ARC Review: Anyone But You by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes!

Title: Anyone But You (Twisted Lit #3)
Author(s): Kim Askew, Amy Helmes
Publication:January 18th 2014 by Merit Press
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

The Montes love Italian food. And they hate the Caputos, That's how it is. It's been that way for sixty years. Every time the Caputos start to get a reputation for great pizza (and who knows? It could be better than the Montes!) there's "an accident" and Cap's is knocked back on its knees. What nobody knows is that the family teenagers are sick of their parents acting like schoolyard bullies, when nobody even remembers why the fight started! Gigi Caputo and Roman Monte, the son and daughter, are secretly in love. Determined to put a stop to their parents' vicious feud, they risk their parents' livelihood and their own lives. In this nod to Romeo and Juliet, will love win? Or vendetta?

-- My Rating --

4/5 Oscars: Really liked it

-- My Thoughts --

My reviews of the Twisted Lit series!
     I read the first and second books in this series, which were based on The Tempest and Macbeth, so I was super excited to be able to read the third book by these amazing authors! They always make the Shakespearean plays much more fun!
     Caputos hate the Montes. Nobody really knows where this hate started but they know that it will continue, anyway. Gigi is a Caputo. Roman is a Monte. They should be doing anything but falling in love with each other. Will these two be able to stop a decades old feud between the families, for the sake of their love?
     I love Romeo and Juliet. I love their young, innocent love, and their insistence to stay in love even when they know that their families will never approve of each other. This element was present in this book, too, and i LOVED it. But what I really appreciated about this book, was the style of the retelling. Although most of the book is Gigi and Roman's story, it's also Nick Monte and Benny Caputo's story, the two ancestors who started this. It started from the very first and told us exactly why this all started and i KNOW that if this was told in another kind of way, it wouldn't have been so effective. These two authors definitely know how to present their back-stories and they did it perfectly.
     The characters in this story are colorful, three-dimensional and altogether lovely! I loved Gigi and her bravery. And Roman was the typical, swoon-worthy guy in YA. But what bothered me was the insta-romance. I know that it's a factor from the original Romeo and Juliet, but I wished there was more development to the romance. Not just an "Hello. I just met you. But I love you". I hate that, but because this book was so good, it didn't bother me as much as it should have done.

     I am definitely waiting for more from these authors. Kim and Amy have a witty, intriguing and daring writing style. And there take on the Shakespeare plays is one to behold! If you're a fan of a much more fun retelling of the tragic Romeo and Juliet, then this book is for you!

Release-Day Review: Exposure by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Name of book: Exposure (Twisted Lit #2)
Author(s): Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Publication: January 18th 2013 by Merit Press
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

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 Rating --

-- My Thoughts --

     I absolutely loved Kim and Amy's first co-authored book, Tempestuous (see my review here) This is it's companion novel, and it's based of Shakespeare's Macbeth, my favorite play of all time. Right from the start, I knew this would be darker than the first book, and much more developed. I was right.

     Skye is off into college, but the rumors follow her exotic beauty and her strange ways. But Skye has a dark past, and she is begins to tell her story. High school is a dark, scary place, but is full of new expectations, new experiences, and new feelings. And jealousy is a dangerous thing, especially between friends. Curious, huh? Go read the book. I am not giving away anything more.

     Wow. I didn't expect anything that happened in this book. This is a very dark read, but also a very light one. I don't know how to explain. The emotions you experience through this novel are raw and real, which I loved. The characters are wonderful, all multi-layered and three-dimensional. Kim and Amy know how to give a different voice to every single one of their characters. I started comparing Skye to Miranda, the other heroine in Kim and Amy's Tempestuous. But they were so different, like polar opposites, but lovely and relate-able still.

     This novel was enjoyable, and so different form its first companion novel. I anxiously waiting for more from these two talented authors and their unique characters. This book is unique, intriguing, and completely captivating!

Review: Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Name of book: Tempestuous (Twisted Lit #1)
Author(s): Kim Askew and Amy Helmes
Publication: December 18th 2012 by Merit Press
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

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 Rating --

-- My Thoughts --

     I am a great fan of Shakespeare's plays. I loved Hamlet and Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet was epic. But I haven't read The Tempest, so I'm not sure about the similarities  but this book was one twisted piece of literature (in a good way)!

     Miranda was always the "it" girl, the "go-to" girl, the most popular girl at her high school. Until, she decided to open up a little win-win website, but soon, everything spirals out of control, and she falls down her popularity mount, unfairly. They say "The taller you climb, the harder you'll fall" (something along these lines)...

     Everyone at her high school hates her, and her father is devastated. Now, Miranda is working at a corn-dog stand in the local mall, to pay up for everything she earned in her little plan. But one night, as a huge blizzard hits, she is locked inside with a bunch of other teenagers. But Miranda is set on one thing: get revenge in the truest way!

     I loved this novel. Who would have thought that I could fall in love with such a light, almost-cliche sort of read. But, surprising myself, I adored this. And since I need to organize my thoughts, I will write this review in points:

1- Kim and Amy's writing is exotic. It is light. It is believable (for a teenager). Their writings blended together in perfect harmony that I couldn't tell the difference, at all.

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Her boundless enthusiasm and my healthy sarcasm went together about as well as a helium balloon and a bucket of rusty nails...

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2- Most of their characters were layered. Miranda is very unlikable at first. But I absolutely loved her once I got into the story. She tends to help everyone, and she is sarcastic. Ariel, Miranda's co-worker is such a sweet, sweet girl! I adored her. She reminds me of, well... me. And rarely books make me feel like that. A couple of the characters fell flat for me, but I didn't mind.

3- The Romance. A slow-building, love-hate relationship between Miranda and Caleb. An A+ for the authors on the romance. I loved noticing the growing attraction between them and how they pushed each other away at first. But even if there were not enough one-on-one moments, I felt their chemistry. 

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A simple guitar slung over a guy's torso can transform even the most feral-looking guy into someone, well, kind of hot...

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4- The mystery. Yes, there is a mystery. Something occurs in the mall and someone is responsible. This part was a little predictable, I found out who it was a couple of chapters before Miranda did. But THAT did not stop me from enjoying how the characters treated the discovery. When contemporary authors add a mysterious feel to the story, I always end up disappointed. But this was not the case here. The mystery part added to the story, and it led to a great character development.

Sarcastic. Funny. Spellbinding. A promising debut from two one-in-a-million authors! I cannot wait to read more from them! Go, grab a copy, NOW!