Category: Young Adult

Title: P.S. I Still Love You (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before #2) 
Author: Jenny Han
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Timesbestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing. 

Review:

I loved this sequel to To All The Boys I Loved Before.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. Since the whole story of the letters being sent out was completed in the first book, I didn’t know what else was going to happen. There was lots of drama and some love triangles in this story.

I found the last third of the story really emotional. I don’t want to spoil what happens, but I’ll say that there were a lot of confused romantic feelings in that part of the book. It made me feel so emotional, which surprised me. I think these feelings demonstrate that the story is very realistic.

I enjoyed this book, and I’m curious to see what happens next!

What to read next:

Have you read P.S. I Still Love You? What did you think of it?

Title: Snow in Love
Author: Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimee Friedman, Kasie West
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What’s better than one deliciously cozy, swoon-worthy holiday story? Four of them, from some of today’s bestselling authors.

From KASIE WEST, a snowy road trip takes an unexpected detour when secrets and crushes are revealed.

From AIMEE FRIEDMAN, a Hanukkah miracle may just happen when a Jewish girl working as a department store elf finds love.

From MELISSA DE LA CRUZ, Christmas Eve gets a plot twist when a high school couple exchange surprising presents.

From NIC STONE, a scavenger hunt amid the holiday crowds at an airport turns totally romantic.

So grab a mug of hot cocoa, snuggle up, and get ready to fall in love…

Review:

I loved this collection of holiday love stories. I will talk about each of the four stories for my review.

Snow and Mistletoe: In this story, Amalie goes on a road trip to get home for Christmas with some other students from her school. They weren’t friends before they met at a snowed in airport in Colorado, but they formed a relationship after being trapped in a car together for the ride to California.

Working in a Winter Wonderland: Maxine get a job at a department store so she can buy a dress for her best friend’s New Year’s Eve party. She finds love in an unexpected place.

The Magi’s Gifts: Kelsey struggles to fit in with her wealthy friends. She wants to buy her boyfriend the best Christmas gift, so she has to make some sacrifices.

Grounded: Leigh is grounded in Atlanta so she can’t travel to Florida to spend the holidays with family friends. She meets an old friend, Harper, in the airport and they become reacquainted with an I Spy/Scavenger Hunt game.

Even though these were all short stories, the characters were well developed. I felt like I knew them by the end of the stories. The endings were predictable but they were such warm endings, which spoke to the holiday spirit of the stories. I highly recommend this book for some festive teen romances!

What to read next:

Have you read Snow in Love? What did you think of it?

Title: The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries #1)
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: HarperTeen 
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 1, 2001
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What? A princess??

Me??? Yeah, right.

Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there’s nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra.

Is she ever in for a surprise.

First Mom announces that she’s dating Mia’s Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn’t have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?

Review:

I was trying to think of a light, fun book to read, so I chose The Princess Diaries. I loved this series when I was growing up, and I haven’t read it in many years. It was so fun to revisit an old favourite.

This story was still so entertaining today. It was exciting when Mia found out she was a Princess. I couldn’t remember all of the details of the story, so it was like reading it for the first time all over again. There were so many funny situations between Mia’s strict grandmother and her mother’s new boyfriend who also happened to be Mia’s algebra teacher.

One thing I noticed right away was the out-of-date references in the story. For example, there was a joke that someone may have been building a bomb in their room. That would be totally unacceptable in a book today. There were also references to certain politicians and New York socialites which probably wouldn’t appear today. This book was originally published in July 2001, so it was a completely different political climate.

I really enjoyed rereading The Princess Diaries!

What to read next:

Have you read The Princess Diaries? What did you think of it?

Title: ttyl (Internet Girls #1)
Author: Lauren Myracle
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 18, 2014 (first published April 1, 2004)
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

On the first day of tenth grade, best friends Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) vow not to let school stupidness get them down… or split them apart. But as the weeks pass and the instant messages accumulate, it’s clear that tenth grade will be a roller coaster ride of boy temptation, math torture, donut emergenices, and Queen Bee encounters.

