I'm not so sure what to say about Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always. It certainly is interesting and I think the subject matters are very relevant in this day and age. Religion and technology were both integrated to form the backdrop to Cass's story.

Cass struggles with living in a family where she is the only one who doesn't believe in God. The church they attend is very fundamentalist but she attends anyway for fear of telling her parents that she doesn't believe. Then there's her brother. He is secretly gay but he still believes in God. As if she doesn't have enough conflict in her own home, Cass also has to deal with school and her best friend, whom she's starting to recognize less and less as the person she has known for years.

Through it all, she has to try and find herself, so she can complete that English assignment. Without knowing who she is, she has no idea how to portray herself in a poem. When she becomes enticed with tarot cards, she's inspired to start a blog. She does it anonymously, yet she has no way of predicting what kind of trouble this can bring her and others.

For the most part, Cass's struggles were believable. At 17, it surely must be tough to break to highly religious parents that one doesn't share their faith. Even for her brother, Eric, at 18 and still attending high school, facing up to his parents to come out must also seem impossible. Both are faced with obstinate parents who insist that their children attend not only Sunday services but bible studies and youth group as well. Their stories were what interested me. Sadly, the blogging part felt a little out of place. Well, maybe not so much the blogging but the consequences that came out of it. Those left me cold.

Anyone who is into books that explore faith, religion and spirituality is sure to derive enjoyment out of it. However, if you're into contemporary books that also consider the place of technology, such as the Internet and social media, then maybe this one might end up being a bit underwhelming.

This review is also available on dudettereads.com.

Once in a while I pick up a book solely because of the author. I've read a book by that author before, loved it and decided to just go ahead and read whatever comes next. That's how it went for Pirouette. Besides knowing that this book revolves around dance (I mean, duh, the title and the cover!) and that Robyn Bavati wrote it, I didn't pay any attention to the synopsis. Maybe I should have. I expected something deeper because that's what Dancing in the Dark was. While Bavati's debut novel was so multi-faceted and rich, her second book, Pirouette wasn't.

Of course, those who are "90s kids" will scream The Parent Trap! the moment they read the synopsis. Twins who didn't know each other but meet at summer camp? Check. Ok, fine, summer dance school. Same difference here. Said twins who go on to swap lives? Check. On hindsight, Bavati did reference The Parent Trap in the book, so she did acknowledge this for the reader, and so I forgave her for the obvious parallel and read on. And hey! Things like that do happen in real life! So I figured I shouldn't write it off just because it suspiciously reminded me of that movie.

Aside from questioning the originality of the subject matter, the events that unfolded were so sequential and fit together too easily for my liking. In fact, I could probably summarise everything that went down in just a few sentences.

Given that I pretty much could convey the whole plot in a single paragraph, the question then is, why did I keep reading? I kept reading because Bavati's prose delivered. The prologue and epilogue were beautiful, if fleeting. See, I didn't hate the plot. I was just not surprised by any one of the plot elements. Alas, Bavati knows how to weave together words that touch the heart, and so even though I was certain of what the whole book would be like by the end of the third chapter, or so, I didn't put the book away. What I did find to be of great interest to me though, was the fact that one twin had been raised Catholic, while the other had been raised Jewish. That in itself had to be one of the most difficult things to overcome when switching places.

In the end, I would recommend this book to younger audiences of maybe 13 or 14. If it's any indication, the protagonists are 15 years old themselves, so perhaps their lives, which aren't marred with exceeding difficulty, even if they have reasons for unhappiness, don't need to contain such great complexity. Hence the subject matter doesn't call forth that many surprises. Be that as it may, Pirouette is a lovely book very suitable to younger teenagers who enjoy books about dance, about sisters, or both.

I'm not sure what it is with me and endings. I noticed that every now and then I get really engrossed in a book, thinking I've found one I really enjoy, only to be disappointed by the ending. Maybe it has something to do with cliffhangers? When I first picked up The Rules for Disappearing, I had no idea it was going to have a sequel. I picked off a library shelf, decided I liked the sound of the blurb and so went ahead to borrow it. Only when I logged it as currently reading on Goodreads did I notice that there is a sequel. The ending of a book also screams for one. There are too many open ended questions at the end, so in a way it's a given. On the other hand, I almost feel like these things were purposely put in place to warrant a sequel. Whatever it is, I'm not going to dwell too much on it because aside from the last 30 to 40 pages or so, I did enjoy reading The Rules for Disappearing.

The narrative flowed well, and I think it was believable, considering that it was supposed to be from the perspective of a 16-year-old girl. The fears and worries of Rose were very well-encapsulated in the voice. Rose was thrust in a position that required a fair bit of responsibility for a teenager, what with taking care of her 11-year-old sister and having to be fairly self-sufficient thanks to a mother who resorted to alcoholism to deal with their family problems. Her father tried to keep the family together though, so Rose did not come off as an adult in a teenager's body in any sense of the word.

Now, Witness Protection. I think that is the main draw of this book. The thrill of being on the run and also of the unknown. I do have to say that despite all the mystery that surrounds Rose, the thrill factor isn't exactly high. It should be on the part of Rose but it doesn't translate all that urgently onto the page, I think. Nonetheless, Rose's past and Rose's present come well together and make her story pretty intriguing. For those who are taken in by dreams and what they mean, you'll likely also getting into Rose's dreams as you try to figure out what they mean and how memories, thoughts and consciousness as a whole might factor in.

All along as I was reading, I felt like I was waiting for something big to happen. It never did. At least not big enough for me. Perhaps that big event I felt myself set up for is yet to come in The Rules for Breaking but because it didn't really happen here in this book, I felt underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, like I said, I enjoyed reading it but because of all that potential I saw, I felt like that ultimate hook didn't show. In other words, that major climax in the plot didn't show.

This review is also available on dudettereads.com.