Review: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Book Title: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak

Author: Brian Katcher

Published Date: May 19th, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Book Award-winning author Brian Katcher’s hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens recovering from heartbreak and discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date.

It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip.

If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents.

Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon.

But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more…

Disclaimer: I received this book from Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was excited for this book. It looked nerdy and cute and fun. I was thinking that I'd enjoy this book, that it would be a treat for me and that I'd love the characters.

Well I was wrong, and really wrong.

I have no patience for characters who are doormats, who blindly agree with whatever their parents say or tell them. So Ana was utterly maddening to me. She was practically under lock & key ever since her sister Nichole had defied their parents. Nichole is now married, with a little boy of her own. Yet, neither Ana nor her parents have seen Nichole since she left. Ana was even invited to Nichole's wedding, but she didn't go. She didn't want to disappoint her parents.

Eye roll.

Please, this girl had no backbone. She had no guts. She lived in fear of disappointing her folks. She felt like she had to be this perfect daughter because Nichole had disappointed her parents so badly. She kept saying that she didn't have a sister, and that right there, infuriated me because she DID have a sister, she was just too afraid to stand up to her parents and demand to see her sister's family.

On the other hand, we had Zak. Zak's mom got married to a guy she had only known for 2 months. Zak disliked him for no other reason than the fact that he was not his real father. Zak's father hadn't run off, he had died. Yet, as the book unfolds, we learn Roger, Zak's stepfather is actually a decent guy. 

Zak really doesn't give a crap about anything, especially his schoolwork.

How the hell did he think it was okay to hand in a plagiarized paper? I don't even get how that was okay. That pissed me off considerably. The only punishment he got was joining the quiz bowl. 

Are you kidding me?

That is such a crappy punishment and I don't even understand why this was okay. It made absolutely no sense to me. My intense dislike of Zak only increased when he complained that he was going to miss Washingcon. 

Seriously, dude? Stop being a pain in the ass. He was lucky he wasn't expelled.

The majority of the book surrounded around trying to find Ana's brother Clayton at Washingcon. That's when things really started getting boring. I cared about finding Clayton, but I didn't care about Ana or Zak. Or the romance. Or really anything else about this book. I was hoping to love the romance in the book, but I did not like the romance at all. I felt no chemistry between these two.

I had a lot of hope for this book, but unfortunately this book did not work for me at all. I was so excited to be done with this book. I am giving it 2 stars. Unfortunately, I will not be recommending this book to anyone. 

Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Book Title: Vanishing Girls

Author: Lauren Oliver

Published Date: March 10th, 2015

Publisher: Harper Collins

Genre: YA Mystery

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Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver delivers a gripping story about two sisters inexorably altered by a terrible accident.

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.

In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

"Alarming and uplifting, a rare psychological thriller that has a kind heart at its center. Read it with all the lights on." -- E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Harper Collins via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I think this is where Lauren Oliver and I will have to break up. As a whole, her books just don't work for me. That makes me sad because so many other people love all of her books and I wonder why I can't love her books. 

I actually really enjoyed Panic, so I was hopeful that Vanishing Girls would be another fabulous read. Unfortunately I was let down in a big way. At first it starts off interestingly enough. I wasn't totally invested by it, but I wasn't totally bored by it either.

The problems start to rise to the surface when I realize that this book is written in dual POVs and it goes from past to present. Now I don't have an issue with either of these things separately, but when they all come together in one book, I get a little twitchy. I worry that it's going to be hard to follow or that the voices will sound the same. 

Sometimes this format works, but in Vanishing Girls it did not. I kept getting confused when it would switch to past or present and then, since the girls' voices sounded too similar, I'd be confused as to who's POV I was reading.

That damn twist was obvious for me very early on and the only reason I kept reading was that I was hoping I'd be wrong. It seemed like it was too easy to figure out the twist, and I was massively disappointed by it. It seemed like Oliver just went for the easiest twist to do and she didn't even try to make it less obvious.

