Category: Young Adult

Title: Right Kiss Wrong Guy
Author: Natalie Decker
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Source: Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

You’d think a girl with the most romantic name in the world would have her pick of boyfriends.

But Valentine’s Day sucks when you’re single. Just ask Juliet Valentine, whose last name happens to also be the name of the most dreaded made-up holiday ever.

A romantic at heart, this year is especially hard on Juliet. Her sister, Layla, is in a new relationship, her mom’s match-making business is doing great, and her school’s new fundraiser is “Love-Grams.”

Juliet’s miserable, a little jealous, and lonely.

Quarterback Jared Black is the most popular guy in school. A star athlete, Jared tops the most-eligible bachelor list year after year. But to Juliet Valentine, he’s all but invisible. She isn’t impressed.

Jared’s never had to work hard to get the attention of a girl before. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and he’s determined to ask Juliet out. After all, if Tyler can win over Layla, Jared ought to have a shot with Layla’s sister.

Unlike Tyler and Layla, charm, flattery and good looks won’t work on Juliet. So with the V-Day dance coming up, Jared uses the school’s Love-Grams to let Juliet know how he feels. Should be simple enough, right?

Wrong. Each attempt ends up either in the trash or thrown in someone’s face. Juliet won’t play his game.

Now, without a date to the dance Jared realizes it’s going to take a Hail Mary to win the girl of his dreams.

Review:

I enjoyed this book. 

It is very similar to the first book in the series, Right Text Wrong Guy. Layla’s twin Juliet is the focus of this story. In the first novel, Layla was texting a guy she liked, but didn’t realize it was Tyler. In this book, Juliet slowly falls for her secret admirer who she doesn’t know is Jared. In both stories the guys knew what was going on and we get to see both perspectives of the story. 

This story followed the same plot as the first book, so it was predictable. The good thing was the story began right away, since the characters were introduced in the previous story. 

Another good thing was that they only discussed what happened in the novella, Right Gift Wrong Day, in passing. Anyone who didn’t read that novella, which takes place between the two novels, wouldn’t feel left out. However, the novella was a great little bonus for fans of the series. 

This book is a must read for fans of the rest of the Offsides series!

About the Author:

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Title: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Source: Purchased
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Review:

This was a thrilling conclusion to the Shadow and Bone trilogy!

This story was quite fast paced. One of my favourite parts about Bardugo’s stories is that when the characters explain their plans and what they want to happen, something comes to ruin it. Even when you think you can predict what is going to happen, someone comes in to crash the plans so it doesn’t happen and it turns the plot in a completely different direction. It keeps her readers on their toes.

I found the ending of the story so emotional. The characters go through so much love and loss through this book. Some losses were very hard to take.

This may be a bit of a spoiler, but I liked the epilogue. The characters went through so much throughout the series that it was calming to see how it all ended. I was satisfied with the ending, but I am glad that there are more books in the GrishaVerse for me to read!

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Purchased
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review:

This is an original story.

The unusual style that Cady, the narrator, uses takes a while to get used to. She often drifts off into her own fantasies. For example, at the beginning she describes when her father left her and her mother. She says he got into the car, then shot her in the chest and she started bleeding. When I first read that, I was shocked! But that’s not what really happened. Cady often exaggerates events or makes up stories.

The mystery of what happened to Cady was really suspenseful. Since she lost her memories, she couldn’t remember everything that happened the night she was injured. As Cady remembered events, the reader was also told what happened.

I also liked the family dynamic of the story. The different generations all come together on their own island. The mothers used their children to try to manipulate their grandfather into giving them their inheritances. It’s sad to think about, but I can see that happening in very wealthy families.

The ending gave me goosebumps! I was definitely not expecting it. It left me speechless. You’ll just have to read the book to find out how it ends!

Title: Let’s Talk About Love
Author: Claire Kann
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Source: Xpresso Book Tours, NetGalley
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

Review:

I loved this book. This is the first book I’ve read with an asexual character. 

At first, I was worried when Alice started having feelings for Takumi. I didn’t want the story to turn into her discovery that she wasn’t actually asexual. I was relieved that didn’t happen. The story is about Alice learning to accept her orientation. 

Even though many readers may not be able to relate to Alice’s orientation, her relationship with Takumi is relateable. She has butterflies in her stomach for the first time, when she meets him. She’s constantly thinking about him and she can’t figure out why. This is the first time she experienced romantic attraction. 

I think the book needed more tension. Alice had her personal problems, which were important and valid. But there weren’t a lot of exciting, tense moments to drive the story. I would have loved a surprise or shocking event throughout the story. I also would have liked to have seen more of her family. They created conflict with Alice, because they didn’t agree with what she wanted to do in life. 

I really enjoyed this story and I highly recommend it!

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Title: Hunter: The Fallen One
Author: C.L. Hugely
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Source: Author
Release Date: October 31, 2016
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A hostile takeover of earth is unfolding secretly right before our very eyes. Is this a political move, or is something much more ancient and sinister at hand? Mystery schools were formed by the elite to train soldiers to further their agenda.

