Review: Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

From Goodreads

Isaiah got his heart crushed by the one woman he thought he could trust. Having been abandoned by his mother & bounced around the foster system for years, he's a bit prickly. He's got a great family (meaning the people he has chosen as family) who will do anything for him, but that still doesn't make him any less intimidating. In walks the gal with a car he's drooling over & the attitude to go with it. Rachel is the token daughter in a family filled with secrets & lies. To escape the pressures at home, she speeds around in her Mustang. When things go sideways at the street race the night she meets Isaiah, nothing will ever be the same.

You guys know I love me some Katie McGarry books. As I said in my WoW yesterday, I may not be able to wait for the boxed set to buy this book. Isaiah has been my favorite character all along, so to have a book featuring him was almost enough to make me squeal. I couldn't have imagined it would get even better when we get introduced to Rachel.

Both of these teens are stubborn & hard-headed to their own detriment, but the benefit of others. They are loyal & trustworthy despite having shady tendencies. Getting to learn about their vastly different, yet eerily similar backgrounds was a lot of fun and made this a unique read. I don't know a lot about cars, but even I appreciated the muscle displayed during the racing & mechanic shop scenes.

McGarry has an entertaining writing style since we get the story from both perspectives. It would be repetitive if done by almost anyone else, but the lens she uses to show us the interactions is what really drives the story home for me. I adored getting to see the parts of these two characters that almost no one saw & how they allowed each other to see what they couldn't actually face themselves. 

While the romance was a little speedy in my opinion (I'm not a fan of insta-love because for me it's not very realistic) it worked well for how this story played out. There is definitely some language, violence, minor drug scenarios (although little to know actual usage mentioned), these things all served their purpose.

Personally, I am the biggest fan of the fact that Katie isn't afraid to break her characters; both emotionally & physically. You'll just have to read to find out what I mean. :)

ARC graciously provided by Around the World Tours

I sent this video to Katie since a lot of the lyrics remind me of scenes in this book & Isaiah in general. I know it's long, but it is well worth it. Enjoy!

Waiting on Wednesday: Crash into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

So I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this work/life/blog balance. Still not perfect, but I'm determined to get things situated. I'm really excited for my book this week (even though I just finished reading it). Crash into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry is set for a November 26 release & I may actually buy this one. I was kind of hoping that they would make a box set of these books soon so I can just buy that, but this one might be too good to wait for that. Check out the summary below.

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

From Goodreads

What I love about these books (and the Fairytale Retellings by Jackson Pearce) is that they are a loosely tied series. Not all characters are major players in other books & each book focuses on a different relationship. Of the three so far, I think this one is my favorite. I LOVE Isaiah & love that Katie isn't afraid to break her characters. Check back tomorrow for my review of Crash Into You! What are you waiting on this week?

August Genreflecting: Review: Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

The day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever. Not because of the kiss, but because it was the day her father announced that the family was moving from St. Louis all the way to Palestine. Though her father grew up there, Liyana knows very little about her family's Arab heritage. Her grandmother and the rest of her relatives who live in the West Bank are strangers, and speak a language she can't understand.

It isn't until she meets Omer that her homesickness fades. But Omer is Jewish, and their friendship is silently forbidden in this land. How can they make their families understand? And how can Liyana ever learn to call this place home?

From Goodreads

Liyana has a valid reason to feel like an outsider in so many ways. An Arab-American who grew up in the very modern & liberal United States is obviously going to have some adjustment issues when moving to a more rural & structured life in Palestine. There are so many expectations to be met and protocols to be followed in a world where your whole life can be in upheaval at any given time. What's most important is how each situation is handled. As she begins to navigate the slippery corridors of social interactions, Liyana begins to find herself and more importantly her position in her new world.

Considering this book's age (originally published in 1997) the story itself is still quite relevant for today's struggling teens. While some things have gotten better, and some worse, in the Palestine/Israel area, one thing remains the same: people must continue to live their lives. Time stops for no man & it certainly doesn't stop for children. This book gives us a small glimpse into a pretty typical experience for people who embark on the adventure of living in a foreign country or culture.

What really has an impact on the reader are the responses to certain situations. It's in those moments that we learn so much about the culture, story, & character(s). Watching Liyana spend time with her grandmother, with whom she can't communicate, is important because her grandmother is trying to impart their heritage onto her. With each passing scenario, we see Liyana wrestle not only with her feelings, but also with her desires. These little interactions really drive the narrative and help to focus the story on Liyana.

