List Maniac #26 - Favorite Secondary Characters (Marchetta Madness)

Oops! Sorry for the super long title, it's just that it's Marchetta Madness Week and I realized I hadn't done a List Maniac in a really long time! So I decided to spot light some of my favorite secondary characters. 

In this case, my criteria to call them Secondary is that we have never seen things from their perspective. These are the characters I've loved and wish I knew more about them!  

And now, onto the list! 

Jimmy Hailler (Saving Francesca / The Piper's Son)

"Jimmy Hailler was a killer of a listener. The guy understood fragmented people." (The Piper's Son)

At first glance, Jimmy is a bit of a clown. He's always saying and doing the one thing that will make everyone uncomforatble, and he seems to do it only for his own amusement. But people tell him stuff, he's doesn't judge and he ends up having more inside and perspective than anyone would ever give him credit for. His personal history is hinted at in bits and pieces, but I always feel like I want to know more about him. Sadly, he's currently MIA and not even his friends know where he is. 

Celie of the Flatlands (Finnikin of the Rock / Froi of the Exiles) 

When Lady Celie first appears on the page, you don't think a lot about her. But she keeps making small appearances and now, after reading Froi, I've realized that she kind of lingers. And I want to hear more about her. I know from the bits and pieces that she's very smart and braver than one would guess seing as she's beautiful. And I'm happy to hear that we'll be hearing more about Celie soon.

Marcus Sandford (Looking for Alibrandi)

"Who's the hunk?"

She looked pensive and reached to touch it. 

The person in the photo was of medium height with golden-brown hair. He was smiling broadly, leaning against a shovel, with no shirt on. 

"His name was Marcus Sandford." 

"An Australian?" I screeched. "You know an Australian hunk?"

"He was my friend."

When I read Looking for Alibrandi, I was captivated by the story of Nonna Katia and Marcus, and I always wondered about him. What his life had been? Did he marry someone else? Had kids? Did he still thought about Katia? I would love to get answers to all of those questions, mostly because I always thought they deserved a happy ending. And even though he's never in the story 'in the present day', I wish he were.

Ben Cassidy ((On The) Jellicoe Road / The Piper's Son)

"When it's time for Ben to play his solo - his eyes are close, his mind anywhere but here, his fingers so taut and precise that it almost looks painful - my eyes well with tears. Because you know from the look on Ben's face that he's somewhere you want to be."

Ben is a really close friend to both Raffy and Taylor - he is Taylor's second in command in the territory wars - but he never gets quite as much page time as Raffy or Jonnah or Chaz. But I love whenever he's around. I love that he likes to tease Jonah and he's not afraid of him (though he often gets beat up for his efforts), and that he loves music so much. I was so happy to see him and his band make a cameo in The Piper's Son, but it's just never enough.

Tariq of Lascow & the other Last Borns (Froi of the Exiles)

I really liked Tariq the second he showed up in Froi of the Exiles, he's essentially a nice, decent man who was worthy of leading people. I would have loved to hear more of him and his life in the caves. The other Lastborns, Satch of Desantos and Grijio of Paladozza (as well as his sister Tippideux) also intrigued me. I hope they feature more in Quintana of Charyn.

Special Mention: Danny Griggs ((On The) Jellicoe Road / The Gorgon in the Gully).

I know Danny does have his own book but is only available in Australia, and as such is very hard to come by this side of the pond. I love Danny because Jonah loves him. I would LOVE to read his story and I hope someday is published in the US so I can get my paws on it.  

Okay, so that's my list! and I admit it would have been up way earlier if not because I kept getting distracted while I was looking for quotes about these characters and ended up reading big chunks of each book, just because. 

It's Not Just a Book! It's an Experience - (Marchetta Madness Week)

Hello everyone!!

So today marks the start of the Marchetta Madness Week - Hosted by Chachic's Book Nook - and Chachic is asking what's the first Marchetta book you read. 

Mine was Saving Francesca, but the thing is that for me it's never just reading a book. It's a whole experience. I became an instant fan when I first read Francesca. I was nineteen or so, and I remember I waited and waited and waited because I wanted to get the particular cover I got (which was the original US paperback). I thought it would be a fun, cute book, and it was but it was also so much more. 

I remember staying up very late to finish the book, of being sitting up in my bed in the middle of the night crying because of what was going on, because the ending was happy and hopeful and then crying some more because it was over. 

I have very vivid memories of what I was doing and where I was when I was reading each and every of Melina's books, I remember the parts that made me cry, and when I was laughing while reading and no one else got it. There are very few books that have given me that: the immediate recall of the first time we crossed paths each and every time I pick them up. 

When it comes to Melina's books, I tend to see them as living, breathing beings. They are not just stories and characters, there are people to me. Reading them it's not something I can do with my eyes only, I'm there 100% , I go in with my heart and my head, and everything in between. 

It's not just reading a story, it's a whole experience.

That's why I was so very happy to be part of this week dedicated to Melina's works, because they touch me in ways I never thought possible and I'm happy to spread the word!

So... what about you? Have you read a Marchetta book? which one?

In My Mailbox (6)

Hey guys!
I made another video :)

Sorry if the image is a bit blurry.

Books Mentioned:
Purchased 
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

Gifted!
Artemis the Loyal by Suzanne Williams and Joanne Holub (Thanks to Kylie!)

Fkr Review (thanks NetGalley!!)
Torn by Stephanie Guerra
Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep
The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine by Jayne Fresina
The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
All These Lives by Sarah Wylie
Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller
The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Grenland
Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know by Jeff Johnson.
Just Say Yes by Phillipa Ashley

Blogs Mentioned:
Stepping Out of the Page  - Thanks for the Bookmarks!
Chachic Book Nook - She's are Hosting Melina Marchetta Week!

