The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

"There’s always a gap between the burn and the sting of it, the pain and the realization."

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. 

I really adore the idea of a book taking place in a 24-hour period, which is what this book did. It gives it a really unique feel the whole way through. I feel like it made it a little harder to put down, because everything was happening so fast. There weren't the breaks of days or weeks that there are in other books, which can sometimes make a book drag on.

I also really like the airport/airplane scenario, which is where almost half the book takes place. I've only been in a few airports, but I just love them, so I love that this book was set in such an unique location for a large part of the story.

This book was a quick read—I knew that it would be just from looking at it. It's only 215 pages and it's got the largest print I've ever seen in a YA book. It's just a really short book. I have nothing against shorter books, but I felt that it was just too short for this story line—things developed too quickly, and people changed from one mood to another all on one page. Things simply weren't described or included and it left me a little unsatisfied.

I don't want bash this book,  but I honestly didn't enjoy it. I didn't connect with the characters: I wasn't too crazy about Hadley, the main character, and while Oliver seemed nice enough and had some funny lines, I didn't feel their connection growing to a point more where they would be more than casual friends.

Oh, and a random tangent: There's this one point where Hadley goes running off without knowing where she's going or how to get there at all—and I understand why she does it, I do. What I don't understand is how her dad let his 17-year-old daughter run off without any explanation of where she's going in a gigantic city she's never been in before. He very clearly doesn't make any effort to go after her, and it just aggravated me because I felt it was so unrealistic.

Despite the hype, a couple funny lines and a nice ending weren't enough to leave a good impression on me. I didn't dislike it, but I won't be going around recommending it, either. This one was just an okay read for me.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

[Beautiful Darkness is the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, so it is suggested that you read Beautiful Creatures before you read this review so nothing is spoiled for you!]

"We don't get to chose what is true. We only get to chose what we do about it."

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

So this might mean I'm crazy, but I have this thing with book series: if I start one, I always finish it. No matter how terrible the characters, no matter how long each book is, no series will get the best of me. Even when they try really, really hard. (Yes, Last Survivors Trilogy, I'm talking about you.) So even though I thought this book's predecessor was a mediocre read, I'm signed on for the whole four book deal. 

I don't know if this happens to all people who plan to write in the future, but when I read books, I'll get writer-jealous: I'll read something and think "Why didn't I think of that?" It's the little details for me—Lena's necklace made of memories, her constant writing or how words appear all around her room, Ethan's shoebox storage system. They're, I don't know, quirks, and they make the characters seem real. I absolutely applaud the authors for these.

Back to Lena's writing: I just love it. We only get bits of it throughout the books—a phrase here and there—but they're my favorite parts. Her writing is always the perfect way to put her situation into words. 

On my final note, I'd like to say that I liked seeing other characters come into the story. It wasn't just EthanLenaEthanLenaEthanLena the whole book—we saw a lot of other characters—which makes a book a lot more interesting.

Okay, I have a major problem with Gatlin's high school and its students. That's right. I'm calling you out, Savannah. And you too, Emily.

Maybe I'm just not from a very small town, but I don't understand how two girls' opinions can control the entire student population of Jackson High. As far as I've ever experienced, the mean it girls that everybody wants and everybody listens to live only in our imagination. I actually just read a post about small towns and their it girls, if you're interested. 

My problem was poor Lena's over there, practically depressed, and all because not one person at that whole school (besides Ethan) can be nice to her. And it's all because of the mean girls. 

Really? Where is this inspiration coming from?

Like I said, maybe I've just never known one, but I would think it's a pretty powerful teenager that can turn an entire student body against one girl.

And another thing: this book is so long. And I like long books, I do. But this book has what I'm going to create my own term for: unnecessary length. 

Un·nec·es·sar·y Length [uhn-nes-uh-ser-ee lenth]

when referring to a YA book

      1. when a book's length is unneeded to tell the story the author[s] set out to tell

See also: Unnecessary Amount of Made-Up Words in a YA Book

If my fancily-created definition did nothing to explain that to you, I basically mean this: I felt like the book could have been condensed without losing the story.

Lastly, I have a message for you, beloved YA authors. Don't listen to the publishers, your handbook, or whoever it is that is telling you that awful lie: I'm going to tell you the truth. You don't have to break up the main couple in the second book. 

I know, I know. It's incredibly hard to believe. Put away your copy of New Moon and any other YA sequel that encourages you to do so. You don't need their inspiration—your couple's relationship can make it two consecutive books. And your book can still be awesome.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I was rooting for Lena and Ethan. And then all of a sudden What? When did the breaking up happen? Nooooooo. I'd like to see an author keep a couple dating for us poor tortured readers. Show us what a steady relationship is. Have pity on the poor, poor souls of YA guys.

I pretty much had the same reaction to this book as I did to the first one: it didn't knock my socks off, but it's not bad. It's hanging somewhere in the middle—or in my rating system—at two hearts of "It's Okay."

