The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Number of Pages: 352
Release Date: March 25, 2008
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis from
Goodreads:
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way.
************************************************************************************
So to my chagrin, I did not finish any of the six books I'm currently reading (including three ARCs that are being released tomorrow-eep!) So I decided to do a throw-back post and do a review of one of my all-time favorite books: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. I've read this novel several times and just cannot get enough of this smart and fun book and its delightful heroine.
*************************************************************************************
MY THOUGHTS:
So E. Lockhart is amazing. She just is. Her Ruby books (the
Boyfriend List, etc) are absolutely wonderful and this book,
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, is spectacular. Ms. Lockhart has this way of writing these seemingly innocent YA adult books that appear to be about boys and cuteness, but that is not what they are. Frankie and Ruby are smart, deep, complicated teenage girls that could be anyone. They could be your best friend, sister or next-door neighbor. Urgh, I want to say they could be you--that is just too cheesy--but it's true.
Frankie is the girl I wish I had been in high school. She's who I wish I was now, years past my teenaged self. She is brilliant and funny and just a little boy-crazy. She is a sophomore at Alabaster, a prestigious boarding school, that her father and sister attended before her. She is newly hot and has caught the eye of a popular senior boy named Matthew. Matthew comes with a group of boys that are fun to be around and Frankie enjoys the perks of being Matthew's girlfriend and being in this group of popular upperclassmen.
It is during their first date, a late-night party on the golf course, that Frankie realizes that Matthew is a part of an 'old-boys' secret society. The same society that her own father was a part of during his time at Alabaster. She realizes that not only is he a member, but that he and his best friend, a boy named Alpha, are the leaders. Frustrated that she is unable to infiltrate this club because of her sex and angry that Matthew keeps his membership a secret, Frankie finds a way to control its members from the outside. Her own relationship with Alpha is complicated and there is an unspoken power-play between the two for Matthew's attention, which may or may not be spawned from their own sexual attraction. The love interest(s) in this book aren't what it is about. Frankie's relationships with other people are important, but the heart of this book is Frankie's brain, which is what makes it so special and wonderful.
What makes it unique is that the reader can see the way Frankie's mind and opinions are changing. She is enrolled in a class that is studying the panopticon, which is a theory that the threat of always being watched makes the actual watching almost completely unnecessary, which is opening her mind to her world at a boarding school. The class is exploring the ways in which different groups around America have shaken up the establishment. Excerpts from papers she writes for this class are sprinkled throughout the text showing the way her schooling is affecting her thinking--which is almost never explored in YA fiction.
Frankie doesn't just want to be the cute girlfriend of the popular boy. It isn't enough. She wants for people to see her as she sees herself. As intelligent and witty and worthwhile. This book is an ode to girl-power and should be mandatory reading for girls of all ages.
Favorite quotes:
“She will not be simple and sweet.
She will not be what people tell her she should be.”
“Secrets are more powerful when people know you've got them.”
What do you think? Have you ever read this book? Leave a comment below. 
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Side Effects (Movie Review)
Director: Stephen Soderbergh
Writer: Scott Z Burns
Starring: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Rated R for sexuality, nudity, violence and language
DVD Release Date: May 21, 2013
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Synopsis from Amazon:
From Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) comes this suspenseful and provocative tale of intrigue starring Channing Tatum, Academy Award nominees Rooney Mara and Jude Law, and Academy Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones. After her husband (Tatum) is released from prison, Emily (Mara) begins suffering from terrifying anxiety and turns to psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Law) for help. But when Banks prescribes an experimental drug for her, the side effects have chilling and deadly consequences. Full of unexpected twists, Side Effects is the sexy psychological thriller that critics are calling "wildly unpredictable!"
