Book: The Things A Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

Published September 2010|Published by Wendy Lamb Books

E-book|Borrowed from the library|166 pages

Series Or Stand-Alone: Stand-Alone

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Dana Reinhardt’s Website

Summary: The story of a young marine’s return from war in the Middle East and the psychological effects it has on his family.

Finally, Levi Katznelson’s older brother, Boaz, has returned. Boaz was a high school star who had it all and gave it up to serve in a war Levi can’t understand. Things have been on hold since Boaz left. With the help of his two best friends Levi has fumbled his way through high school, weary of his role as little brother to the hero.

But when Boaz walks through the front door after his tour of duty is over, Levi knows there’s something wrong. Boaz is home, safe. But Levi knows that his brother is not the same.

Maybe things will never return to normal. Then Boaz leaves again, and this time Levi follows him, determined to understand who his brother was, who he has become, and how to bring him home again.

Award-winning author Dana Reinhardt introduces readers to Levi, who has never known what he believes, and whose journey reveals truths only a brother knows.

There are so many things I liked about The Things A Brother Knows!  I liked that it focused on the relationship between two brothers, and how Boaz joining the military has affected his family.  You definitely hear about how war can and does affect soldiers, but I kinda feel like you don’t really hear about their families and how their loved one going off to war affects them.  Growing up in a navy town- but with no connections to the Navy, other than knowing my grandpa was in the Navy- you do hear about navy ships being deployed and their families seeing them off and welcoming them home.

I liked that you saw things through Levi’s eyes, and how he struggled with his own feelings about his brother joining the marines and how that compared to what other people thought.  That other people thought Boaz was a hero, while Levi sometimes seemed to wonder what was so great about his brother joining the marines.  It wasn’t what I was expecting from Levi, but I can imagine that there are people out there, who just want their loved ones, home and safe.

I loved how Levi followed his brother on his journey to D.C., and how Boaz’s family wasn’t quite sure how to help him.  They definitely have an interesting relationship, which has changed over the years.  It even changes a bit throughout the book, but I wish we got to see a little more of their relationship before the start of the book.  You get enough to see the difference, but a little more would have been nice.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked The Things A Brother Knows.  It’s a great look at how families deal with a relative going off to war, and a really great look at the relationship between 2 brothers.  It wasn’t completely amazing, but I still thought it was a great book.  It gets 4 stars.

Book: Faking Faith by Josie Bloss

Published September 2011|Published by Llewellyn Worldwide|164 pages|E-book via the library

Series? No

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Josie Bloss’ Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Dylann Mahoney is living one big unholy lie.

Thanks to a humiliating and painfully public sexting incident, Dylan has become the social pariah at her suburban Chicago high school. She’s ignored by everyone–when she’s not being taunted–and estranged from her two best friends. So when Dylan discovers the blogs of homeschooled fundamentalist Christian girls, she’s immediately drawn into their fascinating world of hope chests, chaperoned courtships, and wifely submission.

Blogging as Faith, her devout and wholesome alter ego, Dylan befriends Abigail, the online group’s queen bee. After staying with Abigail and her family for a few days, Dylan begins to grow closer to Abigail (and her intriguingly complicated older brother). Soon, Dylan is forced to choose: keep living a lie . . . or come clean and face the consequences.

I was intrigued by Faking Faith.  I mean, Dylan goes from sexting to pretending to be a fundamentalist Christian.  I get why she’s initially drawn in, and how she was able to take the good from Abigail’s life.  You sort of see her appreciate her own life after visiting Abigail.

I was definitely intrigued by Abigail and her family and their beliefs.  I’m fairly certain there are more than a few people out there who think families like Abigail’s are strange and maybe even a little crazy.  I would say Faking Faith falls somewhere between a super-positive portrayal of Abigail’s family and a really negative one.  You see both, but there were times when I felt like Bloss leaned more towards portraying them in a negative way, which was kind of irritating.  That being said, I was glad to see Dylan’s appreciation of her own life.

At the risk of being repetitive, I’m going to move on to something else.  Abigail and Dylan are so very different, but both are interesting characters who are just trying to make it through life.  I definitely connected more with Abigail, which is probably because I felt like we’re a lot more alike than myself and Dylan.  Although I do understand Dylan getting really into those blogs.  The internet is a fun and slightly scary time-waster.  You only mean to spend a few minutes looking at something…and hours later you realize you just need to stop.  I did like the contrast between the two girls and thought it was pretty well-done.  I would have liked more contrast to Abigail’s dad, because that would have been more interesting to me.  Then again, it’s not about Abigail’s dad, it’s about Dylan.

