Repost and Book Birthdays!

*This is a repost of my review from February, because I felt bad when I posted it so early and then realized that the book didn't come out for another couple of months.*

David is a fourteen-year-old boy who spends his life getting shuffled between his psychiatrist dad in the French countryside and his self-absorbed, ridiculously wealthy, lawyer mother in Paris. He doesn't particularly enjoy either place (the villagers where his dad lives mistrust all the insane teens who get sent there to be "fixed"; his mother and her boyfriend care more about material objects than him), but David's life gets much more interesting when Zelda shows up at his father's place. Zelda claims to be an alien, sent from her (all-female, sexy warrior) planet to find the "chosen one," who just so happens to be Johnny Depp. When Zelda stows away in David's mother's car on the way back to Paris, who knows what wacky adventures will ensue?

I honestly expected very little from this book (sorry, Mr. Ghislain). An author I'd never heard of (this is his first book, though) being published by a company I'd never heard of (my bad on this part; Chronicle Books is apparently pretty well-established) with a ridiculous title for a weird plot. It sounded like some self-published thing that would turn out to be a poorly-written load of trash (no offense to self-published/small unknown press authors in general, but most of the books I've read from these places lately were a waste of time). Fortunately, I got a surprise with this one. Ghislain's writing was way better than I expected, and the story, while, yes, it was weird and off-the-wall, was enjoyable to read. I've read better science fiction, but I've also read much, much, much worse. There was never a point where I was so interested in the book that I couldn't put it down, but at the same time I was never bored. So, to wrap this up: How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend is a good read when you're in the mood for a short, occasionally humorous, wacky book.

Maturity Factor: Some bad language and sexual situations.

My ARC of this book was received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. It is published by Chronicle Books and comes out in June, 2011.


Other recent book birthdays:

Possession by Elana Johnson (June 7)
I really, really want to read this one.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (June 7)
My review copy arrived in the mail yesterday.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (June 7)
You can enter to win a sampler for this book here.

Robocalypse by Daniel Wilson (June 7)
I really, really want to read this one, too.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young (June 7)
Title links to my review.

YA Fiction: Zitface by Emily Howse

Thirteen-year-old Olivia Hughes thinks she has her life figured out - even though she's only in eighth grade, she's an actress who's just landed a national ad campaign. Olivia's life is going well, even with her parents' recent divorce; the cute new guy at school seems to be noticing her, and she has some great friends. But all of this might change with one little thing: a zit that morphs into a full-blown case of acne and threatens her career, self-esteem, and relationships.

Despite the seemingly trivial nature of the book (come on, all of this drama over acne?!), I found Zitface to be an enjoyable read. Acne isn't the only issue covered in the novel; it's joined by puberty, first dates, middle school gossip, divorce, parent-child relationships, and a bit of bullying. Olivia's voice matches that of your typical thirteen-year-old, and while those of us who are older may underestimate the importance of what eighth-graders consider major drama, this book is perfect for middle school girls who are dealing with many of the issues being covered. To you parents still watching what your daughters read, did I also mention that this is a completely clean read?

My ARC of Zitface was received from the publisher, Marshall Cavendish. It went on sale April 1, 2011.

YA Fantasy: Drought by Pam Bachorz

Most other readers tend to classify Drought as science fiction, but in my little categorical world, I consider it fantasy after having read it. But onto the important stuff:

Ruby has lived with the Congregation her whole life - all two hundred years. Since 1812, the Congregation - followers of Otto - have been imprisoned by Darwin West, the malevolent would-be lover of Ruby's mother. Every day, Darwin and his Overseers force the Congregants to gather Water, the source of their immortality. Ruby longs to break away from slavery, but her duty is towards the Congregation. When she finds love with a kind Overseer, however, will she give up hope for the return of Otto and run away from the only world she's ever known?

I really wanted to like this book. The plot's a bit odd, but it's interesting - think "The Village" + Tuck Everlasting + dystopia. Unfortunately, the weirdness made it hard for some things to be developed fully. Ruby's been growing up for two hundred years, but her voice remains that of your standard teenager - you'd think her prolonged maturation would leave her different from ordinary teens. Also, there's the cult of Otto. Maybe it's because, at some points, it seemed like Bachorz was about to start some philosophical and religious debate (this never actually panned out), but the religion of the Congregation never quite clicked. My other problem with Drought was the slowness of the story. "Okay, so the book's going to be about Ruby breaking out of imprisonment to save the Congregation. [100 pages later] Still waiting for the escape... [page 200] Oh! Now we're getting somewhere...or not. [Rest of the book] And we're still waiting..." So, what redeems Drought as decent book to read? At the end, we finally get somewhere with the whole leaving-the-group thing that the story's been building up to! And there's some nice psychological and sociological stuff about groups getting stuck in ruts and not wanting to change even negative things, which works in my penchant for dystopias with a deeper message. I'm assuming that there's a sequel, and I will be reading it. Why? Because I liked that deeper sociological stuff at the very end, and I really want to know who the heck Otto is, how he came to be so special, and why he hasn't returned for two hundred years.

