Slackerheroes.com: I'm a contributor!

I'm excited to announce I'll be contributing TV reviews for the awesome Slackerheroes.com! The site features content appealing to fans of comics, sci-fi, and pop-culture on the fringes of those categories. Articles are more opinion and feature-oriented rather than simply recapping TV episodes. There's a really great one up now about a re-imagined Season 6 Angel.

I'm thrilled to be reviewing 4 new fall shows:

• The Secret Circle - from the makers of The Vampire Diaries and based on books by the same author, L.J. Smith. Thursdays, The CW (Sept. 15)
• Ringer - Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to TV and plays twin characters in a dark action-mystery. Tuesdays, The CW (Sept. 13)
• Pam Am - Christina Ricci stars in a 1960s-era soapy drama about the airline. Sundays, ABC (Sept. 25)
• Once Upon a Time - Cutie Ginnifer Goodwin is a reimagined Snow White in this curious series by two writers from Lost (they have plugged that pretty hard). Sundays, ABC (October)

I just realized all these shows feature strong female leads. Cool! I admit I have a few doubts on Once Upon a Time, mainly because the staying power a fairy-tale based show seems fragile, despite the resurgence of fairy tale trends in books and movies (two Snow White films will be released in 2012).

As for SlackerHeroes, you can see my first post here where I so helpfully list 10 essential Vampire Diaries episodes from seasons 1 & 2. Picking 10 episodes almost drove me insane, it was downright difficult considering how much plot churns through each episode. If you haven't seen the show, it's a lot of fun, vacillating between campy and a typical teen drama.

I make no excuses for totes belonging to Team Damon, and it's not just because he played Boone on Lost. As my husband said,  his eyes are LASER VILLIAGE. Don't think too hard on that, it doesn't actually mean anything. But look at his eyes, deep into his eyes...


Speaking of this actor and my taste in general, pretty consistent?

Book Review: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

I saw Simone Elkeles at a book signing yesterday for Chain Reaction, the third (and last?) book in the Perfect Chemistry series. She's lively and engaging as a speaker and she's enthusiastic about sharing her book writing experience. I figured it's the perfect time to share a review of her first book in the series:

Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Published: 2011

It's easy to see why Perfect Chemistry won a 2011 RITA award from the Romance Writer's of America in the YA categrogy. Despite a dozen cliches - good girl meets bad boy, initial friction, a bet made by the bad boy to prove he can hook up with the good girl, inevitable crush leading to romance - this story managed to transcend the typical stereotypes with enough unique details and an engaging romance.

Think of this like the Step Up movie franchise. There's a reason the movies keep churning out with a rotating cast of interchangable characters. If you like dance movies and a glimpse into urban life with a side of romance, you get exactly that. Know what to expect with Perfect Chemistry and it will deliver.

Brittany is a popular student from the wealthy side of town who strives to attain perfection to please her family and friends. Alex is a gang member from the town's poorer south side who runs with the gang only to protect his family. Brittany's secret is her mentally and physically handicapped sister who Brittany cares for and fiercely guards from ridicule from those she feels would not understand. Her mother is a shallow woman, and when her dad is physically present he is emotionally vacant. Alex's secret is he's only putting on a game face with the gang since he'd rather go to college and escape a world of drugs, guns and theft. The two are paired together in chemistry class. They hate each other, but of course, they end up seeing there's more behind the facade.

What I liked about the story was alternating points of view. Reading Alex's view of the world helped frame the reality of gang life, even if some of the scenarios seemed more out of a movie than real life. I also appreciated a look into the life of caring for a disabled sibling, which I felt went a step beyond a lot of stories that reach to create depth in initially one-dimensional characters. Mexican culture is shared within Alex's story with a lot of Spanglish thrown around. Having attended a diverse high school myself, I know self-segregation by race and class is common, but I felt the division here was a little too much at times. Interacial dating is not that shocking anymore. In this story it was likely more about a popular rich girl dating a poor gang member rather than a white girl and a Mexican. But I'm not complaining too much because I devoured this in a matter of days and felt a connection with both main characters.

I would suggest Perfect Chemistry for older teens since there are a lot of references to drugs, crime, sex etc. All of these concepts are examined and consequences discussed or shown. I can see it as an appealing story for younger readers especially considering the diversity.


As a side note from Simone's live talk, she said the story was rejected by a publisher initially because that publishing house had already put out a book with a Mexican character that year. Isn't it sad to hear? Even though the books were totally different and the characters not alike at all, it was considered too much to publish two books in a year with Mexican characters. I see chatter online about how YA fiction is whitewashed. Maybe it's not that writers aren't putting multi-racial characters forward, but publishing houses are operating under an archaic mindset that's holding us all back.

Not cool, publishers! Look how well Perfect Chemistry sells! Simone Elkeles is an NYT bestselling author thanks to the series.

Book Review: White Cat by Holly Black AND Red Glove (#1 & #2 Curseworkers series)

Title: White Cat (curseworkers #1) and Red Glove (#2)
Author: Holly Black
Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Published: 2010, 2011

Holly Black wrote my favorite story in the Zombies vs. Unicorns anthology about an Angelina-like character who adopts a brood of zom-nom children and her babysitter lives to tell. White Cat is the first book in her YA Curseworkers series. I listened to the audiobook version of both stories narrated by Jesse Eisenberg, the Academy Award-nominated actor of The Social Network and more importantly, a nerd-turned-badass in Zombieland. Jesse is a perfect match to read for the character and an example of how a narrator can an enhance a story.

In White Cat, Cassel is a seemingly normal kid with a weird name among a family of "workers," which is slang for folks who have mystical abilities to influence people. His grandfather is a deathworker (bad) while others work in luck, dreams or even emotions. Naturally, as one would expect, these workers are exploited by crime families. Cassel's mother is in jail for work she's done manipulating and conning using her curse-magic. His older brothers are emotionally distant and his father is out of the picture. Cassel's no saint though, he has his own con game going at the co-ed boarding school he attends. He's essentially a bookie, taking bets on everything, exploiting the rich kids to take care of himself.

After a few incidents of embarrassing sleepwalking get Cassel kicked-out of school, he pieces together that his strange dreams involving a white cat may hold clues to the murder of his friend Lila 3 years earlier. Cassel always believed he killed Lila, because he was told he had, although he doesn't remember doing it. He has memories of standing over her dead body, but of nothing else.

It's a strange and utterly convincing world to picture life as we know it with an undercurrent of mystical abilities. This feels like more of a contemporary story with elements of fantasy. It's gritty and a bit dark but also fun.

I can't say too much about Red Glove without giving away what happens in the first book. Basically, the next story dives deeper into the mobster families who control the workers in Cassel's life, and Lila's connections with that family. Cassel finds himself recruited by a crime boss at the same time the FBI wants him to assist with an investigation because of the connections he has with his own family of workers.

At school, which Cassel manages to re-enroll in after being kicked out, the Hex club is getting some heat from fellow students for supporting worker rights (it's a political issue and legislation is suggested to require all workers to register with the government). Non-worker students fear those who have mystical abilities, and they are turning on each other. Cassel must decide who he can trust, at school and in his family, and whether there is any "right" option in his life.

I really enjoyed both books. The take on mystical abilities feels realistic rather than a worldview you have to put aside doubts to buy into. Great characters and exciting storytelling. If you like dark humor and inventive urban fantasy, I highly recommend the series.