I received a free kindle copy of Ugly Stick by Joy Givens, published by Tributaries Press in an Amazon promotion in exchange for a fair review. I gave it five stars.

This young adult novel about an ugly stick curse was very entertaining & I enjoyed it. I will look for more of Joy Given's work.

April Somerfield joined the Yearbook committee. At the first meeting she described the group agreeing with the committee chair Vivienne. "We all nodded like obedient little bobble-heads dolls."

April's mother is beautiful & can wear anything & make it look good. She & April are clothes shopping. “April, you need to ease up on these self insults. Really. Others will ultimately see you in the way you see yourself.”

April's family history: "Over the next week, Rogelia transformed, until she was scarcely recognizable. Her skin grew mottled and her hair ratty, and the baby weight spread throughout her entire body. In seven days she went from the beauty of the province to a sideshow with a newborn. Townspeople pointed, stared, even laughed. Rogelia had been so arrogant towards them that many thought she had gotten her comeuppance."

Nine generations of women passed along thee family curse. "I would not have passed this curse on to you if the grief were not outweighed tenfold by the joyous outcome…”

April made an enemy of Vivienne. She had detention with her & described it like this: "A ninety-minute staring match with her sounded about as much fun as releasing a piranha in my bathtub."

Can April overcome the curse? Can she become beautiful inside first?

Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Ugly-Stick-Joy-Givens-ebook/dp/B00C9DHN92

This was a light, funny read with over-the-top humor. I had heard of Captive Hearts before and, considering the premise and the author (she wrote/drew Vampire Knight), thought it would be a little darker than this. Even the part where Suzuka and Megumi learned why Suzuka must never give a member of the Kuroishi family an order was played relatively lightly.

The most disappointing thing about this volume was that only half of it was devoted to Captive Hearts. I hate it when I start a manga volume expecting an entire volume's worth of a single story, and then half of it (or more) is something else. The two short stories that made up the other half of this volume weren't bad, but still.

Both shorts were sweet, although fairly forgettable. The first looked like it was going to turn into forbidden student-teacher romance, so I was surprised when it focused mostly on showing the shy heroine's efforts to be strong.

All in all, this was an okay volume. I don't know that I'm interested enough in Captive Hearts to continue with it, though.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)