The Heir by Kiera Cass
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have very little reaction to this book. The main character was not a very nice person, but that seemed to offer potential for self reflection and personal growth. There are some inklings that this might occur, but it never really comes across. However all the characters surrounding her felt like cardboard cutouts strategically placed to show HER how she OUGHT to behave. At one point Eadlyn is scolded for treating her suitors like they are disposable, and then the author does the exact same thing. In the end, the book falls prey to the insistence of publishers to drag everything out into trilogies. No real progress is made beyond introducing us all to the circumstances, and then the author inserts twist A into cliffhanger B and wait for the sequel.


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You Know Me Well by David Levithan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A refreshingly multidimensional novel about the lives of two teenagers during San Francisco's Pride Celebration. While a great deal of the drama comes from their romantic relationships, the beginnings and endings of friendships are just as important to the narrative. The narrators alternated by chapter, from Kate to Mark. This was largely effective, although I had to flip back a few times to remind myself who was currently talking. Still, the book read smoothly, without a jarring disconnect between the two voices, a problem I have had with multiple narrators as well as multiple authors in the past. I appreciated that the book showed teens in various stages of coming out as well as a variety of consequences to coming out, some positive and some negative. An excellent and well rounded story.


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