Playlist for the Dead

Title: Playlist for the Dead

Author: Michelle Falkoff

Genre:

Date Published: January 27, 2015

Publisher: Harper Teen

Synopsis: Here’s what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, Sam’s best friend, Hayden, was dead. All he left Sam was a playlist of songs—and a note, saying that he took his own life. But what Sam doesn’t know is: Why? To figure out what happened, Sam has to rely on the playlist and his own memory. But the more he listens, the more he realizes that his memory isn’t as reliable as he thought. Especially when someone claiming to be Hayden starts sending him cryptic messages, and a series of violent attacks begins on the bullies who made Hayden’s life hell. Sam knows he has to face up to what happened the night. But it’s only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him—including an eccentric, unpredictable girl who’s got secrets, too—that Sam will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Rating: 2.9/5

 

My Review

 Playlist for the Dead started out promising for me, but as I go through each chapters, the curiosity for the truth lingers but not strong enough. I can’t shake the feeling that the mysteriousness of Hayden’s death diminishes as I go on; it was becoming shallow, predictable, and shabby as I go on through the plot and that lingering feeling of curiosity changed to a profound feeling that I might end up disappointed once I reach the end of the story. Turns out, my gut feeling was right, this book is kind of a let down for me because I was expecting more depth and mystery surrounding Hayden’s death. I was expecting a sharp plot twist, like a bomb hit me, leaving me dazed and thrown off guard, but I expected too much and ended up disappointed. Much to say, Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything set the bar high for me when it comes to plot twists.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

 

 

Title: It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Author: Ned Vizzini

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: May 1, 2007

Publisher: Miramax

Synopsis: Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life – which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself. Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety

Rating: 4.3/5

 

My Review

This book just speaks to me on a deep level. The way how Craig felt during his darkest days speaks to me on so many levels because it’s exactly how I feel too during my own darkest days. I couldn’t describe it but Ned Vizzini did it for me, in the form of Craig Gilner.

Now, I’m not clinically diagnosed as one having depression or anxiety but what I do know is that my mind is as messed up as Craig’s. And yes, I have thought of suicide but that’s just it, a thought. A thought when things start to get shitty in my life. It never went beyond that because the idea of being exhumed in this world would be a much better place than dealing with the nightmares of reality but I admit that I’m shitless scared of doing the real thing, I’m not brave enough to jump off any high place or grip a gun and blow my brains out.

This is one of the few books that perfectly depicts what’s it like to suffer from mental illness. What made this book appeal to me is the cause of Craig’s depression. Academics. Craig’s pressure when it comes to his academic performance is the same pressure I excruciatingly experienced when I was in high school, (especially during my senior year). I kind of traded my sanity for perfect scores on exams, awards and extracurricular activities, and academic ranking. The difference between me and Craig is I didn’t check myself in a psychiatric hospital (although I really wanted to see a therapist) and our parents. I am so jealous of Craig’s parents, they were supportive of him and they understand and consider his condition. My parents didn’t acknowledge such illness and maybe it’s the reason why I kept my mental illness from them (until now, actually). They just think I’m overreacting or my illness is invalid. Sucks, right?

Extraordinary Means

Title: Extraordinary Means

Author: Robyn Schneider

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: May 26, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, A HarperCollins Imprint

Synopsis: When he’s sent to Latham House, a boarding school for sick teens, Lane thinks his life may as well be over. But when he meets Sadie and her friends – a group of eccentric troublemakers – he realises that maybe getting sick is just the beginning. That illness doesn’t have to define you, and that falling in love is its own cure.

Rating: 4.7/5

 

My Review

“The love child of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in our Stars”

Without a doubt, this novel has hints of John Green’s Looking For Alaska & The Fault in our Stars sprinkled all over the plot, but it has that certain Robyn Schneider signature that distinguishes it from the novels that inspired it.

Okay first of all, what is up with characters who would do anything for academics? An exquisite GPA, joining extracurriculars that would look good in a resume or college application and then there it is, getting into the perfect college. I’ve been catching up on my To-Be-Read List during this year’s summer and seriously, I’ve been reading novels with these kinds of characters three times in a row now, first Craig Gilner from It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Ana from The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak and now, Lane. I think the world is trying to tell me something, maybe it’s: “Hey wake up! You’ve been lying low for two years. Time to bring back your A-game. You’re entering college now. So wake the fuck up and work, work, work”. Yeesh, the last time I went all out for my academics, I almost lost my sanity.