This book settles nicely into the subgenre based around one's own culture. While there are several represented in the book (Arab, Jewish, Armenian, and more) what we're really attuned to is Liyana's role within her own culture and how that impacts her interactions with the other groups. 

Be sure to come back next week when I host a giveaway & review Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins!

ARC Review: TMI by Patty Blount

Best friends don’t lie.
Best friends don’t ditch you for a guy.
Best friends don’t post your deepest, darkest secrets online.

Bailey’s falling head-over-high-heels for Ryder West, a mysterious gamer she met online. A guy she’s never met in person. Her best friend, Meg, doesn’t trust smooth-talking Ryder. He’s just a picture-less profile.

When Bailey starts blowing Meg off to spend more virtual quality time with her new crush, Meg decides it’s time to prove Ryder’s a phony.

But one stupid little secret posted online turns into a friendship-destroying feud to answer the question:

Who is Ryder West?

From Goodreads

Bailey & Meg are having a rough patch. At some point during every friendship this happens & more often than not it's over another relationship. The twist in this plot is that Meg doesn't trust Bailey's too-perfect boyfriend, who doesn't even exist! That's right, while having never met him in person and spending all her free time with him electronically, Bailey doesn't see that Meg is just trying to protect her from the unknown. 

Coming from similar heartaches rooted in paternal abandonment, these two each have their own obsessions and must learn to trust one another with their advice when it comes to the guys in their lives. But one little slip threatens to destroy the minute progress they've made towards rebuilding their relationship. Can it all be saved or are some things better just left alone?

I have to say that while this one didn't "wow" me, it was passable. I really enjoyed Bailey being a geekier girl with popular girl tendencies. It gave her more personality than I was expecting. Meg was tough to deal with at times. She was very broody & difficult, but her artwork, her passion, really made me give her a chance.

What really didn't work for me where the absentee parents. This is a disturbing trend in YA, and maybe in familial relationships in general, but it just allows way too much to go on and paints parents in a bad light. I know we all rebel against our parents at some point in time, but that isn't even necessary when they're too busy to care. Another thing that bugged at me were the obvious "daddy issues" that these girls have. They fall under the stereotypical paths of behavior in response to that void. It made me respect the girls a little less that they were so hung up on this stuff and ignoring the wider implications.

The dialogue, mannerisms, & behavior were quite engaging through the whole narrative. Even the filler characters helped round out this story a bit more. We learn a lot through observation & these other characters helped with that. Sadly the catty behavior & underwhelming climax left me feeling a bit disjointed. It really felt like there was either something missing or something still to come. While not a must read, it's a good filler if you want a broody, angsty read.

ARC graciously provided by Around the World ARC Tours

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Goodreads

As many of you know, I am a pretty big fan of Maggie Stiefvater. Her Mercy Falls trilogy was amazing & while I was disappointed with The Scorpio Races, I naturally had to try The Raven Boys. With all the hype surrounding this book, I was surprised to find myself underwhelmed. That's not to say I didn't like the book because I definitely did, I just didn't quite realize what kind of a book I was going to be reading.

To say that this is a puzzling book would be imprecise. It's not that the book is too complicated, it's really just a very busy book. There is constantly something going on, so much so that I felt like I was constantly being pulled in first one direction, and then another. Add in the changing points of view, which really added to the story, and the supernatural element, and you've got yourself one heck of a story. What it all boiled down to though were the character interactions & overlap. There were so many layers of connectivity that at times I felt like I could anticipate who was going to say something next or at the very least predict their reactions.

I will say this, Maggie does an incredible job handling the amount of information she throws at you. Since this is obviously going to be a series, there was some ground information that had to be laid out in order for us to move forward. These basic rules & guiding principles allow us to follow along the constantly twisting plot line. They become fundamental when dealing with the supernatural elements. While we're rooted in the real world, when you start messing with these elements, there need to be predetermined rules for how our world interacts with the "other". Maggie is able to break things apart & disperse them at pivotal intervals rather than dumping everything on you at once and expecting you to remember it all. This allowed me to progress through the book at a more leisurely pace while I processed just what all had taken place.

Unfortunately I had trouble really identifying with any of the characters. While I felt like I could predict their actions & reactions at times, I didn't feel any emotional connection to any of them. They actually seemed kind of flat to me; rather than being the multi-faceted characters I've come to expect, they felt kind of calculable. That may just be my perception & it didn't really effect my feelings about the book, it just made it a bit difficult to get through at times because there wasn't any "need to know" driving force.

Overall I'd say it was just okay. I'm not dying to read the next installment, but I figure I'll pick it up at some point in time. Am I alone in my assessment or does anyone else feel the same way?

