ARC Book Review | Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 21, 2015
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.

After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all.

Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

ARC Book Review | None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex . . . and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned--something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

Review

ARC Book Review | The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes

Format: e-ARC

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 17, 2015
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

 

 

 

Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.

Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.

On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.

With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back?

 

ARC Book Review | My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Pages: 320
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.

There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner.

Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.

ARC Book Review | The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

ARC Book Review | Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.  

Book Review | The Jewel by Amy Ewing

 

Format: e-ARC

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: September 2, 2014
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

 

 

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.  

 

 

 

My Thoughts:

 

 

I have to admit that I was expecting to be blown away by this book. I mean, look at that gorgeous cover, surely the book will be just as amazing, right? Well, not necessarily. I enjoyed The Jewel, there were a lot of the elements that I liked but in the end it wasn’t everything that I was hoping for.

Violet was a strong MC, I can’t imagine going through everything that she has, with being taken away from her family, forced to carry someone else’s child, and come out on the other side intact. I’m usually a sucker for romances, but I wasn’t too fond of the one in this book. First, it felt too rushed, second, I didn’t really care all that much for the love interest.

The plot was interesting, although I didn’t feel like I got everything that I needed from the world building. I still don’t know how everything in this world came to be. There was a fleeting explanation of why the royalty couldn’t have their own children but that was pretty much it. There was no other explanation on how the surrogates came to be or even the Augury for that matter.

Even through the lack of world building, I was really enjoying this book until the whole romance thing came into play. Like I said above it was way to insta-love-ish for me. I think this book would have been a whole lot stronger without that aspect.

Now, that ending, that was a killer that I really wasn’t expecting. I’m excited to see where this series will go and I hope that some of my lingering world building questions will be answered in time.

 

 

 



ARC Book Review | No Place to Fall by Jaye Robin Brown

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

My Thoughts:  

 

No Place to Fall is a book that I was really looking forward to, it sounded amazing and I adore that cover. Going into it, I was expecting to fall in love with these characters and this story. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book but there were just a few things that I had an issue with and those ended up being enough for me to drop the rating a little bit.

 

Amber has always been the good girl, she goes to church every Sunday, sings in the choir and spends most of the time with her nephew, Cody and her best friend, Devon. That is until she gets the taste of freedom during the summer, she thought that she would leave it all behind and go back to her good girl routine once the summer was over, but the truth is, that summer changed her.

 

This one had all the promise to be an amazing story, the plot was good, the writing is beautiful, it's just those little things that keep it from going into the 'amazing' territory. Like, at one point I was expecting a love triangle, I mean it had every sign of a love triangle. But it turned out completely different, not that I'm complaining because I'm not a huge fan of love triangles. But the closeness between Amber and one certain guy just didn't make sense if she didn't like him like that.

 

I also really didn't understand Amber's mom, I don't really want to get into it, but I just don't get how she put up with what she did. But not only did she put up with it, she acted like everything was ok, that really was what got me.

 

I really liked the whole music aspect of this book, and I liked that Amber and one of the guys had that in common, I feel like he was very supportive and very encouraging when she doubted herself and I loved that.

 

Overall, No Place to Fall was a one that I was expecting great things from but unfortunately fell short. The story was interesting and I enjoyed seeing Amber grow as a character but it wasn't enough to make up for the little things that didn't work for me.

 

 

 

ARC Book Review | Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 21, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There’s something about the swamp in Sticks, Louisiana. Something different, something haunting . . . something alive. Everyone knows this, and everyone avoids going near it. And even the Mardi Gras–bead-decorated fence that surrounds it keeps people away.


Until one morning when Sterling Saucier’s older brother Phineas runs into the swamp . . .

And doesn’t return.

Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out in his place, and all of a sudden, no one in Sticks remembers Phin at all. They treat Lenora May as if she’s been Sterling’s sister forever.

Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp’s done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance—but first she’s got to find someone who believes her.

Heath Durham might be that someone. A loner shrouded behind rumors of drug addiction, Heath has had his own strange experience with the swamp. He and Sterling will have to piece together enough bits of memory and ancient swamp lore to get to the truth. But as the wild swamp encroaches on their town, Sterling and Heath may find a lot more than they expected . . . and Phin may be lost to them forever.

