Review: Anyone But You

Info:
Title: Anyone But You
Author: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #3
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Source: eARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: 
These violent delights have violent ends...

Gigi Caputo is fed up. A vicious act of vandalism has dealt another blow to her family's proud pizza heritage, and the Montes--owners of a rival Italian restaurant--are clearly to blame. The hostility goes far beyond bragging rights for best pizza in Chicago. The Montes have been bent on destroying Cap's for four generations. Even if it means putting herself in harm's way, Gigi's determined to get to the bottom of the feud. Instead, in a secret encounter with Roman Monte, the very boy whose relatives have brought her family such grief, she finds both danger and love at first sight. If the daughter and son of these two warring families fall for each other, can it be anything but a recipe for disaster? Slowly, Gigi and Roman learn that their story is fatefully linked to the summer of 1933, when two twelve-year-olds, Benny and Nick, hop the turnstile at the Chicago World's Fair. The most stunning wonder of the fair is Stella, who innocently causes a lasting rift between the two boyhood. Wending its way through past and present day, this modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is bittersweet, funny, and intensely exciting. It's classic romance--a tale of hate and the only force that can ever defeat it: love.

Review:
I'll come right out and say it: Romeo and Juliet is my least favourite Shakespearean work that I've read. But when I got the opportunity to read and review the latest book in the Twisted Lit series, I took it on anyway.

This one is told in alternating past and present chapters. I'm not a huge fan of alternating chapters, but these ones were wildly different between narrators and situations, that at least I wasn't confused. I ended up preferring the past chapters over the present ones.

Our main character is Gigi (short for Julietta) Caputo, who, not surprisingly, falls in love with the enemy, Roman Monte. This was a major case of instalove. Like three days to "I love you". But Romeo and Juliet is kind of the definition of instalove, so I guess it fits right? But I didn't enjoy Gigi and Roman's relationship as much as I would have if it hadn't gone so quickly.

The past story centers on two best friends: Nick Monte and Benny Caputo. Like I said above, I actually preferred Nick and Benny's story over Gigi and Roman's. And it was sad! I actually cried in this one, which I was completely not expecting.

This one took me ages to get into. In fact, the first 70% of the book was kind of meh for me. I didn't connect that well with Gigi and reading about a couple of young boys decades ago didn't connect with me that well either. However, I loved the last 30%. That's when all the excitement happens and I raced through the last few chapters to see exactly how things would end up.

As far as being a retelling, the basics were there, but there was definitely a lot of original content as well. It's been a long time since I read the orginial, but there were some characters I definitely found familiar (a headstrong, fiery Ty anyone?).

Overall, Anyone But You started off slow for me, but I ended up loving the final chapters. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for the next Twist Lit installment.

Find the Book:
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Find the Authors: 
Website | Kim's Twitter | Amy's Twitter

Cover Reveal: Anyone But You by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes + Giveaway

I'm excited to share a new baby cover with you guys. This one is for book #3 in the Twisted Lit series, which does YA retellings of Shakespeare. You can check out my reviews of the first 2 books: Tempestuous and Exposure.

Book #3, Anyone But You, is a retelling of Shakespeare's most famous play, Romeo and Juliet. But in this version, the young lovers come from two warring pizzarias! I hope they fair a little better than the originals!

So without further ado, here's the brand new cover for Anyone But You!

 

Not only that, but Kim and Amy have been awesome enough to offer a giveaway! US. readers can enter here to win a SIGNED copy of Exposure, Kim and Amy's retelling of Macbeth. Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Exposure by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Info:

Title: Exposure
Authors: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #2
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: January 18, 2013

Blurb:

Double, double, toil and trouble. Sometimes, the quest for high school royalty can be deadly! In this emotionally-charged twist on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a self-conscious shutterbug named Skye Kingston navigates a treacherous school year in Alaska fraught with unspoken secrets and tragic twists of fate. Along the way she encounters three strangely prophetic BFFs; one social-climbing, sociopathic cheerleader; and a heart-stopping hottie named Craig McKenzie: the man who would be Prom King. Can Skye save the boy she loves — and herself — before they get caught in the crosshairs?

