Somewhere in Between

by Katie Li

Summary from GoodReads

Two friends find a portal to another dimension and use this “in-between place” to avoid the stress of their everyday lives. What they don’t realize is that every time they enter, they alter reality.

Pseudo-punk Magnolia and underachieving gamer-geek Rom are two unlikely friends who only hang out during their walks home together after school. When they find the a portal that leads to different worlds, they use the “in-between place” as an escape from their lives in high school, then later, after college. 

Their visits through the portal bring them teetering along a tight-rope of fantasy and reality, where they don't always believe what is in front of them, not even their feelings for each other. 

The book is about changes—the ones that you can control, and the ones that you can’t. It’s about commitment and friendship. It’s about the stages in between where you have nothing but the unknown ahead of you.

Inspired by the work of Haruki Murakami and films like Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind, Somewhere In Between is metaphysical coming-of-age story about defining love and finding yourself.

Thoughts on the Book

I received this book from NetGalley, I loved the cover and the premise sounded very interesting.

My Review

This book had a lot of jumping between the present - the reunion of Magnolia and Rom, and the past - when Magnolia and Rom first started to become friends.

I half loved this book and half was annoyed by it.  The jumping back and forth got very confusing, but that could have just been the formatting of the ebook.  The end bugged me though, I might need to reread it, I can't figure out exactly what happened, what was real and what wasn't, and at what point in their lives are these two?  But that could be the entire point of the story.

Magnolia was a very weak and insecure person, while at the same time she was fantastically unique, smart, and fun.  In trying avoid dealing with people she ended up ingraining herself with a bad group of people and she wasn't able to extricate herself from them.  Rom on the other hand was unforgivably himself even though he tended to be very shy.  He never tried to change himself for other people for any reason, either people appreciated who he was and were his friends, or they didn't and he didn't spare them a second thought.

I loved the story of the two friends despite the jumpy way it was told.  The end, when both fought their demons and realized exactly what they meant to each other was fantastic.  I love how Magnolia was back in the past of the day that she made the biggest mistake of her life, while Rom's was in the present debating whether or not he should make the biggest mistake of his life.

I give this a 8/10.  I loved it, but it was somewhat difficult to read and the ending was half awesome and half "so what happened?".

Kissing Frogs

by Rich Amooi

Summary from GoodReads

Summer is finally here and Geography teacher Sara Larson has exactly one month to find the perfect date for the wedding of a high school rival. The odds seem stacked against her, but the last thing she wants is to sit at the kids’ table again. Or even worse, the singles’ table. While trudging through an assortment of certified losers, Sara fights her attraction towards Ian, the irresistible guy next door. 

Art teacher Ian McBride has a dream of opening his own gallery, but for now he’s focused on sculpting a gift for his grandparents’ fiftieth anniversary and enjoying a relaxing summer. However, Ian is blind-sided when crazy, beautiful Sara and her giant dog move in next door and rock his world. Too bad she wants nothing to do with him. 

How can Sara avoid the attraction that sizzles between them and stick to her rule of not dating neighbors? As far as Ian’s concerned, the prince Sara is looking for is right under her nose. And one kiss just might change everything. 

KISSING FROGS is a fun, fast-paced romantic comedy guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Let the fun begin!

Thoughts on the Book

I bought this one for my kindle.  I thought it looked like a cute fairy tale retelling based off of the cover.

My Review

This book was not a fairy tale retelling, it was a contemporary romance about two neighbors.

I do enjoy contemporary romances, so even though it had nothing to do with actually kissing frogs who were princes in disguise I thought I would still like it.  The end of the summary calls it "fast-paced" which is no understatement.  It went too quickly to even enjoy any of the tension.  You never really got to know either of the characters, then other characters randomly showed up for no purpose at all.  I've read my fair share of romance novellas that have been amazing, this one definitely fell short of that.  It might have been better if the characters were actually hashed out and instead of the author telling you things he let you see and experience those things.  

