Title: Better Than Perfect
Author: Melissa Kantor
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: February 17th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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Juliet Newman has it all. A picture-perfect family; a handsome, loving boyfriend; and a foolproof life plan: ace her SATs, get accepted into Harvard early decision, and live happily ever after.

But when her dad moves out and her mom loses it, Juliet begins questioning the rules she’s always lived by. And to make everything even more complicated there’s Declan, the gorgeous boy who makes her feel alive and spontaneous—and who’s totally off-limits. Torn between the life she always thought she wanted and one she never knew was possible, Juliet begins to wonder: What if perfect isn't all it’s cracked up to be?

Melissa Kantor once again delivers a tale that is equal parts surprising, humorous, heartbreaking, and romantic. Powerful and honest, Juliet’s story brilliantly portrays the highs and lows of life in high school and will resonate with any reader who has experienced either.



I fell in love with Melissa Kantor last yeats when I read her book One More Day and cried like a little baby for days. So when I saw that she was coming out with a new book this year I knew I had to read it. I went into this book blind, I hadn't read the synopsis or heard anyting about it from other bloggers. So when I got into the book I was surprised, and not really in a good way.

Juliet has the perfect life. The perfect family, the perfect grades and the perfect boyfriends. But when her dad moves out and her mother loses it everything around her falls apart. It doesnt help that her boyfriend is away on a family vacation when all of this happens. Juliet doesnt know what to do anyone, and then walks in Declan. Now here is where I had my issues with this book. I know there have been a lot of talk lately about cheating in YA and I will admit that there is some in this book and I was not okay with it. That is not to say that I ahe cheating in all books no matter the situation, if the story warrents it and it makes sense for the character then yes, I will look the other way. But for me, in this book it didn't make as much sense as it should have.

To me Juliet had hard situation to deal with, that much is crystal clear, and her wanting to escape that life is totally understandable. But for me she did not have to do anything with Declan. Having feeling for him is normal, she had been with her boyfriends for a long time, so seeing someone new and having attraction to them is normal, that is not my issue. My issue was that she never told her boyfriend. Never really felt it necessary to own up to her mistake. Another issue I had with this whoe senario was that she had every opportunity to tell her boyfriend that she needed space to figure stuff out, but she didn't. He was confirmatbale to her and so she stayed.

Although I liked the overall story, especially everything to do with Juliet's family, I just couldnt  get over her actions. I hate cheating in general, I am a product of such a relationhsip and honestly I have never been upfront with that, but it is what it is. It is the perogative of the people involved and for me these characters were not for me. I did not undertsand their relationhsip at all and in the end it wasnt for me. But that is not to say that this book washorrible. It was not, the writing was amazing as always and Melissa is still a favorite of mine, but this time it was just not for me.

Title: Bleed Like Me
Author: C. Desir
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary, Issues
Format: Hardcover, 291 pages
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in  exchange for an honest review

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From the author of Fault Line comes an edgy and heartbreaking novel about two self-destructive teens in a Sid and Nancy-like romance full of passion, chaos, and dyed hair.

Seventeen-year-old Amelia Gannon (just "Gannon" to her friends) is invisible to almost everyone in her life. To her parents, to her teachers-even her best friend, who is more interested in bumming cigarettes than bonding. Some days the only way Gannon knows she is real is by carving bloody lines into the flesh of her stomach.

Then she meets Michael Brooks, and for the first time, she feels like she is being seen to the core of her being. Obnoxious, controlling, damaged, and addictive, he inserts himself into her life until all her scars are exposed. Each moment together is a passionate, painful relief.

But as the relationship deepens, Gannon starts to feel as if she's standing at the foot of a dam about to burst. She's given up everything and everyone in her life for him, but somehow nothing is enough for Brooks-until he poses the ultimate test.

Bleed Like Me is a piercing, intimate portrayal of the danger of a love so obsessive it becomes its own biggest threat.