Lian Hunter is a freshman at one of these schools for the exclusively wealthy; the Tri- Asterisk Academy in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. When students start suddenly disappearing, Lian starts to feel something evil and corrupt underlying the veneer of the academy. Can he uncover the truth about his school before it is too late or is he just another soldier in training?

Review:

I really enjoyed this story. It was unpredictable and surprising, which is what I look for in books.

I really liked the futuristic elements of the story. There was a restaurant that Lian and his friends went to, where they could decide the atmosphere that they saw while sitting at their table. It was like a virtual reality restaurant. Some of their lessons in class were also in virtual reality, like when they studied the solar system or ancient civilizations.

Some parts of this story reminded me of Harry Potter. Lian finds a soccer championship cup with his father’s name on it from when he attended the school, just like Harry’s father’s name was on a Quidditch house cup at Hogwarts. There is also a part where Lian has flashbacks to when his father was a student, which was like when Harry revisits Dumbledore’s memories in the pensieve.

The mystery of what was happening to Lian kept me guessing until the end. It was so creepy, that he kept having visions that would appear without warning. However, when looking back on the description of the book, it doesn’t completely fit. The first part about mystery schools being formed to train soldiers is what seems to be happening, but they don’t say it outright. The story mainly focuses on Lian and his friends.

The omniscient narrator was a little unusual. The focus of the story jumped around from Lian to some of the adults in the story. This only happened occasionally, but I would have liked it to have focused more on Lian’s experience, rather than what else is going on in the world and even what his friends are doing.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. I’m curious to see where it goes next.

Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Release Date: January 2, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Review:

I enjoyed this story! It’s my first story in the world of fairies, or Fae.

For some reason, I couldn’t focus during the beginning of the story. I think it was just me getting distracted. But I thought I’d mention it anyway in case anyone else felt the same way.

One of my favourite parts was the prologue. I loved the fairy tale voice of the narrator. I was a little disappointed when Jude became the narrator starting in Chapter 1. However, she’s a great and crazy girl to narrate this story.

At about three quarters of the way through the book I was so hooked! I really had no idea where the story was going. The major event that happens at the end of Book 1 hooked me, and it surprised me so much that I fell in love with the story.

There was so much packed into this novel, it felt like a whole series. I can’t wait to see what happens in the rest of the series.

Title: Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons #2)
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Random House
Source: Purchased
Release Date: January 2, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

One by one, the city’s elites are being executed as their mansions’ security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he’s forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most brutal criminals.

Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce’s only hope.

In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.

Review:

This book was a little slow to get into at the beginning. I kept thinking, where is Batman? The story is called Batman, after all, not Bruce Wayne. But I kept with it, since I have seen such great reviews for this book. I reserved my judgement for the end, and I loved the ending. 

Though Bruce Wayne eventually turns into the iconic superhero Batman, in this story he is just a regular teenager. He makes such stupid mistakes when he falls for Madeleine. At the same time, she is very clever and trapped him many times. But Bruce was blinded by love, so he didn’t notice. 

The ending of the story was so good! I thought I had figured out who the leader of the Nightwalkers was, but I was so shocked when the leader was revealed. I was so wrong, but I was glad because I didn’t want the story to be predictable. 

After reading this book, I will have to go back and read Wonder Woman: Warbringer. I’m curious to see her origin story. 

Title: Right Gift Wrong Day
Author: Natalie Decker
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Source: Author
Release Date: November 24, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Tyler Richardson is freaking out! Not only did he invite his new girlfriend to meet his entire family, this is also the day they will exchange gifts. But what do you get a girl after dating for only two weeks? Should he listen to his friends and just give her a card, or should he ask for a second opinion?

Layla can’t believe she agreed to have dinner with Tyler and his family. What if they don’t like her? To make matter’s worse, they agreed to exchange Christmas gifts. The boy already has everything. And what if she gets him something that’s nicer than what he gets her? That would be really awkward. Asking him what he would like is completely out of the question. Maybe she should ask his friends for help.

After a rocky start, Tyler and Layla’s relationship is everybody’s relationship goals. But can Tyler and Layla survive the holidays without losing their cool?

Review:

In this adorable Offsides novella, the main characters face many common problems that couples deal with during the holidays.

Tyler and Layla have to decide if they buy gifts for each other. They’ve only been dating a week, but they’ve known each other for a long time. And do they celebrate together? Layla isn’t comfortable meeting his family so soon, yet she doesn’t want to spend Christmas with her mom’s new boyfriend. These are dilemmas that are so common, but they are brought together in this couple.

Meanwhile, Layla’s twin, Juliet, is devastated after her horrible breakup with Mark. To make matters worse, Layla accidentally shares Mark’s apology texts with all of Juliet’s contacts. I think just about everyone who has a cell phone has experienced either sending or receiving the wrong text. But this situation is even worse since Mark’s sappy apologies were sent to all of Juliet’s friends.

I loved this holiday themed novella in the Offsides series. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series for the blog tour in a couple of weeks!