"Lessons From a Dead Girl" by Jo Knowles

I squeeze my hand shut and hold our secret in it. Any time I start to wonder why on earth Leah Greene wants to be my best friend, I tell myself not to think about it.

Leah Greene is dead.
Laine doesn't know what to think, or how to feel. Should she be sad, for losing her F.F., friend forever? Should she feel relieved, because she wished Leah would die? Should she feel freed, from her past, from the doll closet, from Leah herself?

Laine hated Leah. Hated her for everything she made Laine do, for all the times in the doll closet. She didn't understand Leah, didn't understand why she did the things she did or said the things she said. And yet, Laine wonders how different the two really are, and who Leah really were.

As Laine tries to understand Leah and the tragedy of her death, she tries to also understand the lessons that Leah taught her, find their meaning, and find out if she can forgive the unforgivable.

"It will come off," I say, scrubbing harder. But even when my hand is almost raw, I still see some of the red marker.
I go back to my room and hug George again.
"We won't be friends forever," I whisper into his fur. "We won't."
But he keeps smiling, like he knows better.

First of all, I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of fifteen. A lot of the themes are quite mature, and I don't think that I could handle this if I were any younger than I am now.

Moving on, however, I have to say that this was a very interesting book. It had different story themes than I've ever read before, and I really liked the complicated relationship between Leah and Laine. I actually thought that all of the relationships in this book were interesting, complicated, and well developed, except for possibly the ones with Web and Jess (which were well developed, but not as interesting.)
I liked how all the characters had their own motives and personalities, and how all of them acted like real human beings.

I have to say that the writing style was also quite amazing, and it really absorbed me. I liked how it was written in sort of a hopeless way, and at the end you're sort of handed a bittersweet and hopeful ending.  It's also nice because you don't have to wait too long to get to the ending- I read this book in probably about 45 minutes.

Overall, it was an excellent book for older readers.

"I'm not afraid of you," I lie. "I just think I should get back."
And I don't want to play your games.
"I think you're afraid."
"Why do you always do this?" I ask.  I don't know why I bother. I should just step off the gazebo and disappear.
"Do what?" she asks innocently.
"Act this way. Like you're playing some game. Like you're out to get me." I pause as the familiar fear courses through me. My heart pounds so hard in my chest it hurts. But instead of running away, I take a deep breath. "Why do you hate me so much, Leah?"
"Me?"

"Crossed" (Matched, #2) by Ally Condie

*Note: I want to apologize for not personally being as active in book blogging as I usually try to be. (If anyone even noticed!) I know for a while there, I was posting reviews and such every day/2 days/even 3 days. I would like to get back to that but I'm also very busy at the moment (if it tells you anything, after I finish typing this, I'm going to go do a mountain of french homework). Additionally, I seem to have like a reviewing writer's block. But regardless, I hope to try to get back to 'business-as-usual'. Anyway, basically, just thank you people for visiting the blog and all that business even though it isn't quite as busy as usual, haha!*
("Crossed" is the sequel to "Matched". If you haven't read "Matched" you may want to check out that review instead so as to avoid any spoilers in this one! You are warned.)

"Crossed" was a good book. The writing, one of my favorite elements of "Matched" with its poetry and flow were impeccable, again. The poems at the beginning were good, too-- the actual poetry. They enriched the story. Problematically though-- it wasn't awesome. It was good. I was a little bit disappointed that I wasn't totally blown away after being so excited for it. While I didn't expect an incredibly adventurous book filled with violence and suspense or anything like that, I was expecting a little bit more adventure-- the ending of the first set up for some grand endeavor to the end of the Society, and I expected that to a be a little bit more exciting that it was. There was a journey, a long one, a hard one, throughout the Society and outside it. However, sometimes it seemed to drag.

Also, I really liked Cassia, the heroine, in the first book. But in "Crossed" I didn't like her nearly as much, because I felt she was so absorbed in thoughts of Xander and/or Ky rather than what was going on and the bigger picture or even her family. It was like in parts of "Catching Fire" or "Mockingjay" when I started to get (super) annoyed with Katniss for being caught up between Gale and Peeta rather than, you know, EVERYTHING ELSE. *slight exaggeration.* I did still like Xander and Ky, and am less convinced about being 'team Xander' like before. It's harder now. Ha! 

