Review: The One

I'm going to start this out on a foot of objectivity and inoffensiveness, by saying, I'm well aware this series has a large fanbase. I know you're out there, you've been plenty vocal on Goodreads, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and more. You guys aren't just there, you're active. Books don't just appear on the New York Times Bestseller Lists... there are many people out there who love this book and enjoy this series, and I acknowledge not only your presence, but your success at ensuring this book does well on the major markets.

Now, I'm getting personal. I am NOT one of those people. I think this book series has a lot of issues, and I mentioned as much in my original review of The Selection, the first book in the series. I didn't even bother writing a review for the novel's sequel, I thought it was such a waste of my time. And I'd clearly like to state, that despite the fact that the fan base is rather large, that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people also taking my side of the discussion.

In fact, two of those people are members of my sorority (and I realize how lucky I am to have them). As you might imagine, we have had A LOT to say to each other about this series. Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of said friends, and sort of casually book-club The One. Thanks to the nature of Facebook conversations, I was provided with documentation. 

The major complaints we found with The One are organized in order discussed:

• That Epilogue was 21 flavors of unnecessary and 50 shades of "well,duh." 

• If you haven't been calling the resolution of this epic fail of a love triangle since Day One, then you just haven't been paying attention.

• It was almost like there was a specific amount of page space she was allowed to take up with actual plot, and in attempt to control quantity rather than quality, a plot bomb exploded, and irregular plot pacing, new characters, old characters, and new narrative elements were sent careening through the novel. 

• Meanwhile, during one of the most climatic parts of the novel, our main character is trapped in a closet. *cue R. Kelly track* 

• The deaths of some major characters left us not unsteady or shocked... but giggling. Really, you're going to kill off a major character in a supposedly-dystopian Universe due to some "heart trouble"? 

• America manages to finagle her way into a scrape in a back alley, and suffers some kind of misguided epiphany, all "Yes, a bullet barely grazed my shoulder, and now I'm getting stitches... I suddenly understand the plights of all people #enlightenment" (That may be paraphrasing, but the sentiment is there). 

• Meanwhile, several revelations come into play, where it is discovered that specific people close to America were secretly Rebels all along... and it doesn't freaking matter. Literally, at all. No one cares.

• At certain times, where major characters' lives are hanging in the balance, you almost want to smack them for being so over dramatic, when clearly, they are not going to die. 

• And, of course, the "death monologue" being one of my least favorite and the dumbest plot devices ever written, made everything even more absolutely melodramatic and ridiculous. 

• At the end, you were kind of left just asking... so what? What happened to the prisoner? What's happening with Kriss, who had some secrets of her own come to light? And Aspen, Maxon and America all get conveniently happy endings? NOTHING MATTERED.

So, all of those arguments aside, let's just cut to basic facts. I didn't like this book. In fact, I didn't like the one before it either, nor did I like The Selection. Naturally, the inherent argument against my opinions is present with how well I know the subject matter. How can I argue that this series isn't worth reading, is so poorly constructed, is so without valuable material that you shouldn't even try to pass it off on a younger sister, when I clearly myself read the entire series without DNFing? Why do I keep insisting it has no redeemable qualities, when I so obviously had something keeping me tethered to the series?

I'm not going to lie, about any of it. The plot is not well constructed. The characterizations are awful. The novel follows through with just about every cliche in the novelist's handbook... nothing is new or unexpected. And yet, I didn't just purchase all three... I pre-ordered two of them, and read them both on the days they came out. This series was one I looked forward to, actively, despite its flaws. I don't know what kept me so addicted, but I was. I wholeheartedly bought into everything surrounding this series, even though I didn't like it, at all. It's honestly something I'm still trying to figure out.

Therefore, due to my significant background with this series, I especially feel well-supported when I can definitely say this: Kiera Cass grew as an author throughout the production of this series. There were marked improvements between the three installments of this series, with complexities of language and plot escalating, as well as attention paid to not only reader feedback, but especially the demand for stakes and danger, as befitting the ties to the dystopian genre. While we definitely had problems with The One just as much as we had with The Selection, there were deliberate efforts made for improvement, and that's what I not only want to specifically acknowledge, but encourage. Cass is reasonably new to the game, and is definitely going to be someone continuing to work on the YA scene. She's going to get better. So, congrats to Cass.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that gives bloggers the opportunity to highlight upcoming releases about which they are extremely excited. 

