Ten thousand Skies Above You
By Claudia Gray
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Personal Rating: 7/10

This is the sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You. These books are incredibly interesting and unique and I have really enjoyed this series so far. The story is all about traveling through alternate dimensions. The whole plot has the possibility of being confusing but I feel like the author explains and sticks to the rules of her world really well. I won't say much more about the plot of this book, since it is a sequel, but the ending left me in complete suspense for the next book.

My favorite aspect of these books are the amazing and thoroughly developed characters. I feel like each character is unique and interesting. Also since this book is all about alternate dimensions--alternate worlds--each chapter is a new experience. Every world described is so intriguing.  Not to mention, how absolutely gorgeous is this cover? I'm excited for the next book simply to have another cover like this on my shelf.

Bottom line, I felt like this was a wonderful sequel to a fun and interesting series. I knocked down a few points for some mild language and sexual references, though nothing graphic.

2015 Reading Challenge!

A book with more than 500 pages: The Odyssey by Homer
A classic romance: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin
A book that became a movie: Paper Towns by John Green
A book published this year: The Heir by Kiera Cass
A book with a number in the title: The 5th Wave by Rich Yancey
A book written by someone under 30: (I'm sure I did but I don't know most authors' age)
A book with a nonhuman main character: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
A funny book: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
A book by a female author: Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby
A mystery or thriller: (can't think of one)
A book with a one word title: Unleashed by Sophie Jordan
A book of short stories: A sense of Order by Jack Harold
A book set in a different county: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
A nonfiction book: Bossypants by Tina Fey
A popular author's first book: Red Queen by Victoria Avyard
A book by an author you love: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
A book a friend recommended: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
A Pulitzer prize winner: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A book based on a true story: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
A book at the bottom of your TBR list: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
A book your mom love loves: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin (another repeat)
A book that scares you: (not one for being scared)
A book more than 100 year old: Hard Times by Charles Dickens
A book you bought based on the cover: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
A book you were supposed to read in school: Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare
A memoir: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
A book you finished in one day: Firegirl by Tony Abbott
A book with an antonym in the title: (a what?)
A book set where you want to visit: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
A book that came out the year you were born: (nope)
A book with bad reviews: Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
A trilogy: The Madman's Daughter's series by Megan Shepherd
A book from your childhood: Meet Addy by Connie Rose Porter
A book with a love triangle: The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
A book set in the future: These Broken Stars by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman
A book set in high school: The Fill in Boyfriend by Kasie West
A book with a color in the title: (nope)
A book that made you cry: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A book with magic: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
A graphic novel: (nope)
A book by an author you've never read before:The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
A book you own but never read: Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
A book that takes place in your home town: (Haha I don't think that book exists)
A book originally in a different language: The Odyssey by Homer (repeat)
A book set during Christmas: (does the Polar Express picture book count?)
A book by an author with you initials: (Nope)
A play: The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
A book based or turned into a tv show: (considered Vampire Diaries but...na)
A book you started but never finished: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

My Top Ten Books of 2015!

Well the year is over, hard to believe. It's been such a wonderful year full of wonderful books and I am excited to share the top ten books I enjoyed out of the seventy I read in 2015. It was hard to choose just ten, but in the end I chose the books I feel have resonated and stuck with me the most. You can easily find my full reviews on these books by typing the title in the search box above.

10. The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This is a junior fantasy I read for a class this last semester. I wasn't expecting to even like it, first because it was required reading, and second because I'm not a huge fan of fantasy in general. However, within the first two paragraphs of this book I was hooked. This is an incredible series I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone.

9. The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

This was another  surprising book for me. It's isn't popular and I hadn't herd any great reviews on it, but the premise interested me so I decided to pick it up. I read this book in one sitting. It is a classic dystopian novel with a not so original plot, but I completely fell in love with the characters from the start. The story and characters evolved in such a way that I was surprised and in tears by the end.

8. A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd

This is the last book in The Madman's Daughter series, and while I did love all three, this one was the most compelling to me. This book is based off of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and is most definitely the most disturbing book in the series. All the books are pretty dark and spooky but this one left me gripping the pages in suspense and terror. I read it around Halloween time which may have added to my enjoyment, but I overall think Megan Shepherd is an incredible writer.

7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

This book is short but powerful. It follows a man on his journey in Heaven after an accident on a rollarcoaster kills him. He meets five people in Heaven. Five people who greatly influenced his life, or who he unknowingly influenced. What I loved about this book was how each person was someone I wouldn't expect. This book really made me think about my own life, and who my five people might be, and for what reasons they would be there.

6. Courtships of the Prophets by Mary Jane Woodger

This was a simple and cute book about some of the Prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and how they met their eternal sweethearts. I adore the Prophets and Apostles. It's always been easy to tell how much they love and cherish their wives, so seeing into the stories of their courtships was quite a treat.

5. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

I love Kasie West's books, and this one might be a my new favorite. It is a cute and silly contemporary novel that just warmed my heart. It's clean, funny, and I just loved all the characters. It was just a joy to read.

4. My Book of Life by Angel by Martine Leavitt

This book covers a more controversial topic, but the author handles it beautifully by writing in prose and with minimal details. This book follows Angel as her life falls apart and how she tries to scrape it back together. It is honestly a beautiful story and a quick read.

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Another cute and funny book. Actually probably the cutest and funniest book I've ever read. I don't know why I put off reading this book for so long but it was so much fun! It is a book I would re-read whenever I'm down. There is some language in this book, which is why I gave it a lower rating, but the story and the characters and the overall cuteness of it all won it a spot on my top ten.

2.Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Another cute contemporary novel, but with a more serious and heartbreaking undertone. It's about a girl who makes contact with the boy who received the donor heart of her dead boyfriend. I cried so hard while reading this. I thought it was wonderfully developed and the story just left me in a puddle of emotions.

1. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

My favorite book this year is also the most powerful and heartbreaking. This book is the true story of Corrie Ten Boom, a brave woman who risked everything to save Jews from Hitler during WWII. What I loved most about this book was that it told a story that is not heard as often. I've read plenty of books about the horrible things the Jews went through, but nothing about those who helped them. Corrie and her family are thrown into a prison that may as well have been a concentration camp. and her bravery and faith during all of it is incredible. This is a book I feel everyone should read at least once in their lifetime.

My Year In Books, 2015! A Grand Total of 70!

Reboot
By Amy Tintera
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Personal Rating: 5/10

After a deadly diseased wiped out half the country, a strange thing began to happen--people were beginning to rise from the dead. At first it was a miracle, until it was discovered that these reboots were stronger than an average human, and almost completely void of emotions. The longer a person says dead before rebooting, the less humanities remains in them. Our main character, Wren, was dead for 178 minutes, and now she is a weapon. When Wren is charged with training a new reboot named Callum, a boy who had only been dead for 22 minutes, she begins to see the positives of human emotions, and decides that being the perfect weapon isn't everything.

