Book Review: The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

At First Sight: Wendy Geller was once Rain's best friend as neither of them quite fit at Alcott's, the fancy prep school they both attended. Rain has always been shy and not one to speak her mind, but it was Wendy the first person to ever tell her she had something important to say.

But Wendy's obsession with fitting in and being liked eventually drove them apart; specially after Wendy's mean streak was revealed. Since then, Wendy and Rain moved in sort of parallel realms of the same world, co-existing but not really having much to do with each other.

One morning everything changes when Rain is awakened by a phone call from Wendy's mom, worried sick because Wendy never came home the previous night. At first, Rain thinks everything is fine, that Wendy is just being Wendy and making a drama out of everything, but by that night, everything has changed.

A young woman was found in the Park, strangled and possibly abused. The girl was Wendy. And from them on, nothing will ever be the same to Rain. Soon she becomes obsessed with figuring out what really happened to Wendy, how did she end up in the park and the steps that took her there.

Second Glance: I wasn't sure what to expect from The Girl in The Park by Mariah Fredericks to be honest I just grabbed this book because of the author which is one of my favorites and I was completely surprised by what I found in this story as it's kind of far removed from Frederick's previous books.

Anyway, the best way I can think of describing this book is as an episode of Law and Order SVU, it had that kind of pace and vibe where you think someone did something and then it turns out it was something else. I'm not sure how I felt about this aspect of the book. But the writing was lovely, it was lyrical and it flowed well enough, even though it had an unusual pace, going back and forth between the past and the present. I do admit ti was kind of annoying at times, making me wish it moved forward more quickly.

Bottom Line: The Girl in the Park is definitely not what I was expecting from Mariah Fredericks but at the same time it had some of the things I love best about her writing. This book wasn't a favorite of mine, but the story wrapped it self around me all the same.

Favorite Quote: "People do pretty ugly things to make themselves feel better, this I do know."

1/2

Retro Friday (9) - The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

This week I chose The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks. This was actually Mrs. Fredericks debut and I loved it, it's one of my Must Books for Girls. Anyway, you can read my original review by clicking here. Or you can check out this Mini-review.

At First Sight: Sari and Jess are about to start high school at Eldrige Alternative and while Sari can't wait, completely ready for something BIG to happen to her,  Jess dreads it a little - wondering if she'll survive or what will happen if something does happen to Sari and nothing happens to her. 

While Jess is still dizzy from the whirlwind of activity and the craziness of the first day, Sari spots the most popular guy at school: David Cole and falls instantly, psycho in love with him. 

From then on, the ongoing story of Sari and David  - which mostly goes on inside of Sari's head, at first - permeates Jess' life. And, as the year progresses, Jess can't stop worrying: worrying about Sari's mood swings and personality switches, about the lengths Sari will go to get and keep David's attention, about Sari getting used, about Sari getting her heart broken. 

At the same time, Jess struggles to get used to high school herself with the overload of work, and the Prada Mafia glaring and her and Sari all the time, and to the general crazy of growing up and (maybe) growing apart from your best friend.

Second Glance: I honestly love this book and this author. And I think that this book gets it: the crazy and the overflow of emotions of when you're fourteen and everything seems both possible and impossible at the same time. And I think Jess was a great narrator: she was honest and real, vulnerable but with her own strengths too, and she never blinded herself to Sari's behavior, she knew Sari was being a bad friend sometimes.

And she also brings some perspective to David's character - with whom she shares a class - on how he really is aside from being the king of the school. 

Jess also has a good relationship with her parents, which I love because I hate when characters have cartoonish parents. And she even develops a bit of a romance with a fellow fan of Hollow Planet. 

Hollow Planet is another thing I loved, it's book series Jess is a fan of, and she's always making references to them, and the epigraphs are bits of the book.

Bottom Line: The True Meaning of Cleavage is one of the books I most often recommend for younger teens. For me its about these two friends who sort of need to grow apart a little to stay the best friends they could be, even if the process hurts.

Favorite Quote: "Over the weekend, I study like mad for my biology final. I read about reproduction, how sperm fertilizes egg, how chromosomes divide, become zygote, become fetus. So that's love. 

I read about arteries, how they carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart to the rest of the body. How once the heart stops, the oxygen to the brain stops and the brain waves cease. So that's death."

