Real Live Boyfriends (ARC)

Review of: Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
Release date: December 28th, 2010
Pages: 240
Publisher: Random House (Delacorte Press)
Received for review: ARC tour
Overall grade: A

*yes, boyfriends, plural. if my life weren't complicated - I wouldn't be Ruby Oliver.

In the fourth book of the Ruby Oliver series Ruby is a Senior and indeed has real live boyfriend. After some fights and misunderstandings Ruby and Noel are now a full on couple. Ruby is as happy as can be...that is until Noel goes to New York to visit his brother and after a few days he stops calling Ruby and won't answer her calls. While he's gone Gideon stops by (shirtless) and wants Ruby to go out on his boat with him. When Noel gets back from New York Ruby thinks he's acting like a "pod robot" and analyzes their relationship way too much. Of course this screws everything up.

While Ruby's love life is in shambles her home life isn't doing much better. Her father is depressed over the loss of his mother and Ruby's mom is obsessed with making meat dishes and constantly being annoyed with Ruby and her father. What's a girl to do?

This book definitely fit in nicely with the series. Who couldn't love Ruby Oliver? She's always over analyzing things and freaking out about the smallest things. But she's just an ordinary girl with some out of the ordinary problems. All in all I thought this book was a great follow up to the last one and I'd for there to be more! I hope E. Lockhart feels the same :)
The only thing I was sad about was the cover. I wish it matched the other three. Those covers were so cute!

(Re)Cycler

Review of: (re)cycler by Lauren McLaughlin
Release date: August 25th. 2009
Pages: 288
Publisher: Random House
Received for review: Won in a contest
Overall grade: B

After the terrible incident that was prom Jill has to decide what to do after graduation. Should she travel with Tommy or should she go to New York with Ramie? Obviously since Jack is basically afraid of Tommy she chooses New York. Jack is of course thrilled because he gets to spend time having sex with Ramie as much as possible at their apartment. Jill is of course bummed because she misses Tommy terribly.

While there Jill and Ramie get mixed up with some "girl traders" that Jack has met. Jack is repulsed by this and wants to get back at the guys so he comes up with a plan to ruin their little scheme. But now Jill has sort of fallen for one of them and wants to lose her virginity just to get it over with. Recently Jack's cycles have been getting out of whack and Ramie is basically attached to this new fashion girl, Marguerite, who apparently has all sorts of connections. How many more problems can Jill and Jack run in to?

I think this was a great follow up to Cycler. It started off right after prom when Jill has to make her decision, and I liked that not a lot of time had passed from the first book. I also thought it was great that Jack actually wanted to protect Jill even though she had basically hid him for the first few years he was alive. Overall this was a good second book about Jill and Jack and their problems of being girl/boy. I hope there is a third book sometime in the future.

Big Contest!

Princess Bookie is having her Contest Craze start soon!!! This year it will be two weeks long. Aren't you excited, I know I am! The start date is September 27th. So be sure to stop by her blog and check out all the contest madness on the 27th! And also the major blowout contest day is on October 9th. So don't forget to stop by her blog on that day as well! :) Happy contesting!

Cycler

Review of: Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin (ARC)
Release date: August 26th, 2008
Pages: 256
Publisher: Random House
Received for review: from Random House (a while ago)
Overall grade: A

Jill is just your average girl. She's a senior in a small town. She has a best friend, Ramie. And of course, just like every young girl, she has a crush on a new kid in town named Tommy.

Oh yeah, there's one little thing I forgot to mention. Every month for the four days before her period Jill turns into a boy, aka Jack. This has been happening since Jill was 14. Now of course this puts quite of a damper on Jill's life. She has to keep this big secret from Ramie and the rest of the world. And now Jack has developed an obsession with Ramie. If it wasn't for Jill's 'Plan B' and her mantra "I am all girl" she would be stuck with all of Jack's thoughts (and actions) in her head all the time. But soon even those techniques might not even work anymore. What is a girl/guy supposed to do?

This was an incredibly brilliant first novel from Lauren McLaughlin (the second is out now too (Re)Cycler). It was so strange that it was amazing, if that even makes any sense at all. I absolutely loved it. It's hard to imagine what kind of life someone would have if they actually had this happen to them every month. It's crazy to even think about! But Lauren definitely captured the right feelings for both Jill and Jack I'm sure. I loved how each chapter switched between the two. So the book was basically half of Jill's point of view and vis versa. In the front of the book there is a message from Lauren saying that she was born to tell the story of Cycler and after having finished this story I definitely believe this. If I were you I'd go check this book out if you're in for a real page turner. And also, keep in mind that there is some mature subject matter in this book, and of course it mostly comes from Jack. Haha, boys.

Dark Song

Review of: Dark Song by Gail Giles (ARC)
Release date: September 2010
Pages: 292
Publisher: Little Brown
Received: won in a contest
Overall grade: A

"It felt dangerous. I found something dark in me that sang. I wanted to listen. Maybe I wanted to sing, too."

