Chick Pick: Decked With Holly

Decked With Holly
by Marni Bates
Kensington Publishing
2012
244 pages


Funny, snarky, quaint and heartfelt, Decked With Holly is a great Christmas surprise! The cover--with its seasonal red and green title, the mistletoe, the girl in the Santa hat and the Christmas tree--will welcome readers to pick it up. Julie Kagawa says, “Fans of Meg Cabot will find Marni’s voice equally charming and endearing.” I loved the seasonal cover but I think the girl on the cover looks much older than a teenager.

After Holly embarrasses herself in front of an entire mall full of festive shoppers and their children by slapping a perverted, drunk Santa and then falling over the Christmas tree and wrecking the decorations, she embarks on a cruise with her entire family: her beloved grandpa, her mean-spirited, bullying aunt and two model thin girl cousins from hell.

Holly is seasick and puke-y and finds herself roomless kicked out of her stateroom by her evil cousins. She grabs a blanket and heads for the deck thinking that she’ll spend the night in a deck chair. A wave of nausea overcomes her and she ducks into the nearest open door, finding the bathroom and vomiting. Next thing she knows, she’s leaving the bathroom and someone yells and mistakes her for a zombie and sprays pepper spray in her face.

Nick is 1/3 of a rock band called ReadySet; they are the “next big thing” and have hordes of screaming teen females stalking them and paparazzi vying for their pictures. Nick takes a break from the crazed fan-hoopla and books a cruise. He doesn’t know that a deathly sick girl is puking her guts up in his bathroom. He sees someone leaving his bathroom and freaks out, spraying that someone with pepper spray.

When they are both caught by the "paps" and photographed, Nick has to spin the story the right way for the band’s sake. Holly agrees to be Nick’s fake girlfriend for the duration of the cruise. Nick and Holly display wonderful back and forth banter that runs the gamut from sarcasm to ugly insults. Holly makes fun of Nick’s celebrity status, and Nick calls her “The Mess.”

When the fauxmance is over, what is left? Readers will love Holly—a believable character who’s not the typical romance novel drop dead gorgeous—she’s a “normal” girl. They will love Nick, too; he’s a rock star who’s a real guy. Girls will be smitten by this frolicking read.

Highly, highly recommended grade 8-up. No sex, but the mention of sex and virginity does come up. Some kissing and holding hands. No language except “slutty” and Holly gives a wave with her middle finger extended.


FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for myself because I need a "light" girl-y read after so many dark dystopias. I will add it to the library shelves for more mature readers. It is pretty tame even by television standards. "Gossip Girl" is way more scandalous.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Chick Pick: The Girls of No Return

The Girls of No Return
by Erin Saldin
Arthur A Levine Books
2012
352 pages

Deep, dark, disturbing, and dysfunctional, this story of friendships and secrets, knives and threats, wilderness and survival is totally engrossing and addictive.

Lida Wallace is being sent away by her parents "for her own good." Living at a boarding school in the middle of the wilderness in Idaho with other "disturbed" girls doesn't sound like much fun. They aren't allowed to bring a cell phone, a computer, an I-pad, or I-pod, oh, and no guns or ammo, no knives, no cigarettes, no drugs, no fireworks and no bows and arrows. Lida just wants to get it over with!


She meets her cabinmates and somehow gets through the first few days at Alice Marshall School. Enter runway model beautiful and exciting, exotic Gia Longchamps. The other girls are all enthralled by her very presence. Like an exotic hothouse bloom--Gia beguiles and seduces each of them--each of them except Boone who says to Gia, "Everything you do is a fascade, a performance."

Boone and Gia continue to hate each other building eventually to a reckoning. Lida will have to choose which girl to trust. Will she turn her back on Gia--Gia who is selfish and a liar--and a fake? Will she stick by Boone who tells it like it really is? Boone who is the most "real" person Lida has ever known?

The exciting climax will have readers racing through the last pages. The characters of Boone and Lida are spot on, and Gia is the perfect chameleon, beautiful user,and wickedly sadistic abuser of other people's hearts and minds.

The Girls of No Return is a great girl read. Anyone who loves a tragic story about problems that real girls face will love this book. The cover art is wonderfully fitting--a lone girl in a canoe looking out at a deserted lake--grayish tones fit the somber title and plot.

Recommended grades 9-up. Language, mature situations, dark behavior, sex.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick: Struck

Struck
by Rhonda Stapleton
Simon Pulse
2011
741 pages

see the author's video here

Contains three novels: Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster, and Pucker Up

Charming, cute, and quirky, the three short novels that make up this large volume, will have girls dreaming of romance and Valentine's Day. Although a reader could choose to read only Stupid Cupid and quit after the first story, you must read Stupid Cupid to understand the other two stories. The characters and setting are the same.

