***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: places no one knows

Title: Places No One Knows
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: May 17, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Waverly Camdenmar spends her nights running until she can’t even think. Then the sun comes up, life goes on, and Waverly goes back to her perfectly hateful best friend, her perfectly dull classes, and the tiny, nagging suspicion that there’s more to life than student council and GPAs.

Marshall Holt is a loser. He drinks on school nights and gets stoned in the park. He is at risk of not graduating, he does not care, he is no one. He is not even close to being in Waverly’s world.

But then one night Waverly falls asleep and dreams herself into Marshall’s bedroom—and when the sun comes up, nothing in her life can ever be the same. In Waverly’s dreams, the rules have changed. But in her days, she’ll have to decide if it’s worth losing everything for a boy who barely exists.

Brenna Yovanoff's novels are very...different...from most YA. They border on the strange and can be utterly compelling or completely off-putting. But whereas I've always been a little hesitant to pick up her previous novels, I was clamoring to get my hands on this one.

Regardless of how I feel about her stories in general, her unique writing style never fails to impress. While Places No One Knows is a bit of a departure from her creepier fare, it does still incorporate elements of imagination and speculation in a more contemporary setting, and it's just the right amount of peculiar to know that you're still reading a book she's written.

The entire novel had a strange, dream-like quality to it, not just the parts where Waverly was projecting herself to Marshall, and I loved that magical quality, even if it never entirely made sense. It was what it was…and it was a story of figuring yourself out and accepting who you are, even if maybe that's not who others expect you to be.

This is definitely my favorite of Brenna Yovanoff's novels thus far. I connected with Waverly on a level that I probably wasn't meant to, but her weird, disinterested behavior felt alarmingly familiar. Her best friend calls her a robot to her face, and she hardly blinks at it. But as a result of the dreams and late-night wanderings that lead her to wherever he is, Marshall sees that there's a real girl hiding under the tough exterior Waverly shows the rest of the world. And she discovers that he's not the loser he's purported to be.

It's a matter of breaking down walls and leaving oneself exposed, one of the most unpleasant aspects of adolescence, but Brenna showcases it so beautifully. The romance between Waverly and Marshall was slightly warped, incongruous with either of their lives heretofore, but it worked because it wasn't perfect. Gods, the mistakes they made...so genuine and reminiscent of my own teenage existence that it was almost painful to read at times. And still I loved it.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Hi, I’m Brenna Yovanoff. I write young adult and speculative fiction.

My young adult fantasy novels The Replacement, The Space Between, Paper Valentine, and Fiendish are available from Razorbill/Penguin Group.

Here are some things about me (not book-related):

I’m good at soccer, violent video games, and making very flaky pie pastry.

I’m bad at dancing, making decisions, and inspiring confidence as an authority figure. I suspect this is because I am short, and also terrible at sounding as though I have any idea what I’m talking about.

Find Brenna:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr

Labels: brenna yovanoff, contemporary, magical realism, places no one knows, random house, reviews, speculative fiction

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

's Pick:

Title: Places No One Knows
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: May 17, 2016

A high-achieving girl falls for the most imperfect boy in school through a series of mysterious dreams, which change how she feels about herself, her future, and love.

Waverly Camdenmar doesn’t have friends, she has social assets. She doesn’t get sucked into drama, she makes tactical decisions. Her life is dominated by achievement, competition, and functioning as the power behind the throne in her school’s little kingdom of popularity. But even the most resilient mercenary has weaknesses. Perfection is exhausting, and her longstanding alliance with queen-bee Maribeth rests on a foundation of resentment, anxiety, and a nagging feeling that there must be something beyond student council. Waverly’s name might be at the top of every leader board, but she hasn’t slept in days.

In a last-ditch attempt at relaxation, she finds herself at the center of an inexplicable phenomenon when a harmless counting exercise ends with Waverly materializing in front of one of the school’s most dedicated burn-outs. Marshall is not someone Waverly would ever consider … well, she would just never consider him. His nights are spent indulging in the kind of self-destructive pastimes she can only roll her eyes at. But despite herself, her curiosity is piqued. He sees her—really sees her —and his earnestness and his empathy are strangely affecting.

In these ghostly dreams, Waverly can do what she wants and say what she thinks, without risk or repercussion. Without it meaning anything. As nights pass, however, she begins to understand the nature of relationships, and to question her own daytime machinations. Her encounters with Marshall are growing steadily more intimate. Every new interaction forces her to ask herself how close is too close, and her days are becoming restless, complicated by her silent anger at Maribeth, and her budding friendship with a raucous, enigmatic girl who was never supposed to be anything but Waverly’s latest pygmalion project.

The truth is, it’s hard to be cavalier about hurting people when you know them. When you love them. As her edges begin to fray, Waverly must confront the very real danger of losing Marshall to the rigid image she’s spent so long cultivating, and accept that the only way to keep the people who matter to her is to embrace what it means to be vulnerable.

I love stories where mean girls learn the error of their ways. But this story goes beyond that from the sounds of it. I mean, the dream aspect intrigues me to no end, but the promise of a bad boy love interest who shows the main character what she's missing is also very enticing. Yovanoff's books are always a bit different, but I really like the premise of this one. I hope it's my favorite one yet!

What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!