Book Review Mash-Up (1) *13 to Life/Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe/The 100/Beautiful Disaster/White Cat/Obsidian*

Hi Guys,
Today I'm going to be doing a Review Mash-Up of 6 books that I've read anywhere from 2 months ago to 3 years ago. Some of these books were very good, while others were simply mediocre. I put these books together because of the fact that I only remember certain things from each of these books because I failed at posting a review as I read them. The general ideas, and some major happenings are still in my memory bank, but most situations from these books are forever lost until I decide to pick these books up again, if I ever decide to. The books I will be reviewing are:

• 13 to Life by Shannon Delany
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• The 100 by Kass Morgan
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• White Cat by Holly Black
• Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

If you would like to read the synopsis of any of these novels, just click on the title of that book above and it will direct you to the Goodreads page for said book.

#MorningAfter (July 22, 2013) / BookTube-A-Thon Wrap-Up

Hi Guys,
Today I'm going to be doing my fourth #MorningAfter post and I'm also going to be recapping you on what I read this past week during the BookTube-A-Thon. You can check out my last #FridayReads post for more info on the BookTube-A-Thon. Since my last post, I've finished 5 and 1/4 books, those books being: Night World 3 by L.J. Smith, Winger by Andrew Smith, Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (which is the book I'm 1/4 of the way through).

Charm & Strange (Galley) Book Review

Hi Guys,
I know, I know... I haven't been posting reviews like I need to, I apologize. I can't help it, my schedule has been hectic this semester, and things are just starting to die down now that I only have two exams left to take. Although, you guys should be pleased to learn that I've been reading quite a few books since I last posted a review. I would also like to say that I've been on an amazing book streak, every book I've read in the past month has been phenomenal. One of those phenomenal books just so happens to be the book I'll be reviewing today: Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn. I received this a few weeks before it was released as a galley from the publisher. So I want to give a huge thanks to St. Martins Griffin publishers, I really appreciate the opportunity to read this book early. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

When you’ve been kept caged in the dark, it’s impossible to see the forest for the trees. It’s impossible to see anything, really. Not without bars . . .
Andrew Winston Winters is at war with himself.
He’s part Win, the lonely teenager exiled to a remote Vermont boarding school in the wake of a family tragedy. The guy who shuts all his classmates out, no matter the cost.
He’s part Drew, the angry young boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who spent a fateful, long-ago summer with his brother and teenage cousins, only to endure a secret so monstrous it led three children to do the unthinkable.
Over the course of one night, while stuck at a party deep in the New England woods, Andrew battles both the pain of his past and the isolation of his present.
Before the sun rises, he’ll either surrender his sanity to the wild darkness inside his mind or make peace with the most elemental of truths—that choosing to live can mean so much more than not dying.

My first impression of this novel was that it was going to be really good. I e-mailed the publishers, and they sent me a galley copy of this, and I was very excited. This book starts off very weird, but amazing. I read the first half of the book in an hour, and I didn't want to put it down. This book is separated by alternating chapters, matter and anti-matter. Matter being what is presently happening to Win, and anti-matter being something that Win has previously experienced. The further I got in this novel, the more I understood, but with every one thing I understood, I got ten more questions about Win and his circumstances. This is definitely a good mystery novel, not because Win is trying to find a killer, or a thief, but because he is trying to find himself. I went through half of this book believing one thing about Win, and the other half questioning my belief and trying to make sense of the information the book gave. This book has several plot twists, and I loved learning about Win, and how he came to be the way he is. I loved this book so much, it is eerily amazing, and unbelievably dark. It is like a slightly more dark and sinister version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Before reading this book, I was in a slump, and this novel definately brought me out of it. I give this book 4/5 stars, not for any particular reason, it just didn't seem like a 5-star book to me. You guys definately have to check this book out when it is released on June 11th. This book has impacted me immensely, and I find myself thinking about it, even now, a month after reading it. It's dark and impactful nature definitely makes this book one of my favorites. Mark your calendars, June 11th.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Book Review

Hi guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER, it's just that my schedule is ridiculous. I've been staying up until 2 in the morning almost every night doing homework and projects. I've hardly had any time to read. That's why I'm glad for Christmas Break (even if it is only a week long this year (thanks a lot school board!!!)) Anyway, for Christmas I bought the new kindle paperwhite, and I LOVE IT! It's so much better than my old kindle. I definitely recommend it. When I got my kindle I bought a few books on it, one of which was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. I haven't read a book since Ten, even though I've tried, but I've been too swamped. So when my parents announced we were going to Baltimore for a few days to see some relatives, I knew I would get some reading done. I heard so much about this book that's one reason I bought it, the main reason I bought it though, was because everyone said it was one of the funniest books they'd ever read. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.
Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.
Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