15 year old Ames has been betrayed. Her whole life she has been one of the rich kids until her father runs her family's life down the drain with his stupidity. Now her life is spiraling downwards. Her mother is freaking out and taking out her worries on everyone else, and all her father seems to be able to do is drink. The only level headed one in the family is Chrissy who happens to be 6 years old.

Now they are living in a hell hole somewhere in Texas and Ames is constantly being yelled at, worked to the bone, or getting very close to being smacked around by her parents. But in Texas she also has Marc. Marc is 22 and exactly the guy that Ames' friend Em would go for. Now that Ames has this different life she decides she could be dangerous like Em. Right away Marc says he's going to protect her, that he doesn't like the way she's being treated. When he's at her house one day and says he's got a gun it excites her. But she doesn't realize the trap that she is quickly being pulled in to.

This book was one of those page turners. I finished it in about a day. Of course it helped that it was one of those books that is a really quick read but even if it wasn't I'm sure I would have finished quickly. The first half focuses on Ames' family falling apart because of her father and the second part focuses on their new life in Texas and Ames' obsession with being a bad girl. As soon as Marc showed up I got a bad feeling but of course that was to be expected. I definitely wasn't expecting the book to end the way it did, and I liked the ending. If you're looking for a fast paced drama filled read then this is the book for you. Check out Gail Giles' other books as well. They're great just like this one.

Zombie Blondes

Review of: Zombie Blondes by Brian James
Release date: May 2009
Pages: 232 (paperback)
Publisher: Square Fish (imprint of Macmillan)
Received: Bought at Borders
Overall grade: C

Hannah and her father never stay anywhere for very long. She is never in the same school for more than a few months at a time at best. Because of this Hannah is always the new girl and usually has problems making friends. She has never been one to be popular.

This time they move to Maplecrest, Vermont. It has an old town feel to it that Hannah's father loves. But Hannah feels that something is off. Too many houses are for sale and it seems so quiet. Then of course there is the fact that the cheerleaders are strangely pale and all have amazingly piercing blue eyes. Hannah doesn't think much of it until her new friend Lukas tries to tell her that they are zombies. At first Hannah thinks he's crazy. Then the cheerleaders want her to be one of them and Hannah starts to notice things about them and the football players as well. What is going on in this town?

This book was okay. It wasn't breathtaking or anything, just okay for me. It was also a bit predictable but I liked Hannah and Lukas so that made up for it. I wasn't really hooked until the last forty pages or so. The rest of the book seemed to just drag out the inevitable. So unless you're really obsessed with zombies I wouldn't really recommend it. I do love the cover though and the way how the zombies were portrayed. It was a bit different then how they've been portrayed in other books and that was a plus. Overall it was a pretty okay read.

Tell Me a Secret

Review of: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala
Release date: June 22nd, 2010
Pages: 292
Publisher: Harper Teen
Received: Won in a contest
Overall grade: A

"It's tough living in the shadow of a dead girl..."

It has been 5 years since Miranda's (aka Rand) sister, Xanda, died. Xanda was always the bad seed in the family and their mother always considered Miranda to be the good daughter. Rand is just starting to get used to things the way they are. Her mom is always tied up with something at church and her father is constantly working which really isn't nothing new in the first place. She has a new best friend at school, Delaney, and a pretty great boyfriend, Kamran, who has taken an interest in Rand's art work. But when Rand comes back from being gone all Summer she's got a secret of her own, and many more secrets to find out along the way.

Get ready for a real heartwrencher with this one. The last 100 pages or so were real tearjerkers but I loved every minute of of it. For the most part I couldn't really tell what would come next. It was hard not to feel bad for Rand during the whole story from the way she was being treated by everyone, and how her life had been for the past few years after her sister's death. This story was a real page turner. I never wanted to put it down so I'm thankful I actually had a block of time to finish it in. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who's had to deal with death or teen pregnancy. It sends out a good message. I can't wait until Holly's next book comes out!

Nothing Like You

Review of: Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick
Release date: October 20th, 2009
Pages: 209 (paperback version)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Received to review for: TeensReadToo
Overall grade: B

During her Junior year Holly lost her mom to cancer. In her Senior year Holly loses her virginity to Paul. She assumes it's just a one time thing because Paul is pretty much out of her league and he also has a long time girlfriend, Saskia. But after that day Paul keeps trying to talk to Holly and pursue her further. Pretty soon they are regularly sleeping together and Holly feels awful about it knowing that Saskia is Paul's real girlfriend. But it's really nice to have someone show their feelings for her even if it is only in secret. Since her mom died she hasn't been to feel much until now.

While this is going on Holly's only guy friend, Nils, has yet another new girlfriend. Holly thinks he has intimacy issues but should she really be judging him when she is doing what she is doing?

