Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Royal We

Author: Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

Publication Date: April 7, 2015

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance

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Synopsis:

"I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they'll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next."

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.

Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book a lot more than I initially thought I would.  Some have toted it as a glorified fan-fiction of Kate and Will, but I honestly don't care.  There were a lot of similarities between Bex and Nick and Prince William and Duchess Catherine's stories - that's for sure.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book regardless.

Rebecca Porter, or Bex, was just a regular American college student on a study abroad term to Oxford.  She only wanted to go and enjoy the art, to take in the architecture and have fun in the UK.  She wasn't looking for romance, and she certainly wasn't aiming to find love with the second in line to the throne.

I love that we get to follow their eight-year romance to the alter.  We get to see the highs and the lows and friends come and go.  Sometimes, I found myself stopping and remembering how their romance started and drawing lines on how the young 20 year olds with a brand new love story became 26 or 27 with all of these new responsibilities and stresses.  In that way, I was glad we got to see the whole span, which we very rarely get in books.

Neither of the main characters is anywhere near perfect (nor the side characters) and I think that is what I loved the most about this book.  We get to see them both do very well and mess up spectacularly throughout their relationship.  This book broke my heart in more than one spot and had me almost yelling at both or either Bex and Nick on more than one occasion.

The ending did leave me wanting a little more.  I felt it ended a little abrupt and would have liked to see a nice epilogue from two years later, even if it was just a quick snapshot of their life.  But that certainly did not dissuade me from rating this 5 stars/owls.

So, whether you feel this is some sort of fan-fiction on Wills and Kate or not, this book was an excellent read for me.  I hated when I had to put the book down for something.  If you are fascinated by all things royal or you just love a good love story I would definitely recommend this one.

Review: That Summer by Sarah Dessen

That Summer

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

The more things change... As far as Haven is concerned, there's just too much going on. Everything is changing, and she's not sure where she fits in. Then her sister's old boyfriend shows up, sparking memories of the summer when they were all happy and everything was perfect... But along the way, Haven realizes that sometimes change is a good thing.

My Thoughts:

I read my first Sarah Dessen book in 2013 and man did I ever get sucked in. Finally, I found out what everyone else was talking about when it came to this author. This book was my 7th book that I read by her, all the previous ones were 4-5 stars, how could I go wrong? Well I went wrong. So, so wrong. This book is NOT like the rest of her books. It was a horrible struggle to get through, and at a mere 198 pages, took me 4 days to get through, when I was expecting a quick one day read.

Now, That Summer was written in 1996, so it's quite possible that it's not aged well. Young adult was not even a thing back then, it was just Children's books and Adult books. So we've come a long way. Now, it wasn't my only issue with the book. Sarah Dessen's writing style has changed a lot since her early days, unfortunately, it was easy to tell that this was her first book. I really do like her writing, but I'm more used to her new stuff I guess. This book just never sucked me in like her newer ones. It was slow and I slogged through it.

I think one of my problems was that I just couldn't sympathize with the main character, Haven. Her problems didn't seem like they were that bad. Sure, she was going through a crazy growth spurt and was getting really tall and felt awkward. Everyone goes through puberty and we all get through it. Sure, we don't all have our parents going through a divorce and getting remarried and an older sister getting married at the same time. But to me it just felt like Haven was getting upset because she wasn't getting all the attention. Her mom was concentrating on her sister's wedding and trying to distract herself from her ex-husband getting remarried (to someone only a few years older than their oldest daughter) by going out and trying to meet people. Yes, her father was getting remarried, it was over a year after her parents divorce. So the attention was on other people this summer, not her. I don't remember getting all that much attention. I was my mom's easy kid and it didn't bother me that I was left on my own to do my own thing.

I kind of have to agree that she chose the wrong time to have her flip out, the day before her sister's wedding? Yeah. I didn't get the whole thing that was going on with Sumner either. I guess she just wanted things to go back to the way they were when he was with her sister? But that obviously wasn't going to happen. I thought it was a little weird that she kept running into him and having all these heart to hearts, but I guess no one else was talking to her because they were all busy, so it kind of makes sense in a way.

Overall, this book just didn't do it for me. It wasn't faced paced like I'm used to with Dessen. I'm very glad that this isn't the first of her books that I've read. It doesn't change that I love her other books, so I will continue to read her stuff. It's too bad that this one fell flat for me, but it did. I think if you're planning on trying out some of Sarah Dessen's work, or have tried some of her newer stuff already, pass on this one. I mean, it's not the worst thing I've read, and it was okay, but it was hard to get through.

