Review | Look For Me By Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

Series: N/A
Pages: 198
Date Released: March 1, 1997

     When the mysterious Vincent Morthanos arrives to stay at her father's inn, 16-year-old Cynda is mesmerized. His charm and sensitivity are irresistible. His attentiveness is constant. Cynda's sure she's in love. Daring to hope that the stranger shares her feelings, Cynda is innocently blind to who he really is--or to the terrible danger of coming under his spell.

     For some reason, I expected this to be a romance. I was horribly mistaken. This was a thriller. My heart is still beating fast. I hated Cynda at first because she was so easily captivated by Vincent. The fact that he looked thirty was also quite uncomfortable I and did not earn her any cool points. I was also extremely angry at how unsupportive her parents were throughout the book despite them being under Vincent’s influence also. I loved the Todd and Ebony the best because they saw Vincent for what he was from the beginning. Will was a favorite too because he remained unconvinced no matter how much Vincent complimented his artistry. The ending of LFMBM was an example of wonderful writing! The words flew off the page and I felt so sorry for Cynda and Todd as they struggled to get out of the clutches of that monster. The action was great. The writing was great. The characters were great. Everything, I mean everything, was great.

Author Website

Goodreads

Review | The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Series: N/A
Pages: 375
Date Released: February 21, 2012

Summary: Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

    BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.      With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

     THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME was a uniquely written story of a girl and her journey through death. The main character was Brie, who supposedly died of a broken heart (literally), but unfortunately, I din't like her too much. She was wishy-washy and quick to fling her problems with others onto people who were just trying to help her. She went way overboard with her revenge and didn't seem to know when to stop. She was really out to ruin people's lives. My favorite character was Patrick. He was
  very well-developed and funny. He was always coming up with new nicknames to call Brie and his story was very mysterious and made me want to read more. In my opinion TCHOYAM could have been a five star book, but I felt it could have done without all the drama and the drama queen of a protagonist. I could have felt sorrier for Brie if she wasn't such a mean person. All in all, it was a decent, somewhat lighthearted read about the most unknown thing in life: death.

Author Website 

Goodreads

Review | Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Series: N/A
Pages: 245
Date Released: March 17, 2009
           
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over....

     I started this book an hour and a half ago. Literally. No exaggerating at all. I am a huge fan of Jennifer and I loved Such A Rush, which was the first book of hers that I read. Going Too Far was exactly on par with Jennifer's expertise and excellence. I loved, loved, loved Meg. She was a bad girl and not that I've never read about other bad girls, she just stood out. She had reasons for her being a bad girl. She struggled with her panic attacks and she didn't feel that it made her weak. She wasn't doing it to get back at her parents. She did it for herself, to live. I loved all her twists and turns because I didn't find out the clear answer until the middle ending of the book and it was totally not what I expected. I was so surprised! But I loved it.
     I am also a big fan of John, too. Although, I couldn't find anyone who wouldn't be. His Matt Damon body and sleepy brown eyes? No one is immune. I loved him from the start because of how he treated Tiffany at the beginning and shook off Meg's insults. He was deep and his story was also more complex than I originally thought. He was obsessed with the bridge, which I thought was totally loony-toon until I understood the full severity of its importance.
     Going Too Far totally exceed all my expectations and had me giggling all the while at Meg's antics and Johnafter's cop humor. I enjoyed the wild journey from beginning to end and cannot wait to recommend them to my best friend.

Author Website

Goodreads

Review | The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney

Title: The Boy Recession
Author: Flynn Meaney
Series: N/A
Pages: 246
Date Released: August 7, 2012 

Summary: The population of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is shrinking as families move to cities and towns with greener pastures, and the local high school is hurting: nearly all of the area's most eligible guys have moved or transferred schools. With little competition, the remaining boys find their stocks on the rise, and even the most unlikely candidates have a good chance at making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming slacker HUNTER FAHRENBACH has made an art of blending into the background, but now desperate coaches are recruiting him and popular girls are noticing his scruffy good looks. With a little help, Hunter might even by boyfriend material... Down-to-earth KELLY ROBBINS has a simple wish for her junior year: "one normal, nice boy to crush on." Kelly and Hunter have always been friends, but is there something more to their platonic relationship? And can Kelly overcome the odds? After all, dating is hard enough without a four-to-one ratio.

