Zoe's Review: Origin by Jennifer L Armentrout

By: Une étudiante de BI on Saturday, March 29, 2014

Origin by Jennifer L Armentrout

Published by Entangled Publishing

Released: August 27th 2013

Paperback, 364 pages

2/5 Stars

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? 

And will they even be together?

Synopsis from Goodreads

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

This is what I got out the book:

1.  Daemon loves Katy (duh)
2. Katy loves Daemon (double duh)
3. They can’t keep their hands off each other (are we stupid?)
4. Jennifer Armentrout should stick with writing from a girl’s POV because the writing from Daemon’s POV sucked (badly)
5. Everyone in the book is pretty, beautiful, hot, or gorgeous (of course! Who would want to read a book about an average looking person and their life?)
6. Onyx, as well as Daedalus and Arum are bad, and Luxen are good
7. I think that’s about it (sorry JLA)

Lines that were repeated more than ten times in this book:

1. "I love you"
2. "It's not/wasn't your fault"
3. "I don't deserve you" or something along those lines
4. "I'm sorry"

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure why I gave her other books such high ratings. The plot line is entertaining in the first few books, but after a while, the stories just get boring and repetitive (The same goes for Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy books.). Basically, the action portion of this novel was not the problem, it was the romance. YES WE ALREADY KNOW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER, GET ON WITH IT. All they did was kiss, kiss some more, and then have sex. I do not want to read about that, thank you very much. It’s not that I don’t like romance, a little is ok, but when nothing happens in the relationship, that’s when it gets boring. And there are only so many ways you can describe kisses, right? Also, why is that all they do even though they are in constant danger? So unrealistic, but so is the circumstance and the book, I guess.

I feel like, Daemon and Katy (especially Katy) should be more traumatized. The reasons? They were taken in by the government, experimented on, forced to see people die because of the experiments, and scared for each other. In Katy’s case, she was tortured and beaten by other Hybrids, killed someone she was (semi) close to because of it, and put into seclusion for months… But as they escaped Area 51, Daemon was being cocky? Not the time. It seemed like there was never a recovery time in the book, except for that one time Katy cried. But I wanted to see some break in Daemon too. What did this experience do to him? His character is so stereotypical, because like every good-looking alien guy with super powers, he’s so confident that he doesn’t get scared/doesn’t show it, and never has bad moments. But is that really true? I don’t think so.

Anyways, these are some of my thoughts on Origin. Please if you have any comments, share them! Good or bad, doesn't matter.

-Zoe 

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Review: Vain by Fisher Amelie

By: Lilyan Jia on Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Vain by fisher Ameile
Self Published
Released: February 7th 2013
(first published Dec 24th 2012)
Paperback, 390 pages
Rating: FIVE STARS
Reviewed by Lilyan (:

If you’re looking for a story about a good, humble girl, who’s been hurt by someone she thought she could trust, only to find out she’s not as vulnerable as she thought she was and discovers an empowering side of herself that falls in love with the guy who helps her find that self, blah, blah, blah...then you’re gonna’ hate my story.

Because mine is not the story you read every time you bend back the cover of the latest trend novel. It’s not the “I can do anything, now that I’ve found you/I’m misunderstood but one day you’ll find me irresistible because of it” tale. Why? Because, if I was being honest with you, I’m a complete witch. There’s nothing redeeming about me. I’m a friend using, drug abusing, sex addict from Los Angeles. I’m every girlfriend’s worst nightmare and every boy’s fantasy.
I’m Sophie Price...And this is the story about how I went from the world’s most envied girl to the girl no one wanted around and why I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Synopsis from Goodreads


REVIEW:

I did not expect that this book would be so interesting or that I would like the protagonist so much. It was refreshing.

This story isn't just a typical love story. It was so much more than that. It's about understanding which things in life are actually worth fighting for, and that altruistic actions go a long way. 

This story is about a girl. Who's rich, spoiled, thinks the whole world should bow down to her, and well.. vain.

"I ruled because I was the hottest. You see, I'm one of the beautiful people." 