The reason I gave this book a 5/10 is because for me there was absolutely nothing good or bad about it. It was just a book that floated in the middle between interesting and boring. I didn't feel like it offered me anything, nor did I find the characters worth reading about for more than a few pages. To me, it was just another post-apocalypse sci-fi that offered very little in the way of uniqueness. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to anyone, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it either. There wasn't anything inappropriate in this book, I just personally didn't find it interesting.

Meant to Be
By Lauren Morrill
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 7/10

A class trip to London is a dream come true for list making, organized Julia, until she gets partnered with Jason, class clown and her personal nemesis. But once Julia starts receiving mysterious text messages from an unknown number, Jason promises to help her find the mystery suitor. The two are led on a wild goose chase all around London, breaking rules and encountering things Julia never imagined when she was carefully planning out this trip. But neither her mysterious suitor or Jason turn out to be what she has expected.

This was a very cute, very funny book. It definitely had a Stephanie Perkins feel to it, so I think fans of her books would really enjoy this one. I honestly loved the characters in this book and the hilarious inner voice of the narrator, it was very entertaining. The descriptions of London as the students go on their tour was incredible, I felt like I was there. My only real complaint about this book is the language--including one F-word and a handful of mild swears--and the couple of scenes that include underage drinking. There wasn't anything sexually explicit in this book, aside from a dirty joke or two. And while the plot-line was funny entertaining, the twist wasn't really a surprise to me, I knew what was going to happen for most of the novel.

Twilight and History
By Nancy Reagin
Genre: Fantasy/History
Personal Rating: 7/10

This was a very interesting and random book I came across while book shopping online. Despite how it looks, this book is not by Stephenie Meyer, but an analysis on her imaginary world and characters. This book goes into details about specific times in history mentioned in the Twilight Saga--Jasper's Civil War, Edward's 1918 Chicago, Alice's insane asylum, ext. Although the Twilight world is fictional, each character's historical backgrounds shape their personalities as expressed in the books. That's what makes the books and characters in endearing. This book goes in depth with historical facts about everything from real Quileute legends to the Puritan witch hunters.

I did like this book because it was a history lesson but correlated with my favorite fictional characters. I thought it was very interesting. However, all the chapters in this book were written by different authors and there were some I liked better than others. Also, because of the multiple authors, some parts got a little repetitive. But overall, I think this would be an enjoyable read for Twilight fans.

A Little in Love
By Susan Fletcher
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 9/10

This book is the untold story of Eponine from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Les Miserables is one of my favorite stories of all time and Eponine is my favorite literary character, so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it.

Eponine has been taught her entire life to cheat, lie, and be cruel to the one girl who could have been her only friend. Cosette was a servant to Eponine's family while the girls were very young, until the day Cosette is whisked away by a kind, wealthy man with a promise to keep. Years later the girls meet again in a bloody and rioting Paris, and both are in love with the same man. This book follows Eponine's story as she falls for Marius and tries to do good despite what she has always been taught.

Since Les Miserables is very close to my heart, I was nervous about this book disrespecting the characters, but I thought the author did a very good job of maintaining the integrity of the story while still making it a book a younger audience can read and enjoy. I also loved how this novel more closely follows the plot line of the actual book instead of the musical--although I love both. It is a small book and more simply written, but I love the story it portrayed. It was very
heartwarming.

The Revolution of Ivy
By Amy Engel
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Personal Rating: 9/10

This is the sequel to The  Book of Ivy that I read earlier this year and loved! I won't say very much about the plot of this book so I don't spoil the first book. I got this book in the mail late one afternoon and read it late into the night, I did not want to put it down for a second. I really enjoy Amy Engel's writing because it focuses so forcefully on character development. She has a way of making a story feel epic without the plot line getting crazy and depressing. I did knock it down a point simply because the ending was a bit anti-climatic compared to the ending of the first book. The ending was clean and didn't leave me with annoying questions, but I thought there could have been a bit more for the ending of the series. Overall though, I highly
recommend this series.

Happy Halloween!

In celebration of one of my all time favorite holidays, I thought I'd do my first ever tag post. This is the "Creatures of the Night" created by Katytastic on YouTube. Go check out her booktube channel if you want to see her video. Basically for this tag there is a list of supernatural beings, and I'm going to pick my favorite of these monsters from books I've read. So let's get going!

1. Vampire: Gotta go with a classic for this one. I choose the vampires from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. These will forever be my favorite vampires. Not only are they super hard to kill, but they each come with a sort of super power. What more could you ask for?

2. Werewolf: I'm going to count a new read for this one. I choose the beast from The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd. I can't tell you who the beast/werewolf man is, but he is very scary and intriguing.


3. Zombie: For this one I choose the "zombies" from Stung by Bethany Wiggins. This is a post-apocalyptic book about what happens when bees go extinct, and the the genetic modified bees they create carry a disease. The cure for the disease is only given the the countries most gifted children, how it's the cure that turns them into flesh eating beasts. There is just something really ironic about the gifted children they're trying to save being the ones who turn into the beasts.

4. Ghost: Hereafter by Tara Hudson. This is about a ghost and a human who fall in love. Not the most original story, but the the book is actually quite entertaining.

5. Which/Wizard: I've been wracking my brain and I cannot think of a book with a wizard in it. And before you recommend Harry Potter, well...I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan. There's nothing wrong with the books, and I actually enjoy the movies, but I have no interest to read seven books about a genre I usually get bored with within the first two chapters. I've tried, and they are just not for me. But yeah, no books with a wizard. Sorry.

6. Fairy: I don't read many books with fairies in them, just because I'm not a huge fantasy fan. But, one fairy book I've read and loved is Wings by Aprilyn Pike. These fairies are basically like flowers and the society that they set up is actually very interesting.

7. Demon: For this one I am going to count Everneath by Brodi Ashton. There aren't any demons in the book, but a lot of it takes place in the underworld, so I feel like Cole and the other underworld dweller can count as demons.

8. Angel: My favorite angel is Patch from Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. He's just great. Seriously, read the book.

9. Alien: I love the aliens from The Host  by Stephenie Meyer. These aliens, or "souls," are interesting because they are very peaceful, kind creatures, but they still manage to take over the human race.

10. Superpowered Human: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. This book is a lot like X-men but the superpowers some of the characters have are actually really cool. Like the main character who kills anyone who makes contact with her skin.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and hopefully got some recommendations for a spooky Halloween read!

A Cold Legacy
By Megan Shepherd
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Personal Rating: 10/10

This is the third and final book in the Madman's Daughter trilogy. I've noticed that these books get more spooky and scary as the story goes on, and man was this one frightening!  I can't say much about the plot without giving away too much away about the other books, but I can say that this one is based off of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. I can also say that this one was by far my favorite in the series, and a wonderful conclusion to the story of Juliet, Montgomery, and Edward. These were the absolute perfect books to read in October before Halloween--so spooky and suspenseful. However, this one was way more gory than the rest, so keep that in mind before going into it, there is a lot of blood and guts. But still, I did really enjoy reading this series. I am sad it's over.

