"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?"

"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.

"The Julian Game" by Adele Griffin

"All new girl Raye Archer wants is a way into the in crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker picks her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity so she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. It's a fun and dangerous thrill at first, but Raye hadn't counted on falling for Julian herself-and igniting Ella's rage."-goodreads (actually this is only 1/3 of the GR description, but it's the most necessary part AND the second part is *almost* spoiler-ish!)

I have been eager to pick up another one of Adele Griffin's *many* novels since reading "Tighter" (which was pretty amazing!). I'd heard good things about this one. Again, I really loved Adele's addictive, fast-paced, keeps-you-reading writing. It was another fairly short book at 200 pages and if it weren't for the necessity to get up early the next day I would've probably stayed up reading it all the way through like I did with Tighter. While a different sort of book entirely, I had the same 'what's going to happen next!?! This could go terribly wrong!! I must find out the end!!' thoughts while reading it. Even though "The Julian Game" is contemporary I had that scary movie suspense (don't open that closet! don't answer the door! NOOO) feeling throughout as well. 

I admit, I didn't like this one as much as Tighter. I think it was a good book and an important book because it's about things that can happen to anyone that uses the internet unwisely *cough*creatingafakepersontomanipulatesomeonenamedJulian*cough* (that's what happens in the book, anyway) and also backlash via the internet. Cyber-bullying. It's a serious problem. Even if Raye didn't necessarily make a good decision when staging the act of 'Elizabeth' to fool one of her peers, the backlash was worse. Those things happen all the time, sometimes it's on the news; kids have committed suicide because of cyber-bullying and its emotional impact just as with bullying at school or anywhere else-- it's a very real thing, is all. I never actually liked any of the characters especially because of their decision which often had me frustrated, but I didn't hate any of them either-- it was more of indifference.
Overall, I didn't love "The Julian Game" as much as I'd hoped, but I did adore the writing and thought the length was perfect.

"The Eleventh Plague" by Jeff Hirsch

“In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged and two thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade for food and other items essential for survival. 
But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true, where there are real houses, barbecues, a school, and even baseball games. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.”-goodreads

Hehehe. So, I had a misconception (I have no idea why I thought this, actually, look up there it even says influenza) that “The Eleventh Plague” was about zombies. As in, zombies being the eleventh plague. Yeah. It’s not, FYI. However, I went into the book expecting zombies and didn’t get them, but wasn’t disappointed. (Books don’t have to have zombies to be good for the record. It’s just a bonus.)  Instead of a zombie smashing book I found a book about life after “the Collapse” (which I assume is the collapse of humanity-- a culmination of wars with other countries and the plague, but that’s not explained specifically), a book about survival, and ultimately, for me: a book about hope and community, and its necessity even after a disaster. Even if the world is technically already ‘over’ if you will. Even though the book wasn’t overly emotional these were the impressions it gave me.

Stephen is a nomad at the beginning of the book; both in the moving around all the time literal sense of the word, and to me, emotionally. He’s only close to his grandfather (if you can call what we see of their relationship that) and his father, and he used to be close to his mother before she met her end. That’s the other thing: this book is kind of about loss. Overcoming loss and finding that hope and community. Throughout the book Stephen has to figure everything out. That’s probably why I liked him so much a main character-- he didn’t know everything, not even close. He had a ton of flaws. Sometimes flaws (kind of like I was talking about in my Anna and the French Kiss review) can make the book if they’re done right. This is one of those books, I think.

Additionally, there quite a bit of action and when necessary, creepiness. There was romance that I didn’t expect (I basically thought she was going to continue ignoring him completely) with a troubled girl who really identified with Stephen. The ending was great because it wasn’t completely picture perfect-- also, it left me wanting more without being a total cliffhanger and infuriating me. I believe there’s a sequel or companion novel coming though this novel could easily stand-alone, I look forward to more of the story!

"Lock and Key" by Sarah Dessen

“What happens when your past is not just past, but wiped clean entirely? How do you figure out where you’re going when you can’t even claim where you’ve been? These were the questions that inspired Lock and Key. It’s the story of a girl named Ruby who is abandoned by her mother and determined to make it on her own, even—and especially—when she is sent to live with her long-lost sister in a whole new world of privilege, family, and relationships. As Ruby learns, there’s a big difference between being given help and being able to accept it. And sometimes, it takes reaching out to someone else to save yourself.” - Sarah Dessen's website

This is the second Sarah Dessen book I’ve read, the first being The Truth About Forever. I guess everyone’s right, she’s amazing! Her writing is so gorgeous. It’s very descriptive and emotionally charged, she makes you FEEL the characters, everything seeming so real. I might have felt kind of disconnected from Ruby if it weren’t for that, but I didn’t. The whole story is full of Ruby (and sometimes Nate’s) raw emotions and that made the whole thing more enjoyable. I felt so bad and so confused for Ruby, after her mom’s disappearance. I had a feeling of what Cora would tell her, and that Ruby’s impressions weren’t necessarily true, and I was right. (What am I talking about? I’ll give you my usual answer: read the book.)

