Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

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Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumours about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around.  Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumours are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realises Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

First off, I want to start by saying that this book was not what I expected, and that is not a bad thing, at all! I just didn't expect it to be so deep. Which it is. This book it truly amazing. It's heartbreaking. But it truly is an amazing piece of writing. The story is of a girl that falls from popularity and becomes the victim, and even though this girl has been a complete bitch to so many people, you start to feel for her, you start liking her, even though you should hate her. 

The fact that Courtney Summers has been able to write a likable bitch is amazing, the character is such a developed character, she has more to her than what you first think, and that is an amazing thing, when a book has great characters, like this one. All the characters are amazing, they are so different, so complex, but at the same time, you can relate to each of them in some way, well except the Fearsome Foursome, they are terrible people. But all I want to say is that this book is really worth the read, or a listen, in my case I listened to it, but I think I might buy this book too, because I loved it so much. 

So, what I want you to do now is go read this book, and be blown away by how great it is!

Rating; ♥♥♥♥♥

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Release date: 2, January, 2012
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 215
Format: Hardback
Challenge: 70 Book Challenge


Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.
Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

First Line: "There are so many ways it could have all turned out differently."

This book was sweet. At times it was so sweet it could make your teeth hurt. But it was sweet in a good way, not in that so-sweet-I-want-to-puke way. It was nice. The story takes place in only 24 hours, but really, that is enough time, at least for this book. It tells the story of Hadley, and I loved the way Jennifer had incorporated the stories from Hadley's past, that way we got to know her. 

The storyline was great, it was inventive and it was random, which I really liked, I loved that this book wasn't just about love it was also about family and the complications that come with divorce.

On to the characters, they were amazing, both Hadley and Oliver are such loveable characters, they are relatable, which is really nice, and they are such a funny pair, they play off each other very well when they are together and their relationship evolves in a nice way. It's not instalove, like in a lot of chicklit, which I think is great (..eventhough I like reading some of that sometimes too). 

I really enjoyed this book quite a lot, it was a wonderful story. That is why I am giving it four loving hearts;

♥♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading,

Helene

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Release date: 2, December, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Books (imprint of the Penguin Group)
Age group: Young Adult
Pages: 372
Format: Softcover
Challenge: 70 Book Challenge

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

First line: "Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amèlie and Moulin Rouge."

When I first bought this book is was because of all the good things I had heard about it, but to be truthful, I was a little hesitant to buy it, and I considered not doing so because to me it just didn't seem that appealing, by the first glance. But as it is, this book turned out to be everything that everyone had said about it. I really understand why there was so much hype around this book, because it is a really great story. 

It's a classic example of  "Don't judge a book by it's cover." This book might look cheesy and like one of those tales where two people meet and everything is perfect and then they get married and live happily ever after. But it's not, the story is cute, but it's also written in a way that makes is realistic, which I loved. Stephanie Perkins has done a remarkable job writing this, because I felt like Anna could have been me, you know?

The writing was great. The story was great. Everything about this book was simply great. It is definitely a book worth checking out if you haven't already, and I for one am going to read Stephanie's other book "Lola and the Boy Next Door"

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

This book gets five hearts because it is deserves it. 

Until next time - Happy Reading,

Helene

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Release Date: 31, Januar, 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (imprint of HarperCollins)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 374

Series: Newsoul #1
Format: Hardback
Challenge: 70 Book Challenge, Debut Author Challenge

New soul: Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul: Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart: Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

First sentence: "I wasn't reborn."

Review: 

When I first heard about the book the concept of reincarnation really facinated me, and when I got it in the mail after ordering it, I immidiatly started reading it. It's one of those book that I just had to read right now. And truthfully, I loved it. The story was so nice, I loved the characters, the plot, the writing, everything.

The best part about the whole novel was the romance between Ana and Sam, it developed so nicely and it was just so cute, I loved it. Sam is just amazing, I love him! (for some reason I just love any male character named Sam, if I ever write a book, there will deffinitly be a Sam..) 

Anyway, Ana is also a great character and I loved her development throughout the book, it was so nicely done, and very realistic I think. She was just such an amazing heroin, I really enjoyed her character.

The plot was also great, I liked the story a lot, and looking back at it after reading it, the parts I didn't enjoy as much when reading it is the parts I appriciate the most now, because they provided a lot of insight into the different characters. 