Bossypants
By Tina Fey
Genre: Autobiography
Personal Rating: 7/10

I picked this book up looking for a light, funny read and that was exactly what I got. This was a very entertaining book. This book doesn't actually reveal a lot about Tina Fey's life growing up, which is actually what I wanted to read the most about. There were a few chapters about her father, her times at drama camp, and so on. But the majority of the book focused on her life once she began working for SNL. I wasn't crazy about the overall structure of the book--certain chapters seemed out of order and random--but I did love some of the things she included in the chapters. For example, she has one chapter dedicated to hilarious responses to mean fan mail. She also included scripts from SNL skits and some very funny lists. There is a lot of bad language and sexual reference in this book, however.

The Odyssey
By Homer
Genre: Classic
Personal Rating: 9/10

I read this book for a class this semester and I am very glad that I did. I had very little knowledge about The Odyssey before and I actually sincerely enjoyed the story line as well as the complex writing.

This book is one of the oldest classic epics we have today. It follows a man names Odysseus as he tries to make his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan war. Odysseus is praised for his cunning wit and strength, but the reason he is stranded from his home and family for over ten years is because of simple recklessness. The story stars in medias res--in the middle of the story--and later discloses the trials he faces getting home, the struggle his wife and son face back home, and what happens when Odysseus finally returns to his home land.

While I did over all like the story and themes of this book, I did have some issues with the characters that were hard to look past. Also, because of the culture of this time period, there is a lot of graphic bloodshed and infidelity that is expressed very flippantly. So while it took a little to overlook that, I did enjoy learning about this culture, and I did find the themes of human recklessness very compelling.

If anyone is interested in reading this great work, I highly recommend reading this version translated by Robert Fagles. This version makes reading The Odyssey much more enjoyable and easier to understand.

Her Dark Curiosity
By Megan Shepherd
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Personal Rating: 9/10

This is the second book in The Madman's Daughter trilogy. Each one of the books in the series is a play off of a Gothic classic--this one based off Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

After escaping her father's island, Juliet is back in London, but her father's dark work wasn't completely destroyed as she'd intended. Bodies all over London are being found with three claw marks on their chests, the same marks fond on the islanders on her father's island. A beast--man by day and animal by night--is terrorizing the town. But, even stranger, all the victims are people Juliet knew personally, people who had wronged her in some way.

I loved the first book because it was a scary and frightening book that I actually enjoyed. This one was even more frightening, but also slightly more graphic. These books are perfect for reading in October, under the covers with a flashlight. I do love these books for both the spooky aspect but also for the wonderfully complex characters. There were more than a few times were I was a little annoyed with Juliet for her indecisiveness, but as the story went on I found that to be an important part of her character development. Overall, I'm really enjoying this series and I cannot wait to get into the last book soon.

Life and Death
By Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Personal Rating: 7/10

Anyone reading this who knows me personally is probably thinking, What? You giving less then a 10/10 to something Stephenie Meyer wrote? Well I am just as surprised as you are. I am a huge Twilight fan, so when I saw that she was publishing a novel length special feature for the tenth anniversary, well it's safe to say that I was pretty excited. The novel game as a double book: the original Twilight on the front and then you flip it over for Life and Death. I really had no idea what the extra book was going to be about, but once I started reading it I was...surprised.

Life and Death is basically the story of Twilight but gender bent. So instead of a human Bella and vampire Edward, we have human boy, Beau, and vampire girl, Edyth. And the rest of the characters are switched around as well. In the forward for this book, Stephenie Meyer explains that the reason she wrote this was in response to everyone's complaints that Bella was a constant damsel in distress. By switching the gender of the human, she shows that Bella is simply a human in distress. Any human--male or female--would have a hard time coming across as strong when they are surrounded by extremely strong and dangerous vampires. I understand what she was trying to do and I definitely saw her point, but I wasn't a big fan of how she went about getting the point across. This book is the exact same plot of Twilight and the same dialog, only switched to accommodate the gender switch and the very different--but interesting--ending. If she would have written this book with a slightly different story line I would have been a lot more intrigued. Instead it just felt like I was re-reading my favorite book in a sort of bad fan-fiction flip.

Would I recomend this book to anyone? No, not really. It was still a fine book--if I had read that before I ever read Twilight--but because it was so similar, and yet so strange, I had a hard time getting into it.

The False Prince
By Jennifer A. Nielsen
Genre: Young Adult/ Jr. Adventure Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

I realize that I've been giving a lot of books 10/10 rating lately but what can I say? I've been reading some great books. I was assigned to read this book for my Children's Literature class and I'm so glad because this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own.

Sage is an orphan, stealing to survive. Until the day a man named Conner collects him and three other boys from the streets, promising them a life of luxury. But the promise is laced with more deceit and danger than it may be worth. The entire royal family is dead, and Conner needs a young boy to pretend to be the long lost prince Jaron, otherwise the entire kingdom may collapse under the rule of a tyrant. Each of the boys share similarities with the lost prince and have two weeks to impress Conner enough. The remaining boys will be killed. The idea sounds more appealing than the street to the rest of the boys, but to Sage a life of lies doesn't feel right. And as the time draws near, the danger becomes more real, and the lies start to unfurl.

This is more of a middle grade novel but I could honestly see it appealing to anyone between 10-20. It's a perfectly clean and wholesome book, but it is incredibly suspenseful and entertaining. I loved Sage as a narrator, and as a character in general. He is very humorous and clever. I loved the clean and clear writing style, and the ending was incredible! I'm so glad that I read this because it's a book I can recommend to every member of my family. It's fantastic!

A Little Something Different
By Sandy Hall
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 4/10

This book is a great example of a good idea that was poorly executed. The whole premise of this book is a love story told in every perspective but the two people who actually fall in love. It's a super cut idea and I was very excited to read it, but I found that this story really fell below its potential. A lot of the perspectives were unique--a bench, a squirrel, Chinese food delivery guy--but after a while I had absolutely no interest in the story because of the bland narrators. This story spans over an entire school year of these two people liking each other but avoiding each other and random strangers making comments about it. It was cute for the first chapter, but the repetition got real old real fast. The cover is adorable and the concept interesting, but there was really nothing worth while in the actual book.

Courtship of the Prophets
By Mary Jane Woodger and Paulette Preston Yates
Genre: LDS Non-Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

This is a very endearing book about how the prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints met and courted their wives. I loved this book! It was full of so many cute and heart breaking details I never heard before. In fact, I didn't know how most of the prophets met their wives, so this was very informational as well as enjoyable. I only wish that it could have possibly included the stories of all the prophets, when it only covered about eleven. It is a very short book and I felt like a few more stories or pictures would have been beneficial.