Everything changes for Holly when she's partnered with Saskia in class one day. She realizes that Saskia isn't the rude girl that Holly has always believed her to be. Soon the two of them become best friends and Holly is in a tough spot and knows that she has to completely end things with Paul, but how? Things get even worse when suddenly Nils and Holly start having feelings for each other..

At first I wasn't sure this book would really go anywhere but after the first couple chapters I realized what a pickle Holly had gotten herself in. And when she started talking to Saskia I was basically holding my breath every page! Holly and Nil's relationship was pretty great too. He was always there for her trying to cheer her up and make her smile. I was rooting for them to end up together during most of the book. Paul was just a total sleazebag. I kept wanting Holly to just smack him in the face or something. If you're looking for a great contemporary book to read then this is definitely it. I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book to find out what happened and I'm sure you'll feel the same way too. This was definitely a great first novel from Lauren Strasnick, and now I can't wait to read her other book, Her and Me and You.

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is held by The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie. It is a way for bloggers to show what books they got that week, whether they are from the library, recieved in the mail, or won in a contest.

This week I got...an ARC of Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Wood

Signed copy of Forget Her Nots by Amy Brecount White

ARC of Dark Song by Gail Giles

ARC of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

two chapter preview of Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala

Broken Birds by Jeannette Katzir

ARC of Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey

ARC of The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick

What a haul! I won the copy of Forget Me Nots and the preview of Tell Me a Secret from James at Book Chic. Thank you James! I also won the copies of Dark Song, Incarceron, Stealing Death, and The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall from Renee at The Book Girl Reviews. Thank you Renee! Dead Beautiful, Broken Birds, and Nothing Like You were sent to me for review. I'm reviewing Nothing Like you for Teens Read Too.

The Ghost and the Goth

Review of: The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
Release date: June 29th, 2010
Pages: 281
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received for review by: Disney Hyperion
Overall grade: A

Alona Dare is your typical popular girl. She's co-captain of the cheerleading squad and Homecoming queen for 3 years in a row. Now Alona is also dead; hit by a school bus leaving school early one morning.

Will Killian is an outcast who just wishes that ghosts would stop pestering him. Yes, that is correct. Will can hear and see ghosts and vis versa. All the ghosts ever want is help from Will to send messages to their loved ones and Will can't stand it. It also doesn't help that his psychiatrist just wants to throw him in the loony bin. So of course when Alona realizes that Will can see and hear her he's not too happy about it. She's always asking him questions about the afterlife and why is she still stuck on earth and not up in heaven.

When Alona starts being Will's "spirit guide" he isn't too sure about the situation but then he realizes it might not be such a bad thing after all. Especially if it can help him get rid of the big shadowy ghost that seems like its out to kill him. Now all Alona and Will have to do is get along..

This was an excellent read. Alona and Will are constantly at each others throats throughout most of the book and it makes for a good laugh. The chapters are told in Will's point of view and in Alona's point view. They switch every chapter and I really liked that. You get to be in each character's head for a short period of time. I also liked how hard it was for Alona to say even one little nice thing about someone. Overall this was just an entertaining, and at certain times serious read. Be on the lookout for the next book in the trilogy. Queen of the Dead will be released in the Summer of 2011.

Tweet Heart

Review of: Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick
Release date: June 29th. 2010
Pages: 264
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received for review by: Disney Hyperion
Grade: A

Claire has two best guy friends, Will and Bennett, who are complete nerds with basically no social life. She also has her best friend Charlotte, aka Lottie.

Ever since she was little Claire has been majorly crushing on this guy named JD Whitcomb. He is super popular and Claire thinks that he'd never notice a girl like her. She is always talking about JD to Will. She always seems so upset about him not noticing her that Bennett gives Will an idea...a very dumb idea. He tells will he should make up a name on Twitter and pretend that he is JD. He tells Will that he should only message Claire once, just to make her smile. But does Will listen? Of course not.

This book was absolutely delish and was of course super easy to read and also short because it's written in emails, blogs, and tweets. But I think that it actually makes the book even better. Basically I loved the way it was written. And the four characters of the story were awesome as well. This is the ultimate Summer read. It has boys which is always a plus, even if they are nerdy, hehe. And it has a really sweet girl plus a very flirty girl which always adds up to some trouble. I'd go pick a copy of this book asap. It really is a super cute read. <3

A Field Guide For Heartbreakers

Review of: A Field Guide for Heartbreakers by Kristen Tracy
Release date: June 1st. 2010
Pages: 348
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Received for review by: Disney Hyperion
Grade: A

Best friends Dessy and Veronica get into a college writers workshop that Veronica's mother is teaching at during the Summer in Prague. They will be there for a month during the Summer and both girls have different plans for their time. Dessy wants to mend her recently broken heart after her first love, Hamilton, smashed it and Veronica wants to make her newly ex-boyfriend Boz jealous by encountering all the hot guys she possibly can in one month. Once they get to Prague Veronica even starts to put cut outs of all the hot guys she's met up on her wall in their dorm. She calls it the "wall of hot dudes".

