Review: Miss You Love You Hate You Bye by Abby Sher

Title: Miss You Love You Hate You Bye
Author: Abby Sher
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: February 18th 2020
Source: The Windy Pages


Book Description:

Zoe and Hank (short for Hannah) have been inseparable since they met in elementary school. The leader of the pack, Zoe is effortlessly popular while Hank hides comfortably in her shadow. But when Zoe's parents unexpectedly divorce, Zoe's perfect facade starts cracking little by little. Sinking under the weight of her broken family, Zoe develops an eating disorder. Now she must rely on Hank for help.

Hank struggles to help Zoe; after all, she is used to agreeing, not leading. How can she help her best friend get better before it's too late?

Written partially in letters from Zoe and mostly in narrative from Hank's perspective, Miss You Love You Hate You Bye is a poignant and eye-opening novel about friendship, mental health, and learning to put yourself first.

Review:

★★

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I think books on young adult mental health are so, so important. But this one fell flat for me and I was left disappointed.

The book is written in almost duel perspective. It's 90% from the main character, Hannah's, point of view. Every so often there's a letter written by Zoe to break things up. While I understand why it's written from both sides, I didn't care for the letters aspect and would have just preferred duel POVs as things were actually happening. Because of the letters, we start right off the bat knowing what Zoe's fate is. We know she's in a hospital/treatment center. We know she's mad at Hannah, and we know that ultimately, she's okay. Because of this, it made me less interested in the story from the get-go, because I had the resolution before I even know the story.

I didn't care for either character. Zoe is manic and struggling and a hot mess. She's dealing with a lot- ADHD, learning problems, her parents' divorce, her eating disorder. But we never really get too much of her side of why she's acting this way. Then there's Hannah, who has a complete do nothing attitude about almost everything in her life. She does whatever Zoe tells her to, always. That's all of her personality, even according to her: she's Hannah's friend. She notices eating habits but doesn't say anything. She is unhappy but doesn't say anything. She is negative about everything. She's rude AF to her mom's boyfriend even though he's nice and kind and her mom is happy (which she resents, even though she admits he's nice) and it has been years. Even her mom eventually calls her on the fact that she's like this, which I appreciated.

Both of their inner voices felt like they were done in "adult" voices (Hannah uses words like "hirsute" in her head, for example) but their out-loud dialogue sounded like middle school- very "OMG like cringe". They're high schoolers. This back and forth of writing style/voice was a bit jarring in places.

I wish the book would have been more about Zoe. She's the one with the disorder and struggling and yet she's not really what the book is about. I appreciate that some aspects of eating disorders and mental health and self-harm were realistically portrayed in all their ugliness. It's not all therapy and sadness, it can be mania and spiraling out.

But I just found myself bored, uninterested, and wanting it to be over. There's so much happening but so little of it gets closure. It feels disconnected and almost random.

I really like that this book is about platonic friendship. There's no romance component (albeit a kiss that felt forced and unnecessary for the plot), it's just a story about friendship and I think there should be more of that.

I also think the cover is super cute, but, obviously that has nothing to do with the plot.

I think there is a need and a space for YA books about hard topics like this. But I also think that there a lot of books already out there that cover them better than this book does. If it relates to one person, or helps someone find courage to talk to someone, than this book will have been worth writing.

But I am not that person, and this book wasn't for me. Be warned, this book contains drug use, eating disorders, self-harm, and other topics that might be tough to read for some people.

Review: The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Title: The Ghost and the Goth
Series: The Ghost and the Goth #1
Author: Stacey Kade
Format: Paperback, 281 pages
Pub. Date: May 10th 2011
Source: Little Library


Book Description:

Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star…and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

Review:

★★★

Well, I more or less got what I expected based off of the cover and the back blurb. This book is a fast read that's pretty predictable and not all that deep, so there's not too much to think about, nor is it something I'm particularly going to remember a week from now.

Alona Dare (yes, that is her name) is the wooooorst. She's shallow. Like, insanely shallow, and judgmental. Girls who kiss a guy must be whores and sluts. Every straight guy wants her, and she doesn't think every lesbian in the school wants her, she knows it. She calls Will a goth (uh, not even remotely?), a psychopath (cool insult bruh), and more than anything else, a freak. Wanna know what her supporting evidence is for him being a freak? He wears a hoodie. With the hood up, inside. Are you not clutching your pearls yet? Well get this. He also wears headphones. A teenager with headphones! Burn the freak! It's also super gross that she's friends with a guy that in her own word grooms young girls to sleep with him before he leaves them. Popular or not, it's super skeezy.

Now, I understand I'm supposed to not like her. This book is, at its core, a reverse "It's a Wonderful Life" where Alona gets to see how much better off everyone is when her rude, shallow ass is dead. Then she changes for the better for a better afterlife. Or she's supposed to. I didn't think she really changed that much. She might be nicer to Will but she's still insulting and rude, even as she's helping people. I expected a better arc for her and I was left disappointed.

Will Killian (yes, his name is Will Kill) is the most likable character in this book and is its saving grace. He's empathetic and a little brooding and mysterious. He has a whole web of secrets and masks to wear and it was admittedly interesting to see where his arc goes. His ability to hear and see ghosts, dealing with his father's suicide and the hospitalization of a friend, a doctor who might not have his mental health in mind after all, tangled with the weird and new feelings he has for the very dead cheerleader. There's a lot to unpack there and I think Kade did a pretty good job with this character. I get why Alona got attached to him.

As much as I have issues with this book, I actually liked the romance element. I liked that Alona and Will learned from each other. Alona gave Will some confidence and helped him get out of some trouble. Alona learned to be a little bit nicer and that her bullying actions did in fact have consequences. I liked seeing them warm up to one another and despite my overall "ugh" feeling of this book, I was rooting for them.

And then there's Joonie. Joonie is Will's one Goth friend. She is written as so unbelievably over the top as a "Goth" that it seems to be the only descriptors given to her. She doesn't really have personality, only traits that seem to be copied and pasted from a Wiki article about "Gothic Subculture". All I could picture in my head was Henrietta from South Park, which made all of her scenes hilarious for reasons I guarantee the author did not intend.