My favorite character was probably Jamie, he tried to hard for Cora and Ruby to give them what they never had and be there for them. He was hilarious, too. The whole UMe thing was quite funny too. I liked all of the characters, actually (well, all the good characters, anyway). Olivia was great and I could really appreciate her helping Ruby… and Gervais was just amusing. The only qualm I have with the characters (and really, this is my qualm with the book in general, though not that bad) was Nate. I liked Nate, I liked how Ruby and him got along and could relate, they kind of needed each other, BUT I never really got to like him that much… despite his emotions showing through sometimes and his action, I never felt a connection to him as a character, and I missed that, I think that might’ve helped me love the book rather than just quite liking it, though I’m not sure why it effected me so.

"Repossessed" by A.M. Jenkins

"Shaun... did something happen today? Anything out of the ordinary?"
Well, Shaun died, but other than that...
"Nope," I told Shaun's mom. "It' s just been a normal, regular day."

Kiriel doesn't like the term "demon". It's far too negative. He prefers "Fallen Angel", which is the proper technical term, anyway.
Though he doesn't really enjoy his job, either.
Kiriel isn't an "important" demon... His job is simply to reflect misery back onto the souls in hell. That's all. Nothing more important.
The big guy hasn't even paid any attention to him. Only important fallen angels get attention from God.
And trouble makers.

When Kiriel discovers that hell doesn't blow up when he doesn't do his job, he decides to take a vacation. It's not like he's ever had one before... Who cares if it's technically against the rules? Maybe it'll get him some notice in the end.

So he steals a body. The boy who it used to belong to was barely using it anyway, so what does it matter that he takes over for a few days?

Through the body of Shaun, a typical slacker highschooler, Kiriel discovers what it's like to be a human. And he likes it.
But how long does he have before the body is "repossessed"?

Whatever the reason, they punish themselves. I merely oversee; I don't actually do anything about anything.
Mine is a useless occupation.

I really liked this book. It was a very interesting point of view, reading from the head of a demon. Surprisingly, although Kiriel decides to see what's so enjoyable about sinning, he seemed to be one of the more innocent characters in the book. He had a very interesting outlook on the life he leads in Shaun's body, and I actually ended up agreeing with his points.
So, I think the author did very well making him a relatable character.

Besides that, it was just a very interesting book. Some of the themes can be carried over and related to our own lives... Especially us teens. You know, the whole, "my place isn't important," "my job isn't important" "no one notices me", and all that crap.

I also liked how it made fun of teenagers, and our lives.

You have to be warned however, that there are quite a few mentions of sex in this book, and some swearing. So if those sorts of things concern you, I wouldn't read this book.

"Tighter" by Adele Griffin

“When 17-year-old Jamie arrives on the idyllic New England island of Little Bly to work as a summer au pair, she is stunned to learn of the horror that precedes her. Seeking the truth surrounding a young couple's tragic deaths, Jamie discovers that she herself looks shockingly like the dead girl—and that she has a disturbing ability to sense the two ghosts. Why is Jamie's connection to the couple so intense? What really happened last summer at Little Bly? As the secrets of the house wrap tighter and tighter around her, Jamie must navigate the increasingly blurred divide between the worlds of the living and the dead.” -goodreads

I picked up Tighter right before going to bed. I continued reading Tighter until it was over. I couldn’t put it down! I had to see how the story would conclude. It’s also only 216 pages, so I wasn’t up all night finishing it or anything (although I probably would have been, had it been longer), but it was 216 pages of brain-twisting, mind-numbing, mystery and suspense. I had to know what Jamie was actually seeing, and what was real, what wasn’t.

Jamie is not (or at least doesn't start out) a likable main character. She’s depressed, she stole pills from her parents, and she doesn’t generally seem very smart at all in the beginning. As the story goes on, especially toward the end, she’s a bit more likable. But she’s not the ONLY character. While Isa (the troubled girl Jamie is an au pair for) was withdrawn in her own world, in her imagination where she could hide, I found her really likable. Everything she said I felt she said in earnest. Part murder mystery, part thriller, and many other elements, Tighter had variety.

