My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

"Everything was wonderful and then everything was awful."

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another.

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

Something I've picked up on while reading is that, more often than not, main characters rarely have more than one sibling, if they have any at all. Coming from a big family myself, I've noticed that they don't pop-up in books too often. My Life Next Door is definitely an exception. The Garretts are a family of ten (count it, that's eight kids) and they were literally my favorite thing about this book. They're so realistic—it's not just a book full of big family stereotypes. The author does a fantastic job of bringing a real big family to life: there's differences from your normal family, definitely, but every moment isn't like a scene from Cheaper by the Dozen. The best part, I think, was seeing it through our main character Samantha's eyes. Having lived her life with a completely different family dynamic, I loved seeing her reactions.

Samantha, while we're on the topic, is just as realistic as a character as each of the Garretts. While most of us aren't in a situation similar to hers—a mother campaigning for office, rich, the golden child—it still feels somehow completely relatable.

And now, since it is a love story at its base, I've got to talk about the relationship. Jase is now high on my list of favorite fictional boys. Really—he's fantastic. He's sweet as can be, loves his family to death, and wonderfully honest. I rooted for him and Samantha the whole way through.

Usually when I'm writing a three-heart review, especially one where I've already listed so many good things, the bad parts of the book instantly spring to mind. This isn't one of those cases—it just felt like a three-heart book. While I loved the characters I mentioned and more that I didn't, I didn't love the book. I think, in part, it's because there's so many sad things that are happening or happen during the book, like Nan and her drugged-up brother. I hate to see people struggle, and when it's so realistic, it's just ten times worse. 

Just a reminder that this book is sort of PG-13—while it's not packed to the brim with cursing, there's that one character who makes the story particularly colorful. And it is a love story, so if those kind of things bother you, I'd steer clear of this one.

While I'd recommend it, this book isn't my new favorite. If you're looking for a summer read to make it through these winter months, you might just want to check this one out.

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.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

"I've seen most of what there is to be afraid of in this world, and to tell you the truth, the worst of them are the ones that make you afraid in the light."

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I'm currently in that post-wonderful book stage. You probably know what that's like: it feels like your faith has been restored in all literature and YA novels and strong protagonists and plots and everything else that was lovely about the book you just read. It makes you want to go buy a ton of new books (because you obviously have legendary book-picking skills). It makes you want to secure a job as a professional reader because you can literally not think of anything more enjoyable than spending hours a day reading books.

But seriously, I love this book. I read it in two sittings—it would have been one if I hadn't decided that sleep needed to be a higher priority than the book (which was a tough decision, believe me). But enough gushing: this a book review. There will be some actual reviewing.

The pacing in this book is fantastic. One of my fatal reading flaws is that I can get terribly bored if characters get stuck in a certain situation for too long. Anna Dressed In Blood had the situation changing just often enough that I never got bored of the current objective. 

Oh my gosh: the characters. If I had have to pick a favorite—it'd be Anna. I know, you shouldn't pick the terrible haunting ghost who's an infamous murderer, but I can't help it: Anna, you're awesome. Her emotions are insanely realistic and, since I more often dislike girls in YA fiction than not, she completely surprised me by being such an awesome character. The rest of the cast was similarly wonderful—especially Cassio's mom. You rock, Cas' mom. 

I just want to rave about everything in the book—the plot and the writing and all the characters and more—but it's suffice to say that I just enjoyed pretty much every aspect of this book way too much.

If you shy away from serious cursing, that's definitely something you should consider before reading this book. Not that I'm condoning it—but as long as it's not an excessive amount (which it wasn't)—cursing doesn't bother me too much in a book. Basically, Cas occasionally says things a typical seventeen-year-old guy would say. Just a heads-up before you try this book out!

Other than that, my only (nit-picky) complaint is that I wish there'd been a little more description about the character's reactions to everything going on in the story. It's a horror book, so some horrible things are obviously going to happen—I would have liked to see a little more of the characters reacting to them. (That sounds horrible, I know, but I want my books realistically express a situation. I don't just enjoy my fictional friends' pain.)

I promised I wouldn't gush anymore. (Unless you ask. But be forewarned that my book-gushing knows no bounds.)  I recommend it to everyone and hope to get my hands on the sequel as soon as possible.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

“I've been screaming for years and no one has ever heard me.” 

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

I've got a message for our heroine: Juliette, you're a pretty cool person. You believe that you're going to be devoid of human contact for the rest of your life and will most likely be eternally held in a cell against your will and somehow, you're not having a mental breakdown. So props to you, Juliette.

Okay, in the book, we get to see some of Juliette's more hidden thoughts using strikethroughs. They're used, well, just like this. I loved the effect they had with the writing. I don't think Shatter Me would have been the same without them.

