What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Summary: How can you talk about something you can’t remember?
Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy “Sid” Murphy was a cheerleader (at the bottom of the pyramid, but still...), a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends. When she ends up on a ski lift next to handsome local college boy, Dax Windsor, she’s thrilled; but Dax takes everything from Sid—including a lock of her perfect red curls—and she can’t remember any of it.
Back home and unable to relate to her old friends, Sid drops her college prep classes and takes up residence in the A/V room with only Corey “The Living Stoner” Livingston for company. But as she gets to know Corey (slacker, baker, total dreamboat), Sid finds someone who truly makes her happy. Now, if she can just shake the nightmares and those few extra pounds, everything will be perfect... or so she thinks.
Witty and poignant, Colleen Clayton’s stunning debut is a story about moving on after the unthinkable happens.
My Thoughts: It was probably a bad idea reading this one back to back with another rape (sexual abuse) book but I didn't know what it was about when I started it. I just knew I wanted to read it.
We are introduced to Sid who is a hefty girl. She is also a cheerleader and has bright red hair. She has two best friends and is a good student. She has her life together for the most part. The only thing missing is a boyfriend. A real life boy who wants to be with her.
Until she meets him on a school ski trip. He’s everything. He’s cute and older. He’s sweet. His name is Dax. He invites her to a party and she jumps at the chance. She goes to the party, to realize its just him and her and she gets more than she bargains for. The next day she wakes up and is surprised. She’s at a loss for words.
Time goes on, and she loses everything that is important to her. She also develops another unhealthy habit. Oh gosh.
She also meets a boy in AV. His name is Corey. He’s everything she doesn't want in a guy, or so she thinks at first. He’s a slacker, pothead, and has been in juvie. However, Corey isn't what he seems either. He has his own set of problems, and things to deal with.
What Happens Next was a great book. I honestly liked it a lot despite the negative things that had to go on. I wasn't thrilled with seeing Sid hurt. I didn't want her to have to go through this crap. Her best friends bailed on her, everything just sucked.
I also liked the dog in the story. Man, that was so cute! I just fell in love with that doggy!
Corey and Sid are an unlikely pair, but it just fits. I really liked them together, and I loved learning more about Corey and his home life. I also was very happy with the way things ended.
What Happens Next is a wonderful debut, and if you're like me and like contemps, please add this to your reading list now.
Overall: I really enjoyed this one. I didn't give it 5 cupcakes because there were a few parts I could have done without, like the puking part. Didn't she have enough on her plate already? But, it was a great book and I’m glad to see how much the characters grew, and how right Sid and Corey were right for one another. Great story, Clayton!
Cover: Love it! It just fits somehow, and I love the colors and the way this one looks!
What I'd Give It:
Live Through This by Mindi Scott
Release Date: October 22, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Summary: From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.
But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.
In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an everygirl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.
My Thoughts: What a gripping novel! I really liked this one a lot because it was so in tune with everything one would probably feel if this happened to them.
I wasn't sure exactly what was going on at first, I was a bit confused, but I understood it pretty quickly.
We are introduced to Coley who lives with her mom and her step dad and his family. She also has an older brother who goes back and forth sometimes between home and college. She is also dating a new boy named Reese and is content with him. She is trying to enjoy her life the best she can after having problems with her best friend, and trying to stay on top of things.
Gosh, sexual abuse is horrible. I don’t even know what to say or how she must have felt. I wanted to punch him so bad. How can he do that to his own sister, and she feels like she had to have done something to provoke it, UH NO! She didn't deserve what her life was and how long it had been going on, and nobody noticed, ick!
I don’t even know what to say except this book was gripping because it was so hard to read, yet I needed to know what was going to happen. I think the only bright spot through this was Reese. I really liked him alot.
Please read this, make everyone you know read it, just to learn from it, just to gain something from it. Perspective.
Overall: I want to say this novel is wonderful, but it just doesn't seem like the right word, because its also dark and horrible, and at times I was frustrated by the way it made me feel. Oh Coley, I wish I was your friend, and could be there for you when you need me. All in all, this is one girls should read, and boys too. This one was really powerful. I’m glad my library owns it now!
Cover: Like it! I would for sure pick it up at the store!
What I'd Give It:
Black City by Elizabeth Richards
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Summary: A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war. In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable--they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash's long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they're caught, they'll be executed--but their feelings are too strong. When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.
My Thoughts: When I first started this one, I wasn’t sure what was going on. It was somewhat hard to understand all the terms but it clicked pretty fast.
