Far from Xanadu

I adored this book when I first read it. It touched on so many themes and managed to subvert a lot of tropes. I was really impressed. When Mike debated what to do with her future, I rolled my eyes and muttered away, bossing around a book character. When that happens, it just means I'm really into a book and I really care. I was glad when Mike did what I wanted, although her method of reaching the decision broke my heart. I hated her love interest with a passion, but I wanted Mike to be happy. I laughed when her love interest chanted along with the crowd at her game--you hate baseball and this small town, but look at you, going along with the crowd. I liked Mike's relationship to her older brother, and I remember thinking I wouldn't mind show more reading a book from his perspective. I thought the mom was kinda--she wasn't really a big character in the book. Sure, Mike worried about her, but it was her -brother- that was close to her mom and handled a lot of the things around her. That really interested me. And the tropes the book played into--they were done right. I'm so glad this book was written. show less

A coming-of-age novel, this one has a troubled protagonist, Mike (Mary Elizabeth) who is struggling to come to terms with her beloved father’s suicide and completely broken down relations with her mother and brother while being in something of a denial about her own sexuality. Enter glamourous Xanadu, a new girl in her class. Sexy, straight, feminine, bad girl Xanadu. Naturally, Mike is besotted.

This book will resonate with every girl who has fallen for a straight girl. Who has believed that doggedness will turn the straight girl. Who has bought the lie that people want love more than anything else – yes, people want love, but only from a gender of their preference. Love does not transcend gender preference – it is either d*** or show more chick – rather sadly, but strictly.

Read the full review @https://www.bestlesficreviews.com/2019/01/pretend-you-love-me-far-from-xanadu-by.html show less

Julie Anne Peters is probably my favorite author, so needless to say when I found out I won a book of my choice, I picked this one.

Every book I’ve read by her is even better than the one before it. This one is no different. I devoured it. I just couldn’t get enough and in the end, as always with Julie Anne Peters books, I wanted more.

I have fallen for a lot of straight girls in my life and I know how hard it is. Especially when they do the kind of things that Xanadu does. It’s torture and never ends well. So I know exactly how Mike feels and what she goes through. I have related to characters before, but never like this.

The writing, as usual, is incredible. It is so easy to read, it just flows and pulls you right in. It’s kind show more of like watching a movie. The characters and the plot are believable and real and I just couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I needed to know what was going to happen next.

If you’ve never read anything by Julie Anne Peters, what are you waiting for? They are some of the best books I’ve ever read. I need to get more of her books and soon.

Please, I am begging you, pick this book up. You will not regret it. In fact, pick up all of her books. You will love them.

Far From Xanadu now has a new title, Pretend You Love Me, and a new cover. I may have to buy it just for the hell of it. show less

Many moons ago when I first forayed into YA literature I read Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters. I thought it was a wonderful, emotional romance and I became a Julie Anne Peters fan. To this day, Keeping You a Secret is my favorite Julie Anne Peters book. Go read it, now!

But this blog post is not about that, it's about Peter's book Pretend You Love Me (previously issued as Xanadu). I remembered liking it but not loving it when I first read it...but as many of you know, my memory is pretty faulty. It is a marvelous book. Imagine a society where people treat you nicely, care about you, want to do things for you regardless of your sexual orientation, your looks, your wealth. The residents of Coalton really like Mike show more (Mary-Elizabeth) despite that fact that she is big and muscular and lesbian. They like Jamie, despite the fact that he is short and thin, a cheerleader and quite gay. It's so refreshing to read a book like this since so many books are about how hostile people are to gays.

The story: Mike is in love with Xanadu, the gorgeous new girl in town, but she is straight and in love with Bailey. Mike hopes beyond hope she'll change her mind. Jamie has struck up an internet romance with Shane and they want to meet. But Shane lives 1,000 miles away. We all know the dangers of online pickups. While dealing with this, Mike also has to deal with the suicide of her father, her mother's debilitating obesity, her brother's uselessness and her financial inability to go to baseball camp over the summer--she's the school's star catcher.

