Review: Roomies by Tara Altebrando & Sara Zarr

Title: Roomies 
Author: Tara Altebrando & Sara Zarr
Expected publication: December 24th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository 
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Roomies is about two girls that spend a summer emailing each other before they will meet in person in school. So you know what you’re going to get, yet not really because these are teenagers after all, taking the biggest step in their life, moving from their homes and starting to live with a stranger, so there is a lot of catharsis going on.

I sort of liked this novel because of what it means. It’s about an incredibly exciting phase, when you leave the nest and start a new chapter in your life, when you start adulthood. The thing is though, that even though I have already been through that, I found it hard to empathize with both girls, Lauren and Elizabeth. Mostly Elizabeth, I couldn’t really find it in my hard to like her, she seemed a little shallow to me, and her mother didn’t help matters.

Lauren was alright, but then she started to date a guy who is black-skinned. I high-fived the authors in my head because that is a bold move for today’s Young Adult Literature, but then the truth came out. Lauren apparently really likes Keyon but her natural reaction and her parents’ reaction and Elizabeth’s reaction, while very appreciated for the honesty, I was severely disappointed to see kids these days still grow up kind of prejudiced against these meaningless things.

At the end, I think this book is going to be very helpful for everyone out there who is about to experience a situation when they are going to have a new roomie. I think one of its strongest messages is that you don’t need to be best friends with your new roomie, you just have to accept them and their personality, no matter if they are different or similar to yours. It’s all part of growing up. But I wouldn’t really call it a requisite read, though, and it is probably more appealing to the younger crowd.

Review: Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Title: Let The Sky Fall 
Author: Shannon Messenger
Published March 5th 2013 by Simon Pulse
Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository
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I read “Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents.” and was like WOAH I have to read this boy’s story!

Turns out I was wrong and this book is not about a tragic F-5 tornado that hit some town. No. It’s about super-powered people that are made of air or control air or something, and can (and possibly will) destroy the human race.

Like I have stated before, I hate it when a book tries hard at making me believe the heroine is kickass. It’s like, let me decide that for myself and not shove down my throat how wonderful and deadly this girl is. You know, the kind of problem I have with Divergent. I think it’s more important to portray a girl with a healthy amount of vulnerability so we readers believe that maybe, just maybe there’s also force within ourselves that will allow us to become awesome heroines too. The thing is, Audra was too unapproachable to me. Yes, she did have a sad story behind her, and her family situation sucked, but it was hard to believe she cared about it, because she never showed emotions for it, mostly what she talked about were her duties as Vane’s guardian and her oath to protect him and it was hard to believe any teenager would not have a bit of a pity party once in a while.

And then, I am sorry to say, that Vane was kind of dull. I loved that he thought he was human, though so he went through a lot of emotions and struggled to catch on to the new reality of him being an air-elemental. It was a realistic approach to the way a boy would handle the news, and that is what saved the book for me.

But then again, I am not one to be easily awed by new realities and super powers and strange worlds. It is very rare to get a supernatural/paranormal book in my hands that I can say blew my mind or captivated me enough to continue reading the rest of the series.

On a happier note, I am absolutely in love with the cover of this book. Not only is gorgeous but it also makes a lot of sense once you read the story and captures perfectly these two characters.

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.

 

 

 

Review: Levitating Las Vegas by Jennifer Echols

Title: Levitating Las Vegas
Author: Jennifer Echols
Published May 7th 2013 by Pocket Star
Goodreads | Amazon
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You and your neighbors know what a huge Jennifer Echols fan I am. It’s clear that I wear my love on my sleeve. I love each of her books and her characters and the passions in me are stirred every time I open one of her pages.

That’s why it literally pains me (this combined with the heartburn after all the spicy food I ate) to write this review.

It’s not like I hated Levitating Las Vegas (I so didn’t!), I enjoyed reading it, and not only because it was written by Jenn, but because it was entertaining, and the characters, as always, were witty and sassy and very likable. I loved Elijah Brown and his mysteriousness, his loyalty to Holly and his dazed and confused self was just incredibly endearing. And Holly was pretty fantastic too, she reminded me a bit of Holly Golightly (insert Audrey Hepburn) in her clueless ways.

The chemistry between Holly and Elijah can’t be denied, and their scenes together were the kind that sends sparks flying and induce fires in places that I won’t be talking about *wink*.

Now, what I really had problems with was the story itself. The plot was kind of all over the place. It’s probably best illustrated as a riding on a dirt road with the headlights off: bumpy and holey and no way of knowing what to except. Which isn’t always a bad thing, you know; but usually when you read a paranormal book you want your “facts” straight, and the book kind of did a not-so-good job at explaining most of the things that were going on. And some characters had not much explanation (or interactions) either, like Mr. Diamond, the casino owner, who I have a feeling was supposed to be a very important piece in the jigsaw puzzle but his role was the opposite, inexplicably irrelevant.

