February Wrap Up: The Month of Luuuurve

So, since February is the month of love, I decided to read a whole bunch of Young Adult Contemporary novels.

Book #1: Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor read February 1, 2015

Although I read this in a day, it wasn't one of the best books I've ever read. Jan Miller, pronounced Yahn, lives in the Upper East Side of New York whose best friend is rated a magazine's Top 20 under 20. She has a normal teenage life but she is also privileged. I don't know if I would classify this as YA or more so Middle Grade. I have my reasons for this.

The way this novel is set up, there is very minimal plot line. So little in fact that as I'm writing this a month later, there are no big stand outs for me. It also compares a lot to The Clique Series and the Secrets of my Hollywood Life series in the way that the girls, though in this novel they are in high school instead of junior high, they are privileged, go shopping and eating out way too much and are seriously boy crazy. That's  something that's not in my taste to read about, but that could be in someone else's taste.

I had originally rated this a 4 star. But, I may be dropping it down to a 3.

Book #2: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin read February 2, 2015

Another book I read in a day! Anyway, this book follows our main protagonist, Naomi, who has had an accident and suffers brain trauma. As a result, she suffers from amnesia. She doesn't remember being on yearbook staff, why her friend Will calls her "Chief", her boyfriend, or playing tennis.

But then, she meets James. James is the one she thought was her boyfriend when she woke up in the ambulance after falling. James said that he was her boyfriend so he could ride in the ambulance with Naomi to make sure she was okay. But then he mysteriously disappears.

Until Naomi returns to school. Turns out, James is a student at her high school and the reason she had never seen him before, other than the amnesia, is that he is a transfer student and a few years behind schedule. Anyway, long story short, James and Naomi start dating.

As the novel progresses, we learn more and more about the character of Will and his philosophies. He's co-editor-in-cheif of the Yearbook with Naomi and he is generally a nice person all around. He doesn't really like James, or the person the amnesia has made Naomi become. She stops coming to Yearbook meetings all together. But Will sort of blames himself for her fall. But I'm not going to say why, you'll have to pick up the book!

I gave this book a solid 4 stars. My typical rating for a contemporary story. I would have given it a 5 if there was a little bit more back story. But overall, it was a good book.

Book #3: Silence of Six by E.C. Meyers read February, 2015*

This book blew me away. I'm sure by now, you've all heard a synopsis of this. Basically, our main protagonist Max, has a best friend named Ethan who commits suicide via live stream broadcast to the entire school during a public event. That was televised.

I don't want to say much about this book, you should read it yourself. But I want to warn you that this book is centered around "hacktavists" and some of the technical jargon was tough for me to understand.

But it was an excellent book. 4.5 out of 5 stars. Would have given it a full 5 star rating, and may if I read it again in the future, if it was easier to connect with some of the characters.

Book #4: If I Stay by Gayle Forman read February, 2015*

Another YA contemporary novel, imagine that! ;)

This book is about Mia, who is a prodigy on the cello. She is so good that she has an audition to Juilliard. But, for most of the book, Mia is in a coma from a car accident that she was in with her parents and little brother.

But, you may ask, how is this novel put together? Well, the novel is composed of mostly flashbacks. We see Mia interacting with her family before her car accident. We don't get much view on the car accident itself, other than her parents were DOA.

The chapters alternate with flashbacks and Mia being in the hospital. You know how people in movies in comas are always able to see and hear and comprehend what is going on around them? That's how Mia's hospital story is told. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I gave this book a solid 4 star rating.

Book #5: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick read February, 2015*

I really enjoyed how teen romance was captured in this YA Contemporary novel. We follow our main character Samantha, who lives on a small island of the coast of Connecticut. She is a trust fund baby and her mom is state senator. And her mom hates their neighbors and anything to do with them.

Sam is coping with two summer jobs and the craziness of her mom's schedule. When one day, she meets Jase Garrett. One of the boys from the family next door. As you may guess, a romance kindles between them. They keep it secret from Sam's mom in the beginning. They don't want Sam's mom to be any more crazy than she already is. And anyway, her mom is busy with a boy-toy of her own.

Sam is quite comfortable with all the members of the Garrett family and even babysits on occasion, without her mother knowing of course. Suddenly, her mom's election agent (<- is that even a thing, or did I make it up?) intervenes with Sam's relationship and things spiral from there.

I gave this a 4 star rating. Typical for a contemporary from me. :)

So, what did you read this month? Did you have a theme like me? Or did you just pick whatever you liked off of your bookshelves? Let's discuss in the comments down below!

Type at you soon!

Shea

*I didn't save the exact dates in my goodreads account, and I didn't want to guess. :)

How I Rate Books

Hi guys!

I hope this post finds you well. I've been having some troubles that have kept me from the blogging/vlogging world. But, I have a quiet moment right now so I thought I'd write this up for you. I hope you enjoy!