***********************************************************************************
MY THOUGHTS:
Soderbergh's latest film, and what is being reported as being his last, is a fun Hitchcockian treat for those of us who are drawn to stories that are described as "twisty." Side Effects follows a young New York couple played by Tatum and Mara who have recently been reunited after his four-year stint in the state penitentiary for insider trading. Still in their 20s, the couple is obviously on shaky ground as they start to learn to live together again. Emily (Mara) has long suffered from depression, and the return of her husband has seemed to bring on another bout of depression. Days after he comes home she intentionally drives her car straight into a parking garage wall. At the hospital, she meets psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Law) who agrees not to admit her under the condition that she begins seeing him at his private office.
Emily begins to see Dr. Banks on a regular basis and the two try to find the right drug to put her on to help with the depression. He meets with her former psychiatrist, Dr. Siebert (Zeta-Jones), at a convention and she suggests that Dr. Banks tries a new drug called Ablixa. Emily starts to show some real progress on the new drug, so when some dangerous side effects start to manifest, they decide to keep her on the drug to harrowing consequences.
I found Side Effects to be a smart (although not as smart as it thinks it is) and fun movie. The movie really makes you think about pharmaceuticals, side effects, and the responsibility of doctors. This movie raises some important questions about the legal drug business and whether or not a doctor can be held responsible for his/her patient's actions. There is no question that America, as a whole, is a country obsessed with its drugs and I really liked this movie's unflinching gaze at what it means to be depressed and under a fog of medication.
I can't even tell you how many times I've been left shaking my head as an ubiquitous drug commercial plays in the background. Side effects include: constipation, nausea, an inexplicable need to gamble, fever, itching, hallucinations...but at least your toe nails will no longer be yellow. The side effects are always so much worse than whatever ailment it is supposed to be curing. It's lunacy.
Anyway, I thought the casting choices were perfect. Jude Law is wonderful as the somewhat slimy psychiatrist that makes money any way he can, including taking money from a pharmaceutical company by taking place in a drug study (he "recruits" patients to try a drug--although, not the drug Emily is on), working at the hospital in which he meets Emily, plus his own private practice. We learn he is taking on more and more work because his wife has been laid off and they want to keep her son (his young stepson) at his private city school. Rooney Mara gives a subtle and believable performance as a young woman fighting depression and struggling to adjust to her newly returned husband. She is a young actress I'm quickly starting to admire through films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network (on a side note her sister, Kate Mara, who was in Netfix's brilliant show House of Cards is also amazingly talented). Tatum doesn't have a whole lot to do here, but he does well in his role of a young husband who is baffled by his wife's depression and as the privileged man looking to get his life back. The only role I wasn't sold on was that of Dr. Seibert. I've never been a fan of Zeta-Jones (although she was brilliant in Traffic) and she is verging on ridiculous here. She played the doctor as if the role was called "sexy psychiatrist" over-acted and downright vampy, you almost expect her to shake her hair out of constant tight bun and throw off the hipster glasses like she's in a bad porno.
Overall, I was impressed with Side Effects. With the small exception of Zeta-Jones (whose role is fairly small anyway) the acting is perfection. I do wish that the film wouldn't have focused so much on the pursuit of the all-mighty dollar, but do love the questions it raises about the drug industry. Definitely worth watching on DVD.
So what about you? Have you seen this movie? Do you want to? Sound off below.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Waiting on Wednesday (9)
Author: Cristin Terrill
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Synopsis from Goodreads:
"You have to kill him." Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.
Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.
Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was.
All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.
Why I'm Excited:
Simply put, I think this sounds amazing. It's getting awesome early buzz. I love the time-travel aspect and it sounds like it will be a fast-paced, original story. I'm impressed with what Disney-Hyperion is putting out lately. Plus that cover is amaze-balls.
So what are you waiting for on this first Wednesday in June? Link me up!
*Comments and followers are welcome and much appreciated. If you leave a comment, please leave me your link so I can come visit you. I will always try to follow those who are following me, but if I somehow miss you, please just let me know. Happy reading!*
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Top Ten Tuesday (9) Books Involving Travel
Top Ten Tuesday is is a is is a weekly meme/original feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the link to go to their site to see the original list for today plus links to a whole slew of other blogs. After you read mine, of course.
