Review: SUMMER OF YESTERDAY by Gaby Triana

Title: Summer of Yesterday
Author: Gaby Triana
Publication date: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Back to the Future meets Fast Times at Ridgemont High when Haley’s summer vacation takes a turn for the retro in this totally rad romantic fantasy.

Summer officially sucks. Thanks to a stupid seizure she had a few months earlier, Haley’s stuck going on vacation with her dad and his new family to Disney’s Fort Wilderness instead of enjoying the last session of summer camp back home with her friends. Fort Wilderness holds lots of childhood memories for her father, but surely nothing for Haley. But then a new seizure triggers something she’s never before experienced—time travel—and she ends up in River Country, the campground’s long-abandoned water park, during its heyday.

The year? 1982.

And there—with its amusing fashion, “oldies” music, and primitive technology—she runs into familiar faces: teenage Dad and Mom before they’d even met. Somehow, Haley must find her way back to the twenty-first century before her present-day parents anguish over her disappearance, a difficult feat now that she’s met Jason, one of the park’s summer residents and employees, who takes the strangely dressed stowaway under his wing.

Seizures aside, Haley’s used to controlling her life, and she has no idea how to deal with this dilemma. How can she be falling for a boy whose future she can’t share?

So. Much. Potential. 

Actually, its potential wasn't fully wasted because I liked this book for the most part. I stayed up reading it until way after midnight and thought about it for an extra 30 minutes or so. So where did it go wrong? 

Well, first, I'll tell you where it was right. Gaby Triana's writing style and voice connected with me. Again, I had a problem nearing the end, but in all, Haley's narration sucked me in. She made quips and didn't bore me. I felt like I could picture the setting, both in the past and future. I knew from the beginning that I'd pick up another Triana book right away because her writing captivated me in a fun way. 

Another plus was the first half of the plot, which kept me reading. I was interested to see the past and meet Haley's teenage parents and explore the surprise with her. I loved reading about how Haley was trying to deal with it all and I begged for more. 

Unfortunately, that's where it ends. It might not seem like it, but those plusses weighed a lot in my mind so I don't consider this a bad book, perse. I just expected something different. 

The plot for me

THE PLOT. Oh, what great things it could have done. In the synopsis, it introduces cute Jason, a boy Haley meets in her parents' era. In the beginning of the book, it introduces the idea that Haley feels out of place with her dad and his stepfamily and whatnot. So when I kept reading, I figured there would be romance, but that Haley would actually resolve familial issues along the way...or AT LEAST at the end. Unless I misunderstood, I thought that if the author implies trouble in an area and busts open a door for a conflict for the MC to overcome and satisfyingly resolve, the MC would, you know, do so. Instead, We saw her parents a couple of times (not even a handful, I think), focusing on this unbreakable, meant-to-be mumbo jumbo love between Haley and Jason, the boy who is her PARENTS' age. 

Let's get this straight real quick. Jason and Haley meet and she's in his era for a grand total of, I think, three days. In that already limited time, they're only together for about 50-75% of that because she's napping or on the run or he's at work. So they might share some "deep" information, but I personally believe it's still superficial in the grand scheme of things. Then Haley considers STAYING with Jason and this is where I'd like to remind you all once again that he is the same age as her parents. Same. Age. Yes, she only knows him as a teenager, but it's just...wrong. Her wanting to grow up with her parents is wrong. It's all wrong. 

It continues to be wrong when THINGS happen at the end. Things that I can't talk about because it's spoilery. Basically, it made me very, very peeved. One of the non-spoilery things at the end that made me angry was the fact that familial issues were not resolved. I think the author made an attempt for resolution, but I wasn't fooled. More superficial things happened, but none of Haley's complaints and problems were actually addressed. Do you know what that makes me? Dissatisfied. 

Verdict: Some people may love the direction it took, but I would have liked it a whole lot more if it was less romance and more family and exploration.

Review: ALIENATED by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated 

Author: Melissa Landers

Publication date: February 4, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Source: an e-galley provided by the publisher for an honest review

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

Review:

First line: Winning.

Warning: If you decide to read this book (which I force recommend you do), you may be surprised at the amount of smiling you will do while reading. 

