Author: Sara

Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell

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18081809Genre: 

Adult Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 

310

Part of a Series?:

Standalone

Release Date: 

July 8th, drugs 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.

Maybe that was always beside the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

My Review:

I told myself that in the year of 2014, I would read more adult books. Now…I’ve struggled with that but I knew that when Landline came out, I had to read it. There were no ifs, ands or buts. I think Rainbow Rowell is an absolutely fantastic writer, and I knew I had to read this book.

And this book is INCREDIBLE. I don’t think its for everyone, and I don’t think its for everyone who reads my blog. This book is about the deep emotional journey of a long term relationship, and I don’t think that’s something that everyone who reads this blog can relate to. I know a lot of you are young so this may not be the book for you. And that’s okay, put it on your “to-read” for the future. Its a wonderful book, but not for the YA readers that tend to read my blog.

But that being said, Rainbow Rowell made me cry so much while reading this book. This is not a particularly sad book and the ending is not heartbreaking or sad but she has a way of writing a relationship that feels so real. Like when I read “Fangirl”, there were so many moments when I just wanted to scream “Yes! Yes, exactly. You know exactly how I feel.” She writes so real, so genuinely and in such a familiar way, that its easy to get caught up in the stories of this characters.

Georgie and Neal have been together for quite a long time and their marriage, their relationship, is showing that strain. They hardly see each other, the affection seems to be gone, and its a daily struggle to keep their relationship going. When Georgie somehow is able to dial into the past and talk to Neal as she knew him in the beginning of their relationship, she remembers all the things she loves about Neal and the reasons they’ve been together for so long, no matter the bad. And its so true, and real to a relationship. There’s up and downs, and struggles and there are things that bring you down and sometimes you don’t think that you can pull yourself up. Its not always love and rainbows and butterflies. Relationships are hard work and she completely captures that in this novel.

But what she also captures is the hope as well. Yes, there are hard times. Yes, there are times when you’re struggling to keep it together and you’re not sure if you can keep fighting the fight and you wonder if you should just let it go, but then there’s hope too. There are reasons you got together, reasons you love each other, and you have to remember those to push through those hard times. She gives the reader hope, hope in all their relationships and I really love that.

What makes this a great novel is that its a very human story. Its not necessary full of action or a ton of plot but its full of character development and love and friendship and struggle and hard work. Its all told in the story of these two people and their relationship and their fight to keep it together. She makes it so real and so relatable and if you’ve ever experienced anything like this in your life, its going to touch you in so many ways. I found myself crying because it felt good to know that I wasn’t the only person in the world who felt these struggles or felt these emotions and even though its fictional, it helped me to not feel so alone.

Rating:

Book Review: Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future (ARC) by A.S. King

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17453303This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through Little Brown Books at the American Library Association Conference for free. This is in no way had an effect on the integrity of my review. Please note that published novel will differ from this ARC.

Genre: 

Young Adult, mind Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 

320

Part of a Series?:

Standalone Novel

Release Date: 

October 14th, buy information pills 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what’s next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way…until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.

A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last—a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.

My Review:

In true AS King fashion, I was absolutely blown away when I read this book. Literally and completely blown away. She is able to tell such a bizarre and unbelievable story in such a beautiful and relatable and addicting way. I can’t stop thinking about this book and I actually read this last month. There are so many parts to this book and that’s what makes it so good. It reminds me a bit of Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle but minus the horny, hungry grasshoppers taking over the world.

In the world of Glory O’Brien, she’s graduated from high school, with no set plans past that. She doesn’t know if she wants to go to college, what she wants to do with her life, anything. She struggles to figure out who she is while also being there for the people around her. She has an insufferable best friend, who drives her absolutely crazy but she also feels love and loyalty for. There’s her father, who has sort of fallen apart since her mother’s death years ago. Lastly there’s the actual death of her mother, which she’s never truly mourned the death. These are all such real problems, and they come off the page effortlessly.

AS King has a way of capturing humanity, their emotions, and problems and lives so well that it reads like this. Her line at ALA was easily one of the longest ones that I was in and there is a reason for that. She’s an incredible writer and she captures her characters so that they feel so real and genuine. Sometimes its less about the story and more about the internal story of the character and I think that AS King is just perfect at that.

But there’s also the secondary part of the story, the out of this world but so familiar story. Glory suddenly can see the future and what she sees is absolutely horrifying, not just to her but to me as well. The United States falls to pieces and is broken apart by civil war, and states seceding and the rights of women are stripped over and over and over again. What seems to be unbelievable, fantasy in this book is a glaring reality at what happens every day in our laws and in our world to women, not just in this country, but all over the world. AS King offers up a scary potential reality and its absolutely horrifying and frightening. She calls attention to the way things are now and what direction they could be heading in.

