Exposure

Exposure (Twisted Lit) by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

 Exposure is the second book in the Twisted Lit series. This time they're taking on Macbeth. If you missed the point of the series - it's to totally shake up a Shakespeare tale, twist it into something youthful and modern ending up with something only very loosely based on the original.

 Skye is pretty, tall, and popular enough amongst her own crowd. The problem is that her crowd isn't very popular in the wilds of Alaska. She'd much rather be getting the perfect shot with a classic 35mm camera than making a shot with a hockey stick or cheering on the hockey team. Still, one summer a guy shows up who turns into her best friend. Craig is everything she dreams about. He likes going to classic movies with her. He's smart and funny and cute and rich. Summer ends and Skye realizes her time may be up - he'll realize he's above her. Her nightmares quickly come reality. Craig is absorbed into the popular crowd, he becomes a star hockey player. Beth, the queen bee of the school, becomes his girlfriend petitioning for them to be prom queen and king from the day they met.

 Craig doesn't totally forget Skye. An occasional nod. A friendly invite here or there all the while knowing she's not friendly with his group of friends so will politely decline - until the one time she doesn't, just to see what happens. What happens turns out to be a disaster. Craig's fellow hockey player is never seen alive again.

 Rumors and overheard conversations cause Skye to wonder just how connected Craig is to the death. Still no one who knows what happens to Duncan, or thinks they know comes forward. Instead secrets start eating at everyone involved -- while trying dealing with the pressures of college applications, family drama, prom prep, and senior projects. Sooner or later one or more of them is bound to snap and the truth with come with spilling out.

 I felt the first was a solid 4 out of 5 stars for young readers though it was almost too cheery even during the darkest of times (not a bad message but unrealistic at times). This one too is 4 stars but when times got gloomy, these teens at least managed to show some actual angst, there probably could have been more of that to make it 5 stars. Given what these kids are going through, I'd expect them to be more broody. Still overall, a fast fun read in the teen category.

 * Disclaimer: I received this book at no cost in order to review it. I offered no guarantee of a positive review, though I only request books I think I'll like so as not to waste my time.

Tempestuous

Tempestuous (Twisted Lit) by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

So the idea behind the "Twisted Lit" series is this: take Shakespeare's stories and twist them all up until they're modern young adult versions. I'd say in reality, it's more like "blender lit" or "recipe lit" - in this case take 1 part Shakespeare, 1 part John Hughes movie, 1 part breaking news nightmare true crime story and mix it all up. Some people would see this as an insult but I think it worked though it did feel a little cliched. Basically it can be summed up as this: Miranda was one of the it girls... WAS. Disgraced in a scandal she's now forced to work at the mall to pay off her debt to society. Unfortunately for her, the it crowd is there when the city goes on lockdown due to a massive snow storm, leaving her trapped overnight in the mall with her former friends, her way too cheery co-worker, a security guard, some random store employees, oh and it appears at least one them is an armed and dangerous robber! Miranda is good at getting her way though. She'll use her time well. When young and trapped in a mall with your enemies, why not make the best of the situation? A mean girl styled war - plenty of ammo for that in a mall. A party? Search for a madman? So much for a girl to do in a night. Not quite perfect but it is a rather decent take on old themes that younger readers should enjoy especially.

* Disclaimer: I received this book at no cost in order to review it. I offered no guarantee of a positive review, though I only request books I think I'll like so as not to waste my time.