Customer Reviews

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

April, May and June were three normal sisters, at least they thought they were until their parents divorce. Now they seem to have recovered special powers from when they were youngsters. April can now see the future, May can make herself invisible and June can read everyone's thoughts. These special powers have April and May freaked out, but June thinks she can use her powers to her advantage to gain friendships at a new school. When April starts seeing trouble in the form of red flashing lights and her sister's face she knows something needs to happen so she can save her sister. April's vision aren't always that clear though and she may need her sisters' help more than she could imagine.

I don't even know where do begin to describe how awesome this book is. I loved the three sisters and how different they were but what a great relationship they had. The dynamic between the sisters was just amazing, you could taste the sibling tension in the air. They fought, they loved and most importantly they (more or less) stuck together in all their glorious weird-ness. The fact that they had special powers was a nice twist to this otherwise "realistic fiction" novel. This book talked about a lot of things that kids have to go through; divorce, changing schools, having parents move really far away, and puberty-like superpowers. Robin Benway manages to make these teen girls very easy to relate to despite the fact that most of us do not have incredible mind powers. The girls still had to cope with ordinary things like school work and boys, parties and making friends. I loved how this story was told in alternating viewpoints from the three sisters and how they told it like they were telling you about it not writing it down. Near the end the alternating got a little less personal than in the beginning. When they first start switching who tells the story they say things like "April always makes the whole thing sound so dramatic in the beginning." which gives you the feeling that you are all hanging out and they are telling you about "this one time when we first moved here." This was just a really excellent book and I will certainly be buying a hardcover soon(it's very attractive). Each time the viewpoint switches, the page begins with the sister's name and a quote they will say in the up-coming part. I really enjoyed this and the quotes often led me to read the next chapter just to see it in context. The only thing I wish there was more of would be the girls' childhood. I feel like we got a quick glimpse at it and then abandoned it. I mean I don't feel like we missed out on anything, I just think it would be nice. If you weren't excited about this book, get excited because it's definitely not one to be missed. This book certainly goes in my top 5 of the year, it was just fantastic from start to finish. The alternating viewpoints kept the story fresh and exciting, the romantic tension made you uncomfortable and your head fuzzy, and the superpowers made you wish you could come down with a case of them. So go buy it now, because I declare this a must read.

First Lines:

"I hate being the oldest. I hate it because I'm the one who has to experience everything first. And even if I haven't my sisters still think I know everything. Which I sort of do, but that's not the point."

Favorite Lines:

"Of course his name was Chad. Of course it was. Nothing sounds douchier than Chad."

Is there anything more disconcerting for a teenaged girl than enduring her parents' divorce only to move out of her childhood home, away from her friends, and have to learn her way around a new house, a new town, and a new school? April, May, and June Stephenson would say "yes." If typical adolescent angst weren't enough, each of these sisters has a new psychic ability she must learn to control while maintaining the appearance of a normal life. Talk about pressure!

April is the studious, responsible, and family-oriented oldest sister who can see the future. It's perfect for helping keep her sisters out of trouble. May, the middle sister, is the angst-ridden teen who feels overlooked in her family and life in general. It's no surprise when her gift turns out to be the ability to turn invisible in more than a metaphoric sense. June is determined to be everything her sisters are not - fashionable, popular, and "cool." The power to read the minds of those around her is June's dream come true. Now she will know exactly what people think about her style and adjust as needed to fit in with the kids who rule the school.

Robin Benway's The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June is clever and fun, packed with laugh-out-loud funny moments. Each chapter is from the perspective of a different sister and Benway has succeeded in giving each girl a distinct voice. The major drawback of the book is that the characters are too typical. Throughout the book, I kept wanting to slap the vapid, superficial June and tell her to grow up and get over herself. Likewise, May makes the gloomiest emo kid seem bright and shiny as a new iPod full of Justin Bieber tunes, and April is so invested in the role of mother hen I felt like she was going to lay an egg any minute.