All in all, simply put, there are not enough words to describe what an incredible writer and storyteller that AS King is. She writes unbelievable deep, genuine characters and incredible stories, unique and memorable. Her books stand out every single time that you read them, and I definitely recommend putting in your pre-order for it, or reserving your copy at the library. Trust me, you will definitely not regret it!

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Blog Tour: Alex London’s Guardian!

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August 7th – Book Chic Club – Review/Interview

August 8th – Cheryl Rainfield ~ Guest Post

August 9th – Bookish – Spotlight

August 9th – I Read It & Wept ~ Review (Proxy/Guardian)/GP

August 9th – Like A Bump On A Blog – Spotlight

August 10th – Book Escape – Top 10/ Spotlight

August 11th – A Leisure Moment ~ Review (Proxy/Guardian)

August 11th – Reads All The Books – Review (Proxy/Guardian)

August 12th – Debbie Bookish – Review (Proxy/Guardian)

August 13th – Unconventional Librarian – Review

August 14th – Word Spelunking ~ Review (Guardian)

August 14th – Kate Tilton’s Blog – GIF Interview

August 15th – Fangirlish – Review (Proxy/Guardian)

August 15th – What A Nerd Girl Says – Review (Guardian)

August 16th – Books To Remember – Review (Guardian)

August 16th – A Bookshelf Full of Sunshine – Review (Guardian)

August 16th – The Reading Date ~ Review (Guardian)

August 16th – Reading Fictional ~ Review (Proxy/Guardian)

September – Bookish Tiffany – Review (Proxy/Guardian)

September – Bookish ~ Review (Proxy/Guardian)

*      *      *      *      *      *

I am SO excited to be a part of this blog tour, order promoting Alex London’s second novel of his Proxy series, Guardian. These books have been on my radar for quite some time, and I’m so excited to finally have them in my hands, ready to be read!

As you can tell above, my job was to review Guardian for the blog tour. Due to some unfortunate events and the fact that I am massively overwhelmed with edits for my own novel, I was not able to read the books before this post. Not wanting to miss my date on this tour, I’ve decided to post anyway, to promote these books and hopefully a review of them will come VERY soon! I’ve started Proxy, and I’m in love already. Alex London has an incredible voice, and I encourage you all to pick up this series.

But let’s jump in! Let’s learn a little more about Alex himself!

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C. Alexander London grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He’s an author of nonfiction for grown-ups (under a slightly different not very secret name), books for teens (as Alex London…see above), and, younger readers. He once won a 12-gauge skeet-shooting tournament because no one else had signed up in his age group. He’s a Master SCUBA diver who hasn’t been diving in way too long, and, most excitingly, a fully licensed librarian. He used to know the Dewey Decimal System from memory.

He doesn’t anymore.

While traveling as a journalist, he watched television in 23 countries (Burmese soap operas were the most confusing; Cuban news reports were the most dull), survived an erupting volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a hurricane on small island in the Caribbean, 4 civil wars (one of them was over by the time he got there, thankfully), and a mysterious bite on his little toe in the jungles of Thailand. The bite got infected and swollen and gross and gave him a deep mistrust of lizards, even though it probably wasn’t a lizard that bit him.

Although he has had many adventures, he really does prefer curling up on the couch and watching some good television or reading a book. He enjoys danger and intrigue far more when it’s happening to somebody else.

He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

You can find him at his various sites here: 

 Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Website /Blog

About Guardian: 

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The pulse-pounding sequel to Proxy! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.

In the new world led by the Rebooters, former Proxy Syd is the figurehead of the Revolution, beloved by some and hated by others. Liam, a seventeen-year-old Rebooter, is Syd’s bodyguard and must protect him with his life. But armed Machinists aren’t the only danger.

People are falling ill—their veins show through their skin, they find it hard to speak, and sores erupt all over their bodies. Guardians, the violent enforcers of the old system, are hit first, and the government does nothing to help. The old elites fall next, and in the face of an indifferent government, Syd decides it’s up to him to find a cure . . . and what he discovers leaves him stunned.

This heart-stopping thriller is packed with action, adventure, and heroics. Guardian will leave you breathless until the final page.

A fast-paced, thrill-ride of novel full of non-stop action, heart-hammering suspense and true friendship—just as moving as it is exhilarating. Fans of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series, James Dashner’s Maze Runner, Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking series, and Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy will be swept away by this story.

Giveaway! 

Enter to win your own copy Guardian!