At least, that's how it was for me. I kept going back and forth about if I should read this and then the publisher gave me a Netgalley link, so I thought, why not? It wasn't a life-changing, realistic book. It was a cute, smiling, wonderful book that kickstarted my reading again. I am still in awe of how Melissa Landers did it. It went from careful, I may have to start saying "whatever" to I can't stop reading in an impressive transition. 

First thing you need to know: Cara is competitive. We're told that right from the beginning, from the very first line actually. Because of that, she snags the valedictorian slot in her school and then is surprised with a prestigious scholarship. The catch is that it involves a student exchange with a L'eihr, a.k.a. an alien. Her parents and principal are all gung-ho about it, but she has doubts, especially since her jerky boyfriend is anti-alien. Nevertheless, she agrees.

When we were first introduced to Cara and her social life, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Oh no, not another controlling, jerky boyfriend, who she'll be conflicted in whether or not she should break up with him or not, but we all know that she should...that kind of feeling. Thankfully, Landers knew what she was doing and fixed that problem very quickly. I won't even touch on that pesky best friend business she had going on though. 

Another plus in Landers' favor? Providing pronunciation for the aliens' names! Hurray! She does it in a smooth way that made me sigh with relief because I can barely pronounce normal English words, don't make me try to pronounce names that are spelled weird. Not only that, but she also makes us feel the differences between aliens and humans. They aren't just people who were born on a different planet, they had a completely different culture, attitude, upbringing, and complexities. They felt foreign and I always looked forward to learning more. 

But let's be honest. The building romance and feels between Aelyx and Cara was like a flutter-fest for me. My heart fluttered, my hands fluttered, and I wouldn't doubt that my eyelashes fluttered because I was a fluttering mess. I don't do well in embarrassing situations, even fictional ones, but Landers pulled this off excellently. There were awkward scenes that made me adore the story more. Then not-so-awkward ones that got me fluttering again. Things did get heated, but not too far, and once again, Landers pulled it off well. Standing ovation for her, yes?

While she was still toying my emotions, Landers then decided to heat up the other side of my brain: anger. I was angry. Not at the writing or the story, but the characters. Then it wasn't even the characters themselves, but how realistic they are to our society. Aliens and other scary things are happening. So of course, humans will start to overreact and become hurtful and violent. They turn on their neighbor, they become insistent that they are right and they basically make everything 100x worse. Cara's situation goes from being a great experience for her and Earth to needing guards and being shunned from everyone. It was awful because I could see that happening. Hey, it probably has happened many times throughout history. Something scary happens and we all panic and create hurtful groups like Alienated's HALO. But let's not forget the other side, shall we? The aliens weren't completely blameless either. Aelyx and the other two exchange students, especially the girl, decided to do something that they thought was in the best interest of their planet, but ultimately, they were teenagers thinking that they knew best (of course, adults have many of those moments as well). This story was all kinds of laughs, smiles, flirting, blushing, and fluff. But then Landers sticks in this aspect that actually added depth into the silliness, making me appreciate the novel so much more. 

Since this book was such a win for me, I hate to touch on anything negative because I felt like the positives blew everything out of the water. Alas, I have to. That ending. There was one part with her parents that felt wrong to me, but I reminded myself that this was a fun book, I shouldn't focus on it. Then we get to the actual ending and hello, sinking feeling. I really can't say much (since it is the ending), but I dread the direction it seems to be taking. I'll be one of the first to request the sequel, but I hate the implication that started forming in the last few pages. 

Me.

Verdict: DISNEY-HYPERION FOR THE WIN! 

Wishlist Wednesday #14

Hosted by Pen to Paper

Title: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

Author: Sarah Strohmeyer

Publication date: April 23, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen

From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.

When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

Why I'm wishing: 

I have been in a really big contemporary phase lately and not only that it is contemporary, but the cover screams that too with all the colors. Then of course, it is about Disney, summer internships, and cousins (instead of sisters or best friends, hey, I like something different). Although I have never seen The Devil Wears Prada, this book sounds so interesting, I would be perfectly thrilled fine if this was on my doorstep.

What are you wishing for this week?