Read more reviews for Beautiful Darkness at:

Nice Girls Read Books and S. Krishna's Books

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

“The right thing and the easy thing are never the same.”

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

I'm one of those people that always reads the book before I see the movie, and so when I heard that Beautiful Creatures had started filming, I moved the series up on my TBR list so I could rightfully support a YA movie adaption when it hit theaters.

This is, I believe, the first YA paranormal book I've read that's from the point of view of a guy—and it's definitely the first one I've read that's written by two female authors. I think just writing outside of such a basic perspective is a huge jump, and it's always interesting to read.

There was something I really appreciated in this book that I haven't seen in too many other books: the main girl wasn't invincible. Lena hadn't had the normal teen girl life, and she was insecure about it. She wanted all those typical experiences, even when it didn't make sense, and even when everyone thought it was crazy of her to want it. I got a little aggravated with her sometimes, especially when she'd go around breaking rules for something stupid (I'm too much of a good kid to understand), but it's important that every character have their flaws and shortcomings, and I think that Lena was nice and filled out because of hers.

I also want to note that there wasn't insta-love—I thought, for the YA world, there was actually a good amount of a relationship built up throughout the story. 

This is probably something that bothers only my English-loving self, but I have to point this out: there were a lot of badly written sentences. As in, sentences where I stopped reading my book, grabbed the nearest human being (be it family, friend, or stranger), and had someone else read it to make sure it wasn't just me being crazy. But no, there were definitely some grammatical errors. Here's one such sentence, when Ethan's teacher tells him when he's late for school:

"I'm busy fillin' out your detention slips, which is where you'll be spendin' this afternoon." 

Notice how she's talking about detention slips, not just detention. The way that sentence is set up, it sounds like Ethan will be spending his afternoon in detention slips, not detention. Now here's another one—this one is when Ethan explains why he doesn't have a southern accent:

“Professor parents, and a jar full of quarters every time I dropped a G.”

There wasn't a jar full of quarters every time he dropped a G—there was a quarter every time. I was sitting there saying: "It's from. A jar full of quarters from every time you dropped a G."

There were other similar errors that I just simply don't understand how they made it past editing for a published book. 

Another problem I had: scene skipping. That's probably not the official term, I know, but it's just that call something that is mentioned, but the readers don't experience. In the book, Ethan and Lena talk for a bit once, and then he says they talk for three hours...but doesn't say what they talk about.

Also, the scenes in the book tended to end at odd moments, like in the middle of a conversation. It just felt off-kilter.

Mostly, I wasn't too impressed with this book. It wasn't really funny, really romantic, really action-packed or really plot-driven. While it had its highlights, it was just a mediocre read for me.

Read more reviews for Beautiful Creatures at:

Sweet Book Reviews and Young Adult Books Blog

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

“We don't forgive people because they deserve it. We forgive them because
they need it—because we need it.” 

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood—but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held. 
The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

I'd seen this book around before and the cover kind of intrigued me. (What kind of plot is best summarized by uber-pale legs with purple toenail polish?) So when I won a copy of the series from Rachel's Book Reviews, I took it as an omen that I should read the books. 

So Grace, our main character, is the daughter of a pastor. I've read books with situations like this before, and I think this book does a better job of portraying what that lifestyle would be like than any other I've read—she can't watch certain TV shows, she isn't allowed to use the internet in her room, she can't curse, she helps out around the community with her family. 

I also liked how there are actually bible and religious references in it—I'm glad the author did her research instead of just using the church family thing as an interesting background for her characters. It made it a lot more believable.

I think there is a secret YA book recipe that's being passed around from YA writer to YA writer, and I've been trying to figure it out how it goes. I've written it out to the best of my abilities:

• Start with love interest. His qualities must include: crazy good looks, a dark and mysterious past, a cocky and arrogant front, the ability to be a sweet best friend, a shy and guarded attitude, and a soft and romantic side. It's imperative that ALL of these traits are included in the SAME person.
• Add main girl character. She should be clueless when it comes to figuring out extremely obvious truths. For extra spice, have her be persuaded to ride a motorcycle by aforementioned love interest at some point during the book.
• Add one humorous and slightly quirky best friend to appear a few times throughout book for comic relief. Don't be afraid to have her disappear conveniently when the plot thickens and there isn't time for her.
• For best results, include another completely hot guy to play second love interest. The main character should date him about three-quarters of the way into the book.
• Mix well. Top with good cover to seduce innocent YA readers.

Now, I might be missing a few steps, but I think that's the basic gist of it. Try and tell me that you haven't read a recipe book or two. (Or twelve.)

So, along with my recipe idea, I also believe in the line filler conspiracy. This is when a writer is in the middle of writing dialogue, but they need something to really hook their readers. Well, how about using one of these lovely line fillers?

"You have no idea what you do to me."

"What I am...It's why no one can ever love me."

"All I wanted was your love, and now I know that's the one thing I can never have."

I don't know about you, but I just cannot stand it when anything like these come from our hot and brooding love interest, so you can probably imagine my reaction when all three of these (and many, many more) poured out of Daniel's mouth.

