Book Thoughts: Just One Day

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
*Imported from tumblr*

This book taught me three things about myself: 1) I want to be the kind of person who says yes. 2) I’m lucky to be studying something that I actually love. And 3), I always knew I wanted to travel Europe, but now I extra-special want to travel Europe.

In Just One Day, good girl Allyson Healey is in Europe for a student tour. On the last day, instead of heading back to London with her best friend, she spends just a single day in Paris with a Dutch actor she’s just met, and she falls a little bit in love with him. It’s just one day, but it turns into a year of self-discovery, finding out who she truly is and who she is capable of being. Also, some seriously cool tie-ins to Twelfth Night and As You Like It, but not hitting you over the head with it.

Europe and sassy friends and adventures and well-incorporated Shakespeare and a deeper understanding of life. Definitely, definitely read this one, guys.

Book Thoughts: The Beginning of Everything

Title: The Beginning of Everything
Author: Robyn Schneider
*Imported from tumblr*

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book, under the old title “Severed Heads, Broken Hearts" (which, let’s be honest, is an awesome title). And oh. my. god. you guys need to read this book.

When “golden boy" Ezra Faulkner shatters his knee in a car accident, he finds his entire life turned upside down — but maybe not all for the worst. He reconnects with a childhood friend and, more importantly, meets new girl Cassidy Thorpe, who may be able to teach him a thing or two about what it means to be himself.

I freaking adored this story. The characters were brilliant, the writing was gorgeous, I could not put it down. I loved the very real way the relationship between Cassidy and Ezra developed, I loved that I both laughed out loud and nearly cried while reading this, and of course, being the huge geek that I am, I loved the subtle Doctor Who references throughout the book.

Also, and I’m going to say this as vaguely as possible because NO SPOILING, I thought the ending was beautiful. 

tl;dr READ THIS BOOK.

Book Thoughts: Crazy

Title: Crazy
Author: Han Nolan
*Imported from tumblr*

This book took me a while to get into at first because the narrative style is so different — a lot of Jason’s thoughts and memories are narrated by these imaginary friends he has made up to keep him company, and that was really weird for me to adjust to. But once I got into it, I actually thought it was really cool and added a lot to the story, because you really get to see things the way Jason sees them.

Jason’s mom has died, his dad is losing his mind, and Jason is struggling to care for both himself and his crazy father. When he gets noticed at school, he gets sent to a lunchtime counseling group with the school psychologist, and despite his resistance, he makes friends. Making friends won’t stop the tidal wave of bad news about to crash down on Jason — but it just might help him survive.

I thought this was a beautiful story. Heartbreaking, absolutely, but beautiful. A starkly honest look at mental illness and its impact, and… just wow. I absolutely recommend it. 

Book Thoughts: Forgotten

Title: Forgotten
Author: Cat Patrick
*Imported from tumblr.*

London’s memory works backwards: every night when her memory resets, she remembers nothing of her past. Instead, she remembers the future — things that haven’t happened yet. But when she keeps meeting a boy she can’t remember meeting (in the future) and unearths a shocking memory of something from the past, London’s already complicated life gets a lot more interesting.

I was expecting something paranormal from the description, but aside from London remembering the future, there’s nothing weird about Forgotten. It’s a powerfully honest story of love, loss, psychological trauma, and friendship. It’s beautifully written (and the romance is perfect), and I am immensely glad I read it. If you're thrown by the seemingly paranormal/unnatural premise, I encourage you to read it anyway. It is a beautiful story about a girl falling in love, a family in grief, and a friendship working to survive a strugge. Read it!

Book Thoughts: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green

Grab a box of tissues and this book, sit down, and prepare to bawl your eyes out and then want to go back to the first page and read it again and again.

This book is freaking fantastic and it's also an emotional train wreck. Hazel and Augustus are both teenaged cancer patients trying to figure out how to live with their circumstances. I mean, when an author as talented as John Green is writing a book about a subject like cancer, you know it's going to be a tear-jerker, and TFiOS does not disappoint.

Very rarely can a book make me laugh out loud, cry, laugh some more, and then sob through the last eighty pages. Even rarer is a book that can do that and then make me want to pick it up and start right back over again. TFiOS does that and more.

I don't know how much I can say without spoiling too much, but: Swedish hip-hop, Amsterdam, the Literal Heart of Jesus, and a cast of characters that is entirely unforgettable -- you NEED to read this book.

Book Thoughts: If I Stay

Title: If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1

First off, I have to say how much I love this cover of this book. I love the texture of the font that makes it look so handwritten, I love the simplicity, I just love it. That said, the paperback cover is beautiful too, but I think I like this one better.