There was a lot of stuff that was like really?  For example Sara's first date with the guy who brought his mother along.  Or her dog eating a small box of artisan chocolates and getting sick.  I'm guessing the box of chocolates weren't 100% cocoa and there weren't a hundred of those pieces.  If that's the case, her St. Bernard would be fine.  Maybe if she had a Yorkie that ate a large box of dark chocolate that whole rushing to the vet thing would have made sense.  Do you research before you jump on topics like this for the 'thrill'.

Overall I give this a 3/10.  It was a waste of my time to read, but I was able to get through it, I guess the "fast pace" was good for something...

Fans of the Impossible Life

by Kate Scelsa

Summary from GoodReads

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting him.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, Fans of the Impossible Life is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

Thoughts on the Book

I got this book from BEA and it's been sitting in my TBR pile for a while.  It finally made it's way to the top and I was starting to see some great reviews for it so I picked it up to give it a read.

My Review

This book is about three teens, all with some sort of issue, Mira who suffers from depression, Sebby who lives in foster care, and Jeremy who can't quite figure out who is is.

I hated every second of this book.  The only character I could semi relate to was Mira, but even she was awful.  And the chapters?  Ugh.  How quaint, each character will be told from a different point of view.  It was horrible, especially Sebby's second person chapters. 

Let's begin with Mira.  She suffers from depression, he father gave up caring about her after she completely betrayed their trust.  She doesn't do a thing for herself no matter how many people try to support her.  She latched on the the one person who was the absolute worst for her, feeding into all of her bad habits all the while not caring one bit about her.

Then there's Jeremy.  I almost liked him, he's a shy kid growing up with two dads.  Kids at his elite school start making fun of him, to the point of he had to leave school, because if his dad is gay then he must be too.  The thing that annoyed me with him was he seemingly gave in to the pressure and was like, well, everyone things I'm gay, my dads are gay, therefore I also am gay.  Imagine if it were the opposite, a gay kid feeling like he has to be straight because his parents are and everyone around him thinks he is.  Neither scenario is okay, but Scelsa felt that if he struggling to figure out who he was, him being gay would be so much more edgy and topical.

And lastly Sebby.  By far the worst character.  He was a walking stereotype.  Flamboyantly gay, going after whatever guy he fancied.  He's a foster kid, so he steals and runs away from home, drops out of school, has zero respect for anyone and of course, turns to drugs because his life is just so horrible.  

There were so many stupid side stories that took away from the main three stories.  Way too many things going on in this book.  There was Rose and her girlfriend/ex girlfriend with all of their alluded to drama, there was their English teacher who they all got inappropriately close to which caused him to loose his job, there was the girl who helped Jeremy out the previous year that had her own drama to deal with which sort of played a part in the main story.  It was just a jumble of too many things going on and everything was left unresolved.

I think my main problem with this book was Sebby.  His chapters were too harsh and they just made me hate him.  The most unrelatable character was done in second person, all of his decisions started with 'you' so my reaction was hell no not me.  Even his very first chapter, getting a bj from some poor schmuck in the mall, and thinking that it's okay?  Turning to drugs and totally screwing over everyone who cares about him?  Hating his foster mother who really cares about him but he's too blinded by his 'woe is me' attitude.  At the end I was almost hoping for him to O.D. then the book would have at least been a cautionary tale. 

I give this book a 1.5/10.  It was a struggle to get through it and when I finally did get to the end my only reaction was 'thank god it's over'.  

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

Summary from GoodReads

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Thoughts on the Book

I read this book when it first came out when blogging was still just a vague idea in my head.  After reading Carry On I wasn't done with the world of Simon Snow, so I felt compelled to reread Fangirl, which fortunately my friend had gotten me for my birthday so I had a copy on hand.

My Review

The story is about a girl, Cath, who not only has to deal with leaving home and everything comfortable and known to start college, a world of unknowns, but also has to deal with the end of the Simon Snow series, which is practically her whole world.

I love this book.  I think it got better the second time I read it.  I love how messed up Cath and Wren are and how, even though they share the exact same DNA and were brought up in the exact same circumstances they deal with everything in drastically different ways.  Cath internalizes everything and locks it down and tries to avoid bringing anyone else into her life, Wren overcompensates with having fun and putting on a good front and blocking everything from actually meaning anything to her.

