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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Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker | Book Review

Reading Group: High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: After a terrible car accident destroys her life as she knew it, twenty-year-old Kacey escapes to Florida, where she encounters an irresistible man determined to capture her wounded heart.

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them. 

Four years ago, Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. They’re struggling to make ends meet at first, but Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D. 

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes and deep dimples, and perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable, and Trent is desperate to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means revealing an explosive secret that could shatter both their worlds.

Cover: The cover of this novel shows Kacey underwater wearing a white dress.  The whole thing screams innocence and rebirth, it's very baptismal.  Kacey moves to Miami to have a fresh start in life, so I think the cover is fitting.

My Review: A lot of this book is about Kacey finding her place after leaving behind such a traumatic past and moving to Miami.  She makes friends, gets a job, and falls in love.  However that all comes crashing down when she learns that her boyfriend, Trent, is actually the same person who owned the car that crashed into her father's and started a downward spiral in Kacey's life.
Trent handed over his car keys one night to a friend that said he was fine to drive.  That friend wasn't okay to drive and crashed the car killing himself, a friend, and Kacey's parents, boyfriend, and best friend.  Trent and Kacey survived the accident and Trent thought that if he could make it up to Kacey, his guilt would ease.  However, finding out the boy your dating has actually been stalking you for four years definitely changes some aspects of your relationship.  
There were traits about Trent that hinted he was involved in the crash.  He moved in at the same time she did, which he landlord points out is odd for him to get two new residents that quickly; he doesn't drink alcohol, and he drives a motorcycle, not a car, which makes it impossible for him to be the one in charge of car keys if he ever did go out with friends and he could never get stuck in a motorcycle if he were to crash it the way Kacey remembers being trapped in her car.  And looking at the situation from his point of view I can understand it.  He thinks if he reaches out to the only other survivor he can apologize and they can get on with their lives.  However, she wants nothing to do with him so he tries to figure out another way, hence how the stalking came to be.  I don't think his initial intention was to fall in love with her, that was just what happened when they got to know each other.
I know I gave away a giant spoiler from this book, but there is a lot more to it than one giant lie.  Kacey has to rebuild a life for herself and just when she thinks she's in the clear the lie is revealed and she has to start all over again.  The book covers her emotional state and how she tries to fix it herself and what happens when she can't.  The ending is also adorable, but I'll leave that for you guys to discover on your own.

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When We Collided by Emery Lord | Book Review

Reading Group: 16 years old+ 

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopses: Seventeen-year-old Jonah Daniels has lived in Verona Cove, California, his whole life, and only one thing has ever changed: his father used to be alive, and now he is not. With a mother lost in a deep bout of depression, Jonah and his five siblings struggle to keep up their home and the restaurant their dad left behind. But at the start of summer, a second change rolls in: Vivi Alexander, the new girl in town. 

Vivi is in love with life. Charming and unfiltered, she refuses to be held down by the medicine she's told should make her feel better. After meeting Jonah, she slides into the Daniels' household seamlessly, winning over each sibling with her imagination and gameness. But it's not long before Vivi's zest for life begins to falter. Soon her adventurousness becomes all-out danger-seeking. 

Through each high and low, Vivi and Jonah's love is put to the test . . . but what happens when love simply isn't enough?

Cover: The front cover of this novel has paint splatter behind the title, which I think is a really good representation of collision.  Yes, Vivi is very into art, and her mom is even a painter, so that could be a reason for the paint splatter, but even if that wasn't the case, I think it would work.  Splatter paint is messy, even when it's done intentionally, but it can be beautiful, and I think that is an excellent representation of this story.