Both sisters were very flat and it seemed like there was very little in the way of character development. It was often hard for me to distinguish who was who. The secondary characters were equally flat and underdeveloped. I was woefully unimpressed by this book and by the characters in this book. I'll be giving this book 2 stars and unless you want your twist to be really obvious, I'd skip this book.

Review: The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise by Matthew Crow

Book Title: The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise

Author: Matthew Crow

Published Date: March 10th, 2015

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads

A poignant and unexpectedly funny novel about Francis - one of the best and bravest teenage boy narrators since Adrian Mole. This is an emotionally honest story about wanting the very best from life, even when life shows you how very bad things can be.

Francis Wootton's first memory is of Kurt Cobain's death, and there have been other hardships closer to home since then. At fifteen years old he already knows all about loss and rejection - and to top it all off he has a permanently broke big brother, a grandma with selective memory (and very selective social graces) and a mum who's at best an acquired taste. Would-be poet, possible intellectual and definitely wasted in Tyne and Wear, 

Francis has grown used to figuring life out on his own.Lower Fifth is supposed to be his time, the start of an endless horizon towards whatever-comes-next. But when he is diagnosed with leukaemia that wide-open future suddenly narrows, and a whole new world of worry presents itself.There's the horror of being held back a year at school, the threat of imminent baldness, having to locate his best shirt in case a visiting princess or pop-star fancies him for a photo-op . . . But he hadn't reckoned on meeting Amber - fierce, tough, one-of-a-kind Amber - and finding a reason to tackle it all - the good, the bad and everything in between - head on.In Bloom is a bright, funny, painful and refreshing novel about wanting the very best from life, even when life shows you how very bad it can be. It is a novel about how to live.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Simon Pulse via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

Sometimes gorgeous covers are a hint that something even better is in those pages, and sometimes the cover is doing it's best to hide a book that is lacking certain things. With this book and it's gorgeous cover, it was definitely the latter. This book looked like something I'd love. It's no secret that I love the "tough subjects" contemporary books. Unfortunately this one was a big disappointment.

I was expecting to love Francis and Amber, I was expecting to root for them as a couple as they battled their illnesses. I was expecting to laugh and cry right along with them. However, all of my expectations were unmet. I found Francis and his family all very tedious and one dimensional, which is not a good thing. Amber was okay, but she was also really underdeveloped. She was supposed to be this funny, sarcastic girl, but I didn't get any of that from her.

The book itself was very slow, and in fact we didn't even meet Amber until the book was a quarter of the way over. I was very close to DNFing the book then as well because Francis was so boring, but when Amber showed up, I decided to keep reading it and hope that this book would improve.

The character development was severely lacking in this book, and I think it would have been so much better if Crow had fleshed out the characters more. I wanted them fleshed out because it seemed like they were very flat, and to me, flat = uninteresting. The pacing was even, but it was also incredibly slow. It felt like I could skip a chunk of this book, and I wouldn't miss anything. 

I wasn't excited to pick it up whenever I could, and in fact, I dreaded picking it back up. No one wants to have that feeling when they are reading. Because of the slow pacing and the underdeveloped characters, I'll be giving this book 2 stars. It could have been so much better than it was. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Review: Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay

Book Title: Everything That Makes You 

Author: Moriah McStay

Published Date: March 17th, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

One girl. Two stories. Meet Fiona Doyle. The thick ridges of scar tissue on her face are from an accident twelve years ago. Fiona has notebooks full of songs she’s written about her frustrations, her dreams, and about her massive crush on beautiful uber-jock Trent McKinnon. If she can’t even find the courage to look Trent straight in his beautiful blue eyes, she sure isn’t brave enough to play or sing any of her songs in public. But something’s changing in Fiona. She can’t be defined by her scars anymore. 

