Hai guys! This will be the first time I have ever done an "end of year book survey." This survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. The link to original is at the end of this post, so keep reading! :D

Best in Books

Best book(s) you read in 2013?
Historical Fiction: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Nonfiction: Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook by Ellen Potter
Realistic Fiction: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn't?
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Alternatively, Who Done It? edited and composed by Jon Sciezka.

Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

Best series you discovered in 2013?
Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer Hands DOWN.

Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?
JOHN GREEN. and Jodi Picoult too, but I think I started reading her books in 2012.

Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.

Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross.

Book you read in 2013 that you most likely to re-read next year?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Also, The Truth About Forever, because I reread everything that I really love. I'll reread the first one more though, as I actually own a copy of it.

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

Most memorable character in 2013?
Erm. Hmm.... I simply can't choose!! D:

Most beautifully written book read in 2013?
Mehh honestly I don't know.

Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard.

Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. I know right?! It's so cute though.

Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2013?
"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."
-The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

Shortest and longest book you read in 2013?
Shortest: Cheer Skills: Beginning Tumbling and Stunting by Jen Jones (32 pages)
Longest: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (544 pages)

Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, ETC).
Definitely Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley.

Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc.)
too many to name, but I shall name a few:

Jase x Samantha

Macy x Wes

Kate x Anna (sibling bond)


Favorite book you read in 2013 from an author you've read previously?
I guess either A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass or The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech.

Best book you read in 2013 that you read SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else?

None?

Genre you read the most from in 2013?
Realistic Fiction, for sure. It's basically all that I read nowadays. I tend to stay away from fantasy, although I'm not sure why. I don't think I've had a very positive experience with fantasy books in general. I mean, I have, like Harry Potter and all that, but still.

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?
Jase! From My Life Next Door. <333

Best 2013 debut you read?
Ack... I think I've only read one 2013 debut... Seeing Cinderella.

Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis. I loved how realistic he made it.

Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2013?
UGHHH I don't know. I don't read emotional books anymore ;_; no but mostly I'm just oddly unaffected by books, however well written. Maybe The Book Thief by Markus Zusak?

Book you read in 2013 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. Seriously. Soo good. Although, I guess, the plot may come off as a bit cliche.

Book blogging/Reading life in 2013

New favorite book blog you discovered in 2013?
Because I just found it and got addicted to it, Saru's blog over at To read or not to read? I also simply adore her blog design.


Favorite review that you wrote in 2013?
Urmm....... Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings, by Sophia Bennett.

Best discussion you had on your blog?*BURSTS INTO TEARS* I don't have discussions on my blog :'(

Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog?
No idea. Something that I saw on Goodreads....

Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Hrmm. HRMM. I don't know, because I rarely participate in anything. Yeah, my reading life is almost nonexistent :D

Best moment of book blogging/your book life in 2013?
Whenever I get a new comment on a post. :)

Most popular post this year on your blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Pfft. For comments, it was my post about "Thank You!!!
For views, it was --WHAT!?!??!?!?!?!-- my review of The Danger Box by Blue Balliett. I only just posted it like, last month!!!! Wowzas.

Post you wished got a little more love?
Each :)

Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Goodreads :)

Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Well.... the simple answer is no. I completed only 2/3 of my goal :(

Looking Ahead...

One book you didn't get to in 2013 but will be your number one priority in 2014?
Ugh! It's not that I "didn't get to it", it's just that I wasn't able to finish it! I guess audiobooks just really aren't for me. :(


Book you are most anticipating for 2014 (non-debut)?
Hrmm. Wait a second, I got this.... Cress by Marissa Meyer!


2014 debut you are most anticipating?
I can't see any on my immediate list...uh oh! I have to change that! Any books you guys recommend I look out for?


Series ending you are most anticipating in 2014?
Nothing?


One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging in 2014?
Read more~!! Since I don't really have access to a library here, it's pretty hard for me to catch up on reading :(


Happy New Year everyone! Don't forget to check out the original post here at The Perpetual Page-Turner!

