Tag Archives: Young Adult

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Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I wasn’t a huge fan of Divergent. I didn’t like Tris’ moral character, I didn’t swoon for Four, and I certainly didn’t buy their relationship. The only thing I really liked was how well Roth can write action.

Insurgent didn’t really change my feelings toward the series all that much.

I will still say Roth can write action. There’s hardly a moment of rest, and the few moments the characters do get are filled with the tension of waiting for the next big scene. It was fast-paced and amazing. I could picture everything in my head as I read, and the fight scenes were complex, but written in a way that makes it easy to picture.

Unfortunately, I still don’t really like Tris. Where in Divergent I thought she lost all sense of a moral center, in Insurgent she become reckless and stupid, under the guise of being brave and strong. Being brave does not mean tossing yourself into situations because you can. Brave is knowing when, how, and why to fight and when, how, and why to stand down. Tossing your life around because you can is not being brave or strong. I really, really hope Roth can finally make Tris the character she needs to be in the last book, but to be honest; I’m not holding my breath at this point.

The relationship between Tris and Tobias (Four) feels strained. There’s too much hidden, too many lies and little betrayals to have it feel like a good relationship. There’s only so many times a couple can ignore the problems with their relationship by making out before it blows up in their faces and can’t be repaired.

The action is the only thing that kept me reading this book. Knowing me, I will read the last book, simply because I’ve made it this far and I want to know how it ends. The twist at the end does have me interested, but unless the characters can manage to salvage themselves in the third book, this isn’t going to be a stand out series for me.

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Frozen by Mary Casanova

I really, really enjoyed Frozen. More than I thought I would. It tells Sadie’s coming of age story extremely well, and even though the mystery wasn’t really much of a mystery for me, I still found myself reading as quickly as I could, wanting to know the next chapter of the story.

Sadie Rose has been the unofficial daughter of the Worthingtons for 11 years, after the death of her mother and nearly freezing to death herself. She’s been mute since then, finding other ways to communicate. When she stumbles across pictures of her mother, something starts to change. She finds her voice, and learns that words can make her powerful.

She starts to fight against the confines she’s been held in for 11 years. She wants to think and be her own person, not held back by who her mother was, who the Worthingtons want her to be. She wants to find out where she comes from, and use that to decide who she wants to be. It makes for a compelling story about finding your own power and knowing who you are.

The relationship I loved most in this novel was the one between Sadie Rose, Aasta and Hans. Aasta and Hans give Sadie the loving relationship she needs and wants, and they give her the care the Worthingtons don’t. Their interactions always gave me a smile.

Frozen is a novel different than what I’ve been reading lately. It’s 1920’s setting gives it an interesting backdrop that really works with the underlying mystery. It’s a good read and definitely one I’ll be recommending to people.

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Inbetween by Tara A. Fuller

Inbetween is a cute, lighthearted read that I would have enjoyed a little more if there had been some mystery or suspense to keep me hanging on. As it stands, I didn’t really feel like I had to keep reading or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep, not knowing what was about to happen.

Emma was a likable character, but she felt a little flat. She never had that huge, brave, self-sacrificing moment where she becomes something more than just a girl. She wasn’t a deplorable girl, she just wasn’t exciting. I would have liked to see a little bit more from her; taking a stand, having a way to fight for herself.

Finn is a sweet guy, but he fell into the same trap Emma did. He did fight for what he wanted a little bit more, but he still wasn’t overly exciting or heroic. He doesn’t find a way to fight for what he wants, and even though he gets what he wants in the end, it felt a little anticlimactic to me.

The secondary characters are what made this novel for me, despite my wishy-washy feeling about the main characters. Easton, Anaya, and Cash could all make for extremely interesting stories and people. They have potential to become really great characters and stories in the upcoming novel.

The plot never lags, but it’s not overly exciting, either. It’s a simple read without being easy, if that makes sense. I had to pay attention as I read, but didn’t mind if a distraction came up. I could easily just right back into the novel wherever I left off.

Overall, Inbetween is a sweet, simple read for someone looking for a book to simply enjoy. You don’t have to think and try and be one step ahead of the action. It’s a good way to get lost for a couple hours in a sweet teen romance.

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The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt

I’ve read two of Lauren Barnholdt’s books and the thing I really liked about them was the characters seem so real. They’re teens who act a little melodramatic, feel emotions just a little too much, and don’t usually stop to think about how things will affect the future. Barnholdt writes real teens in her fictional books.

The Thing about the Truth is no different. Kelsey and Isaac are no different from her other characters in that they are perfectly written teens. They jump to conclusions and act impulsively, but they’re still sweet and wonderful.

I’m quite a bit like Kelsey; I’m usually deep into a novel wherever I go. She’s a little shy, thinks a lot about her future at college, and just wants to find a couple friends to fit with. She thinks with her heart before her head and it gets her into trouble.

