Review: Awaken (Abandon Trilogy series #3) by Meg Cabot

Summary
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, the dark reimagining of the Persephone myth comes to a thrilling conclusion.

Death has her in his clutches. She doesn't want him to let go.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she'd be forced to live forever in the one place she's always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.

But now her happiness -- and safety -- are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.

If the balance between life and death isn't fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce's home back on earth will be wiped away. But there's only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.

Review
Kicking the bucket, biting the dust, meeting the grim reaper, and resting at peace are all expressions commonly used to describe someone who has died and passed on to their final resting place. It is ironic that death is the most complicated and fearful event of a person’s, but people use humorous and exaggerated expressions to describe an event that is uncontrollable and irreversible. Death itself is a creature with wild and dark actions and reasons that cannot be explained and cannot be questioned since there is no way to question it or find out what happens once one dies and leaves the living, forever.

Pierce Oliviera is a young woman who has not only met death and lived to tell the tale, but is dating a death deity or lord of the Underworld and now he is dead. Now Pierce is left with more than a sense of loss when losing John, the love of her life. She is left with an Underworld full of souls that are trapped because they cannot pass on without guidance to their final resting place, a family in the real world that is facing criminal charges and personal destruction, and the possibility that she cannot protect herself, the ones she loves, and bring John back all in time…before the Underworld becomes one with the living.

Pierce is a young woman who is faced with more challenges than the average girl and the fact that the novel is able to incorporate the normal adolescence experiences with that of the exaggerated experiences of dating a boy that has already died and is a permanent fixture of the Underworld. She is a young woman in love who has run away from her parents, is currently living as the consort and queen of the Underworld, and is faced with trying to find the balance between a life with her family above her boyfriend’s Underworld kingdom and a life permanently with John.

As if Pierce doesn’t have enough on her plate between the living and the dead, she is faced with Furies. Furies are evil spirits who take possession of the living who are weak minded. The problem is not that Furies have taken her boyfriend’s spirit through killing him, but that Furies possess the ones closest to her and she does not know how to save everyone including herself. It all comes down to the war between the Furies and the Fates.

This finale to the Abandon series is my personal favorite of all three books simply because the relationships between the main characters is extremely emotional as they are faced with the possibility that not everyone is going to be able to survive the storm that is approaching between the living and the dead. Cabot is able to write a series based on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone without making the logic sound as if it is unbelievable or unrealistic; rather she transforms Pierce and John’s love into a romantic tale that follows the concept of love vs. death. Not only is this a unique concept that is battling for control over the fate of Pierce and John’s relationship as well as the fate of everyone they truly care about, but the plot is not about life vs. death, but rather the living and the dead fighting for a chance to be loved without consequences.

This book was incredibly detailed, fast paced, and deeply written in terms of the consequences that continue to haunt a person once they have made choices they cannot fix or take back. A sense of foreshadowing develops in the plot of the book as Pierce and John work together in the beginning to sort the souls of the dead and make sure they pass on to their final resting place while they are forced to live with their own decisions and remain as permanent members of the Underworld. The love between Pierce and John is intoxicating, while their issues in the Underworld are extremely unpopular and unusual for people Pierce’s age, but their circumstances in the world of the living are quite normal and expected for teenagers who are in love as much as Pierce and John.

I recommend this book as well as the trilogy to anyone who finds a complicated love story intriguing and enticing, especially when the challenges the main characters face are those that are not possible in most situations or expected. Cabot allows the reader to follow the in depth thoughts of Pierce’s mind and how she balances the difficult decisions between her teenage emotions and the emotional reactions of those around her, living and dead.

It has always been said that love conquers all. For Pierce and John that is the truth, but in the end, someone always has to die.

Reviewed by Nicole Williams

Book Information
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date: 7/2/2013
Pages: 336

Review: The Calorie Myth: How to Eat More, Exercise Less, Lose Weight, and Live Better by Jonathan Bailor

Summary
What if everything you thought you knew about weight loss was wrong?