Like a lot of other contemporary set books, this one has a lot of pop culture references that really date this book. She makes references to Johnny Knoxville's (seven Razzie award nominated) version of The Dukes of Hazzard. She watches Joonie go to a MySpace page. There's just a LOT of oughts imagery here that I guess now works as a past setting, but since I was a teen in those years brings back definitely un-contemporary flashbacks of nostalgia.

I have to admit, the author does have my attention. I'd read the second book in this series if it came into my possession, though I won't be seeking it out. I'm just intrigued enough with where the Will/Alona romance is going. But, I don't really recommend this book. If you're into cheerleaders getting hit by a bus or fluffy books that don't take any brain power to get through, maybe you'll like it more than I did.

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Pub. Date: October 18th 2007
Source: Half Price Books


Book Description:

He consumed her with that kiss, leaving no question that whatever was happening between them was meant to be—that it had always been meant to be…

You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

Review:

★★★★

I know this book is really polarizing for a lot folks, and that a lot of people have strong feelings about it. I'm just not that passionate about it, so this is going to be a really basic review. I have not seen the Netflix adaptation.

I think this book has a good concept. I liked the way that it was formatted, both by using the tapes as a way to hear Hannah's story and by using the tape deck functions (play, pause, rewind) as a way to tie in Clay's narrative and response to her stories.

I will say that this book held my attention. This is probably the fastest that I've read a book in quite a while. It was both intriguing and haunting. I found myself wanting Clay to keep listening and going forward with the tapes, but I also hesitated each time a new person was mentioned, unsure if I actually did want to know what happened to Hannah.

I think I would have appreciated this book when it came out. 2007 would have been freshman/sophomore year of high school for me, when I myself would have been in the throes of my worst depression and high school angst. To me it seemed, melodramatic yes, but also quite realistic. I never questioned the teenage voice that it's written in, and all of the things that happened seemed like they very easily could have been real. That's something that I don't find a lot in a lot of high school books, especially where parties are involved.

I felt connected to the characters, which was sort of weird, considering that Hannah is dead. But the same way that hearing Hannah's voice makes Clay a little jumpy because it's like she's alive again, because her narrative is so strong on the tapes, you feel like you know her. And I felt for Clay, who had to hear so much and continue on with the little chain letter type set up.

I don't think I'll ever read this book again, but I'm not mad that I read it. I don't really recommend it to anyone either- I'd hate for anyone to be influenced by the topics here. If you're suicidal, or have been impacted by suicide, I do not think that this is the book for you.

Review: Room by Emma Donoghue

Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Format: Paperback, 352 pages
Pub. Date: May 18th 2011
Source: Goodwill


Book Description:

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

Review:

★★★★★

Four and a half stars, rounded up.

I'm not quite sure how to review this book. It seems wrong to say that I liked it, given that it's about rape and abduction. But, it was so hauntingly and beautifully written, that it was enjoyable to read, even with the dark (and it is DARK) subject matter.

I didn't realize when I picked this book up that it was going to be written from the perspective of the five year old son, Jack, who has been held captive in the "room" his entire life. It was shocking, but it works so well as a literary tool. He doesn't understand life, not like you or me. Because there is no life outside of "room". He doesn't understand why his mom gets sad, or angry, or tired with him. He doesn't understand that she was raped and enslaved and kidnapped. But as an adult reading through his eyes, you can see between the lines, and see how much fight the mom has in her, and how she copes with this horrible life she's been dealt, and how much she does for her son so that he can try to have happiness, even in personal little hell.

The emotions are high and tense because children feel so deeply. Each cutting word, each sigh, each scream, it's all vivid and it's all felt. You grow to care for Jack and his mother, hoping that they will be safe, that they will live, that they will get free. Jack is written as so brave but so frightened at the same time. When outside of Room, he has to learn things that I would have never thought about, like how to climb stairs. It's heartbreaking but hopeful.

The room is written in such vivid detail that I feel like I could envision every part of it, from the worn floors to the ceiling window. The characters are well described too, Donoghue is very good at showing instead of telling, and it visualizes very well. It's no wonder that someone read this and thought it would make a good movie. It's very dramatic and cinematic, and while I have not seen the movie (and I'm not quite sure I want to), I can totally imagine it on screen.

This book covers so many hard to swallow topics: child abuse, rape, kidnapping, enslavement, suicide, depression, miscarriage, overdose, the "need to know all the gory details" coverage of the media. And Emma Donoghue navigates them expertly. This is a raw, emotional, powerful, and often times painful story, measured with hope, perseverance, and love. It's not an easy book to get through, but it's a book that I'm very glad that I read.

If you are a fan of things like true crime and ID channel, than this book might be something you want to read. If you have any aversion to any of the topics that I've mentioned here, than I don't recommend it, because you will probably find it incredibly troubling and upsetting.

Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You
Author: Jojo Moyes
Series: Me Before You #1
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: July 30th 2013
Source: Half Price Books


Book Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me.

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation and perfect for fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

Review:

★★★★★

It's rare that I whole-heartedly and so positively adore a book. Me Before You was absolutely fantastic. It was beautifully written and raw and honest and optimistic and heartbreaking in the most perfect of ways. This was my first time reading anything by Jojo Moyes, but it certainly won't be my last.

The characters were wonderfully well written. Even if you didn't like a character (and believe me, there are a few), you still got a sense of who they were and the roots and complications of why you disliked them. Louisa is quirky, but never in the annoyingly common YA way of "omg I'm not like other girls". She's just unapologetically herself, and I admire that. I wish I had the confidence to wear, I dunno, pink zebra leggings with a festive hat and sparkly shoes and to say things without thinking too much about them. She's realistically awkward and charming, and I get what Will and her employers see in her.

And then there's Will. Poor, complicated, devastatingly handsome Will. Despite his demeanor and how he speaks to people, he's oddly endearing and you root for him to be better, to let down his walls. As he grows fond of Louisa, you can't help but to fall in love with him as she does. Even knowing damn well he's going to break all of our hearts.

The setting is also really well done. I feel like I could walk around their town with no map and feel at ease, and when they're traveling, I was swept away to be with them too.

Moyes does a brilliant job bringing up a topical and complicated topic and making it relatable, personable, and understandable. She gave me a lot to think about.

