Mini Review (Above & 12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn)

Above

by Leah Bobet

3 stars

Summary:

Matthew has loved Ariel from the moment he found her in the tunnels, her bee’s wings falling away. They live in Safe, an underground refuge for those fleeing the city Above—like Whisper, who speaks to ghosts, and Jack Flash, who can shoot lightning from his fingers.

But one terrifying night, an old enemy invades Safe with an army of shadows, and only Matthew, Ariel, and a few friends escape Above. As Matthew unravels the mystery of Safe’s history and the shadows’ attack, he realizes he must find a way to remake his home—not just for himself, but for Ariel, who needs him more than ever before.

Review:

This was one of the debuts of 2012 I was looking forward to.  The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounds intriging.  When I read it, the book was still those things, but it was also confusing and slow.  Above has all this amazing potential, but it falls flat for me.  The writing is heavy with the narration creating a confusing line of time.  I get that Leah Bobet was experimenting with style choices, but I think it only detracted from the story.  The action often drags, and there are long periods of down time with overly expalnaied backstory.  When the action does happen it is often hard to follow.  Overall, Above was not a book for me.  I appreciated the effort, and I'm sure some will fall in love, but I couldn't get behind it.

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12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn

by James Proimos

4 stars

Summary:

It’s Wes Anderson meets Holden Caufield in this wry and funny novel about a boy who is sent to live with his uncle when his father (a bestselling self-help author) dies.

James “Hercules” Martino has until the end of the summer (a.k.a. two weeks) to accomplish the twelve tasks given to him by his Uncle Anthony. The tasks will take him to the far reaches of Baltimore, lead him to a Beautiful and Unattainable Women, and change the way he sees his past, present and future.

Review:

This was an emotional punch filled with humor.  There may not been much in the pages, rounding out at 128, but Proimos still tells a great story.  I think of this book as a collection of vignettes strung together by the list Hercules needs to complete.  Some of the tasks seem to be impossible, while others are just difficult, but he manages to complete each one.  The book had me laughing through the whole thing, and I really think boys would enjoy it.  12 Things To Do Before You Crash and Burn can be used as a great gateway book for more difficult reads!

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