I loved the writing, it was poetic and nice, with some really raw emotion displayed through it. The conclusion was shocking and a burst of action at the end, I did NOT expect what Jamie ended up doing. I’ve never read any others of Adele Griffin’s many novels, but I’ll be sure to look them up now!
Extra note: The cover. I love it. Sets the creepy level for the book!

"Plague" (Gone, #4) by Michael Grant

*As usual with sequel reviews, the description is spoiler-y, so I haven’t included it. The below review may reveal minor spoilers about the previous two books. YOU ARE WARNED.*

I love this series, I do.  I can’t wait for Fear (April 2012) and Light to come out so I can finally find out the fate of our beloved characters… but (sadly, there‘s a ‘but‘)… Plague. Oh dear. It still had action, it still had different perspectives, and there was still unexpected twists and turns with the punch of a broad cast of characters-- my favorite parts of the series so far, but Plague was a bit of a let down. It wasn’t *bad*. It just wasn’t what I expected, either. At some point in Plague, I’m not sure how far in I was, I started feeling like I was reading about a soap-opera or some other sometimes overly dramatic situation set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world (inside a dome!)… Too dramatic at times. And Sam’s self-pity and erratic behavior plus a very selfish attitude kept propping up all over the place and I can’t say I like Sam much anymore which is disappointing as I loved him in Gone and Hunger and somewhat in Lies (by the way, I don’t mean loved like, OMG SWOON IT’S EDWARD CULLEN, which I’m seriously not like, by the way, but I thought Sam was a fantastic character). It didn’t feel like a filler book for me or anything like that, there were still new developments and few things resolved, which is fortunate because I would have absolutely hated that.

ALSO, major warning: KILLER CLIFF-HANGER. Fear doesn’t come out until April. That kills me. I think I’m traumatized by the wait, because I was able to read the first four so close together as they’ve been released for a while. Seriously, the cliff-hanger has launched me into a (hopefully short) stand-alone/completed series only kind of mood so I don’t have to see one of those for a while. But the point of a cliffhanger is to make you want more and be excited for the next book, which I definitely am, so I guess it’s effective!

Bottom line: This book in the Gone series just didn‘t resonate with me, but I still can’t wait for the next one, which I hope I like more.

"Becoming Chloe" by Catherine Ryan Hyde

"How do you spell 'beautiful', Jordy?"
"B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay. If you're sure. I know how to spell 'ugly.'"
Too bad. I would've liked it better the other way around. But I guess she hasn't had much practice on "beautiful." I guess it's one of those things that just never came up.

Jordy is by himself.
He's okay with this.
He's living in New York City without a job or a family.
It's just a bad week in his life.

And maybe it'd actually work out for him.
But then comes Chloe.

Chloe- or Wanda Johnston- looks like she should have the perfect world.
But if she had a perfect life, why would she be living in a cellar?
Why would she be okay with all the bad things that happen to her?

As Jordy takes Chloe into his care, he starts to realize that everything isn't right with her.
She needs help.
But if she won't talk to her therapist....
And she won't take the antidepressents...
What is he going to do?
And if he himself doesn't quite believe that the world is a beautiful place...
How can he convince Chloe that it is?

She jumps up and grabs me. The way I'd expect her to grab on if she was about to fall off a twenty-story building. Then again, maybe she is, and I'm just too blind to know it.
"I'm scared, Jordy."

I absolutely adored this book. I ended up rewriting my synopsis of the book multiple times because I couldn't do it justice.
This book is amazing.

First of all, the writing is pretty epic. It definitely sounds like young adult is saying it, but at the same time it's so poetic that it's beautiful just to read it. The author deals with some themes that I sort of find myself dealing with sometimes in my life, so that was very, very nice.

Secondly, I really like Jordy. I mean, Chloe was alright, but I really liked Jordy.
First of all, he's gay. This is very helpful for this book specifically, because it means it doesn't fall into the "girl and boy take roadtrip, they fall in love" sort of book. (Which, I admit, I thought it was going to be.)
Secondly... He's very realistic. I like that, too.
And lastly... He gives up so much to help Chloe, and he doesn't complain. But even though he doesn't mind that he's helping her (because she ends up being his best friend), he doesn't not appreciate the good things that come to him. I liked that.

