Summary:

Danny Goldstein has always lived in the shadow of his identical, twin brother Sam. But when a hurricane of events forces him into the spotlight, he starts to realize that the only thing he’s truly afraid of is himself. With the help of his costume changing friend Cher, a famous gay uncle with a mysterious past of his own, two aging punk rocker parents and Rusty, the boy who will become his something to live for, Danny begins to realize that the music of the heart is truly the soundtrack for living.

Title: Hexed

Author: Michelle Krys

Hardcover: 384 pages
Format: ARC

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: June 10, 2014 

Rating: 2/5

Witchcraft is one of the many paranormal elements that I've always been curious about, especially because it is a folklore that is rarely explored in popular culture aside from the famous Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I was very glad to pick up Hexed because i haven't read as much witch books compared to any other obscure paranormal book ranging from unicorns, zombies, vampires, werewolves etc. 

Generally, Hexed follows the normal paranormal/supernatural genre formula: girl is normal then one day when she comes of age she becomes supernatural and becomes exposed to a whole new world. While we see her learn to use such supernatural ability, good and bad forces collide and she has to save the world because of a prophecy or because of any other responsibility that was thrust upon her by external factors. Along the way, she meets a hot guy who is also paranormal, may be a bad guy, or add some other twist here. He ends up to be actually good and they save the world and wait for their next adventure in book 2!

Hexed sure was an interesting read and I was never bored reading it, but I felt like it is a bit too laughable even in parts that are supposedly serious.

I really wanted to like this book. I really did.

Instead, I'll just slam my face to the wall.

Following the formula for writing a supernatural book is okay, but Hexed adds NOTHING to what we already have in witch lit. The plot is not at all unique and the characters aren't even extraordinary. What I can say though is that they are realistic. Realistic if most teenagers today are complete assholes and whiney douchelords who only care about their problems. I tried really hard to like Indie, but I guess she's just not likeable. At first, I liked the fact that she is a popular girl who is concerned about her clothes and looks and that she's not a loner emo girl who's trying to find her place in this world like most other protagonists. However, her development as a character is slow if nonexistent. So she finally breaks up with her asshole boyfriend and ends her 9 year friendship with what's her name. Her mom dies. It was nice to see her cutting off all the toxic people out of her life and doing something for herself, but throughout the book that is ALL she does - doing things for her own benefit. Everything she does is for her own personal gain, and even befriending Paige is a selfish act on her part and I hated how everything that happens she makes it all about her and what she wants. In the end, she doesn't become any smarter or a better person.

Bishop is also one of the worst love interests ever because he is a sexist pig who keeps objectifying Indie and making disgusting misogynistic statements. I was disgusted with his naked Betty Boop tattoo and all his sexual innuendo and it's not because I'm a prude, but because I really can't stand jerks who "get the girl" in the end when he doesn't deserve anything at all. The part when they are stuck in the sewers and he practically drools over Indies half naked body and he gives her clothes which Indie describes as "short and skanky" and is actually amused with himself is just the most disgusting thing ever. He also starts out as this stalkerish kid who follows Indie around, and all the backhanded comments he gives her, like remarking about cheerleaders have a brain after all, laughing at how Indie butt shaked during the game,  are just annoying and makes him irredeemable as a love interest.

I also found the world building incredibly lacking. I was very interested about the magic part and the battle between the witches and sorcerers. But they didn't even address what they are fighting about in the first place- all we know is that there was a war and that there are these cartoon villains out to get the witches. What baffled me even more about the book is how little the magic there actually is. I really wanted to see more of her training as a witch but there is next to zero magic involved in it (there's more kissing between her and Bishop) and the magic they possess is actually laughable and not just believable. I mean magic is not realistic at one bit but there must be laws, like how could you conjure creatures out of nothing? I just couldn't seem to understand the folklore of their magic.

Hexed could've easily been one of the best paranormal books I've read in a while, but the treatment of the story is not at all executed properly. 

Honestly? It is by far one of the biggest disappointments this year and it just read to me like bad fanfiction.

Enter Amy Finnicky. One night Sutter gets completely drunk and is woken up by Amy the next morning. He's in an unknown neighborhood, and he has no recollections of the night before, plus his truck is nowhere to be found. Amy helps him find the truck, while he helps Amy with her paper route - she delivers papers to houses for her mother every morning at the crack of dawn. We immediately know that Amy is this incredibly helpless pushover who simply can't stand up for herself while her mother and stepfather boss her around endlessly. Sutter makes it his life's mission to help Amy, and eventually they become a couple.

I really had high hopes for this book, especially since the synopsis reminded me a lot of Catcher in the Rye but it disappointed me so much and I finished the book with a heavy annoyed feeling. The writing was fresh, and crisp and the voice of Sutter was very charming and well written. I had no problems with the technicals of this story, as the grammar the technique and the prose was perfect. However, I can only rate this a 3.0 rating. I will explain why.

My primary problem is with Sutter.

Sutter does not develop or progress throughout the book, and does nothing to help Or save Amy at all (unless you consider bad influencing Amy into becoming a drunkard as helping her). He does not mature or come of age, he does not get struck by a epiphany or a eureka moment that he needs to change his ways, but rather he realizes at the end that he loves the way his life is going, and that he'd rather live in the spectacular now. I know that maybe it is the point of the author to make this the ending of the book, as a cautionary tale, and you've got characters moving on like his best friend, Cassidy, and Amy who moves to Boston, yet Sutter is left behind and we the readers are left with this big lesson that we shouldn't be like Sutter. Yet, I found this story incredibly infuriating as the author completely ignores the structure of a maturation plot or a plot in general, which is that the character must mature or change. Sutter mostly stays the same from the beginning and the end of the book. And that is where a promising book like this fails for me.

                                                         

Cricket Montgomery is a rich and spoiled kid, who is sent by her father to a camp. She is already dreading the fact of going to a camp, but what makes her eventually faint is when she finds out that the campers are actually handicapped. The only thing keeping her in the camp is a Zac Efron look-a-like aka Quinn. How will Cricket get through that summer camp? Which will she choose, her Zac Efron look-a-like, or her luxurious life back home? 

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Author: Jennifer Smith

Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown

Publication date: January 2nd 2012

Hardcover: 236 pages
Rating: 2/5 stars