Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

    


      Cruel Beauty is based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.

     Nyx has been training her whole life to kill the Gentle Lord because her father made a bargain with the Beast for Nyx to become his wife. The Gentle Lord is a demon king, and his minions have been making people go mad for 900 years. The day has finally come when Nyx must wed the Gentle Lord and go to live with him in his castle. Can Nyx use all her training to take down the Gentle Lord or does love get in the way?

     A beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved the concept of Nyx being trained to assassinate the Gentle Lord and all of the back story that is exposed through the story. So much inner conflict for all characters made this especially interesting. A love bloomed where there should not have been any love at all--a classic fairy tale.

     I rated this 4/5 stars and recommend it.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

     A thrilling dystopian about a young girl whose touch is lethal. With one touch she can kill a person, and the Reestablishment wants to use her for their own plans. Juliette may be able to kill easily but that doesn't mean that she wants to, and she fights back with an escape plan as she joins a young man from her past. A young man that she has never been able to forget about.

     I really enjoyed this book, and since I listened to the audiobook and followed along in my book it was even better than expected. I enjoyed the voice that Audible.com gave the story when they chose Kate Simses to narrate. Kate's voice fits Juliette so perfectly it made the story come alive for me. I enjoyed listening to Juliette as she shared her personal thoughts with us. Her inner tug of war was fascinating as she allowed her true feelings to seep through but would fight back with the walls that she had constructed from a life alone. We are treated to bursts of action and romance--giving us a good mix to keep our attention. There is a great ending to kindle anticipation of Juliette's next fight.

     I rated this 4/5 stars and recommend it.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

     Two teenagers from opposites sides of town in Chicago are stuck being chemistry partners at Fairfield High School. Brittany Ellis is head cheerleader, one half of the school's Golden Couple, and perfection in most people's eyes. Alex Fuentes is a gang member, a Mexican-American, and much smarter than most people know. Does chemistry class spark some reactions that aren't expected?

     I absolutely loved this book! I was drawn in by Brittany's real life, the one that is not so perfect and Alex's life that consists of a battle within himself about what he wants and what he has to do. The way the relationship starts with these two is very realistic, and Simone Elkeles has the reader cheering this couple. I did really enjoy how she pulled the story into a nice, little package at the end.

     I rated this 5/5 stars and highly recommend it.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani

     Fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell is sent away from home to a boarding school after tragedy strikes her family during the Great Depression. As Thea is adjusting to living with many girls she is also learning more about who she is and exactly what she wants.

     This is truly a book of heart-breaking family dysfunction. I am still feeling such a deep mourning for Thea in all that she lost and missed out on. Thea did make mistakes but my heart and mind goes to my own family and how we respond to mistakes and tragedy. We eventually break through the grief to a stronger bond. Thea has to come out on the other side on her own with no true support from her family. Although, she does have to walk a lonely road she matures and develops into exactly who she should be.

    I enjoyed the hopping from past to present as that gave a fuller picture of the story. Anton Disclafani did an excellent job of giving Thea a true to life voice of a child becoming a woman in the face of calamity. I'm so glad that she also kept the ending consistent with the reality of what would happen with such a family as this.

     I rated this 4/5 stars and recommend it.

Mother of Wolves by J. Aislynn d'Merricksson

     Kalla is a young mage that is sent to find a magister. Once she has found one that she is drawn to, they are attacked by fire-breathing wyvern which sets them on a journey to fight against evil.

     I am not fully familiar with this kind of genre, but I did fully enjoy it. Because I am not used to all the strange names and places it was a little confusing at times but not to the extent that I wanted to give up. I enjoyed reading about the bond between Kalla and Aleister (her magister). Once they set out on their journey across their world to fight evil, the story picks up pace. The reader is able to get a sense of what each place was like, and this was especially true at the end of the book. The very last place they visit drew me in with its voice of mythology. I would definitely like to continue the series as it is released to follow Kalla and Aleister's journeys.

     I rated this 4/5 stars and recommend it.

A Cure For Madness by Jodi McIsaac

     Clare Campbell is living in Seattle which is on the other side of the country from her family. She has tried to distance herself from the past, but now she has to go back home. Her parents' have been murdered, and she will have to be her mentally ill brother's legal guardian. As she and her uncle are trying to set up funeral arrangements, there is an outbreak of a horrible sickness. The scariest part about this sickness? It reminds her of the schizophrenic behavior of her brother. How can that be? How can a pathogen cause someone to behave that way? Suddenly, it gets more serious and terrifying for Clare and her brother when the government decides that Wes, her brother, is someone they want to study and examine more since this pathogen outbreak. In the end, Clare has to make a huge decision. Is she going to save her brother or the world?

     I really enjoyed this story with its realistic plot and action. I found myself thinking of what would happen if this outbreak would really occur. Jodi McIsaac did a fabulous job of researching and writing this story that pulls the reader in and gets you thinking of real life. There was a fair amount of action that made the book so easy to read. I loved that Jodi McIsaac put me, as the reader, in a place where I felt like I was making life-changing decisions along with Clare. And to end it all, she gave a great, realistic ending.

     I gave this 4/5 stars, and recommend it.

   

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

     Mallory's Pastimes:
         1. Making out with her boyfriend, Jeremy
         2. Making lists
         3. Going vintage

     Mallory is a junior in high school who has been dating her boyfriend, Jeremy, for about a year. When she finds out that he has cheated on her with a girl online she decides to go off the grid. Her inspiration is a list that her grandmother made in 1962. She is going cold turkey---no cellphone, no Internet, and definitely no Jeremy. For two weeks, Mallory tries to live as if she is in 1962, but what she thought would make life simpler makes life slightly more complicated. Being a teenager is what makes being a teenager hard no matter what decade it is. Oh, yeah, add in said ex-boyfriend's hot cousin, that makes it a little harder, too.

    I went into this book expecting a light-hearted read, and that's exactly what I got. It doesn't get into anything too deep and is easy to read. I was a little worried for almost the first 100 pages since there wasn't much happening, and I thought it was going to be a book that I was going to have to force myself to finish. It started to pick up a little when Oliver, the ex-boyfriend's cousin, enters the scene. I felt like he added a little pizazz to the story and actually wish he appeared a little more, but I think this book was more about focusing on finding out what really makes you happy and that you can be OK with just yourself.

     I rated this book a 4/5 stars and recommend it.