Also, this book is so emotional. Especially at the end, I found my self crying, because it was just so perfect. It ended perfectly, but right before the end I felt like... "It's over. It's over. Their trip. They've come to their end of the road. And that's sad. But it's okay."
(I was going to say something here, but I realized that it would be a spoiler. So you're just going to have to read the book to find out sort of what I was going to say. ;) )

"Shelf Life" by Robert Corbet

"Listen," she said, "to be fired from this job you'd have to run naked through the deli with a string of gourmet sausages round your neck. You'd have to cover yourself in cream cheese and dangle a smoked trout between your legs. Even then, they'd just move you to the dairy section. Nobody gets fired form this place. You leave when you're ready to, or else when you die."

Louisa is holding down two jobs, and works every moment. She also happens to be employee of the month.

Adam is a slacker who likes the idea of anarchy and who wants to get fired the moment he arrives at the supermarket.

Jared and Dylan are sharing a secret with a customer in the candy isle.

Chloe might be pregnant, but doesn't know who the father would be. She also quit what would have been her dream job, except for one detail.

Stephen is gone.

Tessa doesn't fit in with the girls, but can't hang out with the guys.

Abdi is finding out just what it feels like to be respected in America.

Rahel is marrying someone she doesn't even know.

Wyn is a human database, who doesn't tell her secrets.

Life working in the supermarket might not be the perfect job, but these teens know how to survive. Yes, that means surviving customers who can't understand why light bulbs keep breaking, or who don't get why long life milk still goes bad. And, yeah, that includes dealing with how to get a girl flowers.. when she works at the flower check out. And maybe it also includes the teens' crazy home lives, though the reasons for those being in the supermarket vary from teen to teen.
All in all, maybe the supermarket is actually giving the teens the "important life skills" they need.
Maybe.

Another worker stopped to see what was going on.
"Andy, this is Andy," said Jared, introducing them.
"I'm Adam."
"My name is Abdi."
Each glanced at the other's  name tag and nodded. Then, together, they all stood and stared at the old man.

I really liked this book. It was funny, witty, and just all around entertaining. After I finished the book, I still wanted to keep reading. Some of the situations in the book that the workers run into were just so completely outrageous, and yet, at the same time, completely plausible.

The only part of this book that I didn't especially like were some of the weird endings for people. Like the fact that you don't ever find out if Chloe is pregnant or not. It's just... kind of weird.

But besides that, I think this book is one of my favorites, and I'd definitely recommend it to most teens.

"Blood Red Road" by Moira Young

"In a lawless future land, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba has been brought up in isolated Silverlake. She never sees the dangers of the destructive society outside. When her twin brother is snatched by mysterious black-robed riders, she sets outon an epic quest to rescue him. "-goodreads

If nothing else, Blood Red Road is incredibly unique and unlike anything that I can think of reading before. Fortunately, there's more to it. But, gosh, it's DIFFERENT. The inside of the jacket flap calls Moira Young's writing style 'poetic... minimal'. I whole-hearted-ly agree. It's poetic. It's unglorious in that it's simple, and very glorious in the way it flows. Which is like water. In a really smooth pipe? Wow. That was lame. Anyway, the point is, the pace is crazy fast and at times I wanted it to slow a bit so that I could soak it in and try to register what just happened-- but at the same time I was hungry for more and I didn't want it to slow down I just wanted to read it until it was over. At first, the writing style is startling. It's hard to get used to. There's no quotation words for talking, all of the speech and descriptions are crazy informal, it's improper, Sabba talks weird... but then all of a sudden that all falls away and you can see the story play out vividly and the writing begins to feel down home and informal but in the way that it's as if Sabba is sitting with you, recounting the story-- laying emphasize on parts that she felt important and glossing over some of the details, recounting like, 'and then he says', you know. That kind of feeling. 


Beyond the voice of the book, it was brilliant as well. It's post-apocalyptic. While most post-apocalyptic line up well with dystopias because the fact that it's post-apocalypse creates a world that IS a dystopia, I'd struggle to call Blood Red Road a dystopia, and if I did call it a dystopia, I'd envision all of the normal dystopias that seem like they're dystopias sitting in a room looking normal and Blood Red Road wearing striped pajamas and singing or doing something else to stand out. Anyway, the world that Moira Young creates is very interesting. It's clearly sometime in the future, the characters often point out things that are 'post-wrecker' and from what they describe we're left to assume they're talking about the current world, now. Yet, the world seems old. The horses, the lack of electronics, the deserts, and the wildnerness; they all yield the impression that you're reading something about the ancient times.


The characters were complex. I didn't like Sabba at first and for her, Blood Red Road is rather a coming of age novel, she grows so much. The other characters were very interesting as well, although we don't see much of most of them and sometimes I wished I could get to know them all more. 


