Hawaii & Beach Reads

Wow January, look at you go! You are seriously flashing before my eyes.

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but I am back from my Hawaii vacation and ready to catch up with you all. Vacation consisted of beaching, reading, eating, drinking, and wedding planning! I am happy to report that Michael and I have set the date for our destination wedding next year. Here's a glimpse of my time on the island:

  

During my time there, I read four books and just had to recommend to you YA lovers:

Overview: The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.　

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive?  

Review: This book was recommended by my friend Michella (who is a fabulous book blogger) and I'm so glad I checked it out. I'd rate this a solid 4 due to Summers execution of the story (it read like a mystery to me, but kept the contemporary feel, so I can appreciate the genre blend). This is the kind of book that really sinks its claws into you with its gritty realness, so not for the faint of heart. If you like Thirteen Reasons Why, you may like this one too. It's different in style from Asher's book, but it definitely packs a punch in the gut.

Overview: Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her—and her best friend's boyfriend—start going around.  Now Regina's been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina were guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth, and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past whom she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend...if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.  

Review: Solid 4.5 stars on this one. I could not put this down. I read it in one sitting and was completely riveted by it all. In my opinion, this is Summers at her best. I loved the complexity of the characters all involved, the plot line, and pacing. This is dark and edgy contemporary perfection and is now one of my favorite books.

Overview: Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

Review: This was hard to get into after reading Some Girls Are, but I felt like it was a solid read. 3 stars on this one because of the complex nature of the story and how it handled the subject. This one was definitely a character-driven story, so if you're into that you may enjoy it.

Overview: Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

Review: I'm 3/4ths done with this, but I will count this in my beach reads post since I started it at the beach. This is a solid four. A great thrilling mystery with feisty characters. The historical aspect is done nicely and I found the writing enjoyable. I'd consider this a 'fun' read if you want something light, but interesting.

Suggestions for your TBR pile.

In lieu of writing up multiple book reviews of my current reads these past two months, I've decided to make a list that you may want to add to your TBR pile.

For you contemporary lovers: Stephenie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss, and Isla and the Happily Ever After

Why you'll like it: Very cute YA romance set in the idyllic Paris at a school abroad. You'll fall in love with the city and the MC's in one quick read.

Why you'll like it: Another cute YA romance using some of the cast from Anna and the French Kiss. This one had a deeper romance and the MC's quirky and artsy. The setting also takes this from New York to Paris, to a charming town in Spain.

For you fantasy lovers: Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy

Why you'll like it: Want an immersive fantasy that's a tad dark, but also fresh? Try this Russian-inspired fantasy. I devoured this series immediately. It's so good, it may even sway you to root for the dark side.

And for those of you who love retellings (or even if you don't): Brianna Shrum's Never Never

Why you'll like it: This is a hooky (pun intended) tale about a bad ass captain. But is he truly the villain? Shrum takes you on his journey from a little Lost Boy to one of the most frightening pirates in Neverland. Pick this up, now. Though I feel I should warn you, you may end up SWOONING for the man with the hook ;)

Book Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I rated it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Overview:
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review: Mixed feelings on this one. When this book came out last year, everyone was raving about it. I tend to ignore hype and let it fizzle out and if I'm still interested in it, I'll give it a read. The writing was very fragmented and the
fragments were
like this
seriously it was written
like this
trying to be lyrical, or
a poem.
I don't know.

But if that just annoyed you, the book might annoy you too. Some of the lines were pretty, and some of the metaphors I had to read once or twice because I wasn't sure it was literal or metaphorical, which irked me. The romance was pretty flat. I get the Wuthering Heights things, but it just didn't deliver in this book.

What was good about this book is that it kept me guessing, and it kept me reading, which means it's good if it can do that. But the big twist that came made me want to shake my head, because I hate when this stuff pops up in books. I guess I can't reveal the twist if you are interested in reading.

But in short. It was good because it kept me interested and I wanted to know what happened, but everything besides that, like characters, structure, plot, was 'ehhh' for me.

Oh by the way, the book doesn't explain why the four young adults are called 'Liars.' So that also irritated me.

Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview:
“Dead girl walking”, the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret”, the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.

Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.  

Review: Anderson does it again. Queen of tough issues in YA Contemporary, this will not disappoint. Voice is so authentic and unique and the prose reads like a mix of poetry, puzzle, and lyric. The characters are complicated, multi-dimensional. With just a few careful descriptions, you immediately get a feel for the complexities of each character, their problems, and internal suffering. This was so convincingly written that I feel like I was inside of Lia's head. This is probably by far one of the best YA's on the issues of eating disorders and how it essentially affects the person and those all around them.

Book Review: Tangled Webs by Lee Bross

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars.

Overview: London, 1725. Everybody has a secret. Lady A will keep yours—for a price. This sumptuous, scandalous YA novel is wickedly addictive.

Lady A is the most notorious blackmailer in the city. With just a mask and a gown to disguise her, she sweeps into lavish balls and exclusive events collecting the most valuable currency in 1725 London—secrets.

But leading a double life isn't easy. By day Lady A is just a sixteen-year-old girl named Arista who lives in fear of her abusive master, Bones, and passes herself off as a boy to move safely through the squalor of London's slums. When Bones attempts to dispose of his pawn forever, Arista is rescued by the last person she expects: Jonathan Wild, the infamous Thief Taker General who moves seamlessly between the city's criminal underworld and its most elite upper circles. Arista partners with Wild on her own terms in the hopes of saving enough money to buy passage out of London.

Everything changes when she meets Graeden Sinclair, the son of a wealthy merchant. Grae has traveled the world, has seen the exotic lands Arista has longed to escape to her whole life, and he loves Arista for who she is—not for what she can do for him. Being with Grae gives something Arista something precious that she swore off long ago: hope. He has promised to help Arista escape the life of crime that has claimed her since she was a child. But can you ever truly escape the past?

Review: Big thanks to Disney Book group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! Tangled Webs is out today! Happy release day Bross!

This book had my interest at 'London,' from the blurb. I love this time period and historical YA novels. However, the historical element was lost on me. As a setting, it didn't really contribute to the story. Yeah, their were mentions of society and fashion, but what really makes a good historical fiction for me, is taking historical context and weaving it into the story. Unfortunately this book did neither.

All in all, it is well-written. The protagonist is someone you'd root for because she's caring, yet daring, and you get to know her past so that you understand why she's the way she is. The aspect of the double life was also interesting, but throughout the book I wanted a little bit more. I feel like the story line was like coasting. Kind of slow and the big moments not very realized to the reader because it took so long to get there.

Also, don't hold out for the romance, because it's instalove and not very grounded, and I didn't really care for the love interest that much. All in all, I had hoped that this was my kind of book from the blurb, but I think the blurb really set up some disappointment for me.

Book Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

Review: Dessen is the Queen of YA Contemporary. I remember being introduced to her books by my best friend at the time in high school. I was forever in love after that. The last few of Dessen's books haven't been my favorite. But the way Dessen writes, so readable but poignant with an engaging story filled with meaning, you can never really go wrong. With Saint Anything, Dessen really got her mojo back. A story about falling in love, being your own person, commitment to friendships, and a family healing. All good stuff to be found in a YA.

If you're looking for a good contemporary, this one is it. Though be prepared, you might be craving fries after reading this ;)

My only qualm with this book was the intro. Tons of backstory that I think could have been weaved in later on. But on the plus side, the contemplation of guilt and sense of loneliness really does hit you right off the bat that compels you to read.

Saint Anything definitely falls on the higher spectrum of my favorite Dessen books, but so far The Truth about Forever and Just Listen are still my favorites.

Book Review: Faking Perfect by Rebecca Phillips

I rated this 2 out of 5 stars.

Overview:When Lexi Shaw seduced Oakfield High's resident bad boy Tyler Flynn at the beginning of senior year, he seemed perfectly okay with her rules:

1. Avoid her at school.
2. Keep his mouth shut about what they do together.
3. Never tease her about her friend (and unrequited crush) Ben.