My copy of Drought was won in a giveaway from Queen of Happy Endings. Published by Egmont, Drought went on sale January 25, 2011.

Books Received This Week

A great week for historical fiction, apparently. Sorry the reviews have been a bit slow this week (though I do have a new giveaway up); I'm actually surprisingly busy right now with a summer course, officer's training for marching band, the SAT, and cleaning house. But a review of Drought by Pam Bachorz is coming soon, as is one of Island by Aldous Huxley.

For Review:
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (Scribner)

Won:
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell (Oxford World's Classics Twitter)
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson (Random House Kids Twitter)
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende (thanks, Unabridged Chick!)
Bending the Boyne by J.S. Dunn (thanks, HF Connection!)

Swag Box Giveaway

Okay, trying something new here. Every month or so (depending on the amount of swag I have to give away), I will run a contest where the winner can choose 5-7 objects out of the swag box:

*box not included in prize

By limiting the number of items chosen from the box, I hope to maintain the number of items available so that there's a good selection and winners aren't forced into accepting a bunch of things they consider junk in order to receive one item they really want.

This month's offerings:

A sampler for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children; I think it's the first 60 pages or so

Between the Pages: a sampler of recent YA releases from Random House

A Carrie Jones bookmark (reverse side is Alexandra Harvey)

A bookmark for Zoe Marriott's Shadows on the Moon

A bookmark for Zoe Marriott's Daughter of the Flames

A magnet for Shadows on the Moon

A magnet for Daughter of the Flames
ADDED 6/19: a bookmark for Carol Estby Dagg's The Year We Were Famous
ADDED 6/29: a bookmark for Brian Martinez's A Chemical Fire
*All swag is UNsigned

Not technically swag:

A bottle of blue nail polish

BonBon "sweet raspberry" lip gloss

Mary Kay pink lip gloss

To enter: Leave a comment on this post with your e-mail. YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER. Extra points if you're an old follower, just make sure to tell me in the comment. US only (sorry, but the shipping costs...) Oh yeah, ends 6/30.

Splash Into Summer Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! With close to sixty entries, I gained several new followers (welcome to the blog, you guys!); stick around for swag giveaway and another giveaway hop later this month! And without further ado, the winner of the Splash into Summer hop is...

Kristi @ Books and Needlepoint

Congratulations, Kristi! I will get Squire in the mail at the beginning of next week. Enjoy!

Historical Romance: The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

Cora Cash is the American heiress. Her family is only newly wealthy, but in 1894 they shamelessly flaunt their enormous wealth in front of both American and English society. Cora, though she has everything that money can buy, is hemmed in by her mother, who's primary goal for Cora is for her to marry into an English title. Following a timely accident, Mrs. Cash's dream comes true when Cora marries a Duke. Fortunately for Cora and her new husband, the match is made for love, not just a title for the Cashs and money for the Duke. But what happens after the fairytale courtship and wedding are over, and Cora is faced with the strangeness and deceptions of high British society?

Critiques: I love historical fiction because of the historical detail that gets worked into the story. To me, the primary purpose of historical fiction is to educate readers on the time period through a good story. The American Heiress, though historical fiction, uses the genre as an excuse for a romance story. There's some historical detail worked in, but it's really only to enhance the romantic plot and display the ridiculous ostentation of Victorian high society in a way that alienates modern readers. The characters are likewise hard for readers to relate to because they are one-dimensional, shallow, perpetually self-absorbed. It seems at the beginning that Cora will be your typical modern heroine in a historical fiction novel: intelligent but yearning to break free of society's strictures for women. But no, she's just as self-absorbed and, in many ways, as conformist as all the other characters in the book.

Likes: Despite my aversion to historical romance and the lack of depth of the characters, I found myself drawn into the book. I didn't like Cora that much, but I still wanted to see how her story would turn out. I ended up reading the novel in three days (my ARC is 450+ pages), which shows you that the plot is fast-paced enough to keep interest and that Goodwin's writing is not difficult to follow. There's also the added bonus that the ending alludes to a sequel, though I'm not sure if the first book impressed me enough that I'll pick up the next should it be written.

Maturity Factor: Some sex and adulterous scandals, but nothing graphic.

Incidentally, an alternate title is My Last Duchess; Browning's poem is quoted at the beginning of my ARC. While I think the title would pertain more to the relationship between another couple in the novel than to the one between Cora and the Duke, I do like it.

My ARC of The American Heiress was won in a publisher's (St. Martin's Press) giveaway. The novel goes on sale June 21, 2011.