Final Thoughts:

I’m not really sure what to say about Faking Faith.  I liked, and while I didn’t completely love the portrayal of the Dean family, they are a nice contrast to Dylan and her family.  It gets 3 stars.

Book: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Published September 2011|Published by HarperCollins|384 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series?  Yes, Medusa Girls #1

Genre: YA: Fantasy/Paranormal- Mythology Re-telling

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Tera Lynn Childs’ Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they’re triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful Gorgon maligned in myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

I’ve been going back and forth for a while, trying to figure out if I wanted to read Sweet Venom or not.  But I finally bought it, read it, and really liked it!

I’m a fan of mythology re-tellings (especially when it’s Greek mythology), and I really liked that it focused on Medusa and her descendants.  I mean, triplets representing Medusa and her sisters, and each one having the characteristics of each one is pretty cool.  The prophecy part of it was kind of interesting, even if it was expected.  We are talking about Greek mythology so a prophecy is expected.

I liked that all three characters- Gretchen, Greer and Grace- narrated the novel.  And I LOVED that they were all very different characters, and I knew who was narrating without even needing to look at the chapter headings.  Sometimes, multiple narrators don’t work, but this a great case where it does work.

Grace is my favorite of the three, but Greer is also intriguing.  Gretchen is interesting, and most of the story is told through her eyes, but I just couldn’t completely connect with her the way I did with the other two.  There’s definitely a lot that can happen, and I have the feeling there are going to be some personality conflicts between Gretchen and Greer, with Grace playing mediator.

I liked seeing each one deal with the prophecy and the discovery that they are triplets with a destiny.  I was hoping for more of a connection between Medusa and the triplets, and that we’d get a little more about Medusa, but with some reading up on mythology (and the next book) I should be good.

Plus, San Fransisco totally works as the setting.  I can see the portal that leads monsters to our world being located in San Fransisco.

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Sweet Venom, and can’t wait to read Sweet Shadows.  It’s nice to see a re-telling focusing on Medusa, and I love that Gretchen, Greer and Grace are so different but still have to find a way to work together.  Sweet Venom gets 4 stars.

Book: Last Breath by Rachel Caine

Published November 2011|Published by Penguin Group|368 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series Or Stand-Alone: Morganville Vampires #11

Genre: YA: Paranormal- Vampires

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Rachel Caine’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Student Claire Danvers learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. And after an uneasy encounter with Morganville’s latest resident, Claire is certain that the mysterious Magnus isn’t human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely? One thing is clear: Magnus is to blame for the disappearances. And if vampires are turning into victims, what chance does a human like Claire have of stopping him?

My journey in Morganville is progressing quite well, and I thought Last Breath was easily the most interesting in terms of strange people and happenings in Morganville.

Amelie picking Morganville as the location of her town makes so much sense after reading this book.  I mean, Magnus, and only Claire can see him at first?  Crazy!  And there’s this major thing that happened that I don’t want to give away, but anyone who’s read Last Breath will probably be able to figure it out.  I mean, I wasn’t expecting it, but even that managed to work out in the end.  I wonder if there will be any repercussions for that…

Caine continues with multiple narrators, and we see chapters where Shane, Michael, Eve and Amelie are narrating.  It was really well-done, and I liked seeing everyone else’s thoughts on what was going on.  It’s too bad we don’t see Myrnin narrating in this book, so I’m hoping that if Caine continues with multiple narrators, Myrnin will get a chapter or two.

After reading this one, I’m definitely excited to read the next book.  And Eve and Michael getting married?  Definitely not going to happen, because Amelie won’t approve it, and both the vampire and human residents of Morganville aren’t happy with it.  I’m hoping that they get married, and I don’t want that story-line to just randomly go away…so hopefully it’s not the last we’ve seen of it.  With the Magnus plot, it’s understandable that the marriage half of the book would get dropped.

There are just SO MANY things I’m wondering about, mostly having to do with the event that I will not in this review.  Just…at this point, I’m certain that there are going to be consequences to what resolved that event (which really does make the title super-appropriate).  Something that’s been a constant is now different, so I just want to know what happens!

Final thoughts:

I loved Last Breath, and it’s definitely one of my favorite books in the series.  There’s so much going on, and it’s easier then normal to stay interested and keep reading.  Last Breath gets 5 stars.

