Thursday, December 31, 2015

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler | Book Review

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler



Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances, a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

     So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life—and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

     It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last....

Cover: So the cover of this book is a broken heart being put back together, but why is it a cookie?  Shouldn't it be a cupcake?  It should be the decoration on top of a cupcake that depicts the healed broken heart.  The book makes such a big deal about cupcakes and how Hudson is the Cupcake Queen, so the cover shouldn't have a cookie on it.  I guess the baking theme is there and it's a cute cover don't get me wrong, I just think it would be better if it was a cupcake.

My Review: Sometimes we think we want things we used to have, but when we get them again they're not as we remembered.  Hudson thought that if she won the skating competition it would bring her back to her days of skating when everything was good in her life.  But that's not how life works.  Sometimes we have to roll with the punches and just keep moving forward.  Everything will work out in the end even if it's not where we though we would end up.  That's something we have to learn on our own though, just like Hudson.  It's something you say over and over, "It will all work out..." but it's hard to fully believe until we have a moment where we look around and decide we are where we need to be.  This book also throws in the importance of the people around you.  Some people are going to let you down in life.  They'll leave and never come back.  However, there will also be people who will always be there for you so it's important to appreciate them.  This novel can be seen as a coming to age story that depicts how sometimes we have to follow our dreams without trying to go back in time.  

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

I Was Here by Gayle Forman | Book Review

I Was Here by Gayle Forman




Reading Group: High School+; Sensitive Material


Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: When her best friend, Meg, commits suicide by drinking a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how did she miss the signs of Meg's depression? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, and some secrets of his own. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

Cover: The cover of this book shows a back of a girl, Cody maybe, walking down a street.  The landscape shows grass that progresses to trees that changes to mountains.  It goes from flat to sky high and it might be like this to show how things in life can escalate relatively quickly, no matter what it may be.  Once Meg's brother says that he thought the email was worded oddly, Cody starts doing some research and suddenly she finds herself in Nevada trying to find someone who supported Meg's decision to kill herself.  The girl on the cover is standing a road which may be symbolic for the journey Cody goes on literally and figuratively as she discovers more truths about her best friend that she didn't know before.

My Review: I really enjoyed this book.  You guys know I love a good love story anyway, which is what this story becomes.  I also like that it's kind of a mystery and Cody has to put together the pieces of the puzzle.  When you go looking for something, you're certainly going to find something and this novel really shows that. 
I feel as though the theme of mental health and suicide is very "big" right now.  It's the new fad for books the way dystopian novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent were a few years ago.  I do think it is a very serious topic and that by making fictional characters struggle through these things, it helps to take the stigma away from real people who deal with stuff like this and hopefully helps them get the help they need. 

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
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