The bottom line: "Crossed" was good book and I liked it, just not as much as I expected.

"The Falcon" by Jackie French Koller

"Sure." I heard Jim's pen scribbling again. "Our time's about up anyway. Just one more question, though. Do you have any idea why so many unusual things happen to you?"
"Yeah," I snarled. "God hates me."

Luke Carver is a 17 year old who can't seem to help getting in trouble. Every time he goes anywhere, he seems to get in trouble. He messes up so many times that it sure seems like God hates him. After all, how else would he get into such wacky, horrible situations?

Luke has secrets, though. There are things he hasn't told anyone. He hasn't even told his journal the full truth. After all, if it isn't his fault, why does he have to tell anyone?

"Yes," I said quietly. "I'm fine." Then I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. I was tired, too. So, so tired...
Just like I am now.

This was one of the shortest books I think I've read. It was, strangely, also one of the most interesting. It was one of those books where you think that it's not going to be that gripping, but then you find yourself wondering, throughout the day, what's going to happen next.

I really liked the way that the author pulled out the mystery of what happened to Luke before the book started. It was really interesting, even though it wasn't as "dark" as they made it out to seem. It was interesting, though.

I would actually recommend this book to anyone who really liked The Catcher in the Rye, mostly because the writing style seemed quite similar to me, and it's about the same sort of aged guy.

All in all- pretty good of a book.

"This Dark Endeavor (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein)" by Kenneth Oppell

"Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures...until the day their adventures turn all too real.
They stumble upon The Dark Library, and secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies are discovered. Father forbids that they ever enter the room again, but this only piques Victor's curiosity more. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is not satisfied with the various doctors his parents have called in to help. He is drawn back to The Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life. With their friend Elizabeth, Henry and Victor immediately set out to find assistance from a man who was once known for his alchemical works to help create the formula.
Determination and the unthinkable outcome of losing his brother spur Victor on in the quest for the three ingredients that will save Konrad's life. After scaling the highest trees in the Strumwald, diving into the deepest lake caves, and sacrificing one’s own body part, the three fearless friends risk their lives to save another."-goodreads

Okay, if any of you ever saw my review of "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, you know that I liked it, but also was maybe a little bit underwhelmed after my expectations from the Hollywood portrayal of the Frankenstein monster (yes I realize this is absolutely *blasphemous*). I'm actually re-reading it right now, and appreciating it a lot more. (Give me a break, it was one of the first Gothic 19th century novels I'd read, and it was a lot to take in!). 

I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this book but I loved it! It was so good. The portrayal of young Victor Frankenstein to show the childhood that isn't talked about in Frankenstein was epic. It showed us some of the events that could've lead to the famous Dr. Frankenstein and his *slightly* twisted ways. From reading Frankenstein, I could totally believe that this is what his adolescence would've been like; the culmination of 'teenage-angst', bitterness, and tragedy to warp his future. Victor's character was well developed and the voice of the novel was great. The tension between Victor and Elizabeth (and the different kind between Victor and Konrad) was remarkable.  It did move a bit slow for me at times but so did "Frankenstein", and many other books that I end up liking. The mystery and misadventures were daring and cool to read of, and it was interesting to draw parallels to what occurs in the original novel in Victor's adult life. Also, one might think that "This Dark Endeavor" would be cliche or cheese-y, another one of those unoriginal 'teenage monster' stories but it was much more.

I also looked up the book because I wanted to know if there would be a sequel, which I would be very interested in if that's possible or maybe it would be too much, but anyway I saw that it's going to be made into a movie which would be amazing because I could totally see this book as a movie-- super creepy. Also, for the bottom line of random notes, look at the cover!! So eerie and dark, absolutely perfect for the book! 
Thank you to Simon&Schuster for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Reader's Note: As usual, this in no way swayed my opinion.