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Publisher: Delacourte Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

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Synopsis:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. 

 But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. 

 Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My Thoughts: This was a book I picked up for my monthly local book club meeting that Jenn and I started a few months back.  Normally, despite the amazing cover, I probably wouldn't have bothered.  I mean, how much could I really read about a "bubble kid" (an immuno-compromised teenager who is living in constant state of quarantine).  Luckily, however, the book club forced this book into my hands and I read it in only four hours.  It's a fast read, but a good one!

Madeline lives in a world of white.  White walls, white clothes, white everything.  Well, everything except her books where she lives her life.  She has SCID, a rare disease that means she is allergic to, well, pretty much everything.  The only outside contact she gets (other than via the internet) is with her mother and her nurse Carla.  That is, until, Olly moves next door.

Madeline hasn't had neighbours in what I could only guess has been years.  She makes it her priority to know what they are doing.  I likened it to watching reality tv, only on her neighbours.  It seems weird and kind of creepy, but when you put it into context of how little human interaction this girl has had in her life and that it is innocent then I though it was just kind of quirky.

Olly notices Madeline watching him from her window and immediately tries to make contact, not realizing the girl from the window next door is incredibly sick.  But it doesn't matter.

Oh boy, did this book throw out some fast ones on me.  It did have a few predictable moments but at about half way through it had me hook, line and sinker.  Not only with the untraditional way the novel was written and set up (both with illustrations, IM messages and emails which all added to the charm) but because I genuinely fell for the characters.

This book would have gotten a solid five owls from me if I hadn't felt like the ended wasn't a bit rushed.  There was some issues with Maddy's Mom that I felt were left unresolved but I was okay with that, given the nature of problems and mothers in real life.  I just wanted to see a more flushed out resolution with Maddy and Olly.  But, the ending was still satisfying and left me smiling.  I would definitely recommend this book to people!

Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride

Author: Sarah Dessen

Publication Date: June 16th 2009

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Genre: Contemporay

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Synopsis:

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

My Thoughts: Sarah Dessen, Sarah Dessen, Sarah Dessen. I'm not sure how much praise I've heard for her, a lot. Everyone seems to love her. So I finally bought some of her books. After asking a friend which one I should start out with, I picked Along for the Ride as my first Sarah Dessen book. It was really, really good!

I have to admit, I felt really bad for Auden. Her parents pretty much didn't pay any attention to her and she ended up becoming and insomniac for it. It's really hard to get out of a routine once you're in it. And once you're used to staying up all night, well that just makes things hard. Auden's parents are divorced and she lives with her mom, but her mom seems to be too busy with grad students to have anything to do with Auden, so she gets sick of it and goes to visit her dad and his new wife, who just had a baby for the summer.

Well her dad's not much better than her mom, worse really in some ways. His wife jut had a baby and he doesn't help at all. Heidi (Auden's stepmother) is really struggling and Auden is the only one who will step up and help out, but she doesn't want Heidi to become dependent on her, so doesn't help all the time. But there were some points where I wanted to strangle her father for being a jerk. Plain and simple.

As far as contemporaries go, this is a pretty good one. Auden grows and changes a lot through out the book, in a good way. Yes, there in a boy, but they help each other get over a few things and it's adorable. Both of them are insomniacs, so the night is theirs. Eli is a really great guy and it was nice to see him finally letting go, but never forgetting, something that wasn't his fault at all. Eli and Auden were meant to be together. I also enjoyed seeing Auden find some girls to be friends with, she didn't have a very normal childhood. So to see things becoming normal for her is great.

Along for the Ride is a great story that will pull at your heart strings! I'm definitely glad I gave Sarah Dessen a chance and can't wait to read more by her!

Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Publication Date: May 5th 2009

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

My Thoughts: This book came highly recommended to me and it did not disappoint me! This is the perfect summer (or even winter) read. It's got beaches, romance and a main character who is just coming into the age where she's no longer in that awkward stage. You know what I mean, when you're too old to be considered a child and too young to be a young adult. Suddenly everything is becoming right for you. Goodbye awkwardness. And the boys she's been around her whole life? They're noticing!

