Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad’s consulting job means she’s grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she’s learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place–possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.

But in the year since her brother Oren’s death, Lo’s hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as “Sapphire”–a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can’t get the murder out of her mind.

As she attempts to piece together the mysterious “butterfly clues,” with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined–a world, she’ll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother’s tragic death.

Hardcover, 325 pages  Published February 14th 2012 by EgmontUSA

Not only does Lo develop a hoarding obsession upon her brother’s death, she also develops ticks (part of an obsessive-compulsive disorder) that make her daily life harder. She finds companionship in a solitary boy Flynt whom does random jobs around town to make money, mostly painting. Their friendship soon develops into more and they confide in each other.

The writing slowly builds up the suspense as Lo digs herself deeper into the ugly side of town. As the story gets more intense, her obsessive-compulsive disorder becomes more aggressive as well. Lo is searching for answers and it seems that every corner she turns, Flynt is there. He is familiar with the area and the people she is looking for as she searches for answers about her brother’s life. His death makes her feel incomplete and searching for answers is all that keeps her going. Her school life, home life and friends are all feeling her remoteness.

When Lo learns of the death of a local strip dancer, she begins to be obsessed with the woman. She buys some of Sapphire’s things from a seller at a stand and begins to feel that Sapphire is guiding Lo to help her find her killer, and why she died. This gets Lo in deep with the dangerous people involved in the business. They do not want her around asking questions and when trouble hits closer to home, Lo turns to Flynt. But Flynt has been hiding secrets of his own.

The Butterfly Clues is a Contemporary Young Adult novel that deals with heartbreak and mental illness with the main plot driven by the murder mystery of Sapphire. 

My favorite part about this book that I think others would enjoy is the unique ness of the main character. She is not only grieving from the loss of her brother, but also struggling with the confusion of a first love. We get to see her step out of her comfort zone and we all need a reminder to be brave every once in awhile.

Here at the Escape Club, we are ridiculously excited to announce that Marianne’s nephew has his first solo book out. Meet Dr Andrew Whitehouse!

WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK!

Here’s Andrew’s bio: 

Andrew Whitehouse is Winthrop Professor at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at The University of Western Australia. He currently directs a team of researchers who investigate the causes of and treatment for autism.

His work has garnered worldwide media interest, and has been profiled in TIME, The New York Times, CNN, and the BBC among others. In 2011 he was named a Western Australian Tall Poppy of the Year; in 2012 he was a finalist in the prestigious Eureka Award; and in 2013 Andrew was named ‘one to watch’ in The West Australian’s list of 100 most influential Western Australians.

He trained as a speech pathologist at Curtin University before completing his PhD in psychology at UWA. He arrived back in Australia in 2009 after a number of years at the University of Oxford where he was the Scott Family Junior Research Fellow at University College.

And here is the book blurb:

Do mobile phones and bicycles kill sperm? Do pregnant women really suffer from baby brain? Do violent video games cause aggression? Does sugar make kids hyper?

Professor Andrew Whitehouse of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research poses those questions that make you gasp, snigger and ponder; the questions that you’ve thrown around over a coffee with friends, without ever reaching a conclusion.

In a wonderful combination of stories from modern parenting, tales from history, and scientific research, Andrew Whitehouse busts open thirteen of the best myths around, and provides reassurance and light relief from the challenges of parenthood.

I know! I’m so embarrassed! There is no need for anymore blogger bullying! (JK!) I’ve finally picked up Delirium, read it, and I’m here today to review it! This book came out a little over a year ago, and back in those days I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!

But after purchasing it, for some reason I never found myself picking it up. Other books needed reviewing, things came up, and soon Delirium was just left, sitting on my shelf, collecting dust. And I’m utterly embarrassed to admit it!

Before I even get into the story, and how much I loved it, how hard it was for me to put down, etc, I need to discuss something important, one of the two things that bothered me throughout reading Delirium… The cover…DAH DAH DAAAAH!

I feel that Delirium has so much substance, content and overall amazing qualities, but I also feel that this cover does nothing for the story. The cover is just a face, it doesn’t tell you anything about the fantastic story inside. There are so many different things that could have been put on this front cover to make it more interesting, than a face…

Delirium takes place in a society that believes love to be a disease; that takes over the body, the mind, and the soul. Their belief is that this disease that leads to suicide and many other health issues. But when a person turns eighteen in this society they are luckily given the cure, to prevent love.

Once this person is cured, they are matched with someone else (who is, of course, also cured) to spend the rest of their lives together, having as many kids as the government wants them to, and basically doing anything the government requires of them. Cured ones don’t feel any emotions, not for their significant other, not for their children, nothing.

If you are left uncured after the age of eighteen, you are now known as an Invalid and are shunned out by society. Many rumors have floated around that many Invalids reside outside of the government walls, but no one knows if that’s really true.