She thinks she can get away with anything. Until the night she gets caught for her second drug offence. The judge arranges for her to spend six months in a Uganda at an orphanage. She is horrified.

She's totally out of her element. She's never been anywhere so remote and different, never mind having to actually work. Despite her flaws, she isn't stupid or ditzy. She only craves attention so much because attention = adoration. Which is the closest thing she was come to love. Her mother and father are distant. They're always gone on business trips and when they are home, they don't talk. She even has her own wing in their house, opposite of her parents. When they do talk, it's when other clients come and they put up the image that they are a happy, seemingly perfect family, with an obedient daughter. Her father pays her to come to dinner parties and to keep up appearances. She wants to run leave her home behind and start anew. But she needs the money, she was no idea how to support herself.

"I absently recognized that that was the first physical contact I'd had with my father in more than six months." 

So when she finds out she needs to go to Africa she is scared. She doesn't want to admit it but she's scared. Spencer, one of her only real friends, tries to keep her happy and console her. He and Sophie have the some problem. He wants to break the cycle and get out of his family business, He wants to peruse something different. I absolutely adored Spencer.

Something about him caused Sophie to think twice about her actions. 

"...sent that secret thrill though my stomach again, but it was short-lived by that nagging sense of guilt. What is wrong with me?" 

When Sophie arrived in africa and met Dingane ( or Ian ) for the first time, I laughed so much. I could tell I already liked him. Sophie and Ian's interaction was really interesting to read. It was beautiful so see their relationship morph into something so strong and touching. Ian looked right past her "perfectness" and saw her for who she is. Even in the beginning. I loved watching it all unfold. It was gradual and not the "omg i love you from the first day" thing. And it was great. 

“It’ll be all right,” Ian assured me.

“How do you know?” I asked when he revved the engine.“I don’t,” he said, “but I’ll protect you.” 

and also:

"My eyes closed when he pulled the bands holding both braids and they slipped off into his hands, His fingers deftly freed both plaits painfully slowly all the way to the top of my head. finally, I felt his fingers sift through the length to the ends.

"It's the favorite part of my day."

My eyes opened lazily. "What do you mean?" I whispered.

"When you undo them and run your hands throughout the waves. That my favorite part of the day."

AND ALSO, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW HE SWEEPS THE SHOWERS FOR SOPHIE SO THERE AREN'T ANY BUGS LEFT WHEN SHE SHOWERS. *swoon*

Now, let's get serious. My heart clenched for all the children suffering. It's one thing reading about it on the news but it's another, when you're getting information from an emotional stand point, watching it all unravel in your mind. 

I remember the KONY 2012 thing. I remember watching the 30 minute long video on what was happening to all the children and their families. I felt so small at that moment. i think that's when I started wanting to be a human rights activist or just someone who could help the east be a better place. I'll get there someday. 

I loved how Fisher Amelie could just entwine fiction and things that are actually happening. My heart broke even further when Ian was explaining who Joseph Kony was and that he was the reason why all these children were orphans. 

It amazes me how strong those kids are, to wake up everyday and try to put a smile on their face and sing and laugh and do whatever normal kids do.

Sophie definitely felt the same way. She realized there were so many more pressing problems than having a bad hair day. Throughout the book something grew within her, she opened up her heart for the children and their cause. She planned to rebuild the orphanage and she noticed the small things she took for granted.

Pembrook, Sophie's attorney and her father's assistant, treats Sophie more like a daughter than her father does. But she doesn't realize how important Pemmy is to her and how much he does to help her until then. Sophie learns and sees things differently and she learned to be thankful.


"Thank you Pemmy. I appreciate it." Silence defended over the phone and I was afraid I'd lost him. "Pembrook? Are you there? I think I lost him," I told Ian's questioning face.

"No-no, I'm here. I'm here. You've just never said that before."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"That you appreciate me."

"Well that's a shame," I told him sincerely, "because I do. I always have. I'm sorry." 