     The Boy Recession had one of the most unique plots that I’ve ever read before. It was also very relatable, seeing as I also attend a tiny school that never seems to have enough cute boys to go around. I loved Kelly from the beginning because she was very much like me. She was a Libra and acknowledging of her strengths and weaknesses. She only had a few close friends and she was very comfortable in her own skin. Hunter honestly didn’t seem like he was good enough for her. He was a slacker and a stoner with hardly no priorities. As the book goes on, though, he matures and grows into a boy worthy of Kelly. The supporting characters like their friends and their relationships were also very interesting and detailed. The friendships could be very well felt and were very realistic and thankfully didn’t end in a clichéd girl fight because they all wanted the same guy. The Boy Recession was a well-needed change and incredibly refreshing.

The Boy Recession by: Flynn Meaney $3.97

Goodreads

Author Website

Review | Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook (ARC)

Title: Unraveling Isobel
Author: Eileen Cook
Series: N/A
Pages: 320
Date Released: October 30, 2012

Summary: Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the Internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, Gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother. But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn't only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

    Unraveling Isobel was so exciting that I read it in 3 hours and it was 3 in the morning when I started it!! I saw the sun come up. Isobel was a wonderful female lead character and I loved her from the start. I felt sorry for her for having such a flighty, easily influenced mother. I could also connect with her for being scared that she is doomed to repeat her father's past and become crazy. Even though she is one of the most sane in the book. I think I would have liked to hear more about her gift because the descriptions of it were a bit lacking. I like the way the plot unfolded and the things that were not apparent until the very end. I loved how much detective work was involved too since I love me some Nancy Drew! Her relationship with Nathaniel was very well paced. He was hurting in his own right and I loved how he stood by her and believed in her. Unraveling Isobel was a wonderful stand-alone novel with wonderful characters that I would love to converse with more.    

Author Website

Goodreads

1st Chapter of Unraveling Isobel

Mission Impossible | Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Kiss

  What Leah did—only she really shouldn’t have—one hot night at a country club party.

Crush
What Leah has—only she really shouldn’t have—on the guy with the green eyes, the guy who is not her perfect boyfriend, the guy who does not fit in her picture-perfect life, the guy her sisters will only mock and her mother will never approve of. Not in a million years.

Collide
What happens when everything you always thought you wanted—having cool friends, being class valedictorian and homecoming queen—runs smack into everything it turns out you really do want.

Kiss. Crush. Collide.
For Leah and Porter, summer is only the beginning.

Page Stopped: 61

Why Couldn't I Finish: It was going way too fast for me. Anybody who is not a new reader of my blog knows that I cannot stand cheaters! Leah is a cheater and the worst thing about it is that she is a fast cheater. As she goes on through her day, she seems to feel no regret what so ever. I needed more build-up to her affair, I guess it could be called, and more background about the boy, Porter.

Review | Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens

Title: Overprotected
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Series: N/A
Pages: 243
Date Released: April 29, 2011

Summary: Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York City.

Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector.

Daddy hired him to be my bodyguard. Daddy thought I'd be safe. He thought I'd never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever. 

Charles: Obsessed with keeping her safe and keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin.

Daddy was wrong.

   Overprotected was a very intense and underrated novel. Ashlyn was a wonderful character who grew a lot throughout the course of the book. Her strength was so admirable and inspirational especially after being so badly incarcerated by her own paranoid father. Every part of the book was filled with a weird or unexpected twist of turn which were my favorite parts of the book. Colin was a great supporting character. He was such a gentleman towards Ashlyn and he took all her issues well. He was there whenever she needed him and stood quietly by her side when she needed to do something on her own. Their relationship was dynamic and one of the most realistic I've read before. The ending of Overprotected was so jam-packed with action and made me feel so much more connected with Ashlyn as she kicked butt and took names.

Author Website

Goodreads

Review | So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti

Title: So Much Closer
Author: Susane Colasanti
Series: N/A
Pages: 236
Date Released: May 1, 2012

Summary: When Brooke discovers that the love of her life, Scott Abrams, is moving from their New Jersey suburb to New York City for senior year, she decides to follow hime there. Living with her estranged father and adjusting to a whole new school are challenging--and things get even worse when she finds out that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she learns to navigate the big city, she starts to discover a whole new side of herself, and realizes that sometimes love can find you even when you're not looking for it.