Despite the occasional flatness of the main characters, I enjoyed The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June enough to forget I was reading a Young Adult novel. The only other criticism I had was the use of adult language. Extraordinary Secrets is billed as suitable for readers age 12 and up but, as a mother, I'm not sure I want my kids reading so much swearing. Maybe I'm old-fashioned to think young teens are exposed to enough cursing at school and on the street; they don't need to be innundated with it in media too. This book seems better suited to readers 15 and up.

Robin Benway attempts to set The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June within the ranks of (and poke a bit of fun at) paranormal young adult genre powerhouses by having her characters draw comparisons between themselves and predecessors such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter. While I don't foresee Benway's book rising to the juggernaut status of Joss Whedon's or J. K. Rowling's creations, Extraordinary Secrets is still a worthy read.

Who better to share your secrets with than your sisters?

May was born 13 months after her older sister, April. Baby sister June came along 13 months later. Though they sometimes got on each other's nerves - such is the life of close-knit close-born siblings - they always got along. So did their parents.

Fast forward fourteen years, where the story begins. The girls' parents are separated, and as their father readies to move to Houston, all three girls move from Orange County, California to the Valley with their mother. The night before their first day of school, bubbly June is excited about being a freshman; the unmoved middle child May tunes into her iPod to tune out her inquisitive little sister; and eldest girl April wants to throttle her sisters when they bug her and misses them when they leave her room.

A few weeks later, something extraordinary happens, something both frightening and delightful: the girls suddenly develop unnatural abilities...or perhaps they are natural - natural to them - as June is convinced this is a reawakening of skills they had as young children. Each girl has a power which suits her, for better or worse, and which she uses, for better or worse, to varying degrees of success and distress. Curious June can read people's minds, and while she uses this insight to get chummy with the popular crowd, she realizes that people aren't always as nice as they seem. May becomes invisible, but not always at will much less fully from head to toe. April sees things that haven't happened yet, and her visions include some horrible things that are horribly unclear.

Having such abilities can be frustrating. Confusing. Awkward. Illuminating. Uncomfortable. Amazing. Earth-shattering. Just like a test can be frustrating. Just like being a teenager can be confusing. Just like having your first crush can be awkward.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway will appeal to those who like their superpowered-stories served up alongside a healthy dose of real life -- perhaps like the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer minus the monsters. AM&J's powers are tied to their emotions and their minds; their actions, strengths, and defenses have nothing to do with weapons (or capes, though June might wear one if it was trendy and matched her outfit). As much as I like a good story about superheroes and villains, I tend to prefer stories in which characters hold powers which reflect themselves, and the monsters they have to defeat are internal. Stories such as this.

This is a story of sisters. They challenge each other, they bicker, they call each other out, they keep secrets, they share truths, and they stick together. As the girls attempt to gain control over their abilities, they grow as individuals, and they grow closer.

Robin Benway's Extraordinary second novel is just as good as her 2008 debut, Audrey, Wait! While the plots are quite different - Audrey, Wait! had music and public fame where April, May & June has powers - both books are great. Great dialogue, great interaction between characters, great pacing, nice reveals. Towards the end of April, May & June, the sisters have an incredible fight which is a wonderful example of Benway's realistic writing. That scene with the girls' verbal disagreement is just as loud and as tense and as frank as it needs to be, and novelists and screenwriters would be wise to take note of it.

I love stories about sisters. I'm sure that this is partly because I have a sister, who is six year younger than me. I wish we were closer, but it's hard when we live so far apart (she's in Maine, I'm here in Texas). So when I read stories about sisters who are close in age and get have adventures and party and angst together, I think about what it would be like if me and my sister had been closer in age growing up.

Recently I read THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE by Robin Benway. This book is quite an achievement, telling a story in three -- count `em: three! -- unique voices. April, the oldest, is the good girl, the caretaker, the one who has it all together. May, the middle sister, is the jaded one, the art freak, the girl who is pretty okay with being a loner. And June, the youngest, is starting high school this year, and is on a quest for popularity. These sisters couldn't be more different, it seems. And yet, something happens on the way to school one day that proves they share something weird -- something extraordinary -- that will change their lives forever.

