YA Book Review: Crash Into You

Release Date: 26 November 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Own/Purchased

Goodreads description:

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

My Thoughts...

Katie McGarry's other two books, Pushing the Limits and Dare You To, were definitely some of my favorite contemporary reads of the last year plus.  She writes with a very authentic YA voice that draws me in quickly and easily.  Crash Into You did the same for me and was a great read to start off 2014 on the right foot (even if it was my 4th book of the year...).

Isaiah's character has basically haunted me since the first book in this series.  He was so dark and broody on the outside but we never really got to see what was going on inside his head.  It was eye-opening to get a more in-depth look into his personality and start to see him in a different light.  Usually, I'm not a fan of romantic relationships that change one person or the other but I felt like Rachel really opened Isaiah up to the possibilities in front of him and allowed him to dream for what was probably the first time in his life.

Rachel, well, I didn't think I was going to like Rachel at first.  I thought she was going to be a typical slightly whiny, wimpy rich girl with some problem and an attraction to bad boys.  But, thankfully, she wasn't that way at all.  Her family situation was truly a disaster, although no one on the outside looking in would ever know and you could almost feel her desperation to break free and be herself.  She also knew her family was well off and didn't try to hide it or turn her back on it.  She simply wanted them to accept her the way she truly was inside and she found that acceptance with Isaiah (after a little prodding).

Isaiah and Rachel may be the "life of this party" so to speak but the other characters in this one really pulled the whole story together for me.  We get fantastic glimpses into the other characters that we saw in the previous two books, moreso than we ever really did in the second book.  Each minor character has a crucial role to play and didn't feel like a throwaway.

Crash Into You was an enjoyable read, even if it was a tad predictable (like any good romance), and I look forward to more from the author.  The ending has a sort of rushed feeling to it and I wasn't sure how I felt about it as a way to wrap up the storyline.  However, neither of those minor issues will stop me from reading the next book in this series because they are really fun, quick reads.  Ms. McGarry's books are great read for YA romance-obsessed teenagers who enjoy the angst and the kissing that books like this offer.

YA Book Review: Proxy by Alex London

Release Date: 18 June 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Format: Hardcover
Source: Own

Goodreads description:

Knox was born into one of the City’s wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death.

Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.

Then again, neither is Knox’s. Knox and Syd have more in common than either would guess. So when Knox and Syd realize that the only way to beat the system is to save each other, they flee. Yet Knox’s father is no ordinary Patron, and Syd is no ordinary Proxy. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test both boys’ resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay. Some debts, it turns out, cannot be repaid.

My Thoughts...

Book Review: TMI by Patty Blount

Release Date: 6 August 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

Best friends don’t lie.
Best friends don’t ditch you for a guy.
Best friends don’t post your deepest, darkest secrets online.

Bailey’s falling head-over-high-heels for Ryder West, a mysterious gamer she met online. A guy she’s never met in person. Her best friend, Meg, doesn’t trust smooth-talking Ryder. He’s just a picture-less profile.

When Bailey starts blowing Meg off to spend more virtual quality time with her new crush, Meg decides it’s time to prove Ryder’s a phony.

But one stupid little secret posted online turns into a friendship-destroying feud to answer the question:
Who is Ryder West?

My Thoughts...

Review and Giveaway: Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

Release Date: 6 August 2013
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher & Media Masters Publicity

Get a copy! Amazon
(Kindle editions of Hourglass and Timepiece are only $1.39 right now!!)

Goodreads description:

The Hourglass is a secret organization focused on the study of manipulating time, and its members — many of them teenagers -­have uncanny abilities to make time work for them in mysterious ways. Inherent in these powers is a responsibility to take great care, because altering one small moment can have devastating consequences for the past, present, and future. But some time trav­elers are not exactly honorable, and sometimes unsavory deals must be struck to maintain order.

With the Infinityglass (central to understanding and harnessing the time gene) at large, the hunt is on to find it before someone else does.

But the Hourglass has an advantage. Lily, who has the ability to locate anything lost, has determined that the Infinityglass isn't an object. It's a person. And the Hourglass must find him or her first. But where do you start searching for the very key to time when every second could be the last?

My Thoughts...