We are introduced to Ash who is a half darkling and Natalie who is the Emissary’s daughter. In this world, the Emissary is powerful. Any kind of romance is forbidden between humans and darklings.
Natalie meets Ash and is drawn to him. The chemistry is there from the get go even though they dislike each other. She also ends up attending his school and meeting a couple new friends.
Because Ash is a darkling she should stay away from him. Darklings are a type of creature that feeds on blood with fangs but they aren’t actually vampires. There are also all different kinds of darklings.
Ash and Natalie become friends and more happens from there. Behind the scenes there is a lot going on with the Emissary and the way of the world. People want darklings dead, they don’t want to live with them while others believe that they should co-exist.
Everything stands in the way of Ash and Natalie being together, other people, the law, lots of things.
There was a lot going on in Black City, way too much detail to mention. It's one of those novels you should read for yourself and hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. It’s also told in multiple points of view, which I really liked.
Black City was a fantastic debut you should read as soon as possible.
Overall: I could write a lot more about Black City but it's complicated. You have to really read it to fully understand everything. So do me a favor, and just go read it so you can enjoy it like I did!!!
Cover: Like it! Its colorful!
What I’d Give It:
Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Publisher: Balzer And Bray
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Summary: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.
"Everneath" is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.
My Thoughts: From the first page of Everneath, I was hooked. I was instantly sucked into this one, and I finished it within a day!
We are introduced to Nikki who has just returned from the Everneath. She has spent quite a long time there, but time moves differently on the surface. On the surface she’s only been gone 6 months. When she gets back, it seems like everything has changed, however some things still remain the same.
One thing that got her through living in the Everneath was Jack. He’s the precious boy she loved before she left, but he also hurt her pretty bad.
During her time in the Everneath she spent most of it with the other boy she met on the surface. His name is Cole. Cole was pretty dangerous, a musician, and you could tell there was more to his story from the beginning. He also returns to the surface with her, only to try to make her go back and rule with him. She has a tough choice to make, she can either go where he wants, or go someplace even worst. Either way, she’s not allowed to stay on the surface.
She knew her time was limited, but she just wanted to see her family and Jack again, and try to make things right.
I really liked both guys. I tried to resist Cole, but I couldn't! And Jack, he seemed loyal enough, especially towards the ending. I wasn't always sure about him at first, but he grew on me.
And of course this novel focuses on the daughters of Persephone so there was some myths behind it we had to figure out.
I truly loved this one! Once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop. And, I really enjoyed the writing style. It just flowed and it was very hard to find a chapter to stop to take a break.
And the ending, wow! Didn't see that coming. I really didn't!
Overall: I’m glad I gave this a chance, even though I read it around 6ish months after its release date.
After I read this novel, I went and searched my friends blogs to see if they enjoyed it. Some did, while others didn't. I can see both points of views especially if you don't like paranormal romance, but I don’t seem to read as much paranormal as I used too so maybe I was just in the mood for this. I’m not sure, but either way I really enjoyed it, and I hope you at least give it a chance.
Cover: Love it! Such a pretty cover! Lately, a lot of covers have this feel to it, but I really love them.
Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 256
Summary: 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.
My Thoughts: So freaking cute! That is one way to describe this novel.
Meant To Be is about a girl who goes on a class trip, to see all the places she’s always wanted to see, and ends up with an annoying partner. Julia is on her way to London with her class. She’s excited yet nervous. But it gets even worst when she’s partnered up with Jason. He’s the class clown, annoying, does everything wrong, and just plain irritating, at least to Julia.
She gets stuck with him so she has to spend a lot of time with him! A lot! Exploring the city, having a little adventure, and doing assignments.
She meets a guy on the trip named Chris, who she is constantly texting. She figures it wouldn’t hurt to learn a few things from him so when she gets back to Mark, her longtime crush, she’ll have a little practice. She totally believes in Meant To Be, and she thinks he’s her Meant To Be.
Meant To Be was such a fun laughable book. It had its hearty moments, but it was such a sweet book!! And Jason, gosh he was funny.
Honestly, this review is hard, because I really loved this one, and I want you to read it yourself to find out what happens with Julia. She learns a lot about life, more than I expected her too.
Fun characters, great scenery, a novel you have to read this year!!!
Overall: Loved it! I really liked all the bickering between Jason and Julia. You could tell they were compatible for one another, but they were always on eachothers butts so they didn’t really realize it!
Cover: Beautiful!!!! I would hang it somewhere just to look at it!!!
What I'd Give It:
Bad Hair Day by Carrie Harris
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books For Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Summary:Senior year is positively hair-raising.