So, I wanted to give you an overview of how I review books. I tend to rate most books four stars unless they are outstanding. For example, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell was a five star book to me. Contemporaries are usually a solid 4 to 4.5 stars in my book. If you asked me my thoughts on contemporary novels a few years ago, I would tell you that I hated them. The contemporaries that I read back then, I usually didn't finish or gave two or two and a half star ratings. Now that I am the age that most of the YA contemporary characters are, I feel like I can relate to them more. And that's why I've read all contemporary books this month!

A three star rating to me is right down the middle. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. An example of this would be Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. This was one of those books for me. While I am interested in picking up the sequel, I needed to wait a few months before I actually did that.

I very seldom give a two star rating, but when I do the book just didn't do anything for me. The story might have been good, but I didn't connect to the characters or the plot line. These are books like classics that I have to read for school. For example, right now for my English class we have to read Hamlet. I'm not that big of a fan of reading plays as it is, but add tragedy and death to it? It's really not my forte.

I don't think I've ever given a one star rating, so I can't give you an honest reason why I would give a book a one star. But if I ever do, I'll be sure to come back and update this post!

I'd love to know how you rate your books. Let's have a chat about it down in the comments!

Type at you soon!

Shea

Why I Don't Like Book Synopsises

Upon my discovery of book tube, I learned something about myself. I do not like book synopsises. Why? Well the answer is really quite simple. I like to go into a book as blind as I can.

Let me tell you something. When I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Leviathan, I didn't know that the title was, in fact, referring to TWO Will Graysons. That is how blind I like to go into a story. After I picked up that book, I read the back and the back clearly states that this story is about two boys named Will Grayson. 

I feel that had I gone into that book with the knowledge that there were two Will Graysons, the story would have had a much different effect on me. Especially the ending. 

Now, in saying this, I still watch book tube videos. I only watch reviews/book discussions unless I have read the books that the reviewer is mentioning. I watch mostly book hauls, book tags, and monthly wrap-ups and TBR videos. Now with that, there often will be a synopsis of the books. But, because, most of the time, it is not word-for-word from the back of the book or a full review. 

I guess you could say that I'm not a fan of how publishers describe the books they put out in their synopsises. Unless they sum up the book in three sentences or less, without giving too much away.  I guess I just feel like the synopsis wants us to develop our opinion about a book before we've actually read it. I prefer a synopsis to be short, sweet, griping, and vague. I like to hear short opinions from other avid readers in a shortened format, such as in a wrap-up video or TBR. 

When I do get around to reading a hyped book, I may watch some sort of discussion of the book, but I like to settle with my own thoughts of the book for a while rather than share them with the whole world. Give me a few days for a book to stew inside of me to see if I want to share my thoughts or if I want a more intimate relationship with the book. 

This may seem very confusing and I sort of contradict myself because I put up reviews on here and on my channel. But like I said earlier, I like those types of things when I have already read a book. 

So, here's a question for you. Have you really thought about how you feel about synopses of books, or have they always been there and you just grew used to them? Let me know and let's have a discussion in the comments!

Until next time, 

Shea

P.S. I will have a video up on my YouTube Channel soon. My internet speed has not been cooperating with me. If I try to upload a video it would take a veeeeeeerryyyyyy loooooooooong time. But, I will keep trying! 

Cold Weather Doth Approach-eth?

Hi all! I'm currently bundled up under a blanket because it is -3 degrees where I live. And it's going to be freeeezing all weekend. So, I'm gearing up for a nice weekend under my blankies with some tea and reading some books!

This is some-sort of a, I guess, Friday Reads (on a Thursday!)/Library Haul. I have a homeschool teacher coming tomorrow, so I'm going to read as much as I can after she leaves.

Today, I took a trip to my local library. I picked up quite a few books. Six. I got six books. I doubt I will be able to read them all in my alloted two weeks, but I will be renewing them until I finish them up. I've picked up some rather hyped up books that I have yet to read and one new release (my library does a pretty good job at keeping up with new releases). I won't have a synopsis of these books, because I like to go into a book completely blind (I will have another post up explaining this soon!). Anyway, here are the books I picked up (and a link to the goodreads page of them, incase YOU would like a synopsis!)

The Silence of Six by E.C. Meyers

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I'm not planning on reading all six of these novels this weekend. I hope to get through at least Silence of Six and possibly If I Stay. I may be adding Monday to my Friday reads, which is not typical. But, we are looking at several inches of snow for Monday and possibly no school, so I will be reading then as well. But I will let you know for certain on Monday! Talk with you all soon! 

Shea

Oh! Here's what the weather looks like for the weekend where I am, if you're interested.... 

You may want to have a sweater handy!

January Wrap-Up!

