THUMPED by Megan McCafferty Book Review
Series: Bumped, #2
Publication Date: April 24th 2012 by Balzer + Bray
Rating: – Exceeds Expectations |

Book Summary:  It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day!

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous:

Tell the truth.

Book Review Overview:

• Teen pregnancy is no laughing matter … but THUMPED will make you crack up
• There are two swoon-worthy guys in this book: Jondoe and Zen.
• Satisfying conclusion that is definitely worth your money

I can’t believe I had doubts coming into THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. I breezed through BUMPED by Megan McCafferty and I could not have enjoyed it enough. I couldn’t wait to read more about Harmony and Melody, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit of apprehension when I picked up the sequel. Would THUMPED by Megan McCafferty be as funny? Would it live up to my expectations? The answer is yes. THUMPED by Megan McCafferty is the perfect conclusion to Melody and Harmony’s story.

I think it is important to remember the author’s intention when reading THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. No, she is not trying to promote teen pregnancy. McCafferty is forcing readers to think about media and society and the way we portray teen pregnancies. We shouldn’t be glamorizing teen pregnancies. We shouldn’t be making these pregnancies as a form of entertainment on MTV. By poking fun of teen pregnancies in the most hilarious and absurd way ever, Megan McCafferty forces you to realize how serious the matter is. The world in BUMPED and THUMPED is based on reality.

It’s been a while since I read BUMPED so immediately, I had a problem differentiating between Harmony and Melody. They are completely different people, but because of the similarity of their musical names I have difficulty in remembering who’s who. I can finally tell the two apart, but it did take me a couple of chapters to get used to their names again.

I loved reading about Harmony and Melody and seeing them grow as characters from the first book to the end of THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. Harmony obviously changed a lot more than Melody because she previously had such a conservative lifestyle. I found it inspiring to read about how she finally manages to balance out her religion with her other beliefs. It’s not as if she traded religion for a whole new life with her sister, Melody. She found a way to live with both, and I honestly respect that.

Furthermore, I definitely got my romance fix in THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. Okay, Jondoe is seriously pushing tacky at times, but there are other moments where he just made my heart melt. His intentions are so pure – sometimes a little bit naive – that you just can’t help but fall for him a little. I know Harmony has a reason to distrust him, but I really couldn’t help but cheer her on to trust him again.

On the other hand, there’s Zen. Oh my gosh. Of the two guys, Zen has my heart. I seriously love the chemistry between Melody and Zen. Reading about the two of them was one of the biggest highlights of the book. I probably sped through the book so quickly just to read how the conflict between the two of them would be resolved. I wish that there were more chapters that focused on the two of them, and I did feel that Harmony and Jondoe overshadowed the others at times.

The ending of THUMPED by Megan McCafferty was satisfying, but at the same time, it was not tied up entirely. Readers can only guess what will happen to Harmony and Melody, and what impact the truth might have for the rest of the country and even the rest of the world. Harmony and Melody did not end teen pregnancy – that is something completely out of their hands. But they managed to make an impact in the way they can. The open ending leaves the characters in the book to act upon the sisters’ impact and create even more change.

I strongly urge you to pick this up if you read and loved BUMPED by Megan McCafferty. If you’re a fan of her Jessica Darling series, you should really read this series. They’re completely different and you really won’t find yourself comparing the two.

Other Book Reviews:
Birth of a New Witch
I Eat Words

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Permalink Book Review, Four Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Megan McCafferty, Book: Thumped, Genre: Dystopia, Genre: Humor, Genre: Science Fiction, Hahaha Funny, Must Buy, Page-Turner, Publisher: Balzer + Bray, Romantic Read, Series: Bumped | 1468 words

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’LL HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter Book Review
Series: Gallagher Girls, #1
Publication Date: April 25th 2006 by Hyperion
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You Book Review Overview:

• Love the concept but the plot was a little lacking; the book is definitely a lot more development than anything else
• I love the family dynamics and I can’t wait to read more between Cammie and her mom
• Will definitely check out the rest of the series because there’s nothing better than teenage spies!

So, I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is basically the contemporary version of my much-loved Agency series by Y.S. Lee (in case you don’t know about the books: Victorian girl spies… yep!). It is also one of those books that I’ve known about for years but never picked up. Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy. Despite the deceiving facade, the Gallagher Academy is not your ordinary boarding school; it is an academy where the brightest girls are training to be spies. They are experts in just about everything: foreign languages, hand-to-hand combat, weapons… but when it comes to boys, these girls are absolutely clueless.