I love how much both Cath and Wren grew as characters.  When the book ended they were miles from where they started and were closer than ever.    For the other characters, I love Reagan.  She's probably my favorite character from the book, she's so  unforgivingly her own person, if you don't like her, that's your problem.  So much of Cath's growth is due to her, the best thing that could have happened to Cath was Reagan taking her under her wing, showing her that it's okay to be yourself.  Levi I didn't like too much, he's kind of a jerk.  Cath forgives him too easily, but after that he gets better, but I still wouldn't trust him.  But, given Levi and Nick, I'd go with Levi everytime.

My favorite part about the book (although it could be due to just reading Carry On) were the Simon Snow snippets, and the full short story that Cath read within the book.  I love the world of Simon Snow and I love that Rowell was stuck on it too and felt the need to write a story about them.  So great!

I give this one a 10/10.  I loved it when I first read it, and I love it even more years later for a reread.

The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet

by Katie Rorick and Rachel Kiley

Summary from GoodReads

Based on the Emmy Award­-winning “genius” (The Guardian) web series, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, this is a new novel starring Lizzie’s spunky sister Lydia as she navigates the joys and pitfalls of becoming an adult in the digital age.

Before her older sister, Lizzie, started her wildly popular vlog, Lydia was just a normal twenty-year-old plotting the many ways she could get away with skipping her community college classes and finding the perfect fake ID. She may not have had much direction, but she loved her family and had plenty of fun. Then Lizzie’s vlog turned the Bennet sisters into Internet sensations, and Lydia basked in the attention as people watched, debated, tweeted, tumblr’d, and blogged about her life. But not all attention is good…

After her ex-boyfriend, George Wickham took advantage of Lydia’s newfound web-fame, betrayed her trust, and destroyed her online reputation, she’s no longer a naïve, carefree girl. Now, Lydia must work to win back her family’s trust and respect and find her place in a far more judgmental world.

Told in Lydia’s distinctive, eccentric, and endearing voice, The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet picks up right where The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet left off and “offers a fresh take on Pride and Prejudice without ruining it” (The Washington Post, on The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet). Featuring fresh twists, wonderful new characters, and scores of hilarious texts, doodles, and tweets, The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet takes you behind the webcam and into the lives of your favorite sisters in a way that’s sure to satisfy existing fans and delight new ones.

Thoughts on the Book

I'm a huge fan of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, so getting this was a no-brainer.  Lydia was always my least favorite character (Wickham and Caroline notwithstanding) but I love the world and I will never say no to more from it.

My Review

This book follows Lydia's story after Lizzie moves to San Francisco.  It's all about Lydia figuring herself out and getting back to a new normal after the Wickham drama.

I absolutely loved this story.  It was everything I wished that The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet was.  Lydia's voice shines through and she's as funny as ever!  I loved being able to see deeper into Lydia, to see more than her superficial party girl persona.  She's extremely intelligent and intuitive and it was wonderful to watch her begin to see that in herself.

So many characters came back, mainly Mary, but Jane was in it a bit, as sweet as ever, and Bing!  I love Bing.  I love how he dealt with Lydia too, by bringing her to where he worked and letting her figure things out for herself and helping unobtrusively.  I also loved Lydia's New York friends, they were so great and really helped her come into her own.  I would so love to go to a party like she went to!  Pretty much any Disney themed party I would love to go to...

There were only two minor things I didn't like about the book.  It needed more Darcy.  We got lots of Lizzie, but Darcy was never with her, I really want to see them interact now that they're together!  The other thing was Mary's story.  It was so...predictable?  It's such a trope.

I give this a 10/10 because it was totes adorbs, duh!  But seriously, it was everything I could have wanted in a LBD story.

Crenshaw

by Katherine Applegate

Summary from GoodReads

In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.

Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?

Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.

Thoughts on the Book

Growing up I was a huge Animorphs fan.  When I heard Katherine Applegate was going to be at BEA I was so excited, I had to get a copy of this book.  Unfortunately she was signing at the same time as another author I wanted to see meet even more.  I was super lucky though and I was able to get in line (they had a finite amount of books, way too few for the amount of people who wanted them) and get a copy.

