Chasing Shadows

Goodreads

TITLE: Chasing Shadows

AUTHOR: Swati Avasthi

GRAPHICS: Craig Phillips

PUBLISHER: Alfred A. Knopf

PUBLICATION DATE: 9/24/2013

PAGES: 320

MY RATING:

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Before: Corey, Holly, and Savitri are one unit--fast, strong, inseparable. Together they turn Chicago concrete and asphalt into a freerunner's jungle gym, ricocheting off walls, scaling buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. But acting like a superhero doesn't make you bulletproof....

After: Holly and Savitri are coming unglued. Holly says she's chasing Corey's killer, chasing revenge. Savitri fears Holly's just running wild--and leaving her behind. Friends should stand by each other in times of crisis. But can you hold on too tight? Too long?

In this intense novel, Swati Avasthi creates a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity. Two girls who will find out just how many ways there are to lose a friend...and how many ways to be lost.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: During the first couple of pages, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy reading this. Then something in the story happened and I was hooked. The ending wraps up very nicely and left me completely satisfied. The graphic novel aspect of the book was interesting. For me, I found it distracting and wanted to get back to the written story, but I understand how some people would really enjoy it.

CHARACTERS: Holly makes me so mad. She's so reckless and one-track minded. She doesn't care who she hurts to get what she wants.

COVER: The cover is really nice. It's not one of my favorite covers, but it does fit the story very well.

*I received an ARC copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Fangirl Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Fangirl

AUTHOR: Rainbow Rowell

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin

PUBLICATION DATE: 9/10/2013

PAGES: 416

MY RATING:

BACK COVER SUMMARY: Cath doesn't think she's good at life--but she's really good at being a fan. She's been writing fanfiction since she was twelve, and she's gotten kind of famous in that world. But college is another "story." She's got a mean roommate (with a too-friendly boyfriend), her twin sister's ignoring her, her dad's a mess, her writing professor is pushing her too hard...She keeps having to rise to the occasion, but all she really wants to do is stay in her room and write. Is Cath ready to live her own life, write her own stories, and open her heart to someone? Or will she just go on living inside her fictional world?

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I really enjoyed reading this. I fell in love with the story, the characters, everything. I felt super warm and fuzzy and happy after finishing this book. This story connects with me and how my college days were. I was also the girl who just wanted to stay in her room and was afraid to venture outside of my comfort zone. I really enjoyed reading about Cath and the way she changed and learned to give new experiences a chance before shutting them out completely.

CHARACTERS: My favorite character is Levi. His character is just so awesome. He's always there for his friends with no questions asked and he's so nice to everyone.

COVER: I think the cover is cute and sums up the book pretty well. I like the simplicity of it.

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Wasteland Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Wasteland

AUTHORS: Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan

PUBLISHER: Harper Teen

PUBLICATION DATE: 3/26/2013

PAGES: 336

MY RATING:

BACK COVER SUMMARY: The citizens of Prin don't have the problems that plague typical teens. At 15, they marry. At 17, they reproduce. And at 19, they die.

There's also the looming threat of rampant disease, acid raing, starvation, and brutal attacks by the variants -- hermaphroditic outcasts that live on the outskirts of Prin.

Ester thinks there's more to life than toiling under the relentless sun. Her best friend is a variant, and she longs to join the fringe community, to escape the judgment of Levi, the corrupt ruler who controls the Source. When a mysterious stranger named Caleb arrives in town, shady pasts begin to unravel, and the two rebels realize that they must team together to fight for their lives and for the freedom of Prin.

Wasteland is the thrilling first book in a fast-paced trilogy with high stakes...of life or death.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I didn't like this story. I was excited at the beginning of this book after reading the summary, but it fell flat for me. The story didn't seem to go anywhere. I was really interested in the variants, but we don't get to find out much about them and that was disappointing. Harper Teen usually comes out with some amazing books and they are definitely my favorite publisher when it comes to putting out the best books, but I feel like they missed with this one. I am pretty sure that I will not be picking up any of the other books in this trilogy.

CHARACTERS: I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I felt like they were flat and didn't have very strong personalities.

COVER: I do like the cover. I love that the title is made up of wood boards. The cover is the most exciting part of this book.

**I received an ARC copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend Review

Goodreads

Amazon

TITLE: Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend
AUTHOR: Louise Rozett
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 6/25/2013
PAGES: 279
MY RATING:

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Rose Zarelli has big plans for sophomore year--everything is going to be different. This year, she's going to be the talented singer with the killer voice, the fabulous girl with the fashionista best friend, the brainiac who refuses to let Jamie Forta jerk her around...

...but if she's not careful, she's also going to be the sister who misses the signals, the daughter who can only think about her own pain, the "good girl" who finds herself in mid-scandal again (because no good deed goes unpunished) and possibly worst of all...the almost-girlfriend.

When all else fails, stop looking for love and go find yourself.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I didn't know that this was the second book in a series when I got it. I don't have the first book and I don't really plan on reading it because I have too many books in my TBR pile, but I figured I'd give it a shot and try to read it anyway.

In the opening scene, I feel like there's way too many characters. I don't know if they're in the first book, but when reading this I got a little lost. I'm assuming that we gradually meet these characters in the previous book and if I had read that one first, I would be able to keep track of everyone. 

The book was okay. Not one of my favorites, but I did read through it pretty quickly. I just feel like nothing really exciting happened in the story line.

CHARACTERS: I feel like there wasn't a lot of character development or growth with any of the characters.Also, Robert is so annoying and when reading any scenes with him in it, I just wanted him to go away.

COVER: The cover is fine. I like the blue streak in the model's hair.

**I received a finished copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Dare You To Review

Goodreads

Amazon

TITLE: Date You To

AUTHOR: Katie McGarry

PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen

PUBLICATION DATE: May 28, 2013

PAGES: 456

MY RATING:

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does...

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock--with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Ask out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams--and his life--for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This book was amazing. I loved every bit of it. I read the first book in the series and while back, so I didn't remember a whole lot about what happened in that book, but this is a completely different story. This book follows two other characters, and you could easily read this book without having read the first one. 

This book was so emotional and I love reading books that can make me feel something.

CHARACTERS: Beth and Ryan are both really great characters, but I really enjoyed reading about Beth's story. It is so heartbreaking, and I feel all of her joy and devastation as she struggles to find herself throughout the book.

COVER: The cover is great! I love that the image from the book jacket is printed under the cover directly on the book too. It looks like it should be a poster!

**I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.