Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings Review

TITLE: Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings
AUTHORS: Michelle Knight with Michelle Buford
NARRATOR: Maria Cabezas
PUBLISHER: Recorded Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/6/2014
FORMAT: Audiobook
LENGTH: 7 hours 14 minutes
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #26: READ AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY - 2 POINTS

SUMMARY (FROM GOODREADS): Michelle was kidnapped in 2002 by a Cleveland school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade afterward she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004. Their escape on May , 2013, made headlines around the world. Millions of well-wishers now wonder: What really happened in that house, and how did Michelle find the strength to go on?

Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons list fifteen months after she vanished. Castro tormented her with these facts, reminding her that no one was looking for her, that the outside world had forgotten her. But Michelle would not be broken. Heartbreaking, shocking, and ultimately triumphant, Finding Me reveals the details of Michelle's story, including the thoughts and prayer that helped her find courage to endure her unimaginable circumstances and now build a life worth living. In sharing both her past and her efforts to create a future, Michelle becomes a voice for the voiceless and a powerful symbol of hope for the thousands of children and young adults who go missing every year.

MY THOUGHTS: It's hard to put an actual rating on this, because this isn't a story that I necessarily "liked" as the subject matter is extremely unpleasant, so my rating is more for the fact that I was drawn into the story and my inability to put it down.

I am fascinated by Michelle's story. I first heard her talk on Dr. Phil and was completely invested in her story. I enjoy reading kidnapping stories, especially when I know there is going to be a happy ending. I guess I'm just fascinated and curious about how someone could do these things to another person. I was so enthralled by this story and could not stop listening. I cannot believe that these young women were trapped for long and went through everything that they did, but managed to stay hopeful and come out of it on the other side. I cannot imagine having to deal with anything like this for even one day, and yet Michelle managed to make it through 11 years of this torture. She and her fellow kidnapees are just so incredibly strong and I admire them all so much.

Tiny Pretty Things Review

TITLE: Tiny Pretty Things
AUTHOR: Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 5/26/2015
FORMAT: ARC
PAGES: 448
SOURCE: Amazon Vine
MY RATING:

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #22: READ A BOOK WHERE DANCE IS PROMINENTLY FEATURED - 2 POINTS

BACK COVER SUMMARY: There can only be one prima ballerina. No knows that better than Gigi, Bette, and June, three students vying to be the next star at Manhattan's most elite ballet academy. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance--but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year, or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. In a world where every dancer is both friend and foe, Gigi, Bette, and June will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy drama from CAKE Literary, a new packager dedicated to bringing diversity to YA books. With gossip, lies, and scandal, Tiny Pretty Things is a riveting read about three not-so-perfect ballerinas who will do anything to get on top.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I was pretty disappointed in this book. From reading the description, I expected this book to be filled with juicy drama, mystery and nonstop twists and turns. But to me, it read more like a contemporary with a hint of mystery. It's a pretty slow read. The last 50-75 pages does pick up a little bit, but this is a pretty chunky book, so most of it is slow.

I didn't really like the ending. This book just wasn't for me. If you're a fan of contemporaries, but are looking for something that isn't a fluffy, light contemporary, this might be something to pick up. It just wasn't for me.

CHARACTERS: I had trouble keeping up with the characters. The book is told through three different perspectives, but there are a LOT of characters in this book and I tend to struggle with books that have a lot of different perspectives.

I did like June and was excited to discover more about her and her story, so that's probably what pushed me to keep reading this book.

COVER: The cover of this book is so pretty! I love the black background with the purple writing and the ribbon weaved through. It fits with the plot of the story for sure.

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine and the publisher for my honest review. All thoughts are my own and have not been influenced in any way.**

Paper Towns Review

TITLE: Paper Towns

AUTHOR: John Green

PUBLISHER: Penguin Group

PUBLICATION DATE: 10/16/2008

FORMAT: ebook

PAGES: 246

SOURCE: Bought

MY RATING: 

COYER SCAVENGER HUNT #78: READ A BOOK THAT ONE OF YOUR GOODREADS FRIENDS HAS GIVEN 4/5 STARS AND THAT ANOTHER GOODREADS FRIEND HAS GIVEN 1/2 STARS

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I think it's safe to say that I am late to the party with this one. It seems like everyone but me has already read it, so when I found out a movie was coming out, I figured it was time I picked it up. I enjoyed the first part of the book quite a bit more than the second and third parts. I really enjoyed watching Q and Margo go on their adventure and enjoyed their interactions. The rest of the book, while still good, wasn't as fun for me. 

I flew through this book. I didn't realize I had gotten as far as I had when I was reading. It's such a fast and easy read. 

I'm not really sure how I feel about the ending. I feel like it was written the way that it was supposed to be written, but I just don't know if I really liked it or not. I would love to see a short novella from Margo's perspective. I think it would be really interesting to read about her journey.

I'm excited to see this movie when it comes out to compare it to the book, and I'm happy that I no longer have to avoid the movie trailers for fear of spoilers.

CHARACTERS: I feel like I would have connected with Margo had she been in the story more (dual perspectives maybe), but the rest of the characters that played a bigger role later on (Ben, Radar, Lacey) didn't really do anything for me. I feel like I didn't know much about them. They had potential to be great characters, but I feel like I didn't get to learn about them.

COVER: I like the cover a lot. It shows that this is going to be a road trip book, which immediately appeals to me.

Book Haul #27

Click here to learn about Stacking The Shelves

Bought from Book Outlet:

Bought From Goodwill:

From My OwlCrate Box:

Bought at the Dollar Tree:

Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo

Red by Alison Cherry

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts

The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman

Sweet Legacy by Tera Lynn Childs

Reality Boy by A.S. King

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Janie Face to Face by Caroline B. Cooney 

Lux Beginnings by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Lux Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Eragon Collector's Edition by Christopher Paolini

Number The Stars by Lois Lowry

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

Roses by Leila Meacham

On Writing by Stephen King

Muggles and Magic by George Beahm and Tim Kirk

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan

The Casual Vacancy by J,K. Rowling

The Mystery of Lewis Carroll by Jenny Woolf and Edward Wakeling

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

Starling by Lesley Livingston

In Between Days by Andrew Porter

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Review

TITLE: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
AUTHOR: Jesse Andrews
PUBLISHER: Amulet Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 3/1/2012
FORMAT: Hardcover (ISBN: 987-1-4197-0176-4)
PAGES: 295
SOURCE: Bought
MY RATING: 

(actually 2.75)

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg's mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia--cue extreme adolescent awkardness--but a parental mandate has been issues and must be obeyed. When Rachel stop treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I was really excited to pick this one up. I wanted to read it before the movie came out and I had heard it was funny.

This book was really strange. I didn't hate it, but I guess you could say it wasn't "my cup of tea." I expected a lot more going into this book because I had heard it was hilarious. I found it amusing at times, but I didn't laugh out loud at all while reading it.

I liked the parts in the story where Greg talks to us, the reader. It pulled me into the story more and made me feel like he was personally telling me a story.

CHARACTERS: I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters. I thought it was weird that Greg's mom forced him to hang out with a girl he essentially didn't even know.

COVER: Now the cover, I really do like. I was actually worried I wouldn't be able to get this cover because of the new cover that has come out along with the movie release. I'm not a fan of the yellow cover, but I love the one with all of the colors on it.