Dear Author » Reality-TV

REVIEW: Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos

Jayne — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:00:51 +0000

Dear Ms Doornebos,

We at Dear Author get sent a lot of requests to review books and many of us have lamented at the frequency of Jane Austen themed ones. Yet, despite that, another reviewer and I were interested in the description of your book “Definitely Not Mr. Darcy.” A reality dating show with a 1812 theme and $100,000 at stake for the lucky contestant who “nabs” the handsome Regency guy? Could be fun.

Chloe Parker is a 39, divorced single mother with a failing business who desperately needs to win the grand prize of the contest which she’s been selected to be a part of. A long time Jane Austen fan, she can quote the books, knows the details of life in Austen England and thinks having the chance to actually live as a Jane Austen heroine for the duration of the show is a dream come true. But the reality of life without hot showers, deodorant, modern bras and hampered by chaperones turns out to be more than she bargained for.

And then there’s her main rival among the contestants who won’t stop at breaking the rules but stoops to sabotaging Chloe at every turn. If that weren’t enough, Chloe finds that the accomplishments of a Regency Miss are harder and less interesting than they appear on film. Sebastian Wrightman is a hunk in his skintight breeches though and with her business needing a serious cash infusion, Chloe pursues him like a hound does a hare. If only she could stop thinking of his intelligent, younger, and penniless, brother Henry.

The PW blurb for the book promises sidesplitting faux pas as Chloe attempts to play a young woman on the hunt for a man in 1812 England. Well, amusing at times? Yes. Bust a gut laughing? No, not me. It’s also kind of sad in a way to watch as Chloe’s infatuation with the era is slowly stripped away though after watching some of the historical “reality” shows on PBS and the BBC, I kind of knew it was coming. Modern comforts are hard to let go of, as Chloe discovers. But along the way, she does discover something much more interesting – herself. She also unearths some business savvy and a well of inspiration that will allow her to save her business herself which I quite liked.

Now as for the romance…even if I hadn’t been a bad girl and skipped to the end to confirm my guess on who Chloe would actually fall for, as the story progressed it would have been pretty obvious. I was surprised that she didn’t bother to Google Sebastian Wrightman before leaving Chicago but then the book would have been over before it began. I like the man she falls for and who falls for her but since the reader must be kept in the dark about a lot of things, we never see his POV, or in fact anyone else’s, throughout the book. But, once Chloe knows what is going on, I have to agree wholeheartedly with her reaction. Clotted cream to the face wouldn’t be enough for me, though the way she tells him off in public is satisfying. Still, to be manipulated that way no matter what the reason would leave a bad enough taste in my mouth that any forgiveness would be a damn long time in coming. I was reminded of Patient Griselda from The Clerk’s Tale – a story I’ve always despised.

As a humorous tale about what life in Regency England was really like, “Definitely Not Mr. Darcy” has its moments and entertained me. As a romance, the hero leaves a lot to be desired no matter how much money he was or how much he enjoys Jane Austen books. I finished the book thinking Chloe deserves more which is not a good thing for this genre. C

~Jayne

REVIEW: The Hating Game by Tallie Roland

Jayne — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:33:23 +0000

Dear Ms. Roland,

I will admit to not understanding the whole appeal of reality TV shows. Let’s go on national TV, make a fool of myself – or be made a fool of by the hosts, all for …what? Fleeting D list fame? Nope, not for me. And not for our heroine Mattie Johns either. No, it’s gonna take potential bankruptcy and a chance at a shitload of money to get her onboard with the program.

“When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she’s confident she’ll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she’s perfected from years of her love ‘em and leave ‘em dating strategy.

After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy Ã‚ £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it’s revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.

Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end.”

Call me strange but I actually relish that Mattie is hard to like. And I do think that some readers aren’t going to cotton to her or stick with the book long enough to see her thaw. She’s definitely a prickly pear but she stays true to the background you’ve given her and doesn’t suddenly go all mushy and emo. Even after she gets her true love and her business is saved, I still think she’s going to have a touch of “take no prisoners” in her personality.

