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Zen And Xander Undone (2010)

by Amy Kathleen Ryan(Favorite Author)

3.58 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0547062486 (ISBN13: 9780547062488)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

HMH Books for Young Readers

review 1: Rating: 2.5I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaways and was sent a copy by the author for an honest review. So a big thanks to both for this book.Well this has certainly been a Amy Kathleen Ryan month. Having finished Glow and Spark I immediately went into this one since with how short it was I knew it'd be a fast read and in that it did deliver. Still even for a really short book in a way it felt too long. Or really to be honest I was just pretty bored when reading it. It wasn't horrible. The story had it's interesting moments and the plot wasn't too bad. I suppose maybe I just wasn't feeling the characters. Or mainly, Zen. I felt things would of been better if there had been a duel pov with Zen and Xander, instead of just telling it all from Zen's pov. To be ... morefair though this book was made before the Sky Chaser series. So it's good to see that the author's writing has gotten much better, along with her story telling. This book though just wasn't really doing it for me. It could of taken more risks; been more interesting. I'm not sure if it made a difference that I had an Uncorrected proof version of the book but I doubt it. Still it was short and sweet, and not too painful. In the end for me there's just not a lot to say about this one. I'd recommend to those that enjoy YA realistic fiction or for someone just looking for a quick summer read.
review 2: Two teenaged sisters try to come to terms with the death of their mother in very different ways. Xander is a brilliant student, but drawn to acting out to cope with her mother's death. Zen is more laid back and relies upon martial arts to keep her emotions in check. Their father is immersed in grief and unable to provide much in the way of support, but as the novel progresses, he does find his footing to some extent.The narrator of the novel is Zen--appropriate as she is more of an observer. The interaction between the two characters is deftly told and very moving, particularly when Zen must decide whether to try to protect her sister or let her go. It was strange that these teens would go on a road trip to discover more about their mother and not use a GPS or Google Maps. Another odd sort of anachronistic thing about the use of technology in the book--at the end of the book, Zen and Xander agree to email each other after Xander goes off to college. My immediate reaction was…email! Not Facebook or texting? That also did not seem how teens operate. I liked the wit of Zen's narration and the strong characterizations. The horrible, stupid cover is very misleading. This is not a superficial chick lit novel, so why the dopey cover? The rhyming conceit employed by the dad and girls got on my nerves, as well. And would the mom, dying in agony from cancer, really be able to write all those letters and arrange for those post mortem gifts? That seemed a bit much. But the writing is strong and this is a great novel about coming to terms with grief and with learning to see that your parents are human and fallible, just like you. less

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