Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.
Book Review: Love and Other Unknown Variables (ARC) by Shannon Alexander
This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through NetGalley at the permission of Entangled Publications. 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, visit web Contemporary Fiction
Pages:
352
Part of a Series?:
Standalone Novel
Release Date:
October 7th, 2014
You Can Find the Book At:
GoodReads Summary:
Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.
The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.
By the time he learns she’s ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared).
My Review:
When I saw this title on edelweiss, it immediately caused me to pause. Math things like that always kind of catch my eye because my boyfriend has a bachelors degree in math and he actually likes reading books about math. For fun. I know, he’s weird. But by extension, math things catch my eye too now. Not because I particularly love math but it reminds me of him. I also saw that it was an Entangled publication and immediately hit request. I love Entangled to death.
I love the characters so much. I think characters are the most important part of a novel and that is exactly what brings me into this book. Charlie and Charlotte both seem incredibly real to me. Charlie especially so because even though he’s kind of too smart for his own good and it almost gets irritating, he’s also incredibly genuine. He can figure out these weird crazy math problems but…he can’t figure out how to act around a girl, and he’s still a total teenager. I love that. I also love Charlotte because she’s full of life and full of sass and literally brightens up a room, which is why finding out she’s so ill is such a damper. Seriously. I was like, oh come on, but she’s awesome, she can’t be sick!
What really caught me in this book is that it could just run into other books. Romance is not new. Cancer is not new. Kids with cancer with romance laced into it is definitely not new (The Fault in Our Stars anyone?) What easily could have been a book that I tossed aside because of a simple “been there, done that” was actually proven quite wrong when I pushed past the revelation of Charlotte’s illness and kept reading.
Because there’s so much more to the book. The book is centered on Charlie and while his romance with Charlotte is incredibly important, its also the effect that she has on the rest of his life. She shows him the beauty of other things besides math and science. She unintentionally brings him to his elderly neighborhood, who teaches him so much and leaves an incredible impact on his life. She brings him to her sister, his literature teacher, and helps him develop a new love for reading. And she also brings him closer to his own sister. I think that’s the biggest part of the book that I love. This book could be wrapped up simply as a book about kids with cancer but its so much more than that. Its a book about how much a person can impact our lives in such a short amount of time and how beautiful and sometimes incredibly devastating it is.
Plus, its just funny. I related to Charlotte so much and Charlie reminded me of my boyfriend and their initial runaround each other is just so sweet and believable. They kind of fumble their way through their friendship and more and I loved it. It was more than just about everything going on around them. Their romance was sweet, genuine and addicting and I was rooting for them the entire book.
Basically, it comes down to this: I stayed up until 2 am to finish reading this book. And I had to read it on my phone because my Nook wasn’t charged…which is NO easy feat. But I super enjoyed it and I’m anxious for it to be published so that I can share it with others. It hits bookstores in early October so make sure to get your hands on a copy!
Rating:
4 out of 5 Stars
Rating:
If I Stay Giveaway and Secret Booooook or Treat Buddy-Only 4 More Days!
There are TWO very exciting things going on right now and I wanted to remind you all of them so that you don’t forget to participate.
If you want to, dosage of course. I mean, I’m a dictator or anything. I’m not going to force you to. I mean, you would be missing out on super epic fun but that’s totally your choice. I’m not cruel! Mostly.
So right now, I have a giveaway going on! Yay! Its for a signed copy of If I Stay! If I Stay just hit movie theaters last week and didn’t do half bad, so I’m massively proud of it right now. I have a movie tie-in edition of the book, signed by the author of the book and the director of the movie up for grabs.
This giveaway ends September 1st so don’t miss out on this opportunity! Click this link to find out how to enter, and all the (simple) rules involved!
I also have something else VERY exciting going on as well!
The most recent of my book exchanges is open for sign ups! There are so many of you who have signed up already and I hope that more of you do! This could potentially be the last time that I have open sign ups so I hope that everyone who wants to get involved does!
Basically, its kind of like a Secret Santa gift exchange, but after I did Santa with so much success, I decided I would do it four times a year. Its simple: you’ll receive some information about another person that signed up: what sort of books they’re interested in reading, what fandoms they’re in, what sort of things they enjoy doing, a mini bio, if you will. You’ll take that information and build a care package for your buddy: a couple books, a goodie or two, maybe snacks and candy for them to enjoy and you’ll ship it off to them.
But the best part is (besides making a new friend!), you get to receive a package in return! Which is always fun right? To learn more about the exchange, see pictures of previous exchanges and to find out how to sign up, you can click the link here.
Last day to sign up is August 31st so hurry hurry!
