Jessica's books

The One and Only Ivan
Pollyanna
Revolutionary War on Wednesday
Leprechaun in Late Winter
Ella Enchanted
The Courage of Sarah Noble
Plain Murder
Gone-Away Lake
Circling the Sun
Maggie and Max
The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
The Night Sister
Tuck Everlasting
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Bedknob and Broomstick
Mister Monday
Alice Through the Looking Glass
The Birchbark House
The Hobbit
The Witch's Daughter


Jessica's favorite books »

Monday, January 9, 2012

Book Review: Happy Birthday to Me Again by Brian Rowe

Happy Birthday to Me Again (Birthday Trilogy, #2) 
Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day… again. And this time... he's going backward!

When Cameron proposes to his beloved witch of a girlfriend Liesel, he thinks life can’t get any better. But when he reluctantly breaks off the engagement just days before the wedding, Liesel angrily unleashes another curse on the unlucky guy, this time making him age backward, from eighteen, all the way to zero.

Making matters worse, Liesel mysteriously disappears, leaving Cameron with no options, except watching himself rapidly shrink into a helpless child. Will Liesel be able to save his life again? Or will Cameron ultimately fall prey to his girlfriend's wicked spell?
My Thoughts:  Poor Cameron!  In the first book, he barely escapes death by aging a year for every week.  After his girlfriend Liesel (who just happens to be a witch) saved Cameron at the last moment, the two made a spectacle at the high school graduation.  This ended up on You-Tube and although Liesel and Cameron tell everyone it's a trick, there is someone out there who knows it's not.
Now Liesel and Cameron are engaged.  Cameron's parents aren't thrilled with the idea but Cameron is sure that he is ready.  He takes Liesel on a weekend getaway where he meets Hannah and from there, things go downhill.
Hannah tries to convince Cameron that he is not ready to get married and Cameron actually starts having his doubts.  After taking Liesel out for her birthday dinner, he lets her know his doubts and she gets mad.  Well, we all know what happens when Liesel gets mad...at then Cameron starts aging again.  Only this time, he is aging backwards.   
This was a cute story with some different problems than the last book.  There is the same great humor in this book as there was in the last one.  I liked how the chapters changed with Cameron's age as well.  Kimber had changed in a positive way and I think she was probably my favorite character.  Wesley at first was a little bit of a jerk but in the end, he came through for Cameron too. 
One of the things that did bother me was all the "shouting" that went on in the book and the all caps that showed the shouting.  It was a little excessive and did start to distract me from the story.  
Other than that, this was a fast, easy and fun read.  The ending left us with a great cliffhanger and now I can't wait to pick up the last book in this trilogy to see what happens to Cameron, Liesel, Hannah and the rest of the characters.
 

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