ONE OF US IS LYING

By: Karen M. McManus

Plot: Five stereotypical high school students all wind up in detention, where one of them ends up murdered! Dun dun dun. 

Thoughts: I was determined to figure this book out. But it doesn't take long to realize that these are all likeable characters and you don't really want any one of them to be the murderer. I knew it wouldn't be the two in love, obviously. I thought it was that girl for a long time, but that couldn't be right. Then I got to the sentence that made up the title of the novel and realized that one crucial word was left out. What turned out to be the ending had crossed my mind, but by then I was just waiting for the ending to unfold, not as obsessed with figuring it out myself.

This was a fun easy read, dare I say campy? The writing was good though and I enjoyed all the characters. It's like reading a 90's high school movie. Which wasn't a bad thing. Do they really make high school movies anymore? Normal ones without any teenagers having super powers or something. Anyways, this book isn't ground breaking literature but it isn't trying to be. It's just fun. It's a perfect summer beach read. And yes there is the stereotypical "bad boy" and "bookish girl" love story and I ate it right up. 

Rating: 3/5 I mean it is kind of misleading but I forgive it. 

AFTER THE END

By: Amy Plum

Plot: A seventeen year old girl Juneau, is living in Alaska after WWIII (and the end of the world basically) when her whole clan is kidnapped. She sets off to save them only to realize that there was no WWIII and she's been lied to her whole life. 

Thoughts: I really liked the premise of the story and thought it was an interesting take on all the dystopian YA books that have been floating around for awhile now. My main issue was with the writing. The risk with young adult books is that sometimes it feels like the author dumbs down their writing just because they are geared towards a younger audience. They have the character's do stupid stuff just to move the plot forward and it's just frustrating to read. 

I have no idea what the point of reading from Mile's point of view was. I think the story would be infinitely better if it had just been from Juneau's point of view. It was like he was just there to reiterate how "different" she was and that's just sloppy writing. We get it already. You know, show not tell. I mean I can't get over how much better I think the story would have been if Mile's POV was not included and the reader was kept in the dark about his motives. Whatever. 

Rating: 2/5 It was okay. With better writing choices I think it could have been really good. 

ACCEPTANCE

By: Jeff Vandermeer

Plot: Finally the last book in the Southern Reach Trilogy. Everything will make sense now!

Thoughts: This book is different from the first two because it is told from three different perspectives, the lighthouse keeper, the director, and Ghost Bird/Control. I really liked reading the lighthouse keeper's sections and reading about the area before it was Area X. The director's sections were weird because it was written in 2nd person and that's just annoying! I also didn't hate Control as much in this book, probably because there wasn't very much of him. The switching back and forth between all these different stories basically made it really hard for me to get into the book. The stuff that was happening 'right then' was almost not as interesting as the stuff that had happened in the past. Like I said I liked the lighthouse keeper the best, and felt like I kept going just to see how it all started.

Okay, I lied. The Biologist is still my favorite (sorry lighthouse keeper) and her small section in the book was probably the best part. I'm glad to finally know what happened to her, even though I still don't really get, what happens to her. Or anyone else for that matter.

I probably waited too long between books, because there was a lot of stuff I forgot. I wanted to go back to the first book even, and reread some parts. It actually would be interesting to go back and reread the first book again after having finished the series. The first book is definitely the best one, I didn't hate this book, but I found myself having a hard time picking up the book to read it. Once it got closer to the ending, it got better and better. Was everything finally explained?? Not really, but I didn't really expect it to, so I wasn't left disappointed.

Rating: 3/5 I'm happy to know how it ends, but the first book could have just been a standalone and that would have been fine. 

THE HISTORY OF LOVE

By: Nicole Krauss

Plot: Told through three different perspectives, this is the story about a novel named, The History of Love and how these three different people are affected by the book. This is a book about a book, which are often my favorite type of books.

My Thoughts: After reading a couple books that I just didn't love, (The Goldfinch) I was just craving something that was well written and that I knew I would enjoy. I decided to reread The History of Love. I first read this in 2012 when my goal was to read a hundred books that year and I made it to 91. So I did a lot of reading that year and while I definitely remembered parts of the plot, I didn't remember everything. 

I just love the writing in this book! I love the way that the different chapters are written too. I liked that the characters actually had distinctive voices, which doesn't always happen with books that have multiple points of view. It felt like they could actually be real people. And I liked two out of the three at least.

 Poor Leo just can't catch a break! His whole life story is just heartbreaking. He has no one and is so sad and alone. He writes two books and neither one does he get credit for. He finds the love of his life and she's married, he goes to finally contact his son and he's died. And (*SPOILER*) I had completely forgotten that Bruno was not really there and it was as just as shocking for my second time reading the book.

