Summer Reading Reviews: Young Adult Fiction

I am doing a series where I review ALL the books I read this summer that weren’t graphic novels, since I already did those. It will be broken up into four posts, that will hopefully all be posted in the next two weeks. Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, Young Adult Fiction, and Fantasy.  The reviews and descriptions will be short.

Title: More Happy Than Not
Author: Adam Silvera
Hardcover: 304 pages
Pub Date: June 2015
Publisher: Soho Teen
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

In the months after his father’s suicide, it’s been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again–but he’s still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he’s slowly remembering what that might feel like.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron’s crew notices, and they’re not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can’t deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can’t stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Review:

Wow. This book is incredible. I read it WAY back in June, right after it came out and I still think back to this book in September. Everything about this book is great: the characters, the plot, the setting, what it says about the world. Everything. If you somehow missed it when it came out, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Title: Where I Belong
Author: Gwendolyn Heasley
Paperback: 289 pages
Pub Date: Feb 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: +++

Summary from goodreads:

Meet Corrinne. She’s living every girl’s dream in New York City—shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. . . . When Corrinne’s father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she’s stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she’s supposed to be living. She doesn’t care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R.—before the recession—was as perfect as it seemed.

Review:

This book was a fast summer read. The main character was so annoying at the beginning, but she was supposed to be. I didn’t love the romance in it, but I liked having a main character that felt more realistic. She didn’t change all at once. There were some very big cliches of both city and country life, but all in all it was a fast and fun book.

Title: Bass Ackwards and Belly Up
Author: Elizabeth Craft
Hardcover: 386 pages
Pub Date: 2007
Publisher: Poppy
Rating: ++++

Summary from goodreads:

Harper, Sophie, and Kate are about to commit the ultimate suburban sin–bailing on college to each pursue their dreams. Middlebury-bound Becca is convinced her friends have gone insane.

Harper is going to be the next Jane Austen. Or Sylvia Plath. Or Plum Sykes. Figuring out which should be easy. It’s living with the lie she told her three best friends that’s going to be hard. Kate doesn’t know exactly what she wants. But whatever it is, she won’t find it at Harvard. Maybe the answer is in Paris, or Athens or anywhere Kate can be someone besides the girl with perfect grades, perfect hair, and the perfect boyfriend. Sophie is a star. She’s already got the looks, the talent, and a list of demands for her dressing room. Now that she’s wrangled a furnished guesthouse in Beverly Hills, it’s only a matter of time before she’s discovered. Becca is dysfunctional. At least, her family is. Which is why she can’t wait to flee the drama and get to college. But Becca’s friends know she needs more than a spot on the Middlebury ski team and a cozy dorm room. They know she needs to fall in love.

Review:

I love books that center around groups of friends like this or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. None of the characters were perfect, but they were all intriguing andI really loved following their stories, especially since they were all after high school, trying to figure out what they are doing next. Looking forward to reading the second book!

Title: Don’t Even Think About It
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Hardcover: 336 pages
Pub Date: Mar 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: ++++

Summary from goodreads:

We weren’t always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn’t expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes.

Since we’ve kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what’s coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.

Review:

This was such a fun book to read. I don’t think most authors could pull of a book from different perspectives like this, but Sarah Mlynowski did. It was so creatively written and is a smart, fun YA book. It was the perfect book for summer, but would also work in the back to school season if you are reminiscing about those days. You will be instantly glad you never suddenly could read everyone’s mind.

Title: The Westing Game
Author: Ellen Raskin
Paperback: 182 pages
Pub Date: 1978
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger – and a possible murderer – to inherit his vast fortune, one thing’s for sure: Sam Westing may be dead… but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

Review:

How did I never read this mystery before? It was SO good. I loved everything about it. If you, like me, missed this classic, go get it and read it now.

Summer Reading Reviews: Adult Fiction

I am doing a series where I review ALL the books I read this summer that weren’t graphic novels, since I already did those. It will be broken up into four posts, that will hopefully all be posted in the next two weeks. Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, Young Adult Fiction, and Fantasy.  The reviews and descriptions will be short.