And I cried. Of course I did. I always do. I knew what was coming, and still, I cried. This is the most emotionally connected to a book and characters that I have felt in a long time. I know this book is a few years old, but this is the best book I have read this year. It was beautiful, touching, and haunting, and I absolutely recommend it. It's funny, charming, absolutely devastating, and strangely peaceful, and if you don't mind a little heartbreak and young love, this book is for you.

Review: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle

Title: Let It Snow
Authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle
Format: Paperback, 352 pages
Pub. Date: October 2nd 2008
Source: Goodwill


Book Description:

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle- brings all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away.

Review:

★★

This book has been on my to-read list for such a long time. When it snowed shortly after Halloween in my neck of the woods, I figured it was the perfect time to get in the jingle bell spirit. I wish I hadn't.

This book is divided into three different short stories, so I'll give three tiny reviews of each one.


Starting this anthology off is Maureen Johnson's story titled "The Jubilee Express". This was easily my favorite of the three. It involves a girl named Jubilee who has to head to Florida for the holidays when her parents are arrested, only to find that her train is snowed in too.

It's definitely not a realistic story, but it's Christmas so I can ignore that. The romance plot is super cute and warm and fuzzy inside. I adored that the main character stands up for herself when she realizes she is being treated badly. We could all use that type of confidence, even if it takes awhile.

I think her name is super cute, and the way it relates to both the plot of the story and the spirit of Christmas is well done.

Some things that were a little irritating was the whole "not like other girls" thing, and the fact that she's anti-cheerleader for no real reason and even has the gall to make fun of them for all being named things like Madison..... When her name is Jubilee, which she also hates for being unique? It's weird.
Maureen Johnson's story

The middle story is that of John Green, entitled "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle". I think I was most disappointed by this story. It wasn't the worst one, but because I have read (and loved) other John Green books and had higher expectations.

The main character is awful. He keeps describing his female friend as "not a girl" and not like other girls, is one of the boys. When he finds out she's seeing another boy, he makes fun of them. Even when she asks him to stop because enough is enough, he doesn't stop. He has the type of vocabulary of "that's gay". He and his best friend are endangering all their lives for the chance to bang a cheerleader because they're so easy, coupled with slut jokes. He crashes his car and tells his parents he was carjacked because his parents have insurance, so it's all fine. He also realizes he has feelings out of seemingly nowhere. Just I see the light we are meant to be!

She's not innocent here though. She is anti-cheerleader (seriously, am I the only person on the planet whose school cheerleaders were just normal albeit pretty people?) yet she agrees to go with them (because she wants hashbrowns) and complains the whole time about going and that they're just after cheerleaders. Even though she knew that from the beginning. She clearly has feelings for the MC (lord knows why) but instead of using words, decides to be judgy and passive aggressive the whole time. She's also the type of girl who calls her friends "retarded misogynists."

Yikes. They deserve each other, but not for the way Green intended.


And last, there is Lauren Myracle's "The Patron Saint of Pigs". I didn't care for this one, but it least it (sort of?) had some personality growth.

The main character is awful. She's so self absorbed. Five people in 100 pages tell her this, and tell her she's terrible and selfish. She then supposedly has her "Christmas angel epiphany" of how she needs to change and stop being so selfish. And she sort of does? The whole story she is bossing around her boss like she's not a teenager at a Starbucks. She tells her boss (not asks) what she's doing and when she's leaving. Ha, no. And even after this "epiphany" when she comes back, she still treats her boss poorly, even though she has brought a pig (yes, literal pig!) into a CAFE. I get it, you're a teenager and all authority is bad but it's a pig in a coffee shop that is upsetting.

Speaking of Starbucks, it's mentioned so much that it sort of just started to sound like this story was sponsored. There's also a lot of pop culture references here that make the story seem really outdated. Like American Idol being all the rage, the fact that her iPod has the click wheel thing, and I would have been her age roughly in 2008 when this was first published and even I had to google what the hell an iPenguin is.

I couldn't help to be disappointed when her friends forgave her and she got the boy, to be honest.

But, at the end of this story there's a nice little wrap up that features all of the couples from the other stories too. It's a little rushed and muddled, but that's the issue with short story collections. You don't get to know anyone well enough in so few pages, and the pacing is quick.

I didn't care much for this book, and I was glad it was over. It does make me want to read more by Maureen Johnson, but that's about it.

Review: Monsterland by Michael Okon

Title: Monsterland
Author: Michael Okon
Format: Paperback, 232 pages
Pub. Date: December 19th 2017
Source: Author


Book Description:

Welcome to Monsterland—the scariest place on Earth. Wyatt Baldwin's senior year is not going well. His parents divorce, then his dad mysteriously dies. He’s not exactly comfortable with his new stepfather, Carter White, either. An ongoing debate with his best friends Melvin and Howard Drucker over which monster is superior has gotten stale. He’d much rather spend his days with beautiful and popular Jade. However, she’s dating the brash high-school quarterback Nolan, and Wyatt thinks he doesn’t stand a chance. But everything changes when Wyatt and his friends are invited to attend the grand opening of Monsterland, a groundbreaking theme park where guests can interact with vampires in Vampire Village, be chased by werewolves on the River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville. With real werewolves, vampires and zombies as the main attractions, what could possibly go wrong?

Review:

★★★★

This is a great concept for a book. In this novel, humans are fully aware of the existence of monsters like vampires, werewolves, and zombies (also known as the vitally challenged). Not only that, they are the topic of politics, study, and either admiration or abomination. Enter Monsterland: a theme park where humans can step right up and see zombies, vampires, and werewolves in a safe environment, up close and personal. Some say it's genius, others say its cruel. As for me.... I fluctuated between the two.

I sincerely hope that Mr. Okon takes this as a compliment; Monsterland gives me major 1990's RL Stine nostalgia. He was my absolute favorite author as a kid, and this book took me back. But at the same time, this book is like Fear Street all grown up. There's more death, more philosophy, and honestly I was taken by surprise the issues and topics that made me think as a reader. What makes a human more human than a vampire? Are we worthy of more rights? Are they just animals? Is it humane to display other living things in glass cages, or take advantage of the ill?

