Review: Happy Birthday to Me Again

Happy Birthday to Me Again (Birthday Trilogy #2) by Brian Rowe
Release Date ~ September 22, 2011
ISBN13: 9781466371088

Goodreads Synopsis:
Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day… again. And this time... he's going backward!
When Cameron proposes to his beloved witch of a girlfriend Liesel, he thinks life can’t get any better. But when he reluctantly breaks off the engagement just days before the wedding, Liesel angrily unleashes another curse on the unlucky guy, this time making him age backward, from eighteen, all the way to zero.
Making matters worse, Liesel mysteriously disappears, leaving Cameron with no options, except watching himself rapidly shrink into a helpless child. Will Liesel be able to save his life again? Or will Cameron ultimately fall prey to his girlfriend's wicked spell?

I enjoyed the first book in Brian Rowe's Birthday Trilogy, Happy Birthday to Me, because it struck me as a fairly creative idea for a YA book, and I was pleased wit it as a well presented and fun book. I had high hopes for the sequel, but unfortunately I wasn't nearly as impresesd with this one as I was with the first book.

There are very few spoilers for the first book in this review, but if you'd like you can also stop by to read my review of Happy Birthday to Me.

1. Something different and fresh:
   I definitely get sick of reading the same types of books over and over, but I'm so impressed with Brian's creativity both in terms of the plot and in the presentation and writing style. The whole story is kind of quirky and he maintains this sense of humour throughout the book, even in more serious situations.

But I was mostly disappointed with Cameron as a character. While he grew on me in the first book, I found him even harder to like in this one. It seemed as if he was presented as this unlucky guy starting to grow up and act like an adult, but I had a hard time seeing that in Cam. His choices and reactions to things struck me as the most immature aspects of him, and I couldn't understand how I was supposed to end up liking him more. Because frankly, most of the time he just ended up being a self-centred jerk. For all the times he claimed to love Liesl, he sure showed it in a funny way when she was in trouble. I was just so frustrated and annoyed with both Cameron and Liesl, but Cam in particular because he came across as being so fake; saying he was worried about Liesl, yet not acting on trying to help her in some way. And instead, distracting himself from this worry.

Overall, I felt no sympathy towards the characters, Liesl and others included, as they were supposed to be victims in these terrible circumstances... but it wasn't as if they were faultless. And the whole book read as more of a set up for the third book, than an actual sequel to the first. And Cam is just so stubborn and unwilling to deal with the problems and issues presented by others close to him, so big problems are just brushed off as being no big deal.

After reading Happy Birthday to Me Again, I think I would have been happier to just leave Happy Birthday to Me as a standalone and not chosen to continue with the series.

Review copy provided by author in exchange for my honest review; no other compensation was received.

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me (Birthday Trilogy #1) by Brian Rowe
Release Date: April 7, 2011


3/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day!
High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game all on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect.
All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place...

After being unsure of what to expect from Happy Birthday to Me, but this is one of those books that proves to you that there are some gems of self-pub books out there. If you're looking for something a little bit outside of the box, and a well-written quick read then this is a good one to look into.
Reasons to Read:

1. "Beauty and the Beast" minus the Beauty:
   
   Cameron undergoes some serious growth and character development, which is totally endearing to watch unfold. And similar to the Beast, he needs to learn a very important lesson about himself and how he sees others. With a plot like that, it's completely reminiscent of Beauty & the Beast, even if there isn't any cute, book-loving girls in it (besides the ones actually reading Happy Birthday to Me).
2. A distinctive story:
   
   If you've seen Benjamin Button, then it's the same idea but executed in a very different way. One thing I found particularly refreshing about this story was that it was told from the perspective of a completely ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. But there really isn't anything that special about him... It's creative and stands out among a plethora of YA novels.

I found Cam to be such an interesting character, and there were times when I really wasn't sure what to make of him. But he's definitely the kind that grows on you- and he's flawed, in a realistic kind of way which I appreciate.

Brian Rowe writes well, and the amount of consideration and effort put into this book is evident. If anything, the ending was a bit rushed and the story lacking some overall depth, but thankfully this is the first of a series which will hopefully assist in these areas with further books. I would have loved to have seen a bit more complexity in both the plot and some of the secondary characters, which fell a bit flat, such as Charisma and Wesley. Cam and his parents, on the other hand, were some that were just jumping off the page with their fascinating actions.

Review copy received from author in exchange for my honest review; no other compensation received.