Book Review: The Spectacular Now

Title: The Spectacular Now

Author: Tim Tharp

Format: Movie Tie-In Edition

Publisher: Ember

Publication Date: July 9, 2013

Original Publication Date: October 20, 2008

Source: Purchased at Half Price Books

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So, my girlfriend, Cassidy, is threatening to kick me to the curb again, my best friend suddenly wants to put the brakes on our lives of fabulous fun, my mom and big sister are plotting a future in which I turn into an atomic vampire, and my dad, well, my dad is a big fat question mark that I’m not sure I want the answer to.

Some people would let a senior year like this get them down. Not me. I’m Sutter Keely, master of the party. But don’t mistake a midnight philosopher like me for nothing more than a shallow party boy. Just ask Aimee, the new girl in my life. She saw the depth in the Sutterman from that first moment when she found me passed out on the front lawn. Okay, so she’s a social disaster, but that’s where I come in.

Yes, life is weird, but I embrace the weird. Let everyone else go marching off into their great shining futures if they want. Me, I’ve always been more than content to tip my whisky bottle and take a ride straight into the heart of the spectacular now.  

ARC Review: The Trouble With Destiny

Title: The Trouble With Destiny

Author: Lauren Morrill

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: December 8, 2015

Source: eARC from Delacorte Press
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It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey...

With her trusty baton and six insanely organized clipboards, drum major Liza Sanders is about to take Destiny by storm—the boat, that is. When Liza discovered that her beloved band was losing funding, she found Destiny, a luxury cruise ship complete with pools, midnight chocolate buffets, and a $25,000 spring break talent show prize.

Liza can’t imagine senior year without the band, and nothing will distract her from achieving victory. She’s therefore not interested when her old camp crush, Lenny, shows up on board, looking shockingly hipster-hot. And she’s especially not interested in Russ, the probably-as-dumb-as-he-is-cute prankster jock whose ex, Demi, happens be Liza’s ex–best friend and leader of the Athenas, a show choir that’s the band’s greatest competition.

But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. After the Destiny breaks down, all of Liza’s best-laid plans start to go awry. Liza likes to think of herself as an expert at almost everything, but when it comes to love, she’s about to find herself lost at sea.

ARC Review: Hit

Title: Hit (Hit#1)

Author: Delilah S. Dawson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: April 14, 2015

Rating: ☆☆
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster

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NO ONE READS THE FINE PRINT.

The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voice mail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country.

Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die?

Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy's list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own.

Since yarn bombing is the only rebellion in Patsy's past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren't strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy's list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice.

Delilah S. Dawson offers an absorbing, frightening glimpse at a reality just steps away from ours—a taut, suspenseful thriller that absolutely mesmerizes from start to finish.

ARC Review: Everything That Makes You

Title: Everything That Makes You

Author: Moriah McStay

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: March 17, 2015

Source: Giveaway Win from Danielle

Rating: ☆☆

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One girl. Two stories. 

Meet Fiona Doyle. The thick ridges of scar tissue on her face are from an accident twelve years ago. Fiona has notebooks full of songs she’s written about her frustrations, her dreams, and about her massive crush on beautiful uber-jock Trent McKinnon. If she can’t even find the courage to look Trent straight in his beautiful blue eyes, she sure isn’t brave enough to play or sing any of her songs in public. But something’s changing in Fiona. She can’t be defined by her scars anymore.

And what if there hadn’t been an accident? Meet Fi Doyle. Fi is the top-rated female high school lacrosse player in the state, heading straight to Northwestern on a full ride. She’s got more important things to deal with than her best friend Trent McKinnon, who’s been different ever since the kiss. When her luck goes south, even lacrosse can’t define her anymore. When you’ve always been the best at something, one dumb move can screw everything up. Can Fi fight back?

Hasn’t everyone wondered what if? In this daring debut novel, Moriah McStay gives us the rare opportunity to see what might have happened if things were different. Maybe luck determines our paths. But maybe it’s who we are that determines our luck.

ARC Review: The Tragic Age

Title: The Tragic Age: A Novel
Author: Stephen Matcalfe
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: March 3, 2015
Source: ARC from publisher via Goodreads First Reads giveaway program
Rating: ☆☆

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This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn’t always work— not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven’t applied to college.
　
Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another’s mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie’s. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by　creative acts of the soul.　

With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities.Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is—Billy doesn’t trust happiness. It's the age he's at.  The tragic age. 

Stephen Metcalfe's brilliant, debut coming-of-age novel, The Tragic Age, will teach you to learn to love, trust and truly be alive in an absurd world.

ARC Review: The Other Side of the Wall

Title: The Other Side of the Wall

Author: Simon Schwartz

Publisher: Graphic Universe

Publication Date: March 1, 2015

Source: eARC via NetGalley

Rating: ☆☆

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Simon Schwartz was born in 1982 in East Germany, at a time when the repressive Socialist Unity Party of Germany controlled the area. Shortly before Simon's birth, his parents decided to leave their home in search of greater freedoms on the other side of the Berlin Wall. But East German authorities did not allow the Schwartzes to leave for almost three years. In the meantime, Simon's parents struggled with the costs of their decision: the loss of work, the attention of the East German secret police, and the fragmentation of their family.

Book Review: The List by Siobhan Vivian

Title: The List

Author: Siobhan Vivian

Publisher: Push

Publication Date: April 1, 2012

Rating: ☆☆

Synopsis:
An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.

It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.

