Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Release Date: September 5th, 2011

Amazon Says:
Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.


I say:
Kody Keplinger is awesome. She did an interview with me last year and is incredibly cool. Her agent is awesome, she has a great blog, and she's really young.
That said, I'm not sure how much I loved The Duff. It was a good, easy read, but not necessarily my favorite sort of book.
Shut Out, however?
Totally my favorite kind of book.
The characters seem real. Lissa is accessible to many girls for a myriad of reasons. She connected with me on way more levels than the characters in The Duff. She has issues with her friends, issues with her family, and most of all, is really confused on the whole 'relationship' thing. Her world gets way too tangled up in that relationship. You watch her compromise elements of herself and of her life for her relationship before she finally just gets fed up and decides that something needs to change.
The plot was really enjoyable, twisting and turning without being predictable or unnecessarily confusing. It was a great, fast read and one that I can definitely see myself picking up again. Plus, you know, there are cute boys.
Boys aside, though, Shut Out addresses bigger elements. It  points at the many issues of high school dating and brings solidarity to a lot of different types of girls. Relationships in high school are aggravating, hard, heart wrenching and way too tricky to deal with alone. Kody Keplinger's new book makes sure that girls don't have to.
Plus -- seriously, people. There are some very cute boys.
More later.

Review of Sweetly, by Jackson Pearce

Release Date: August 23, 2011


Goodreads says: Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again. 

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel. 

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

I say: 
Fairy tales are my thing. I love them. Hansel and Gretel isn't a story that's retold very often, so I was excited to read Sweetly. It's technically a sequel to Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce's previous novel and a retelling of Red Riding Hood, but I don't really think you have to read the first to understand the second. It would make sense without it. 


Sweetly is truly well written. The story kept me entertained, and the characters were incredibly crafted. The character of Sophia, in particular, was really enjoyable. She's believable and real, and of all of the cast, she was probably the one I liked the most. The talk of candy making was interesting and made for a good story. 


The southern feel to the novel, and the dynamics of the town also really added to the novel. Mixed in all together, it definitely makes the book worth reading. 


I felt, however, like some parts of the novel were a little bit odd; the monsters -- Fenris -- really didn't make much sense unless you've read Sister's Red, and even then, they seemed out of place at times. The novel had some of the epic qualities that Sister's Red possesses, but they were disjointed and mostly came at the -- granted, truly impressive -- finale.

I liked it, don't get me wrong, but the novel felt open ended. It's a solid 3 and 1/2 stars.

More later.

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Release Date: June 11, 2011 (Sorry, guys...)
Amazon Says:

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there; swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. 

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past. 

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened? 

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

I say:
Guys, I have a confession. I pretty much want to be Myra McEntire.
She helped to found Do The Write Thing For Nashville. She has one of my favorite blogs. She put up an amazing post when Speak was banned. She even did an interview with me, late last year. When my awesome librarian asked for requests from ALA, I asked for Hourglass. (It wasn't out yet. However, Sarah is magic and got it somehow anyway. Moment of Sarah love entered here.)
So I wanted to like this book, and I was scared to read this book, because I didn't want to be disappointed.
Yeah.
Well.
I brought it to school. By second hour, my teacher had to pretty much take the book away. (It was math. Who needs math when you have fantastic books?)
And Hourglass is literally fantastic. It's full of sparkles (seriously, the cover is going to sparkle) and has magic and science and yumminess  boys and I am going to marry it.
It's paranormal without being truly paranormal. It's the first 'magic' book I've read in a while that felt new.
It's got a boy that I really, really liked. Actually, it had two boys that I really, really liked -- but I also really liked that Emerson, the MC, was pretty dang solid in which one she wanted. It made me like her that much more.
Plus, Hourglass surprised me. The novel isn't predictable; in fact, several times I sat there blinking and going 'Wait, whaaaaat?' (Which, seriously, dude -- it's an attractive face to pull in the middle of a crowded classroom.)
I love her family. It was a real unit, a family that had problems and issues and still managed to be one that you'd be happy to join. I cracked up through the entire book. I liked how the reader gets to watch Emerson grow. That said, I enjoyed how flawed Emerson is; she was easy to relate to. She has a great best friend. And the connotations that are set up for Book Two? Yeah, I'm excited.
I liked how I was reminded of A Wrinkle In Time but at the same time, felt like I was reading something totally new.
Basically, I just loved it. I handed it over to my mother, and plan on going to rant at my librarian about how much I liked it, and probably am going to send Maggie a long rambly email later about it. It didn't just live up to my expectations; it exceeded them in the best way.
Anyway. This is turning into a love letter, and I am resolutely against love letters. Unless they are written to me from very pretty boys, and even then, they'd better be more articulate than I usually am.
 More later, folks!