My opinion switched over the course of the novel. At the beginning, I was like the main character. I was PUMPED for Monsterland. Seeing vampires up close? Sign me up! But then you learn more about how the park works and boy does it get sinister. Like the fake moon that rises every hour that forces the wolves to go through their painful transformations against their will. And then I felt bad. Because that's awful, and of course I wouldn't want anyone to do that.... The moral dilemmas are interesting and unexpected.

The world building is well done. You learn why the monsters are there, about the politics of a mixed species society, about the anticipation of the park. It's a solidly written book. The violence is descriptive and gory (bones breaking, blood oozing) without being gratuitous. There's quite a few characters to follow, but they're pretty distinct from one another so it's easy to follow. The speed of the book is well paced, albeit a little rushed at the end. I think it may be a set up for a second book though, so I get why it ended the way it did.

I liked the twists on classic monsters that Okon brought to the story, such as how vampires turn people and how zombies came to be. It was intriguing (and kind of made me want a more NSFW vampire book, to be completely honest with you).

I'm glad I read this, and I can already tell you this book is underhyped and underrated. This book can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of (relative) age or gender; there's romance, there's high school drama, there's murders, there's zombie decapitations, there's something for everyone.

If you're a fan of young adult horror and vampires that don't sparkle, or books that are set in amusement park/circus/carnival type settings, this book is worth getting. I would read another book in this series in a heartbeat.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Would You Rather? by Katie Heaney

Title: Would You Rather?: Growing Up, Coming Out, and (Occasionally) Getting It Right
Author: Katie Heaney
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: March 6th 2018
Source: Ballantine Books


Book Description:

A collection of poignant, relatable essays from the author of Never Have I Ever about coming out in her late twenties, entering into her first relationship, and figuring out what it means to be an adult.

When Katie Heaney published her first book of essays chronicling her singledom up to age 25, she was still waiting to meet the right guy. Three years later, a lot changed. For one thing, she met the right girl.

Here, for the first time, Katie opens up about realizing that she is gay. She tackles everything from the trials of dating in New York City to the growing pains of her first relationship, from obsessing over Harry Styles (because, actually, he does look a bit like a lesbian) to learning to accept herself all over again. Exploring love and sexuality with her neurotic wit and endearing intimacy, Katie shares the message that it's never too late to find love--or yourself.

Review:

★★★


I've got to admit.... I'm a little disappointed in this book.

I adored Katie Heaney's first book, Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date which chronicles her misadventures as to why she's in her 20s and perpetually single. It was clever, funny, and so relatable. It was one of my favorite books of 2014.

Well, since then, she's answered the question of: "Why can't I find a guy to date?" The answer? She's LGBT.

I think there's a huge space for this sort of book. I haven't come across many later-in-life out of the closet books. I think it's a needed space to fill that tells people it's okay if you don't have yourself figured out in your teens when it seems like everyone else is so confident.

I was excited to get this book because of the aforementioned adoration, but also because I am queer. I figured, if she was relatable as a heterosexual woman, surely she'll be even more so now that we're both on the same side of the rainbow. And the answer to that assumption is, kind of.

She is relatable on the "but I like dudes how can I like girls" front. I had the same struggle growing up. I didn't understand that it wasn't "normal". I was attracted to actresses or models on TV the same way I was men like NSYNC or Leo DiCaprio. So I felt for her on the whole "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING WITH ME" thing. I didn't relate so much to the fear of not being queer enough that she went through (trying to find the "perfect lesbian outfit" or feeling like people at a gay bar would know she's not one of them, for examples). But, I understand where that thought process would come from, being pan myself.

In spots it gets sort of political and preachy, which was a bit grating. But, it comes with the territory I think.

One thing that sort of put me off of this book is her tone about reviews. She expresses a torn view point, on which she likes hearing from people who related to her first book, but also feeling pressured by them and annoyed. There's a negative tone about reading reviews, and on one hand: I get it. It has to be hard for any writer to read reviews. This has to be multiplied when your book is nonfiction; I'd imagine there's quite a sense of "these people are judging me and my life". But at the same time, it kind of sounds like a slap in the face to those people who enjoyed it and supported book. Full disclosure: I was one of those people who messaged her.

By her own words, she says she's getting less likable and I have to admit I don't disagree. The quirky and awkward charming sense of humor is gone. Part of that is surely the change of topic. Coming out of the closet and realizing one's self is certainly more serious and life altering. But I went in with that expectation, and by comparison her tone in this book just comes off as harsh.

That said, there's a glimpse of the other book within this one. Every few chapters/essays or so, there's a highlight of a girl that Heaney might have had a crush on. I thought this was really cute, and I totally get it. I look back to my growing up sometimes and can't help but to think "oh... I think I liked that girl". These were sweet and broke up the rest of the text well.

I think it's good for those who are pan or broadly queer or who are older and still trying to find themselves. If you haven't read the other book, you'll probably have a lot less issues with it than I did. I enjoyed reading this story of growth and self-acceptance, but I don't think it's something I'll need to read again in the future.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Ascendance of Harley Quinn by Shelley E Barba & Joy M Perrin

Title: The Ascendance of Harley Quinn: Essays on DC's Enigmatic Villain
Editors: Shelley E Barba & Joy M Perrin
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: October 2nd 2017
Source: McFarland & Company


Book Description:

 Since her first appearance in 1992, Harley Quinn--eccentric sidekick to the Joker--has captured the attention of readers like few new characters have in eight decades of Batman comics. Her bubbly yet malicious persona has earned her a loyal and growing fan base as she has crossed over into television, theater, video games, and film. In this collection of new essays, contributors explore her various iterations, focusing on her origin and contexts, the implications of her abusive relationship with the Joker, her relationships with other characters, her representations across media, and the philosophic basis of her character.

Review:

★★★

To sound like that person we all hate: I liked Harley Quinn before it was cool.

Now that that's out of the way, I was so excited to see a book of people talking about one of my favorite comic book/cartoon characters. The cover art is cute, and the premise of essays from different authors about this character along with her symbolism and philosophies. I was expecting something akin to the "The Philosophy of (insert pop culture reference here)" books that I read a few of in college. But, I was left a bit disappointed.

