Cover Reveal: The Color of Happiness by K.P. Gazelle

What a beautiful cover! The ballet shoes and the roses definitely shows Faith's love for ballet. The girl and the guy in the cover presumably are Faith and Alex. I really love the vintage effect of the cover. It's definitely a gorgeous cover suiting the beautifully written story.

Expected Publication: March 1, 2015

Publisher: Radiant Books

Author: K. P. Gazelle

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Faith Lane is the girl who has everything. At least, that’s what everyone thinks when they see her rocking a killer dress while laughing with her best friend, Tiffany. But Faith’s life is far from flawless. Her peers torment her relentlessly, and her parents expect her to be the epitome of perfection. Criticized and pressured at school and home, Faith retreats into silent acceptance and finds an escape in her passion of dancing. Then she meets Alex – quirky, forever with a pass, and concealing a mysterious secret of his own. And through his encouragement, Faith starts believing in her gift for dance and gains courage to stand up for herself. But will she be able to keep her footing when the events of one night consume her with the need to jump off the rocky cliffs near her coastal home? And what has pushed her to the edge of reason?

About the Author:

K.P Gazelle has been connected with young adults in some way for as long as she can remember. She's obsessed with coffee, books, and big dreams.

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Follow Friday #4 In Which My House Is Burning Down

Welcome, everyone! It's time for the weekly fun! As always, this meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Your house is burning down and you have time to select three books you own to take with you. What three books? - Alison Can Read.

Oh my, let's hope it will never come down to this! I love all my books equally. But, to save only three, I will pick my first childhood book (yes, I still keep it!), The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I choose The Faraway Tree because it's my real first thick and hardcover book. I re-read it like 10 times already. I still read it now and then. It has saved me from reading slumps a lot of times now. So, I'm really attached to it. For my second book, does a box set count as one? I'm sure it does, right! :D So, my second will be my Harry Potter books. I can't possibly just take three from the series! It's hardcover and these things are expensive! Lastly, I will pick Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein because it's one of my favourite books of all time. For my other books left to burn in the fire, I'm sorry!

The award for ugly crying goes to...

Kidding! xD 

To make up for the ugly crying, here's a marvelously handsome cry:

A scene from Charlie St. Cloud. Breaks my heart evertime! D':

It make me thinking, for all the times we spent picking up books to be saved, we could have grabbed other more valuable things like money and suchs. Man, god bless the book lovers! xD 

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a fun (and safe) weekend!

Cheers.

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The Ocean At The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow Books
Published: June 18, 2013
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 5/5

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

I always tried to evade this book before. I think it must be the title that somehow revered me from reading it. The title was ambiguous and quite frankly, I was intimidated by the genre. Thinking about it now, I think I was quite ignorant for thinking so. I shouldn't have doubted Neil Gaiman! After all,
he's the master at this game! This book left me with the same feelings I have after reading every Neil Gaiman's books. That feelings are of awe, wonderment, starry eyed and quite light headed. 

The writing are truly Gaiman's signature. Only  he can string ordinary words together into beautiful sentences that always manage to take my breath away. It reminded me of why I love to read in the first place. None of other books I've read recently get to satisfy the deficient feeling I get from reading too many words that fails to ignite any passions from within me. It's almost euphoric to be reading Neil Gaiman's stories. I guess that's how readers gets high.

The story was unconventional. It used the very facts of unadulterated life as the elements in the story. It was both saddening and illuminating to see how a kid view the world. Neil Gaiman definitely did a great job in narrating the story from the point of view of a seven year old. The villain in the story was also different from the norm. She was only trying to help others but in ways that were not entirely helpful. It just goes to show that it's not that great to get everything we want.

The meaning of the title was lost in me before I read it. I was lost in my head from trying to figure it out without reading the book. After reading the book, though, I finally know the truth. It just makes the title all the more depicting now.

Despite the point of view from a seven year old, nothing in the story was child-like. The thoughts and understanding of the seven year old boy was child-like alright, but, the events that happened was definitely not. There were some real scary things here. Even I shuddered from reading it. Thus, it became all the more saddening to to read how a seven year old struggled to make sense the things that were happening to him and the things he saw. It gave us a perception to how different we are from a child, how the childhood innocence fell away as we grew older.

