Since You've Been Gone

Since You've Been Gone

by Morgan Matson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis: It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting.  But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just...disappears.  All she leaves behind is a to-do list.

On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try.  But what if they could bring her best friend back?

Apple picking at night?  Okay, easy enough.

Dance until dawn?  Sure.  Why not?

Kiss a stranger?  Um...

Emily now has the unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane's list.  Who knows what she'll find?

Go skinny-dipping?  Wait...what?
from the book jacket

Review:  After rereading the synopsis of this book, I'm not sure what drew me to this book as it seems very teenager-y to me.  I have read young adult fiction books before and enjoyed them as some are able to span generations but this was one that I shouldn't have picked up.  It was just far too young for me.  Emily is a painfully shy main character who is so brokenhearted by her best friend Sloane's disappearance without any warning.  It was hard for me to relate to her.  Frank on the other hand seemed to be less of a teenager.  He was very mature and outgoing.  The secondary characters were more teenage like and immature.  I should have just abandoned this book but I needed to know if Emily found Sloane again and if anything happened between Emily and Frank.  I don't think this book was badly written, I just think I wasn't the right audience for it.

Rating: 3 stars

Speak

Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-the-summer party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know hate her from a distance.  It's no use explaining to her parents, they've never known what her life is really like.  The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head.  But even that's not safe.  Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens.  And then she would have no choice.  Melinda would have to speak the truth.

from the book jacket

Review:  This book follows the life of Melinda, a high school freshman, through her first year of high school.  From the beginning of the book we know that something tragic happened to Melinda but we don't know what (unless you read reviews on GoodReads beforehand like I did and know what happened to her) but we do know it causes her to change and shut down.  Melinda enters high school with no friends and decides that she is not going to speak.  She retreats inside herself and stops caring about things we assume she used to care about.  Since Melinda doesn't really talk, there is almost no dialogue.  What we get is her internal monologue and her feelings about her school, former friends, her troubled home life and so much more.  She clearly needs help but yet no one recognizes it except for the art teacher which is somewhat cliche as are other parts of this book.  The fact that no adult in the school recognized that Melinda was depressed even though she had many meetings with her guidance counselor really made me angry.  Her parents made me angry as well as they did nothing to help her except for berate her about her lowering grades.  From the author's interview at the end of this book I learned that high schools are now teaching this book which I think is a smart move.  It may be a little cliche and may be outdated a bit but the message is important.

Rating: 4 stars

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s

by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Genre: Young adult fiction

Synopsis:  Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

from GoodReads

Review:  This book is all about characters and their developments and relationships.  Willow is a quirky girl who is brilliant but has no friends.  Dell is her school therapist who is quirky in his own way too and one that doesn't seem to care much about anything.  Willow finds unlikely friends in Mai, Quang-ha, Patti, Jairo, and Dell who help her move past the grief of her parents dying and discover the meaning of family, friendship and love.  Readers are drawn into this story and feel such pain for Willow but also can see how she helps bring other people to together in unexpected ways.

Rating:  4 stars

Every Last Word

Every Last Word

by Tamara Ireland Stone

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class.  But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush.  Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school.  So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large.  Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself.  Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd...until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

from the book jacket

Review:  Oh, my.  I found myself crying along with Sam at the end without even realizing that I was crying.  My heart ached for her as she questioned everything that had happened to her throughout the book.  I could have given this book 5 stars just for the ending but I had to remember the beginning too and rate the book overall.  The book starts with Sam and her popular friends hanging out and being teenagers.  The girls were mean girls and very shallow who I just did not like.  I always felt such empathy for Sam but I could not feel anything but disgust for her so-called friends.  Teenage drama about popular girls being mean is not something I need to read or hear anything about.  I have no tolerance for it.  As Sam meets Caroline and the other members of Poet's Corner, the book turned a corner for me.  There was much less drama and more soul searching.  The poems that the author includes that were written by the high school members of Poet's Corner were so poignant and really touched my heart.  I could really feel for what each of the characters were struggling with.  Sam herself was struggling with OCD.  The synopsis talks about her having dark thoughts but those really only appear in the fist chapter.  Sam's disorder is more obsessing about the number 3 (which the author cleverly inserts into the story in various ways) and other things.  Throughout the story we watch Sam grow and blossom as she moves away from her popular friends to people who accept her for who she is.  What a beautifully written book!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