Another plus was that it really evokes Vegas to me. Hot and sexy and like, there’s no other place where so much crazy could be happening.

However lack of details and follow-up this book had, it didn’t disappoint me in the aspects I always look for in Ms. Echols books: a good time, a good laugh and characters I like to read about.

 

Review: The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston

Title: The Rules for Disappearing
Author: Ashley Elston
Contemporary YA
Expected publication: May 14th 2013 by Disney-Hyperion
Goodreads | Amazon
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I really enjoyed this one. For once the mysteries were kind of hard to deconstruct and the characters weren't half as whiny as I would have imagined for anyone in their situation.

I liked the approach the author took regarding the witness protection program and how it can destroy people's lives and sometimes it doesn't seem worth to live a life like that. And especially how devastating it is for a seventeen year old girl, you can't help but root for Meg right away, hoping everything turns out fine.

Now the romance was really cute (if a little instalove for my liking). It was a bit hard to believe a guy would put himself through so much danger for a girl he just met, but Ethan has a great heart and you can tell that from the start so maybe it's not that surprising that he fell for Meg so hard.

Really action packed, it kept me on my toes most of the time, I ended up really invested in the story and thoroughly enjoyed the ride it took me on.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the ending, though. I was a bit unsatisfied but also a whole lot curious. It felt like the easy way out, not cleared and kind of unfinished, and maybe to some people that would be part of this book's charm but for someone as obsessive as me it means I will wreck my brain trying to come up with theories and I already have too much going on in school.

But then I learned there was going to be a sequel, and then all was right in my world. Because I am nowhere near done with this story and this characters and I am anxiously waiting for our next meeting.

One last thing: that hog hunting scene! Awesome.

 

Review: The S word by Chelsea Pitcher

Title: The S word 
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Contemporary YA
Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by Gallery Books
Goodreads | Amazon
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I am really really sad because this book had so much potential. The synopsis is engaging enough to make you think you are in for an emotional, thrilling ride with bullies and suicide and lost friendships. But what it truly delivers is a twisted, amateurish novel.

The mystery felt too childish. And the characters were unreal; they were like 50-year-old actors trying to be teenagers. And the writing was just weird and awkward. And pretty much everything Angie did make me uncomfortable.

SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH: Another thing I have yet to process is Angie and Jesse. Jesse is Angie’s classmate, who dresses in skirt and is the reason his school has a Gay-Straight Alliance, but yet, he fell for a girl, he always thought he was gay but then he fell in love with two girls; so hey, points for originality, I haven’t read that before. But still, I think both Jesse and me are confused by this sudden change of direction (or sexuality I guess). I wanted to really ship Jesse & Angie as a couple, but my head was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that: WHAT? He wears dresses and skirts with converse and Angie is like “it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen”. I mean: ????????.

I was just too confused towards the end. Oh and the real person Lizzie was in love with? Who wouldn’t have seen that coming? I bet everyone did, so I was really mad they dragged it for so long.

So everyone was so psychotic it was hard to sympathize with any of them; but the one I hated the most was: Lizzie. She wasn’t even technically in the story yet she was unbelievably annoying. Every single entry in Lizzie’s diary made me pull my hair off of my skull. I don’t know what was happening, was the author trying to make us see she was oh so good, and nice and possibly the best girl in the world, or was it just that she doesn’t know teenagers don’t talk like that? Anyways, it was infuriating.

Oh my gosh, and the twist! That “twist” or whatever you call it. Did Angie have a split-personality disorder? Did she sleep-walk? What is going on?! Not one single clue was laid that Angie might have had something to do with it. It felt like the author pulled it out of her sleeve like a last resort or something.

The good thing and what kept me going was that there was some wit thrown in there and also, because I’m a sucker for novels with prom-queen-gone-emo. Also I have to confess I snorted/laughed out loud in some parts which are always a good sign for me.

So honestly, I can’t tell you not to read this one, or to read it. I have no way to advice you, but I can tell you that it ended up being not what I thought it would.

 

 

Review: How my summer went up in flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Title: How my summer went up in flames
Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Contemporary YA
Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by Simon Pulse
Goodreads // Amazon
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What I loved about How My Summer Went Up In Flames, is that it was more about growing up and learning how to be a good friend than a cute summery love story. Don’t get me wrong, though. I love romance, and this book has plenty of swoon, but it doesn’t focus on that.