Aside from a typos/grammatical errors, this book was basically perfect. It was moving and there no dull moments. All the characters had a purpose. This is a one sitting kind of novel. I liked to book from the start, and just got better and better. Read it, it's worth your time.

- Lilyan

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Review: World After by Susan Ee

By: unknown on Tuesday, March 25, 2014




 World After by Susan Ee

Published by Skyscape

Released: November 19th 2013

Paperback, 314 pages

FIVE STARS

Angela's Thoughts

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.
Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Summery from Goodreads



Thoughts:


*cue the whining* I WANT MOOORRRREEEEEEEEEEEE.

no, seriously. this has GOT to be the fastest book ive ever read. I just flew through it. I opened it, then about five seconds later, I was finished (im only exaggerating a little bit). so you know, I NEED MORE. NOW.

I liked this just as much as the first one, but my gut instinct tells me to give this one a four (I suspect its the lack of Raffe but whatever)(nah, loved it too much. gave it a five :D). Everything is so KICK ASS, especially Penryn. One of my favourite heroines. Raffe was missing basically 4/5 the time which I was NOT okay with. NOT. AT. ALL. but when he came in, I kind of died a little. The world building is so great and realistic.

World After is fast paced with non stop action. It's like this gun that keeps shooting green skittles (my favourite), other types of candy (I kinda have a thing for candy if you didn't know) and all kinds of cavity loving things at me that I have to stop everything I'm doing to catch it all until it finishes shooting. That was possibly the worst metaphor ever given. I apologize.

I LOOOOOOVED the flash back scenes where Penryn saw the world through Raffe when they first met, etc. (?) Sometimes, it's SO HARD to understand why a mighty, attractive, being (angel in this example) would be drawn to a mere girl. When it comes to other books, hell, it doesn't even make sense.
Girl: Oh, I'm so boring and plain and I'm not even pretty and I need you to save me every single day because I'm just so useless.
Guy: OH, THATS ALRIGHT. I LOVE YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST SO DARN EXTRAORDINARY EVEN WHEN YOU SAY YOU'RE NOT.
I don't understand. 凸-.-凸 It was described so, WHATS THE WORD. Anyways I could connect with Raffe and see Penryn through his eyes and why he liked her. It's written so perfectly I was going to cry. Both Penryn and Raffe are such great characters, they're so three dimensional, and their connection so REEEEAAL. <3

I almost died when Raffe asked about the name of his sword which Penryn named. I was having a major laugh attack, oh man.

“Have you named her yet?” he asks. “She likes powerful names so maybe you could appease her by giving her a good one.”
I bite my lip as I remember telling Dee-Dum what I named my sword. “Um, I could rename her anything she likes.” I give him a cheesy smile.
He looks like he’s bracing himself for the worst. “She gets named once by each carrier. If you’ve named her, she’s stuck with it for as long as she’s with you.”
Damn.
He glares at me as if he already hates it. “What is it?”
I consider lying but what’s the point? I clear my throat. “Pooky Bear.”
He’s silent for so long I’m beginning to think he didn’t hear me when he finally says, “Pooky. Bear.”
“It was just a little joke. I didn’t know.”
“I’ve mentioned that names have power, right? Do you realize that when she fights battles, she’s going to have to announce herself to the opposing sword? She’ll be forced to say something ridiculous like, ‘I am Pooky Bear, from an ancient line of archangel swords.’ Or, ‘Bow down to me, Pooky Bear, who has only two other equals in all the worlds.’ ”Pooky Bear. Oh god. Dying with laughter.

There are three more books after this. Three. More. Books. Let that sink in...okay start screaming. I was honestly so afraid while reading this that it was going to be a trilogy. There's so much more GREATNESS that could be told, and three books just ain't enough. Whew. But 2015. The wait might kill me before it comes out. I think my heart is being ripped to shrilly shreds just thinking about it. *dies*

This isn't really a "review" and more of a reaction and a list of things I loved about this book. Well, I loved everything so go read the book. I'm not going to write a "review" either because I don't feel the need to, really. Basically, Susan Ee is AWESOME, and so is Angelfall and World After. If you don't read these books, it's like you're throwing cake away. Now why in the whole freaking world would you ever do that.

