"I See London, I See France" by Sarah Mlynowski

Nineteen-year-old Sydney has the perfect summer mapped out. She’s spending the next four and half weeks travelling through Europe with her childhood best friend Leela. Their plans include Eiffel-Tower-Selfies, eating cocco gelato, and making out with très hot strangers. Her plans do not include Leela’s cheating ex-boyfriend showing up on the flight to London, falling for the cheating ex-boyfriend’s très-hot friend, monitoring her mother’s spiraling mental health via texts, or feeling like the rope in a friendship tug of war.

Here's the thing I adore about Sarah Mlynowski. She does a great job at writing books that appeal to a certain age level. She has books for young readers, books for teens and books for adults and each time she writes in a way that is captivating for the intended audience. I am a fan of many authors that have made the jump to write for a different age group and often times it doesn't work for me. However, I know that if I see Sarah Mlynowski's name on the cover of a book, I am pretty much guaranteed to fall in love with that book and I See London, I See France was no exception.

Sydney is ready for the best summer of her life, traveling across Europe with her best friend, Leela. Originally, Leela was going to be traveling with her boyfriend, but plans changed when the two of them broke up. Unfortunately for Sydney, Matt didn't change his plans and is on the same flight. Once in Europe, you would think they could avoid running in to each other, but Leela isn't totally over Matt and Sydney can't help falling for his friend Jackson. As the girls go from the country to country, they have one new experience after another with a decent amount of boy time on the side. And many of their experiences are hilarious.

I haven't had the opportunity to travel outside of the United States, so the travel aspect of this novel was my favorite part. I love "seeing" famous places in novels. I like that this novel talked about the places the girls see and (most important) the food they ate. Even though Sydney's romance is very too-good-to-be-true, it was fun in this particular novel. I also liked that this novel focused on something that so many books involving teens traveling seems to gloss over- Sydney had to pay for this trip. A good portion of this novel is her figuring out ways to stretch her travel money far enough and figuring out cost effective ways to do her vacation. This element made the book much more relatable. Like a good majority of her books about kids and teens, there are moments where I can't help but be frustrated by a parents lack of involvement, but since Sydney's mom isn't even in the same country, I have to let it slide. I also appreciated that Mlynowski covered Sydney's relationship with her mother and how she was trying to balance finally getting a break from taking care of her mother, but at the same time still try to be there for her. All in all, Sydney was a pretty mature character. 

This is the kind of novel that isn't going to be for everyone. If you like teenage romances and books with adventure, you'll probably enjoy this read. If you have read other things by Mlynowski, then you definitely will enjoy yourself. It is worth noting that there are some scenes that parents may find questionable, so maybe flip through the book before passing it onto younger readers.

Happy Reading!

-Melly

"Don't Even Think About It" by Sarah Mlynowski

I think if anyone but Mlynowski was the author of this book, it would have been a little too out there for me. But since Mlynoski has shown that she can handle teenage witchcraft and sending kids on journeys through magic mirrors, a contaminated flu vaccine that gives an entire homeroom class the power of ESP isn't too much of a stretch. I love how this book is narrated. It isn't told through the eyes of just one person or even a small handful of characters, but is instead told by the class as a whole. We find out how they gain these powers and how their lives begin to unravel because of it and how they begin to cope.

The students in room 10B don't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen when almost every one of them gets their flu shot. But slowly they start to hear things no one is supposed to hear- the thoughts of those around them. It starts with Olivia who passes out in front of the class because of it. Soon the other teens realize that nothing in their minds is safe. They all know that Mackenzie cheated on Cooper, that the marriage of Cooper's parents isn't as solid as he thought and that Tess is actually in love with her best friend. Of course readers will question, why don't they seek medical attention? No worries, the book covers that (in a way that pleased me quite a bit). I didn't feel that there were loose ends with this story or major plot holes (assuming that you can accept the unlikeness of the plot itself).