May Genreflecting: Giveaway of The Dante Club & Review of All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Carly: She was sweet. Smart. Self-destructive. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. Secrets that got her killed.

Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.

Audrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it—especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.

As reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save.

From Goodreads

Carly was a decent young woman who lost her way and paid the ultimate price. A year after her death, despite having a man convicted of her murder in jail, something doesn't fit for Carly's ex-boyfriend Neily and her best friend/cousin Audrey. It doesn't help that Audrey's dad, Carly's uncle, is the one rotting in prison for a crime he swears he didn't commit.

So Audrey and Neily set out together, however difficult it may be for them personally, to uncover the truth. What they find is  more than they bargained for and at times too much for them to handle. Neily is dealing with guilt over not saving her, resentment at her for being dumped, and a very general anger towards almost anyone she associated with prior to her death. Audrey feels responsible for drawing Carly into the crowd that led to her demise and for being too wrapped up in a relationship to see what was going on.

Richly written with well-placed and timed flashbacks, All Unquiet Things is a masterful mystery. What makes it so unique is that we are starting with what is usually the ending and working backwards. A death has occurred and been "solved" before we even enter the story, so now we're seeing things for the first time while the characters are reliving them. That makes for a more compelling story, in my opinion, because instead of being able to anticipate the answers that are given, we must analyze everything that is given to us in order to solve this murder.

These are some seriously damaged characters. It makes sense for this book to be set exactly where it is because of the lifestyle that can be found within elite prep schools. The variety of personalities are simply more pronounced because of their status. The level of mischief these teens can get into is off the charts for most of our considerations because of the socio-economic  differences between this elite group and middle-class families. Parties, drugs, & relationships can be found in all high schools, but the level and intensity increase with more affluent (spoiled) groups.

The mystery part of this book was incredible. I usually stick with detective type mysteries, which this one kind of resembled, but like I said, with a twist. This allowed me to travel outside my preferred historical or paranormal mysteries. The "who dunnit" feeling is very prevalent in this book, but it takes a back seat occasionally so that we can really want the characters process what's going on around them. I really enjoyed that. I have to admit though, that I did not see that ending coming. Way too good to spoil, so be sure to read it if you really want to know! Now on to the giveaway!

You have the chance to win  The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. It's a great mystery with a little bit of thriller thrown in. The giveaway will run until Thursday, June 6. Good luck!

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Truth (XVI #2) by Julia Karr review

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR XVI!

An exciting dystopian thriller, and sequel to XVI

Nina Oberon's life has changed enormously in the last few months. When her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all sixteen-year-old girls have. The one that announces to the world that she is easy prey to predators. But Nina won't be anyone's stereotype. And when she joins an organization of girls working within the Resistance, she knows that they can put an end to one of the most terrifying secret programs the GC has ever conceived. Because the truth always comes out . . . and the consequences can be deadly.

From Goodreads

Nina is all too familiar with how dangerous the truth can be to anyone & everyone. She has lost almost everyone she holds dear to the truth. After her mother's "accident" left her and her little sister "orphaned" in the eyes of the government, the girls are living with their grandparents; but their worries are far from over. Because of her strong convictions & absolute refusal to bow to how others think she should behave, Nina is her own person and is determined to prove it.

When tragedy strikes her family again, Nina vows to do whatever is in her power to make things right. She wants to expose the all important truth so that everyone is free to do as they please and make up their own minds. Unfortunately that's where even she has trouble. With her family life in taters, naturally her love life will follow suit. Torn between what she thinks she wants & what she's struggling to deny she wants, Nina must make some difficult choices that could have serious ramifications for them all.

This was such a great follow up to XVI. Julia Karr has done a phenomenal job continuing right where she left us. Nina is as determined & strong-willed as ever to ensure that her little sister is protected while trying to find a way to make adequate use of her skills in the Resistance. Unfortunately women are shunned from actual "dangerous" work in order to keep them safe. What I love about Nina is that she is not overly concerned with her safety. She is self-sacrificing in a non-pathetic way. She has no intention of being overlooked simply because of her gender. 

Her friends are also wonderful because they vary so greatly, allowing the reader a wide vantage point of the society at large. There are so many facets to be considered that one could easily get lost among the details, but Julia gives many of those facets names and attitudes that permit us to recognize just who & what they embody.

The writing is top notch. The details are spread out enough that you don't find yourself overwhelmed, but still targeted enough to get the message across. There wasn't an overabundance of fluff. Everything had a purpose that either tied together well or laid out a path that I believe will serve a future purpose.