At first I was kind of confused and wondering what kind of name Belly was. A nickname, durr. I kind of felt bad for Belly, she's been the only girl at the beach house every summer (except one when her best friend showed up) and being surrounded by boys kind of sucks. I know, I have 3 brothers. Lucky for her, they weren't all her brothers, but they mostly looked at her like a little sister, for awhile anyways. But suddenly, once she has grown up, she's a bit more interesting to the boys.

This story isn't all about summer love. There are definitely some points that are going to be tear jerkers for you, there were for me. It's a really great story and I'm very glad that I finally got around to reading it. I don't regret it for a moment. I do need to get around to reading the next book though! I really do! With how things ended, I really want to know what happens next. So if you're like me and have been looking at this one but haven't read it, you should! It's worth the read It's a really great story!

Review: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Publication Date: May 23rd 2006

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

t all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date. This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be—and where the next great band is playing.

My Thoughts: I have to admit, I watched the movie for this book way before reading it. When the movie first came out I didn't realize that it was based on a book, so I watched it before reading it. Well it's probably a good thing I did because if I had of read this first, I wouldn't have watched the movie. This is one of those rare cases where the movie is actually better than the book for me. Like way better.

For some reason, even though this book is only 183 pages, which would make you think it was fast paced, I found it really slow. I was wondering when anything was going to happen. Another thing that bothered me? I'm not sure how many times this book says "fuck" or some variety of it, but it was way too many times. Wait, scratch that, I looked it up and someone has it counted as 335 f-bombs in the 183 pages that this book is. Yeah, at least almost twice per page. Now I don't exactly have the cleanest mouth out there, but that just seems a bit ridiculous to me.

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I did finish the book and it was okay. I definitely won't be reading it again and it's not the first book I'd recommend to someone. I might tell them to watch the movie, it at least was censored. Sometime too much swearing is a bad thing. I don't care if the characters are in New York and if that's what it's like, it doesn't make for an enjoyable read. Plus the insta love thing that was going on? Not really that believable for me, especially when the two of them were still obsessing over their ex's, because they were. How can you claim to be falling in love with someone when you can't stop thinking about and comparing them to someone else. Nope, not really insta love for me, more like raging teenage hormones.

If you're interested in this one, I say skip the book and watch the movie. More like 1.5 Owls, not two.

Review: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Mockingbirds
(The Mockingbirds #1)

Author: Daisy Whitney

Publication Date: November 2nd 2010

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Contemporary / Realistic Fiction

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Synopsis:

Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

My Thoughts: So I had heard a lot of good things about this book. But I forgot about it for the longest time. Then one day, I saw it on the bargain shelf at Chapters and remembered it was supposed to be good, so I picked it up. It's a relatively short read, just over 300 pages. Surprisingly, I actually read it shortly after buying it, much to the disappointment of all the books that have been sitting on my shelf for over a year, just waiting to be read.

Basically, the book is about a girl who is date raped. She doesn't really remember much but starts to have flash backs and realizes that she did not in fact give permission to have sex. It was her first time and she doesn't remember it, worse, it apparently happened twice. As the story goes on, she begins to remember more and more, getting madder and madder at what's happened to her. She enlists the help of the student led and operated court, which is the Mockingbirds. They are there for the students because the teachers live in a dream world where nothing wrong ever happens at their school, the students are perfect and even if someone comes to them about an issue, they ignore it or that person is kicked out for some reason or other. So the students are there for justice.

It's a pretty interesting read and I thought it did a great job of showing how someone reacts to being date raped. A lot of rape victims are afraid to report it because of what it is, and you learn as you go on that this has actually happened before, but that person was too afraid to push forward. A lot of people are ashamed and feel like they asked for it. Which isn't true. Unfortunately there isn't much justice in the world when it comes to rape but I thought the way it was handled in this story was good. I really liked the writing style and was pretty much able to sit down and read this book in one sitting. It kept my attention and kept me reading. I will definitely be looking to continue on with the series and will be watching out for more by Daisy Whitney.

Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To

Author: Katie McGarry

Publication Date: May 28, 2013

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

My Thoughts: So I think I liked this even more than Pushing the Limits, which was pretty good. Heck I know I liked it more because I loved Dare You To. For some reason I found it to feel more realistic than Pushing the Limits. I know both books cover issues that could really and do really happen in real life, but I would guess that the issues in Dare You To are a lot more common, therefore easier to imagine for me.