The whole book is very well written, I enjoyed Jodi's writing style a lot, her language is very nice and I also loved the dialog in the book. I am very impressed by this novel, and for it being her first book, I thought it was very good.

I really liked it:

♥♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading ♥,

Helene

Starters by Lissa Price

Release Date: March 13, 2012
Publisher:  Delacorte Press (imprint of Random House)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley

Synapsis

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. 

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. 

First Sentence: "Enders gave me the creeps."

Review

I loved this book. The world building, the plot and the characters were all fantastic. I can understand why it is said that Lissa Price is a best selling author in the making, and after reading this book, I am sure you'll see why too. This book was just amazing.


First off the world building, it's great. There is no other way to describe it. It is inventive and set up in s very nice way. It is done in a way that keeps the story interesting, you are always discovering something new about this dystopian universe Lissa Price has created.


Second, the plot: oh, where do I start? It is AMAZING! The twists, the mystery, the romance, the constant suspense, it's all there throughout the whole book. The story is great, the twists in the plot are so good, they always keep you at the edge of your seat. 


Third, the characters: They are all wonderfully written characters, they are believable and you grow to enjoy them more and more. The main character Callie is a very strong female character which I really enjoyed. She is motherly and protective when it comes to the people around her. It is very clear that she had to grown up very fast after her parents died and has therefore become very responsible. She is a wonderful character, she has all the qualities of a great heroin.


Fourth, the writing: I really enjoyed Lissa's writing style, it's fast paced and very well written. The dialog is amazing and it is perfectly divided between action, thought and dialog, which I loved. 


Overall this book was amazing, I loved every single page and I could not put is down for the life of me. It is definitely a book worth reading if you like mystery and dystopian novels. Or if you just like reading in general. I have a feeling that this will be a book everyone will be raving about in the near future. Because for me at least it's up on the list next to The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. It is definitely a favorite.

I loved it/it was amazing: 

♥♥♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading ♥,

Helene

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Release Date: 22, Oktober, 1999
Publisher: Square Fish (imprint of Macmillan)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 198
Format: Paperback
Challenge: 70 Book Challenge


Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

First sentence: "It is my first morning of High School."

Review

Every time I finish one of Lauries books I am left with amazement. Because she gets to me. This book was no diferent. I thought the book was very good, it's written and told in a way that makes it very realistic. I feel that it is written more like a streem of conciouns than anything else. The writing is great and it fits the character of Melinda. 

The subject that is braught up in the book is very serious and that is part of the reason why I thought it was so good. I like reading books like this because they're very different from the genres I usually read, I feel that I learn something, and through this book I did. It is a very sad book, and at points I felt almost sick because of how horrible Melinda had it. 

The characters in the book were well written, though the only character we really got to know was Melinda. The plot was good, and very important. I think books like this one are important. They shed light on things you don't think about everyday, but things that are happening to people out there, serious things. 

This book is definitly worth reading, it is a powerful book and I can see why it has been nominated for so many awards.

I really liked it:

♥♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading ♥,

Helene

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Release Date: 1, August, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 390
Format: Paperback
Challenge: 70 Book Challenge


For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. 
Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Opening sentence: "I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves."

Review

This book was amazing. Simple as that. First off, the plot: it was very well structured, lead nicely from one point to the other. The twists and turns were perfect, keeping the story interesting and making you crave more. The storyline was so wonderful, I loved it!

The characters: they were so believeable, they were strong and well developed. I liked all the different characters, they were so diferent from eachother and that was nice, seeing how they complimented eachother in that way. The main characters, Grace and Sam were perfect, I loved each of them for diferent reasons, they completed each other in such a way that made them both very believeable. All the characters were believeable, when writing this novel the author managed to fit in all the typical high school characters, the jock, the mean girl, the quite shy guy and girl, the sort of uptight girl, it was great!

I loved the romance of this novel, the conflict, everything! It was amazing, I could not put it down it was just a really great read. Fast-paced and beautifully written, the writing was amazing I loved how it was simple, yet beautiful. The story had drive, I loved it, I can't tell you how much, I can't wait to check out the rest of the series. This book is certainly worth reading if you like werewolves, love and some amazing characters.

