Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

Perfect Parker Fadley isn’t so perfect anymore. She’s quit the cheerleading squad, she’s dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she’s failing school. Her parents are on constant suicide watch and her counselors think she’s playing games… but what they don’t know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn’t something she can say out loud. It isn’t even something she can say to herself.

A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault.

This is probably one of the best debut novels I have ever read! Courtney Summers has a great way of describing and her use of humour contrasts very well with everything around it. I especially liked the way she made everything so real, which sometimes doesn't happen in debut novels, but Courtney Summers made me feel like Parker and everyone else was real.

I loved Parkers' character, she was so dynamic and humorous, it was a refreshing twist for the subjuct delt with in the book. Parker was a very strong character, in my opinion, because of what she has had to go through. I also enjoyed how Parker was portrayed, she used to be a mega popular, beautiful girl, and her world fell apart in one night. I liked this idea because that could actually happen, I mean, high school is so cliquey you can be in and out at the snap of a finger. Parker's snarkiness amused me through the whole novel and her cold humour made me wanting to get inside her head even further.

Sorry, the next paragraph may have a few spoilers. I tried not to put too many in.

The actual event that changed Parker's like was a little dissapointing to me. It was this enormous build up to a spoken word, I figured it would be something life changing like the event in Speak but it was a little too anti-climactic for me. I kind of felt like deep down Parker asked for the attention she got, I mean she just downed alcohol, that's bound to get you noticed, everyone knows that.So in a sense, I thought that if Parker wanted to be left alone she could have found a better way than alcohol. Also, her parents being so cool about it and not getting suspended constantly from school seemed a little unreal.

Overall I thought this was a great debut novel, but definitely not the best I've ever read. The events were a little unlikely, but I liked how Parker's life was alot like a regular high school kids life. The writing style of this novel was also great, although you could immediately tell it was for an older audience with the f-word and g-spot both being used within page one. If your looking for a humurous yet serious novel that will keep you entertained from beginning to end, I would definitely recommend Cracked Up To Be.

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The Adoration Of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Jenna Fox has been in a coma for over a year due to a fatal accident. Over the year she has turned seventeen and the second female president has been elected, yet, she missed it all. Now she wakes with a strange feeling, and she cannot remember anything about the Jenna she was before the accident.

Her parents have taken special care to move her from big city Boston to a small settlement in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. She soon realizes that it was a necessity to move, and not a let's-start-off-fresh type of thing. Jenna also wonders why no one has come to visit her, and she soon realizes there are more differences in the new Jenna than there should be. And that could mean big trouble for Jenna and her family.

Let me start off with saying this book was not what I expected at all, and that is not necessarily a good thing. I was really looking for an easy to read novel with relativly no plot and a fruity story line. Yeah, not what I got. I can't really say that I disliked the book though, it was still a very nice book, just not what I was going for.

I felt that Jenna was portrayed rather well, although she was not described very well, I mean it said she had blonde hair like once? I do, however, understand that is hard in first person, but I still would have liked a better visual of all the characters. I did like Jenna's personality though, because if there is one attribute I can't get enough of, it's sarcasm. I loved how she kept her sarcasm from her old life, even though she has had things happen to her that may have prohibited her from keeping her attitude. Jenna did however annoy me at times, like when she was with her friends, and such. She just seemed to be portrayed so much differently than when she was at home around her family. I hated Jenna for doing that, just like I hate it when people in real life do that. It just kind of made Jenna seem rather fake, and also how she is able to stand up to her family but when Dane tells her she walks funny, she doesn't do anything. That made me want to shout at her and tell her to stand up to him, but you obviously cannot yell at fictitious people...alright, I admit I have yelled at books before, thinking the people would change their minds after they heard my opinion. (I'm not crazy, I swear!!)

Dane also made me angry though. Not because of his attitude but because I still don't understand why he was there, or why Mr. Bender didn't like him. I'm sure it said and I didn't pay any attention, but I would really like to know what Dane's problem was. Just saying.

Although the plot wasn't what I expected, it was very unique.I'm just going to go ahead and say this book takes place in the future, because, well even though it never says, I'm pretty sure it does. I was always wanting to know what Jenna would discover about her past next which was really what kept me reading through. I was very dissapointed when I figured out the accident was just an accident though. I was really hoping her dad like raged on her and almost killed her or something like that, but it was actually just an accident. It makes me so angry when things are what you expect.

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I am so sorry about the stupid rating thing. I AM GOING TO RAGE ON BLOGGER pretty soon. Does anyone know how to fix it, it does this ALL the time. Not on my personal blogger acount, only on this one. Life hates me.

Fade by Lisa McMann

Janie Hannagan is a dream catcher. She gets sucked into peoples dreams and witnesses them like they are her own. Janie has just helped Captain and her boyfriend Cabel Strumheller crack the big drug bust of fellow senior Shay Wilder's father. Now Captain wants Janie to be a narc at her high school full time.

Captain has just given Janie and Cabel a new case. To find a sexual predator lurking in the school. But what Janie finds out and what she must do are a little more than she bargained for. Aside from college and Cabel's weird attitude, Janie must become the bait for the sexual predator, who happens to be a little closer to home than Janie expected.

And what about Martha Stubin? Janie finds out things about her ability to dream catch that she wishes she didn't know about at all. Although she learns great things about her power, she may end up wishing she neer had it all.


Fade is the sequal to Wake, so if you haven't read Wake, I suggest you read it before you pick up Fade, otherwise the plot will be a confusing to follow and certain characters signifigance will not make sense.

