Title: Fall for Anything
Author: Courtney Summers
Format: Paperback
Release Date: December 2010
Rating: 4 stars


On the Cover:

Beyond the Cover:

Summary: (taken from Barnes and Noble)

"When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?"

Review:
When you pick up this book and read the back, you might think this is just another one of those serious books that's sad and extremely predictable. But Fall for Anything is not what I expected at all. The ending in fact is so unpredictable that I was completely surprised when I read it. This book was also impossible for me to put down; I read it in about a day and a half. This had to do with the fact that Courtney Summer's writing style was so readable. Even when the chapter consisted of only one sentence, that sentence had the power to break my heart. The emotions were just so raw, and they didn't feel faked like they often times do in "serious" books like these.
The character development was a big part of the awesomeness level of this novel as well; you could see the journey that Eddie went through from the beginning to the end of the book. If you combine all the great parts of this book, you get one heartbreaking, unstoppable novel that begs for it's story to be read. Courtney Summer's has two other books, and I can't wait to read them!

Title: Tweet Heart
Author: Elizabeth Rudnick
Format: Paperback
Release Date: June, 2010
Rating: 4 stars

On the Cover:
Beyond the Cover:

Summary: (Taken from elizabethrudnick.com)

"Claire is a #hopelessromantic. Lottie is determined to set up her BFF with Mr. Perfect. Will wants his secret crush to finally notice him. And Bennett is a man with a plan.... Since she was in pre-kindergarten, sixteen-year old Claire Collins has been crushing on JD Whitcomb. He's handsome, captain of the lacrosse team, Mr. Popular and...the total opposite of shy, bookish Claire. So she can't believe it when he starts following her on Twitter. She never thought he noticed her, and suddenly he seems to understand her better than almost anyone.
But the Twitterverse can be a confusing place, especially when friends act differently online than they do in person. Things get even more complicated when Claire realizes she's falling for someone else, the last person she ever would have expected..."

Review:
The first thing that anyone would notice when picking up this book is the format. This is a novel written in tweets, e-mails, and blog posts; though mostly tweets are used. One might think that this would be a hard format to read a novel, but as you begin the read, you get used to it. The conversations don't sound forced, and the plot is surprisingly readable enough though it isn't told in the regular way. I would say though, that if you have no idea about the lingo used on twitter, it might take you longer to get into the book. It might even be impossible. Another thing that make this a cute, fun, romantic story, but one that was undeserving of 5 stars, was all the name-dropping. This can make a book outdated very easily. Even two years from now, someone might not get what was being referred to. Other than that, Tweet Heart was a good, light read.

Title: Forever
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Format: Hardcover 1st Edition
Release Date: July 12th, 2011
Rating: 5 stars

On the Cover:
Beyond the Cover:

Summary: SKIP THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE OTHER BOOKS!

"In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in."
(Summary via Barnes and Noble)



Review: (It's safe now.)
I have to say that this is the best book I've read in a long time. I'm just in love with Stiefvater's writing style. It seems to go beyond prose and dip into a poetic sort of form. All the characters were amazing; they were layered and realistic, possessing the flaws that real people have. Even the love story was believable, and in a lot of YA novels, it often isn't. The Wolves of Mercy Falls series were everything you could want in a series of books. The last novel Forever is the conclusion, the ending, the good-bye. The ending to the novel is just open-ended enough to let the story of Sam and Grace continue on in your mind. You can totally imagine the world going on. I have to admit that I did get a little emotional at the end. But that was because I was so attached to the characters. I can't wait to lose myself in the next world of Stiefvater's creation. If you haven't definitely check this series out. You won't be disappointed.

I went down to the library today and I'm really excited about some of the books I picked up!
Here they are in no particular order:

Wild Roses by Deb Caletti:
Jane by April Lindner:
Zombies vs. Unicorns (This is an anthology):
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce:

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Format: Epub Ebook
Rating: 5 stars

On the Cover:
Beyond the Cover:

SUMMARY: SPOILER ALERT (If you haven't read The Hunger Games, don't read the summary, skip to the review!)

"By wining the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion."


REVIEW: There is a lot of buzz surrounding this whole series; a lot of hype and such. I read the Hunger Games about two years ago, but when I originally tried to read Catching Fire, I just couldn't get into it. (This was pre-Mockingjay.) But recently I've been using this e-book lending site for my Nook (ebookfling), and noticed it was available for me to receive. So I gave it another shot. And I'm so glad I did. I started over completely from the beginning, and found that it was way more captivating than I had remembered. I have no idea why I couldn't get into the first time. Maybe the moons were wrong or something. This time, I had a hard time putting it down. It was really great. Like Twilight great. (Yes I compare the quality of books to Twilight.) If you haven't read The Hunger Games Series, then you have to. There is a reason why it has such a cult following in the YA community and the adult-fiction community. These books just pull you into a world that is so out-of-this-world, yet at the same time, the writing makes it believable; like somewhere in the universe there is a country where this actually happened. The only thing I can think to compare to is The Chronicles of Narnina. It's one of if not the best fantasy/adventure books I've ever read.

The Hunger Games Series:
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay

I'm currently reading Mockingjay, so expect a review up soon! I hoping it's just as good as Catching Fire, because I heard mixed reviews. Well I better get back to reading!

On the Cover:
Beyond the Cover:
I don't want to spoil this for people who haven't read the first book, (you can find my review of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" in the archive), so I'll just talk about how amazing this book is.
The first book in the "Summer" series was great. An amazing read. But "It's not Summer Without You" was just a more mature novel emotionally. It had its ups and it had it's downs, but the whole way I was glued to my seat. I had trouble putting this book down. In fact, when I turned the last page, it was past three in the morning. And all I wanted was more. It was one of those books where even though the story was over, you wished it had been longer. I wished it was like 400 pages just so I could get more of these characters. The world the Jenny Han creates is so easy to lose yourself in. One minute I was on page 15 and then before I realized it, I was halfway through the book. I can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy.

Every Friday at http://teens.freebookfriday.com/, they give away five or so copies a popular teen title. Sometimes, they're even signed! This week they are giving away five signed copies of Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott.






 Here's a brief summary posted by the site:

"Abby accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she'd never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could..."


So head to the link posted at the top of this blog entry and enter to win. Every week there is a new book, and the site even has other giveaways (a fiction giveaway, a romance giveaway, and an indie giveaway.)