I went into this book expecting something completely different. I really don't know what I was really expecting was not this. The one thing I like about books that deal with issues such as toxic relationships and self harm are the ways in which the characters deal with everything and learn from it. In Bleed Like Me I didn't get the satisfaction of seeing character growth by the end of the book, it felt like she just kept living even though everything she went through was horrible and clearly effected her in ways no one really knew.

Amelia Gannon is not a likable character in the least. While reading I wanted to like her and relate to her but she made it so freaking hard. She made horrible choices and saw nothing wrong with a clearly abusive boyfriend and made no change to her life. She hated her family, which honestly made sense to me because they were not that great to begin with, and really had no friends. We only really say Amelia through her boyfriend Micheal's eyes because he was the only one she really spent any time with. I hated their relationship right from the beginning. I could see that it was toxic and i hated that no one around did anything to really stop it from going further. Her family and so called best friend tried to warn her about him but they really didn't try hard enough in my opinion.

I really liked the beginning of the story because it was very raw and felt real to me, and the writing was bang on. It was on point with Amelia's feelings and her surroundings, and I really liked that reading experience. But for me there was not enough hope. I say this a lot with books that deal with tough subjects because I always say that yes, it makes sense for there not to be a happy ending, i get that, but there should be a semblance of hope for the characters. I don't want to end a book and s=feel like they are doomed to live a life that is so horrible that they will eventually give up. I need hope, and in this case there was none at the end, and that really tarnished my reading experience.

Title: Eternal Night
Author: Carina Adly Mackenzie
Series: Standalone for now
Genre: YA Mythology, Mystery
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Publisher: The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint
Source: eARC received from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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There are gods among us...

Six young gods are hiding in plain sight among mortals, living secretly in cities across the world. From lavish penthouse soirees to pulsing underground clubs, for them, the party literally never ends. Until now.

On a hot June morning, the body of a beautiful girl is found floating in the rooftop pool of the Jefferson Hotel, her white-ink tattoos revealing the story of a life much longer than seems possible. Only the immortals know the truth: Nadia was the goddess of hope. Now she’s gone, and the world as they know it is ending. The Hudson River has turned blood red. Storms rage overhead. Mania is rapidly spreading across the globe.

It is up to the remaining gods—Lola, Dean, Weston, Mark, Nike and Peitha—to put aside centuries of betrayal and heartbreak, and stop the mysterious source of darkness that is taking over… before the sun sets forever.

Carina Adly MacKenzie, writer for The CW's hit series "The Originals," has penned a steamy, romantic, and ultimately redemptive story of forgotten gods, the persistence of hope, and the power of love to save us.
 

I am a sucker for all things mythology so when I read the synopsis for Eternal Night I knew I wanted to read it. And I got even more excited when I saw who the author was and the projects she was involved in since I was a huge fan of them. But sadly the more I read the more I began to dislike this book.

I loved the concept of the book, having Greek Gods living in the real world without their powers seemed like a great idea. But for me there were just way too many characters for me to read. i felt overwhelmed by all of theme and got very confused more than once because I forgot which one had which storyline. And to be very honest I had a hard time connecting with any character so when something happened to them I honestly didn't feel for them when I really wanted to. I will say that there were a few characters that I liked more than others and I connected with them a lot more than the others.

The writing for me was an issue because there were so many long winded descriptions that I kept glazing over most of it because I didn't find it helpful to the story. There were a lot of descriptions of clothes and setting but it went too far. It distracted from my enjoyment of the book itself and I wanted so much more dialogue because I always think that when characters talk to each other to find out more about them, and in this instance I didn't get that.

Overall Eternal Night had a great concept and would make a great tv show or movie but as a book it was too much. There were too many character and too many pointless descriptions. And as for the end of the book, although we got some answers and I liked that, there was just too much crammed into a short period of time. I felt overwhelmed by all the info I was getting. In the end this book was just not for me.

Title: Blind Spot for Boys
Author: Justina Chen
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: August 12th 2014
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: ARC received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Shana has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who's right in front of her?

Sixteen-year-old Shana Wilde is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it's time to end the plague of Mr. Wrong, Wrong, and More Wrong.