In short, if you haven't already. you should read this series. If for no other reason than the amusing references to today's pop culture, you really should read & enjoy this series. In theory the final installment is due for release sometime this year.

Tempestuous (Twisted Lit #1) by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes review

Recently banished, unfairly, by the school’s popular crowd, former “it girl,” Miranda Prospero, finds herself in a brave new world: holding dominion amongst a rag-tag crew of geeks and misfits where she works at the Hot-Dog Kabob in the food court of her local mall. When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

From Goodreads

The go-to queen was almost completely dethroned! That is, when Miranda Prospero gets busted for her part in a grades-for-cash scam, she finds herself in a whole new world. Forced to pay restitution in the amount that she earned as ringleader, Miranda finds herself the new go-to queen at the mall. Filled with plenty of people in need of her particular skill set, Miranda finds herself the center of their small world.

Unfortunately, fate has a funny way of messing with everyone's plans. A giant blizzard blows through and shutters the mall. Downside, everyone, including Miranda's former posse, ex-boyfriend, and her new preoccupation, are all stranded there overnight. Soon enough things go from hellish to hilarious as Miranda sets out for retribution with her helpers Ariel and Caleb. Mischief ensues as “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” 

Another amazing retelling from Kim Askew and Amy Helmes! First let me say that, The Tempest has a very special place in my heart. Were it not for my love of Shakespeare (and the need for "production points" in drama class) I may never have worked on my high school's outdoor production of this play. I met my husband on the set the very first day I was there and we've been together ever since.

Back to the awesomeness that is this book! Kim and Amy have captured the essence of this story and breathed contemporary life into it. The characters were spot on representations of their classic forefathers. Even better though were the references that they wove into the story. Not just references to the original story (those were rather expected naturally) but they wove in some awesome pop culture references (like Doctor Who!!). The whole thing was seamless.

I really enjoyed watching Miranda struggle with her identity and who she believes herself to be. It's one thing to know that you're a spoiled brat, it's another thing entirely to know that you were a shallow, base-dwelling, cold-blooded wretch. Miranda has the best intentions, most of the time, but she's beginning to wonder about her plan executions.

A funny, unique, and all together entertaining tale of clashing groups, Temestuous is simply a must read. It takes no time at all and you'll be amazed at how much fun you can have reading a Shakespearean work.

Overnight Sensation by Hal Eisenberg review

Fifteen year-old Jonah Levine is practically invisible at Applecrest High. His Facebook page is pathetic, his baseball skills are mediocre at best, and his IQ seems to drop 50 points when talking to girls. But everything changes when his rock band, Hitstreak, becomes the hottest teen sensation in the country. And now they’re about to perform in front of 15,000 screaming fans.

So why isn’t he jumping for joy?

Well, for starters, that hit on the radio wasn’t really recorded by his band. In fact, six months ago, he and his friends could barely play a note between them. And now they’re about to perform in front of 15,000 screaming fans. What begins as a mindless prank quickly spins out of control, involving his father’s secret past as a 70’s rocker, a high school bully who wants in on the action, and a powerful, ruthless, media mogul who will stop at nothing to claim the band as his own. Will Jonah prevail? Or will he and his band go down in flames and become the biggest farce in pop music history?

From Goodreads

Jonah has always loved music. His friends share his love as well and together they formed a band. The fact that none of them really play and mostly just want to be in a "band" for the girls is a moot point. He never expected that his own dad had a rock 'n roll past or that it would so greatly affect Jonah's band's future.

Through a series of missteps, miscommunication, and teenage hubris, Jonah and his friends find themselves pretending the be the band behind the hot new song on the radio. The truth? The song was recorded by Jonah's father's real band. It may start out small, but when a big wig producer sinks his hooks into these young guys, there is no time to stop what they started.

I'm gonna shoot this one completely straight. I loved the story behind this book. I did not love the writing.

Jonah, his friends, and his family are such great characters that I enjoy watching fumble through this impossible scenario. Their humor and history allow for quirky and fun exchanges to develop the story. The musical references are just nostalgic enough to still be relate-able. Even better was the story idea itself. I can see most of this story happening up to a point. The boys' hubris makes perfect sense for the ages and personalities they represent.

I had a really hard time overlooking the writing in this book. The content was good, but the execution was not quite as polished as it could have been. I think a more severe editing brush was needed to clean up the dialogue that seemed to have a "and then he said..." feel to it. Punctuation and paragraph structure were also off, but not so often that it detracted too much from the story.