My Thoughts:

Unique, eerie, and incredibly fascinating, Beware the Wild is every one of those things. This book had me hooked from the very first page and kept me enthralled until the very end.

In Sticks, Louisiana it’s a known fact that the swamp is dangerous and for no reason do you ever go beyond the fence that contains it. However, when Sterling and her brother Phin have an argument one morning, he jumps the fence. Sterling waits all day for her brother to come back out but he doesn’t. Instead a girl named Lenora May comes out in his place and takes over his life. Everyone, including Sterling’s parents have forgotten all about Phin. Everyone except Sterling, and she is determined to send the imposter that everyone thinks is her sister back to the swamp and bring Phin out. But she quickly learns that everything isn’t as it seems and you have to be careful who you trust.

I really liked Sterling, she was so stubborn and strong and she would do anything to bring her brother back, no matter the costs. I really didn’t know what to think of Lenora May at first, but she really grew on me. I really enjoyed the baking scene, I felt like that was the moment that I realized she may be different than what I was thinking.

Heath was also an amazing character, he’s also not a stranger to the swamp. He was really sweet and he was determined to help Sterling bring her brother back.

The romance, although light, was very endearing. You couldn’t help but to want the best for Heath and Sterling and I found myself constantly hoping that they would overcome the things that were thrown their way.

Overall, Beware the Wild is a wonderful YA fantasy with the right amount of creepy and mystery to keep you engrossed. The plot was fast paced and flowed wonderfully, the twists and turns of this swampy debut makes it a book that’s not to be missed.

---- Christy

ARC Book Review | Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher Via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 9, 2014
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From Goodreads:

Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.

At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

My Thoughts:

Wow! What can I say about this book that will do it justice? Probably nothing, but I’m going to try anyway, so here goes…

Before Sam’s brother, Amos, killed himself he dared her to go to a military academy, and Sam’s not one to back down from a dare, especially one she made to her deceased brother so she takes every ounce of hatred that comes her way and uses it to make herself stronger. She’s not going to let anyone get in her way and I absolutely loved that about her.

However, it isn’t long before Sam realizes that she’s getting treated so much worse than anyone else there and before long, things start getting way out of control and she knows that something has to change or any other new girls coming in will be treated the exact same way that she has been and Sam is determined to not let that happen.

Sam is SUCH a strong character and I fell in love with her personality and strength very early on. She’s determined to prove that she’s just as good as the guys and strong enough to take whatever comes her way. I also loved so many of the side characters in this book, Jax, Rev, Drill, Tim, Nix, Huff, Ritchie. They all cared about Sam and were willing to help her in any way that they could.

Rites of Passage was so different that what I thought it would be when I first started reading it. Yeah, I knew that it was about the first girl to go to a military school and I figured that the boys there would pick on her. But, this went soooo much deeper than the hazing that normal recruits go through, this was more like full on bullying. Some of the things they did to Sam was horrible and I wanted so badly to jump in a punch those assholes for treating her the way that they did.

Overall, Rites of Passage is a very touching book that will bring out a ton of emotions in you. This book made me laugh, cry and get mad as hell multiple times throughout. Hensley is definitely an author to look out for.

---Christy

ARC Book Review: Get Even by Gretchen McNeil

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in Gretchen McNeil’s witty and suspenseful novel about four disparate girls who join forces to take revenge on high school bullies and create dangerous enemies for themselves in the process. 

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.

My Thoughts:

When I first heard about Get Even, I immediately added it to my wishlist. The book that I had read by this author (Possess) I had really enjoyed so I went into this one with high expectations. Unfortunately I felt like it didn’t live up to its potential.

This book is about 4 girls who run in different circles and have no ties to each other that team up and form DGM (Don’t Get Mad), which is basically a club that seeks justice for those who don’t or can’t stand up to their bullies. These girls hide behind the DGM label and they are a total mystery to the rest of the school. But as things always go, stuff goes wrong, people get hurt and DGM gets the blame. Now the girls are on a mission to clear the DGM name but it won’t be as easy as they thought because whoever was behind the murder has their sights set on bringing DGM down.

