ARC Review: The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis
Published: February 23rd, 2021
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 0 (audiobook)
Series: The Initial Insult #1
Source: Netgalley eARC 
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the first book of a suspenseful YA duology, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis draws inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and masterfully delivers a dark, propulsive mystery in alternating points of view that unravels a friendship. . .forevermore. Perfect for fans of 'One of Us is Lying' and 'Truly Devious'!

Tress Montor's family used to mean something - until she didn't have a family anymore. When her parents disappeared seven years ago while driving her best friend home, Tress lost everything. The entire town shuns her now that she lives with her drunken, one-eyed grandfather at what locals refer to as the "White Trash Zoo".

Felicity Turnado has it all: looks, money, and a secret. One misstep could send her tumbling from the top of the social ladder, and she's worked hard to make everyone forget that she was with the Montors' the night they disappeared. Felicity has buried what she knows so deeply that she can't even remember what it is. . .only that she can't look at Tress without feeling shame and guilt.

But Tress has a plan. A Halloween costume party at an abandoned house provides the ideal situation for Tress to pry the truth from Felicity - brick by brick - as she slowly seals her former best friend into a coal chute. Tress will have her answers - or settle for revenge.

 

ARC Review: I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness

I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness
Published: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Pantera Press
Pages: 288 (ebook) 
Series: Shades of Magic #1  
Source: NetGalley eARC 
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Charlie Parker dies, it effects everyone who knew him. Everyone, that is, expect for seventeen-year-old Hamish Day, the boy who lives on a cabbage farm and only has one friend. But Hamish soon finds himself pulled into the complicated lives of the people left behind. Among them is Annie Bower, the prettiest girl in school. As he uncovers startling truths about his peers, his perspectives on friendship, love, grief, and the tragic power of silence are forever altered.

ARC Review: Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno
Published: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 320 (Paperback ARC) 
Source: HarperCollins
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ryan McCullough and Gabby Hart are the unlikeliest of friends. Introverted, anxious Gabby would rather do literally anything than go to a party. Ryan is a star hockey player who can get any girl he wants—and does, frequently. But against all odds, they became not only friends, but each other’s favorite person. Now, as they face high school graduation, they can’t help but take a moment to reminisce and, in their signature tradition, make a top ten list—counting down the top ten moments of their friendship: 




10. Where to begin? Maybe the night we met.
9. Then there was our awkward phase.
8. When you were in love with me but never told me…
7. Those five months we stopped talking were the hardest of my life.
6. Through terrible fights…
5. And emotional makeups.
4. You were there for me when I got my heart broken.
3. …but at times, you were also the one breaking it.
2. Above all, you helped me make sense of the world.
1. Now, as we head off to college—how am I possibly going to live without you?

Review: Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith
Published: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 418 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: Library
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let luck find you.

Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. 

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. 

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined…and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

Review: That Thing We Call a Heart by Sheba Karim

That Thing We Call a Heart by Sheba Karim
Published: May 9, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 288 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A  
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

High school has ended, and Shabnam Qureshi is facing a summer of loneliness and boredom. She’s felt alienated from her gutsy best friend, Farah, ever since Farah started wearing the Muslim head scarf—without even bothering to discuss it with Shabnam first. But no one else comes close to understanding her, especially not her parents.

All Shabnam wants to do is get through the summer. Get to Penn. Begin anew. Not look back.

That is, until she meets Jamie, who scores her a job at his aunt’s pie shack and meets her there every afternoon.

Shabnam sees Jamie and herself like the rose and the nightingale of classic Urdu poetry, which, according to her father, is the ultimate language of desire. Jamie finds Shabnam fascinating—her curls, her culture, even her awkwardness. Shabnam quickly finds herself in love, while Farah, who Shabnam has begun to reconnect with, finds Jamie worrying.

In her quest to figure out who she really is and what she really wants, Shabnam looks for help in an unexpected place—her family.

Review: Grit by Gillian French

Grit by Gillian French
Published: May 16, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 304 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

His presence beside me is like heat, like weight, something I’ve carried around on my back too long.
Raw and moving, this contemporary realistic debut novel will leave readers of E. Lockhart and Gayle Forman breathless as it unflinchingly unfolds the tragic secrets being kept in a small, deceptively idyllic Maine town.

