Size 12 Is Not Fat (Heather Wells Bk #1) by Meg Cabot

HEATHER WELLS ROCKS!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two -- and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knowsteenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen -- not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives -- even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

(Image and description from Goodreads)


*there will be some spoilers in this post - well, more than I usually mention anyway as I will be indulging myself in a mini-rant ;)*


This was a fun read, the pages flew by in true Meg Cabot style which is always a nice fluffy, gift wrapped bonus for a book.

Having a heroine who is not a stick insect (or on a track team or anything else) was great and who also has proper issues going on her life. Her mother had legged it with all of her money, her father is in prison and she had been dumped by her fiance - after finding him in a situation with his now fiance.

I loved Heather. She was sure of herself (even when she wasn't) and doing her best to make a life for herself. She also told her ex where to do when he made an appearance. Now THAT I loved. That is until this one time!

He showed up and like that *insert finger snap here* they are going at it on the hallway floor. At that point I am afraid my opinion of Heather crashed and burned. She said herself that in that moment she had become the 'other woman' and she didn't like it. Yeah well, I agree Mrs - not to mention it wasn't even your house!!!! anyone could have came in.

Yeah, after that moment I didn't quite liker her as much - even though this is only proving that out heroine is not perfect and is flawed, yadedadeda. Still went off her.

I still enjoyed the book though and like all of Meg Cabot's work it is filled to the gills with some great 1 liners and as I have mentioned it was a fun and fast paced read.

Reading about an ex-pop-star turned dorm director who tries to do some crime solving on the side make for some good fun :)

YA Review - The Princess Diaries #2 by Meg Cabot

Just when Mia thought she had the whole princess thing under control, things get out of hand, fast. First there's an unexpected announcement from her mother. Then Grandmère arranges a national primetime interview for the brand-new crown princess of Genovia. On top of that, intriguing, exasperating letters from a secret admirer begin to arrive.

Before she even has the chance to wonder who those letters are from, Mia is swept up in a whirlwind of royal intrigue the likes of which hasn't been seen since volume I of The Princess Diaries.

(Description from Goodreads)

I really didn’t like Lily (Mia’s best-friend) in this book. Well come to think of it I wasn’t all that fond of her in the first book wither but she bugged me more here. I really wanted Mia to go to town on her, but, unfortunately that did not happen.

I loved Mia’s reaction to her mother’s pregnancy. First of all she doesn’t freak out that he mother is having sex. She realises that both of her parents are attractive and are bound to be in relationships. So her un-childish reaction gained her loads of points from me. In fact what bugged her mainly was that he mother wasn’t using protection.

“I know it takes two to tango, but please, my mother is a painter. He is an algebra teacher. You tell me who is supposed to ne the responsible one.”

I thought it was lovely that almost as soon as she found out about the pregnancy Mia was on the computer trying to find things that would help and keep her mum and the baby healthy through it.

Moving on.

I love Mia’s lists. No, really, they are great. They range from homework exercises to all of the weird and wonderful boys who could be her secret admirer (has to be one of the funniest lists in this book).

I love how in most of her lists stops thinking about Michael (her best friend older brother) is normally in it.

“Could a computer genius/juvenile delinquent ever be interested in a flat chested princess like myself? He did save my life tonight (well, ok: he saved me from possible community service)It’s not a French kiss, or a slow dance, or even an admission he’s the author of that anonymous letter.
But it’s a start”

I don’t quite get her constant issue with her breast size or lack off. Actually, I don’t quite understand this issue whenever is come up in books…Just don’t understand it (and find it a little annoying actually)

And last but not least I cannot end this post without mention the grandmother.

“But grandmere isn’t satisfied with the way the cosmetic technician (make-up lady) did my eyes. She says I look like a poulet. That means hooker in French. Or Chicken. But when my grandmere says it, it always means hooker.

Why can’t I have a nice, normal grandma, shoe makes borchst and thinks I look wonderful no matter what I have on?”

