Tag Archives: 2015 books

Book Review Round-Up #2

Posted in Book Review Round-Up, Books by

Book review round-up is a new feature, where I talk about a few of the books I’ve been reading.  It was inspired by a weird blogging/reading funk I’ve been in, and this is the 2nd one!

Book #1: Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas

Mine Till Midnight CoverSource/Format: borrowed the e-book from the library

What It’s About: When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter…

What I Thought: I thought Mine Till Midnight was okay.  I really felt like there wasn’t any chemistry between Amelia and Cam, and it was hard to root for them and care about their happily ever after.  I so did not feel it between them. That’s pretty much it, because I really can’t recall anything else.

Rating: 2 stars.  Pretty much because I didn’t feel it between Amelia and Cam.

Book #2: Doll Bones by Holly Black

Doll Bones CoverSource/Format: borrowed from the library

What It’s About: Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl.

What I Thought: I thought Doll Bones was okay.  If I were in elementary school or middle school, I’d probably love the adventure but it didn’t quite work for me.  I think because one of them was way more into imaginary adventures than the other two, and it seemed weird that no one would notice a few kids wandering around by themselves for a while. I know they need to in order to fulfill their quest, but something about it made it hard to get into.  It is clear that there’s a very established story in the world they created, and that is a story I’d love to read…it seems much more interesting than the three kids growing out of their imaginary adventures.  But I do think some people will like it, even if it wasn’t for me.

Rating: 2 stars, for reasons I mentioned above.

Book #3: The Truth About Air And Water by Katherine Owen

The Truth About Air And Water CoverSource/Format: I own the e-book!

What It’s About: They share an epic love but one moment changes everything. A life together that seemed certain is shattered. One learns you never love the same way twice; the other learns what it means to come home. You only think you know how this love story goes, but do you really know how an epic love can end?

What I Thought: I am so glad that there’s a sequel to This Much Is True!  I really liked seeing what was going on with Tally and Elvis, and even though things were rough for them, like really rough, they did get through it.  And I really hope that there’s another book, because I feel like their story is far from over.  It definitely stands on its own, and even though you don’t need to read the first book in order to know what’s going on in this book, I think it’s a really good idea to read the first one in order to fully get how much these two have been through.  It has more of an impact when you understand everything that’s happened.  And I just loved it, and it was heart-breaking but not heart-breaking and angsty the way This Much Is True was.  I don’t know if it’s because of the weird reading funk I’ve been going through, but it didn’t hit me emotionally the way I thought it was.

Rating: 5 stars for being such a great story, and for keeping their story…very true to them, and who they are as a couple and as people.

Book Review Round-Up #1

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I haven’t been blogging a lot lately, and have pretty much been sticking to Top Ten Tuesday posts and a movie review (for Insurgent), but I have been reading…and since I want to talk about what I’ve been reading, I thought I’d do a few posts where I talk a little about the books I’ve been reading.  This is the first of several review round-ups I’m working on, so enjoy!

Book #1: Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Since You've Been Gone CoverFormat/Source: borrowed the e-book from the library

What It’s About: Emily is about to take some risks and have the most unexpected summer ever in this new novel from the bestselling author of Second Chance Summer and Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour.

Before Sloane, Emily didn’t go to parties, she barely talked to guys, and she didn’t do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—someone who yanks you out of your shell.

But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list with thirteen bizarre tasks that Emily would never try. But what if they can lead her to Sloane

Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.

Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not?

Kiss a stranger? Wait…what?

Getting through Sloane’s list will mean a lot of firsts, and with a whole summer ahead of her—and with the unexpected help of the handsome Frank Porter—who knows what she’ll find.

