Flash Reviews

Bits about books I've Read.

North Of Beautiful by Justine Chen Headley

Flash: This was an amazingly written book. A people mapmaker/artist Terra finds the beauty in who she is despite her flaws. She embraces who she is fully. This book covers all the bases. A girl standing on rocky ground trying to figure out who she is? Check! A boy who loves her for who she is? Check! A family in disarray? Check! A mental trip to China? Check! Redemption for even the characters you spend the whole book hating? Check! This book floored me and that's all I have to say. 

Quotes: 

“Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring.” 

“Beauty--real everlasting beauty--lives not on our faces, but in our attitude and our actions. It lives in what we do for ourselves and for others.” 

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Flash: 1.Libba Bray is very, very good at sarcasm. 2. The unique range of characters, feminists to some very sexy pirates. 3. Censorship addressed. 4. Silly ads on some of the pages that resemble the way EVERYTHING these days has a billion ads. 5. Very well developed characters. 6. British guys (this may be related to the sexy pirates I mentioned before). 7. Growing up and finding just where you stand. 8. You won't find any girls just waiting to be saved in this book, no these girls take charge and thrive. 

Quote:

“There was something about the island that made the girls forget who they had been. All those rules and shalt nots. They were no longer waiting for some arbitrary grade. They were no longer performing. Waiting. Hoping. They were becoming. They were.” 

10 Things we did (and probably shouldn't have) by Sarah Mylnowski

Flash: I had a real fun time with April and her crazy story. It was funny, realistic (well to a point), and easy to slip into. Aprils voice was funny and for the most part light hearted. Hudson was my favorite, non judgmental  sweet, and, oh yeah, adorable. That ending was perfect, it wasn't perfect in the sense that everything wrapped up nicely but it was a good way to end a story. 

Quotes:

“No one was perfect. But we all did the best we could. I guessed you had to forgive when you could, move on when you couldn't, and love your family and friends for who they were instead of punishing them for who they weren't.” 

“We're all crazy. What's your specific form of crazy?” 

-Kare Out-

Cover Reveal of Stained by Cheryl Rainfield

 Description:

In this heart-wrenching and suspenseful teen thriller, sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for "normal." Born with a port-wine stain covering half her face, all her life she’s been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she’s abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become a hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It’s that—or succumb to a killer. Sometimes you have to be your own hero.

Release Date:

Nov 19, 2013

Publisher: 

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

A Note from Cheryl Rainfield:

"Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED, I drew on some of my own experiences of bullying, abuse, and trauma to write STAINED and to give it greater emotional depth. Like Sarah in STAINED, I experienced abduction, imprisonment, periods of forced starvation, mind control, and having my life threatened. And like Sarah, I tried hard to fight against my abuser, keep my own sense of self, and escape. I hope readers will see Sarah's strength and courage, and appreciate her emotional growth as she reclaims herself."

Book Trailer:

Pre-Order: 

Amazon [US: hardcover | kindle Canada: hardcover | kindle UK: hardcover | kindle] The Book Depository | Powell's | Books a Million

-Kare Out- 

Hating Heidi Foster by Jeffery Blount

Description: Mae McBride and Heidi Foster were the very best of friends. Tied at the hip from early elementary school, their relationship was the stuff of storybooks, legendary even, in the minds of their high school classmates.Unshakable. 

That is, until Mae's father died while saving Heidi's life. When Mae finds out, she blames Heidi. She blames her father for putting Heidi ahead of her. She blames her friends for taking Heidi’s side. She begins to unravel amid that blame and her uncontrollable and atypical anger. At the same time Heidi is beset by guilt, falls into depression and stops eating properly; wasting away physically and emotionally while waiting for Mae to let her back into the friendship she misses so dearly. 

Mae, consumed by her hatred of Heidi, the confusion regarding her father’s motives, the perceived desertion of her friends and her mother’s grief, loses more and more of herself.What could possibly bring these two old friends back to each other? A miracle?