Hi guys! I hope this finds you well!

I've had a pretty good reading month with five books read. :) I'm not sure how I'm going to be reviewing books, so I'd like your help with that! I will be having a January Wrap-Up on my YouTube channel in a few days, but I want to have written reviews as well. Would you prefer reviews once a month in a giant chunk of a post (like this one?) or one as I finish a book? I want to make you happy and I would enjoy doing either! Let me know! 

Okay, so, here is what a chunk book-review post would look like. 

Book #1- Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matsin read December 30th 2014 to January 2, 2015

Since You've Been Gone was the first book I read in the year 2015 and it was a great start to the year! If you don't know, Since You've Been Gone is about two best friends. They have been friends for about three years and Sloane has always left these lists for Emily to complete. But, Emily has never fully completed one of these lists. They always seem silly to her. But one day, Emily gets one of Sloane's lists in the mail after Sloane has suddenly disappeared. Emily can't even get in touch with her over the cell phone. This sort of "bucket list" has thirteen items for Emily to complete in the Summer before their Senior year of High School. 

By the end of the novel, Emily is surprised to find that she has completed all of the items on the list (even the one involving a fake ID, which she never thought she'd do). She has it in her mind that some way Sloane will reappear or contact her in some way now that she has finished the list, but no such thing happens.

Emily has grown up a lot in this novel. There are flashbacks scattered throughout the book that show Sloane and Emily's friendship. We can see her growth a lot between flashbacks and the present. Emily conquers her fears and even makes some new friends, which is a surprise because she relied so much on Sloane's company to bring her true self out. But, I'm going to leave it at that.

I rated this a 4 stars, but I'm leaning more towards a 4.5. It was a great book to start out my reading year! I'm really surprised at how much I am enjoying Contemporary novels. I never thought I would love them this much! But, I do! Since You've Been Gone is a funny and witty Contemporary that has just a touch of romance. It really shows the importance of friends in tough times and how much new friends can impact your life. :)

Book #2- Uglies by Scott Westerfield read January 2, 2014 to January 12, 2014

Uglies was one of those books that took me ages to read. It wasn't because it wasn't a good book, because it was, it was because of the meaning behind it.

Uglies is the Dystopian story of a world where once you turn sixteen, you become "pretty". Surgically. You are made to meet the standards of what the world has dubbed pretty. 

In this story, there are three stages of life. The littlie stage, from birth to age 12, where you live with your pretty parents in a pretty town. Once you turn 12, you are sent to Uglyville to live in dorms where you get your schooling and such. Then at 16, you get the pretty operation and are able to move back into PrettyTown. 

Our protagonist, Tally, can't wait to turn 16. She is the oldest in her dorm and her best friend has moved into PrettyTown and is living his new life to the fullest. Our book opens with Tally sneaking into PrettyTown, Uglies aren't allowed there. She pulls some tricks and almost gets herself in some serious trouble. But then she meets Shay. (I was so thrilled with this character name. Can you guess why? :P)

Tally and Shay form a fast friendship. Tally even picks up the skill of hover boarding which proves useful later in the story. A few short days before Tallys, and Shays for that matter, Shay tells Tally that she is going to run away and not have the surgery done. Tally is shocked. She has never heard of an Ugly who doesn't want the operation done. But Tally has no choice but to let her go into the unknown "smoke". 

On the day of Tallys operation, unforeseen circumstances lead her on the trail of Shay with a very peculiar locket. 

I gave Uglies three out of five stars. It was a good novel, don't get me wrong. But the way this society treats young people, and older people for that matter, reflects much too strongly on how many people in today's world view themselves and compare to those with perfect bodies. I will eventually be picking up the rest of the trilogy and the companion novel, but that may be a while down the line. 

Book # 3- Angels and Demons by Dan Brown read January 14, 2014 to January 24, 2014

This was my first adult read. Ever! It was a great book to start out this new reading experience! 

Angels and Demos is the prequel to The Da Vinci Code. (I have yet to read The Da Vinci Code, but I am planning on picking that up sometime soon. I just need to give my brain a little break to cope with the new writing style of adult rather than ya.) Our male protagonist, Robert Langdon is a religious scholar of sorts out of an Ivy-League University (Harvard, I believe. Don't quote me on that as I am typing this at 12:21 am on a Sunday and do not feel like looking it up.). One day, he is called by the director of a Science Corp. called CERN. He is very adamant that Robert come to his facility as soon as possible. He will even send a private jet. 

Langdon boards this jet with the thoughts that he is going to upstate New York, as he was told the journey would only take an hour. Turns out, he would be crossing the ocean to Switzerland (again, don't quote me on that detail. See previous parenthesis.). When Langdon arrives, he is brought face to face with the institute's leader, one Maximillion Kohler. Mr. Kohler has a condition that makes him wheel-chair bound. But, being the physicist that he is, he has rigged this chair up with several devices. 