The ending was sad and I was like:

Leave it to Johnny Depp to cry magnificently!

Although it was sad, I am glad that it happened that way. It's perfect how it ended. After all, the saddest books are the ones that stay with you for a very long time.

One event really stayed in my mind. I still can't get over it.  Only one word is sufficient to picture that moment and my utter disgust towards it. If you've read the book then you will get it. If you don't get it then read the book! That one word is: WORM! BLOODY WORM! YOU GAVE ME NIGHTMARES!

Ooops, that's not one word.

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Versatile Blogger Award (Facts About Myself)

I was nominated by several bloggers. These are the awesome people:

Vivien Cheng from Reading In Wonderland

Melissa Baez from Ever So Mela

Maureen from Diaries of A Book Lover

Ranu from The Bookish Life

Cee from The Mistress Case

Thank you for nominating me!

The Rules 

1. Nominate 15 other bloggers relatively new to blogging.

2. Let the bloggers know that you've nominated them.

3. Share 10 random facts about yourself.

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.

5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post.

I Nominate:

• Elena from Ellie Reads Fiction
• Anila from A Writer's Dark Corner
• Anette from Anette The Wicked
• Tiffany from Beneath The Jacket Reviews
• Laura W from Blue Eye Books
• Nita from Book Choose
• GillyB from Writer of Wrongs
• Raffy from Eccentric Everything
• Ee Hwee from Bursting Books
• Giovana from Corazones Literarios
• Sandee from Book Ramblings of A Whimsical Reader
• Jayy from Books by Jay
• Karleigh from Books Galore
• Katie from Books Under Blankets

Phew! Now, it's time for me to reveal facts about myself.

10 Facts about Azee

• I was quite bossy in elementary school. Also, I was quite the defender to the victims of bullying. Go figure! xD
• After 8 years, I still haven't finish reading The Tale of Two Cities. I finished Book One, recently! Now, I have to continue reading the Book Two. I hope it won't take me years this time. :/
• I can understand Mandarin after hearing my friends speaking it for 3 years in high school. However, since I moved, I can't understand it all that much, but I get the gist. 
• I climbed a mountain halfway before. I actually climbed it halfway twice. I had to go down the first time because I had to send a friend down when she couldn't make it to the top. The second time I climbed, I was huffing and puffing so much and my body was almost parallel to the ground. I decided to stop the climb and return to the base. I was disappointed that I couldn't make it to the top but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
• Also, going down, I realised I have fear of steep heights. Hah! It's just that I can imagine myself rolling down the mountain at every step of the way. I was walking down a cleared path with nothing to hold on to if I stumbled. Needless to say, I was glad when I reached the bottom.
• I like to read Creepypasta and honestly, I think it's not that scary. But, at night, I started to imagine things and what was not scary become creepy in the darkness of the night. 
• I can't remember any of my dreams! 
• One year in high school, I ate one tube of Mentos EVERYDAY.
• I had a crushed on a teacher once. I feel so stupid when I think about it now.
• My childhood dream was to be an astronaut. I think I'm still holding on to that dream. 

So, that's all about me. Think you know me better now? :D

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Follow Friday #3

Welcome, everyone! It's time for the weekly fun! As always, this meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Do you like fantasy or realistic books? - The Realm of Books

The book that really get me into reading addiction is of fantasy genre. I've always love fantasy. The writing style in itself are much different. Besides, why would I want to read realistic books when the reason I read in the first place is to escape reality? Also, realistic books usually handles issues that are common and I found myself reading many realistic books that doesn't really vary much from each other. On the other hand, fantasy can be about anything, be anywhere and anytime. I always crave the feeling I get when I read a fantasy. It's almost euphoric.

I prefer fantasy from Middle Grade because I think Middle Grade have a special feeling to it. I always find books of Middle Grade to be more magical, fun and much more refreshing to read. 

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you guys have a lovely weekend! 

Cheers!

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Movie Review: The Giver

Right now I'm writing this while listening to the song composed by Marco Beltrami that I first heard from the end credits of The Giver. My goosebumps are standing on its ends right now. The song is truly amazing. I can feel it through my soul. I want you to feel the same feeling I'm having so I'm going to attach the video to the song here.

I was late in watching the movie. Where was I when this movie was out? I was missing a lot! But I'm not here to talk about my incompetence on keeping up with new movies. I'm here to talk about this amazing movie.

