Creí que sería una buena idea escoger un libro al azar, sin leer reseñas ni nada, como hacía antes de conocer Goodreads. Este fue el resultado de ese experimento, y no, no fue una buena idea.

Amelia, la protagonista, tiene 15 años y es tan madura y tan intelectual y lee taaanto. Así que, ¿qué mejor forma de demostrar lo mucho que sabe de literatura que contándonos TODA la trama de El Gran Gatsby? (Alerta de spoilers de El Gran Gatsby de aquí en adelante)



Lo primero que pensé después de leer eso fue:


Lo segundo que pensé fue: seguro es algo intencional con algún significado para la trama, tal vez alguien la corrige más adelante, porque por supuesto, que ningún editor permitiría un error de ese tamaño, Gatsby es un clásico, alguien se hubiese dado cuenta, ¿no?

Pues no, parece que no. Porque unas paginas más adelante Amelia y Chris tienen esta conversación:







GATSBY NO SE SUICIDA. LO MATAN.

Después de eso, comencé a saltarme partes porque Amelia lee Otelo y Grandes Esperanzas y le parece que es una buena idea contar toda la trama de esos libros también. Lo que me molestó porque: 1) si hubiese querido saber en detalle que ocurre en Otelo y Grandes Esperanzas, hubiese leído Otelo o Grandes Esperanzas; y 2) porque después de lo de Gatsby no podía confiar en que lo que dijera fuese cierto.

Y como si eso no fuera suficiente, también está el pequeño detalle que durante todo el libro NO PASA NADA. En serio, absolutamente nada. Lo que tenemos es un montón de pensamientos, prejuiciosos y superiores por parte de Amelia y deprimentes por parte de Chris. No hay trama. Solo dos jóvenes quejándose de sus inconformidades. Y de lo injusto que es que no puedan estar juntos por culpa de la edad. Y todo es tan increíblemente aburrido.

Ni siquiera hay un final, simplemente termina así de pronto, pero realmente ¿cómo podía tener un final sino hay un desarrollo? Así que en las ultimas paginas los personajes están en el mismo lugar en el que comenzaron: no crecen, no maduran, no aprenden.

Lo más triste de todo es que hay reseñas que lo advierten, si tan sólo las hubiese leído a tiempo. Pero he aprendido mi lección. Gracias por existir, Goodreads. ( )

Amelia Hayes works at the “Land of Dreams,” also known as Woolworth’s. (which isn’t American Woolworth’s but instead a Australian grocery store. Who knew? I just read about it on Wikipedia) For a large part of this book I was picturing them working in a Rite Aid/CVS type deal and I couldn’t figure out how they could have so many registers. *facepalm* Also, they wear bow ties? Anyway, she works there a few times a week to earn money while she finishes up high school. Most of her co-workers are vacuous drones but she develops a crush on the 21-year old who trains her. Chris, who is 6 years her senior, chats books with her (and we all know what a turn-on that is. This is Goodreads—book lover central!) and they discuss issues while the rest of their coworkers are gossiping.

There was only one singlet sighting in this one. I’m always on the lookout since I started my Aussie YA binge. For those of you who are not hopelessly addicted to Australian YA books, a singlet is a cami or tank top. And the title of this book is a reference to an Aussie slang saying that means “useful information.” So, I’mma give you the good oil on this book…

It’s worth the read. It flips back and forth between Amelia’s point of view and Chris’s journal. I actually really enjoyed the change back and forth because it was rather large chunks of time and pages. The author will play a month or two through with Amelia and then give you Chris’s half of the same time period. I know most people reading this would probably reconnect with their memories of being a lovestruck 15-year old girl but I really identified with Chris’s point of view. He’s almost finished with uni but has no clue what he is up to. Just add on a few more years to his age and change him into a girl and he could’ve been talking about me. I especially enjoyed hearing his take on what other people are up to. I’ve mailed the book off but thankfully the lovely Arlene kept the quote I wanted to include: “I can’t run my own race. I’m constantly checking what’s happening in the other lanes.” Luckily, most of the people running in the other lanes in my life aren’t reading my reviews on Goodreads.:) It is depressing, though, to not have a clue.

Like every other Aussie book I’ve read, I definitely recommend this one. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the queen of YA’s books or another recent read ([b:Pink|8461405|Pink|Lili Wilkinson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1301843725s/8461405.jpg|6857047]) but it is solid. It is funny and fast-paced but I just wanted a bit more from it.