But not long after they've been there everything seems to start going wrong. The guy that Dessy is interested in suddenly stops paying attention to her, and Veronica makes enemies with Corky who is one of their roommates and is apparently crazy. Soon Dessy and Veronica's friendship is strained and when Corky reveals something to Dessy about Veronica and Dessy's ex back home their friendship may be ruined forever.

For starters, this was a really great Summer read. Reading about two high school girls spending their Summer in Prague and chasing hot guys to me is the ultimate Summer read. I loved how Dessy and Veronica's friendship was so strong but they would constantly have these little small fights with one another. It was almost like they were sisters really. Also, this book wasn't all that predictable to me. It was nice to turn the page and not have what I expected to happen to be there. I always appreciate that in a good book. I also really liked the scenes when they are in the workshop and everyone is critiquing each others stories. Even the crazy girl, Corky, was interesting to me. I'd recommend this book to any girl who is looking for a relaxing Summer read. :)

Check out this contest!

Check out this contest that is going on over at Confessions of a Bookaholic. It's called the Summer Lovin' giveaway and it runs until August 19th. There are 10 prize packs to sign up for, isn't that so awesome! So head on over to Confessions of a Bookaholic :)

TELL ME A SECRET by Holly Cupala

I'm posting this video to help promote Holly Cupala's new book, Tell Me a Secret. I'm also entering the contest of course! I really can't wait to get my hands on this book. :)

Question for my readers

Okay, so I know I'm not the greatest blogger. I've been slacking recently because I'm moving soon and of course that's a hassle. But I have a question for you guys. What would you like to see on my blog? Any specific things like Waiting on Wednesday or Teaser Tuesdays? I never really know what to post. I want to draw readers in but I'm not creative enough! Haha. So if any of you have any opinions of what you want to see on my blog leave me a comment and let me know! I'd really appreciate anything you have to say, seriously.

And also, is there anything that you don't like about my reviews? I'm still trying to make my review better. So if there's anything you like or don't like let me know about that too! Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. :)

Every Little Thing in the World

Review of: Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont
Release date: March 2010
Pages: 282
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Grade: A

Sydney Biggs is 16 years old and somewhat of a rebel. After her and her best friend Natalia sneak out to a party one night her mother ships her off to her father for the Summer so he can deal with her. Her father tells Sydney that he is sending her off to a wilderness camp for a month. The only problem is that Sydney is pregnant, and she needs to decide whether she wants an abortion or not within a very short period of time.

She plans to not think about her pregnancy at all during the month that she is away but then Natalia shows up on the trip with her and is a constant reminder of Sydney's situation. In the end what will Sydney choose to do?

This was a fantastic read. As soon as I read about it I wanted to get a copy right away and when I got my hands on one it definitely did not disappoint. I felt so bad for Sydney during the whole book. She was constantly trying to figure out what the right thing to do was and it didn't help that her best friend was always pushing her opinion on Sydney. All of the characters were great and I liked the ending. It was a great story about a huge decision that a young girl has to make.

Torn to Pieces

Review of: Torn to Pieces by Margot McDonnell
Release date: September 9th 2008
Pages: 258
Publisher: Delacorte Books for young readers
Grade: A

Anne is a 17-year-old girl who lives with her quirky mother. Ever since Anne was little her mother and her (and her grandparents) would move around every once in a while. Anne's mom is a writer so she does a lot of traveling and Anne stays by herself in their house but often stays with her grandparents just down the street because it's creepy being alone in that big house.

Anne has always found her mother to be a bit strange by the furniture that she buys and the long business trips that she takes. But her mother has always been a stable mother figure for Anne and Anne hasn't minded her mother's long trips because she always comes back and is always there for Anne. But when her mother misses Anne's birthday she knows that something is up. Not once has her mother ever missed her birthday, no matter what. Immediately Anne starts to investigate, starting off with asking her grandparents questions. When that doesn't work so well she starts to dig further. Who knows what she may find out..

This book was so addicting. I read it in like two days. It really was a page turner. It seemed kind of like a mystery to me. I had to keep guessing what was going to happen. Anne was such a determined character. She would stop at nothing to find out what was going on with her mother and I loved that about her. The secondary characters were pretty awesome as well. All in all this was just a really good book to me. The writing was really great and the suspense was awesome. I'd check this one out if you're in for some mystery and suspense.