"The Shattering" by Karen Healey

"Seventeen-year-old Keri likes to plan for every possibility. She knows what to do if you break an arm, or get caught in an earthquake or fire. But she wasn't prepared for her brother's suicide, and his death has left her shattered with grief. When her childhood friend Janna tells her it was murder, not suicide, Keri wants to believe her. After all, Janna's brother died under similar circumstances years ago, and Janna insists a visiting tourist, Sione, who also lost a brother to apparent suicide that year, has helped her find some answers.
As the three dig deeper, disturbing facts begin to pile up: one boy killed every year; all older brothers; all had spent New Year's Eve in the idyllic town of Summerton. But when their search for the serial killer takes an unexpected turn, suspicion is cast on those they trust the most.
As secrets shatter around them, can they save the next victim? Or will they become victims themselves?"-goodreads

This book was weird. I don't mean that in a bad way-- I consider myself weird (hopefully in a good way), I think my friends are weird (definitely in a good way), and basically the rest of the world weird (in its own special way). It was really suspenseful, too. I think the multiple perspectives were smart, they made each of the characters shine just a little bit more and kept up the suspense. Why did multiple characters/perspectives keep up the suspense? Not each of the characters knew what the other one knew so it was a lot of back and forth. It was a mystery, a true mystery book, keeping me flipping pages for the 'who did it??!?" conclusion until the end. The ending shocked me. Let me rephrase that-- parts of the ending were how I *thought* it would end but other parts I didn't think would happen or hadn't even considered. That's always good, a shocking ending when it makes sense and if it's really a knock-you-off-your-feet kind of thing that's even better.

This book was a lot to think about; a lot to consider. I questioned how I would react, and if I would go about solving the mystery the same way. I love books that do that! I also appreciate when a book keeps you thinking about it or its ending and it sticks with you for a while, which it already has ('what?' you ask. 'You just posted the review, how would you know that!?' Actually I read it over a week ago, maybe two weeks, but I've been having trouble *actually* gathering my thoughts about it. And I've been busy.. ANYWAY...), and it will probably continue. It's also a stand-alone. I like when I can get the ACTUAL WHOLE STORY and it EVEN has the nerve to pack a punch. Not that I hate series, it's clear that I don't, but once in a while, seriously: STANDALONE BOOKS. 

I'd recommend "The Shattering" to someone looking for a dark, stand-alone, mystery book packed with suspense with an ending that will shock you.
Thank you Little Brown for the opportunity to review this book. As usual, that didn't alter my opinion!

"Hunger" (Gone, #2) by Michael Grant

(The summary for this book is spoiler-y for the first book in the series, "Gone". If you'd like to view it anyway and find out more information about the book, here's the goodreads page for it. As usual with sequel reviews, though I try to keep them spoiler free, it's possible there will be minor spoilers for the first book. YOU ARE WARNED.)

With the same gripping plot style and breakneck fast pace as "Gone", "Hunger" is a really great sequel. It met my expectations, which "Gone" set very high. A lot of the best aspects of the first book were continued in the second, besides the incredible plot and pacing. However, I didn't enjoy Hunger QUITE as much as its predecessor. For example, Sam's humility left me feeling conflicted. While I was glad that he was humble, he was feeling pressures, and he wasn't perfect, like I felt in the first book, too much is well... too much. His tendency throughout the book for self pity got kind of annoying after a while. Then, at the same time, it made sense-- he was grasping for solutions to really difficult problems and searching for answers where there seemed to be none, and that was frustrating for him. Then all these kids have adopted him as their leader and when he starts not being able to fix everything, obviously he felt a little lost. Another thing that left me feeling that way is that a lot of questions were asked, more sub-plots started, which is all fine but then nothing seemed to be getting answered and at times that was just really frustrating to deal with. HOWEVER, these two problems did not really damage my overall impression of the book.

The characters continue to be great for the most part. The setting is so developed, so clear I can imagine the whole FAYZ, and I love that about these books. The continuing developments and the worsening of the situation in the FAYZ were both fascinating and horrifying. Then the problem of 'Freaks' vs. 'Normals', as they started to conflict was obviously intense but also interesting because of the psychology of it all, for me.

Overall, a good sequel! Continued awesome pace, plot, and characters; even if a few elements left me feeling a tad conflicted at times.