When it comes to most things in life, we welcome research and progress. From the convenience of our smartphones to the technology in our hospitals, scientific advancement allows us to live better.

So why are we still following weight-loss advice from the 1950s? Why haven't we ever questioned the "calories in/calories out" model at the foundation of every diet and fitness plan—a formula that, not coincidentally, has accompanied record-breaking levels of obesity?

In The Calorie Myth, Jonathan Bailor exposes the fundamental flaw upon which the diet industry is built and offers a new equation:

eat More + exercise Less = weight loss

If calorie math added up, 100 calories of vegetables = 100 calories of candy. That doesn't seem right—because it's not. While some calories fuel weight loss, others work against us. In The Calorie Myth, Bailor shows us how eating more of the right kinds of foods and exercising less, but at a higher intensity, is the true formula for burning fat and boosting metabolism.

Why? Because eating high-quality foods, like whole-food plants, proteins, and fats, balances the hormones that regulate your metabolism. Eating poor-quality foods, like refined starches, sweets, and processed foods, causes a hormonal imbalance, throwing your metabolism off kilter and causing you to store food as fat—regardless of how many calories you consume.

In this revolutionary weight-loss program informed by more than 1,200 scientific studies, Bailor offers clear, comprehensive guidance on what to eat and why, providing an eating plan, recipes, and a simple yet effective exercise regimen.

Losing weight doesn't have to mean going hungry or spending hours at the gym. Don't let outdated calorie math stand between you and the life you want: discover the new science of weight loss with The Calorie Myth.

Review
This book couldn't have come at a better time. With this being the start of the New Year, many of you begin your year with your annual weight loss resolution. What always happens? You are determined to lose a designated amount of pounds but never reach it. Forget all those weight loss programs that you pay per meal or week that you sit down in a group and talk about food. Forget about spending money for a gym membership that you sign up with the intention to spend endless hours daily but will just end up being a yearlong donation. For those of you out there that gets tired of spending money on empty promises and killing yourself at the gym with minimal results that get you defeated. Once you read The Calorie Myth, it will change your perspective with the intention on setting realistic achievable goals rather than drastic measures that contribute to your yo yo lifestyle.

What is great about this book is that it wasn't written by a celebrity or highlighting some new diet with unrealistic goal loss. It was written by someone who understands how the physical body works and what is needed to create prolonged optimal health. I’m not one that would ever endorse or recommend any weight loss or diet book but I was really impressed with the information provided in the book.  Very well researched and supported by science rather than opinions, it really educates you to shift your motivations from chasing a number to a healthier lifestyle.

The book is divided into three sections that are comprehensive and informative filled with educational material about food and how we use it, exercise goals that give you results, recipes that promote a healthier body and a resourceful appendix. This book isn't about making promises but giving the reader a program that focuses on the type of food rather that how much with the intention on long term success rather than quick fixes. It really dives into debunking The Calorie Myth and really shows the reader how to really “eat more and exercise less.” If you are looking to lose weight and maintain results long term or just want to learn a fresh perspective for gaining optimal health, I recommend you grab yourself a copy.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 12/31/2013
Pages: 336

Review: Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris by Ann Mah

Summary 
When journalist Ann Mah’s husband is given a diplomatic assignment in Paris, Mah is overjoyed. A lifelong foodie and Francophile, she immediately begins plotting gastronomic adventures a deux. Then her husband is called away to Iraq on a yearlong post—alone. 

So, not unlike another diplomatic wife, Julia Child, Mah must find a life for herself in a new city. Journeying through Paris and the surrounding regions of France, Mah combats her loneliness by seeking out her perfect pain au chocolat and learning how the andouillette sausage is really made. And somewhere between Paris and the south o France, she uncovers a few of life’s truths. 

Like Almost French and Julie and Julia, Mastering the Art of French Eating is interwoven with the lively characters the author meets and the traditional recipes she samples. Both funny and intelligent, this is a story about love—of food, family, and France. 