The more I read of Sarah Mlynowski, the more I love her writing. I often struggle when there are a lot of characters in a novel and sometimes find myself getting them confused with each other. However, that is not the case at all with Don't Even Think About It. Each character is crafted in such a way that it was always easy for me to remember who was who (no easy feat considered she doesn't spend ample time on back story, but instead crafts strong characters from the beginning). Also strong in this novel was how I felt for the characters and that I continuously rooted for their success. So far, this is the most unique book I have read in 2014, a major plus since it seems that plots are getting reused at a quicker rate any more. Readers of my blog probably already know that I pretty much always recommend Mlynowski's books and this one is no exception. If you like YA that has some mystery and romance, but also allows you to think while you read it, this is the book for you!

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Sink or Swim (Whatever After #3)" by Sarah Mlynowski

This is nit-picky, but where is Abby's watch?

Abby and Jonah are back and this time they are visiting the world of The Little Mermaid in Sink or Swim. This time, Abby really wants to mess up the fairy tale because she knows that if the mermaid doesn't marry the prince, then the mermaid will be no longer. Things would be a little easier if she wasn't afraid to swim. Things start off a mess because Abby and Jonah accidentally scare the mermaid off, but soon they are able to talk to her (turns out her name is Lana). Abby does her best to convince Lana not to go to the sea witch, but before she knows it Lana has traded her fins for legs and it's up to Abby to once again create a happily ever after.

The Little Mermaid is my all time favorite Disney movie. I have loved it longer than I can remember. So you can imagine my horror when I found out the ending of the original story. I am really glad that Mlynowski acknowledges that the Disney versions of many of these fairy tales are cleaned up so you don't have to worry about them giving your kids nightmares (though as a child, Ursula getting electrocuted always freaked me out a lot). I really felt for Abby in this book. The weight on her shoulders this time around is enormous. Before, if she failed the princess would just miss out on the prince. But if she messes up this time, then there won't be anything left of the princess.

Like the rest of the series, this book is mostly made of lighthearted moments with plenty of humor. Jonah acts like a real little brother with most of his focus on having fun rather than saving the day or finding a way home (though I like his logic that they can't go home until the adventure is over). Abby worries a little too much and takes on a little more than she can handle, but always comes out learning about herself and becoming a better person for it. This series is one that I think that all young girls should read. They focus so much on being true to yourself and not changing who you are for someone else and the characters are some of the best role models I have ever encountered in the literary world. If you haven't yet, check them out!



Happy Reading!
-Melly

"If the Shoe Fits" by Sarah Mlynowski

I am really loving this series!  Shorty after returning from Snow White's fairy tale, Abby and her brother go back through the mirror in If the Shoe Fits.  Abby's mission is to get her lime green pajamas back.  Unfortunately, instead of visiting Snow they end up in Floom and are smack in the middle of CInderella's tale.  Determined to not mess anything up this time, the two begin to look for a mirror so that they can get back home.  But in the process they manage to mess things up big time for Cinderella.  Now they have to help her become self-sufficient so that she is worthy of marrying the prince.  I'm not going to tell you how it ends- but know that a lot of baking is involved (I really wanted chocolate after reading this book).

Fairy Tales are all the rage right now (and they have been for quite some time).  It seems that a good chunk of stories coming out at the moment (not just books, but movies too) are either some sort of retelling or a modernization of someone else's story.  Sometimes I am okay with that.  Sometimes I wish the author had just left the source material alone.  And sometimes someone like Mlynowksi comes along and writes a book that I just can't put down and keeps me laughing until the end.  Though, let's be fair, everything that I have read by Mlynowski (and that's quite a bit) has kept me laughing.  Awhile back the Top Ten Tuesday theme was authors you automatically buy just because their name is on the cover.  I didn't realize at the time (and no, I didn't participate that week), but Mlynowski would be on that list.  I just love everything she has written!

If you like (good) retellings of fairy tales, like funny stories, or know a little girl who's into either, then this is the series for you!



Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Fairest of All" (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski

Following the trend of giving fairy tales and other classic stories and new modern twist is Sarah Mlynowski's Fairest of All (first in the Whatever After series).  This book is somewhat what one would expect.  After Abby and her brother Jonah get sucked into the weird mirror in the basement of their new house, they find themselves in a strange forest.  As they are trying to figure out where they are and how to get back home, they come across a cottage just in time to save the young woman inside from being poisened by a witch.  What they don't realize is that the young woman is Snow White and by saving her, they have changed Snow's fate to meet and marry the prince.  Now it is up to Abby and Jonah to get the story back on track- and get home before their parents wake up.

