Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner

Published July 1, 2010.

Teen Genius (and Hermit)

Carrie Pilby's To Do List:

1. List 10 things you love (and DO THEM!)
2. Join a club (and TALK TO PEOPLE!)
3. Go on a date (with someone you actually LIKE!)
4. Tell someone you care (your therapist DOESN’T COUNT!)
5. Celebrate New Year’s (with OTHER PEOPLE!)

Seriously? Carrie would rather stay in bed than deal with the immoral, sex-obsessed hypocrites who seem to overrun her hometown, New York City. She’s sick of trying to be like everybody else. She isn’t! But when her own therapist gives her a five-point plan to change her social-outcast status, Carrie takes a hard look at herself—and agrees to try.

Suddenly the world doesn’t seem so bad. But is prodigy Carrie really going to dumb things down just to fit in? (netgalley.com)

DNF.

It sounds pretty quirky and fun but when I got into it, all I got was an irredeemable character that was too good for everyone else and really wasn't willing to change.

I wanted to like Carrie. I really did. But I hated being in her head. I just can't empathize with someone that's genius enough to give Stephen Hawking a run for his money but can't figure out how or why she needs to NOT be a douche to people. Maybe it's because I'm not smart enough to understand that kind of smart. Or maybe I refuse to believe that someone that smart is so lacking in common sense. I've heard the notion that people that smart are void of street smarts and common sense. Maybe I'd like to think a person's parents would do a better job of raising their kid to not be such a prick despite their intelligence. I don't know.

Just her entire perspective on life, how she viewed other people, how she treated other people, how she felt it was her mission to right people and put them in their places, it really bothered me. I can guess that she sees the light at the end of the book but I couldn't stick around to find out. Maybe if the book were in third person it would be a little more tolerable but actually being in first, and being inside her head, I just couldn't get over how crappy of a person she was.

Of course there are multiple sides to a story and I liked the way this story was told; just not who it was about. If you can hang in there long enough you might just like it. You're going to have to put up with a pretty lame person, though. And it's not someone that's lovably lame. Carrie's just ick. I couldn't relate in the slightest. I couldn't see redemption for her and I couldn't hold out any longer.

Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa

Published June 1, 2010.

Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl...until she discovered that she is really a faery princess. After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash. But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck-Meghan's best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon-who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey.

Yet Meghan and Ash's detour does not go unnoticed. They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter-a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat....(from betgalley.com)

I haven't actually read The Iron King but I've heard good things about it. When Winter's Passage came available, I figured I'd give it a try and see what it was all about. I thought it'd give me enough of a glimpse into the overall story to judge whether I'd like to read the greater works that bookend this novella.

Well, I read it and I thought it was okay. I wasn't floored by it. I liked that it gave me some exposition at the beginning so I wasn't totally lost in the storyline. And I liked the voice. Meghan seems like a pretty cool literary chick I wouldn't mind following around to hear her story. And Ash was definitely an intriguing character. I don't know how I like the deviation of his Fey ways (meaning he can turn the cold personality on and off) and I felt it was a little self-serving. But then I think back on books like Merlin's Harp which stuck true to the faerie lore that faeries weren't emotional and how I didn't like that and couldn't connect with it. So after gnawing on my foot a little, I came to the conclusion that Ash was compelling and I wouldn't mind finding out more about him either.

Really the novella was just a teaser, as I'm sure that's what it was meant to be. I got just little inklings of the greater plot (why was Puck sleeping in a tree?) but I'm not sure the story itself moved me enough to read more. Maybe if my TBR pile wasn't about to eat me I'd pick up a copy of The Iron King but right now I'm going to have to leave it as "if I get to it." It's intriguing but not enough to move me to immediately read more. But I can definitely see the greater aspects that people are drawn to. From just the peeks I saw, I get it.

Maybe eventually I'll get around to reading the rest.