Review
Mastering the Art of French Eating is a melting pot of literary genres that has something for everyone. Historical background on where a dish was born as well as how it came to be; geography and travel information; as well as recipes of each dish spelled out between each chapter. Not only that, but Mastering the Art of French Eating teaches you about life. This memoir teaches you to make the most out of the time you have as well as the opportunities you are given. I would also say this book teaches you to cherish these times and opportunities but life is fleeting and not everything can and will last forever; however the things you do encounter in this life, whether good or bad, help move you forward and give you something to always carry in your memory and your heart. 

Since this is not like the typical literature that I read, I will not write this review in the typical fashion I have done most of my other reviews. I will say that I liked the food and travel of this memoir. I love to eat and I love to travel and for me, this book made me want to go to Paris right then and there and eat everything. Everything but the Andouillette. I agree with Ann, it sounded as displeasing as she described. Why would anyone want to eat something that smelled bad? 

Of course that is my opinion as well as Ann’s. What you take away is your own opinion. However, my point to that little summarization is that you take from this what you will. Food is like life, and sometimes it will be pleasing to you and other times, depending on your taste, it will be displeasing. As I stated above, make the most of your time and opportunities. 

And for our author and leading lady, Ann has the opportunity to finally live in Paris due to her U.S. diplomatic husband, Calvin and his being stationed there. The two meet up with old friends and disembark together on a culinary journey, beginning with Steak Frites, which is skirt steak with shallots) and everything seems to be blissful. However, for her next endeavor, Ann tries to tackle Andouillette, which from my interpretation, is meat in synthetic casting or sausage. And as I stated before, like Ann, it does not sound appealing. But I will let you read and you tell me what you think; although, in my opinion, this dish was an omen of what to come. 

Barely settled into Parisian life, Calvin finds out he has to go to Iraq and Ann cannot come with, thus leaving her stuck alone in Paris. Suddenly her dream of living in Paris doesn’t seem so glamorous without her husband. Now she must learn to still continue the dream and make the most of Paris until Calvin’s return and further still, make the most of Paris until they are reassigned. 

In the dawn of a revised fantasy, Ann is feeling rather lonely and she figures the best way to quell her empty heart and disappointment is to comfort herself with food. Thus she begins to find dishes that soothe her as well as travel back in time to dishes that she has shared with Calvin and many others; each dish coupled with its history of origin as well as place of origin. And so Ann discovers with every meal she taste, a valuable lesson of life and the love she shares with Calvin. That even though things are new, they don’t have to be scary and you can choose how to respond to every situation; whether to eat or not to eat, to mope or make the best of things. 

As I previously mentioned before, I would not do this review as I had the others. Thus I cannot state the trajectory of the memoir but will say Ann begins in Paris with Steak Frites and ends in Aveyron with Aligot (I still do not know how to pronounce this. My French is rusty). And there are recipes, with instructions at the end of every chapter. Also, I want to add that I loved reading about Cassoulet, Fondue and Boeuf Bourguignon. Most importantly, I want to say that life is short and if ever you find yourself in Paris, why France itself, try everything, screw direction and learn as you go. Make your time there count and make the best of every opportunity, because it may not come back around a second time. Live, learn and eat!  

Reviewed by Camia Rhodes

Book Information
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Publication date: 9/26/2013
Pages: 288

Review: High Tolerance by Mike Sager

Summary
In this artful page-turner, a beloved superstarlet, a controversial billionaire Hip Hop mogul, and a television writer/producer idled by a demoralizing strike are linked together improbably by murder, domestic heartbreak, a sex video . . . and their inclusion on a secret subscription list for an exclusive designer strain of medical marijuana. Over a span of three seemingly ordinary days and nights in Los Angeles, the world wobbles on its digital axis, and futures are forever changed.

Hollywood, January 2008. The Writers Guild of America is on strike. An increasingly peevish viewing audience is relegated to a starvation diet of reruns and old movies. What happens when a series of shocking, deadly, and prurient events boils over into a perfect storm of serendipitous, round-the-clock programming? And what becomes of the major players, whose lives are inalterably masticated by the public's right to know?