Go Skinny Dipping? Um…

What I Thought: Since You’ve Been Gone is an okay book.  It’s definitely a cute book, and I liked seeing Emily get out of her comfort zone.  I wasn’t completely into the book, mostly because who Emily was seemed to be really dependent on Sloane being around, and if Sloane wasn’t around, Emily wasn’t much of anyone.  It really did feel like her entire life and personality and identity revolved around Sloane.  While I can relate to your identity revolving around someone or something, it really felt irritating in this book, especially since she seemed to have latched onto a few different people, only for the something really similar to happen again.  I felt like Sloane was also a really shitty friend, especially with how she just left Emily with no explanation, and just a list of things to do.  Even though her explanation at the end of the book made sense, it was really hard to care, no matter how hard I tried.  The characters weren’t memorable, and I felt like her friendship with Sloane was built up to be bigger and more important than I felt it was.  I think teenage me would have liked it, but for adult me, it was too boring and felt pretty tame.  I did like the random playlists throughout the book, and I wish I had thought to check out some of the songs before I had to return it to the library.  I don’t know that I’d buy it, because it would be silly buying it just for the playlists, but I’d definitely check it out from the library again just for that.

Rating: 2 stars.  It’s cute but Sloane just seemed like an (understandably) not so great person, while Emily seemed really dependent on others for her identity.

Book #2: Huntress by Malinda Lo

Huntress CoverFormat/Source: borrowed the paperback from a friend

What It’s About: Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn’t shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people’s survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls’ destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo’s highly acclaimed novel Ash is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching, and is filled with action and romance.

What I Thought: I liked Huntress!  I think I would have liked it more if I hadn’t read it at a time when focusing on anything except staring blankly into space.  Timing really is important when it comes to reading, because I felt like nature hanging in the balance really didn’t come through.  I think a few other things didn’t make a lot of sense when I was reading it, but I honestly can’t remember what they are now!  She did create a really interesting world, from what I can remember and after reading Adaptation recently (and really liking that world), I do want to go back and re-read it, since I really do think I read it at the wrong time, and my thoughts on the book suffered because of it.  Anyway, I liked that Kaede and Taisin live in a world where same-sex marriage is rare but also…not a big deal at all, especially when it comes to arranged marriages and marrying for alliances.

Rating: 3 stars.  I liked it and I really wish I had read it at a time when I had more energy to focus on it, because I think I would have like it a lot more.  I’m definitely going to have to re-read it.

Book #3: Waterfall by Lauren Kate

Waterfall CoverSource/Format: e-book from the library

What It’s About: Eureka’s tears have flooded the earth, and now Atlantis is rising, bringing with it its evil king, Atlas. Eureka is the only one who can stop him, but first she must learn how to fight. She travels across the ocean with Cat, her family, and Ander, the gorgeous and mysterious Seedbearer who promises to help her find Solon, an enigmatic lost Seedbearer who knows how to defeat Atlas.

Once on land, Eureka is taunted by gossipwitches, a group of displaced Atlantean sorceresses, and ambushed by locals struggling to survive amid the destruction her tears have wrought. And she feels no closer to facing Atlas or saving the world when Solon lets slip that love is Ander’s weakness, and that any affection he feels toward her makes him age faster.

Trying to make sense of the dark world her sorrow has created, Eureka receives startling insight from an enchanted pond. Her bewildering reflection reveals a soul-crushing secret: if she’s strong enough, Eureka can draw on this knowledge to defeat Atlas—unless her broken heart is just what he needs to fuel his rising kingdom…

In Waterfall, Eureka has the chance to save the world. But she’ll have to give up everything—even love.

What I Thought: To be honest, I remember nothing about Waterfall.  Seriously.  I have it rated 4 stars, and I could not even begin to tell you why.  I really couldn’t.  Obviously, I didn’t love it or anything, and I’m pretty sure that I didn’t like it the way I liked the first book.  Actually…I did like the place where Solon lives- it felt like a really pretty place.  I just wish I had more thoughts!

Rating: 4 stars.  I wish I could remember why.  Maybe I’ll do an updated review on this one if I find myself re-reading it.

