Geektastic by Various Authors

Geektastic

Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside)and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!

This will be a short review since it's an anthology of short stories. Basically this book is awesome to the nth power. Every geek and non-geek should get it because it's like a freaking anthem to geekdom. There's nothing in this genre better than this. Yes, that's how good this is.

Not only is it written by many great (and my favorite) writers but the stories are not what I expected them to be at all. They deal with everything and each one has from light geekyness to hardcore geek and they have A BUNCH of humor.. I loved it! My favorite stories were:

Once You're A Jedi, You're a Jedi All The Way by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
One of Us by tracy Lynn
I Never by Cassandra Clare
Quiz Bowl Anarchist by David Levithan
Secret Identity by Kelly Link
The Truth About Dino Girl by Barry Lyga
The Stars at th

I just realized that I was listing more than half the story. So thing is, go get it because it's AWESOME. Favorites of the year, truly.

In one sentence:
"These stories are the true anthems of the nerd herd."

(In general)
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Writing: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 5
Average: 5

Jinx by Meg Cabot

Jinx

It's not easy being Jinx.

Jean Honeychurch hates her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean). What's worse? Her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes—even to New York City, where Jinx has moved to get away from the huge mess she caused in her small hometown. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to their Manhattan town house, but her beautiful cousin Tory isn't so thrilled. . . .

In fact, Tory is hiding a dangerous secret—one that could put them all in danger. Soon Jinx realizes it isn't just bad luck she's been running from . . . and that the curse she has lived under since the day she was born may be the only thing that can save her life.

I LOVE Meg Cabot and I've been wanting to read this one for YEARS. Finally, I got it!

This is very different from any other Meg Cabot (MC for this review, because, you know, she's cool like that) I've read. It has this awesome paranormal twist mixed in with the MC formula: humor, hot guys, and love triangle.

Jean is an awesome main character and narrator. I mean, ANYONE can relate to her. She's geeky, weird, and clumsy (like me). Plus, a super attitude add her to one of my favorite MC characters ever (right next to Princess Mia).

Oh, my God! Zach is like, amazing. I really do love him. He reminded me a lot of MC's Michael Moscovitz, he's that kind of cool. I liked how Jean and Zach's relationship developed, it flowed nicely and sweetly.

Petra is such a fun character, too. And Tory is evil. I think she's one of the most evil MC characters I've read.

This book definitely makes it into my favorites this year.

In one sentence:
"Meg Cabot has done it again!"

Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Writing: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 5
Average: 5

An Abundance Of Katherines

An Abundance Of Katherines

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself by Printz medalist John Green, acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska.

It would be a good assumption to say that I loved this book. Although it is not my favorite John Green book, it is still entertaining and hilarious. I was surprised to find it written in third person as other John Green's books  are written in first. It took a bit of getting used to but then I realized the characters were as well played as if they were written in first.

Okay, let me stop getting too technical. Colin is the prodigy and he feels like he doesn't really matter so he goes on a road trip with Hassan who is HILARIOUS. Unfortunately, Colin just broke up with Katherine XIX and it has affected him much. He gets an idea that a relationship can be graphed and therefore, predicted.

Although I understood most of the math as it's one of my best subjects, it might prove a bit confusing at first, especially with all the footnotes* that make the book a bit scarce and distracting. I did not necessarily hate the footnotes, I just don't like them that much. It worked in some places to add humor but at one point it became tiring to flip next some pages to get to them.

The supporting characters are very unique and the whole tampon string factory element added to the uniqueness that is everything John Green.

Overall, I liked this book a lot and I think it's not as graphic as other John Green books so it's definitely better in that sense for younger audiences.

In one sentence:
"John Green's AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINE delivers the witty and humor style of his past books."

Plot: 4
Characters: 5
Writing: 4
Cover: 4
Overall Feeling: 4
Average: 4.2

*Footnotes like this, see?