The Madman's Daughter
By Megan Shepherd
Genre: Horror/ Mystery
Personal Rating: 10/10

Juliet Moreau's life was ruined after a scandal labeled her as a madman. Although the rumors about his gruesome experiments were never proven. Juliet worked hard to build a life for herself after her father was presumed dead. But then she finds out that he is in fact alive, hidden away on a secret island where he can work on his experiments in peace. Accompanied by her father's young assistant, Montgomery, and Edward, a troubled castaway, Juliet makes it to her father's island. She expects to see the father he loved as a little girl, instead she finds him secluded in madness, creating humans out of animals. The creatures, though odd, appear harmless. Until dead bodies start appearing around the island. And most frightening of all, Juliet begins to believe that the madness that now controlled  her father, lingers in her own blood as well.

This book is based off of H.G. Well's novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. A book I have never read, but am now very interested in. It's not often that I find a good horror book I enjoy, but this one was fantastic! It was spooky and mysterious, and full of haunted characters. I had my guesses as to what was going to happen as the story unfolded, but I was taken by surprise every time. This is the second book by Megan Shepherd that I have read, and I love her detailed writing style. She really knows how to paint a picture.

My Book of Life by Angel
By Martine Leavitt
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Poetry
Personal Rating: 10/10

This was an incredible read! I first herd about this book in my Young Adult Literature class and decided I absolutely had to get my hands on a copy. This book covers a very gritty and difficult subject, and it's written entirely in prose.

Angel was sixteen-years-old when she met Call at the mall--a young man who charmed her with free meals and the promise not to turn her in for steeling shoes. Eventually Call introduces Angel to his special "candy" which she becomes aggressively dependent on. Her father kicks her out of the house and she moves in with Call, not seeing who he really is until it was too late. As a favor he asks her to hook up with a few friends of his, and then a few more. Now Angel is trapped working the streets of Hastings and Main, a place where the girls of the street are slowly disappearing or showing up dead. Only once Call brings an eleven-year-old girl home and tells Angel to show her the ropes of the street, does Angel work up the courage to get her and the little girl away from Call.

This book offered a very unique perspective on a topic that is hard to read about.  Angel's story is very heart wrenching and full of themes about hope and forgiveness. Even though this book does center on prostitution, it was not a dirty book at all. The author wrote with minimal description in order to get the point across but not make the story nauseating. But I still would not recommend this book to anyone under sixteen, because of the topic. I loved books like this that are written in prose because it makes the story so much more powerful, in my opinion. It also makes this a very quick read.

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride and Prejudice Novel
By Pamela Mingle
Genre: Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 9/10

This is a random novel my mom found for me in the bargain bin at Barns and Nobel. I hadn't heard of it before and wasn't necessarily expecting to love it, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a novel about what happens after Pride and Prejudice, particularly to the middle sister, Mary. Mary has always been the more awkward and withdrawn sister, and this book is about her finding her own happiness while living in a world that seemed to revolve around her sisters. I thought the author did a very good job of maintaining the qualities of the characters Jane Austin has created. The story did start out a little slow, but I found it very enjoyable by the end. If anyone is looking for a nice, clean regency romance, then I would highly recommend this one.

The Hiding Place
By Corrie Ten Boom
Genre: Non-Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

This is one of those books I think everyone should read at least once in their life time. It is the incredibly true story of a woman and her family's mission to save Jews from the Nazis in an occupied Holland. Because of their mission, Corrie and her family were eventually arrested. This book describes first hand their struggles and testimonies through one of the world's darkest times. It was very meaningful to me, getting a different perspective of the war; the life of those hiding the Jews. It was a spectacular read.

The Book of Ivy
By Amy Engel
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction/ Dystopian
Personal Rating: 10/10

After a series of wars and nuclear bombs, the United States was left crumbled. Only a small group of people survived and struggled to reform the country. But after the war, democracy died out, leaving a single family to rule. Now the country is divided into two groups: the people who stood with the monarchy and won, and those who voted for democracy and lost. To keep the two groups happy and civil, every year the daughters of the loosing side marry the sons of the winners. An arranged marriage system meant to instill peace.But not everyone wants peace. When it's Ivy's year to marry, she is paired with the President's son. And she swears to kill him.

On the surface there isn't anything incredibly unique about the story line of this book--nothing I haven't seen in other dystopian novels--but I absolutely loved it! This book was all about character development which I think I usually prefer over a dramatic plot--although the plot was still plenty dramatic. The characters were real and dynamic, the writing style clean and moving. This wasn't a book I was expecting to love but I was pleasantly surprised, and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Finding Audrey
By Sophie Kinsella
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 7/10

Fourteen-year-old Audrey has an anxiety disorder. A chemical imbalance that disrupts her life and leaves her too afraid to leave her house or make eye contact with anyone. Although she has been making steady progress with her therapist, Dr, Sarah, Audrey's real recovery happens when she meets her brother's friend, Linus. She can talk to Linus about her anxiety without feel insane or nervous, and through the strength of their friendship Audrey finally begins to heal.

This is the first young adult novel by New York Times Bestseller, Sophie Kinsella. She wrote the very popular Shopaholic series, as well as a number of other adult novels.This was the first book by her that I've read and I was expecting great things since I've only heard good reviews about her other books. This book was really hilarious--especially with all the funny British slang--and I really liked her writing style, However, this book is about a young girl dealing with an anxiety disorder which is a series mental issue, and sometimes the humor sort of pocked fun or distracted from the main character's problems. But I also felt like the author described what having an anxiety order feels like, and brought to attention how other can help people dealing with it.

There is some bad language in this book, including some F-words, so be cautious going into it. Another thing that got on my nerves about this novel is that the author alludes to this big event that caused Audrey to have this anxiety disorder, but actually never tells us what it is. I was sort of waiting to know what the big thing was that made her break down, but then it is never explained, and that really aggravated me. It sort of felt like she was cheating on telling the whole story.

I overall did enjoy this book. It was accurate on a lot of accounts and dealt with a real issue that is very rarely written and talked about. The book is also written partially in screen play format which added some fun variety to it.

A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

I am not going to write a synopsis of this book because I feel like it is best to go into this story blind. I started reading it knowing nothing about the plot line and I think that is best since a big part of this story is the mystery aspect. Overall, I thought this was a haunting beautiful story. It is a very powerful story with a lot of depth. The book is part graphic novel with some amazing drawings. It is also a very quick read, I had it read in one day. There isn't a lot I can say, only that I think this is a book everyone should read.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
By Jessica Day George
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 9/10

This book was very much a pleasant surprise. This was another book I needed to read for a class and I didn't except to really enjoy it, since I'm not the biggest fan of high fantasy or of Jessica Day George's other books. But I did end up thoroughly enjoying it.

This book is a very unique spin of Beauty and the Beast. At birth a young girl is cast aside by her mother and is not given a name. But aside from being a rejected child from a poor family, she grows up happy with her many brothers and sisters, and her unique gift of speaking to animals. A curse has been set on this girl's home land so that winter is always harsh and eternal--the work of evil trolls that torment all living creatures. The girl didn't necessarily believe in such myths and stories, until one day when a large white bear insists that she come live with him for a year in his palace. The girl agrees to go under the condition that her family would be without want. But under the finery of the bear's ice castle lies mysteries and curses too dangerous to uncover.

