1-800-WHERE-R-YOU Series Book #5: Missing You by Meg Cabot

I know I said in the last review of this series that Sanctuary was my favorite, but I think I changed my mind. I’ve only read Missing You once and even then it was in bits and pieces every time I went to the bookstore – back then my local library sucked with getting the new releases. So after eight years, I finally had the chance to read it again and OMG. This one was definitely my favorite.

It’s been two years since the events of Sanctuary and Jess is different. She finally caved into Dr. Krantz’s pleading and went to work for the government. The only problem is that she was actually in the war zones and saw things that a 17/18 year old shouldn’t see. She comes back with nightmares, her powers gone, and according to Rob – broken. Speaking of one of my favorite male characters, Rob and Jess have broken up thanks to a misunderstanding that she saw when she came back from the war. She hasn’t seen him since…until he shows up at her apartment door in New York.

Turns out his sister – half-sister: same father different mom – is missing and even though he’s heard that Jess doesn’t have her powers anymore he’s hoping that she’ll at least try to help. Shockingly, the next day, she knows exactly where his sister is only she’s not missing. She ran away to be with her older – he’s 27 and she’s 15 – boyfriend. Who also turns out to be the son of one of the new major developers in the community. Yikes.

Like I said, this book was amazing. I love Jess’s non-violent attitude and her interactions with Rob are just a complete hoot. You finally get to see what happened after Jess introduced Rob to her folks as her boyfriend – mom gave a speech about statutory rape that made him run – and why Rob was put on probation – I would crack up about it, but considering when he told her I was still in shock. You also get to see Jess and her mom have that blowout that I’ve been dying for since book 1. I’m sorry, but moms in YA books just drive me completely bonkers. The only thing I would have wished is that you got to see Rob on his bike more. I was really disappointed that he traded up for a truck.

Final Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Great conclusion to an awesome series.

Bookshelf worthy? Seriously, I need more bookshelves.

1-800-WHERE-R-YOU Series Book #4: Sanctuary by Meg Cabot

So out of all the 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU books, I always liked this one the best. Not only because the drama intensifies – a hate group who kills and kidnaps kids – but because instead of waiting 100 some pages to show up, Rob is present from the second chapter on.

Oh, and did I happen to mention he’s gotten over the fact that Jess and him shouldn’t be together because of his probation? …Well, okay, not really but he’s dealing with it better than he has in the past three books – he even calls Jess his girlfriend at one point and gets annoyed that she hasn’t introduced him yet to her parents. But hey, let’s focus on the hate group The True Americans, who are responsible for all of the trouble in this book.

Right. So, this white supremacist hate group believe that the whites are the supreme race and that any other race is a disgrace to the country and must be taken care of. That’s why they killed Nate Thompkins – a black kid who moved into the neighborhood recently – burned down the synagogue and kidnapped a Jewish boy (who’s name escapes me at the moment) and are about to kill him when Rob and Jess show up on the scene to rescue him.

But like with most plans in books, something goes wrong.

As usual, I love Meg Cabot’s writing style, it’s quick and witty and she writes those villains so well that you’re rooting for the protagonist to overcome… or in Jess’s case punch him in the nose. I just feel that this book, considering for the longest time was the last one in the series, could have been a little bit longer. Like what happened at the end? How did Jess’s parents take it when she introduced Rob as her boyfriend?

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Loved the characters as always, and finally got some more Rob/Jess action that made me smile with glee. Just wished that the book had been a little bit longer.

Bookshelf worthy? Seriously I need a bigger room so I can get more bookshelves.

1-800-WHERE-R-YOU Series Book #3: Safe House by Meg Cabot

The last time we saw Jess Mastrani she had just saved a kid from a cave and had discovered that her ESP powers – the ones she received when she got struck by lightning and make her find lost people if she sees their picture before she goes to sleep – have advanced. When she gets back to start her junior year of high school, she goes back with a new attitude and a new wardrobe.

But her new attitude barely lasts a day. The girl who sat in front of her – Amber – was found dead the day before and the Popular Crowd are blaming her for the girl’s death. How could something like that possibly be her fault? Well, because thanks to good old Karen Sue, everyone still thinks that Jess has her ESP powers and she should have been able to use them to find Amber.

The crazy thing is another girl – Heather – goes missing and this time Jess does everything she can to find her. She does, with help from Rob, but now she’s next.

