Book Review: The Ashleys book 2 Jealous?

a few short books reviews here:

Dangerous Girls and Book 2: The Taste of Night, by S L.Stine
The Dangerous Girls is a pretty average teenage vampire series, but if you are looking for something to kill time with, you might well pick this series up, the major plot-twists are enjoyable. At least I appreciate that the vampires in the stories are those traditional ones (drink blood, can transform into bat/animals, go out at night, can't see themselves in mirrors, etc), the author didn't shy away from killing supporting characters in meaningful ways, the sexy pretty boy vampire is being revealed as a selfish, obsessive sicko instead of a perfect dreamboat. Though I honestly can't imagine how a human girl is able to go inside a vampires' lair by disguising herself as a vampire AND NO ONE EVER FIGURE HER OUT. Are you kidding me? =__=

Mercy, by Rebecca Lim
A crossover between angels and murder mystery, Mercy is quite refreshing in tone, plot design and storytelling, do give it a try if you are interested in stories with angels.

Mistborn: The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson
A spinoff from the Mistborn trilogy, the story gives us a welcomed surprise that instead of staying in the ancient 'magic & swords' fantasy setting, the fictional society in the story has undergone an industrial revolution. As a result Mistborn: The Alloy of Law , with all its exciting 'magic & gun & explosion' fight scenes, looks kinda like a Western even though the magic part is still present. Again it's an interesting story, but not as breathtaking as the Mistborn trilogy itself.

The Fledgling Handbook 101 (House of Night) by P. C. Cast and Kim Doner
Oh, just don't waste your time on this one if you aren't looking forward to see badly written myths and historical figures being turned into vampires. Despite its many flaws, I always like the New Age, Wicca and pro-feminism undertone in House of Night series, but this one is just BORING.

Nightshade series book 2: Wolfbane, by Andrea Cremer
The second book of the series deals with the aftermath and rebellion of a young alpha female Guardian/werewolf who discovered herself and her packmates had all been enslaved and lied to by their cruel masters. Wolfbane is a finely built middle book which can make you look forward to read the next one. The story has good world building, a strong female lead, reasonable plots, exciting action scenes and plot twists, a strong pro-feminism message.

Still it's a bit disappointing that the origin of the Searchers is poorly explained: okay, so the Keepers are filthy rich and powerful because they abuse their supernatural power, but how come do-gooders like the Searchers are able to form an Academy and support a few SWAT teams here and there? Where did they get the money from? Plus the male lead is not quite solid and he's getting less and less likable as the story goes. I mean, when your girlfriend's family and friends are imprisoned and tortured, how can you say: "Don't go back for them, because it's too dangerous"?  I can't freaking believe it. O_o;;;;

Grave Sight by Charilaine Harris
The first book of Harper Connelly Mysteries, and it surely doesn't disappoint! I like how Miss Harris always manages to create realistic, down-to-earth heroines, and the mystery setup is a great one in this series!

Review: The Ashleys book 2: Jealous? (by Melissa de la Cruz)  


*plot-spoiler warning for book 1*

The Story:
The first book of the series, The Ashleys ends with Lauren Page messed up her chance at being truly accepted by the Ashleys trio-- the top three 'in' girls who happened to share the first name 'Ashley', who also  ruled the social scene of Miss Gamble's. In Jealous?, book 2 of the series, Lauren came up with an offer the Ashleys couldn't resist: a chance to star a reality show and win the title of Preteen Queen through public online poll. In exchange of the TV deal, the Ashleys trio had to welcome Lauren back into their inner circle with open arms. Lauren saw the reality show as a chance to expose how shallow and vain the Ashleys truly were to the world. But things might be more complicated than she had expected......

Meanwhile, a mysterious blog called ashleyrank.com quickly gripped the attention of Miss Gamble's students. Every girls in school can be ranked by the blogger, which meant even the mighty Ashley Spencer, aka Queen Bee of Miss Gamble's; might lose her status as No.1 if she wasn't careful with her dressing style, make-up, attitude, etc.

Among the Ashleys , the three girls weren't as sisterly as they once used to be. With Ashley now dating A. A's guy best friend, tension was building up between the two girls. With ashleyrank.com catching everyone's attention, Lili saw an opportunity to steal Ashley's spotlight and replace her best friend's position as the No. 1 once and for all. So who would come up on top in the war of fashion, popularity and prestige?

The Comment:
Jealous?, book 2 of the Ashleys series, despite its main theme(rich preteen girls' school life) isn't one that I particularly have much interest in, is still an enjoyable book to read. Before I read the book I didn't expect to find The Ashleys series enjoyable, still Miss de la Cruz's writing makes the story work for me; despite the fact that there are more little details in book 2 failing to add up than in book 1.

First, I found that the culture shock from book 1 also continues in book 2 when the author dished up the settling of reality show starring 12 years old girls. When I read it I was thinking: Goodness! In what universe such a thing can gain a permission? Wouldn't the children's right associations across the country be protesting against it? I know reality shows like My Super Sweet 16 exist, but even with shows like MSS16 it would still be difficult to imagine they actually featuring 12 years old girls in the show and let them publicly compete with one another for 15 minutes of fame. Not to mention it's really difficult to believe any sensible parent would allow their 12 years old daughters to sign up for reality show like this. It's just unbelievable.

By the way, I also found the idea of ashleyrank.com, of girls being publicly polled for their appearance, 'charm' and other quality sounds a bit like a bad joke from boys' campus. Such polling is sexist and humiliating (especially to the unpopular girls), plain and simple. Sadly no one in the book had ever disagreed with the 'ranting girls by their appearance' idea.

Still the love relationships the main characters have with their love interests are fun to read, and I appreciate that instead of featuring the usual outcast students, e.g.Schuyler Van Alen in Blue Bloods, as main characters, Miss de la Cruz based her story around a group of popular, sometime very mean-spirited girls, and the main character is someone who actually wants to join the 'in-group'.  And Miss de la Cruz describes her characters and what's going on with them well. However, I start to think Lauren really should grow up and be the person she wants to be, instead of being a Ashleys' copycat.

Conclusion: It's a fast paced read with a lot of fun, a school girls' drama which is NOT stupid, boring and annoying like many other high school's drama failures. If you like Miss de la Cruz's other books, you can also try this one.