The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date: September 2011
Series or Standalone: series
ISBN:1442421762
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: I love it; it's dark and pretty

Rating: A
First line: The ornate script on the board twisted in the candlelight, making the letters and numbers dance in my head.

Description (from goodreads):

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

It would be strange to wake up in a hospital bed and not know how you got there. It would be scary and frustrating. Even worse not remembering what killed your friends and not knowing why you were unharmed. It made me want to find out the mystery of what happened that night and keep reading the book until I did.

The book was really suspenseful. Mara was able to put the pieces together in flashbacks. It could get a little confusing at first because she would be doing something in the present then a have a flash back from the past, it made it a little hard to distinguish which was from the past and the present. But you will pick up really quickly. It is a really important part of the book and one I enjoyed once I got used to it.

Mara's love interest in the book was so cute. Well first off he has a British accent, I have always had a thing for British accents, I don't know why, I think they sound cool. And he is cute in a way that isn't perfect, but in a messy normal way. He is also kind of mysterious, and you just know that he is keeping secrets, and then you want to know what he isn't saying.

It was kind of frustrating when Mara and Noah seemed like they needed to have a conversation about everything that was going on, but they kept putting it off. I wanted to know NOW what was going on, but it was another aspect of why I kept reading.

I am so glad this book lived up to the hype. I loved the way the book was written and the mystery behind it all. In the end I was left wanting more, it was a fantastic read!

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Reasons To Be Happy Review

Publisher: Sourcebooks, incorporated
Date: October 1, 2011  
Standalone or series: standalone
 ISBN:1402260202
Format: Print, 224 pages  
Cover thoughts: Love the cover, it really makes me want to smile.

 Rating:  B +   
First line: Reasons to Be Happy: 1. Swimming with dolphins 2. Outrunning forest fire 3. A hot air balloon ride

“Reasons to by Happy:

1. cat purr vibrating through your skin
2. jumping on a trampoline in the rain
3. raw cookie dough
4. getting yourself all freaked out after a scary movie
5. dancing like an idiot when no one is watching

What happened to the girl who wrote those things? I miss that girl. She use to be bold and fun. Now she’s a big chicken loser.

How could so much change so fast?

Let’s see, you could be the plain jane daughter of two gorgeous famous people; move to a new school’ have no real friends; your mom could get sick’ and oh yeah, you could have the most embarrassing secrete in the world. Yup, that about does it.

So the real question is how do I get that girl back?”

Reasons to be happy is an interesting story that just makes me want to smile while I read it. This is one of those books that makes me look at my life differently. 

Hannah, the main character, is telling you a story of her struggle with bulimia after her mother’s death of cancer. Through the book you start to gain a sort of friendship with Hannah and her family. I love that Hannah doesn’t seem like a hollywood starlet like you’d think, it’s like she’s an actual person. She seems to give you all the little details of her struggle with self image problems that I know I’ve felt before myself. 

I also love how the story seems to take a turn when Hannah takes an adventure with her aunt. She learns the true meaning of beauty and the importance of real friends. 

Over all the book was really inspirational while fun to read. I think it’s a wonderful read for anyone, especially those struggling with self image. I would recommend this book for the junior high and upper elementary age because it’s a relatable story that could help a lot of girls as they move up into high school. 

Be sure to check out Katrina Kittle’s Reasons to be Happy the first of October.

 Get more info/pre-order: Goodreads ||| Amazon ||| Book Depository |||| Barnes & Noble The author on the web: Blog ||| Website ||| Twitter ||| 

OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy

Publisher: Walker
Date: May 10, 2011
Series or Standalone: Standalone

ISBN: 0802721778

Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Source: ARC
Cover thoughts: Plain, not very eye catching

Rating: B
First line: I love to argue.

Ellie Taylor likes to argue, so she is thrilled when she gets into the Christian Society Speech and Performance Arts summer camp. Ellie is sure that if she wins the final tournament, she will get the scholarship and get to go to her dream school! But the competition is hot--and his name is Devon. Ellie is sure she can handle him. But when she finds out that the scholarship's benefactor might be prejudice against Jews, Ellie doesn't know whether to hide her heritage or stand up for who she really is.

