Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy

Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy

Release Date: July 14, 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Paperback
Source: Pansing
Buy: Available at all good bookstores!
Goodreads ● Website

Don't call her a guardian angel. Annabel is dead–but she hasn't completely gone away. Annabel immediately understands why her first assignment as a ghostly helper is to her old classmate: Julia is fat. And being fat makes you unhappy. Simple, right?

As Annabel shadows Julia's life in the pressured final year of school, Julia gradually lets Annabel's voice in, guiding her thoughts towards her body, food and control.

But nothing is as simple as it first seems. Spending time in Julia's head seems to be having its own effect on Annabel...and she knows that once the voices take hold, it's hard to ignore them.

When I first saw Nothing Tastes As Good, I was a bit confused. I thought this was a cookbook or a book on healthy living...until I saw the tagline. I thought the concept for this one sounded great, and it also reminded me of Anne Fine's book The Angel of Nitshill Road, so I decided to give it a go. I really didn't expect to love this one as much as I did. What I thought was a book about eating disorders turned into something much, much more.

The narrative was pretty interesting. We have one of our main characters, Annabel, who can't talk to our other main character Julia. The interactions Annabel has with Julia are limited, so it's kind of cool reading about one character observing another character, who also has the ability to read her mind and the minds of others around her. Annabel was a flawed character, but while we all expect Julia to grow over the course of the book (and she did!), we also find that Annabel has a lot to learn as well. Both were such real characters, and I truly appreciated that this story captured such well fleshed-out characters.

As I mentioned before, there's a lot more to the book than eating disorders. Something else is pushing Julia towards bingeing on food, and I really liked Annabel switching gears when she comes to learn of it. I also liked that the story delved into some of Annabel's memories and we get to learn more about her time when she was alive, as well as getting glimpses of the lives of those around her. The shift in perspective highlighted how Annabel and Julia are foils of one another when it comes to personalities, but they go through the same struggle, and it's up to Annabel to figure out why she's the one that needs to save Julia.

As someone who has had a problematic relationship with food, I really enjoyed Nothing Tastes As Good. Poignant and bittersweet, I came to love Julia and Annabel's story, and truly understand the importance behind a book such as this one. Claire Hennessy's latest novel is real–it captures the ups and downs of life perfectly, and promotes the idea of body positivity, which is unfortunately rare to find in young adult fiction. Don't miss out on this one!

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Looks by Madeleine George ● Goodreads
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson ● Goodreads

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

I feel really bad because I received this one a while back (probably in January), and was supposed to review it for the pub date wayyyy back in April. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading and reviewing it...until now. Oh Rabiah. Rabiah, Rabiah, Rabiah. Foolish, STUPID Rabiah! I HAVE SO MANY REGRETS! Tell Me Three Things was ah-mazing. It was like a young adult version of You've Got Mail, except where the guys knows who she is from the start. Love of Meg Ryan movies aside, I came out of this one with a huge smile on my face–this book made me so happy!

I loved Jessie's character, and it's probably because I definitely understand the whole new-school thing. I've done that at least seven or eight times! It's tough when you're the new kid, especially if you're shy or look different from everyone else. Theo kind of grew on me and totally reminded me of Shane Harvey's character from MTV's Faking It. There are quite a few characters featured in this novel that are possibly S/N. The messages between Jessie and S/N were so adorable! Although it seemed a little weird at the start, I love how that relationship developed. Liam and Ethan were both such great characters–both are super cute and swoon-worthy (and I wanna listen to Oville music now...). 

The "mystery" was a little bit obvious (for me at least), but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the ride immensely. There were a few mistakes here and there on Jessie's part, which lead to a few complications, but I read this book in one sitting because I HAD to know who was S/N. That ending was seriously not how I saw everything going down! It's quite hilarious how things turn out, and I was, as you can probably tell, more than satisfied with how the story ended.

Tell Me Three Things is officially one of my favourites this year! This book was (1) sweet, (2) charming and (3) hilarious–Julie Buxbaum's young adult debut will have you smiling the whole way through. Don't make my mistake and push this one back (still have so many regrets!). Pick it up and read it, because you will not be disappointed.

Also...I'm totally craving waffles now.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Jillian at Random House Children's Books for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• The Trouble with Flirting by Claire LaZebnik ● Goodreads
• Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett ● Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 171

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight upcoming releases that I'm DYING to get my hands on!

This week's WoW is:

I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She's starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.

So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically-guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it's time to use The Formula for herself. She'll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win her boyfriend back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.

Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn't all it's cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity, and fix everything she's messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

September 13, 2016 ● Goodreads

I'm pretty ashamed to say that I still haven't read a book written by the absolutely fabulous Gretchen McNeil. People have raved and raved about her works, but nope–I'm still pretty stupid and haven't taken the chance to pick one of hers up. Well, hopefully that changes with this one! I like that the trope of manic pixie dream girl is being slightly ridiculed after being romanticised and all sorts of -cised via the media and through books. No more! Hopefully this one provides a lot of laughs. Can't wait!

What are you waiting on?

The Power of Dark by Robin Jarvis

The Power of Dark by Robin Jarvis

Release Date: June 30, 2016
Publisher: Egmont
Series: The Witching Legacy, Book 1
Rated: MG/YA 12+
Format: ARC
Source: Pansing
Buy: Available at all good bookstores!
Goodreads ● Website

Something is brewing in the town of Whitby. To best friends Lil and Verne, it just seems like a particularly bad storm. But Cherry Cerise, the last of the Whitby witches, fears that ancient forces are at work, reviving the curse of a long lost magical artifact.

The legend goes that the Nimius was created by magician Melchior Pyke, with the assistance of a young witch known as Scaur Annie. But they were both betrayed by Pyke’s villainous manservant, Mister Dark, causing a feud that has survived even beyond death.

As Mister Dark, with his horrific winged familiar, arises to mastermind Whitby’s very own apocalypse and take the Nimius for his own evil purposes, can Lil and Verne join with Cherry to quell his plans and save their home?

When I received The Power of Dark in the mail, I had no idea what to expect. I'd never heard of it before, but it looked really interesting. The cover and synopsis screamed "fantasy," and because it's been a while since I'd last picked up a fantasy book, I decided to jump right into it. It actually took me a while to get into it, not gonna lie. Not because it wasn't good–this one was actually really great–but I was otherwise distracted and would often not be able to read huge chunks in one sitting. I finally did make it through, practically inhaling the second half of the book, and, overall, I found myself pleased with the book.

While the characters were a little younger than what you'd typically find in a young adult novel, I did enjoy reading their adventure. Verne and Lil (very suitably named, as well) were fantastic characters, and I enjoyed reading about their own personal conflicts in the midst of the larger problem they both come to face. Cherry was absolutely hilarious and I came to love the magical hippie. At first it was confusing when the narrative jumped to the histories of Annie and Pyke, but the two stories come together and form the foundation for the start of an exciting new series.

It was such an interesting concept–magic against machinery. It's truly a gothic novel that harnesses both, and pits them against one another. I really enjoyed the history behind Whitby and the reason for the brewing war between the two sides. It seemed quite strange, the modern-day setting infused with something brought to the present from a few hundred years ago, but it worked well. The climax was a titchy bit lacking in climactical momentum (aka a big WOW moment), but by the end of the novel I wanted more.

The Power of Dark reminded me so much of the fantasy books I used to devour when I was younger. There's a magical tone–that special spark–that many fantasy novels don't have, but I'm glad to say that this one definitely did. Robin Jarvis is a talented storyteller, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper ● Goodreads
• Trollhunters by Guillermo del Toro & Daniel Kraus ● Goodreads

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