The heroine is Felicity Walker, just an average teen who goes job hunting. She applies to a company called Cupid's Hollow to become a "teen cupid" never expecting that she would become a real matchmaker with a hot-pink PDA that can work magic. By sending an email to each person she wishes to match, they will fall in love for two weeks. The magic lasts two weeks, and after that, if the couple is still together, it is a good match.

Then Felicity gets the idea of fixing up her BFF Maya, but she can't think of the perfect boy. She decides on three dates, but can't choose, so she selects all three for Maya. There's lots of laughs and some awkward teen moments when all three boys vie for Maya's attention.

Felicity decides to invoke some magic in her parent's relationship as well and is horrified when her parents begin acting like horny teen-agers around her. She even catches them "doing it" in the middle of the day and is mortified and swears she's ruined for life. She'll probably have to see a psychiatrist for years after that!

Her first match falls apart and her BFF Maya's life is turned upside down, but Derek, the hot boy from art class, does begins to notice her. In the second story, Derek reveals that he's a cupid, too. Felicity and Derek have a competition to see who can make the most matches.

Recommended for teen girls who love romance and dreamy, steamy stories.

Grades 9-up. The parents caught in the act, some language, some laugh-out-loud embarrassing moments.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick: The Poison Diaries: Nightshade

The Poison Diaries: Nightshade
by Maryrose Wood
Balzer + Brey (HarperCollins)
2011
288 pages

available October 25, 2011
enter the world of Nightshade


Stunning, magical, and other-worldly, Nightshade envelops readers in its deadly atmosphere. I was immediately swept away and captivated by the character of Jessamine and the premise of the novel. Master storyteller Maryrose Wood weaves a believable tale of a boy who can communicate with all flora--plants, trees, and even weeds--his name is Weed, in fact. He studies with a noted plant expert in Northumberland during the reign of George II. The teacher has a few dark secrets: his passion is poisons and dark plants; in fact, he has even tested poisons on his own lovely wife and unborn child some years ago. He keeps a secret, evil, poison garden behind a locked gate.

His daughter Jessamine follows in his footsteps, learning all about plants that cure and plants that kill. She falls in love with Weed (book one, The Poison Diaries), who has run away from her in this installment. She longs for him and begs her father to tell her where he has gone.

Jessamine learns to hate her father, and once she realizes he is the one responsible for her mother's death, she wants revenge. She says:

"I am Jessamine Luxton. Poison ran in my veins before I was born. I know how to cure. And I know how to kill. I have tried for so long to be good, buth there is no need to fight my destiny anymore. I am my father's daughter, after all."

Once her evil deed is done, Jessamine must flee Northumberland. She takes passage on a stagecoach, trying to put as many miles between her and her crime. When some fellow passengers call her a witch, she must flee again. She learns to use her knowledge of poisons to make a living. Some people will pay handsomely for a poison to kill a spouse or business partner. As Jessamine slips into a life of crime, her mind is addled by opium. She still dreams of Weed and yearns for his touch. Another man is haunting her thoughts and overtaking her dreams; Oleander is the master puppeteer and encourages Jessmine to choose the dark side.

Weed in the meantime is searching for her. He hurries back to Northumberland and finds Thomas Luxton dead. He realizes that someone has poisoned him and suspects it was Jessamine. He follows her footsteps through Europe, but stops in Italy to learn more about poisons and their antidotes. Weed learns that King George himself is traveling to Italy and that some noblemen want him dead. Weed plans to attend the banquet for King George and prevent his death.

Will Weed find Jessamine in time? Can he steal her away from Oleander's evil clutches? Will Jessamine even know him through her drug haze?

Beautifully written, inspired storytelling, captivating characters, poetic prose, and magical settings make Nightshade a teen tour de force. Readers won't be able to wait to get their hands on book 3. I did not read book one and still enjoyed this book--book 2. There is enough back story for the reader to understand book 2 without reading book one.

The publishers say grade 7 and up. I must warn you that Jessamine is a fallen woman who sleeps around and does drugs--drugs that are legal at the time in Europe, but are now illegal in the U.S. She becomes a harlot and murderer. There is no sex but the savvy reader knows that Jessamine is not a "nice" girl. Even though Jessamine slips into a life of crime, readers will feel empathy for her and the love she has lost.

Watch the book trailer here


I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.