Luisa Plaja: Teen Book Reviews

As my blog has been a bit Witchblood obsessed recently I thought it was time to review some books! Amazingly since January I have managed to start the Goodreads challenge and initially I started out giving YA Dystopian books a try. I really loved Earth Girl by Janet Edwards, but then I read another similar sci fi space orientated one which wasn't half as good... reviews to follow shortly. In between reading these I've also read a couple of grown-up books ie the book club/prize winning types which interestingly I can't even remember the names of right now and to mix it up a little I've read a couple of teen lit books by the lovely Luisa Plaja which I'm going to review right now!

Luisa is a Brit based author like myself and has her own website here and also runs the teen website Chicklish. Luisa has written five books: 'Split by a Kiss', 'Extreme Kissing', 'Swapped by a Kiss' and 'Kiss, Date, Love, Hate' which are all published by Random House and most recently 'Diary of a Mall Girl' published by Curious Fox.

In January I read Kiss, Date, Love, Hate and even though I didn't get on with the protagonist I tore through the book and put it down with a smile on my face.

 

Lex Murphy's group of friends have all dated, hated, ignored and lusted after each other for the last few years. If only there was a way of matching people perfectly to avoid all the unrequited love, dumping and drama!

Then Lex's friend George is give a mysterious Sims-like game by his software-testing dad which involves building character profiles in the categories of Life, Looks and Love. Lex and George populate the game with avatars for all their mates, making a few 'wishful thinking' adjustments to the settings - and find that the next day these tinkerings have come true! But how long can this new calm, loved-up atmosphere continue...?

 

 Review:

 I haven't read many young teen girls novels, but occasionally I'll pick one up for some light entertainment. The novels I would compare Luisa's too would be those of Louise Rennison. The teenagers in these books are all believable and suffer with the same anxieties and ideals. What makes this story different is the fabulous plot idea! I love the idea of a trial computer game where you input all your details and manipulate real life. It brings up fun situations of course and comedy moments but also adds some interesting moral dilemmas. As I said before I didn't get on with Lex, I found her too irritating and self obsessed, but unlike with some other books it didn't detract from the story and I still enjoyed the book.  Four pink girly stars from me!

****

Last month Luisia released her newest novel called 'Diary of a Mall Girl' so after enjoying 'Kiss, Date...' I thought I'd give it a whirl.

 

 

Fifteen-year-old Molly actually lives in the residential wing of her local mall, and mysterious twins Jewel and Jasper have just moved into the flat upstairs. As Molly grows closer to them, she becomes more determined than ever to find out their secret and so do her other friends. Will their prying spoil Molly s chances of happiness?

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 Review:

If anything I enjoyed 'Mall Girl' more than 'Kiss, Date', mainly because I loved the main girl Molly and the twins were great too. The plot in 'Kiss, Date' is more unusual, where as this is more of a typical story of teen friendship, shopping and boyfriend dilemmas, but there was something extra with this book that kept me glued until I finished at 1am! This is a fun, fast read ideal for a rainy weekend curled up on your bed! Four and a half pink stars this time!

****

 

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