A girl goes to live with her father for the summer in his cute beach-side town.
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (A Favorite Book Review)
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Number of Pages: 352
Release Date: March 25, 2008
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way.
************************************************************************************
So to my chagrin, I did not finish any of the six books I'm currently reading (including three ARCs that are being released tomorrow-eep!) So I decided to do a throw-back post and do a review of one of my all-time favorite books: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. I've read this novel several times and just cannot get enough of this smart and fun book and its delightful heroine.
*************************************************************************************
MY THOUGHTS:
So E. Lockhart is amazing. She just is. Her Ruby books (the Boyfriend List, etc) are absolutely wonderful and this book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, is spectacular. Ms. Lockhart has this way of writing these seemingly innocent YA adult books that appear to be about boys and cuteness, but that is not what they are. Frankie and Ruby are smart, deep, complicated teenage girls that could be anyone. They could be your best friend, sister or next-door neighbor. Urgh, I want to say they could be you--that is just too cheesy--but it's true.
Frankie is the girl I wish I had been in high school. She's who I wish I was now, years past my teenaged self. She is brilliant and funny and just a little boy-crazy. She is a sophomore at Alabaster, a prestigious boarding school, that her father and sister attended before her. She is newly hot and has caught the eye of a popular senior boy named Matthew. Matthew comes with a group of boys that are fun to be around and Frankie enjoys the perks of being Matthew's girlfriend and being in this group of popular upperclassmen.
It is during their first date, a late-night party on the golf course, that Frankie realizes that Matthew is a part of an 'old-boys' secret society. The same society that her own father was a part of during his time at Alabaster. She realizes that not only is he a member, but that he and his best friend, a boy named Alpha, are the leaders. Frustrated that she is unable to infiltrate this club because of her sex and angry that Matthew keeps his membership a secret, Frankie finds a way to control its members from the outside. Her own relationship with Alpha is complicated and there is an unspoken power-play between the two for Matthew's attention, which may or may not be spawned from their own sexual attraction. The love interest(s) in this book aren't what it is about. Frankie's relationships with other people are important, but the heart of this book is Frankie's brain, which is what makes it so special and wonderful.
What makes it unique is that the reader can see the way Frankie's mind and opinions are changing. She is enrolled in a class that is studying the panopticon, which is a theory that the threat of always being watched makes the actual watching almost completely unnecessary, which is opening her mind to her world at a boarding school. The class is exploring the ways in which different groups around America have shaken up the establishment. Excerpts from papers she writes for this class are sprinkled throughout the text showing the way her schooling is affecting her thinking--which is almost never explored in YA fiction.
Frankie doesn't just want to be the cute girlfriend of the popular boy. It isn't enough. She wants for people to see her as she sees herself. As intelligent and witty and worthwhile. This book is an ode to girl-power and should be mandatory reading for girls of all ages.
Favorite quotes:
She will not be what people tell her she should be.”
What do you think? Have you ever read this book? Leave a comment below.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Stacking the Shelves (8)
A girl vanishes from a high school parties and shows back up a year later.
Insomnia by JR Johansson
A guy enters the dreams of the last person he makes contact with every night.
Ghost Time by Courtney Elridge
Man I got some creepy ass books this week. About a disappearance. I'm assuming there's going to be a ghost.
Dragonfly by Leigh Moore
Billed as Gossip Girl meets VC Andrews. Like that should be a selling point.
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
About a boy who can talk to the ghost of Jacob Grimm. From the brothers Grimm. That's really all I needed to know about this book.
Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore
*Followers and comments are welcome and much appreciated. If you leave a comment, please also leave your link so I can come visit you. I'll always try to follow those who are following me, but if I somehow forget you, please just let me know. Happy reading!
Friday, May 31, 2013
The Great Gatsby (Movie Review)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writer(s): Baz Luhrmann, based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan
Release Date: May 10, 2013
Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language
My Rating 3.5 out of 5
Synopsis from IMDB:
An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.
