Reviews and Update: Kelsey and Chelsea

UPDATE: I'm going to add one more day to this party, so come back tomorrow for more posts! There should be one more guest blog by a book reviewer as well as another author post. Also, the contest this week (from commenting on the posts) for Penguin will end on April 10 (next Friday) so that more of you have time to read/comment on everything! Spread the word and buy Willow: Out Now!



Review by: Kelsey
http://justblindedbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Willow was yet another 'dark' novel that, thank god, did not dissapoint me, even with the super high expectations that I had. Julia has written an amazing tale filled with loss, love, and self-journeys. I really hope that I can find words to explain just how much I loved Willow.

Despite all of Willow's faults she's one of those characters that you can look up to, and even if you haven't been through what she has she still comes across as relateable. You really get to see her grow up in this book, she learms to accept and forgive, and also that hurting herself isn't the way to deal with pain. She really becomes her own person and it's so enjoyable to read that transition. The only fault that she had that really bothered me was her paranoia, it seemed as if someone was always out to do mean or hurtful things to her.

One of the things that I really focused on while reading Willow was the relationship between her and her brother, David; it was only of the subjects spotlighted in it. I was never annoyed at the way he acted around or to Willow; it seemd only too natural for his character that he would react in such a way. Though, I must say, when she blew up at him I was surpirsed by how he semi-admitted to feeling about her because I never felt that it was how he did feel about her; I was ecstatic when it turned out that it wasn't like that at all.

Of course, I couldn't write this without gushing about Guy (I couldn't stand his name though). He was the perfect love interest for Willow, but he was also much more than that, he was the perfect everything for her. Those moments that they had together always left me craving for another one between them. Though it wasn't always about steamy scenes between them, they could actually talk to each other about things--like what they were interested in, or their feelings and emotions.

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When Willow lost her virginity to Guy it almost took my breath away how romantic it was and how right it felt for the two of them.. It was...perfect (again, I'm using that word so much).
I hope that everybody has the common sense to read Willow when it's released.

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Review by: Chelsea
http://www.thepageflipper.blogspot.com/

Today, April 2nd, Willow by Julia Hoban is released. It's one of the best books of 2009. And, okay, there have only been 4 months so far. But it's going to be very, very (almost impossibly!) hard to top this one.We have Willow as our MC - a girl who is grieving terribly hard after a car accident involving the death of her parents. And Willow was driving. The guilt proves to be too much for her, and she releases her pain in self-mutilating cuts all over her body.

Things continue as they are for a while, until Guy comes along and discovers her secret, cropping up an outpouring of emotions.That summary doesn't do Willow any kind of justice. Or Willow, the character, either. Both are so intensely deep and multifaceted that it's difficult to put into words (unless you're Julia Hoban, of course.)

Willow was such an incredible character; her emotions and actions were so natural and true in a completely painstaking way. How she dealt with her grief, family, Guy, life - everything - made her not just a character but a real, live person. She comes out of the pages, grabs you, and lets you peek in on her life story.

This book is packed with meaning and depth, but it's also written in an enjoyable way. I had fun reading it, despite the depressing context (is that morbid?) Hoban mixes dark with light, spinning it into something Rumpelstiltskin would be very proud of. You've made gold, Julia Hoban.

Readers, go out and buy this one. Fast.