My Review: I can't help but relate this book to Love & Gelato because in both stories the main female character goes looking for her dad at some point.  It's not as big of a deal in this story, but I thought it was interesting that it just so happened in books I read back to back.
I definitely liked Jonah more than Vivi.  She was just a lot for me, and even when I was reading her dialogue, I found myself going a mile a minute.  I also found myself getting very frustrated with her, especially when Jonah was trying to ask for help.  But I think that was the point.  From an outsiders standpoint, it can be frustrated when you know something is wrong with someone, but you can't help them.  Vivi wasn't taking her medication, which made her act the way she did. 
Jonah was just trying to keep everything together, but he was slipping.  Vivi came into his life when he needed her to, but she was never meant to stay.  She wasn't someone who could stay in one place for too long.  I loved the part I the hospital when Vivi admits that Jonah would probably end up with Ellie or someone like her because from the moment she came into the book I thought her and Jonah would be a good match.  
This book reminded me of All the Bright Places because it talked about mental illness and made it apparent that there are more people around you struggling than you might think, but I was pleasantly surprised that this story didn't end in death.  That's not what this book was about because that's not what mental illness always leads to, especially if the person suffering can get the proper help.  However, if you did read ATBP, I think you'd like this story as well.  
It's important to read books with topics like the many covered in this book because even if you can't personally relate, it lets you inside someone's head and teaches you how to be empathetic towards the situation if one was ever to come up.

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In The Blood by Lisa Unger | Book Review

In The Blood by Lisa Unger

Reading Group: 17 years+

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR! Silver Falchion Award Winner, Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee, Suspense Magazine Best Books, Sun Sentinel Best Mystery Novels, Indie Next Pick and Amazon Best Book of the Month!

Liar, liar, pants on fire . . . College senior Lana Granger has told so many lies about her past that the truth seems like a distant, cloudy nightmare.  But she meets her match when she begins babysitting for a volatile, manipulative eleven-year-old boy.  Soon after Lana takes the job, her close friend Beck mysteriously disappears.  Lana instantly begins fabricating stories - to friends, to police, to herself.  Why doesn't her account jibe with those of eye-witnesses?  Lana will do anything to bury the truth about that night ... and about her life.  But someone else knows her secrets.  And he's dying to tell.

Cover: The cover of this books has someone, presumably Lane, on the cover.  It's dark and mysterious which is pretty much how you can sum up this whole book.

My Review:  A friend of mine gave me this book to read and I really enjoyed it.  It was a mystery so I was trying to figure everything out before I got to the end.  I was able to figure out quite a few things, but there was still something on the last page I wasn't expecting.  I don't want to give anything away because it is a book that tries to see how much of a detective you are, but I will say that this book dealt with some big issues that not many people can relate to, but everyone can learn more about.  Everyone has family issues, but not everyone you meet has two killers in their family.  And plenty of people have mental issues or confusion about sexuality, but this book brings it to another level that keeps you captivated throughout.  Like the title says, some things about us are there from the day we're born; it's in the blood.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mysteries or crime shows.  It's a great read that keeps you guessing until the very end.

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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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Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone | Book Review

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Reading Group: 16+/Sensitive Material (Mental Disorders, Suicide) 

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary:If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. 

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Cover: The cover of this book has each word on a different scrap of paper.  Representing how the poets would write on whatever paper they had available to them when they had inspiration to write.  

My Review: I must have a thing for books that involve some form hallucinations.  I feel like I've read  quite a few books recently with this topic.  It's really only my third (Along with Vanishing Girls and Sweet Nothing), but I've read them in a short period of time.  I've also been reading a few books that contain mental health issues so this book was right up my alley for current interests.  OCD is something that seems to me one of form on mental health that isn't talked about much.  Lately anxiety and depression have been front page and other mental health issues have been pushed off to the side.  This novel does a really good job showing that OCD is more complicated that having to be super neat or having intense rituals you have to do before going to bed.  I also liked that this book had the friendship and high school aspect.  There are friends that you may have had since elementary school and even though you know you're growing apart from them, you don't want to walk away from them because you don't have anywhere else to go.  Especially once you get to high school and it seems like everyone has their friend group.  Which is why you may need to try something new in order to make new friends.  For Sam it was poetry and the secret Poet's Corner.  With this group of friends she's more willing to share small details about herself and her OCD that she wasn't able to with the friends she grew up with.  And of course, a boy was involved, and you guys know I can't help but love a good love story.  AJ and the rest of the kids in Poet's Corner are able to understand Sam because they all have something that makes them feel different and like outcasts in some way.  However, when Sam discovers that her mind conjured up Caroline as a way to help her through stressful times, she removes herself from everyone.  Anyone would be freaked out if they realized they accidentally imagined their best friend, but when you already struggle with your thoughts, it makes it even worse.  Sam needed to accept herself and realize that there was a whole group of people who were also willing to let her in, she just had to let them.
One tiny thing that I noticed and liked about this book was the chapter titles.  Sam does a lot of things in threes, so all of the chapter titles are three word phrases, even the title is three words.             