I usually don't like to read a lot of high fantasy--especially the kind that involves talking animals--because it usually just comes out sounding silly to me. But I felt like this book was written out really well and I found myself on the edge of my seat during the last couple of pages. I also feel like this book could appeal to a wide audience; I would recommend it to anyone over ten-years-old. It's entertaining but entirely clean and appropriate. A delightful read.

Things We Know By Heart
By Jessi Kirby
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 10/10

400 days ago, Quinn Sullivan's boyfriend, Trent, died in a car accident. In an attempt to cope with the loss, Quinn reaches out to the recipients of Trent's organs--his kidneys, liver, cornea, and of course his heart. Only the recipient of his heart is the only person who never responds to Quinn's letter. So she seeks him out, still looking for a way to find peace with Trent's passing. She goes out of the system and against the rules to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas. She doesn't plan to get to know Colton, or even talk to him, all she wants is to see the person who now has her boyfriends heart, but after they do meet they only grow closer, and Quinn learns to live again. But is it right for her to feel so much for boy who's only alive because the love of her life died?

I absolutely adored this book! This is a definite 10/10 read for me! It was really touching and written in a real believable and heart-wrenching way. It was a story centered on family, overcoming grief, and the importance of living life to its fullest. It was also a really clean read with very little language, which I definitely appreciated. I loved all the characters and the summertime beach setting. I just over all loved it!

The Sin Eater's Daughter
By Melinda Salisbury
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 9/10

This story centers around Twylla (do not ask me how you pronounce that) who is the executioner for a strict, unforgiving queen. Twylla kills with just one touch of her skin to another's flesh, a trait that supposedly means she is gifted, though she feels anything but. No one dares to be near her, everyone fears her, and she has never had an opportunity to make a decisions for herself. Only Lief, Twylla's outspoken guard, can see past the role that was handed to her, beyond her duty to kill. However, very little is as it seems and, under the control of a dangerous queen, some truths are too dangerous to be known.

I overall really enjoyed this book and it's plot line. At first I thought that it resembled Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, because of the whole touch of death thing, but as the story and world unfolded I found the plot very unique and intriguing. The story kept surprising me--especially at the end--and I found very little boring or predictable. The story also left me at a huge cliff hanger and I am dying for the next book.

There were some aspects of this book--mostly the religious views of the characters--that I found sort of strange, but in the end it enhanced the world building and the character development. I overall really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for something fast paced and entertaining.

Off the Page
By Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 6/10

This is the sequel to Between the Lines, so I obviously can't say much about this book without spoiling the ending of the first book. This book is labeled as the companion novel to Between the Line,  meaning that you don't need to read the first one in order to understand this one. But I don't understand what makes this a companion novel. You DEFINITELY need to read the first book in order to enjoy this one.

This book was cute and a super fun read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first one. It was just a little too cheesy at times. But overall, it was a nice clean read and enjoyable. It still had a few paintings every few pages that I thought was a nice touch. Also, I absolutely adore this cover!

The Crossover
By Kwame Alexander
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Poetry
Personal Rating: 4/10

This is another book I had to read for my Children's Literature class, and even though it was rather short and written entirely in prose, I had a hard time enjoying it. The story is told in the point of view of Josh Bell, a young high school basketball star. He and his twin brother, JB, are the offspring of one of the greatest basketball legends of their day, so a lot is expected from the two boys. And that is basically all the story is about. There is are some small important moments, but overall I found the whole story rather boring. But I might just think that because the story is all about basketball and I am in no way a sports person.

My biggest problem with this book, I suppose, is that I had a hard time pinpointing a group of people who would sincerely enjoy reading it. It's a young adult novel about basketball, which most high school boys would enjoy, but it is also written as poetry, which I could definitely not see my sixteen-year-old brother enjoying.. I think it was written well but the author missed the mark on writing to his audience. It felt like a book written for adults but marketed to kids. Not a book I would recommend
to many.

Between the Lines
By: Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 7/10

What first appealed to me about this book is the fact that Jodi Picoult co-wrote it with her daughter. I have never read a book by Jodi Picoult before but this one sounded interesting and I've been hearing a lot of good things about it lately. The whole premise of this book is a young girl--Delilah--who falls in love with a fictional prince in a fairy tale, and she is able to really speak and interact with him. Basically every fangirl's dream come true. While the whole idea may sound a little strange, I thought it was written out really well and I found it super entertaining. However there were times when I had trouble suspending my disbelief over the idea of a book character coming to life and and out of of the book. But I did overall enjoy the story and all the fun illustrations that helped bring it to life.

Firegirl
By Tony Abbott
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Personal Rating:9/10

I am enrolled in a Children's Literature class right now, so be prepared to see a lot of middle grade novels on the blog. This was the first book I read for this class and even though it does target a younger audience I really enjoyed it.

Firegirl is about a boy named Tom, a seventh grader who's biggest worry in life is how he can impress the cute girl in school, that is until a new girl moves into their class. The new girl, Jessica, looks quite different from the other students. Jessica was in a fire and now her looks were enough to frighten the other students away from her, even Tom. But as more about Jessica and her accident is reveled, the more Tom looks at his own life, and what's important to him. What is too much to ask for and what exactly can you know about a person from first glance?

I thought this book was outrageously cute and chalk full of important messages for kids. It's about learning to, not only except, but love those who look different or strange. Although I haven't read many middle grade novels before, I thought this one was exceptional. I would recommend it to kids between 10-15.

Abandoned
By Meg Cabot
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Mythology
Personal Rating: 4/10

This was a total random book I picked up at the book store one day and finally got around to reading this month. The only reason I picked it up was because I had never read a Meg Cabot book before (author of The Princess Diaries series) and since she's pretty popular I thought I should read at least one of her books. Sadly, I was not impressed.

The story line of this book basically a retelling of Hades and Persephone, but there are so many retelling of this myth--ones I absolutely love like Everneath by Brodi Ashton--that this one just seemed really unimpressive to me. I felt like the characters didn't go anywhere and where just annoying throughout the entire story. I also was not a fan of Meg Cabot's writing style in this book, it didn't flow really well and there was nothing about her writing that I found captivating or worth reading. I was actually sort of bored reading it. Maybe this book would resonate better with a lower age group, but with protagonists as old as they were, I felt like the writing could have been more mature. It wasn't a terrible book, just not for me.

The Road
By Cormac McCarthy
Genre: Fiction/Horror
Personal Rating: 10/10

This book takes place in a gruesome post-apocalyptic world where food is very scares. A father and son are trying to make their way south, struggle to survive starvation, as well as the groups of cannibals stalking the road. I was warned early on that this book was particularly gory at times, and it's true that there is quite a bit of descriptive carnage--particularly concerning the cannibals--but I actually felt like it was needed in order to establish the themes McCarthy depicts. I thought this was a very powerful book about survival but also about goodness, compassion, and what exactly makes us "the good guys." While this definitely isn't a book I'd recommend to those with weak stomachs, I thought it was very thought provoking and important.
.