I think the only thing I don't like about this book is the ending. I like the way it is written and I love that the two finally meet at the end, but then the book just ends and I wanted more! It felt like the book ended too soon and I wanted to know what happens next. There were things that were left unresolved and I didn't like that. Someone just please tell me that Leo is finally not alone anymore and that he gets the credit for his writing that he deserves!

Favorite Quotes: "They collected the world in small handfuls."

"So many words get lost. They leave the mouth and lose their courage, wandering aimlessly until they are swept into the gutter like dead leaves."

"And with each pot and pan and spoon I put away, I also put away a thought I couldn't bear, until my kitchen and my mind returned to a state of mutual organization."

"Aside from myself, there was no sign of me."

Rating: 4/5 I really like this book and love how it is written. It was just as good the second time around. 

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU

 By: Celeste Ng

Plot: Story about a Chinese American family and how they deal with the death of their middle daughter/sister, and the events that lead up to her death. It's told from the third person and switches between all the members of her family.

My Thoughts: This book has one of the best opening lines ever. It immediately sets the scene and I was so drawn in from the beginning. I was really enjoying this book and then it got to the part where the mom basically abandons her family and I wasn't really enjoying it anymore. I knew I was going to finish the book but I didn't really read it for a week or more. I struggle so much reading about anything horrible happening to children! Once I finally got passed that part though I couldn't stop reading until I finished it.

My favorite part was once it got to Lydia and her point of view. It was so interesting to see what happened in the past and how that effected her whole life and even what was going on with her prior to her death. I hated both of her parents and the way they completely screwed up all their kids. Okay maybe they weren't completely screwed up. It was just frustrating how their parents were trying to fulfill all their own selfish dreams through their kids and the horrible pressure that put on them! Another horrible thing they did as parents was use Nath as a nickname for Nathan. I hated that. I was so happy (and confused) by the ending and that it ended on an up note. This is a good book club book because as soon as I finished reading it I wanted to talk to someone about it.

Favorite Quote: "Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet."

Rating: 4/5 I loved her writing and how real the characters were.

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

By: Lisa Wingate

Plot: This story is told from two perspectives, in the present there is Avery who believes that her grandmother is hiding something and starts digging into her past. Then the story of Rill Foss being told from the past. Her and her siblings are basically stolen from their parents and put into a children's home and 'adopted' out for large sums of money. It's a huge scam and travesty!

My Thoughts: This book was so dang sad!  It took me a really long time to get through this book.  I just didn't have the heart to read it because the story was depressing. I decided I'm too post-partum to read about anything bad happening to children.  I enjoyed the writing, I liked the characters, and the plot was interesting but sad!  I probably only made it through this book because every other chapter was from Avery's perspective.  There were quite a few times when I had to look and see how many pages were left until I would get to Avery's chapter. The fact that anything like this ever happened is horrifying!

One thing that I thought was so weird was that the sisters decided to keep everything secret. Who cares that you already are married and with families of your own? All the more reason to get your families together! Wouldn't they want their children to know their aunts and uncles? They did nothing wrong, why should they keep this as some deep, dark secret that they are ashamed of?  Also are Senators really that scrutinized?  Maybe I'm just naive but that seemed over the top.  They acted as if he was the President.  Am I the only one that thought that Grandma Judy was Camille the whole time?  It was reassuring to think that she made it out okay, but how they never found out what happened to her! Crying face.

Rating: 4/5 I don't know that I can say that I enjoyed this book, just because of the subject matter, but it is a good book. Good but sad. Have I mentioned how sad the book is?

VANISHING GIRLS

By: Lauren Oliver

Plot: This is a story about two sisters, Dara and Nicole (Nick). They were best friends growing up but are estranged after being in a car accident. Nick was driving the car but now has no memory of it. A little girl has gone missing in their town, thus the 'vanishing' girls. Also, I can't do this review without spoilers so be warned.

Review: I really enjoyed this book. I really like most of Lauren Oliver's books, minus Panic. That book was meh. I'm glad I didn't know that much about this book before starting it, or it probably would have seemed really predictable. I should have known something was up from the fact that We Were Liars author had a little blurb on the front of my book. And the twist in this book was basically the exact same as that one. I saw that one coming a mile away. Anywayyyys, point being I'm glad I didn't know there was a twist to look for.

I did not like Dara! She was just an insecure brat who needed attention. Who starts dating their sister's BEST FRIEND? She was just sick of being the third wheel and not the center of attention. I liked Nick and I liked Parker, even though he was a dummy coming between two sisters. You can't try and go from one sister to another, that's just awkward.  I didn't see Nick 'being' Dara coming at all. I wondered about her being dead. The signs were there though and a lot of stuff made more sense looking back on it. I kind of want to reread the book knowing how it ends now and see what I missed the first time around.

