Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson | Book Review

Reading Group:  I'm a little stumped as to what to say here because this isn't the first time I've read this book or even this series.  The first time I read it was a long time ago...I was in fifth grade or something crazy like that, and although the book wasn't "inappropriate" for a fifth grader, I don't think I would ever recommend it to someone that young.  So I'm going to go with 7/8th grade+ for this series. 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: When 16-year-old Scarlett Wakefield transfers from St. Tabby’s to Wakefield Hall Collegiate, she is relieved that no one knows her dark, haunting secret. A few months ago, Scarlett was invited to an elite party with a guest list full of the hottest names in British society, including Dan McAndrew. Before the party, Scarlett had only imagined what it would be like to have her first kiss with Dan, but on the penthouse terrace, Dan leaned in close and she no longer had to wonder. Their kiss was beautiful and perfect and magical, and then . . . Dan McAndrew took his last breath as she held him in her arms. No one knows how or why Dan died, and everyone at St. Tabby’s believes Scarlett had something to do with it. But now that she’s safely hidden away at Wakefield Hall, Scarlett would rather forget that it ever happened. Only she can’t. Especially when she receives an anonymous note that will set her on the path to clearing her name and finding out what really happened to the first and last boy she kissed.

Cover: The cover of this book has a girl kissing a boy on the cheek.  You could say this is Scarlett and Dan, but she never kissed him or any other boy on the cheek so I guess the cover is just to show a kiss.

My Review: As I said, this isn't the first time I've read this book, but it's one I think about pretty often.  It was just one of those books that stuck with me.  Scarlett ditches her friends when the popular kids invite her to a party, and when she goes, she gets the chance to kiss her crush...her first kiss, his last.  He has an allergic reaction and dies right in front of her.  Scarlett then gets sent to her Grandmother's school and hopes she can put the horrific event behind her, but when she gets a note saying Dan's death wasn't her fault, Scarlett goes back to the scene of the crime to find answers.  She discovers the chips placed on the bar in front of Dan were covered in the peanut oil that killed him.  Scarlett eating the chips and transferring the oil to Dan was not part of the plan to kill him, he was just supposed to eat them on his own.  But why would someone want to kill Dan?  What could that person gain?
I like mystery books because I like to try to guess what happens before the truth is revealed.  And even though I've read this series before I don't remember a lot of details and I'm interested in rediscovering them.  This is also the first time in a long time I've read a traditional series where you have to read the next book to get some answers.  Usually, I read Christina Lauren or Jaimie McGuire who write series, but really they're a bunch of stand alone novels that overlap, which obviously I love, but I'm excited to read this type of series.

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Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+ 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: From the author of The Night We Said Yes comes a fun and heartfelt YA contemporary tale. When Maude decides to search for information about her birth mother, she finds out more than she expected. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Susane Colasanti.

Family. It’s always been a loaded word for Maude, whose birth mother died after giving her up for adoption. With her best friend, Treena, in college in the same town where her birth mother grew up, Maude decides to visit and explore her past. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena doesn’t seem to have time for her—or for helping with her search. Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude, she starts to realize that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

Cover: The cover of this book has a bunch of polaroid style photos that make up Maude's profile.  I think this is representative of the story because Maude is trying to find a missing piece of herself that has to do with her birth mother.

My Review: I think it's only natural to want to know where/who you come from.  Even I wonder about my grandparents and what their childhoods were like, but because all of my grandparents have passed away, I can't ask them.  Maude goes through this too, but it's more because she was adopted and doesn't know anything about her birth mother or father.  And it's not that Maude doesn't love the parents or life she has, she's just curious about what she didn't have.  So she takes it upon herself to find some answers, and unfortunately, some of the answers she gets aren't what she wanted.  There's a saying that says you should never meet your idols because they'll disappoint you.  Maude didn't set out thinking her birth mother was an amazing person, but hearing that she wasn't even a nice person was a little heartbreaking.  She then finds out that her mother may not have been the greatest friend to some, she was to others.  She was a free spirit who did what (and who) she wanted.  

While Maude is discovering all of this information she's also struggling with her best friend who seems to only want to hang out with a boy.  Also, Maude has something going on with Bennett and although I was a little bummed when the story ended and it wasn't clear if Maude and Bennett were together, it seemed fitting with the ending.  Maude didn't want to label anything with Bennett because she was only visiting for a little while and it was unclear whether she would be attending that college in the fall.  Maude discovered good and bad things about her mother and herself on her search and the book ends in a way that kind of gives the reader a chance to decide.  Knowing everything Maude discovered, would you choose to go to the school your mother went to and your friend and interest attends?  Or would you want a completely fresh start for yourself?  I don't think even Maude knew which option she was going choose. 

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Dreamology by Lucy Keating | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+ 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: The boy of her dreams just might be real in this debut novel with the unconventional romance of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the sweetness and heart of Jenny Han's books. Whimsical, romantic, and utterly original, Lucy Keating’s novel will win readers’ hearts and is perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything.