High Tolerance is the second novel by the award-winning Rolling Stone and Esquire journalist Mike Sager, whose work has inspired a number of films, including the classic Boogie Nights. He summons his considerable descriptive and narrative powers-and three decades behind the scenes covering celebrities, gangs, drugs, and crime-to weave together a raw and insightful tale of complicated lives in the shifting racial landscape of turn-of-the-century Los Angeles, the dream factory from which the American Zeitgeist is exported around the globe.

Review
Drawing from his three decades of journalism, covering the behind the scenes of gangs, drugs, violence and celebrities, Mike Sager put to pen an edgy novel filled with urban vernacular that could be the lead story on any major high profile city. A light and quick read filled with characters that bring realism and entertainment for a plot that weaves together a Hollywood actress, hip hop superstar and a tv writer who find themselves all caught up in situations that create intense drama for the reader.

For those who may be sensitive to explicit language, there are references made throughout the book that may be offensive to some, just to mention. I know for myself, I struggled with reading throughout due to the content at times but I appreciate the novel for an interesting plot and all that it entailed creating the tone of a certain lifestyle and experience to be as realistic as possible. Even though, this book was not for me, I know that there are many readers whom it will. 

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: The Sager Group
Publication date: 5/15/2013
Pages: 282

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Summary
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

We enter this novel, reeling from the information bomb dropped at the end of the previous novel, with inquiring and hungry minds as to what comes next in Cinder’s journey to fulfilling her destiny. However, Marissa Meyer introduces you to a new character that takes the center stage and is the primary person you have contact with. Scarlet, based on an update of Little Red Riding Hood, is the main narrator while you do get snippets into what is happening in Cinder’s life and her next move into helping everyone she loves.

Scarlet is a girl who also has never had it easy, lives with her grandmother, and together they deliver goods to local markets and restaurants from their ranch/farm. However, one day when she comes home from work, she finds that her grandmother is missing and no one seems to know where she is. The police are no help, thinking she has run off on her own, and Scarlet even turns to her father whom she has no respect for. 

It is only when she gets a tip from Wolf, a street fighter and a complete stranger to everyone in the community, who tells her that he knows where her grandmother is. Together, they embark on a journey that will change their future, their relationship together, and have them collide with Cinder in a way no one thought was possible.

Review
This book was just as amazing as the first, making me even more excited for the next novel in the series, Cress, which comes out next month. The stories are very well-woven together in terms of plot and character development, but it is a little frustrating that some secrets are still being kept between each other.

The only disappointment with this novel that I had was less time to develop Cinder’s story, since you connect with her tremendously during the first novel. Scarlet, however, is still a very wonderful character to meet, and you will be anxious to learn the next part of their story.

Reviewed by Mercedes Olivas

Book Information
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication date: 2/4/2014
Pages: 512

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

There are things that happen in our life that change who we are for the rest of our lives. They may be for the better, or they may be for the worse. Either way, that impact changes how you see things and even think about the world around you. That definitely seems to be the case for Grace when she was a child and her wolf attack changes how she sees them when they visit her house, but one wolf just seems to stand out.

It is the wolf that saved her, with the big yellow eyes, that just seems to display sadness to her every time she sees it in her backyard, next to the trees that holds the entrance to the woods where they live. She gladly sits in the cold with a blanket or through her window to catch a glimpse of him. It seems that he is all she thinks about all day, and no one but her friends understand, not even her parents who seem to not even know she exists sometimes.

However, that all changes when another local attack prompts the men to go into the woods, and her precious gets injured, and changes into Sam right in front of her. For the first time, he is human when it is still cold, and the constant battle to change back and do the right thing for Grace begins.

Review
This novel was very thorough with the changing points of view between Sam and Grace, which helps to understand how they really feel about the situation and each other. Their love and care for one another is very strong, and you can’t help but hope that they find a way to be together forever.

I would highly recommend this novel to readers of my own age, possibly even a little younger, especially those who like fantasy and romance novels. It is a fresh intake on the myth of werewolves and whether or not they really exist.

Reviewed by Mercedes Olivas