Then a jerky boy sends peppy Angela into the dumps, tough Maddie makes a mistake that has the whole school talking, and good girl Zoe gets in over her head with a flirty teacher. Will the winsome threesome make it through the year? 

Review:

I remember seeing this book in the bookstore when it first came out, but I never read it. After reading the book Upside Down Magic, which is coauthored by Lauren Myracle, I decided to give this series a try. Since I knew this book was published 14 years ago, I was shocked at all of the current references. The girls watched Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. These references actually really confused me at first, until I read that it was actually an updated version if the book with current popular culture references! This makes the book relevant for today’s teens. I really enjoyed this story. It is told in a unique format, because it is only told through texts between three friends. They have to summarize some things they do outside of the texts so the reader knows what’s happening. The subject matter of the story was very serious at times. One of the girls has an inappropriate relationship with a teacher while another is bullied once an explicit video is posted online. These are realistic issues that can come up in any high school. This is a great book! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

What to read next:

Have you read ttyl? What did you think of it?

Title: Gimme a Call
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 27, 2010
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A new life is just a phone call away!

Devi’s life isn’t turning out at all like she wanted. She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn’t join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.

Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn’t some wacko—she realizes that she’s been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she’s already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self?

Except . . .what if getting what you think you want changes everything?

Review:

This was such an awesome book! I really didn’t know what to expect when I started reading it. I was smiling within the first couple of pages so I knew it would be good!

I loved the plot of the story. I’m sure most people have thought that they wish they could change a decision they made. In this story, Dev has the chance to change everything in her life by telling her past self to do different things at the start of high school, such as not date the boy who becomes her boyfriend. However, each thing that she changes ends up altering her current life, so she doesn’t know what’s happening. There were so many twists, and the changes between the chapters were unpredictable!

This book was a quick read! I flew through it. I highly recommend this great story!

What to read next:

Have you read Gimme a Call? What did you think of it?

Title: Grace and Fury (Grace and Fury #1)
Author: Tracy Banghart
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Source: Owlcrate
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace – someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

Review:

This was a great book! I was hooked at the start. It actually reminded me a little of my current WIP, so I was very interested in it.

The story was fast paced. Each time I thought I knew what was going to happen, the story would change. It was unpredictable, but that made it exciting.

I really liked the sisters who were the main characters. They were opposites, and they were each placed in worlds that didn’t suit them. I loved the setting of the palace, but I was also intrigued by the prison. It was very well written.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this story goes in the next books!

What to read next:

Have you read Grace and Fury? What did you think of it?

Title: The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mara Dyer wants to believe there’s more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.

Retribution has arrived.

Review:

I loved this conclusion to the Mara Dyer trilogy.

This story was even more intense than the first two books. It began right in the middle of the action, with Mara still at Horizons where she was being studied and experimented on. It was thrilling and scary.

I don’t normally mention trigger warnings, because I think they can be spoilers for the story. However, there was a scene of self harm, with someone cutting their stomach which really affected me. I almost had to stop reading it, but thankfully the scene only lasted a short while. Some of the psychological elements could be disturbing at times as well, but it also made the story unpredictable.

I was surprised at how satisfying the ending was. I was pleased with how complete the series felt to me. I can’t wait to start on The Shaw Confessions, because I have no idea what will happen next.

What to read next:

• The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1) by Michelle Hodkin

  

• One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

  

Have you read The Retribution of Mara Dyer? What did you think of it?

 

Title: Dumplin’ (Dumplin’ #1)
Author: Julie Murphy
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Review:

I loved this book!

I didn’t know much about this story before I started reading it, but I had heard it was good. Will was an inspiring character, who I loved. I could relate to her immediately. She was inspiring, even when she made mistakes.

I’m excited to watch the movie adaptation next month! I kept trying to imagine the actors in these roles while I was reading it. I can’t wait to see it.

The book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I’ll have to read the sequel soon!

What to read next:

• Puddin’ (Dumplin #2) by Julie Murphy

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• Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

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Have you read Dumplin’? What did you think of it?