So...if you like music and like teenage boy shenanigans (especially those embarrassing first date scenes) then be sure to pick this book up. I tore through it despite the writing flaws. I have a feeling that since this a relatively new addition to the YA writing scene, that the author will definitely learn as he goes. Overall though, a fun, light read for all!

Icecore by Matt Whyman review

He's a seventeen-year-old British computer hacker who penetrated the security systems at Fort Knox for a laugh. But the American government was less than amused. Since his prank, gold bars have been landing in the hands of terrorists across the globe.Now, Carl has found himself in a military prison deep in the Arctic and far off the grid. He's been caged alongside the world's most notorious terrorists, with no one to trust and no end in sight.Carl Hobbes may not be a criminal mastermind, but if he wants to escape this subzero prison with his life, he'll have to start thinking like one.

From Goodreads


Carl Hobbes knew what he was doing was risky, but he honestly didn't mean for anything untoward to happen when he opened the doors to the largest gold bullion repository for kicks. That's right, 17 year old computer hacker Hobbes got bored and infiltrated Fort Knox on an unprecedented scale. What he didn't do was work in cahoots with those who robbed it while he created the window.

His boredom project has landed him in so seriously deep water that he's treading fairly well, at first. That is until the "American government" decides to release him, after he takes a weekend trip to an undisclosed location where he will tell all. It sounds like the ray of sunshine that Hobbes was holding out for, but he is sorely mistaken.

Flown to Icecore, a detainment camp for some of the worst kinds of terrorists settled in the Arctic Circle, Hobbes must now wade his way through the other detainees, confusing special agents, demanding military higher-ups, and a girl with the most gorgeous eyes. Too soon does it come to Hobbes that they have intention of releasing him and the other detainees are just as determined to get out.

This was a great thriller! I think Publisher's Weekly did a spot-on job labeling this a "techno-thriller" with hints of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series. That's not to say that Hobbes is anything like Bourne, but there is definitely some cross-over. I was a little apprehensive to dive into this book because I was afraid that the techno-jargon would be too much for me. Fortunately Whyman has a deft hand when it comes to how much detail is needed to be authentic and convincing without overwhelming the reader.

Most of the events in the book took me by surprise. There is so much going on around Hobbes that, looking back now, I can see the small clues, but on the first read-through I completely missed them. What works best for this book and the plot is the short time frame. The majority of action takes place over approximately 3 days. That being said, there is very little down time and it only added to the awesomeness.

This is a great book for guys, but works just as well for gals. Another strength of Whyman's is challenging your preconceived notion of what kind of a person behaves a certain way. The reader doesn't end up caring about the gender of the character taking the action, but they can more fully appreciate the action itself. A hard task to master.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! Even better, if you did like it, there appears to be a sequel entitled Goldstrike.

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins review

Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

From Goodreads

Tilt follows the teenagers introduced in her adult novel Triangles. Each of the three teens are facing their own struggles with demons. None of them ever expected to end up in the situations in which they find themselves, but who does? 

Mikayla can't imagine a world without Dylan, so why would he expect her to hurt their baby? Shane has used "light recreational drugs" to help him cope with a dying little sister & the fact that his homosexuality has caused him to be a blight on the family. But how far will he falls when he falls for a doomed lover? Harley is a newly minted high schooler trying to find her own path in a sea of confusion. With no real guiding reference as to what a relationship or proper personal responsibility should look like, she risks losing everything she never knew she'd miss.

As far as the story is concerned, this is a very traditional Ellen Hopkins novel. Told in verse, you're pulled into very hectic situations and tossed in all sorts of directions. Each character has some serious demons to face that they couldn't have really planned for no matter how hard they may have tried. While none of them have perfect parents, I really think their parents' issues cause more damage than the teens are able to cope with at such a fragile time in their lives. 

I'm sure every reader will be able to identify with at least one of the main characters, but I really enjoyed the vignettes from other characters. Between each section of a main character's story is one page from a minor character's point of view. I think this gives the book a different feel than we usually get when reading from just the main characters' views. In a way it breaks down the barrier between how the main characters' perceive events & the reality of the situation.

Unfortunately, this book does not provide the type of closure that I have come to expect from Ellen's books. While her previous books may not have answered every question, I think they still left the reader with some sort of closure or satisfactory ending. The final sections of each character felt very abrupt to me. It's almost as if I was missing a few pages. When I checked, my book was in fact complete. So just a heads up, this one ends messily and in no real way gives the reader or the characters any sort of completion. While that may have been her intention, it didn't really sit that well with me.