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

"The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden.
Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do..."-goodreads

Sure, largely thanks to The Hunger Games, dystopian novels are the craze right now. However, there were many novels that depicted dystopian/utopian societies long before Suzanne Collins put her (albeit brilliant) trilogy out into the world.  Classic literature such as "1984" by George Orwell, "A Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, and this one, "Fahrenheit 451" were some of the original books with that sort of theme. I enjoy classic literature and I dig dystopias so I knew I should try these out.


Fahrenheit 451 was a great book. It was a little hard to get into at first, at the beginning of the book, you're kind of plunged into the story with no warning and you just have to get used to the odd developments and practices of the Bradbury's world as you go on. Once you start getting accustomed to his writing style and the unusual and grim future world, it's excellent. Guy Montag is an average (almost to the point of dull) seeming character but as it goes on he gets more complex, as he questions his job as a fireman and whether books are so bad (or are they even good, possibly important!?). His relationship with his wife is peculiar and unfortunate, as is their relationship with their 'family' aka, characters on a some kind of high-tech television screen that interacts in their everyday lives as though they're living in the house. Clarisse was an interesting character.. and then, you know, if you've read the book: the way her character disappeared from the story was... sudden. I wasn't a fan of that. It just didn't seem... right. I mean, obviously it didn't seem right, but it just seemed unfitting, so I guess I had a problem with that. Regardless, as the story develops, the plot twists in interesting and unexpecting ways, with an end I didn't particularly see coming. A lot of times there's more obvious-see-it-from-a-mile-away sort of foreshadowing in classic novels but that wasn't necessarily the case. 

Bottom line: An important book that should be on your reading list (and probably is on your required list if you're in school) that's more complex than it seems at first and well-worth the read.

"Hourglass" by Myra McEntire

Encounter with Hourglass (random and in second person, filled with randomness and some improper sentences, not at all a 'proper' review):
It’s a month or two before the release date of Hourglass and you’re browsing around goodreads and you spot a pretty nice cover. You click it and look a tad closer. Oh, that’s a nice dress, you think, and the font is kinda fancy pants, in a good way. Woah there, wait a second, shut the front door-- is that the FLOOR on the right side? Meaning she’s walking on the ceiling? What huh? So you read the description. Hm. Time travel. She see’s people from the past. A girl named Emerson? Hmmm. Tres interessant. You add it to your TBR.  Then your hanging around on twitter and you follow the author Myra McEntire and she says a lot of funny stuff and you’re like, hahaha. Then people are saying really awesome shhttuuff about it and then you’re really sold. Fast forward, it comes out, you order the book. It gets to your house and you open the box after taking forever to open the stinkin box because, geez, there’s a lot of tape on that thing. Two things: the book is sparkly and also you touch it and it’s SOFT. It has this weird velvet-y finish thing and it’s cool.
It sits on your shelf for about a month and then you finally go, I must read this shiny/soft book about time travel because you’re a very random mood-reader and a book about time-travel seems pretty cool right now.  Then you start reading. You’re addicted immediately and it’s 400 pages and you think it’s going to take forever but you finish it that night.
Looking back, you realize that when you opened the book you must not have seen the whole picture, you didn’t noticed the beam of light that MUST have been expelled from the pages and the unicorns and rainbows that were dancing around in front of you waving banners that said you’d love it, and you must not have heard the chorus of angels and stuff singing. Because that HAD to have been happening. The sheer awesomeness, you knowww?

So that’s me and my random thought process. I loved it. That was how I chose to convey it. Emerson is awesome and I think a proper way to describe her would be 1) awesome and 2)a cross between Evie from Paranormalcy and Frankie from The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks. Witty, slightly sarcastic and just humorous. Totally Team Michael, just so you know. Also, time traveling. That’s SO COOL. I haven't read a lot of YA books about time travel. Now I have. It was awesome. I need a sequel. (Right this second.) I realize the above ‘Encounter with Hourglass’ was very dramatized but it was indeed a very good book. :)

"Unwind" by Neal Shusterman

"The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and survive."-goodreads


A while ago, I read "Full Tilt" by Neal Shusterman. Less long ago, I read his Skinjacker's Trilogy ("Everlost", "Everwild", and "Everfound"). In all of those books, Mr. Shusterman created a chilling and suspenseful tale that tended to highlight choices, the lack thereof, and terrifying worlds that you could never imagine being reality. Unwind is those things as more.