Enter Quattro, the undeniably cute lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don't just fly; they ignite. And so does Shana's interest. Right as she's about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind. Quattro is quickly forgotten, and Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see. So they travel to Machu Picchu, and as they begin their trek, they run into none other than Quattro himself. But even as the trip unites them, Quattro pulls away mysteriously... Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen.
 

As you all are well aware of, I am a sucker for contemporary YA, I love it and will always gravitate towards it when I am in a slump. So when I got the chance to review Blind Spot for Boys I was so excited because I was in need of a fun, flirty beach read. But sadly that is not what I got.

Let's start with the positive shall we? I loved the setting of this book. It is set in Machu Pichu which was amazing and I loved reading about the country and what it was like to hike and discovery the scenery around the characters. I liked that the focus of the book was on Shana and her family. I thought that was very different than some other reads in the same genre. But sadly that is where my likes end.

I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters in this book. I felt very disconnected from them and the story itself. I was looking forward to a book about a family struggling with Shana's dad's illness but what I got was more of a book about Shana's struggles through Machu Pechu. I wanted more family dynamic and I wanted more emotion so that when something happens, my emotions are with the character, and for me that never happened. I also thought that there were two many secondary characters. I felt overwhelmed by their numbers and most of the time gt confused as to who was who. I also felt that they were very 2 dimensional at times and did nothing to propel the story forward.

Now, with the title of this book being Blind Spot for Boys, you expect there to be a boy, and there is. But for me their relationship was too slow building and I felt to tension between them and no chemistry whatsoever. I wanted more from them and I wanted there to be more conflict and more romance. I just wanted more in general. It was very lack luster for me. Actually to be perfectly honest I felt like the ending itself was lackluster. I felt like I didn't get what I wanted. I got no resolution and really o closure. It just ended and I was sitting there and questioning what this book was about and what I had I had just read. In the end, this book was really disappointing for me and I wish it had had more substance for me really enjoy it.

Title: Servants of the Storm
Author: Delilah S. Dawson
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction — and taking the life of Dovey's best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.

But recently she's started to believe she's seeing things that can't be real ... including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.

As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah — where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk — she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

Dovey's running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can't see the threatening darkness but promises to never give up on Dovey and Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers — for a price? Soon Dovey realizes that the danger closing in has little to do with Carly ... and everything to do with Dovey herself.


From the synopsis of this book you are expecting a great mystery that sucks you in from the very beginning. And to be honest you do get that, but if I am honest with myself, this book was not what I expected.

First off I felt like I read two very different books while reading. The beginning was about a young girl who suffers a great loss after a natural disaster and decided to quit the drugs her doctor proscribed. I loved this part of the book. i wanted the whole book to be about her mental illness and how it effected not only her own life but those around her. I especially loved that she was hallucinating and we didn't know if what she was seeing was real or part of the withdrawal from the drugs. But sadly the book did not stay that way. It took a very weird and nonsensical turn that made me roll my eyes and question the motives of the author. The tone of the book completely changed and I did not like the way it changed. I found that the motives of the characters were off from the beginning of the book, and I didn't understand how our main character could just believe what was going on so fast. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Although I was never really invested in the story itself or the characters and their motives, I did really like the mystery element that was present for most of the book. It was what was driving me to finish this book. If there hadn't been a seed of mystery I don't think I would have finished the book. There were too many things that bugged me that I honestly think I would have DNFed it. I read until the end because I wanted to know what was going on in this small town, and to be honest it was a little lackluster. I felt gypped. There was really no resolution no conclusion for me as a reader. I was very upset about this and that is probably why i ended up with the rating I chose. Not enough resolution at the end for me.

Title: Lead Me Not
Author: A. Meredith Walters
Series: Standalone
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Release Date: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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In this dangerously sexy novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Find You in the Dark, a straight-laced college student meets a handsome but enigmatic stranger who lures her into an underground club scene, where she finds it difficult to resist temptation

Aubrey Duncan understands loss. She knows what rock bottom looks like, and she is determined to crawl back up to the top after the sudden death of her younger sister. She blames herself for her part in the tragedy, convinced that she could have done something, anything, to help her.