She does have a history and though it might be repeated a time or two too many, it makes her subsequent dating practices make sense and even slightly exonerates her implosion when she thinks Kyle cheated on her. But I do have problems with the fact that Kyle realizes Mattie actually responds well to men taking a chance and being strong in the relationship and yet he hasn’t found a way to get Mattie to listen to him before the crazy show comes along.

I love the show idea that Nate comes up with and can easily see ratings mad executive types monkeying about with it as described. And speaking of “powers that be,”
Silver is a nightmare. The movie “Network” comes to mind about all this. It was right in the day and is still correct today. TV networks are scum. The character of the drunken host used for the studio bits is a scream and I kept picturing Bill Nighy in that role.

The way you turned the tables on the dating order and who wins the two weeks with Mattie is a nice twist. I didn’t see that coming but it all works in with the way the producers have manipulated things up til then. I felt sorry for Charlie and how the show might have caused him so much grief. Giovanni turned out to be more fun than I anticipated. But how could Adam have lost a stone or more of weight so quickly? Or gotten chiseled muscles? I simply don’t see that he had enough time.

Mattie’s best friend Jess was little Miss Downtrodden and Ignored with the spine of a wilted cabbage for most of the book. I hope they both realize that their relationship needs some serious work as it seems codependent for the both of them and not in a healthy way for either. And prawn crisps? I agree with Jess that these sound revolting. I kind of guessed that she and a certain person might end up together and was glad to see Said Person had enough of a conscience to do the right thing in the end.

You set up the conflict between Kyle and Mattie with some pretty harsh stuff and I wondered how anyone could get back together despite all that. But then the truth comes out and in a believable way. I’ve read that it takes 10 positive words to negate 1 negative one which helps explain why Mattie is ready to believe Chloe rather than Kyle. Since this seems more of a next generation Chick Lit book than a standard romance, I was ready for the action to center on Mattie rather than Mattie and Kyle but a little more time spent from his POV would have helped explain why he was so willing to go through all he did to get her back.

I did enjoy the fun factoids that start each chapter. Quite eye opening and amusing.

Even if no one got the £200,000 prize money, all’s well that ends well – especially the “torture by clown show” fate for one character. Though I want Silver to be attacked by a shiver of sharks or maybe a fever of sting rays. One lives in hope. B

~Jayne

Book Link | Kindle | Amazon | Amazon UK

REVIEW: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Jia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:00:17 +0000

Dear Ms. Collins,

The Hunger Games was my favorite novel of 2008. For me it had the perfect combination of a great heroine, fast-paced plotting, and gripping tension. And considering the cliffhanger ending, I’ve been looking forward to Catching Fire since I finished last page of that book.

To refresh readers, and to bring people new to the series up to speed, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are set in a dystopian future in the remains of what was once the United States. At some point in time, an apocalypse occurred, which caused society as we know it to fall apart. From the rubble arose Panem, which consisted of the Capitol and thirteen surrounding Districts that provided the various materials and goods to keep the nation running. To be more accurate, the Capitol ruled over the thirteen surrounding Districts with an oppressive regime that eventually led to revolt. Unfortunately for the Districts, the revolt was squashed and the thirteenth District was utterly destroyed. To top it off, as punishment, the Capitol created the Hunger Games, an annual battle royale designed to remind the Districts who was in control.

Catching Fire picks up nearly immediately where The Hunger Games left off so those who haven’t read the book, please be aware that everything from here on out will be a little spoilery so tread carefully or stop reading. In The Hunger Games, we were introduced to Katniss, the female Tribute from the twelfth District who is sent to the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, whose name was the one actually drawn in the reaping. Despite the odds stacked against her, Katniss manages to not only win the Hunger Games but also keep both herself and her fellow Tribute, Peeta, alive.

