Don't Breathe A Word! (OR Else!)

I've been holding unto this for too long! *unbuckles and sighs*
SO, remember that book trailer I posted back in March as a hint? Well here it is! Ideally the hint was actually the author rather than the book (I really wasn't going to give it all away you know!). I figured to throw you guys off the loop and trick you. But anywho back to the mystery at hand:

courtesy of jennifer-mcmahon.com

Written in third person narrative, Don't Breathe A Word is a suspense novel written by Jennifer McMahon (who had also written Dismantled: hence the hint) following the story of a girl, Phoebe, getting wrapped in the mystery of a girl gone missing. As Phoebe continues to investigate what happened to this missing girl, she ends up getting mixed up in the mystery of the town. 

At first, reading the blurb and the first few pages, I inferred that the book was about faeries and a whole quest to save the girl who went missing since the concept of faeries is brought up in the beginning. However, as I continued to read it, I realized there was no way to affirm that faeries were even involved. McMahon really did a creative job in blurring the line between reality and fantasy. The way the book starts is great because it involved a random occurrence resulting into indirectly and directly affecting the main character's personal life. But at the same time, the beginning remains as a random occurrence rather than coming back and revealing more.

Even at the end, it was confusing in understanding the characters themselves. It really is one of those WTF! books with subtleties in which you finish the book and just have this quizzical moment of 2 minutes trying to figure out what happened and what is going to happened.  Near the ending, the story unraveled into an interesting twist showing more of a realistic view of what really is insanity. It ended in a cliff ending with a question between the lines of whether faeries are real or not while also playing with the idea of whether the main character is insane. Not going to lie I was a bit traumatized. 

Maybe reading this review will still be confusing which at that point I will suggest to read it and see what you think. I still go with Jackie Chan on this (in a good way?). 

Til Next Blogpost,
Miss Bobo

Remember that Song...

There is always someone who is stuck being picked on at an early age or being someone’s sidekick friend. They either have a sucky life at home or a sucky life at school. Although, it’s not everyone, the situation is still applicable to a selectable few. This book is exactly that if not a resemblance.

Written in first person narrative, I Want Candy by Kim Wong Keltner is a coming of age story taking place in 1983 San Francisco surrounding the life of Candace Ong who has worked with her parents at Eggroll Wonderland, a Chinese restaurant, for as far as she can remember.

Most of the book is Candace complaining about being the one with the sucky life while her “friend” Ruby, has sexcapades with W.P.O.D.s (“White Punks on Dope”). She does get a taste of what it’s like to have the wild life. And like any other adult, Candace makes a decision out of the climax of these experiences; making this an adult novel instead of the typical YA realistic fiction novel.

Of course, with the voice this novel is given, you would assume these are teenagers within the age range of 16-18. Surprisingly, it is not the case. Candace is 14 and in the eighth grade while her “friend” Ruby is the same.  There is a dash of humor in certain chapters and a pinch of the supernatural. But don’t expect the perfect romance in this book because you really aren’t going to get it. However, there is a lesson just like there was in Jailbait by Leslea Newma (which is a YA novel): don’t take candy from strangers.