So, overall, Moira Young is a creative genius. If you want a post-apocalyptic novel that wears striped pajamas and sings when it hangs out with the dystopian crowd; with complex characters, a brilliantly weaved world, and writing like nothing you've read, pick up Blood Red Road.
Thank you S&S for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Readers: As always, I promise receiving books for review in no way alters my opinion, and my reviews are honest (sometimes brutally). :)

"The Goddess Test" by Aimee Carter

"It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.
If she fails..."-goodreads

I love, love, LOVE mythology. (Of all kinds!) I also love modern stories with a lot of involvement of mythology. Then, as I keep mentioning, it’s very important to me to feel connected to the main character and (hopefully) like them as well. The Goddess Test had all of the those elements going strong. It was also a fascinating story that had unexpected twists, and other great characters as well. It also has a lot of detailed writing without it seeming like the whole thing is being dragged out. The beginning of the book is a lot of setup for the rest of the story, but I thought it was necessary, and I also thought it was nice to get a bit of background before the story really got going.

While it’s a book pertaining majorly to mythology as you would expect by the title/summary, Aimee Carter did a really good job of almost having you believe the whole thing, making it all seem real, which is really great-- I read a lot of paranormal books that are good but they don’t even come close to ‘seeming real’. The portrayal of the greek gods, especially Henry as Hades was fascinating and really well done.

Kate’s character was great. She was relatable, and also a strong heroine. She’s a character that has been through a lot through her mother’s illness and trying to be strong the whole time while feeling the world on her shoulders and never getting to feel like a real teenager. Henry was very interesting. The relationship of Kate and Henry was really nice, and something I admired greatly was that there was no ‘insta-love’ factor that I see so often. The whole cast of characters was really well developed for me; I felt that I knew a lot of the side characters really well which doesn’t always happen for me, sometimes it just seems like I only really know one or two main characters.

All in all, it was a fascinating book that packed a punch of mythology and awesomeness. I look forward to Goddess Interrupted which comes out in January 2012!

"The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" by E. Lockhart

"Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:Debate Club.
Her father's "bunny rabbit."
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way."-goodreads

I mean, READ THE DESCRIPTION. Read it. Doesn't that sound witty/epic/amazing? This book is just plain LEGIT. I couldn’t think of a better word for it. I loved pretty much everything about it, and wish I had read it before-- if only because by now I would’ve been on my billionth or so re-read. The characters, the story, and the voice… Just amazing!

The voice. This has to be my favorite thing about the book. It was different than anything else I’ve ever read, so extremely unique. Words! There were word-plays, grammar geeking out, a copy-editor boyfriend, and even out of the story, just the narration, WORDS were used. When I say words I mean peculiar words that you don’t use often, advanced words, whatever you like but the way they were used was awesome. The book was just plain intelligent, without being overly so like it was unrealistic or you have to look up words or something.

The characters. Frankie is awesome. She’s probably my new favorite female protagonist in YA, as well as one I could really identify it. She was sarcastic, intelligent, and ambitious. There are lots of sarcastic/smart/whatever characters in the world but Frankie’s character development was pretty much flawless and I think it was also very realistic. She was very smart but she also seemed like a normal teenager. The other characters were fabulous too, Trisha, Frankie’s roommate was likeable and had a personality although we didn’t see that much of her. When she was around in the story she was really epic because her mom was a psychologist, so whenever she was giving Frankie advice and such she always did everything with psychological stuff and it was fascinating. The boys, the bassets, the dogs, whatever you’d like to call them were great too, all in their own ways.

The story of the bassets and the secret societies and the story of the school was great as well. The school being designed the way it was with its traditions and suitably its secrets or ‘secret organizations’ were good too. All very interesting.

Anyway. Sorry for the huge review but I just didn’t know how else to do this book justice. It was so legitimate. Intelligent, humorous, fascinating, very quirky, just all around a great book!