The spotlight is on Rosie after she accidentally set her ex’s car on fire. That makes me both laugh, and worry about Rosie’s mental health; and the same thing happened to her parents, who decide to send her on a road trip with her neighbor Matty, who is the epitome of good behavior.

I must admit that at first I was a bit worried about Rosie, she seemed to be completely clueless to the gravity of her situation. Her mindset was all about her jerk of an exboyfriend and I wanted to slap some sense into her. But she was also witty and smart so I knew she would eventually come back to planet earth. She had an amazing crew behind her who gave her great support and managed to knock her down of her high cloud. From Matty, the awesome neighbor who is kind of geeky but has a great heart, to Rosie’s parents who were just the right amount of tough to handle a girl like her.

So, the road trip part of the book was very cool. Matty and Rosie join brothers, Spencer and Logan. It was a bit hard to watch the new romance ignite, because I was torn with whom I wanted Rosie to be, but to be honest that wasn’t a main part of the book, because most of all, Rosie needed some alone time, and I’m glad the author handled things the way she did.

And before I finish, I just would like to mention how funny this book is. I literally laughed out loud at a lot of things everyone said, expecially Rosie. The writing style and the wit reminded me of something Meg Cabot would write so that’s a huge win in my book. And that scene were Rosie gives their first kiss ever to one of the boys (won’t say who) was absolutely adorable.

 

I loved this scene. Their car runs out of gas and Logan and Matty have to walk miles in the heat to find a gas station while Rosie and Spencer stay in the car and Spencer teaches Rosie how to play the guitar.

 

 

Review: The Rules by Stacey Kade

Title: The Rules (Project Paper Doll #1)
Author: Stacey Kade
Sci-Fi/Paranormal YA
Expected publication: April 23rd 2013 by Disney-Hyperion
Goodreads | Amazon
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It was seriously a long wait I had to go through for this book. I'm a fan of Ms Stacey Kade's Ghost and the Goth series, so my expectations were high and I was super excited to dive into this new book world she created. I was not disappointed.

The Rules is about a girl, half alien half human, that has to follow this series of rules (the name had to come from somewhere) so she people don't realize her true identity and the bad guys who are after her don't find her.

It's really not hard to sympathize with Ariane, she's just a young girl who wants a normal life but the scientists who created her somehow convinced her she's a freak. My heart got all sad for her situation even though she has awesome abilities like levitating things and stopping hearts (not with her dazzling alien looks or anything).

And then there's Zane, tall, popular Zane who no one bothers to understand. He has a pretty messed father who is kind of a huge jerk and treats Zane like garbage. I didn't exactly loved how quickly Zane fell for Ariane but when you think about how bad of a hard time he was having maybe he only needed love.

I think the book did a great job of explaining everything we needed to know about Ariane and the company that created her. However at times it got way into the technical aspect and stuff I'm not sure I cared about so it borderlined boring. But aside from that, i liked the way the layout for the series was spread and I'm really excited to see what's next for our heroes in the next books, there's a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of room for more action.

 

 

Review: Stung by Bethany Wiggins

 

 

 

 

Title: Stung
Author: Bethany Wiggins
Dystopian YA
Expected publication: April 2nd 2013 by Walker Childrens
Goodreads | Amazon
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Absolutely amazing and unforgettable. This book brought back my love for the dystopian genre. I haven't enjoyed a story so much since the hunger games, and believe me it's been a LONG time.

Everything about this book is nonstop action, and nail biting suspense. From the first page we are catapulted to a setting above our wildest dreams yet completely believable. The state of Colorado is a deserted land, where all your nightmares will come true, from awful men with no fear of God that will do anything to whoever they find wandering the streets, to the beasts, kids that have turned to monsters after a vaccination that went wrong. It's horrible and hopeless and Fiona woke up in the middle of it all, with no memory of why she's there or even how old she is.

My heart warmed for Fiona instantly. Amnesiac book characters can be a pain in the butt, they go on life endlessly feeling sorry about themselves. Not in Fiona's case, she barely had time to think about it when she was already struggling to survive. She was amazing, she was brave and strong but not so that she appeared unbelievable. She is a seventeen year old after all, and a girl, living in a world where there's only one woman to seven men. It was terrifying, but she never gave up and I loved her.

Dreyden Bowen was absolutely amazing too. He is only seventeen and you can feel that, it's hard to explain because he acts older than his young years but you still can't doubt he is only seventeen. I loved him so much, his fears and his braveness mend and stretched so often, he was just a kid trying to survive, and yet he always tried to help too. I completely fell in love with this vulnerable and strong character.