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Sponsored by: 

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Book Review: Falling Into Place ARC by Amy Zhang

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18163646

 

This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through Greenwillow Books at the American Library Association Conference for free. This is in no way had an effect on the integrity of my review. Please note that published novel will differ from this ARC.

Genre: 

Young Adult, side effects Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 

304

Part of a Series?:

I believe this is a standalone

Release Date: 

Sepetember 9th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

My Review:

The synopsis reads: for fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman and Jay Asher. I’ve admittedly never read Jay Asher, but I’ve read everything by LO and GF and you can definitely tell that Amy was influenced by them. The novel reads as a cross between Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall and Gayle Forman’s If I Stay. Because of this, I had a struggle to read through the entire novel. It felt like a sort of “been there, done that” plot line and I struggled to keep reading the book. The flashbacks, the coma, that sort of thing, all sort of felt like the previous two books I mentioned. If I Stay and Before I Fall are both favorites of mine so it just felt too close to me to make an impact.

I think what would have made this a stronger book is a stronger main character. In Before I Fall, Samantha is popular and hated, even though she doesn’t want to be and I felt that sort of connection with Liz as well. But Liz didn’t jump off the page nearly as well as Sam did so it felt hard to connect with her. She felt cruel, really truly cruel, and it was hard to connect with her when she started to pull back, when she felt bad. It wasn’t really toward the end, when I started getting flashbacks into the minds of some unlikely characters (trying to be as spoiler free as possible), that I finally seemed to feel for Liz.

What I do think is strong about this novel are two things: Amy’s writing and the beginning sentence.

First off, Amy’s writing is incredible, especially when you stop to think that she’s a teenager. I am still learning to make my writing better and better as I write more but I would most definitely have not published my writing as a teenager. I’ve had to write more and get better as time went on. I think Amy will be the same. But already at such a young age, she is able to write very beautifully, and in a very compelling way. I think that as she learns more and strengthens her story telling, she’s going to be a force to reckon with.

I also think her opening line is just absolutely incredible. That line in its own will be the one that captures you.

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. 

There is so much about that that immediately pulls you in and immediately makes you want to read the rest and so I think she has that going for her. You can immediately get sucked into the story just by reading that line and I do think fans of Gayle and Lauren will enjoy this novel. I struggled with the similarities between those novels and Amy’s but I think she’s a strong writer and will only become stronger as she develops more skills.

Rating:

3.5 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Exile by Kevin Emerson

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18332925Genre: 

Young Adult, find Contemporary Fiction, nurse Romance

Pages: 

320

Part of a Series?:

The first of a two part series

Release Date: 

April 29th, what is ed 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Catherine Summer Carlson knows how to manage bands like a professional—she’s a student at the PopArts Academy at Mount Hope High, where rock legends Allegiance to North got their start. Summer knows that falling for the lead singer of her latest band is the least professional thing a manager can do. But Caleb Daniels isn’t an ordinary band boy—he’s a hot, dreamy, sweet-singing, exiled-from-his-old-band, possibly-with-a-deep-dark-side band boy. And he can do that thing. That thing when someone sings a song and it inhabits you, possesses you, and moves you like a marionette to its will.

Summer also finds herself at the center of a mystery she never saw coming. When Caleb reveals a secret about his long-lost father, one band’s past becomes another’s present, and Summer finds it harder and harder to be both band manager and girlfriend. She knows what the well-mannered Catherine side of her would do, but she also knows what her heart is telling her. Maybe it’s time to accept who she really is, even if it means becoming an exile herself. . . .

My Review:

I absolutely adored this book. I met Kevin Emerson when he did a book signing with Kiera Cass a few months ago while she was on tour promoting The One. His book sounded pretty cool, he produced music to go along with it, which is awesome, he played some music at the book event and he had a sonic screwdriver during the entire event. That, in my mind, was enough for me to want to grab this book.

Unfortunately I was unable to pick it up that night but I did eventually pick it up and I read through it very very quickly. I loved the simplicity of the story, the love of music, the band atmosphere, and the ambition and determination of all the characters. I could be incredibly biased. The main character is a band manager/band girlfriend. I’m not a band manager, nor would I ever be something like that because the idea of wrangling four to five guys together sounds truly awful. But I have been a band girlfriend. My first boyfriend was in a band, my second boyfriend was a musician and my current boyfriend and love of my life has been in a band and is a musician. I’m THE band girlfriend, it feels like.