Book: Confessions Of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Published August 2012|Published by HarlequinTeen|272 Pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series or Stand-Alone?  Series, Confessions #1

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Louise Rozett’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…

1. I’m livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I’m allowed to be irate, don’t you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is nowenraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and “seeing red” means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don’t know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)

I liked Confessions Of An Angry Girl.  It was a fun read, and I was reminded of The Princess Diaries partway through the novel.  If you like the Princess Diaries, you might like this one.

I loved the vocab words throughout the books, and how they kind of described what was going on with Rose’s life.  I do wish there was more of a connection between Rose and her being a word geek, because I didn’t get a sense of her love of words or how important they were to her.

I didn’t get her interest in Jamie Forta.  At all.  I would have been fine without her crush on Jamie.

Moving on from the romance, I didn’t feel like Rose was all that angry.  But she does have her own issues that we see throughout the book.  She does, however, do what she thinks is right…and that is completely awesome!  But…I didn’t really get why a lot of the minor characters were there.  They weren’t that interesting, and more often than not, the characters felt pretty superficial, even Rose.

I did like seeing her journey, and work her way through the loss of her dad (which wasn’t as important as I thought it would be) boys, friends, and adjusting to high school.  She felt very much like a 14-year-old who’s trying to figure all of this out, so she did feel pretty real.

Final thoughts:

Overall, I liked Confessions, but there was just something that didn’t completely click for me.  I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing this series, but it’s a pretty decent YA contemporary.  It gets 3 stars.

Book: Lola And The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Published September 2011|Published by Penguin Group|237 pages|E-book from the library

Series or Stand-Alone? It’s a companion to Anna And The French Kiss…so it’s a little of both

Genre: YA Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Stephanie Perkins’ Website

Goodreads.com Summary: In this companion novel to “Anna and the French Kiss,” two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think.

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit – more sparkly, more fun, more wild – the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket – a gifted inventor – steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Lola And The Boy Next Door.  I mean, I totally loved Anna, and there was a lot of fan-girling by the end.

I really liked it.  I think I loved the parts where Anna and St. Clair appeared the most, but there were some really funny moments throughout the book.

I loved Lola and how she went all out with her fashion.  Making a Marie Antoinette costume for her winter formal?   Seriously cool!  She’s just so quirky, and I love that about her.  But as much as I loved Lola and her costumes…take away the costumes, and Lola doesn’t seem too special.

I wasn’t a big fan of her relationship with Cricket but then again, who can live up to the aswesomeness that is Anna and Etienne?  I can’t help but compare the two, which is sort of sad, because they are different books.  But Lola and Cricket were a cute couple, and after years of liking each other (and things getting in the way) they do end up together.  I liked Cricket, but I didn’t love him…if only we saw more of Cricket, but I kind of get why we don’t see as much as we should have!

It does some a lot more light-hearted than Anna…which reminds me, it seemed like the opposite of Anna in terms of the romance.  I mean, Cricket is waiting in the wings, for Lola to be available.  Just like Anna was waiting for Etienne to be available.  Maybe I wasn’t a big fan of their relationship because I saw how she knew he liked her (and she knew she liked him) but didn’t break up with her boyfriend for a long time and just kind of strung him along.

I loved Cricket’s inventions, and they sounded super-interesting.  It seems to fit with Lola’s costumes really well.  Plus, being related to Alexander Graham Bell made his inventing really interesting.

Final Thoughts:

I wish I listened to the audiobook, instead of just reading it, but I did really like Lola.  The characters were fun and quirky, and there was an overall quirkiness that you didn’t get in Anna.  Lola gets 4 stars!

Book: The Probability Of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Published December 2011|Published by Penguin Group|386 Pages|Purchased for my Nook

Series or stand-alone? Stand-alone

Genre: YA/Contemporary Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Wendy Wunder’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Cameron Cooper, a cynical teenage girl dying of cancer, is told by her doctors she needs a miracle to survive. In a last-ditch effort to save her daughter’s life, her mother takes her to a small town in Maine rumored to be magical. If there’s a shot for Cameron, her mom believes, it’s here. But for Cameron, believing in miracles would mean believing she has another chance at life … and that’s dangerous for someone who knows better than to get her hopes up. As the girls settle into Promise, amazing things start happening: it snows in August; there’s a rainbow when it doesn’t rain; a flock of flamingos takes residence in the pond behind the high school, even though they’re not supposed to live this far north. Cameron, a scientist at heart, searches for explanations for these bizarre occurrences, refusing to believe they’re miracles. But soon, the magic of the town—and her feelings for Asher, a local boy who seems to know Cam better than she knows herself—become impossible to deny. Over the course of the coming months, Cameron lets go of her cynicism and opens herself up to life and the world. In the end, Promise is a magical place, but for Cameron becoming a believer might just be the biggest miracle of all.