I found the essays to be a bit monotone and repetitive. While I know the blurb says this book is comprised of essays, I expected well written, well researched, short opinion pieces. And some of them were! But others felt like reading high school essays that were given as an assignment, with arguments that aren't completely supported, or with background information written as though it were a History of DC text book.

Like I said, there were some essays that were strong and really interesting. But others just weren't. I suppose that's the risk you take when reading an essay collection or anthology.

It's worth reading if you're a huge fan of Harley Quinn, DC, or comics. But if you're not, or if you're looking for a deeper philosophical-type examination of Harley, this might not be super helpful for you.

I was given a copy in exchange for my honest review.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini Review: Conversion by Katherine Howe

Title: Conversion
Author: Katherine Howe
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: July 1st 2014
Source: Won


Book Description:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane comes a chilling mystery—Prep meets The Crucible.

It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.

First it’s the school’s queen bee, Clara Rutherford, who suddenly falls into uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. Her mystery illness quickly spreads to her closest clique of friends, then more students and symptoms follow: seizures, hair loss, violent coughing fits. St. Joan’s buzzes with rumor; rumor blossoms into full-blown panic.

Soon the media descends on Danvers, Massachusetts, as everyone scrambles to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? Only Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago . . .

Inspired by true events—from seventeenth-century colonial life to the halls of a modern-day high school—Conversion casts a spell. With her signature wit and passion, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe delivers an exciting and suspenseful novel, a chilling mystery that raises the question, what’s really happening to the girls at St. Joan’s?

Review:

★

I had such high hopes for this one. I love American history, and have special interest in Salem. I have an entire shelf dedicated to books- both fiction and nonfiction- on the subject. So when a retelling young adult book caught my eye, I was so excited. Boy, what a let down.

The main character was the absolute worst. She's demeaning and shallow and so self obsessed it's ridiculous. If she's supposed to be relatable, then I don't want to meet the girl who sees herself in Colleen. Every word that left her mouth was either snotty, judgmental, or about herself. I couldn't take it for long. The more she talked the less I cared about her and the book.

And the other characters, as well as the plot, are so bland that I can't tell you anything about them. Other than it was set in a prep school, and there's your sterotypical "preppy girls" who show up in every other book that involves a private school in the young adult genre. There's some Salem outlines and references, but it wasn't chilling, or haunting, or anything else that I expected upon reading the blurb.

I don't recommend it. Props on the cover art though. It caught my eye and I really like the design of it.

Maybe if you went to a school like this, with people like this, you'll relate to it more than I did.

HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Mini Review: Southern Fried Wiccan by S.P. Sipal

Title: Southern Fried Wiccan
Author: S.P. Sipal
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: March 24th 2015
Source: Publisher


Book Description:

Cilla Swaney is thrilled to return stateside, where she can hang up her military-brat boots for good. Finally, she’ll be free to explore her own interests—magick and Wicca. But when she arrives at her grandma’s farm, Cilla discovers that life in the South isn’t quite what she expected. At least while country hopping, she never had to drink G-ma’s crazy fermented concoctions, attend church youth group, make co-op deliveries...or share her locker with a snake-loving, fire-lighting, grimoire-stealing Goth girl…

…Who later invites her to a coven that Cilla’s not sure she has the guts to attend. But then Emilio, the dark-haired hottie from her charter school, shows up and awakens her inner goddess. Finally, Cilla starts believing in her ability to conjure magick. Until…

…All Hades breaks loose. A prank goes wrong during their high school production of Macbeth, and although it seems Emilio is to blame, Cilla and Goth pay the price. Will Cilla be able to keep the boy, her coven, and the trust of her family? Or will this Southern Wiccan get battered and fried?

Review:

★

This review will be short and to the point, because I hate to give one star reviews.

I didn't care for the main character. She was super judgmental of people from the get go, and she was always whining about something. It was super off putting, and before long I wasn't concerned about her story or what happened to her.

There weren't enough Wiccan components for me. I wasn't expecting wizard spells and magic (the way some other readers seem to have, for some reason) but, I was expecting more of her development, based on the title and blurb. It was mostly just teenage YA stuff you've read before. As a pagan myself, I was disappointed.

Review: Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna

Title: Adultolescence
Author: Gabbie Hanna
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 19th 2017
Source: Publisher


Book Description:

From Teen Choice Award-nominated comedian and vlogger Gabbie Hanna, known on YouTube as The Gabbie Show, an astounding debut poetry collection that captures the essence of what it means to come of age in today’s world.

Full of confessional, whimsical, and darkly humorous observations about life, love, and the early years of adulthood, this collection of over 150 poems, each illustrated by Gabbie herself, will introduce you to the unique point of view of one of the internet’s most remarkable voices.

Review:

★★★

This is the first book by Gabbie Hanna, more commonly known as TheGabbieShow. She's a pretty well known YouTuber, and I have to admit I'm a fan of her story time videos. I was happy to get a copy of her book, because I relate to her in a lot of ways. I was pleasantly surprised that it's not just another vlogger biography, but a book of poetry. That's pretty cool.

The book is filled with doodles and artwork that are nice. They look very "something I drew during math class" to me, which works with the title and theme of the book, and they matched well with what was going on in the poems.

The poems themselves for me were hit and miss. They're in different forms- some that rhyme, some that don't, some that are long, some single verse, etc. Some of them were really good and thought provoking, or hit pretty close to home. Others, not so much. Some of them are just kind of one liners that seem like funny tweets or facebook statuses. Some of them also use chat speak, which I "get" but find really irritating.

Some of the poems I liked best are "Dollhouse", "Dolly" and "Worry".

Overall, I enjoyed reading this. It's a pretty short read, but as I mentioned, some poems are longer than others. It's a nice collection to my YouTuber shelf, and I'm sure fans of hers will enjoy it.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler

Title: Afterparty
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Format: Paperback ARC
Pub. Date: January 7th 2014
Source: Won


Book Description:

Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother -- whose name her dad won't even say out loud. That's why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her...and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she's everything Emma is not.

And it may be more than Emma can handle.

Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop.

This follow-up to Ann Redisch Stampler's Where It Began, reveals how those who know us best can hurt us most.

Review:

★★

Sometimes, every once in a while, there comes a book that feels like a case of "it's not you, it's me". I believe that this is one of those times. I'm glad a lot of other people seem to have enjoyed it, but it wasn't for me. This review will be vague, because there's a lot of potential spoilers.