I am starting with Adult Fiction, which actually has the most books.

Title: The Firebird
Author: Susanna Kearsley
Paperback: 539 pages
Pub Date: Jun 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird—the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption.

Review:

I LOVED the first book I read by Susanna Kearsley, THE WINTER SEA, and this book was just as good. This book goes with the first and is kind of a sequel, though it could stand alone. Why would you want it to? These are two of my favorite books. I have never been much of a Russian history fan, but this made the history fascinating. The blending of historical and contemporary with the magical realism element woks perfectly. Both have intrigue and great romance.

Title: In the Unlikely Event
Author: Judy Blume
Hardcover: 397 pages
Pub Date: June 2015
Publisher: Knopf
Rating: ++++

Summary from goodreads:

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place—Nat King Cole singing “Unforgettable,” Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

Review:

When I saw the Judy Blume had a book for adults, I knew I had to read it. It was really good! Not surprisingly, the voice that I thought was the best was the teenager, yet the voices were all distinctive. I can’t believe I had never heard about this story before, but am glad that I got to read this fictionalized version. It was a very fast read, and was often suspenseful (like every time someone got on the plane. Was this the next one???). Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Title: Lead
Author: Kylie Scott
Paperback: 320 pages
Pub Date: Nov 2014
Publisher: St Martin’s Griffin
Rating: +++

Summary from goodreads:

As the lead singer of Stage Dive, Jimmy is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. However, when a PR disaster serves as a wake-up call about his life and lands him in rehab, he finds himself with Lena, a new assistant to keep him out of trouble.

Lena’s not willing to take any crap from the sexy rocker and is determined to keep their relationship completely professional. But when Jimmy pushes her too far and Lena leaves, he realizes that he may just have lost the best thing that ever happened to him.

Review:

If you like rock star romances, this is a series you should look at. This is my least favorite of the three, but it was still enjoyable. I didn’t like Jimmy as much as the other guys, but loved seeing everyone come back and Lena was fine. It was an enjoyable and very fast read.

Title: Pride and Prejudice 
Author: Jane Austen
eBook: 427 pages
Pub Date: 1813
Rating: ++++

Summary:

It’s Pride and Prejudice. You know what it is about.

Review:

I have finally read it. And it was unsurprisingly good. I have watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries a couple times and have read a retelling or two, but now i have finally read the source. Much better if you picture all the characters as the people in LBD, which I did the entire time. I see why it is a classic and look forward to reading my next Austen.

Title: Glazed Murder
Author: Jessica Beck
Paperback: 291 pages
Pub Date:  Mar 2010
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Rating: +++

Summary from goodreads:

Meet Suzanne Hart, owner and operator of Donut Hearts coffee shop in April Springs, North Carolina. After her divorce from Max, an out-of-work actor she’s dubbed “The Great Impersonator,” Suzanne decided to pursue her one true passion in life: donuts. So she cashed in her settlement and opened up shop in the heart of her beloved hometown.

But when a dead body is dumped on her doorstep like a sack of flour, Suzanne’s cozy little shop becomes an all-out crime scene. Now, everyone in town is dropping by for glazed donuts and gruesome details. The retired sheriff warns her to be careful—and they’re all suspects. Soon Suzanne—who finds snooping as irresistible as donuts—is poking holes in everyone’s alibis…

Review:

A cute cozy complete with recipes, what more can you ask for? Though you will want to eat donuts while you read it. Solid mystery, fast read. Not the best cozy I have read, but I still recommend.

Title: Go Set a Watchman
Author: Harper Lee
Hardcover: 278 pages
Pub Date: July 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: ++

Summary:

The original manuscript Harper Lee submitted. Somehow, it became To Kill a Mockingbird

Review:

I have no idea how an editor saw this and said “this story of Scout in the courtroom, this is what you should write”. That editor is a genius.