Going back to the real topic of this blogpost, Extraordinary Means is an extraordinary novel (pun intended…is that pun anyway?). It has that perfect mixture of comedy, drama and adventure. Speaking of adventure, Lane only thought of Latham as some kind of vacation from his real life but going through the novel, it wasn’t a vacation; it was one hell of an adventure.

The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak

Title: The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak

Author: Brian Katcher

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: June 18, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books, A HaperCollins Publisher Imprint

Synopsis: When Ana Watson’s brother ditches a high school trip to run wild at Washingcon, type-A Ana knows that she must find him or risk her last shot at freedom from her extra-controlling parents. In her desperation, she’s forced to enlist the last person she’d ever want to spend time with—slacker Zak Duquette—to help find her brother before morning comes. But over the course of the night, while being chased by hordes of costumed Vikings and zombies, Ana and Zak begin to open up to each other. Soon, what starts as the most insane nerdfighter manhunt transforms into so much more. . . .

Rating: 4.9/5

 

My Review

“A guy & a girl in a sci-fi convention + 24 hours of adventure = one helluva night.”

Perhaps it’s because this book happened in a course of one night (I’m a sucker for 24 hour adventures), or the fact that it happened in a Sci-Fi Fantasy Convention and it brought nostalgia of going to one (I love going to comic cons), or the inclusion of excessive pop culture references (Pop Culture is life) or the bizarre chain of events that our two protagonists had to go through (It was a wild one) or the idea that Ana & Zak are two ends of a spectrum yet found a connection after a night of escapades and chasing down Ana’s brother in a geek convention.

The first time I read the synopsis at the back of the novel, I knew I would love this book. Bought at last year’s Manila International Book Fair, it took me ten months to finally had the time to read this pop culture-infused novel, (Of course, what do you expect? It’s a book about a geek in his natural habitat, so expect a looooot of fandom references). And I loved and cherished every single one. Before diving into the review itself, I just want to share that…I can’t believe I read this book in just five hours! I couldn’t put the book down and before I knew it was already 3:21 in the morning.

With a hint of The Beginning of Everything and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (which are two of my favorite young adult novels), I knew The Improbable Theory of Ana & Zak is a promising novel full of plots and dialogues I’m a sucker for. Basically, it’s now added to the list of my favorite teen fiction novels.

The Beginning of Everything

Title: The Beginning of Everything

Author: Robyn Schneider

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: August 27, 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books , A Harper Collins Publisher Imprint

Synopsis: Varsity tennis captain Ezra Faulkner was supposed to be homecoming king, but that was before—before his girlfriend cheated on him, before a car accident shattered his leg, and before he fell in love with unpredictable new girl Cassidy Thorpe.

Rating: 5/5

My Review

This is probably one of the best Young Adult novels I have ever read. Kudos to Robyn Schneider for creating this novel infused with Harry Potter references, I knew she was a fan of the series when I saw her wearing a Time Turner necklace on her photo at the back of the novel.

HOOKED. That’s the perfect way to describe myself while reading this novel. I finished this book in two and a half days but trust me, if it wasn’t for my Saturday class, a few school work on my plate and a college interview on a Sunday (Ugh, I know right? Sunday) then I would have probably finished this book in a day.

Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: September 22, 2009

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Synopsis: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew…

Rating: 3.7/5

 

My Review

I started reading the novel on January 2018 because I knew it was the perfect way to bring back the nostalgia of being on a Paper Towns hangover because a year ago (January 2017), I watched and fell in love with the film adaptation of this novel by John Green. The spontaneous adventures, tight friendships and soundtrack made an impression on me. I thought the movie was loyal to the book since most of the lines in the novel during the first few chapters made it to the movie adaptation but boy, was I wrong, it was absolutely, entirely different.

Looking for Alaska

 

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: March 3, 2005 (first published)
December 28, 2006

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Synopsis:

             Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . 

