Review: The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

The Stone Girl

Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Genre: YA

Expected Publication: August 28, 2012

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

ISBN: 0375870806

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Description:

She feels like a creature out of a fairy tale; a girl who discovers that her bones are really made out of stone, that her skin is really as thin as glass, that her hair is brittle as straw, that her tears have dried up so that she cries only salt. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t hurt when she presses hard enough to begin bleeding: it doesn’t hurt, because she’s not real anymore.

Sethie Weiss is hungry, a mean, angry kind of hunger that feels like a piece of glass in her belly. She’s managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work—a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away—she can force the number on the scale even lower. She will work on her body the same way she worked to get her perfect grades, to finish her college applications early, to get her first kiss from Shaw, the boy she loves, the boy who isn’t quite her boyfriend.

Sethie will not allow herself one slip, not one bad day, not one break in concentration. Her body is there for her to work on when everything and everyone else—her best friend, her schoolwork, and Shaw—are gone.

Review:

Rating:

This book is a pass. It reads as though it glorifies eating disorders. A character saying every girl goes through that stage, which just isn’t true. Somewhat reads as a how too manual while no graphic details are given it does cover a character being obsessed with her weight and vomiting, restricting calories and being happy about it. This is the nature of eating disorders. It did accurately portray a person so deep in the disease that nothing else matters. The ending leaves much more to be desired. No real fall out ever comes from her dramatic weight loss which may send the wrong message to some. 

While you are reading this book you keep waiting for the other foot to drop and something to happen it just never does. It is written very monotone with nothing to pull the reader into the story. This is one book to pass on. 

*The Book Blogging Beauties  received a copy of this book from  Random House Children's Books  in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

Review: Faith and Other Flat Tires: Searching for God on the Rough Road of Doubt by Andrea Palpant Dilley

Faith and Other Flat Tires: Searching for God on the Rough Road of Doubt

Andrea Palpant Dilley

Genre: Religious/Memoir

Publication Date: February 14, 2012

Publisher: Zondervan

ISBN:031032551X

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Description:

At age twenty-one, Andrea Palpant Dilley stripped the Christian fish decal off her car bumper in a symbolic act of departure from her religious childhood. At twenty-three, she left the church and went searching for refugein the company of men who left her lonely and friends who pushed the boundaries of what she once held sacred. In this deeply personal memoir, Andrea navigates the doubts that plague believers and skeptics alike: Why does a good God allow suffering? Why is God so silent, distant, and uninvolved? And why does the church seem so dysfunctional? Yet amid her skepticism, she begins to ask new questions: Could doubting be a form of faith? Might our doubts be a longing for God that leads to a faith we can ultimately live with?

Review

Rating:

I actually really liked this book, which, surprised me because I usually am not that much of a fan of memoirs, but I wanted to give this one a go. 

I thought that a lot of the authors stories, points of view, etc were great. As a sort of agnostic myself I can relate to her stories because quite honestly, I've pretty much been there 1000 and one times. I grew up in church my whole life, much like she did so I know exactly what she's talking about.

Overall this is a great book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has doubts about their faith, believing in God, or have just ever felt like things didn't make sense with religion, God, and the human condition.

*The BBB's received a copy of this book for review purposes only. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

Getting Married And Other Mistakes by Barbara Slate

Getting Married and Other Mistakes

Barbara Slate

Genre: Chick Lit, Graphic Novel

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

Publisher: Other Press

ISBN:1590515358

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Description:

After having been a good girl and following her mother’s advice to snag a husband before she became a twenty-something spinster, Barbara Slate realized that her Mr. Right was actually Mr. Wrong and that she was living her life according to everyone’s rules but her own. After twelve years of an unblissful marriage, she made her escape.
   Now this accomplished comic artist lets it all out in a savagely funny and emotionally honest fictional narrative. Jo, her stand-in protagonist, is a successful wedding photographer (of all things) who has been dumped by her husband and desperately needs to get on with her life. She follows her friends’ advice to get laid, see a shrink, go out more, and live a little. Nothing works. Eventually she realizes that she must stop listening to what everybody else tells her and follow her own voice instead.
   Jo’s struggle with female guilt and her quest for self-awareness, told in a series of hilarious panels, is the perfect book for any woman needing to take back control of her life, or remembering when she did.

Review

Rating:

Super cute comic book for adult women. The stories in it are funny and many will be able to relate. It is the kind of book you can throw in your purse and read when you just have a few mins though you will probably read it in one sitting.

