Book Review: Meant To Be by Lauren Morril

Title: Meant To Be

Author: Lauren Morrill

Release date: November 13th 2012
Pages: 304
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Delacorte Books For Young Readers
Source: Bought

                          Synopsis:

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Title: Asylum (Asylum #1)

Author: Madeleine Roux

Release date: August 20th 2013 by HarperTeen
Pages: 313
Genres: Horror, paranormal
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Source: Bought

Synopsis:

Asylum is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Title: Twenty Boy Summer

Author: Sarah Ockler

Release date: June 1st 2009
Pages: 290
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Little Brown Books For Young Readers
My rating: 4/ 5
Source: Bought

Synopsis:

"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Title: The Distance Between Us

Author: Kasie West

Release date: July 2nd 2013
Pages: 312
Genres: Ya, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harper Teen
My rating: 4/ 5 
Source: Bought

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: Winger by Andrew Smith

Title: Winger (Winger #1)

Author: Andrew Smith

Release date: May 14th 2013
Pages: 439
Genres: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
My rating: 4/ 5
Source: Bought

Synopsis:

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids in the Pacific Northwest. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: Mental by Justice Serai

Title: Mental 

Author: Justice Serai 

Release date: April 7th 2015 
Pages: 218
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
My rating: 4/ 5 stars
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

Synopsis:

Hope is an illusion meant to convince the broken to keep on living. 

That’s me. Broken.

My father pays heaps of money for doctors at the Norfolk Psychiatric Center to fix me. I’ve spent six months of my prime teenage years at this residential facility – a place for teenagers who’ve gone mental.

That’s me. Mental.

Just when I begin to feel myself fade away, a boy with a wolfish smile and mischievous eyes reels me in. Julian is broken too, but he believes in me enough for the both of us. Through him, I begin to experience this thing called hope. Doctors can’t fix me, my parents can’t either, but maybe it’s not me who needs fixing.

After all, mental is only a state of mind. It all depends on who’s doing the thinking.

 Goodreads  |  Purchase

Review:

After a baptism accident when she was a little girl, Lucy lives in fear of things like the colors red and orange and the number 6. She suffers from schizophrenia and is a patient in a psychiatric ward. She is trying to get better but things just aren't that easy. She feels like a constant disappointment to her parents and feels guilty for the things she has put them through. 

It was very intriguing to read from a character with schizophrenia's point of view. Lucy, was such an intricate character with so many feelings suppressed inside of her. Every word of hers was riddled with pain and It was very easy for the reader to see that. She suffers so much because of her own mind and it's sad to see how not many people understand her. Especially her parents. I found them to be a little bit ignorant and insensitive toward her daughter's illness. To me they could have been a bit more open minded. 

As for the romance in this book, which did play a big part, I found that it didn't really work well. I mean, the romance itself was fine, it's just the way in which it happened that didn't really appeal to me. Primarily due to the fact that it was sort of an insta-love situation. Julian just happens to show up in the ward and calls Lucy pretty once and they instantly fall in love. It just didn't feel all that genuine to me. However, I did like the fact that Julian really tried his best to help her and he seemed to have her best interest. 

Lucy really grows as a character. Especially towards the end. She realizes that, while it is important to have support from others in order to make the best out of her recovery, she can't rely on other people and depend on them. She accepts the fact that the only one who can save her is herself. And to me that was one of the most important things. 

This book turned out to be very moving. The writing was lyrically beautiful and fluid. And it portrayed this terrifying circumstances in a very real way. It really gives you a sense of hope. I really hope that this book doesn't go unnoticed because it deserves appreciation. 

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Book Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 

Pages: 528

Publication date: October 23rd 2012

My rating: 4/ 5 stars

Synopsis:

Mara Dyer believes life can't 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 strangely unharmed. 

There is.

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

She's wrong.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 445

Publication date: September 10th 2013

My rating: 4/ 5 stars

Synopsis:

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

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ARC Book Review: "Down from the Mountain" by Elizabeth Fixmer

Title: Down from the Mountain

Author: Elizabeth Fixmer

Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen

Pages: 272

Publication date: March 1st 2015

My rating: 4/ 5 stars

*I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley.*

Synopsis:

Eva just wants to be a good disciple of the Righteous Path. She grew up knowing that she and her mother are among the chosen few to be saved from Armageddon. Lately, though, being saved feels awfully treacherous. Ever since they moved to the compound in Colorado, their food supplies have dwindled even while their leader, Ezekial, has stockpiled weapons. The only money comes from the jewelry Eva makes and sells down in Boulder--a purpose she'll serve until she becomes one of Ezekial's wives. 

But a college student named Trevor and the other "heathens" she meets on her trips beyond the compound are different from what she's been led to believe.

(taken from goodreads) 

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Book Review: "Alienated" by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated

Author: Melissa Landers

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 344

Publication date: February 4th 2015

My rating: 4/ 5 stars

Synopsis:

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. (taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: "The Truth About Alice" by Jennifer Mathieu

Synopsis:

Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party.

But did you know Alice was sexting Brandon when he crashed his car?

It's true. Ask ANYBODY.

Rumor has it that Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the bathroom stall at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumors start to spiral out of control.

In this remarkable debut novel, four Healy High students—the girl who has the infamous party, the car accident survivor, the former best friend, and the boy next door—tell all they know.

But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there's only one person to ask: Alice herself.

(taken from goodreads)

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Book Review: "Falling Into Place" by Amy Zhang

Synopsis:

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn't understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn't understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Foreman, and Jay Asher.
(taken from goodreads)

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Review: "They All Fall Downn" by Roxanne St. Claire

Synopsis:

Pretty Little Liars meets Final Destination in this YA psychological thriller that will have readers' hearts racing right till the very end!

Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.

All because of the list.

Kenzie Summerall can't imagine how she's been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.

This is the power of the list. If you're on it, your life changes.

If you're on it this year? Your life ends.

The girls on the list have started to die, one by one. Is it a coincidence? A curse? Or is the list in the hands of a killer?

Time is running out for Kenzie, but she’s determined to uncover the deadly secret of the list...before her number’s up.

(taken from goodreads   ) 

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