Notice for Review Requests

I receive review requests weekly. However, my personal schedule is hectic and I no longer review actively. (I also manage another blog called The Toronto Cafe and Food Blog). I do read every request sent but I apologize in advance that I do not reply to them all.

If I do take on a request, I will forewarn that it may take some time before I can review it. I am now looking to review adult fiction and self-help books instead of young adult fiction because I have grown out of it. If you are to request a review for either adult fiction or self-help, I will more likely to give it a shot.

In the meantime, Stop, Drop, and Read! serves as an archive book review blog. When I have the time, I may post a review. Thank you for understanding.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Title: Happy Birthday to Me
Author: Brian Rowe
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 314
My Rating: 4.5/5

Cameron Martin has it all, the looks, the girlfriend, and is getting close to the basketball championship. But then, his life changes drastically when he started to age one year older each day! In the matter of weeks, he became seventy from seventeen! Will he be able to ever change back?

This is honestly the first book in months that I finished in pretty much one sitting, I was quite impressed. It started off a little superficial with the main character and the people around him, ESPECIALLY his father who is a plastic surgeon. I actually was flabbergasted at the fact that his father would try to put him under surgery in attempt to make Cameron look younger after he aged so much. They even went through surgery once and I was a little disgusted because it was only to get rid of the body fat. Unless you're morbidly obese or ill, surgery is not the answer in my opinion.

Although in the beginning it was just alright and the characters did not have that much depth, I was pleasantly surprised how everything changed towards the end. After Cameron got so old, it brought the best out of everyone when they realized that life was too short. I even cried for almost an entire chapter somewhere in the end because I was completely moved.

What I love was the fact that there was a supernatural element in the story without it actually being present from beginning to end asides from Cameron's aging. It was only till the very end it was revealed what actually happened to him, and it was pretty predictable. Nonetheless, I loved that paranormal was only a subfactor in this novel because what happened to Cameron opened up his eyes to reality.

I highly recommend this novel, especially for fans of Beastly and the movie Click.

Review copy provided by Brian Rowe.
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