Monthly Archives: March 2017

But Then I Came Back

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“We do have to rescue ourselves in the end, no matter how much we learn to lean on other people.”

Title: But Then I Came Back

Author: Estelle Laure

Series: Companion to This Raging Light, can be read as a standalone

Publication:  April 4th 2017 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers

Pages: 288

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Eden: As far as coma patients go, Eden’s lucky. She woke up. But still, she can’t shake the feeling that she might have dragged something back from the near-afterlife.

Joe: Joe visits the hospital every day, hoping that Jaz, his lifelong friend, will wake up. More than anything, he wants to hear her voice again. But he’s not sure anyone can reach her.

Eden & Joe: Even though she knows it sounds crazy, Eden tells Joe that they might be able to talk to Jaz. Opening themselves up to the great unknown—and each other—Eden and Joe experience life: mysterious and scary, beautiful and bright.

My Thoughts:

I read This Raging Light back in December of 2015, yet I still remember the vividness of the emotions that book dragged from my body. Estelle Laure is a master of crafting heartbreaking, hopeful, and utterly destroying contemporary novels – and But Then I Came Back is no different. But Then I Came Back is unique, charming, and surprisingly profound.

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Defy the Stars

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“Maybe it’s only a … simulation of love, a close analogue. But I have come to feel it with all the strength I have to feel anything. Over the past weeks, I’ve come to listen for your voice, because I hope to hear it. I pay attention to irrelevant details of your mannerisms and appearance because I find them pleasing. I’ve begun to understand how you think and what you want. That means I can see through your eyes, too, instead of only my own, and it’s as if the entire universe expanded, grew larger and more beautiful.”  

Title: Defy the Stars

Author: Claudia Gray

Series: Defy the Stars # 1

Publication:  April 4th 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 512

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Noemi Vidal is a teen soldier from the planet Genesis, once a colony of Earth that’s now at war for its independence. The humans of Genesis have fought Earth’s robotic “mech” armies for decades with no end in sight.

After a surprise attack, Noemi finds herself stranded in space on an abandoned ship where she meets Abel, the most sophisticated mech prototype ever made. One who should be her enemy. But Abel’s programming forces him to obey Noemi as his commander, which means he has to help her save Genesis–even though her plan to win the war will kill him.

Together they embark on a daring voyage through the galaxy. Before long, Noemi begins to realize Abel may be more than a machine, and, for his part, Abel’s devotion to Noemi is no longer just a matter of programming.

A Gifset Of Reactions Because I Love It Too Much To Do Anything Else:

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All The Forever Things

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“Everything about this moment is familiar. The silent communication between Mom and Dad as they shift the casket into the best position for viewing. The bereaved’s sighs, me sliding the soft soles of my shoes over the carpet, and the overpowering smell of condolences that have arrived from companies with names like Flowers R Us.”

Title: All The Forever Things

Author: Jolene Perry

Series: Standalone

Publication: April 1st 2017 by Albert Whitman & Company

Pages: 288

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Nothing is forever. Gabe knows that more than most girls. After all, she lives in a funeral home (it’s the family business), and she gets that everything in the world dies eventually – people, rumors, fashion trends, the nickname “Graveyard Gabe.” But her best friend, Bree, has been a constant in her life; it’s always been the two of them together. Until Bree starts seeing a guy who stands for everything Gabe thought they were against. How could Bree change her mind and go for someone like Bryce Johnson?

Now Gabe doesn’t know who her friend is anymore. And the only person who seems to have time for her is Hartman, the new guy, who is somehow not weirded out by the funeral home stuff (well, a little). Still, Gabe doesn’t want to lose her mind over a guy the way Bree has, so she holds back.

But a very strange prom night (driving the family hearse instead of a limo) will change what Gabe knows about friendship, love, life, and everything that comes after – forever and otherwise.

A Listical of Thoughts:

  • Nothing lasts forever, like my patience – which didn’t last long enough to enjoy this book.
  • Gabe is “woe is me,”  selfish, and and immature. The only interesting thing about her was that she lived in a funeral home.
  • Speaking of living in a funeral home, it was used to make Gabe a special snowflake.
  • The one enjoyable part was the aspect of friendship and the difficulties that come about when one friend starts a relationship.
  • Girl on girl hate makes me so mad. It’s time authors get beyond that as a plot point.
  • The book had false uniqueness. It was trying to be something other than the contemporary romance that it was by constantly reminding us that its heroine was quirky and not normal.
  • Romances are usually predictable, but this suffered from so much predictability that it stole all the fun away.
  • Long story short, I can’t figure out a single reason to promote or recommend this book.

Pretty Fierce

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“My mother had once told me you couldn’t trust people who came into your life at the exact moment you needed them.” 

Title: Pretty Fierce

Author: Kieran Scott

Series: Standalone

Publication: April 4th 2017 by Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 320

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Kaia has been on the run her whole life. The daughter of professional assassins, she knows true danger—and she’ll do anything to survive. After her parents vanished during a job gone bad, Kaia’s spent the last year in hiding, trying to blend in as an ordinary teenager, and there’s no one who makes her feel more normal or more special than her boyfriend, Oliver.

But when she’s jumped by a hit man, and Oliver catches her fighting back, Kaia’s secret is exposed. In a split-second decision, she flees the small town, taking Oliver with her. With professional killers stalking their every move, can Oliver and Kaia protect each other long enough to uncover the mysteries of her past?

My Thoughts:

Pretty Fierce was one of those books where I went into it not knowing what to expect. I was intrigued by the synopsis, but I knew nothing and I had heard nothing about the book.  Boy am I glad I requested this book on Netgalley. Pretty Fierce is exciting, exhilarating, and a thrill ride in its own right. It’s fast paced, innovative, and surprisingly deep. Pretty Fierce is packed full of action, drama, mystery, romance, and all those little details that make spy films so enchanting. Pretty Fierce is aptly named — it’s fierce.

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The Book Thief

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“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Series: Standalone

Publication: March 14th 2006 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Pages: 552

Source: Library

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Thoughts I’m Still Processing:

  • The writing is so unfathomably beautiful. It’s like honesty, sarcasm, and lyricism had a love child and it grew up to be its own masterpiece.

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