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. 

THE HATE U GIVE

By: Angie Thomas

Plot: About a seventeen year old girl who is witness to a cop shooting and killing her childhood best friend, Khalil.

Thoughts: I have been wanting to read this forever after seeing it EVERYWHERE.  There was a lot of hype surrounding this book and luckily it lived up to it. When I was just starting this book, and about 30 pages in, my husband asked me how it was and I responded with sad. I was worried it was just going to be sad the rest of the book too. It wasn't all sad though and there were some lighthearted moments that rounded out the sad. I really liked the main character Starr and all of her insights. I LOVED her parents and her family and liked that they all felt like real people, not just characters in a book.

I read this book really fast, and was totally engrossed in the story the whole time. It was never boring or slow moving. I was bracing myself for something really bad to happen at the end, and I'm glad that didn't happen. Bad stuff did happen obviously, but her family was still all together at the end so I was happy about that. 

And yes, this book did make me take a look at my own bias. The part about Starr being worried about Khalil being labeled a "drug dealer" was so true. It's easy to just put one negative label on someone and suddenly that defines their entire life. I'll admit I would feel more sympathy at seeing a headline of a "high school student" or "teenager" that was murdered instead of a "drug dealer". And with the media  being what it is these days, they are always going to run with the worst possible headline. I thought it was interesting she showed how "drug dealer" doesn't even begin to describe the type of person he was and it's done intentionally to make you think that he almost deserved it somehow. But he was still a good person with people who loved him. I've also never have to have been afraid that a cop will shoot me when I've been pulled over, and I used to get pulled over A LOT.


Favorite Quotes: "Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right."

"At an early age I learned people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them."

Rating: 4/5 I really liked this book! Definitely a good one for everyone to read. 

SIEGE AND STORM

By: Leigh Bardugo

Plot: Picks up where the first book left off. Alina and Mal are in hiding from the Darkling, but of course that can't last for long.

My thoughts: It had been a really long time (4 years almost) since I read the first book. I could remember bits and pieces of it but I found a pretty good synopsis online that filled in the blanks. I remembered I liked it too, so I'm not sure why it took me so long to keep going with the series. I was really in the mood to just read a young adult book and this hit the spot.

The beginning of the book started off pretty good. It was easy to get engrossed back into the world. I immediately liked "Sturmhold" even though that is the dumbest name. There were a lot of new characters too, which was good because I could hardly remember any old ones. Then in the middle it just slowed wayyy down. I remember thinking that nothing is really happening, but I was still enjoying the book, so that was kind of weird.

I'm so sick of the drama between Alina and Mal. She honestly didn't seem to care about him that much and cared more about leading her army. I really could see that relationship going either way, and I'm not invested enough to care. Also the fact that she kissed two other guys in the book did not bode well. Here's hoping Mal finds someone better for him in the last book.

It did definitely pick up there at the end and I was happy with how it ended. Middle books in a trilogy are usually the worst. The story has already been setup and you know the hero isn't going to be defeating the villain just yet, so they are usually just full of filler. The fact that I still liked the book even though it dragged so much speaks to the writing I think.

Rating: 3.5 Like I said, I enjoyed it, but nothing groundbreaking here. And I love the covers!

MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES

By: Jasmine Warga

Plot: About two dumb teenagers who make a suicide pact. (Who knew that was even a thing?) Then they start to fall in lurve.

Thoughts: This is one of those books that I just heard (ie read online) a few people say it was good and bought it without knowing much about it. Once I started reading it and realized what the plot was I was about ready to stop reading it because it just seemed ridiculous and kind of disturbing. I figured I would give it a 100 pages, as I usually try to do in any book I'm not liking, before I quit. It almost seemed like it was romanticizing suicide and I couldn't handle that. BUT it handled it pretty well I thought. I liked the writing and I got sucked into the story and read the book pretty quickly.

