Mini Review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press
May 2014
5/5
Quotes:
"Be a little kinder than you have to."
"Do not accept an evil you can change."
“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.” 
"What if we could stop being different colors, different backgrounds, and just be in love?"
“Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishments. I get the same thing spending an hour with you.”  
Goodreads Description:
"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."

I feel like I'm one of the last people to read this book. I waited so long because I wasn't sure what to make of all the hype, plus I've heard some mixed reviews as well. Honestly, I don't really see what the problem anyone would have with this book but obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it just might not be your cup of tea. However, if you're a fan of suspenseful novels with an ending that you won't see coming, check this one out.

There isn't much I can say about this plot without ruining everything. It's best to go into the novel as blind as you possibly can. I'm warning you, don't read ahead or check out any spoilers online. You'll enjoy the book a lot more if you know nothing.

I think part of what makes this book so incredible is the storytelling. E. Lockhart's narration is definitely different from most of the books that I read. Yes, there's a lot of Young Adult books out there that has family drama, but there's still something extremely unique about this particular story and it has to be read for you to truly get it. If you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of it and I'm honestly still trying to make sense of everything that I read. It's one of those books that you find yourself constantly thinking about and just completely blown away by. I don't know about you guys, but I love books that have plot twists. Sometimes I find myself disappointed by books that advertise themselves as having twists and turns, but this one didn't let me down in the slightest.

If you're like me and have yet to pick this book up for whatever reason, I suggest you give it a try. It's an easy read, you're likely to devour it in one sitting if you're anything like me. There's a lot that I could say about this but as I stated earlier, I don't want to ruin anything. This is one of those books that is filled with complicated and flawed characters and you can't help but get wrapped up in their stories. If you do read this or if you already have, leave me a comment and let me know so we can talk about it! I'm dying to have a heart to heart with someone about We Were Liars.

P.S. I Still Love You Review

P.S. I Still Love You

Jenny Han

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

May 2015

4/5

Quotes:

“People come in and out of your life. For a time they are your world; they are everything. And then one day they’re not. There’s no telling how long you will have them near.”  

“I know now that I don’t want to love or be loved in half measures. I want it all, and to have it all, you have to risk it all.”  

“There's a Korean word my grandma taught me. It's called jung. It's the connection between two people that can't be severed, even when love turns to hate. You still have those old feelings for them; you can't ever completely shake them loose of you; you will always have tenderness in your heart for them.”  

“So much of love is chance. There's something scary and wonderful about that.”

“I say, “In the contract we said we wouldn’t break each other’s hearts. What if we do it again?” Fiercely he says, “What if we do? If we’re so guarded, it’s not going to be anything. Let’s do it fucking for real, Lara Jean. Let’s go all in. No more contract. No more safety net. You can break my heart. Do whatever you want with it.”  

This was a delightful companion novel to the wildly popular "To All The Boys I've Loved Before." I'm going to start things out a little differently by recapping the book since it's been awhile since the first book was released so some who read it then may not remember all the details. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you check it out before you read any further.

Towards the end of the first book, Lara Jean and Josh kiss and she also realizes that it's really Peter who she wants to be with. She makes out with Peter while they are away on a school trip and Lara Jean hears that Peter is telling people that they had sex. Regardless of how betrayed she feels, she still knows that it's Peter who she is in love with. The book ends with Lara writing a letter starting with "Dear Peter" and that's it.

In "P.S. I Still Love You" it picks up directly with the letter which I think was really smart of Jenny Han since readers were desperately wondering what Lara Jean would say to him. In the letter, she admits that she loves and cares about him. She goes and delivers the letter to him herself and the two end up getting together. Drama then pretty much goes down again and again in the book. The most important drama that happens between them is that Peter starts hanging out with his ex girlfriend Gen, while a blast from both of Peter and Lara Jean's past gets in contact with Lara. John is one of the guys who received the letters from the first book but he just now got back to her. Lara will have to somehow make a choice between two boys that she has loved for a long time now.

The thing about Jenny Han's writing is that you get automatically swept up in every character but sometimes you may not always absolutely love that character. Honestly, I found Lara Jean to be beyond 

irritating and whiny at times. She also really let her insecurities take over as she attempted to push people she cares about away. However, she does grow so much as a character and I think it's great that she has these completely relatable flaws. Peter is a complicated character but I'll talk about him more in the next paragraph. My favorite character is definitely Kitty, Lara Jean's little sister who is so mature that it's easy to forget she's still in middle school. One of the funniest moments came from Kitty confessing that she watched The Sopranos, I literally laughed out loud. She's the comic relief of these books for sure. 

I don't understand why Jenny Han has to have love triangles in the majority of her books. (Besides the Burn for Burn books)

If you can't already tell, I can't stand love triangles. I love the relationship between Peter and Lara Jean although it does have it's flaws, but they still make sense together. Lara Jean's fascination with John, a sweet childhood friend of both Peter and Lara Jean, also makes sense in its own way. Although it's over, Peter and Gen also made sense together and Lara Jean struggles with seeing them together, even though Peter picked her. The boy has communication issues and he doesn't stand up for her like he should, but it's clear that he cares for our girl Lara. I won't lie, at times I was rooting for John and I'm sure you might feel that way as well. The ending is just completely satisfying and that's the main reason why I rated this a 4 instead of a 5. 

