Review: Losing It Trilogy

Losing It Trilogy by Cora Carmack
William Morrow ~ HarperCollins
Losing It received from HarperCollins Canada (signed) 
Faking It & Finding It personally purchased

*Note that this review does not include my thoughts on the novellas (Keeping Her & Seeking Her). 

Losing It #1 ~ Released October 15, 2012
Goodreads Description:
Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier

Confession: I had no intention of reading Losing It, and it just so happened that fate stepped in. And by fate, I mean I was gifted a copy from HCC at their Fall Preview Event for bloggers, when they surprised us with a guest appearance from Cora Carmack to sign copies of Losing It for all of us! And after meeting Cora (I should also add here that I've talked to her before through blogging!) I decided I'd give my first New Adult book a whirl.

And you know what? I liked it.

Losing It is my favourite of the series, because I love the sense of humour that Cora writes so well. I can absolutely relate to Bliss and her many awkward moments, and her confusion and fear associated with growing up and taking on more responsibility. This is the kind of NA book I'm happy to read - yes, there's romance and a strong emphasis on it. But the romance isn't overpowering nor does it detract from the rest of the story. There are messy, crazy moments that Bliss has to learn to navigate and it doesn't always work out ideally.

Faking It #2 ~ Released June 4, 2013
Goodreads Description:
Mackenzie “Max” Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice, wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.
Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

I picked up Faking It immediately after finishing Losing It. There's definitely a similar vibe to Losing It, but I thought that Max and Cade were different enough characters to control their own story and make it work. Max has plenty of sass, so there's still that humorous style of writing, but in a different way from Bliss' awkward moments. This one's more sarcastic than anything.

Faking It is my least favourite of the three books here, likely because it just didn't wow me the way that Losing It did. It just kind of fell in between what I was hoping for, although I thought it was interesting that there were a few more serious issues included in this one for the characters to handle.

Finding It #3 ~ Released October 15, 2013
Goodreads Description:
Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong...
Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.
It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.

Now Finding It really stood out to me from the other books in the series. It was less funny and far more serious, mostly for including a number of (what I consider) very serious issues that really had to be worked on by Kelsey and Jackson.

But I really appreciated that. I think this book is the one where we can really see that NA doesn't have to be light and fluffy - it can be a bit darker and still work. I would have liked to have seen the solutions to these issues worked out a little bit more because they felt too heavy for a convenient ending. You also get the bonus of hearing about some fantastic vacation spots that I desperately want to check out now!

Thoughts on the Series:
I'd really love to see NA branch out to include books that don't predominantly feature romance, and I think this is a series that proved to me that it can be done. Romance is absolutely the main aspect of these books, but there was enough depth and reflection on the life of young 20-somethings to convince me to give NA a chance. And yet the books are still fun, enjoyable, and easy to read.

Teen Review: Veil of Magic Series

The Nexus Ring by Maureen Bush

Release Date ~ April 1, 2008
Coteau Books
ISBN13: 9781550503623
Recieved from publisher for review

Goodreads Synopsis
Maddy's ring appears to be an ordinary stone ring, but soon, as the family travels through the mountains of BC, a menacing man, Gronvald, tries to steal it, and an elegant woman, Aleena, offers to help them keep it from him.

 

Aleena takes Josh and Maddy through a veil of magic, to a wondrous world that coexists with the human world. But Aleena can't be trusted--she covets the ring for herself. The kids then meet the otter-people, who insist the ring must be taken to the giant of Castle Mountain for safekeeping, so it can no longer damage the veil between the worlds. Somehow Josh and Maddy must return the ring to the giant. And then try to find their way home

Crow Boy by Maureen Bush
Release Date ~ September 1, 2010
Coteau Books
ISBN13: 9781550504293
Recieved from publisher for review

