Review: Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg

Rating: 5 stars
Pub Date: March 1, 2013
Publisher: Point (an imprint of Scholastic)
Genre: contemporary young adult, chick lit, humor
Format/Source: Hardcover, my own copy
Status: Standalone novel (a rarity!)

Summary:

Don't mess with a girl with a great personality!

Everybody loves Lexi. She's popular, smart, funny...but she's never been one of those girls, the pretty ones who get all the attention from guys. And on top of that, her seven-year-old sister, Mackenzie, is a terror in a tiara, and part of a pageant scene where she gets praised for her beauty (with the help of fake hair and tons of makeup).

Lexi's sick of it. She's sick of being the girl who hears about kisses instead of getting them. She's sick of being ignored by her longtime crush, Logan. She's sick of being taken for granted by her pageant-obsessed mom. And she's sick of having all her family's money wasted on a phony pursuit of perfection.

The time has come for Lexi to step out from the sidelines. Girls without great personalities aren't going to know what hit them. Because Lexi's going to play the beauty game - and she's in it to win it.

Review:

If I could give Elizabeth Eulberg more than 5 stars for this masterpiece, I would. I fell in love with Elizabeth's writing when I stumbled upon The Lonely Hearts Club two years ago, and it's been a steady love ever since with solid stories from Prom & Prejudice and Take a Bow, but I think Revenge is the book that proves how savvy and brilliant a writer she really is.

Monthly Wrap-up: January - March

Since I just started doing wrap-ups, I'm including January and February in this post.

January
Brodi Ashton - "Neverfall" (Everneath 1.5): 3 stars
Meg Cabot - The Merlin Prophecy (Avalon High: Coronation #1): 3 stars
                   - Homecoming (Avalon High: Coronation #2): 3 stars
                   - Hunter's Moon (Avalon High: Coronation #3): 3 stars
Jen Calonita - Secrets of My Hollywood Life (Secrets #1)  ): 5 stars
                     - On Location (Secrets #2): 4 stars
                     - Family Affairs (Secrets #3): 3 stars
Ally Carter - "Double Crossed: A Spies and Thieves Story" (Gallagher Girls #5.5/Heist Society #2.5): 5 stars
Cassandra Clare &  HyeKyung Baek: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices: Manga #1): 4 stars
Gayle Forman - Just One Day (Just One Day #1): 5 stars
Cynthia Hand - "Radiant" (Unearthly #2.5): 3 stars
Ann M. Martin - Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation: 4 stars
Richelle Mead - Succubus Dreams (Georgina Kincaid #3): 4 stars
                        - Succubus Heat (Georgina Kincaid #4: 3 stars
Richelle Mead, Emma Vieceli & Leigh Dragoon - Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel
                                                                               - Frostbite: The Graphic Novel: 3 stars
 Beth Revis - "As They Slip Away" (Across the Universe #0.5): 4 stars
                    - Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3): 5 stars
Antoine de Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince: 5 stars
Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood: 3 stars

February
Brodi Ashton - Everbound (Everneath #2): 5 stars
Jen Calonita - Winter White (Belles #2): 4 stars
Ally Carter - Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society #3): 5 stars
Susane Colasanti - Keep Holding On: 4 stars
Eoin Colfer -The Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel (Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novels #2): 5 stars
Lauren Conrad - The Fame Game (Fame Game #1): 3 stars
Jennifer Echols - Star Crossed (Stargazer #1): 5 stars
Emily Giffin - Where We Belong: 3 stars
Cynthia Hand - Boundless (Unearthly #3)
Marie Lu - "Life Before Legend" (Legend #0.5): 5 stars
                - Prodigy (Legend #2): 5 stars
Isaac Marian - "Boarded Window" (Warm Bodies #0.6): 5 stars
                      - Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1): 5 stars
Richelle Mead - The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3): 5 stars
Jodi Meadows - Asunder (Incarnate #2): 4 stars
Lauren Morrill - Meant to Be: 4 stars
Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper: 5 stars
Veronica Rossi - Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2): 5 stars
J.K. Rowling -  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: 5 stars
                      - Quidditch Through the Ages: 5 stars
                      - The Tales of Beedle the Bard: 4 stars
Louis Sachar - Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (Holes #1.5): 4 stars
Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return: 2 stars
Kiersten White - Mind Games (Mind Games #1): 3 stars

March
M. Molly Backes - The Princesses of Iowa: 2 stars
Judy Blume - Forever: 4 stars
Meg Cabot - Boy Meets Girl (Boy #2): 5 stars
                   - Every Boy's Got One (Boy #3): 5 stars
Jen Calonita - Paparazzi Princess (Secrets #4): 4 stars
Kiera Cass - "The Prince" (The Selection #0.5): 4 stars
Cassandra Clare - Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3): 5 stars
Elizabeth Eulberg - Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality: 5 stars
Melissa Jensen - The Fine Art of Truth or Dare: 3 stars
Lauren Oliver - "Annabel" (Delirium #0.5): 4 stars
                        - "Raven" (Delirium #2.5): 4 stars
                        - Reqiuem (Delirium #3): 3 stars
 Megan Shepard - The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1): 4 stars
Scott Westerfeld - Goliath (Leviathan #3): 5 stars
Zack Whedon - Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories: 5 stars

Weekly Wrap-up: March 24-30

A great week of reading.