It did have the typical main character being a martyr and 'pushing people away because she's so horrible and they are better off without her' crap. I HATE that. Like you think you're being so noble by being mean to your friends?? Who are you to decide what's best for them? If someone wants to be your friend then just let them goshdangit. Anyways, she got better and better as the book went on. I like that she admitted that suicide was a selfish act. I thought that it was interesting that it took befriending someone else who is contemplating suicide for her to start realizing that there is more to life. I liked that she realized that her life was just as valuable as she thought his was.

Favorite Quotes: "Recently, I've become so much more aware of the things we do that keep us alive--our inhales, our exhales, our heartbeats."

"Sometimes it takes watching someone else observe how you live to realize exactly how you live."

Rating: 3/5 It was much better than I expected it to be based on the premise of the book. 

EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING

By: Nicola Yoon

Plot: About a girl named Madeline who has a horrible disease that doesn't allow her to go outside. Basically she's allergic to everything? (Question mark because the whole disease bit is basically glossed over.) Then a boy moves in next door and everything changes. There will be spoilers.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It only took me a couple days to get through it, but it's Young Adult and the chapters are short, so that helps. I really liked the short chapters though, and the random stuff, like her own definition of words and book reviews. I also liked that there were pictures. I love that Madeline wasn't an angsty teenage girl and was actually funny and relatable. Except who buys plain colored t-shirts for 30 bucks! I also liked her relationship with her mom and especially with Carla.

From the very beginning I was thinking, is this girl even really sick?? She never mentions actually feeling sick or having to go to the doctor or any tests being run on her or practically anything that a person with a horrible disease would mention. I didn't realize her mom would actually believe that she was really sick, and that actually made her seem more sympathetic to me. I'm glad it ended that way. I thought for a second she would go to Hawaii and die and the end.

Favorite Quotes: "Everything's a risk. Not doing anything is a risk. It's up to you."

Rating: 4/5 I really liked the characters and her writing style. The plot was just ok, but interesting enough.

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. 

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE

By: Benjamin Alire Saenz

Plot: Two teenage boys, Aristotle and Dante (obviously), meet in the summer of 1987 and become fast friends. The book follows their relationship over the course of the next year.

My Thoughts: I really loved the writing in this book. It really drew me in and made this a really easy read. I liked Ari as a character, even though he is full of teenage angst. I also really liked Ari and Dante together. I thought their summers together were better then the school year they were apart. I also loved both of their parents, and the way the author wrote about their different family dynamics. Ari's conflicting feelings about his parents seemed so true to life. The plot is... just ok. This isn't an action packed book and focuses mainly on Ari's musings about life. Also, some of the dialogue was weird. Why does everyone repeat each other all the time?

*SPOILERS*
I don't know that this is a romance. Things just didn't seem romantic between them at all. At least from Ari's perspective. The ending honestly didn't seem to fit the whole rest of the novel. Ari never believes that he is in love with Dante, so I didn't either. I felt bad for Dante, but I honestly thought that Ari only saw him as his best friend. So that 360 at the end felt forced. I mean there's nothing wrong with it, but he just spent the entire book convincing himself (and me) that he had no romantic feelings for him and then BAM he loves him.

Favorite Quotes: "The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea."

"I wondered what that was like, to hold someone's hand. I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand."

Rating: 3.5 stars. The writing in this book is the best part.

DOROTHY MUST DIE

By: Danielle Paige  

Plot: A teenage girl Amy, from Kansas, is swept up in a hurricane and lands in Oz, the Oz. Except Dorothy and all her friends are evil and the wicked witches are the good guys. So now it's up to Amy to kill Dorothy and save all of Oz, obviously.

My thoughts: Clearly this writer never had to do a 'show not tell' exercise in English class. All she does is tell and tell and tell. I really did not like the writing in this book at all. If the plot had been amazing I could probably have gotten passed that but it was not great either. There is no original story here at all. (I mean had she never heard of the book, turned into amazing play, called Wicked?!) There is no world building either because the author just banks on the fact that you've seen the movie and compares everything to it.

The main character is one I've read a million times before with nothing original about her at all. I didn't like her or any of the other characters. Amy is just your typical angry, 'poor me' attitude having, teenage girl. She felt bad enough for herself that I didn't have any sympathy towards her at all. The characters, plot, and writing were all just terrible. If just ONE of them had been good I could probably have made it through this book. As it is, I have no desire to pick this book up ever again.

