Tuesday, April 26, 2016

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp | Book Review

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp


Reading Group: 17-year-old+ 

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary:Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun.

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 
10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05
Someone starts shooting.
Told from four perspectives over the span of 54 harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Cover: The cover of this book is dark except for the bright chalk that is being shot through.  I think it's a very powerful book cover and it definitely drew me in when I saw it on the shelf.

My Review: I enjoyed this book.  It was a quick read and definitely showed the fear that comes with a scenario as serious and scary as a school shooting.  However, there were a few things I didn't like about the book.  At the end of each chapter were little blurbs (I think they were supposed to be tweets and a blog post and text messages) and they didn't do much for the book.  In my opinion, they were pointless.  I think the point of them was to show how people outside of the school react, but CJ was live-tweeting and being annoying in my opinion and it would have been better if it was a bunch of different people instead of focusing on the few people who really weren't characters in the story.  Also, I don't know if there was something symbolic about all the sisters losing a brother, but I didn't like it.  Why did all of the girls live and none of the boys?  I wish Matt had lived because it would have been a slight plot twist in the story.  Other than those I did enjoy this novel.  It made me sad, which I think it should given what the topic is, and it was nice to have such a strong reaction to a story.  I think that's a very impressive craft for an author to have.  Even though this may not be favorite book, I certainly don't regret spending my time reading it and I would still recommend it.    

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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens | Book Review

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens



Reading Group: 17+ (Sensitive Subjects ~ kidnapping, rape, etc.)

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. 

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of a psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

Still Missing is that rare debut find--a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted debut novel.

Cover: The cover of this novel shows part of a face and some shattered glass.  I think the shattered glass is a nice addition to the cover because if something like this were to happen to anyone, their life would be shattered.  There is no way someone can completely come back from an experience like this.  The title of this novel also plays on the idea that even when you're found and returned home you can't pretend the past year never happened.

My Review: I originally read this novel for my Psychology class.  However, once I started reading it I just couldn't stop and ended up finishing it in less than 24 hours.  This novel was gripping and the plot twist that the mom set up the whole thing floored me.  I wasn't expecting it at all!  How can a mother do something like that?  Annie was taken for a year and during that time she was continuously raped and even had a baby.  I was heartbroken when that baby died.  Especially because it wasn't exactly clear how she died.  And that her body was never found was so sad.  And when the duck gets shot.  This book is just a roller coaster of emotions.  However, it was over too soon.  I wanted to know what happened between her and the detective and what happened with her mom and stepdad in more detail.  I never wanted this book to end.  This book isn't necessarily one that people can relate to.  If you can, I am so sorry, but I would also love to sit and talk with you.  But this book does have some parts that we can kind of relate to.  Annie does whatever she needs to do in order to survive in the cabin, and it was kind of interesting to think how I would react.  Obviously it's impossible to know until you're living it what you would do, but it still raises interesting questions.  Also, I think we can all relate to family problems in one way or another.  Not as extreme as Annie's case, but we all know what it's like for a family member to do something involving us that we don't like in order to get something for themselves out of it.  I would definitely recommend this book, but only to people who can handle reading about this sort of thing in detail.  Annie is kidnapped, raped, and then somewhat manually unstable for a while afterwards, which is sensitive to some people.  But to anyone who can, read it.  It was amazing.

Have you read this book?  What parts broke your heart into a million pieces?

My Review:
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick | Book Review

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick 



Reading Group: Upperclassmen High Schoolers+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To find the liquor cabinet blindfolded, need a liver transplant, and drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To . . . well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this novel is for readers of The Spectacular NowNick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Paper Towns.

Cover: The cover of this novel depicts what we can infer to be Tim and Alice walking outside.  This cover just seems very hopeful to me.  It's very bright and happy, and it appears like they have the whole world in front of them.

My Review: This novel is actually a companion novel to My Life Next Door which I have already read and reviewed (The post is on the right sidebar under "Featured Post" for anyone who hasn't already read it).  Anyone this story is about Alice and Tim and boy oh boy I expected nothing less than this crazy adventure.  Tim was always known as the screwup, the drunken teenager who got kicked out of numerous schools and probably wouldn't amount to much.  However, now he no longer wants to become the low life everyone expects him to.  And he wants to date Alice Garrett.  Alice Garrett has a lot on her plate.  She has currently taken over the mom role of the family as hers tends to her hospitalized dad, she's trying to go to school to become a nurse, and Tim Mason stole the apartment over the garage that was supposed to be hers.  She does not want to fall in love with Tim Mason, she does not want to even like Tim Mason, but when does life ever take our opinions into consideration?  But what happens when the boy you start to fall for finds out he's a teen parent?  And what happens when he wants to take over full custody of his son?  Alice has a lot of responsibility when it comes to her siblings, but she doesn't want to be an actual mother right now.  But who would have guessed that finding out your boyfriend isn't the father could be so heartbreaking.  Tim decided he was going to be a great dad.  He was growing up and making good choices.  But then it's ripped away from him and although it's for the best, it doesn't feel that way.  Yet, life does have a way of working out for us and Tim doesn't have to say goodbye to the boy he loves like a son because his friend from AA and partner adopt him.  This story was great!  I think I like MLND a tiny bit better, but this was a close second and I would definitely recommend it.  It can be read as a standalone novel, but I advise reading MLND first in order to fully understand what's going on with Mr. Garrett.  
What did you guys think of this novel?  Did you like this one or My Life Next Door better?

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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West | Book Review

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West 



Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Money can't buy a good first impression.


Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers learned early that the rich are not to be trusted. And after years of studying them from behind the cash register of her mom's porcelain-doll shop, she has seen nothing to prove otherwise. Enter Xander Spence—he's tall, handsome, and oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and the fact that he seems to be one of the first people who actually gets her, she's smart enough to know his interest won't last. Because if there's one thing she's learned from her mother's warnings, it's that the rich have a short attention span. But just when Xander's loyalty and attentiveness are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn't a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she'd ever realized. With so many obstacles standing in their way, can she close the distance between them?

Cover: I feel like this cover is a little misleading because both characters are so well dressed.  Not that people who don't have a lot of money can't have nice clothing, but I think the cover would be more effective if Caymen was wearing jeans or something more casual.  

My Review: I enjoyed this book.  It can be a struggle to date someone who isn't in the same financial situation as you because there are just things your families do differently, especially these two because their financial situations are so different from each other.  Also, there is nothing like a family secret that gives a book a good plot twist.  Ironically, the plot twist in this book has to do with money!  And Xander is the one to uncover it!  Craziness.  This book was a nice read and a quick read.  It would be a nice one to read on the beach or outside somewhere.  It was kind of a Romeo & Juliet themed book because Caymen's mom doesn't want her involved with the rich and be at risk of getting close to her grandparents.  And I feel like rich people mingle amongst the rich so for Xander to bring this poor girl as a date to anything is not something that was going to go over well with everyone in his family.  However, you don't always chose who you fall in love with and at the end of the day it doesn't always matter what your family thinks, if they're being unreasonable.       

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