"Never Slow Dance with a Zombie" by E. Van Lowe

"Principal Taft's 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:
Rule #1: While in the halls, walk slowly and wear a vacant expression on your face. Zombies won't attack other zombies.
Rule #2: Never travel alone. Move in packs. Follow the crowd. Zombies detest blatant displays of individuality.
Rule #3: If a zombie should attack, do not run. Instead, throw raw steak at to him. Zombies love raw meat. This display of kindness will go a long way.
On the night of her middle school graduation, Margot Jean Johnson wrote a high school manifesto detailing her goals for what she was sure would be a most excellent high school career. She and her best friend, Sybil, would be popular and, most important, have boyfriends. Three years later, they haven't accomplished a thing!
Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive...."-goodreads

This book was very peculiar. If I was required to give my opinion of it in three words I would say "Surprisingly, bizarrely epic!". I had no expectations whatsoever of this book (nothing against the author or anything, I don't mean it like that); I'd never seen or heard of it before the book fair where I picked it up at and the description reads like a middle-grade geek to popular and all of a sudden it's perfect world type of book. So often when I have pre-conceived ideas about books (or anything, really, I suppose) I am wrong. This one, I was wrong simply because I underestimated it.

Never Slow Dance with a zombie starts out and basically the main character just wants to be popular and she has one of those super nice, very sensible, best friends. I kind of went... oh... no.... but then, on top of the lessons you would think would come along with a book like this, it was sooo funny. At the beginning I was just like... how could that happen? With the zombies taking over the school and everything and no one even knows why/how/etc...? But then I went... duh. I'm over thinking this. Of course I'm not supposed to believe it, this book is supposed to be fun and funny, regardless of its plausibility!

That being said, Never Slow Dance with A Zombie was hilarious! It was very peculiar (I don't want to call it weird. I've been calling a lot of really dark books weird and this one is anything but). I thought it would be very gory because it's about zombies and it wasn't (not that I would have minded, heh heh). The whole situation the school was in was really amusing. The characters were good, as I said, I really liked Sybil. The geeks were funny. Also, that ONE girl that wasn't really a zombie... I saw that coming. In a good way.

"Peak" by Roland Smith

"You messed up, Pete."
"Peak," I said.
"Like in 'mountain peak'?"
"Right."
"Weird name."
"Weird parents."

Peak Marcello, as his name suggests, is a climber. His mom and dad, both mountain climbers, started him climbing at an early age, and his mom has encouraged him his whole life.
Climbing is about to get him in trouble though.
Peak has climbers itch- the climbing wall at the gym isn't big enough anymore- so he finds bigger things.
Like skyscrapers.
When Peak is busted climbing the Woolworth Building, he knows he's in trouble. But how much? The court wants to sentence him to three years in jail, but his mom and stepfather, Rolf, aren't about to let that happen.
When Peak's long lost father, Joshua, shows up unexpectedly, Peak is offered a deal by the court. He can disappear off radar for several years, or he could go to jail.
Peak chooses to disappear.
His father takes him to Tibet, where he springs a surprise on fourteen-year-old Peak: Peak is going to try to be the youngest person to ever climb Everest.
With the help of Sun-jo, Peak's new friend; Zopa, a mysterious monk from Joshua's past; Joshua himself; and a whole bunch of other characters, Peak attempts the climb.
But is he willing to put everyone's safety at risk to reach the top?

Yash helped Sun-jo set his rig, and when he got it on we looked at each other and started laughing.
We were going to live.

I liked this book. No. I really really liked this book. I found myself wanting to just read the book, no matter what. My copy got returned to the library in much worse condition than when I checked it out, and I can confidentially say that this is one of the best books I've read in the past two or three months.

The thing that I really liked about this book were the characters. They were well developed, and interesting. I found myself sympathizing with Peak during his experiences... I think the author did a very good job of making Peak human, so you could really get inside his head. On the other hand, he also definitely had his very own voice and personality. I can't think of too many fourteen-year-olds who would be happy to share their birthday with their twin half-sisters.
Besides Peak, the characters I liked the most were Rolf, Peak's stepfather, and the characters who make up the film crew.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books with tough moral decisions, but who don't mind having adventure in there as well.

"Ashes, Ashes" by Jo Treggiari

June 1st, 2011
"Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her."-goodreads

There is a difference between Post-Apocalyptic fiction and Dystopian fiction. While they run together frequently, dystopias often being the result of an apocalypse, and apocalypses normally creating at least slight dystopias in the way the world is run. Ashes, Ashes has elements of dystopia but is a post-apocalyptic book for the most part (to me, anyway!) and I liked that a lot. I also believe it's a stand-alone, although it could easily be a series, which is always refreshing (I can't stress that enough, can I?).


Ashes, Ashes is horrifyingly realistic seeming. All of the situations, the survival, the way the plague took over the world-- they're all very vivid, very real situations. The main character, Lucy, often reflects on how at first, when the plague originally started, the news would show happy people, nurses and doctors calmly working at the hospital. She then adds that when her parents died, they were nothing like that. Just dying people, failing medicine. The news reverted to pre-recorded footage. I think that's a really important part of the book, or any post-apocalyptic book for me, contrasting the difference between then and before. It really puts the book into perspective. 