Because with his integrity and values and golden boy looks, Ben can never find out about what she’s been doing behind closed doors with Tyler. Or that her mom’s too busy drinking and chasing losers to pay the bills. Or that Lexi’s dad hasn’t been a part of her life for the last thirteen years. But with Tyler suddenly breaking the rules, Ben asking her out, and her dad back in the picture, how long will she be able to go on faking perfect?

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange of an honest review. Faking Perfect will be out on June 30th, 2015.

I really wanted to like this book and the blurb and opening chapter made me think I would. The following chapters, however, not so much. There was nothing wrong with the prose, or writing. The romance wasn't too heavy that it overshadowed the whole book and the pacing was fine. Rather the problems stemmed from lack of characterization. Yes, we feel sorry for Lexi but at the same time her character lacked depth. So though I may have felt sorry for her, I didn't really care about her.

Then the love interests. Ben, the perfect guy? Umm no, more like the shallow guy. I still don't know why Lexi has a thing for him. And then Tyler. I really wanted to root for this guy. But how can I when I hardly know him? His character wasn't fleshed out enough. Lack of characterization was what made my rating so low. Perhaps that's a bit harsh, but it makes it difficult to follow characters through a whole story when you don't really know them or like them. Because of that, the book was really hard to get through.

Book Review: Spelled by Betsy Schow

I rated it 2 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Fairy Tale Survival Rule #32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks—like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the brooding prince Kato is so not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End for the world of Story.  

Review: Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautiful cover. So beautiful it deceived me.

A fairy-tale retelling with wit, it had so much potential. Unfortunately the main character reminded me of a bratty, spoiled, teenager, which really made it difficult for me to want to follow her, to the point where I didn't care if she got a happy ending. Her character just wasn't dynamic enough and the way it started out, I just couldn't be sympathetic to the girl. And though it was well written, it was sometimes difficult to picture exactly what was going on that some passages and scenes were a bit muddled. The descriptions and setting would then fall flat, which is unfortunate because I think it would have added to the story.

The overall tone was also a bit dramatic, outrageous, and over the top. At times it was too much for me that I felt like eye-rolling the page. Though some may have liked the puns and thought it was clever, I just found them kind of annoying and distracting as it didn't add to the story. Instead it acted like a reminder that this was a knockoff book or something.

Perhaps this type of book wasn't my cup of tea. But the fact that it lost steam after one third of the book, really confirmed my rating of 2 stars.

Book Review: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

I rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

 

Overview: If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Review: A big thank you to Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of Every Last Word in exchange for an honest review. Every Last Word is scheduled to be released on June 16th, 2015, and trust me, you'll want a copy.

Completely heartfelt, genuine, with a lot of substance, this is one of those YA novels that leaves you reflecting on your own views of life. With flawed yet likeable characters, you'll be immediately invested in them. You'll want to keep reading, because you'll love seeing these characters grow and come into their own. With a great cast, Stone makes this book completely relatable to anyone who's gone/going through a rough time and simply needed/needs safe place, by making this story that safe place for them.

Beautifully written with its tinges of poetry between the pages, Stone has structured this story so that the pace is perfect and the twist so surprising, yet well planted that you wonder how you missed it before. Add a touch of friendship, romance, and vulnerability, and you have a Contemporary YA that needs to be read. This is one of those YA books that I wish I had during my high school years. And as full adult now, I'm still able to get value out of it. So come June 16th, get this book in your hands or add this to your TBR list.

Book Review: P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

I rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

Review: I rated this as 5, because as a teenager, I knew I would have loved the book. And as an adult, the fact that I can still love it warrants the high score.

In a nutshell this book is sweet, charming, light-hearted, and very cute. It's like teddy bears and chocolate chip cookies, truffles and unicorns cute. Not sure if I'm getting the point across correctly, but you know what I mean, right? It's first love cute, which is exactly what it is.

I actually liked this sequel better than the first book. Han was still able to get the plot line going, and familiarity of the characters was welcoming. Her characters are vivid with their own personalities and the scenes remind me of my own time in high school rendering her main character's point of view relatable. The whole cast was realistic and the roller coaster ride of the relationship and insecurities that go along with it was done very convincingly.