I cannot recommend you this book enough. So much to love here, the action, the characters, the plot! Simple yet complicated enough to make me lose myself in it. It didn't go for the insanely technologic and complicated world building that all the other dystopians go for, nor the stupid crazy names for every character, and definitely not the fancy love triangle. Oh how I loved the slow building romance and the surprises it brought to my life.

Speaking of surprises, I was shocked at how fast the story moved and the many twists in it. I was transfixed! Reading for what felt like seconds yet I've gone through 20% of the book without looking up.  I didn't expect it, like a ball to the face in elementary school kickball. I was shocked at how much I loved, and enjoyed it. Kudos, Ms. Wiggins, I am a fan.

I am completely in love with this book. I just wish it would get more attention, like the many mainstream dystopians coming out this year that aren't half as good (ouch! prejudicing much?) but really, I have a hard time imagining something better than this. 5 stars!

 

Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Title: Hopeless
Author: Coleen Hoover
Contemporary YA/ Coming of Age
Published December 19th 2012
Goodreads // Amazon
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While I hoped Hopeless would be a deep book, I just never imagined it would go to the deep confines of the most horrible type of crimes and sins. It actually starts off like any other forgettable YA story: shy, naïve girl meets mysterious stranger who seems to fall in love with her instantly.

So forgive me if I was unconvinced and a little cynical towards the first chapters, things seemed awfully convenient for the two leads and I was a bit turned off. Also, the “mystery” was being stretched out a little too much for my liking.

But then, BAM! A clue, a clue about what happened to Sky and omg I figured it out and almost dropped my kindle right there, because that’s just horrible. The most horrible thing you can imagine and then worse. So my heart instantly warmed towards Sky and I started enjoying the story much more than before.

Holder’s part in the story wasn’t as easy to figure out, though. I actually never guessed it correctly, but it didn’t make it any less entertaining. He was a good guy with a great heart and I didn’t doubt the love he felt for Sky.

My biggest complaint is that the first half of the book felt disconnected to the second, like 2 different stories. Like, Sky’s absolute best friend doesn’t appear or gets mentioned very much at the second part and there isn’t any running, which both Sky and Holder loved to do for exercise.

However, I really enjoyed the passion and the fierceness of this novel, it truly catches your interest and holds it, and makes you enjoy the ride these teens go through even though it’s heartbreaking and it kind of destroys your faith in some humans, but love prevails and it’s really amazing to witness.

 

 

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Title: Easy
Author: Tammara Webber
Contemporary / New Adult
Published November 6th 2012 by Berkley Trade
Goodreads | Amazon
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So Easy has gotten raving reviews and 5 star-ratings all over the blogosphere but I’m actually disappointed. The story itself is good, I like that it has a good message of standing up for yourself and facing your demons. I loved that it included some taboo topics like rape and how almost every time a girl is raped society always end up blaming the victim. It has a good message and I appreciate it.

But even though I was sad about what happened to Jaqueline, I couldn't quite connect with her. Her blandness turned me off, she was kind of a mess and I hoped she would come to her senses by the end but she didn’t, it felt like she didn’t learn anything throughout (except self-defense) because she was still completely dependent of someone. She just trades her old Kennedy for a new Lucas; and although Lucas seems good and harmless, Kennedy did too, before, and I can’t completely trust Jaqueline’s choices. Oh and she was nosy.

Now Lucas wasn’t all awesome either, I thought he was way too quick to use his fists and even quicker to get down and dirty with Jaqueline (which is not all his fault but still) and his secrets and mystery had me fed up by page five and that’s why I couldn’t fall in love with him because I knew nothing about him, except for his gorgeous hair and gorgeous eyes and gorgeous body bla bla bla, I don’t fall for looks-only you know, they don’t call me Jaqueline. But I will admit the story behind the scars on his body is completely crushing and I shed a tear or two. However by the time the rabbit was out of the bag I couldn’t have cared less.

So although it seems like I just swallow some bitchy pills I am sorry but this is the way I feel and this is totally my point of view, I’m aware not everyone (possibly no one) will have the same complaints than me, but I did, and it bothered me, and I just didn’t like that. But don’t let me stop you and by all means go out and get this book if it has your interest ;)

 

Review: High School Hangover by Stephanie Hale

Title: High School Hangover
Author: Stephanie Hale
Published November 14th 2012 by Stephanie Hale
Contemporary YA
Goodreads | Amazon
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What an adorable book! I can’t even begin to explain how much I love The-Hangover type of books. When I was younger my favorite book of all time was this novel I found on my mom’s forbidden Harlequin box, about a girl that was saving her bff’s butt by getting his fiancé so drunk they ended up in Vegas, married and with no memory. I know, I know, not the kind of read a 12-year-old should have in her hands but I never followed the rules in what books concerned.

