What do you do when your BFF comes home after spending the summer at a swanky Florida beach house - where she completely ignored your emails and texts, by the way - transformed into someone you hardly recognize and bragging about her gorgeous new boyfriend? What do you do when her exciting love life gets her all kinds of attention from the popular girls, leaving you feeling totally cast out? If you're a spunky 12-year-old like Tori Barnes, you fight back.

Tori's pretty sure Sienna's lying about Antonio, the boy she says she met while on vacation, but no matter how she tries, she can't get Sienna to 'fess up. Tired of listening to her friend go on and on about how great her guy is, Tori decides to make up a boyfriend of her own. Not only is Sebastian better looking than Antonio, but he's more debonair, more thoughtful, more romantic (Hey, if you're going to go to all the trouble of making up a boyfriend, you might as well go for broke, right?). It's not easy for Tori to keep up the charade, especially when her friends expect her to bring the fabulous Sebastian to the next school dance. Sienna doesn't seem to be freaking out about the dance - Could her amazing boyfriend be for real? Has Sienna made a huge mistake? What will happen when everyone finds out she's been lying? Will she have any friends left?

My Fake Boyfriend Is Better Than Yours by Kristina Springer is a light, funny book that brings back all the drama and angst of junior high. In a good way. Tori's a snarky, authentic narrator, who's as real as she is lovable. Her story could be anyone's, which is why it's so easy to identify with her. Maybe the novel doesn't have a lot of depth, but it's a quick, enjoyable read about the (sometimes ridiculous) lengths we'll go to in order to keep a friend. Although I wouldn't go back to seventh grade if you paid me, I enjoyed revisiting those awkward, in-between years through the eyes of spirited Tori Barnes, who proves that a good friend is worth it. Every time.

(Readalikes: I'm sure there are a million similar stories out there, but I can't think of one. Help?)

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG

The House of Enlightenment stands at the center of life in the small, Southern town of West River. It's a conservative, evangelical church that preaches traditional family values, decrying sin in ways that are sometimes very ... colorful. Like the annual Hell House production. The religious carnival vividly dramatizes the dangers of indulging in licentious behavior, like drunk driving, sleeping around, and homosexuality. Members of the church aren't exactly zealots, but they're certainly dedicated.

Perennial good girl Lacy Ann Byer counts herself among the believers. The 16-year-old obeys her parents, refrains from swearing, even wears a purity ring to announce her commitment to wait for sex until marriage. Her one vainglorious ambition? To play Abortion Girl in this year's Hell House performance. The role's usually given to a high school senior, but Lacy thinks she has a shot at it even though she's only a junior. She can't tell anyone she's trying out - What would people think? - so she's keeping her secret longing to herself. At least until she knows if she got the part.

Lacy's intense focus on Hell House shatters when she spots a handsome newcomer in town. She's not supposed to lust after guys, even really hot ones like Ty Davis, but his attention is making her hormones spin out of control. Her parents don't approve, especially since Ty seems less than committed to the House of Enlightenment. When Ty's skepticism starts making Lacy question her own faith, everyone's concerned. Especially Lacy. As she begins to see her church's doctrines in a less forgiving light, Lacy must decide for herself what she believes. And, like all major decisions, this one's more than a little complicated.

(Readalikes: Reminded me a lot of Angela Morrison's YA trilogy [Taken By Storm, Unbroken Connection, Cayman Summer] about a Mormon girl who questions her faith when she falls for a non-Mormon boy and a little of Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith)

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), sexual innuendo and mature subject matter

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

I'm going to spend my Friday ignoring my miles long to-do list in favor of something much more fun: the Book Blogger Hop. Care to join me? Just click on over to Crazy For Books to get all the details.

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows I love me some YA dystopian. I can't get enough of it. Except, the thing is, I'm starting to get impatient with the same ole, same ole. At this point, with doomsday fiction flooding the market, I'm craving originality. Or at least some good storytelling. And maybe some complex characters, surprising plot twists, snappy dialogue? Is that too much to ask? Maybe.

Case in point: Eve by Anna Carey. The novel, the first in a new dystopian trilogy, begins in a cloistered society of young women. At the School, the girls are kept behind guarded walls, safe from the soldiers and scavengers who live in the wasted world beyond. Through education, they're being groomed to become society's next doctors, scientists, and saviors. At least that's what they've been told. When 17-year-old Eve discovers what really happens to the School's graduates, she's horrified. It's only a matter of hours before she, herself, will be advanced into the City.

Refusing to accept the awful fate that's befallen her classmates, Eve sets out on a perilous journey. Traveling across the ruins of what was once Northern California, she's determined to reach the ocean, where a safe haven is said to exist. But the king of New America's taken a strange interest in young Eve and he's not about to let her roam free. With royal guards chasing after her, she's reluctant to trust anyone who might be punished for helping her, but when Eve meets Caleb, she takes the risk. With both of their lives on the line, they make for what was once San Francisco. Getting there will not be easy, it may not even be possible. Especially when the all-powerful king has chosen Eve for his own.

Plot sound familiar? I've read it 100 times (give or take). Carey does break the dystopian pattern a little - Eve discovers her society's big secret in the first two chapters, then spends the rest of the book running. Usually it takes the heroine a little longer to "get it." The problem with this divergence is that it actually rushes the plot, not giving the reader enough time to get acclimated to the story's dystopian world or to get to know Eve and her friends well enough to care about them. The reader's thrust right into the action, which isn't a bad thing except when it comes at the expense of character development. In Eve, it certainly does. This, coupled with flat characters, melodramatic dialogue, predictable plot twists, and an underdeveloped setting, made the novel another generic dystopian copycat.

I wanted to like Eve, I really did, but I just didn't. Maybe the story will improve over the next two books. Maybe it won't. It doesn't matter because I won't be sticking with this one long enough to find out.

(Readalikes: Eve's got similar themes as The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood; Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien; Delirium by Lauren Oliver; etc.)

Grade: C-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Eve from the generous folks at HarperTeen. Thank you!