And what if there hadn’t been an accident? Meet Fi Doyle. Fi is the top-rated female high school lacrosse player in the state, heading straight to Northwestern on a full ride. She’s got more important things to deal with than her best friend Trent McKinnon, who’s been different ever since the kiss. When her luck goes south, even lacrosse can’t define her anymore. When you’ve always been the best at something, one dumb move can screw everything up. Can Fi fight back?

Hasn’t everyone wondered what if? In this daring debut novel, Moriah McStay gives us the rare opportunity to see what might have happened if things were different. Maybe luck determines our paths. But maybe it’s who we are that determines our luck.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
I was really looking forward to this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads for the first six months of 2015. I was eagerly awaiting the perfect time to read this. I went into this book excited and hopeful that it would be everything I wanted it to be.

Unfortunately it wasn't. The pacing was weird. It was sort of jerky and I found myself totally uninterested in Fi Doyle's life. I thought she was a snit and I really couldn't stand her. Whereas Fiona was awesome. I really liked her and how she dealt with everything. Fiona was actually enjoyable and reading about her was fun too. Fi was such an irritating individual and more than once I wanted to scream. The pace was jerky because while I flew through the pages of Fiona's life, Fi's life bored the heck out of me and it would take me awhile to finish her chapters.

This book also lacked significant character development for the secondary characters, and after I had read the book halfway through, the secondary characters seemed to melt together. There was no distinctive voice for any of them and I grew to really not care about any of them. I think if there had been fewer characters, their character development could have definitely improved.

I love the idea of this story, it's actually one of my favorite types of stories. Unfortunately this one was poorly executed. I didn't get excited to pick this book up whenever I could. It felt more like pulling teeth to get me to pick this book up. Even reading Fiona's parts of the story couldn't really excite me.

The ending was very underwhelming and it made me wonder what the heck had I just read? That's really a crappy feeling to have after reading a book. No one wants to feel like that. I had that this book let me down so much, but I am going to give this book 2 stars.

Review: This Side of Home by Renee Watson

Book Title: This Side of Home

Author: Renee Watson

Published Date: February 3rd, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Identical twins Nikki and Maya have been on the same page for everything—friends, school, boys and starting off their adult lives at a historically African-American college. But as their neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, suddenly filled with pretty coffee shops and boutiques, Nikki is thrilled while Maya feels like their home is slipping away. Suddenly, the sisters who had always shared everything must confront their dissenting feelings on the importance of their ethnic and cultural identities and, in the process, learn to separate themselves from the long shadow of their identity as twins.

In her inspired YA debut, Renée Watson explores the experience of young African-American women navigating the traditions and expectations of their culture.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I truly think that this book was just one of those books that wasn't bad at all, but it was one that I couldn't get into, no matter how hard I tried. I think this book had the misfortune to be read at all the wrong times. Either during a book slump or right after I finished an amazing book. I tried to read this book multiple times, and I finally just pushed myself to finish it, even though I wasn't feeling it.

I couldn't connect with the characters at all. I usually love stories about sisters, but I found myself bored with Nikki and Maya. I didn't feel like I cared about them and the struggles that they were going through. I wanted to care about them and what was changing in their lives, but I just didn't.

The pacing was incredibly slow which is probably my biggest disappointment with this book. I mean it's a contemporary book, so I didn't expect it to be action packed, but there were many times that I would just read a bunch and not a whole lot would happen in those pages that I read. There was a lack of feelsy moments as well. If there are good feelsy moments, that can sometimes save a slow pacing book, but not with this one.

I will be giving this one two stars. I just was bored throughout the book, the pacing was too slow and I couldn't connect with the sisters or any of the other secondary characters. Despite me not enjoying this book, I will still recommend it to others. I seem to be the black sheep with this one, so give it a shot. Who knows, you may love it.

Review: The Cellar (The Cellar #1) by Natasha Preston

Book Title: The Cellar 

Author: Natasha Preston

Published Date: March 1st, 2014

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: Book One in The Cellar duology

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Nothing ever happens in the town of Long Thorpe – that is, until sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson disappears without a trace. No family or police investigation can track her down. Spending months inside the cellar of her kidnapper with several other girls, Summer learns of Colin’s abusive past, and his thoughts of his victims being his family…his perfect, pure flowers. But flowers can’t survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out….