3.5 stars.
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Another great aussie novel, only this time I got warm fuzzies instead of gut-wrenching depression. [b:Good Oil|8079815|Good Oil|Laura Buzo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298925793s/8079815.jpg|12803237] is light, funny, occasionally sad, and discusses some important issues in well-written conversations that are as hilarious as they are thought-provoking. It's told from two different perspectives and I think it's the only novel I've read that hasn't bored me when going over the same events from an alternative point of view; it's also probably the only multi-perspective novel where I can't make my mind up which POV I preferred.

On one hand, you have Amelia. She is so many things that I have been at some point in my life: bookish, introverted, naive, and completely obsessively in love with her older co-worker. I think I enjoyed the book all the more because I'd read all the novels she talked about and compared to aspects of her reality; I've had most of the same thoughts, and I went through a similar stage where I first started to learn about feminism and it made me rather unpleasant and angry at the world. I really, really got this girl.

As for Chris, the co-worker and object of Amelia's obsession, he is my personal definition of the perfect boyfriend. I don't care much for these beautiful, charmless boys that have taken over the young adult genre, I've never wanted a guy with super-strength or magical powers, and I've never wanted a vampire (okay, there was that one time...). But I like that he is funny, charismatic and believable. Yeah, that's it, he's so real. I think this is an aussie thing, creating wonderful but realistic characters, I've seen it quite a bit lately. Well, Chris likes to go out and get drunk, he wants to get laid, he's sensitive but he hides it from most people... and I would have fallen for him too.

I thought the ending was handled very well and I liked how we left both Amelia and Chris. I was bracing myself for sadness but it was just the right amount of everything. I mean, throughout I was torn. I desperately wanted Amelia to be happy - the kind of happy she would have found with Chris - but I was aware of the age complications: 15 and 22 is nicht gut. I kept wondering how the author would resolve the situation, the answer is: brilliantly.
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(4.5 stars) Good Oil was another book full of Aussie filled goodness which I extremely enjoyed! Good Oil does a great job of capturing the essence of being a teenager; it reminded me of the many things I wanted to do like go to adult parties, but couldn’t get to do so as I wasn’t considered old enough, experiencing that fluttery feeling in your chest when you see the guy you’ve been crushing on for ages, having a big smile plastered on your face as soon as someone mentions his name, having the whole achy feeling of wanting him so badly but just not having! Basically Good Oil left me with a longing of the times when I was a teenager, all the fun and stupid things I used to get up to with my friends. Gosh how I miss those days! The characters in Good Oil were a funny bunch; Amelia I felt myself drawn to Amelia straight away I knew exactly how she felt and the fact that she was strong, independent and funny made her an easy to love character. Where shall I start with Chris?? He was just so awesome! Always looking out for Amelia, he was witty and he had so much knowledge about books! How I wish I had known someone like him. Then there was sweet adorable Jess, Bianca who was always ruining the moment between Chris and Amelia and her minions Jeremy and “street cred” Donna and the Kathy virus! Seriously they all had me in endless hysterics!I enjoyed Buzo’s references to the many characters from different books and how it seemed both Chris and Amelia were talking about the characters from the books but it could be easily interpreted as if they were talking about themselves and what was happening in their lives. What this book has made me realise is that I really enjoy a good alternative pov book, before I was fine with reading from one person’s pov but being able to get into both Chris and Amelia’s minds and knowing their inner thoughts and feelings I absolutely loved it! Especially with Chris, his pov was both so raw and intense but also comical. Overall Good Oil was an extremely fun and enjoyable read, it’s definitely a feel good book, so if you need a quick pick me up book when you’re feeling tired or run down, Good Oil is guaranteed to brighten up your day and bring a smile to your face! ( )

I can't review it without spoiling it for you (so DON'T REAT THIS if you don't want to know anything about the book, the characters, the ending), but if I could give it negative rating I would. I gave it one star just because it means "I didn't like it"I mean, what's the point of this book? Nothing happens (for like 7/8 of this book..) and in the precise moment when something is about to happen and I am like "ok, maybe it wasn't that pointless", then everything goes down and end of story.Am I the only one feeling that way or what?I mean, I didn't find it funny (ok, not that funny anyways), I didn't find it interesting (there were some nice conversations and that was the only thing keeping me reading it, but not interesting enough), I tried so hard to finish it (and I think that I gave up on more interesting books before).. and maybe it wasn't for me (duoh!) but are teenagers really suppose to learn something from it? What?! That if a guy is older than you then you have no chance with him because he will run away before he even tried? I would have understood him if he didn't like her. I could imagine something like this: "ok, you are kind of young and silly and I want to sleep with my girlfriend not to talk about her teachers/books, so I'm leaving and I hope you have a great life".It would have made perfect sense. But the 'i like you and that's why I'm leaving' thing it is just too stupid for me.So.. I lost all that time for ...?! I could've smashed something with this book when I got to the end and I realized that it really was the end of it. :( ( )