This book has one great scene (and it isn’t that one) and that was about it. And of COURSE it has one great scene, it is a first draft! I could rant on this for a while, but am not going to. Glad we could all have some real conversations about Atticus, but this never should have been published.

More Quick Reviews!

TItle: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Author: Katherine Boo
Paperback: 288 pages
Pub Date: Feb 2012
Publisher: Random House
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century’s great, unequal cities.

In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human.

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees “a fortune beyond counting“ in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. With a little luck, her sensitive, beautiful daughter — Annawadi’s “most-everything girl” — will soon become its first female college graduate. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to the good lives and good times they call “the full enjoy.”

But then Abdul the garbage sorter is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy; terror and a global recession rock the city; and suppressed tensions over religion, caste, sex, power and economic envy turn brutal. As the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed. And so, too, are the imaginations and courage of the people of Annawadi.

Review:

This is not an easy book to read, but it is a great one. It is just narrative nonfiction at its finest. I recommend it to everyone – just go out and read it.

TItle: Love Story 
Author: Jennifer Echols
Paperback: 243
Pub Date: July 2011
Publisher: MTV Books
Rating: +++

Summary from goodreads:

or Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions–it’s her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family’s racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin’s college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she’s sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He’s joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin’s heart with longing. Now she’s not just imagining what might have been. She’s writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter. . . . except this story could come true.

Review:

This book was light and fun – at the time, exactly what I was looking for, but it was just okay. I didn’t really get teh appeal of Hunter. He was just meh as a romantic lead. I did love that it took place at college and want to find more books that do. If you want a quick read that will make you smile often, it is worth checking out.

Mini-Reviews

It is that time again – mini reviews because I have less time!

Title: I Heart NY
Author: Lindsey Kelk
eBook: 322 pages
Pub Date: Sept 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: +++

Summary from goodreads:

.When you’re running away from a broken heart, there’s only one place to go…Adjusting tiaras at the foot of the aisle, Angela and her best friend prepare for the wedding of the year. But events don’t go as planned. And when a girl is in possession of a crumpled bridesmaid dress – and can’t go home – New York (for the very first time) seems like an excellent idea.

Angela’s new friend Jenny Lopez gives Angela a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps, and a makeover. Who hasn’t dreamed of starting afresh with a sassy New York wardrobe, a new haircut and a trip to the make-up counter? Before she knows it, the new Angela is getting over her broken heart by having dinner with two different boys. And, best of all, she gets to write about it in her fabulous new blog. But it’s one thing telling readers all about your romantic dilemmas. It’s another trying to figure them out for yourself!

Review:

This book was….fine. It is a fun romance, but it didn’t feel like anything that special. It was such a love letter to New York, which was fun, but it wasn’t a unique love letter. The obsession with bags and shoes just irritated me, mostly because I don’t know anyone who is that obsessed with their accessories.

Things came a little to easy to Angela. She arrives makes a new BFF (who happens to have her roommate moving out) instantly, she meets guys right away, and lands a job without much work. The stakes were never that high and the choice felt obvious.

It wasn’t bad – if you are looking for a fun, quick romance you should read it, I just expected more from it.

Title: Redshirts
Author: John Scalzi
Hardcover: 320 pages
Pub Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives

Review:

This is one of the most fun books i have ever read! if you like science fiction at all, you should read it. If you have ever enjoyed an episode of Star Trek, why haven’t you read it yet? It took me a while and I regret not reading it sooner.

I am not going to spoil anything, but pick this book up. It is so much fun to read. I laughed out loud so many times and the writing is brilliant.

Title: I Am Not a Serial Killer
Author: Dan Wells
Hardcover: 272 pages
Pub Date: March 2010
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: ++

Summary from goodreads:

John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He’s spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential. He’s obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn’t want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he’s written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.

Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don’t demand or expect the empathy he’s unable to offer. Perhaps that’s what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there’s something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat—and to appreciate what that difference means. Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can’t control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.

Review:

So this book was not what I was expecting. It starts off as one thing and then turned into something completely different, which I found disappointing. The second it changed over, i lost almost all interest in the book. The writing is fine, and I found the main character fascinating, but it just wasn’t for me.