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review:

I was sure I'd love this book. It looked like it was straight out of a script from Law and Order: SVU. I looove crime shows, always have.  So I was excited about this book from the start. Plus the cover was perfect.

Unfortunately this book bored the heck out of me. I couldn't get into it. I normally love the creepy books, but this psychopath was anything but exciting and interesting. In fact his supposed reasons for murder, rape & kidnapping were so overdone, I was bored. He did all this crappy stuff to protect women from the dangers of the real world. He wanted to keep girls pure, and that's why he kept girls in his cellar, and named them after flowers.

His mom had been cheated on, and so Clover/Colin, whatever the hell he was called, felt the need to murder the "other women" His mother loved flowers so that was another reason why he named them Lily, Violet, Rose & Poppy. He considered them "his family" His perfect, pure and whole family. It didn't matter to him that Summer/Lily came from a loving family. What mattered was that she was "allowed" to walk alone in the dark at night.

Summer herself was exasperating. I could not understand why she thought it was a good idea to walk alone in the dark. I was pissed at her boyfriend for not insisting that he come with her. Of course I'm not blaming her for what happened to her, and I'm also not blaming Lewis, her boyfriend. 

The pacing was very jerky. Sometimes it would be intense and mildly fascinating, and other times it was boring and uninteresting. I wasn't excited about picking it up, and in fact I got really excited when I got to put it down. The editing was pretty crappy, and if I had to see one more exclamation point, I was going to scream. The author used an abundance of them, usually when it was completely pointless.

I was hoping for a creepy, bone chilling, thrilling ride. What I got was a predictable story with unlikeable characters and a jerky plot. I'll be giving this book 2 stars, and I will not be reading the next book. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Book Title: Better Than Perfect

Author: Melissa Kantor

Published Date: February 17th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Juliet Newman has it all. A picture-perfect family; a handsome, loving boyfriend; and a foolproof life plan: ace her SATs, get accepted into Harvard early decision, and live happily ever after.

But when her dad moves out and her mom loses it, Juliet begins questioning the rules she’s always lived by. And to make everything even more complicated there’s Declan, the gorgeous boy who makes her feel alive and spontaneous—and who’s totally off-limits. Torn between the life she always thought she wanted and one she never knew was possible, Juliet begins to wonder: What if perfect isn't all it’s cracked up to be?

Melissa Kantor once again delivers a tale that is equal parts surprising, humorous, heartbreaking, and romantic. Powerful and honest, Juliet’s story brilliantly portrays the highs and lows of life in high school and will resonate with any reader who has experienced either.

Disclaimer: I got this e-ARC from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was excited to read this book because like Juliet, I was a high achiever and I had a plan at her age. A plan that I had no desire to deviate from. But that was where our similarities ended. She was overly clingy with her boyfriend, Jason, to the point that she wasn't sure how she was going to live without him for two whole weeks while he and his family went on vacation. 

Yes, seriously, two weeks. C'mon Juliet, I think you can handle being apart for two weeks.

I wanted to have sympathy for her mom, I really did because my own mom battled depression in the past and it was hard for me to watch. But it was hard for me to have sympathy for the woman just because her husband left. I mean, get over it and move on. Making Juliet care for her was unfair as well. Juliet had her own stuff going on, and now she had to be the adult and get her mom to shower and eat.

I didn't care for either of her parents. It felt like she had no control over her life, and that they influenced her decisions a lot more than they should have. If she really wanted to go to Harvard, she would have, but instead she begins to realize that she needs to live her own life, whatever that means to her. I would even make the argument that the only reason she worked so hard to get to Harvard was because of her parents. Not something she wanted, but something her parents wanted and she wanted their love. She was afraid that their love was conditional on her going to Harvard.

