Mini Reviews: 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

From Goodreads: Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either. Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteen birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her. In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Although the plot of 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody is pretty generic in that it’s about a spoiled heiress who learns to appreciate what she has, I still found it an entertaining read. I think a huge part of that was because of Lexi. She’s this completely bratty teen in the beginning of the book, yet still somehow manages to be hilarious. It was easy to not only laugh with her, but also at her. Once Lexi started to mature, it became much easier to like her. I did think that her change in perspective was kind of quick though. Still, I’d have to say that 52 Reasons to Hate My Father is probably the best out of the three books written by Brody that I’ve read so far. 

52 Reasons to Hate My Father was released in July 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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From Goodreads: Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

My Rating: 4 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: As much as I love books about angels, most of the ones that I’ve read haven’t been particularly outstanding. But, one series about angels that has been recommended many times is the Unearthly trilogy by Cynthia Hand. I finally decided to give the first book, Unearthly, a try and wasn't disappointed.

Early on, I figured that Unearthly would be another typical paranormal YA novel because it seemed like Clara would eventually hook up with Christian, the boy of her dreams. However, Hand did a great job of deviating from that norm. And while doing so, she managed to create complex characters and realistic relationships, and explore the theme of fate vs. free will without making it appear heavy-handed. 

Unearthly was released HarperTeen in January 2011.

Review: My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

From Inside Jacket: Please read this! My life depends on it! Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment. Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure. But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated! Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you - like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever. But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

My Rating: 2.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Recently, I've been trying to read some of the older books on my shelf. After liking Jessica Brody's The Karma Club, I figured I'd give another novel of hers a try. I therefore chose My Life Undecided because I remembered that it had something to do with a blogger. 

While reading My Life Undecided though, I found out that it really doesn't give an adequate depiction of how much work goes into running a blog. If I didn't know anything about blogging, I would assume from My Life Undecided that you can quickly set up a blog, write some posts without preparation, and get followers and comments almost instantaneously. There's certainly no need to connect with fellow bloggers via social media or by leaving comments!

In terms of characterization, I thought the secondary characters were pretty clichéd. For example, you have the frenemy, the hot guy everyone wants to date, the sweet nerd, the perfect older sister, etc. As for Brooklyn, I didn’t particularly hate or love her. Also, aside from her one bad decision at the beginning of the book, I felt that that the unrealistic situations she found herself in were more of a case of bad luck than stupidity. There was no reason for Brooklyn to overreact and have other people start making choices for her through a blog. 

My Life Undecided was released by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in June 2011. 

Comments About the Cover: I like its simplicity, and think the model’s pose matches the book’s title nicely.

Review: The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

From Inside Jacket: Madison Kasparkova always thought she understood how Karma works. It's that mysterious, powerful force that brings harmony to the universe. You know - do good things and you will be rewarded, do something bad and Karma will make sure you get what's coming to you. A sort of cosmic balancing act. But when Mason Brooks, Maddy's boyfriend of two years, gets caught tongue-wrestling with Miss Perfect Body Heather Campbell, and absolutely nothing happens to either of them - except that they wind up the hot new couple of Colonial High School - it seems like Karma has officially left Maddy in the lurch. That's why Maddy and her best friends, Angie and Jade, decide to start the Karma Club - a secret, members-only organization whose sole purpose is to clean up the messes that the universe has been leaving behind. Whether they're modifying Heather Campbell's acne cream as part of "Operation Butter Face," or righting a few wrongs when it comes to Angie's and Jade's own slimy exes, they know they're just doing what Karma should have done in the first place. They're taking care of one another. Sometimes though, it isn't wise to meddle with the universe. Because it turns out that when you mess with Karma, Karma messes back. Now Maddy must find a way to balance her life for good, even as everything around her seems to be toppling to the ground.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: The Karma Club by Jessica Brody was a light and engaging read with an original plot and a message that tells you to beware of messing with karma.

Brody did a great job with characterization because not only was Maddy a relatable protagonist but her two best friends, Angie and Jade, were solidly developed as well, and therefore each of the girls had their own distinct personality.

I also really liked the emphasis on friendship in The Karma Club. Maddy, Angie and Jade, are constantly there to support each other and when Maddy comes up with the idea of the Karma Club, she makes sure that justice isn’t only exacted on the people who have humiliated her but also on those who have hurt her friends.

It’s easy to understand why Maddy starts the Karma Club. I mean, who wants to wait around for the universe to give the person that screws you what they deserve when you could restore the balance by yourself right away? The schemes that the girls originally come up with are funny (although a little childish) but it soon felt to me as if Maddy, Angie and Jade didn’t care about what they had to do to get revenge or how their actions would affect other people’s lives.

The other thing that bothered me was that things were wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. However, Maddy is finally able to comprehend how karma works and learns that you don’t want to use karma to get back at others but to spread good in whatever way possible.        

The Karma Club was released in April 2010 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Comments About the Cover: It’s a cute cover and I like that the girl is hiding behind a book because the Karma Club is a secret and all its operations are written down in a notebook.