I know fans of the book are probably hoping Han will write another novel since all of her others are trilogies. Personally, I'm more than happy with her closing this story here because I think we were given more answers and no more questions. Regardless, I'll always love these stories and will continue to buy any book written by Jenny Han! 

All The Rage Review

All The Rage

Courtney Summers

St. Martins Press

April 2015

4/5

I said that I was going to be taking a break from depressing and heavy books for awhile, but I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now so I had to give it a try! This book is extremely powerful, even more so than what I was initially expecting. It's honestly difficult to read at times because the kids are just so cruel, but it's still an important read for everyone.

Romy has been receiving horrible bullying since she told the truth about the Sheriff's golden boy son Kellan. No one believed her because she's from the wrong side of town so the kids at school instantly come to his defense. Her only safety is the diner she works at where no one knows about Kellan. The rest of the book consists of the disappearance of a girl who has ties to both Romy and Kellan, and the night before she disappeared where Romy last saw her but can't remember. It's a story that will keep you guessing until the last page. 

Can I just say that the kids Romy goes to school with are absolutely evil? It really blew my mind just how cruel they can be, they don't even treat her like she's a human being. That is completely unacceptable to me and it broke my heart but also made me angry. I felt this way because it was very real, high school sucks and Summers accurately portrayed bullying the best she could. Romy is an incredible main character. It broke my heart to see her thoughts about not being good enough or believing what all those kids said about her. 

Leon is a guy who works at the diner with Romy and doesn't know about what happened with Kellan. She likes being with him because she feels like she's a different girl when she's with him. It broke my heart to see how she felt about him actually treating her with respect since her experience with a guy was so terrible. I think the most heartbreaking and touching moments was the surprise that Romy felt when she asked Leon to stop and he instantly did. This was a tragic and real experience that is really educational for readers that may not know much about sexual assault. I'm not saying that those who have never experienced it can possibly understand what all they must go through after that, but it still provides some perspective. 

I didn't give All The Rage five stars because I was so confused and dissatisfied with the ending. I walked away with a ridiculous amount of questions. On one hand, it's good to not be able to stop thinking about a book once you finish it, but on the other I felt like not enough was explored. I wished that we would have gotten to see Kellan for even just a few pages, he doesn't have to be a main character but I would have liked at least some interaction. The ending was really abrupt and I was looking for some general closure. Overall, the message of this book was beyond powerful. This is the first Courtney Summers book I've ever read and I'm excited to read her other books. You need to read this if you haven't yet! 

Feature and Follow Friday #1

This is a weekly feature that happens every Friday. It's my first time participating and I'm excited to be apart of it! The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs! The featured blogs this week are: Books Are Life and One Book Two.

The question to answer for this week is: Share a random quote from a book that you are currently reading.

I'm currently reading Pride & Prejudice for the first time so I picked a popular quote that I thought was pretty awesome:

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”  

Follow me: If you follow me on Bloglovin, I will definitely follow you back. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know so I can make sure to check your blog out. I'm still a pretty new blogger so I love to make new blogger friends! :)

I'll Give You The Sun Review

I'll Give You The Sun
Jandy Nelson
Dial Books
September 2014
5/5
Quotes:
"Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story."
"When people fall in love, they burst into flames."

"People die, I think, but your relationship with them doesn't. It continues and it's ever-changing."

"Meeting your soul mate is like walking into a house you've been in before - you will recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of drawers: You could find your way around in the dark if you had to.”  

“I gave up practically the whole world for you,” I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. “The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.”  

As I said yesterday in my review of Nelson's first novel, I have heard a lot of about this. After reading her debut, I was even more excited about picking up this one. But I was nervous as well, the expectations for this one were pretty high after reading that beautiful and memorable novel. It's safe to say that her sophomore novel went above and beyond those expectations set by The Sky is Everywhere. I absolutely loved the book and thought that her prose combined with the unique plot make it a novel that no one is going to be forgetting anytime soon.

Noah and Jude are twins who are completely in sync. They always seem to know what the other is thinking and feeling and they are all around inseparable in every sense of the word. However, something happens that makes them go on different paths without the other. They are both 16 now and barely speaking at all. We learn what happened in the altering voice of both twins: Noah narrates the younger years which is starting at 13 up until 14, while Jude is the last year or so of their lives. What follows is a wonderful story about love, loss, friendship, grief, death, forgiveness, and acceptance as they try to find where they belong in the world. Which for both of them includes a world of art and the people that they love most in the world.