Rating: 0/5 I could not finish this book. Life is too short to suffer through books this bad. It was such a disappointment. 

THRONE OF GLASS

By: Sarah J. Maas

Plot Summary: Celaena is a famous assassin serving time in prison when she is offered a chance at freedom. She will have to compete in a competition, as the prince's champion, to become the king's assassin.

Thoughts: I had been so excited to get to this book. I've been hearing about it forever and my expectations were high. Starting off, it was a total letdown. I was expecting the main character, Celaena, to be so cool and tough and smart and she just... wasn't. At least not like I wanted her to be. She was still just a stupid teenage girl a lot of time and she just bugged the crap outta me. I can't even count how many times in the first few chapters that she thought about how dirty she was. It drove me up the wall how vain she was. Heck, I didn't even like her name! (Pretty much every name in this book is ridiculous.) I was definitely expecting more from this female protagonist. I mean just look at that cover! That didn't help what I pictured her to be. Eventually, I came to like her a little bit more, but still.

I think I liked the idea of this book more than the actual book. I think a better main character could have carried the story better. When she was a total bust it made the rest of the story just okay, nothing amazing. Once I could let go of my high expectations I enjoyed the book a lot more. The parts with her and Captain Westfall were my favorite parts of the book. It ended up being okay enough that I will probably continue in the series eventually but I'm definitely not dying to know what happens next.

My Rating: 3/5 Honestly if I had heard nothing about this book and just picked it up I might have enjoyed it more.

THE INFINITE SEA

By: Rick Yancey

Plot: This is the second book in The 5th Wave Series. The story revolves mainly around Cassie, Ringer, Evan and Ben, with the main sections in each of their points of view.

My Thoughts: I thought this was a solid follow up to the 5th wave. I'm so happy that the author didn't feel the need to make this book longer than the first one and include a ton of unnecessary crap to do so. (Unlike almost every other Young Adult author.) I really enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. Usually I really enjoy the first book in a YA series and then it just goes downhill from there. This is one of those rare exceptions.

This book was pretty dark! I don't know that I would even classify it as a young adult book. There were multiple parts that were pretty disturbing to read. The ending was especially crazy and I did not see it coming. I'm glad I didn't read a whole lot about this book before reading it because if I had heard there was a twist I would have spend the whole book trying to figure it out. I also felt like there were answers! I didn't finish the book with even more infuriating questions.

With all the multiple points of view it can feel like not a lot is actually happening in the book. I can see how some readers might be expecting more action but I thought it was perfect. I really enjoyed the different points of view and reading the backstories to certain characters. I thought it had a good amount of action and character development.

Rating: 4/5 I really enjoyed it! Can't wait for the concluding book.

NEVER FADE

By: Alexandra Bracken

Plot Summary: Second book in the Darkest Minds trilogy. Picks up a little bit after the first book left off with Ruby well established in the Children's League.

My Thoughts: I think I waited too long after reading the first book in the series to get to this one. I'm not sure if it was the writing or just me but the beginning seemed so jumbled and confusing. The dialogue was weird and I was confused about what was even going on at times. This time around the story just didn't feel believable.

Getting through this book was like trudging through mud. It was way too much work. The book was so long and it just drug on and on and on. I felt like so many things were pointless and should have been left out and it would have been much better. For example I found the whole Rob situation completely pointless, and wish his character would have been left out of the story entirely.

A huge problem I had with this book was the main character. Ruby was all over the place. One second she is crying her eyes out and the next she's acting all tough. So she's either a baby or a bad a**. Just pick one Alexander Bracken! She's not believable as both. And enough with the constant whining about everything being her fault. A meteor could hit the earth and she would think it was her fault. It drove me up the wall! And she kept making the dumbest decisions and the whole thing was just way too predictable.

Finally, FINALLY, at the end it started to pick up. And by the end I mean the last thirty pages or so. The obvious character dies (Ruby's fault, of course) and it suckered me in enough to want to read the final book and see how this whole mess ends.