Audio Book Review: Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres

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Jesus Land CoverBook: Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres, Narrated by Elizabeth Evans

Published December 2012 by Audible Studios|Length: 10 hours, 6 minutes

Where I Got It: Audible.com

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-fiction- Memoir

You can find Jesus Land on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

“Sinners go to: HELL. Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS LAND.”

Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It’s the mid-1980s, they’re sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks–and a racism neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close relationship with David, who’s black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a distant mother–more involved with her church’s missionaries than with her own children–and a violent father only compound their problems. When the day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents’ solution is reform school–in the Dominican Republic.

In this riveting memoir, first-time author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David’s striving to make it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not an ounce of malice.

What I Thought: 

After reading A Thousand Lives a couple of years ago (also written by Scheeres), Jesus Land was on my radar, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to listen to it.  It’s definitely one of the more interesting books I’ve read in a while.

I really felt for Scheeres, who really had some horrible parents.  Her dad was largely absent, due to being a doctor, but violent when he is around.  And her mother is much more interested in religion than raising children.  Their home seemed more like a compound (largely due to the intercoms installed in the house) rather than a home, and her parents seem like the sort of people who would adopt 2 African-American boys to show how Christian they are, rather than because they really want to. As for their biological children?  We only see Julia (and not her other siblings) but their idea of parenting is to provide the basic necessities and no affection or caring.  They’re pretty distant and detached and unfeeling.  Still, I do sort of admire them for adopting when it would have been easy not to.  And while not really presented in the book, they may have started out with the best of intentions before things went terribly wrong.

The fact that they would get rid of David’s things days after he goes to reform school at the age of 16, and some of the comments they made after his early, tragic death at the age of 20 were just horrible.  You do have to wonder if their relationships with Julia’s older siblings were different, because they seemed pretty indifferent to Julia, David and Jerome.  It made me so sad, and so angry on their behalf.  I do have trouble believing that rural Indiana in the 70’s/80’s is as bad as seen in the book, and there is a part of me that wonders if maybe parts of it were embellished.  There were so many times when it seemed like the book was set much earlier, and it was always jarring to hear the author reference Duran Duran or Reagan, because it seemed like the book happened several decades earlier than it did.

And the school they had to go to!  I can’t believe a school like that exists, and yet I’m not surprised that such a school would exist.  The things that they had to do- asking permission for everything, including sitting up or down or leaving or entering a room, or using a machete to whack weeds or carrying rocks back and forth for no reason.  The reasons why the kids ended up at the school in the first place seemed to be very over-exaggerated and twisted.  Julia drinking at a party?  It means she’s an alcoholic.  Julia’s brother Jerome ending up in jail?  Julia and David will be kept at the school for as long as necessary, even if they’re legally adults, just to make sure that they don’t end up going down the same path.

Here’s where one of my reservations about the book comes in.  I mean, Julia does make quite a few mistakes but doesn’t seem to show any responsibility for her actions.  Granted, the book ends when she leaves Escuela Caribe, plus an epilogue that gives a brief overview of her life and David’s after leaving the school.  Even in the epilogue, she doesn’t reflect on why she ended up in so much trouble.  It doesn’t make everything else that happened okay, but I do wish we saw even a hint of owning up to her mistakes.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was how one-sided her account seemed.  Every adult was horrible and cruel and stupid, and I’m really skeptical of that.

As much as I appreciate her experience, and how horrible some of these reform schools are, and the racism she had to deal with just because of her adopted brothers, and how horrible it is to use religion (particularly Christianity) to abuse kids, there’s also something this memoir that didn’t quite sit right with me.  It wasn’t as reflective as I thought, and while I know it’s Scheeres memoir, something about it seemed very one-sided to me.

Let’s Rate It:

Parts of Jesus Land made me so angry and so sad.  While parts of it were interesting (especially when she was at Escuela Caribe), overall, something about it seemed off to me.  I did love the relationship she had with her brother David, and how they’d do almost anything for each other.  Jesus Land gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

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Openly StraightBook: Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Published May 2013 by Arthur A Levine Books|253 pages

Where I Got It: the library!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary- LGBT

You can find Openly Straight on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

A funny, honest novel about being out, being proud…and being ready for something else.