I absolutely love how unique Jandy Nelson's writing is. There is no YA writer out there writing in this unique style and I think she's helping create a path for writers to come. It was just really clever to write the perspectives at different ages and I felt like it helped us learn this essential information about the pair and why they live in such separate worlds now at the pace that the author set for the audience. I've seen some reviews that said that they liked Noah better than Jude right away but I liked Jude right away also. I feel like she's incredibly witty and sarcastic in a charming and catching way. Of course I loved Noah too, but I felt like I could personally identify with Jude. However, my heart did break for Noah as he tried to come to terms with who he was. I felt like this was done in such a realistic way. Though I personally have never struggled with my sexuality, I have close friends who have and that reminded me so much of Noah. In his mind, he feels like being with men is the most natural thing in the world for him, but at the same time he's scared of what society will think about him and Brian felt the same way, except even more was at stake for him in his mind. Anyway, the main characters were written in such a heartbreaking and real way.

The romance in this book is a little bit different than a lot of books I've read recently considering there are two main characters, not just one. I believe that both of the twins are just as important and neither love story is more important to the plot than the other. Brian and Noah was a delightful and sad romance to read about. When Noah was 14, he meets new boy Brian who lives next door and falls in love with him. I felt like the relationship was very sad but also real. They both spent a lot of time being just friends, and that broke Noah's heart. Once they worked it out though, it was clear that these two should without a doubt be together. I also loved Jude's relationship with the charming and dangerous Oscar. I absolutely loved Oscar, and I couldn't help but keep reading so I could definitely figure out his story. I felt like the love between them was so swoon worthy and though I didn't love him as much as I loved Joe from Jandy Nelson's first novel, there was something that Oscar had that was just as catching in my opinion. I liked that he was a little bit wild and dangerous, but he was also extremely protective, loving, and caring when it comes to the people he cares about.

If you can't tell by now, after reading two books by Jandy, it's safe to say I'm a fan of her books. I can't wait for her to release another book and it's safe to say I won't hesitate at all to pick the next one up as soon as it comes out. If you haven't read this one yet, I can't recommend it enough. It will leave you bursting with so many different emotions you won't even know what to do with yourself. It's certainly one that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time after and I love books that leave you speechless in the best way possible.

Throwback Thursday: A Farewell to Arms Review

A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway
First published in 1929
5/5
Quotes:
“Maybe...you'll fall in love with me all over again."
"Hell," I said, "I love you enough now. What do you want to do? Ruin me?"
"Yes. I want to ruin you."
"Good," I said. "That's what I want too.”  
“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”  
“Oh, darling, you will be good to me, won’t you? Because we’re going to have a strange life.”  
"But life isn't hard to manage when you've nothing to lose." 

Liked!
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“Often a man wishes to be alone and a girl wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. But we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.”  

Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest authors of all time. He has such a beautiful way of spinning such simple words into something much more complex and striking. This book isn't an easy read and it may not be for everyone, but it's a classic tale and worth reading at some point.

This book emerged out of World War I and follows ambulance driver Lieutenant Henry and English nurse Catherine Barkley. The love between the two is equally heartbreaking and passionate from the first to the last page. Honestly, there isn't all that much plot in this book which I know may sound a little strange because how can a book be good without a lot of plot? Well, Henry gets injured in the war and somehow makes it out, which is how he ends up meeting the beautiful nurse Catherine, who instantly catches his eye. Basically, he survives a lot of obstacles and still manages to get out of the war and be with Catherine.

Henry is a pretty great narrator. He isn't my favorite character created by Hemingway, but he's still just as complicated and messy as the other classic characters from this author. He tells the audience about his experiences in such graphic details that you feel as if you are really there right with him. Catherine honestly got on my nerves most of the book. I felt like she didn't have much personality and wasn't all that memorable. I like characters that are more developed and layered, Catherine is pretty much as simple as it gets.

As I said, the relationship between Catherine and Henry is classic Hemingway. It's tragic and beautiful all at the same time. It starts out extremely slow but it gradually builds and becomes easier to read and relate to. I really start to like this romance as the book progresses but like I said, it can be hard to keep reading since it just kind of drags on.

There are many mixed feelings about A Farewell to Arms. My feeling about it is that it's a classic that should be required reading at some point in every Americans life. I think it has an always relevant message about love, loss, tragedy, and acceptance. It's much more than your typical war story, and that's why I was able to become emotionally invested in the story and the characters.

The Sky is Everywhere Review

The Sky is Everywhere

Jandy Nelson

Dial Books

March 2010

4/5

Quotes:

"The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet."

“My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes a part of you, step for step, breath for breath. I will never stop grieving Bailey because I will never stop loving her. That's just how it is. Grief and love are conjoined, you don't get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy.”

“How will I survive this missing? How do others do it? People die all the time. Every day. Every hour. There are families all over the world staring at beds that are no longer slept in, shoes that are no longer worn. Families that no longer have to buy a particular cereal, a kind of shampoo. There are people everywhere standing in line at the movies, buying curtains, walking dogs, while inside, their hearts are ripping to shreds. For years. For their whole lives. I don't believe time heals. I don't want it to. If I heal, doesn't that mean I've accepted the world without her?”  