Review of Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Release Date: May 3, 2011. (HEY! It's my birthday!)

Amazon Says:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I Say: 

XANJLURFDONASLJKNCDMAPOSNGLOJA:ISOLJSAGFNOL.

YOU GUYS.

Get your hands on this book. Pet it. Worship it. Do NOT under any circumstances take it to school, because you will NOT do your work. I literally read the first chapter and forced myself to leave it home from a debate tournament. It is THAT good.

Beatrice's world has been split into factions. There are the selfless people, the happy people, the truthful, the knowledge seeking, and there are the courageous. (They're called differently in the book -- Amity, Dauntless, Candor, such and such.) Beatrice has been raised to be selfless. However, she's 16 now. She's 16, and it's time to choose what she will be for the rest of her life.

One choice. One life. The rest of her world is on this one choice. 

And the choice she makes? Yeah, it turns into one heck of a book.

I can't really say that much about this book without giving away too many awesome bits and pieces. But there is so much excitement. There is ROMANCE. And dude, it's a good one. It's a great one. There is familial drama, and political intrigue, and moments of breath-taking danger. 

Guys, I haven't wanted a sequel so badly since I first read Hunger Games.

You LIKE Beatrice. She's such a good character, because she's flawed, but you still really, really like her. She might be one of my favorite characters of all time. Her supporting cast is full and realistic, and -- just AGH. The guy, the guy, the guy! I love him so. And I can't say who it is.

-_-

Bottom line.

Read this book.

Read it as soon as possible. 

I promise, it will DEFINITELY be worth it.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 22 2011


Amazon Says:
What if you knew exactly when you would die? 

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.


I say: 
This story is interesting. Creepy, freaky, and waaaaay interesting.


It's one of the most inventive worlds I've seen, and one of the best well crafted. I've seen a lot of people comparing this to The Handmaid's Tale (which, admittable enough, I haven't read -- it was in my Christmas pile, though, so it's coming) but honestly, I think that there was enough variety that it keeps the story fresh. The tiny details are everywhere; the similarities to the modern day is eerie. Every once in a while it seemed as if maybe the story was a tad predictable, but there were enough loops and turns that it keeps the pages turning. I picked the book up, was forced to go do stuff, and had to keep myself from sneaking it underneath the table at lunch. (These are the kind of books that got me a B in math. Gah.)


The story is part of a trilogy but stands on its own. And dude, that is enough to gain it serious points. Wither tells a complete story, but it is obviously part of a larger picture. The suspense and confusion builds through the entire story, and is barely brushed by the end; it's enough to make the reader want more. I did have a slight issue with how easily some of the end problems seemed resolved, but I'm banking on the fact that this will be addressed later.


The characters, however, are what make this book shine. You hate them. You love them. You admire them, you cry for them, you want to smack them. Seriously. They are real people. Not a single one is simple, and it makes this book incredibly interesting. The main character, Rhine, is incredibly complex -- she's an orphan who has been living a kind of miserable existence, but when dropped in a world of luxury, she is still horrified. And it makes sense. You even feel something for her captors -- it's confusing and odd, but so real that it's almost kinda freaky.  Even Rhine's brother, who isn't a predominant character in much of the story, is someone that you grow to care about, just because Rhine herself loves him so much.


The story is great debut. It's beautifully written (and oddly enough, just kind of beautiful; seriously, the detailing inside the book is great) and I'll most definitely be picking up the sequel. Props to Ms. DeStefano for keeping me totally enthralled.


More later, guys. I hope you're all still whole and healthy after New Years. (And if not, well, I'm sure it was worth it. :P )

Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: February 1st, 2011

Good Reads Says: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love - the deliria - blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

