Tuesday, June 23

Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell

"I've got my entire life planned out for the next ten years- including my PhD and Pulitzer Prize," claims 16 year-old overachiever Vassar Spore, the daughter of overachiever parents, who, in true overachiever fashion, named her after an elite women's college. Vassar expects her sophomore summer to include both AP and AAP (Advanced Advanced Placement) classes. Surprise! Enter a world- traveling relative who sends her plans into a tailspin when she blackmails Vassar's parents into forcing their only child to backpack with her through Southeast Asia.
On a journey from Malaysia to Cambodia ti the remote jungles of Laos, Vassar is faced with things she isn't prepared for- adventure, danger, a Malaysian cowboy-slash-bodyguard her own age- and in learning to "live in the moment" uncovers a family secret that turns her world upside down.
Vassar Spore can plan on one thing: She'll never be the same again.
7/10
Overall the plot and "moral" of the book was understandable. But some things were so unbelievable and unrealistic. Ther were some laugh out loud moments like a miracle bra that saved a life but other than that it was hard to get through.

Wild Roses by Deb Caletti



You would have never recognized the Dino I lived with in the books that had been written about him before the "incident." No one had a clue. No one seemed to see what was coming.

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Morgan has a secret: She's living with a time bomb (a.k.a. her stepfather, Dino Cavalli). To the public, Dino is a world-renowned violinist and composer. To Cassie, he's an erratic, self-centered bully.

Dino has always been difficult, but as he prepares for his comeback concert, something in him begins to shift. He seems more high-strung than ever, set off by any little thing. He stops sleeping, starts chain-smoking. And he grows increasingly paranoid, saying things that Cassie is desperate to make sense of, but can't. So she does what she thinks she must: She tries to hide his behavior from the outside world. Before, she was angry. Now, she is afraid.

Enter Ian Waters: a brilliant young violinist, and Dino's first-ever student. The minute Cassie lays eyes on Ian she knows she's doomed. She tries everything to keep away from him, but is drawn to him in a way she's never felt before. It should be easy. It should be beautiful. It is not. Cassie thought she understood that love could bring pain. But this union will have consequences she could not have imagined.

As the novel crashes through two irreparable events and speeds toward its powerful end, one thing becomes clear: In the world of insanity, nothing is sacred.
10/10
Sorry no review since the book was just perfect. I was speechless.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, she meets a boywho introduces her to crank. At first she finds it freeing, but soon Kristina’s personality disappears inside the drug. What began as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul, and her life.

6/10
I guess this book was okay. I could not really relate to the book because I have no experience with drugs. But I guess for other people it would be okay. I have little to say. Sorry

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Raised in a stern, abusive Mormon household, a teenage girl starts to question her religion and struggles to find her destiny.

Her father is abusive, her mother is submissive, and her church looks the other way. Confused and angry, Pattyn Von Stratten acts out and is sent to live with an aunt on a Nevada ranch. She finds the love and acceptance she craves, with disturbing consequences.
10/10
WOW. This book was amazing. I loved it because the main character seemed so real and palpable. I know that Ellen Hopkins touches on very disturbing, real and controversial topics. But I really think she outdid herself with Burned. I recommend this book. I must admit I cried at the end of the book.

Sunday, May 31

Out for a while

Finals are crazy right now, so i have to study. Be back when school is over.

Tuesday, May 5

Bliss by Lauren Myracle


Bones, says a voice in my head, tombs. I stop dead in my tracks, because it's not my voice that whispered these thoughts. And whoever's voice it is, it's not a nice voice.
With it's stately, ivy-colored buildings, Crestview Academy seems impossibly grand to newcomer Bliss, but full of promise too. It's here she hopes to make the sort of friends she never could growing up as the love kid on a commune. With her crisp new uniform and manners gleaned from the wholesome TV shows her grandmother permits her to watch, Bliss feels ready for her new life at Crestview. Until she hears the voice.
Crestview holds secrets in it's stones, ghostly hints of long ago death. Sensitive Bliss hears a voice that speaks of terrible things...and blood. Always blood. Her fellow students, with their sunny smiles and talk of make up and dances, seem untouched by this darkness. Yet, as Bliss will learn, they too have secrets. When the simmering tensions of the present mingle with the dark secrets of the past, it is kindly Bliss who becomes the focus of a deadly struggle for power.
9/10
This book was surprisingly good, from beginning to end it just pulled me right in. The only things was how the main character, Bliss was too sensitive.

Monday, April 27

who sent it?

I recently got a copy of Jessica's Guide to Dating On the Dark Side.I do not know who sent it. And if you are out there I would like to thank you.

The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells

Three breakups.
Sydney's longtime steady ,Drew, unexpectedly bails.
Raven can't decide between Caleb and Horace. They decide for her, and suddenly she's left with a sum total of zero boyfriends.
Kelly's kinda-sorta boyfriend, Will, has plans for Valentine's Day. Just not with her.
Four friends.
Alexia's never had a broken heart, but that's because she's never had a serious boyfriend. So when her three BFF's turn up boyless, shes' sympathetic... but maybe secretly- selfishly- glad. She has her friends back. She just had to help them get over their heartaches.
Twenty- nine rules.
How else to get over the breakups but follow a simple rules? It all goes so well at first; There are girly sleepovers, cold shoulders, and the destruction of sentimental items. But even as the girls redicover their friendship, rules are broken left and right. Soon the formerly heartbroken are on their way to becoming heartbreakers themselves. Especially Alexia.
4/10
This book took so long for me to read, because it was horribly boring. I guess it would help you if you're recently heartbroken. But there really was no plot and had the ever- present life lessons, we've heard over and over. Love yourself, be who you are, blah blah blah.

Saturday, April 11

Sucks To Be Me by Kimberly Pauley


Mina Hamilton's parents want her dead. (Or undead to be precise.) They're vampires, and like it or not, Mina must decide whether to become a vampire herself. But Mina's more interested in hanging out with best friend Serena and trying to catch the eye of the too-hot-for-high-school Nathan Able than in the vampire training classes she's being forced to take. How's a girl supposed to find the perfect prom date and pass third-year French when her mom and dad are breathing down her neck--literally? She ends up with George, and gets turned.

6/10

Wednesday, April 8

The Poison Apples by Lily Archer


We all know the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel. But have you ever heard of Alice Bingley- Beckerman, Reena Paruchuri, or Molly Miller? Of course you haven't. Not yet. What these girls have in common with their fairy-tale sisters is this: They are the stepdaughters of three very evil stepmothers. And they're not happy about it. They think they are alone in their unhappiness until they arrive at Putnam Mount McKinsey, a posh boarding school located in lovely rural Massachusetts. Here is where they will plot their revenge. But first, they have to meet.