     So Much Closer was a unique book with an even more unique plot. Brooke decides that just because of a feeling she calls The Knowing, to move to New York because of a boy. That was the first thing that made me not like her. The choice was rash and just plain stupid. The boy, Scott, has hardly ever spoken to her at all. This action and decision makes Brooke come off as a little self-centered. As the book went on, I discovered why Brooke was so angry. However, the fascinating thing about Brooke was that despite her anger, she was still able to find beauty in the world around her. In So Much Closer, Brooke grows tremendously. She figures out what she wants out of her life, learns who her real friends are, and finally sees what is right in front if her.

Author Website

Goodreads

2012 Challenges

Starting 2012, I, Keturah, has decided to have a more adventurous year and join a lot of challenges. This is the page where you can see my progress, view the books I've read, and even go to join in on the fun yourself!

2012 Debut Author Challenge

Hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren

My List

my debut-authors-2012 shelf:

Progress
Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

Read: 2/12

Not Read: 10/12

YA Contemporary Challenge 2012

Hosted by Katie's Book Blog & Reading Angel

My List

1. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Progress
Read: 1/16
Not Read: 15/16

 2012 Standalone Reading Challenge
Hosted by Icey Books & I Like These Books


My List
1. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen


Progress
Read: 1/105
Not Read: 104/105

 2012 ABC Reading Challenge
Hosted by Gripped Into Books

My List
A.
B. Blind Faith Hotel, The by Pamela Todd
C. Choker by Elizabeth Woods
D. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
E. Eve by Anna Carey
F. Fine Art of Truth or Dare, The by Melissa Jensen
G. Ghost and the Goth, The by Stacey Kade
H.Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
I. Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff
J. Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
K. Kissing Tennessee by Kathi Appele
L. Living Violet by Jaime Reed
M. Melody Burning by Whitney Strieber
N.
O. Old Man and the Sea, The by Ernest Hemingway
P. Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler
Q.
R.
S. Saving June by Hannah Harrington
T. Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
U.  Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The by Michelle Hodkin
V. Vampire's Warden, The by S.J. Wright
W. Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergen
X.
Y.
Z. Zero by Tom Leveen

Progress
Read: 20/26
Not Read: 10/26

1st In A Series 2012 Challenge
Hosted by A Few More Pages

My List
1. Poison Study by Maria V. Synder
2. Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergen
3. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
4.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
5. Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
6. Switched by Amanda Hocking
7. Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
8. The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade
9. Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber
10. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
11. Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
12. Living Violet by Jaime Reed
13. Eve by Anna Carey
14. Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon
15. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
16. Legend by Marie Lu
17. Elixir by Hilary Duff 

Progress
Read: 17/12
Not Read: 0/12

That's it for now..... just for now. But I want to join 1 more challenge to make it a nice rounded 5. These lists here are in no way finished. I might discover more later on in the year or gather up enough energy to sort out my ridiculously full Goodreads list.  Whatever happens I want to have fun in 2012 and read a lot more books!

Review | The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that's just fine by her. Still, it's hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is her French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before.

 This week my reading has been filled with headstrong, beautiful females and Ella is definitely no exception. She is way quieter but she got where she needed to be by the end of the book. Ella is very different from everyone else. She’s Italian, but doesn’t know the language, she spends time drawing doorknobs, and she’s totally obsessed with namesake of the school, Edward Willing. Her biggest insecurity is a scar from a hot water burn that has inspired the name Freddy as in Freddy Krueger. Ella is shy and quiet, but don’t take that for granted she has wonderful ideas and values. She is a little blind in the book, though, to her beauty. She learns that everything isn’t a fairytale, but if she lets it, things can be ways better.

Ella’s friends are great supporting characters that are as different as she is. Her gay guy friend, Freddie, who always has her back and Sadie, who needs a little help of her own. They are the backbone and hilarious support group of her journey.

Of course, what is a good book without a love interest? Enter Alex Bainbridge. He’s Russian, hot and totally out of Ella’s league (so she says). All Ella knows is that he meets the criteria and he seems nice, but he’ll never notice her. Until he does. Because Ella’s failing French, she needs Alex’s help and soon Alex is doing more than teaching French, but teaching her to love, herself and him.

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare reiterates that in order to love someone, you must first love thyself. This is an awesome life lesson and Ella is so inspiring. Shaking off insecurity and getting the guy, what more could you ask for?