Author: Janet Fox

Publisher: Speak

Publication Date: June 2011

Classification: YA Novel

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco, alone but for a letter of introduction. Though she has come to the city to save her father from a cruel fate, Kula soon finds herself swept up in a world of art and elegance – a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana, where she was no more than the daughter of an outlaw. And then there is the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula’s carefully crafted reserve. Yet when disaster strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.

My Thoughts:
This is a companion novel to Faithful but you do not have to read Faithful in order to understand this book. In this novel Kula Baker is living with her outlaw of a father during the early 1900s. Her father sends her into a town to live with Mrs. Gale in order to try to move up in the world and learn some more manners and lady like behavior. Soon after staying with Mrs. Gale, Kula’s father is put in jail for killing a man. Kula knows that her daddy would never kill antoher human being and her father has instructed her to go to San Francisco in order to get a box. Kula doesn’t want to leave her dad but she decides to go. When she gets there she finds a huge mystery to solve. The big question is will she save her father in time?

Kula started out as such a strong girl, she had to be growing up with a band of outlaw men. I admired her courage but then things quickly started to go downhill for me personally. Kula is Native American and she often stops to refer to herself in the third person such as Kula does not fear this. This almost seemed like a Native American stereotype for me, it reminded me of when Tarzan would grunt and say Tarzan likes this or Tarzan no eat that. It demeaned Kula’s character for me and at only 50 pages into the book I was so close to calling it quits but I pressed on.

Once Kula reaches San Fran the third person narative gets a little better and we start to meet other characters that will help build the mystery. First she will meet a chinese man named David who she instantly likes because he is kind and willing to help her find her way. Later on we will meet a rich boy named Will who is exactly the type of boy that could help Kula gain money and status in the world, which is what she always wanted. Throughout the rest of the story Kula is conflicted between David, who is the guy she likes for himself and Will, who has the money that will help her move up in life.

Overall, the story has a very rough start for me and I’m still at odds with this book because Kula’s character went downhill so fast and she got greedy wanting Will only because of money. While she wants Will for money she claims she is in love with David, who she only meet a month ago, really really tired of the instant love connections in books. All the while she must look for this box that she thinks will help her. Plus added to everything that is going on, is the fact that the ending reminded me of Mockingjay. What I mean by this is that I could respect the ending of this story but it wasn’t exactly where I would have wanted the story to go. The ending was realistic but a bit sad. So even though I finished this book I’m at odds and I give this story 3 hearts because some things just really didn’t work for me.

Title: Crush Control

Author: Jennifer Jabaley

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: June 2011

Classification: YA Novel

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

Willow has spent most of her life as her mother’s sidekick in a popular Las Vegas hypnotism show. So when she and her mom move back to their sleepy southern hometown to start over, she thinks she’s in for a life of quiet normalcy. Except that her new life turns out to be anything but, when she kinda sorta hypnotizes Quinton, the hottest guy on the football team, to fall madly, deeply, head over heels in love with her. But what started out as an innocent way to make her best friend, Max, jealous soon gets way out of hand, and Willow begins to wonder if the mind – and more importantly, the heart – is something you can really control.

My Thoughts:
Willow was best friends with Max when they were little but that was before she moved to Las Vegas with her mom. Willow decided to hypnotize Max before she left so that they would always stay friends. Well it is nine years later and Willow and Max have kept in touch for the whole time she lived in Vegas but now she is moving with her mom back home. Willow instantly sees Max again for the first time in years and decides she is in love with him and wants to date him. The problem is that Max is dating a girl named Minnie, a girl she never knew he was seeing. In order to try to get Max, Willow then hynotizes Quinton to fall for her in order to get Max jealous.

First off this instant love thing is getting on my nerves in YA books. I know that Willow and Max have been best friends their whole life but being in a different state sending emails back and forth can equal a friendship love but that is completely 100% different than love in a dating relationship. I think it is impossible that Willow is in love with Max in the way she claims when she has never dated him before. She feels a strong attraction to him and knows his personality well but that doesn’t just equal love right off the bat. To make matters worse she makes Quinton fall for her then she goes around claiming “maybe this is what real mature love feels like!” The next second Willow will say that Quinton is taking this too far too fast and that he shouldn’t possibly be in love with her already. WHAT!?!?!? First it is love then it isn’t, why is Willow even talking about loving Quinton when she is just using him to get Max. The whole storyline is so off base and Willow is just all over the place the whole novel.

Overall, the only person in this story I actually liked was Max because it felt like he was entirely out of the drama that Willow was involved in. I thought it was cute that Max was there for Willow and did like her but how can you even like a girl who is going around like a drama queen who has no clue on earth what she really wants. Max please find someone else, you are far too good for this mess! Overall this story gets 2 hearts from me, it had potential to be something great but Willow just never pulled it together for me.

Title: Nightshade

Author: Andrea Cremer

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: October 2010

Classification: YA Novel

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she’ll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters’ laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything– including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

My Thoughts:
Finally a book that has captivated me yet again. Lately with books my attitude has been that everything has only been about 4 hearts for me which is a book I consider to be good. Well in a sea of books that were good but didn’t push the envelope I’m excited that this story did. The idea of wolves isn’t the most original piece of the story but I did like where Cremer took the wolves history. The idea of a more intricate story line held my attention the whole time, especially as the history kept changing as Calla and Shay looked into the Keepers records.

I did love the two wolf packs, the Nightshades and the Banes. I felt each pack had a certain type of character to add to the overall storyline. It was great that the two packs instantly meshed well, by all of the memebers becoming fast friends with the other pack or even dating someone from the other pack. However, as all of Calla’s pack mates are finding their own destiny she knows that hers has been set for her from day one. Calla has to get mated to Ren, who is the alpha wolf of the Bane pack. Of course who just wants one guy to choose from when Shay enters the picture as a love interest it is a great love triangle, I’ve grown a little tired of love triangles but I feel it works in this one. I loved that Ren could heat her up but that Shay could really make her question her destiny and bring her passion that was as intense as that with Ren but with its own special quailities.

The possible war that could be coming up between the Seekers and the Keepers is also something I look forward to. I felt that there was a real storyline behind the romance that was budding between Calla, Ren and Shay. Between the history of the wolves and the possible war on the horizon there was never a time to be bored especially when you add the romantic element into the story.

Overall I couldn’t put this book down and I was so glad for it. I also loved that the romance held a more mature level in this book. Most books although they include romance it is toned down so that it is more appropriate should a younger teen read the book. I liked that Cremer dared to push that level though because being almost 21 I am constantly looking for older teen books which is exactly what I would say this is. I’m going to stop gushing about this book now I think you get that I loved it. Overall, I would give this story 5 hearts and I’m dying for the next book after the cliffhanger in this book.