Hating Heidi Foster, is a young adult novel about the place of honor true friendships hold in our lives. It is about suffering and loss and the ethics of grief. It is about a deep and painful conflict, the bright light of selflessness and sacrifice and the love that rights the ship and carries us safely to port. Goodreads

Wins:

• What you HAVE to understand about this book is the fact that it isn't a lavish tale. It doesn't go into deep description or characterize all that much. What it does is highlight the importance of it's message. That message: The importance of friendship. 
• This book is good in the way that it defines real grief. The blind rage we get when someone passes, the guilt when someone sacrifices for us, the hole that a person can leave in our life. 
• It was fairly quick read. It's only about one-hundred pages long and it's stuffed pretty full.
• Even though this book doesn't have much depth into the characters you still can fill that void with the little the author gives you. He gives you a skeleton and you can fill it in the way you want. 
• The idea that a character blames their best friend for their fathers death? Very, very human. This is the reason why I agreed to review this book. This idea intrigued me and I wanted to see how it played out. 
• "Look at all the misery we've had to face with only the cliches to comfort us." pg 39. It seems like this should be a lyric in a song. It's beautiful. 

Fails:

• You have no idea what Mae or her mother or Heidi even look like. This characterization is needed for a clear picture in your head. I felt like I only saw a vague and blurry picture of what it could be. A book should take you there. 
• This is probably just a I-am-the-only-one-who-really-cares-about-this-sort-of-thing thing but it drives me nuts. She calls her Mom Mummy and her Dad Daddy. She's fourteen, not four. Now I get the Daddy and I can over look it but Mummy? It just makes me think about Docto Who. (I also feel this way about the word tummy. We are not little kids.) (It's not just that it's used but that it is used through the whole book. I mean if you call them Mom for most of the book and then Mummy when you are sad or really need them that's fine but the whole book? I just can't do it, self edit sets in.)

Overall: This book is like a gem that could use some polishing but it still shines without it. A great commentary on loss and life. 

-Kare Out-

Book Haul

I made a short trip to the library to pick up a book I needed for some research on a story I'm working on. I left with...well more than just a book. So is the life of the book nerd. 

Library: 

 

-Kare Out-

Flash Reviews

Quick bits about books I've read.

This week is all about Lisa Schroeder and a few of her verse novels. 

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
Flash: This book is a ghost story so creepy should be there but it's also a verse novel so the creepy factor is cranked up to maximum. So few words but you get the most clear picture. An Honest story about a girl whose world gets shaken up by loss. Yet another reason to love verse novels.

"I am warm-hearted. I am affectionate. I am reliable. I am generous. I am smart. I am strong. Today, I add another one. I am hopeful." pg 226

"Guilt reminds me of a stray cat. You chase it away, and yet it comes back when you least expect it." pg 217

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder
Flash: A verse novel in dual perspectives? How does she do it? She manages to weave an elegant tale about loss, the shadows that haunt us, and everyday superheros while staying in verse. Verse writing is one of my favorite types. I know it doesn't work for some people but something about it speaks to me the way other styles can't. Nico is very much an everyday hero and is one of my favorite guys in YA fiction now.Love, loss, and everything in between. Stunning. Heart-breaking. Elegant.

"After all, it's not just superheros who use their powers for the good of mankind." pg 360

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
Flash: So I read this on my own day before coincidently enough. It was right before I shipped myself to Idaho and I found myself completely in sync with the main characters Amber and Cade. I knew how it felt to be right on the edge of change. Once I read this book I knew, I knew, that I would always be a fan of Lisa Schroeder.

"Kelly Looks nothing like me, acts nothing like me, is really nothing like me. But she is my sister. And that means everything." pg unknown

"Life is the bad with the good. The deadly sharks with the beautiful sea stars. the gigantic waves with the sea castles. The licorice with the lemon and lime. The loud lyrics with the rhythm of music. The Lover disease with the love of a father and son. It's life. Sweet, beautiful, wind on your face, air in your lungs, kisses on your lips. Life." pg 299

I earnestly recommend any of these and her other verse novel Far From You. I can't wait to get my hands on more of her books!!

-Kare Out-

Book Haul

Stuff I got this week. Not all books but some nifty stuff.

Review:

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry: I started this one and I like it okay. Problem is +Katie (from Call Me Crazy Ya Reviews) said she wasn't really liking it and I sort of haven't picked it up since. Which about sums up what I've read this year.

Random 'Nifty' Stuff:

I snagged this book at the bookstore I work at (more on that later this week) for less than a dollar. Although I think my mom was more excited to see the projects than I was. 

To keep my head on strait I require a planner. It's basically my brain during school. 

I had a flash drive but it is so passed full it's not even funny. I saw this one and thought it was cute plus it unintentionally matches my planner. Is it just me or are office supplies just as bad as books? And when I say bad I mean: I HAVE TO HAVE THEM ALL!! 

What all did you get this week and what are your thoughts on office supplies?

-Kare Out-

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Description: When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines. Goodreads

Wins:

• What I loved most about this book were the places. England, France, Holland, and others. Forman has such a way with settings, literally putting you into these place. It makes me want to travel, to get lost in another country on purpose. That is not an easy feat. 
• Just One Day isn't about travel nor is it really about romance. It is however about finding out just who you really are, who you are away from your friends, family, out of your comfort zone. Allyson is forced to face her true self, to figure out that self of hers. 
• Allyson- Timid, scared, and totally lost. She was lost on who she was and what she wanted. A confused and lonely person, who can't relate to that?
• Willem- He is the catalyst in this story. He tears down everything that Allyson thought was set in stone in her life. He changes her whole life in one day. Of course he's totally adorable even if half the time you aren't sure if he's a total player or a sweetheart. 
• The friends that Allyson makes on her journey are some crazy awesome people. These are all her guides pushing and pulling her in the right direction. 
• Forman presents Allyson with the idea of 'accidents', or in other words coincidences. I loved how all these little accidents played into the story. 
• "The sound is clear and strong as a bell, and it fills me with joy, and it's like, for the first time in my life, I understand that this is the point of laughter, to spread happiness." (pg 83 in the ARC)

Overview: A coming of age, nay a coming of self story, about a girl, the boy she loved, and just one day. I am seriously ecstatic to read Willem's point of view, Just One Year! I wasn't kidding when I said I want to travel because of this book. I think I'll start with England...

-Kare Out- 

Book Haul

Books I received this week. 

(Really these are from birthday, Christmas, and the last few months) 

Bought/Gifted:

  

The Truth about Forever-Just Listen-Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

  

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Okler

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Lies that Bind by L&L Roecker 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Review:

  

Ask the Passengers by A.S King

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Won:

 

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Just One Day by Gayle Forman (Look for my review soon!!)

What did you guys get??

-Kare Out-

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Description: Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look. 

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. 

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

Wins:

• Nerdy Alert: The amount of Poe that is packed into this novel is astounding. It's dark and twisty like you expect from something Poe but with a paranormal twist.
• Half of the story is Poe and the darkness that surrounds him and his writing. The other half is the ups and downs of Isobel and Varens rocky friendship. 
• This book is sooo dark. I mean really dark. I could feel the heaviness in my mind. That was that great thing about it though one minute you are in the depths of darkness and all the sudden the spazzy best friend makes a comment that is so funny it pulls you out of the pool of darkness you were just submerged in. It's like a small breath of fresh air. 
• Varen- Typical emo kid, right? Wrong! He is like several levels of deep and stoic but he has a sweet side. Keep holding that pink ribbon dude, I'm so rooting for you. 
• Isobel- She was described as the cheerleading popular girl type. This was actually a turn off as I read the description and I expected to totally hate Isobel. However! She was not the typical popular girl, though she does have her moments. I ended up really liking her. 
• Gwen- She was my favorite!! She is the silly/dorky best friend but so hilarious. She was the light hearted side of this story, the best type of character. 
• Can you feel the love tonight?- ahem. Of course there is a love story. Their relationship is kind of like Darcy and Elizabeth, they can't stand each other but fall for each other regardless.
• Creepy things that go bump in the night- There were so many creatures and things that went along with this world that were awesome. Lets just say I wouldn't want to 'meet' any of these things late at night. 
• I want to go back to this world, slip back into Isobel's world. 

Overall: IN LOVE. MIND BLOWN. I so want to be back in this world as soon as possible!! 

-Kare Out-