In her effort to gain redemption, Aubrey starts fresh at Longwood University and facilitates an addiction support group, hoping she can support someone else in the way she failed her sister. But what she doesn’t count on is an all-consuming fascination with group member Maxx Demelo, a gorgeous, blond, blue-eyed enigma who hides dark secrets behind a carefully constructed mask. He only reveals what he wants others to see. But Aubrey glimpses another Maxx hidden below the surface—a Maxx who is drowning in his own personal hell.

As Aubrey and Maxx develop an attraction too intense to ignore, he pulls her into the dark underbelly of the city club scene, where she is torn by her desire to save him and an inexplicable urge to join him in his downward spiral. Worst of all, she is beginning to love everything she should run away from—a man who threatens to ignite in her a fire that could burn her alive…


I was very much looking forward to this NA book when it git time for me to read it because I had read so much YA that it was time for a some sexy times! But sadly what I got what not that sexy and a whole bunch of drama.

There were many aspects of this book that were done well, and one of them was the Drug aspect. Whether it be Maxx, our main love interest, dealing and becoming addicted to the drugs that he was selling, to the drug boss that own Maxx, to the way that our narrator Aubrey handles all of these things since her sister died from a drug overdose.

Aubrey's character was great in the beginning. She was riven and strong headed with a lot of ambition. But what I hated about her character was much she de-evolved as the story went on. The moment she met Maxx she disregarded all the rules she had in place for herself and that was very frustrating to read because you know she was smarted than that and it was like this boy made her forget who she was. Also I found Maxx to be very destructive to not only himself but to Aubry as well and it was frustrating that she could not see it happening when us readers could.

I never really connected with Maxx so his relationship with Aubrey really didn't mean a whole lot to me. I thought it was more sexual than anything else. There was a lot of sexual tension but when it came to actually doing the deed we git nothing but a flashback. I felt a little gypped by that because there had been so much lead up to that scene yet it was glanced over like it meant nothing. Their relationship also did not have enough redemption for me to actually fall for them as a couple. There was too much destruction and hurt that it made me weary and I i felt myself pulling away from the characters and the story itself.

Overall Lead Me Not was an okay New Adult with character that had too many issues and not enough redemption. I wanted more from their relationship and less drama from both of the main characters.

Title: Just Like the Movies
Author: Kelly Fiore
Series: Standalone
Genre:  YA Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, 300 pages
Release Date: July 22nd 2014
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Source: eARC received from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Pretty and popular track star Marijke Monti is confident about almost everything – she’s got great friends, a great family, and she’s on her way to the State Track Championship. In fact, the only thing Marijke isn’t confident about is her relationship with Tommy Lawson.

Lily Spencer has spent her entire high school career preparing for the future – she’s participated in every extracurricular activity and volunteer committee she could. But, at home, she watches her mother go on date after date with dud-dudes, still searching for “the one.” Lily realizes that she’s about to graduate and still hasn’t even had a boyfriend.

While they live on each other’s periphery at school, Lily and Marijke never seemed to have much in common; but, after a coincidental meeting at the movie theater, Lily gets an idea – why can’t life be like a movie? Why can’t they set up their perfect romantic situations, just in time for their senior prom, using movie techniques?

Once the girls come up with the perfect plans, they commit themselves to being secret cohorts and, just like in the movies, drama ensues.


I picked this book up because is sounded like a really cute and fun read. And I was right. It was very cute and fun, but ultimately i felt like this book lacked depth and characterization.

When I first picked u this book I knew I wanted to read it because I thought the concept was really interesting. One: having old movies be a focus point grabbed me because I love old romantic comedies. and Two: because having thee two girls share a frustration with the opposite sex through these movies made me think of a great friendship evolving from it. But sadly I didn't have that connection while reading. What I really wanted was for these two characters to forma great friendship through their mutual interests, but instead I felt like they were just going through the motions and were just in the friendship for what the other person had to offer them.

