MiniReview: Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern

The Deal: Anna Bloom is depressed. She has been missing school and often doesn't want to do anything at all. And now her parents have shipped her off to a mental hospital. 

After almost 2 days spent sitting in the hallway, wearing paper-thing hospital pajamas, Anna isn't off to an auspicious start at the mental hospital and things don't seem to improve when she's finally able to join her fellow inmates. Oh, and her doctor is a bit of an asshole. 

Her only outlet is the journal/letters she writes to her best friend Trace back home. But, eventually, things start to become easier, as she finds her own place in the loony bin.

My Thoughts: I picked up this book because I loved  Into The Wild Nerd Yonder also by Julie Halpern and I guess I was expecting something to find something very similar to it in  Get Well Soon but it was completely different. 

Anna was all over the place and I get that was meant to reflect her mental estate but I found it hard to follow. Plus, I've been through depression myself, and even though I understand everyone lives the process differently, I found it very hard to connect with her. 

There were parts that were fun, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.

1/2

Mini Review: Past Perfect by Leila Sales

The Deal: Chelsea has worked at Essex - a colonial reenactment village - since she was a baby. Both her parents live and breath colonial times and every summer she has gone to work there.

This year, her best friend is joining her at Essex and so is her ex-boyfriend Ezra - which sucks since she's not fully over him yet. And, if that weren't complicated enough, she has been made a Lieutenant in the war against Reenactmentland -the civil war reenactment place across the street from Essex - which rages every summer between the young people working at both places.

Being a lieutenant is an honor, but a very complicated one when she finds herself attracted to Dan, one of the civil war warriors she's supposed to hate. But the summer is long and everything is fair in love and (reenactment) war.

My Thoughts: Past Perfect was fun book, I have to say. I didn't love it but I liked it well enough. I can't say that I loved Chelsea - she was too obsessed with her ex and I didn't always agree with the things she did - and her best friend Fiona often seemed pushy to me. And I seriously disliked Ezra - partially because I hate that name.

I did like Essex's war general Tawny; and Dan (he walks in and the story perks up, I swear) and the people from Reenactmentland, they seemed funnier somehow.

The ins and outs of Essex and what it means to work there were funny and interesting, and I definitely loved the setting.

MiniReview: Gate 7 (Vol 1) by CLAMP

The Deal: Chikahito was just visiting Kyoto for fun when he was dragged into a strange world where he meets two handsome men - Sakura and Tachibana - and a girl named Hanna

These people are just sitting on the trees around a temple, and when they notice Chikahito, they attack him. But when their magic does nothing to Chikahito, they take him in. 

Next thing he knows, he's waking up and they are feeding him and things are just strange. The guys don't seem to like him, but Hanna does, and that changes his life forever. 

My Thoughts: I'm not exactly sure what to say about  Gate 7 as this is just the first chapter of the manga series and things aren't very clear just yet. 

The artwork is lovely, and you can tell is a CLAM job - they have a particular style that I enjoy a lot (obviously, as I've been a CLAMP fan girls since I was 13). The story, as I said, it was a bit confusing as the board is being set for whatever is going to happen next. 

I'm not rating it because it was really little to go on, but I have to say that it is intriguing and I do want to read more and find out what's going on with these characters. 

Love,

Mini Review: Cherish by Wataru Yoshizumi (Manga)

The Deal: Chiriro lost her mom when she was 3 years old and since then she has been brought up by her Mom's best friend Taku-chan and his partner Rei. Now she's 18 and about to start college at the same university her mom and adoptive dad went to.

On the first day of classes, Chihiro runs into her first boyfriend, Tsuda-kun. Back in middle school, he dumped Chihiro after she told him her parents were a gay couple, and then he moved away and they never talked about it.

Only that now they are going to the same school, are in the same school club and he is under the impression that she's the one who dumped him because he was moving away.

My Thoughts: First off, don't let yourself be put off because Tsuda supposedly has a problem with Chihiro's parents. He really doesn't. And I shouldn't say it, but I'm afraid that part of the description will have a negative effect on the story's appeal.

Anyway, Cherish is a short, sweet story about first love and second chances. I usually don't like the Big Misunderstanding plot, but since this story was told in three chapters and things got solved very quickly, I didn't mind. And I was actually surprised at what really happened.