Ellie's Jewish background was really fun to read about. I learned about some of the foods, like matzo ball soup, and some new words, like Zeydeh which means grandfather in Yiddish. I really liked Ellie's Zeydeh, he is very opinionated and very proud of his heritage. He likes to talk, he says things that most wouldn't, like teaching Ellie at a very young age to cuss in Yiddish.

I also really enjoyed the romance between Ellie and Devon, it was cute and the competitiveness between them brought fun and an interesting edge to the story.

The scholarships benefactor's prejudice against Jews was pretty evident from the beginning by what she said and how Devon acted about it. It was sad to see someone act that way, to hate an entire group of people for what a couple of people did. The benefactor was Devon's grandma, which added another layer of tension to the story. It could have ended Devon and Ellie's relationship right away.

I didn't know what Devon would do about his grandma. Defend Ellie? Or decide it wasn't a big deal? I think he made the right choice in the end. I didn't know what Ellie would do either. Risk her scholarship and stand up for herself? Or not say anything? Ellie made the right decision in the end, it is what I would have done, just probably sooner. The book ended on a happy note.

Overall, this was a cute read that had a good message to get across: to stand up for what you believe in.

Get more info:
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The author on the web:
Blog ||| Website ||| Twitter

Book Talk: Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Publisher: Little, Brown
Date: December 1, 2010
Series or Standalone: Standalone
ISBN: 978-0316052092
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Description: (from Goodreads)
Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to fall apart.

She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

First line: "Claire? It's Rachel. I'm afraid I have bad news."

I haven't read a lot of contemporary. It's a new piece of YA for me but I am quickly falling for it. Fixing Delilah makes me want to read more and more.  I wrote a letter to Sarah Ockler on twitter that read something like: Dear @sarahockler, you write pretty words. They made a pretty story w/a pretty boy & a pretty broken girl. I pretty much liked it. Mooo.<3

I think that covers it. Thanks for reading. (kidding)

Sarah Ockler captured the broken life of a separated family, a lost girl, and what it feels like to lose something you don't even know is important--until you realize that thing means the world. The story opens with a call from Delilah's aunt that her grandmother has died. Meanwhile, Delilah is in this world where she doesn't know how to fit or to get what she wants most. From the first pages, we learn that Delilah 's mother works too much and Delilah spends her time stealing, making out with a boy she doesn't really like, and living life just to get by. With that phone call, Delilah and her mother go back to their roots. The thing about roots is that you can't replant them as easily as you can pull them.

Delilah, her aunt and her mother are thrust into their past as they deal with the estate, talk around the important issues and ignore memories that are hidden away in a deep, dark cellar, covered in bubble wrap and taking up space. Delilah wants to know everything that's going on: why her family is broken, why they left Red Falls (her grandmother's home) when she was a child and never looked back, why her mother does what she does and how all of that affects her. She wants to know who she is, where she comes from, good and bad. Surrounded by the past that Delilah doesn't know and the boy that she hasn't seen since she was child, she starts seeking answers.

I like the raw emotions that happen in this story. It's called Fixing Delilah and it's from her POV, but it's about so much more than just her. It's about discovery,  how things affect us, how things shouldn't go unsaid. It's about love--in all sorts of forms. This was definitely a roller coaster. Things are high and glorious, things are low. A storm comes, tears apart everything that's good and then there's sunshine. 


Sarah does a great job of weaving these beautiful images and emotions into the sentences. There are some really gorgeous words and images that made this story work. There are some cliches in the story--but they work here and most of them didn't really bother me. The only thing I didn't love was the cursing. Some it seemed really out of place (with that said some of it worked!) And whatever happened, there was Patrick. He's the boy next door (literally) and while he's only part of the story, not even a huge part, he's important. He's dreamy. And he's really part of Delilah's journey but not her whole journey. I liked that. 