I really liked Beth's story and think that it's a very common one. There are a lot of kids out there who are in similar situations. I felt bad for Beth because she has had a rough go of it. She has complete trust issues because anyone she has ever trusted has left her. Isaiah is the only one that she has who she can trust. He's her best friend. Then everything changes and she ends up living with her uncle, who also abandoned her. She is bitter towards him and hates that she's been moved to a new town, her hometown, back with all the people who judged her family to begin with.

Ryan is a sweet guy. He's a jock, which makes you think he's going to be a jerk, Beth sure thinks that, but he turns out to be really nice and actually really likes Beth. He has his own issues at home, which whilre they aren't as bad as Beth's, they are still not ideal and very realistic. His dad is pushing him into going pro, his brother announced he was gay and his dad basically disowned him. Life gets pretty crappy for Ryan.

Luckily, Katie McGarry does another wonderful job with creating a story that you can get lost in. I certainly had a hard time putting it down and again the ending was somewhat heart breaking. There were some pretty tough decisions to be made but I love how it turned out in the end. I'm really looking forward to the next book which is in Isaiah's PoV. It really is a wonderful read!

Review: How I Lost You by Janet Gurtler

How I Lost You

Author: Janet Gurtler

Publication Date: April 23, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.

My Thoughts: This is the first time I've read one of Janet Gurtler's books and I have to say that I was very happy with it. I have seen them around a lot and they looked good, I just didn't get a chance to try one until now. I'm glad I read this one because it does deal with a pretty heavy topic, rape, but at the same time, it was a light, quick read. I really liked that about it. Gurtler's writing style really appealed to me and I really liked how she could make me feel about the characters. The character building is great and you really learn to sympathise with them.

The protagonist is Grace, she's a paintballer with ambitions of going pro. She takes a lot of crap from the guys who think that it's not a sport for girls, so she has to be extra tough. She is fine with it though because she has her BFF Kya right there with her, kicking the boys butts. Together they are unstoppable on the field. Kya has a secret that Grace keeps for her, even from their other BFF James. Grace always sticks up for Kya, someone needs to and she just feels bad for her. I felt bad for her in the beginning too. Kya was raped and the guy got off with a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately, I know that's how those types of things work. Most times girls don't even report rapes because you are just going to suffer more than you already are and somehow they feel like it's their fault. So yes, I felt bad for her. However, this happened four years ago and while I know it can take a long time for these traumas to heal, Kya was completely using it as a crutch to get whatever she wanted. She always guilted Grace into doing things for her and Grace's life was suffering for it. So as the book went on, I began to despise Kya. She used guys, James hated her, drunk and just seemed to not care in general about anything. They had a very toxic friendship and I was waiting the whole time for Grace to finally stand up to her.

Despite my growing dislike of Kya, I still really enjoyed this book and the lightish writing style. I was able to read it quite quickly, barely pausing to put it down because I was just waiting for that moment when Grace would finally realise that Kya was bad for her. I also didn't realise that paint ball was a sport that people played professionally, so that was very interesting. I don't know much about it, so I got to learn a bit while reading. I can say that I will definitely be looking to read more by Janet Gurtler, she writes a great book!

*A copy was provided for review from the publisher*

Review: If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

If He Had Been With Me

Author: Laura Nowlin

Publication Date: April 1st, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died. Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if... The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.

My Thoughts: Why, why, why do I do this to myself?? I mean, you read that first line of the synopsis. What do you think is going to happen. It clearly states that he dies. So do I believe it? No, I try to talk myself into believing otherwise. I know it's going to happen but still allow myself to get attached to him. It's like I was reading If I Stay again, in a way. A lot less crying though in this case but crying none the less. Not just tears silently running down my face either. No, these were ugly, chin wobbling, runny nose, sobbing cries that make you have to stop, set the book down and cry into your pillow. Luckily, my husband was pre-occupied with a movie and headphones, so he didn't have to witness my emotional overload due to a book, I'm sure it would have amused him though. Even though this book tore my heart out and stomped on it a few times, I'm still in love with it. I couldn't put it down, except when sobbing, and was in denial for the majority of the book. Especially towards the end. I just couldn't believe that Nowlin would do that to me. Still, I was warned in advance, so I can only blame myself for the false hope.