Pretend You Love Me is a great self-discovery, self-acceptance story, written only as Julie Anne Peters can write. (I'm ready to move to Coalton, if I can find out where it is located.) Peters stretches the boundaries of issue-driven novels with such titles as Luna, Between Mom and Jo, By the Time You Read This I'll Be Dead, and Rage: A Love Story. She should be on everyone's must read list. show less

Mike lives in a small town in the heart of Kansas; more or less just getting through life. Her dream has always been to be a professional softball player but after her father died (no, killed himself, even if nobody wants to phrase it that way) two years ago, the only thing on her mind is following in his footsteps with the family plumbing company. What else is she going to do? Her mother won't even talk to her, let alone look at her; and her brother screwed the company over right away.

But when a new girl moves into town to live with her great-aunt and great-uncle, Mike's whole world changes. It doesn't take long before she realises she is completely and utterly in love with Xanadu with her beautiful, beautiful face and thirst for show more adventure and action. It's obvious Xanadu has taken a liking to Mike as well, and they are soon very good friends.

The catch? Xanadu is straight... or at least she thinks so. But Mike knows that if she could just see how good they would be together, she wouldn't be straight at all.

I feel like I'm not regretting reading this one, but I don't really feel like it changed me in any way; I could've done just as well without reading it. I really don't understand why Mike is so head over heels for Xanadu as it is a first sight thing – she barely knows a thing about the girl and she's already madly in love. Honestly, it's a bit off-putting because Mike is more or less obsessed with her which is weird, confusing and kind of creepy. That being said, there's not much to Xanadu that makes me understand why she loves her even mid-through the book.

But maybe it also has to do with the fact that I don't really ever ended up liking Mike either. Well, I liked her at the beginning. She's a buch lesbian who is brave and outspoken and doesn't give two shits about what people think of her. That was such a cool start for her character. But her obsession with Xanadu and her constant shaming of her best friend Jamie quickly made her a character to dislike.

I know, I know. Her irritation with Jamie is much likely caused by internal homophobia. But it is so off-putting to see her constantly shame him for being a stereotypical gay guy; or ”a queer” as she likes to call it. Especially considering she's very much a stereotypical gay girl with her short hair, boyish clothes and a male nickname. It makes it kind of odd to see her constantly put him down like that.

But the book did have a few good points; like loving someone who is straight which is definitely an interesting topic or Mike coping with her father's death and her family falling a part. And honestly, any scene with Jamie was a good moment. I love that boy. show less

The two stars for this book isn't about the writing or characters. Both are great. The story flow was seamless and each character had his or her own flavor, language, tics, etc. One of my favorite parts of the story was the descriptions of the area and especially the sky/sun/nature.

Even the plot wasn't bad. It made sense and abided by all the usual conventions. My problem was the angst.

The story is about Mike and her life in Coulton, a very small town. A new girl, Xanadu, comes to town and throws everything into chaos.

It has a lot of themes, alcholism, over eating, obesity, gayness, love and loss. And they're all well done, but they're also part of the reason why I gave it two stars. There is so much angst. It get that teen angst is show more real and in this book every angst ridden moment rang true, that was part of the problem. been there, done that, and there was just too, too much of it at one time.

So, if you're a teen looking for a real book and a solid read, I'd go for this, for all others, be prepared for some serious teen angst cascading towards you. show less

Mike has dealt with a lot in her short life–the death of her father, her mother's increasing isolation, few future prospects in her small Kansas town. She finds hope in being strong on the softball field and at the gym. But then, another source of hope comes to town-Xanadu, the new girl. Mike is in love. But Xanadu is straight. Or is she? Will Xanadu be Mike's future, or is it time for Mike to learn some hard lessons, and plan her future for herself, not someone else?