I Say:
Holy monkeys and pandas, dude.
This book?
Nightmares. Do you know the last book that gave me nightmares?
Oh. You don't? (Wait, you don't know my every thought? -blinks- Huh.)
Anyway, I guess I can't be too annoyed by that since I don't even remember.  And yet, I woke up at 3 in the morning, decided to finish the book, and went back to sleep at 4. I then went on to dream and wake up totally freaked out.
Here's the thing that makes Delirium scary--it makes sense.
I have had a sucky time with boys lately. I don't like feeling sad, depressed, angry, that whole shebang. So when I picked up Delirium, I was half thinking, hey, a government that takes away the side affects of that? Creepy, I guess, but not that bad.
Yeah.
Dude.
That bad.
Lena is ready. Lena doesn't want to feel love. She's scared of it. Doesn't even want to say the word. She lives in a world that is eerily similar to ours, and at the same time, is incredibly different. She doesn't know what poetry is, and a mother that declared love is considered shameful. A mark on her record. Lena wants her emotions gone. And--I mean, as creepy as it is, there's a weird sense to it.
But then you see it in action.
And Lauren Oliver's writing is so flipping beautiful. The writing is not as pretty as that of Before I Fall, but there are still brilliant moments. The plot is not always fast, but I promise--the end? Yeah. The last ten pages are so slam packed and so heart jolting that its definitely worth getting there.
The back of the book compared Delirium to the danger of Hunger Games and the romance of Romeo and Juliet. It's scary in a different way than Hunger Games, because it seems, in a way, more realistic. And as for romance? The boy Lena falls for is -- interesting. She falls pretty quickly, but at the same time, it makes sense. She's never even talked to boys before, and the budding relationship seemed realistic enough. But the way the story built and twined and grew?
Yeah.
Waaaaay more romantic than Romeo and Juliet. (Of course, I do have a low opinion of that play. Cept the version with Leonardo Di Caprio as Romeo.)

(Lord, the boy be pretty.)
Anyway.
Bottom line: Sometimes, true enough, the story did drag. The prose was beautiful, and the characters/society were believable, if not as mind numbingly fantastic as those in Before I Fall (which, actually, is one of my top reads, though -- so yeah) (Actually, had a friend start randomly talking about BIF yesterday. Seriously. She had no idea that I loved it, but she raved for like, ten minutes. It was kind of great.) But Lauren Oliver shows you a society that is absolutely terrifying. And I am thinking about it. I am unsettled and bothered and that, to me, is what makes a good book. I can't get the dang thing out of my head.
And now?
I don't want my feelings gone. These crappy feelings, these awful feelings -- they're better than nothing. Indifference is terrifying. I've always believed it, but I gotta say, Delirium reminded me. And kind of smacked me in the process. With a ten pound weight.
It's thought provoking, y'all. Be ready. And, to finish it off, the Amazon quote--

Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

Gah. -shivers-
More later, everyone. 

Anna and the French Kiss (Stephanie Perkins)

Release Date: December 2, 2010 (Soon, guys! Soon! BE ON THE LOOK OUT!)

Amazon says:
Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris — until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.
I say:
Oh, gosh, you guys.
This book is so cute.
Seriously. Maggie and Sarah (their names link to their reviews) have been talking about it for literally weeks (like, nonstop love talk) and I can totally see why. I'm overwhelmed with the need of emoticons for this review -- that's my level of incessant adoration. It was sweet and well written and hilarious. It had a cute boy that was the best friend as well as the love interest. There are snippets of Paris and of young love and of awesome food and great cinema.
Anna is sent to the boarding school because her dad is a novelist and wants her to be cultured. And honestly? I totally love that, because it seems realistic on some level. She doesn't utterly, totally and completely hate the idea, but she sure isn't thrilled. I mean, the girl took Spanish -- she knows nothing about France. Well. Nothing more than like, I would know. (Hello, Spanish 3.) And I can just tell you -- I would NOT be happy to be uprooted and tossed in Paris, even if it is Paris.

(Well. Maybe.)
But honestly, it would suck -- lose your life to move to a city where you don't even speak the language. Anna is not thrilled. But then she's there.
And there is a BOY-THING.
And BOY-THING is BRITISH.
Seriously, dude.
British boy in Paris. What more could you want?
The thing is, this romance is so real. Like, St. Clair is more than just Anna's object of omigawdhawtness. He's her friend. This is a story about finding love, but more than that, it's about friendship. And, you know, Paris.

(I sooooo wanna go to Paris.)

Books like this are not my favorite, normally. Too easy they can cross the line into cliche and possibly annoying. The Summer I Turned Pretty is about the closest I've come to true love for a book in this genre, and I've got to say,  the list after that doesn't get all that much longer. However, Anna and the French Kiss is just as good as my favorites in any genre; I love it just as much.
:P Seriously. You won't be disappointed. If you buy a book this Christmas, I suggest this one whole-heartedly.

(Also, randomly, I love the girl on the cover. She just FITS.)

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Release Date: November 2, 2010

Amazon Says: 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.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

I say:

You guys.

This book? This book is amazing. It is going to win awards. People are going to love it. I loved it. It sends you on a whirlwind of emotions and doesn't let go of you until it's over. And here's the thing -- it felt so real.