My main problem with this book was there was SOOOO much going on that it would have been hard to keep up with in dual POVs, let alone 4 POVs. I didn’t really feel a connection with any of the characters and I ended up so confused so many times because it was just too much. I couldn’t keep up with what was going on, I was getting confused on which POV I was in and I just felt like I was sinking with nothing to grab on to.

Even though this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I still feel like fans of Pretty Little Liars might really enjoy it.

---Christy

ARC Book Review | Remember Me by Romily Bernard

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 23, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the sequel to Find Me, Wick Tate, sarcastic teen hacker, is back and once again dealing with criminals and corrupt cops…and a brooding new love interest. Will Wick persevere when some secrets refuse to stay hidden?

Wick had thought her troubles were over.

But she should’ve known better.

Not only is she embroiled in a new murder case, which starts with a body with “Remember Me” carved into it and doesn’t stop there, but she also discovers new evidence surrounding her mother’s suicide…which leads her right back to her imprisoned deadbeat dad. And she has to deal with her flirty new hacker friend, Milo, sniffing around—which her boyfriend, Griff, isn’t too happy about.

The pressure might be too much as secrets—including Wick’s own—climb to the surface.

Remember Me is an edge-of-your-seat thrilling read that’ll have readers turning the pages at lightning speed! The paperback of Find Me is on sale simultaneously, and a digital original novella from Romily, featuring Griff, is on sale just a few weeks before!

 

My Thoughts:

Remember Me is the sequel to the amazing thrill ride that was Find Me and as I expected, this second installment had just as much action and mystery as its predecessor, maybe even more so. But, Wicket Tate is not the same girl that she was in Find Me which is to be expected given everything that she goes through in the first book. She is left changed by her traumatic experiences and she is now suffering from PTSD and a whole lot of trust issues, but who wouldn’t be if they had suffered everything that she has in her short life. In the end, it will only make her stronger, she just has to figure that out for herself.

Like I said above, there is a whole lot of action and mystery happening in this book and you don’t get warmed up to it. No, we get thrown in within the first couple of chapters and that’s just the way I like it ;) Wicket is working on something for Carson when she gets a little too involved with a murder case, not to mention there’s new things that are turning up about her mother’s suicide. Wick is in for something that could prove to be more dangerous than she originally thought.

Can I just say that I love how strong Wick is? If I had her upbringing and if I had to endure everything that she and Lily have, I probably still wouldn’t be standing, let alone fighting back. But it seems that everything that happens to her only makes her stronger as a person and hopefully one day she won’t have to keep fighting back, that she won’t have anyone to fight.

If you’ve read the summary for this book then you know that it mentions a “brooding new love interest” and while I was a little apprehensive at first, I actually really enjoyed the ‘brooding new love interest’. Maybe even more than Griff (don’t hate me!). Unfortunately, I just wasn’t too impressed with Griff in this installment. Maybe that will change, maybe it won’t, I’ll just have to wait until I read Trust Me to find out.

Remember Me is an action packed thrill ride that will leave you guessing while hanging on to the edge of your seat the entire time. If you were a fan of the first book then I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with this one because it’s just as engrossing and captivating as the first book.

-----Christy

ARC Book Review | Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: September 9, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.


Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

My Thoughts:

I’d be lying if I said this book was easy to read. The writing style is so unique and it bounces between multiple POVs and from past to present, that in turn made it a little complicated to keep up with what was going on and at times I got a teeny bit confused. However, I can see why Zhang wrote this book in such a way, it worked for this story.

Liz Emerson has it all, at least it looks that way to everyone who knows her. But Liz is good at hiding her thoughts and her feelings from everyone. One day Liz decides that the world would be a better place without her so she makes a plan for her suicide.

At the beginning of this book Liz seems like your typical mean girl, she gets what she wants no matter who she has to step on to get there. But, as the story unfolds we realize that there is more to her than meets the eye and Liz is just a troubled girl who wants to do better, but can’t.

I have to give Zhang props for the unique narration, I spent a good deal of this book racking my brain, trying to figure out who it could be, but of course I was completely off track. There’s no way I could have guessed the narrator in a million years, because it’s something that I’ve never seen before.