To be honest I really didn't connect with any of the characters in this book, but especially Marijke. I found that er character was the least likable of the two. Her problem was that she did not trust her boyfriend. She kept thinking he was cheating when in reality he wasn't. I think her jealousy and distrust was very naive of her character, especially one that was going off to college soon. It didn't seem like she was as old as we were told she was. Lily on the other hand I did enjoy reading about. I just thought her story was more fun and flirty. But there were times were I questioned her judgement and did not really understand why she was acting so young.

The end was very clean and tied up in a nice bow, and honestly I was hoping for a little more drama. I wanted Marijke to have more backbone when it came to her boyfriend and the way he treated her. We saw a glimpse of it near the end but I thought her reaction to getting her back was too easy. I liked lily's ending because I liked her character more and cared about what she was going through. Overall I thought this book was fun and a fast read but sadly it wasn't my cup of tea.

Title: The Vanishing Season
Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Series:  Standalone
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Release Date: July 1st 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: eARC received from Publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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Girls started vanishing in the fall, and now winter's come to lay a white sheet over the horror. Door County, it seems, is swallowing the young, right into its very dirt. From beneath the house on Water Street, I've watched the danger swell.

The residents know me as the noises in the house at night, the creaking on the stairs. I'm the reflection behind them in the glass, the feeling of fear in the cellar. I'm tied—it seems—to this house, this street, this town.

I'm tied to Maggie and Pauline, though I don't know why. I think it's because death is coming for one of them, or both.

All I know is that the present and the past are piling up, and I am here to dig.I am looking for the things that are buried.

From bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson comes a friendship story bound in snow and starlight, a haunting mystery of love, betrayal, redemption, and the moments that we leave behind.



I will start this review by saying I am a huge fan of Jodi Lynn Anderson's writing. She has a way of making everything she writes extremely vivid with exceptional descriptions and imagery. And The Vanishing Season was no exception. The way this book was written was amazing and Jodi has an amazing talent, and I don't think I will ever not read one of her book, but I am sad to say that this book, although beautifully written was not for me.

Although I really enjoyed the mystery element that the author created and how it played out in the end (totally did not see it coming) but overall I was not a fan of how the story played out. I felt that the story itself was a little confusing, especially since there was a omnipresent voice, who was a mystery to us readers, that i felt confused the story more than necessary. Although that voice added to the mystery of what was happening to these characters, it made me more confused than anything else. As for the characters themselves, I felt they were 2 dimensional in certain points of the book and i had a very hard time getting to know them, and connection with them. For me to enjoy a book i have to connect with the characters, if I do not then I find myself skimming and wanting the book to end, and unfortunately I did not connect with these character. But the mystery of what was happening made me more interested than normal.

Pacing is another thing that can make or break a book for me, and in The Vanishing Season I felt the story dragged more often than not and that the story itself was kind of boring. Nothing really happened until the last third of the book, and sadly it was too late for me enjoy it. Although, as I sad before, I did enjoy the end and the surprise reveal, but ultimately I could not be salvaged into liking this book. I wanted to so badly because I loved the writing and the way the book written, but sadly this book was not for me.

Title: Drowned
Author: Nichola Reilly
Series: Drowned #1
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Release Date: June 24th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: ARC received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Coe is one of the few remaining teenagers on the island of Tides. Deformed and weak, she is constantly reminded that in a world where dry land dwindles at every high tide, she is not welcome. The only bright spot in her harsh and difficult life is the strong, capable Tiam—but love has long ago been forgotten by her society. The only priority is survival.

Until the day their King falls ill, leaving no male heir to take his place. Unrest grows, and for reasons Coe cannot comprehend, she is invited into the privileged circle of royal aides. She soon learns that the dying royal is keeping a secret that will change their world forever.

Is there an escape from the horrific nightmare that their island home has become? Coe must race to find the answers and save the people she cares about, before their world and everything they know is lost to the waters.


I love books that take a genre and flip its on its head, but ultimately it has to be done right for me to enjoy the story. So when I read the synopsis of Drowned I knew I wanted to read it because it took the Dystopian genre and seems to make it so different from everything else out there. But sadly the longer I read this book, the more I didn't like it.