When Catching Fire opens, Katniss and Peeta are fulfilling their duties as champions of the Hunger Games: touring, interviews, and public appearances. They also now live in the winners’ village which every District has to house its champions and their families. Unfortunately, District 12 isn’t known for putting out victors so the village is kind of empty. In fact, the only other person to live there is Haymitch, their former mentor and the town drunk. Kind of sad, if you ask me.

But Katniss finds that things haven’t become easier now that she’s won the Hunger Games. In order to secure both her and Peeta’s survival, Katniss trapped the Capitol and used its own love of media control and public opinion against them. In short, she humiliated them. Can you imagine? One lone girl from a backwater District known for sending loser Tributes outsmarting the all-powerful Capitol? Yeah, they didn’t take it too well and intend to punish her. This isn’t helped by the fact that during their tour, Katniss and Peeta have caught glimpses of civil unrest throughout the various Districts.

And so Katniss is worried. Is the Capitol going to target her family? She went to one Hunger Games to save her sister. What would they do now? Or are they going to target her best friend Gale, with whom a shared kiss has been witnessed by Capitol spies? But what does happen is something she never predicted.

Every 25 years, the Capitol holds a sort of super Hunger Games, called the Quarter Quell. When the Hunger Games were created 75 years ago, the founders supposedly wrote “special” provisions on slips on paper which would be drawn every quarter-century to keep things interesting or, in other words, to remind the Districts of just how bad and naughty they were. During the 25th Hunger Games, people from the Districts had to vote on who they wanted to send as Tributes. During the 50th Hunger Games, twice as many Tributes were sent. For the 75th Hunger Games, the Tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of champions. And because Katniss is the only female victor from District 12, she is guaranteed a spot in the Hunger Games.

Sequel books are tricky, the second books in a trilogy in particular. We’ve all seen sequels that don’t quite live up to their predecessor, especially when that first book is very memorable and stunning. We’ve also seen how second books in trilogies function as bridges between the first book that introduces us to a new world and conflict and the final book that wraps it up with a bang. While I do feel that Catching Fire is not as good as The Hunger Games and does indeed function as a bridge between it and the final book in the trilogy, I think it’s still an entertaining installment in its own right, albeit a flawed one.

I’m torn on the concept of the Quarter Quell. On one hand, it fits within the context of the world and the Capitol’s methodology. On the other hand, it’s also more or less a retread of the first book. While the concept of the Hunger Games in and of itself is not a new one (see: Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale), it has a freshness to it in the context of this world and this series. Returning to another Hunger Games when in truth, I was looking forward to seeing Katniss in a new arena — that of being a victor going up against the Capitol via secret rebellions and machinations, is kind of a letdown.

But on yet another hand, I did like seeing previous victors. After all, my favorite new character, Finnick, came from this group. In him, we saw a damning critique of our paparazzi’s tendency to oversexualize child stars and how they practically count down the seconds to when a child star turns 18. In this respect and others involving the older victors, I did see more of the social commentary we got in The Hunger Games but was somewhat lacking here. We have victors who are walking freakshows, who revel in their status and want nothing more than to return to the arena for more bloodshed. We have victors who are well-past their prime. And sadly, we have victors who have been broken by their experiences in the arena and who can only be called insane.

While I know this story is Katniss’s and the book itself is categorized as a young adult novel so the focus, of course, needs to be on the young adults, I do wish we’d gotten to spend more time with the other victors. We only caught the barest glimpse of how the Hunger Games and the ensuing years as victors affected them, but except Finnick, the others’ individual stories didn’t really stand out.

I regret having to say this because I liked this aspect of Katniss’s character in the previous book and actually found it charming, but wow, is she dense or what? I really wish we could have seen her getting more of a clue or at least being a little quicker to accept her role in the impending rebellion against the Capitol. Yes, she’s more concerned with protecting her family and her own but I feel a bit disappointed that her time in the Hunger Games and on tour throughout the various Districts didn’t make her a bit more in tune to what was going on.