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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. 

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All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven | Book Review

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 

Reading Group Rating: Sensitive Subject Matter/High School+

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Given Summary: Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

Cover: The cover of this book is blue, like Finch's bedroom after he redecorates and his eyes.  It's also covered in post-it notes like Finch's room.  The post-it's are a huge part of this book and eventually become the missing piece to the puzzle that finds Finch.  One of the post-it's has a cardinal on it to represent the one Finch wanted so much to save but couldn't (Finch is the cardinal) and another has a violet on it to represent Violet (duh) and also the flowers Finch brings Violet and the ones he plants at the scene of the accident.

My Review: Okay...This book...I feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest and then tried to be put back.  I never cry at books or movies, but this one nearly got me.  I will forever be scarred by this book.  And I'm kind of okay with that... 
I literally just finished this book, that's why ^^^^ is there.  It's like my official reaction to this book.  But in all serious, this book is truly amazing.  Completely different to the typical happily ever after I usually read (I know now why I prefer those, I can't handle the emotions going through me right now) it's major theme was mental health which I think is a really important thing to talk about.  There's a part in the novel where Finch is afraid to talk about being bipolar because he doesn't want to be labeled.  And I think a ton of people feel this way.  They've already been labeled a freak or a weirdo or a slut or whatever, they don't need anything else.  I also thought how interesting it was how the chapters started.  It was either Finch or Violet's name, but then there was something else.  For Finch it counted how many days he was Awake.  However, it also felt like a countdown until he was Asleep again because the need for the count made you feel like it wouldn't last forever.  For Violet it started with a countdown to graduation.  She needed to have something to look forward to in her life, something to keep her going.  However, after she throws away her calendar it just starts to say the day it is.  Violet no longer needed something to aim for, she learned to live for the present day and not the future.
This book is so frustrating because Finch teaches Violet (and you) so many things about life and not only how to live and enjoy it, but also to deal with the bad things.  He tells Violet to write down the bad things, but instead of putting them on the wall rip them up.  However, he's the one who need the most help to see that life is worth living.  And it's so sad because I feel like that's always the case.  It always seem to be the kids who maybe have nothing to complain about.  And Finch knows his life could be a lot worse.  It reminds us that mental illness isn't just for kids who have hard lives, it's something in our brains.  It's how we're hardwired.  Something isn't right and we have thoughts we shouldn't be having, but that doesn't make us bad.  It's okay to ask for help.
Something else I found interesting was Violet and getting in the car with Finch.  It's been nearly a year since her sister died and she hasn't been in a car.  You have to imagine that her friends and family offered to drive her places.  Maybe they didn't push the subject too hard because they knew she was still suffering so they just took her decline and went with it.  But Finch didn't really need to push her too hard either.  She just got in the car.  And he was pretty much a stranger.  One who liked to drive fast.  Which he didn't do too much when Violet was in the car with him, but the fact that she got in the car shows how much trust she had in him.
There are so many themes that weave in and out of this novel.  It's definitely one for a book club.  There is mental health, bullies, post-it notes, quotes, death, wandering, water, cardinals, family flowers, etc. the list goes on.

So after you finish the book and you don't really know what you're feeling because so many emotions are flying in and out of you at a mile a minute (I couldn't have been the only one) you go on Jennifer Niven's website and discover that not only is Germ Magazine an actual thing, but so is EleanorAndViolet and just like that BAM! 50 more emotions are added to the fly list. 

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