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. But Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Until the morning she finds him sitting next to her in class, very much alive. 

As Alice and Max get to know each other all over again, Alice learns that real-Max is nothing like dream-Max. He’s complicated and stubborn and has a whole life Alice isn’t part of. 

When their dream life starts interfering with their waking one, Alice and Max have to find a way to make the dreaming stop. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?

Cover: The cover of this book shows a girl sleeping while the back cover actually has a similar image but with open eyes.  I think this is very representative of the story and how Alice has to let go of her dream world and come into the real one.  This cover also uses pinks and blues and yellows instead of realistic colors to add to the dream world aspect.

My Review: This book is one that I want to describe as whimsical even though I'm not 100% sure that's the right word to use.  The brain is such a complex thing as are dreams so to have a pair of 16-year-olds trying to figure what is happening between them gives this book an edge to it that I really enjoyed.  I mean, being a sophomore in high school is hard enough socially, but when the person you dream about appears in your psychology class the year immediately becomes a little bit more confusing.  Both Max and Alice love dreaming about each other and going on adventures, but they approach their time awake differently.  Max does well in school, has lots of friends, plays sports, and is always prepared for everything while Alice spent most of her time awake wishing she could go back to sleep.  When they discover they have to make, the dreams stop Max knows everything is going to be okay but Alice, who had already felt desertion once before, doesn't know how to handle losing the dreams.  The two go from each others comfort blankets to classmates to strangers in the hallway who have to decide if losing the real version is okay once they have already lost the dream version.  

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Under The Lights by Abbi Glines | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+ 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: In the follow-up to Abbi Glines’s #1 New York Times bestseller Until Friday Night—which bestselling author Kami Garcia called “tender, honest, and achingly real”—three teens from a small southern town are caught in a dramatic love triangle.

Willa can’t erase the bad decisions of her past that led her down the path she’s on now. But she can fight for forgiveness from her family. And she can protect herself by refusing to let anyone else get close to her.

High school quarterback and town golden boy Brady used to be the best of friends with Willa—she even had a crush on him when they were kids. But that’s all changed now: her life choices have made her a different person from the girl he used to know.

Gunner used to be friends with Willa and Brady, too. He too is larger than life and a high school football star—not to mention that his family basically owns the town of Lawton. He loves his life, and doesn’t care about anyone except himself. But Willa is the exception—and he understands the girl she’s become in a way no one else can.

As secrets come to light and hearts are broken, these former childhood friends must face the truth about growing up and falling in love…even if it means losing each other forever.

Cover: This cover is very similar to that of Until Friday Night to show that the two are apart of a series.  However on this cover the five characters (Willa, Brady, Gunner, West, and Maggie) are standing on the football field under the lights.

My Review: Have you ever heard some gossip about a family in your town and think, Really?  Them? But they always seemed to have everything so together?  And then on the other hand there are some families that you hear something about and maybe you never saw it coming, but you weren't exactly surprised either.  This book has both of that.  Every family in the world is dysfunctional to some severity.  Willa was the daughter of a teenage mother who never learned how to care for her.  Gunner on the other hand was born into a rich family full of secrets.  Honestly, at one point I thought I was going to have to right everything down on a separate piece of paper in order to keep track of every messed up thing.  Even if Willa didn't live on Gunner's property the two of them needed each other in a way that makes me believe that some how or another they would have found each other.  Gunner was Willa's best friend when they were little, but back then she was distracted by Brady.  During the time the story takes place they're older and Willa is able to see that Gunner was always the one she ran to when she needed someone to talk to, someone to care for her.  (I'm currently watching "Baby Daddy" on Netflix and this book very much reminds me of the Riley, Ben, and Danny trio)  While Willa and Gunner are trying to figure out how to be happy within their families, they also try to  figure out if they can be happy together.  But is a good idea for two unloved people to try to love someone else? 

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Only for Him by Cristin Harber | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: Grayson Ford and Emma Kinglsey--close since they were kids, opposites in every way. He's the stuff high school crushes are made of, Mister Popular, and captain of every team. She's artsy, cute, and not in his league, though fully aware of Summerland's "I Dream of Dating Grayson Ford" support group.

I can't say no. The girl's had my heart since before I knew it went missing.

He hides a life of hell. His father hates him, his mother's gone. Emma is his only savior, yet she doesn't know her power over him. She's the only girl he wants, the only one he could ever tell--though he won't.

I'm stronger, bigger, more of a man than he'll ever be, but because I ruined his life, I've taken his crap, his attacks, the vulgar nature of his existence.

Until she discovers Gray's embarrassment, his humiliation. Emma fights for him and for a chance. Theirs is a Cinderella story that she believes impossible. But as the layers peel back, it's just a guy who needs a girl in order to keep breathing.