It was marvelous, an extra-ordinary adaptions that I don't think any of those who have read the book should have anything to complain about. The movie closely followed the book. There were some aspects and elements added but it did nothing to ruin the story but instead, it only make the story better. The relationship between Jonas and Fiona was more pronounced in the movie than it was in the book. Some love-haters might have problems with this but I don't. I think the relationship is important to showcase the mature feelings that Jonas has yet to learn from the memories he was given. Besides, it was one of the many beautiful feelings that we have to endure in a lifetime. Also, it adds more feelings for viewers to get attached to and surely viewers were able to connect more with the characters and to know how it is like to be in a world where feelings and teenage hormones are frown upon.

Of course it was clear upon the first look that Jonas wasn't the same age as he should be like in the book but that seems to be the trend with most Young Adult adaptions these days. In the book, the ceremony of which Jonas was elected to be the receiver of memories, he was twelve. However, in the movie, Jonas was sixteen in the ceremony. But, whatever the age that the director wants Jonas to be, surely he should get a more convincingly-looking sixteen year old? Unless, of course, that teens in the future have a much advance growth hormone that enable them to look much mature past their years. But, this movie is not the only one that has their main characters becoming older than they should be as we can see the same thing in the likes of Hunger Games and of course, Divergent (Four was waay older in the movie!). The older age of Jonas make the love between him and Fiona believable although their love interests was not present in the book aside from the mention of Jonas having a wet dream "stirrings" in his gut for Fiona when he was younger. 

One of the other big changes in the adaptions can be seen on one of Jonas best friends, Asher. He was portrayed as more of a playful boy and was given the task of being an Assistant Director of Recreation in the book. However, in the movie he was elected as a pilot and he was the least playful person in the movie. He became serious, hardworking and soon to become the antagonist later on in the movie. The friendship between Jonas and Asher seems to have taken a darker turn as Asher seems to be envious of the closeness between Jonas and Fiona.

The Giver was portrayed differently in the movie. In the book he was clear-headed, friendlier and much like an old dear grandpa. Also, in the book, The Giver will lose the memories that was transferred to Jonas but in the movie, it was not the case. As of the beautiful sounds of music, Jonas will not know the sound of it in the book because he refused to take that memory from The Giver as he did not want The Giver to forget the sounds of music. In the movie, however, The Giver used a fancy gadget to show Jonas the memory of Ms. Rosemary (previous Receiver of Memory who failed) playing a piano. I am a bit sheepish to admit this but it took me awhile to realise that Ms. Rosemary was played by Taylor Swift! After a bit of head scratching, I finally realised who it was. It was her teeth, remarkably,  that really reminded me.

That teeth! I know that teeth!

The Chief Elder was also quite menacing in the movie which was oppositely so in the book. In fact, the Chief Elder was not even often mention in the book. It is quite frightening to think that the trend of futuristic women in Young Adult nowadays seems to be of menace and cold-hearted. What does this mean for the empowerment of future women leaders, I wonder.

The ending was not entirely similar as to the book. In fact, the only thing that was similar was that Jason ran away with Gabriel. Everything else took a different turn in the movie. First of all, all of the Fiona part was nonexistent in the book. Also, Jason did not punch Asher when Asher tried to stop him from leaving, primarily because Asher did not even know he was running away in the book. Besides, when Jonas ran away, he used bicycle and not motorcycle like in the movie. The moment when Jonas found the house lighted up "Christmas-like" was true to the book. 

The ending was as ambiguous as it was in the book. I was glad but there was the feeling similar to a heart- wrenching feeling that I got when I read the ending. I was saddened that I don't get to know what will happen to Jonas and the baby. I have yet to finish the whole series (I am up to the third book now) and I only hope that there is a closure. 

In all, this movie is a major success. It is not at all a disappointment. It stays true to the book most of the time. Although there were scenes and elements added and altered, it only make the movie so much better and did not whatsoever ruin the original story. It's truly rare that I am ever fully satisfied with a movie adaption before with only having a few on my list. The Giver, gladly, had made the cut. 

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Fun Book Lovers' Questionnaire!

Yay, I was tagged by Ranu from The Bookish Life!

These are some interesting questions and I had fun answering them!