My Thoughts:

Despite the fact that I rated them the same, I preferred Exposure over Tempestuous, the first book in the Twisted Lit series. I think that's mainly because I connected more with Skye than I did with our previous heroine, Miranda. And I like Alaska.

Skye is an introvert, preferring to watch other people through her camera lens, rather than participating. However, once in a while she steps out of character, just enough to get herself into trouble. She ends up going to a party where she overhears something she shouldn't, leading to a whole mess of trouble.

I can relate to Skye, since I'm shy as well, although I doubt I would have made all the same decisions that she did. Craig McKenzie seems like a decent guy, although with a number of problems of his own. You know, one of those popular guys secretly harbouring a bunch of insecurities.

I didn't end up loving any of the characters in this one though, even Skye. I didn't hate any of them (except maybe Beth), but I didn't get a strong enough connection to the characters to warrant rating this one any higher.

On the Cover:

I like the covers in this series. They're plain, but interesting, if that makes any sense.

Rating: 3 hearts

Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Find the Book: Goodreads |Amazon | The Book Depsitory

Find the Authors: Website | Kim's Twitter | Amy's Twitter

Don't Just Take My Word for It: Sab the Book Eater | Imaginary Read | Luxury Reading

Review: Tempestuous

Info:

Title: Tempstuous
Authors: Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Series: Twisted Lit #1
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: December 18, 2012

Blurb:

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

My Thoughts:

I found Tempestuous to be the kind of book you liked, but can't remember the details when you think about it a month later. That is to say, I found it to be enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.

Our heroine, Miranda Prospero, is a cocky high school student who has recently fallen from grace at her fancy prep school as part of a cheating scandal. In order to pay restitution, Miranda is stuck working a crappy job serving hot dogs at the mall food court. That's exactly what Miranda, along with her quirky co-worker, Ariel, is doing when the storm of the century hits, causing the roads to become impassible and stranding everyone in the mall.

Miranda has to contend not only with the dorky teens that work in the food court, but also with her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friends, who are also stranded in the mall. The public and private school teens polarize and pranks and mayhem ensue. But it's not all fun and games. A thief is loose in the mall and he or she isn't above assaulting potential witnesses, or worse.

As Miranda and Ariel, along with their fellow mall employees, including the mysterious Caleb, who Miranda finds herself manacled to, race to not only catch the thief, but also enact some revenge of Miranda's snotty private school classmates, they might just learn something about each other and themselves.

 Miranda is not the most likable heroine. She's cocky, manipulative and stuck-up. While she does do some growing though the book, I still wasn't a huge fan of her calculated and some-times insincere tactics. However, I still think her heart is in the right place and you really can't expect someone to change their personality overnight.

The secondary characters were fairly enjoyable and force the reader to remember than no one is simply a stereotype. I like Ariel, although I wish she could have had a bit more backbone and not been as devoted to Miranda as she was. Caleb was your typical loner-type, who had all kinds of onion-y layers that Miranda got to discover through the night locked in the mall.

I was surprised at how much happened in this relatively short book. It seemed like the pranks, jokes and close-calls were never-ending, although they did wrap up in the end into a neat little package.

The parallels to Shakespeare's The Tempest were fairly weak, although the resemblance came through in the character names (Miranda Prospero, Ariel and even Caleb, which is similar to the character of Caliban) and the idea of a storm marooning the characters.

While I didn't find Tempestuous to be anything ground-breaking or overly memorable, I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading Exposure, the next book in the Twisted Lit series.

On the Cover:

 I like the cover. It's not super amazing or anything, but I like it.

Rating: 3 Hearts

Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Find the Authors: Kim's Goodreads | Amy's Goodreads | Kim's Twitter | Amy's Twitter | Website

Book Trailer: