Tag: young adult

Book Review: Love and Other Unknown Variables (ARC) by Shannon Alexander

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20757521This 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

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

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:

It’s Time for an If I Stay Giveaway!

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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 

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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:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Good luck!

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!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sponsored by: 

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Book Review: Falling Into Place ARC by Amy Zhang

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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