Waiting on Wednesday: Panic by Lauren Oliver

YOU GUYS THE IPAD SUCKS.

It's random but it's true. I haven't been able to blog all month long because I am Brazil and I didn't bring my laptop and the stupid iPad does not let me write any coherent post. I've tried. Believe me.

BUT ANYWAYS.

Here's my sucky headerless, senseless and formatless post, but whatever, the silence has been long enough.

Now, my pick this week Y'ALL KNOW IT. It's miss Oliver and her highly anticipated new novel. Now I have yet to read anything by her (I heard your gasp all the way to here) BUT I am so freakishly excited for this one you have no idea.


PANIC BY LAUREN OLIVER

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.(less)

Review: Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Title: Dirty Little Secret 
Author: Jennifer Echols
Expected publication: July 16th 2013 by MTV Books
Goodreads | Amazon
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I can’t tell you for sure what I was expecting when I opened the first page of Dirty Little Secret. I mean, sure, it’s Jennifer Echols, a good time is for granted, but since she had 3 books out this year and I’ve read all her previous ones, I was a bit overwhelmed.

Turns out my worries were unfounded because she hits it out of the park again. Not only did she reminded me what made her so good and made me fall in love with her writing in the first place, but also I found improvement and evolution. Somehow this book felt even more young adult to me than all of her previous ones, maybe because the emotions Bailey was going through were so perfectly described and perfectly fitted with my own emotions as a confused and hurt teenager that I couldn’t help but be blown away by how much I could relate to her.

Bailey’s sister Julie got a record deal and is setting off to be country’s next Taylor Swift.

 

This would all have been great if Bailey hadn’t been the other half of the guitar and fiddle duo they had all through their short lives. Bailey is hurt and feels rejected now that her parents have removed her from anything Julie is doing so she wouldn’t mess things up, and that includes staying away from music.

But Bailey breathes music, and naturally she can’t let it go. So when she meets Sam, the son of a Johnny Cash impersonator, and possibly the hottest thing that had happened in country music since ever; she has to take a chance or forever wonder what if.

You guys, Sam was amazing. I think he’s probably the most upbeat boy Jenn has ever created (and that’s saying something because he has his fair share of brooding) because he talks really fast, says everything that comes to his head and dresses funky. I loved that he was straight-forward and obsessibly driven about music, he had this energy about him that was hard to ignore.

But then Bailey was my favorite part of the book. She was, like I said, flawlessly crafted into a perfectly real teenager. I got where she was coming from, and I rooted for her all through her story. I wanted to hug her and tell her that I know how she felt because I did too, all those feelings of not belonging and not knowing what you’re supposed to do or who you’re supposed to be, I loved that her problems were over-the-top fiction yet I, a simple chick from the suburbs, could relate to.

 

And then we have the country music. Seriously, who doesn't love a good ole' bluegrass music once in a while (or most of the time, if you're me). Country music is the equivalent of breakfast for champions, and this book's got plenty. You're in for a magical tour through the enchanting streets of Nashville, with its colorful folklore and incredible nightlife, where Bailey and Sam prove to us that dreams do come true.

 

Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Title: The Distance Between Us
Author: Kasie West

Published July 2nd 2013 by Harper Teen

Goodreads | Amazon

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Awwwh I've found a new book to put on my favorite's list. Because The Distance Between us couldn't be anything but, after all the swooning and the laughing it put me through. There was no way on earth I wouldn't fall in love with this book.

And I did. Hard. I love it enough to want to re-read it right now. Because it was a whole experience, more than just reading a story. It put me through the emotions of meeting an exciting new friend, of reconsidering options and choosing paths, of falling in love for the first time. It was the whole package. 

Caymen was the perfect heroine because we are all Caymens on the inside, hiding our insecurities behind our security blankets (in her case, her sarcasm) and trying to work out the courage to fight for what we want. I rooted for Caymen as soon as I met her, and my fist was up in the air when she got her happy ending. I laughed along her, got mad along her, I cared.

And then this sweet love story was pretty darn flawless. I fell in love with Caymen and Xander's relationship; their hilarious banter and the slow, almost painfully slow way it build up. I realized I was too invested when I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror and it had that glow only brides and new moms have. Unmistakably, I was in it too deep.

So seriously, y'all need to pick up this contemporary jewel and add it to our collection because this book will brighten your day and your mood, and it will warm your heart and remind you of the fairy tales that are so amazing, it's really a cruelty they're only fiction.

Ps. After this I am so picking up Pivot Point.

Waiting On Wednesday: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

WoW is weekly meme created by Jill at Breaking The Spine in which bloggers can share books they're excited to get soon :)

 

 

Hello again, darlings.

This week's WoW is all kinds of AMAZING...

 

 

 

The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

 

 

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

 

Add on Goodreads

 

 

 

 

OMG. Seriously, first paragraph is describing me, practically my whole life, I gotta admit I like flying under the radar.

 

But I also like imagining awesome other possible scenarios, Wren performing the Heimlich on Grayson sounds like a hilarious scenario to me.

 

 

Review: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer

Title: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Published April 23rd 2013 by Balzer + Bray
Goodreads / Amazon
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I was super excited to get my clean hands on this book. Honestly, it's pegged as The Devil Wears Prada meets Disney?... SAY WHAT?!

So I started this book as soon as I got it, and let me tell you, I didn't stop reading until it was over. Because HZMHD(M)CT is amazing! Such a cute, entertaining read that magically transports you to a fairyland.

Everything is included, charming princes, bitchy princesses, wicked witches, and funny furries. I loved the book's premise, a girl intering in one of the most famous theme-parks in the country, forced to play assistant to the evil queen/manager of the park. And let me tell you, Miranda Presley has nothing on this Queen! she makes Zoe feed caviar to her dog, prepare her breakfast, play cinderella in one unfortunate ocassion (Le Spastic anyone?) and play Red Riding Hood several times too.

 

 

 

I loved Zoe for all the right reasons. She was a hot mess and she kept me entertained, I was laughing so hard at all the situations she was put in (and sometimes she even put herself there). But she was awesome, and girlfriend, I wish you'd be my bestie so we could hang out and you could be your selfless self and nominate me for the Dream & Do grant ;).

 

There's also our Hottie McHot-A-Lot, Ian Davidson. I loved Ian too, he was truly a prince and I fell in love with him despite his seriously bad puns (that boy has to start learning new jokes).

 

The whole world building had me wishing I could work at a theme park too, even though it sounds exhausting and (if they make you an animal and you have to wear a furry costume) gross but I love children and magic so yeah I think I could handle it. Although not as well as Zoe, who I cheered on during the whole book and girlfriend didn't dissapoint.

 

Sarah Strohmeyer also didn't dissapoint, she gave us an splendid ending that I absolutely loved and adored. I wish she would write a sequel with Zoe and Ian as RAs this time around.

 

Kudos, Sarah! You knocked it out of the park!