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett :)

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Danger Box. Ahhh <3
Just kidding.

i picked up this book when I saw it at the library for a number of reasons:

1) Ooh that's an...... interesting cover. Rather reminds me of this one, another personal favorite:
2) Ooh Blue Balliett!!!! I read her book Chasing Vermeer and thoroughly enjoyed it in fourth grade and I assumed that that meant that her other books were all equally entertaining. Alas!
3) Ahh the blurb is so.... intriguing!
4) Omg dat TITLE~! It just sounds amazing and interesting and VERY mysterious.

So there were a lot of things that I felt had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite as well as I had hoped it would.

Firstly, the main character, Zoomy, is the son of an alcoholic and a migrant worker. His father is the alcoholic, Buckeye, and he did not claim Zoomy, leaving him under the care of his parents (Zoomy's grandparents). "Zoomy" turns out to be the name of Buckeye's childhood 'invisible friend.' I felt like that concept could be developed a little more, like maybe some special link with Buckeye's childhood friend that becomes a special link between estranged father and son.

Secondly, Zoomy has pathological myopia (he's legally blind), so he wears incredibly thick glasses. This does affect the way he sees, as mentioned in the blurb; but, it doesn't play as big of a role as I had hoped it would, nor is the 'affected way he sees' the way I had anticipated, either. Surely he is almost blind, but most of the time anything related to his eyesight comes up it's usually when he's saying "I can't see! What's going on?" or some other version of that.

Also, I never really understood what the Danger Box really was. In the preface in the beginning of the book, something about "Everyone has their own Danger Box" was mentioned, which really heightened my hopes, but in the end, it seems that the Danger Box is just a box full of treasures and memories?

Additionally, the plot was disorganized, for the most part. I would have liked to know more about Lorrel, the "mysterious girl who doesn't fit in", and her family, as well as her life before in the city.

Really, my major disappointment was that it was never really clear what (view spoiler)[ the "players" hired by "Mr. Zip" were hired to do. (hide spoiler)] It had all sounded so thrilling, so exciting, so mysterious, in the beginning of the book, but then it really fell flat for me.

However, I would probably consider reading "The Wright 3" and "The Calder Game" just because I thoroughly enjoyed "Chasing Vermeer" and those books are (i think?) sequels to it.



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Quickie Review: The Good Earth

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ahh <33
This book is kind of long, so it has a lot of ups and downs. I didn't find this particularly good, because Wang Lung in general is not really an interesting character. It may just be my bad memory, because I read this almost a month ago, but although I plowed through it, I didn't read any parts that jump out at me in particular.

Sigh, I really wanted to like this book as a friend recommended it to me with glowing reviews. I guess I'm just not as cut out for these kinds of books....

Best part of this book: (view spoiler)[ I would say that the best part of this book was the part where Wang Lung and his family go to the south to try to live city life when their rural village town is stricken by drought therefore famine. (hide spoiler)]

Favorite Character: My favorite character would have to be Wang Lung's mute and mentally disabled daughter. She does not have a name, but is Wang Lung's especial pet, and he often says to her: "Oh, poor fool! You poor little fool!" in a way that is meant to be a compliment.



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Quickie Review: The Wide-Awake Princess

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So.......... I found out that this has a sequel! Squee~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway. I rather liked this book, even though I found the part about the knight a little more than unbelievable. It's been almost three months since I read this, though, so please forgive my bad memory! Anyway, I always love fairytale retellings, different perspectives, etc. But once in a while I think that it would be fun to have a girly fairy tale heroine... I think that we tend to reward more 'tomboyish' girls nowadays and I'm just like.... what's wrong with girly girls, you know? Like, they don't have to be super 'delicate' and 'fragile', because that's annoying, and I get that. But honestly I wouldn't have thought that Princess Annie would have been the exact opposite of Gwendolyn.

Also. Another thing that bugged me was the thing about Annie that makes her so "special": (view spoiler)[ her gift that makes magic disappear in her presence (hide spoiler)]. It's an..... interesting twist, I suppose, although how that would work I have no clue, because (view spoiler)[ it's not like she has a gift for "un-magic", she just has NO magic (hide spoiler)]. I would have expected Annie to make a bigger deal out of it, or at least be more concerned that she wasn't as "good" or whatever as Gwen. Instead, Annie is all like, "Lalala I really couldn't care less."