Ruta Sepetys

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

Review: It was fascinating to learn more about the little known Lithuanian refugees during World War II; I always appreciate a book that teaches me something new about history while telling a compelling story.  I was astonished to learn that this book was based on the true story of the largest maritime disaster of all time; the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, which I had never even heard of.  The author has clearly done lots of research about the subject, and managed to bring the story to life in a gripping and tragic way.

However, I had a heard time connecting with the characters, possibly due to the narrative jumping around quickly between the four different narrators.  In the beginning, it was even hard to remember which character was which, and that didn't improve as the story went on.  In my opinion, this book would have been so much better with more depth of character.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Maybe One Day

Maybe One Day

Melissa Kantor

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.

Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Review:  Looking back, I can see some flaws in this book, but as I was reading it, I was so caught up in the story that I couldn't put the book down.  I loved every minute of reading this book, even those minutes where I was crying so hard I couldn't make out the words on the page.  I'm willing to overlook a few flaws for a book that makes me connect so deeply with the characters.

Kantor does an amazing job of capturing Zoe's emotions as she stands beside her best friend who is battling leukemia.  Sure, Zoe had some selfish and entitled moments, and she made a few bad choices, but what teenager wouldn't when they are dealing with something so tragic? 

This is a book about friendship and hope; Zoe and Olivia have the most beautiful friendship, and as Olivia struggles through her battle with cancer, Zoe is always at her side to encourage her, make her laugh, and bring her hope for the future.  I love to see a book for young adults that focuses primarily on nice girl friendships rather than romance.  There was a bit of romance between Zoe and Cal, but it was definitely a secondary story to Zoe and Olivia's friendship. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

The Probability of Miracles

The Probability of Miracles

Wendy Wunder

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

Review: I loved the idea of a mother moving her dying daughter to Promise, Maine, where people claim miracles occur.  And I loved how Cam and her sister Perry noticed unusual events and called them miracles.  There were bizarre miracles, like a flock of flamingos making a home nearby, and everyday miracles, like a teenager being nice, and I appreciated how the author made a point that one can notice all different kind of miracles in an ordinary life.  Some of the thoughts and conversations were beautifully written, and the scene at the end was one of the most lovely and heartbreaking endings I've ever read.

Unfortunately, I spent the first part of the book having a hard time liking Cam.  Dry, sarcastic teenagers are generally still interesting and funny, but I just found her too depressing (but I know, she's dying!) and yet somehow still too busily active for a dying girl.  I was surprised that she didn't seem to have any close friends, and the scene with her one dying friend was just unlikeable.  Asher was too perfect of a love interest, and I couldn't fathom what he saw in Cam.  And I didn't like the way sex was treated in a book geared for teenagers.  Frankly, I wouldn't have liked the sex scenes in a book written for adults (too casual and dismissive) and I would prefer books written for teenagers to have no sex scenes at all.

I would not recommend this book for a teenager, but if you are looking for a book about a dying girl, you might check this one out.

Rating: 3 stars

Learning to Swear in America

Learning to Swear in America

Katie Kennedy

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Brimming with humor and one-of-a-kind characters, this end-of-the world novel will grab hold of Andrew Smith and Rainbow Rowell fans.

An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been called to NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. He knows how to stop the asteroid: his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize--if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But Yuri's 17, and having a hard time making older, stodgy physicists listen to him. Then he meets Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and save a life worth living.

Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, and have your mind burst open with questions of the universe.