The prose is not magnificent, and setting not very memorable, but what is memorable is the nostalgia that comes along with it. Whether it's pigging out on ice cream sandwiches with friends, digging up time capsules, playing tag, and making Valentine's. It takes me down my own memory lane. Jenny Hans knows young adults, and she is specifically writing for them. For that I applaud her.

Also bonus points for adding some culture and adding in some dialogue about feminism and beautiful talk about not needing a man to fulfill you. Good points to have there for young girls!

If you haven't started the duology, check out my review on To All The Boys I've Loved Before.

Book Review: Awake by Natasha Preston

I rated it 2 out of 5 stars.

 

Overview: Scarlett doesn’t remember anything before the age of five. Her parents say it’s from the trauma of seeing her house burn down, and she accepts the life they’ve created for her without question—until a car accident causes Scarlett to start remembering pieces of an unfamiliar past.

When a new guy moves into town, Scarlett feels an instant spark. But Noah knows the truth of Scarlett’s past, and he’s determined to shield her from it...because Scarlett grew up in a cult called Eternal Light, controlled by her biological parents.

And they want her back.  

Review: First off, thanks so much to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me an ARC (advanced reader's copy), in exchange for feedback and an honest review. The pub date for Awake is scheduled for August 4, 2015.

Can I just say the cover art is beautiful? It's something that would've caught my eye and would have made me pick it up to read the blurb. Not many cult books out right now, so it definitely has that 'different' appeal, but that's where all the appeal ends.

Right off the bat, Preston begins with an insta-love relationship. The two main characters seriously fall for each other within two chapters. Frankly, the whole thing is kind of unbelievable. Not only because the romance was flat, but because the characters themselves were pretty flat. Next was the forced dialogue. It didn't flow at times, and kind of made me cringed. I felt the writing style took away from the book, rather than supplementing it. Perhaps the stilted writing was supposed to illuminate the creepy aspect of the story, but it just didn't register for me. Also the ending was just a bit too perfect, 'everything falling into place' sort of thing. Combine everything I've mentioned and it rendered the whole story unrealistic.

I really wanted to like this story and I think the message about perception, beliefs, and how our environment or society plays a role in it is a very powerful one indeed. But the way it came off the page did not do the message justice. Add a little more depth, emotion, but less angst in the characters, then a dash of complexity and then I think Preston has something. It just has to be more convincing for a higher rating. Unfortunately, I gave it two stars out of five.

Book Review: Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

I rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

 

Overview: Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds... two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

Review: I finished this book two weeks ago, and yet I still can't stop thinking about it. When I picked up the book at the bookstore, I instantly fell for the cover. But you know what they say, you can't judge a book by its cover, so I put it back down. But then I saw 'Stardust meets The Fault in Our Stars,' two books that I absolutely love! So I took the chance, bought the hardcover and took it home.

When I finished, all I could do is sit and think, this is why I read YA. This is why I want to write YA. It was that good.

It beautifully combines science fiction with magical realism, and a tiny bit of historical aspect, yet grounds it in reality. Because Headley's able to pull that off, it blew me away. Yes, it was similar to Stardust and The Fault in Our Stars in some way, but it was able to hold its own in originality and prose. The characters are genuine and flawed at the same time, making them dynamic and believable. I'll admit in the first few chapters I didn't particularly like Aza's voice, but it wasn't awful that I couldn't get past it. And as I went along, I began to sympathize with her and could understand her mild ranting.

The book as a whole, however, was charming, elegant, and captivating. At times it touched my heart. I teared up twice surprisingly. But it kept me surprised throughout and did a great job with pacing. Towards the end, I kind of guessed what would happen, but it didn't take away from the emotional appeal to finish. As a beginning of a series, it was strong, well thought out, with beautiful imagery that leaves an impression upon the mind.

Now do yourself a favor and read this book. Not because it's my new favorite YA, but because I know you'll love it too.

I know everyone has dreams of flying, but this isn’t a dream of flying. It’s a dream of floating, and the ocean is not water but wind.
I call it a dream, but it feels realer than my life.

