Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell + Giveaway

Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell
Series: N/A
Source: Publisher for Review
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publication Date: February 4, 2014

In the surface, sixteen-year-old Lesley Holloway is just another bright new student at Hawthorn Hill, a posh all-girls prep school north of London. Little do her classmates know that she recently ran away from home, where her father had spent years sexually abusing her. Nor does anyone know that she's secretly cutting herself as a coping mechanism . . . until the day she goes too far and ends up in the hospital.

Lesley spends the next two years in and out of psychiatric facilities, where she overcomes her traumatic memories and finds the support of a surrogate family. Eventually completing university and earning her degree, she is a social services success story - until she becomes unexpectedly pregnant in her early twenties. Despite the overwhelming odds she has overcome, the same team that saved her as an adolescent will now question whether Lesley is fit to be a mother. And so she embarks upon her biggest battle yet: the fight for her unborn daughter.

I'll be the first to say that the premise of Etched on Me appealed to me - I love the dark, gritty stories that I read, but this one didn't really work for me. It's not that it wasn't dark or gritty (it was!), the problem was that I couldn't connect with the main character, Lesley. She's a girl with a lot of problems, and although I understand that... I don't think that she was fleshed out enough.

I liked the inside look at mental institutions, and the people that are in them. It was interesting to see the things that they experience, and how Lesley reacted to them. I also liked the mystery of Lesley and her baby - it's said that they ended up on TV, and that there was a big battle between social services and such... but I didn't know why. I liked that these strings were tied up in the end.

I have to say, though... there were some parts throughout this book - well, they made me cringe, and I didn't exactly want to read them. But I did anyway - and I think I came through it with one thought - "I don't think I get this book".

I really don't think that I did. There were so many... plot twists. There was just so much going on, and I couldn't really get into it. My disconnection with Lesley didn't help either, because not only could I not connect with the story, the character just escaped me.

The message of this book is good - it lets people that are in Lesley's situation know that there is hope, and that they will get through it... but that message just isn't for me. All in all, Etched on Me just wasn't my thing, but I'm not going to try and dissuade you from reading it.

About the Author:

Jenn Crowell’s debut, Necessary Madness, was released when she was just 19; her second novel, Letting the Body Lead, when she was only 24. Both were critically acclaimed and reviewers marveled at the wisdom, maturity, and depth of feeling expressed by so young a writer. Over the next ten years, Jenn earned her MFA, but also underwent treatment for depression and self-harm—issues that she writes about so vividly in her latest novel, ETCHED ON ME (Atria/Washington Square Press, February 4, 2014).

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*Giveaway*
The publisher has been kind enough to offer up a copy of Etched on Me to give away! It will be a signed paperback copy. US/CAN ONLY! Remember, even if I didn't really get this book... that doesn't mean that you won't love love love it! I hope that you enter! :)

(Pssstt... Etched on Me releases on February 4, 2014!)

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Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication Date: October 3, 2011

Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.

But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?

Michael L. Printz Honor recipient A.S. King's smart, funny and boldly original writing shines in this powerful novel about learning to cope with the shrapnel life throws at you and taking a stand against it.

I think I keep waiting too long after reading to write reviews, so please forgive me if this one doesn't make sense. And it probably won't. When I start Everybody Sees the Ants, I was expected a book very similar to Please Ignore Vera Dietz, which I adored. And although they had a lot of similarities, in my mind they were completely different.

Lucky, the main character per this one, is a huge nerd. I don't know exactly what makes him a nerd for me, but he'll be stuck forever as that in my mind. And the poor guy is bullied, he doesn't stand up for himself (his daddy made him that way) and one day it just goes too far. His mom gets sick and tired and leave town to stay with her brother. That's when the real story starts. Before that it was like we were just getting all the info for the build up of leaving, so we could see why. Good call there. (Completely off subject, but the bully: Nader. That sounds like a kid who would get bullied to me.)

But anyway. So they're gone. And Lucky starts explaining these weird dreams. Every time he has one, we get the down-low. And honestly, I have no idea whether Lucky is downright delusional, or if he's actually sane. Because the dreams...they're weird. And they're true to him, which makes it even harder to make a decision. Surreal is the best way to describe this entire book.

Lucky was really weird, too. On top of having all of these strange dreams, he's (as mentioned before) nerdy, and not only that, but he's a bit anti-social. I was so proud of him when he started to make friends! Because no matter how weird they were, I loved them. I mean, they're doing a public play named "The Vagina Monologues", and are doing it seriously. How are they not awesome? I mean, if it makes you uncomfortable it's probably not awesome, but I thought it was hilarious and actually kind of meaningful.

All in all, Everybody Sees the Ants was a very weird, surreal book. If you have problems reading about vaginas, or bullied boys, don't read it.

Secret for a Song by S.K. Falls

Secret for a Song by S.K. Falls
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: June 3, 2013

Saylor Grayson makes herself sick. Literally.

She ate her first needle when she was seven. Now, at nineteen, she’s been kicked out of college for poisoning herself with laxatives. The shrinks call it Munchausen Syndrome. All Saylor knows is that when she’s ill, her normally distant mother pays attention and the doctors and nurses make her feel special.

Then she meets Drew Dean, the leader of a local support group for those with terminal diseases. When he mistakes her for a new member, Saylor knows she should correct him. But she can’t bring herself to, not after she’s welcomed into a new circle of friends. Friends who, like Drew, all have illnesses ready to claim their independence or their lives

For the first time, Saylor finds out what it feels like to be in love, to have friends who genuinely care about her. But secrets have a way of revealing themselves. What will happen when Saylor’s is out?

I ate my first needle when I was seven.

To be completely honest with you, I have no everlovin' idea what I think. This is possibly one of the worst things that could have happened to me for this review, but seriously, I have no idea.

I didn't really understand what was wrong with Saylor at first-- I can't imagine wanting to be sick. She swallows needles, overdoses on Tylenol...injects saliva into her skin, and she has even imbibed fecal matter (gee, don't google what imbibed means. You're better off not knowing). She goes to these huge links to get sick for attention, and I didn't really like that.

But past all of that, she is an interesting character. She was tough and sarcastic, even if she was a tad misguided. This is one of those books that really made me think...are there people that experience issues like this daily? Do they feel the same as Saylor?

I did like her, even if it was only a little. To even it out, though, I loved the secondary characters. Zee, Drew and Pierce all had awesome personalities. They were fun and vibrant, and I wish that I hadn't fallen so completely in love with a cast of terminally ill characters...it made it so much harder when the ball dropped.

And don't kid yourself, the ball does drop. And it's bad. I can't believe that I missed the signs leading up to it. It could have gone a LOT better than it did, but it is what it is, right? I also think that the romance could have been better. I didn't really feel like they loved each other that much. It could have had more development.

All in all, Secret for a Song is worth a read, but the romance fell sort of flat for me.