Waiting On Wednesday: What I thought was true by Huntley Fitzpatrick

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


What I thought was true by Huntley Fitzpatrick

From the author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.
Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.
 
A magnetic, push-me-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

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AHHHH. How gorgeous is that beach scene in purple? I love the cover.
And frankly, anything summery, romantic and contemporary is a must-read for me.
(Also because I loved My life Next Door) 

Review: Where Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

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Title: Where Stars Still Shine
Author: Trish Doller
Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Goodreads | Amazon
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When they told you this book was about heartbreak and pain and love and reunion, they were not lying. This book was impossible to put down, because as soon as you start to read you get completely invested in this heart-wrenching story of long-lost and new-found love.

I liked Callie from the start. I admired her courage and perseveration even before I found out about her horrible story. I liked her because she was loyal to her mom, even if her mom was a mess, and that's something I get (not approve) but get. Because there's no way to cut the connection between a mother and a daughter.

What really sold me on this novel was Callie's new amazing family. Phoebe was lovely, and the little boys were adorable and perfect in a way only children can be. But most of all, I loved Greg. I loved how he turned out to be the incredible father I knew we would be. I loved his relationship with his family. I loved the way he treated Callie, with infinite patience and love. I love the wisdom and warm he added to the story.

I also love Florida. I never been there but each day I am more and more convinced that it is some kind of paradise. The little Greece tucked away in this Florida town made me want to be the awful tourist buying ten tshirts and a bunch of sponges.

The chemistry between Callie and her love interest, Alex, was definitely there. Although I wish it hadn't started off as a sex-based relationship. I know that Callie isn't a relationship expert but I wish she and Alex hadn't done everything backwards. And I also didn't appreciate the lack of closure but sometimes that just the way it happens.

Some loose threads in there too. Like Alex's father and Callie's relationship with Connor. But at the end this book turned out to be a great summer read.

 

 

 

Review: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Title: Wild Cards
Author: Simone Elkeles
Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Walker Books for Young Readers
Goodreads | Amazon
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Aww the joy a perfectly good summer read can bring us is indescribable. Wild Cards is fun and hot and will make you smile. While I accept that it wasn't the deepest, most meaningful novel I've ever read, it did meet my expectations for a good time.

 

I mostly liked Derek better than anything. His outgoing and easy personality combined with charm and good looks is always a winning combo in my opinion. I liked his jokes and his love for his mom and of course his sexy Texan twang can't hurt. However I did find odd that he liked to wear beanies in the summer; no matter how long you've been gone, texans just don't do that. But somehow I don't think that is going to cause major problems in our (fictional) relationship.

There was also the awesome fact that Ashtyn is a football player. Like really, be my best friend, dude (and by dude, I mean dudette) becaause it takes serious ladyballs to get hang around sweaty, pervy football players all day.

People weren't lying when they said this book was reminiscent of Friday Night Lights (best show ever) and that of course plays (ha!) a big part in my strong liking for this book. So if you are a fan of sexy, cute, summery stories then you must try this one out, you won't be dissapointed!

 

 

Waiting On Wednesday: Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

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



Better Off Friends
by Elizabeth Eulberg

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way. 

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated? 

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

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I've actually read Ms. Eulberg's debut books, and even though back then I was younger (duh) I remember thinking they were too childish for my taste.

But now we both have grown I'm sure and since I am a weakling when it comes to boy-girl-bestfriends I just HAVE TO READ THIS. 

Review: The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

Title: The Night She Disappeared
Author: April Henry
Published March 13th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Goodreads | Amazon
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Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is.

This book was definitely the surprise of the year back in 2012.

I picked it up not knowing a thing about it, I didn’t recognize the author, didn’t even read the synopsis first but the title got me instantly and the cover was interesting enough.

What a surprise. This book blew me away; it was deep and insightful and about scary, awful topics that aren’t exactly what YA literature is known for. April Henry nailed it, I’ve never read anything of hers before but I was so pleasantly surprised that she managed to write about such a tough subject without making it a somber/darker book.

I loved the story, I thought it was realistic enough, but I also very much appreciate the ending. I know that most of the time the stories don’t end like this in real life but books are supposed to be an escape from reality.

The characters were also perfect, they evoke the perfect emotions at the time you needed them too, without forgetting that they were just teenagers, which was what made the book even more appalling and disturbing. Very thought-provoking and eye-opening, and you can tell Henry did a lot of researching. It takes talent to transmit the kind of emotions this book deals with and not end up being over the top drama.

It was just an excellent, solid thriller. Recommended for all ages and genres and everyone that likes to read about something a little bit deeper than your typical contemporary.

 

Waiting On Wednesday: Juvie by Steve Watkins

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

 

 

 

Juvie

by Steve Watkins

 

Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one — she’s the star player on her AAU basketball team, she gets good grades, she dates a cute soccer player, and she tries to help out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when both sisters are caught up in a drug deal — wrong place, wrong time — it falls to Sadie to confess to a crime she didn’t commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. Sadie is supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist, but somehow, impossibly, gets sentenced to six months in juvie. As life as Sadie knew it disappears beyond the stark bars of her cell, her anger — at her ex-boyfriend, at Carla, and at herself — fills the empty space left behind. Can Sadie forgive Carla for getting her mixed up in this mess? Can Carla straighten herself out to make a better life for Lulu, and for all of them? Can Sadie survive her time in juvie with her spirit intact?

GOODREADS




It's not often that I come across a YA book that is focused on a relationship between sisters, let alone one as complicated as this. I love my sister you know, but I am not so sure I would be willing to do something like this for her D:

I mean. Would you?

Waiting On Wednesday: Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

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

I have said it before and I will say it again: I LOVE JENNIFER ECHOLS.
Yes, her books are my legal drug and I can't never get enough. Now it's getting worse with her writing a new YA romantic/comedy series: the superlatives. How awesome is that concept? Answer: VERY.

Today I'm waiting on the first one.

BIGGEST FLIRTS by Jennifer Echols

 Senior year is about to get interesting.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laid-back swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing away Will drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirt along with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will's new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started out as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…

Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terril

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terril
Expected publication: September 3rd 2013 by Disney Hyperion
Goodreads | Amazon
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While I definitely liked the story line of All Our Yesterdays, and like every other normal person, I obsessively love time travel and paradoxes and Marty McFLy; I had trouble enjoying the book like I should have.

Because even though I knew this novel is fiction, some times it was too out there for me. Yes, I know, I'm reading time travel, what did I expect? you ask. It's just that the characters sometimes were pretty unbelievable, like James, this seventeen year old genius/villain that Em called Doctor (and therefore my mind evoked flashes of Doc Emmet every time he was in a scene). I mean really? what are the odds a seventeen year old invents a time machine? it just makes me laugh. But I got past that and then what do I get? 

 

Marina/Em. That's what I get for sticking through it? a main character who annoyed me to no end. It was hard to sympathize with her because I just couldn't understand her level of infatuation. Borderline obsession, actually. And except for a few glimpses of a young James helping Marina when she fell off her bike, I didn't even understand what she saw in him or why she loved him so much.

And then her "love" for Finn was kind of ridiculous too, because you can't be in love with two guys at once and sometimes it felt like she was just dragging him along, and that's unfair. This love triangle, or whatever, shouldn't have existed.

Now, annoying characters aside. I think this novel hit its mark in terms of time travel. The old and young versions of the main characters facing each other gave the book a cool vibe of childhood fantasies meet reality. I just think the book could have done better without the love triangle and over the top drama between these three.