Lick by Kylie Scott

Title: Lick
Author: Kylie Scott
Softcover: 304 pages
Pub Date: May 6, 2014
Publisher: St Nartin’s Griffin
Rating: ++++

Summary from publisher:

Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man in her room, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

In Kyle Scott’s Lick, one thing is certain: being married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet is sure to be a wild ride

Review:

A coworker recommended this book to me. I have been wanting to find a true new adult romance that I liked, so I went for it.

And it was good. I LOVED the main character. She is smart, headstrong and a little awkward. Reading how they met made me cheer. She is just great. She speaks up for herself and doesn’t take crap from anyone, even the rich and famous.

The guy is pretty awesome too – he is not your typical rock star, though some of his bandmates are. When he finds out she blacked out for most of one of the best nights of his life, he is pretty devastated. He isn’t perfect though – he has MAJOR jealousy issues and some anger issues that he is trying to be better about.

The romance is steamy and fun – I totally bought them as a couple and the situations they were in.

It was a little fairy tale at points, but if there weren’t some fairy tale it wouldn’t feel so romantic.

I enjoyed this and will continue the series.

Have any other new adult romances you can recommend?  I am willing to try!

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Title: The Winter Sea
Author: Susanna Kearsley
Paperback: 527 pages
Pub Date: Jan 1, 2008
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Rating: +++++

Summary from pub:

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her

Review:

A couple years ago, I was told that this is a time travel historical romance and was immediately interested. It just took me far too long to get it.

And now I have to read every other book this author has written because it is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I loved the history. It is a time period I knew nothing about, but I was so interested with it the moment it was introduced. The time travel aspect was not what I expected, it was better. It was like it was two books – the present day and historical story overlap, but both have their own characters, storylines, and brilliance

Carrie was a fantastic main character. I loved reading about what it was like to write a book for this character and how strange she sometimes seemed to those around her. I also loved her agent and family, even if they were just side characters. All of the secondary characters added so much to the story and the setting. I felt like I was in that small Scottish town in both time periods as i was reading because it the scene and characters were so rich.

There is also romance in the story and it is realistic and swoon-worthy. The characters are well-matched together and it develops naturally – in the historical time period and the present dayy. I was rooting for the romance and it made me want more!

This is just a fantastic book and you should all read it!

 

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Hardcover: 352 pages
Pub Date: Aug 14, 2014
Publisher: Dutton
Rating: ++++

Summary from pub:

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new

Review:

I loved Anna. I adored Lola. I think Isla is just incredible. And, like the others she is sometimes frustrating and I just want her to realize how awesome she really is. But she is a teenager and I felt a lot of the things she felt as a teenager. She is so smart and caring, but insecure and imperfect just like all of us

 

Isla’s friendship with Kurt was fantastic. He has high-functioning autism. Sometimes he  doesn’t get sarcasm and he gets really excited about certain things. He is also an incredible friend and he and Isla watch out for each other.

I adored the characterization of Josh. I really like how readers gradually get to know him. At first, the reader just sees him as Isla does, good looking, talented, and mysterious, but not a full person. Reading her thoughts about Josh reminded me of how it felt to have a high school crush. Perkins really got that right. As readers get to know Josh, they will see he is a full and completed character and Isla needed to see him a little more complexly to really get who he was.

The relationship felt really realistic. We mainly got to see the infatuation stage, then things happened and everything started falling apart due to so many insecurities. Everyone feels insecure, but at that age, it is even more. The whole course of their relationship was realistic, but a little more romantic than what most of us have. But we don’t get to live at a Parisian boarding school.

This is a really good book and the end made me so freaking happy. Stephanie Perkins knows how to write fantastic characters and wonderful romances.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Landline
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Hardcover: 308 pages
Pub Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Rating: +++++

Summary from pub:

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Review:

I have loved everything Rainbow Rowell has written and especially love that she writes both adult and young adult books. I would love to see more authors with that kind of versatility!