Review: I can see how this book wouldn't be for everyone, but I loved it!  Yuri is this delightfully nerdy Russian boy who has no idea how to interact with girls, and Dovie is an outwardly quirky girl who makes it her mission to befriend him.  I loved watching their relationship blossom, and I loved seeing Yuri experience life in the real world, away from all the stodgy and patronizing scientists at NASA.  (I would certainly hope that the genius scientists at NASA would actually listen more to a child prodigy if they took the trouble of bringing him all the way over from Russia.  I would say you have to suspend a good deal of disbelief while reading this book.)  I also am a sucker for asteroids destroying life on earth stories, so I enjoyed seeing how people would react to an end of the world situation.  Kind of a guilty pleasure read for me; I read it very quickly and enjoyed it immensely.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You the Sun

Jandy Nelson

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

Review:  This is another young adult book that I just loved.  I have to admit that Jude and especially Noah seemed too artistically minded to be realistic, but then again I'm not an artist, so maybe that is an accurate portrayal of how artists see the world.  Do they really say things like "purple starbursts were shooting from his hands while his head glowed gold in the mist of the cerulean forest"?  I made up this quote because I returned the book, so I can't quote accurately, but this is what Noah sounded like all the time.  It drove me nuts in the beginning of the book, but as I kept reading, I got used to his colorful way of using metaphors as part of the artistic quirkiness of his character.

Flowery artistic metaphors aside, I loved just about everything in this book.  The dual narrator and dual timeline worked well in this story, although I always found myself wanting to continue with the current story instead of jumping to the next narrator at the end of a chapter.  That's just a sign of how invested I was in that narrator's story....  I loved how devoted Jude and Noah were too each other; I loved how their relationship with their mother and father were so complicated and changeable; I loved how both of them were trying to handle their romances; I loved how both of them learned to be true to themselves.  The publisher got it right when they recommended this book for fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell; it compares positively with books written by those authors.

Rating: 5 stars

All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places

Jennifer Niven

Genre: Young Adult

Summary (from Goodreads): The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning!
 
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Review: Oh, what a beautifully tragic book!  I loved watching Violet and Finch become friends, I loved seeing Violet blossom because of their friendship, and I especially loved that the two friends explored little known parts of Indiana together as part of a really cool class project.  It made me want to take a trip to Indiana just to explore interesting places off the beaten path.  In fact, what a good lesson that is for anyone - take the time to discover quirky little places in your own state and celebrate the joy that comes from experiencing small wonders.

On the other hand, this book delves into teen depression and suicide.  Niven captures Finch's depths of emotion so realistically that you feel like you are right there with Finch, soaring through his joyous times with Violet and then plummeting into the dark abyss of his tiny little closet.  I was desperately hoping that the ending would be different, but I have to admit that it was probably perfect for the book. 

Rating: 5 stars

This is Where it Ends

This is Where it Ends

Marieke Nijkamp

Genre: Young Adult

Summary (from Goodreads): 10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Review: This is a tragic story of a school shooting, told from the perspective of four students who know the shooter.  The story was gripping and dramatic, and I found myself unable to put the book down, even though the author was realistically depicting a parent's worst nightmare.  The focus of the story was on how the four main characters reacted to the situation, how they reminisced about their relationship with the shooter and with their friends trapped in the auditorium, and how they chose to act in a life-threatening situation.  The author makes the reader think about how she would respond in this situation - would she have the courage to try to save a friend?  I was amazed at the bravery shown by many of the students, and cried as they acknowledged the losses they all faced.  Nijkamp painted a realistic picture of a truly tragic hour.

However, I didn't understand why four students were allowed to miss the all-school assembly for track practice (why not the entire team?), it seemed like a too convenient plot device.  More importantly, I couldn't get a grasp on why the shooter decided to do what he did; I think the book would have benefited from a more in depth look at the shooter.  And I guess I'm too old for this book - I found the random tweets at the end of some chapters to be distracting and unconnected from the narrative.  But I can see how that would appeal to the young adult audience.

Rating: 4 stars

The Sea of Tranquility

The Sea of Tranquility

Katja Millay

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

The Sea of Tranquility is a rich, intense, and brilliantly imagined story about a lonely boy, an emotionally fragile girl, and the miracle of second chances.

