Tuesday, September 29, 2015

A Million Suns by Beth Revis | Book Review

A Million Suns by Beth Revis 


Reading Group:  High School+


Personal Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision--no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder learns shocking news, he and Amy must race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed, all the while dealing with the love that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: THEY HAVE TO GET OFF THIS SHIP.

Cover: Again, I really like Beth Revis' covers for these books.  On this cover Amy and Elder are looking out of the ship together and seeing space.  Their holding hands and a bright light is covering them.  I think this shows that no matter what happens, they're in this together. 

My Review: They made it!  But not really because they made it years and years ago, but haven't landed on the new planet.  That was a plot twist I wasn't expecting.  I also wasn't expecting the entire ship t go into mass chaos as Elder and Amy tried to figure out how to get the ship out of the planets orbit and onto the planets soil.  I liked this story a little bit more than the first one in the series just because I knew the characters better and I felt like this one started off at a faster pace.  I do wish their relationship developed more though!  It did develop a little bit and I have high hopes for these two, but just love each other!  Maybe I'm reading too many Christina Lauren novels where the characters fall in love within the first 30 pages, but I just like the happy ever after stories and I really want this to be one of those.  Like the first novel, this one does have plot twists and stuff to keep you guessing.  I like that part of it.  The fact that it's a mystery story and you try to figure everything out before the main characters do is fun for me, sometimes frustrating, but fun.

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx


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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Across the Universe by Beth Revis | Book Review

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed. She has left her boyfriend, friends--and planet--behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship. Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.

Someone tried to murder her.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest's rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead. Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship's cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

Cover: I love this cover.  I think it's so pretty.  It's really simple, just Amy and Elder almost kissing in space, but I really like it.

My Review: Oh my god this went live when I didn't mean for it to!  I'm so sorry!!
I gotta tell you guys that this book came up on my Amazon recommended page and I only read it because of the cover.  It's so pretty!  Scify stuff isn't typically my thing, but I did end up enjoying this novel.  It took a little long to really get going though.  And I just wanted Elder and Amy to get together, but they never did!  The story itself was really interesting and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked The Giver or some other dystopian novel.  I think it's cute how much elder cares for Amy and he doesn't even really know her.  It was also interesting having the two of them coexist because they're the same age, but they know two completely different lives.  The scene where Amy almost gets gang raped was crazy though.  The entire mating season thing was something, but I really wish Elder found out about it.  I don't know why, I just feel like he should have figured it out somehow.  It was also fun trying to figure out the killer.  It is a murder mystery after all.   As much as I enjoyed this novel there were a few things I wish were different in it.  

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx


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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell


Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.

Cover: The cover depicts Eleanor and Park sharing headphones and listening to music.  I like this cover because it shows them from the back so it's almost like you are a few rows behind them on the bus with the other kids watching them.  Music and sharing was such a huge part of their relationship as well.  They made each other mix tapes and Park lent Eleanor many comic books.

My Review: This book was very sweet.  I liked that they ere two kids who didn't really know where they belong.  Everyone has felt that way at some point and this story showed that not only are you not alone, but there is someone out there who will love you anyway.  This novel also focused a lot on family and how they're not always good families.  Park's family is a pretty typical family.  They love him, but don't really understand everything he does.  They often compare him and his brother.  Eleanor was right to run away from hers.  Her birth dad tries to care about her, but doesn't; her stepdad is an absolute creep; her brothers and sisters are all over the place; and her mother smiles and acts like everything is okay.
When Eleanor runs away she is scared that her aunt and uncle won't take her in.  I can't imagine going to a relative for help and being turned away.  Can any of you?  But that's the life Eleanor knows, people don't want her.  Thankfully, her aunt and uncle take her in and it seem alike they help get the rest of her family away from her stepdad.
Park sends Eleanor letters that she can't bring herself to open, let alone respond.  She misses him so much.  However, at the end of the novel it says that Park gets a letter from her with three words written on it.
Now, I assumed that the three words were I love you because he said it to her so many times in the novel, but she could never get herself to say it back.  Even though it was evident that she did love Park.  However, that is a very vague thing to say.  There are a lot of the three word sentences:

I _____ you
hate
love
miss
need
tolerate

You're the _____
father
best
worst
one

You ___ me
saved
left
need
love

I thought it was fun to think of some three word phrases.  Can you guys think of any?

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews | Book Review

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Reading Group Rating: High School

Personal Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.
        This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.
        Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."

Cover: I don't really know how to describe the cover of this book.  It's divided in three sections so that everyone gets one, but they don't really have anything to do with the characters, it's just kind of a background.  It likes like a scene that they're trying to film or a play.  I don't know who to describe it or if it has a proper name, but I've seen it before in movies and commercials and stuff, with all the names on string and it swings through so you can read it and then it's tugged away.

My Review: I don't know, guys, this book just didn't really do it for me.  When I finished reading I was kind of confused as to the point of it.  Like, he got to know this girl, but he didn't learn anything from her.  And he and Earl kind of became closer, but at the same time drifted apart and went their separate ways in life.  There were parts where I wanted to stop reading altogether, but then the next sentence would be something like, "You're probably not reading this dumb book anymore."  And I felt like I had to finish it to prove a point.  Online it made a big deal about how funny this book was and I just didn't really find it funny at all...
However, I did like how it was written a lot.  I liked that it went back and forth from normal book layout to a script layout and how sometimes he would write in bullet points.  I thought that was really interesting.   

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick | Book Review

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick 


Reading Group Rating: High School Upperclassman 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

Cover: Pretty simple cover.  A boy and girl together clearly all lovey dovey in front of a fence.  The fence that separates their two houses.  I like that it's really bright and colorful.  It just seems so happy.  The spine of the book is also really cute.  It's white and blue stripes.

My Review: I loved this story.  It was the perfect summer read!  I just loved how different the two families were, but how Jase and Samantha are able to come together and love each other!  Every single word out of George's mouth made me laugh and I fell in love with him very quickly.  I loved how different all of the Garrett's were and I think that coming from a big family (not as big as the Garrett's) I was able to relate to that.  The fact that, yes, we are all brothers and sisters, but we're also our own person, but we will also stand together when needed.  The only thing that kind of threw me off was that on the back cover it talks about 'an impossible decision' that Samantha has to make, which happens, but until the very end of the book.  So many different things happen in this book that by the time you get to that point in the book it's almost not as big of a deal as you might think.  Maybe because it's resolved relatively quickly?  Don't get me wrong, it was a major point in the book and I was glad that it was resolved so quickly, I think I was just surprised it happened so late in the book.  This book covers a lot about relationships; friends, family, boyfriends/girlfriends, addiction.  They are all woven throughout this story so naturally and realistically, I absolutely loved it!  I couldn't put this book down.  I read it in two days and then reread my favorite parts.  I would definitely recommend it to someone who was looking for a good, quick summer read.

Smile!  I'll talk to you soon!xxx
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