Contest Winners
Thanks to everyone who entered my most recent contests. I had 125 entries! On to the important stuff:
The winner of Beastly:
Winner of The Study Series:
Congrats, Cate and Rica! You’ve been emailed.
For the rest of you, never fear, there’ll be a new contest up in a few weeks.
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen
She didn’t mean to overhear the secret, but she has. Because of that Olivia Keene must now stay at Brightwell Court until Edward Bradley gives her permission to leave. When harm befalls her leaving her vocal cords temporarily injured, he sees it as a good thing. Now he can truly be assured of her silence. Olivia needs to get away and hide, but she can’t leave until he gives her permission. In the meantime, her life may be irrevocably changed.
~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve always been intrigued by governesses, basically ever since I read Jane Eyre. Olivia ends up becoming governess of the two children living at Brightwell during her short stay there, and I got a good glimpse into what the everyday life of a governess includes. Although, of course, Olivia’s circumstances are probably not those of what an average governess had at the time.
This was, overall, a fairly interesting book. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it didn’t make much of an impression. The only thing that irked me was that the plot is very busy, sometimes making things difficult to follow. A matter of importance would disappear for a few chapters to the point that I forgot about it, only to make another sudden appearance. The character’s lives are never boring, that’s for sure.
On a happier note, the romance in this book put a smile on my face, even though there were many times I wanted to smack the hero over the head. He acted so impulsively so often. Thankfully, Olivia is able to hold her own.
Many times, in the historical novels I’ve read, the main characters are absurdly rich, with not a want for anything money can buy. It was refreshing, while reading this book, to get a glance at the lower class who had to work for a living. After all, a lot larger portion of population reside in the working class.
I borrowed The Silent Governess from my library on impulse, and I’m pretty glad I did so. It’s not the most memorable book, but it’s a pleasant diversion.
Nerds Heart YA: Jumped vs Last Night I Sang to The Monster
The Nerds Heart YA annual tournament helps spread the word about under represented YA literature. I had the opportunity to judge between two great books.
The book jacket summaries:
Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia
The wrong angle
Trina: “Hey,” I say, though I don’t really know them. The boyed-up basketball girl barely moves. The others, her girls, step aside. It’s okay if they don’t speak. I know how it is. They can’t all be Trina.
Dominique: Some stupid little flit cuts right in between us and is like, “Hey.” Like she don’t see I’m here and all the space around me is mines. I slam my fist into my other hand because she’s good as jumped.
Leticia: Why would I get involved in Trina’s life when I don’t know for sure if I saw what I thought I saw? Who is to say I wasn’t seeing it from the wrong angle?
Acclaimed author Rita Williams-Garcia intertwines the lives of three very different teens in this fast-paced, gritty narrative about choices and the impact that even the most seemingly insignificant ones can have. Weaving in and out of the girls’ perspectives, readers will find themselves not with one intimate portrayal but three.
Last Night I Sang to The Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He’s also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn’t remember how he got there. He’s not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive—well, what’s up with that?
I have it in my head that when we’re born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people’s hearts he writes Happy and on some people’s hearts he writes Sad and on some people’s hearts he writes Crazy on some people’s hearts he writes Genius and on some people’s hearts he writes Angry and on some people’s hearts he writes Winner and on some people’s hearts he writes Loser.
It’s all like a game to him. Him. God. And it’s all pretty much random. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he wrote Sad. I don’t like God very much. Apparently he doesn’t like me very much either.
My decision:
I enjoyed reading both of these books, and I definitely recommend both of them. Jumped moved along at an incredibly fast pace, and I was reading as fast as I could, wanting to find out how things ended.
Last Night I Sang to The Monster had a main character whose voice completely drew me in. The way Zach thought was fascinating, and that was ultimately what helped me to make my decision. It’s a gorgeous story, and Zach growth over the course of the novel is lovely to see.
Last Night I Sang to The Monster will be moving on to the next round!