Along those lines, what was up with the ending? I don’t really want to go into the details here but I was left feeling a little bewildered at the end of the book. After I finished it, I immediately emailed Jane the following message: “WTF??????” To be honest, I feel as if the book came up against a hard deadline or a word count limit, which was why the ending was the way it was. Because in contrast to the previous book in which Katniss was in control of the events culminating in the climax, it was nearly the opposite here. Considering she’s the protagonist of the book, I can’t help but feel cheated.

Finally, to address that age-old debate of Team Gale versus Team Peeta, while nothing was explicitly confirmed, I do think it’s obvious which way the wind is blowing. One team has far more evidence supporting it while the other not at all. As for myself, I’ve abandoned the debate almost entirely because I discovered that Finnick is far more interesting a character to me than either Gale or Peeta and I’m more interested in seeing the (platonic) relationship between Katniss and him develop versus any romantic one she might with the two available options. How’s that for fickle?

So while I don’t think Catching Fire is a match for, let alone exceeds, The Hunger Games, I do think it was a worthwhile, entertaining installment. Given how the book ends — and yes, it is a cliffhanger once again although whether readers find it worse or better than that of The Hunger Games will vary — I still want to read the next book. Because I’m hoping I’ll get that in-depth rebellion action I was hungering for but didn’t get in this one. B

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook format.

REVIEW: Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer

Jia — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:00:01 +0000

Dear Ms. Ferrer,

This year, Jane, Janine and I are participating in the 2009 TBR Challenge. I know your novel doesn’t fit into March’s theme but given my past history with this challenge, that should come as no surprise. It was in my TBR pile, however. And since I was in the mood for a YA, your book did the trick.

Ali Montero is a good, Cuban-American girl. She goes to Catholic school and shares a love of music with her father, who’s a music professor. He wants and expects her to become a music teacher just like him. That’s all well and good, but Ali doesn’t want to teach music. Oh sure, she can but that’s not what fills her soul. What she’d much rather do is perform.

To that end, Ali auditions for a TV competition, Oye Me Canto — a Latin American version of American Idol. At 17, she’s one of the youngest but age means nothing to talent. Much to her shock and delight, she’s selected to be a finalist. Great thing, right? It would be if it weren’t for the fact that Ali entered the competition without her father’s permission. After all, he wants her to become a teacher and he just wouldn’t approve, let alone let her. But getting her father to let her on the show is just the first of Ali’s challenges. Now she’ll have to figure out if the price of reaching her dreams is worth it.

While I don’t watch the show anymore, I was a huge fan of American Idol when it first premiered. That might sound strange because I never voted. Not once did I try. In fact, I rarely watched the results show. But I love music and I love watching people perform — it’s very true. You can tell when a performer is on and when they choose the correct song and style. So it was interesting for me to read a YA take on this.

Ali’s voice was great. I loved the Latin American culture that pervaded through the whole book. It informed her character and personality in a way that made her a fleshed out character. Of course, this was helped by the fact that the cast was mostly Latin American — maybe even entirely; I’m trying to think of a non-Latino character and am failing — so the characters ran the gamut, making a great and diverse cast.

On the other hand, there’s nothing exactly new here in the story. I think the well-done Latin American culture brings a fresh spin to it, but the other elements will be familiar. There’s a cute boy that Ali likes. There’s a rival who’s out to sabotage Ali’s chances of winning. There’s Ali’s transformation from being a normal girl to being a future star. This didn’t bother me because I thought it was well executed, but I think readers looking for a new and innovative read will probably not be as satisfied.

Because of the reality TV show premise, I also think the novel can be a little episodic. Don’t get me wrong. Every part fits into the story following Ali’s quest to become the next Latin American superstar, but sometimes I thought we’d flit from one thing to another without leaving much lasting impact.