Review: I am conflicted about this book; on the one hand, it's a deeply emotional story about a non-speaking goth chick who has experienced a severe trauma and the orphaned young man who saves her, but on the other hand, the girl is purposefully mute, her parents are completely unrealistically out of the picture, the boy is sleeping with a college woman, the aunt is an incompetent guardian, and every single other high school student in the book is absolutely horrible in some way.  So it's pretty clear that I'm reading this book with the perspective of an adult, isn't it?  I wonder how I would have liked this book in high school?  Well, I probably would have been so taken aback by the rampant sexuality, the uncomfortable sex scene, the attempted rape, and the idea of having a fuck buddy that I would have stopped reading before I got to the end.

While I was reading the book, these things didn't bother me much because I was engrossed in the tragic circumstances between both of the main characters, and I was hoping I would see Nastya learn to heal in time for a happy ending.  The author has a gift for capturing conversation, and while the subject matter was often dark, the book read quickly.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Wrong Side of Right

The Wrong Side of Right

Jenn Marie Thorne

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Kate Quinn’s mom died last year, leaving Kate parentless and reeling. So when the unexpected shows up in her living room, Kate must confront another reality she never thought possible—or thought of at all. Kate does have a father. He’s a powerful politician. And he’s running for U.S. President. Suddenly, Kate’s moving in with a family she never knew she had, joining a campaign in support of a man she hardly knows, and falling for a rebellious boy who may not have the purest motives. This is Kate’s new life. But who is Kate? When what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign’s talking points, she must decide. Does she turn to the family she barely knows, the boy she knows but doesn’t necessarily trust, or face a third, even scarier option?

Review: Ok, I apparently have a bit of a soft spot for stories about teenage girls whose parents are running for or are elected president of the United States.  When I found this book in the YA section of the library, I was eager to start reading it, and I finished it quickly.  It was a well written and enjoyable read, but I found myself thinking "that would never happen!" a few too many times to give it a high rating.  Most notably, Kate seemed to completely hide her true self away from everyone part way through the book, and I found that unrealistic for a teenager suddenly thrust into the country's spotlight.  But still definitely a fun guilty pleasure kind of read!

Rating: 3.5 stars

I Will Always Write Back

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives

Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda
with Liz Welch

Genre: Young Adult

Summary (from Goodreads): The true story of an all-American girl and a boy from an impoverished city in Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever.

It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. All the other kids picked countries like France or Germany, but when Caitlin saw Zimbabwe written on the board, it sounded like the most exotic place she had ever heard of--so she chose it.
Martin was lucky to even receive a pen pal letter. There were only ten letters, and forty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one.

That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives.

In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends --and better people--through letters. Their story will inspire readers to look beyond their own lives and wonder about the world at large and their place in it.

Marcie's Review: This is the inspirational story of how an upper middle class girl and her family from America help a destitute Zimbabwean boy achieve his dreams of education.  Reading that sentence I just wrote makes it seem like this book has a white-savior complex going on, and it does, but the authors are careful to emphasize how close a friendship they shared in order to make friendship the biggest theme in the book.  It is also obvious that Caitlin grew from a shallow and spoiled middle schooler into a caring and generous high schooler, and that this personal growth was due in large part to her friendship with Martin.

I find it difficult to believe that some of the letters were written by children - they are obviously unusually talented at writing and sharing their deepest emotions.  

As I was reading, I kept wondering what I would do if my child told me that she wanted to send money to her penpal overseas.  I fear that I would be skeptical and worry that she was falling for some kind of scam, but I can only hope that I would respond as generously as Caitlin and her family and make a huge difference in a child's life.

Marcie's Rating: 4 stars

Becky's Review:  I loved reading this story about how Caitlin and Martin became friends through letters and how they helped each other become the people they are today.  They began writing letters when they were in middle school and at first their letters were about music they like and other surface topics.  Martin became desperate because of the poverty that he and his family lived in.  Martin knew he needed to stay in school in order to better his life but the family didn't have enough money. He asked Caitlin for help and from there Caitlin's eyes were opened to how privileged her life was and how little Martin's family had.  I was amazed by both families: the generosity that Caitlin's family showed and the positive attitudes Martin's family displayed even in the hardest times.