Normally, books about such dark subjects are a touchy subject. They can be too dark, too preachy, too much to be real. The Mockingbirds wasn't at all. Alex is a wonderful protagonist. She's talented, smart, sarcastic. She's everything you want to be. But something awful has happened to her, and you hurt with her. But you also get to watch her heal.

The book starts out at the scene of the crime, but Alex can't remember anything. The event of the rape comes back to her through out the book. Normally, I don't like flashbacks. But the way Ms. Whitney pulls them off is not only effortless, but it keeps the awfulness of Alex's situation from rising up and swallowing you by splitting up the sad moments. It also makes it all the more powerful, because not one chapter throughout the book do you forget what happened.

If you get one thing from this review, though, I want it to be this; this book isn't depressing. I tried to explain it to a friend and she rolled her eyes, told me she didn't read books 'like that' -- she then went back to reading Moby Dick. She's worse off for that. The Mockingbirds is not 'that.' It isn't all dark. It's realistic and gritty and yes, awfully, horribly sad, but it's a story about redemption and healing. But, see, Ms. Whitney tells is way better than I just did, so you laugh and grin and roll your eyes at the fantastic dialog. You love her sister, her best friends -- Maia was my favorite, but that's because she's a debater and I'm biased -- and you fall in love with the boy you want Alex to be with. 

This book is honest. It's real. Teachers aren't always there for kids. It's sad and sick, but the administration can't always save teenagers -- even in places as 'perfect' as themis. But Alex's peers step up. She steps up. Her friends step up. And it turned out to be a really great book.

And best of all? If this had actually happened to me, or to someone I knew, or really just any girl, I think it could help them heal.

More later

Review of Matched: By Allie Condie

Release Date: November 30, 2010

Amazon Says:
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

I say:
Well. The cover glitters.
And the writing isn't bad. And a lot of people have liked, even love it.
But . . .
I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to love this book. But I didn't. In fact, I was kind of underwhelmed.
-takes deep breath-
I don't like giving bad reviews. Normally, I would just keep my cyber mouth shut. I'll explain why I'm not at the end of the post.
I disliked the MC quite a lot. I felt as if she were screwing over Xander, her best friend, through much of the novel, and it was driving me insane. Sure, she felt a little bad. But honestly? If I was doing that to my best guy friend, it would be awful. I just didn't like her. I felt as if the relationship was slightly underdeveloped -- as in, she was only with Ky because she was curious as to why his face flashed up -- and I thought that the 'hooks' of the dystopian world were predictable. The best developed characters, to me, were the 'bad guys' and many of the secondary characters. The last fifty pages were quite good, but I felt as if the rest was building, building, building, and it wasn't until those last fifty pages that I was at all emotionally invested.
But this is the thing.
The book wasn't bad. (Says the person who just wrote a paragraph about what she didn't like.) Really, I didn't like it much, but it wasn't awful. The writing itself was good, the idea was interesting, and hey, flawed characters are great.
But Matched has been built up so much. So, so much. The next Hunger Games, some have said.
No. I don't understand that. Not at all.
It's not on the same level. I don't see any possible similarities. I think that Matched was a solid book, but it wasn't the epic level of Hunger Games. Yes, Ms. Condie shares an agent with Stephanie Meyers, but I don't actually see that much of a similarity to Twilight, either. If this book hadn't built up so much, I might have liked it more. But I opened it up expecting Katniss and Peeta, or even Edward and Bella. And I was disappointed. Like, really disappointed.
I might be one of few. I've been flipping around, looking at other people's reviews, because I was curious. The book earned a 7 figure deal. So...Obviously it has merit. And people either seem to love it or ... really just not. I fell into the second category; it is also the smaller category. A lot smaller. I think people want to like this book, but I'm sorry. I just didn't. I kind of feel like there's something wrong with me because I didn't. But if I hadn't read so much great, shiny stuff about how it was the best book ever, maybe I would have liked it more.
 I'm giving the negative review because I think that it destroys books to be built so high on a pedestal; hopefully, you can go into Matched without quite as high expectations. Chances are, you might like it. You might even love it. I just didn't.
-cowers-
Please don't shoot me.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Release Date:
October 12, 2010

Amazon Says:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.