1. Do you have a specific place for reading?

I don't have a special place reserved for reading. I like a place that is quiet, breezy and comfortable. That could be anywhere in my house at certain times of the day. I don't like reading outside like at a cafe, a park or something because I can easily get distracted.

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

I had a lot of bookmarks but somehow I always misplaced them. So, now I have one bookmark that I always use. It's a corner bookmark that is easy to make. I stumbled on a page that show how to make it sometime ago and I love it so much because it is so easy to make! But, of course, sometimes when I don't have a bookmark with me, I just use a random scrap of paper to mark a page.

3. Can you just stop anywhere in a book or do you have to finish a chapter?

It depends. Sometimes, I had to stop right where I was reading if something urgent came up. But, voluntarily, I have to finish a chapter before putting down a book. It's no fun if I had to stop in a middle of an adventure.

4. Do you read or drink while reading?

I try not to! It will be a disaster if crumbs or liquid were to spill on the book! Such horror! But, I do drink while reading. It's kind of hard to read and eat at the same time. At least, it is for me. I don't juggle things easily. Besides, it's kind of hard to eat while trying to prop open a book.
Ebooks are a different kind of game though. I eat and drink for all I'm worth while reading an ebook and feel nothing bad about it.

5. Music or tv when reading?

I find myself easily distracted when reading in front of a tv. Even commercials tend to distract me. But, over time, it just become a background noise. I am fine when listening to music while reading, depends on the song. Reading while listening to an upbeat song or a rock proved to be difficult because I will be nodding my head to the music (it's kind of hard to read when your head is moving) and even singing to the tune. So, I mostly listen to instrumental or musical songs and it doesn't distract me as much.

6. One book at a time or several?

If it is a particularly engrossing book, I wouldn't be able to put it down in the first place. But, there were cases where a book was draggy and slow-going that made me put it on hold and start reading another book. I always come back for the first book and try to finish it even if I have to juggle between reading a couple of books.

7. Reading at home or elsewhere?

I like reading at home because it is more comfortable and I can prop my legs up on the table without getting frowned upon or nasty looks thrown my way (not like it ever happen! xD). Besides, it's not like you can stay rooted on a spot for several hours in the same position without attracting concerned attention, right?

8. Read out loud or silently?

I tried reading out loud before but it took only a moment before my voice started to drone and I stopped reading out loud altogether because I couldn't really concentrate on the story if I'm reading out loud.

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

I do, sometimes, when a book is so boring but I still needed to know how it goes. I skim if it won't affect my understanding of the story.

10. Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

Of course, keeping it like new! I even open my book just a crack so it won't affect the spine! My friends can't help but roll their eyes whenever I told them the rules to handling and reading my books. It includes, opening a book just a crack, just enough to see the words. xD Okay, I don't always do that to all my books. Just the new ones. The older books spine's doesn't crack even if you open it wide so I'm not worried about my older books but my new books, I take care of them like babies! xD

11. Do you write in your books?

I don't! I can't imagine why would anyone do such a thing! Such horror!

But, an author's autograph doesn't count! :D

Look at this Harry Potter book that was autographed by 24 of the cast. Not mine, sadly! D':

12. Who are you tagging?

• Emmy @ Paperback Princess
• Amber @ Dystopian Wonders
• Cecilie Blomberg @ Little Miss Cucie and Her Readings
• Melissa Baez @ Ever So Mela
• Tracy @ Cornerfolds 
• Anya @ One Too Many Adjectives
• Rose Hathaway-Hawthorne @ Paranormal Books
• Angelique @ Ang Reads
• Laura W @ Blue Eye Books
• Jocelyn @ Jooniel Heo
• Henna Rinne @ Howling For Books
• Everyone else who wants to take part! :D

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Dream Student (Dreams #1) by J.J. DiBenedetto

Published: March 18, 2013
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
My Rating: 1/5

What would you do if you could see other people’s dreams? If you could watch their hidden fantasies and uncover their deepest, darkest secrets…without them ever knowing?
Sara Barnes is about to find out. She thought that all she had to worry about was final exams, Christmas shopping and deciding whether she likes the cute freshman in the next dorm who’s got a crush on her.
But when she starts seeing dreams that aren’t hers, she learns more than she ever wanted to know about her friends, her classmates…and a strange, terrifying man whose dreams could get Sara killed.