The whole Declan thing was weird. I don't love cheating in books, but I don't abhor it like I used to. I didn't like Declan, but that may have been because I didn't like Juliet either. She was so different than me in a lot of ways, and her silence on so many things drove me crazy. Her parents were so big on "don't make a scene" that Juliet was quiet, obedient and just a very boring, one dimensional character.

This book was very slow moving and it felt like I could skip a chunk of this book and still not miss much. It's not often that I enjoy books that are slow moving and this one was no exception.

I was excited to read this book because I loved Melissa Kantor's previous book, Maybe One Day, but this book was such a disappointment to me. I didn't like any of the characters and I was bored while I was reading it. So unfortunately, I have to give this book 2 stars. I would not recommend this book mostly because of the slow pace and unlikeable characters.

Review: The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes

Book Title: The Distance Between Lost and Found

Author: Kathryn Holmes

Published Date: February 17th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.

Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.

On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.

With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back?

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I really should have listened to my inner voice before downloading this book. I mean really, this book had EVERYTHING that I despise in books and yet, for some crazy reason, I decided to read it. Not a smart decision at all. There was a lot of religion in this book which I normally try to stay away from.

Not only did religion play a huge part in this book, but there was an astonishing amount of victim blaming in this book. I spent the entire book furious at these teenagers who were bullying Hallie. Not only were they bullying her, but there were rumors spreading around the school, and of course there was a boy, the preacher's son who was the Golden Boy in the community.

He couldn't do anything wrong and everything that happened that night was all Hallie's fault. It didn't matter that she said no. It didn't matter that she resisted him. All that mattered was what people saw when the bedroom door opened that night. What did these kids see, you ask? They saw Hallie on top of him and he making a big show out of refusing her and pushing her away.

Of course she was the one that was punished. This was a load of sexiest bullshit. I was furious beyond belief. They even told her she couldn't attend youth group for awhile because she was a bad influence! But of course the boy got a pass, for one reason, and one reason only, he's a boy.

Hallie was the complete opposite of me. Instead of standing up for herself, she didn't defend herself at all. You better believe if this happened to me when I was a teenager, I would not shut up about it. I would defend myself loudly from the beginning. However Hallie didn't stand up to Luke until the end of this book, and that did not sit well with me at all.

I had really high hopes for this book, but I was livid throughout the majority of it and was so happy when the book was over. It was just not a book for me. There were bad messages throughout the whole thing and I didn't like any of the characters. I'm giving this book 2 stars and I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Book Title: All The Bright Places

Author: Jennifer Niven

Published Date: January 6th, 2015

Publisher: Random House Children's

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I was so, so excited for this book. I loved the synopsis and was so confident that this book would be a new favorite of mine. I hate to admit it, but I was wrong. I think I was hit by the hype-monster and unfortunately this book didn't work for me.

I love well developed and interesting characters, but neither Violet or Finch was very interesting to me. I didn't care for either of them all that much. They weren't awful characters necessarily, but they definitely should have been developed more extensively. To me, it didn't feel like the author took the time to delve into their characters. We know them on one level, but I truly feel like every character could be like an onion and if developed well, the readers can see that as they are reading.

Normally I don't mind dual POVs, but in this case, they didn't work for me. I couldn't differentiate the different characters. Both Violet & Finch's voices sounded very similar, which really bugged me. To do a dual POV well, the characters voices have to be different and they cannot sound the same or else it doesn't seem realistic.

Now, I did enjoy the writing. It was very pretty, and the writing was the main reason I even stuck with the book. I don't know how to describe the writing. Saying it was pretty doesn't seem like enough. 

 I was hoping the book would improve for me and I'd fall in love with it like everyone else has.It kills me to say that I didn't enjoy this book, but I didn't. In a book like this, characters are so important and when they aren't developed well, that generally ruins a book for me. Unfortunately, I have to give this book 2 stars. It just wasn't for me. Lots of other people have loved it, so I would still recommend it. Maybe you will love it.