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He’s won skiing prizes. He likes to write. And, oh yeah, he’s gay. He’s been out since 8th grade, and he isn’t teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that’s important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret — not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate breaking down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben…who doesn’t even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate being different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

What I Thought:

I have so many thoughts about Openly Straight that I’m not quite sure where to start!  There a lot of things I really like, but there are also things that were really frustrating.

Like, I can relate to Rafe wanting to start over and not do the whole label thing.  It’s something we can all relate to, because we put labels on ourselves.  Others put their own labels on us.  And it’s annoying and frustrating, because we’re more than whatever people label us as.  It’s something we all have to deal with, and it can be hard when it’s all people see us as.

I really understood where Rafe was coming from- people definitely saw him as the gay kid, and didn’t seem interested in who he was beyond that.  His teachers seemed to constantly want the gay opinion (not my words, by the way, it’s phrased that way in the book at one point).  Everyone around Rafe is super-supportive, to the point where he felt like he had to transfer to all-boys boarding school on the other side of the country.  I don’t blame him at all for wanting to get away from it.

A really great example of what he has to deal with is Halloween one year.  He dresses up as an ’80’s rocker chick for Halloween, and everyone’s either uncomfortable (pretty much all of his classmates) or they see it as a statement (his teachers) while a couple of kids at his school (straight, if anyone’s wondering) did the same type of costume the previous Halloween, and everyone thought it was hilarious.

That was one thing that really stood out to me- the fact that he does it, and an uncomfortable statement, just because he’s gay, and yet, it’s really funny when someone who’s straight does it.  It’s something I never thought about before, and it made me sad that so many of his classmates were uncomortable with his costume.  And that people saw it as a statement, even though he didn’t mean it that way- he just thought it would be a great costume.  It’s amazing how people see a type of costume differently, just because of who’s wearing it, and I can totally see people reacting the way they did.

I knew pretty early on that not telling his new classmates he’s gay was going to backfire, especially when he starting falling for his classmate Ben.  Him hiding it was going to end disastrously, and I’m not surprised that it really messes up his relationship with Ben.  However, I really like the message that hiding even a piece of who you are never ends well, and can cause a lot of pain.  And that replacing one label with another can be just as bad, if not worse, than the one you’re trying to get rid of.

I did find myself really frustrated with Rafe at times.  By the end of the book, I was finding myself really frustrated with how he was so tired of people making a big deal out of the fact that he was gay.  I understand where he’s coming from, but at the same time, I felt like he took so much for granted.  With all of the news recently, with teens killing themselves because of bullying, I really felt like Rafe didn’t realize how lucky he was that he wasn’t bullied and that everyone in his life was supportive.  His parents are really accepting- they even threw him a coming out party!

It did make me think about whether being really supportive has a negative effect.  It’s still better than the alternative, of course, but is it possible to be too supportive?  It certainly is in Rafe’s case.  It did feel like everyone in Colorado was trying too hard to show how supportive they were, and it just made them feel stereotypical and flat.

Still, even though I’m not too fond of Rafe, sometimes, we learn by making mistakes.  And I really feel for him.  He didn’t want to be defined by his sexuality, and yet, that’s all people seem to expect- that it should define him.  You see it more in the flashbacks of his life in Colorado, but I am curious about how it relates to his life at boarding school now  that he’s come out to his new classmates.

Let’s Rate It:

I do have mixed feelings.  There are things I like (don’t be someone you’re not, we all have to deal with labels, regardless of who you are) but those are overshadowed by other things, like how much Rafe seemed to take for granted, how uber-supportive everyone else was, and how predictable certain things were.  I will say that he did seem to appreciate how lucky he is to have the parents he does, and that certain things needed to be predictable in order for him to realize that he needed to be himself- his whole self and not just part of it.  But it still took away from the story a little bit.  I still recommend it, because I did start thinking about things I would never think to think about.  Openly Straight gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

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Rebel Belle CoverBook: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Published April 2014 by Putnam Juvenile|257 pages

Where I Got It: the library!