Kate Grable is geeked out to shadow the county medical examiner as part of her school’s pre-med program. Except when he’s arrested for murder, she’s left with the bodies. And when Kate’s brother Jonah stumbles upon a dead gamer girl, she realizes that the zombie epidemic she cured last fall was only the beginning of the weirdness taking over her town. Someone’s murdering kids—something really hairy. And strong. Possibly with claws.
Is it werewolf awesomeness like Jonah and his dorktastic friends think? Kate’s supposed to be a butt-kicking zombie killing genius...but if she can’t figure out who’s behind the freakish attacks, the victims—or what’s left of them—are going to keep piling up.
It’s scary. It’s twisted. It’s sick. It’s high school.
My Thoughts: Oh man, how I loved Bad Hair Day. I really enjoyed Bad Taste In Boys but Bad Hair Day was even better. Instead of dealing with zombies, we are dealing with werewolves.
We are back with Kate Grable, our super smart heroine who is half brains and half funny. She's a bit of a nerd but she makes it look so cool. She's finally dating her crush Aaron and she has best friends named Kiki and Rocky.
Her family is still super cool, her mom is away a lot, her dads around, and her dorky brother Jonah has a drivers license and is her sidekick.
Kate is spending some time at the morgue for her school med program and while there on her first day, her mentor gets arrested for murder. Kate is determined to find out if he's guilty and what is really going on. Someone is murdering kids, but she really doesn't think he's the culprit.
When a few of her acquaintances start turning into werewolves, she starts to get involved and its in her best interest to find out what is causing it, how, and why so she doesn't become the next victim.
What can I say about this series? I love Kate. I love her character. I don't like Aaron very much but it's because he just lets other girls flirt with him and doesn't put them in their place, arrrrggg... Guys!
I love her friends, and her little dorky brother Jonah. I hope he starts playing more of a role in the next book. I just love how she uses science to figure things out. I love the plots of these books, and they are actually funny. I find myself laughing at the most random things.
Kate is snarky and smart, a perfect combination.
Bad Hair Day is another fantastic novel by Harris. I can see why some people might not like this series, as it has some bad reviews, but I really do. It doesn't focus solely on werewolves (or zombies as in the first book) but it is more about the science of it, the mystery because of it, and the girl who solves it all.
Overall: Loved it. I even loved it more than Bad Taste in Boys. I don't usually like zombies or werewolves but Harris pulled me into this series like no other. Good job! Write another one please!
Cover: It's perfect. Even the girls braid reminds me of Kate, especially when it was soaked in blood, totally fits. I can see this girl being Kate.
What I'd Give It:
Winter White (Belle’s #2) by Jen Calonita
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Poppy
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 368
Summary: Isabelle Scott and Mirabelle Monroe are still reeling from the revelation that they share more than just the roof over their heads. The media has pounced on their story and the girls are caught up in a flurry of talk-show appearances and newspaper interviews. They've put on a happy public face, but someone is leaking their true feelings to the press, and while it seems like the world is watching their every move, at least they have each other.
But with cotillion season right around the corner, Izzie and Mira have barely had time to process their newfound sisterhood. Mira has dreamed of making her debut in a gorgeous white gown forever-now, if only she could find an escort. Izzie, meanwhile, is still struggling to find her place in Emerald Cove and it's seeming ever more impossible with EC mean-girls, young and old, doing their best to keep her down. As cotillion preparations heat up, though, there are dance steps to learn, manners to perfect... and secret initiations to complete? As if sophomore year wasn't hard enough!
It's time for the gowns to go on and the gloves to come off.
My Thoughts: When I started this, I wanted to be in for a ride! I really enjoyed the first in this series so I was hoping this would be just as awesome! I gave Belles five cupcakes if you remember.
White White was almost just as good. I didn't quite love it as much but it was still a fun and cool novel.
We are back with Mira and Izzie and this time they have a new set of adventures, including cotillion. They have to get dates, find the perfect dresses, and be the perfect southern girls we know they can be, at least one of them. HA.
The characters are the best part of this series. I love all the characters. Even the sideish characters are so opinionated, and stand out.
The plot wasn't as drastic as the first novel but just as entertaining. Fun moments, oh my gosh moments, and a little bit of romance dipped in.
I think these books could be considered a favorite for me. They are just so funny and I find myself laughing randomly. Oh, and the boys. Love them! There were a few twists I didn't really see coming, but made sense.
White White was another great one in this series, and I’m happy to say the next one comes out pretty soon!
Overall: Really enjoyed it! I’m glad to be back with the girls and to go in their world! Awesome.