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Review: Red by Alison Cherry

By: unknown on Tuesday, March 25, 2014




 Red by Alison Cherry
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Released: October 8th 2013
Hardcover, 320 pages
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Reviewed by Angela

Felicity St. John has it all—loyal best friends, a hot guy, and artistic talent. And she’s right on track to win the Miss Scarlet pageant. Her perfect life is possible because of just one thing: her long, wavy, coppery red hair.

Having red hair is all that matters in Scarletville. Redheads hold all the power—and everybody knows it. That’s why Felicity is scared down to her roots when she receives an anonymous note:

I know your secret.

Because Felicity is a big fake. Her hair color comes straight out of a bottle. And if anyone discovered the truth, she’d be a social outcast faster than she could say "strawberry blond." Her mother would disown her, her friends would shun her, and her boyfriend would dump her. And forget about winning that pageant crown and the prize money that comes with it—money that would allow her to fulfill her dream of going to art school.

Felicity isn’t about to let someone blackmail her life away. But just how far is she willing to go to protect her red cred?


Summery from Goodreads




You know those books where you find the synopsis utterly ridiculous? But you have to read just to see if the book is actually joke or not? I seriously thought this book was a big joke when I first read the summery. Red hair gets you the golden pass in life? wHAT. it's so ridiculous I had to read it. I was SO ready to give a full blown rant about how this book was stupid. Welllll, I guess now I can't. Because it wasn't, and it took me by one hell of a surprise. I actually ended up enjoying this a lot, but had a few issues still.

(below is how I, ANGELA, comprehended this book. it might be off, it might be beside the point, heck, it might be even completely wrong but it's okay.)

To me, I think is book is still more or less a joke. The concept, at least. The meaning and message is NOT a joke, but it uses the red hair as a way to convey this message. At first you might think, WTF. Red hair? A town that loves red hair? If you got it, flaunt it. It gets you places, in this town. Front of the line and all sorts of other discriminatory luxury things. What even.

The red hair might just represent how beauty, or other skin deep attributes and how humans are twisting those attributes to be worth more than they are. I mean, red hair is great, but you don't just give the power to those who have red hair. Or beauty, for example. If you got the "ideal" traits (which is pretty much bullshit), humans automatically place them above others who do not. I'm not getting into a discussion about what is "beauty" and the meaning it. I'm not. And I won't.

In Scarletville, everyone who has red hair is respected. Felicity has gorgeous, coppery red hair so she is also popular, has great friends, a hot boyfriend and is on her way to win the pageant. When you just read what I wrote, is it not ridiculous? Now, let's compare it to something else like high school. Everyone has those popular girls in their school, am I right? And what do all those girls have in common? Their freaking looks. Most of them all are pretty. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I'm not saying that all pretty people are "popular", it all depends on the person. They've got lots of "friends", boyfriends, gets invited to all the parties, etc. This doesn't mean they are good people, it just means their looks make people "like" them more than their personality. Which is pretty much very goddamn screwed up.

We might have paid attention to this before, but perhaps we didn't think about how stupid it is. Your LOOKS, determine your social standing in life. Um, what? Okay maybe not life. I'm still young, I don't know what is life yet. Let's still stick to high school for now. I'm not saying that this is always the case, because it's not. It's not, so DONT GET THE WRONG IDEA. But it is, for a lot of cases and it's totally irrational. It's ridiculous. It is, isn't it? Now is it such a big joke that the people in Scarletville treasure red hair, and place them high on their undeserving pedestal? Maybe not.

It's stupid, and illogical and I think maybe the author is trying to get us to realize that through this book. We don't realize how idiotic it is, but this book does a wonderful job of shedding some light on this subject. WAIT. Maybe, I am wrong. Maybe the author and none of the crap I just wrote in mind while writing and it's just about a town who loves red hair. Maybe. Maybe not.