So the protagonist is Autumn. She starts out even telling you in the first paragraph that he died. Clearly I decided to ignore her as well. She tells the story of everything that went wrong with her and Finn's relationship. How they grew apart. I got sucked into the story and got attached to both of them. I couldn't help but like Autumn because she was weird, like I was (although I didn't wear tiaras every day) and I had a great group of geeky friends. So she was a bit of an outcast, making her easy to relate with.

Finn is absolutely amazing. He does do a few things that aren't so cool, but you can tell he's completely in love with Autumn. Even if she is clueless to it. He is a guy that I could have totally fallen for in high school. He's sweet, devoted, somewhat shy, smart, hot and a soccer player! He's just so nice to everyone and sticks up for Autumn, even when they aren't talking.

Overall, this is a great emotional read. I certainly enjoyed it. I love the characters, the writing style and the story is just amazing. Even though you know what's going to happen in the end, it's really easy to forget. Or maybe it was the fact that I knew something bad was going to happen that I just couldn't help but keep reading. I had to know how it happened. I won't say it has a happy ending, because it doesn't but the ride to the end is amazing. The story is very realistic I think. This is a story that could happen and probably has before (as sad as that is to think). I will most definitely be recommending this one! It is an amazing debut novel! Besides, who doesn't need a nice ugly cry once in awhile?

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why

Author: Jay Asher

Publication Date: October 18th, 2007

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre:

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Synopsis:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

My Thoughts: I've seen a lot of positive reviews for this book, and I'm honestly I'm astounded. So if you did love this book and don't want to hear why I think it was so downright terrible, I suggest that this is where you stop reading.

This book was absolutely horrible. I almost thought about not reviewing it because I didn't feel like wasting my breath. But then I thought no, I think this book could use some different light shed on it. And maybe no one else seen this book the way I did, but hopefully some of you did.

In the first place this book pretty much glorifies suicide. It doesn't make it sound like Hannah should not have commited suicide. It doesn't give the idea that commiting suicide  is even a bad idea. I mean yeah, there Clay Jensen who was all "Why did you do it? Why Why?". But that is about the extent of it.  Not only that though, the reasons given for Hannah's suicide are downright insane. I can't even beleive the list of 13 reasons given in this book. Because someone slapped her ass?  Or started a rumor or about her? Or used her for a drive to a party? Give me a freaking break!!!  It's called High School and none of us come out of it unscathed. Seriously, is there a single person on this earth that doesn't have horrible high school experiences?! There'd be a lot of  dead teenagers if we all handled ourselves the Hannah shows us is the acceptable reaction.

Which, in my opinion, make it even worse that this is a young adult book. It's just plain wrong to me. It  blows my mind that people the same age as the characters could be reading this story  and seeing suicide taken so lightly. I guarantee half of the people reading  this story had far worse experiences than Hannah or are even currently facing much harder times. To think they might pick up this book and think, well gee if all these people think these are justifiable issues for ending your life, then why am I still living with mine?  In fact, I think this book is an offense to any person who has ever seriously dealt with suicidal thoughts and issues. To take Hannah's thirteen reasons as good enough for what she did is like throwing dirt right in anyone's face who has seriously struggled with suicidal thoughts.

I am aware that some pretty bad things did happen in this book, but may I also point out that they didn't even happen directly to Hannah. She witnessed these events, attached herself to them and used them for fodder to build up more reasons. There was one moment in this book where a character said "Hannah was just looking for reasons to kill herself". And I could not have agreed with him more! It really seemed like she was just digging for any excuse.

 And then she had to make these tapes and attempt to ruin all these other peoples lives who she blames for her taking her own.... Seriously? As I said before, some of the reasons were so unbeleiveably petty and Hannah here makes them listen to a tape saying pretty much that it's their fault she killed herself and now they have to live with that. We all do stupid things in high school, how would you like it if someone  took their life because you used them for a drive to a party and then made a tape telling you  it was your fault and now you have to carry that for the rest of your life.

This book is just.....wrong. I don't think anyone should be reading it. And especially not the age group it's directed at. My vote is don't even touch this book, don't encourage others to read it. You of course are free to disagree with my reasoning, but the point of working on a book blog  is to share MY thoughts and these are them: This book is garbage.

