Category: Books

10 Lessons in Decorum and Dystopian from The Selection by Kiera Cass

Posted January 5, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 17 Comments
10 Lessons in Decorum and Dystopian from The Selection by Kiera Cass

Having a copy of The One waiting for me on my bookshelf and it having been over two years since I read The Selection, I decided a re-read of the first book in the series was in order. I bring you my unorthodox re-read review of Kiera Cass’ The Selection in list format, detailing the top ten lessons this reality-show-dystopian-hybrid conveys. 1) Pay your debt, lest you be taken over by wealthier countries. This was an aspect of the book I really found interesting, perhaps because the fate of America (now known as Illéa in this series) isn’t too unbelievable… […]


Why Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer Parodied My Expectations- Review

Posted December 26, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 8 Comments
Why Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer Parodied My Expectations- Review

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer My rating: 2.5/5 Stars Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (2014) Length: 264 pgs Genre: YA Contemporary/Magical Realism Format: Hardcover, checked out from local library Goodreads Synopsis: If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be  at home in New Jersey with her sweet British  boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching  old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English. But life isn’t fair, and Reeve […]


Book Buddies Review: My True Love Gave To Me

Posted December 25, 2014 in Book Buddies Reviews, Books, Reviews / 8 Comments
Book Buddies Review: My True Love Gave To Me

This month I’m partnering up with Lauren from Bookmarklit for Book Buddies, an every-other month feature where Lauren and I will choose a themed read to buddy read and then get together and discuss the things that stand out! You can see both of our opinions and discussions in the conversation review format, and is usually posted on the last Wednesday of the month (although for the month of December, we opted to post on Christmas!) This month’s read My True Love Gave To Me, a holiday anthology edited by Stephanie Perkins and containing short stories from twelve YA authors. […]


Forever by Maggie Stiefvater- Reread Mini Review

Posted December 22, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater- Reread Mini Review

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 3/5 Stars Publisher: Scholastic (2011) Length: 388 pgs Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls (#3) Genre: YA Paranormal Fiction/Romance Format: Hardcover, purchased Goodreads Synopsis: then. When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives. now. That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be […]


The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu- Review

Posted December 17, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 15 Comments
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu- Review

“There is one thing I’ve learned about people: they don’t get that mean and nasty overnight. It’s not human nature. But if you give people enough time, eventually they’ll do the most heartbreaking stuff in the world.” I have SO much to say about this book, and I’m going to do my best to coherently organize my thoughts. I’ve been waiting a long time to read this novel, specifically because of the subject matter. I think there’s not enough YA books that look at society’s problems with teenage sexaulity, and the stigmas, rumors, and slut shaming that go along with […]


Linger by Maggie Stiefvater- Reread Mini Review

Posted December 15, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 6 Comments
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater- Reread Mini Review

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 3/5 Stars Publisher: Scholastic (2010) Length: 360 pgs Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls (#2) Genre: YA Paranormal Fiction/Romance Format: Hardcover Goodreads Synopsis: In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has […]


Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle- Review

Posted December 10, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 18 Comments
Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle- Review

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle My rating: 2.5/5 Stars Publisher: Speak (2012, first published in 2008) Length: 353 pgs Genre: YA Romance/Holiday Format: Paperback, purchased via Amazon Goodreads Synopsis: An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three […]


Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Review & Discussion

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Review & Discussion

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 4/5 Stars Publisher: Scholastic (2009) Length: 390 pgs Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls (#1) Genre: YA Paranormal Fiction/Romance Format: Paperback Goodreads Synopsis: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy […]


The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin- Review

Posted November 26, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin- Review

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin My rating: 4/5 Stars Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (Nov 2014) Length: 470 pgs Series: Mara Dyer (#3) Genre: YA Paranormal Fiction Format: Hardcover (signed) via Amazon Goodreads Synopsis: Mara Dyer wants to believe there’s more to the lies she’s been told. There is. She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead. She should. She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance. She will now. Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this […]


Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas- Review

Posted November 14, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 21 Comments
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas- Review

This may be more of a rant than a review. Not necessarily a bad one, but definitely an impassioned one. Because Throne of Glass and I have perhaps the most love-hate relationship I’ve had with a book all year. So there were some high expectations I had for this going in, based on the plethora of rave reviews I’ve read: A) A kick-butt, take-no-prisoners, no-holds-barred, assassin protagonist B) A well done love triangle C) A creative fantasy world with good world-building I can say after finishing the novel that b & c were pretty well accomplished, but part of me […]