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Movie Review: If I Stay
If I Stay
Official U.S. Release Date: August 22nd, find 2014
Rated:
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sexual material
Directed By:
R.J. Cutler
Cast:
Chloe Grace Moretz, this Jamie Blackley, Liana Liberato, Joshua Leonard, Jakob Davies, Mireille Enos
Find the rest on IMDB here.
IMDB Movie Synopsis:
Mia Hall thought the hardest decision she would ever face would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at Juilliard or follow a different path to be with the love of her life, Adam. But what should have been a carefree family drive changes everything in an instant, and now her own life hangs in the balance. Caught between life and death for one revealing day, Mia has only one decision left, which will not only decide her future but her ultimate fate.
My Review:
The thing about contemporary novels is that a huge part of what they are is based on emotions. They don’t have the constant action that usually comes hand in hand with a science fiction, fantasy or dystopian novel. They literally have to carry the entire book with emotion, whether good or bad. If I Stay is perfect at doing that…and I had hoped so much that this emotional journey would carry over to the movie.
I was so please to find that it did.
First off, just a shout out in general for making a movie that actually is a good representative of the book. I had just recently reread the book a few days before seeing the movie so it was completely fresh in my mind and I loved recognizing so many scenes in the book. They really made sure to get all of them. Some were tweaked a bit but that was okay, because it made sense for the movie. But they really did a great job at adapting and I don’t often say that.
But what made me so incredibly happy is that I felt the same emotions when watching the movie as I did with reading the book. That book is an absolute emotional roller coaster. One minute, I’m laughing and the next, my heart is racing and I’m envious of the romance between Mia and Adam, and the next, I’m literally sobbing in the middle of the theater. All the characters in the movie felt so real, so genuine that it was so easy to connect with them and believe in their story.
If you’ve read the books, you know that the accident, the loss of her parents, even the loss of her brother, comes very fast and yet, you feel that pain. You connect with all of them so fast, and they accomplish that in the movie as well. But what is absolutely beautiful about it is that the flashbacks make you fall in love with the characters even more, so you’re torn between feeling the happiness at getting to know this extraordinary family and the gut wrenching sadness at the fact that they are already gone. The movie does that, and every flashback is so painful and you know why its so hard for her to stay. Every person who was cast, was cast so perfectly for the role. They played the perfect rocker parents, the little brother, the best friend, the boyfriend, they all did. It was incredible how much I believed every single one of them was that character.
But I think what really makes this movie stand out so much is the music. The music is something that we need to picture ourselves in the book, something that we have to imagine, but in the movie, the music is a character all on its own and I’m just so blown away by that. The music is there through all the emotions, the sadness, the joy, the love, family, friendship, loss, all of it, comes through in that. Music is magical that way and I think having the music that is so central in the book in the movie just makes it that much better. It captures the very essence of the film.
Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
“If I Stay” Hollywood Red Carpet Premiere Recap!
The moment that I knew there would an If I Stay premiere in Hollywood, I requested the day off. I knew that I had to be there! It had been SO long since the last premiere (Divergent in March) and I was itching for a new one. I didn’t think it would be as big as Divergent so camping was not necessary. Thank god. Haha!
It’s Time for an If I Stay Giveaway!
I love giveaways, viagra 40mg don’t you?
Today I have a special treat for you!
In celebration of the release of If I Stay in movie theaters today, visit this site I am holding an If I Stay giveaway.
Last week, visit this site I went to a signing event with Gayle Forman and RJ Cutler. For those of you not in the know, Gayle is the fantastically talented author of If I Stay and RJ is the director of its movie adaptation.
I grabbed an extra copy of If I Stay and managed to get it signed by both of them. I had hoped to get it signed by others, but the premiere didn’t go quite the way I had expected (as you will see later in my recap of the event) but you know what…this is still a SUPER epic giveaway!
The Prize
One Copy of the Movie Tie-In Edition of If I Stay signed by author, Gayle Forman, and director, RJ Cutler
The Rules (yes, there has to be rules!)
The contest will run from today, August 22nd to September 1st!
The winner will be contacted within 24 hours of contest end. If winner(s) do not respond within a 24 hour period of contact, their prize will be forfeited and a new winner will be chosen.
Come back every day to share on Twitter and Instagram to earn more entries!
If you check off an option on the rafflecopter, please make sure that you have fulfilled that option. Please be honest! I double check every winning entry and if you are dishonest, you will not win the prize!
This giveaway is in NO way endorsed by any authors, their publishers, the movie studios or any other affiliates.
What A Nerd Girl Says is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged prizes. It HAS happened before, but only once!
How to Enter:
Good luck!