Defying the Diva

Review of: Defying the Diva by D. Anne Love
Release date: March 2008
Pages: 257
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Grade: B

Haley Patterson is a 14-year-old freshman in high school. She has two great best friends and is planning on making a name for herself by writing in the school paper. But when one of her articles gets the queen bee (Camilla Quinn) of the school in trouble Haley's life takes a turn for the worse. All of a sudden her two best friends have turned on her thanks to Camilla and the whole school basically thinks she is a slut from what Camilla has spread around. Of course absolutely none of this is true but now Haley is stuck being a total outcast.

For the Summer she has to go stay with her Aunt in some small town far away from her home because her parents are going on a trip and her brother is exploring the world. While there her Aunt makes her get a job at a nearby hotel. Haley is so messed up from her horrible experience back home that she isn't sure she can really trust anybody that she works with. But maybe, just maybe, someone there will get her to open up and be the amazing girl that she really is.

This book shows the classic doings of a terrible high school girl. It really upsets me how girls can be so mean, especially in high school. Throughout the whole book you can't help but to feel bad for Haley. She was basically an innocent victim who got stomped on for one little thing that she didn't even think was that big of a deal! This book was pretty emotional at times and at other times it just made me want to scream because of how badly Haley was being treated. But I really enjoyed the middle and the ending of the book. It's a pretty good Summer read too because it basically takes place during the Summer. :)

Tell Me Who

Review of: Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
Release date: February 2009
Pages: 261
Publisher: Dutton Books
Grade: B

Molly's dad is engaged to Phyllis. Molly refers to Phyllis as "the claw" because of her nails. Molly's mom died when she was young and after her mother's death her and her dad became the best of friends. They spent so much time together but now Phyllis is ruining everything and Molly hates her.

One day Molly and her best friend Tanna find a weird antique machine in the basement that belongs to "the claw". When they turn it on they discover that machine tells you who you are going to marry. After several tests they decide that it indeed does tell the truth. Molly is determined to change the outcome of the Who-Meter when it comes to her father. All Tanna wants to do is tell people and charge them money to find out who they will end up marrying. But when an interesting thing happens Molly and Tanna might start thinking differently about the machine.

This book was really cute and also funny. Phyllis "the claw" seemed like such an awful person that it made sense that Molly wanted to find her dad somebody else to be with! There were a few parts of the book that were unexpected to me which was a nice surprise. The ending was pretty good as well. I'd recommend this book to younger readers around age 12 or so. It seems like a book they might enjoy a lot.

Huge contest from Bree Despain

Bree, the author of The Dark Divine is having a pretty great contest. She's giving away a bag of books! To enter you just have to link to her video of the teaser trailer to The Dark Divine or post the video itself. So of course, I'm doing just that.



Go check out the contest for yourself here. It's pretty awesome. :)

Pretty Monsters

Review of: Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
Release date: October 23, 2008
Pages: 389
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Grade: B

Pretty Monsters is a collection of 9 short stories; all of which were quite interesting. Here is a sentence or 2 about each story...

1. The Wrong Grave - Miles Sperry decides to dig up his dead girlfriend, Bethany Baldwin, to get back some poetry that he wrote for her after she died and wasn't smart enough to make copies of. When he opens the grave he has discovered that it is the wrong one. Now he's got some strange dead girl following him around all night.

2. The Wizards of Perfil - This is about a boy named Onion and a girl named Halsa. Onion's parents have died and Halsa's mother is watching after him and the other children. While in the market of Perfil she sells Onion to someone who says they will take him to the Wizards of Perfil. For some reason they bring Onion right back and take Halsa instead. Once Halsa is there she discovers that the Wizards are incredibly vain and super lazy. But there is something that neither Onion or Halsa knows about the wizards.

3. Magic for Beginners - A boy named Jeremy Mars and a few of his friends are obsessed with a show called The Library. Jeremy's mother and father of some problems getting along because Jeremy's father is a writer. When his father puts Jeremy in one of his books and then kills him off his mother insists that she and Jeremy go to Las Vegas to see the wedding chapel she has inherited from her late sister. But Jeremy is afraid that he'll miss the next spontaneous episode of The Library!

4. The Faery Handbag - Genevieve's grandmother Zofia has a mysterious handbag that is apparently a family heirloom and over 200 years old. She never lets the bag out of her sight. Zofia tells Genevieve crazy stories about how a whole little village lives in that bag, and a nasty dog too. If you open it up and aren't careful you could get sucked into the handbag and not come out for years even if you are only in the bag for one day. When Zofia dies Genevieve is to be the keeper of the bag but once Zofia is gone Genevieve can't find the handbag anywhere.

5. The Specialist's Hat - Samantha and Claire are identical twins who live with their father on the second story of a huge house. Their father is writing the history of the Eight Chimneys where they are currently living. Samantha and Claire have a babysitter who tells them about The Specialist who apparently goes around the house killing people and that she herself used to live there and has seen The Specialist when she was younger. Things get a little creepy when The Specialist himself shows up that night.