Anyway, Kohler brought Langdon to CERN because they have a very peculiar case before them. One of their researchers is dead. The next bomb shell? He's a Catholic Priest. I won't go into details about why a Catholic Priest is studying science, the book explains it much better than I ever could. But the real reason Langdon is called in is because there is a word branded on the mans chest. Illuminati. A secret "brotherhood" thought to be extinguished for decades. 

When the Priests adopted daughter and fellow scientist returns to CERN, she and Robert set out on an epic journey through Italy where the Pope has just passed away and the election for the new Pope is taking place. All being covered by the media, of course. 

This was an almost perfect novel for me. I gave it a 4.75 out of 5 stars. The only issue I had was how they treated the Catholic Church, the Pope, the Cardinals, and the chamerlo. I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone looking to branch out into reading adult books. 

Book # 4- Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White read January 25, 2014 to January 29, 2014

This book was amazing! It's a magical realism novel in a sort of Historical Fiction world. But the locations in this book, I don't think, ever existed.

Basically, we have an "Island Rat" from the island of Melei who comes to the main land to go to school. She wants to study Math, but the fact that she is a female holds her back from this. She instead opts to study History. The subject that her estranged father teaches. Basically, she black-mailed her father into paying for her education.

The magical realism comes in the fact that the nobles of this society are indeed magical. Some have very little magical ability and others are very strong in their ability. It all really depends on how their parents were adept in the magic skill and what and how the nobles studied.

We meet Jessamin, our main protagonist, as she works for the kitchen and maid staff of the hotel she is living at. This is how she pays for her board and meals. We meet Lord Finley Ackerly (aka Finn) who is one of the nobility who has magical powers. He tries to stray far from Jessamin because he is afraid that he will put her in a dangerous situation. Until one night, Jessamin's soon to be best friend, Eleanor throws a gala and Jessamin comes face to face with the man that Finn was trying to protect her from. The story grows from there.

The only issue I had with this book was that the ending came far too quickly for me. I sort of wished we had a dual-perspective at the end to see Finn's emotions as the climax unfolds. Or that this stand-alone novel would be expanded into a series.

I gave Illusions of Fate a 4.75 out of 5 stars and I look forward to reading it again in the future!

Book #5- Beastly by Alex Flinn read January 30, 2014 to February 1, 2014

I decided to add this book because I read a majority of it in January and finished it on the first day of February. If I had spent any longer reading it, I would have included it in my February wrap-up!

Anyway, Beastly is the Fairytale Retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I read the original Fairytale a long time ago, but just recently saw the Disney movie. Comparing to the original Fairytale, it was very different, but, there were a lot of ways we could see that it was based off of this tale. As for the Disney version, it was similar, but we could tell that it was based off of the original Fairytale and not the Disney version.

Anyway, we meet our main protagonist, Kyle Kingsbury at his prestigious prep school where he is nominated for a school dance's royal court (don't get me started on this, but I hate dances royal courts. If you want, I can do a whole separate post on this). Anyway, he is going to the dance with one of the most popular girls in school, Sloanne. The big thing about this is that Sloanne wants an orchid corsage and Kyle winds up with a white rose corsage. The reason for this is because Kyle also asks a "weird goth chick", Kendra, to the dance as a prank. SHE is the one who wanted a single white rose corsage. When Kyle gives the corsage to Sloanne, she throws a hissy fit.

When the two arrive at the dance, they meet Kendra. This is when Kyle pulls his prank on her and attempts to embarrass her in front of the entire school. But, Kendra never seems to get embarrassed. So, Kyle is still stuck with this single white rose corsage. He gives it to the girl taking tickets at the front door.

After the dance, Kyle gets home where Kendra is waiting. Turns out, Kendra is a witch. She casts a spell on him to turn him into a beast. Her reasoning for this is that because Kyle is so ugly on the inside, he should have an exterior to match. He has one saving grace however, giving the rose to the girl at the door of the dance. Before the dance started, two rose petals fell off so, Kendra says he will have two years to have true love's kiss and break the spell.

When Kyle's dad finds out, he takes him to several doctors to try and get the process reversed, to no avail. So, Kyle's dad locks him in a "tower" (or, ya know, a brownstone in Brooklyn.) with the maid and a blind tutor. The story develops from there.

I gave Beastly a 4 out of 5 stars. It was nearly perfect. The only part I really didn't like was Kyle's attitude. But, that's his character and there's nothing I can do about it. But this is one of those books where I finished it and I immediately wanted to pick this one up and read it again!

* * *

Well, this was an extremely long post. Let me know how you feel about posts like this for reviews, if you would like spoiler reviews, or what. I hope you had a great reading month! I'll have a video up on my YouTube channel soon! 

Shea