The writing style wasn't one that I found enjoyable. It was full of long, flowery sentences that seemed extra detailed just for the sake of a word count. I thought maybe I'd warm up to it as the book went on, but alas I did not. The pacing was also rough. Sometimes the book jumped forward a day, sometimes a week. It was jagged and awkward and hard to keep up.

And then there's the characters. 99% of the time when I don't like a book, it's because of the characters, and this isn't the 1% for me. I didn't care for any of them. Not like "oh, I connect and understand these characters but I dislike them" but as in, I don't care at all what happens in your lives. For me it was a hyper-dramatic version of the 2003 film Thirteen. There's a good girl who doesn't want to be so good. Enter the super crazy, abusive, manipulative cool bad girl who is her downfall. There wasn't anything about her that made her unique, or someone that I could understand being friends with in the first place, let alone the friendship that follows. Think of all the things parents think are the end of the world: drugs, sex, and alcohol, and multiply the drama by 100, and that's what Siobhan gets them into. The main character is generic and forgettable, and doesn't really grow that much by the end of the novel . So, it felt largely predictable in parts.

And the end? What a let down. It didn't make up for my other issues with the book, so I was just left frustrated.

I will say that though it has nothing to do with the story, the cover is gorgeous.

As I said, I think this is a case of it's not you, it's me. So, if you like teenage drama type stories like Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl or things like that, go for it. Maybe you'll have a better time.

The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe

Title: The Tragic Age
Author: Stephen Metcalfe
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Pub. Date: March 3rd 2015
Source: Won


Book Description:

This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn’t always work— not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven’t applied to college.
　
Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another’s mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie’s. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by　creative acts of the soul.　

With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities.Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is—Billy doesn’t trust happiness. It's the age he's at. The tragic age.

Stephen Metcalfe's brilliant, debut coming-of-age novel, The Tragic Age, will teach you to learn to love, trust and truly be alive in an absurd world.

Review:

★★

I really wanted to like this book, but I ended up not being a fan of it. I love a good coming of age story, but this one just didn't click with me. I didn't relate to a lot of characters, which made me struggle to finish it.

I started off really liking the main character, Billy. I appreciate that he's sarcastic and a smart ass, because I myself am both of those things. But his personality, the more I read, turned to being abrasive and annoying. He's not a person I'd want to spend a lot of time with. But, at least he was well developed. I give him that. Comparatively, the other characters fall flat, and seem to be there only to move along Billy's plot. I couldn't tell you much about them.

What turned me off of this book the most was the stereotypes. The Latina female is portrayed as slutty. There's smart Asians. There's some definite slut shaming and other things that are not part of the plot: these are not things we will learn to overcome through evolution of the characters. I don't want that in a book, and especially a coming of age story aimed at teens.

I did appreciate Billy's pop culture/topical references, but I feel like it'll date the book in the future.

This isn't a book I'd recommend.

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Format: eARC
Pub. Date: September 1st 2015
Source: Delacorte Books for Young Readers


Book Description:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Review:

★★★★


This book has such an interestingly done concept. It led me to thinking; what would I do if I became smitten with a boy and I couldn't leave the house? Of course I have no such answers, but it jumpstarted a bunch of scenarios and questions. I was hooked on this book within a few pages, and I couldn't put it down until it was over.

First, let's talk about the characters. I loved them. I appreciated that they were diverse. It's worth noting that I knew the main character, Madeline, wasn't going to be Caucasian because she described Oliver as being white. I found that fascinating and it goes to show the lack of diversity in writing because, I can't remember the last time I read a character description that said they were white. I always assume. So, points to this book for making me think about this, and for including a mixed race female lead character. As for Madeline herself, I appreciated how smart she was, and that she was always making book references. That's a girl after my own heart. I am also devastatingly in love with Oliver. It's no mystery to me why Madeline was in insta-like. This annoys me a little bit in books, but in this case, I'll make an exception. He's from a broken home but has a charming smile and is spontaneous. One of him to go, please.

The main plot twist was pretty predictable, though. I caught it within a few pages, thanks to a favorite film of mine entitled "Repo: The Genetic Opera". Regardless, it was an interesting plot idea, and I feel that Yoon did it well. It had a mix of really good righting and a sense that she did her homework on Madeline's illness and the consequences of having it. I also really liked that the prose of the novel was interspersed with Madeline's little doodles and diary pages. It shook things up a bit and was a nice change of pace.

What I didn't like, was the ending. I'll talk about this vaguely as to avoid spoilers. The ending felt too rushed and too sudden, and I was left with no closure. It felt like a cop out wrap up of "oh all is forgiven close the curtains", and I don't think that's realistic. I was expecting a more dramatic resolution of drama and anger and consequences, but I wasn't given that, and it left me disappointed with no more pages. If I had just been given a little bit more of a conclusion, I think it would have been a perfect rating, but I just can't get over that feeling of disappointment.

That said, it's worth reading for most of the plot, and for the characters. I hope that you fall in love with Oliver just as much as Madeline and I did, and that you'll cheer on Madeline to overcome illness and take a chance on life. I recommend this for fans of young adult romance who don't mind a little instalove, fans of bookish and diverse characters, and fans of books that circle around medical illness.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Title: This Is Where It Ends
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Format: eARC
Pub. Date: January 5th 2016
Source: Sourcebooks Fire


Book Description:

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Review:

★★★

This book gave me a case of the feelings.

I finished this book awhile ago now, but I had to let it stew around in my brain for awhile before I could properly and professionally write out my thoughts about it. There are some things that this book does very well, and other things that it does rather poorly, and so in the end I ended up giving it a neutral three out of five stars.

This is a tough book to read, not in its grammar or lexicon, but because of the overall plot. School shootings are tough stuff, scary stuff. Stuff that we unfortunately see every day on the news, and that some of us have personally been affected by, in some form or another. In my case, fortunately, no one was injured despite shots being fired. But even that is something that has stayed with me. It's a rough call to reality that it could happen at any school, to anybody, and that's terrifying. And yet, in its terror, this book is mesmerizing. I read it in one go, because I couldn't put it down. Thankfully I was on a train for 8 hours, so I had time to spare.