My Review

Crenshaw is about a boy, Jackson, from a poor family who was about to evicted, again.  Crenshaw is Jackson's imaginary friend who made his original appearance the first time Jackson's family was homeless and who returned when Jackson started suspecting they were going be homeless again.

I loved this book, it was really cute and moving.  The family really cares about each other and his parents try their hardest for their kids.  It's a lesson on sticking together as a family and trying your best no matter what life throws at you.  

Jackson was such a cute kid.  He loves science and wants a logical explanation for everything and he loves sharing his random bits of animal knowledge with people.  Crenshaw is as absurd as Jackson is logical.  He's funny and nonchalant all while being extremely insightful.

I also loved how ambiguous Applegate was with if Crenshaw was real or not.  Obviously, he's not real, he's an imaginary friend.  But then, Aretha, the family dog sensed he was there, and Jackson's best friend made a comment alluding to him.  And Crenshaw knew all about Jackson's father's imaginary friend.

Overall I give this a 9/10.  It was a cute, fun read.

Dumplin'

by Julie Murphy

Summary from GoodReads

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Thoughts on the Book

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book since my friend Nori posted it as her Waiting on Wednesday back in March.  I was lucky enough to snag a copy at BEA and meet Julie, who’s awesome and grew up a few towns over from me!

My Review

This story is about a heavier girl, Willowdean, and how she copes with not fitting into our society’s ideal of beauty.  Will has to deal with bullies, budding romances, self doubt, and latent jealousy of her best friend.  All in the midst of her town’s teen beauty pageant.

I LOVED this one.  It’s been a long long time since I stayed up way too late because I couldn’t put the book down.  It happened with this one.  Fortunately I have more self control than I used to, so I didn’t finish the book that night, I wouldn’t have made it into work the next day if I had.  That didn’t stop me from finishing the book while at work though…

Willowdean is such an amazing powerful main character.  She has so many doubts about herself, caused by what others say directly to her, or hint at.  Some classmates are cruel to her or avoid her, Will’s only friend is her best friend, Ellen.  Her mother though, forced diets on her until she was in middle school and her mother always fought with Will’s obese aunt about Will’s size.  She would also make comments that either intentional or not, implied that Will really needed to lose weight in order to be happy. Will’s main role model is her aunt, who died before the story begins.  Will has to deal with the loss of her idol as well as realizations about her aunt that she never thought of before.

Bo is another amazing character.  After he got injured (which happened before the story) he went through some major self-realization, Will met him near the end of this, and helped him become the awesome person he is.  Bo is pretty much what every guy should be, completely uncaring of what others thing and just following his heart.  He is totally my new fictional boyfriend!

Ellen I didn’t think was too great, Will was definitely the bigger person (no pun intended) who repaired their friendship and let a lot of things Ellen did slide.  Ellen really didn’t care about Will’s feelings with certain matters, like her new horrible friend, Callie.  Ellen didn’t even care about what her boyfriend thought of Callie.

I thought that there would be a much larger focus on the pageant and I’m really happy there wasn’t.  Will didn’t care about it, so she didn’t stress about it.  I loved that we did get to see parts of it though, and I love that Will ended up being a fantastic role model for others and that while Will was coming to terms with herself so were her new-found friends.  I love how Will’s finding herself and being comfortable with herself really relied on others and in turn she helped them come into their own as well.  It was so much more realistic than other coming of age stories I’ve read where the main character only needs themselves.  I know I wouldn’t be who I am without influence from my friends, acquaintances, and even the bullies. 

I give this book an 11/10.  It was so good and engaging not to mention a fantastic character driven coming of age story.  I can’t wait to see what Julie Murphy comes out with next!

Waiting on Wednesday [20]

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating

This week I am waiting on Romancing the Dark in the City of Light by Ann Jacobus (October 6, 2015)

Summary from GoodReads

A troubled teen, living in Paris, is torn between two boys, one of whom encourages her to embrace life, while the other—dark, dangerous, and attractive—urges her to embrace her fatal flaws.