I did like the subplot involving Ali’s father and his love life. I thought Ali’s perspective on the whole matter was very refreshing. Except for the notable (and understandable) exception, she takes it all in stride and makes no secret of who she thinks he should be dating anyway. There’s no anger over him finding a new love. There’s no competition for attention. In fact, I liked the fact that Ali thought he should have found someone new a long time ago. She loved her mother, but Ali didn’t put her on a pedestal and doesn’t consider a new partner to be a "replacement." I liked that and after reading many a young adult novel in which the narrator is antagonistic towards the parent’s new significant other/romantic prospect, it was nice.

All in all, I thought this novel was a pleasant, comforting read. The cultural aspect put a wonderful spin on a familiar story. At the same time, there were also enough twists and surprises to keep me entertained. I don’t like my stories too familiar, after all. All things considered, this comes out to a B- for me.

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased in trade paperback from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Reality TV Teen Gets 3 Book Deal from Harper

Jane — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:32:33 +0000

Lauren Conrad, socialite and reality TV star of The Hills, has signed a three book deal with HarperCollins. The trilogy will be about a reality TV star. Hmm. Self referential much? I don’t doubt that these books will be wildly successful. At least Conrad has a wealth of experience upon which to draw.

The real question is whether she will be writing these herself. Also, how many brand names will be included in the book? I’m going to go for 3 per page myself. Thanks Jana for the linkage.

REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Jia — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:00:28 +0000

Dear Ms. Collins,

I have no doubt that many people will compare this book to the Japanese novel, Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. How can they not? Both books take place in dystopian futures and feature oppressive governments that require children to compete in a last man standing survival game. And while it’s true there are similarities in premise and plot, I think your book brings enough new to the table that it’s easily one of the must read young adult novels of the year.

Set in the future, The Hunger Games takes place long after natural disasters, war, disease, and famine destroyed society as we know it. From the ruins of North America rose the nation of Panem, which consisted of a powerful Capitol ruling over thirteen surrounding Districts. The Districts didn’t like the Capitol’s oppressive rule very much and soon rose up together in a rebellion.

The results were disastrous. The Capitol quelled the uprising in twelve Districts and completely annihilated the thirteenth. As punishment, the Capitol created the Hunger Games. Each year, every District must send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve to eighteen as tributes. The tributes then fight each other to the death in an arena until only one person is left. These are not normal arenas. Armed with immense technology, the Capitol creates natural terrains that are enormous and range from forests to deserts to arctic landscapes. They can control the weather, climate, and even alter the terrain while the Games are in play. All this while the Games are televised across Panem, for the entertainment of the Capitol and for the sorrow of the Districts. This is the Capitol’s ultimate tool of fear, to keep the Districts in check so they can never rise up in rebellion again. It says, “Look at what we can do. We can take your children and make them kill each other while you watch. And you can’t stop us.”

The book opens on the day of reaping for the seventy-fourth Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen is a coal miner’s daughter whose father died five years ago in an explosion and has taken care of her family ever since. Hunting and foraging illegally in the forest just outside District 12’s electrified borders, Katniss sells and trades game, fruit, and vegetables to the town’s black market, officials, and tradespeople like bakers and butchers. It’s just enough for her family to get by.

The reaping’s lottery system is weighted so that the older the child the greater the chance of being selected. In addition, children can receive a year’s ration of grain and oil in exchange for another entry into the lottery, and that is also cumulative. At sixteen, Katniss is entered twenty times — the normal 5 times for her age and 15 more for the annual rations she receives for her, her mother, and her younger sister. But even though the number of entries increases your chances of selection, luck doesn’t work that way and it is Primrose, Katniss’s twelve-year-old sister, whose name is drawn even though she’s only entered once.

Katniss’s choice is automatic:

There must have been some mistake. This can’t be happening. Prim was one slip of paper in thousands! Her chances of being chosen so remote that I’d not even bothered to worry about her. Hadn’t I done everything? Taken the tesserae, refused to let her do the same? One slip. One slip in thousands. The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn’t mattered.