I really liked The Probability Of Miracles.  I did get a little teary-eyed, and I totally loved the crazy town of Promise.  I totally get why her mom would take her to such a magical place.

I thought Cameron was okay as a character.  I get why she doesn’t believe in miracles, and it’s refreshing to see a character dying of cancer who’s not all inpsirational and hopeful.  But in the end, she does believe in miracles.  I never completely warmed up to her, and I didn’t completely warm up to a lot of the other characters either.  But I did like her sister, who seems to be lost in the shuffle.  And all of the things that Cam experiences?  It kinda felt like it was randomly thrown in so she could have a chance to experience it.

Honestly, I’m not completely sure why I liked The Probability Of Miracles so much- I just did.  Maybe it’s the fact that the book takes place in a town where things just happen.  Cam didn’t seem to fit into the craziness that is Promise, and part of me wishes she fit into that better.  But there is something that is interesting about Cam slowly liking Promise…a very cynical girl in town full of miracles and hope.  I liked that Cam’s mom had hope that Cam would be okay, that Promise would help her feel better.

But there is something to be said about the journey itself, which may be the important thing in this book.  You get why Cam is cynical, and she is pretty realistic about her disease.  And you see her (very slowly) become more open to letting people in and having even a little bit of hope.  Hope and magic and possibilities are good.

Final thoughts:

I really am at a loss here.  I know I really liked it, and I just can’t put my finger on why.  It’s weird that I can kind of pinpoint why I didn’t like it, but can’t explain why I did like it.  The Probability Of Miracles gets 4 stars.

Book: Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Published May 2011|Published by Penguin Group|368 pages|Purchased for my Nook

Part of a series? Yes, Morganville Vampires #10

Genre: YA/Paranormal- Vampires

Find out more: Goodreads|Barnes And Noble|Amazon|Rachel Caine’s Website

Goodreads.com Summary: After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. 

There’s a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other-or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville…

Morganville Vampires!  I really do like this series more and more, and Bite Club is no exception to that.

First of all, the title of the book is super cute and super appropriate, given what happens in the book.  It’s no surprise that Shane is one of the humans fighting vampires.  He’s definitely angrier in Bite Club than we’ve ever seen him- and you have to wonder if maybe he’s always been so angry, and going to the gym really brought that out.  But I just didn’t like seeing him so angry and wounded (even if maybe I knew it was kind of there, just simmering under the surface).

There is a bit of trouble where Shane and Claire’s relationship is concerned- he, understandably so, is worried that Claire’s relationship with Myrnin is more than a teacher-student relationship.  I really hope it doesn’t kill their relationship in the next few books, but I have the feeling it could become more of an issue for the rest of the series.

One thing I thought was interesting was seeing certain things from Shane’s perspective.  It really made me wish he were really so I could slap him!  It worked a lot better than I expected.  I like that you see his thought process.  While his parts of the book were in italics, Caine seemed to slip in his perspective a little too suddenly.  I’m willing to overlook it, though, because it’s the first time I’ve seen her do the multiple narrator thing.

Also weird?  Everyone seemed to figure out something was wrong a little too slowly, and it took them a while to figure out what to do about it.  Either there’s a side of Shane we’ve never seen, or they’re just really being stupid for not noticing that he’s acting really different.  I do wonder what’s in store for Michael and Eve, what with the huge life decision they’ve made- which also kind of seemed to come out of nowhere.  And Kim was completely ridiculous, especially at the end of the book.  Goodness, how many times does Shane have to say that he loves Claire?

And Claire NOT GOING TO MIT?!?!?!  What is going on with that?  For pretty much the entire series, we’ve heard about how much Claire wants to go to MIT, and when she actually gets the chance to go, she passes it up?  And all because MIT and science will be there, but she only has so much time to learn what she can from Myrnin?  Seriously?  There’d better be a dang good reason for this…

I’m definitely looking forward to Last Breath (the next book in the series) because I can’t wait to see how things play out.

Final thoughts:

There were definitely some surprises in Bite Club, and it was definitely interesting…and made things in Morganville super-interesting.  As much as I loved this book, there were some things that were frustrating.  Bite Club gets 5 stars.