Overall, Falling Into Place is a wonderful and heartbreaking story and I can see fans of If I Stay and Before I Fall (I loved both of them) falling in love with this book. If you’re looking for a unique and emotional read, then you should definitely give this one a try.

--- Christy

ARC Book Review | Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A powerful story of a girl who is afraid to touch another person’s skin, until the boy auditioning for Hamlet opposite her Ophelia gives her a reason to overcome her fears.

Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. Touch another person’s skin, and Dad’s gone for good.

Caddie can’t stop thinking that if she keeps from touching another person’s skin, her parents might get back together... which is why she wears full-length gloves to school and covers every inch of her skin.

It seems harmless at first, but Caddie’s obsession soon threatens her ambitions as an actress. She desperately wants to play Ophelia in her school’s production of Hamlet. But that would mean touching Peter, who’s auditioning for the title role—and kissing him. Part of Caddie would love nothing more than to kiss Peter—but the other part isn't sure she's brave enough to let herself fall.

Perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson, this debut novel from Rachel M. Wilson is a moving story of a talented girl who's fighting an increasingly severe anxiety disorder, and the friends and family who stand by her.

My Thoughts:

Don’t Touch follows a girl named Caddie who has always been a little different. Ever since she was little she’s had a problem with anxiety. Her recent ‘game’ is ‘Touch another person’s skin, and Dad’s gone for good.” But Caddie has took this game a little too far and now she is petrified that something horrible will happen if someone touches her.

While I loved most of the characters (I absolutely adored Mandy, Peter, Livia, and Oscar) I felt a little disconnected with Caddie. But I feel like maybe it was supposed to be that way since Caddie likes to keep people at a distance and not let anyone get close to her. I did feel so sorry for her and watching her struggle with her OCD and anxiety was heart-wrenching but I wish I could have felt more of a connection to her as a person.

The plot was just okay for me, I’ve never been into Shakespeare so the whole play thing wasn’t really my scene but I did enjoy the story outside of the drama stuff. As far as a romance goes, there is a little bit going on but it’s not a huge factor in this book. Yes, Caddie does seem to like Peter and he seems to feel the same way, but you can’t really have much romance when there’s no touching…at all. And the fact that Caddie is so hung up on this rule and its pretty much all she can think about pretty much killed the romance vibe for me.

I know that it kind of seems like I didn’t really enjoy this book based on what I said above, but that’s not the case at all. I really did enjoy reading this book and I think it’s a powerful story about overcoming fear and learning to deal with your problems instead of letting it control your life, I was just hoping to feel more of a connection to Caddie.

----Christy 

ARC Book Review | On the Fence by Kasie West

Format: E-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Rating: 4 Stars

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Fun, original, and endearing, On the Fence is a romantic comedy about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect.

My Thoughts:

 

Kasie West is a freaking genius, I know that I’ve said it before in other reviews and I’m sure that I’ll say it many more times in the future because it’s absolutely 100% true. This is my fourth book by West and I have fell in love with every one of her stories. She knows exactly how to catch a reader’s attention and hold on to it during the entire book.

Charlie is used to being one of the guys, she has been hanging out and playing sports with her three older brothers and her neighbor Braden for as long as she can remember and she loves it. She doesn’t pretend to be someone that she isn’t, she’s just Charlie. But when Charlie’s dad makes her get a job to pay for a speeding ticket she thinks that this will ruin her summer. But, as it turns out it’s just what she needs to realize that there may be more to her than just a tomboy.

Charlie has always thought of Braden as part of her family and she never really considered him to be anything else, until they start hanging out at the fence that separates their houses in the middle of the night. Braden trying to get away from his father and Charlie trying to drown out the nightmares that plague her. Their ‘fence life’ is the turning point in their relationship, it makes them realize how much they really know about each other and it’s the beginning of something that Charlie never expected.

Not only did I like Charlie, but I loved the supporting characters as well. Charlie’s brothers were extremely lovable. And Braden, he was so sweet and it’s easy to see why Charlie fell for him so fast. Although their relationship went from hot to cold and everything in between, it was easy to see how much they cared for one another.

Overall, On the Fence is another wonderful contemporary by the amazing Kasie West and if you’ve never read her work, trust me when I say this, you’re missing out and you should definitely give this amazing author a try. 