Becky's Rating: 5 stars

Saint Anything

Saint Anything

Sarah Dessen

Genre: Young Adult

Summary (from Goodreads): Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.

The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans

Review: Sarah Dessen did a good job capturing teenage Sydney's voice in a realistic way, and the book was easy to read because of it.  I liked Sydney, I liked her friends, I liked seeing her relationship develop with Mac, I liked seeing her challenges at her new high school.  But I guess that was the problem - I liked a lot of things, but I didn't love anything.  What bothered me most was watching Sydney's mom completely ignore Sydney while she spent all her efforts trying to reach out to Sydney's older brother in prison.  I felt very sad that Sydney thought she had no one to talk to Ames' creepy behavior, and I couldn't believe that Sydney's mom would leave creepy Ames in charge of Sydney for a weekend.  What kind of mom does that?  But I guess this is a good book to read from the mother's perspective, to see how teenagers feel and learn what NOT to do with a teenage daughter.

Rating: 3 stars

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

E.K. Johnston

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Veronica Mars meets William Shakespeare in E.K. Johnston’s latest brave and unforgettable heroine.

Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn’t mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team—the pride and joy of a tiny town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of…she’s not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black.

In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The assault wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale.

Review: I didn't notice the summary of this book comparing it to Shakespeare before I started reading; I have to admit that I was confused about the book's title, and I thought that the choice of characters' names was unusual.  After I finished the book, I did some research, and apparently "Exit, pursued by a bear" is one of Shakespeare's most unusual stage directions, from the play "The Winter's Tale".  After reading a summary of the play, I still don't see the connection to the plot of this book, but it is clear that almost all the major characters got their names from Shakespeare's play - Hermione (the beautiful, virtuous queen), Leo (Leontes, the king), Polly (Paulina, Hermione's friend), the secondary characters Dion, Clement, Tig, and Amy, and even the completely unnecessary coach's daughter Florry.  I also read up on Veronica Mars, and it seems like the only similarity the book has to that show is that Veronica was drugged and raped at a party, too.  So I think the publisher's summary is a little sensationalist....

This is a hard book to review, because it deals with rape.  I have absolutely no personal experience with rape, so I can't speak to how realistic Hermione's emotions are after she was raped.  I thought it was interesting that she didn't know how to feel herself, and that she kept questioning whether her feelings and behavior were right or normal.  At the end of the book, the author pointed out that she wanted Hermione to have a strong support system, and she did - her parents, best friend, cheerleading squad, minister and police officers were staunchly kind, supportive and on her side - that certainly helped Hermione cope with her situation.  Is this a typical environment for a rape victim?  I would guess not.  It did make the book feel a little Disneyfied - smart, beautiful, talented, blonde cheerleader gets drugged and raped at a party; sure, she suffers from some malicious gossip, but her friends stand up for her in all the best possible ways, and she copes amazingly well with all the fallout.

BUT, I couldn't put this book down, and I haven't felt that way about a book in a long time.  Johnston's writing was so easy and enjoyable to read, even while dealing with difficult topics.  I loved the strength that Hermione displayed throughout the book, and I loved seeing her amazing friendship with Polly. 

Rating: 4 stars

United As One

United As One

by Pittacus Lore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  It has all come down to this.  One final chance to defeat the Mogadorians.  We will save this planet-or we will die trying.  But it's going to take all of us...including you.

If we're going to win this war, we need to eliminate their leader first.  And now I have the power to do so.  To get to him, though, we're going to need an army of our own.

We know you didn't ask for any of this. Neither did we.  Lorien chose you, as it did us.  It gave you Legacies so you could help defend the world.  We can train you to use your new abilities.  We can show you how to fight.  But it's your decision if you want to join us. You will have to put your life on the line, and not everyone may survive.  Not all of us have.

They killed Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

Number Three in Kenya.

Number Eight in Florida.

...And Sarah Hart in Mexico.

They've taken my home, my family, my friends, and now the person I love more than anything.