Review: Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

Release Date: 2 July 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

Sawyer Dodd has it all. She's a star track athlete, choir soloist, and A-student. And her boyfriend is the handsome all-star Kevin Anderson. But behind the medals, prom pictures, and perfect smiles, Sawyer finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive relationship with Kevin. When he dies in a drunk-driving accident, Sawyer is secretly relieved. She's free. Until she opens her locker and finds a mysterious letter signed by "an admirer" and printed with two simple words: "You're welcome."

My Thoughts...

Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally

Release Date: 1 March 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt--with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy…

My Thoughts...

This series is one that I consider a must-read/must-buy and thankfully Ms. Kenneally didn't disappoint with this third installment. Full of the charm I've come to except from this series, Things I Can't Forget was a quick read that lef the satisfied and looking forward to more.

What I Liked:

Kate was a very dynamic protagonist and I loved getting to see her different layers and the things that made her tick. I was curious how religion would be woven into the story and I felt that the way that it was portrayed they Kate was honest, refreshing, and dearly lacking in preachiness. Kate struggled with her upbringing, past choices, and future choices the way that every teenager does and it totally worked.  The storytelling was fabulous as always, with the perfect moment apps of reflection and just the right amount of teenage angst.

What was Disappointing:

Side characters have always been great in this series and this was no exception, except that I felt some of the potential with the more minor characters was lost. Brad pops up fairly early on and it is clear that he has some major home issues...but we never really get to see it play out.  I felt like he could have been developed more as Kate's friend and added yet another layer to the story.

Overall...

I am still head-over-heels for this series and I am happy to read that there will be more. Ms. Kenneally isn't afraid to tackle tough issues but she manages to keep her novels from turning into issues books, which is appreciated.  They are fun reads that aren't fluffy and I look forward to more.

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

Release Date: 19 March 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods alone on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home…only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen-or at least that's what everyone tells her.

What happened to the past three years of her life?

Angie doesn't know.

But there are people who do — people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: Broken by A.E. Rought

Release Date: January 2013

Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher

Get a copy! Amazon

Goodreads description:

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry's boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she's intrigued despite herself. He's an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely... familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel's.

The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there's something very wrong with Alex Franks...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Andy Squared by Jennifer Lavoie

Release Date: 18 September 2012

Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (Bella Distribution)
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Goodreads description:

Seventeen-year-old twins, Andrew and Andrea Morris, have always been close. They share everything—from their friends to a room—and they both enjoy star positions on their high school’s soccer teams. All’s right with the twins...or is it?

When new student Ryder Coltrane moves from Texas to their small New York town, he spins Andrew’s world upside down. All of Andrew’s past relationship troubles begin to make sense and his true feelings start to click into place after Ryder comes out to him. His friendship with Ryder turns secretively romantic, but secrets, they soon find out, are hard to keep. Once rumors start to fly, so-called friends turn on them, and the boys’ relationship turns into a bomb about to explode. But Andrew never expected it would be his own twin, Andrea, holding a lighter to ignite it.

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Release Date: 31 July 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between themrefuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: The Dream Slayer by Jill Cooper

Release Date: 29 June 2012
Publisher: Self-published
Source: SupaGirl Book Tours

Book Description:

When your dreams come true, sometimes you get more than you bargained for...


Natalie Johnson has always dreamed she’s someone else; calm, beautiful, in control. A chosen warrior with a maniacal arch nemesis and a dreamy boyfriend, the type that can make your knees quiver and your heart melt. Real life is much different. She’s tormented by a bully and endures the sharp tongue of her father, but finds solace in her dreams. When her bully ends up dead, de ja vu from a dream hits her hard as everything around her begins to fall apart. Whatever killed Sarah in her dreams is now in reality, hunting her from the shadows. And it wants her dead. Somehow as the lines between reality and nightmare blur, Natalie must discover hidden strength to pull her friends and family back from the brink of madness.

My Thoughts...

Fab {Indie} Friday: Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie

Release Date: 24 December 2011

Publisher: Self-pub
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased from B&N

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N
(It's only $2.99 and totally worth it.)

Goodreads description:

Life sucks for orphans Callum Tate and Harper Bailey.

Kicked out of their foster homes because they suffer the 'eighteen disease' with nothing but a hundred dollar check from the government and a pat on the back, they're forced to rely on a system that failed them miserably.

So they sit. They sit inside Social Services, waiting for their social workers to call their names and offer them the miracle they know will never come but they sit anyway because they have nowhere else to go, no other options on their very literal and figurative empty plates.