 

 

 

----Christy  

Book Review | The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

You take it for granted. Waking up. Going to school, talking to your friends. Watching a show on television or reading a book or going out to lunch.


You take for granted going to sleep at night, getting up the next day, and remembering everything that happened to you before you closed your eyes.

You live and you remember.

Me, I live and I forget.

But now—now I am remembering.

For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

My Thoughts:

The Half Life of Molly Pierce had me intrigued from the very beginning. I’m a sucker for psychological thrillers and books like this one is why. The mystery is there from the beginning and it keeps you guessing the entire time.

Molly has been having regular black outs for quite some time, she will wake up somewhere completely difference and have no memory of what has happened during the last few hours. Losing hours of her time freaks Molly out so much that she hides it from everyone else because she’s afraid of what it means.

Molly was a really interesting character and she was very easy to like. I was constantly on my toes trying to figure out what was going on. At the beginning of this story when we are first introduced to what was happening with Molly, I was thinking everything from brain tumor to alien abduction (Daemon, anyone?) but as the story went on it all began to fall into place and I began to put some of the pieces together and figure out what was happening.

I can’t really say too much without spoiling anything but I will say that the mystery unfolds nicely and the pacing was perfect, there was not a boring moment throughout the entire book.

Overall, The Half Life of Molly Pierce is an engaging and fascinating mystery that will keep you enthralled until the very end.

ARC Book Review | The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Format: e-ARC

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: May 20, 2014

Goodreads

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is used to getting what she wants, and when her boyfriend Jason breaks up with her for no reason, what she wants is to win him back before the start of their senior year. Lainey and her friend Bianca check the interwebz for tips and tricks, but the online dating advice is all pretty lame.

Then the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. Didn't someone once say that love is a battlefield? Jason isn't going to stand a chance once Lainey and Bee go all Zhou Dynasty on him...

Old school strategy and subterfuge meet modern-day dramarama in the story of a girl who sets out to win at all costs and ends up discovering what's really worth fighting for.

My Thoughts

Lainey Mitchell has the perfect life, she’s a star soccer player, has the perfect boyfriend and great friends. She has her whole senior year mapped out, until her perfect boyfriend, Jason, breaks up with her at her job, in front of everyone. But instead of breaking down, Lainey and her best friend Bianca hatch a plan to win Jason back before school starts back so that Lainey can have the senior year that she’s envisioned.

After scouring the internet for ideas on how to win back your ex doesn’t prove useful, Bianca comes up with something a little different. She gets the idea to use a book on their summer reading list, The Art of War as a guide, after all love is a battlefield, right?

The first thing on Lainey’s list is to find a guy to pretend date in order to make Jason jealous. Enter Micah, Micah works as a cook at her dad’s coffee shop and since his girlfriend just broke up with him recently, Lainey feels that they can benefit each other. They make a deal to fake date in order to make their exes jealous but once they get to know each other, will they be able to say goodbye if their plan works?

I thought Lainey was a really great character and she was super easy to relate to. I really feel like she grows quite a bit in the course of this book, at the beginning she came off as a tad bit shallow and it irked me that she only saw herself as ‘Jason’s Girlfriend’. I get that she had been with him for 2 ½ years and it’s hard to let that go, I mean, I’ve been to the point to where I didn’t want to give up on someone and have tried to win them back before, but unfortunately we usually come to realize that everything happens for a reason and what’s in the past is usually left in the past. Or at least that was my experience. But it killed me that she didn’t see that Jason was a selfish asshat and that she could do so much better.

However, I really liked Micah, he was funny, sweet and I loved that he was different and he wasn’t afraid to be who he was. He was the totally opposite of douchebag Jason. Yeah, he has the whole bad boy appearance going on with the tattoos and eyebrow piercing but underneath he was a really great person. Jason on the other hand, has the whole good guy jock appearance but once we learned a little more about him, I didn’t think he was that great of a person. 

I adored the relationship between Lainey and Bianca and I think it’s one of the best BFF friendships that I have come across in a YA book. I do wish we got more Bianca time though, it seemed like she kind of faded out a little bit toward the middle of the book. But, Lainey’s other friend, Kendall, I absolutely loathed her. She’s the type of person who thinks that she is god’s gift to humanity and that she can do and say anything she wants, no matter who it hurts in the process. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to punch her in the face.