Goodreads Synopsis
Josh has the ability to do magic. He and his sister Maddy save the Nexus Ring from two greedy magical creatures-Aleena the water spirit, and Gronvald the cruel troll-who want to use the ring to cross the veil. Now, on a family camping trip, Josh and Maddy steal away to visit the giant of Castle Mountain, Keeper of the ring. But Josh drops the ring, and Aleena finds it. Josh and Maddy have to follow Aleena to get it back. As they travel all the way to Vancouver Island they are followed by Corvus, the magical leader of the crows. Then, Josh and the others are swallowed by an ancient cedar deep in the rainforest, and literally escape into the earth. But when the earth won't let them go, Josh must learn to "become earth," and use earth magic to help Aleena and Maddy return to the surface.

 

Finally, Josh, Maddy and Aleena return the ring to Keeper. The crows flock to Josh, recognizing the deep magic he's learned from the natural world. He has become Crow Boy, "the magic boy."

The Veil Weavers by Maureen Bush
Release Date ~ April 2012
Coteau Books
ISBN13: 9781550504828
Recieved from Publisher for review

Goodreads Synopsis
It's Halloween, and Josh and Maddy are all ready to go out trick-or-treating. But the arrival of their otter-people friends with an urgent message from Keeper the Giant changes everything.

 

Returning to the magical world, Josh and Maddy learn its inhabitants are not powerful enough to fix the increasing tears in the Veil. The magic that gives them strength is leaking away through the tears, and soon their lives will be at risk. A Gathering of the magical citizens decides Josh's power is the only thing that can save them – but how?

 

Josh, Maddy and Keeper learn they should approach the Weavers for help, and Josh and Maddy set off on a quest to find them. But the two face dangers on the way…and not everybody in the magical world wants them to succeed.

I have the tendency to compare books that have people that live in the normal world, transported to a magical world, to the Chronicles of Narnia series.  It isn't a fair comparison, so when I read these books I tried to break the habit.  I was glad I did because this book is nothing like the Narnia series.  I read these books altogether, so for me they read as one continuous novel in three parts.  Altogether, this series is about the length of an average, 300 page book.

1. An Interesting Take on Magic:
   
   Usually in novels, when characters say that there is a "veil" over the magical world, hiding it from the non-magical world, they mean metaphorically.  I didn't expect these books to mean a literal veil of magic.  It's made from actual threads of magic that are weaved together to form this veil.  This veil holds the magic from leaking out into our world.  Crossing from the two worlds actually tears the veil, causing magic to leak out into our world.  I have never read or heard of anyone explain magic like this, so I was glad that these books brought something new.  I found the history of the magic, and the world itself to be really entertaining to read about, particularly in the third book, The Veil Weavers.
2. The Two Completely Different Villains:
   
   Aleena and Gronvald are the two antagonists of the series.  I liked the fact that these two villains were not working together, and while they shared a common goal, they were really very different.  Gronvald is one of those villains that just enjoys being evil, and doesn't care about the consequences, of which he is fully aware.  Aleena, on the other hand, while evil, really just doesn't know the extend of the damage that she is doing to her world.  Her motives don't involve hurting anybody, while Gronvald doesn't care if he does hurt people.  I liked this clear contrast of villains, which is really evident in the second novel, Crow Boy.
3. Josh's Hunger for Magic:
   
   Josh first gets his taste of magic in the first book of the series.  Throughout his two returns to the magic world, I could definitely sense just how much he loved magic.  By the third book, it almost looked like had an addiction to magic, which is pretty dark if you think about it.  I, at least, got the sense that he was constantly straddling the thin line between good and evil.  This part of the story is fantastic, and I found it so expected because these books are aimed at a younger audience.  I sometimes couldn't tell if he actually was going a bit evil, or if he was just pretending.

Overall, this series is really good.  It isn't a very long read, so it shouldn't take very long to complete.  if you're looking for a magical world that isn't a Narnia ripoff, this wouldn't be good for you.  I think that people from a whole range of ages will be able to read this series and still enjoy it.

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