Book Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

I rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Overview: In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

 

Review: So, my rating may be a little biased because The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite YA series, nonetheless, I gave this a high rating because it was a great backstory into our villain.

 

Normally I don't read novellas or spinoffs in series because 1) they never interest me 2) I thought they didn't bring much to the over all series 3) they're always on the shorter side and thus never had quite the story arc.

 

Fairest nixed my three excuses completely. It was interesting because it answered the basic villain question: what happened to the villain that made them so, well, villainy? The story argued the 'why' pretty clearly and gave an understanding to Levana's history. To my second point, it brought a great deal to the story because we finally get more of a glimpse of the kingdom in the moon. We are finally off of Earth! So I really enjoyed the change in setting, it made me hungry for more. It also cleared up one of my questions: why does Levana have a step daughter, and how does she, Winter, fit into all of this? And to my third point, this wasn't a story arc type of novella, rather is was more of a character arc as we see Levana go from naïve girl to ruthless Queen. And you know what? I was okay with that because it was entertaining throughout.

 

Now, if only I could get an ARC of Winter, my life would be complete!

 

Big thanks to my friend Lisa for letting me borrow this one! Will return in perfect condition ;)

 



Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

Review: I read this about a month ago, but I completely forgot to write up this review. One thing that surprised me? Why hadn't I ever picked this up before? I really wish I had read this as a teen and not an adult because it really would have illuminated a lot of issues going around at the time. Reading it as an adult, it was easy to connect the dots and what happened to Melinda. So this wasn't a plot-driven book, mainly an issues book with such a rich and distinct voice that keeps you reading.

Melinda's perspective despite the ordeal she's been through is authentic and at times, pretty funny. I loved her view of high school and found that many teens would identify with her. This really lightened the issue enough that it wasn't a 'depressing' book. Rather I found it pretty hopeful.

My favorite part was the last scene of the book. When you hit the last word, you instantly know this book is going to be a reread. That's how profound it was. Teenage me would batter this book to wrinkles rereading and picking out favorite lines.

This is probably why I struggle so much writing contemporary, because my own stuff doesn't have that 'profoundness' or takeaway 'feeling' that my teenage self has associated contemporary with. At least not yet, anyway. For me, this subgenre is like diving into water, coming back for air, and realizing the world is different even though it's been less than thirty seconds and every thing is still ordinary. The only difference is the way in which you're seeing it.

Book Review: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars.

Overview: An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. 

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. 

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves. 

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

Review: So the blurb. I was enthralled by it. I was so excited to read it. Anything with high stakes and forbidden love usually has my name written all over it. The first few chapters were great, but then it started to peter out.
First was the lack of romance between the two main characters. It didn't pick up until the second half of the book, but their romance was pretty forgettable. Don't get me wrong, this book is well-written and builds up it just lacked pizazz. The whole plot kind of fell flat.

The antagonizing forces (i.e. the future society that created the social rules) were just not that scary. Instead of heightening tension, they were just annoying flies to me.

This wasn't an edge of your seat book I had expected due to the blurb, but I did finish it (albeit through many days of picking it up and setting it back down). One good thing about the book was the ending. I was afraid it was going to head into the cliche route where everything is sunshine and rainbows and everyone gets to live happily ever after, but it didn't. Which to me is more believable and ended the story at a good point.

Book Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

Review: In high school, my best friend at the time introduced me to Sarah Dessen. She lended me her books, but I soon caught fever of Dessen's stories and started buying my own copies. My favorites of hers are still Just Listen and  The Truth About Forever. Sarah Dessen is queen when it comes to writing contemporaries from the female perspective. Even though my then best friend and I lost touch, I still continue reading Dessen's books in my adult years. It reminds me a bit of my adolescence and also inspires me to write a contemporary.

So when The Moon and More came out and I heard about the less than stellar reviews, I kind of avoided reading it until I forgot about it completely. Then I heard about her latest sale that was announced about a month ago. Knowing there was another book coming out, I got my hands on this one so I could be up to date.