And the story is just beautiful. The narrative is nonlinear; a series of flashbacks is intercut with the story in the present, and it's not broken into chapters but rather divided by time stamps. Not everyone can pull off such a complex structure, but Forman certainly does. And the characters are so beautifully, wonderfully real. The choices Mia is forced to make are very real ones, and her reactions to them are so starkly human and so well-tied to her personality that she could very easily come to life. And even the smaller characters - Adam, Kim, Mia's family, Henry, Willow, everyone - are well-developed. Readers see them through the filter of Mia's narration, but we are shown (not told: important distinction) enough that we really get a sense of who these people are and what Mia's life is like.

Mia's relationships to her family and her boyfriend were refreshing, too. Her love life isn't perfect; far from the I-have-the-perfect-boyfriend or I-have-the-perfect-secret-lover relationships shown in a lot of books, Mia's relationship with Adam has the same ups and downs that any normal relationship has. They are in love, but their relationship is flawed. They fight and argue, but it's something they can work through. And it's wonderful to see a teen who doesn't totally hate her parents. Mia experiences the same feelings of loneliness and misunderstanding that most teens experience, but she still loves her parents, they are very present in her life, and she has a very protective and sisterly instinct toward her younger brother.

My only complaint was that it seemed to take a very long time to get to the heart of the major choice Mia was facing, but the story is absolutely worth reading in spite of that. It's beautifully written, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. I have to confess to crying like a baby at parts of it. Definitely read this book if you get the chance.

Book Thoughts: So Much Closer

Title: So Much Closer
Author: Susane Colasanti

I have very mixed feelings about this book. The writing and the characters were wonderful. Brooke's thoughts and the issues she was dealing with felt very real. Colasanti's writing is splendid. It felt like a real teenager was telling the story the same way she'd tell a story to her best friend - which was excellent, and very well-done, although I will admit that some of the same slang ("like" and the substitution of "goes" for "says") got on my nerves the same way it does in real life.

I loved the characters. It was my love for John and Sadie that really kept me reading to the end of the book, but Brooke was excellent too - she was a genuinely real character, and she challenged herself and the readers to think about what it means to figure out who you are. John was easily my favorite; I wish I could meet a boy like him in real life. Sadie was also fun. I want a Sadie friend. Scott, I did not like. I don't know what it was, he just got on my nerves. He felt flat and boring, and I never understood why Brooke liked him so much. His main character trait seemed to be that he liked The Office. Still, I could put him aside to read more about John and Sadie (and, okay, Brooke too).

But to me, the plot fell flat. I loved the characters and the writing -- I really did -- but the entire premise of the book seemed contrived and ridiculous. At seventeen, she finds out this boy that she's loved from afar for years is moving away, and he just happens to be moving to NYC, where she just happens to have always wanted to go, and where her dad just happens to live? And then she gives up a life with great best friends to move closer to a boy that she doesn't even really know? I mean, I get that teenagers occasionally do dramatic things for what they think is love, but that just seems to be pushing it. And I thought the end was incredibly predictable (although it was executed in such a way that it was also really, really sweet and adorable).

Middle of the road on this one. Characters: A-plus. Writing: A-plus. Plot: D. Maybe a C-minus at best. If you're willing to overlook the strangeness of the premise, though, So Much Closer is still a sweet, fun read. Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed it.

Book Thoughts: Tangled

Title: Tangled
Author: Carolyn Mackler

At first, I wasn't sure I liked Tangled. I thought it was going to be just another chick lit where the dorky-girl-who-has-no-life either ends up with some hot guy who turns out to have a sweet personality or discovers that being hot and popular is not all it's cracked up to be. But I kept reading, because I kind of liked the characters, and...wow. It turned out to be really good.

TANGLED is the story of four teens - Jena, her mom's friend's daughter Skye, a hotshot jock named Dakota, and his dorky younger brother Owen - who for various reasons have to spend a week at a resort called Paradise. Jena meets(/falls for) Dakota and finds a suicide note by a hot tub, and then things are in motion that are beyond their control. There are four sections in the book, each told from a different character's point of view and surrounding that character's individual story, but there's definitely crossover between them. The book is about how their lives get tangled together and how it changes all of them. That sounds sappy or dorky or something, I know, but it's not. It was sooo good. Skye's and Owen's sections were probably my favorites because I could relate to them better, but they were all great.

There is some strong language and some sexual content, especially in the first half, but it's written in so that on the whole it adds to the book rather than taking away from it. I almost put it down because of some of that content, but I am reeeally glad that I kept reading. Seriously. Sweet story, great characters, and just overwhelmingly real. Probably more of a girl book than a guy book, although guys would probably enjoy Dakota's and Owen's sections just as much; you should read it if you get the chance. :)

Book Thoughts: Suite Scarlett

Title: Suite Scarlett
Author: Maureen Johnson
Series: Scarlett #1

So. I encountered a boy, about a week ago I think, and since then I've gotten to know him pretty well. He's really fantastic. I like him a lot.