My mind is already doodling Mrs. Grayson Ford in imaginary notebooks. He has no clue where my head is at... But, given that I didn't see what just happened coming, maybe I have no clue where his head is at either.

Only for Him. Only series, Volume One.
All novellas in the series are available now!

Cover: This cover shows Gray and Emma hugging in the grass.  I'm pretty indifferent to this cover, except that I don't think this scene ever happens.

My Review: So I downloaded this novella because it was free and I thought it sounded interesting.  Honestly, it wasn't really for me.  I understand it's a novella, so it has to move a little faster than a full novel, but this was super fast.  It started with both of them having a crush on the other and then Gray kisses her out of nowhere and takes her to a school dance, but gets embarrassed when she finds out about his abusive dad even though she already guessed it, but then they get back together, and everything's great.  And then it fast forwards, and Gray is a soldier getting shot at and Emma is a stripper, but she has a daughter with Gray.  There were a lot of plot lines that were never actually addressed.  Gray blames himself for his mother's death, but why?  Emma was basically accepted to a photography school, but then somehow becomes a stripper.  I guess that could be because she got pregnant, but it was never discussed.  Did Gray know he got Emma pregnant?  There are more books in the series, but I just don't know if it's worth reading them to see what they address.  There were some parts of the story I liked, but I am very glad I didn't pay for it and maybe if the others are ever free I'll read those.    

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The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: New York Times bestseller!
An unforgettable novel about a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century, told “with humor and optimism…through the eyes of an irresistible heroine” (People)—from the acclaimed author of The Red Tent.

Anita Diamant’s “vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood” (Los Angeles Times), follows the life of one woman, Addie Baum, through a period of dramatic change. Addie is The Boston Girl, the spirited daughter of an immigrant Jewish family, born in 1900 to parents who were unprepared for America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End of Boston, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie’s intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can’t imagine—a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture, and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, to finding the love of her life, eighty-five-year-old Addie recounts her adventures with humor and compassion for the naïve girl she once was.

Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Diamant’s previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world. “Diamant brings to life a piece of feminism’s forgotten history” (Good Housekeeping) in this “inspirational…page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century” (Booklist).

Cover: The cover of this book is simple: a girl reading while sitting on a post in the ocean.  We can assume this woman is supposed to be Addie.

My Review: This book is fiction, but it's written as if a grandmother is telling a story and I think that's why I liked it so much.  I live in Massachusetts, so I really liked reading about how Boston used to be and what it was like growing up there.  The book takes place from 1914-1985, and that is such a unique time for anyone to live through: the end of Industrialization, two World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam War, advancements in technology.  Plus, as significant as all of those things are they don't include the personal things an individual also had to deal with.  Addie has to balance what she wants for herself and what her family expects of her, which I think a lot of people can relate to.  When she was growing up, women were transitioning from just being wives and mothers to having jobs for themselves, so it was hard for her to relate to her mother who didn't understand Addie's independence.  I enjoy historical fiction like this because even though everything seems so different between then and now, they're really not so much.  This work is very big on feminism which is obviously still huge right now and family drama which is an issue then, now, and forever.  I would recommend this book to anyone, but I think you need to be a certain age to fully appreciate it.

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Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: Is there anything that electric chemistry can’t overcome? The past may be gone, but love has a way of holding on in this “thoughtful romance” (School Library Journal) told in alternating Before and After chapters.

The summer before freshman year, Kelsey and David became inseparable best friends—until the night a misunderstanding turned Kelsey into the school joke and everything around her crumbled, including her friendship with David. So when Kelsey’s parents decide to move away, she can’t wait to start over and leave the past behind. But David’s not quite ready for her to leave.

Now it’s senior year and Kelsey has a new group of friends, genuine popularity, and a hot boyfriend. Her life is perfect. That is, until David’s family moves to town. Old feelings bubble to the surface and threaten to destroy Kelsey’s second chance at happiness. The more time she spends with David, the more she realizes she never let him go. And maybe she never wants to…

Cover: Not going to lie, this cover makes zero sense to me.  First of all this scene never happens and second, the scene that does slightly resemble this happens on David's old, beat up car, not a fancy, bright yellow convertible.  

My Review: I like this book because it was a story about a second chance, that was pretty realistic for being a work of fiction.  Kelsey and David leave off on such bad terms, but when they're back in each other's lives, they have the chance to correct everything.  They stumble along the way, but that's what I liked about it.  Their lives kept going on, and so when they had to reincorporate each other, it was awkward and confusing.  It was frustrating too because I really wanted them to hurry up and figure everything out so they could be together.  I wish there was another chapter or epilogue that explained their relationship a little more because it was like "Yay, they're finally together!  The end."  and I could have used a little bit more.  I liked that Kelsey was super jealous when David started dating her friend, but she knew she couldn't say anything because she had a boyfriend too.  Like I said, this book just seemed more realistic than some other books on the same topic, and I thought it was really nice.

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