So, that's all I really have to say about this book. A little bit of a disappointment if you ask me, but I would definitely read the sequel, and........ does this series have a third book?


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Quickie Review: The Menagerie

The Menagerie by Tui T. Sutherland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I found this book to be very entertaining. The premise is simple, and at times cliched-- but it was enjoyable, in the least. Although I prefer deep, thoughtful, well-written books, I still like a good light read now and again, so this book was perfect for it!

I don't read much fantasy, mostly because not much of it interests me (vampires? zombie? ghosts? goblins? ugh.). But I decided to give it a shot because it sounded okay.

I didn't like the main character, Logan, mostly because it was like, (view spoiler)["Oh, you have a superpower. Great, you're suddenly better than someone who's been training all his life!!!" (hide spoiler)], even if Logan really couldn't help it and it wasn't his fault at all....

I am SO DONE with totally precocious main characters. Hello? They should have flaws too! UGH.

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Quickie Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. just......wow.

This book's title has always intrigued me, and I'm so glad that I decided to check it out.

This book was just beautifully written and thoroughly entertaining. I'm sure that if I look closer and scrutinize it as I have in some of my other reviews I am sure to find some mistakes, or some part that is faulty in some way. And sure, some of the language just did not sit well with me. But the characters were so quirky and fun, and I was on Colin's side from the beginning. I wasn't sure about Hassan for a while, but he grew on me, too. And Lindsey! Oh, she was such a delight to read about.

The part about the factory wasn't very clear, I think, and at first I thought Hollis was Lindsey's adopted mom or stepmom or something because Lindsey calls her by her first name.......

But if I step back and think about it, I can't honestly say that this book was perfect. Still, it was a refreshing and interesting read, and I think that it was funny and amazing enough for me to really really like it.

So........... I found this book to be an enjoyable and good read (ha-ha, see what I did there?) and I would recommend it to many other readers.


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Escape from the Forbidden Planet by Julie Anne Grasso

Escape From The Forbidden Planet by Julie Anne Grasso
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title is a bit misleading. Most of the book is not about the forbidden planet, much less the escape from it. In fact the first mention of a so-called forbidden planet was page 104, which was the start of chapter 21!!!!!!!

The book was kind of quirky in an endearing way, using words like "higgledy-piggledy" and "bearnaise". But, and this might just be because of cultural differences, but there was this sentence:

"'Caramel, you have had a long day and tomorrow we will go to our cardamom harvest so you need to be fresh.'"

Uh.............. what?

And there was a part where(view spoiler)[ Caramel revealed to her parents that she was super gifted, and they were just like, "Well done honey, BUT WE WERE JUST WAITING FOR YOU TO REALIZE IT. Hahahahaha." (hide spoiler)] Uhhh. That was SO not convincing.

And then there was the (view spoiler)[kidnap scene (hide spoiler)]. I got the feeling that that was supposed to be incredibly suspenseful or something, but all it was was really really fast paced and I couldn't understand a word of it. That totally took away from the whole "suspenseful" thing going on.

Also there was a bit where Micah, one of Caramel's friends, kept saying, "Haha, I know you know that it means _____ but you sounds so SINCERE!!!"

Uh. That was sooo annoying, because the whole time Caramel didn't know what it meant and she wasn't trying to be funny....

And the book was sooo full of coincidences, like the thing about (view spoiler)[ Richard Reynolds being employed by the Alexanders (hide spoiler)].

At one point Kirra (another one of Caramel's friends) said "Hoh K". (sic)

Ummmmmmm what?!?!?!

Read the following sentence:
"This is why Isabel had to remove her brother and live in exile on her own planet."

You would think that Isabel was living in exile, right?! But according to the book, it's referring to her brother!! Uh...... someone call the grammar nazi.

And the character Sass didn't do anything for me. She was just there, but not in a particularly good or bad way...