*The Book Blogging Beauties received a copy of this book for review from Other Press. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

Review: Paula Takes A Risk by Randi M. Sherman

Paula Takes A Risk

Randi M. Sherman

Genre: Chick Lit

Publication Date: January 30, 2012

Publisher: Friesan Press

ISBN: 1770971564

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Description:

After thirty-four years of just letting life happen to her, Paula Tenenbaum’s mundane existence was suddenly interrupted. It was bad enough to be fired from her job because she was “average”, but on that same day, her boyfriend also dumped her for being “un-dynamic.” Somehow, someway Paula needed to make a change. But before she could figure out what her first step should be, her scheming neighbor Larry tapped into her silent desperation and dreams and challenged everything that she believed about herself.
At first Paula was skeptical and scared, but quickly, she realized that she had nothing to lose, as she donned the persona of the successful, and vibrant individual that she had always dreamed of being, navigating thru business, colorful personalities and the people that she had idolized from afar.
Written with sharp humor, and huge personality, Paula Takes A Risk is the hilarious story about the metamorphosis of Paula Tenenbaum, who naively enters into an adventure that changes her life. This is a story certain to strike a chord in anyone who secretly desires change, but is afraid to make it.

Review

Rating:

First the pluses, this book is a quick easy read. That's really the only upside. Overall the book was lacking substance. To use the authors words the book was as undynamic as Paula. Paula the main character lacks any substance she just follows others, she loses her job and boyfriend in the same day only to fall for another mans scheme. To me it just made her look weak. Maybe if there was more to the story it reads like someone's brief overview of what happened there are no real details to it. No meat to the story.

*The Book Blogging Beauties received a copy of this book for review from Friesen Press. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop 7/22

Woohoo!

Welcome to the No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop!!

In honor of this super duper giveaway hop, we are giving away a hardcover copy of Mis Match by Lensey Namioka!

Woohoo!

I read this book a few weeks ago, and thought it was a pretty decent. I definitely learned a lot about Japanese culture! 

Scroll down to the Rafflecopter form to enter the giveaway!

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Review: Year Zero by Rob Reid

Year Zero

Rob Reid
Genre: Science Fiction

Published: July 10, 2012

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

ISBN: 0345534417

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Description:

\

An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet. 
Worse, they were lawyering up. . . . 
  
In the hilarious tradition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Rob Reid takes you on a headlong journey through the outer reaches of the universe—and the inner workings of our absurdly dysfunctional music industry.
 
Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
 
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.
 
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
 
Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.

Review:

Rating:

Year Zero a sc-fi novel by Rob Reid is a hysterical Hitnchhiker's Guide-esque novel about the Earth's music industry.  It seems that aliens all over the universe are totally head over tentacles about the Earth's music.  This book had me laughing out loud.  The characters were very "human" and well developed.  The plot was crazy but almost believable.  The descriptions of alien life forms, worlds and cultures hit a bit too close to home.  If you love sarcasm you will love this book.  If you know the answer to life, the universe, and everything then this is the book for you.  If your favorite cocktail is the trans-galactic gargle blaster then you should run right out and find a copy of this book.  Year Zero needs a sequel.  What kind of fate can the Earthlings inflict on the universe next?

*The Book Blogging Beauties  received a copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are that of the reviewer. We were not compensated for this review.

ReAwakened by Ada Adams Cover Reveal!!!

We are so thrilled to be revealing the cover for Ada Adam's new book, ReAwakened today.

Woohoo! We love this cover, and we hope that you will too!

ReAwakened by Ada Adams

Coming "Fall 2012"

http://www.revampedbook.com/

Cover Designer: Juliana Kolesova 

“ReAwakened” Theme: Blood (hence the cover color).

In honor of this fantastic occasion Ada Adams will be hosting a live Tweet Chat about  anything and everything related to her writing, Angel Creek, characters, non-spoilery parts of the story, etc. Today at 5pm EST! You should totally join in the fun! [Use hashtag #ReVampedChat]. Even if you can't make it at 5, you can leave your question at any time of the day. She'll get to it!

:)

This look like a super great book, and a fantastic follow up to ReVamped. We can't wait for the release!

For more info on the Angel Creek series, Ada Adams etc, check out the links below!

ReVamped Facebook

Goodreads

Ada Adam's Twitter

Amazon

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