Overall, The Art of Lainey is a fun and entertaining read and the pacing makes it a quick read. While there were a few times that I did want to shake Lainey and get her to see what kind of person Jason actually was and that she could do so much better, I really enjoyed her journey and I feel like she grew so much as a person by the end of this book.

 

 

 



ARC Book Review | After the End by Amy Plum

Series: After the End, # 1

Format: e-ARC

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: May 6, 2014

Goodreads

　

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

My Thoughts

When I first heard that Amy Plum was coming out with a new dystopian book, I was absolutely ecstatic. I really enjoyed her Revenant series and I had extremely high hopes for her new series. However, while I liked After the End, it didn’t WOW me like I was expecting it to.

Juneau has lived in a tiny community in Alaska her entire life. Her clan was pretty much the only survivors after the World War III back in 1983 and they have lived in the same tiny little community since then, never venturing outside the boundaries. But, when everyone in her clan is taken, it’s up to her to figure out what happened and how to get them back. Yet, when she journeys outside the boundaries of their land, she learns that WWIII never happened and the cities are intact. The only people she has ever known have lied to her, her entire life.

Juneau was a really hard character to relate to. Yeah, I know that she has been lied to her entire life and she has only know the life inside her village but she just seemed a little odd to me. I really didn't feel too much for Miles either. At the beginning we see a spoiled brat who is used to depending on his daddy to get him out of trouble and while he does seem to grow some as a character, I guess it was just a little too late for him to win me over.

It's clear he's lived a sheltered life. And not just sheltered in the fact that he hasn't been brought up in the wilderness like I have. He has lived what Dennis would call 'a fortunate life, unfortunately for the rest of the world," The blissfully ignorant spawn of the rich.

I really didn't get the whole dystopian feel from this book. Yes, at the beginning while Juneau is with her clan shut off from the rest of the world and thinking they were basically the only survivors of a war gave the impression of a dystopian. But, within the first few chapters we learn that it is all a lie and Juneau finds herself in the modern world and after that the whole dystopian vibe sort of went out the window.

Overall, After the End wasn't a story that I was heavily invested in, it was just a little too slow for me and I didn't really have any sort of connection with the characters. While it kills me that I didn't love this book like I did Plum's other series, I understand that I probably won't like every book I read by a beloved author.

 



 

 



ARC Review | Rebel by Amy Tintera

Series: Reboot # 2

Format: e-ARC

Source: Publisher via Edelwiess

Publication Date: May 13, 2014

Publisher: HarperTeen

Goodreads

 The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

 

 

My Thoughts

After reading and falling in love with Reboot last year, I could not wait to get my hands on Rebel to see how everything would wrap up.  I'm happy to say that Rebel was everything I was hoping for. 

Wren and Callum have finally made it to the Reboot Reservation and even though it looks good on the outside, they quickly learn that it's not the answer they were hoping for.  Micah, the Reservation leader isn't the nice guy that he portrays to Wren at first either.  Micah turns out to be a bloodthirsty asshole who wants to wipe the humans off the face of the earth, but will Wren and Callum let that happen?  I don't know (actually I do, but I'm not telling) you'll have to read to find out.

Wren is just as kickass in this book as she was in Reboot, although she has came a long way from the cold, emotionless girl that she seemed at the beginning of Reboot.  While I think some of that has to do with Callum, I don't think he's the only thing that changed her.  I feel like she was always a caring person underneath all that HRAC crap that filled her head, and I was so glad that we get to see more of that side in Rebel. 

In my opinion, Callum really steps up to the plate in this book.  I can't say much because I don' want to give anything away, but I will say that he while some things took me by surprise, I can see why he ends up where he does. 

 Overall, Rebel is just as action packed and engrossing as its predecessor.  Tintera's writing is amazing and she done a wonderful job bringing this duology to an end.

 

 

ARC Book Review | Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Series: Uninvited # 1  
Format: e-ARC 
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss 

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: January 28, 2013

Goodreads | Amazon

 

 The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.