Okay, so as I keep saying I love Meg Cabot’s books, and I love this series. I just wish that Rob wouldn’t take so long to show up! Seriously, the last book and this one he took at least 100 pages – out of 260 – to finally make appearance. In the last book it made sense because Jess was at a summer camp that was four hours away. But why did it take him so long to show up in this one? It doesn’t make sense! Then there’s Jess cluelessness when it comes to Rob. I mean, in the first book he clearly stated that he felt something for her, he just couldn’t act on it because of his probation. So why does Jess insist on not knowing how Rob feels for her?

Talk about a girl who desperately needs a clue.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Love the twists and turns of the mystery. Love how Rob tries to play all aloof about his feelings for Jess, but eventually just throws it out the window…wish he would do that more. And Jess’s parents are infuriating as usual.

Bookshelf worthy? I really like the cover redesigns that came out in 2007, and it’s Meg Cabot so, yes.

1-800-WHERE-R-YOU Series Book #2: Code Name Cassandra by Meg Cabot

Jessica Mastrani has lost his psychic powers to find kids. Or so she told the US Government at the end of the last book and that’s how she wants to keep it. The problem is, she still has the powers and she is still finding kids. These kids though, she’s made sure that they actually want to be found.

In the second book, Jess is dealing with the psychic powers thing while being a counselor at a gifted kids music camp – hey, it was better than working the steam table at her dad’s restaurant. Although, she is thinking of giving up the psychic power thing when she is put in charge of a cabin full of boys who turn out to be total nightmares.

Especially when an emotional father comes asking for her help in finding his daughter.

I’ve said this before, but the thing I love about Meg Cabot books is that there is constant action, and the plot just flows. There are not too many moments while reading that you find yourself going, okay, what’s the point of this paragraph? These books are also very funny. The only two things that still piss me off about these books are the adult characters for being so damn pushy and judgmental, and the whole forbidden romance between Rob and Jess. Seriously, there is zero action between the two in this book – he doesn’t even show up until about 140 pages in or so.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. A little comedy, drama, mystery and horror all rolled into one. It was great. Only complaint was that there was no romantic action between Jess and Rob.

Bookshelf worthy? As with all Meg Cabot books, yes, definitely.

1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series Book #1: When Lightning Strikes by Meg Cabot

Side note: What is with me reading a Meg Cabot book after reading intense books? So weird…

As with all of Meg Cabot’s books, I’ve read this series before, but it’s been a few years since I have. Right, so… When Lightning Strikes is the first book in a series about a girl named Jessica Mastrani who on her way home from school one day gets struck by lightning. She doesn’t think too much of it, until the next morning when she knows the location of two missing kids.

Yes, that’s right. A girl gets struck by lightning and after seeing pictures of people – such as the missing kids on the back of a milk carton – and some sleep she knows where those people are. Now, she doesn’t freak out about this…too much. Jess instead does the right thing, and calls the 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU hotline and reports the locations of these kids. Obviously, because she keeps doing this, people start to get interested on how exactly she knows this and the FBI gets involved.

Now, I’ve probably already said this about Meg Cabot’s writing, but she creates her characters so well that those characters that you’re supposed to hate you really do come to hate them and want to slap the crap out of them – yikes…I’m a real violent person apparently.

…Right, anyway, there were only two complaints with this book. One, the character of Rob Wilkes – aka Jess’s love interest – as much as I love him and ‘awed’ at the kisses and stuff…I’m just annoyed that he can’t date her because he’s on probation and she’s sixteen while he’s eighteen. What is with Cabot writing male characters that the female character can’t have? I mean, The Mediator Series – Suze can’t have Jesse because he’s a ghost, The Princess Diaries – Mia can’t have Michael because first he’s Lily’s brother and then because he becomes this big engineer, etc. After a while, it kind of gets annoying, but damn if it doesn’t make for one hell of an interesting plot. Now, the second one isn’t just an issue with this book, but with a lot of the Young Adult fiction genre. The parents in this book were so freaking annoying, and this isn’t just a problem with this book as I’ve said. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s young adult fiction, which mostly deals with teenagers, and teens for some reason always have problems with their parents… But, yikes, I can’t tell you how often I’ve come across parents in a book that I was just like – seriously? Just…no…

Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Great story, great characters, and amazing set up for future books.

Bookshelf worthy? As I’ve said before with Meg Cabot, yes. Love her writing and since this isn’t my first time reading this series, definitely.