I love how this book uses a touch of magic realism to deal with seemingly mundane issues -- divorce, dating, sisterly bickering -- that aren't really that mundane at all. Sure, a lot of people deal with their parents splitting, but when it happens to you, it's freaking huge. This book is powerful, and I wish I could tell you more, but one of the best parts about THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE is all the surprises, the twists and turns around every corner. So I'll leave you with this: go find a copy, and read it with your sister (or a best friend who may as well be).

First, I LOVE THIS COVER. Love it. Before I even knew what it was about or read anything about it at all, I loved the cover. Once I actually got to see it in person, I had to start reading it right away because I loved the cover so much.

Now that I am done reading it, I can also say I LOVE THIS BOOK! The title "The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June" very accurately describes what the book is about, and much to my pleasant surprise the book is split up by chapter - o...more First, I LOVE THIS COVER. Love it. Before I even knew what it was about or read anything about it at all, I loved the cover. Once I actually got to see it in person, I had to start reading it right away because I loved the cover so much.

Now that I am done reading it, I can also say I LOVE THIS BOOK! The title "The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June" very accurately describes what the book is about, and much to my pleasant surprise the book is split up by chapter - one chapter written by April, one by May, and one by June, in a rotation.

Each of their voices was so clear and distinct I didn't have to read "May said" or "June exclaimed" to know who had said it. The banter between the characters was quick and witty - some of the most realistic dialogue I have read in a long time.

The "secrets" of the sisters weren't used in a cliche or too powerful way, either. This allowed me to enjoy the plot a lot more, knowing one of them wasn't going to swoop in and solve everything just because of their extra powers.

As an extra bonus, I also loved that every chapter's heading included one line from the chapter itself - it made it very hard to put the book down. I would finish a chapter and look to the next chapter heading to read the next `teaser' line and wonder what it was about... and find myself reading yet another chapter. I finished the book in one day because of this (and now am sad I have no more April, May, or June).

In her second novel,The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June, Benway has nailed it again! This book is definitely going to be one of my favorites for the year. Each chapter is told by a different sister going in order from oldest to youngest. Like many novels that have alternating view points, I'm always a bit weary. Some authors can pull it off while others cannot, but this one was done very well.

I really couldn't pick a favorite between the three girls. Each of them had their own voice, personality, but yet, they were all so much alike. I'm curious if Robin herself has two sisters because she wrote their relationship so realistically. That's possibly why I enjoyed it so much because I do have a sister and her daughter might as well be the youngest of us. All the bickering, the concern for one another, the 'sisterhood' - it just fit together perfectly. No moments ever seemed forced. One of my favorite parts of the book was right at the beginning the moment the three girls realized they had powers. I laughed so hard, I could have rolled off the bed!

Benway writes my type of humor. No doubt this book has many hilarious moments, but it was also so much more when it came to a story about family. Not to mention a great story about being a teen. It has a mix of having divorced parents, moving to a new school, first boyfriends, first crushes - everything. The slight mystery of what the oldest sister, April, had a vision of kept me glued. I was dying to know how it would be played out that I almost finished this in one sitting. While it didn't have a big punch like I thought it would, it still kept me on my toes.

I know this book doesn't come out until August, but if you were a fan of Audrey, Wait! or just wanting to read an great book - keep this one on your radar. It's wonderful and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

don't know why, but I don't think Robin Benway is that funny. Every review of her books mentions how hilarious she is, but her books don't make me laugh. At least, not so much that I notice it.

It took me awhile to get into THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE. The book switches between the sisters' points of view and I only enjoyed April at first. She's the oldest, super uptight, and has been trying to act as a third parent since their parents divorced. May, conversely, has been acting out and letting her schoolwork suffer since she was closest to their dad. June just wants to be popular. I warmed up to June a little by the end, but remained fairly cold to May.

June doesn't have a relationship arc, but April and May do. April falls for Julian, the boy with the locker next to hers who she didn't speak to until she saved him from a falling light and saw a vision of them making out. I would've liked them, but as Julian frequently tells her, April acts psycho around him. It's like the reverse TWILIGHT. Shallowly drawn boy goes out with a possibly deranged girl. As for May and Henry, I did like them. Henry tutors May in European history while they snark at each other. Their conversations are fairly funny, actually.