“All her knowledge is gone now. Everything she ever learned, or heard, or saw. Her particular way of looking at Hamlet or daisies or thinking about love, all her private intricate thoughts, her inconsequential secret musings – they’re gone too. I heard this expression once: Each time someone dies, a library burns. I’m watching it burn right to the ground.”  

Liked!
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“When he plays
all the flowers swap colors
and years and decades and centuries
of rain pour back into the sky”

Jandy Nelson has recently received a lot of attention for her sophomore novel, "I'll Give You The Sun." I decided to start with her debut novel before I get to that one. I found this book to be very powerful and filled with many different emotions. It was a pleasant read for me that has made me all the more excited to read her latest. This book is still relatively heavy in terms of the subject. I've just read a ton of YA books recently about death so I think it's time for me to take a break from that for a little while anyway. If you are like me and live under a rock and somehow missed this one, definitely seek it out and read it!

Lennon is a bookworm and band geek who is dealing with the recent abrupt death of her big sister Bailey. Now Lennie is forced to pick up the pieces and keep going on with her life. However, she feels guilty to experience happiness when her sister no longer can. So she starts spending time with her sister's longtime boyfriend Toby, who is the one person that seems to be struggling just as much as she is. Then she meets Joe Fontaine, a new boy who was living in Paris, and who has serious musical talents. Lennie has to make the choice if she wants to be happy and start fresh with Joe, or stay in the darkness with Toby. 

I instantly loved Lennon due to her name, she's named after John Lennon because her mother was a total hippie. We learn this information because Joe is the only person who questions it and I love that he starts calling her that. Other things I love about Lennon include: her love of books, her passion for music, and the poems that she writes and leaves in random places. Lennie only has two main parent type figures: her Gram and Uncle Big since her father isn't in the picture and her mom left when the girls were little. I didn't like Toby at all, but I did understand that grief is something that connects people so it's natural that he turned to Lennon as a comfort with Bailey gone. I can't stand love triangles, and this was really no exception but I felt like it was automatically obvious that she wouldn't end up with Toby.

There is so much to say about Joe Fontaine, he's just one of those totally swoon worthy characters that you come across every now and then. He's a genuinely good guy and I love that his feelings for Lennon were so clear from the beginning. There was no game going on between them where neither would admit to liking the other, she learns pretty early on that he likes her. I adored that music was a huge connection for them and I loved that he would write music for her to play so it could be a duet between them. I think that he's the perfect guy for Lennon since he has so much brightness and happiness radiating from him the entire time and she desperately needed that as she dealt with her grief.

It's a beautiful story from start to finish. The main reason I give it a four is because of Toby, yes it made sense why it was there, but there were a few things about the intensity of the relationship that I wasn't a huge fan of. It was unfair for her to do that to Joe, especially when she is aware of his feelings for her (mild spoiler alert) and that he's been hurt before. Nelson's writing is just so realistic and I loved how poetic it was. It was different from many books I've read about grief, and it's insanely memorable and fascinating.

The Start of Me and You Review

The Start of Me and You

Emery Lord

Bloomsbury

March 2015

4/5

Quotes:

"In books, sometimes the foreshadowing is so obvious that you know what's going to happen. But knowing what happens isn't the same as knowing how it happens. Getting there is the best part."

"Max was the human equivalent of a cult-classic TV show. Most people didn't get it. But the people who did get it? They loved it for all of its quirks."

"I mean you're always preparing yourself for the thing that is most likely to happen, instead of hoping for the thing that you most want to happen."

"If you're lucky, relationships - with family or friends or boyfriends - are limitless. There's no maximum on how much you love each other. The problem is, there's also no limit to how much you can hurt each other."

"Sometimes we get it wrong the first time. But you only have to get it right once."

Open Road Summer was a bit of a disappointment for me. I just couldn't connect with the female protagonist, so I was a little hesitant to jump into this one. I was pleasantly surprised by how relatable Paige and the rest of Emery Lord's characters are. This is a must read about love, grief, forgiveness, acceptance, growing up, and taking risks.

For the last year, Paige has been identified around her smallish town as the girl whose first boyfriend drowned in a freak accident. Paige is finally trying to move past this identity and make a name for herself. She starts by making a list of things she wants to do during her junior year. One item on her list is going on a date with her longtime crush Ryan. Things change once Paige joins the Quiz Bowl team with Ryan's dorky cousin Max Watson, who recently transferred back to their public school. Paige is finally getting her big chance to take risks and go outside of her comfort zone, and that all starts with Max.

I mentioned this earlier but I just want to stress again that I was shocked that I connected with Paige the way that I did. I've never experienced the death of a boyfriend, but I do understand the process of grief in general and how she felt as if she didn't know him very well, but she liked the attention he gave her. Every girl wants to be noticed and it can be tough getting over the loss of someone who saw the real you. I felt like the supporting characters were well written, especially Paige's support system aka her group of best friends. Her very best friend is the beautiful and strong Tessa and her other close friends are Kayleigh and Morgan. I loved that these girls went to the ends of the Earth to support and protect one another. There was never any seriously dramatic fights between them and I appreciated that promotion of uplifting female friendship. Ryan obviously wasn't as likable as Max, but I still felt like his character was well developed enough, he had his own fair share of loss and longing.

