Review: Torn by Erica O'Rourke

Title: Torn (Click on title for Synopsis)
Source/ Format: Won, Paperback
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington, June 28, 2011




My Thoughts:

    I have to admit that I’ve put off reading Torn for a long time, but recently I moved it up on my list of things to read.  Although short, Torn presented me with a mystery that sucked me in—it had me wanting to know more about the characters.  O’Rourke did a fantastic job on the plot.

    From the first pages, the mystery became apparent with the murder of Mo’s best friend, an attack that almost left her dead as well.  It was heartbreaking seeing her struggle to regain her life, only to have it derailed again.  At some points I just felt so bad for her, not only was she still dealing with her friend’s death, she also learned some facts about herself and her family.  Then there was Luc.  From the beginning his motives were unclear to me, and I was left with a lot of questions.  Verity seemed like a good friend, but you can never tell things just from the exterior, after all, she did have her own set of secrets.

    With Torn, you never knew who was who until it was finally revealed.  The way it was written I honestly thought things were going to be predictable, but I was wrong about that.  There were some things I had an issue with, like the ages of both love interests, which kind of bugged me throughout the book, but the plot and writing style is what kept it going for me.  The ending left a lot of things open and I do want to see where the sequel takes things. I'm giving this book a 3.5.

 

  

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title:The Immortal Rules (Click on title for Synopsis)
Source/Format: Borrowed from library, Hardcover
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Harlequin Teen, April 24, 2012




My Thoughts:

     Ok, first off: Dystopian + Vampires= how can you go wrong with that?  Well, so many ways, but that’s not what happened here.  Wow, I have to say that I loved The Immortal Rules, and honestly it’s one of the better dystopian books I’ve read this year.  Kagawa has done it again.  She’s crafted another fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat, full of action novel with an extraordinarily twisted plot and finely honed characters.  Needless to say, I will be moving The Eternity Cure up on my list of things to read.

     The Immortal Rules follows Allison (Allie) Sekemoto, an unregistered, who is just trying to survive in a cruel world dominated by vampires.  She lives in a place called the Fringe with other unregistered's.  Soon, trouble plagues Allie, and she ends up making a decision that changes the course of her life.  As a vampire, she struggles with controlling herself, while clinging to the shreds of her old life.  She has Kanin, the vampire that turned her, to help her, but even then, nothing was stable, and soon she’s forced to leave the city she’s known since birth. I loved seeing Allie develop as a character, as she fit into her new role, as well as trying to do the right thing despite her new nature.

     As I said before, the plot had me on the edge-of-my-seat wondering what happened next.  There were some really intense fighting scenes that had me wondering if Allison was going to pull through.  From the way The Immortal Rules ended, I honestly have no clue what’s going to happen in The Eternity Cure, but I can’t wait to find out.   

 

Review: The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

Title: The Summer I Became a Nerd (Click on the link for the synopsis)
Author: Leah Rae Miller
Source/Format: Publisher, ebook
Age Range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Entangled Publishing, May 7, 2013

Favorite Quote:

“Be true to yourself and others will be true to you, too” (17).

My Thoughts:

I absolutely love, love, love The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller. It’s the perfect book to start summer and for teens dealing with identity issues.  It’s a refreshing coming of age story in which Maddie, the main character, embraces her true self. The characters and plot are realistic and well-developed. First there’s Maddie, a cheerleader who wants to fit into the status quo; yet, she’s an undercover comic book lover. And the chemistry of her and her boyfriend, Eric, are questionable at best.  Then there is Logan, a nerd who has the same interests as Maddie.  But she has to keep her interests and friendship with Logan a secret to maintain her position within the in crowd. Throughout the book Maddie continued to deal with her inner conflict, even though at times she seemed to be increasingly comfortable with whom she was. Then there is Dan-the-man, Logan’s friend, he definitely needs his own story. His antics had me laughing out loud. He is so blunt and straightforward, it’s hilarious. The one theme that resonates throughout the book is that you shouldn’t try to fit into the role that everyone has created for you, you should just be yourself. I only wonder if “The Summer I Became Myself” would be a more suitable title.

I received a copy of The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you.

 

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Review: Gravity by Melissa West

 Title: Gravity (Click title for Synopsis)

Source/Format: Purchased, Paperback
Age range: YA
Publisher/Publication Date: Entangled Teen, December 18, 2012

My Thoughts:

     Gravity put an interesting twist on the dystopian genre by integrating Aliens into the mix.  I liked that it wasn’t all about some great love story, and that it had an actual storyline to it.  However, I felt that some parts lacked a little detail, but that didn’t take away from the overall greatness of the plot.  I liked the general concept of Gravity, and the ending left me wanting to know what happens next.

     Ari Alexander is supposed to be the next Commander.  She’s trained for it all her life, and her father expects her to do it.  And then Jackson Locke steps into the picture—he tests Ari’s loyalty, and makes her feel things she wasn’t trained for.  He really throws a monkey-wrench into Ari’s normal routines.  I really liked seeing them interact with each other.  I did not like how Ari’s father made almost every important decision for her like who she had to get married to.  I just felt like he wasn’t really listening to what she had to say to him.  Gravity was pretty good, and I liked the story and can’t wait to see where it goes next, but I wish that it hadn’t been so short. 

 

 

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Title:This Is What Happy Looks Like (Click on title for synopsis)
Source/ Formtat: borrowed from the library, Hardback
Age Range: YA
Publisher/ Publication Date: Poppy, April 2, 2013




My thoughts:

    Considering that I’ve never read anything by Jennifer E. Smith before, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book.  This Is What Happy Looks Like had all the components to it that I look for in a contemporary YA novel.  The romance was sweet, with the characters connecting on an emotional level, the plot was well thought-out, and the writing style was excellent.  To say that I liked this book would be an understatement, I absolutely loved it!  It’s one book that I’d like to add to my personal library.

     This is what Happy Looks Like is told from dual POV’s, Ellie O’Neill a normal girl trying to get her life in order, and Graham Larkin, a movie star.  I liked that prior to the start of the story, they already knew about each other.  So when they met in person for the first time, I felt like it was an important part of the story.  Ellie’s reaction to Graham was understandable, she had things to hide.  I was unsure of what she was hiding at the beginning, but then I found out what it was, and I felt so bad for her, having to live with what she knew.  Graham was also dealing with his own set of problems from his parents, to his career, and what being in the limelight was doing to him as a person.  As things unfolded, I felt like Ellie helped Graham, and in turn he helped her overcome some of her fears.  The relationship between Ellie and her mom was believable, and I understood where her mother was coming from.  She was only trying to look out for Ellie, and thought what she was doing was what was best. 

     I really liked the whole concept of this book, from the way Ellie and Graham first met, to the ending, which wrapped things up nicely.  In the end, I really enjoyed This Is What Happy Looks Like.  It was refreshing to read a contemporary novel like this one, and in a few short hours I’d read the entire thing.