6. Monster - Bungalow 6 has to go on their camp out before camp ends for the Summer. It's pouring out but they still want to go. The boys from Bungalow 4 say they saw a monster and they are determined to see it. James Lorbick is kind of the loser of the cabin and Bryan Jones dares him to put on a dress once they've set up camp. He puts it on and ends up wearing it most of the night. When their counselor, Terence, goes down the hill to help out a female camper out of nowhere the monster shows up...

7. The Surfer - Dorn is kidnapped by his father and taken to Costa Rica to see the elusive Hans Bliss who was picked up by aliens years before and was told that they would come back to Earth someday. After landing in Costa Rica they are quarantined because of the flu pandemic that has been killing for quite some time now.

8. The Constable of Abal - After Ozma's mother, Zilla, has killed the constable of Abal they flee to a place called Brid that Ozma hates. Back in Abal ghosts were quite the fashion. Zilla made them that way but in Brid Ozma's mother acts like she despises ghosts and makes Ozma dress as a boy.

9. Pretty Monsters - Lee and her friends Nikki, Maureen, and Bad capture Czigany and (not on purpose) her sister, Parci for Czigany's "ordeal" which is a ritual in their all girls school. While on Lee's aunt's farm Lee keeps pulling out her current book about a girl named Clementine and a boy named Cabell.

I enjoyed basically each of these stories. A few of them were so far fetched. You can definitely tell that Kelly has a crazy imagination which is incredibly awesome. I think my favorite story of the bunch was Monster. The ending of that one was just so strange to me. If you're in the mood for some crazy out of this world stories then this book is definitely for you. This would be a great book to read during the Halloween season.

Debbie Harry Sings in French

Review of: Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers
Release date: May 27th 2008
Pages: 234
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Grade: A

Johnny has had a bit of a tough life so far and he has always been somewhat of a freak. When he was younger his father died and his mother completely fell apart. Johnny had to learn how to pay the bills and practically take care of the both of them. When Johnny ended up falling in to the Goth scene his mother somehow came out of her funk and became all concerned for Johnny. All Johnny wants to do is party with his friends and drink. But one night at a club this girl gives him some sort of drug when all he wanted was an aspirin and he heads up in the hospital from a drug overdose.

Of course after the overdose his mother sends him to rehab and while there Johnny discovers Debbie Harry of Blondie singing in French. He is immediately taken aback. Debbie's voice blows him away and of course she's a complete bombshell.

After Johnny gets back from rehab things are a bit weird between him and his mother and his mother can't really handle it so she sends him away to live with his Uncle Sam and his daughter Bug in South Carolina. Johnny is flaming angry at first but once there realizes that his Uncle is pretty great and Bug is an awesome little kid. And of course, there's Maria Costello (as in Elvis). She's an interesting girl who Johnny takes a liking to pretty quickly. When Maria discovers Johnny's love of Debbie, and that secretly Johnny wants to be like her, she buys this dress that looks like one of Debbie's and tells Johnny about a drag contest in New York. At first Johnny doesn't know whether she's serious or if she's making fun of him.

With trying to practice for the contest, helping Bug with projects for school, getting bullied around nonstop by some guys who used to be Maria's friends, and dealing with the fact that his mother can't handle him Johnny has a lot on his plate.

This was a great debut novel by Meagan Brothers. It puts you inside the head of a pretty confused young man. Things are tough enough for teenagers in the first place but when you throw in the loss of a parent things can be even more tough. The title had me intrigued when I first picked up this book and it didn't let me down. Johnny was a really great in depth character and so was Maria. If you're in the mood for reading about a slightly troubled boy who turns to Debbie Harry, and of course his girlfriend Maria, to stop him from starting to drink again then this is a great book for you.

Very LeFreak

Review of: Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn
Release date: January 12th, 2010
Pages: 303
Publisher: Knopf Books (division of Random House)
Grade: B

Very LeFreak (real name: Veronica) is a freshman on scholarship at Columbia University who is practically addicted to technology. She's constantly on her laptop doing anything and everything she can think of. She's addicted to every single type of music that she seems to have on her ipod and she's practically attached to her iphone. She's always sending out meme's during class or making random playlists, and of course talking to her online crush, El Virus. They've been talking for quite a while and love to play out crazy fantasies with each other but they have never seen each others faces. Very also cannot seem to stop moving. She's constantly throwing parties and getting completely trashed. She doesn't seem to have an off button.

Eventually her roommate Jennifer (to Very its Lavinia), her friend (who used to want to be more than a friend before a specific incident) Bryan, her RA Debbie, and the Dean stage a sort of intervention letting Very know that all of her technology usage is getting way out of hand, aka she's addicted. Bryan has confiscated her laptop and her ipod and iphone are in the hands of Lavinia and Debbie. Very thinks this is ludicrous, how the heck can she live without her technology?

She gets over the whole "being told you're an addict to technology" thing pretty quickly actually. But when one of her friends who wasn't really big on the intervention in the first place gets her use of a laptop some information gets out to her which leads to Very practically killing Bryan..