Genre: YA Paranormal/Re-telling

You can find Rebel Belle on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper’s destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can’t get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she’s charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper’s least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him–and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y’all beg for more.

What I Thought:

I can’t believe it took me so long to read Rebel Belle!  After reading Hex Hall, and hearing Rachel Hawkins speak at a panel at the LA Times Festival Of Books, I really wanted to read it.

It has the same sense of humor and snark that Hex Hall has, but with Paladins and Mages and Oracles.  Which I really like, because how often do you see modern-day Paladins?  I really liked the tie-in to history, and how it’s the same, yet different. I really like the connection between Harper protecting David, and the similarities to a previous Paladin.

I also love that Harper is a southern belle and Homecoming Queen turned Paladin.  It initially seems like an odd combination, but it also works really well, because it’s something you wouldn’t expect.  I like that she initially doesn’t want to do it, but comes  around.  It’s not uncommon in YA to see something like this, but somehow, when Hawkins does it, it makes the character seem more real.

The world she lives in and the hilarity that ensues really reminded me of Hart Of Dixie, which is one of my favorite t.v. shows! If you love Hart Of Dixie, I think you’ll like this book.  But with paranormal goings on, of course.

I liked Harper, especially once she stopped being Little Miss Perfect.  She had her life perfectly planned out, and I liked that she struggled with things not going as planned, and that she seemed more okay with it by the end of the book.  I also liked that she had to work with someone she didn’t like, but eventually warms up to.  Like, a lot.  Granted, it’ll make things awkward, with how the book ends, but I’m also curious about how that will play out in the rest of the series.  I like seeing Harper adapt to new situations but I also understand her wanting to be perfect.  I didn’t completely love her (or the romance…the first one) but she’s still a great character.

Her boyfriend throughout most of the book didn’t work for me, so I’m actually glad they’re not together.  I’m not completely sure about her new romance either, but that works so much better for me.  It seems so much more believable and they have more chemistry than she had with her previous boyfriend.  They do seem better matched, and not just because of everything going on.

Let’s Rate It:

Rebel Belle was so much fun to read!  It’s a really good balance of the slightly serious and the really entertaining sarcasm and hilarity.  Rebel Belle gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Prisoner Of Night And Fog by Anne Blackman

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Prisoner Of Night And Fog CoverBook: Prisoner Of Night And Fog by Anne Blackman

Published April 2014 by Balzer + Bray|305 pages

Where I Got It: the Nook store

Series: Prisoner Of Night And Fog #1

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

You can find Prisoner Of Night And Fog on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

A gripping historical thriller set in 1930s Munich, Prisoner of Night and Fog is the evocative story of an ordinary girl faced with an extraordinary choice in Hitler’s Germany. Fans of Code Name Verity will love this novel full of romance, danger, and intrigue!

Gretchen Müller grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her uncle Dolf—who has kept her family cherished and protected from that side of society ever since her father sacrificed his life for Dolf’s years ago. Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler. And Gretchen follows his every command.

When she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen, who claims that her father was actually murdered by an unknown comrade, Gretchen doesn’t know what to believe. She soon discovers that beyond her sheltered view lies a world full of shadowy secrets and disturbing violence.

As Gretchen’s investigations lead her to question the motives and loyalties of her dearest friends and her closest family, she must determine her own allegiances—even if her choices could get her and Daniel killed.

What I Thought:

Prisoner Of Night And Fog is a book I’ve wanted to read for a while, and I’m glad I finally read it!  I really liked it.

