delirium

Jamie Harrington tells the truth about The Liar Society

Jen Hayley dies for a Touch Mortal

Bethany Wiggins dotes on Paranormalcy