She wakes up in the psych ward with Lavinia and her Aunt Esther over her. She is told that she will be going to a sort of rehab place called ESCAPE which stands for Emergency Services for Computer-Addicted Persons Everywhere in Vermont. Very is livid at first but once there for a week she actually starts to open up to her therapist there and all of her emotions start coming out. But then a sort of weird twist of fate occurs and her progress could start spiraling downwards.

First off there was a lot of very mature material in this book so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under age 16. Some of what went on I thought was a little unnecessary to be putting in a book for Teens but I suppose some people like that. It's the only reason I gave it a B though. It was a really great book. I've never thought that someone could get that out of control with technology. But once Very starts pouring out everything that has happened to her throughout her life it makes sense why she'd want to escape into the virtual world. The girl had definitely had a tough life. But of course getting way too involved with her technology ended up making her life all the more difficult. This was overall a great book. The element of surprise plays a fairly big part. May parts I never saw coming which made the book really great, and the ending wasn't really lackluster either. If you've read Rachel Cohn in the past you'll be sure to like this book, and even if you haven't it'll be enjoyable :)

The Good the Fab and the Ugly

Review of: POSEUR - The Good the Fab and the Ugly
Release date: October 1st, 2008
Pages: 266
Publisher: Little Brown, Poppy
Grade: A

Halloween is nearing at Winston Prep and the four girls of POSEUR decide its time to to introduce their very first accessory. After some debate they decide on a handbag that they will call the "Trick-or-Treater". Now all that is left to do is to actually design and make the perfect bag before Halloween. Which doesn't give them a lot of time. And of course with Janie, Petra, Melissa, and Charlotte nothing is ever simple. Each girl has ideas for her own handbag and when it comes to picking out the right one they all insist..."Mine is the best!". What are the girls to do?

Of course there is also the drama of trying to figure out who sabotaged their drawing for picking the name of their group at their release party. If they could just find one of those many tags that has POSEUR written across it they may be able to find out who the culprit is.

There is also plenty of drama involving the guys of Winston Prep and one guy who doesn't go to Winston Prep but will soon be connected in some way. And also just the regular drama!

This was a great second book in the POSEUR series. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love each of the four girls and it's fun trying to picture what they're wearing. All of the drama makes you not want to put the book down, and of course the cute guys help as well. The ending left off at a very good spot for the next book to come in at. Therefore, I can't wait to get my hands on book 3, Petty in Pink!

Oh and also I think that POSEUR is a great series to read during the Summer. It's one of those kick-back-and-relax-in-the-sun type of series.

POSEUR

Review of: POSEUR by Rachel Maude
Release date: January 1st, 2008
Pages: 290
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Grade: B

Janie, Petra, Melissa, and Charlotte are all as different as can be.

Janie is a girl on scholarship at Winston Prep and never fit in the 9th grade. But now with her acne cleared up she feels as if she can be a different person, at least that is until she actually gets to school on the first day of 10th grade. She discovers that her twin, Jake has become one of the popular boys after hanging out with Charlotte all Summer long. Janie is also a fantastic drawer and would love to be able to make her own clothes.

Petra is the daughter of a very famous plastic surgeon. She is drop dead gorgeous no matter what she wears and everyone believes that her father has done work on her to make her flawless because, well, he's told people that. Because of Petra's parents constant fighting and the fact that everyone thinks she's little miss plastic rich girl she tries the best that she can to be the total opposite. She never brushes her long blonde hair, wears hideous clothing, and also smokes weed. She hates being a rich girl. Petra is obsessed about the earth and hates that everyone at Winston Prep is so material.

Melissa is the daughter of the rap king as people like to call him so she is mighty rich as well. She likes to go around dressing like a thug even though she is definitely far from it. Her mother has been in rehab since Melissa was little and her father is now marrying a girl that is significantly younger than him and that Melissa HATES with a passion. She wants to be a famous fashion designer when she's older. She is determined that it will happen.

Charlotte is little miss popular. Her parents is house is huge and of course they are very rich. She has guys drooling all over her but when she discovered that Jake (Janie's twin brother) has turned into a little hottie over the Summer she spends every moment she can with him on her father's movie set. She is determined to have Jake as her boyfriend but that would mean being nice to Janie and Charlotte isn't too excited about the thought of that. Charlotte is all about the boys but she also loves to sew.

Each of the girls proposes a class for their Special Studies having to do with what each of them is interested in. The teacher in charge of Special Studies sees the four different applications and ends up putting them together to form one Special Studies class. Each of the girls are extremely frustrated. How can they be seen together? But since they're stuck in this 10 week class they decide to make a fashion line. Ladies and gentleman...let the sparks fly.

