It's the beat that my heart skips when I'm with you.
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
3/5 -good
alternate views, dystopia, family, love story, sci-fi, young adult
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
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I thought it was a bit boring at first. I mean, there was one character. And the POV change was kind of sudden and unexplained. I kept thinking, "why are they calling Cassie a 'he'?" during that first POV switch-up. It wasn't bad or anything, I was hoping for better though.
Titanic Affair by Amanda Grange
3/5 -good
alternate views, beach read, romance
Emilia Cavendish is given a first class ticket on board Titanic and sets out to start a new life with her godmother. The first few days aboard the world-famous 'unsinkable' liner are everything she hoped for as she enjoys the unaccustomed luxuries of the fabulous ship. She makes new friends amongst her fellow passengers - not least the darkly handsome, if somewhat overbearing, Carl Latimer. But when Titanic hits the iceberg, Emilia finds herself in danger from an old enemy on board, and as she struggles to escape him, Titanic starts to sink. . .
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I liked it. It was a short, cute read. I was a little underwhelmed with the ending.
Daughters of Darkness by L.J. Smith
Night World #2
2/5 -nothing special
alternate views, angst, family, paranormal romance, teeny bopper
The series takes place in a world similar to our own but one where vampires, witches, werewolves and shape-shifters live among humans without their knowledge. These supernatural races make up a secret society known as the Night World, which enforces two fundamental laws to prevent discovery: 1) Never allow humans to gain knowledge of the Night World's existence and, 2) Never fall in love with one of them. Mary-Lynnette, seventeen, loves to watch the stars from her Oregon backyard. Then one day, she thinks she's witnessed a murder through her telescope. She's wrong: it's only three vampire sisters burying their mysteriously-killed aunt. The sisters, Rowan, Kestral, and Jade ran away from their enclave home to live the lives of regular teenagers. However, when their brother Ash is sent to bring the girls back, he falls in love with Mary-Lynnette. But will she accept him because of his lurid vampire past and can a now-repentant Ash convince Mary-Lynnette to let him atone for his former sins and be his soulmate?
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I liked Mary Lynette and Ash, and I liked their romance. I didn't really like anything else though.
Bully by Penelope Douglas
A Fall Away Novel
3/5 -good
angst, contemporary, high school, mature, love story, social issues, young adult
My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all.
We're neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.
So I left.
I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I'm back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I'm hoping that after a year of breathing room, he's moved on and forgotten all about me.
But even if he hasn't changed, I have. I'm not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We're going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.
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Okay so this book really hooked me. It kept me reading, and I read it rather quickly and was kept up till the wee hours of the morning.
Even though I devoured this, I can't say that the story made me happy or that I found it romantic at all.
This guy is an asshole, a violent prick who made his former BFF's life hell for years and yet she still loved him? And we're supposed to believe that he loved her even though he spread rumors about her and made her cry on a daily basis.
I don't understand how she could just forgive and forget like that.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4/5 -just wonderful
adult fiction, alternate views, contemporary, journal, mature, realistic fiction, social issues, movie
Marriage can be a real killer.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media-as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents-the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter-but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
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So dark and twisty and wonderful! A real page turner!