So the story between Summer and Caleb…it felt familiar in so many ways. The struggle to be with an emotional musician, with high ambitions, without adding all the other drama in…that is so familiar and it read so familiar on the page. Their relationship seemed very real and genuine and I think that’s what makes it such a good story. They have a give and take, the good and the bad. Caleb struggles to keep Summer different as a girlfriend and a manager. Summer struggles to actually be the manager and a girlfriend. Dating a musician, a cute musician whose the lead singer, so naturally brings girls to them without even really having to do anything? Yeah, not easy, and all of this is wrapped up into the story and it feels so real and beautiful.

I think that Kevin Emerson has a way of writing a beautiful and genuine love story while also writing a story about a little band with big dreams, and I think that’s something that everyone can relate to. Everyone has big dreams, dreams that seem so big and encompassing that they’re overwhelming and huge and they seem like they will never come true. Its a story of a band trying to make it, and when they learn something about one of their members that could make them huge, easily, its more than that. Its a struggle between wanting to make it big but wanting to do the work themselves, wanting it to be about them and their music and I just loved every single bit of it.

What really gets anyone about this book is that its about music and love, and I think these are two things that anyone can relate to on some level, especially music. Music is something that transcends everything. Everyone likes music, and they like different music and they like music for different reasons. The music jumps off the page and grabs you in and the fact that there is actual music that goes along with the book just makes it that much better.

I honestly definitely recommend it. In a YA world where fantasy, science fiction and dystopian are ruling the shelves (not that there is anything wrong with it, says the aspiring science fiction writer), it is nice to immerse yourself in a romantic, emotional story about a girl and a boy and a band. Its a quick read, its fun and swoon worthy and I think that you all will like it very much.

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

Help Build a YA Classroom Library!

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I need your help readers.

I’m putting this up on my blog because I heavily believe in this cause and I believe that you guys will be too. What A Nerd Girl Says is heavily based on YA fiction and I know that majority of you out there are YA readers, here so I’m reaching out to you, viagra 100mg for your help.

There are 1676 of you subscribed to this blog. There are 1223 of you on Twitter, 1147 on Facebook, 1453 of you on Instagram and 932 of you on Tumblr. I have a small but very dedicated fan base so I hope that you can support this cause.

What cause, you ask?

My dear friend, Caitlin, is someone I met about 8 years ago. Her brother was the keyboardist in a band I was VERY addicted to. I became friends with her mother because of that, and her mom immediately introduced us because we were both such lovers of books. We have been such good friends since then.

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She is a high school English teacher in California and if you know anything about the educational system in California, its that its mostly broke. There is not a lot of funding, especially for schools outside of the richer areas, like the school that my friend teaches at. Most school supplies are provided by the teachers, and we know that teachers don’t make much to begin with.

Caitlin wants to start a library in her classroom, a library centered around YA novels. She believes, like I SO strongly believe, that kids are learning more and falling more in love with reading because of the explosion of YA novels that has happened in the past decade or so. I honestly feel like the more we encourage teens to read YA, the more they’ll read, and they’ll expand that into other novels. YA novels should be brought into the classroom more, and I know that is a goal of Caitlin’s.

Unfortunately, as I’m sure you guys know…books are expensive! They are at the least about 5 to 10 bucks and at the most, about 20 bucks. On a teacher’s budget? There’s just no way.

So Caitlin started a FundMe.com campaign to earn some money to build a library in her classroom. She’s only asking for 500 bucks, which is SO doable. I’m reaching out to you guys, in the hopes that you can help. A dollar, five dollars, whatever you can donate will help! If 500 of you donate a dollar, we’ll be good! Or if 100 of you donate five dollars! Its so simple.

There’s something truly wonderful about reading. Reading is the passion of my life. Picking up a book, and diving in, falling in love with the characters, enjoying the adventure that it takes me on, and getting that escape…there’s just no greater feeling than that. I know that so many of you agree with that. The feeling of a book in your hand is one of the best and I honestly have no idea what I would do without books in my life.

So please, help a girl out, help me and help my friend, Caitlin, to spread this love of reading and this love of YA to her students. Click the link below and donate! You won’t regret it :)

PLUS! If you donate and show me a confirmation of your donation, you will be entered in a SUPER SECRET GIVEAWAY!

Here’s how to donate:

Caitlin’s Classroom Library Fund! 

There’s also one other way you can help! If you are unable to donate money, that’s okay! I am also opening up the doors for physical donations of books themselves. If you have some extra YA books lying around (in GOOD condition), please let me know, email me here, and we’ll work out a way for you to send them to me! Donations are gladly accepted!

She also has a list of specific books she’d love to receive, so if you’re interested in seeing that, please let me know and I will share it!

She has until August 28th to raise it, and I honestly think that raising 500 dollars for SUCH a great cause is something that we can do!

Thanks guys, and I hope to see that number crawling up soon!

Spread the love of reading today!