Review: Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy

  Title: Being Friends with Boys

  Author: Terra Elan McVoy

  Publisher: Simon Pulse

  Publication date: May 1st 2012

  Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

  My rating: 3 stars

  “Don’t forget who your real friends are”

Charlotte has always hung out with the boys; she practically grew up with Oliver and when Trip moved to their new school, they’ve been inseparable since. Over the summer they grew even closer when they started messing around in Oliver’s basement, what started off as fun and a bunch of laughs soon developed in a four group band (with Abe) called Sad Jackal. You had Oliver singing and messing around on guitar, Trip being the heart and soul of the group, Abe on the drums and Charlotte bringing the lyrics. Everything seemed fine that is until Trip drops the bombshell that he’s left the group. Charlotte doesn’t understand it; they had the best group dynamics when they worked together, now that Trips left it would never be the same. They would probably have to recruit new members and there would always be that awkwardness around Trip. Charlotte and Trip were extremely close friends, closer than Oliver and Charlotte. Trip and Charlotte had a special bond which couldn’t be explained, they understood each other, were totally open with each other, (shared their feelings with one another in a notebook they passed to each other several times in the day). Charlotte didn’t want the band to come between their friendship, but she had a duty to the rest of the band members too.

Being Friends with Boys started off great, it was fun; seeing Charlotte’s interactions with boys, how they treated her like she was one of them, heartfelt; the messages and notes she shared with Trip. But then things started getting complicated; with two new band members being recruited; Eli and Fabian. Charlotte had less time she could spend with Trip, with the school dance just around the corner the band had to practice more often especially so that they could click together as a group. Charlotte could sense it was a strain on her relationship with Trip, but there’s nothing she could do about it.

Things however started to getting a little too complicated and farfetched for my liking; Charlotte was in a flutter over who she wanted to be with, who wanted to be with her and who she rumoured to be with!!! Her life kind of turned into a wrecking ball with other groups wanting her to join their groups, and ex-best friends wanting to know her all of a sudden.

However the thing that surprised me about this book was that characters I had originally liked, kind of showed their true colours and left me disappointed in the end and characters I’d completely overlooked and had thought little of had the backbone to stick with Charlotte through the tough times. I guess you could say the opening line of my review is true; your true friends will always be around you no matter what.

However I did have a few minor irks with this book; Charlotte especially for the second half of the book made me want to pull my hair out, she kept on trying different things even though knowing it would be the wrong thing to do. And lately I’ve realised I don’t have the patience with characters who keep faffing around, it was clearly obvious who she was meant to be with, but it took her until 2/3 of the book to realise it. Also I love my music themed books; and this book did bring it to the forefront; getting the right song, jamming out together, but all the lyrics Charlotte was writing I would have loved to have seen them, we were told the titles of the songs, what influenced her in writing them but we never really got the chance to hear or read them.

Despite these irritations I did relatively enjoy this book; it was cute, funny, a decent music themed book and full of charming characters.  

Review: Where it Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

   Title: Where it Began

   Author: Ann Redisch Stampler

   Publisher: Simon Pulse

   Publication date: 6th March 2012

   My rating: 2 stars

I was truly suffering from a brain funk after finishing Where it Began. It wasn’t that the book was complicated, so I had a lot to get my head around. But it was just the long winded path the book well more specifically the main character Gabby took to finally discovering the truth! Seriously Gabby kind of made your head spin in exasperated circles.

Gabby wakes up near the remains of her boyfriend Billy’s battered car with no recollection of how she got there, when in hospital she still can’t remember a thing, it takes her a while for things to slowly make sense. She was driving and ended up slamming into a tree and smacking her head. Her blood level showed she was way over the limit and consequently the smack to her head has left her with retrograde amnesia. The only thing that she remembers was that Billy Nash her boyfriend was with her in the car, but she doesn’t know what happened to him after that. Did he manage to escape? Is he hurt? Is he still alive? No one’s telling her anything, her mum just flips her off, and she won’t let her friends come to visit her either. She’s more concerned with making sure Gabby’s looking perfect physically, not the least concerned about her mental state. On top of all that Gabby also has the police breathing down her neck.

I really enjoy reading books dealing with memory loss, I’ve come across some okayish ones in the past but Where it Began started really well. You’re thrown head first into Gabby suffering from a head trauma, and you have all these questions flying all over the place, what are they not telling Gabby? Where’s Billy? Is the fact that he’s not got in contact with her and everyone’s tight lipped about him mean he’s dead? Why’s Gabby’s mum so selfish? Will we ever find out what really happened? Would Gabby get her memory back?

Despite starting off well, I had several problems with this book and thus my 2 star rating. Initially the book had the constant need to flit back and forward between time spans, so one minute you’re in hospital with Gabby, the next she’s recalling a memory of when she first started dating Billy and then you’re thrown back into the hospital and then back into the past, and so on, at times it was utterly mind boggling. I know it was there to establish the back story about Gabby’s huge make-over; finally becoming noticed, becoming part of the popular crowd and everything she remembered up until the accident. But at times I really wanted to shout would you please get on with it! I really didn’t give a toss about the back story; I just wanted to know what really happened. It was also hugely frustrating when Gabby kept constantly yammering off the point.

However what truly grated me about Gabby’s character was her infatuation with Billy. It’s like she had blinkers on throughout the entire book he was loving, caring, good-looking, everything he said was right, he was doing everything for her, basically she thought he was perfect. I don’t know if when Gabby banged her head that she knocked the part of her head which was for common sense too, but ugh some of the drivel she spouted about Billy I really wanted to slap some sense into her. Gabby’s parents were also another major annoyance in this book, like seriously does no child have decent parents anymore? Gabby’s mum Vivian honestly made my blood boil, first her daughter has suffered a major head trauma, she’s lucky to be alive, but all she’s concerned with is how she looks, instead of remaining by her bedside, she goes shopping whilst she’s in hospital for make-up so she can spruce her daughter. Obviously because that would be Gabby’s number one concern right now her appearance?

“You were so beautiful, you were”
“It kills me to see you like this.”

What a way to boost her daughter’s confidence, whilst she’s lying in bed cut off from her friends and the outside world, not having a clue what’s going on and suffering from a head trauma. Gabby’s dad was just the invisible parent, wandering aimlessly in the background making occasional appearances or just drinking himself away.

Basically Where it Began started off as a highly anticipated read but ended up being a big disappointment. The book went around in maddening circles and frustrated me to a no end with two faced and pathetic characters.

Favourite quote;

“I thought she knew” argghh!!”