I loved it/it was amazing: 

♥♥♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading ♥,

Helene

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes

Release Date: November 23, 2011
Publisher: Coleman & Stott
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 312
Format: Ebook
Challenge: 70 book challenge

16-year-old Grace has lived in the Smokies all her life, patrolling with her forest ranger father who taught her about wildlife, tracking, and wilderness survival.   

When her dad goes missing on a routine patrol, Grace refuses to believe he’s dead and fights the town authorities, tribal officials, and nature to find him. 

One day, while out tracking clues, Grace is rescued from danger by Mo, a hot guy with an intoxicating accent and a secret. As her feelings between him and her ex-boyfriend get muddled, Grace travels deep into the wilderness to escape and find her father.  

Along the way, Grace learns terrible secrets that sever relationships and lives. Soon she’s enmeshed in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. And it’s going to take a lot more than a compass and a motorcycle (named Lucifer) for this kick-butting heroine to save everything she loves.

Review 
Ok, where do I start.. This book took me forever to read, over a month, witch is something that never happens to me. I've been really busy so I have not had time to read anything other than school related things, but I usually still manage to read something, but with this book, that just didn't happen unfortunately.
The story has a very nice premise when you read the synopsis, it sound great, and I was really looking forward to reading it. Which might be some of the reason why I was disappointed by it. I felt that it just dragged on, and that the main character - Grace, only did one thing, tracing. I just got tired off all the constant tracing, I couldn't help it, I just felt that it was described in such detail that the story lost it's drive.

On the other hand the story had some aspects to it that I really enjoyed, I enjoyed the romance that came into the picture between Grace and a certain other character, it was sweet.
I did enjoy the mystery of the book, it was good, whenever you thought you knew what was going on there were twists that led you somewhere you'd never expected. Another plus where the characters, in particular Grace, she was strong and I love a strong heroin.
The book is a thriller, and that might be part of why I didn't love it, because it's not what I usually read, but at the same time, I have read some thrillers that I've loved, and this just wasn't that, unfortunatly. I know others have absoluty love this book, and that's good for them, but my opinion is that is wasn't for me and that's just how it is.

Overall the book was ok, not great, it had some aspects to it that I really enjoyed and I think it's still worth checking out, I would recommend borrowing it at a library or from a friend. The reason why I rated the book like I did was because I didn't really enjoy the beinning of it, that's my personal opinion and others might think diferently which I totally understand.

I liked it:

♥♥♥

Until next time - happy reading ♥,

Helene

Classic Pick of January: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Release Date: First published in 1890
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 219
Format: Ebook
Challenge: 70 book challenge


Synapsis

Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works. Written in Wilde's characteristically dazzling manner, full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations, the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused something of a scandal when it first appeared in 1890. Wilde was attacked for his decadence and corrupting influence, and a few years later the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde's homosexual liaisons, trials that resulted in his imprisonment. Of the book's value as autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be--in other ages, perhaps."


Review

I don't really know what I expected when picking up this book, I was hoping it would be good, but other then that my expectations were not too high. I had to read it for English, we had to write a big paper on a book of our choice, correction, of a classic of our choice. I choose this because it seemed interesting and it was pretty short.


But it still took a while to read it, and I think the reason why is because of the language, it is written very differently from a modern-day literature, therefore it took a while ok, that's a lie, it took forever for me to get into it, but when I did I enjoyed it. The story was interesting and unique. There were a lot of descriptions, which I thought at times to be irrelevant, but also useful at times, as metaphors for what was happening in the particular scene. The language and writing was great, it flowed really well, and made the book better. Some of the quotes in the book were just beautiful, they were insightful and interesting. There are so many different aspects of this book. The way Wilde tells the story and dances around all these different subjects in such a wonderful manner is great, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it, it made the book come alive of sorts. This is just my personal opinion, and I could see why people might not like it, but I did.

I enjoyed the book, and it was much better than I had hoped it would be, which is a big plus. But because it took me so long to get through it, a little because of how much I have had to do lately and a little because it was for school, which always seems to make me less motivated, I have decided to give this book:

I liked it!

♥♥♥

Until next time - Happy Reading!
PS. Remember to check out my giveaway in the post below!