I already mentioned last week how I was feeling a bit of a craving for fairy tale fodder, and that feeling is far from going away, now that the sun in shining and I've seen both a bluebird and a red-winged blackbird in one day. My newest novel on the TBR-list promises just that, meshing the world of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with the excitement of the Big Apple during Prohibition, with The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, by Genevieve Valentine, set for publication this upcoming June 3rd, 2014. 

When their father isn't looking, the Hamilton Girls escape the constraints of their father's townhouse, into the speakeasies of the busy Big Apple. Jo - the firstborn, and the closest thing the other ten have to a mother - was the mastermind behind the sojourns into actual society, teaching them how to dance, and giving the signal for each night's excursion into the world of which their father would never approve. Swanning about town, from Salon Renaud to the Swan, the Funeral Parlor Supper Club to the Kingfisher Club, the one club they call home, these girls surround themselves with a sumptuous extravagance, a fantasy to free their minds from the control of their demanding father. 

That is, until the day he decides they should all be married off. 

But still, the girls dance, and when they are caught in a raid by the Prohibition police, they are separated, and suddenly, Jo comes face-to-face with a man from the past, a bootlegger named Tom who she hasn't seen in years. Now, Jo doesn't just have to remember to protect her sisters, but protect her heart, as well. 

Why am I so excited? 

Well, let's be real, I'm kind of hoping this preoccupation with the Jazz Age is on its way out, because in terms of randomized adoption of particular time periods, the bastardization of that particular point in history by pop culture in the early 2010's is almost as annoying as when we did it with the '80s in the late 2000's. However, this seems like a sweet send-up of a tale that isn't told all that often, which also happens to be one of my favorites. Can't wait! 

What are you waiting on this Wednesday? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Almost Put Down (But Didn't)

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly countdown meme, hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Just earlier this week, after regaining my reader appetite after the fluffy marshmallow of a novel that was The One, I immediatley tucked into Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge... and found it sticking in my throat a bit. However, I finished the novel, and enjoyed it pretty well. Therefore, it's only fitting that this week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic was books that almost ended up on the DNF pile... but managed to pull through!

Cruel Beauty, Rosamund Hodge

A slow starter, with a little too much hype in the way, and conflicting accounts of what the story was based off of... for instance, people described it to me as Beauty and the Beast, but having been scholastically involved with the cultural intimacies and history behind that particular fairy tale, I can say with no short amount of certainty that it would have been much better to have ascribed it to Greco-Roman mythologies. 

Final Decision: Glad I Finished.

Timebound, Rysa Walker

Yet another slow starter, with some weird world building, especially due to the fact that time travel is involved. Time travel is just so freakin' aggravational.

Final Decision: Glad I Finished. 

Bossypants, Tina Fey

This might get me some heat, but by about 20% into this set of comedian memoirs (which is one of my favorite splinter genres!) I was tired of Fey's endless quipping... less jokes, more story! There just wasn't really much emotional "realness," which was what I was looking for, as opposed to sheer stage presence and brand extension.

Final Decision: Should Have Put it Down.

The Thousand Names, Django Wexler

The entire genre of martial fiction was a new one for me, and while I thought the battle explanations and detail paid to the movements of warfare were incredibly interesting... they also get quite a bit boring after about 200 pages without much other plot. 

Final Decision: Maybe Skip Ahead to the Next Chapter? 

Everneath, Brodi Ashton

Boring. Boring. Just, SO boring. Unpopular opinion, I know, it was just highly unbelievable, unrealistic, unmanageable in terms of the sort of stuff characters could get away with... 

Final Decision: Should Have Put it Down. 

Anna Karanina, Leo Tolstoy

I don't need to explain much to you people how much effort a 1,000 page novel is. But SO WORTH IT.

Final Decision: You Finish What You Started, or your Book Nerd Membership is Automatically Revoked. 

The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Margot Livesey

A revamp of Jane Eyre for the modern European woman, it was a solid book in itself, but it frustrated itself a little bit by attempting to adhere to the Bronte basics. Would have been improved vastly by simply not calling itself a version of the classic.

Final Decision: Glad I Finished.

The Firm, John Grisham

I don't love thrillers; that's kind of an obvious thing that I'm not too shy about saying. This is just a fairly suspenseful one... and we all know how I get when things are super-suspenseful...

Final Decision: Yeah, I Guess.

Neuromancer, William Gibson

Sci Fi epic glorified by my father, consumed during my sophomore year of high school while studying for Finals. Too much attention to science fiction detail work and world-building, not too interesting of a plot, and more important things going on in my daily life? Yikes.

Final Decision: At Least Now I Can Say I Read it.

Splintered, A. G. Howard

I'm leery of basically every single take on Alice in Wonderland ever written/produced/whatever ever, EVER... especially those whose character direction sounds like they escaped from a 2004-era Hot Topic kid's daydreams. 