Isaac is a nice guy who doesn’t always think and that’s what gets him into trouble. He’s supposed to be this perfect senator’s son, and under the pressure of looking good, he buckles and does imperfect things, getting him kicked out of private school and sent to public. Isaac may not always meet his father’s standards, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s sweet and attentive and it’s easy to see how much he cares for Kelsey.

I had a feeling this book would end the way it did, and I also had a feeling about what the huge incident was that got between them, but I still really enjoyed reading about the before and after. The Thing About the Truth is a speedy, but wonderful summer read that will leave you smiling, happy, and looking for that sweet romance.

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The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I was a little worried when I started this book because I had high hopes for it and I was worried it wouldn’t live up to them. The religious aspect of this book had me a little worried, too. All of my concerns were unfounded, though, and I loved this book.

Some people might be a little bothered by Elisa’s personality and I can see why. However, she was born a princess. She never really had to do things for herself; people were always there to do them for her. She didn’t know how to be brave because she never had a reason to be brave. As the novel goes along, she gains confidence in herself and finds the courage to do what must be done, even in the face of danger. She starts thinking and planning and behaving less like a princess and more like a warrior. I’m incredibly excited to see how Carson continues this in the next book.

In regards to the religious aspect of the book, I felt it was handled amazingly. Elisa was chosen by God to do some service for the world. She doesn’t know anything about what she might have to do, or why she was chosen. She considers it more a burden than a gift, simply because it puts so much pressure on her and she doesn’t have a clue what to do about it. Even as she learns more about what being chosen means, she still feels this pressure. People expect her to do something, but no one knows what or when or how, and yet she’s expected to do this miraculous thing.

Each country thinks they are doing the right thing, the thing God wants, and yet none realize that it says in their books that they do not know God’s real will. They are all doing things in the name of God, interpreting the written word in a way that benefits them. This was done in a way that was subtle and not preachy, and it really gets a lesson across. This may have been my favorite thing about how Carson wrote this novel.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns was a fantastic novel that drew me in right away. It’s fast paced, and has enough romance and action to keep everyone intrigued. It’s definitely worth a read and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next part of this series.

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Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I remember watching the Peter Pan movie was a kid and being completely fascinated with Neverland, Peter, and Wendy. There was something so sweet about their story; I fell in love right then. So when I heard about a story telling the before of Peter Pan, I was intrigued. I waited anxiously for this book to be released so I could dig in and fall in love.

Not one point of this book disappointed me. I knew it wasn’t going to end perfectly for the characters, simply because I knew the rest of the story. Tiger Lily only knows how to be her, and when someone arrives to her village that starts to say a person has to be a certain way in order to be right, she starts to question herself. She’s a girl, but doesn’t act like one. She doesn’t know how to take care of a home or sew. She knows how to hunt and swim and fit the expectations of being a boy. She doesn’t know what it means to love and when love is right in front of her, life falls apart and she loses herself.

Peter needs Tiger Lily to be everything he is, but just a little less so. He loves that she’s honest and can keep up with him, but it’s not until he meets Wendy that he realizes he wants Tiger Lily to be supportive of him as well, and that’s something she doesn’t know how to do. It hurt my heart as I read because as much as these two loved each other, it just wasn’t quite right and that was going to be their downfall. Even though they loved each other, they needed something different from each other. Unfortunately, they couldn’t change who they were to fit what they needed.

Tiger Lily is heartbreaking in how perfect it is. Even though the ending can be seen before even starting the book, I still spent the entire novel wishing it could end differently. The ending gave me peace, all the while breaking my heart so much I cried a little bit. This is definitely a book people need to read. It’s so achingly wonderful; I didn’t want to put it down.

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My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

I had such high hopes for My Life Next Door. It looked like a perfect summer read that would leave my heart fluttering and my cheeks sore from smiling. For the first half of the book, I was pretty happy. It was a little slow, but it was sweet. And then the second half of the book came along.

The first half of this book was cute, even if it felt like it was dragging at times. It was a light, summer read that had me smiling and happy, even when I would wish for something to happen. If Fitzpatrick had just continued on that nice path, this book would have easily been a 4 star, maybe even a 5 star book. The romance was sweet and perfect. Samantha and Jase were refreshing characters to read. They didn’t have one track minds, but they weren’t completely stiff as boards, either. Jase was that perfect high school love almost every girl wishes they had.

And then the second half of the novel hit.

I don’t like drama for drama’s sake. In My Life Next Door, it felt like the drama was only added so the book could be dramatic. The characters didn’t really grow because of the main event. They didn’t come to any life changing conclusions. I spent most of the last half of the book wanting to throw my Kindle against a wall in frustration because Samantha changed from a character I liked, to one I couldn’t stand. Even when she decided to do the right thing, she had already wasted so much time doing the wrong thing I couldn’t look past it. I read the entire novel hoping Samantha would grow a backbone. She was presented with opportunity after opportunity to stand up for herself and what’s right, but when she didn’t do what was right because she didn’t want to stand up for herself, I couldn’t handle her anymore.