I wasn't quite sure what to think when I first picked up this book. The cover made me think it wasn't something I'd really like to read. But Rachel is so good with drama that I got sucked into it. At the beginning parts were a bit confusing with getting to know each of the four girls, and throughout the book additional characters were thrown in. But all in all it was a pretty great read. If you like fashion, guys, and cat fights you are in for a real treat. I'm diving in to the second book in the series next: POSEUR - The Good, the Fab, and the Ugly.

Positively

Review of: Positively by Courtney Sheinmel

Release Date: September 15, 2009

Pages: 216

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Grade: A

Emerson Price has had a tough life so far. When she was young her mother got sick from HIV which eventually progressed into AIDS. Then not long after that Emmy's parents discovered that Emmy has HIV too. She got it while her mother was pregnant with her.

Emerson is 13 and her mother has just died from AIDS. She was always okay with having HIV when her mother was alive because her mom knew what it was like. Her father never understood and divorced Emmy's mom because of it when Emmy was a little girl. Now her father is remarried to a woman named Meg who is now pregnant. Emerson has never liked Meg and now since her mother is gone she has to go live with her father and Meg. She vows to herself never to let Meg into her life because she feels like it would be betraying her own mother.

Now that Emmy's mother is gone Emmy feels so out of place. She feels like everyone is just feeling sorry for the "sick" girl. She even believes that her best friend is only being nice to her out of pity which is not true at all considering that they have been best friends for years. She pushes everyone away and at one point tries to skip taking her very important medication. Her father and Meg are scared at what will happen. So when things take a turn for the worse at the house Meg mentions a camp that she has heard of called Camp Positive. It is a camp for girls that are HIV positive. Emmy's father tells her that she is going no matter what. Emmy refuses to be happy about the decision.

But when Emmy gets to camp she meets a girl there named Whitney who starts to change Emmy's outlook on things. She still isn't crazy about being at a camp for kids that are HIV positive but being around Whitney makes it better for her. Then one day Whitney gets pretty sick and she has to leave to go to the hospital which sends Emmy off the deep end. But in the end this camp might have been the best thing that Emmy has experienced.

This was such a heart wrenching story. The whole time I couldn't help but feel bad for Emerson. I couldn't even begin to imagine what living with HIV would be like; especially when you're that young and have just lost your mother. I didn't think she'd ever give Camp Positive a chance but was glad to discover later on that it was changing her attitude towards life a little bit. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes heart wrenching but at the same time uplifiting books. This book was really great and I actually read it in one day so I can definitely say it is a page turner. And I found it interesting that it was based off of the author's experience with the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation. That fact made this book even more real to me.

Kisses and Lies

Review of: Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson
Release Date: January 13th, 2009.
Pages: 309
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Grade: A

After discovering that someone had put Dan McAndrew's Epipen in their purse at the party that Scarlett had kissed and accidentily killed Dan at she starts an investigation of Dan's murder. With the help of her new friend Taylor at Wakefield Hall they start looking at who was at the party that night and who had the purse that Dan's Epipen was in. When Taylor is on a mission she notices that there is more than one of the same purse that Dan's Epipen was in. At this point Scarlett is stuck. So as a last resort she writes a letter to Dan's mother saying how sorry she is about Dan and that she would like to come up there to talk about what happened with the family.

While all of Scarlett's investigating is going on her crush on Jase (the son of the head grounds keeper at Wakefield Hall) is developing. Jase even asks her out on a date which gives Scarlett mixed feelings and all but she isn't about to pass up the opportunity to go on a date with Jase!

While Scarlett is still reeling from her date her cell rings. She immediately picks it up and discovers that it's Dan's mother. She tells Scarlett that she would like it if Scarlett comes up during the Holiday that is nearing. So Scarlett does just that. But once there she is hit with some nasty surprises. Is Dan's killer living at Castle Airlie (the castle that has been in the McAndrew family for centuries), and is Scarlett in immediate danger?

I have got to say that Kisses and Lies was even better than Kiss Me, Kill Me. I am loving the Scarlett Wakefield Series. Lauren Henderson is so good with suspense. I didn't ever want to put this book down. It really seemed like there was a different surprise/shocker on every page. I loved that. And the ending was a big shocker to me. I didn't see it coming at all. I'd highly recommend reading this book, but only after you've read the first one in the series, Kiss Me, Kill me. It will make a lot more sense that way. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the third book!

Check out my review for Kiss Me Kill Me :)

Why look, its Breanna!

Okay everyone so I know I'm a complete loser and just dropped off the face of the book reviewing world but I'm working on coming back to it. I've been busy with life and it's driving me crazy! Taking care of 2 three-year-olds is a pain and it has cut into my reading time. So has looking for a job but I think that problem is close to finally solved. So starting very soon I will hopefully start reviewing again. I know I've lost some of my followers but I hope to maybe get some new followers! I wonder if I can even remember how to review anymore, haha.

So ladies and gentleman hopefully I'm back!