Overall though I enjoyed the book, as much as one can say they "enjoyed" such a book. What were your thoughts?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Somehow I managed to miss hitting "Publish" on this for last week, so while it is late, the book still sounds exciting! The Raft  by S.A. Bodeen came out last Tuesday & my library is still waiting on its copy. I don't mind though because this survival/disaster tale is something right up my alley.

Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.

And then . . . she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.

From Goodreads 

I'm quite interested to see what this Max character has to offer. While I know the story would have become extremely dull with just Robie on an island, I'm always leery when an unknown companion joins the fracas.

What are you waiting on this week?

Feedback (Variant #2) by Robison Wells review

Spoilers ahead for those who haven't yet read Variant!

Benson Fisher escaped from Maxfield Academy’s deadly rules and brutal gangs.

Or so he thought.

But now Benson is trapped in a different kind of prison: a town filled with hauntingly familiar faces. People from Maxfield he saw die. Friends he was afraid he had killed.

They are all pawns in the school’s twisted experiment, held captive and controlled by an unseen force. As he searches for answers, Benson discovers that Maxfield Academy’s plans are more sinister than anything he imagined—and they may be impossible to stop.

In Feedback, Robison Wells delivers all the answers you’ve been craving—with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very last page.

From Goodreads 

Talk about a wild ride! Feedback picks up right where Variant left off. You're still in the action & your adrenaline is pumping as hard as it can as you watch Benson & Becky try to escape the multitude of robots chasing them down. When they think they are finally safe at an encampment housing the real students, they find that they are just in another form of imprisonment; unable to move forward & unable to undo all that has taken place.

The reality of the situation is beyond grave for our protagonists. There are so many trials & tribulations that at times even I felt like giving up hope. Yet these teens stayed the course & followed their instincts to do what they thought was right & best for everyone involved. Intricate plans & devious plots must be laid with precision in order to deal the greatest blows to Maxfield in the hopes of saving as many people as possible.

Without a doubt, the twists & turns in this book will cause your head to spin and you will at times need to stop for a moment to truly take in what all has transpired. I truly believe that it what makes this series so great. Not only is it a whole new take on the idea of a "nightmarish boarding school," but it seems to have re-invented the conspiracy element that many books fail to address. I really enjoyed this aspect as it forced me to really consider everything that happened in the story.

With all that being said, I felt like there was a lot of talking & very little action going on in this book. Don't get me wrong, there needs to be a lot of talking considering the magnitude of what goes down, but it tended to catch me off guard when action suddenly sprang seemingly out of nowhere. That may have been intentional though.

I have to strongly recommend that you read this book if you've read Variant. If you haven't read that, then my review will wait patiently here until you come back yearning to hear what happened in Feedback. :)

ARC graciously provided by Around the World ARC Tours

Waiting on Wednesday: Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

By now I think we all know that I adore Ellen Hopkins & poetry & verse. Well she's done it again. While I still haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of her adult novel Triangles, I have a feeling that this is kind of the teen version of that basic storyline. I'm not saying it's the same, but I think it will have the same feel to it. Tilt is set to hit the shelves 9/11/12.

Love--good and bad--forces three teens' worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from "New York Times "bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.Three teens, three stories--all interconnected through their parents' family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt....

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year--and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister's impending death. Can he accept Alex's love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen--a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

From Goodreads 

These are some very serious subjects that I fully expect Hopkins to handle with the same visceral & adept hand she has used in all her other works. I truly cannot wait to see what happens in this book. What are you waiting on this week?

Purity by Jackson Pearce review

A novel about love, loss, and sex -- but not necessarily in that order.

Before her mother died, Shelby promised three things: to listen to her father, to love as much as possible, and to live without restraint. Those Promises become harder to keep when Shelby's father joins the planning committee for the Princess Ball, an annual dance that ends with a ceremonial vow to live pure lives -- in other words, no "bad behavior," no breaking the rules, and definitely no sex.

Torn between Promises One and Three, Shelby makes a decision -- to exploit a loophole and lose her virginity before taking the vow. But somewhere between failed hookup attempts and helping her dad plan the ball, Shelby starts to understand what her mother really meant, what her father really needs, and who really has the right to her purity.

From Goodreads

Let me just say, that the blurb above does not even begin to do justice to this book. While it covers the basics, this book presented Shelby's dilemma in a funny, approachable way. This was not a "don't have sex until you get married because you're not supposed to" book, it was really about a young woman struggling to figure out what exactly she promised to her dying mother & how she can move forward with her life.

