Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram | An Old Favorite

Being Jamie Baker by Kelly Oram

Jamie Baker #1

First Published: 2010

Kindle / Paperback

Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

Re-Readability:

An accident that should end in tragedy instead gives seventeen-year-old Jamie Baker a slew of uncontrollable superhuman abilities. To keep her secret safe Jamie socially exiles herself, earning the title of Rocklin High's resident ice queen. But during a supercharged encounter with star quarterback Ryan Miller she literally kisses anonymity goodbye. Now the annoyingly irresistible Ryan will stop at nothing to melt the heart of the ice queen and find out what makes her so special. Unfortunately, Ryan is not the only person on to her secret. Will Jamie learn to contain her unstable powers before being discovered by the media or turned into a government lab rat? More importantly, can she throw Ryan Miller off her trail before falling in love with him?

You're having a rough week. Life is taking its toll on you. All you want to do is sit and relax, laugh a little, feel warm inside again. Maybe immerse yourself in someone else's life for a short while. Someone else's relationship. God knows you need a good ship to board on this empty pier.

You pick up Being Jamie Baker. And it's everything you've wanted it to be.

I've read this YA fantasy romance three times so far, each time in one sitting. I have forced my cousins to read it and fall in love with it as well. I have recommended it to anyone and everyone who would listen, and some who won't. Because I seriously adore this book. I dare you to read it and tell me you weren't grinning so widely your jaw hurt throughout it. DARE YOU.

So, spoiler alert - you need to get this book. NOW. I'm saying this for your own good.

The best thing about this book is that it makes you desperately wish these characters were real people that you could meet in real life and have real conversations with. And really, isn't that one of the best things a book can do to you?

First, you've got the titular Jamie. Her snark and sarcasm are her main choice of weapon... if you don't consider all the superpowers. Oh, this girl. I love how human she felt to me. I loved how she made me laugh and smile. I loved how she sometimes made the wrong choices or did things I strongly disagreed with. I love how she grew throughout the book. I love HER, okay?

But I am in love with Ryan Miller and their relationship. Like, sometimes you want the book boyfriend all for yourself. And sometimes... sometimes you know you can never compare to their true love, would never fit him as well as she does, and that's okay. That's okay because you're a little bit in love with the both of them, and you love seeing the stars in their eyes when they look at each other and the way they move around and with each other as if they're the other's anchor and sun.

Still, let it be noted that Ryan Miller is at the top of my book boyfriend list, even years later. I fangirl over this guy, okay? it's this bad. Or this good. Depends on who you ask. He is the perfect blend of adorable sweetness, with a shot of cockiness and a dash of condescension. In the best possible ways, I assure you. This guy knows what--and who--he wants. He is not afraid to tell Jamie how she feels and he wills it to become reality just from the sheer, unwavering sureness he presents. And he never gives up. Never. You might as well admit defeat before he starts because this mountain is not budging!

And as you've probably guessed, I adored their romance. It's the kind of romance that makes you sigh, and you don't know if it's because it just fills you with satisfaction or because you want a relationship like that for yourself and goddammit why can't you have this one little thing??

Okay, got sidetracked. Anyways, Ryan and Jamie bring out the best in each other. And the chemistry between them is, shall we say, electrifying. Both figuratively and literally.

And yes, this book is not perfect. The reason Jamie got her superpowers is not quite satisfying. The villain is okay-ish and his plot is so-so. Neither of those things mattered a lick to me, since if you haven't figured yet, Ryan & Jamie gave me life and that's what I was here for, but I feel it's necessary to mention anyway.

So... this book was perfect. For me. 

Book Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab (Favorites Extravaganza: Day #5)

2015 Favorites Extravaganza: Day #5

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Vicious #1
First Published: 2013
Hardcover
Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

A masterful, twisted tale of ambition, jealousy, betrayal, and superpowers, set in a near-future world.
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates–brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge but who will be left alive at the end?
In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

So I'm sitting here, in front of my computer, wondering how the heck do I review this book? It's like, my mind is totally blank. What do I say that others haven't already? Where to begin?

Should I start with the fact I ended up reading this book because of peer pressure? I mean, the whole freakin' world loves Vicious (and Victoria), so I grew tired of being on the outside of that crowd. One page in and I'm like; THANK YOU, PEER PRESSURE!

Or maybe I should talk about how this book is not a "superhero story". At least not in the "hero" sense of the word. Everyone here are definitely "super powered", in one way or another (Even Mitch, whose superpower is probably being able to stand and support the lot of them and still stay alive).

In simpler terms, everyone in this story are Loki, not Captain America.

I can totally imagine Eli saying this btw

And we love them, for the same reason we love Loki (more than we love all the other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, really). Because they're not strictly bad, and not strictly good. Because they blur the line between black and white to us as readers, and they make us think.

Because we know that under certain circumstances, they can do heroic things, and sometimes they do, and sometimes they won't. And you really can't tell what's the dominant side to them.

Are they good people doing bad things, or bad people doing good things, or just people, period? 

Here are these characters, who are just so flawed, and so broken, so far off the "right path", and so lost, and you root for them - you root for them like crazy!

(Which might say something about us, and how we truly see "heroes" and "villains". Idk. We're probably mad).

I loved Victor, who by sheer quantity of POV could be considered the MC and therefore the "good"/"right" guy in this situation. Is he, though? I mean, he does some really messed up things throughout the whole thing.

And I didn't hate Eli, either. I mean, was he kind of crazy? yes. Could I... sort of, maybe, understand where he was coming from?...... I could. I could totally see how he became what he was, and how he truly believed in it.  

And I thought Sydney was adorable and I adored her, yet I...didn't hate Serena, who on account of her actions I should. But just like Eli, I could understand how it became like this, even if I didn't accept it.

And then let's not forget Mitch, the underrated support system. Who is basically... us, the readers. He accepts the super powered around him. He knows the world ain't black and white. And still he follows.

No one fit quite perfectly into the usually "assigned roles", and that's what made this book so bloody brilliant, and this is what makes this book so viciously beautiful.

And let's not even start on the spotless writing technique! The book jumps between past and present, between one character to the other without ever missing a beat. It's seamless! Even if I hated the book, I don't think anyone can ever claim Schwab is a bad writer.

On the one hand I would gladly read a sequel... and the other, I'm super afraid of all the sh*t that would undoubtly follow... And since I wrote these words, a sequel was announced #I'mScared