When writing in the Dystopian genre I find that you need to have a clear picture of the world and how it was created and make the reader understand what is going on around them. This was my biggest problem with Drowned, it didn't make sense. The author tried to explain how this world came to be and what it was like for the characters, but for me it was so confusing. I could not wrap my head around the world and what it meant for the characters. I knew that the tide came in, and everyone had to stand in a line and there were people that disappeared into the tide every once in a while but beyond that I did not grasp what was happening.

Main characters are supposed to grab the reader and make then invested in them and the story. In Drowned I felt none of this because I could not connect with Coe, our narrator. There are A LOT of characters in this book, and for me, it seemed like there were too many, and their names would always get jumbled in my mind. I could not differentiate between all of them and what they meant to Coe. The writing style of this book lead to more heartache for me. At times the writing was beautiful and full of life, but most of the time the writing felt forced, like the author was trying to write higher than the book was meant to be written in. I felt like most of the time the style of writing was distracting me from the story itself. And that ultimately lead to me not enjoying the book as much as I wanted to.

The more I read, the more I kept saying WTF? And that accumulated at the end with a bit WTF because what happened at the end made absolutely NO SENSE whatsoever. I think I put the book down and said, nope not reading this anymore because I did not get what just happened and how it would fit in this world. Drowned was not the book for me, and honestly I hate saying this but I do not think I would ever recommend it to anyone because the storyline just did not make sense and the end was way too much of a WTF moment for me.

Title: Wicked Games
Author: Sean Olin
Series: Yes, not sure on the series name
Genre: YA Contemporary Thriller
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Release Date: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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Wicked Games is the first book in a sexy thriller series where passion, lies, and revenge collide-perfect for fans of Simone Elkeles and Sara Shepard.

To all the locals in the small beach town of Dream Point, Carter and Lilah seem like the perfect It Couple-but their relationship is about to brutally unravel before everyone's eyes.

Carter has always been a good guy, and while Lilah has a troubled past, she's been a loyal girlfriend for the last four years. When smart, sexy Jules enters the picture at a senior-year bash, Carter succumbs to temptation. And when Lilah catches wind of his betrayal, she decides that Jules needs to pay.

By the end of the summer, the line between right and wrong will be blurred beyond recognition. Blood will be shed. Nothing in Dream Point will ever be the same.

This juicy summer read will keep readers turning pages until the shocking, nail-biting finale.


What can I say about this book. It was not my favourite by a long shot and since I do not want this review to be all negative, I will start with what I did like about it. I really liked the tension that the author built up between the character. Cheating characters can do that to a book, and n this one they caused A LOT of tension. For me the best part to read was near the end was the climax was about to be revealed and I could not put the book down because I knew it was coming. That is a sign of great tension and suspense. But sadly for me, that is where my enjoyment ended.

I found the whole concept of the book to a bit far fetched and parts of it to be very disrespectful to people with mental illness. Before I get to the mental illness part, let me start with the part that bothered me the most, the characters. I usually do not like reading book that have characters that cheat. I am very against it and find it very offensive so when a character does something like that I find it very hard for them to redeem themselves in my eyes. So when the story starts off with Carter cheating on his girlfriend of 4 years with some girl named Jules he meets on the beach, I immediately dislike him, and Jules by association. What I think bothered me the most about this whole cheating thing was that Jules knew what was happening and she was happy about it, and when she told her mother her mother was like "OK, just hope you know what you're getting into." Um no, that is not what a mother saying when her daughter is the other woman. I'm sorry its just wrong.

Another aspect of this book that drove me nuts was Carters girlfriend Lilah. I knew from reading about her that she had some sort of metal illness, and yet Carter just gt frustrated by her and wanted to be left alone. He never really tried to figure out what was wrong with her, and why she was like this. He would always just get frustrated with her. And the worst part was, he never really broke up with her until, like, the middle of the book! So obviously Lilah was upset. But then she goes postal and becomes a stalker and extremely violent toward Jules, but not Carter. She only took things out on the girl, t her actual boyfriend who CHEATED! so frustrating. And then when people try and get Lilah parents evolved they says something like "oh yeah she has problems, we don't really know how to handle her." Umm seriously?? The depiction of parenting was not the best in this book.