I say:
Guess what?
Ethan isn't a vampire.
He isn't a fairy/faerie/faery/weird thing with wings.
And guess what?
I still like him. In fact, I like him even more because he doesn't sparkle. It's so much more manly not to be all glittery.
I thought Beautiful Darkness was oodles and bunches more than Beautiful Creatures, and I was fond of Beautiful Creatures. (My only complaints? It was a tad long and a tad girly.) But in this book, Ethan really came across more 'guy' to me. I'm not quite how to explain how it, but it really seemed as if his character flourished. BD does occasionally seem to slow, but I don't think it's because the plot is lacking -- the books are just really long. (I never thought I would say that about a book. I feel like a failure.)
I LOVE the setting. Gatlin is like, the best town ever. I so want to live in it. There is magic and tradition and pie and more pie and biscuits and awesome people and southern boys and girls who follow strict rules and guidelines.
Lena annoyed me to no end, but in a heart breaking way that made me still want to hug her. (After, you know, slapping her. Or poking her. Or something.) Link was hilarious. Even Ridley ends up with some great surprises. All in all, I was very fond of this book. It was crafted beautifully and oozed with talented writing.
-eyes Saint Louis library- Ms. Garcia and Ms. Stohl will be there soon.
-blinks-
-eyes school- Who really needs that anyway?

Hunger by Jackie Morse Keller

Release Date: October 18, 2010

Amazon says:

"Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world."

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

     Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home—her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power—and the courage to fight her own inner demons?

I say: It's taken me a couple of weeks to write this review, and I'm not sure why.

When I first saw Hunger, I was a little nonplussed for two reasons. First, I don't like issue books. They can be preachy and annoying. And second, it was short. I don't like short books either.

But . . . I like Hunger.

I actually ended up liking it a lot.

The story takes a new look on old subjects; eating disorders and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The second is dealt with wonderfully. The characters are entertaining and still manage to make an impression, even though the book is really rather short. I do wish there was a little bit more of the fantasy here; Kessler deals with it so well that I would have liked to hear a little more.

However. We then hit on the first subject. Eating disorders.

It's . . . hard for me to describe this. I know people that have stuck their fingers down their throat. I know people that probably still do. While the main character, Lisa, isn't bulimic, she does have a friend that is. It was a little bit uncomfortable for me personally to read about it -- which, obviously, is the point, and obviously, not a bad thing. The fact that the book can make such an impression is wonderful. Anorexia is dealt with in a way that didn't seem preachy at all. Bulimia is stripped to the bones. On both cases, you don't see anything glamorous.

 The book straight forward and simple. And something about it rings true. It's tiny, but it is worth your time. I know, this is a short review. There's really not much else to say, though, except that you should give this book a shot. 

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

We are all aware that I like Kody Keplinger. She was awesome enough to do an interview with me here and I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the Duff because I have an awesome librarian. 

And without further ado, my review. And also, in case you are wondering, I am now also a poet.

Release Date: September 7th 2010

Amazon Description:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

My Review:

Um, Wesley was hot.

Oh, wait. You want an actual review.

-ponders-

Okay, fine. The Duff was honest. Bianca is cynical and a tad crazy and totally hard core, but she's also flawed and going through a ton of bad stuff with her family. So she turns to Wesley.

I mentioned he's hot, right?

Yeah, well, he's also kind of an a$$hole. For one thing, I immediately had an issue with him calling Bianca a Duff. Why, I wonder, is the author doing this? There is no way I'm gonna like this guy. It's just not gonna happen. I was wrong. I did end up liking Wesley. As his character developed, and actually, as you got to see him through the eyes of his family, I started to like him more and more. 

Kody Keplinger does not shy away from language or sex. So, um, if you have a problem with either, this may not be the book for you. But it is honest. I mean, kids curse. -GASP I KNOW OMG- And Bianca's voice is great. If I'd brought this book to school, there would have been a problem. Math teacher say what? I'm sorry, teacher, I was too busy reading about hot guys ummm the dangers of bubble gum. Yeah. That.

(Not a joke. You should have heard the excuse for Hunger Games.) 

So, yeah, that's high praise. 

The only issue I actually had was with the politics -- literally -- in the book. Not because I disagreed with Bianca's political views -- actually, she has the same ones I possess -- but because I know several friends that would get kinda pissy should I recommend it. Not because of the cursing or the sex, but the politics. (Dude, I know. How weird is that? I live in the bible belt though; politics are way touchier around here.) 

However, it really isn't that big of a deal. Most people I know could rise above it. The Duff was funny and cute and kind of left me with an Awwwww feeling at the end. 

It was a fast read (it took me about an hour and a half total) but definitely worth the time. Seriously, as soon as it comes out, go grab it.

I promise you, it's worth it. Wesley really is pretty cute.