Although I enjoyed the story and the message of empowerment, I had to agree with the other reviewers by giving this a three. It just seemed too... predictable. And predictability is always an issue with me. The other thing was the characters. There wasn't really enough stake to make me care about the protagonist nor the other characters (besides the MC's little brother). And third, the writing was just too verbose that I found myself skipping over a lot of paragraphs (something I hardly do as I like to eat up every single word in a story, lest I miss something!).

Nevertheless, I continue to be a fan of Sarah Dessen. A great story, but just a three for me on this one. I'm still excited for the next Dessen book though, so don't let this review dissuade you from reading her other books!

Book Review: Made For You by Melissa Marr

I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely books Melissa Marr’s first contemporary YA novel is a twisted southern gothic tale of obsession, romance, and murder. A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling

Review: This review is long overdue, but better late than never. I'm a big fan of Marr's after her Wicked Lovely books. I adored them. So it was interesting to hear that she was writing a contemporary thriller. Of course I picked it up and devoured this book. Marr's writing in contemporary is just as beautiful as her writing in fantasy. Though for a contemporary, she did throw a small supernatural element in, but it added to the story and worked as a good device for building suspense and narrowing down the suspect list.

Like a good thriller, Marr kept me guessing on the stalker, but I was just able to figure it out a few chapters before the protagonist. I didn't mind it though because it took nothing away from the story. the only thing that made me rate this a four instead of a five is because I don't think the actions or sacrifices of the Stalker made sense. I wish there was more motive behind it.

Nonetheless, I would recommend it for a good leisure read.

Book Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail (Haas) McDonald

I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview: It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations.

As Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...

Review: Normally I'm not into the thriller YA, because honestly, I'm a big fat baby, and just about anything scares me. However, I'm not completely opposed to the genre since I love watching crime shows like 'Law and Order: SVU,' and 'Luther.' I picked up Dangerous Girls after someone mentioned Dangerous Boys on twitter. I looked it up and thought, hmm this is interesting, but since Dangerous Girls was published first, I thought to give that a read first.

The crime that occurs in this book reminded me a lot of the Amanda Knox case where she found her roommate murdered when she was abroad in Italy. I didn't mind it much since I was curious to see how Haas would handle the ending. I thought the way the novel was written was very superb, flashing from past to present, so that we only get bits and pieces, yet they all fit collectively together. The pacing was very well done. It kept me guessing the whole time as I tried to figure out motives and the murderer.

Let me just say, it did not end the way I thought! Which is reason enough for you to give this a read! It'll keep you guessing and the minds of dangerous girls will shock you.

Fourth Revision Readthrough

I love Debbie Ridpath's comics. I feel like the one above completely relates to me this week. I've spent the last three days rereading my whole manuscript from start to finish while Blaire just stares at me. I printed all the pages, and started marking it up like crazy (though I used a blue pen instead of red, because red just looks so mean, doesn't it? Or is that just me?) and now I'm in the process of making the changes on my manuscript on my laptop. I still have to write another chapter or two to fill in a gap I noticed, but I think it will be ready for me to send out to another batch of beta readers this weekend.

But boy am I exhausted... Even as I write this post, while sipping my morning coffee, I feel so dead. This week has just been a rollercoaster. Rereading my manuscript just makes me doubt so much that I can't tell if my story is even good anymore since I've been working on it so much. Thank goodness for beta readers.

I just need to remind myself to presevere. I'm way in too deep to be stopping now.

Book Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

I rated it 5 out of 5 stars. 

 

Overview: It happened like this. I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.

This is my story.

A letter from nowhere.

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?

The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.

Review: I reread this over the weekend and it continues to be one of my favorite YA books of all time. Lucy Christopher is brilliant. I love the writing because it's so simple, so visceral, yet so mesmerizing and beautiful. The first time I read it, I was literally in tears at the end, having felt like I had undergone stockholm syndrom with Gemma. I had read it in one sitting just so entranced by the story and the two characters.

Reading it this time around, I really got to appreciate the novel sytlisticly and admire Christopher's craft. Isn't it funny how another reading shows you things you hadn't noticed around the first time? Not many books survived my move from Sacramento to Seattle, but this one did, and for a good reason. Just pick it up and you'll know why.