I wasn't sure if any male love interest from Emery could compete with Matt Finch but Max was pretty great in his own respect. What I most loved about their relationship was all the banter and witty pop culture that bonded them together. I thought it was absolutely adorable when Max told her that she was more of a Jane than an Elizabeth (from Pride & Prejudice) and then called her Janie throughout the rest of the book. He's just such a smart, caring, and nice guy, I found myself desperately wanting Paige to open her eyes up much sooner than she did, but she did wake up eventually.

There's not much for me to add except: read this! It's an eye opening book filled with a beautiful plot paired with some of the most memorable characters that I have managed to come across in YA throughout 2015. I also keep begging over and over for Max Watson to be real! Fingers crossed that there is still a chance of him existing.

Top Ten Young Adult Romance Books 101

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature from The Broke and The Bookish. This week the theme is top ten books that would be on your syllabus if you taught X 101. I picked Young Adult Romance. It's kind of specific but I thought I'd give it a shot!

1. Perfect Chemistry



This book is the modern Romeo & Juliet type story. It's a new spin on the star crossed lover story because Alex, the male lead, is involved in a life of violence and gangs. On the other side, Brittany is the privileged unattainable white girl.

2. Anna and the French Kiss

 

This book has slowly become one of the most notable Young Adult books and it's not hard to see why. All three books in this series have amazing romances and so it would definitely be required for my YA Romance class.

3. The Truth About Forever



Macy and Wes will always been one of my favorite YA couples. This book has a lot more to the plot then just the romance, but it's still a pretty large part of it.

4. Pushing The Limits



This book is a little like Perfect Chemistry in the respect that the main characters come from two completely different worlds. However, I really love this book because of the strong bond that gradually forms between Noah and Echo.

5. My Life Next Door



Jace is what I would consider to be everything that I want in a male love interest. That alone makes this an important Young Adult romance book.

6. Slammed



This one has a great deal of drama which can kind of take away from the actual romance between Will and Layken. But I do love the romance between them so much, especially in the last two books.

7. On The Fence



Any Kasie West contemporary is great in my opinion. I picked this one specifically because I love the whole girl falls in love with her brothers best friend cliché. This one has a twist since Charlie is a huge tomboy, I found this to be different since often it seems like the girl silently pines after him or she absolutely despises being around him. Charlie constantly hangs out with Braden and I really liked the slow build of the romance that brews.

8. If I Stay



This is a heartbreaking novel but I absolutely adore the relationship between Adam and Mia.

9. The Fault in Our Stars



I was doing my best to avoid this book since I know it's on literally every Young Adult book list out there. But it was simply unavoidable. The romance between Augustus and Hazel is one of my all time favorites.

10. On The Jellicoe Road



I only have two words to say about this book: Jonah Griggs. It doesn't get much better than him. I mean all of these love interests are incredible, but I don't think anyone can top Griggs.

The Boy Most Likely To Review

The Boy Most Likely To
Huntley Fitzpatrick
Dial Books
August 2015
4/5

I've loved both Tim Mason and Alice Garrett since we were introduced to them in My Life Next Door. More specifically, I loved Tim, but Alice is still a memorable character. I found Tim's crush on her in MLND to be endearing and hilarious. I loved getting to read Tim's story where he is the main character. I also liked that Fitzpatrick had both Alice and Tim's point of views included as they altered back and forth. She didn't do that with her first two books, so I liked that she mixed up the narration a bit. As a whole, this wasn't what I was expecting going in, but it was still charming in its own special way.

Tim has been kicked out of his house and is now living in the garage apartment outside of his best friend Jase's house. Tim is currently doing his best to get on his feet and get away from drinking and doing drugs. Not even 18 yet, Tim feels as if he's screwed up enough of his life already and he's making a huge change in his life. Not to mention, it seems like he's finally getting the attention of Jase's big sister Alice. All of a sudden, his life takes an unexpected turn and Tim is forced to stop everything and take responsibility for his past mistakes.

I could probably just make this entire review about my love for Tim. Yes, he's a screwed up kid, but he has the best heart. He also is just straight up hilarious, he's always making the funniest jokes. He uses them as a defense mechanism but not in an annoying way. Alice is a lot more rough around the edges, she can be rather scary when she wants to be. But Tim sees through all that and that kind of catches Alice off guard. I like Alice, I think she's a complex and likable character. She and Tim are also pretty different on the surface and I like that. Beyond the two main characters, we also have the whole Garrett clan making some pretty important appearances in both Tim and Alice's lives. I thought that baby Patsy's obsession with Tim was the cutest thing ever. My one complaint about the Garrett family is that we didn't get enough of scenes with George, or even Jace and Samantha. Sure they showed up many times but were mainly just there, they never really said anything important or memorable. However, this is supposed to be just Tim and Alice's story, Samantha and Jace already had one so I get why they weren't such key players.

