(ARC) YA Book Review: Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole

Release Date: 15 May 2012

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

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Goodreads description:

The summer after high-school graduation, a year after her mother’s tragic death, Anna has no plans – beyond her need to put a lot of miles between herself and the past. With forever friend Kat, a battered copy of Kerouac’s DHARMA BUMS, and a car with a dodgy oil filter, the girls set out on an epic road trip across the USA. Maybe somewhere along the way they’ll prove or disprove the existence of God. Maybe they’ll even get laid . . .

It’s a journey both outward and inward. Through the Badlands and encounters with predatory men and buffalo. A crazy bus ride to Mexico with a bunch of hymn-singing missionaries. Facing death, naked in the forest with an enraged grizzly bear . . . Gradually, Anna realizes that this is a voyage of discovery into her own self, her own silent pain – and into the tangled history that she and Kat share. What is love? What is sexual identity? And how do you find a way forward into a new future – a way to declare openly and without fear all that lies within you?

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John

Release Date: 12 April 2012

Publisher: Dial Books
Format: ARC
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Goodreads description:

When sixteen-year-old Luke's book, Hallelujah, becomes a national best seller, his publisher sends him on a cross-country tour with his unpredictable older brother, Matt, as chauffeur. But when Matt offers to drive Luke's ex-crush, Fran, across the country too, things get a little crazy. Luke thinks he's enlightened, but he really needs to loosen up if he's going to discover what it truly means to have faith, and do what it takes to get the girl he loves.

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Release Date: 16 February 2012

Publisher: Penguin
Format: ARC
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

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Goodreads description:

Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev's band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she's abandoning their plans - and Colby - to start college in the fall.

But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie- Colby struggles to deal with Bev's already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what's next?

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne

Release Date: 20 December 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: ARC
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Goodreads description:

Hannah can't wait to sneak off for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Colin. He’s leaving for college soon, and Hannah wants their trip to the lake house to be one they’ll never forget.

But once Hannah and Colin get there, things start to seem a bit...off. They can't find the town on any map. The house they are staying in looks as if someone's been living t...moreHannah can't wait to sneak off for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Colin. He’s leaving for college soon, and Hannah wants their trip to the lake house to be one they’ll never forget.

But once Hannah and Colin get there, things start to seem a bit...off. They can't find the town on any map. The house they are staying in looks as if someone's been living there, even though it's been deserted for years. And Colin doesn’t seem quite himself. As he grows more unstable, Hannah worries about Colin’s dark side, and her own safety.

Nothing is as perfect as it seems, and what lies beneath may haunt her forever.

My Thoughts...

(ARC) YA Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Release Date: 22 November 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley

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Goodreads description:

When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister's urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life.

My Thoughts...

Saving June was a heart-wrenching, beautiful read.  Once I started reading, I was so drawn into the story that I couldn't put the book down.  Trust me--I was SO wishing that I hadn't volunteered to work on Black Friday because I could have been reading this instead!

If she's waited less than two weeks, she would be June who died in June, but I guess she never took that into account.

-p7, eARC

When the story opens, June is dead and her younger sister, Harper, is dealing with the aftermath--the funeral and wake, the pitying glances, the endless casseroles, and the unwanted affectionate embraces of old women wearing too much perfume.  Harper was always very different from her sister, but now she is forced to see the world around her differently.  Did she really know her sister?

But I wasn't interested in being like June, and I definitely didn't want to live in June's shadow. Even if mine was less impressive, at least it was my own.

 -p34, eARC

I connected with Harper early on in this book.  She's a unique person who's never been afraid to stand up for herself and do her own thing, but at her deepest points, she has more in common with each and every one of us than she ever imagined.  She is so heartbroken over her sister's death that my heart broke right alongside hers.  I thought that her grieving process was handled immensely well, including her "wild" idea to drive June's ashes across the country to scatter them in California.  It seemed like such a fitting tribute that coincided with what we knew of June and what we're learning about Harper.

"Without music, life would be a mistake."

-Jake, p175, eARC

Jake is a character who pops into Harper's life out of nowhere, and I felt from the first moment that I "met" him that he was going to be significant.  Throughout the story I loved getting to see Harper and Jake interact and get to know each other and themselves in the process. Jake is so not the person I expected him to be from initial interactions and I seriously grew to like him a lot.  The only thing that irked me just a little were his mood swings. I mean, this boy SERIOUSLY suffers from male PMS.  His bickering with Harper would kind of pop up out of nowhere and make me want to smack the boy! But don't worry, he more than makes up for it later (despite a minor major f-up toward the end).

My very minor gripe aside, this book was phenomenal.  Ms. Harrington has taken a story of teenage grief and turned it into a beautiful story.  I think fans of contemporary YA fiction will fall deeply, madly in love with this story.