So it wasn’t actually that surprising that I ended up really enjoying this one. Laney was the valedictorian of her class and after her speech fiasco she decides to live a little and go to a party. You can guess things don’t turn out awesome for Laney but they definitely turned out funny for me.

I loved Laney, she’s a bit like me, except I don’t have her high IQ so I actually have to study. I get her excessive worrying about school and her compulsive studying, sometimes I don’t want to leave my house either but she just proved me that when you let yourself go you might end up having an amazing time.

Jack was another amazing cookie. I figured him out from page one but I was still delighted to hear his confessions towards the end. And seriously, who can not-love a guy named Jack? It’s practically a crime!

Now, in all through the chaos and the haze, Jack and Rose Laney end up hitching a ride from a bunch of senior citizens. People, you don’t know this about me but I love old people. I am even considering specializing in Geriatrics; I just can’t resist their charms. And I didn’t resist the charms of J&L’s travel companions, they were just the cutest bunch of funny lunatics, I loved every one of them, even Milly aka the GILF (that means what you think it means).

Yes, the story was a bit predictable, yes some things were unrealistic, and yes, the cover is kind of a turn-off; but I loved every minute I spend reading this book and the smile didn’t left my face way after I finished it.

 

Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
Published January 8th 2013 by Dutton Juvenile
Contemporary YA
Goodreads | Amazon
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Sometimes you just don't like the main character. Sometimes they just rub you the wrong way. But sometimes it doesn’t matter that much because you can still like the book.

Allyson and I are simply incompatible. She's running away from everything that I am: a med student, a girl who doesn't let her emotions get in the way, someone who would never ditch the Louvre to go in a boat ride. Maybe it’s only me, but I was kind of offended by everything she said and did.

So because Allyson is such a huge part of the story, it made it kind of impossible for me to enjoy a big portion of the book. However, it was good to watch her grow and stop being so self-centered. I have to say that to me, obsessing over a boy you knew for one day to the point that you start failing your classes and stop making friends, that was just pathetic, too Bella Swan for my liking. But I am the first to admit there have to be girls out there who see that in another light, maybe even romantic, and who am I to judge?

The only redeeming thing about Allyson was that she kind of let lose by the end of the book. When she goes back to Paris, one year after she met Willem, she is a whole new person. And I liked her much more, even though I still thought going back to Paris to look for a boy you met one day was stupid.

Now, Willem. What can I say about him except that he wasn’t even that talkative. In every paragraph Allyson states that he’s laughing and smiling and being awesome and I was uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, he was a cute guy who had a deep, awesome conversation about falling in love and being in love, but it was just one conversation. I couldn’t fall in love with him because there was so little to fall in love with.

I ended up not hating the book only because it had gorgeous descriptions of the setting, and the writing was flawless, but I thought it did nothing to stand out from the ever-growing pile of travel-and-find-yourself-in-the-process books, and I’m not sure I want to know more about the story or the characters.

 

Review: Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens

Title: Thoughtless
Author: SC Stephens
Published June 11th 2011 by CreateSpace
Contemporary YA
Goodreads // Amazon
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This book was intense and emotional and fast-paced and really hot. But what seriously killed it for me was the unfaithfulness. I’m old school people, I do not condone cheating, and Thoughtless was one big affair turned into a book.

However, I didn’t completely hate it. The realness of the characters and the incredibly good descriptions of people and places and songs and emotions save this one for me. Kellan and Denny, two of the three points in this love triangle, where pretty incredible.

Kellan was gorgeous and mysterious, a troubled soul that seem to draw every girl towards him (including Kiera). And Denny, perfect, handsome Denny from Australia, who gave up his dream job for love.

The truth is, I liked them both so much it bothered me a lot that one of them wasn’t going to get the girl, but then again I ended up hating Kiera so much that I would have liked to kick her out of the story, both boys would have been better off, but that would change the whole thing, right?

So I settle for not so secretly hate her and shout all kinds of unintelligible things at her. You know, I get where she’s coming from, she never felt this way, she didn’t wanted to hurt anyone. But she was going to, anyway; and I wished she had realized it sooner. It wasn’t fair for Kellan or Denny but she continued doing it and it was just so exasperating! And all the crying she did almost send me over the edge.

But I’m going to calm down and tell you that this book will get all kinds of emotions out of you. Trust me, you will feel all the feels. And if this sounds like your kind of read I encourage you to try it, because no matter what, it is a serious roller-coaster ride.

Funny story: I read this over christmas break at my grandparents house and my grandma secretly asked my mom if I was reading erotica.