My Review
There’s a reason I don’t typically read novellas, and that reason is because they’re always too short. This one isn’t any different – it was only about 23 pages, I believe, and I read through it in like 15 minutes…and … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2015
Synopsis
“Finding Willow” is the prequel to “Unspeakable,” the touching romance between Brody and Willow that explores one girl’s quiet strength to survive the unbearable weight of a family secret alone, and the love and resolve of a boy determined to help her.Brody Victor lives life on the fringes. Moving from school to school with each transfer his mother’s job requires has taught Brody well: If there’s one thing harder than making friends, it’s saying goodbye to them. So he’s learned to close himself off. He’s a loner, and that’s how he likes it.
When his mother accepts a permanent position in Wisconsin, Brody begins to slowly open up. But old habits die hard and, for Brody, making friends doesn’t come easily. That is, until he meets Annabelle. Brody loses himself in her. Their connection runs deep and, for the first time, Brody truly lets someone inside. But life can be cruel. An unexpected job transfer uproots Brody from his home in Wisconsin, and Annabelle.
Vowing not to get involved with another girl after the heartbreak of losing Annabelle, Brody returns to life on the outside looking in. A loner by choice. Until he finds Willow. Friendly and beautiful, a guy can’t help but notice her, but Brody notices more than her beauty. When she flashes her full smile, a spark is missing from her hazel eyes and for reasons unknown to him, Brody needs to find the reason.
Along the way, he stumbles across a secret bigger than both of them.
Synopsis
“Breathe. No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of.
She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just…but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choice. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.
When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.
Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?
My Review
Willow seems like your average teenage girl – she has a few close friends, she goes to football games, and she likes spending time with her boyfriend, Jaden. Jaden is every girl’s dream boyfriend – he’s good looking, the captain … Continue reading
Synopsis
As their senior year approaches, four diverse friends joined by their weekly Dungeons & Dragons game struggle to figure out real life. Archie's trying to cope with the lingering effects of his parents' divorce, Mari's considering an opportunity to contact her biological mother, Dante's working up the courage to come out to his friends, and Sam's clinging to a failing relationship. The four eventually embark on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to solve--or to avoid--their problems.< Told in the narrative style of Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMAN, AN INFINITE NUMBER OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES is at turns geeky, funny, and lyrical as it tells a story about that time in life when friends need each other to become more than just people that hang out.
My Review
An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes is a beautiful story about love, acceptance, and what it means to have real friends that will be there for you no matter what. “The point is how you live, not how … Continue reading
Synopsis
The author of A Little Something Different brings you the most adorkable romance ever.Jane, a superstitious fangirl, takes an anonymous babysitting job to avoid an unpaid internship with her college-obsessed mom. The only problem? She’s babysitting the siblings of her childhood friend and new crush, Teo.
Teo doesn’t dislike Jane, but his best friend Ravi hates her, and is determined to keep them apart. So Teo’s pretty sure his plans for a peaceful summer are shot. His only hope is that his intermittent search for his birth father will finally pan out and he’ll find a new, less awkward home. Meanwhile, at Jane’s house, her sister Margo wants to come out as bisexual, but she’s terrified of how her parents will react.
In a summer filled with secrets and questions, even Jane’s Magic 8 ball can’t give them clear answers, but Signs Point to Yes.
My Review
Meet Jane: She writes fan fiction (think Doctor Who and Veronica Mars crossover), is a bit nerdy, typically plays by the rules, and consults her Magic 8 Ball for advice before making big decisions. When her mother gets her a … Continue reading
Signs Point to Yes Author: Sandy Hall Publication Date: October 20th, 2015 Publisher: Swoon Romance Summary from Goodreads: The author of A Little Something Different brings you the most adorkable romance ever. Jane, a superstitious fangirl, takes an anonymous babysitting … Continue reading
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. Arrows Author: Melissa Gorzelanczyk Publication Date: January 5th, 2016 Publisher: Delacorte Press Summary from Goodreads: A modern cupid … Continue reading
Synopsis
Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this fast-paced novel from the author of The Walled City.The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule the world. To commemorate their Great Victory over Britain and Russia, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor's ball.
Yael, who escaped from a death camp, has one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year's only female victor, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin's brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael's every move. But as Yael begins to get closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?
My Review
Five stars simply aren’t enough for this book. Ryan Graudin has spun a creative tale about heartbreak, revenge, and what it means to find yourself, even if you feel you’ve been lost for a long time. Yael has had … Continue reading
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Giselle Boyer and her identical twin, Isabelle, are as close as sisters can be. They are each other’s strongest source of support even as their family life seems to be unraveling and their parents are considering divorce. Then the Boyers have a tragic encounter that will shatter everyone’s world forever.Giselle wakes up in a hospital room, injured and unable to speak or move. She doesn’t know what’s happened to her sister, to her family, to herself. Trapped in the prison of her own body, Giselle must revisit her past in order to understand how the people closest to her—her friends, her parents, and above all, Isabelle—have shaped and defined her. Will she allow her love for her family and friends to buoy her and lead her on the path to recovery? Or will she remain lost in a painful spiral of longing and regret?
Untwine is a spellbinding tale, lyrical and filled with love, mystery, humor, and heartbreak. Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat brings her extraordinary talent to this graceful and unflinching examination of the bonds of friendship, romance, and family; the horrors of loss; and the strength we must discover in ourselves when all seems hopeless.
My Review
Giselle and Isabelle are identical twins with difference – they each have a mole behind their ear, but on the opposite side. They are also best friends and extremely close, even though they are both into different things. Isabelle plays … Continue reading
Synopsis
When sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner's family decides to move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, she hopes it is her chance for a fresh start. She can leave behind the memory of the past winter; of her sickly Ma giving birth to a baby sister who cries endlessly; of the terrifying visions she saw as her sanity began to slip, the victim of cabin fever; and most of all, the memories of the boy she has been secretly meeting with as a distraction from her pain. The boy whose baby she now carries.When the Verners arrive at their new home, a large cabin abandoned by its previous owners, they discover the inside covered in blood. And as the days pass, it is obvious to Amanda that something isn't right on the prairie. She's heard stories of lands being tainted by evil, of men losing their minds and killing their families, and there is something strange about the doctor and his son who live in the woods on the edge of the prairie. But with the guilt and shame of her sins weighing on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or deep within her soul.
My Review
On the cover of this book, there is a quote from the lovely author, Cat Winters, which states: “Imagine Stephen King writing Little House on the Prairie.” This one statement can sum up this entire book. It’s a dark, disturbing … Continue reading
Synopsis
Very Sales-Woodruff is done being a good girl. Done being the only responsible one in a family that’s unraveling. Done being the obliging girlfriend in a relationship that’s sinking. Done saying no to what she wants—like Dominic, her rebellious classmate.With her mom’s drinking, her dad’s extended absences from home, and her younger sister, Ramona, running wild, the path Very has always seen for herself doesn’t seem to matter anymore. At the same time, Very’s grandmother, a poet known less for her work and more for her exploits with the likes of Andy Warhol and Arthur Miller, is slipping away.
If everything else can fall to pieces, why can’t she?
My Review
Very in Pieces is a book about…well…I honestly have no idea. I think this book is supposed to be about a girl who feels like everything is falling apart in her life, and the problems in her family, and who … Continue reading