Why is it that stories about dreams have been disappointing lately? It's such a great idea of a story and yet, few books that I've read did not managed to execute the story well. Dream Student are one of those books.

What would you do if you could see other people’s dreams? If you could watch their hidden fantasies and uncover their deepest, darkest secrets…without them ever knowing?

Now, with that kind of intriguing sounding blurb, I was expecting more excitement, scandals, or some skeletons in the closet. Instead, there were silly, dull and trifling fantasies. Nothing that I could chew my bone with.

The story started with a slow pace and continue being so for the majority of the book. I had to skimmed a few parts that I have completely no interests over. My skimming did not, whatsoever, affected the story. It just goes to show how very little things went on in a large number of pages.

The story was dragging and was filled with a lot of insignificant information.

There were more mentions of class schedules and final exams rather than the most important issue we are supposed to deal with like, uh, I don't know, the fact that there is a murderous guy on the loose? The enormity of Sara's dreams seems to have taken a backseat.

Now, the idea of being able to access everybody else's dreams is an exciting idea and intriguing in its technicalities. I was excited to see how the dreams affected Sara's life and how she will handle the issues that comes with such ability. Instead of getting into all of that though, the story focus more on Sara's relationship with Brian rather than the dreams. Their relationship was unrealistic and completely overblown. What is worst, their relationship started off as an insta-love! It was so funny to think that Sara dreamt of Brian and when she met and recognized him at the party, they somehow "clicked" and fell in love at first sight. *sigh

It was so annoying to read about them. 

The book was tedious for the most part. The only thing that made me continue reading was the dreams. There were enough bits of information that tethered me to the story. Even so, the dreams weren't that much of an interesting factor for me to continue reading Book Two.

I was provided a free copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.

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The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry

First Published: 1993
Genre: YA Classics-Dystopia
My Rating: 5/5

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back. 

This is the second time I've read this book and I love it as much as the first time, maybe more. I have read lots of Dystopians but none of them can rival the exquisite simplicity of The Giver. It's a very refreshing read, a perfect recharge for me to finally start on loving Dystopians once more (I have problems with Dystopians lately). It might be due to the fact that The Giver is one of the earliest books of its genre. So, it is interesting to see how Dystopians have evolved throughout the years.

“The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing.”

It was a much simplistic read compared to modern Dystopians. There were not much sub-plots, government conspiracies (maybe, a little one) and most importantly, no romance. I love how this book shows that you don't need romance to create depth in a character or to make a story flourish because ultimately, the main focus is the conflict in the world itself. And what a fantastic world that the giver lives in! Imagine a world of black and white and societies living in Sameness where everyone has the same things, same opportunities, same haircut and same everything! The idea of world in black and white is so captivating and one that I have given thought of when I was a kid and watching a black and white movie and truly wandering if the people back then do live in a colourless world. 

Oh, don't tell me you never though of it! xD

This book has given rise to the thought and once again I'm pondering about a world devoid of colour and what it will feel like. The Giver gave me a glimpse of that feeling.

The society live with rules as black and white as the world is devoid of colours. The people live in a society where there is a clear line between right and wrong. It's a kind of twisted and crazy world. For one thing, soulmates was assigned instead of being chosen by oneself. Also, there is a role in the society called the childbearer where the chosen women were tasked with, well, bearing child(ren). There's also a clear taboo for teenage hormones as we can see from the main character, Jonas who when he developed a feeling for a girl (normal for teenagers) and told his family about it, he was told to take a pill that is going to quench that feeling. It's a very disturbing world indeed. 

Jonas is a very believable character that suits his years unlike most Dystopians that sometimes manage to overlook their main characters' age and would appear older, wiser or mature than they should be. 

The ending may bothered a lot of people and I admit that I do felt cheated but after some thoughts, I kind of like the ambiguous ending. It gives you things to munch on. 

All in all, The Giver is a book that every Dystopians lover (or not) should read. It has a great plot, interesting set of characters and a very captivating world of Dystopia.

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Follow Friday #2

Wow, time sure fly by fast! Before I know it, it's time of the week again! Happy Friday everyone! As always, this meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Do you read more than one book at a time, and if so, how, like a certain amount of pages per book before moving on to the next one in the queue? -Words I Write Crazy. 