I'm sort of picky about these sort of books that retell a story.  The author has to do a really good job in reshaping a story that I have hear time and time again if they want to impress me.  I was pretty impressed by Mlynowski's interpretation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.   It was a very silly story in which Snow becomes shy at the idea of meeting the prince, the queen is obsessed with interior decorating (and being evil of course) and magic mirrors hiss and turn purple.  I giggled quite a bit while reading this book.  It is certainly a title I would recommend to young readers (particularly girls, probably about 8 or so).  It is different from the story most of us are used to, but still enjoyable.  I look forward to reading the next in the series, If the Shoe Fits. 






Happy Reading!
-Melly

“Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have)" by Sarah Mlynowski

I have yet to come across a novel by Sarah Mlynowski that I haven’t enjoyed by Ten Things We Did (andProbably Shouldn't Have) just might be my favorite.  Granted, a certain amount of disbelief is needed for this novel.  You have to be willing to believe that a seventeen-year-old girl would be allowed to stay behind when her father and stepmother move to Cleveland (after her mother got remarried and moved to Paris).  Of course, the parents don’t know that said friend’s mother stars in a play in another town and the two girls are living completely on their own.  You also have to believe that said father would deposit $1000 per month into his daughter’s bank account each month to cover “expenses” and doesn't realize that she is spending her income on things such as a hot tub.  Once you can believe these things, this is an awesome book!

This book has many laugh out loud moments.  As April learns to live on her own she makes discoveries such as what kinds of soap can go in the dishwasher (as you can imagine, she learns this the hard way) and which people in her life truly care about her and which ones don’t.  As I was reading, I felt that April was a very real character.  As the story progresses she takes the sort of risks that is to be expected when a girl her age is left completely unsupervised, but she learns so much from the decisions and by the end of the novel has completed one of the best character arcs I have seen in this genre.  There is one discover that April makes that I had to applaud Mlynowski for writing (trying not to spoil something incredibly plot important here).  I have run tons of YA lit, but I cannot really recall a writer that has put a main character in that situation.  I was blown away but so pleased that Mlynowski wrote that into her novel (Confused?  Again, don’t want to spoil anything, but if you email me, I’ll let you know which bit I am talking about). 

I really loved this book.  I am sad that it took me so long to get around to reading it.  After all, I love the Magic in Manhattan series, Gimme a Call and Monkey Business.  If you like girly books, this one is an absolute must!

Happy Reading!

-Melly

"Monkey Business" by Sarah Mlynowski

I really enjoyed Sarah Mlynowski's Monkey Business (I also really love the name Mlynowski- it is just so much fun to say)!  There was just something about the story line that really caught my interest and I just didn't want to put it down.  It is a novel about four first time business school students.  Their lives immediately intertwine.  Each chapter focusing on the point of view of characters; Russ, Kimmy, Jamie, and Layla.  At times I did get a bit confused- Kimmy starts out with Jamie but then gets interested in Russ (who already has a girlfriend).  Layla falls for someone that looks great on paper, but she has never met him.  And Jamie's trying to re-win Kimmy's affection... There was an awful lot going on, but this was still a fun read.

I have not had a real "college experience."  I have only attended community college so I know nothing of dorm life or if it portrayed accurately in the novel.  But it does seem like a realistic portrayal of how people would interact and react when in such situations.  I would say that this is good book for the transition from Young Adult to Adult Fiction.  I remember when I tried to make that initial transition.  It took me awhile to figure out what books outside of the YA world would appeal to me and what I really wanted to read.  I wish I had been aware of this novel at that time.  I love that Mlynowski has books for both teens and adults.  So if you need a fun and light-hearted book, give this one a try!

Happy Reading!
-Melly

I Need More Time Thursday: "Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)" by Sarah Mlynowski

 "2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.

In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time."

I read this one!

Happy Reading!
-Melly