books Archives - Page 90 of 102 - Better Than Dreams

I decided to join the POC Reading Challenge after clicking the link in the left sidebar at Once Upon A Bookcase. I would also like to join the GLBT Challenge but I only have 1 book (as far as I am aware) in my TBR which is eligible. Loads on my wishlist, but wishlist is wishlist and not TBR. I’ll probably do a similar challenge in 2011 instead, as I hope to have gotten my TBR down below 100 by then, which will give me enough space for all those wishlist books! Every time I think about this I have to resist rubbing my hands in glee at the anticipation.

(I realise this post is full of acronyms. POC = person/people of colour, GLBT = gay lesbian bisexual transgender, also often spelled LGBT, also often with a Q or two added at the end as well for queer and/or questioning, sometimes with other letters as well, see Wikipedia. TBR= to be read (pile/box/mountain/list). Some people use TBR to refer to all the books they want to read, but like most people that use the term, I use it to refer to the books I own and have not read. Books I don’t actually own but want to read are on my wishlist. Wishlist is sometimes abbreviated to WL, but I don’t abbreviate it as it takes me less time to type the word than two capital letters.)

I intend to get to Level 2 of the challenge, which means I have to read four to six books this year. I actually have enough books in my TBR to get up to Level 4 (ten), but I don’t think I’ll be able to read all of them within the year as I am also trying to read for Body Image and Self-Perception Month and my main priority is the teen/YA books on my list (if you’re not aware, I’m writing a teen/YA novel – or twelve – myself.). Only two of those ten are teen/YA.

This in its own way actually shows why this challenge is so necessary – I have about 130 books TBR and the vast majority are by white authors, which makes a phenomenal amount of no sense.

So far I have read for this challenge:

1. Push, by Sapphire (also for the Mooky Book Club)
2. Girl Overboard, by Justina Chen Headley

3. to be read

4. to be read

by Gidzy

17-year old Cat Meredith has a difficult life in London with her mother, Bianca, an actor, beautiful, glamourous, but self-absorbed. For most of her life, she and her little sister, Ana, lived with Cat’s grandmother, but when she passed away, they had to move into their mother’s flat. Bianca is highly emotional and pays little attention to the needs of her daughters. Cat has to work as much as possible at a local shop just so she can earn money to pay for basic things that they both need and Bianca has forgotten about. Cat had a boyfriend, Tim, but he went off backpacking, and has failed to phone her since.

But the most annoying thing is Bianca’s current lover, Hugo. He has Bianca wrapped around his little finger, and when one night they go out but he comes back, having told Bianca he forgot his wallet, and tries to seduce Cat, she can’t help telling him how much he irritates her. Big mistake. Hugo walks out of the flat, never to return or bother to tell Bianca he was going. Newly-single Bianca decides the best thing is for them all to leave London.

So Cat finds herself in Yorkshire, in need of a new job, new friends, and new love interest…

This is a pretty quick read, a small paperback, designed for the impatient teenagers of the world I think! The characterisation was very good and and I got emotionally involved in the story quickly, which unfortunately was why it disappointed me. There is a lot of conflict in Cat’s life, and she has difficult relationships with all her relatives – as well as her mother, she has problems with her sister, who is highly dependent on her and is 11 but acts like she’s four most of the time and her father. I expected the novel to resolve some of these issues, or for these relationships to at least change fundamentally, but they don’t. When I put the book down, I realised with considerable dismay that it had ultimately been a romance with a bit of family drama thrown in. At times Cat’s life just gets so bad I wondered when she was going to explode, and she never did. I wanted the family issues to be dealt with. They took up so much of the book, I felt cheated by the rather flat conclusion. This may have been down to publishing restrictions, the author might have had to rush the ending. Either way it is a shame as I enjoyed what I read until the ending, which seemed to come far too soon, without covering all the ground the book should have.

I would recommend this book, it is very well written despite the issues I have outlined above, but bear in mind that it will be a romance in the end! Like I said above, the size makes it ideal for teenagers with a short attention span, and teenagers will probably not mind so much about the ending. It is out of print at the moment, as far as I can tell, but can be bought from Amazon Marketplace and other stores that sell second hand books.

books

Footer