 I hope y'all have a great week*

Book Review: Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey

Paperback Cover

At First Sight: As the owner of Jasper's, a successful sports bar in Concord, Kevin is no lacking for female companionship, but he's still reeling from his divorce a couple of years prior - which ended when he found out that his wife was cheating on him with his boss, ending his marriage and career in one swift move - and he's starting to lose interest on the women that frequent his bar... until the night he meets Beth Hansen.

Beth is a nomad by choice, going from one crappy job/apartment to another, hopping from city to city trying to avoid putting any roots down. Having been smothered by her loving, overprotective parents for most of her life, Beth isn't took keen on anything that will tie her down. And she's not too keen on Kevin either, as the night they met Kevin punched her then boss and got her fired.

But a few weeks later they meet again - at Kevin's brother Joe's wedding - one thing leads to another and end up in Kevin's hotel room. And, a few weeks later, Beth finds out she's pregnant with Kevin's baby. Not expecting or wanting anything from him, Beth tells him of her pregnancy, thinking he ought to know but not really wanting him in her life. 

Kevin has other plans, coming from large, close knit family, he takes the news surprisingly well and is dead-set on making Beth's life easier, and keeping her around. Not only because of their baby, but because without meaning to, he has fallen in love with her. 

Second Glance: I had heard a bit of mixed opinions about Undeniably Yours, some told me it was their favorite book of the Kowalski series so far, and others that it was their least favorite. For me, it was neither. 

Over all, I liked the book. I thought Kevin was a lovely protagonist, he was likable and charming and attractive, and he wanted to do the right thing. Even though his life hasn't always been charmed, he wasn't bitter, and he was still a very loving and caring individual, even if he did have some hang ups. 

Beth wasn't always easy to like, she had these moments of foolish independence that really rubbed me the wrong way. But I didn't hate her, and part of me even sympathized a little with her. 

Now, I wish the Kevin and Beth had spent more time to with each other as an official couple, but I found the ending cute and sweet, even if a bit rushed.  I also wished Kevin and Beth had more of a life outside the bar and their apartments, because it seemed like they were ALWAYS in either of those places. 

Original Cover

I liked  seeing the characters I got to know in Exclusively Yours once more, and that their stories keep tinkering quietly in the background. 

Finally, while I liked Paulie, I didn't care for her subplot at all. It felt like an add on that could have been taken away and the story would have been fine. I found myself speed reading through her sections. 

Favorite Quote: While not my favorite of the bunch - that would be Yours to Keep - Undeniably Yours was a very nice contemporary romance, with likable characters and an interesting set-up. I definitely look forward to checking in with the Kowalski Clan in the future, though I'm afraid this particularly story won't be going into the 'special shelf'. 

1/2

Book Review: The Princess of Iowa by M. Molly Backes

At First Sight: Paige Sheridan seems to have everything in life: she's pretty, popular and well-off, in fact, she just spent the summer before senior year in Paris. But things are not quite as rosy colored once you look closer. The previous Spring, Paige was involved in a drunk-driving accident with her best friends Nikki and Lacey, and her mother exiled her to Paris so the scandal would die down quietly.

Now that she's back, Paige expects things will go back to normal, with her and her friends at the top of the High School food-chain. But that's easier said than done. Nikki is an apologetic wreck who has lost too much weight and is obsessed with this big 'Don't let your friends drive drunk' presentation she's planning. Lacey is in full-frienemy mode, bitter because she has been through a hell physical therapy and will probably walk with a limp from now on. 

Lacey is also holding onto Paige's secrets - things about the night of the accident that Paige herself isn't ready to remember - and manipulating Paige's boyfriend into spending time with her instead of Paige. That's how Paige finds herself in a Creative Writing class all alone - as her boyfriend transferred to Film Appreciation to 'be there for Lacey'.

Paige wants to hate the class but she soon finds herself sucked in the whirlwind their new teacher, Mr. Tremont, starts. Through writing and letting her thoughts go, she starts to deal with - and remember - what really happened the night of the accident, and she also starts to hang out with a different crowd of people - like the school's news paper editor Jeremy, or outspoken Shanti, or new boy in town Ethan - and become closer to her sister, and to see the cracks in the foundation of her Perfect Life. 

Second Glance: Confession time! When I saw the size of this book I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it (it's over 450 pages long). But when I started to read and before I knew I had read 200 pages and I was hooked. 

The Princess of Iowa is a very interesting and engaging book. At first I didn't like Paige, of any of her friends, in fact, they all irritated me, but I really wanted to know what had happened with the accident so I kept on reading and when I met the Creative Writing crowd, I loved those guys.

Paige wasn't always easy to like, and even late in the book she made some questionable choices, but she learns from her mistakes and I realized she was just really struggling with whom she was going to be if she wasn't Perfect Princess Paige.

I loved Shanti and Ethan and Miranda/Mirror (Paige's sister). I even liked Nikki by the end - she's one of those characters that you totally dismiss and then they surprise you though they remain essentially what they have always been.  

I had two small problems with the book, though. One that it's long and sometimes it felt long, there is a lot of stuff happening and I think that some of it could stand to be cut to make the novel flow a little better. And two, the romance. There was so little of it that I felt like it could have been cut and the story would have been fine. I liked it but sometimes it felt like an afterthought because the book was more about Paige growing up than anything else. 

Bottom Line: The Princess of Iowa surprised me with how how much I loved it and how fun it was to read. The characters felt real and they were complicated. It's very much a story of growing up and learning to face the consequences of our actions. It's a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to read more of this author's work.

Favorite Quote: "How the hell do you sum up your sister in three minutes? She's your twin and your polar opposite. She's your constant companion and your competition. She's your best friend and the biggest bitch in the world. She's everything you wish you could be and everything you wish you weren't."

1/2