Where She Went
By Gayle Forman
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 7/10

This is the sequel to If I Stay, a story about a girl who gets in a terrible car accident and has an out-of-body experience as she contemplates the consequences of staying in a world her family will no longer be in. I read If I Stay about two years ago and actually really enjoyed it, I'm really glad I finally picked up the sequel. There isn't much I can say about this book without spoiling the first one, but the story is told in Adam's point-of-view, and takes place in New York three years after the accident.

I love Gayle Forman's writing style and I found the plot of this sequel heart wrenching. Which was actually no surprise because, well, it's Gayle Forman. This would definitely be a 10/10 but I did have to knock off quite a few points for use of the F-word. There was quite a bit of language and some alluding to sex, but nothing graphic.

The Cage
By Megan Shepherd
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi
Personal Rating: 9/10

When Cora Mason wakes up in the middle of a desert, she has no recollection on how she got there. Even stranger is the fact that next to the desert is a town, a swamp, a jungle, snow covered mountain, and an ocean. And she is not alone. Five other kids have been dumped into the odd environment: a gorgeous model, a genius, an army brat, a tattooed smuggler, and a dead girl floating in the ocean. As the group tries to make sense of their surroundings, they discover that they hadn't been stranded, they had been captured. They were trapped in a cage--a human zoo on an alien planet. Their captors believe that they are doing these humans a favor by putting them in the cage, by saving them from the unpredictability of human society. And as Cora forms a forbidden attachment to one of her jailers, she realizes that her best chance for escape may be in the arms of her own captor.

I loved this book! I reminded me of a mix between The Maze Runner and Lord of the Flies but I also thought it was incredibly unique in it's own sense. All of the characters were diverse people with interesting pasts, and I loved how the book was told in multiple perspectives. This book was full of suspense and mystery, I could not put it down. I didn't feel like any of the plot was predictable  and the ending left me in total suspense for the next book.

An Ember in the Ashes
By Sabaa Tahir
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: 8/10

This is a new book that just came out this last April. It's been getting a lot of hype on Goodreads so I thought I'd give it a try.

This story takes place in a harsh dystopian wold and is told is in the perspective of two people from opposite backgrounds. Elias is a student at Blackcliff--a harsh and deadly training school. Laia is a rebel spy working undercover at Blackcliff in order to save her brother. Both of these characters have one wish: to escape Blackcliff. But if Laia will have any hope of rescuing her brother she will need to stay there under the rule of a vicious master, and Elias's plans for deserting the school was foiled when he was chosen to complete in a competition to choose the next emperor. As the stories of these two characters intertwine, everything they thought they new about their world and those they trust will be challenged.

This was definitely a very interesting and unique book. It was fast paced and the plot was complex. My only real complaint about it was that it got really bloody at parts, so much so that I needed to take a break every now and then from reading it. There's nothing overly graphic in the book, but there is still a bit of a Hunger Games feel to it. The characters where wonderfully developed--especially the villains.It was a real worth while read, and I can't wait for the sequel.

The Fill-In Boyfriend
By Kasie West
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 10/10

Alright. First off, don't judge this book by it's cover or its title. I adored this book!! Yes, it was super adorable, but there was also a lot of life lessons taught that really resonated with me. I just love all of Kasie West's books in general, but this one was fantastic. I felt that it was fast paced with a lot of real and diverse characters.

Gia Montgomery boyfriend, Bradly, dumped her in the parking lot on prom night. Gia has been telling her friends about Bradly for weeks but sensed that non of them actually believed he existed, and now she has to walk into prom without him. But then she sees a cute guy dropping off his sister to the dance. Gia convinces the stranger to pose as Bradly for the night so her friends wouldn't think she was lying about having a boyfriend. The farce is only supposed to last the night, but as Gia's lies escalate she's forced to evaluate what the true lies are and what she wants to be real.

As I've already stated, I LOVED THIS BOOK! It thought it was absolutely adorable and I really related with a lot of the challenges Gia faces with her friends and family. The best thing about Kasie West's writing is that her books are totally clean! No swearing and no sex scenes. I would recommend her books to anyone.

The Wrath and the Dawn
By Renee Ahdieh
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 9/10

I loved this book! It just came out this last month but I've been dying to get my hand on it for weeks. This is a retelling of an Arabian myth--A Thousand and One Nights. In this story the eighteen-year-old ruler of the land, Khalid, takes a new bride every night, only to execute her at the next dawn. So it's suspicious when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry the king, with the promise of her death following first light. Shahrzad is seeking revenge for her best friend, as well as all the other unlucky brides who where killed for no reason or explanation. Shahrzad is confident in her ability to survive the first dawn by using her gift of storytelling. But her plan for killing the ruthless ruler may not work out quite as she has planed.

This book was rich and vibrant. I was completely addicted to it.The world was mystical and captivating; the characters where fun and engaging. It was a wonderfully unique story and I was just sucked in. The only thing is that I wish I looked at the glossary in the back before I read the book, just to help me understand some of the terms and complex names. A definite must read.

The Heir
By Kiera Cass
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Personal Rating: 8/10

This is the fourth installment of the very popular Selection series. I didn't know Kiera Cass planned on continuing the story after the third book, so this was a very happy surprise for me. The Selection is basically a futuristic version of The Bachelor so The Heir is basically a futuristic version of The Bachelorette. This is the story of Princess Eadlyn, daughter of Prince Maxon and the winner of the last selection (disclosed for spoiler reasons.)

While I did really love this book, it was mostly just because I love this series and all the old characters. Some wonderful new characters where introduced in this story, and I can't wait to see where they go as the rest of the series unfolds, but there were just so many that I couldn't really care for all of them. And the main character bothered me to no end at the beginning of the book, though she definitely becomes for likable as it continues. I still thought this book was fun and entertaining, but I mostly just felt like it was a set up for he next book, especially considering how it ended. There wasn't any sort of big climax or dramatic scene. It was still fun, but I have a feeling that this was just meant to introduce us to the characters before the last book.

Amy and Rodger's Epic Detour
By Morgan Matson
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 7/10

Amy Curry's summer is looking pretty dreary. Her mother is moving her across the country and expects Amy to get the car from California to Connecticut. One problem: after a car accident killed her father, Amy is terrified of driving to the store, let alone across America. This is where Rodger Sullivan comes in. He's a distant family friend who needs to get to Pennsylvania. He offers to drive Amy to Connecticut and all she has to do is endure a few days trapped in a car with a near stranger. But a few detours take them off her mother's carefully planned trip agenda, and leads them to seeing more of the country than they planned.

This is such a fun and interactive book. Every few pages there are things like receipts and playlists and pictures that go along with the story. The visuals really added to the story and fun of the road trip. The plot line was a little slow at times because the majority of it is them driving, but I still thought it was really cute and that there was some good character development.

