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I am a tween and teen librarian and I love being asked about great books to read! I also review books for TeensReadToo.com When I'm not found with a book in my hands I'm most likely reading blogs-I'm addicted. The opinions and content of this blog are my own and are not that of my library system. My blog content is my own and not that of any committee or organization I'm involved in. A Note to Authors/Publishers: I would be happy to read and review your book. If I you have a book that you would like to share with me, please contact me at greenbeanteenqueen (at) gmail (dot) com.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Playing With Matches by Brian Katcher

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary

Release Date: 7/8/2008

About the Book: Loner and self-professed nerd Leon finds himself befriending Melody, a girl whose face was disfigured in a fire years before. No one has ever talked to Melody and everyone thinks she's a freak and Leon is self concious about his growing attraction to her-especially when beautiful and popular Amy starts to show and interest in him.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I read this one because it was on the Gateway premlinary nominee list and I'm so glad it was. I'm not sure if I would have come across it otherwise. I wasn't sure what to expect-I'll admit when I first saw it on the list, I thought "oh, it's just on there because it's a Missouri author." But I was blown away by this book.

Brian Katcher packed so much emotion into this story-I found myself tearing up at parts and honestly, I don't cry that much in books. The characters are all well drawn and the writing flows easily. I wanted to keep reading this one and found myself staying up late to do so.

Things moved a little fast, but I reminded myself I was reading about teens. I did like that it didn't take long to get the book going-I hate when the book jacket tells you a main plot point that doesn't happen until halfway through. That is not the case here-the story starts right away.

The only complaint I really had was Amy's character wasn't what I expected. I thought the way she turned out was a little unrealistic. I did like that she surprised me and had more depth though. (I don't want to spoil the book, so I won't say much else).

I would give this one to readers who have enjoyed John Green's novels-I can see the audience being the same. I'm looking forward to reading Brian Katcher's latest novel, Almost Perfect, and I'm very proud to say he's a Missouri author!

Full Disclosure: Book provided by my local library

4 comments:

Andrea said...

That sounds very touching. It's good though when characters surprise you, I think.

BrittLit said...

I just read his other novel Almost Perfect, these kind of sound like the same novel. I'll have to read this one though. I enjoyed Almost Perfect.

Jodie said...

I checked out Almost Perfect after redaing this post and it sounds pretty amazing. Thanks for the tip.

Sherman U said...

This book tore me up inside, I finished it a few hours ago and I'm doing a tri-board on it. I wanted to scream at him, and her, but I can't really do that with inanimate objects. I can't say whether I'm happy or not that I read it though, I'm still angry. But it was the first book in a long time that surprised me, and did a complete back flip to an ending I didn't predict. I give it a 4.5/5. I couldn't put it down. I'm going to try and read Almost Perfect now.

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