Review: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Title: Solitaire
Author: Alice Oseman
Expected publication: March 30th 2015 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
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Everything about this book screamed familiar to me. Not because I've read this before but because I wanted to. I've been waiting for it.

And it was so exciting. From the start I knew I'd love this because the story is set in some charming British school, which is always code for a good time. There's also Victoria Spring, who was an amazing main character. What really set her apart is how troubled she was, yet it was so realistically portrayed, just like you would see it in real life, very subtle, very quietly destructive. To see her struggle was both heartbreaking and eye-opening.

And if our main girl is not your typical YA heroine, our main guy couldn't be cookie-cutter either. There's Michael Holden, who is probably one of the most memorable characters I've ever read. So happy and eccentric on the outside, so broken on the inside. I loved Michael with all my might and my heart suffered for him so much. He was a bright side and a dark side, and I cannot imagine how any story could survive without someone like him.

The whole game of Solitaire was a very cool part too. I really enjoyed creating my theories and trying to figure out the reasoning behind it all. And although it kind of should be the main focus of the story, the thing I liked the most was getting to know the characters, the interactions between them all, and the family dynamics. I wish I could hug everyone. Victoria's friends, her brother, her brother's boyfriend, they all were a great example of how to make the reader care.

I can say enough good things about the story but it will take me a long time so I'll save you the trouble. Just give this one a chance.

Review: My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp

Title: My Best Everything 
Author: Sarah Tomp
Young Adult Contemporary
Published March 3rd 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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Unexpected. Brilliant. There are quite a few adjectives that come to mind after reading 'My Best Everything' but I don't plan on writing them all and use all my space. Instead I want to tell you how amazing this story will make you feel.

Lulu's idea of selling moonshine to furnish her way to college. She is a smart girl in a small town; we've seen it before, right? Not like this. Never like this. Because Lulu is about to find out she is smart, but not in the way she always thought.

So she enlists the help of her best friend Roni and her boyfriend Bucky, who she has known all her life, and of course the mysterious, older bad boy Mason. And it all goes downhill from here (or uphill, depending on how you see it) because you can't predict the future, just like you can't predict if moonshine is going to turn out to be poison. It's a ride.

I loved this book. So much heart, so poetic and emotional. But funny and charming, too. A thrill ride.

I can't tell you enough good things about this book. Suddenly I couldn't handle all the feels and I was back to that place I love about YA. If I were you I wouldn't worry of where I am going right now, as long as I have this book with me.

Review: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Title: I'll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Published February 3rd 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Drama
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It is my first time Reading anything by Heather Demetrios but after it I'm sure it won't be the last. I'll Meet You There was much more than the light summer romance I was expecting. It carried a powerful message about the terrible struggle of a life post war. A story about a troubled girl and a wounded Young soldier.

I can go on about how much I loved the characters. About how captivating everything was. How the story grabbed you and didn't let you go. But I'd be missing the point I want to make. About how it is so important to acknowledge what is happening out there with all these young soldiers and how coming home alive is not the hardest part.

Really my heart ached along Skylar and Josh. And Marge. And everything this book stands for. It was a wonderful change of pace in the midst of cookie-cutter "conventional" love stories. Truly recommended to those of us who need a little reality check about how life is not the easiest for most of our young adults.