Review ; First Night by Tom Weston

ABOUT THE BOOK/: Alexandra O’Rourke, aged 16, is not a happy camper. It's New Year’s Eve. She should be partying in San Diego with her friends, but instead she is stuck in Boston, with just her younger sister, Jackie, for company. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she is being haunted by Sarah, the ghost of a seventeenth century Puritan. Oh, and there is the small matter of the charge of witchcraft to be sorted out.

Armed only with big shiny buttons and a helping of Boston Cream Pie, the sisters set out to restore the Natural Order. Can Alex solve the mystery of the Devil’s Book? Can Jackie help Sarah beat the sorcery rap? And can they do it before the fireworks display at midnight? Because this is First Night - and this is an Alex and Jackie Adventure.

(taken from tom-weston.com)


THE REVIEW /:

Elements ;

1. Shocking Factor - 8/10
2. Thrilling Factor - 7/10
3. Funny Factor - 9/10
4. Honesty Factor - 8/10
5. Originality Factor - 9/10

and

Narrator's Voice - 8.5/10

Overall conclusion -I didn't know what to expect of this book. I've never been a fan of mysteries or anything ghost related. The first few chapters were dragging but after I got the hang of the story, I finally realised the necessity of the introduction. Tom Weston writes beautifully, his words almost poetic. The conversations are mildly humorous. What I felt very strongly about this book was how strong the characters are. My favourite would be Jackie for her jokes and sarcasm. The plot wasn't very suspensful but its good enough to make you curious about what happens next. When I'm not reading the book, I'm trying to guess how Sarah can prove that she's not into witchcraft. The journey in this novel is a very memorable one. I love how everything connects and while reading, I was very eager to connect the dots. I am thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the book and glad that I picked this novel as a turning point for me to venture in this type of genre. This would be a great pick for those who are trying to venture on the book genre. I look forward for the next Alex and Jackie adventure.

TIQA

Contest End-Date!

Just wanted to let you guys know that the contest will end on this wednesday, 22nd of July 2009




TIQA

Review ; The Geek Girl's Guide To Cheerleading by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance

ABOUT THE BOOK/: When Bethany–self-proclaimed geek girl–makes the varsity cheerleading squad, she realizes that there’s one thing worse than blending in with the lockers: getting noticed. She always felt comfortable as part of the nerd herd, but being a member of the most scrutinized group in her school is weighing her down like a ton of textbooks.

Even her Varsity Cheerleading Guide can’t answer the really tough questions, like:

* How do you maintain some semblance of dignity while wearing an insanely short skirt?
* What do you do when the head cheerleader spills her beer on you at your first in-crowd party?
* And how do you know if your crush likes you for your mind or your … pom-poms?

One thing’s for sure: It’s going to take more than brains for this girl genius to cheer her way to the top of the pyramid.

(taken from thegeekgirlsguide.com


THE REVIEW /:

Elements ;

1. Shocking Factor - 9/10
2. Thrilling Factor - 9/10
3. Funny Factor - 8/10
4. Honesty Factor - 8/10
5. Originality Factor - 8/10

and

Narrator's Voice - 9/10

Overall conclusion - Truthfully before I read it, I didn't know what to expect from this book. The title was cheesy enough to set me off especially since I'm trying to widen my range of genres in books. Also, the subject on cheerleading? Not my thing. I hate cheerleading. I always think its too superficial. What was amazing about this book is that it completely out ruled every assumptions I made. Don't let the cover and the title blind you! This is not just another cheesy case of cool boy-meets-geek girl--fallsinlove. In fact, while reading it, I didn't imagine Bethany being a geek girl at all which I guess is another way of showing that a label doesn't make you that person. The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading is actually more about Bethany balancing her before-cheer and after-cheer life and less about cheerleading. In a nutshell, it's the story of finding yourself and not being someone from a label. The characters were lovable enough. The supporting character has an essence in them that relates them to the main characters. Oh and the fact that the first line of the book is similar to Pride and Prejudice? AWESOME. The Jane Austen fangirl inside of me was flabbergasted.

Oddly enough, Bethany and Jack reminds me of Nathan and Haley from One Tree Hill. The fact that Jack isn't that stereotype jock makes it all the better. I really love how the authors makes Bethany's narrative voice so genuine and real instead of constantly making her sound like a total losergeek (after all, there's more to a person than being a geek / jock right? ). All in all, this is a great novel by two awesome debut author. The simplicity in the words and the easiness in the plot makes the novel a good read for a rainy evening.

Resembles the writing of Elizabeth Scott and Melissa Kantor, Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance are definitely authors to look out for in the future!

TIQA