Somewhere far away, I can hear the crowd murmuring unhappily as they always do when a twelve-year-old gets chosen because no one thinks this is fair. And then I see her, the blood drained from her face, hands clenched in fists at her sides, walking with stiff, small steps up toward the stage, passing me, and I see the back of her blouse has become untucked and hangs out over her skirt. It’s this detail, the untucked blouse forming a ducktail, that brings me back to myself.

“Prim!” The strangled cry comes out of my throat, and my muscles begin to move again. “Prim!” I don’t need to shove through the crowd. The other kids make way immediately allowing me a straight path to the stage. I reach her just as she is about to mount the steps. With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me.

“I volunteer!” I gasp. “I volunteer as tribute!”

There’s some confusion on the stage. District 12 hasn’t had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. The rule is that once a tribute’s name has been pulled from the ball, another eligible boy, if a boy’s name has been read, or girl, if a girl’s name has been read, can step forward to take his or her place. In some districts, in which winning the reaping is such a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives, the volunteering is complicated. But in District 12, where the word tribute is pretty much synonymous with the word corpse, volunteers are all but extinct.

District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem. They are the poorest, the hungriest, the most beaten down of all the nation. In the history of the Games, only two of their tributes have won, and only one of those is still living and he’s the town drunk. No one expects the District 12 tributes to have a chance, but I don’t think anyone outside of District 12 fully understands Katniss’s will to survive.

This is a gripping story. With twists, turns, and lots of action, it kept me on the edge of my seat. Not only that, there’s no denying the power of its themes. War and violence leave scars on the next generation. Haymitch may be the town’s middle-aged drunk but can you blame him? Not did he survive a brutal battle to the death, now as a victor he must mentor future tributes. That hurts. Imagine getting to know these children, coaching them, hoping for their victory… and then watching them die. Year after year, that has been Haymitch’s fate. Of all the things he could have resorted to in order to cope, drinking might be one of the least destructive options available.

There’s also the gulf of experience between the highest social elite and the dirt poor. Life in District 12, which supplies coal to the Capitol (District 12 is located in what was once Appalachia), starkly contrasts against the excesses of the Capitol. Katniss’s stylist, the quietly subversive Cinna, says upon meeting her over dinner: “How despicable we must seem to you.” And it’s easy to see why. Katniss has lived a life being hungry, subsisting on a diet of squirrels, pine bark, and roots. Even Katniss’s fellow tribute, the baker’s son Peeta grew up on a diet of stale bread. Meanwhile in the Capitol, you can get any kind of food you wish by pushing a button.

There are also other things. How voyeuristic reality tv is. How perverse it is that we enjoy watching other people suffer. I think everyone has watched at least one episode of a reality tv show for the trainwreck factor. The Hunger Games is that ramped up to the extreme, with the added complication that the Gamemasters will spice things up to keep things interesting for its audience. If it means throwing fireballs at the tributes to drive them together or rigging the game so that two lovers will have to face each other in the end, they will do it.

Katniss is one of the strongest heroines I’ve encountered in YA fiction. She’s smart and clever. Her skills in illegal hunting and foraging gives her an advantage in this year’s Games. She can hunt her own food. She knows which plants are safe to eat. She knows what she needs to do to survive. I admit I have a fondness of half-feral girls and Katniss is definitely that. She’s not soft. She can be hard. But I don’t think her life’s allowed much for it. She does what she must to survive, so that she can return home to her sister, even if it means taking another life, even if it means pretending to be in love. I thought the romantic subplot in which Katniss pretends to love Peeta in order to gain the audience’s sympathy was very clever, even if it becomes rapidly apparent that it was never an act for Peeta.

But despite it all, not once does Katniss lose her humanity. I could feel her hunger to return home. Her love for her younger sister, how it drove her to take Primrose’s place, how it drives her to make an alliance with another District’s tribute because that girl resembles Primrose. Katniss’s desire to never marry and have children because she can’t bear the thought of subjecting a child to this fate. She doesn’t enjoy the Game. She still knows what it means to have mercy. It makes her struggle all the moire poignant.