Besides all those opinions I shared above (I'm kinda cookoo sometimes), this book is addicting. It's surprisingly suspenseful, agonizing and made me realize how shallow I am. I REALLY NEED TO START WORKING ON THAT. It's interesting and kept me reading till I finished. The book includes a lot of stereotypes, some annoying characters who were so damn stupid but overall is enjoyable. The romance wasn't heavy, kind of a background thing going on. It was cute, but the story wasn't centred on it so it wasn't overwhelming.

*please do not get offended by my use of "beauty" above. don't try to talk to me about deep philosophical shit about what beauty means and I didn't consider it and how I used the example of it wrong because beauty comes from within blah blah blah don't. don't. I'm only speaking of it in the relative sense, so use your common sense and don't argue about what is beauty because I am not in the mood.*

Give this book a try. Let it enlighten you. :3


*please also do not get the impression that im trying to be deep and wannabe oh-so-wise. im not. SERIOUSLY. its only my opinion and you do not have to agree with it.*


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Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

By: Lilyan Jia on Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Distance Between Us
By Kasie West
Publsihed by Harper Teen
Released: July 2nd 2013
Paperback,  320 pages
Reviewed by Lilyan
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Review:


I WROTE MY ENTIRE REVIEW OUT AND THEN MY COMPUTER SHUT OFF. 


#bookstruggles

stars: 3.5

*sighs* Take 2:
I really enjoyed this book but I felt as though somethings were just a little bit off. Everything was done well but there's just that little nagging feeling that something was missing.

This novel is basically about a girl named Caymen who lives with her mother on top of there porcelain doll store called: "Dolls and More" 

Her family is struggling to make ends meet as Caymen's father left them and her mother's parents basically disowned my mother for having a kid out of wedlock. It's just the two of them.

Then Caymen meets a boy. (duh). They're different, yet the same. Xander's family is rich and they own a chain of really successful hotels. While sales aren't going so well on Caymen's side of things. They are behind on bills and she even skips school to help her mother work at the doll store.

But while they are so different they both find common ground. They don't want to do what their families want them to do. Caymen doesn't want to work at the doll store and Xander doesn't want to take over the family business.

Stuff happens and there a couple plot twists. 
I can't tell you anything for or else you would already know everything. But if you have read the book, or don't mind spoilers... proceed.

-----------------------------------------

I liked this book i really did. The book was witty and really enjoyable. but, there where somethings that put me off.

1) Did Caymen's mom have another job part time? because she should have. Caymen worked at Dolls and More 75% of the time i would say. Which gives her mother fee time to get another job. Money is tight. I know they both work really hard but they were $3000 behind. THREE THOUSAND. 

2) In the end, it kinda implies that Xander did take on the family business which i though was weird. Their common ground was them both wanting to break the mold. They Even tested out careers that they could do together, and he ending up just doing what his dad wanted? what.

3) speaking of Xander's dad. Did he actually like Caymen or was it because he knew her grandparents were rich? Because seemed really friendly but Xander described him all cold and stern. 

4) Caymen's mother should have tried to make amends with her grandparents. I get that it's tough to speak to someone who has shut you out, but it's for the sake of your daughter. 

5) when Caymen got to meet her grandparents, her grandparents didn't apologize to her or her parents. I thought it was too weirdly content.


While there where those ^^ there were good things too

Caymen is a really interesting narrator and her sarcasm and sense of humor is hilarious to me. She's also super relatable.

Is that your subtle way of saying you missed me last week?"

"I've missed my hot chocolate. I just think of you as the guy who brings it to me. Sometimes I forget your name and call you hot chocolate guy.”

Caymen works so hard and she's just an awesome character. 

The interactions with xander are so cute and thoughtful. The shawdowing careers stuff made me 'awwww' especially when they were digging graves. haha

“So Caymen..."
"So, Xander..."
"Like the islands."
"What?"
"Your name. Caymen. Like the Cayman Islands. Is that your mom's favourite place to visit or something?"
"No, it's her third favourite place. I have an older brother named Paris and an older sister named Sydney."
"Wow." He opens the bag, takes out a muffin, and hands it to me. The top glistens with sprinkled sugar. "Really?"
I gently unwrap it. "No.”