Haunting and beautifully written, with a sharp and distinctive voice that could belong only to this character, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unforgettable young adult novel.

Summer Barnes just moved to Paris to repeat her senior year of high school. After being kicked out of four boarding schools, she has to get on track or she risks losing her hefty inheritance. Summer is convinced that meeting the right guy will solve everything. She meets two. Moony, a classmate, is recovering against all odds from a serious car accident, and he encourages Summer to embrace life despite how hard it can be to make it through even one day. But when Summer meets Kurt, a hot, mysterious older man who she just can't shake, he leads her through the creepy underbelly of the city-and way out of her depth.

When Summer's behavior manages to alienate everyone, even Moony, she's forced to decide if a life so difficult is worth living. With an ending that'll surprise even the most seasoned reader, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unputdownable and utterly compelling novel.

Why I'm Waiting

I love Paris, if there's a book set in Paris I want to read it, then if it's a YA book and deals with romance, I will read it.  This sounds almost Anna and the French Kiss like, but way darker.  I can't wait to read it!

Awake

by Natasha Preston

Summary from GoodReads

Scarlett doesn’t remember anything before the age of five. Her parents say it’s from the trauma of seeing her house burn down, and she accepts the life they’ve created for her without question—until a car accident causes Scarlett to start remembering pieces of an unfamiliar past.

When a new guy moves into town, Scarlett feels an instant spark. But Noah knows the truth of Scarlett’s past, and he’s determined to shield her from it...because Scarlett grew up in a cult called Eternal Light, controlled by her biological parents.

And they want her back.

Thoughts on the Book

I got this book at BEA, there was a huge cool stack of them done in this pretty circle.  The cover is gorgeous, and it came in this dust jacket type thing that added to the mystery of it.  I'd been itching to pick it up and give it a read, so I happily grabbed it when it made it's slow way to the top of my BEA pile.

My Review

This book is about Scarlett, who doesn't remember anything before the age of four.  Everyone things this is completely bizarre, especially the new guy, Noah.  Right when Noah shows up Scarlett falls for him, and the feeling is mutual.  Everything changes when Scarlett is in a car accident and she begins to remember things from her early childhood.

When I began to read this I was like "Oh, okay, we're going with the main character falling for the new mysterious boy meme, it's not horribly overdone yet, so sure".  That part actually wasn't too bad, it wasn't insta-attraction/obsession a la Twilight, it felt a bit more natural, they were friends first then began dating.  But where shall I begin?  Let's stick with characters first.

Scarlett was an okay protagonist, she wasn't a great heroine and she did make stupid mistakes.  But she is a sixteen (or almost sixteen, I couldn't figure that out, it kept switching back and forth) year old girl, they're bound to make a dumb mistake or two.  Especially involving a guy.  Trust me, I once was one, I know this from experience.  At the end of the book when she really needed to stand up for herself she was so weak, she spent most of the time crying.  I get that what she was going through was hard, and she did make the wise choice of pretending she would go along with stuff, but she really spent too much time crying.  It got annoying.  Fast. 

Noah was another solidly okay character.  He's supposed to be this big mystery, who is he, what does he want with Scarlett? But he's just boring - a good guy who likes Scarlett.  Who everyone forgives way too easily.  The other characters are stupid.  Imogen?  Completely pointless, the other "best friends" that I completely forget the names of because they were so insignificant - pointless.  The members of Eternal Light, so stupid, if they're important enough to be mentioned they should at least have some sort of personality.

The parents were weird.  The first time Scarlett goes over to Noah's her parents insist on following to meet him, they then talk to his parents.  This right there should have negated the entire story, but NOPE!  After that point her parents completely love Noah.  They spoke to him for like 5 minutes before he and Scarlett left for the movies.  Noah's parents were also weird, or at least his dad was.  How was the end even a thing?  No father would do that, especially a father who has spent the last 18 years raising his son.  Oops was that a spoiler?  Oh the horror!  Noah being 18 was such a big reveal at the end, despite the totally awkward "foreshadowing" (if you could even call it that) right at the beginning. 