So needles to say, this book was not my favourite, but I have to talk about the end. because seriously that changed everything. I thought we were going to have a nice end to the story and then the epilogue happened. when you read it you will understand, it made me so angry and I wondered, OK if this is how it is going to end, why did I have to go through the entire book for this??? i felt a little cheated to be honest, and I don't really know what to think about it.

Title: Guy In Real Life
Author: Steve Brezenoff
Series: None
Genre: YA Contemporary, Gaming
Format: Hardcover, 386 pages
Release Date: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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An achingly real and profoundly moving love story about two Minnesota teens whose lives become intertwined through school, role-playing games, and a chance two-a.m. bike accident.

It is Labor Day weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; and Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.

But they don’t.

This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other’s lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn’t belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren’t in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play—at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends—and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.

From the author of the universally praised indie hit Brooklyn, Burning comes a funny, unforgettable, and completely original love story.


I went into this book knowing it was about online gaming, and I honestly thought I would be fine with the subject matter, but to be honest I felt very overwhelmed while reading and my inexperience of the subject matter really effected my enjoyment of this book.

Guy in Real Life follows two characters, Lesh and Svetlana and we get both of their POVs within the book. I always say that one narrator always appeals to me more, but honestly this time I disliked both of them equally. I don't want to be mean in this review because that is not how I review books. I always like to have a leveled review (that means both good and bad qualities) in each one I write. But I honestly i did not expect the amount of online gaming that appeared in this book. Not only was Lesh part of an online gaming community, but Svetlana was a Dungeon Master and therefore there was a whole other "world" that I was not familiar with. I feel like that hindered my enjoyment of the book A LOT. Most of the time I did not know of what I reading was part of a game of real life, and that got very confusing and frustrating over time.

The characters were another thing that I could not connect with, both Lesh and Svetlana were very reclusive and to themselves so we don't really get to see them interact with other people as much as I would have liked. I always say that dialogue is the key to getting to know a character, and when there is no dialogue, then I find it very hard to get to know a character. I will say that I really enjoyed the interaction between Lesh and Svetlanna because when they were together, I found myself reading faster and with a smile on my face. They were very cute, in that teenager way and I really enjoyed reading the growth of them together. Not so much when they are apart.

Overall I did not enjoy Guy in Real Life as much as I was hoping too. There was too much gaming and alternate worlds for me, a person who has NO interest in that world whatsoever, so I think that fact made it harder for me to connect to these characters considering I was not a fan of their pastimes. I will also say that the ending was not what I thought it would be and I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I felt a little cheated, and at at time very confused. But that ending just added to my overall dislike of the book, but if you love gaming and that kind of thing, I honestly think you will love this book.

Title: Killer Instinct
Author: S.E. Green
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Release Date: May 6th 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: eARC received from publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

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She’s not evil, but she has certain... urges.

Lane is a typical teenager. Loving family. Good grades. Afterschool job at the local animal hospital. Martial arts enthusiast. But her secret obsession is studying serial killers. She understands them, knows what makes them tick.

Why?

Because she might be one herself.

Lane channels her dark impulses by hunting criminals—delivering justice when the law fails. The vigilantism stops shy of murder. But with each visceral rush the line of self-control blurs.
And then a young preschool teacher goes missing. Only to return... in parts.
When Lane excitedly gets involved in the hunt for “the Decapitator,” the vicious serial murderer that has come to her hometown, she gets dangerously caught up in a web of lies about her birth dad and her own dark past. And once the Decapitator contacts Lane directly, Lane knows she is no longer invisible or safe. Now she needs to use her unique talents to find the true killer’s identity before she—or someone she loves—becomes the next victim...


I went into this book loving the cover. I thought it was so eye catching and so original from a lot of the books on the shelves, I love the use of white space and I think that is what originally caught my eye and made me want to read it. Unfortunately I felt like this story lacked something for me, and I did not like it as much as I would have liked.