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter is such a quick and easy read and I enjoyed every moment of it. I really loved the set up of the characters so I didn’t mind much that the plot was a bit lacking. Nothing really happened. The tension in the novel came more from Cammie sneaking around trying to see Josh, rather than the romance itself. Because no one knows what the Gallagher Academy really is, the school has a reputation of being a school for rich, snobby girls. So on top of the fact that Cammie cannot tell Josh that she is a spy-in-training, she also cannot tell him that she goes to the Gallagher Academy because she doesn’t want him to think she is stuck up. It was fun to read about Cammie’s dual lives – especially because I knew the duplicity couldn’t last for long.

Cammie was such an easy character to relate to that I had no problems getting into the story. I easily related to her boy woes and her constant overanalyzing of anything that had to do with Josh. I was able to put myself into Cammie’s shoes which made I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter a lot more enjoyable to read.

One of the highlights of I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is the interpersonal relationships between the girls. I loved how close she was to her best friends, Bex and Liz – especially because she doesn’t have any siblings. Furthermore, I love the development of the friendship between Macey and the other girls. Despite their differences, they were able to forge a friendship. I also loved reading about Cammie and her mother. They have a strange relationship due to the fact that her mother is the headmistress of the school, but I think it’s quite obvious that they both want to be closer to one another. I can’t wait to see how this mother/daughter relationship develops in the future books. All in all, Carter has written a fantastic book with strong, female bonds in I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU.

Overall, I enjoyed Ally Carter’s I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU. I wish the plot had a bit more substance, but hopefully the next few books in the series will make up for that. I enjoyed getting to know Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, and Josh and I can’t wait to read more about them in the rest of the Gallagher Girls series.

Other Book Reviews:
Girls Just Reading
Have You Read This One?
Portrait of a Book

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Permalink Book Review, Three Stars - Author: Ally Carter, Book: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You, Borrow It, Genre: Contemporary, Genre: Romance, Hahaha Funny, Series: Gallagher Girls | 1323 words

THE SHADOWS by Jacqueline West
Series: Books of Elsewhere, #1
Publication Date: June 15th 2010 by Dial Books for Young Readers
Rating: |

Summary: Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead. Now her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, she knows there’s something odd about the place—not least the walls covered in strange antique paintings. But when Olive finds a pair of old spectacles in a dusty drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside these paintings to a world that’s strangely quiet . . . and eerily like her own Yet Elsewhere harbors dark secrets—and Morton, an undersized boy with an outsize temper.

As she and Morton form an uneasy alliance, Olive finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It’s up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

Review Overview:

• Full of humor and wit
• Finally, a book with talking animals that I actually enjoyed

I decided to tackle THE SHADOWS after reading a bit of Jacqueline West’s writing during my past internship. I don’t read too many middle grade novels, though I ought to, so THE SHADOWS was a refreshing change of pace to my reading pile.

Olive moves into an old Victorian house over the summer. After exploring the house’s various rooms, Olive discovers a pair of old spectacles that allows her to jump into the various portraits throughout the house. The concept of THE SHADOWS, the first book in the Books of Elsewhere series, reminds me a bit of the old Nickelodeon cartoon Chalk Zone. The idea was well executed and the paintings came alive in my imagination.

This book is quite funny. I don’t know if it’s middle grade humor in general or just simply West’s writing that cracks me up into a fit of giggles. Olive’s parents nerdy jokes sometimes went right over my head, but I adored their geeky ways. Olive was a great protagonist. I love how she isn’t characterized as traditionally book smart. Unlike her scholarly parents, Olive has no talent for math. Instead, she has more of an artistic streak. As a person who loves humanities, I was really glad to read about a protagonist who excelled in the arts.

Believe it or not, this is one of the few instances where I find the talking animals okay – in fact, they were more than okay. Horatio, Leopold, and Harvey added wit and humor to the novel and it would not have been the same without them. The three cats were fantastic secondary characters. They each had a vibrant personality. They made me giggle.

I did start to feel frustrated by the storyline halfway through the book. I thought the pacing started to drag. However, the pacing did pick up towards the end of the novel.

THE SHADOWS ties up nicely, so I am curious to know what’s next for Olive in the following Books of Elsewhere novels.  This isn’t my new favorite middle grade series, but I did enjoy reading it. I will definitely continue on with the series, but I might pick up the sequel in audiobook format.

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Permalink Book Review, Three Stars - Audience: Middle Grade, Author: Jacqueline West, Book: The Shadows, Borrow It, Genre: Fantasy, Genre: Humor, Hahaha Funny, Publisher: Dial, Series: Books of Elsewhere | 962 words