I was much more impressed with Fade then I was with Wake. I think it is because I have a better understanding of what I read now that I have really started to get back into reading these past few months. I really think that Fade had a better and more focused plotline then Wake. With Wake there was a lot of stuff going on and the ending didn't really fit with the story, but with Fade it was always clear what was going on and there was a definite main plot.

I thought the characters were also more defined as well. You really got to see what Cable and Janie were going through as opposed to "Janie talked. Cabel was silent." sort of thing. Janie was so much more dynamic and she became very independant, strong, and mature. I loved that Cabel and Janies relationship also progressed to the point where I began to see them as a real couple, despite what they were going through. And Janie got a sense of humour! I loved her witty comments, it was a welcomed refresher from her seriousness.

Overall I thought Fade was a great book, and one of the few books that I have read were the sequal is better than the original. The plot was original, the characters were believable and overall I began to think that there really are people out there like Janie.

Rating system inspired by The Story Siren.

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13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

By the end of the book I felt that I knew Hannah, even though her voice was just noise on a bunch of tapes. For my purposes, she was the main character to me, because the story wasn't about Clay at all. It could have been told by any one of the thirteen people on those tapes, but Hannah would have been the same. I really ended up loving Hannah's personality and wishing that more people had played a part in her death so the book could keep going. However I did not like how weak she was, how she didn't beleive in herself and felt no one cared. If she would have looked around she would have realized that although tere were those that did not care, alot of the people around her did. As a whole though, I really felt Hannah's character was believable and I really wanted to get to know her more.

There always has to that one character in a book that you can't stand right? Well, Clay fits that description. I really didn't like how Clay was not described. The whole story was Hannah, Hannah, Hannah but Clay kind of got left out, and you didn't really get a good look at Clay's personality. He also really annoyed me when he was arguing with the tapes. We all know that it would be way easier to get over Hannah if he would stop contradiciting everything she said. I really wish Jay Asher would have let the reader get more insight towards Clay's personality.

I really haven't read any books like Thirteen Reasons Why. I am sure there are some out there, but I think this book had an amazingly original plot. I really was never bored reading this, even though there was no action involved. I almost skipped right to Clay's tape, read that chapter, and then went back and read what I skipped. The suspense was driving me insane, I just wanted to know, but I waited it out and when I finally got to Clay's tape it was that much more satisfying. Clay's story really shocked me, his reason for being on the tapes was really not what I expected and I was really happy that the reason was different then what I was expecting. Overall I think everyone should read this book because it was really amazing and everything is so freakin realistic!

My Rating: 4.3

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World?

I will start by saying this book made me cry TWICE. The emotion put into this book is outstanding and you get so attatched to the characters, you feel that they are real people, living on some other planet. The one thing I did not like about this book was its similarity to some other novels, like Uglies. In TKONLG Tod is only a month away from his 13th birthday where he will become a man (Tally becomes 16 and pretty), he ends up not being able to turn 13 in the town and must rescue Viola (Tally is forbidden to get the operation until she finds Shay). They are running away from a large group of men that are after them (Tall is running from the Specials), they find another settlement that will help them and remind them how bad it was were they came from (Tally finds The Smoke and wants to stay there) They learn the evil secrets hidden within the town (Tally finds out the secrets about the opertion). There are more similarities but it will give away parts of both books if I continue. Aside from the insane similarities, the book was one of the most well-written novels I have read this year. I loved the idea of the Noise and also the Spackle, even though the part with the Spackle made me cry...and I would have to say my favorite character was Manchee, Tod's dog. He added humor to an otherwise rather seriously themed book. Overall, I would definitly reccommend this book (unless your a spelling nazi, because there are tons of INTENTIONAL spelling mistakes in the book, so much infact that even I started getting iritated).

My Rating: 4.75

Paper Towns by John Green

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night-dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge-he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. No lie, it was so incredibly amazing, I almost cried when I realized I was on the last page. The character development in this book is the most astonishing, amazing thing I have read since...well, It's just the best. Although there wasn't much action, the plot was so ingenious you didn't even notice the absence of action. Although Quentin was the main character, Ben ended up being my favorite character. His sense of humour and sarcasm made me laugh through the entire book! Also, the amount of emotion wrapped into this book is phenomenal! There are so many emotions revealed in this book, but it was never overwhelming. I think the reason I liked this book was because I could relate to the theme, the whole finding-yourself-before-you-can-find-someone-else thing. Overall this was one of the best books I have ever read.

My Rating: 5

Evermore by Alyson Noel

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

Overall, Evermore was a good book. The main character, Ever and her two best friends Miles and Haven were very believable. Although I thought it was very similar to Twilight, without even trying to hide it, it still had a unique plot. Instead of vampires, there are "immortals" that live forever with cool powers like being clarvoyant and seeing peoples auras. I really liked the idea of "Summerland" and I so wish I could go there. However, I did not like Riley, it kind of seemed like her back story on why she wasn't with her parents was a las minute thing that was almost forgotten. While reading this book I was entranced the whole time and I seriously never wanted to put it down! I even brought it to school and read it instead of studying for my AP chem exam, that's how addicted I was to this book. If your into the fantasy and vampire type genres this book is definitely for you. At just over 300 pages it manages to capture the characters and there personality beautifully and delivers an exciting and romance filled plot from page one. I definitely reccomend this book!

My Rating: 4.5