Delirium follows the story of a seventeen year old girl named Lena, who lives in this society and has never known anything else. She can’t wait for her eighteenth birthday and to finally be granted the cure. But Lena’s story isn’t just that simple, see, Lena’s mother could be considered an Invalid, because even after receiving the cure four times, her “love” was never cured, and in the end love is what caused her to commit suicide!

Not wanting to turn out like her mother, and allowing love to take her over, Lena has to look her best, and do her best in the interview before receiving the cure. She can’t risk anything, everything must be perfect!

Standing inside of the interview room, in front of a desk full of judges, Lena is already nervous and making mistakes, even though she and her aunt practiced the questions a million times before. But just lucky for Lena, her interview is interrupted by a herd of cows, and a very handsome boy chasing after them. Lena is given another date and time to redo her interview.

Lena and her best friend Hana, are spending the afternoon together and bump into the same guy, Lena saw during her interview chasing the herd of cows. Feeling nervous to be around someone much older than her, and a male, Lena has to remind herself that it’s okay, because he was over eighteen and already had the cure; especially since he worked for the government.

But after talking and spending some time together, Lena can’t seem to get Alex out of her head. She is starting to have these feelings, thoughts, and urges, all somehow including Alex. She even starts to wonder if the cure isn’t what she wants, maybe she does like the feeling of love taking her over…and maybe the government is wrong.

Delirium was everything I expected from reading reviews and listening to people rave, and so much more! I loved the characters, I loved the upside down society Lena lived in, and I loved how people feared love … Muahhhahah! (That was my evil laugh…)

Lena was down to earth, and feared a lot. But she also had reason to. Her mother went through a lot because of love and not receiving the cure properly. Lena’s biggest fear was turning out just like her mother, and becoming completely shunned by society.

Besides Lena, you also learn a lot about Alex; the guy who for some strange reason was chasing cows through a building…still not sure how that happened. Without giving too much information away, he wasn’t what he seemed to be, even though he worked for the government. But Alex was sweet, normal, and not too pushy like a lot of guys seem to be in YA novels.

Lena and Alex were the main characters in Delirium, but other than that the reader doesn’t learn too much about anyone else except for the society (you would consider that like the evil villain). Lena lives with her aunt and uncle after her mother “committed suicide”. Hana (Lena’s best friend) pops up a few times throughout the story, but not too much, and Invalids can be found here and there in the government’s city limits.

Earlier I said that the cover was one of the two things that bothered me throughout the story, so right now I’m about to tell you the second. And I don’t want you to get mad at me, or think that I didn’t enjoy Delirium, because I REALLY did; I loved it. But in the beginning of Delirium, Lena’s fear of love and need of the cure is obvious, almost every page mentions it. And with her mother’s history, why wouldn’t she feel that way? But once she meets Alex, she seems to do a three sixty in a matter of minutes and completely change her mind, about something she’s felt her ENTIRE life. That doesn’t happen so fast, and that’s what kind of bothered me.

(Sorry for the long rants!)

Overall Delirium was an amazing reading, and I hate myself for just letting it collect dust on my shelf for this long! I’m excited to get to the next book, and finish the series! Heard many amazing things about the rest!

We’ve looked at the Bad Girls, so now look at some cool tutorials for the good people in movies and in the music world. Enjoy!

Iron Man by Cora from vintageortacky

Tinkerbell by Carli Bybel

Ariel (Little Mermaid) by DazzleDust08

Coraline by Hayley Segar

Katy Perry Roar Video Clip by BeautyByCarolina

Maya has worked incredibly hard to get her scholarship to the elite Academy where only the rich and talented are accepted to become Olympic level champions. All is not well when she finds out what it will take to get ahead in the school. How will she find her feet again after her world comes crashing down? Which of the Reed brothers will rise to the occasion, and which one will break her heart?

Unsurprisingly, our protagonist, and antagonist, are both tennis players. I would expect nothing less from the highly decorated Monica Seles. However, tennis takes a back seat for a fair bit of the book and we explore other themes and elements that make up the lives of the elite few.

There are references to sexting and cyber bullying, though I’m not sure it is taken seriously enough for it to ring true. There were mild consequences and I felt like it was laughed off rather than being dealt with as the serious criminal offence that it is.

That being said there was a suitable amount of time given to the inconsistency of discipline handed out to the affluent students compared to the hard working scholarship students. Money may not buy you happiness, but along with popularity, will get you an extension on an overdue assignment!

This will be a good spring read as there aren’t a whole lot of complicated plot lines and the characters are somewhat predictable. It is enjoyable without being taxing.

The next book Love Match is due in February 2014. I’m looking forward to it.

http://www.athletepromotions.com/monica-seles-official-website.php

Paperback, 242 pages

Published June 6th 2013 by Bloomsbury UK