I had a lot of other little issues with this book, like Grace just leaving randomly and never explaining it to her parents, or how there was way too many clues to what was really going on that Grace never realized, or how odd it was that the character's moods would change three or four times all on one page. (That last one really was weird.)

But I'm not going to continue writing my thoughts, even though I could, because I'm not trying to bash this book. (Yes, I know it looks like I am.) Also, I seem to be in the minority for not liking this book—all and any reviews I've read for it are glowing and positive.

This book wasn't bad—but I've read so many books that go above and beyond my expectations, this one just fell flat. It's your typical YA paranormal read; I wouldn't recommend against it, but I recommend it, either.

Read more reviews for The Dark Divine at:

The Book Babe and Confessions of a Book Addict

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

“Sometimes it's better not to look back.”

A mysterious island.
An abandoned orphanage.
A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

This book has been everywhere. I'd seen the book trailer, countless reviews, and that gorgeous cover over and over again. I'd even seen some of the photographs from the story, and I was really excited to read the book and see how they fit in.

The photos were gorgeous. When I was reading the book, I was constantly flipping ahead a few pages, looking for when the next shot would appear. I loved them all; vintage shots that added emphasis to the story.

I loved all the peculiar children, but my favorite character was probably Millard, an invisible boy. I loved his habits, and I loved every scene he was in. Emma was a close second, even if she was slightly the stereotypical tomboy character.

This book was a letdown for me.

I guess I was expecting more of the book to be about the "peculiar children", you know, since they're in the title? But they were never the focus. The story was really about Jacob and his life, and he wasn't even an interesting character to me: he didn't get along with his parents, he didn't want to go into the family business, he didn't really have any friends. He was so blah to me that I didn't even like hearing about him. I wanted to know about the kids and their powers, but it never concentrated on them. Sometimes when Jacob spent time with the kids, the book skimmed over it, giving you a basic description of what they'd talked about instead of the actual conversation.

My other big problem with the story was that, from even reading the summary, you know that these peculiar children are going to exist. When you hear about them from Jacob, from old stories his grandpa used to tell him, you know they're going to be real. For a large portion of the book, he won't believe that they're real, and understandably so. It would be ridiculous if a character accepted myths right off the bat, with no proof. But I felt like Jacob kept going over it, and I just wanted to tell him, "Okay, we get it, it's crazy that people would able to do stuff like that. Please move on with the story." I mean, you know he's going to end up realizing the truth, so having him go over this time and time again was so boring to me.

I wanted to give this one a better rating: it seems like everyone loved it. but I just never really got into it. I loved the pictures and the children, but I don't think they got the face time they deserved. I don't recommend this one.

Read more reviews for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children at:

The Infinite Shelf and Muggle-Born

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

"Aren't we all bleeding, a little?"

Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their family is fine. And he certainly didn't ask to be the recipient of Nadar McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.

Lucky has a secret—one that helps him wade through the daily dysfunction of his life. Grandad Harry, trapped in the jungles of Laos, has been visiting Lucky in his dreams—and the dreams just might be real: an alternate reality where he can be whoever he wants to be and his life might still be worth living. But how long can Lucky remain in hiding there before reality forces its way inside?

I don't think it's possible that there is a person on this earth that loves A.S. King's novel, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, more than me. I had been fangirl freaking out over this cover every time I saw it for months before it came out. Needless to say, I had big expectations for this book.

This book is real. It doesn't bother with fake pretensions: that bullies aren't real and aren't a serious problem or that parents can—or will—always step in and save the day. That's not how the world works. A.S. King has a clear perspective on how things really are.

One thing I really liked was how Lucky's parents aren't like most. In a lot of YA books I've read, the parents are nearly perfect, and mostly just a backdrop to the real plot of the story. In reality, parents have just as many problems and faults as anyone else, and they have a much bigger impact than that. You expect certain things from your parents, and when they don't do what you expect, you have to step back and evaluate them. Sometimes they aren't the ones who will come to your rescue. Sometimes they can't help you with your problems because they've got problems of their own they have to deal with. And sometimes it's hard figuring out if they're really there for you, or if you're on your own.

So most of this might just be hype-related, seeing as how I was so excited for it, but I just didn't enjoy this book. I thought Lucky was a nice kid, but I never connected with him. The other characters were the same way—I may have understood them, but I didn't really like them.

A constant theme in the book is Lucky's dreams. He has dreams where he tries to help his grandpa escape captivity in Vietnam. Truth be told, I thought they were kind of boring, and I never felt they were really relevant to the story. I think there was supposed to be some kind of connection, but I never really got it.

This is a serious book; it covered a lot of important topics, and I liked that. But I never really got into Lucky's dreams, and I was never rushing to read what happened next. This book just wasn't for me.

I liked the focus on some serious topics such as bullying that need the face time, but this book was just a disappointment for me. I'll be more wary of Vera Dietz's books in the future.

Read more reviews for Everybody Sees the Ants at:

YA Librarian Tales and The Book Smugglers