So I was thrilled when I heard that Leo and Baz were teaming up again for one of my favorite classics: The Great Gatsby. I'm sure most of you know the basic premise of the story line, but for those who don't The Great Gatsby follows Nick Carraway, a young Yale graduate who fought in WWI and has recently moved to New York to learn about the bond business. He is renting a small cottage nestled in between the newly built mansions in West Egg, Long Island. His new digs are next to the uber-mansion of a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Nick is enthralled by the lavish parties that are constantly raging next door and is eventually personally invited to one by the host. He soon finds out that nobody at the party seems to know who Gatsby is. In fact, they weren't even invited and never are. Everybody just shows up at Gatsby's house knowing that they will be welcomed and entertained.
Across the bay/harbor/some strip of water is what is known as East Egg. East Egg also has elaborate mansions lining its shores, but the residents are mostly "old money" who scoff at those with "new money" (like Gatsby)...This isn't really touched on in the movie, but the distinction of new and old money is important in the novel. Over on East Egg lives Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchanan and her husband, the formidable Tom Buchanan. It is because of Nick's connection with Daisy that he was invited to Gatsby's house. You see Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for years (the two were together before Gatsby was shipped off to war) and Gatsby wants Nick to arrange a meeting between the two.
Her husband, Tom, is portrayed as mean and careless. He has a mistress, Myrtle, who lives in the desolate part of Long Island in between the Eggs and the city known as Valley of Ashes. Myrtle's husband owns a gas station in the Valley. Because Tom is such a vile character, the audience feels justified in rooting for Gatsby to be reunited with his long-lost love.
I really enjoyed this adaptation of The Great Gatsby. I didn't see it in 3D as I didn't find that necessary. The cinematography is amazing. The colors, the costumes, the houses! Seriously, both Gatsby's house and the Buchanan's house are absolutely stunning. Stunning. While I've heard complaints from others, I wasn't bothered by the anachronistic soundtrack. After seeing both Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge it was what I was expecting from the director.
As far as the cast is concerned, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. Leo was the perfect Gatsby and absolutely nailed it. Joel Edgerton was wonderful as Tom and while Isla Fisher was a surprising choice for Myrtle, I think she did a great job. While I like Tobey Maguire and think he did a good job, frankly I feel like he was just plain too old for the role. Nick is 30 in Fitzgerald's novel and is awed by the city and by Gatsby. Maguire has to be in his late 30s, early 40s by now which makes his wide-eyed wonder unconvincing. A younger actor would have been a better choice. As far as Carey Mulligan, I'm sorry to say I think she is just too plain for this role. Daisy is a tough character because she is so vapid and silly (she's the fool she hopes her daughter grows up to be). In both the book and the movie it is hard to understand why Gatsby is so infatuated with her. For this reason, the actor portraying her has to have a beauty and charisma that Mulligan just doesn't have, in my opinion.
Overall, I would definitely recommend seeing The Great Gatsby and because of the cinematography and spectacle, I would recommend seeing it in theaters if you get the chance. Baz really stayed very faithful to the novel with only a few small changes that were necessary in converting the novel to the screen. The Great Gatsby has long been one of my favorite classics. It isn't the easiest book to read, as many a high school student will attest, but I still love it and am happy to see it has finally received the big screen treatment it deserves.
On a side note, it is rumored that Baz and Leo are tackling Hamlet next!!!
Have you seen this movie? What did you think? Have you read the book?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Parallel (Book Review)
Author: Lauren Miller
Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of Pages: 419
Release Date: May 14, 2013
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.
With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.
As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.
MY THOUGHTS:
I really enjoyed this book. This take on parallel worlds was original and well done. While I'm not especially science-minded I enjoyed reading the philosphy behind how this could have happened and thought the idea seemed well researched and thought out. I loved her friendship with the science-savy Caitlin and her sometimes on/sometimes off relationship with their mutual friend Tyler (Parallel Abby's actions keep changing their relationship, too).
Overall, I found Parallel to be fresh and fun. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for a quick summer read.
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