I’m not sure if this is the first in a series. I think it could be, but readers who are series-phobic can be assured that it ends in a good place and stands well alone. But I do hope there will be more books because I can’t help but feel that this is only the beginning in the Capitol’s downfall. Katniss’s ultimate actions only support that. The Capitol’s totalitarian regime is so oppressive and overt displays of political dissent have been all but crushed that it is through subtlety that the Districts show their disapproval:

“Come on, everybody! Let’s give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!” trills Effie Trinket.

To the everlasting credit of the people of District 12, not one person claps. Not even the ones holding betting slips, the ones who are usually beyond caring. Possibly because they know me from the Hob, or knew my father, or have encountered Prim, who no one can help loving. So instead of acknowledging applause, I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage. Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone. All of this is wrong.

I’ve looked at this book from multiple angles, trying to find flaws. But I can’t and honestly, if I have to work that hard to find some, I probably won’t. This is not a book for everyone. It does not flinch. There are parts which are unsettling and uncomfortable. I realize the comparisons to Battle Royale are unavoidable but I think this is a book all on its own. A

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased in hardcover from Amazon or Powells. No ebook format.

Brody Jenner Stars in Bromance

Jane — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:38:48 +0000

I almost fell off my chair laughing this morning when I read that Brody Jenner, son of Bruce Jenner and former star of the show Hills, is going to be featured in his own realty TV show called Bromance. I’m not sure what marketing genius thought that title up.

To quote Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Update. Read more about it and maybe they are using the term exactly how they want it to be read because contestants (who are male) will be eliminated through “Hot Tub Elimination Ceremonies.”

REVIEW: Surviving Demon Island by Jaci Burton

Jane — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:00:55 +0000

Dear Ms. Burton:

I think this is one of those books were the hook will totally captivate people or turn them off. Gina Bliss is an action star in the vein of Jackie Chan. She does all her stunts herself. Coming off of back to back action movie blockbusters, Gina agrees to do a Reality TV show that involves physical challenges. The TV show is really a guise used by a demon hunting recruiter named Lou to gather elite fighters from around the globe to train them to be demon hunters. Derek Marks is the hot trainer who Gina constantly challenges. Derek and Gina are an explosive combination both in bed and out.

The hook or setup is just one of many really big suspensions of disbelief that the reader must undergo in order to enjoy the story. The book read more like a screen play than a novel and had little room amongst the killing of demons to focus on character developments. Where I might have bought into the story if it were on the big screen, in the more intimate setting of reading the book, I found it hard to lose myself in the pages.

Gina never considers how this will reflect on her career (i.e., what if she doesn’t do well in the challenge, will that affect her ability to be a marketable action movie star) nor does it address that Reality TV is a place that washed stars and wannabe stars go to find new star status. I maybe could have bought into it if the Reality TV was more like the ecochallenge, something an action competitive junkie could really get into; but I kept thinking Survivor and had a hard time seeing any movie star signing up to eat bugs and go without for days on end. The fact is that Gina’s star status had so little to do with the overall story that I couldn’t figure out why the hook was used. I had a hard time believing that disparate individuals could band together and work as an elite fighting squad hunting down demons within two days of arriving on the island. I had a hard time understanding why Gina would even be invited when Lou is so adverse to publicity.

The elements of the story just didn’t fit very well together, from the hook, to the many players invited to be part of the team (screamed setup for series to me), to the not very believable surprise ending.

If a reader can get past those issues, and just go with the story without paying attention to any realities of the world, there is a fast paced action story that features bad guys that act like bad guys and a different mythology. There is plenty of action and steamy sex scenes to fill the pages. For me, though, this was a good idea hampered by some really unbelievable details. C. Surviving Demon Island can be purchased as an ebook or in stores now. Bookseller Jolie really liked this one and is probably hand selling a copy right now.

Best regards,

Jane

P.S. Does the cover of this book like an ad for a timeshare or is it just me?