Seventeen-year-old Darcy Prentiss has long held the title of “town slut.” She knows how to have a good time, sure, but she isn’t doing anything all the guys haven’t done. But when you’re a girl with a reputation, every little thing that happens seems to keep people whispering—especially when your ex-best friend goes missing.

But if anyone were to look closer at Darcy, they’d realize there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface. Staying out late, hooking up, and telling lies is what Darcy does to forget. Forget about the mysterious disappearance of her friend. Forget about the dark secret she and her cousin Nell share. Forget about that hazy Fourth of July night. So when someone in town anonymously nominates Darcy to be in the running for Bay Festival Princess—a cruel act only someone with a score to settle would make—all of the things that Darcy wants to keep hidden threaten to erupt in ways she wasn’t prepared to handle…and isn’t sure if she can.

Review: The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo

The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
Published: March 14, 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 352 (Paperback)
Series: N/A
Source: ARC
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

Review: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
Published: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: Harlequin Teen Panel
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost. 

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. 

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love. 

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way. 

Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Published: April 12, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. 

Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic by Lauren Oliver
Published: March 4, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 408 (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Just One Year by Gayle Forman
Published: October 10, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 323 (Hardcover)
Series: Just One Day #2
Source: Bought
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .

The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

Just One Year is certainly not a book for someone looking for contemporary fluff. It may not have been as engaging as the first book, but it packs the same, if not more, emotional punch.

At first, it was slightly disappointing to read that this book did not pick up right where Just One Day left off. Instead it's Willem's year long journey to find the mysterious Lulu, who he knows next to nothing about, yet he fell in love with her that day in Paris. Surprisingly, I never had a problem with the relationship between Willem and Lulu (Allyson). My major problem with this book was that it was very difficult to get into. The beginning was slow and almost uninteresting because I wasn't emotionally invested in Willem until about halfway through the book. That's when I started to really enjoy it.

There's so much more to Willem and his past than I initially thought. I loved how both Allyson and Willem's lives were changed by just meeting each other accidentally. In a day both of them managed to start to change the other in good ways. At times it was hard to keep track of all the names of the people Willem knew, but by the end it grew easier to remember who the major players in his life were. I really enjoyed all the scenes of Willem acting, especially when he played Orlando.

The only complains that I had were that it was very slow paced and it ended rather abruptly. I believe it ends at the same place that Just One Day does, but I'm not entirely sure. Other than that, the book was very good. Gayle Forman's writing is fantastic and all of her books have the most realistic characters.

ARC Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Published: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Pages: 288 (Hardcover)
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

This Song Will Save Your Life is unbelievably relatable. It's real. It's what many teenagers go through all the time. Leila Sales doesn't miss anything in this book. The emotions of a teenage girl that questions why people would want to be around her and is bullied because she's different is captured beautifully.

The main character, Elise is at the bottom of the social ladder. She gets picked on by many people and believes that the entire school hates her just she because she doesn't fit what everyone else thinks is "normal". The honesty about what it's really like to be a teenager in her position is what really makes this book special. Plus her voice is unique and even though this book deals with some very serious topics, I found myself smiling and laughing at Elise's sense of humor.

The side characters in the book weren't cardboard cuts outs. They had their own personality and many of them dealt with their own problems with themselves. Each of them were there for a purpose. It was nice to see that the bullies in this book had more to them then just being mean to Elise.

The best part of the book has to be the DJ club that Elise goes to called Start. The way it is described made me feel like I was right there with Elise. I had no idea what DJing was like until I read this book. I loved how Elise didn't master being a DJ right away. In so many books the main character barely has to work to be good at a new skill but Elise devoted her self to DJing for weeks.

I wasn't a huge fan of Char because he was a complete jerk most of the time. I did like that he taught Elise how to DJ so I don't completely hate him but what he does to Elise and Pippa is unforgivable. I was so happy with how it ended because it didn't end up the way I thought it would.

Once I started reading I could barely stop. I loved how realistic this book is. Right down to the part about how schools deal with bullying. I wish there were more books like this.

Review: Hooked by Liz Fichera

Hooked by Liz Fichera
Published: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 347
Series: Hooked #1
Source: Harlequin Teen Panel
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars

When Native American Fredricka ‘Fred’ Oday is invited to become the only girl on the school’s golf team, she can’t say no. This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done.

But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.