It took awhile to get used to the format of this book. It's comprised of four distinct, separated points of view. I'm not overtly fond of switching POVs, especially when it's four of them. That said, I think Nijkamp handled it fairly well. After a while it became easy to switch gears and decipher whose chapter was whose. I was disappointed that in these four points of view, the shooter wasn't given a voice. That's the voice I most wanted to read about, and I was left a bit sad that I didn't get that opportunity.

I appreciated that in addition to the separate points of view, the author also had mixed media strewn throughout the book. There is prose, as is standard in a novel, but also snippets of text messages, tweets, and blog posts. It brings the story into this decade and makes it feel more realistic. I think teens will relate to it more because of this incorporation of technology.

I do think that this book pulls out every single card in its literary deck, though, and it seemed like it was just for the purpose of saying the book included them. Different races? Check. Gay characters? Yup. Deaths of students, deaths of parents, rape, abuse, mental illness? Yup, all present. That's not a bad thing. I'm all for diverse characters and plots. I also know that everyone has their own story. But when it feels like it's all just plopped into the book for the sake of being plopped, it turns me off a bit. It also left me a bit confused. Part of one of the subplots of this story is that the town is a rather small and judgmental one, which is why so many people have so many secrets. This makes it hard to come out of the closet as being LGBT, because it is not a welcoming place. I was confused then why the quarterback who is so esteemed was a black character? Again, nothing wrong with having a black character. YA needs more of them. But when it's being drummed into the plot how small-minded the town is, this part doesn't seem to fit well. Maybe I'm just reading too much into things. It wouldn't be the first time.

I also wasn't happy with the ending, for a few reasons. I'll refrain from spoilers. Plot wise, I feel that it was kind of a cop out. The end chapters felt super rushed and I knew where it was going, and I didn't want it to go there. And when it ended it just felt like you had been running at an okay pace, sped up, and then hit a wall. It was just over. I'm not a fan of that at all. I also feel like the writing was a bit insensitive. I've lost friends to suicides and murders, and I promise you, I would never describe the loss of a beautiful human life as being able to see "brain" everywhere. It's crude, it's crass, and it's ultimately juvenile. It turned me off for sure, especially when mixed with this anger-inducing ending.

Unrelated to the content of the book, I absolutely love the cover. I think it sums up the plot well, and really makes a rather stunning point. I honestly forgot the title of this book at one point, but I remembered "the one with the broken chalk". It's a cover to be remembered.

I'm not sorry I read this, and I'll likely even read it again in the future. Like I said, there's high points and low points. It sucks you in and makes you confront life in a way that can be hard to swallow. There's some issues in it, but I would still recommend giving it a read. If you are a young adult reader who likes intense, emotionally driven books then this book might be for you.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions. Thank you.

Review: Hipster Animals by Dyna Moe

Title: Hipster Animals: A Field Guide
Author: Dyna Moe
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: September 22nd 2015
Source: Ten Speed Press


Book Description:

A field guide to scenesters, trend-hoppers, and other cutting-edge species you’ve like, probably never heard of. They’re pretty obscure.

An illustrated pocket guide to the hip characters populating “cool neighborhoods” across America, Hipster Animals helps readers identify these urban wildlife in their natural habitats. Including details on the creatures’ identifying characteristics, diets, mating behavior, and calls, this parody reference guide provides a snarky glimpse into the foreign—yet all too familiar—world of the trendsetters among us.


From the Trade Paperback edition

Review:

★★★★★

Oh my god, I absolutely loved this book. Pardon my French, but I laughed my ass off. I read it aloud with my girlfriend, and it kept us amused from cover to cover. This book is a "field guide" to the different kinds of hipsters. Each one is represented like an animal in the wild, including an illustration and physical traits. There's also listings for things like call, nest, markings, dangers, diet, mating, habitat, threats, spoors, range, predators, migration, prey, and life cycle for these exotic hipster creatures.

The book is divided into sections that include things such as "Food and Drink", "Music", and "On the Scene". Perhaps what is so hilarious to me is that I know people who live up to the stereotype in most (if not all) of the categories represented. My girlfriend would also tell you that I fit into the food and drink category, but she is not to be listened to (sorry babe).

The artwork is really nicely done. It's colorful, and somehow these stereotypes are funnier and more palatable when the hipster in question is turned into a red panda or a moose. It also includes fun little snarky bonuses, such as Parade Hipster Bingo and Draw the Tattoos on the Pinup.

If you know me at all in real life, you know I make puns. A lot of them. Really bad ones. Constantly. To the point of annoyance. I am delighted at the sheer amount of puns and word play in this book. It's clever and hilarious, and entirely up my alley of humor. My absolute favorite of these jokes is a food truck entitled "Bahn Mi Talk Pretty One Day". Just, bravo and well done. -slow claps-

This book also has some great quotes. Here are my two favorites, if I'm being honest:

"With the right attitude, anything can be made into a pickle" - City Boy BBQ Pitmaster

and

"If a phenomenon is not observed, then it can't be proven to exist, and these shoes are too phenomenal to be theoretical." - Fashion Plate Photo Diarist

Some of the lovely species in this book include the Pho Authenticity Police, Way-Too-Positive Sex Crusader, and the Dandy Mixologist.

This is full of cute, douchey animals, but don't be fooled. This is a book intended for teens and adults. There's language, drugs, sex, and alcohol involved. Hilarious for adults, scarring for kids looking at stoner kittens. So, be aware of that.

I already know I'm buying a copy of this for someone I know for her birthday once it is released. This book is great for people who either don't like hipsters, or who don't mind poking fun at themselves every now and again. Or constantly.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review: All the Rage by Courtney Summers

Title: All the Rage
Author: Courtney Summers
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: April 14th 2015
Source: St. Martin's Griffin


Book Description via Goodreads:

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.　

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive?

Review:

★★★

I waited a long while to write this review. All the Rage is a very intense book to read, and I needed some time (a few weeks, actually) to decompress everything long enough to write a coherent opinion on it.

First, I'd like to say that this book's message is so damn important. I think it's crazy that every day when I get on Facebook, there's a new trending story of some teen rape/bullying/sexting case. It's horrifying. Books with themes as deep as the ones found in this book are often close to my heart, because I have experienced them first hand. These are books that need writing, because it is still happening across the country and the world. It's worth reading. End of.