This book was something I could connect with. We all have something in our past or in our family that we talk around instead of fixing. We all have secrets and desires. We all long to find out who we are and where we come from. Sometimes things happen that leave us broken, things that are so old we can barely find the origin, things that destroy us and make us lose ourselves. These times are hard but the getting fixed, the moving past it, the growth and the strength--those are the things that we cling to. Those are the things that Delilah is looking for, too. The question is: where do you find those things?


Maybe Delilah will help you figure it out.

Want to win my ARC? Fill out this form and leave a comment saying why you want to read this book! For extra entries, tweet and follow the blog. This contest will end November 21st.

Click here to get the entry form.

Source: ARC from NEIBA

A Night with "The Near Witch"

As I promised, I am posting something awesome and random each day for my YA Anniversary!!!! And, in case you didn't hear, Victoria Schwab wrote a book called THE NEAR WITCH. 

She got some ARCs a few days ago. I just happened to be in Nashville when she got them (and we had an outing planned--so she brought them along too!) It's a really, really, really beautiful ARC. I held one my hands. I promise it is AWESOME. But you can see for yourself...This was how two ARCS of THE NEAR WITCH spent their first evening on the earth.

This is her spine. (PRETTY!)

This is her in YA.

This is her taking over the dark table!

This is V signing her!

This is V's name! She wrote it! I'm so excited...!!!

Here's the vlog that Victoria made about her awesome lovely! Oh, and here's where you can pre-order it on Amazon.




I know it may be kind of random to feature someone else's news on my Anniversary Posts of Awesomeness....but I love V. She's one of the people who really encouraged me in the beginning of all this so I'm VERY excited for her. Very. Very! I can't wait to read this. Put it on your TBR list.

Book Talk: Matched by Ally Condie

Publisher: Penguin
Date: Nov 30, 2010
Series or Standalone: Book 1 in trilogy
ISBN: 978-0525423645
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Description: 

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

First line: Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?

You know when you read a book that's so good you don't know what to say about it? This is one of them. But I'm going to try.

From the beginning of the story, the power of this Society is there. I understand it and as it develops, the perfection and manipulation power they have over everyone else is growing and challenging and consistent. I love the world that Ally has created. It's perfect (literally). There is no other way than the right way. No pressure of decisions. No uncertainty. No worries. No questions. There are only answers--and they are unchanging. It really does sound perfect. It's easy and right, until it isn't. This world is so vivid and I love that I got to use my imagination to picture all the beautiful details that Ally described so well. I found my self often bordering between jealous and hatred and adoration of this society. It was so horribly amazing that I wasn't sure how to respond.

I love the story. Here you have a girl who is living as she should live and then, in one instant, everything changes. Everything she knows becomes a question and another and another. I've been that girl before--the one doesn't know what's real and what's not real--and it is displayed so well here. I immediately connect with Cassia, from that first line of the story. "Now that I've found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?" Looking back on the first line, it means so much more than I knew. Cassia daydreams about the choice of which way to go--a choice she never had before. A choice that she doesn't yet she'll have to make. A choice that will change everything once she learns she must make it. It's all sorts of beautiful.

Cassia's voice is consistent, strong and really gets you into her head, her thoughts, emotions, motivations.  I only have praise for this character.  I respect the choice she has to make and the outcome of that choice. I also love her parents in this story. Parents aren't around much in most YA but Cassia's are the perfect (no pun intended) example of active parents who are used well as part of the story.

Unlike a lot of stories, where one guy is way better than the other, both Xander and Ky are amazing. Really. Xander is her best friend and the bond they share is undeniable. He's faithful, loving, understanding. It's the way a best friend is supposed to be and he's not lacking. He sacrifices everything for Cassia and it's fully understood. I really like Xander.

And Ky. *insert sigh* There isn't much I can say about Ky without ruining his story. He's the unexpected, the underdog and yet he shines the like the sun. He's kindhearted, loving, friendly, willing. He pushes Cassia, which I like. As the story moves, we really get to know and love his character. The connection that develops between these two characters is powerful. Cassia's sacrifices are fully understood and these two boys make Cassia's struggle one of passion for the reader. You won't be disappointed.