Jinx by Meg Cabot

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 just realised that I read this a wee while ago and never reviewed *tut tut, bad me* so here is a quick post now. Or at least I don’t think I did…anyway I’ll get on with it.

This was an enjoyable enough read but sits at a solid 3 stars for me.

Jean – Jinx – was an OK character but I found her to be a bit of a drip at some points and the whole story happened a little too quickly for me – clocking in at about a month. I know that is how it is in YA but I don’t see what is wrong with a little bit of relationship building before the couple in question are there sucking each other’s face off and pledging there undying love to each other.

And then we have the totally crazy, out of her mind 'come-here-while-I-sacrifice-you' cousin who was a right witch and for some reason Jinx didn't see right through her - the book almost went flying across the room at that point. 

There were the laugh out loud moments in the good old Meg Cabot fashion but it just missed the mark for me. There were bits that just seemed so vague, nothing was concrete…

I don’t know I can’t really nail what I didn’t like. It was good but not brilliant. 

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

I actually really enjoyed this book. That sounds really bad doesn’t it… But the truth is I was a little backwards about coming forwards in getting this book, but I am glad I did.

I had some reservations on several counts. One thing is that I think I am growing out of the Meg Cabot YA selection. This has nothing to do with her writing! I still think she is a fantastic writer and can tell one heck of a story but I don’t really identify with the characters anymore and find most of their decisions irritating. And the second is because I love the story of Hades and Persephone and I always inwardly cringe where there is something based however loosely) on the myth.

That being said though, I thoroughly enjoyed this read (well…listen).

Although it is something that is used over and over and over again in YA novels I love the idea of a kid being lifted out of their home environment and dumped in a new school so whenever this is in a book it gets an extra brownie point from me. Maybe that is because I was stuck in the same place all my life and would have loved to have started over somewhere new.

So, this is what happens here. Thanks to an ‘incident’ that is revealed to us through the first half of the book Pierce and her mother have moved back to the island where Pierce’s mom grew up so that they can start over. But it doesn’t quite work out to plan. Thanks to the constant appearances of John – Lord of the Dead for lack of a better phrase.

And so we haveth the story.

I did love this book but there were some things that did grate on my nerves – just a teeny little bit. The major issue that I had was the reason for Pierce and her best friend Hannah breaking off their friendship. The reason seemed so trivial and childish. Pierce understood why Hannah reacted the way she did and yet she seemed to contradict herself with her own reaction to this… Yeah, I got a little cross eyed at that point.

SPOILER – Totally didn’t see the whole teacher/student thing coming. I mean I did as soon as ‘young, male teacher’ came into the mix. I was like ‘hello, hello, hello – PLOT POINT’ But what a creep. John should have broken more than his hand. And while we are on the subject (and any of you who have read this book I would love to see what you thought of this particular bit) WHAT was with Pierce’s dad’s reaction to the whole hand breaking thing. If my daughter was being molested by some sexual predator and she had broken his hand (which she didn’t because it was John, but her dad doesn’t know that)I would have been giving her a pat on the back and signing her up for lesson where she could learn to break more than that. But oh no. Not her dad. He goes and yells at her. *grumble grumble*

And I wish that Pierce had maybe been a little…brighter at points and not so much of an ‘idiotic teenager’ (thank you Mr Smith, you took the words right out of my mouth). She seemed just a tad ditzy and I wanted to shake her and tell her to get her act together all ready.

But there was plenty to like about this book!

In the Meg Cabot tradition it is filled with the laugh out loud one liners that would have had me looking a right idiot if I was sitting in the doctors waiting room while reading this.

And thank goodness! Finally a sensible teenager who doesn’t go and do something in her mother’s house (because of being coerced by her peers) without her mother knowing about it. Thank you mom for being do funky (this mom is majorly cool) and Pierce for being sensible enough for not doing something that had the potential to get very messy pretty quickly without having permission. THANK YOU! I will admit to leaping up and down with glee at that point.

Good, enjoyable, funny, sometimes serious, sometimes sad read.