Horrifying. That is a predominant word I would use to describe Unwind. The (what one would consider dystopian) world that Unwind is that way. There are situations that the characters get into that are just gut-wrenching. It's bad. There's also a scene involving a character that you thought you hated, and up until that moment, you did-- but it's just the most emotional thing and it's scary, and the confused way it's written just amplifies that. Also, the story is written mostly from Connor, Lev, Risa, and Ci-Fy (love that name, by the way) point of view; but there are lots of others mixed in sometimes for a few parts and sometimes for only one. Each of them seem to see each other, their situation, and the whole world very differently and that was impressive and very useful to widen your opinion of each other characters. 


Apparently, there's a sequel to Unwind coming out called Unwholly (about 5 years later! It's scheduled for September 2012) and I look forward to more of this chilling story. Also, thank you KT for forcing me suggesting that I read this book; it WAS very good, you were right (and so were all the schools/associations that gave the book all the awards and such). :P

"Angel" (Maximum Ride, #7) by James Patterson

Warning. This isn't really a proper review.
My opinions on this book are kind of confused. I'll talk about them.. and you know, the epic Maximum Ride series as whole (even with its flaws).

I love the Maximum Ride series. I've been reading them since the beginning and I REALLY loved the first three books... then along came the fourth book called "The Final Warning". Supposedly, this would be the end. I recall excitedly heading to the book store the day it came out. Upon picking up the book, I was confused. It was small-- first off. I finished it in a day and not simply because I devoured it but also because it was REALLY SHORT. The first three books were pretty long. I was so disappointed. It was short. It seemed like a novel written only to make teens aware of global warming, and in a kind of sneaky way.

Fast forward to Max (#5). I was apprehensive, but picked it up immediately. That was better. Much better. I still didn't feel it was as good as the first three but I was happy and began to feel that Maximum Ride was coming back; the way I remembered it.

And then Fang (#6). Again, happily going to the book store, less apprehensive as I enjoyed MAX. That book took all of my emotions and all of my opinions and ripped them into miniscule pieces. So began the issue of what I'm going to call confused-character-decision-making. In Fang, I felt the characters were all over the place. I don't know if you personally know, but a lot of people, upon finishing Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins said that Gale, Katniss, and many of the other characters just weren't behaving like themselves to the point of it making no sense. It was JUST LIKE THAT. My reactions: WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME JAMES PATTERSON? THIS DOESN"T MAKE ANY SENSE. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? That was in-between all the tears at the end. Which ripped my heart out: Oh my gosh. Like whoa, what is going on *SNIFFLE*.

Now, to Angel. I did not pick up Angel when it came out in February. I didn't like the sound of the summary. I didn't like how Fang left off. I had a feeling I wouldn't like it. Another problem is that it was supposedly "THE END". I don't know if you all know, but apparently now the end is coming out next February. Also, the Maximum Ride books have been advertised as "THE END" since the third book. Yeah. Confused? Me too.
I was in the library the other day and saw Angel. I picked it up. I put it back. I finally decided that I needed to know what happened I wanted to see if it was any better than Fang.

It was better than Fang. It was not as good as the first three. It was better than the Final Warning. I'd probably put it at the same level as Max. I liked it the same way I've liked all the Maximum Ride books; for the breath-taking pace, the action, and Max's narrative which drips with brut honesty, sarcasm, and personality. I did feel that there was more character confusion. I like Dylan more than I liked him before. Really, I would've liked it a lot if it weren't for the character confusion/out-of-character-ness/whatever it's called. That, and there were plot issues because there was really no resolve at the end; and at the same time it didn't really feel like a cliffhanger, along with several other problems.

Supposedly THE END is next February. I'm sure I'll still probably read it. If it's better than this, it'd be quite good! I hope it's the actual end, because the series seems to have been seriously stretched out.

My consensus is that I highly recommend the Maximum Ride series-- just prepare for some turbulence around the 4th, 6th, and the 7th books. And yes, that was a bad, albeit unintentional pun. Turbulence. Flying kids? Yep. Hopefully, all the fans who have stuck with the series even if they weren't a fan of some of the books will be rewarded with an actual, ideally very GOOD ending to the series in February!