ARC August - Final Update

Hey there, everyone! I hope you enjoyed your last few days of August. Can you believe that September is literally right on our heels? With that, it's time for another ARC August update! Sadly, this is my last ARC August update for the year, but I still have quite a few ARCs to read over the next few months. I'll definitely be reading them and reviewing them.

Now, in case you missed out on all of the ARC August posts, I'll fill you in before I give you my final update:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month 

You can find my sign-up post with my TBR here, and you'll be able to tell that I didn't have the most successful ARC August. (Oh well... it was my first one, and there's always next year!) You'll also be able to find my weekly updates in my blog archive.

ARC Review: Dumplin'

Title: Dumplin'

Author: Julie Murphy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: September 15, 2015

Source: Books for Trade from Ashley

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

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

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

ARC Review: Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle

Title: Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle

Series: Vivian Apple

Author: Katie Coyle

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Source: HMH for Review Purposes

Add it to Goodreads 

“GET ANGRY. We should all be so pissed at the Church of America that we’re willing to break our hands in the metaphorical punching of its metaphorical face.”  —Harpreet Janda, fugitive   

The predicted Rapture by Pastor Frick’s Church of America has come and gone, and three thousand Believers are now missing or dead. Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple and her best friend, Harpreet, are revolutionaries, determined to expose the Church’s diabolical power grab . . . and to locate Viv’s missing heartthrob, Peter Ivey. This fast-paced, entertaining sequel to Vivian Apple at the End of the World challenges readers to consider how to live with integrity in a disintegrating world. 

ARC Review: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

Title: A Curious Tale of the In-Between

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Source: ARC from Bloomsbury

Add it to Goodreads

Pram Bellamy is special—she can talk to ghosts. She doesn’t have too many friends amongst the living, but that’s all right. She has her books, she has her aunts, and she has her best friend, the ghostly Felix.

Then Pram meets Clarence, a boy from school who has also lost a parent and is looking for answers. Together they arrive at the door of the mysterious Lady Savant, who promises to help. But this spiritualist knows the true nature of Pram’s power, and what she has planned is more terrifying than any ghost.

Lauren DeStefano is beloved by critics and readers alike, and her middle grade debut is lyrical, evocative and not to be missed.

ARC August Update: Week Three

Hey there, everyone! It's time for another ARC August update! I kind of forgot about a week two post, but today, I'm filling you in on how I've been doing since my first ARC August update post, which can be found here.

In case you don't remember or if you haven't heard of ARC August, here's the key information that you need:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month 

You can find my sign-up post with my TBR here, and see how I'm doing with my reading progress.

ARC Review: The Boy Most Likely To

Title: The Boy Most Likely To

Companion To: My Life Next Door

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: August 18, 2015

Source: Penguin Teen for Review
Add it to Goodreads

Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
- need a liver transplant
- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more. 

ARC August Update - Week One

Hey, you with the pretty face! Did you remember when I said I'd be participating in ARC August? No?! Well I am, and today, I'm bringing you my first update of the month. Albeit, it's kind of a short update, but I've managed to read one ARC with my busy life right now. (Seriously... it's been so busy... I had a birthday, I've been applying for teaching jobs like crazy, and I've got a few personal things going on. It's insane!)

In case you don't remember or if you haven't heard of ARC August, here's the key information that you need:

• It's an annual event hosted by Octavia and Shelly at Read.Sleep.Repeat 
• Participants try to read as many ARCs (advance reader copies) as they can during the month