Don’t read if you are expecting a faithful retelling of the Persephone and Hades story but give it a try if you like your variations (and don’t mind it being based VERY LOOSELY on the myth).

I could go on and on about the funky little plot point and parallels but I’ll leave it here.

Oh, and mega 'did-not-see-that-coming' spin.


Favourite character - Uncle Chris. I loved Uncle Chris, he was nice. 
Least favourite character - Pierce (her attitude grated on me something rotten!) and her father. I wanted to hit him!!! I think the attitude thing must be hereditary. 

Narrated by Natalie Payne
Length - 9hrs 12mins
Release Date - 26/04/11

This was fun t listen too. There were bits were I wished I was reading it because I wanted to get to the next bit. Natalie Payne was great as the narrator. She nailed the whole 'teenage' voice thing, although it did take me a little long to get used to, the voice grated on me a little at first but I got used to it. Thank fully.

Avalon High - The Merlin Prophecy by Meg Cabot

Life's been pretty exciting for Ellie since she joined Avalon High. She's doing great at school, she's a star of track racing- and, oh yeah, she's dating the super-hot class president, Will, who also happens to be the alleged reincarnation of King Arthur. 

Ellie isn't sure she really believes Will is a reincarnated king- and Will finds it a stretch too. But their doubts might prevent an age of enlightenment- the Merlin Prophecy- from coming about. And whatever they believe, their lives are definitely in danger...

This picks up where Avalon High ended and although I love a manga as a break from reading I can't help but wish that it was an actual 'book', book. But that is just a personal preference more than anything.

I do have a weakness for pretty pictures and historical costumes and I get a bit of both in this and there is definitely an upside sometimes to having the pictures actually painted for you, saves on some serious imagination work.

In this we have Ellie coming to terms with just who she is in the grand scheme of King Arthur being re-born and trying to get Will to come to terms with the whole reincarnation of King Arthur thing while also trying to reconcile him with his parents - lets all yell 'BAD IDEA ELLIE' shall we.

I enjoyed this. There was some teenage drama and reactions to stuff that set me on edge at times but it is a YA teenage book so that is to be expected. Will going off his head at Ellie for trying to help was - in my opinion - uncalled for and the dude needs to take a chill pill - actually I think he has some anger management issues but that's just me.

The format was brilliant for this book I think, especially when there were mirror images. The characters would be reflected back in a pool of water, the real them being in modern clothes and the reflected them being their Arthurian counterparts (or visa-versa). That was pretty neat and added a great sense of the 'other lifes' aspect to the book.

Great for a quick read.

I would say to have the next book in line ready to read because it leaves you with quite a little cliff hanger.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

PUBLISHED 2006

Avalon High seems like a typical high school, attended by typical students: There's Lance, the jock. Jennifer, the cheerleader. And Will, senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy.

But not everybody at Avalon High is who they appear to be ... not even, as new student Ellie is about to discover, herself. What part does she play in the drama that is unfolding? What if the bizarre chain of events and coincidences she has pieced together means -- as with the court of King Arthur -- tragedy is fast approaching Avalon High?

Worst of all, what if there's nothing she can do about it?

(INTO THE OLD WORLD READING CHALLENGE)

This book is a re-read. And thinking about it now I think I probably read it about once a year. But it is good and  it's a nice easy read too.

I always wanted to be an Ellie growing up. Tall and athletic. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Short and on the dumpy side of slim is more like me, but never mind, I got over it.

The whole idea of this story is pretty cool. That through the years the powers of good and evil have been fighting as King Arthur's attempt to 'rise again' are thwarted by the evil Mordred. Like I said. Pretty cool!

Ellie is a fun character to read the story through, she has whit and more than once I found myself giggling at her reactions to things.

Will is just too perfect! I couldn't really like him, no matter how hard I tried. Perfect grades, perfect manners...he is just too shiny. I totally get that he is supposed to be a modern King Arthur but really! Couldn't the guy have bad breath or something!

All in all, a fun read.