So the bottom line is, this book was enjoyable but there were a lot of frustrating or confusing bits. It's a fast and light read, though, so I would probably recommend it.


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The Encyclopedia of Me, by Karen Rivers

The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers

One sentence review-summary:

I kinda hated this book. Two stars, because some parts were memorable, but the whole thing was frustrating as a whole.

Summary:

This is the story of Tink’s summer leading up to her eighth-grade year. Written in the style of an encyclopedia and narrated by Tink, who writes it when she is grounded to have something to do, Tink reveals the complex emotions of a young teen.

Setting:

This book takes place in the present day. The location is not specified.

Main Characters:

Tink Aaron-Martin, a biracial soon-to-be eighth grade girl.

Freddie Blue Anderson, Tink’s Swedish best friend.

Ruth Quayle, an unpopular girl who likes to skateboard and who turns out to be an unlikely friend for Tink.

Kai, the extremely cute boy with blue hair who lives next door to Tink and who skateboards as well.

Thoughts:

The friendship between Tink and Freddie Blue is incredibly frustrating. Tink becomes concerned with what BFFs should feel and letting that dictate her emotions. “Freddie Blue is my BFF! I should be happy if she has a boyfriend first! I shouldn’t even care! But I do.” Definitely not a sign of a healthy friendship. Also, I think that Tink idealized Freddie Blue. Examples of this include Tink frequently saying, “Freddie Blue would never do that to me.”

Secondly, for goodness’s sake, Tink! You’re going into eighth grade. You sound like a fifth grader! Subject matter aside, if you add Tink’s personality with a childish love of paperdolls you could easily create a nine-year-old.

I think that Tink’s idea of her role in her household differs from her parents’ and in many ways Tink doesn’t like being labeled. I don’t think that she tried to defy the label but she openly disliked it. She couldn’t help being a Peacemaker. She wished her parents’ expectations were different.

Tink’s decision to switch to Isadora is ironic, in a way. When she was four, Tink probably begged to be called Tink, yet nine years later, she says, “You shouldn’t let a four year old choose her own name!” But she has a new identity now. That’s great. Obviously, frequent identity changes can be a problem (hint hint Mclean from “What Happened to Goodbye” by Sarah Dessen). But for Tink it’s actually healthy, like a breath of fresh air.

So while I had been very excited about reading this book initially, it fell flat for me.

Also the constant footnotes were SO annoying. Many times I would miss the note, only to find a parade of small text at the bottom, and the I would search and search for the note.

The whole “I’m writing an encyclopedia about my life so I can get famous” thing kinda failed to be honest. At times Tink says completely out of line things like “Don’t tell ___ I said that,” etc. If she actually plans on publishing it, which she constantly assures us of, then those people, like Lex or Freddie Blue, would probably know anyway.

I feel as if Rivers did not flesh out the characters much as far as appearances go; that, or she is under the false impression that soon to be eighth grade girls wouldn’t want to describe people. Quite the opposite! I am going into seventh grade but I know some people who are a grade older anyhow. I honestly don’t know what Freddie Blue looks like, besides that she is Swedish and has “expensive gold streaks in her hair.”

I don’t think Tink is like any other black girl I’ve known. If not for the parts where she talks about about her afro and her father, I would have thought she was a white girl. With all due respect, Ms. Rivers, you cannot just add an ‘interesting’ heritage to an otherwise Plain Jane character and just expect it to work! Tink has got to have a voice!

Besides having blue hair, what doe Kai look like? Even if Tink knew little about him, she would certainly be able to describe him, especially after mooning over him!

We don’t know much about Seb except that he has autism and therefore gets to do anything he likes. Tink is therefore understandably jealous.  Her jealousy may be understandable, but it definitely isn’t excusable, and he ‘he gets everything easy, why can’t I’ attitude just further proves how immature she is.

Recommendation:

I would recommend this book to teen girls with a taste for drama.