One of the things that I loved about this book, and what I think sets it apart from a lot of 1930’s/WW2 historical fiction, is that it’s about a girl who’s super close to Hitler.  I feel like that’s pretty unique, because it seems like so many books set during this time aren’t from the perspective of a girl who see Hitler as an uncle-type person, and who grew up so close to the Nazi Party.  I really liked seeing his rise to power through Gretchen’s eyes, and how she saw him and what he stood for change so much over the course of the book. Especially as she learned what really happened the day her father died and how she couldn’t turn to him for help after things went horribly wrong with her brother.  I liked that her beliefs changed by the end of the book, and while it seemed like they changed awfully fast, it also made sense for this story.

I also liked how her life and Daniel’s life intersected with history.  It made the history seem so much more real because you felt for these characters and saw what things were like for them.

I didn’t quite feel their romance- we know so much about Gretchen, and it her story we see in this book, but I also felt like I didn’t really get to know Daniel enough to be fully invested.  Still, I liked that he played a role in helping Gretchen challenge her beliefs about the world around her.  I especially like it because it’s set during a time when things were changing so fast in Germany, and things got to what we see in World War 2.

The fact that there’s something very inner circle about this book…it makes it stand out to me, because I feel like it’s not something we see.  It’s a very different perspective, and I really liked that.  Which I think is obvious by now, because I feel like that’s all I can talk about.

I’m actually glad that this is the first in a series, because I want to know what is in store for Gretchen and Daniel, with everything that happened.

I also loved the author’s note and the end, and that Blackman even included a short bibliography.  It’s really great, because she directs to books where you can learn more.  Plus, it felt like she really knew the historical details, and did a lot of research.  It really showed throughout the book.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked Prisoner Of Night And Fog, especially because I feel like we get a perspective we don’t normally get with Nazi Germany.  I didn’t love the romance, but I’m hoping I warm up to it in the other books, because I feel like there’s a lot of cute and potential in terms of the romance.  Prisoner Of Night And Fog gets 4 stars.

Book Review: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

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To All The Boys I Have Loved Before CoverBook: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Published April 2014 by Simon & Schuster|274 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #1

Genre: YA Contemporary

Check out To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her.

They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her, these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

What I Thought:

After loving Han’s Summer trilogy, I’ve been wanting to read everything else she’s written, and this one was one that I was anxiously waiting to read!

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting exactly.  Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it, but it took me a while to get into the book. There’s quite a bit of set-up, so you know what’s going on, and why the letters get sent.  In a lot of ways, I think I was expecting the nostalgia that I felt with her previously mentioned series, and while there are some similarities, it’s also a different book.

I know the letters are what spur a lot of the events in the book, but I really expected more with the letters.  I really thought they’d be huge.  Them getting mailed was big, of course, but…I don’t know, I just expected something more with them, that’s all.

I thought Lara Jean was interesting- it very much seemed like her sister took care of so much after their mother died.  Lara Jean did too, but it really felt like Lara Jean couldn’t do anything without Margot sometimes.  I did like seeing her try to figure things out herself, and how she and Kitty did some of their annual Christmas traditions without Margot.  I get Margot maybe feeling a little hurt or left out…but I kind of also liked seeing them with her.

There was a point where Lara Jean and Josh were super-irritating, and it was Peter who acted pretty realistically during that whole thing.  Lara Jean seemed super-innocent (which I can relate to) and I understand why she acted the way she did (same with Josh but to a much lesser degree) but I still felt like it was a bit excessive.  Also, her friendship with Chris didn’t make a lot of sense to me- and considering they were best friends, I kind of expected something more with their friendship.

I wasn’t a big fan of the drama in it.  Sometimes, I don’t mind drama, but I guess I wasn’t in the mind for it with this book. And while I plan on reading the sequel, I’m also not sure about it.  I feel like this book stands on its own really well, and with an extra chapter for closure, I think it would have been fine without a sequel. But I love Jenny Han as an author, so I’ll definitely be giving it a chance.  It is why I kept going with this book, even though I wasn’t sure about it at first.

Even though I wasn’t sure about this book at first, I did like seeing the letters and what happened as a result of Kitty mailing them.  It was pretty obvious early on who did it, but I liked seeing Lara Jean deal with all of the Peter stuff and Josh stuff, and how her relationships with her sisters changed (even though I wanted more resolution with Margot because I felt like we got none).