This book is about a young girl who has urges to hurt people, she is not scared of gore, she loved death and she finds a way of hurting people without scarring her conscience. Think Dexter. She only hurts people that harm others, and I feel like that is where most people will say they were lost on the enjoyment of this book because it did remind me of Dexter A LOT so that was something I had to get past in order to continue reading the book. But the other part that actually kept me reading was the fact that there was a serial killer named the Decapitator that was killing people every September and that killer starts to contact her. This is where things get interesting for me because i was really interested in who this person was and how they knew who she was.

The interest of the killer and the interest in who the killer was is where my likes ended. I felt like everything else in the book seemed a little over the top. Especially her family because it seemed too good to be true that her Mother and Step Dad were both part of the FBI so she could see crime scene photos and snoop around the case of the Decapitator. I also didn't see the point of her sister Daisey and why her character had to be labeled as a slut. From what we hear about her, it sounds like its true, but honestly her character had no real impact on the story itself therefore I wondered why her character had to be that way at all. It seemed unnecessary. I also felt like I had a disconnect with all the character including the narrator herself. When something happened I never really felt any kind of emotion so that made it hard to connect to any of the characters.

The reveal. This was the kicker for me. When we learn who the killer really was I wanted t throw the book across the room because, although I did not see it coming, it also made no sense what so ever. I felt angry at the end, i felt myself rolling my eyes and saying "really?" over and over again because the killer did not seem believable to me. AT ALL. that was the nail on the coffin for me, that reveal was the reason I gave this book 2 stars.

Title: This Side of Salvation
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: April 1st 2014
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: ARC received by publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Everyone mourns differently. When his older brother was killed, David got angry. As in, fist-meets-someone-else’s-face furious. But his parents? They got religious. David’s still figuring out his relationship with a higher power, but there’s one thing he does know for sure: The closer he gets to new-girl Bailey, the better, brighter, happier, more he feels.

Then his parents start cutting all their worldly ties in to prepare for the Rush, the divine moment when the faithful will be whisked off to Heaven…and they want David to do the same. David’s torn. There’s a big difference between living in the moment and giving up his best friend, varsity baseball, and Bailey—especially Bailey—in hope of salvation.

But when he comes home late from prom, and late for the Rush, to find that his parents have vanished, David is in more trouble than he ever could have imagined...


I want to preface this review by saying that I am in no way religious and really despise when someone pushes their religion onto me. I do not question what other believe, but I do not want to be persuaded into believing something I do not. And I will admit that because of that, I did not love this book as much as I wanted to.

This book starts off with a brother and sister and their parents and their belief in the Rush, aka The Rapture. I have always been fascinated with the subject of the rapture and why so many people believe it will happen, and i will say that I liked reading about it and how it affected the family. David is our narrator, and he is as questioning about the rapture as I am, and i found that to be very refreshing. I always love characters that questions the beliefs of their parents and/or family because it shows that they are their own person and want to be separated from them and be their own person.

When David and his sister come home from a party on the night The Rapture is supposed to happen, they find their parents are gone, leaving nothing but their nightgowns on the bed. As if they had disappeared into thin air. This was the part of the book that I liked the most. The mystery. I like, David wanted to know what happened to his parents and if they did indeed disappear into thin air, or something completely different. As for the ending, I liked that it was realistic and made sense to me because I think that if it wasn't I would have not liked this book at all.

The writing itself was beautiful, but what I did not like was the switching between past and present tense. I found this while i was reading I would forget what tense I was in and become confused. I needed to go back and see if what I was reading was before or after the rapture happened.

I also disliked the amount of religious text that was throughout the book, but it made sense for the story. For me it was a little much and really made no sense to me at times because I did not understand what the passages really meant. I mean I got a sense of what they were supposed to mean but I think if i had a little more knowledge then I might have had a better time with them.

Overall this book had great aspects to it that I liked, like the mystery and the questioning o religion and if you should really go along with that your parents believe even if you don't believe. But there were too many aspects that I did not like, and therefore It was the read I was expecting.