This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

My Review:

Mediocre is pretty much the only way that I can describe The List by Siobhan Vivian. It's just not a very good book. It's not even a good book. It's not terrible, but it's definitely something I won't be reading again.

Vivian's writing style is dull.  It lacks excitement and variation. She writes The List in the present third person, and that gives the book a rather boring readability. I felt like it was taking me forever to get through the book. I also felt like the third person, omniscient narration made it hard for me to connect with the characters.

One thing that I feel the need to mention here is the use of a terrible, terrible word to use as a synonym for "stupid." I don't even want to type the word in my review, but I'm sure you can guess that I'm referring to the R-word. As a teacher, I'm extremely mad about this. There are young girls reading this book. People are trying so hard to eliminate its use as an insult. It's not even in dialogue. It's just sitting there used to describe something. I don't know if I can take Vivian as a serious author after seeing that in a YA book. 

I can't even believe the ending of the book. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I was unsatisfied. There were some questions that needed answers that Vivian ignored. It's a shame that she didn't answer them in just a few more pages.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I'm a little upset because I'd been wanting to read The List for a while now, but you live and you learn. I'm just hoping that the Burn for Burn books I have sitting on my desk are nothing like this one.

Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Title: Losing It (Losing It #1)

Author: Cora Carmack

Genre: New Adult

Publication Date: October 12, 2012

Synopsis:
Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

My Review:

As you may know, I mostly review Young Adult books on this blog, but I do read other genres. New Adult was still something I hadn't tried before. I've heard the voices are still very similar to YA, so I figured I'd get around to it one day. I gave it a try when I found this book for free online, but I really think that it wasn't the best book to introduce me to new adult.

For some strange reason, I just couldn't take Bliss seriously. Yes, she's twenty-two and in her senior year of college. I felt like she was acting like a girl in middle school instead of someone who is about to graduate college and go into the real world. I get that she has some issues about not wanting to leave college with her v-card in tact, but to scheme with her friend just seemed unrealistic and insulting to women. 

Then there's the friend, Kelsey... She's supposed to be Bliss' best friend? If you ask me, she's a pretty terrible one at times, especially the beginning of the book. Like if you're really someone's best friend, you'll let them do things on their own... when they're really ready. 

Oh... the man. His name is Garrick, and Bliss pretty much swoons for him as soon as she sees him reading Shakespeare in a bar, even though she tries to play it cool. Alright... now I love Shakespeare, but I would never, ever read his sonnets or plays in a bar. Garrick isn't actually a bad character, and I'd say that I tolerated him better than the rest of the characters, but even he didn't seem fully developed.

The rest of the friends in the book are pretty static and boring. I felt like Cormack could have characterized them all a little better to give the book a little more variety. It's like they all had the same personalities.

I don't know... I think this book could have been a lot better if a little more thought was put into it. And a little more editing. There were so many mistakes in it that I really couldn't take it seriously. There were missing commas. There were commas in places where they shouldn't have been. Oh, and what editor missed "every once and a while" so many times? I know it was originally a self published book, but stuff like that really isn't that hard.

I'm glad I didn't pay for this book. I kind of enjoyed the plot, but there were just a few issues that bothered me.

Book Review: Rebel Belle

Title: Rebel Belle

Series: Rebel Belle

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Publication Date: April 8, 2014

Source: Purchased from Half Price Books

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

My Review

When first reading the synopsis for this book, I thought that it would be an interesting  and unique book that I wouldn't want to put down. A debutant with bad ass superpowers? It seemed like a thrilling tale and the perfect combination of girly and fierceness for me. I couldn't have been more wrong. I was not impressed, and I found myself making excuses and doing other things just so I could get a break from reading this book.

I had a lot of questions while reading this book. If you haven't read it, look away from the next paragraph because there may be some spoilers. Sorry.

First of all, Harper finds herself trapped in the bathroom while a murder is going on. Seems legit, right? Then, she is forced to murder her teacher. Okay... we're getting a bit weirder. 

There are quite a few plot holes and inconsistencies in this book. After Harper kills Dr. Dupont, it is mentioned that there is a substitute teacher once. Wouldn't you think the school would address the disappearance/murders of one of their teachers? That kind of bothered me. It is an important hole in the plot that I think should have at least been mentioned again. Also, it is mentioned that Harper's sister is dead. Hawkins mentions it a lot, but never really explains her death or how it happened. I'm guessing that is supposed to be more important than lead on? I hope Hawkins addresses this in the next book because it is mentioned so many times.
 
Now for the characters of the book. Harper really, really annoyed me. I can't even begin to list the many things that bothered me about her. It would probably take all day, so let's just assume that I dislike pretty much everything about Harper Price after reading the book and getting to know her. Now for Harper's boyfriend, Ryan. He seems pretty cool. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I really didn't know anything about him. I guess we'll learn more about him in the next book. David is actually one of the only characters I liked in this book. There are so many levels to his character, and I'm sure he will be even more interesting in the next book. Harper's great aunts are interesting ladies. I enjoyed reading about them, and I think I would much rather have read an entire book about them, especially the twins.

I don't know how to take this book. I don't live in the South, but it seemed like there were a lot of stereotypes mentioned. I don't know how Southern ladies would feel about how Hawkins writes about them.

Honestly, I don't know if I want to continue with this series. I feel like I lost brain cells while reading this book. I should have known I wouldn't have liked it, especially because there was no advance praise anywhere on the book, but I wanted to give it a chance.

Reviewer's Note: The little ribbons on the first page of every chapter are adorable. But now I'm off to figure out what this hummingbird cake is...