Let’s Rate It:

It is a cute, sweet book and I liked that it was all about crushes!  I wish that letters were more of a thing in the book, and I felt like it started off slow, but it did become what I’d expect from a Jenny Han book.  To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before gets 4 stars.

Book Review: Atlantia by Ally Condie

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Atlantia CoverBook: Atlantia by Ally Condie

Published October 2014 by Penguin|220 pages

Where I Got It: I checked out the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Fantasy/Re-telling, with subtle hints of dystopia

Check out Atlantia on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

What I Thought:

I liked Atlantia!  I do have mixed feelings about it, but overall, I liked it.

I really liked the world of Atlantia.  To me, there were very strong feelings of a lost, ancient civilization driven underwater- to the point that it feels very much like an Atlantis re-telling.  Partly because of the world, but mostly because of the name.

Still, as much as I loved Atlantia, and the idea of it, I still couldn’t picture completely in my mind.  I mean, I used my imagination quite a bit, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I also felt like the descriptions in the book didn’t come to life.   There were also things that didn’t make a lot of sense.  Like how people had to go undersea because things on land were really bad…and yet they survival under water depends on those that they send above.

I’m also curious about the sirens.  They are there, and some people are just born that way, but no explanation is given.  Well, that I can recall, because if there is one, it clearly didn’t stick.  I did want more from this world, and since the book is a stand-alone, we don’t get to go into this world that much.  For a stand-alone, though, it’s okay.

I feel like this book was more about Rio finding her voice than anything else.  I feel like the relationship that Rio has with Bay is something a lot of people will focus on with this book, but I honestly didn’t care about their relationship.  Bay seemed like a horrible sister, in that she made Rio promise to stay, knowing she wanted to go above, only to do so herself.  While I get that things needed to go a certain way for Rio, and that I’m an only child so I have no clue what it’s like to have a sibling, I still felt like their relationship didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Really, I’m not sure how I feel about any of the characters.  It felt like like they were just…kind of…there.  I didn’t really care about what happened to any of them, and I felt like I didn’t really get to know them at all.

Let’s Rate It:

While I liked the idea of Atlantia, and how Atlantia felt, I didn’t really care about the characters.  And I really wish we knew more about this world, because I kind of felt like I supposed to know every single detail about this world despite the fact that we get the very basics on Atlantia and everything that happened.  Still, Atlantia gets 3 stars.

Book Review: I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

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I'll Give You The Sun CoverBook: I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Published September 2014 by Dial|259 pages

Where I Got It: I checked out the e-book from the library!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary/LGBT

Check out I’ll Give You The Sun on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell 

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

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

What I Thought:

After reading The Sky Is Everywhere ages ago and loving it and anxiously awaiting Jandy Nelson’s next book, I finally read I’ll Give You The Sun.

Unfortunately, I’m kind of torn between not really liking it and thinking it was okay.  I really wanted to like it more, because I did love The Sky Is Everywhere.

I did like that Noah and Jude narrated the book.  It’s different from a lot of other multiple narrators in that Noah and Jude are on a different timelines.  Because I don’t pay attention to summaries or anything, I thought it meant that Noah had died or something really bad happened to him because of that timeline, and it took a while for me to realize he was still alive.  But then I was more confused, because if he’s alive, why didn’t he really appear in Jude’s timeline?

It is an interesting way to tell a story, but it didn’t completely work for me.  On the one hand, I do kind of like that they have two different pieces of the story, but at the same time, I felt like the story wasn’t completely there for me because of it.

I just don’t know how I feel about I’ll Give You The Sun.  I was expecting something that more like The Sky Is Everywhere, which I connected so much with, and I really wanted that connection in this book.  That connection did happen, but not until the last 4 or 5 pages, and at that point, I wondered where that was for the rest of the novel.