Plotwise, I was lost—but in a good way. (I hope that makes sense to someone besides me.) Usually, I go into a book knowing what the bulk of the story is going to be about:

This book is going to be about 24 kids fighting to the death.
This book is going to be about a young boy going to a school for wizards.
This book is going to be about a teenage girl dating a vampire.

But with Shatter Me, every time I thought I knew what the characters were going to do for the rest of the book—gotcha—there was a twist to uproot them and move the location somewhere else entirely.

And while I won't spoil anything, be sure to look out for Kenji—who now holds the record for being one of my favorite secondary characters ever. Every good story needs that bit of humor for the tough times and he, much to my joy, brought more than his fair share.

Maybe this is just me, but I can't really seem to find a series where the main character doesn't get into a relationship with their soulmate by the end of the first book. Sure, I love seeing my beloved characters happy as much as the next book-obsessed girl, but I don't like it to be able to predict it. Also, it leaves me scared to pick up the sequel because I know something horrible is going to have to happen between them to make their relationship still interesting and relevant in books to come.

My other problem was the writing style—the author has a very poetic one, which isn't a bad thing. Some of it I loved:

“My life is four walls of missed opportunities poured in concrete molds.”  

But some I wasn't too crazy about:

“I'm wearing dead cotton on my limbs and a blush of roses on my face.”

Some people completely rave about her style, but some of it just wasn't for me.

I got a  kick out of Juliette's story, I'm crossing my fingers that this couple will break YA tradition and stay together throughout the series, and Unravel Me has officially been added to my TBR list: Let the wait begin.

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

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

[Insurgent is the sequel to Divergent, so it is suggested that you read Divergent before reading this review so nothing is spoiled for you!]

"Part of me wishes I could burn them from my mind, so I would never have to mourn for them. But the rest of me is afraid of who I would be without them."

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

If you've discussed Divergent with me, you're probably very tired of hearing me sing its praises. (Especially since my singing voice is something you get tired of very fast.) But in case you didn't know, I adored Divergent, and I'd been very eagerly awaiting its sequel.

Oh, Veronica Roth. She sure can write a story.

First off, I have to say that this book has a completely different tone than Divergent. I've found that's usually the case with books that are in a series, though, and especially with books that are in trilogies. Insurgent launches straight into the story and picks up—literally—right where its predecessor left off. Seriously, if these two books had been grafted together into some monstrous (but extremely engrossing) Franken-novel, I would never have guessed where they were supposed to be split.

Okay, character-wise, I was pretty pleased with this book. In the first book, I was completely taken aback by Tris and how she didn't follow the usual YA girl stupidity pattern (that I've mentioned before). In this book, I sometimes thought she was making a generally reckless choice, but here's the thing:

1. She thought each of those decisions was a good idea at the time
2. She was making those choices because of recent events that tied into the plot (yay plot!)
3. And (the clincher!) she learned from her choices and became a better person

So hurrah for character development! 


In other news, I'm glad that Four got a little more fleshed out, because I think he needed it. Still, I don't really think much of him as character, which is odd since he's one of the central ones.

Okay, something I love right here: I am absolutely fascinated with the simulations in the story. They are just about the coolest things ever! I love how they're used in all different ways: by the Dauntless for training and as a layer of security for Erudite, for example.

As bad as it sounds, my favorite part of the book was the ending. Everything got so exciting and I just couldn't flip pages fast enough. I'm actually really satisfied with how it ended and I'll definitely be reading Divergent #3.

All right, if there's one thing I want to stress, it's this: you better have Divergent fresh on your mind.

There were a few months and a couple dozen other books between when I read Book #1 and Book #2, and while I usually can remember books to a T, I blanked on this one.

This was a huge reason I wasn't enjoying the book. I didn't remember most of the characters by name or how the factions specifically worked, or where exactly the plot was left in the last book. It's my fault I didn't re-read Divergent first, because I know I would've liked this one more if I'd read the books back to back. Veronica Roth didn't write it in a way that helped you remember what had happened before, which isn't a bad thing, but in my case, I just kept getting confused: 

Is Christina that girl she used to know from Abnegation? Nope.
Isn't Johanna from The Hunger Games? Yes, but also no.
I don't think that kid's name was Edward in book 1. Um, no, it definitely was.

The list goes on and on.

My other complaint was that it took it's time getting started. I read another review with the same opinion, so it's not just me. I really didn't get into until about two hundred pages. Also, whereas in Divergent, I didn't have a problem with the length, I think this one could've been condensed a lot and it wouldn't have hurt the story.

If you enjoyed Divergent, and your memory doesn't fail you like mine failed me, I think you're guaranteed to like this one as well. And if you haven't read Divergent yet, you better get to it before I start singing.

(By the way, thanks for hanging in through this insanely long review. I could have written a review to rival Insurgent's length with all my thoughts, so be grateful for my summarizing skills!)

Read other reviews for Insurgent here:

Justin's Book Blog and Book Hooked Blog