His name is Spencer Martin. He's older than me - he's 19. He's got an amazing sense of humor and rarely fails to make me laugh out loud. He can cook, and he's an actor - physical comedy. Basically he does all sorts of awesome stunts that are really funny and take a lot of talent, and he's not afraid to speak his mind in front of people or be onstage. This is a very admirable quality. Also, Spencer is sweet, and he's nice to his siblings (definitely a good thing) and he's very protective of his younger sisters (he has 3) and he's polite and respectful but not afraid to try things and he definitely has a sense of adventure. Summary: he's amazing.

Unfortunately, he's also completely fictional. He's from Maureen Johnson's made-of-absolute-awesome novel SUITE SCARLETT. The crazy part? Spencer isn't even the love interest. He's Scarlett's older brother.

SUITE SCARLETT is about a girl named Scarlett Martin. Her family owns a hotel in New York City, but business has been bad and the family is running low on money ever since her younger sister Marlene's cancer treatment. Her older brother Spencer (who you've heard quite a bit about already >_>) is an actor who has a scholarship to a culinary school but would much rather act because that's what he's really great at and it's his passion. Meanwhile, Scarlett's older sister Lola is working hard to help the family and dating a rich guy that none of the siblings except Marlene really likes.

On each Martin's fifteenth birthday, she (or he, in Spencer's case) becomes responsible for one of the hotel's suites. Scarlett gets the fabulous Empire Suite - and also gets a long-term guest, the eccentric and baffling Mrs. Amberson. Around the same time, Spencer gets a part in a play. He also gets a cast-mate, Eric, who Scarlett may or may not be very interested in... so, naturally, Scarlett is about to have one of the craziest summers she can imagine.

I absolutely adored this book. I really did. SUITE SCARLETT made me laugh out loud. No, seriously - my friends were giving me strange looks as I sat in one of the cushy chairs in the library, giggling manically over this book. But despite the hilarity, it also had its "aww!!!" moments. And the characters are so real and believable and amazing and you cannot help but love them. It was a really really really fantastic novel and I absolutely recommend it.

Book Thoughts: Living Dead Girl

Title: Living Dead Girl
Author: Elizabeth Scott

I read a book today. Over the course of less than three and a half hours. Most of that time was not spent reading. In fact, I spent just a little over an hour reading it. It doesn't take long. It's a very quick read. And it was an excellent, if haunting, book.

LIVING DEAD GIRL is about Alice. Once upon a time, her name wasn't Alice. But ever since Ray took her five years ago, she has been Alice. The once-upon-a-time girl is gone.

Ray is a pedophile. He took Alice from a class trip right before her tenth birthday, and since then he has claimed to be her father figure, but basically she's his sex toy. She's broken; she doesn't know how to be anything other than Ray's little girl. But Alice is fifteen now, and that's too old for Ray. Ray wants a new Alice. And this Alice is going to help him get her, because if she isn't good, the once-upon-a-time girl's family will be killed. Ray will kill them.

From the back of the book:

"The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are."
This is Alice. She was taken by Ray five years ago. She thought she knew how her story would end. She was wrong.

Not gonna lie, it was a pretty creepy/disturbing story. My recommendation for this one comes with caution labels. It's not a lighthearted story that anyone who's just looking to kill some time should read. But if you're looking for a genuinely well-written (the writing style is great), haunting story that will make you think, I would recommend LIVING DEAD GIRL in a heartbeat. It's an excellent book. One of those ones that you can't really say "I enjoyed that," because you don't enjoy reading about abuse, but it is a gripping story that you can't put down, and I would give it five stars. 

Book Thoughts: The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Author: Emily M. Danforth

When Cameron's sleepover with her best friend is interrupted by an ominous phone call, she fears that she's been caught kissing a girl. The news is much worse: her parents have been killed in a car crash.

Now an orphan, still struggling with her sexuality, Cameron takes up residence with her fundamentalist Christian Aunt Ruth. Just when she begins to feel confident in her maybe-relationship with gorgeous cowgirl Coley Taylor, Aunt Ruth finds out about Cameron's *look both ways and whisper* homosexuality, and just like that, Cam is shipped off to God's Promise boarding school for "sexually troubled teens."

This was a tough book to read from an emotional standpoint. Watching Cameron struggle with her identity and find those around her telling her that it's Wrong to be this way even though she didn't choose it -- it's painful. It's even more painful because it's true. Cameron may be a fictional character, but camps that "pray the gay away" are real, and the belief that homosexuality is inherently sinful is real, and seeing the effect it has on Cam's life is incredibly powerful.

It's scary to know that such extreme hatred and intolerance exist in the world, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post provides a heartbreaking yet wryly funny look at exactly what that can do to a girl trying to grow up in a world that doesn't accept her. It would be a gritty and realistic look at growing up for anyone, let alone a gay girl in a Christian community.

This is a pretty intense read, but so, so powerful. I definitely recommend it.