young adult – Page 4 – The Talking Bookworm

Book Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

August 25, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Goodreads Summary:

Incapable. Awkward. Artless. That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail. Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her dad’s jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because tonight, they’ll come for her.

Crewel is the first book in Gennifer Albin’s gripping young adult series.

My Initial Thoughts:

I’d never heard of Ms. Gennifer Albin which nowadays is probably a good thing for authors. It’s rare when you’re a blogger and you NOTHING about the author. News travels fast in this industry.

Review:

(Warning: This entire review may feel discombobulated, but forgive me for giving you such quality. I don’t think I can make I more coherent one though. This book just left me…. *mind blown*)

Woah… this was an intense book. It’s been at least a little over a week since I finished it and I still can’t fully digest it. The world Ms. Albin created is so different yet it almost seems plausible that it messes with your head so much that you’re left stupidly smiling yet utterly confused. Confused in a good way though.

The entire book is in Adelice’s point of view and in a short amount of time in the beginning we come in contact with so many characters that at first it’s a little overwhelming. At a certain point you feel like there is a love triangle coming on and you groan to yourself, but trust me, it’s not a love triangle and it get’s better once you figure out what’s really going on. muahahahhaha

This is 100% a young adult science fiction novel. I don’t even think we find out what year it is so I can’t even say it has a little bit of dystopian in the mix at this point, but I can assure you that we will know by the end of the second book (or at least I hope we do).

What I really liked about this book was the entire concept of weaving. In Crewel, you can weave something in or out of existence. Very few are those that have that gift. The main character is one of those few that can weave and what is so amazing about her is that she can weave without having to use the special weaving board provided by Arras (whom is the country/government).

This is a pretty solid first book in the series and I cannot wait to pick up the second book. 🙂

Rating: 4/5

NA Romance, Reviews

Book Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

June 28, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Goodreads Summary:

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

Review:

Ummmmmm. I do not have words. At all. I am speechless. Absolutely speechless.

Okay, first of all, the first chapter is totally misleading! It had me believing Holder was bad when he is an absolutely, adorable, endearing book boyfriend. I just declared him one of my top book boyfriends. Yes, yes, I know. My list is very long at this point, but I don’t care. I don’t.

It’s been a day since I read it and I cannot find fault within it. Okay maybe the cover is misleading and not the best choice when trying to promote it (and Kayla will probably never read this even though I want her too because she is such a book cover snob. I love you too), but it’s that good.

I have this habit where I get impatient and ruin books for myself (I spoil myself), but I didn’t want to do it with this book so I went into it blindly. Hopeless looks like a NA book, but it’s not. There are no explicit sex scenes. None. Zilch. Nada.

One of the reasons I love Hopeless so much is that we have a very real character that I can actually see myself befriending in real life.

That’s basically Sky. We could really be best friends. I can be Five for all I care since six and seven are taken. (You won’t get this if you haven’t read the book. Yes I’m basically forcing you too). One more thing about Sky. That girl can kick some butt! She says what she thinks, she’s brave, and strong, and doesn’t put up with anyone’s bullcrap. I’m so happy I’m seeing strong female characters in books because we need more of them. Lots of them.

I also liked that we were able to see the relationship play out over a period of several months. There isn’t really any insta-love… It’s….Insta-lust!? Even Sky is like WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! I just loved that the author made Sky like that because it just made things ten times funnier. I feel like Ms. Hoover was totally making fun of insta love. It was great.

This book hits every spot. The recipe for this book is as follows: heart wrenching feels + happy feels + comedy + fangirl moments + a strong kickass female protagonist + a hot strong male character = Hopeless.

Rating: 5/5

Reviews, ya contemporary

Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

June 22, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Goodreads Summary:

It’s been three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life.

And three years he’s spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good – or can you really have a second chance at first love?