Completed:
The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1) - Megan Shepard: 4 stars. See review.
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) - Cassandra Clare: 5 stars. Words can't describe how much I love this series. I laughed. I cried. I cried some more. Seriously, I cried for about 100 pages. A stunning and complete finale to one of my favorite series.
The Fine Art of Truth or Dare - Melissa Jensen - 3 stars. Disappointing insofar as my expectations were too high going into Fine Art, but the last 50-ish pages really made up for a less-than-spectacular start.

Currently reading:
Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality - Elizabeth Eulberg

New to my bookshelf this week:
Firelight (Firelight #1) - Sophie Jordan
Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality - Elizabeth Eulberg
Things I Can't Forget - Miranda Kenneally

Review: The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Rating: 4 stars
Pub Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (and imprint of Harper Collins)
Genre: young adult, science fiction, historical
Format/Source: Hardcover, borrowed from the library
Status: Book 1 of the Madman's Daughter trilogy

Summary:

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

Review:

Let me preface this review with two things: 1. Megan Shepherd has scary thoughts that truly terrify me, and 2. Those thoughts led to the creation of a seriously intriguing, if super creepy, novel.

Authors galore! Multiple signing recaps

In the past month, I have had the incredible pleasure to attend two author events. The first was during the first part of the Dark Days Tour with Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Tahereh Mafi, and Veronica Rossi. I plane, train and automobiled myself from Dallas to Atlanta (okay, I really just took megabus the Knight Bus and stole borrowed my mom's car) where I had the supreme pleasure of visiting the Little Shop of Stories for the first time. If you're a book lover, this place is where you want to pilgrimmage. The staff is great, and they hold signings and events all. the. time.

The second signing was part of Stephenie Meyer's Host tour, in anticipation of the movie release. Actors Jake Abel and Max Irons were also in attendance (!!!!!!) and this was quite possibly the best-run/most efficient (if long, because that line was ridiculous, although not as long as the one for Richelle Mead last year in Lexington) signing I've ever witnessed. Mad props to the staff at the Lincoln Park Barnes & Noble in Dallas for getting it done!

Weekly Wrap-Up: March 17-23

Very slow reading week because I worked six days in a row. Ready for a nap...and to finish The Madman's Daughter, which is creepy and awesome!

Completed:
Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver: 3 stars
Doctor Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon: 5 stars. A GREAT collection of short graphic stories set in the DH universe. I wish they'd been able to do a movie sequel sooner, but I love that the Whedons continued the story in graphic novel form.


Currently Reading:
The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter #1) by Megan Shepard
Shadowhunters and Downworlders edited by Cassandra Clare

New to my bookshelf this week:
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare
Origin by Jessica Khoury
Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon

Listmania Monday: Anthologies

As you may have noticed, I really like using Listmania Mondays to discuss the changing trends in ya lit as the publishing industry evolves. One of these "new" trends is actually pretty old: anthologies. Classic novelists used to submit short stories to literary magazines to generate a larger readership and now publishers are recycling the trick. There are many reasons for this, I suppose. It's a good way to encourage a particular fandom to buy another book by publishing a series' extra novella (what self-respecting VA fan didn't salivate for months before nabbing Foretold for our long-awaited Rose and Dimitri story?!) OR allowing a truly established author to try something new (Richelle also put out another vampire short story titled "Blue Moon" in the anthology Immortal: Love Stories with Bite, which is FANTASTIC). It's also a good writing exercise for authors interested in a particular subject to band together to spread the word (Holly Black is REALLY good at this). These are a lot of fun, like with Zombies vs. Unicorns but can also be serious and really important like Dear Bully.

I know a lot of readers consider anthologies the publishers' way of sticking it to us and forcing us to buy MORE BOOKS. To those readers I say: 1. Really? You're upset about buying more books? I call that a holiday! Also, usually I call it Tuesday. 2. You don't have to buy the book, you know. This isn't just for anthologies. There are these things called libraries where they give you a card (usually for free) and then give you books to take home (also for free....as long as you bring it back within an agreed-upon time frame). :) Personally, I like anthologies. I love discovering new authors and new stories from my favorite authors. I asked Richelle Mead last year during her Golden Lily tour if she would ever consider turning "Blue Moon" into a full-length novel and she said she'd considered it but had other things on her plate. And you know what? I'm okay with that. It was a great story, and I was satisfied with the ending. I also like having a physical copy of some of the novellas that are part of series like Mead's "Sunshine" (VA prequel story) or Claudia Gray's "Free" (Evernight prequel) etc.

So, friends, are you pro or con anthologies? Got a favorite (mine is Prom Nights from Hell because Meg Cabot and Stephenie Meyer KILLED it with their stories!!)? Did I forget one? Leave me a comment and let me know!

ETA: Yes, I know there are several people who refuse to read any anthology edited by Trisha Telep after the cluster that became of Wicked Pretty Things. This post is not condemning or agreeing with any side; this is simply a list of ya anthologies, and yes, that includes Telep-edited books.