Rating: 2/5 Definitely a disappointing sequel to a good book.

I AM NUMBER FOUR

By: Pittacus Lore

Plot Summary: A small group of aliens have escaped from their home planet as it is destroyed by enemy aliens to seek refuge on Earth. There is some alien magic protecting them so that they can only be killed in a certain order. (I don't know how the first poor alien got suckered into this arrangement.) The first three are now dead and the main character, John, is the fourth. Dun dun dun!

Thoughts: The plot, characters, and writing were all really good. I was drawn in immediately and I don't think I even stopped reading once I had started.

The plot was always moving. I never felt like there was a dull moment or like I was waiting for something to happen.

The main character's love interest, Sarah, was not my favorite. I just didn't like them together. It seemed like she was only there to get into trouble and have John sweep in and save the day. I just wanted someone to lock her in a room so she would stay out of trouble. The author is so good at the action but not so good with the romance in the story.

For as much as I disliked Sarah, I loved John's best friend Sam. He was perfect. Right down to his obsession with aliens.

The ending/last battle lasted way too long. It just went on and on and kept getting worse and worse to the point where it just seemed ridiculous.   

Favorite Quotes: “No. Don't give up hope just yet. It's the last thing to go. When you have lost hope, you have lost everything.”

“The price of memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings.”

Rating:  4/5  Fast, easy, enjoyable read. 

MARKED

By: P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Plot: I'm not sure that there was one. Something about a girl, a mark, a school and vampires. That's about it.

My Thoughts: Full disclosure: I didn't finish this book. Because this book is the worst. The story was so slow moving. Nothing in the plot was ever explained or developed.  Almost halfway through the novel she's still on the first day of school! There were so many inconsistencies and just terrible writing. Also, why spell vampire, vampyre? That's just annoying. Spelling it that way doesn't make you edgy or cool or any different from the million other authors writing about the exact same thing.

I don't understand why some authors think that to sound like a teenager they have to make the characters so stupid! It's insulting to teenagers really. Apart from that, they also made the main character shallow, selfish, judgmental, mean, and just a stereotypical bratty girl. I found nothing to like about her at all. There was nothing new or original about her or any of the other characters for that matter. The only way they knew how to make one girl sound southern was to have her say "y'all" ALL. THE. TIME.

[More ranting about the main character.] She was so full of herself! Talking about her perfect skin, hair, and clothes.  Yeah like a typical teenage girl is going to be able to relate to that. I've never heard so many brand names mentioned in a book before. I don't care! Clearly the authors are not capable of writing good descriptions so they have to just drop a bunch of brand names to make the character sound cool. And really it just made the main character sound so superficial.

I can't think of a single thing I liked about this book. It was just terrible. I will never read anything by these "authors" ever again.

Rating: Negative a million stars.

WITHER

By: Lauren DeStefano

Front Cover: "Thanks to modern science, every newborn has become a ticking genetic time bomb--males only live to age twenty-five, 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. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left."

Thoughts: I definitely only read this book because of the cover, which is amazing. The story had a pretty interesting concept, but... I don't know, something was lacking.  I really enjoyed some aspects of the novel, but others not so much. Like I related to one of the minor characters so much more than I did to the main character, Rhine. 

At first I loved the relationship between Rhine and Gabriel, but throughout the second part of the book it felt like the author completely dropped him, and decided to concentrate on Linden instead.  And their relationship/marriage(?) was just weird.  I didn't like it.  Then when things pick up with Gabriel again it's like nothing ever happened and it just felt awkward. 

The book did have it's moments, but overall was just meh. The ending was way too easy and I didn't buy it.  I don't think I care enough to want to read the next book in the series. But at least it'll look pretty on my bookshelf. 

Favorite Quotes: "She has plenty of years to learn what true love is, or at the very least what it isn't."

"Life is much different from the days when there were lilies in my mother's garden, and all my secrets fit into a paper cup."

My Rating: 2/5 Nothing spectacular.