Review: Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

The calendar says summer is officially over, and even here in New York the temperature has finally dropped below 80, but I think we can squeeze in one more summer read, right?

Lily Sanderson is a mermaid. And not just any mermaid; she's the princess of Thalasinnia. She's also half-human, and after she discovered that her mother was human, she chose to spend a few years living on land with her aunt and attending Seaview High School. On the plus side, she gets to know family she never knew she had, and oggle swimming god Brody every day. On the negative side, she has to deal with her obnoxious neighbor, Quince, who calls her dumb names and likes to call her house when she's in the bathtub. Annoying and a little creepy.

While Lily is enjoying life on land, she has a deadline for returning to the sea. As the heir to the Thalasinnian throne, she must bond with a mate for life by the time she turns 18. Lily is sure that Brody is meant to be the love of her life, even if they've never actually had a conversation yet. All she needs is to kiss him, and they'll be bonded for life and all will be well. Unfortunately, Quince ruins Lily's brilliant plan, requiring an emergency trip with him to the depths of Thalasinnia, exposing her secret and potentially ruining her chances with Brody forever.

This is possibly the most perfect definition of "beach read" ever. It's about a mermaid, large chunks of it take place in or around oceans, and it's about the fluffiest, most unsubstantial, romance I've ever read. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but don't go into this book expecting complex characters or multiple sub-plots. Lily is single-minded in her pursuit of Brody, and that translates into being essentially the only plot of the book.

Similarly, I know this isn't the sort of book one isn't supposed to apply logic to, but I just can't help it, since there were a few things that just kept bothering me. Like the concept of bonding at 18. Mermaids have longer lifespans than humans, so why on Earth (why in Atlantis?) would there be a law saying the future ruler must choose her mate for life at 18? Especially since we see how selfish and short-sighted Lily can be, that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

On a similar logic-defying note, while I liked the attempt at creating unique mermaid lingo, some of it just doesn't make logical sense. Like saying "carp" instead of "crap." Sure, the words look similar enough (in English), but think about the etymology of crap - what does that have to do with a fish? Especially a fish that lives in freshwater, while the mermaids live in the saltwater ocean.

If you're a romance fan looking for one last breath of summer, perhaps with a need for a break from serious school-related books, this wouldn't be a bad choice. However, even with the blatantly obvious (and out of nowhere) setup for a sequel, I think I'm done with mermaids. What's the next mythological creature to get a romance?

Review: The Snowball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter

The first line of the jacket copy on this book made me thing I was in for a quirky-dark family comedy of sorts "18 year old Lainey Pike can tell you everything you need to know about the people in her family just by telling you how they died." Death is serious, of course, but am I the only one who finds that to be a mildly amusing way to introduce the topic?

I've always had a morbid sense of humor.

Lainey's family is unconventional - she hardly knows her older half-sister, Vallery, as she spent most of her life living with her dad. Her younger brother, Collin, is adopted and has behavioral issues ranging from being on the autism spectrum to ADHD. The three are thrust together to make a new family after their mother kills herself in the basement laundry room.

Lainey is angry and confused. At her mom. At her sister. Even at her long term boyfriend, who is kind and sweet and loving, even with Collin. But the end of high school marks a major life transition, even when half of your family hasn't dropped dead, and Lainey is wondering whether the path she's always had set before her is where she belongs.

Lainey and Vallery are definitely the best developed characters in the book. I kind of got frustrated with how little time was devoted to Collin - he's the whole reason Vallery comes into the story after all. His behavioral and/or developmental issues make communication difficult, but really no one, not even his teachers (who are trained to deal with emotional and developmental difficulties), questions whether his behavior may stem from grief and/or abandonment issues? The boy was adopted as a toddler, so he was in the foster care system for awhile before being adopted, and in short order his adoptive father and mother die violently (motorcycle accident and suicide by hanging). It seemed like sloppy character development, or lack thereof - throw in a character with a disability so the disability can stand in place of a personality.

On the other hand, I loved Lainey's romantic turmoil, between her long-term safe and stable boyfriend, and the rugged, drifter new guy she meets at the 7-11 when she doesn't have the cash for a Slurpee. What's great is Hoxter doesn't give us any easy answers - this isn't the classic love triangle with Lainey pining between the two boys. There's ambiguity here in the relationships and Lainey's feelings. So much YA ends with the lead couple declaring their undying love for each other - and while I don't doubt people feel that way at times, it seems like Lainey's dilemma must be more common.

Review: Candor by Pam Bachorz

Found via: BBYA 2010 nominations

When I'm traveling, I like to bring along books that match where I'm going whenever possible. So when I was traveling over Thanksgiving to celebrate the holidays with my in-laws in Florida, I brought along Candor, set in a perfect community in Florida. Hm, maybe when I'm going to spend time with my in-laws I shouldn't bring along books that encourage distrust of adults!

Oscar Banks lives with his father in Candor, Florida, the community that his father established as the perfect place, especially for parents to bring their troubled teenagers. Only Oscar knows why the kids become so docile upon moving to Candor - his father has set up an elaborate sound system throughout the town that is constantly pumping subliminal messages into everyone's unsuspecting minds.

Rebelling against his father the only way he can and not be sent to the extreme re-education room, Oscar runs a sort of underground railroad where the richest kids in town can buy passage out of Candor (and Oscar in return has an endless supply of contraband - porn, DVDs and M&Ms are just a few of the things that are outlawed in Candor that Oscar hoards). Oscar's secret? He knows how to create his own subliminal messages, which can counteract the ones his father has set up.

And then Nia arrives. Beautiful and rebellious, Oscar can't stand the thought of her being changed into the perfect Candor citizen. He creates a special batch of messages for Nia to keep her from falling under the spell - but never tells her about it. At the same time Nia arrives, one of Oscar's clients who was supposed to escape is caught at the last minute. Oscar's usual balancing act has become much more precarious - there's now someone else in town who knows what he's up to, who could spill the beans at any moment. At the same time he has to encourage Nia to be herself, but pretend that she's like the other Candor kids - without revealing the secret of the messages. All without his strict, controlling father ever suspecting that the rebellion is being run from inside his son's bedroom.

Candor has all the elements of the quintessential YA novel - untrustworthy parents, conspiracy theories, a beautiful stranger, and a smarter than average protagonist. But with all of these elements, I still felt the book fell a little short in some ways. Big things went unexplained, like why exactly someone goes crazy if they leave Candor but don't bring along a set of subliminal messages. I also never understood why Oscar felt it was so important that Nia not know about the subliminal messages, either the ones his father set up or the new ones he gave Nia. It felt like it was an artificial reason, set up so there would be conflict between Oscar and Nia if/when she did find out. Finally, why on earth did Oscar's dad create Candor in the first place? I can see the appeal of creating a perfect community, but there's never an explanation for why he targeted rich families with problem teenagers. Oscar points out a very real problem with his father's business model: since you die if you leave Candor, no one can ever move away permanently (college-bound students have a special CD pack they take with them, but they always come back to Candor), meaning eventually the town's land will be completely used up, with no new families (and thus no new income for his father) until people start dying off. Unless his father's plan is actually to keep expanding Candor until he's taken over the US, it doesn't seem like a feasible plan.

There are some fun elements, however. I enjoyed Oscar's increasing paranoia throughout the book, trying to figure out what new messages his father was implanting in the populace, knowing when to play along with the messages and when to actively rebel. The story is exciting, despite the occasional holes in the logic, and tightly paced, making this a definite page turner.