I just mentioned Lucy. Lucy is very cool. She was a very strong and developed character, and she was also likeable. One of my favorite parts of the book is that Lucy is a strong female character. There is no Bella syndrome, and I think that's important. Even books like The Hunger Games, in which Katniss is also a strong female character, along the way, she tended to kind of lose herself in her feelings toward Peeta and Gale. Lucy does no such thing. The book has romance, but it's not like, hey I was really awesome before and defending myself and now there's a guy so he'll be my knight and shining armor. Ha! Oh, and no love triangle. Thank goodness.

Aiden and all of the other characters were great as well. The book was fabulously written, all vivid and detailed. It was really easy to picture the post-apocalyptic New York. It was interesting, filled with action, and just a good book. Also, I'd like to add that I liked the cover before I read the book, and after reading the book I think it's absolutely perfect, a great reflection of the book. (Feel free to judge this one by it's cover, I'd say.)


If you'd like a good book that's interesting, realistic seeming, vividly written, and filled with survival, try out Ashes, Ashes in two weeks when it comes out! Also, this is definitely on my list of 'things to recommend to people that liked the Hunger Games'. 
Thank you Scholastic for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

"Everfound" (Skinjackers, #3) by Neal Shusterman

The description for this book, and the summary I tried to write are very spoiler-ish if you haven't read Everlost or Everwild. For that reason, I decided not to include a description at all. If you miss it and aren't worried about some spoilers, here's the goodreads one.

Heart-breaking, spectacular, bizarre, edge-of-your-seat, unique, bedazzling, twisted, dark, broad, seamless. These are words that are coming to mind now that I've finished Everfound, the last of the Skinjacker trilogy. The ending was heart-breaking, but also spectacular-- it wrapped everything up so that it was good, although notably it wasn't overly happy, unrealistic, or rushed.

The world, Everlost, in the Skinjacker trilogy is bedazzling, broad, and also seamless. I think the world building and development is probably some of the best I've ever read, up there with or surpassing the wizarding world in Harry Potter; which is another 'alternate universe' co-existing with the modern world type of scenario.

While I enjoyed Everlost and Everwild, I think that Everfound was the best out of the series. It was the most complicated, the most twisted, the longest, and at times the most confusing book of the series, everything also seemed to make the most sense. How is that? I have no idea. Possibly because in the first books, a lot of world building was done, a lot of characters developed; but about a reader could pose about a million questions. You could say the same for Everfound-- but a lot of the questions were also answered.

The story admittedly moved a bit slow at times, as it did in the first two, but I think that was necessary. If it had moved at an incredibly fast pace for the whole time I think I would've missed more things and I'm not sure it would've ended up making any sense.

Before I write a review with a length equivalent to the Bible, I should really stop. All I can say is that the Skinjacker trilogy is without a doubt the weirdest thing I've ever read; but it's also one of the best overall series I can think of-- I didn't think any of the books had huge weak points, which I can even say about some of my favorite series like Maximum Ride, at times HP, and The Hunger Games... and one more thing I haven't mentioned before; the covers for this series? Perfect!
Thank you, S&S for giving me the opportunity to review this epic conclusion!

"Everwild" (Skinjackers, #2) by Neal Shusterman

"Everlost, the limbo land of dead children, is at war. Nick the “Chocolate Ogre” wants to help the children of Everlost reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Mary Hightower, self-proclaimed queen of lost children and dangerous fanatic, is determined to keep Everlost’s children trapped within its limbo for all eternity. Traveling in the memory of the Hindenburg, Mary is spreading her propaganda and attracting Afterlights to her cause at a frightening speed.
Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast travels home to seek out her parents, along with Mikey, who was once the terrifying monster the McGill. Allie is tempted by the seductive thrill of skinjacking the living, until she discovers the shocking truth about skinjackers."-goodreads 

Everwild (along with the first book, Everlost) is a VERY dark book. Along with the darkness comes that the series is one of the more unique ones I've read. That's both due to the story and Shusterman's writing style, which doesn't really bring any other authors to mind for me. Those are the most prominent things about the books that I could think to start this review with.