But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile...

GET HOOKED ON A GIRL NAMED FRED.

My Review: This book was definitely not my type. It's not that it was completely horrible, but I don't seem to like books like this very often. Some people will love this book, but I just couldn't get into it.

For the most part the main character was alright, but her name was a bit annoying. Her Native American heritage and being really good at golf were basically the only things interesting about her. A few times she tried to make jokes but they just sounded forced. I didn't really feel anything for her even though I know that I should have felt sorry for her and proud that she could play golf better than the guys at her school.

I was not a fan of the other main character. He's the typical popular star athlete with the beautiful girlfriend. All Ryan does for a good part of the book is complain about how horrible his life is. He's friends with a guy that seems to always be angry and likes to hurt other people but of course Ryan doesn't realize this until more than halfway through the book. His angry friend, Seth put bricks in Fred's golf bag for one of the tournaments and Ryan knew about it but he didn't do anything about it until the last hole. He didn't even know Fred but he hated her just because she took Seth's spot on the golf team and she was the only girl on the golf team. How in the world did Fred fall in love with a guy like that?

It was very hard to tell when Ryan and Fred stopped hating each other. It just happened. I knew it was coming but I thought there would be a reason for the change. Ryan tried to be nicer to her after the incident with the bricks but that doesn't mean that should automatically fall in love. Ryan was still dating another girl when he asked Fred out. Even if his girlfriend was rude to Fred, he should have broken up with her before dating Fred.

Almost all the side characters had no depth to them. Especially Ryan's girlfriend Gwyneth. She was the typical bitchy girlfriend that is just there to be rude to the main character. Fred doesn't understand Gwyneth's problem with her and I don't either. Why would Gwyneth care if Seth was kicked off the golf team? Seth isn't her boyfriend. Is it because Fred is Native American? At least Seth has more of a reason to dislike Fred but that doesn't mean he should try to sabotage her chances at winning and threaten her. Ryan said that he didn't even like playing golf!

I'm sure than many other people will like this book but it just wasn't for me.

Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Published:  January 8, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 368
Series: Just One Day #1
Source: Bought
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

When sheltered American good girl Allyson first encounters laid-back Dutch actor Willem at an underground performance of Twelfth Night, there’s an undeniable spark. So when fate brings them together a second time, Allyson takes an uncharacteristic leap, changes course, and follows Willem to Paris. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame...until Allyson wakes up after a whirlwind day shocked to discover that Willem is gone. 

A life upended in one day turns into a year of self-discovery as Allyson embarks on a journey to break free from a lifetime of limits in order to find her true passions, and maybe even a true love.

My Review: I will never get tired of Gayle Forman's books. She has this incredible gift of writing amazing contemporary books. The author makes me want to pick up more contemporary books and that's saying something because I'm more into fantasy and paranormal type books. In fact I tend to shy away from contemporary books unless the book has many glowing reviews. In this case Just One Day had so many glowing reviews and I loved her other two books so I just had to read it.

I was skeptical about Allyson falling in love with Willem in just one day and I thought that it would be too much like the insta love I see in so many books but thankfully it wasn't anything like that. The day Allyson spent with Willem in Paris felt so much longer than it was. Their relationship might have been a little rushed but it worked.

It was very easy to connect to Allyson. I'm sure many people know what it feels like to want to be someone else, even if it's only for a little while. Allyson is a good girl that does everything by the rules and does exactly what her parents tell her to until she figures out that she can change. Her mother has planned out her future without asking if it's okay with Allyson. It's crazy how over bearing her mother is. I was so glad when Allyson finally stood up to her. 

I loved how Shakespeare was incorporated into the book. The themes from a few of the plays that were mentioned in the book were definitely present in this book and I loved how I was able to compare Willem and Allyson's relationship to relationships between the characters in the plays. It makes me want to go read some of those plays.

Each character in the book was there to help Allyson realize what she wanted to do and that people change. It wasn't Willem who changed her but the people that she meet during the year that made the difference. Willem started the change but the credit should go to all the friends she made and people she met. I especially loved that the book took place in Paris and that words from different languages were in. Not all of the words were explained but it's pretty easy to figure out the meaning behind the words.

The transformation that Allyson underwent was very inspiring and I can't wait to see what happens in Just One Year.