"The meeting took place in an ancient grove of oak. They sat among the gnarled roots of a great tree and laid their plans. The future was unknown to them, but they were certain of one thing: Their alliance was strong, their bond unbreakable." Hollow Planet: Destiny's Sword

"At last, the two armies met on the battlefield. There was a terrible silence, followed by the first shriek of war. Followed finally by the even more terrible and lasting silence of loss" - Hollow Planet: Destiny's Sword.

"The victories came where they were not expected. Defeats too. But in the end, their forces emerged intact. Ragged, battered, but still loyal." - Hollow Planet: Thorvald's Hammer.

In the Cards: Life by Mariah Fredericks

In the first two books, a set of tarot cards predicted the future for Syd's two best friends Anna and Eve, and in this third installment of In the Cards, it's finally Syd's turn.

As the summer begins, Syd's world seems to be imploding as her Dad's behavior becomes more erratic and she can't hide from the fact that he might have a drinking problem. Syd wishes for someone to listen but Anna is having troubles with Nelson and Eve is obsessed with an upcoming audition for a TV show.

When her need to know overrides her fear to know, Syd finally dares to ask the cards a few questions but the cards do little to reassure her (especially since her last card turns out to be "Death"). That only brings more conflicts for Syd, she hoped and wanted her friend's readings to be true - because they promised what they wanted - but she does not want her own reading to be so.

Yet, when the time comes, she leaves her beloved (and sick) cat Beesley under her father's care, to go with Eve to her audition, clinging to the hope that her Dad will be okay caring for her cat and that things will be okay.

But will they?

Syd's book hit so close to home for me, I'm the worrier of my family and I could understand Syd's fears and questions and the "What if's?" that plagued her. She has always been my favorite of these trio of friends and I was happy to read her story even though it dealt with slightly, lets say, darker themes than the first two books. But I'm happy to report that, even with that, Mariah Fredericks delivered a wonderful book.

I loved seeing other aspects of Syd's life, like her relationship with Mark - Eve's older brother - and Liz and the true love she had for animals and music; and I loved seeing her find her courage and strength.

In the Cards: Life gets:
1/2

In the Cards: Fame by Mariah Fredericks

In the previous book (In the cards: Love) we met Eve and her friends Anna and Sydney; and when Anna's elderly neighbor died she left Anna one of her cats (eventually Syd and Eve adopted the other two) and a deck of Tarot Cards which in In the Cards:Love turned Anna's life upside down. Here's the thing about the cards: they are spot-on accurate, but they only show you a fraction of what's going to happen.

Now, in Fame, it's Eve's turn to ask the cards and she was one question only: will she be a star? Because that's all she wants, to be famous - at the beginning her reasoning for it was kind of blah for me - but, and even though she thinks of herself as very brave, Eve doesn't dare to ask about the rest of her life because... what if the cards tell her she will be a nobody forever? Instead, she asks about her school's upcoming production of Cabaret.

The cards are talking but they are sending mixed signals. In the end, Eve gets a smallish part on Cabaret and, for various reasons, decides to stick to it even as she and pretty much everyone else in the cast resent Francesca, the girl who got the lead in the play and who also happens to be the daughter of an important music producer and judge of You Suck! (and American Idol type of show), thinking everything is SO easy for Francesca -even though she's almost cripplingly shy and no one is nice to her and she really does have a hard time with the play in general.

As the opening night draws near, the possibility that Francesca's insecurities will keep her from being the leading lady begins to loom, so the teacher in charge asks Eve and Evil-Alexa (another girl in the cast) to learn the part, but asks them no to tell Franscesca - so the girl doesn't have her confidence crushed - but, of course, Evil-Alexa has to live up to her name, right?

In the end... will Eve be the star of the show? or will her dreams of fame vanish into thin air?

Well, you'll have to read to find out.

I have to say that Eve is not a character I like, and more than once in the first fifty pages I thought of putting down the book and skipping to the next one. But in the end, I cared enough for Eve's friends Syd and Anna (and Anna's on-going possible love triangle, which came to a happy conclusion for me) to keep on reading and, by the end, I didn't dislike Eve so much.

She'll never be my favorite character but her story is worth reading.