Quickie Review: Dead Girls Don't Lie

Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

This book was an honest-to-goodness, nail-biting thriller. It was very frightening in the descriptions of the gang activities. I felt that this book was very well-written. Although I myself am not an avid fan of thriller-mystery-suspense type books, I have wholeheartedly recommended this book to my friend, who loves that genre. I would recommend this book to fans of the Pretty Little Liars series. The friendship between Jaycee and Rachel was done well and realistically portrayed. All in all, I liked this book, although I would not read it again.

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Setting

This book is set in futuristic New Beijing, in the year 125 T.E., at time when humans, cyborgs, and androids all coexist.

Summary (no spoilers)

Prince Kai wants to get his android Nainsi fixed—by none other than the most gifted mechanic in New Beijing, Cinder! But while in the local junkyard looking for pieces of metal to use with her stepsister, Peony gets letumosis, or the plague as it’s known, a sickness that is spreading like wildfire across the Eastern Commonwealth. Adri sends Cinder to the cyborg draft, where scientists use cyborgs to test for cures for the plague. That’s when everything changes….

Characters

Cinder, the 16-year-old protagonist, is the most gifted mechanic in New Beijing, and an adopted cyborg from Europe with an ambiguous childhood.

Iko, Cinder’s android with a unique personality, is also Cinder’s best friend.

Peony is Cinder’s stepsister who is a victim of the plague. She is also the excuse that Adri has to get rid of Cinder.

Prince Kai is the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, as well as being Cinder’s love interest.

Dr. Erland is the head researcher for the cyborg draft with a secret of his own.

Adri is Cinder’s stepmother who despises her cyborg stepdaughter.

Queen Levana, the Lunar Queen, who is an enemy of the Eastern Commonwealth.

Thoughts

This book is a modern retelling of Cinderella. As such, the plot at some points became a little bit predictable. However, I really liked how only one of Cinder’s stepsisters was mean, as opposed to both in the original Cinderella fairytale. Although I believe Cinder was a fantastic book, there were a few confusing parts. For example, once, Dr. Erland was explaining something to Cinder (I’m trying not to spoil too much), and Cinder just took a long time to process this information. Instead of coming off as being shocked speechless, however, Cinder just seemed a bit unresponsive.

Also, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I understand why Marissa Meyer made it into a series (with this subject matter, who could resist?), but I still expected some sort of closure. And so the ‘cliffhanger’ ending became more like a marketing gimmick, instead of a literary prop. And if the next book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet, stars a different fairytale main character (namely, Red Riding Hood), how will there ever be enough space for Meyer to tell Cinder’s ending AND Scarlet’s story?! With a series like this one, with each book starring a different protagonist (while, admittedly, the same antagonist), I would have expected there to be a fifth and final book explaining what happens when the four girls join forces (as in the juvenile fantasy series Sisters Eight). I guess I’ll just have to read the rest of the series—when it comes out—to find out!!

Girl Out Loud, by Emily Gale

Girl Out Loud by Emily Gale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually quite liked this book. I give out 2-star and 3-star ratings literally all the time, but this one made it to 4 :)

Where do I start with this? There were parts of the book I didn't like. But I think I'm a bit of a "hopeless romantic" (I'm not sure if I'm using this correctly), so I dislike reading books about people receiving very harsh treatment or anything like that. Let me elaborate: when a character gets treated unfairly by another, i.e. bullying, child abuse, harassment, etc., it makes me VERY uncomfortable, even if the case is very minor. But I digress.

The reason I mention that is because our main character Kassidy's dad has a sort of disorder. It's not very detailed in the story, and at parts it was so vague that it got to the point where I was wondering if the author even bothered to do any background research at all. But I understand that living with a parent with that disorder would make it hard for Kassidy to talk about it, and I don't blame her, so............that makes it all right.

I don't understand why Char, Izzy, and Kass, not to mention Luke and Cass(ian), all have family problems. Really? Is it that serious in their area? And Kass's family, apparently, has problems with both parents. But I see how living with Kass's dad could have caused her mom to do the things she did. (Trying not to spoil too much here (: )

One thing I really loved about the book was (view spoiler)[ the conflict between Char and Kass about Dream Boy, a.k.a. Cass. (hide spoiler)]

I also loved how, in the end, because of what was going on with their mom, Raff and Kass became closer to each other. It seemed so sweet.