My Initial Thoughts:

My thoughts you say… well they weren’t pretty. Not because I thought I was going to dislike it, but because I knew it was going to tear my heart apart. I heard Where She Went would open the water gates, so I kept avoiding it.

Review:

I can just tell you from the get-go that this may just turn into a fangirl session. I am ab-so-lute-ly head over heels with Where She Went.

The rawness of this book just hit the spot deep within me. I am a sucker for heart-breaking tales, and this is one I will not easily forget nor do I want to. WSW is absolutely breathtaking because it was everything I wanted it to be and more. I mourned with Adam, and I felt his pain. I understood his lyrics and the need get it out the only way you know how. For him it was writing music, and for me… poems.

One of the reasons I love the If I Stay duology so much is because I can personally connect to both Mia and Adam. I didn’t go through the same tragedies as they did, but I’ve gone through some of my own, and to have on the page before me the same thoughts and feelings I’ve had before is an indescribable experience. It’s like that quote we see around tumblr so much, “We read to know we are not alone.” I read to know that I am not the only one feeling those same things, thinking those same thoughts.

Some readers that loved If I Stay did not like Where She Went because they say Adam is selfish and a jerk. I am not blind to his characteristics and attitude, but are we really going to say we are not all at one time or another a jerk and/or selfish? If we say we have never been a jerk or selfish we would be lying. Even the people who we think are selfless and the nicest people in the world at least have selfish or mean thoughts sometimes. The difference is that they don’t act out their thoughts or give them voice. Nonetheless, I understand their stance and respect it. I don’t need everyone to agree with me. If they did, well life wouldn’t be fun now would it?

Overall, this book will be going in my “Favorite Books of All Time” shelf. It was an indescribable experience that I want to experience all over again.

Rating: 5/5

Special Review, ya contemporary, YA Mystery

ARC Review: And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

June 13, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Thank you Random House for providing me with a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Description (on NetGalley):

Award winner and critically acclaimed writer Jenny Hubbard’s riveting account of a teenage girl whose boyfriend brings a gun to school and shoots himself. This is her story before, during, and after the tragedy.

When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

Review:

I started reading this book at the beginning of this year and it has taking me this long to read it. 6 months to be exact. Why you may ask it has taken me that many months? Because I had to be in a certain mood to read it. It’s not a lighthearted book at all. It’s heart wrenching, and tragic. If you’re not in the correct mood, it might bore you or turn you off.

The writing in And We Stay is poetic. I could even say lyrical. What I really enjoyed were the poems after every chapter. I could picture Emily late at night writing the poems, letting out all of her feelings into that journal and beginning the process of healing that she desperately needs. The entire book is about the beginning of her healing process and realizing exactly what Paul was to her, as well as learning the consequences of her actions and what saying the truth may lead to.

If I were Emily, it would have taking me longer to heal from this, but the again at the end of the book she is barely starting to heal.

I really loved Emily’s roommate toward the end. At the beginning I thought of her as a snotty, rich, drama-loving girl. When Emily tells her to invent her past, her roommate doesn’t hesitate to make up a sob story that everyone eats up.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It may not be for me, but I wholly appreciate the poetic writing that enraptured me two nights ago as I binge read the last 80% of the book I still had left to read.

Rating: 3/5

Reviews, ya contemporary, YA Dystopian, YA Paranormal

Mini Book Reviews #1

May 28, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

I’m starting a new series on here which I’m calling Mini-Reviews. Clever name right? Yeah, I know. I’m a genius. (The sarcasm is so strong.) The reason I’m starting this new series is because there are some books that I’ve read that I have things to say about them, but not enough to dedicate an entire post on them. Each Mini Review post will have 3 mini reviews. Here we go!