Review: Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Book Title: Playlist for the Dead

Author: Michelle Falkoff

Published Date:  January 27th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.

Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.

As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.

Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

I love music, so I was excited to read this book once I realized that music played a significant part in the story. Unfortunately, even with a kick ass playlist, this book let me down in a big way.

I could tell almost immediately that this book was going to be a letdown for me, and yet I continued to read it. I kept thinking that it would get better, these characters would get more interesting, I would get more invested, but it just never happened and I finished the book feeling like I just wasted my time.

I was expecting this book to be chock full of feels, but it wasn't. I was expecting to sympathize with Sam, but I didn't. I was expecting to be blown away by the writing, and I wasn't. It hate it when that happens

Sam would have been a better character if he had been fleshed out more. I didn't care enough about him to even pay attention to him. I didn't care about Astrid, and the mystery of what happened that night and how Hayden came to kill himself was not was compelling as I was hoping it would be.

I really only finished this book because of the music. The writing style was strange and the characters were very poorly developed. I can't even recommend this book, that's how disappointed I was in it. It had so much potential and it just didn't live up to it. I am giving this book 2 stars.

Review: There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

Book Title: There Will Be Lies

Author: Nick Lake

Published Date: January 6th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Genre: YA Mystery

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In four hours, Shelby Jane Cooper will be struck by a car.

Shortly after, she and her mother will leave the hospital and set out on a winding journey toward the Grand Canyon.

All Shelby knows is that they’re running from dangers only her mother understands. And the further they travel, the more Shelby questions everything about her past—and her current reality. Forced to take advantage of the kindness of unsuspecting travelers, Shelby grapples with what’s real, what isn’t, and who she can trust . . . if anybody.

Award-winning author Nick Lake proves his skills as a master storyteller in this heart-pounding new novel. This emotionally charged thrill ride leads to a shocking ending that will have readers flipping back to the beginning.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from Bloomsbury Children's in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
I really was massively excited about this book. I absolutely love mysteries and have read some really awesome ones lately. I hadn't read anything by Nick Lake before so I was nervous, I really wanted to enjoy this book as the premise sounded so fascinating.

Unfortunately the book really let me down and I struggled every single day with picking it up. No one wants to struggle to read a book, so the fact that I was doing it made me miserable. There were various reasons that this one didn't work for me, but I'm just gonna highlight a few of them.

Firstly, and more importantly, I felt like I was reading two separate books. The mythology of Coyote and the trickster gods didn't interest me at all and I flipped through those parts. I was more interested in Shelby and her mom. I think if the mythology bits had been woven into the story more effectively, I would have been able to enjoy it more. The sections about Shelby and her mom were far more interesting and I found myself devouring those parts. I was invested in Shelby's story, but I was not invested at all in the mythology bits.

My second issue is connected to the first issue. It's about the pacing. Pacing can be a really big deal to me depending on how the rest of the book is going. Sometimes it can save a book, sometimes it can sink a book. The pacing in this book was very choppy and I think that was due to the constant shift from Shelby's story to the mythology bits. The bits with Shelby and her mom were fascinating and paced well, while the bits with the mythology made me sleepy and bored. 

The editing. It didn't hit me until I was about 30 pages into the book that there were no quotation marks. None. Apparently we were supposed to just know that having italicized text meant someone was talking. I was extremely frustrated by that. It seemed very lazy to be totally honest, which is another thing that I didn't enjoy about the book.

I really liked Shelby as a narrator. She was interesting and I actually cared about her and what happened to her. Could her character been developed better? Hell yes. However, she was still the strongest part of the book for me. Having her be deaf was extremely fascinating to me as I had never read a book with a deaf narrator before, so that aspect was very interesting to me.

Overall, this book did not work for me. I am really bummed about that, but no one is going to love every book. I did like Shelby as a narrator, but she was not enough to save the book for me. I am going to give this book 2 stars. It had a great premise, but it was not executed well.