My first impression of this book was really good because of the cover, which is awesome (I love the colors, and the Scrapbook-y feel to it) and I also had a good first impression of this book because of the book review of it by Raeleen from Padfoot and Occasionally Prongs. I love all the characters in this book, they all add to the story line so well. I, obviously, like the three main characters the most, but all the other characters really made this book more life-like. There's really nothing to say about this book that hasn't already been put in the synopsis except that the awkward chemistry between Greg and Rachel is hilarious. My favorite part of the book was there conversation about Pillows... it's the funniest thing I've ever read. I loved the humor of this book up until about the half-way point from then on out some of the jokes started to get a little repetitive and not as funny, but there were some funny parts of the second half of this book. Also, this book is very vulgar, and you guys know I don't really like that... but somehow this book kind of made it work for me, I don't know how, but it did... so that didn't cause a large deduction of star rating power. One thing I didn't like about his book was that it ended too abruptly for me it kind of built up with all the humor and everything going on that once the thing, which you've been expecting the whole time, happens, it just sort of ends... there wasn't a large revelation, or change of heart, or anything... so I guess that's what makes it more like real life, but I just didn't like the ending. So I give this book 4/5 stars because of the annoying humor from the second half, and the abrupt ending. Except for those two things, I loved this book, and I'm glad it got me out of my reading slump. I can't wait to, hopefully, start reviewing more frequently, and my next review will be on Glitches, which will be my first short-story review. This is the prequel to the book Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and I hope to review it soon. Check out Me and Earl and the Dying Girl... it will make you laugh harder than you have ever laughed during a book, I swear! READ IT NOW!

Ten Book Review

Hi Guys,
I know I've been a little lazy on the posts, but I've been busy with school. That seems like a common factor with reasons for my lack of posts... but it's so stressful this semester (and it's just my Junior year... OF HIGH SCHOOL!) So, I'm a little worried about what my life will be like in college. This semester I have: Honors Latin III, AP Chemistry, Honors US History, and Marching Band... and each one of them is stressful in their own way. Anyway, getting off the subject of stress in my life, let's move on to the stress of the Ten teenagers in Gretchen McNeil's new novel Ten. This novel was a fantastic thrill ride, the plot isn't that hard to comprehend either. That's one reason I loved the tag line (Ten teens. Three days. One killer.) because, if anyone asked me what the book was about, I would just recite the tag line to them and they would say that the book sounded amazing. Even with the self-explaining tag line, I'm going to post the synopsis from Goodreads:

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

My first impression of this book was that it was going to be amazing. I'd never read a book about normal teens being hunted my a killer, or a story as suspenseful as this one. Once I saw how small the book was though, I was a little worried about how the story would play out in such a short amount of time, but it worked out well. I really liked the plot and the characters, and how it all tied together in the end. However, at times it was quite predictable. The first couple people who died, I knew a couple chapters before they actually died, and I saw some of the conversations coming into action before it actually did. But there were also times where I didn't know what was happening, especially the last 50 pages or so. I was shocked about how it tied together, I didn't see it coming for sure. I told a friend after reading the book that McNeil cheated with who the killer was... (Ah... I had to catch myself, I almost gave an important piece of info away.)  I was worried towards the end when people started to die, and the chances of it being certain people increased, but the author did great with the shock factor of the last couple chapters. I really didn't see it coming, and I loved how it all tied together in the end. I give this novel 4/5 stars, just because of some of the predictable moments, but overall it was a great read, and I look forward to reading other books like this as well as other books by McNeil. 

 Additional Announcement: The Army of Ten is a website hosted by McNeil, and it is used to spread the word of Ten with libraries/book stores/etc. It's an amazing site and you guys should check it out I have a button on the sidebar of the blog, so just click on it and it will take you straight to the site. I like this site because it gets the book out into other peoples hands, and it also gives you the chance to win awesome stuff... by doing different "missions" in order to win a couple prizes. Just click on the picture below, or the button on the side bar. I LOVE IT! CHECK IT OUT!