Mini Book Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Kayla over at The Thousand Lives almost threw the book at me and said READ IT! I, like the good best friend that I am (see what I did there) did, and let me tell you I’m glad she said I had to read this book. I fell in love with summer again. The last time I was in love with summer was the year 2012. I truly cannot believe this is Emery Lord’s debut novel. The writing is impeccable and wonderful. I loved the main characters voice and the sass, oh my, I freaking loved the sass. Also, Matthew is the perfect boyfriend. Can he be real, please? If you are looking for a heart-clenching [in a good way] summer contemporary, then this is the book for you. 100% recommend this book to anyone.

Rating: 5/5

Mini Book Review: Coldest Girl in ColdTown by Holly Black

Vampires + Holly Black = perfection. What amazes me about this book is that it is a stand alone. I had never read a book that can build a new world, has all of the background information, action, plot twists, and just everything that we crave that is normally given to us in trilogies and series, in ONE book. Yes, you read that correctly. Holly Black does it all with one book. The ending satisfied me. This book does vampires justice and makes me sigh happily. These vampires can beat the crap out of any sparkly vampire’s butt.

Rating: 5/5

Mini Book Review: Altered by Jennifer Rush

I saw polandbananasbooks book talk of Altered a long time ago and have been wanting to read it since. I went over to Kayla’s one day and saw that she had it in her possession. I of course begged her to let me take it home with me and she did. This book was not what I was expecting, and boy it was wonderful. I screamed, I jumped, and it stressed the heck out of me. The twists, the action, the science fiction nerdy-ness of it, I loved it all!

Rating: 4/5

Special Review, ya contemporary

Book Review: Pretenders By Lisi Harrison

January 8, 2014July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

I obtained a ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Goodreads Summary:

Three girls, two guys, five secret journals.

The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide; secrets they wrote down in their journals. Now one of their own exposes the private entries…

I am leaking these because I’m tired and I know you are too. The success bar is too high and pretending has become the only way to reach it. Instagrams are filtered, Facebook profiles are embellished, photos are shopped, reality TV is scripted, body parts get upgraded like software, and even professional athletes are cheating. The things we believe in aren’t real.

We are pretenders.

Review:

The summary of the book got to me. I love those exposure type stories. When I saw the book was diary-style, I was even more excited because we don’t see a lot of those in YA. After I started reading the book, I was sadly… disappointed.

All five characters in the novel think like seventh graders and not freshman in high school. If all five students were a part of the Phoenix Five, they should have been smarter, different. I think back to when I was a freshman and I thought differently, or it could just be that students nowadays are going backwards instead of forwards. That honestly is a very scary thought.

Since this book was character-oriented let’s focus on them. Some characters I felt bad for, while others I just didn’t care for. Finding out at the end of the novel that this will be a series was another turn off. The story built up and we never got a resolution, all we got was a “keep reading to find out.”

I’ve read other work by Lisi Harrison like The Clique series and her middle schoolers in that series are smarter than these freshman. This book had so much potential. At least it kept my attention until the end. That’s saying something.

Overall, Pretenders could have been something big. It could have been the next Pretty Little Liars. It had potential to get a TV show made out of it. One thing I did love is that the writing went with each character. The way each journal entry was written, the grammar, the style, it all matched the character. I applaud Ms. Harrison for that. Thank you for giving each character a distinct voice.

Rating: 2.5/5

Reviews, ya contemporary

Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

December 15, 2013July 7, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Goodreads Summary:

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

My Initial Thoughts:

At first I thought… a book about a girl that is suicidal?! I didn’t want to read it, but the whole DJ thing intrigued me cause I LOVE music. Then Kayla was like read it for me first and I was like OKAY! 🙂

Review:

You can say I read this book in two parts. I read the first half about 3 weeks ago and the other half tonight, and it was a good idea. Why? I coincidently stopped reading right before it all went down in the story. Anyways, let’s get down to business.

The main character, Elise, is not your typical suicidal girl. She is not craving attention. She just wants someone to see her and not just ignore her. I think we can all relate to her. We have all felt invisible at some point in our lives. What struck a chord in me were her habits and ways of dealing with life (not her suicidal tendencies, but how she dealt with life after her attempt).