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

This Is What Happy Looks Like

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Publication Date: April 2, 2013

Publisher: Poppy

Genre: Comtemporary

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Synopsis:

If fate sent you an email, would you answer? When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

My Thoughts: I've been reading a lot of contemporaries lately, I'm not really sure why, in that kind of a mood I guess. I picked this one up from my review pile to give it a try just before going to bed and the next thing I knew, I was 100 pages in and it was past midnight. Reluctantly, I had to put it down because I had to get up at 7am and watch kids. Well, I almost immediately picked it up again in the morning and read the rest.

This Is What Happy Looks Like follows two characters, showing each of their thoughts. The first is Ellie, a girl with a secret. The second is Graham, the movie star who manages to get it so his new movie is being filmed in Ellie's tiny hometown in Maine. Neither of them have met but they spend a few months emailing back and forth, only knowing initials. They both love the annonimity of the internet. Graham gets to feel like a normal teenager again and Ellie looks forward to the emails everyday.

I loved the romance, it was so sweet and cute. Ellie doesn't want to be in the media spotlight, but Graham doesn't know the real reason. Both of them have some parental issues, ones they aren't willing to talk about at first. I can see how hard a relationship with the media breathing down your neck would be hard and there were a few scenes that reminded me why I would never want to be a celebrity. I really dislike the way the paparazzi have no respect for people. I mean, there are points where they get violent and pushy just for a reaction from the person they want pictures of, it's disgusting.

Overall this is a cute story, a little slower paced, but not too bad. I like the little emails at the beginning of each chapter, they were cute. I hadn't read anything else by Jennifer E. Smith before. I know, I want to read
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. But I will say that I really enjoy her writing style and character development. I will be reading more by her. I really felt for the characters and there were a few times that I found myself getting a bit teary eyed. Always a good thing for me when the book gets me emotionally attached. I highly recommend this one for any of you who are fans of contemporary!

Blog Tour: Things I Can't Forget

Things I Can't Forget
(Hundred Oaks #3)

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publication Date: March 1st 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt…with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…

My Thoughts: Once again, Miranda Kenneally does a wonderful job creating an emotional story that you can't help but get even a bit teary eyed at. Well at least I can't. I was happy to finally pick up Things I Can't Forget, after really loving Stealing Parker. You might be happy to note that Parker and Will are involved in Things I Can't Forget. Even Jordan makes an appearance. As a companion novel, you don't really have to read the other novels for this story to make sense to you, but it helps to know why certain people are who they are. Like Stealing Parker, Things I Can't Forget deals with a lot of religion and very controversial topics. I didn't mind, even though I'm not very religious because it wasn't in an overbearing way.  

This time we are out of high school, it's the summer before Kate, the protagonist starts college and she is feeling completely alone in the world. Kate is a good Christian girl who never does anything wrong, that was until her best friend came to her for help. Kate feels guilty for helping Emily and they have a falling out, leaving Kate to work at the summer camp that they were both supposed to be at, alone. Kate somewhat bothered me a tiny bit because she was, like everyone else thought, a tiny bit judgemental. Her best friend had to make this agonizing decision that completely changed her life and beliefs, but Kate was acting like it had happened to her. She wasn't there for her friend in her time of need, so they fell apart. She is a nice person, and I liked her overall, but she is just a bit naive. She has strong beliefs and doesn't like when one of those beliefs is broken by someone close to her.

There is romance of course. Matt was Kate's first kiss back when they were younger and going to summer camp. He's also a counselor this year and he's hot! He's in a fraternity, which Kate isn't really sure she can get over, but she really likes him. He's a really nice guy and writes his own music and is very outgoing. Very different from the shy geek she knew and kissed. She is very much interested but isn't sure what to expect as she's never dated before. I liked Matt a lot and think he is a great guy.

So there is romance, ups and downs. Girl drama. Christianity, premarital sex and abortion all touched in Things I Can't Forget. Real issues that real people deal with. Miranda has woven it all together in an amazing story, one that I personally couldn't put down. I was reading and my husband just turned off the lights when it got too late, so I didn't even realize how fast time had gone. I really like the Hundred Oaks books and am looking forward to reading more. I like that these issues are touched in a way that shouldn't bother anyone. Both sides are there and sometimes you just have to agree to disagree for the sake of a friendship. People change as Kate learns. There is a really great message in all of these books and I'm hoping for another one in the next book. I highly recommend this one!

Buy it:

Amazon

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