Final Decision: Meh, it's Deece. (But I'm not going to continue the series).

What's your Top Ten this Tuesday?

Stacking the Shelves: Cram Sesh

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly Saturday book meme from Tynga's Reviews, all about sharing the books you've added to your shelves over the course of the week.

I'm now beginning to reach the impass this week where even I'm starting to get annoyed with myself about how much I complain about how busy I am. I think it's mainly because now, I feel like it's just wasted air that I could rather be using to uncompact my schedule. Don't know if that's happening anytime soon, though. Which is why, of course, I decided to go on a bit of a book impulse binge this week...

Stress gives me acid reflux, and acid reflux makes me stressed. Books are really the only means of fighting it; it's a kind of basic decision to make at this point, really. So, in the scant amounts of free time this week, I purchased the following pain releivers:

Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

The One (The Selection) by Kiera Cass - FINISHED

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge - CURRENTLY READING

Clearly the path to heaven is paved with fairy tale adaptations. Also, I figured I'd put in those last two addendums for a little more clarity about how I'm really only a danger to myself, in terms of stress. And yes, the fact that the cover layout couldn't all fit neatly on one line DID give me more of it. 

What are you stacking your shelves with this week?

I'll Love You Forever, I'll Like You For Always: My Top Pick Gifts for Mother's Day

They're the ladies who raised us... which means that our current predelection to pick up anything with a pretty cover and a thick spine was probably all their fault. Time to thank the women in our life by repaying their kindness with a couple new reads, and maybe a few other things, as well! 

However, no two Moms are alike... how are you supposed to tell what gifts she'd appreciate most? Here, for your benefit, I have assembled a sort of Fearless Female Field Guide, in celebration of Mother's Day! 

For the City Mom

Spotted in the wilds of the Downtown area sporting black flats and a carefully-propped straw fedora, wheeling her baby around town in the Ferrari of strollers with the latest issue of Vanity Fair peeking out of her sleek leather tote, the City Mom is a force to be reckoned with at the checkout lines of Whole Foods and Mommy-and-Me Yoga classes alike. This metropolis mama always knows what everyone's talking about... so why not get her a Mother's Day gift that will set everyone else's tongues wagging?

Birchbox Beauty Box Subscription

Paris: the Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

DIY to Die For: Pasta Necklace Upgrade

Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist Cookbook

This ultra-modern mama might just love a couple new products to update her daily regimen and a chic update on an old mother's day classic, especially when paired with a glittering novel dedicated to the City of Lights and a sassy way to glam up old cocktail classics. 

For the Momaholic

How does she do it all? Between working a stellar job from 9 to 5, running errands before picking the kids up from the bus stop, getting the kids to piano lessons and art classes in equal measure, and always acting the perfect hostess, the fearless team captain, and the mama bear, when she needs to be, Momaholic is equally adept at running the household and running in heels. A superwoman who always knows what you need before you even need it, Momaholic deserves a second to lay back and soak up the fruits of her labor. 

LUSH Bath Bombs

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

DIY to Die For: Indoor Terrarium

Delicious! by Ruth Reichl

Help mommy dearest unwind with some luscious bath bombs, or a unique, self-made way to bring the outdoors inside, as well as a bookish escape to East Coast elitest society or a new set of memoirs from Gourmet's favorite female.

For the Soccer Mom

The quintessential mom-on-the-move, this mother is commonly found on the sidelines of soccer meets, the waiting rooms of ballet dance classes, and the bundle-pack snack food sections of Costco. Commonly identified by the "My Kid is an Honor Student" bumper sticker proudly sported on the back window of her SUV, and the chic athletic gear that she feels looks best paired with a baseball hat repping her kids' school, Soccer Mom is a women who has always worked to support the whole team... which means that she definitely deserves a MVP nod this Mother's Day. 

Lulu Lemon Headbands

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

DIY to Die For: Team Shirt Blanket

It's All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great by Gwenyth Paltrow

Sporty moms will love a high end headband and a homemade blanket of team memories, especially when cuddling up after the big game with a thriller that will get her heart pumping, too, or a cookbook full of healthy, family-friendly basics.

For the Mommy Blogger 

The sort of second-cousin to the City Mom and the Momaholic, this ultra-classy harbinger of good taste and telling it like it is knows her way around a good Wordpress layout. A fan of DIY arts and crafts and a good sass session, the modern-day Mommy Blogger always keeps her iPhone handy, her earrings out of baby's reach, and her Instagram suitably populated with pics of you, your breakfast, your dinner, and everything in between. Still, at the end of the day, you know she loves you more than all the pins on Pinterest. 