I really did want to see more of the relationship between Alice and Tim. Whenever they seemed to be getting somewhere, drama would go down and the relationship would pretty much be placed on pause and we didn't get many scenes of them just being together. However, the scenes that we do see of them are still very adorable and similar (in a good way) to Fitzpatrick's other books. Meaning, this one doesn't leave out sex, just as the other two didn't. It never gets downright explicit, but it's still extremely real between them. I kind of thought they said I love you a little too fast, but maybe I'm just being picky.

While there was a lot of drama that I don't want to include so I don't spoil anything, I still enjoyed this story. I also felt like Tim really grew as a character and that's one of the most important things in any Young Adult books. I find myself unable to relate to characters that just stay whiny or screwed up the whole time and Tim isn't like that at all. I do think that if you read this, you should read My Life Next Door first, but don't expect this one to be like that book. They are both different but still great reads in their own right.

The Beginning of Everything Review

The Beginning of Everything
Robyn Schneider
August 2013
3/5
Quotes:
“Oscar Wilde once said that to live is the rarest thing in the world, because most people just exist, and that’s all. I don’t know if he’s right, but I do know that I spend a long time existing, and now, I intend to live.”
“If everything really does get better, the way everyone claims, then happiness should be graphable. But that's crap, because better isn't quantifiable.”
“I wondered what things what things became when you no longer needed them, and I wondered what the future would hold once we'd gotten past our personal tragedies and proven them ultimately survivable.”

This book started out really strong and I was sure it was going to end up being one of my favorite books. However, I think what stops it from being so great is due to several different minor details that ended up being a big deal to me in the long run. I recommend reading this one if you want to read something with eccentric characters with a fascinating plot, although things sort of get off track. I found myself really enjoying Schneider's writing, Ezra's narration in general was memorable. Anyway, this is a good book, but not a great one.

Ezra believes that everyone has to have a great tragedy happen to them. His childhood best friend Toby got his tragedy in the form of a severed head landing on his lap at Disney World on his birthday one year. Golden boy Ezra got his when he found his girlfriend cheating on him then managed to get in a car crash that ruined any chances of playing tennis ever again, all in one evening. He finds himself reuniting with his old best friend Toby, who now runs with a very different crowd from Ezra, and is also fascinated by the mysterious new girl Cassidy.

Ezra was a charming and lovely narrator. You can't help but love him and feel bad for him right from the beginning. However, I do feel like Ezra is more than a little bit whiny at times. His best friend Toby is easily my favorite characters. He's a geek but in the most endearing way. Cassidy was completely annoying to me, I didn't like her at all. I felt like some of the "mystery" to her was just pointless to the plot.

The reason why this book received three stars from me was mostly due to not connecting with Cassidy. I felt like some of her actions made no sense at all and I just wanted to punch Ezra for not running far away from her sooner. I also wasn't at all satisfied with the ending. I would have preferred for it to have been wrapped up in a more clearcut way. All in all, I think this is a good book and I do think that most people will enjoy it. It has a lot of interesting and well rounded supporting characters that make you want to keep reading, which is an automatic positive for me. But don't expect to be completely blown away from this book.      

My Heart and Other Black Holes Review

My Heart and Other Black Holes
Jasmine Wanga
HarperCollins
February 2015
4/5

Going into this book, I was expecting something completely and totally depressing. For most of the first half of the book, it's just that. However, if you're someone who stays clear of dark books that talks a lot about depression, don't shut down this book just yet. It's surprisingly witty due to the narrator Aysel's sharp sense of humor. This is a different type of book and one that I strongly recommend for a number of reasons.

Aysel is a girl who no longer wants to live. She finally puts her suicide plan into action by going online and finding a suicide partner. She finds Roman, a boy who lives pretty close to her and who is nothing like she pictured once they meet in person. He isn't a geeky looking kid, he is an athletic and attractive boy who seems to have no reason to want to die. However, a family tragedy haunts him and causes him to be determined that he doesn't deserve to live. Once the two get closer, Aysel starts to see all of the dark parts of Roman and still likes him anyway. Is that enough for the two to live?

It's hard to describe it, but Aysel is a one of a kind character. I love how quick on her feet she is, and the way she uses sarcasm and witty comebacks as her weapon of choice. I also loved how the author worked in physics into the plot. Aysel is obsessed with Einstein's theories and is constantly questioning gravity. I found that to be unique and even though I personally am not a fan of Science, I still thought that it was interesting. Roman is something else completely. I love how real and down to earth he seemed. I also liked that he was into art and him drawing Aysel is one of my favorite scenes in the book. My heart breaks for him in terms of why he wants so desperately to die. I just wanted to give him a hug. I enjoyed his relationship with Aysel and watching it grow, despite both of their objections to let anybody in.