Grade:

In the Cards: Love by Mariah Fredericks

Anna Morris thinks of herself as a blah-nobody among her friends: sweet and shy Syd and wild goth Eve; and sometimes thinks she's unable to say no: She can't say it to her mother when she stuck her with taking care of her little brother Russell, and she can't say it when her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Rosemont, ask her to cat-sit for her. Then Mrs. Rosemont died and left her one of her cats, Psycho Mouli and a deck of Tarot Cards.

On an impulse, she and her friends decide to make a reading, trying to figure out what will happen between Anna and her crush former geek turned Greek god Declan. At first, Anna is kind of ambivalent about the card and what they tell, but then things start to happen!

I don't want to spoil, so I'll just say that I do see Love in the horizon for Anna.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, and I'm still not sure I like Anna's friend Eve; yet, the dynamics between the three girls work And I want to read the next book In the Cards: Fame, even if Eve is not my favorite out of the friends.

What I like the most about this book is that it's about a normal girl: she doesn't fight aliens, she's smart but not super smart, she's neither a social reject nor is she super popular, she falls in the middle were most of us are. And what I love the most about Mariah Frederick's writing (something that shows here and that showed very clearly in The True Meaning of Cleavage -one of my favorite books ever) is that she is consistent in saying one thing: You're best when you are yourself.

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Head Games by Mariah Fredericks

Ever since something happened last year, Judith Ellis feels safer playing on line than actually living her real life. That is until her real life interlopes with her on-line one. Soon she and Jonathan - who lives in her same building - go around playing a new game, one that brings them closer and lets them get to know each other in a different way.

At the same time, Judith is also growing close to Katie, a girl from her school whom she tutors. Soon Ellie is going back and forth between these two realities of hers and she begins to deal with what happened to her.

I quite enjoyed the book, Judith was a character with whom I could really identify, she was very smart and had real problems without being overly dramatic, her voice is clear, her fears are real and over all she's very likable.

Jonathan and Katie are both unforgettable characters, they are so different yet they come to mean so much to Judith and to you, as a reader, as well.

Grade

1/2

Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks

First day of SATs prep, Daisy, Max, Leo and Jane walk out for different reasons at Daisy's instigation, and they end up hanging out and forming their own study group. They all go to the same super competitive school, but aren't exactly friends with each other.

Daisy is a jock who needs to bring her SATs up to get financial aid for college and she's known for dating jerks and playing basketball; Max is Daisy's best friend, he did well enough on his PSATs but his Dad thinks he can do better; Leo WANTS IT and he's willing to do all sorts of studying to get The Top Grade; Jane is the pretty daughter of a famous actress for whom everything should be easy but its not.

Through the craziness of junior year these four people bond, in a weird way, they all hate the SATs but know there is no way out. They prep, they study, they obsess together. Then The Day comes and they all present their SATs... all good, for a moment, then one of the smart seniors of their school confesses someone in the junior class paid her to take the test in their stead.

Who was it?

Everyone has a suspect, more than one has a motive... but Who was it?

Well, I'm not going to tell you, sorry, you'll have to read to find out.

Solid book, not my favorite Mariah Fredericks.

Grade:

The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks

"Cool is Cool and Geek is Geek and at Eldridge the two definitely Do Not Mix"

Jess and Sari have been friends forever, bonding over the fact that they are the only two sane people at their school, Eldridge Alternative. They could not be more different but love each other anyway.

On the verge of their first year as high schoolers, Sari is excited, she thinks something is finally going to happen; Jess doesn't expect much out of freshman year, she just hopes to survive it and live to tell the tale. And both things end up happening though maybe not in the way the girls expected.

Something did happen to Sari: David Cole, hottest senior around. Sari not only likes him, she falls madly, psycho in love with him, and mayhem ensues there after, changing things forever. Jess, on the other hand, finds her self struggling to cope with it all.

The True Meaning of Cleavage is told from Jess point of view and her voice is fresh and honest, she is honest with herself even when it hurts. I liked that about her. I loved that she's captures the anguish and craziness that comes with being fourteen and changing, yet she's not whiny or over the top.

And most of all, this book is about how, when you're growing up, somethings you lose and it's better... and how somethings you keep.

Basically, Mariah Fredericks gets it.

Go read this book then share it with someone else. It is that good.

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