But as they sit, they notice the other. Although captivated, they each come to the conclusion that life is complicated enough without throwing in a boiling tension that can't ever be acted upon because they're both too busy thinking about where their next meal will come from but when their names are called and both are placed on a year long waiting list for permanent housing, suddenly relying on each other seems like a very viable plan B.

And, oh, how lovely Plan B's can be.

Well, except for the psycho from Harper's past that haunts her and, oh, yeah, there's the little issue that neither of them knows they're in love with the other.

Needless to say, Callum & Harper's life just got a bit more complicated.

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Release Date: 1 October 2012

Publisher: Sourcbooks Fire
Format: ARC
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Goodreads description:

After a scandal rocks their conservative small town, 17-year-old Parker Shelton goes overboard trying to prove that she won't turn out like her mother: a lesbian. The all-star third-baseman quits the softball team, drops 20 pounds and starts making out with guys--a lot. But hitting on the hot new assistant baseball coach might be taking it a step too far...especially when he starts flirting back.

My Thoughts...

Quickie Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Release Date:  21 February 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

Goodreads description:

A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire SÁenz.Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe

Release Date: 1 May 2012

Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy!

Goodreads description:

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: Surrender by Elana Johnson

**If you haven't read POSSESSION, might I suggest checking out that review instead? I've tried to keep this one as spoiler free as possible but it's difficult with sequels!** 

Release Date: 5 June 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N
(I pre-ordered my copy & you should too!)

Goodreads description:

Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn. Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque....

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova

Release Date: 1 May 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

My Thoughts...

MG Book Review: Poison Most Vial by Benedict Carey

Release Date: 1 April 2012

Publisher: Abrams

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

Murder in the lab! The famous forensic scientist Dr. Ramachandran is stone-cold dead, and Ruby Rose’s father is the prime suspect. It’s one more reason for Ruby to hate the Gardens, the funky urban neighborhood to which she has been transplanted. Wise but shy, artistic but an outsider, Ruby must marshal everything and everyone she can to help solve the mystery and prove her father didn’t poison his boss. Everyone? The list isn’t too long: there’s T. Rex, Ruby’s big, goofy but goodhearted friend; maybe those other two weird kids from class; and that mysterious old lady in the apartment upstairs, who seems to know a lot about chemistry . . . which could come in very handy.

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein

Release Date: 15 May 2012

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher

Get a copy! B&N | Amazon

Goodreads description:

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy.

My Thoughts...

YA Book Review: The One The I Want by Jennifer Echols

Release Date: 6 December 2011 (eBook version only)

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased from B&N

Get a copy! Amazon | B&N

Goodreads description:

Gemma can’t believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma’s heartbroken.

Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max’s friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can’t help thinking that Max likes her back—it’s just too bad he’s already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend’s boyfriend

My Thoughts...

Look! Another contemporary read that I enjoyed! *gasp* Are you getting the feeling that I might actually *like* contemporary YA sometimes? You're probably right and someday I will stop thinking and espousing that I don't.

Gemma is a really interesting chracter and I liked her, but I'm not sure that I ever *loved* her.  I connected with her in a lot of ways and she is clearly really looking for where she fits in. From the start, I found myself disliking both of her supposed best friends, Robert and Addison. Neither seemed to really fit the bill, and I thought that Gemma was really more friends with them because she was "supposed" to be?  Either way, I felt like Gemma realized that those friendships weren't what she really needed.  I was disappointed at her actions a couple of times because I guess I expected more for her and really wanted her to stand up for herself...but at the same time she felt authentic. Does that make sense? High school is confusing in so many ways and Gemma was a perfect exemplar of that.

Max is a totally swoon-worthy male lead and really difficult not to like! There were points when I seriously wanted him to slap some sense into Gemma and tell her she was awesome and being stupid.  I had a sneaking suspicion about what Addison had done when it came to that first date and I kept hoping that Max would set the record straight.  In the end, he does get Gemma to see some sense and I liked that he pushed her a little.

The One that I Want is a fun, quick read that fans of contemporary YA will love.  It's endearing story of friendship and "love" is enjoyable if not just a little predictable.  The romance is well-done and the characters are relateable but I think readers will see the end coming from the moment you meet the boys. Despite that, I really did think that it was an endearing story and a VERY quick read.