Review: Rite of Rejection by Sarah Negovetich

Book Title: Rite of Rejection

Author: Sarah Negovetich

Published Date: December 4th, 2014

Publisher: Sarah Negovetich

Genre: YA Dystopian

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Link: Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"Before you stands the future."

Straight-laced, sixteen-year-old Rebecca can't wait for her Acceptance. A fancy ball, eligible bachelors, and her debut as an official member of society. Instead, the Machine rejects Rebecca. Labeled as a future criminal, she's shipped off to a life sentence in a lawless penal colony.

A life behind barbed-wire fences with the world's most dangerous people terrifies Rebecca. She reluctantly joins a band of misfit teens in a risky escape plan, complete with an accidental fiancé she's almost certain she can learn to love.

But freedom comes with a price. To escape a doomed future and prove her innocence, Rebecca must embrace the criminal within.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

This looked really interesting, so I took a chance and requested it. When I got it, I started reading it very soon because I was afraid that waiting would diminish my excitement over this book. The first 20% was actually pretty good, I felt horrible for Rebecca once the Machine deemed her unworthy of Acceptance. She had pinned all her hopes and dreams on being Accepted and when it didn't happen, her world crashed down around her.

Once she got to the penal colony, that's when things really took a downward turn. There were four other misfits in her little group, but they all bored me. Their character development was virtually non-existent and there was nothing to differentiate these kids. They all acted the same, spoke the same, etc. I wanted more diversity, but I didn't get it. 

The love triangle was a disaster. I didn't buy it at all. One guy had no personality and the other guy gave me the creeps. It just did not work for me at all. There was never any explanation why Rebecca was attracted to these two boys. It felt like she was only attracted to them because of convenience, which really rubs me the wrong way.

This book was a real disappointment to me. It felt like a weird combo of Divergent & The Selection and while I did enjoy the Divergent trilogy as well as The Selection series, this one just wasn't for me. It was a great concept, but it wasn't executed well. I am giving it 2 stars. I would not recommend this book.

Review: The Melody of Light by M.L. Rice

Book Title: The Melody of Light

Author: M.L. Rice

Published Date: November 18th, 2014

Publisher: Bold Strokes Books

Genre: YA Contemporary

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Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Siblings Riley and Aidan Gordon are survivors. Together, they survived an abusive childhood, and when a fiery accident incinerates all they have—except for each other—they survive that, too. The tragedy leaves them with burdens and pain beyond their years, but it also sets them free to forge their own paths. Aidan’s road to happiness seems smooth and carefree. But Riley continues to struggle, her only saving grace being a passion for music that helps soothe her damaged soul. As their paths diverge and college looms, Riley will have to depend less on Aidan and more on herself. Fear of failure drives her, but will finding love derail her single-minded determination to succeed, or will it open the door to the family she’s always wanted?

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

This book sounded like something I'd love, so I was excited to get it from NetGalley. It's no secret that I love dark contemporaries and that they usually give me all those feels. Unfortunately, this book didn't do it for me. I was unbelievably bored the entire time I read it. I didn't root for Riley or Aidan to overcome their childhood. I didn't get excited or emotional at all.

Even as young adults they seemed overly involved in each others lives which really gave me the hebie jeebies. There was no reason they needed to constantly be all up in each others business and it really didn't sit well with me. I understand being close with siblings, especially considering their rough childhood, but their co-dependence really made me wonder if they could ever have their own lives.

I was not a big fan of the romance either which is weird because I love LGBT romance. In this book it kinda came out of nowhere I was was left wondering if I had missed clues to the fact that one of the siblings was attracted to their same gender. Even when the couple got together, I wondered why they were ever together because I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all.

Things were really rushed in this book and I don't feel like enough time was spent developing their characters. I wanted more character development for Riley and more for Aidan. I wanted to see how they would conquer the world if they weren't constantly attached to each other. I wanted them to explore their independence 

This book was overall very boring, the sibling relationship gave me the creeps and the character development was very poor. So I'll be giving this book 2 stars. I would not recommend this book to anyone.