Vixen is the Bee's Knees

Can I just say that I fell in love with this book from page one? Jillian's writing pulls you in to a place where you feel like you are sharing the experieces of each character. I loved how she gave us the view points of three different girls which extended the story line perfectly. Each character grew into themselves in some way by the end of the book. You get to see some realize that there is goodness within themselves and others see that they should just give in to the darkness inside. I don't really know what else to say about this book without giving it all away. This was a wonderful book about the 1920's flapper style of living!

 

We're All Ugly...According to This Book

When I started to read this book I wasn't too impressed. By page 50 I wanted to stop, but I kept telling myself to push on through to at least page 100 and then make a decision. I'm glad that I pushed myself. I loved the middle of this book. I had to keep reading and reading because I just had to know what happened. By about the last 100 pages I started to feel like I wanted to stop reading again. I felt like the story got kind of predictable and cheesy at that point. Although I felt this way, I still had to read because I wanted to know how the book ended. Essentially, it ended the way I thought it would just different circumstances leading up to that ending. I do feel that Tally's character developed so much throughout the story--going from superficial to knowing what life is really about. I'm actually pretty excited to read the next book to see how Tally's character develops more or if she regresses. Overall, I thought this book really hit home with today's society's obsession with looking and acting perfect. This is a great dystopian book dealing with weaknesses or strengths of self-esteem.

A Different Kind of Alice in Wonderland Comes to Life

I was completely blown away by this book! I love anything to do with Alice in Wonderland, but this book was so different than anything that I had ever read about Wonderland. I loved the twist on the original version. I had read reviews about this book before reading so I wasn't really sure which side of the line I was going to be standing on after reading it. It seems that you will either love this book or hate it. I love it! In fact, as I was reading it I couldn't help thinking about why it wasn't made into a movie. A movie would be so fascinating with all of the different colorful scenes and action-packed battle scenes. The book featured the imagination as key to the whole plot, but also made my imagination come to life as I was reading. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy!

Cheesy and Corny!

Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy! Corny, corny, corny! That being said, I liked this book! There were a lot of "Oh, my gosh", "Really?", "That's so stupid" exclamations coming from my mouth throughout the book because of the typical cheeseball plot, but I couldn't help finding myself imagining being on that road trip. The whole story line is so predictable, and I really didn't think that the writing blew me away. The magic was in the imagination of myself getting to be there with them. I do want to set the record straight about West Virginia. I do appreciate that the author actually knows that we are a separate state from Virginia (unlike so many other people), but it's not a cursed state, and we are not all like the crazy woman portrayed in the story. I do recommend this book to those who want to imagine themselves on a road trip never taken and don't care about a cheeseball plot.

I Actually Enjoyed the DUFF by Kody Keplinger!

I hadn't really looked into this book too much before reading it so I didn't know that there was so much sexy time. I usually don't prefer books with all of the sex talk, but I just couldn't help liking this book. I hate to say that the book couldn't have had the same plot if it weren't for the sex but it's true. That's kind of what the book is about...using sex to distract oneself. Although, I really don't recommend that action, I do understand why Bianca felt like she needed a distraction. The route of distraction that she took cost her a lot, but in the end she found out who she really was. There surprisingly was quite a bit of character growth. From the first page I was drawn into the story by Bianca's witty and sarcastic personality. By the end of the book I celebrated with Bianca for finding her true self.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I know this review will not be appreciated by some, but I have to be honest in my views.

I'll admit that it was a struggle for me to get into this book. I had seen all of the great reviews for the book, but once I started reading I had to keep asking myself what was wrong with me since I wasn't enjoying it much. I felt like there was a lot of rambling. I enjoy detail, but I felt like this was extreme story-telling that I didn't want to hear. After reading the whole book, I understand why there was so much detail, but I can't help but think that maybe some of it could have been left out or made more interesting. I do have to say that it became more interesting by the time that I got to page 62, and I actually started to somewhat like the book by page 100. Overall, I liked the book, but it contained a lot of unnecessary details. Also, there were many words and details about planes and war that I just couldn't follow. I got the gist of it all, but I think that it took away from the story. I really wanted to love this book. Honestly, it fell short of my expectations.

 

A-Z Challenge 2013

I've never tried this kind of challenge before so this will be new for me. I want to try to read a book for each letter of the alphabet. My list tries to stay consistent with the first word of the title representing a letter, but I might have to stray from that. I am still looking for titles for some of the letters.

A: All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin and Ilyana Kadushin
B: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
C: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
D: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson
E: Emma by Jane Austen
F: Future of Us, The by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
G: Grave Mercy: His Fair Assassin by Robin LeFevers
H: Host, The by Stephenie Meyer
I: Iron King, The by Julie Kagawa
J: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
K: Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag
L: Looking Glass Wars, The by Frank Beddor
M: Matched by Ally Condie
N: Nuclear Jellyfish by Tim Dorsey
O:
P: Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The by Katherine Howe
Q:
R: Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham
S: Splintered by A.G. Howard
T: Tenth Circle, The by Jodi Picoult
U:
V: Virgin Lies by Dr. Roderick Anscombe
W: Wither by Lauren DeStefano
X:
Y: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Z:

I Finally Read The Future of Us by Jay Asher, Carolyn Mackler

Ok, so it took me awhile to finally read this, but I saw it at my public library, and I had to borrow it. Wow! I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started reading this since the reviews were mixed, but I have to say, how satisfying! First off, I loved that it was placed in the 90's. The characters were a few years older than me, but I could still relate to the shows, movies, and music that were mentioned. Of course, there was character development throughout the book as you would assume. I do have to say that the story line was a little predictable, but I loved that there was such a clear message throughout the book...Be content with what you have right now and the future will take care of itself. I gave this book 5 stars out of 5 stars. I completely devoured this book in no time flat! I recommend this book to those of you that want a little 90's sunshine in your life.