One thing Rainbow Rowell does so well is she makes you feel so much while you are reading her books and this was no different. I laughed and cried. I cared about these characters like they were real people because they felt like real people! I got angry with Georgie sometimes, but I also understood her and how hard it must be to balance everything. Neal was totally justified in leaving without her, but I wanted him to keep trying. They had real, believable flaws and that made them both amazing characters.

But the premise is even cooler – she could use an old phone and call Neal of the past when they were in college together and almost didn’t make it the first time after a big fight. It was a great way to set the book in two different time periods and show their story. As a married person, it really made me think about communication in my own relationship and how everything changes (in really awesome ways for the most part).

This is another smart, funny, and touching book from Rainbow Rowell. I am sure I am not alone when I say that I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennett by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick

Title: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennett
Authors: Bernie Su and Kate Rorick
Hardcover: 228
Pub Date: July 1, 2014
Publisher: Touchstone
Rating: +++++

Summary from pub:

There is a great deal that goes into making a video blog. Lizzie Bennet should know, having become a YouTube sensation over the course of her year-long video diary project. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries chronicled Lizzie’s life as a twenty-four-year-old grad student, struggling under a mountain of student loans and living at home with her two sisters;beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. What may have started as her grad student thesis grew into so much more, as the videos came to inform and reflect her life and that of her sisters. When rich, handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck-up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets’ and for Lizzie’s viewers. Suddenly Lizzie, who always considered herself a fairly normal young woman, was a public figure. But not everything happened on-screen. Luckily for us, Lizzie kept a secret diary.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet provides more character introspection as only a book can, with revelatory details about the Bennet household, including Lizzie’s special relationship with her father, untold stories from Netherfield, Lizzie’s thoughts and fears about life after grad school and becoming an instant web celebrity.

Review:

Did you watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube? Are you a fan of Pride and Prejudice? Do you love contemporary novels about family, friendship, and love? If you uanswered any of those questions, you need to read the book. And if you haven’t seen the YouTube channel, watch it before, during, or after you read it!

I loved this series on YouTube and the book made me love it even more. It lets you really see inside Lizzie’s head and explains some things that are vague in the videos. It makes everyone more sympathetic too. Except for Wickham. Some people don’t deserve any sympathy.

The story of the Bennet family fits so well as a modern retelling. Lizzie is strong and smart, Jane is kind and sweet, with her own bits of strength, and Lydia is…well, let’s just be glad no one gave her a microphone or she may have turned out a little like Miley Cyrus. Social media makes the drama more dramatic and I only yelled “USE YOUR WORDS” at the book a couple times.

This is one of the best books of the year and has made me want to watch the YouTube series all over again!

 

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Title: Say What You Will
Author: Cammie McGovern
Hardcover: 352 pages
Pub Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: ++++

Summary from pub:

Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can’t walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.

When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other’s lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected

Review:

If I could have asked for any contemporary romance, it would l have been about a teenager with a disability where the book is not about their disability. It would be about all the struggles and triumphs of being a teenager.

Then this book came along and was everything I wanted it to be, for the most part.

Amy is incredibly bright and kind. She has a lot of the insecurities that so many teens have, with more struggles. She was always a character who happened to have cerebral palsy, it did not define her. In the same way, Matthew was a full and complex character, never just his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Together, they challenge and complement each other in wonderful ways.

It is such a hard book to put down because you want to stay in their world. Whenever one has a victory, it is hard not to cheer out loud. Whenever there is a setback in their relationships be it with each other, friends or family, it is hard not to tear up.

There is so much in this book about family and it is interesting because you can see WH YAmy’s mother is the way she is, but then you can see how horrible it is for Amy and how she goes so far over the top.

The only reason this has a five star review is that there is a plot point toward the end of teh book that bothered me. A lot. So it couldn’t just be a glowing review.

Even with that, this is a book worth reading and I hope you read it and love it too. I will read whatever Cammie McGovern writes next and I hope to see more books like this.