The prose is rich and vivid. Ally writes this story and holds nothing back. She's so convincing in the voice and character development. There are lines that made me hold my breath and re-read because they were so beautiful. I could go on and on but I won't.

Final thoughts: This story is moving, captivating and really, really makes you think about life. It also makes you laugh and imagine. And swoon. All of those things are important. READ IT. I can't wait to see what happens to Cassia in the next book.

Source: ARC

Book Talk: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date: October 12th, 2010
Series or Standalone: Book 2 in series
ISBN: 978-0-316-07705-7
Format: Hardcover, 512 pages
Description:
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena startsto pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

First line: "I used to think our town, buried in the South Carolina backwoods, stuck in the muddy bottom of the Santee River valley, was the middle of nowhere."

May contain spoilers for Beautiful Creatures, book one in the series.

If there is only one word for this book: Brava. I'm not really sure if it applies to a book but it does now. Forever in history, it will be related to this book, this incredible, marvelous book.

I'll be honest. I liked Beautiful Creatures. I remember I didn't love every second of the book but I enjoyed it--and by the end I was hooked. So, I was excited for the sequel. When another blogger friend let me borrow her copy (because I wanted to read it so very badly!) I was nervous. I tried to start it a few times and never got past the past first page or two. I wanted it to be good and I was nervous about what would happen to Lena and Ethan and Amma. Once I started, I could barely stop to work. This book I LOVED. LOVED. LOVED. Honestly.

Link is back. Ridley is back. The crazy aunts are still crazy and Boo still lingers outside Ethan's car. It's a good time for everyone---except maybe Ethan and Lena, who are dealing with Macon's death and the repercussions. The characters are just as real, perhaps more so. They deal with new obstacles and go on new "adventures" and we learn so much about Ethan in this book. The characters all grew through these pages--Ethan, Lena, Ridley and Link especially--and while it was in ways I didn't expect and in ways that left me crying out for everything to work out like I wanted it, I feel like all of it was completely perfect. Every emotion I felt was purposeful.

Kami and Margaret stepped up ten thousand times in the prose department. There are lines that I read that gave me chills, which as we know I like. One of my favorite pieces of writing is toward the end of the Fragment Friday I did a couple months ago.  Everything from BC was weaved into BD and referenced and explained in new ways. There are still questions that aren't answered but hey, we've got a couple more books. After reading BD, I know they will be answered--and probably blow my mind.

I love Ethan. (How can you not?) I think I love him more now. The way he loves Lena, the way they sacrifice for each other and the way Kami & Margaret portray all those emotions and details are just...well, you know how it was it in BC? Double it. It's that good.

The other thing I loved are the new characters! We get to meet two important ones: Liv and John Breed. I don't want to give anything away but Liv is unexpected and John Breed is debonair in a leather jacket on a motorcycle. (That's a small a hint into his character.) They are lovely additions to the story and I am very excited to see how their roles continue to develop through the rest of the series.

And the twists! There were so many twisty moments. One in particular that left me kicking myself because I never saw it and I should have.

Yes, Beautiful Darkness has it all. Love. Hate. Death. Life. Loss. Laughter. Twists. Suspense. Confusion. And the incredible urge to run away because it's so much but you can't put the book down. I assure you, once it's over, you will wish a thousand ways that it hadn't ended. But that's another story.

Final thoughts on the book: I love it. It's a great follow-up to the first book with new characters and a moving plot. I can't wait for the next one!

Source: Borrowed ARC

SO excited

The evening of emotional disappointment was counter-acted today after a breakfast with my family and talks of finally getting a new car. Glory.

To make it even better--probably the best EVER better--I got my first ARC in the mail. *insert many types of squeals* It is DESIRES OF THE DEAD by Kimberly Derting, the 2011 sequel to THE BODY FINDER. It's so exciting for a few reasons.

1. I feel important enough to be given an ARC. Maybe it's not a big deal to most but it IS a big deal--especially since it follows the aforementioned vlog.

2. I loved TBF.

3. It's SO early, considering it's not released til March 11.

4. It's encouraging. This for all the other reasons I listed, but more because it gives me hope. I need all of that I can get.