My second year of college was a hard one. I was tired but wired a lot of the time. At night I would walk around campus, past midnight, trying to tire myself out so that I could sleep a few hours. I would put on my headphones and try to forget the world around me. Elise and I are so similar in that way because she would do the exact same thing to tire herself out, it was weird. I was like… how does the author know this I did?! I didn’t come across a underground party, or learn to DJ, but it was surreal to see a little of myself in Elise.

This story is so powerful because it shows us that this life is worth living. Yes, this world may suck at times (or a lot of the times) and we may not be happy with the cards life gave us, but we can make the best of it. The main message of this book is “Do not settle on being ordinary, be extraordinary”. We can all do that in our own individual ways if we try.

I really wish we got to see more of Henry though. That’s my only complaint. 🙂

Rating : 5/5

Reviews, ya contemporary, ya romance

Things I Can’t Forget (Hundred Oaks #3) by Miranda Keneally

November 11, 2013June 15, 2016 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Goodreads Summary:

Companion to Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker.

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…

Read an excerpt here.

My Initial Thoughts:

You all know I had several issues with Catching Parker and I said I would not read more Miranda Kenneally books, but I decided to give her one more chance.

Review:

I’m actually happy I gave Ms. Kennneally another chance because I really liked Things I Can’t Forget.

I really liked the decision Kate made at the end. It seems like a lot of books nowadays, especially those that have christian characters, portray them in a way that is not realistic or true a lot of the time. I liked that Kate said no and no meant no. She didn’t care that she might lose Matt, she made the right choice and for that I’m so happy. I think that is one of the reasons why I loved this book. Someone that actually favors their beliefs instead of the guy. Someone that actually favors abstinence.

I also want to point out that Miranda’s writing style is unique. It’s not fake or unrealistic, it’s feels real. I feel like I know the characters in real life, it almost feels like I’m reading a journal. While I was reading the novel in my head Kate was my friend and everything I was reading were letters she had sent me, explaining what’s been happening in her life, the struggles that she is going through, and the things she has to figure out.

I also like the development of the characters and how inanimate objects were used to bring quirkiness and uniqueness to each character. For Matt it was his doorless Jeep. For Kate it was her paintings.

Overall, I think this is the best book out of the three books so far in the Hundred Oaks companion novel series. I liked Catching Jordan and I despised Stealing Parker. We will see if I will hate or love Racing Savannah when I read it next month.

I recommend this book to those who want a quick read. I read this book in a few hours.

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & Fun

May 7, 2013 Veronica Porras (TTB)

This week’s topic is: Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & Fun

Tired of having book hangovers and getting too emotionally attached to a book? Look no further, I have ten books that will keep you sane and entertained. Thank you Broke and Bookish for these wonderful Tuesday Meme’s. *hugs*

1. Ana and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

2. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

3. Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

4. Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

5. Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen

6. Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley

7. The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler

8. The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

9. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

10. Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

What are some of your light and fluffy books? 🙂

Editor Letter, To-Read

UPDATE: Currently Reading?

March 19, 2013 Veronica Porras (TTB)

Hello everyone!

I am writing to you today from my cave [aka my dorm room]. I’m sorry there hasn’t been that many reviews the past couple of weeks. I have a very valid reason, University. Yes, you read right. My excuse is school, but I am still trying to update and read for “fun” as much as I can so here are the books that I am currently reading:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare [ebook]
Capital Girls by Ella Monroe [ebook]
Imperium by Robert Harris (This is a hybrid book. I am reading it for class and fun.)

Which book will I be reviewing next? My money is on Delirium since I am about 80% done with it, but it can be anyones game. I’ve never had so many books on hold before. I used to be a person that could only read one book at a time but that has changed. I promise to give you guys a book review within a week so hold on to your horses, the Talking Bookworm is back!

Happy Reading and Have a Blessed Day!