The reason why this book didn't receive a perfect rating from me is because of the end. I won't spoil it, but I felt like it wasn't the right route to go considering how the first part was written. Meaning, it just didn't seem in character considering all that was developed in the first half of the book. It's difficult to explain without explicitly stating it, but you'll know what I mean once you read it. Overall though, it's a beautifully written debut that really captures the realities of mental illness in a refreshing and real way. I got seriously wrapped up in the main characters and invested in what was going to happen next to them. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a read that will instantly catch your attention.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Review

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Jesse Andrews

Amulet Books

March 2012

5/5

Quotes:

“Girls like good-looking guys, and I am not very good-looking. In fact, I sort of look like a pudding”  

“If after reading this book you come to my home and brutally murder me, I do not blame you.”  

"When you convert a good book to a film, stupid things happen."

Guys, this is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. I know, you don't expect a book with the dying girl in the title to be funny, but this is not your typical book. It was a pleasant surprise for me and I'm really glad I read this. I recommend this to anyone looking for a hilarious yet oddly charming read.

Greg is our funny and angsty narrator who addresses the audience in a unique way. I won't spoil it but you figure out who specifically he is writing the book to in the epilogue. It explains a lot and I enjoyed how the book was wrapped up. But anyway, Greg doesn't have many friends, he just jumps around from social groups in order to maintain some kind of status but not have to deal with relationships. The closest thing he has to a friend is his business partner Earl, who he makes terrible movies with. His mom then makes him start hanging out with Rachel, who has an advanced form of Leukemia. He went to Hebrew school with her and they sort of had a brief thing, but was never close to her at all. Anyway, he finds that he actually kind of enjoys spending time with her. Rachel finds out about the movies they make and she then starts watching them. Greg and Earl then get roped into making a film just for Rachel, which leads to a lot of funny and interesting moments.

Like I said, Greg is a really great character. I can't really explain what makes him so memorable, but he's just different from other teen boy narrators that you come across. Even his attitude towards making friends and keeping the films he makes with Earl a secret is different from others. Earl is probably one of my favorite supporting characters. He doesn't have much to say that doesn't include a string of cuss words, but he is always up front and says what he's thinking. I like that he calls Greg out whenever he does something stupid. I also love how sweet Earl was to Rachel and that it was completely genuine.

This is a unique Young Adult novel and I doubt I'll ever read another book like it. I think my favorite part of it was that it handled cancer in a sensitive manner but it also wasn't depressing. The humor was always appropriate, it never made light of the illness. It's hands down the funniest book you'll ever read about death. I can't recommend it enough.

Mini Review: Until Friday Night

Until Friday Night

Abbi Glines

Simon Pulse

August 25th, 2015

2/5

This isn't going to be a full length review, that's going to be posted on The Young Folks on the release day next week. But I have a lot to say about this book so I figured I might as well post a mini review now just to sort of preview my thoughts.

If you've read any of my other reviews on here, you can probably tell that I typically don't give such low ratings. This one is an exception because of some of the pretty major issues I had with the main characters. If I dislike one of the main characters, the rating is going to automatically be no higher than a 3 for me. In this case, I disliked both of the characters at some point in the novel. I did sympathize with the female character Maggie, but I also felt that she was just as judgmental of the girls at school as the guys. For example, the guys called the girls "sluts" and "whores" constantly and Maggie wasn't much better.

West is probably one of the most unlikable love interests I've ever seen in a YA book. On one hand, I did feel bad that his dad was sick, but it still didn't make sense to me why he was allowed to behave in such a destructive and offputting manner and not get put in his place. I would have much preferred Maggie to overcome her personal trauma and instantly giving West sass and not excusing his behavior.

I found the majority of these characters to be unrelatable and I couldn't connect with them at all. My favorite part of the book was easily when West was called out on his possessive behavior over Maggie. It made me so happy that at least one character wasn't letting him get away with his terrible attitude.

I'm sure handling my rant about this book in mini form is probably easier to handle than the rant in my full length review. Anyway, feel free to check out that review when it's posted. It's going to touch more on the characters and what went wrong for me personally. I'm sure people who enjoy Abbi Glines's New Adult books will likely enjoy this one, but it was just too much for me.

Bout Of Books 14: Progress Update

Instead of just posting a day at a time, I'm posting all of my progress in this post.

Monday:

Books read:

Go Set A Watchmen

Open Road Summer

Tuesday:

Royal Wedding

Wednesday:

Started reading:

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Thursday: Continued reading Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Friday: Finished the book!

Started The Boy Most Likely To

Saturday: Continued reading The Boy Most Likely To

Read My Heart and Other Black Holes

Total books read: 5

Books left to complete in order to reach goal: 1

Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) Review

Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11)

Meg Cabot

William Morrow Paperbacks

June 2015

5/5

Quotes:

“Despite all evidence to the contrary, Grandmère believes that Ron Weasley, not Voldemort, is the villain of the Harry Potter series.”  