I really enjoyed Shelby's misadventures trying to live up to her mother's three promises. My favorite one was living without restraint. Our heroine chose to interpret that as "do crazy stuff that you otherwise wouldn't do." She even made a "life list" with her two best friends in order to ensure that she lived up to that promise. The hardest promise to deal with was listening to her father. I think Shelby took this one way too seriously because she treated her father's word like law to the point that she would find loopholes in order not to have actually disobeyed his word. Nifty trick, but I think it did more damage to her relationship that she saw at the beginning.


Jackson Pearce's writing is spot on. I was worried that I only liked her fairy tale retellings because of the subject matter, so I was a little hesitant to pick up this book. I assure you that she handles the subject with appropriate amounts of maturity & goofiness. She acknowledges that there are some tough & very personal decisions to be made during the turbulent adolescent years. In order to really grow & find not only your place in the world, but yourself as well, you have to overcome the obstacles that come up on the course.


In short, Purity is a wonderful book. Yes the main character does a few reckless things & some more conservative readers may be a bit offended at the portrayal of sex (getting laid vs. making love), but I still think this book is open to interpretation & a great stepping stone to some important conversations. 


The big question though (for those who have read it): do you agree with Shelby's actions in regards to the loophole for the vow?

Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon review

Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That’s the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn’t the average teenager. He’s a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.

He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive such a difficulty? But that isn’t the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.

And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known.

Or he’ll be the one who ends the world. With enemies new and old gathering forces, he will have to call on every part of himself to fight or he’ll lose everyone he cares about.

Even himself.

From Goodreads

Nick is back in trouble...again. This time he has no clue who really to trust. For the most part everyone seems to be on his side, but everyone has their secrets. It begins innocuously enough, someone disseminates crude photos of an innocent classmate all over the school. Not thinking much of the obviously human cruelty, Nick continues his after-school studies with Grim (aka Death himself), Caleb (a man of questionable loyalties) & his not-known-to-his-mother girlfriend Kody (a very pretty girl hiding some very nasty secrets). With their help he tends to stay out of trouble.

But the cruelty at his school is escalating. Now there is an entire blog outing people for all sorts of things & naming sources of the information. Half of it is true to a point, but most of the sources as bogus. Soon enough though Nick finds himself on the wrong end of a beat down causing him all sorts of issues. Worst of all, he ends up in Azmodea (home of the Malachai's master) fighting to regain consciousness in the real world. As if that's not bad enough something more sinister is at work in the school & if it's not stopped soon, there may be only one Malachai in this realm & it won't be Nick.


Oh how I've missed the snarkiness & teenage angst of Nick & his companions! I genuinely enjoy watching Nick grow into his powers and take on all sorts of big bads. He reminds me a lot of Buffy & the Scooby gang in that while he may be fighting big, nasty monsters, a) he's never alone (maybe physically, but not spiritually or emotionally) & b) he makes mistakes just like any other person trying to find their place in a paranormally-filled world. Infinity & Invincible set us up quite well for all the madness that occurs in Infamous.


All your favorite characters make their return, but tend to keep to the shadows. This book was a chance for us to really get to know Nick, his relationship with his mother & his past/future very well. There is quite a bit of plot development that takes place & I can only see things getting more heated from here on out. A big battle is brewing in which Nick will play a starring role. In order to fulfill that duty he must be able to stand on his own. This book was all about him learning what that means & what he's going to have to do to accomplish his goal.


I really can't say much more because I'm afraid I'll give some of the good stuff away. This book is more demon-based than supernatural based & I really enjoyed that. Sherrilyn Kenyon does a fabulous job giving us glimpses into her Dark-Hunter & Were-Hunter worlds without bring the adult content. It's just teasing enough to convince you to check them out. I recommend them for older readers because they are written for an adult crowd if you get my drift. My favorite part of her Chronicles of Nick series though are the life lessons she instills in her characters. Many of them are wise beyond their current form's years, but the lessons they teach are still accessible & pertinent for the target audience.


Enjoy!

Waiting on Wednesday: No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.


There really isn't much need to explain why I'm pumped for this book. With a description that starts out mentioning both Life as We Knew It & Lord of the Flies, how could it go wrong? No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz is set to come out at the end of the month (the 29th) & I sure hope my library has its copies ready to go.

Life As We Knew It meets Lord of the Flies in a mall that looks just like yours

A biological bomb has just been discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban mall. At first nobody knows if it's even life threatening, but then the entire complex is quarantined, people start getting sick, supplies start running low, and there's no way out. Among the hundreds of trapped shoppers are four teens.