I used to not be able to read more than one book at a time and was in awe when my friend told me that she was reading two books at a time. The reason I couldn't do it before was because I was afraid I will get distracted or even forget the story of the book I was originally reading and maybe confused the two stories. However, now it has become a norm for me to read more than one book at a time. It depends on the book I am reading though. If the book is interesting and captivating, I wouldn't be able to look for another book to read in the first place. If I find a book to be slow or dragging, I will put it down for another time when I feel like reading it again. In the mean time, I will look for another book to read. I sometimes alternate between reading two books. It's always a case of slow-draggy books that make me do so.

Now, for the follow fun!

You can follow me through GFC, Google+, Bloglovin, email and even friend me on Goodreads! I just created a twitter account yesterday so you guys can follow me there too! Just click on the twitter bird that is flying around my blog right now and it will redirect you to my twitter account. If you can't catch the bird then, well, you will just have to click the button below.

Follow @azeeTheCritique

But, what fun will that be, right? Have fun chasing the bird! :D

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you guys have a lovely weekend!
Cheers!

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The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Published: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy
Genre: YA Contemporary-Realistic Fiction/Romance
My Rating: 4/5

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

When I first read the blurb, I was expecting a light Young Adult somewhat chick-lit with a bit of romance going on and maybe a bunch of cheerleaders vs. a dork cliche that seems to be the norm in this genre but, imagine my surprise when none of that happened! Don't be fooled by the blurb and the genre because there is nothing light and cutesy about this book, at all! Despite the seemingly ordinary blurb, there is nothing ordinary about the story. This book handled serious teen issues. So if you thought of not wanting to read this book because you were expecting a cutesy teen romance then you might want to reconsider. Bianca was not a typical misfit. She's independent, loving, protective, skeptic and strong-minded. Her friends, Casey and Jessica, were clever, funny, loyal, understanding and overall good friends. They take care of each other and are an ultimate BFF...

...which is an exact opposite of the "dumb bitches" suggested by the movie trailer. 

Again, the movie is completely NOT following the book! But this is a discussion for another day.

One of the first thoughts I had before reading this book was that this is going to be one of those Disney stories where the belittled, ugly and unworthy girl received a make-over and turn into a beautiful and elegant princess. That did not happened! There were no transformations whatsoever! Wesley did not gave Bianca a clothing, posture or make-over tips. That is what I love about this book. This book are unconventional, unique and realistic in its portrayal and handling of the issues of teen problems. 

At the beginning, the story might seems to centers around the issues of being a Duff and the journey of the main character to transform herself to not be a Duff anymore. That's what you would have thought, at first. But as we delve deeper, it became clear that there are more than just an ugly duckling trying to become a swan. There were more pressing underlying issues that soon to surface as we read on. There we get to see the real side of the characters and it is interesting to see how much depth there is to Bianca, Wesley, Jessica and Taylor than just some teenagers with hormonal problems. 

Honestly, the blurb made me thought that this was just another teen-flicks with cliche turnouts and a main character with a serious lack of confidence waiting for some Prince Charming to save her. Bianca wasn't alone in needing a savior. Wesley who would have been a Prince Charming needs a savior of his own. But it wasn't the main characters only that has issues. Bianca's best friends, Jessica and Taylor also has issues of their own. So it is interesting how they all come together and help each other.

I like how ballsy Bianca was. Despite being defined as a Duff, she doesn't have a trouble with her self-esteem whatsoever. In fact, she was more confident with herself than ever before. I also love how Wesley developed from a seemingly ordinary a**hole/jock into a more decent human being who understand the consequences of his action (and thus, became less slutty). 

Less slutty, I say! xD 

Overall, this book turns out to be a very interesting read and was not at all what I expected. If what you expected was:

• A shallow main character who just found out she is ugly and want to do a make-over to change her look (that is so overly Disney cliche!)
• Cliche "cheerleaders" with enormous boobs and fake personality with no business but to torture lowlifes 
• Two bitches of best friends who uses their other not-so-pretty friend just so they can appear prettier
• A simple teenage romance

...then throw all of this expectations out of the window because none of those above was true. The blurb and the movie trailer may gave you the above expectations but read the book and you will see how it is NOT AT ALL like so.

Definitely recommended! 

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