Cover: Like it! It’s pretty.
Deity by Jennifer Armentrout
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 360
Summary: "History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time. "
Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden.
If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.
But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.
Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate..
My Thoughts: We are back with Alex, Aiden, and Seth. Oh gosh, how I love this set of characters.
The stakes are higher. Someone is out to kill Alex before she awakens. And Alex must choose between the two guys in her life. She must, she must, she must but she doesn’t know how. She likes them both. Maybe even loves.
She also finds out some family history that was pretty intense. Deity was intense.
During this one, Alex was on her own a lot. Her friends were upset with her, nobody quite understood what she had been through, not really.
I think this one was even better than the first two. It seems like the plots are thickening and the characters are getting cooler.
I love this series so much. I can’t believe I waited so long to actually start it. Now, I read the novels as quickly as I can! I just adore them!
Great characters, hot love interests, and a plot to love!
Overall: Loved it! Can’t wait until the next one. Alex is such a fantastic character and so are the rest of her minions. HAHA.
Cover: Like it. These covers are pretty cool.
What I'd Give It:
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Summary: Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.
But all that changes when the Lynburns return.
The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?
My Thoughts: Wish I would have loved this one more than I did. It was just ok for me. We are introduced to Kami who has had a voice in her head most of her life. His named is Jared. Some people think she’s weird, while others think its just her. As a kid, others thought it was just an imaginary friend, but Kami knows the truth.
Kami is determined to find out what has been happening in her town. She lives in the kind of town where everybody knows everybody and rumors sure do fly.
A family who has a pretty long history in Sorry-In-The-Vail moves back to town, and Kami is even more intrigued with them, because among them are two good looking boys. Their names are Jared and Ash. Hmmm Jared, huh?
I loved that Jared has become a real boy! HA! I loved their interactions and I also loved Ash. I loved that Kami is so determined, and she has a great mind.
I loved the concept of Unspoken. It was definitely imaginative, I just had a hard time connecting with the overall plot. It was ok, and I’ll read the next in the series, but I just didn't love it, and when I finished, I just wasn't feeling the wow feeling I wanted too.
Overall: Yep, I can see some people loving this one, I really can. But maybe it was my reading mood, or something else, I’m not sure. I've grown in my reading habits, because I know I can’t love every book I read, and there will just be some that are a hit or miss for me, and I’m ok with that.
Cover: It’s alright. Don’t love the cover exactly either. Oh well, can’t like everything.
What I’d Give It:
Chasing The Skip by Janci Patterson
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Summary: Ricki’s dad has never been there for her. He’s a bounty hunter who spends his time chasing parole evaders—also known as “skips”—all over the country. But now since Ricki’s mom ran off, Ricki finds herself an unwilling passenger in a front-row seat to her father’s dangerous lifestyle.
Ricki’s feelings get even more confused when her dad starts chasing seventeen-year-old Ian Burnham. She finds herself unavoidably attracted to the dark-eyed felon who seems eager to get acquainted. But Ricki thinks she’s ever in control—the perfect manipulator. Little does she know that Ian isn’t playing their game by her rules.
My Thoughts: So, I've had this on my TBR pile for a while and every time I glanced at it, I thought it was titled Chasing The Ship, so in my mind I thought it was about ships. Boy was I wrong! LOL
We are introduced to Ricki who always lived with her mom, until one day she doesn’t anymore. Her mom takes off and she ends up having to spend time with her father, on the road. He’s a bounty hunter (more or less) and she’s stuck with him finding people and throwing them into jail.
It’s pretty entertaining and boring at the same time. They are surviving in this tiny trailer that really isn't much of a home for a teenage girl. Ricki is fascinated by skips.
And then it all begins, her dad agrees to go pick up a boy not much older than her. He’s in trouble for stealing cars and Ricki automatically feels for him. She even bonds with him, but he’s too much trouble for this girl.
I never really liked Ian. I knew from the start he was trouble and usually I go for the bad boys but I just didn't like him very much. He wasn't really smooth or didn't have the charm.
Chasing The Skip was an entertaining enough read and I did really enjoy Ricki and seeing how she dealt with what has become her life. This novel left me wanting more though. I just didn't like how it tied up and I wasn't quite sold yet.
Overall: Probably more of a 3.5 cupcake rating for me, but since I don’t do half cupcakes, can’t do that. I liked Ricki and I liked certain aspects of the book but I wasn't completely sucked in like usual.
Cover: Like it, like the handcuffs. At least now I know it’s not titled Chasing The Ship. HEHE.
What I'd Give It:
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