Tag Archives: Young Adult

by

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle

I was drawn to this book after reading books like If I Stay. I always try to go into reading a book without drawing too many comparisons between books with similar ideas. I’m sure if I were to compare The Beginning of After to If I Stay, I might find it lacking or not up to par, but instead, I view it as its own book as found it to be an emotional ride that didn’t feel fake or contrived.

Castle wrote the emotions of her characters so well, that even when she didn’t explicitly say what a character was feeling, as I reader, I could still tell. I could feel the confusion and hurt and anger of her characters. She was able to give them depth and a dimension that is rare to find in books. Where I usually find myself getting annoyed with characters that become selfish and seemingly lose themselves, I didn’t feel that way at all during this book.

Something else I enjoyed was just followed Laurel’s journey, from wanting someone to blame for the accident, to realize that she needs to find acceptance and live her life for her. That journey was easily placed into the novel, but wasn’t obvious. It made it feel extremely real. Things didn’t happen overnight for her. She came to realizations, but there weren’t many lightning bolts of reason, and when those did happen, they made sense; they fit.

Where If I Stay dealt with more of the emotional aspects of life after losing your family, The Beginning of After dealt with the emotion side, as well as the reality that the world goes on and you go with it. It’s a strong, amazing novel, and I’ve very glad to have read it.

by

Entwined by Heather Dixon

I know people say, “don’t judge a book by the cover,” but I can’t help but do that sometimes.

I started Entwined because I was in the book for something in the realm of fantasy and having to with royalty. I’ve always been fascinated with that world, and the cover of this book looked especially beautiful.

This book greatly lived up to the expectations I gave it. It was beautifully written, and it was a nice escape from the day to day reality of life, and you could really tell Azalea loved and greatly cared for her sisters. She stepped up and became the mother and father they needed when they didn’t have anyone else.

The difference between their real lives and how dreary it is compared to the secret world they discovered shows just how badly they want things to change. It’s clear they wish they lived the life of most royals, having lavish food and gift, but they’d settle for simply having a family life where they knew everyone cared for everyone else.

Azalea was a great, strong female character and I loved reading her story.

by

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

I got my copy of Legacy and couldn’t wait to read it. Forbidden-type romances really draw me in. There’s just something about two people you know should be together, and yet they can’t that makes me crave more words.

Legacy didn’t disappoint. It started a little slow, but I quickly got into in and found myself willing Alera to find her voice and really use it, to tell her father exactly what she wanted. Don’t get me wrong, she was already strong to begin with, but she was still very compliant and gave in to her sheltered world, not questioning things she should. When she started asking questions, the new strength she found was amazing.

Narian was able to make her see that there was so much beyond the walls she had been living in, a completely different world from the one she currently resides in. He told her that woman can have power, and should. The future should not be left up to the men only, and Alera needed to add her voice into the mix.

My heart was breaking towards the end of the book, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series to see how Kluver handles the future of her characters.

by

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

I have been anxiously awaiting Forever since I finished Linger last summer. My heart has been slowing breaking more and more, just waiting to learn the fate of Sam and Grace.

It did not disappoint me. My emotions kept going up and down, and I refused to put the book down any longer than absolutely necessary. I was enthralled from beginning to end.

I feel like I can’t give this book the praise it deserves without giving away everything, but I will say this entire series will be read and reread several times over. It was a beautiful end to a beautiful love story.

by

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I am always hesitant to start books that are the first of a trilogy, and have years left to go before the final conclusion. However, this book came highly, highly recommended and I decided to read it right away. And then ended up reading twice in as many days.

I am so glad I did. I love stories that involve Greek mythology. There are so many different stories and sides to those stories that you can take it anywhere. While Angelini took a few liberties with the mythology, she was able to explain why she changed it and had it make sense.

I feel like I can’t give it the review it deserves without giving too much of the story away. But I’ll say there is something in it for everyone, and I will be rereading it many times over as I eagerly await the next and last book in the series. They can’t be released soon enough.

by

Trickster’s Girl by Hilari Bell

Kelsa is having to deal with the loss of her father, and the distance her mother has put between them. Raven comes along and asks (forces, almost) her help in healing the world. The head to Alaska, stopping at different locations to heal the leys and help fix the world.

As much a story it was about healing the world, as they went on their journey, Kelsa was able to start healing herself, and see her as a powerful girl, ready to face the world after her father’s passing.

I missed the element of romance through the book, but I can understand why it was not involved. It wasn’t written to be a love story. It was written to show Kelsa become herself, and she didn’t need romance to do that.

by

The Last Little blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

Despite the slight disappointment of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, I was still wanting to read this book and see if it could top the previous.

It was better. The character were more developed and appeared more like actual people. It didn’t have that crazy travel sparkle like the first one did, but it made up for it with having real characters and I felt the dynamics were better explored in this one.

This was definitely a better book than the first, and I’m glad I made it past the first and was able to read it.

by

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

I thought this story had a lot of possibility. It was an interest premise that could have made for a fantastic book, but it fell a little flat. It was still a good book, but there was so much possibility that wasn’t met. There were some holes in the story that distracted me, as well.

The relationships weren’t really built up as much as I’d have liked. The one exception is that between Ginny and Richard. For as little as they are together, I enjoyed how they came to view and respect each other. The relationship with Keith was different for me. I’m not sure if I like it or not. I go back and forth with each chapter.

Overall, if I’m in need of a quick, low-angst read, I might read for this one and breeze through it.

by

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

If I Stay dealt with Mia’s choice. Where She Went deals with the aftermath. It’s three years after the accident, and true to his promise, Adam lets her be.

Adam is a celebrity, known for his band. Mia is a rising cello star at Julliard. In a twist of fate, one night Adam goes to Mia’s concert, and feel all those emotions and feelings that never really left him when he let Mia go.

After the concert, he meets Mia and she begins to show him her New York, and he falls in love with her all over again, and fast. They only have this one night to reconnect, but they want it to work so badly.

It’s whirlwind love, but it’s written in such a raw and powerful way that you can’t help but fall in love all over.

by

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

As someone in Colorado at the time of Columbine, and can remember that day and the ones that followed, this was a book I felt very compelled to read.

Valerie’s boyfriend went on a shooting spree through the school. His victims were ones that he and Valerie had put on a “hate list.” It was a way to release steam for her, but for him, it was more. So when the truth comes out after the shooting, it’s hard to not blame Valerie for at least part of it, even though she was the one that got in the way and stopped Nick from hurting more people.

Valerie makes the brave decision to go back to the high school for her senior year. She’s faced with the uncertainty of acceptance and having to face all those people that knew they were on the list. The school has been changed and soon, one of the girls that had been on the list reaches out to her, and helps her find some acceptance within the school and with herself.

I was moved to tears at the end of this book. It was one of the most emotional ending I have ever read, and I applaud Brown for tackling this subject with grace and respect and writing one of the best books I have ever read.