There were little things left unresolved that nagged me too. Samantha’s friendship with Nan had been twelve years of their lives and it ended in a five minute conversation. I felt like that was pushed to the side in favor of the large dramatics. And Clay’s sleazeball ways weren’t really addressed, except to say he left. That’s all I got after having to deal with him being one of the most horrible people I’ve ever read?

I think what frustrates me the most about My Life Next Door is that it could have been amazing. It could have been a great read that got across the point that perfect lives are only perfect on the outside while having a great dose of boy swoons to go along with it. Instead, it’s a book with a nice first half, and a second half that completely falls apart. Unfortunately, I won’t be telling my friends and family to read this book. It had so much potential and fell completely flat.

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Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Once again, I judged a book by its cover. Only this time, the simplicity of the cover coupled with the title had me anxious to read Confessions of an Angry Girl. I also felt something for Rose, just based on the book summary. I hadn’t gone through the same things she did before entering high school, but I did have something that set me apart from everyone else.

Rose just lost her father, her brother has taken off for college, and her mom has basically shut down when it comes to doing the mom things. If all that isn’t tough enough, she’s starting high school, her friendships are strained, and a boy has her confused. It’s like the typical high school story, but with more layers to dissect.

I feel so much for Rose. She’s just confused on how she’s supposed to live now that her father is gone and life seems to take advantage of that. She grew up fast over the span of one summer, and unfortunately, her friends didn’t. She’s seen a side of life most of her friends haven’t yet, and that makes her the odd one out. I know exactly how that feels and it made me want to hug her through the entire novel.

This isn’t so much a romance novel as it is a story of Rose becoming comfortable and accepting her new normal. That said, there is a bit of a high school romance going on between Rose and Jaime. As frustrating as I found Jaime, he still makes Rose happy and because of that, I couldn’t be annoyed with him. He’s not the ideal guy for her, but he’s what she needs and that’s wonderfully set up for the next book.

Confessions of an Angry Girl is a fantastic novel that draws you right in and pulls at your heart with each turn of the page. It twists your heart just a little bit and makes you smile all at the same time. I can’t wait to read what happens next for Rose.

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Once by Anna Carey

As much as I try to escape them, book trilogies keep pulling me back in. I’ll love the first book, the second will be a major disappointment, and the third will somehow manage to make me love it more than I thought I could. I loved Eve and wanted to keep reading Eve’s story, even though most book sequels disappoint me and only act as a bridge between the first and last books. Carey didn’t fall into this trap. She wrote a book that had its own identity, while still needing the other books to tell a complete story.

In Once, there’s a pretty big opening shock. I certainly didn’t see it coming. But I liked it. It made things different than how I thought they’d go. The other plot twists have me thinking about people differently and looking at who I trust and who I don’t. I love when an author can mess me around that much and still make me love a book.

Of course, this isn’t a standalone novel. You need to read Eve in order to know about Once. However, Once does stand by itself in the sense that it has its own stories, its own plot that are different from those in Eve. It serves as a set-up for Rise, but it’s more than just the set-up. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Anna Carey for writing a sequel that wasn’t novel-length filler.

Eve and Caleb are still ever present and had my heart pulling for them so hard. They jump into some decisions, just like teens would, regardless of their circumstances. But they also are great planners and can think of nothing more than how to get to the future where they are together. One plot twist had my heart breaking, even though I saw it coming. I just want the future for these two that they dream of.

Once was a wonderful sequel that jumped right over the trap of the sequel slump. There’s love, action and plotting. It had me completely engrossed from start to end. It’s going to be a long, long wait for the finale and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

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Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

Beautiful Lies sounded like a book that was right up my alley. Plus, Warman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. There’s something about the way she writes a real story, one that doesn’t always have a happy ending, that draws me in, even though I always have a feeling my heart is going to be crushed several times as I read.

As a narrator, the main character is completely unreliable. And yet I believed every single word she said. I knew as I was reading that something wasn’t quite right with how she was viewing the world, and I still went along completely with her. She’s so unreliable as a narrator, that she becomes reliable. My heart was aching through the entire book, wanting to make things better for her, to tell her what was going on, to help her.

The plot of this novel had me guessing with every turn of the page. I never knew what was going to happen. I’d think I knew and suddenly there was another plot twist thrown in that had my head spinning is such a wonderful way. I wanted to figure the book out, I needed to, and that only propelled me to read faster and faster.

Beautiful Lies is a completely enthralling, entrancing novel that I couldn’t put down. If you like anything with a good mystery and suspense, read this book.