I want to fire whoever wrote the synopsis on the back of the book. If you give away a plot point that happens more than half-way through the book, you're giving too much away! Ugh. I liked all the parts with Nick working at FunLand. It made me think of summertime and that makes me happy. I'm glad there was a happy ending in the case of the missing girl, but also it seemed pretty unbelievable. I get being scared and wanting to hide from someone you think is bad. But wouldn't a child go immediately to their parents? What kid is going to be able to hide in plain sight all that time and no one notice? Whatever. Also, what was up with the rain boots in the middle of the floor? Explain that to me, please.

My Rating: 4/5 I was really engrossed in it. I generally really like Lauren Oliver's writing. 

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS

By: Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

Plot: This is a prequel story to Peter Pan. (But obviously not from the original author.) Peter is an orphan on board a ship on his way to become a servant to the evil king.

My Thoughts: Years ago, I went with my mom to the play based on this book and loved it! Once I realized it was a book, I bought it right after seeing the play. Then it sat on my bookshelf for years before I finally picked it up. Now I honestly don't remember the play that well, so at least the story wasn't spoiled I guess. I wish I could remember the play better because I do remember it was really good and funny.

This is a children's book, with a few illustrations throughout the book. There were times when the story seemed to be moving really slow, but the second half of the book was more fast paced. The perspective would move around a lot at times and that was kind of annoying. There would be a ton of small chapters, following a different character each chapter. The writing was funny at times and I thought the way they explained how everything came to be in Peter Pan's original story was alright. Obviously NOT as great as the original story of Peter Pan, but pretty good. This is a series but I'm not sure I care to read the other two books.

Favorite Quotes: "He held command of the Never Land solely because his wife's family owned a shipping line, and his wife detested him. She had insisted that he be given a ship, her thinking being that he would be away from home most of the time; ideally, he would manage to sink his ship, and thus be out of her life altogether."

"The Mollusks--generous hosts, when they weren't trying to kill you--had brought a feast to the beach for their guests."

Rating: 2/5 It was a cute story, definitely geared toward children. And at least the cover is pretty.

A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD

By: Jennifer Egan

Plot Summery: I don't even know.

Thoughts: This book was so original and really unlike anything I've read in a while. Each chapter focuses on a new character and sometimes they seem so random and insignificant but yet they all fit together at the end. I was sooo sure I knew who the last chapter would focus on, but I was wrong! It was unpredictable and you never knew what was coming next.

I'll admit I was so confused at first but once you get into the book and figure out what the author's doing you just go with it. I like unconventional things in books, and this book did not disappoint. I loved the chapter of a power point presentation, it just fit. 

There were some things that I didn't like, how everyone seemed to be doing drugs for example, that's just not my thing. There was also one really sleazy character that I hated, but I guess that's the point. Also, there were so many character's names to keep track of! And I'm horrible at that so that was kind of a drag.

Favorite Quotes: "Time's a goon."

Rating: 4/5 A fun book to read. 

WONDER

By: R.J. Palacio 

Plot Summary: This is a story about a boy August who was born with an extremely rare genetic disorder that caused his face to develop abnormally. He gets stared and pointed at whenever he goes out in public so he's been home schooled and sheltered by his parents his whole life. He is starting normal school for the first time in his life and the book covers his first school year.

My Thoughts: At first I was really enjoying this book. I loved the main character August (Auggie) and I loved his sister and her point of view and then I started not loving it so much. The author just kept going and going with the new perspectives from random characters. I usually love multiple points of view but in this book it felt like every perspective was talking about the same thing and it just got repetitive. Especially because they didn't really have distinct voices. Grammar does not make a character distinctive. (Via's boyfriend.) I loved Auggie and his sister's chapters the best and wish he would have just went back and forth between those two. Some of the character's perspectives were so short and totally pointless to the story. They were basically there to reiterate how weird looking August is. I get it. He looks weird. Enough already.

Overall it didn't feel like there was enough of a story. Half the book was spent talking about August being weird looking and the other half was actually spent moving the plot forward. So it didn't really feel like there was much to the story. Things finally started happening, and then it ended. And I wasn't a huge fan of how it ended. It was way too sappy. The whole graduation scene was like a cheesy movie. I mean who even graduates from the 5th grade? They are going to the EXACT same school next year! What is the point of that? *SPOILER* And of course now everyone wants to be his best friend and the bully that was so mean to him all year is transferring schools. What are the odds of that? It was not believable. *END SPOILER*

Also, someone please explain to me all the one eyed pictures. Everyone had two eyes. I don't understand.

Favorite Quotes: "Sometimes you don't have to be mean to hurt someone."

"I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives."

My Rating: I'd give it 3/5 stars. It was well written and there were a lot of parts I enjoyed but also a lot of parts I didn't.