The writing itself is beautiful. Though I can name other books Summers has written, and I've come across her name often on the internet, this is the first time I've ever read anything written by her. She has a great ability to describe human emotion in ways that I'm not sure that I could give a voice. It's beautiful and haunting at the same, almost hollow. It was an almost soothing sense of dread and darkness, which was an odd sensation but a lovely one as a reader (that might make no sense to some of you- sorry about that).

That said, the timing in this book left me puzzled. I wasn't always entirely sure where in the timeline I was, and that made it a bit hard to focus on what was happening. I had all of the puzzle pieces, but struggled at times to put them together into a bigger picture.

The characters left me divided. I felt for Romy, truly, and I wanted her to get all the things that she needed and wanted to calm her mind and restore her life. Because she was so turbulent of a character, my own feelings for her matched. Sometimes she left me confused, and sometimes I really couldn't connect to her. Other times I felt like she was sharing thoughts I've had personally, verbatim. The adults, don't get me started. They're accurate enough- the not listening, the lying, the small town politics. That is where I felt all the rage. I wanted to punch some of them (not unlike the adults in other books on similar topics I've read lately). The romance aspect didn't really add anything to me, but I'm sure there are others who will disagree with me.

In short, this book left me torn. And honestly, I think it was meant to. It's a book that's hard to swallow and slow to read, because some pretty bad themes and actions are within its pages. It is a book that demands more thought and reflection after it's been read. As I mentioned before, I think it's definitely a book that is worth reading, even though I didn't always follow or connect to it in the best way. Be warned, rape and bullying are main themes in this book, so tread with caution if you are sensitive to them. If you benefited from reading books such as Some Boys or The S-Word, you might want to give this one a go.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Center Ice by Cate Cameron!

Title: Center Ice

Series: Corrigan Falls Raiders #1

Author: Cate Cameron

Release date: 5/19/15

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Summary from Goodreads:

The hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…

Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.

But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.

Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…

Get it Here:

Amazon | BN | Kobo | iBooks

Review:

★★★★

This book has so many things that I love, all rolled into one little book. Contemporary romance? Check. Young adult? Check. Hockey? Triple check. I knew I had to read this one the moment I saw the cover (I know, I know). I'm glad that the story inside is just as cute as the cover represents it to be.

Center Ice is a really sweet book. We meet Karen and Tyler, who tell their story from both sides, as the book flips between each of their points of view. They're absolutely adorable together, and I enjoyed every minute of watching them fall deeper in love. Tyler is a hockey player with NHL goals in mind, and I loved him. Karen, well, I didn't like her much as her own character. She did a lot of things that made me sigh, and I found it hard to connect with her. That said, I liked her with Tyler as a couple, so I wasn't horridly put off by it while reading. I appreciated the overall depth of the characters- this book is more than just a sweet romance. There's a lot of other issues working here such as reputations, family struggles, and pressures for perfection. This made the book a lot more realistic for me, and I appreciated it.

I absolutely adore hockey (Go Blackhawks!) so I really liked that it was a focal point of this book. I don't just mean that in regards to Tyler being a stellar, NHL bound player in the plot of the book. The author seems really well researched on the sport, it sounded like it was written by someone familiar with hockey, not someone just using it as a plot device. There was slang and details that I really enjoyed.

I think that this is a really good romance for fans of hockey or sports themed romances, as well as contemporary romance. I'd place it somewhere between YA and NA for age range. I'm told that this is the first book in a series, and though I had some issues with Center Ice I would definitely continue on with the next book in the series.

I received my copy in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author:

Cate Cameron grew up in the city but moved to the country in her mid-twenties and isn't looking back. Most of her writing deals with people living and loving in small towns or right out in the sticks - when there aren't entertainment options on every corner, other people get a lot more interesting!

She likes to write stories about real people struggling with real issues. YA, NA, or contemporary romance, her books are connected by their emphasis on subtle humor and characters who are trying to do the right thing, even when it would be a lot easier to do something wrong.

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Giveaway:

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Blog Tour Mini Review & Giveaway: Life Unaware by Cole Gibsen!

Title: Life Unaware

Author: Cole Gibson

Release date: 4/28/15

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:

Regan Flay has been talking about you.

Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother's "plan" for high school success―cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society—until her life gets turned horribly, horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult she's ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in school.

Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah.
The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend's hot but socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan's going through, but whatnobody knows is that Regan isn't really Little Miss Perfect. In fact, she's barely holding it together under her mom's pressure. But the consequences of Regan's fall from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain untouched...

Especially Regan Flay.

Review:

★★★★

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book.

For me, teen bullying books are usually hit or miss. I either totally relate or disconnect completely. I'm glad to say that this one was one that I hit it off with.

I think that this book is largely realistic, and honestly that's what makes it a bit scary. Teenagers are terrifying, and this book gives a window into the teenage girl brain. I was reminded of a few people that I knew in high school. The characters were well written and their dialogue felt natural (something else I often have issues with in teen/high school books). I also appreciate the amount of loathing that the author got me to feel for some of the characters. I quickly became invested into the story, and loved reading as the main character's world came crashing down around her. It was kind of nice to watch the mean girl up in flames, but at parts you definitely sympathize with her too.

I connected with her a bit more because she has an anxiety disorder and so do I, so I sympathized with her a bit more. And her mother... Good lord, don't get me started on her mother. She made me ridiculously angry. Well done to the author for making me have such intense feelings for a fictional character.

It's a fast paced read that doesn't take very long, but does deal with some pretty tough things to swallow, like bullying/cyberbullying. I think that a lot of teenage girls and YA fans will like this one, especially fans of books like The S Word or #scandal. This book has some language and serious themes, so be warned before going in.

Get it Here:

Amazon | BN | TBD | BAM | IndieBound | Powells

About the Author:

Cole Gibsen first realized she different when, in high school, she was still reading comic books while the other girls were reading fashion magazines.

It was her love of superheroes that first inspired her to pick up a pen. Her favorite things to write about are ordinary girls who find themselves in extraordinary situations.

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Giveaway:

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Blog Tour Organized by:
YA Bound Book Tours