The story is quite sweet over all, and I really liked Chihiro and how loyal she was to the people who raised her, even though she really did like Tsuda and how she struggled because part of her was happy to see him again.

There was a sub plot about Chihiro's biological father that was a bit random, but oh well. Also, because it's so short, there isn't tons in the way of character development. But I had a really good time reading this manga, and it was sweet.

Book Review: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Peter Gillis

The Deal: An Unicorn learns that she's the last of her kind, and she hadn't realized because she had always lived in the same forest, taking care of the trees and animals there. 

One day, she decides to go out and find out what happened to the other unicorns of the world. She comes across many dangers, and eventually learns about the Red Bull and the King of Haggard, who is connected to the disaperance of the others. 

In her journey, she's joined by a hapless magician and Molly Gruel, who help her get where she needs to go.

There she meets Prince Lir, complicating things more. 

My Thoughts: I'm a huge fan of The Last Unicorn - the movie. I think it's one of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever produced. So I was very excited to read this adaptation of the book by Peter S. Beagle into a comic book. 

The illustrations are lovely, close to the ones to the movie but at the same time a little less dreamy and a bit more sophisticated, and it definitely captures the magic of this tale. And once I got over the fact that I kept trying to read it right to left manga style - since I'm far more familiarized with this style than with US comic books - I enjoyed it a lot, even though I did find the font a bit small.

I don't think I'll ever get over how heartbreaking this tale is, but it remains one of my favorites, and I think this is a very worthy adaptation of it. 

Mini Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Deal: Lexi lives in the town of Near. Her life is a bit difficult - her dad is dead, her uncle is disapproving and her mom works too much - but she loves her mom and little sister Wren, and she is happy enough.

But when a stranger arrives to the town of Near, everyone is suspicious. Near and the moors that surround it aren't exactly the type of place people visit, so it's a very closed community. And then, the children of Near start to vanish from their beds, and Cole, the new guy, becomes the prime suspect.

Only that Lexi is sure he isn't to blame, and eventually they go in search of the missing children.

My Thoughts: Let me start by saying that I don't usually read books like The Near Witch, though what drew me to it was that it sounded more like a fairy tale than straight fantasy. 

The writing is absolutely beautiful, so evocative without being overly flowery. And I could feel almost immediately the love Lexi had for her family, particularly for her sister Wren - who made me smile from the start, she's such a well-written, adorable child. 

Now, I did have time sticking to the story for long periods of time. I don't know why but I did, and I really had to push myself for a while. Not that it's in anyway bad, it's just the way I felt.

Still, it was so nicely written and I loved the characters. 

1/2

Mini-Review: The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Freres by Marie LeToureau

The Deal: Chef Marcel runs the best mice bistro in Paris along with his seven sons, and every year they win the Best Cheese soup in Paris award. 

But this year, the judge is coming and he doesn't have his secret ingredient! So he leaves his sons to prepare the base of the soup while he goes to find it. 

As the boys scramble, their sister Petite Michelle saves the day when the judge arrives suddenly.

My Thoughts: The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Freres is a really cute story for young children - the type of book a parent reads to their toddler or for someone who's just learning to read.

It's short (around 50 pages, mostly illustrations) and it has lovely illustrations and a sort of Ratatouille magic feel to it.

I loved how is the girl who saves the day. 

Lovely book for very young children, not what I usually review but it was cute all the same.

Book Review: Delivered with Love by Sherry Kyle (Mini-Review)

At First Sight: Claire James' life crumbled when her mom died  a year ago after a long battle with cancer. Having made of her Mom the center of her life for so long, Claire isn't sure what she should do next, and even a year later she's struggling with her grief.

When life with her sister and her husband turns out to be too much, Claire decides to embark on a journey to Capitola, a small town near Santa Cruz. Why Capitola? Well, because of a letter she found in the glove compartment of her Mom's old car.

Claire hopes the man who sent the letter to her Mom, is still there. But, in going to Capitola, Claire might find more than she ever imagined.

Second Glance: Delivered with Love is a sweet story about love, courage and the goodness of people everywhere. I found Claire likable, and she did sound like a 23 year old. On the other hand, I thought they were a little too many characters, and the beginning - when Michael is introduced - is a bit confusing.

Bottom Line: This is a sweet story, it moves forward, sometimes slowly, but it's a nice read. And it comes out on April 2011.

1/2