              After. Nothing is ever the same.

Ratings: 4.7/5

 

My Review

“Alaska Young is Miles Halter’s Great Perhaps”

Here’s the thing, when I was in 8th grade I was obsessed with fantasy and adventure novels, particularly Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Those were the novels I love back then and it was greatly influenced by my seatmate (who I fangirl with). I wasn’t into ‘contemporary teen fiction’ novels yet. During free period, I decided to do my homework early while she read a novel named “Looking for Alaska”, the title itself was interesting and I had a feeling that it was one of those novels who has a profound meaning or symbolism lying underneath. It kind of confirmed my theory when I saw my seatmate crying. I was baffled, one minute she was just quietly reading and the next she’s crying her eyes out as she continues reading the novel. I asked her what’s wrong, she looked up and smiled, her red puffy eyes staring at me and then replied, “Nothing, it’s this book. It’s sad and beautiful”

I was ecstatic about this book, I was expecting it to be a life changing, philosophical novel and it didn’t fail me, from Dr. Hyde’s lessons to Alaska’s wise words and to their epic prank adventures. If I have read this book during my high school days, I think my whole high school experience would’ve been a little different; more fun and exciting even.

Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

 

Title: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: March 25,2015

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Ratings: 3.2/5

 

My Review

 “It was okay, I guess”.

I read the first few pages of this novel at Fully Booked. It wasn’t sealed and I needed to kill time as  I wait for my parents to pick me up, so I sat down on the carpeted floor of the bookstore, leaned against the bookshelves and started reading…’just to kill time’. To be honest, the first few pages were good enough to make me wonder about Simon’s story and his  life now that he’s carrying the burden of being blackmailed by Martin but not to the point where it intrigued me so much that I stood up, added it to my cart and bought the book immediately before I left the bookstore. It was just one of those books that seems interesting enough to be a ‘filler book’. I have a list of  novels I really want to read and I wanted to prioritize those books first.

A month after Manila International Book Fair 2017, National Bookstore had a sale—a fucking sale where books are 30% off. So, even though I already bough five books from MIBF the previous month, (and still haven’t read any because of uni) I still threw some of money away to adopt more books. And that’s how I adopted Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (It’s 30% off so I had to). A lot of my prioritized novel were still sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read when I decided to read this one first mostly for the reason that a movie adaptation of this novel is coming this year and I wanted to have read the novel before seeing the movie.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Title: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Author: David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: May 23, 2006 (Original Publishing Date)
August 28, 2008 (Random House Children’s Book)

Publisher: Random House Children’s Book

Synopsis: It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date

Ratings: 5/5

 

My Review

 

There’s something about night adventures, city lights, New York City and profound heart-warming and breaking quotes that I can’t seem to get enough of. It’s like the perfect formula for an epic one night adventure in the city that never sleeps between two complicated but strangely connected characters.

I fell in love with the movie adaptation first, I wanted to read the book as soon as I found out that it was adapted from a novel written by two well-renowned and talented authors, David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. Despite several hindrances that prevented me in purchasing the book on an earlier date (I was either totally broke or there were no stocks available), I didn’t stop pursuing the book. So when I saw it during Manila International Book Fair 2017, I hastily snatched the book from the book shelves, I’ve got money and the version of the novel that I wanted was available, so I definitely didn’t let the opportunity pass.

It took me a month before I started reading the novel and two months before finally finishing the roller coaster one night story of Nick and Norah and I mostly blame university for the reading slump. My question is, is it possible to fall in love with the same thing twice? I definitely fell in love with the novel version of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist two years after falling in love with the movie adaptation.

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

 

Title: Falling Into Place

Author: Amy Zhang

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen Fiction

Date Published: September 9, 2014

Publisher: Green Willow Books

Synopsis: On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect?

Rating: 3.9/5

 

My Review

Falling into Place is one of the books that got me expeditiously hooked just by reading the synopsis at the back. Amy Zhang’s way of writing the pitch for Liz Emerson’s life got my interest and had me wanting to know more about the reason behind Liz Emerson’s decision to crash her Mercedes into a tree. Is her life really that miserable for her to commit suicide? Will she survive? Will she live?