Showing posts with label family issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family issues. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Review:Pieces of Us by Margie Gelbwasser


Pieces of Us [add to Goodreads]
by Margie Gelbwasser
Published by Flux
Date publication :March 8th 2012[tomorrow eep]
Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis:Two families. Four teens. A summer full of secrets. 

Every summer, hidden away in a lakeside community in upstate New York, four teens leave behind their old identities…and escape from their everyday lives. 
Yet back in Philadelphia during the school year, Alex cannot suppress his anger at his father (who killed himself), his mother (whom he blames for it), and the girls who give it up too easily. His younger brother, Kyle, is angry too—at his abusive brother, and at their mother who doesn’t seem to care. Meanwhile, in suburban New Jersey, Katie plays the role of Miss Perfect while trying to forget the nightmare that changed her life. But Julie, her younger sister, sees Katie only as everything she’s not. And their mother will never let Julie forget it. 
Up at the lake, they can be anything, anyone. Free. But then Katie’s secret gets out, forcing each of them to face reality—before it tears them to pieces.


My thoughts

Cover: The blue sky, the green field , the swing set in motion on a summer day got my attention like that when i first say it last year on a IMM of christi at the story siren.That scene has a huge and important part in this great and touching YA.

Book When i first say it on netgalley i flipped out[ok that’s overdoing it a bit,i was really exited] i requested.Crossing my fingers and toes. BUT i got declined,I requested it again and got declined for the second time.I finally got aprroved.Thank you Flux. I though"need to read this soon".My contanious effort was not for nought.


Before i start this review, this is dark.I was prepared for it but got schocked still.It was meant to be schoking

These teens are f*cked up.I can’t believe the parents did not see their kids were hurting inside.But he that reality .A lot of parents are to buzzy to see or sence whats happening.I have to ad there were great parental figures. The grandpa and ma’s.

Some parts of the synopsis are abit misleading. A summer full of secrets. The story takes place over two years and not one summer.Some people might find the pacing a bit dragging.But in mine opinion it was needed to tell the story

The writing was nice to read and flowed smoothly. In four different pov’s that of Katie,Alex,Julie and Kyle’s.I have not read a other book that's written in 2nd person that i can remember.I loved.Love different pov but their chapters were a bit short at times. That only irked me. Non the less i could connect with them all. I would glad to jump through the pages to comfurt them. Probably there reaction could be’’wtf , who are you’’ lol

All four teens had 360 turn around[for the better or worst] in my opinion and character growth.The katie,julie,kyle and alex i first met were different at the end.katie was a bitch and alex a @shole.But i got to care for them.A huge plus.Kyle and Julie doubted themselves a lot but that changed[i gotta try to doubt myself]I felt connected to Kyle a lot and saw a couple of things of me in him[YA SAVES].I can say the secret that’s come to light liffted and helped with a lot of hurt and pain.And eventually a more grounded love for all of them to each other and close people around them

If you love dark topics , no let me rephrase that like reading about dark topics in contemporary YA.This not a light read.Kinda dark is an understamend.I recently read that book banners are trying to ban it of its language and real heart braking stuff teens encounter.Give it a try.I can't wait to read miss Gelbwasser other book, inconvenient.

thanks to Flux for approving my request of Pieces of Us


this was part of the 2012 contemp challenge hosted by katiesbookblog.com

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez, life of a musician

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Published by  Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Date published  October 18th 2011
Rating 4/5 stars


Synopsis

Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands-down the wrong guy for her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition. Carmen's whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what if Jeremy isn't just hot...what if Jeremy is better?
Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can't end well, but she just can't stay away. Nobody else understands her—and riles her up—like he does. Still, she can't trust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she’s told, doing what's expected.
Sometimes, being on top just means you have a long way to fall....
my thoughts 
cover: The cover does not really tell me something about this book. Its just nice to look at. The pink-reddish in contrast to the black silhouette. The uk cover is a bit plain and boring for my taste . Just a girl on the cover . she whore that dress in a scene




book: I first saw this on my on one of my favorite blogs as a review book. I looked it up on goodreads and added it to my tbr/wishlist shelf. When i got the galley grab email, i was so exited seeing it downloaded it along with pledge and legacy ,will be reading those soon.


Carmen Bianchi our leading lady  has got it all , fame and fortune and she's only 17 but has social and family issues. I felt for her ,like i wanted to be there as a friend. Her stress and all.


Jeremy King is the romantic intrest. He was not the ''BAD BOY" but not the perfect goody two shoes boyfriend. A normal British young teenage dude ,except being a music prodigy. I think a couple of galls and some guys wil swoon over his british  accent and appearence in their mind, will say this he played rugby imagine those muscles ,droolish. . 


There was no insta-love  I admire that. I like love triangles, but sometimes its overkill and so overdone. This does not have that, triangles i mean. Miss Martinez did not focus much on the romance but more on the coming of age of Carmen and facing her fears. I wanted to know a little bit more bouth Jeremy's life and such


Other than Jeremy and Carmen, my favorite character was Clark, her step dad.  A true father and a fanatic White socks fan. OK  a tad fanatic.


Had no trouble with Jessica's writing and the pasing of virtuosity. Some 50 or so pages were a bit slow but the remaining 100 pages were exiting. The ending was thoroughly good but it was bittersweet.


Was exited for this book cause i always wanted to play the violin but a music instructor said that a drum or a instrument of that sort would be for me.   Something with differentiating music tones  and have small hands for a male , not femine but small hands. When i encountered a classical piece in this book, i looked it up on youtube. Virtuosity gave me a look in the world of musicians and the classical type. Jessica is one, a musician and plays the violin beautifully. Recordings of here are on here site.    JessicaMartinez.com . If you click on it you will here her recordings immediately under tab "Extras".  


NOTE; listened to her recordings while reading Virtuosity to get me in the mood to read her book and i enjoyed it even more.




Virtuosity can be ordered at
Bookdepository (  ships international)

one of my favorite pieces of Tchaikovsky ~~~~~~ SWAN LAKE~~~~~~~ you probably heard of it before the vid is split in 8 videos.  


  
Part 1/8
part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 Hope ya''l enjoy. Received from the publishers for a honest review

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