Now for the stupidest part of the whole book.  Lately, completely unrelated to this book, my friends have been talking about how little they remember before the age of 5 or 6.  I remember quite a bit from my preschool years, as does one other friend, the rest don't remember much of anything.  So why, WHY is it such a big deal that Scarlett can't remember anything earlier than her 4th birthday?  Most people can't!  She, her parents, Noah, everyone makes such a big deal about how weird it is that she can't remember anything.  She even goes to a shrink to try to remember!  SO STUPID.  Maybe it would be weird if it were like anything before the age of 10, because that's a solid 4 years that most people do remember parts of.

Overall I give this book a 3/10.  I nearly stopped reading it, but I hate leaving things unread, and I feel like I can't properly hate on a book without finishing it.  And as I've said before, I'm a masochist when it comes to bad books, I have to finish them!

Goodbye Stranger

by Rebecca Stead

Summary from GoodReads

Bridge is an accident survivor who's wondering why she's still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody's games--or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? 
This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl--as a friend? 
On Valentine's Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

Thoughts on the Book

Another BEA book.  When I opened it up I was surprised to see I had gotten this one signed, I completely don't remember doing that.  I also didn't realize that it is considered a children's book since it takes place in middle school.  I guess I should really pay more attention to the books I pick up...

My Review

This book is about a girl, Bridgette - aka Bridge -, who got hit by a car and should have died, it was through the efforts of the surgeons that she survived.  Goodbye Stranger takes place a few years later once Bridge is completely healed and fully reunited with her best friend Tabitha and new since the accident best friend Emily.  The book deals with the struggles of growing up and basic middle school awfulness.  

Reading this book made me miss my friends from middle school (and high school), the three of us were inseparable, and we can still be found together around town occasionally, although those sightings are become more and more rare the more life gets in the way.  (And, side note, it's super appropriate that this is the review being posted today because it's one of those two best friends' birthday today - Happy Birthday Jessi!)  So I related to Bridge, Tabitha, and Emily greatly.  Even the Sherm side of things I could relate to, although I wish my past matched their future.

I mostly loved this book.  I loved the story-line of what Emily was going through, how the three friends did their best to stick together through it all.  I also loved how welcoming Emily and Tabitha were of bringing Sherm into the group, they didn't force Bridge to choose new friends over old and Bridge never shunned her old friends to hang out with Sherm.  Even Emily did her best to not do that, despite not being around much because of soccer practice.

There were only three things I didn't like, two bugged me a little, and the third I would have hated the book if it went on for more than it did.  First, Sherm's grandfather.  I don't get it, what was the point?  It was such a random thing to have happened and it really didn't add anything to the story.  All it did was allow for Sherm to write letters to him. Second, all the nicknames, no one was called by their full name, it was all Bridge instead of Bridgette, Sherm instead of Sherman, Tab instead of Tabitha, and Em instead of Emily.  For all these characters I actually prefer their full name to their nickname. The third thing was the random chapters in second person.  Who writes in second person? Seriously, it's awful.  It added absolutely nothing to the main story.  It was an unnecessary "mystery" that the resolution of was stupid.  Moral of the story - we all have friends!  

Thankfully those chapters were very short and it was just a minor annoyance.  Bridge's story was so good that it made those chapters fade into the background.

Overall I give this book a 9.5/10.  It would have been a solid 10 if not for those second person chapters.  Seriously though, who writes in second person if you're not writing a choose your own adventure book?

Tonight the Streets Are Ours

by Leila Sales

Summary from GoodReads

From the author of This Song Will Save Your Life comes a funny and relatable book about the hazards of falling for a person you haven't met yet.

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom.

Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either.

Thoughts on the Book

This is another BEA book I got this spring.  After I picked it up I sat in the Richelle Mead line and the girl in front of me was gushing about Leila Sales and how amazing This Song Will Save Your Life is.  This was one of many people who commented on Sales with the same sentiment.  I'd never read it, so I went into this book hearing nothing but awesome things about that book and the author, so I finally got around to picking up this one to read.