There is some language in this book and an implied sex scene, but nothing graphic.

A Thousand Pieces of You 
By Claudia Gray
Genre: Young Adult Sci Fi
Personal Rating: 7/10

Marguerite Caine is the daughter of two of the worlds most brilliant physicists. Together her parents have invented the Firebird--a device that allows you to travel through different dimensions. But just as the final prototype of the Firebird is created, Marguerite's father is killed, and the killer is non other than her parents' trusted assistant--Paul
Markov. And before he cane be brought to justice, he steals a FIrebird and escapes into another dimension. Racked with grief and a fire for vengeance, Marguerite and Theo--another one of her parents' assistant--jump into another parallel universe to chase Paul down. Their journey takes them to a futuristic London, a regal and  old fashioned Russia, and other impossible alternate realities. As she chases Paul through dimensions, Marguerite learns the truth behind her father's death and the true danger of something as powerful as the Firebird.

I thought this book was so creative. The world was set up in a way I found absolutely fascinating, and  each new reality that the characters visited was so fun and enthralling. My personal favorite was the alternate reality of a sort of early 1900 Russia. I find Russian history and culture fascinating and the author did her homework really well for those scenes.

This book was knocked down a few points because of some language and a sex scene, but nothing graphic. This book would just be a bit higher on the PG-13 scale. I overall thought this was a super fun and creative read, and I can't wait for the sequel to come out in November.

My Fairly Dangerous Godmother 
By Janette Rallison
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal: 10/10

This is the third book in the My Fair Godmother series. I absolutely love these books and have been waiting for Janette Rallison to write another one for quite some time. I didn't even know she was writing a third book until the day it came out last week. It was great surprise. I'm not usually a big fantasy fan, but I've always loved these books because you're just supposed to laugh at the magic. And there are so many fairy tales twisted together into one story--everything from Cinderella to Snow White, Robin Hood to Rumpelstiltskin.

Sadie Ramirez's dream is to become a famous singer, but when she gets her big chance--an audition for America's Top Talent--she blows it. More accurately, she upchucks all over the stage. Her terrible performance earns her a fairy godmother through the Magical Alliance's Pitiful Damsel Outreach Program. But Chrissy is only a fairy godmother in training, so non of Sadie's wishes go exactly as planned. Chrissy sends Sadie into the Little Mermaid story and the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale. But magic is being rationed, so getting out of the fairy tales and back home may be more difficult than Sadie thought.

I adored this book. It was slightly cheesy at times, but I still was laughing and smiling throughout the entire story. It was a wonderfully fun, clean, and hilarious book. My favorite in the series is probably still the second book--My Unfair Godmother--but this was still a great book.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven 
By Mitch Albom
Genre: Adult Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

This story begins with an end, the end of 83-year-old Eddie's life. Eddie had worked almost his entire life as an amusement park maintenance man--fixing broken rides, and keeping them safe. He never thought he lived much of a life, and then one day a terrible accident occurs at the park and Eddie dies trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. In heaven, Eddie meets five people who explains his life to him. These five people impacted Eddie's life in different ways, and he impacted their lives as well. With each person he meets and each story he hears, Eddie begins to see the meaning his life held and his purpose on Earth.

This was definitely one of the most inspirational books I've read. It has such a strong message about how we impact the lives of those around us, even though we may never know to what extent. All our lives intersect and nothing is random. And no life, however short, is meaningless.

The writing in this book is rich and the story absolutely captivating. A definite must read!

Can't Look Away 
By Donna Cooner
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 2/10

This is the story of Torrey Grey. She's famous on the internet for her beauty channel, telling young girls how to dress and do their makeup. But when Torrey's sister is killed by a drunk driver, strangers online start bashing her, claiming that Torrey is using her sister's death as a way to get more subscribers. Now Torrey has to deal with the negative publicity and learn how to grieve for her sister in the public eye.

I really did not enjoy reading this book. I think it was a fun idea for a book, and the writing wasn't terrible, but I could not stand any of the characters. I could tell the author tried to write diverse characters but they all seemed like the same person to me. And they all annoyed me. I didn't see any real character development throughout the book, and I just didn't care what was happening. I was incredible bored reading this and had to push myself to finish it, which is a shame.

Eleanor and Park 
By Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating: 5/10

Eleanor is the new girl at school and nothing about her blends in: big red hair, a little on the heavy side, and ridiculous clothing. She's an outcast not only at school but in her family life as well. Park, at first, wants nothing to do with the new girl, but sharing a seat together on the bus slowly brings these two unlikely kids together. Set in the 80s, over the coarse of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed kids trying to understand, and survive, first love.

This book won the Goodreads YA Contemporary award for 2013. I've been avoiding reading this book for a long time, despite all the good reviews, but I received a free copy of it recently and finally read it. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about this book since it came out, but I unfortunately found it over hyped. The characters were definitely unique, and I did enjoy the story overall but it wasn't as spectacular as I have been told. One thing that really ruined the book for me is the fact that there is an obscene about of language. I'm talking about five F-words every other page. It was ridiculous and unnecessary
.

Out of the Easy
By Ruta Sepetys
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 7/10

Josie Moraine is a seventeen-year-old girl living in the French Quarters of New Orleans in the year 1950. Josie wants nothing more than to escape her past and her reputation as the daughter of a brothel prostitute. She has dreams of attending college, leaving Louisiana, and getting more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. But all her dreams and plans are shaken when a murder occurs in the French Quarter, and Josie's allegiance with her mother puts her in the middle of the investigation. With secret and lies piling up around her, Josie's conscious, morals, and alliances are challenged. And she has to make choices that will shape her destiny.

I am a huge Ruta Sepetys fan because of her first novel--Between Shades of Gray--and while I did enjoy this book, I think my expectations where a little too high. This is a gripping story but it isn't as much of a murder mystery as the synopsis let on. The murder is a big part of the plot, but you know who did it almost right from the start. Mostly, this book is about how Josie handles the situations around her, and how she battles with who she is and the person she wants to become.

While this book is heavily centered around prostitution, Ruta Sepetys handles the topic wonderfully and leaves out all the unnecessary, disgusting details. I loved all the characters in this book--especially Willie, the brothel madam. She's a wonderfully diverse character that secretly has a heart of gold. The pace of the book was a little slow at times and I felt like the ending was lacking a little bit.

While I did not enjoy this book as much as I did Between Shades of Gray, it's still a great historical novel that really sucks you into the 1950's.

We Were Liars
By E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/ Mystery
Personal Rating: 8/10

There has been a lot of hype about this book lately and I've been meaning to read it for a long time. It won the 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for the Young Adult Fiction category. The big thing about this book is that you don't really know what it's about until you start reading it, and you don't even know what's really going on until the very end. That's part of the appeal, therefore it's going to be difficult to write a review without spoiling it.