“That’s the problem with your generation, Amelia. You all want happy endings.”
I was so stunned I think my eye stopped twitching momentarily.
“We don’t, actually,” I said. “We want endings that leave us with a sense of hope, possibly because the world we’re living in seems to be falling apart right now.”  

“Michael and I are an anomaly. Hardly anyone stays together forever with their first significant other, except maybe in YA novels. And usually when they do, it’s because he’s a vampire or a werewolf or owns a beautiful estate called Pemberley or something.”  

“I always thought when I became an adult everything would become less confusing, but unfortunately, everything's only becoming more confusing.”  

This is the first adult installment of the brilliantly clever Young Adult series. I've been obsessed with The Princess Diaries books since middle school and I've missed Mia's witty and always unpredictable diary entries. Getting a glimpse inside her head is never a disappointment to say the very least. I love these books and this one was just as incredible. I do think that you should probably have read the other books in order to fully understand this one, so if you have, then why haven't you picked this up yet?

Mia Thermopolis is now 26 years old and she's been out of college for the past five years now. She's been enjoying her reign as Princess of Genovia, while also enjoying her longtime boyfriend Michael Moscovitz. 29 year old Michael has finally proposed and Mia couldn't be happier. But the press is automatically all over the story thanks to her high-strung grandmother who leaked it. Also, Mia gets extra security due to threats being made towards her for mostly political reasons. All of this makes Mia think twice about getting married. To add the icing on the cake, Mia finds out many secrets that could change everything. Can Princess Mia handle all of this pressure?

If you can't already tell, I love every single one of these characters. Mia is naturally my favorite due to her always hilarious and relevant pop culture references. She is also just a strong and memorable character that's impossible to dislike. She always has the best intentions and is passionate about everything. I also love her friends Tina, the hopeless romantic, and Lily who is Michael's sister but also Mia's longtime outspoken best friend. I think Mia's Grandma is hilarious, even if she is a little mean but I feel like she was a lot nicer in this novel than in previous ones. I also liked her father, though we didn't really get to see all that much from him.

The romance in this book is as great as you'd expect. Michael has always been one of my all time favorite book boyfriends. I couldn't exactly explain why, I think it's because he has this whole awkward smart thing going on, but he also has always been such a sweet guy to Mia. It was clear from the first book that they were always going to end up together, no matter how long it took for them to come to this conclusion. The scenes between them were as perfect as I was hoping.

While I felt like Forever Princess wrapped up the series nicely, I was ridiculously excited when I first heard the news that this book was coming up and would be the first adult installment. To be honest, I didn't feel like this was really all that different from the style of the Young Adult books, only difference is her age. Regardless, this was a beautiful book and I'm beyond pleased that Mia and Michael are finally getting the happy ever after that they've always deserve. (Spoiler alert!)

Bout Of Books Challenge: Day 2

It's day 2 of Bout Of Books and today's challenge is hosted by The Book Monsters. Today is a book scavenger hunt and it was a lot of fun to do! I couldn't find a lot of these on my real life bookshelf, so I decided to get all of mine online.

Book that starts with "B" for Bout Of Books:

Book I'm planning on reading for Bout Of Books:

Blue book:

Books from my favorite genre:

Young Adult

   

A book on my TBR shelf:

Unpopular Opinion Tag

I wasn't tagged in this, but I found it on Lost In Lit and it was started by The Book Archer. I thought it looked too interesting not to do!

A POPULAR BOOK/SERIES THAT YOU DIDN'T LIKE:

I wouldn't say that I hated it, I did read all of the books. But it just didn't live up to all of the hype that was surrounding it.

A BOOK/SERIES EVERYONE ELSE HATES BUT I LOVE

Much to my surprise, people dislike this book more than I would have expected. This is personally my favorite Sarah Dessen book, but I've seen many people say that they prefer other Sarah Dessen books.

A LOVE TRIANGLE WHERE THE MC ENDS UP WITH THE PERSON THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO END UP WITH OR OTP YOU DIDN'T LIKE

I wasn't a fan of this OTP at all. It definitely could have been better.

A POPULAR BOOK GENRE THAT YOU RARELY REACH FOR

Science Fiction

A POPULAR OR BELOVED CHARACTER THAT YOU DID NOT LIKE

Travis Maddox from Beautiful Disaster is someone that is considered to be one of the best book boyfriends. I considered him to be a total tool. The main character wasn't much better, but I think Travis is the character that receives the most attention.

A POPULAR AUTHOR THAT YOU CAN'T SEEM TO GET INTO

City Of Bones is a very popular series but I haven't been able to get into Cassandra Clare's works.

A POPULAR BOOK TROPE THAT YOU'RE TIRED OF SEEING

Love triangles! I can't stand them.

A POPULAR SERIES THAT YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN READING

As popular as it is, the plot just doesn't appeal to me at all and I doubt I'll ever read it.

WHAT MOVIE ADAPTATION DID YOU LIKE BETTER THAN THE BOOK

I liked the book, but I loved the movie of this.

I tag anyone that wants to give this tag a shot! I found this to be a lot of fun.