Yankee Candle Scented Candles

Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

DIY to Die For: "Best Mom Ever" Tote Bag

Let's Pretend this Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

This hip mama will love writing posts to the scent of a new candle and toting her iPad easily to the next new adventure in a bag all her own, just as much as a cookbook from one of the web's fave foodies and a funny book of memories from a well-known blogging personality. 

For the Seattle Mama

Nothing compares to the general awesomeness of the PNW, and if you ask completely-objective, entirely-unbiased lil' old me, the tech mecca and hipster paradise that is the glimmering focal point of Washington state has got to be one of the MOST awesome... which is why you should take a good look at the women who built it! To the ladies who get up early to feed their backyard chickens, to the blue-tarp campers whose summer revolves around Rainier, the Seattle Mommy wears many shoes: the fast-track sneaker, the ever-useful rainboot, and the power-player high heel, to name a few.... but today, she deserves to kick up her feet! 

Julep Nail Polish

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

 DIY to Die For: Personalized Coffee Mug

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Mama will love a bright new shade from the Seattle-based nail care brand, especially when paired nicely with a new way to sip her favorite blend. A memoir of a trek among some of the PNW's most beautiful, and a snarky new best-seller set in the Emerald City go great with her morning cup of coffee.

What are you getting your Mom this Mother's Day?

College Fashion Post Link Up: Eleanor and Park

Its always a fantastic moment when you realize that you're just making life hard for yourself, and there's a far easier method of conducting things than what you had originally anticipated. Case in point: after agonizing for a week over having to find time in my schedule to read a new book for an upcoming College Fashion post, but woefully unable to come across a title suitably interesting, well-known or relevant, I was mindlessly scrolling through my Twitter feed and came across a message about Rainbow Rowell's recent movie deal, where her standalone romance Eleanor and Park was acquired by Dreamworks. And thus, Eureka! I no longer had to expend quite so much effort, having read this book before. (Go Team Me.) In the end, I think I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, being that I essentially wrote the whole thing in one day while also suffering from some emotional upheaval and also being tasked with creating a vital asset to our sorority's Recruitment in the same weekend. If anything, this sweet story of love, and what it takes to fight for it, probably injected some much-needed hope into my schedule. At the very least, it gave me some pretty kick-ass musical accompaniment inspiration. 

So, check out my College Fashion post dealing with looks inspired by one of YA's newest darlings - and the darling romance that she created - right now! (Or, you know, check out the looks inspired by her other YA standalone, Fangirl!) Just to entice you further, how about a sneak peek of my favorite outfit from the article, styled around the concept of making the '80s fresh again, and based off of the 1986 time stamp on the narrative of Eleanor and Park: 

Check out the rest of the E&P looks and the article here!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Darkest Part of the Forest

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that gives bloggers the opportunity to highlight upcoming releases about which they are extremely excited. 

This week, I'm favoring a bit of fantasy and fairy tales in my life - mainly because I spent an hour or so just this morning finishing up the last installment of Kiera Cass' The Selection series, The One, but MORE ON THAT LATER - so when I saw that Holly Black had a new fantasy set to debut early in 2015, you could say that I got a little bit irrationally excited. Set for publication on January 13th, 2015, is Holly Black's The Darkest Part of the Forest. 

In a world where monsters run rampant and fairies live alongside humans in semi-harmony, Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the town of Fairfold. Primarily a tourist attraction full of harmless magic, Hazel knows how deadly the fairies could really be, and knows how to stop them... at least, she has before. 

Meanwhile, in the heart of the woods, a boy lies in a glass coffin, with horns on his head, and ears as pointed as knives. Ben and Hazel were both in love with him, at one point. 

Having slept through generations, one day, he awakens. 

And suddenly, nothing will ever be the same. All of those years Hazel has pretended to be a knight, are all she really has to defend herself now, but with the whirlwind of new love, old loyalties, and the pain of betrayal, those years seem to be lost in the shuffle. 

Why am I excited? 

Oh, come ON, what do you mean, I have to wait until the new year? Holly Black is a master at this kind of thing, and I cannot wait that long to get my hands on it. From co-writing The Spiderwick Chronicles with Tony DiTerlizzi, to the Modern Faerie Tales series, to even last year's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black knows how to please her audience with creepy, twisty humor, and this time, we're heading straight back into fairy tale territory. 

Besides, holy moly, is that cover five million kinds of gorgeous. I need it.... NEED it. Give it too me now! 

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?