My Review

This book is about two best friends, Arden and Lindsay.  They are inseparable and completely opposite each other.  Lindsay keeps getting into trouble by making stupid mistakes while Arden is forever bailing her out and helping her.  Arden is also in a relationship with the star of the high school theater department.  One day Arden finds a blog online and her and Lindsay go on an adventure that changes Arden's life.

I LOVED this book.  I think one of the reasons why was because I happened to read the right book at the right time in my life.  It was the perfect escape for me, a nice bit of light, fun, reading after too many epic, in depth books.

Aside from timing of me reading it, the characters were great too.  Arden was such a realistic character.  I could completely relate with her, I've been her, minus the impromptu trip to NYC to stalk someone she "met" on the internet.  I wasn't really a fan of Lindsay, and I actually loved their fight, it was exactly what needed to happen to them.  I enjoyed Peter too, he was interesting, and way more complex than I originally thought he would be.

All the non-New York secondary characters were really flat, Lindsay's parents were fit nicely into one stereotype, Arden's dad fit into another, and her brother filled the annoying younger brother stereotype perfectly.  Chris was the perfect self-centered asshole of a boyfriend, the girls at school were your typical mean girls.

Once Arden and Lindsay got to New York things got a little bit more interesting character-wise.  The reader met everyone through Peter's blog, but then got to meet them in real life.  It was really fun to have your preconceived opinions about them completely thrown out the window.

As for the plot, it was a cool premise, but not so realistic.  Who drives six hours from middle of nowhere suburbia to one of the country's most major cities when they've been there once before (when they were 8) to find the author of a blog - on a whim.   Then there was the subplot with Arden's mom, it felt off and unnecessary.  Essentially it felt like a plot device for New York.  

Despite everything I didn't like about the book it came together beautifully and it was really just a story about Arden growing up and coming into her own.  The good things from the book completely overshadowed the bad.  To the point of if I wasn't thinking about it to write the review I simply would have said I loved the book.  It wasn't until I had to figure out why I loved it that I kept thinking of all the stupid/bad bits. And I still can't come up with a solid reason why I loved it.  I just did.  It must be some Lelia Sales writing magic.

Overall I give this a 9/10.  It was great, en lieu of what I complained about above - trust me.

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss

by Max Wirestone

Summary from Good Reads

For fans of The Guild, New Girl, Scott Pilgrim, Big Bang Theory, Veronica Mars, or anyone who has ever geeked out about something.


The odds of Dahlia successfully navigating adulthood are 3,720 to 1. But never tell her the odds.

Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision-making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change.

Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully under-qualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?).

Turns out unfortunate decisions abound, and she's just the girl to deal with them

Thoughts on the Book

I received this book from Netgalley.  Based off of the first line of the summary I knew I would love it.  Veronica Mars is my favorite TV series (I totally kick-started the movie) I love Big Bang Theory and New Girl, and I'm pretty much Ramona from Scott Pilgrim (trust me, cabinet full of tea varieties, I have it).  After reading that first line I knew two things for sure - I needed to read this book, and I really should watch The Guild.

My Review

This book is about a perpetually unemployed girl, Dahlia, who gets hired to find a digital weapon and gets sucked into solving a murder.

I loved this book!  It was so much fun!  Dahlia is a little crazy/neurotic and her roommate, Charice is totally bonkers.  It worked with the story though.  Everything was a bit on the crazy side, so when Charice allowed for a production of Godspell to happn in their apartment so Dahlia had to leave to go hang out with a murder suspect she thought was cute it just fit perfectly within the story.

Probably my favorite thing was all of the geeky references dropped throughout the book.  Most I got, but there were a couple that went over my head.  Two of my favorite geeky lines were:

"I put on my sexiest clothes, then, worrying that I had overshot the mark, opted for my Jigglypuff cap. It was cold, and Jiggly helped send the message I wanted to send, which was apparently that I would like Nathan to fall asleep so that I could write on his face. (This is a hardcore Pokémon reference and if you do not get it, I apologize. If you do get it, I apologize even more deeply.)"