But it also seems impossible how Raff gets away with every. single. thing. he does. Really? That seems really odd, considering how uptight the parents are with Kass, who is two years older.

I wished that there could have been more descriptions of how Kass didn't stand up to her father's outrageous demands.

I know that the (view spoiler)[ Gorton's fish sticks (hide spoiler)] incident was one, but then they didn't describe any of the other failed Operation: Stardoms, such as the Mensa IQ Test and Youth Orchestra.

And it was so unfortunate that nobody realized that Kass had tried to rebel against her father, more than once. Deep down inside, she didn't want to let him down, I think, because that might unleash his inner "monster". (Something they refer to as GTD or something that I never quite managed to understand, *shrug*)

Anyway. That's it for this book.
~Dana


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Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings (Threads, #1) by Sophia Bennett

Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings, Sophia Bennett (Chicken House, 2011)
Length: 304 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Children's Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Plot:

Nonie's a freak for fashion. Eco-conscious Edie blogs to save the world--and get into Harvard. Starter-starlet Jenny just landed a small part in a big Hollywood blockbuster. When they meet a Ugandan refugee girl who's an amazing designer, the three trendy London teens--and Crow, the incredible fashion designer-- combine their talents to raise awareness for the crisis of the Night Walking children.

{adapted from Goodreads summary}

Thoughts:

I had mixed feelings about this book.

I didn't like the cover design.

I know, I know, very superficial of me, but I sincerely doubt that either Nonie, Crow, Jenny, or Granny would approve of this book cover.

Anyway, "don't judge a book by its cover" right?

I don't believe that the world Sophia Bennett spins is very believable. Look, there's a girl who's just starred in an absolute Hollywood blockbuster! Plus she's got a famous father!

And ooh, look, there's that twelve-year-old tween from UGANDA who catapulted to huge fashion designer in around six months!!

This might be the life of a couple of rich kids, but as far as we know, Crow is not rich.

I'm not denying Crow the years that she spent studying fashion. But what about Jenny?

Let's see:

According to her best friends, who probably wouldn't lie and turn their backs against their best friend, Jenny

a) is not that good at acting on set (Remember, there was an agent searching for a girl for Kid Code? Jenny did well in Annie.
b) does not AT ALL enjoy being on set OR on tour, especially at awarding events.

There is really no reason at all that Jenny would be on the set of an enormous blockbuster hit, if she doesn't enjoy it at all.

Furthermore, Jenny went and did a screen test for a movie in Hawaii, not even thinking about her best friends she was leaving behind in London, just so she could be with a boy who was not only too old for her, didn't even care for her at all!!

Nonie, I think, was the most developed character in the story, and even then, she wasn't really fleshed out. I felt that the scenes describing Nonie having a "new idea for a minidress, so she took all of her fashion books onto the floor and studied them" could have been elaborated a LOT more.

For example, in the story, Crow is the only one portrayed as having any real fashion success. In the end, Nonie actually has to be the business coordinator and manager for Crow.

And it just wasn't fair that Nonie's mother kept spending time with Crow and not with Nonie, as Edie had pointed out.

I also felt that Jenny had been very unattached from the other two while abroad. They couldn't really be best friends, could they?!??!?!?

Just kidding. But still.

I didn't understand why Edie put what Nonie and Jenny were wearing onto her "Saving the Environment and Invisible Children are Important!" website.

There was no reason, besides that she found it interesting, which I'm pretty sure she didn't. Edie was always the straightforward, honest, and, according to Nonie, boring one. She doesn't have a lot of style, based on the descriptions of her clothing choices. So there's no reason why Edie would be interested in her friends' clothing choices.

And why in the world did Nonie get upset when Edie was trying to design a logo for a T-shirt?!?!?!?!?!

It's a T-shirt, Nonie!!!!!!

They are really quite un-fashionable!

At least the commercially-produced-for-merchandise are. I mean the kind that Edie's trying to sell.

They're just plain T-shirts with logos on them.

~~~~~~~

Anyway,  ta-ta.

xoxo~ Dana