I really liked skye and mason and toad. They were such fun characters and they just added so much for life to the story. 

“You two are the most in-love not-dating people I’ve met.” 

The book was cute and made me smile but I would say that pivot point was better. I look forward to reading split second in the near future :D


-Lilyan (:

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Review: To Know A Fly by Vincent G. Dethier

By: Lilyan Jia on Thursday, March 20, 2014

To Know A Fly
by Vincent G. Dethier
Published 1962 by Holden-Day
Paperback, 119 pages
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Lilyan (:

THIS WAS SO GOOD. IT'S HILARIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC, WHICH IS AWESOME. #dftba

This is not the kind of book I usually read mostly because it's non-fiction. And I love fiction.

I originally just read his because I wanted extra credit from my science teacher. I thought it was going to be boring.
But this book was surprisingly hilarious. Dethier had these witty, comical comments and they made me laugh. The novel starts out talking about how why we should test on flies and how it’s an obvious choice because they’re always here-like taxes. There’s also the fact that it would save so much space, money, and time. While he gives us facts and statistics, he also put in little anecdotes about his past experiences. 

“Have you even tried to buy fly paper these days?”

“I’ll bet you a bottle of beer of you fail.”

Then the next few chapters start to elaborate on tests they did on the flies. They wanted to find out if a fly could possess a sense of taste. Is it similar to ours? How well can they detect taste? So they basically stuck flies on the ends of pencils with wax, and put them in pots with different amounts of sugar dissolved in water. When a fly got close they extended their proboscis’ to drink, and they only extended when they could tell that there was sugar in the water. 

Dethier did the test with actual people and they couldn't detect any sugar in the pot flies could. With meant that they could detect taste much better than we can. After that there are a whole lot more experiments, including conducting surgeries to create two flies stuck together, so they share the same blood stream. And also cutting the flies’ necks open. Yay!

My favourite part was when “Mr.X” figures out the most brilliant yet simple way to measure how much water the flies were drinking. It was basically a jar with a two piece lid. He made two tubes and sculpted them into a ‘J’ formation and filled them with water, marking to point where the water filled up to. The next day, he took a syringe and filled up to the line he drew, and from that, he calculated how much water was consumed. Later, he one-upped that by covering the feeding tubes with conducting paint. Wires then went from the inside of the jar, came out through a small hole in the lid and went inside an amplifier that was attached to a recording instrument which drew wavy lines. Whenever a fly would drink, the machine will start drawing straight lines. Now they could tell when they were eating. Genius. 

I thought this book was great, it was thought provoking and was interesting from the beginning. The little drawings were hilarious and the narrator was funny. The book didn’t ever start to get boring; it was awesome the whole way through. Also, the concepts and all the experiments were explained in a way which made sense and the anecdotes provided some more depth in a really fun way. I immensely enjoyed this.

- Lilyan :D

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Review: Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

By: Lilyan Jia on Thursday, March 20, 2014

Faking Normal 

By Courtney C. Stevens

Published by HarperCollins 

Released: February 25th 2014

Hard Cover 321 pages

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewed by Lilyan (:

Alexi Littrell hasn't told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in "the Kool-Aid Kid," who has secrets of his own. As they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face the truth.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Review:

Reading this book really leaves an impact. It's just one of those books, where you know from the very first page, that the content in this book is serious and deals with very real situations. I know a lot of people dislike these books, not because the writing is bad-in fact, it's incredible. But because they can't take it. It's in first person after all. These types of books are not for all people, but I can honestly say, that this book is the most unforgettable book I've read so far this year. 

I usually just pick a book that books interesting or catches my eye. I don't usually read descriptions because sometimes they defer me from reading the book. Sometimes the synopsis doesn't give the book justice or the descriptions are nothing like the actual book so they're a let down.