I didn’t care for Noah or Jude, and I found that Noah randomly titling the scene as a painting to be really annoying, while Jude’s tendency to quote her grandmother’s book was quite.  I did feel for Noah, and I understand how and why he became the person he did.  He had a lot to deal with, especially since Noah is gay, and we see him struggle with how he presents himself to the world.  With Jude, I felt like she stayed relatively the same.  They didn’t feel genuine in the way the characters in her previous novel did.

Let’s Rate It:

Overall, I’ll Give You The Sun just isn’t my book.  I thought the way the story was told was interesting, and a big part of why I kept reading was because 1- I loved the author’s previous book to pieces and gave this one a chance that I probably would not have given it otherwise, and 2- I did want to know what happened and why things fell apart.  I think this book turned out okay for me.  I’ll Give You The Sun gets 2 stars.

Book Review: For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund

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For Darkness Shows The Stars CoverBook: For Darkness Shows The Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Published June 2012 by Balzer + Bray|293 pages

Where I Got It: checked out the e-book from the library!

Series: For Darkness Shows The Stars #1

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Dystopic/Re-telling/Post-Apocalyptic

Check out For Darkness Shows The Stars on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

It’s been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth–an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret–one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

What I Thought:

I liked For Darkness Showed The Stars.  It was a little hard to get into at first, with the letters and then the story.

I really liked the letters, because it really showed how different Elliot and Kai were, and how much they didn’t know about each other’s worlds.  I like that you see them throughout the book and how things changed for them and between them over time.

It was a little weird at first, because you know something has happened between them, but you’re not quite sure what, until the end of the book.  It’s been several years since I’ve read Persuasion, so while I can’t tell you how good of a re-telling it is, I still think it’s something Jane Austen fans would really like!  From what I have re-read so far, and from what I vaguely remember, it is better than a lot of other re-tellings.  Even if you haven’t read Persuasion, it holds up well on its own.

For me, I really wish I had re-read Persuasion first, because I felt like I was missing something.  I think it’s because I have read it before, and for me, I think I would have liked it more if I had those details fresh in my mind.  That is weird for me, because generally I’m movie first/book second kind of person.  Since we’re talking about re-tellings, though, I guess you could say I’m a re-telling first, original second kind of person, but in this case, I finished the book feeling wishing I had read Persuasion first.

I did get the sense that Peterfreund is very, very familiar with Persuasion.  There is a Jane Austen feel to this book, and it’s a book that brings old-fashioned and modern together very well.  While I know the book is set sometime in the future, it’s unclear as to how far away this future is from us.  But things have regressed to the point that technology is seen as bad, and things like medicine and clothes go back to an older time. It’s understandable, given everything that has happened.

There was something very futuristic and dystopic about this book, and you’d think it wouldn’t go with some of the more old-fashioned aspects of the book, but they go so well together!

I loved that Elliot was so caring and compassionate and how much she wanted to protect all of the people working on her estate.  She wanted to do the right thing, and she had a lot of opposition from her father, who was just horrible.  I was very much reminded of plantations and slavery, and how everyone really was a product of their environment.

Overall, the descriptions of the estate and characters were pretty generic, and I wish things were described more.  But at the same time, it’s something I can see happening in so many different places if this were to happen.   Still, it very much felt like the U.S. South.  Which is fine, but I think I’m just curious about the general area where it takes place and how it relates to what is going on in the rest of the world.

I’m not sure how I feel about Kai and Elliot.  I get why Kai acts the way he does, but I couldn’t like him in this book.  I just couldn’t.  I just couldn’t believe in (or care about) the romance when there were so many other things going on.

And I thought the book ended randomly and kind of abruptly.  I really wanted more resolution, but as it’s the first in a series, the lack of resolution isn’t too surprising.  Still, I wish it had a little more resolution than it did.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked For Darkness Shows The Stars, but I did finish it wishing I had re-read Persuasion.  Still, it works really well on its own and as a Persuasion re-telling.  For Darkness Shows The Stars gets 3 stars.