Book Review: Snitch

Title: Snitch
Author: Allison van Diepen
Publisher: Simon Pulse (imprint of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division), 2007
First read: March 18th, 2011
Page total: 297 pages
Genre(s): Serious Issues, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis: In a school run by gangs, it's almost impossible to stay neutral - but Julia DiVino and her best friend Q have made vows to stay that way until they graduate and get the hell out of the place. But everything changes when Eric Valienté enters her life. Lines are redrawn. And then they're crossed.


All I can say is, WOW!  Julia's voice is so real, I can practically picture the whole thing. Julia's friendship with Q and Black Chuck, her falling in love with Eric and her dealing with Crips and Bloods...
Julias smart, but she's also very human. I immediately liked her. No matter how reckless and dangerous her choices are, I can't not like her. Oh, and the turns and twists that kept coming, I never expected them! I won't say anything because I don't want to spoil anything but I never thought
a) Eric would do what he did
b) Julia would do anything to protect him.

The situation Allison van Diepen tries to capture -many gangs that divide people into many groups, students dropping out, violence, the revenge, the gang life (i.e. gang "family" members etc.)- is so very real.
Julia's position in the whole mess of gangs was one of the main topics in this book and it held my interest. When we first meet Julia, she isn't into the whole gang crap and stays out of their businesses together with her friend Q. But she's not a goody-goody girl by any means. She knows the dangers of streets and she knows of the temptations of the drugs. She decided it's not her thing, so she's staying out of it. Until she meets Eric... and everything she's believed in spins out of control. And later, when she wasn't... neutral, it was interesting to see how her attitude toward the gang life changed. But again, she had her reasons for what she did and I can't really judge her, can I?
The tension remains until the very end and I was so devastated to see the book end but it was wrapped up nicely. And even though it is told from Julia's PoV (I've got the feeling the author did it so the readers wouldn't be able to get into Eric's head) the narration is very neutral and it often comes off as third person narrator.

So very realistic, so very intense and so very captivating.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Published by Walker and Company 2009
Pages 357
Genres: Gangs, Family Issues, Romance, and YA
Reviewed by Kate

At Fairfield High School, on the outskirts of Chicago, everyone knows that south siders and north siders aren't exactly compatible elements. So when head cheerleader Brittany Ellis and gang member Alex Fuentes are forced to be lab partners in chemistry class, the results are bound to be explosive. But neither teen is prepared for the most surprising chemical reaction of all-love. Can they break through the stereotypes and misconceptions that threaten to keep them apart?

I'm honestly really reluctant to review this book, the reason being it is one of my absolute favorite books in the world and I really want to be able to do it justice. I've always loved reading but this book was one of the first that got me into reading YA and making an enormously insane hobby out of it. So this book is one of my first loves and continues to be. I've read tons of books since then and I can only name a few that are as passionate and real as this story. The love, the characters, the family issues, are all so real. I think for a lot of readers it would be hard to relate to a person in a gang or a rich cheerleader, who seems perfect, but somehow Elkeles does a fabulous job of making you feel for the character so much that it's like you can relate to them. While Alex seems like a hardcore gang member and Brittany a rich cheerleader who has everything, they aren't what they seem. They are so much deeper, and the way Elkeles writes let's you know that almost instanlty. Right away you feel their emotions and you care about the characters so much, and it only gets even more so throguhtout the book, it's like...uh...I don't even know how to describe it but I was so emotionally involved with these characters it was carzy! I have never wished so much that two characters would be together, and you never really know what will happen in their relationship until the very end. Let me tell you it was torture! At times I was laughing other times I wanted to go into the book and smack someone and then throw the book across the room in hopes the characters inside would feel it. This book had me on an emtional rollercoaster, okay yes, I even cried. (By the way, these were all good emtions, evening the smacking someone. It needed to be in the book to make it that powerful.) It had me complelety invested. I remember this was the first book I finished in two days. It would have been sooner but starting the book at 9 at night and it being a school night and all and with me being a slow reader, well, that eqaution doesn't add up to finishing in one night. But I would have if I could have!

Like I said, the characeters are really AMAZING! Going through what they went through and learning about themsleves and other people around them and the deeper meaning of everything, was just such a great reading experiance for me . And they seem like high schoolers! They are more mature, but in their cercumstances I can see why. And probably the most imporant part, the romance is so STEAMY and HOT! It was like the pages were actually on fire! I don't know how Elkeles does it but everytime I read this book it's like that first experiance all over again. Sometimes I'm done with the chapter I think 'Wait? That wasn't me with Alex?' It's really that good! If you love a badboy, ALEX FUENTES will fill your every desire and fantasy. In my book, (haha, no pun inteaded) Alex is THE badboy, and he's mine ladies! And I am not sharing! :) The plot was so deep and amazing! The events that occur in this book make it seem like you are living them. All the moments are so real and intense. It's not just about love and romance either but the challenges that Alex and Brittany face at home and with their peers. The experiances are so real and I think that everyone can relate to something in this book. Though I think Alex and Brittany's love was the best part! So this book is one of my absolute favorites and it NEEDS ot be on YOUR reading list! One of the BEST books I have ever read!

How could this book not be 5 Kisses!