I didn't read this books synopsis. I just jumped into it, expecting something different. And it was. Rape is not usually writing about in Young Adult books. One, because it's a subject hard to write about. Two, I think people skip over the fact that rape is a very real thing, that happens every single day. To men or women. Teens now a days just talk about sex flippantly and nonchalantly, as if it's as trivial as brushing your teeth. It creates the impression that sex is no big deal. 

for example:

Person A: you cheated on me

person B: but it was a mistake

person A: okay as long as you didn't mean it.

*gets back together*

What about the person that person B slept with? what really happened? People usually skip over details that they don't want to know about. But the details are important. 

I remember reading Speak in English class. This book and that book had similarities. But Faking Normal was different. A good different. Faking Normal took a different approach. This book was not only about Alexi, but Bodee too. We don't know what happened to Alexi at first straight out. But you know something bad happened to her. It was not hard to guess, but you had to read between the lines a little. In speak, it was straight out. From the first few chapters you already know what happened to her and who did it.

Bodee and Alexi both have their own problems but together they help each other in mutual understanding. 

"I never understood like could be so dramatically sectioned, but it can. It is. There is only after and before. 

My moment was by the pool; Bodee's is by the casket."

This story was truthfully refreshing. Courtney C. Stevens wrote in such a way, it's hard to believe this is her first novel. The characters were developed perfectly and each character had a distinct voice. Everyone should definitely read this book. Even if you don't like it, it will a least affect you in some kind of way. I feel that this book should replace Speak in the grade 8/9 curriculum.

There is so much more to say, but I don't want my opinions to in anyway to influence what you feel when reading this novel. It's an experience. 

side note: just this morning when i was about to write this review type thing, Charlie Mcdonnell on youtube made a video on Sex and Consent. : 

Charlie's Video

also Hank Green made a video too around a week ago. woo dftba :

Hank's Video

- Lilyan

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Review: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

By: unknown on Thursday, March 20, 2014

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published by Harlequin Teen

Released: February 25th 2014

Paperback, 400 pages

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewed by Angela

One kiss could be the last

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.
But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

Summery from Goodreads

Review:

The thing about JLA is that all her books are more or less the same. Being a big fan of her, I do enjoy her books a whole lot. The writing, humour, its no doubt entertaining. But...that's it really. Covenant, Lux, Dark Elements basically all have the same feel to it. It's not bad, which is why I keep reading her books, but for people who wish to read something different, well...you're not going to get it.

I wasn't really planning on reading White Hot Kiss, mostly because of the cover. It seemed adultish which I'm not in the mood to read. Well, its not my preferred genre. I didn't look much into it either, finding out whether its YA, NA or plain adult. But after a Facebook status clarifying that it was YA, I decided to give it a try.

It didn't disappoint, obviously. I'm glad I read it because it was largely entertaining and interesting. But again, it didn't leave much of an imprint on me either.

Most of the characters were fine. I didn't fall in love with any of them, but I did really like Roth :'D And Layla is just too damn special. And everyone just likes her so damn much. smh. She wasn't my favourite heroine but she wasn't so annoying that I wanted to kick her off a cliff saying good riddance. Other characters were just ehh. I'm not very invested in their well being. I would say sorry if they died but I wouldn't mean it. Sorry. (I think Roth is rubbing off on me :P)

I was only a bit confused about the world. Wardens have come out of hiding and been exposed to the public. And...it seems like the rest of the world is pretty A-Okay with that. Sure, there's been rallies and some discrimination but I thought the world would go somewhat berserk. I mean, WARDENS MAN, you don't just go on with the rest of your life acting like nothings really changed. Idk. Its weird.

Gargoyles aren't my thing. They aren't. Lets just say I've come across this disturbing book about them innocently browsing Goodreads. *shivers* I wasn't too pumped after hearing that this is what the book was going to be about. After I've read it, my view of gargoyles has risen a bit from utter disgust. Wardens are portrayed almost human in here, and not badassery enough. They were just going on in their lives and its hella boring. Gimme some action.

Either you're a fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout, or not, or have never read her books or heard about them, this is worth it. All her books are worth it, really.


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