Review: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols
Published:  July 10, 2012
Publisher: MTV Books
Pages: 325
Source: Bought
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

My Review: Flying is something that's always been something close to my heart. There's really nothing like flying a plane and being able to look at the ground below you.

It was very easy for me to connect with Leah but it might be more difficult for people that don't share a love for flying and have strict views on how relationships should work but it's still very possible because Leah is such a strong and brave character. She came from a background that immediately put her at a disadvantage due to her money issues and the fact that people constantly judged her. I don't think most people would have the will and the courage to change their future if they started out like Leah. I'm sure many of them want to but there's a difference between wanting and doing.

I was pleastnly surprised by how accurate the descriptions of how small airports work and how small airplanes work. The author definitely did her research because I don't think she missed anything. That being said, I'm not an expert on planes, I've just flown in the same little Piper Cherokee for as long as I can remember.

One of my problems with this book was Grayson. That guy was an asshole. He basically blackmails Leah into dating his brother and insults her every chance he gets. His brother and his father recently died but I don't think that's an excuse to treat someone like that. He even manipulates his brother. I honestly don't understand why Leah had a crush on him after he kept insulting her and basically calling her a whore. He does get nicer by the end but I'm still not a fan.

Honestly the only likeable characters in this book were Leah and Mr. Hall. I just wanted to punch all the other characters in the face. Especially Molly and the rich kids. The rich kids were just so awful to Leah because they thought that she was a slut and that she was trash because of the way she acted and she lived in a trailer. And Alec (Grayson's twin brother that Leah was blackmailed into dating) was so plain and boring. There was no excitement about him and I barely felt bad that Grayson was manipulating him because I barely felt anything for him.

Since I wasn't a huge fan of Grayson I didn't like the romance part of the book as much as I normally would have. I went into this book knowing that there was sex and that Leah first had sex when she was fourteen so it didn't come as a surprise and it didn't really bother me because expecting every single teenager to wait until they are older or even married to have sex is just so unrealistic to me. I'm still in high school and I know for a fact that some people in my grade are no longer virgins. If someone believes that people should wait until after they are married then this book is definitely not for them. I also wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under 13.

Even though I didn't like some parts of the book I still really enjoyed it. It took awhile to get into but once the story really started I could barely put the book down.

ARC Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
Published: May 28, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 479
Series: Pushing the Limits #2
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...

My Review: After reading Pushing the Limits and seeing the high ratings for this book I thought I would be blown away by it. It is very possible that my hopes were just too high for this book because I ended up enjoying it less than the first one.

This is not a light contemporary read. It was actually very dark. There's a lot of tough subjects in this book like drugs, alcohol, and abuse. There is also sex so this isn't a book for young readers (and when I say young I mean like younger than 13). I really liked how the book handled those subjects and I thought that all the characters were very realistic.

Beth is first introduced in Pushing the Limits but the first book is about Echo and Noah so not much about her is revealed. I don't remember what I thought of her character before, but I ended up really liking her as a main character. Her story almost made me cry. The one thing that kind of bugged me was that she couldn't let herself be happy but that's sort of expected since her entire life has been horrible. Out of the two main characters I definitely liked Beth more.

Ryan is the other main character and I had a few issues with him. During the first couple pages Ryan and his friends have this dare about who can get the most phone numbers from girls. Basically the guys flirt with girls, get their phone number, and then forget about them. I'm not exactly okay with that but that's not the part that really bothered me. My problem was that Ryan is all about respecting women yet he goes around getting phone numbers from random girls because of some dare. That doesn't sound very respectful to me.

Obviously Ryan and Beth fall in love. When I first found out about Ryan I was confused. What happened to Isaiah? As the story progressed I realized that even though I love Isaiah, I could not picture Beth with him. There's kind of a love triangle because Isaiah says that he's in love with Beth but it didn't bother me at all. It is very obvious who Beth ends up with.

Many lines from this book were also pretty corny. Almost every single time Ryan and Beth were together Ryan would continuously tell Beth that he loves her. The first few times were sweet but after awhile I started to wonder if the word love was the only word in Ryan's vocabulary. That word was said so much and each time it was said it started to be less powerful.

I ended up enjoying the book despite the issues I had with Ryan. Out of all the characters I think I liked Logan and Scott the most. I loved how Echo and Noah made appearances in this book. I was hoping that they would show up and I was so happy when they did. I can't wait for Isaiah's book!