These four different narrators, each with their own stories, must cope in unique, surprising styles, changing in ways they wouldn't have predicted, trying to find solace, safety, and escape at a time when the adults are behaving badly.

This is a gripping look at people and how they can--and must--change under the most dire of circumstances.

And not always for the better.

From Goodreads 

This just sounds so incredible! I was totally mesmerized by Life as We Knew It & can't wait to see how these teens deal with the unimaginable stress they're about to encounter. You would think that a mall would have enough supplies to help out, but it's always the number of people involved. Sure, if this was Dawn of the Dead, where you've only got a handful of people to worry about things would be easier, but with such a large crowd you can never really know what to expect.

How would you handle this type of situation? Also, naturally, what are you waiting on this week?

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins review

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there. Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood. Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect? A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling Impulse, Ellen Hopkins's Perfect exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.

From Goodreads

This is a companion novel to Impulse & while not necessary to read that one first, it might help some of the relationships presented here make more sense. Just food for thought. :)

These characters overlap all over the place. Cara is the twin sister of Conner (the gunshot suicide attemptee in Impulse) who has her own issues with her perfection-demanding parents & a desperately needy boyfriend. None of that matters to her though when she realizes that what she really needs is to accept herself & forget everyone else who has tried to mold her into their ideal.

Kendra is the girlfriend that Conner dumped & made look like a fool because he was getting it from every woman he could find. She's got it stuck in her head that had she been a perfect enough model that he wouldn't have strayed, so she's taking serious risks in multiple ways to ensure her "future happiness".

Sean is the desperately needy boyfriend of Cara who has their whole future planned out together. He's even basing his college plans on hers & trying to ensure their success by juicing himself into oblivion. Too bad it costs him way more than he bargained for.

Finally we come to Andre who is the son of Kendra's plastic surgeon & the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Kendra's substance-abusing younger sister. He's hiding what he truly desires to do because of what his parents expect of him.

All of this leads to a lot of confusion on the reader's part. As a companion novel I was hoping to see more of the original cast members than in just the final few "chapters" of the book. Worse though was the fact that I felt like I needed a graph to keep up with who was with whom & which person was related to someone else. Needless to say for as little action as seemed to take place, this book had a lot going on.

Enough of the negative though. Ellen Hopkins' poetry has yet to cease amazing me. Her word choice & placement allows the reader to really empathize with the characters in a whole new way. While there was less of an official "poetry fell" to the work this time, the essence was still there. My favorite part of her writing definitely has to be the "hidden" messages in her chapter introductory poems. I always wanted to read those first to see what the character was really trying to say.

The story could be hard to follow at times, but the ending made it worth it. Nothing was tied up in a pretty bow and I think that was the point. None of the issues presented in this book are easily solved & she doesn't sugar-coat that fact. Her books are always a nice dose of reality. There are hard things in this world that everyone is struggling with & teenagers are no exception. If you're a fan, read on. If you haven't enjoyed her work before I strongly suggest starting with Burned or Identical first. I think those are my favorite books so far of those she has written.

Waiting on Wednesday: Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

While I am still growing to like her style of writing for adults, Sherrilyn Kenyon has definitely won me over with her YA series the Chronicles of Nick. It all started with Infinity & continued in Invincible. Now we're on to Infamous (obviously the 3rd installment) to be released March 13th. I love when I can say that a blurb ISN'T spoilery at all!! This one gives a glimpse into what Nick has learned in the first two novels without telling you much, just enough to leave you wanting to know more! Check it out.

Go to school. Get good grades. Stay out of trouble. That’s the mandate for most kids. But Nick Gautier isn’t the average teenager. He’s a boy with a destiny not even he fully understands. And his first mandate is to stay alive while everyone, even his own father, tries to kill him.

He’s learned to annihilate zombies and raise the dead, divination and clairvoyance, so why is learning to drive such a difficulty? But that isn’t the primary skill he has to master. Survival is.

And in order to survive, his next lesson makes all the others pale in comparison. He is on the brink of becoming either the greatest hero mankind has ever known.

Or he’ll be the one who ends the world. With enemies new and old gathering forces, he will have to call on every part of himself to fight or he’ll lose everyone he cares about.

Even himself.

From Goodreads

Getting rather excited over here! These are such breezy reads that I can enjoy in a weekend. Her writing style is mostly upbeat with some quirky characters adding hilarity to the story. All in all I'm ready to see what our boy is up to now.

What are you waiting on this week?