"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."
-Back of the book.

E. Lockhart's writing style in this book is very poetic and I was captivated until the end. The mystery aspect was thrilling and I will say that I was not disappointed with the ending. Keep the tissue box nearby, this is a tear jerker. That, unfortunately, is all I can say without giving away too much. I really enjoyed this book but there is some language in it, so it's definitely for an older audience.  

Isla and the Happily Ever After

By Stephanie Perkins 

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary 

Personal Rating: 7/10

This is the the third book in the Stephanie Perkins companion series. It follows the story of two characters we previously met in Anna and the French Kiss: Isla and Josh. Isla has been hopelessly in love with Josh since their fist year at School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan, the two reconnect and fall in love at the beginning of their senior year. This book was written a bit differently from her other books, but it still had all the wonderful Stephanie Perkins charm and humor. The characters fall in love in the middle of the book and the rest of it is focused on the struggles that surround young couples--jealousy, family drama, distance. All the wonderful characters from Stephanie Perkins' other stories--Anna, Etienne, Lola, and Cricket--make an appearance as well,  This book is a bit higher on the PG-13 scale because of language and sexual content, though nothing too graphic. 

Unleashed 
By Sophie Jordan
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi
Personal Rating: 9/10

This is the sequel to Uninvited--one of my all time favorite books. This is a duology, so this is the final book in the series. I was very nervous to read this book actually, because from the synopsis it sounded like Sean wasn't going to be in this novel very much, and that confused me because of how the first book ended. Regardless, I did read it and did find there to be a remarkable lack of Sean. Actually, most of the characters in the first book either aren't in the sequel at all or are only apart of a few scenes. We get a bunch of new characters in this book, and while I did really like most of them, I missed the other characters I had already grown to love.

This series takes place in a not so distant future where scientist have discovered a genetic disorder called HTS--homicidal tendency syndrome--and anyone tested positive for this gene is automatically considered a killer. If you want to know more about Uninvited you can read my review of it below. Uninvited, I feel, focuses more on the social issues in the world concerning HTS, and Unleashed focuses more on the individual development of Davy, our main character. I really enjoyed reading about her development and her struggles trying to survive as a refugee, but I do wish we got a little more about what was going on outside of their refuge camps.

Overall, this was a wonderful conclusion to a story I love and I felt like the author was true to her characters and developed them wonderfully.

Red Queen 
By Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Personal Rating: 8/10

In this fantasy/dystopian wold there are two types of people: people born with red blood and people born with silver blood. The reds are commoners, living in slums, working to serve the silvers, and risking their lives to fight the silvers wars. People born with silver blood rule over the reds and live like gods among them. The silvers are to be feared, and for good reason. People with silver blood have powers. Powers to control fire, to heal the wounded, and to read minds, The story follows Mare Barrow, and average impoverished red. But Mare isn't like other reds, she a red with powers like a silver. When her powers are discovered in front of a crowd of powerful silvers, the king and queen hide the impossibility of it by make Mare one of their own. She is no longer a pickpocketer with red blood, but a silver engaged to a prince. Forced to live among the people she hates the most, Mare does her best to play her part while deciding who can be trusted and who wants change as much as she does. But in a war between bloods, she finds that anyone can betray anyone.

This came out just this last month. There has been so much hype about this book ever since the cover was released last month (and isn't it a beautiful cover?) so I knew I had to read this once as soon as I could. Right from the get-go this book opens up to a whole new and exciting world that is easy to get lost in. Before I read this I heard that there was sort of an X-Men factor in the story because of the powers of the silvers, but most of the powers where unique and set up in a way that didn't make me think of the X-Men at all. Definitely not like how the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi makes me think of that. There are a ton of characters in this book, including a lot of frightfully fascinating  villains, and I loved the main character.

Overall, this was a very good book that i felt deserved all the hype it was receiving. There where a few times where I felt a little lost in the complexity of it all, but it was still a very entertaining read with a lot of powerful themes about power and betrayal.
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This Shattered World 
By Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi
Personal Rating: 5/10

 This is the second novel to the Starbound trilogy. I absolutely adored These Broken Stars (you can see my review of that book below) but unfortunately the second book didn't have the same appeal to me. I gave it a 5/10 because I really only enjoyed half of the book. All the intense sci-fi action and mystery was there, but I felt like it took awhile for the real problems to arise. For most of it I just felt like we were getting a long set up. I think the biggest reason I couldn't get into this book like I did the first one is because I didn't like the two main characters that much. I adored Lilac and Tarver from the first novel. I understood them and they felt real to me. But Jubilee and Flynn didn't interest me that much. The authors put in a lot of back story--especially for Jubilee--but it still didn't make them seem real. Actually, my favorite part of this book would probably be when Lilac and Tarver made an appearance.

I wish I had more good to say about this book, but it didn't live up to my expectations.

Lola and the Boy Next Door 
By Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Personal Rating:7/10

This is Stephanie Perkins second book and the companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss. Lola is a budding costume designer, and in her life, it's all about being bigger and flashier. Everything seems pretty perfect for her, until Calliope and Cricket Bell move back into town, and Lola is forced to reconcile her feelings for the boy next door.

I didn't like this book as much as I did Anna and the French Kiss, but it's still an incredibly fun and witty contemporary. Just like with her first novel, Stephanie Perkins is a master of character development. Lola and Cricket really jump off the page. I really enjoyed this book and there is a ton more to it than the synopsis lets on. A really fun, fast Valentines Day read.

The Paris Wife 
By Paula McLain
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 6/10

This book is a historical fiction based of the true events of Hadley Richardson's life--the first wife of Ernest Hemingway. This book follows the couples first meeting in 1920, their short courtship, and married life in Paris--where Hemingway's writing career started taking off. Though madly in love, the couple struggles living in the Jazz Age where morals where loose, and where traditional family values were considered inconvenient. Soon, everything Hadley believed about her own marriage is tested, as Ernest struggles to to find the voice that will give him a place in history.

Everything about Hemingway's life was tragic in it's own sense, and made that way through his own bad decisions. Though that misery inspired some of the worlds most beloved novels, it destroyed him and those he loved. I adored having the opportunity to see these events unfurl though Hadley's eyes--the eyes of someone who loved him unconditionally from the start. I also loved seeing the development of Hemingway's writing career. While reading this book I got to see a little of the thought process behind two of my favorite Hemingway novels: The Sun also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. All the characters from The Sun Also Rises where taken directly from Hemingway's life in Paris. They were people he actually met and drank with, people who amazed and appalled him all at once. Also,  A Farewell to Arms is about a wounded solider who falls for his nurse, and Hemingway actually was wounded in WWI and actually did fall in love with his nurse. A few other famous authors made an appearance in this book as well--such as F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I would recommend this book to any Hemingway fans. It makes you love him a lot, it makes you hate him a lot. I loved being in his wife's head, and seeing how she would have handled being married to a man like him, what it was like being a wife as well as a muse. I real worth while read.