and

“Ever read one of those old private-eye mysteries where the detective gets double-crossed?”
“I suppose.” said Nathan. “I’m really more of a sci-fi guy.”
“But you knew all of those noir words!”
“Google,” said Nathan.
“Well, it’s a thing. Sam Spade is in his office, or wherever, and some dame with great legs comes in and asks him to find her sister.”
“Did Jonah have nice legs?” interrupted Nathan.
“He had nice pants, but let me finish. The dick takes the case, and when he finds the sister, he discovers she’s dead, gets framed, and besides which it wasn’t the dame’s sister anyway.”
“And the great legs were prosthetic,” added Nathan.
“Exactly,” I told him.
“There never was a dame, she was a hologram.”
“Yes, you’re moving into sci-fi.”
“The sister was a Cylon.”
“Now you’re just being derivative.”

One character, Kurt, was described as a snorlax, how awesome is that?  Then there was the bit with viola jokes (I play violin, my best friend plays viola, so I've always enjoyed sharing the more awful viola jokes with her).  

The flirting between Nathan and Dahlia was great too, I especially loved her iPod password at the end and Nathan's reaction to it.  If I continue listing all the funniest parts of the book, I'll end up just posting the entire book, out of order, so I'm going to stop now and say - go read this book! It's so awesome and if you have a geeky bone in your body, you'll love it!

I give this a 10/10.  Such a fun read.  I really look forward to seeing what Max Wirestone comes out with next!  

So Yesterday

by Scott Westerfeld
narrated by Scott Brick

Summary from GoodReads

Ever wonder who was the first kid to keep a wallet on a big chunky chain, or wear way-too-big pants on purpose? What about the mythical first guy who wore his baseball cap backwards? These are the Innovators, the people on the very cusp of cool. Seventeen-year-old Hunter Braque's job is finding them for the retail market.But when a big-money client disappears, Hunter must use all his cool-hunting talents to find her. Along the way he's drawn into a web of brand-name intrigue-a missing cargo of the coolest shoes he's ever seen, ads for products that don't exist, and a shadowy group dedicated to the downfall of consumerism as we know it. 

Thoughts on the Book

I'm a big Scott Westerfeld fan, and this has been on my TBR list for a long time now.  I was super excited to find it at my library in audio book form.  It was perfect for my road trip!

My Review

This book is about a 'cool hunter', Hunter, who works mainly with shoes.  He meets a girl, Jen, who has awesome shoe laces and convinces her to join him in a commercial screening for 'the client'.  The next day the go to meet Hunter's boss who goes missing, which leads them to find the shoes which sets us up for the rest of the book.

I was a bit let down by this book.  I was expecting some awesome Westerfeld story, but instead I got a book about the perfect pair of shoes that are reminiscent of the original Michael Jordan line of Nike's.  Sorry, totally brand dropped there.  At first I was amused by the 'no brand names' stance, but it quickly got annoying, it pulled focus from the story.  Instead of just naming things Hunter would explain the brand instead of naming it, like his phone "from a certain company in Finland", or the aforementioned brand "A certain basketball player (whose name basically became a brand)".  I get the stance on not name dropping, but couldn't he just have said "I was sent a phone to try out" or describe the shoes as from the 80s?  By talking around the name the reader is paying more attention to the brand than they would be if he had said 'a pair of  Air-Jordan's'.  

The story also was exclusively about finding the Nike knock-offs and his relationship with Jen.  Which from beginning to end was only 3 days.  You'd think it was more than that with all the emotional ups and downs of it.

There were parts of the story that had nothing to do with the main plot line, like the purple dye bit?  Totally unnecessary, and really really pointless.  It didn't progress the plot at all and it seemed at odds with what the Jammers were trying to accomplish.  Oh and there was the bit with the reason for all of this is because some girl was pissed that people were switching to in-line skates?  Seriously?  She also pretty much exclusively work the old style 2x2 skates.  How stupid is that?

As for the narrator, Scott Brick was good.  He was nothing special though, but I didn't hate listening to him, it wasn't boring.  But I also did say "wow, now that's an awesome narrator"

I give this book a 7/10.  It held my interest throughout, mostly waiting for something interesting to happen.  It was a big let down though. 

Book Rating: 7/10
Narration Rating: 7/10