ARC Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Published: March 26, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 256
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

There are some things you can’t leave behind… 

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down. 

My Review: I'm not sure what I expected from this book. From the synopsis it sounds really interesting until it gets to the part about Carey entering high school. When I read that part it sounded like something average because in my head I'm thinking that I've read something like this before. I was pleasantly surprised! If You Find Me was heartbreaking but hopeful.

When I first started reading I thought I would end up hating Carey's voice because she didn't always use proper English and I tend to get annoyed with characters that speak like that really quickly, but I actually really enjoyed her voice. It didn't sound forced and it really matched her character.

Carey and Nessa's story was so heartbreaking, but predictable. I knew what had happened to them in the woods after Carey relived a memory about the men that her mother brought home, but that didn't lessen the disgust and horror I felt when Carey finally came clean. What happened to them was terrible and so realistic that I could imagine two children living out in the woods and going through the same thing that they did.

Even though I really enjoyed Carey's story, I still had a few problems with it. I don't understand how two girls that lived in the middle of nowhere could be drop dead gorgeous without even trying. Both Carey and Nessa are beautiful compared to the other characters. I felt like Ryan and Carey's relationship didn't develop enough for me to be truly invested in them. They had been childhood friends but that doesn't mean that they should automatically fall in love. It just seemed really strange that Carey trusted Ryan so easily after everything that the men in the woods did to her, even though she had known him from her life before the woods.

I also really didn't like how Carey treated Delaney. To Carey, Delaney is the evil stepsister, just because Delaney wants nothing to do with her. Honestly, I felt bad for Delaney because she was used to being an only child and now she's one of three. That's a little hard to adjust to and of course she isn't going to automatically like Carey, but Carey didn't seem to see that until a little over half way through the book.

Overall, If You Find Me was a compelling read and different from most books I've read.

*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC Review: Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook

Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook
Published: January 29, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 304
My Rating:  2 of 5 stars

Synopsis: Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this additively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.

My Review: When I saw this book being compared to If I Stay I thought I would really like it since I loved If I Stay. This book was nothing like If I Stay. I'm not sure why it's being compared to it. I guess it's kind of like Bonnie and Clyde but a more toned down version.

I was very close to giving this book one star and I think two stars is a little generous but I think that the writing deserves some points. Alternating point of views are sometimes really confusing to read and sometimes the characters sound so similar that I can't tell which character is narrating but I think it worked pretty well in Nobody But Us. I wasn't a big fan of Will's point of view since he used words like "ain't" and "gonna" but at least I could tell when it wasn't Zoe's point of view.

That was the only thing I kind of liked about the book.

What really put me off was the romance. Will and Zoe's relationship was unhealthy. Over the course of the book Will beats up at least three people for Zoe. One of those people is her father. Now I understand that Zoe's father was abusive but if Zoe hadn't stopped him then Will probably would have killed that man. That all happened in the first or second chapter. 

At one point he beat up his friend because he didn't like what he was saying. Then later he beats up another person that was harassing Zoe but instead of asking if she was alright Will asks if she was flirting with the guy. He apologizes later for making her afraid that he might hit her because she flinched when he went to touch her. Then Zoe is sorry that she flinched when he went to touch her. 

Later in the book Zoe finally starts to have a backbone but then she hits her boyfriend that has anger issues and then she wants him to hit her. That is not a good relationship. People should not be hitting their boyfriend/girlfriend. Even though Will never hit Zoe I have no doubt that eventually he would hit her since his behavior has all kinds of red flags.

I also don't understand how Will and Zoe weren't caught while they were traveling. They acted so suspicious in restaurants and everywhere that they went. Zoe was practically clueless that the police would come after them. Their plan for when they got to Vegas had so many flaws that it was practically one giant hole.

I didn't really like the ending either since in Zoe's eyes Will is still perfect for her and she still believes her relationship with him was healthy. At one point I thought that Zoe would realize that she was just like her mother in almost every way but she kind of just avoids those kinds of thoughts.

I expected so much more form this book and it just didn't deliver. I thought I would be reduced to tears at the end because it was supposed to be "heartbreaking" but I felt relieved that it was over and that I wouldn't have to deal with Will and Zoe's messed up relationship anymore.

*I won this from a Goodreads giveaway.