I am John Smith.  I am Number Four.  I have nothing left to lose-and that is their biggest mistake.

Review:  I enjoyed reading this series but I am glad that it is finished.  This book, as well as several others in the series, moved very slowly at times.  In this book's case, the first couple hundred pages were lacking action.  The series had to end with a major battle between the Garde and Setrakus Ra so I was not surprised by the ending in any way, shape or form.  The ending was predictable and somewhat anticlimactic.

Rating: 3.5 stars

To see my review of I Am Four, click here.
To see my review of The Power of Six, click here.
To see my review of The Rise of Nine, click here.
To see my review of The Fall of Five, click here.
To see my review of The Revenge of Seven, click here.
To see my review of The Fate of Ten, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four; Secret Histories: Lost Files 4-6, click here.

Endgame: Sky Key

Endgame: Sky Key

by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis:  Endgame is here. Earth Key has been found. Two keys—and nine Players—remain. The keys must be found, and only one Player can win.

Queens, New York. Aisling Kopp believes the unthinkable: that Endgame can be stopped. But before she can get home to regroup, she is approached by the CIA. They know about Endgame. And they have their own ideas about how it should be Played. Ideas that could change everything.

Kingdom of Aksum, Ethiopia. Hilal ibn Isa al-Salt narrowly survived an attack that leaves him horribly disfigured. He now knows something the other Players do not. But the Aksumites have a secret that is unique to their line. A secret that can help redeem humanity—and maybe even be used to help defeat the beings behind Endgame.

London, England. Sarah Alopay has found the first key. She is with Jago—and they are winning.But getting Earth Key has come at a great cost to Sarah. The only thing that keeps the demons at bay is Playing. Playing to win.

Sky Key—wherever it is, whatever it is—is next. And the nine remaining Players will stop at nothing to get it. 

from GoodReads

Review:  After reading the first book in this series, I had to continue because I wanted to know what happened after Earth Key was found.  This book was long and wordy.  The authors are so set on putting a puzzle in the book for someone to solve that they give up making the book fluid.  There were so many precise numbers that had no bearing on the story and got in the way.  There were so many times that I rolled my eyes with the exaggerated strength and speed.  It was just way too much.  This book could have been cut in half and just included the story of the Players trying to figure out what and where Sky Key was.  In fact, the more I think about it, there wasn't even that much of a story here.  It was mainly all action.  This book definitely could have been cut way down.  Am I going to read the third book?  Yes because I have a hard time not finishing a story.

Rating: 2.5 stars

To see my review of Endgame: The Calling, click here.

The Crown

The Crown

by Kiera Cass

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

Synopsis:  When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

from GoodReads

Review:  Since I read the other 4 books in this series, I found that I had to read the conclusion to the series.  This book was cheesy.  Really, really cheesy.  I read the first couple as guilty pleasure reads but this one was just too much.  Either I overlooked the writing style in the other books or this one is much more poorly written.  I still didn't like Eadlyn.  She is flat and unrealistic (I know that princess stories are not mean to be realistic but she was just too unbelievable).  The men in the Selection were too good to be true.  Everyone seemed to fawn over Eadlyn and I just didn't understand why.  I would recommend not reading this series past The One.  Stop with America's and Maxom's ending.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Red Queen

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood-those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods.  Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom.  A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own-an ability she didn't know she had.  Except her blood is Red.

To hide the impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons.  As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard-the leaders of a Red rebellion.  Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince-and Mare against her own heart.

from the book jacket

Review:  This book's concept was intriguing-to have two types of people-ones with superpowers and ones without but then Mare appears and seems to be both types of people.   Mare is fairly standoff-ish and cold but through the book we grow to like her because she is standing up for what she believes in and she is not afraid of the more powerful people around her.  There is a romance story here, a love triangle between Mare and two men.  I figured there was no way for Mare to end up with the one character but that was who I was rooting for!  There was plenty of action and drama.  The twist at the end caught be by surprise.  I imagine I will eventually read the next two books in the series but I'm not rushing out to grab them like I did with other series.

Rating:4 stars