Personally, I did like THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY & JUNE. I just have an odd resistance to liking it because most people love it and I just didn't feel like it was a love book. It was amusing enough but forgettable.

Review copy

From In Bed With Books

Three sisters, 13 months apart, move to a new city, attend a new school, brand new environment. The one constant is they have each other and their mom. Parents divorced four months ago, there was the "Tequila Incident" involving May and then the move. They are suddenly made aware of their weird abilities. April gets flashes of the future, May becomes invisible, and April can read minds.

The best part about this book is the dialog, both spoken and in their heads. It is HILARIOUS. Although they are sisters, Robin Benway created each character to be completely unique. She also infused humor into every page. Just made me laugh out loud.

There's a similarity to each character's power and their personality. April is the over-controlling sister who hovers over everybody trying to ward off danger. May is the withdrawer, tired of high school and wears black to disappear. June is the girl always seeking social acceptance and worried about what her peers think of her. Love interests develop, sexual tension is hilarious. Would make a fun Disney movie with a couple of edits. Mostly May's mouth.

Language - moderate

Sex - mild

Drug use - moderate drinking at parties

Overall message - Excellent.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June by Robin Benway

Razorbill, 2010

281 pages

YA

4.5/5 stars

Summary: April, May, and June are struggling to fit in at their new school after their parents' divorce. This is not helped by the realization that they have superpowers. April can see the future, May can literally disappear, and June can read minds.

Thoughts: I saw this on some Waiting on Wednesday posts but I don't really remember reading any reviews of it which is a shame because I thought it was great. In fact I'm trying to get my sister to read it because I loved it so much even though we usually prefer very different kinds of books. We loved Charmed which also has three sisters with powers, although their powers are much cooler (telekinesis and stopping time in addition to foreseeing the future) and their story was much darker.

The story is told through alternating chapters and each sister has a very unique voice so it wasn't confusing or anything. I personally think June has the best power but I identified most with April, the eldest, somewhat bossy and protective, bookworm academic sister. May is the stereotypical middle sister who feels overshadowed by her sisters and ignored by her parents; she has the most trouble dealing with the divorce. June desires to be popular and that puts the story in motion as they try to grapple with their superpowers.

I also liked the romantic interests. June and May both meet vastly different cute guys who are pretty much perfect for them leading to witty repartee and them moving out of their comfort zones.

I was disappointed with the book flap which teased a disaster that I didn't think was disastrous although it did have elements of suspense.

Overall: Outstanding fantastical story with appealing characters.

Cover: April's visions include flashes of red so I thought the blue and yellow would be explained but they weren't.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway was a cute, fun, light hearted read with sisters so different from one another that everyone should have no trouble finding one to relate to. From the author who wrote "Audrey Wait" - Benway has taken writing from a teen girl's point of view to a new level with the addition of superpowers.

One of the great things about reading this book was the fact that each sister was so different and quirky. Told in three very distinctive voices in alternating chapters it wasn't always clear just which sister was speaking, however after learning more about each they were pretty easy to tell appart. Their personalities so different, yet their powers reflected each one perfectly. April the oldest, bookish and fiercely over protective could see flashes of the future. May the middle child with - what sometimes happens to the middle child - is smart, sassy, snarky and wants nothing more then to be left alone - invisible - gets just that, invisibility. And then the youngest June, wants to be popular, grown up and listened to she gets to hear peoples thoughts. They are each dealing with things within their chapters and Benway does a great job melding them all together into one intertwined story.

The romantic interests were great as were the few other secondary characters that popped up here and there. The boys were a perfect fit to the girls and in the end were some of my favorite characters too. Maybe it's just me, but I tend to love a feisty character and there were plenty throughout.

The story was somewhat predictable, but in the end I found myself not as invested in the lives of these three sisters as I was hoping to be. Not to say that it's a bad story, just not what I was expecting. There were a couple of laugh out loud moments and I have to say that May was by far my favorite of the three. She had some of the best lines and I loved her whit and her chapters were highlights that I just couldn't get enough off.

All in all Benway has created something that will no doubt entertain people. With funny moments laced throughout and a set of sisters who could be the girls next door, it's easy to see that many readers will find something to love about each of these Extraordinary girls.

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