I enjoyed Everwild more than Everlost. The story just got more interesting. While we learned more about what it really meant to be in Everlost (what it is, how they get there, what a skinjacker truly is) it seemed to be woven into the story more, while in Everlost I felt a lot of it was explaining. I knew that it was necessary, because I wouldn't have understood anything in the first one if not for that, but yes, less explaining. In Everwild, without it seeming irrational or impossible, almost everything we thought we knew about Everlost is either changed, a lot more complicated that you would think, or COMPLETELY different. That's a huge part of the story-- you think you know what's going on, you think you know something and BAM, surprise, you know NOTHING. 


Everwild was shocking. Along with everything you thought you knew being thrown out the window, the way you thought you knew the characters and their personalities was also changing constantly. You delve deeper into the characters. Good and bad, both actions of people and themselves, are ongoing changing themes. At first, a person seems like they're doing the right thing, but then as the story goes on they seem more monstrous. You always have to question. That's another big thing. This is another one of those books that will make you think, and ask yourself questions; like, 'who's right? Mary or Nick? Allie or Milos?' answers to which (for me) were usually neither. A lot of the books are about the morals of Everlost and the real world as well-- is it right to skinjack? Is it right to take things from the living? etc....


Anyway. I really shouldn't say much more, I probably already said some minimal spoilers. If you want a good book, a unique book, or one of those books that's really complicated but very interesting and good, I'd recommend Everlost and Everwild! I look forward to reading the last in the trilogy, Everfound!

"The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen

"Hannah is tired of hearing about the Nazis during the Holocaust, but when she opens the door for Elijah at the Passover Seder, she is transported in time to 1940s Poland, where she is captured and put in a death camp. A girl named Rivka befriends her, teaching her how to fight the dehumanization of the camp and hold onto her identity."-goodreads

I said 'painfully realistic', 'important', and 'powerful must-read' when I reviewed Between Shades of Gray a while back. The same can be said for The Devil's Arithmetic. 


This is a very hard book to read; and I don't mean that because it was a bad book. It's very sad and it's terrifying. It's terrifying, because just like Hannah does, you know what is happening, you know what's going to happen. The characters may not have been real people, they were just reflections of survivor's accounts of the holocaust, but their situation (like that of Lina's in Between Shades of Gray) and their journey is dreadfully accurate. 


These things really happened. The whole book was very realistic, with the exception of the obvious Hannah traveling to the past and such. It's an important story, and while we witness the important story unfold, we learn the equally important lesson that Hannah learns over the course of the book: that we must remember our history, our heritage, and the hardships that our relatives (distant or close) had to endure so that we could be here.


The writing was good, the story important and unglamorized. It's brutally honest, and a very important but powerful read. These people tried to keep hope, as Hannah and her relatives did. I recommend this book because it's all around important, and for people that liked Between Shades of Gray for all of the above reasons.

"Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

"Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love."-goodreads

I was in no rush to read Delirium. I thought, when looking at the summary and while hearing other's opinions, that it sounded too much like Matched. Not the concept, just the whole kind of dystopian where the girl rebels because of a relationship kind of thing. I didn't think I could like something like that as much as I loved Matched. I thought that was a one kind of deal. It's normally pretty easy for me to LIKE books just not LOVE them.
As usually happens when I have pre-reading opinions about a book, I was very, horribly, inconceivably WRONG. 

First things first. The writing. Oh my gosh the WRITING. Lauren Oliver is an evil GENIUS. It's lyrical, it's beautiful, it's descriptive. I could see what went on in the story with imperceptible clarity, surrounded by a wall of gorgeousness. It was POETIC. Also, the parts at the beginning of each chapter; excerpts from poems, lessons from the 'Book of Shhh' were great. It added to the world that she created. You can also really feel the story. You feel for the characters, you feel the situations, and it's the kind of book that makes you wonder... what would I do? Would I sacrifice a perfect life for love? Love; which can be painful but perfect? It was all so real... there are many scenes that had me on the edge of my seat, when I hoped for Lena or Alex to get out okay, and where my heart ached for them. ESPECIALLY THE ENDING. 


The story itself was also amazing, of course. The whole idea where it wasn't the kind of dystopia you expect, where only certain things are controlled, where they seem to have more freedom (although that starts to unravel..). Lena was a great character and so were Hana, Alex, and I really liked Gracie. I felt that Lena's battles with her inner self were what I would be thinking... The romance was powerful. All the emotions were vibrant. It was believable. 


The whole concept of the cure was really interesting too. To think about something like that is a great thought to ponder. What if there was ever something like that created? A cure to love (read: a cure to the pain of love). Would you want it?


Anyway. If you liked Matched. If you are enjoying the dystopian trend. If you like a good book that is written both brilliantly and beautifully, I highly suggest you pick up Delirium.