Love Is Hell

published: November 25th 2008

publisher: HarperTeen

format: Paperback

pages: 272

genre: fantasy

Love is Hell is an anthology written by five, well-known young adult authors. They include Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely), Scott Westerfeld (Uglies), Justine Larbalestier (Liar), Gabrielle Zevin (I Was A Teenage Amnesiac) and Laurie Faria Stolarz (Deadly Little Secret).

The following (partial) synopsis comes from Amazon.com:

Sure, love is hell. But it,s totally worth it.

From two students who let the power of attraction guide them to break the hard-and-fast rules of their world to the girl who falls hard for a good-looking ghost with a score to settle, the clever, quirky characters in this exciting collection will break your heart, then leave you believing in love more than ever.

The following synopses come from me.

Sleeping with the Spirit by Laurie Faria Stolarz

This one is about a girl named Brenda who is having realistic nightmares about a boy who she soon finds out is actually the boy who lived in her house and was murdered in it 20 years before. He's been watching her and needs her help with something. Turns out, he's really there in ghost form, but he can only be seen by her in her dreams. They go on a little journey to allow him to move on, but their relationship develops in unexpected ways.

Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfeld

This story is a futuristic fantasy that explores the possibility of no health issues, transporters so no one needs to go outside, no raging, teenage hormones. They do however have a class called Scarcity were they learn about the old days when people got colds and had to deal with an annoying little activity known as sleep. The class has a project where they choose something from those days to live and Kieran and Maria choose projects that unexpectedly intertwine where they learn about themselves as well.

Thinner Than Water by Justine Larbalestier

This short story takes place in a town where the villagers live, for the most part, without technology and no one really leaves the town. They have 'trial' marriages beginning at the age of sixteen. Jeannie and Robbie have a 'trial' marriage and everyone is against it saying he's an outsider because he wasn't born there, they believe he's different. That he's a faerie.

Fan Fictions by Gabrielle Zevin

This is a different sort of vampire love story about a girl named Paige and a boy named Aaron. There isn't really much else to say. You'd have to read it.

Love Struck by Melissa Marr

This story is about Selkies. What are Selkies? They're seals that can shed their 'Other-Skin' and look like very beautiful humans. What happens to their 'Other-Skin'? Well, if a human happens upon the skin of the opposite sex they become mates.

My Thoughts:

The Cover:

I think this cover is appropriate for the book. It's fiery and pink! The fire part is very muchshowing the 'hell' part and the pink all for the love. And I really like the heart locket in the center of the cover. It gives us a focal point and it catches my eye. It very much 'goes' with its predecessor Prom Nights From Hell (2007) [right] which includes the authors Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries), Kim Harrison (Once Dead, Twice Shy), Michele Jaffe (Bad Kitty), Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), and Lauren Myracle (TTYL). It has the same concept, but the 'theme' is prom, obviously.

The Book:

I really like short stories and this book has five! So, because there are five different stories, I'll discuss each one briefly.

Sleeping with the Spirit I enjoyed this story because I have not read very many love stories where one of the lovers is actually a ghost. It was original and lovely.

Stupid Perfect World This story was completely original. It was not what I would have expected in this book, but it was what I would think of as a Scott Westerfeld story. It was futuristic and strange, but relatable as well.

Thinner than Water At first, I wasn't completely sold. I didn't know what to expect, but I quickly became attached to the character of Jeannie and wanted her to be happy and get it right. It was a bit of a heart-wrenching story.

Fan Fictions This story may look like a typical, predictable vampire story that you've seen a thousand of, but it's not. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and really empathize with Paige and her experiences with her friends and Aaron.

Love Struck I am a huge mermaid fan and while I know that Selkies are not mermaids, they are similar. This starts out as a creepy feeling story and quickly turns into what the anthology is all about, Love being Hell.

Vacations from Hell (2009) includes the authors Libba Bray (Going Bovine), Cassandra Clare (City of Bones), Claudia Gray (Evernight), Maureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes), and Sarah Mlynowski (Bras & Broomsticks)

I will be reading it and posting a review in the near future.

I just don't know exactly when. So stay tuned...

Deadly Little Lies

The following synopsis of Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz is from her website's page for the book.

Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, a new boy at school who had a very mysterious gift – psychometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry and experiencing strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow been transferred to her.

Ben returns to school, but he remains aloof, and Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Camelia makes the painful decision to let him go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at Knead, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events uncovers secrets from Ben’s past – and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who – before it's too late.

My Thoughts:

The Cover:

I love this cover even more than the first! I'm a huge fan of umbrellas and rain, so this cover caught my eye. I like that it is similar to the first one, but not the same. The similarities are the fonts and the design around the title, which I love. And then that the picture is of a girl and you can't see a face. And I just love this cover. It makes me anxious for the next one! (Deadly Little Game)

Warning: Do not read beyond this point if you have not read Deadly Little Secret.

The Book:

Deadly Little Lies is a chilling sequel to Deadly Little Secret. I wasn't sure what was going to happen in this book to make it connect to the first, other than the characters and continuing on with the life of Camelia where it left off in the first. The first one was suspenseful and, in all honesty, a bit scary. This sequel not only picked up where we left off with the first one and developed Camelia's past and, of course, her present, (I don't think that's how I wanted to word that last sentence.) but it had the same, suspense and creep feel as the first without being repetitive.

Camelia's life starts to go back to normal, but Ben comes back, and of course, so do the complications in her life. She thought that once she resolved things with Ben she could continue on with a semi-normal life; as normal a life can be for a girl that has been held hostage, nearly hit by a car, and seems to be developing psychometric powers, but that is definitely not the case.

New side-stories were introduced that Laurie Faria Stolarz has set up for an amazing third book and I can't wait to get my hands on Deadly Little Game.

Deadly Little Secret

The following synopsis of Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz is from her website's page for the book.

Some secrets shouldn't be kept...

Until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes far from ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help – but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret.

My Thoughts:

The Cover:

I think this cover is very attention getting and intriguing. The cover is what first attracted me to this book, then the title, I mean, seriously. Deadly Little Secret? That's an awesome name! The next thing was that it says "A Touch Novel" which means only one thing...sequels! And I love books in series. And finally, I read the inside flap and did further digging online and discovered that, yes, this book IS something I want to read.

So, whoever said, "Don't judge a book by its cover" was sort of wrong, if only because the cover is extremely important. It's what GETS the readers' attention at first and often can tell you a bit about the story, whether it's about the plot, the characters, or just the genre.

The Book:

The opening line, "I could have died three months ago.", is an awesome way to start a book. I find that starting a book like that makes the reader want to find out why, how, when, etc. and now, because you're interested, the author has you, and now you can't go back. That's how this book was for me. I simply had to know what she, the character Camelia, experienced; what happened three months, why and how she's still alive, what's going on now and of course as soon as I found out the answer to those burning questions, I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about the mysterious boy and what his deal was.

This story was gripping and suspenseful and while I read I was almost completely unaware of anything around me; I was fully immersed. I was even a little freaked out later on while I wasn't reading.

The entire plot was very well done, the story never revealing too much, or if you're like me (and trying to figure out the sender of the notes and gifts from what was there) enough information. I was trying to figure it out and I went back and forth, and I never really could decide and think, "Yeah, that's who I think it is" She had me trusting no one, suspecting everyone.

I would suggest this to anyone who likes to read paranormal, YA books with a bit of mystery, suspense, romance, and maybe even a little horror.