Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Summary (from Goodreads):

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House ( and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle- brings all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away.

Review:

I seriously have no idea what took me so long to get to this one. I know I bought it years ago, after discovering John Green and already knowing I loved Maureen Johnson. I really enjoy Lauren Myracle’s work too. Maybe it was the idea of the book being divided into 3 parts that was off-putting for me. I knew it would feel like I was not getting enough from some of my favorite writers. Though, that is crazy…I loved the three parts and I loved how nicely everything connected.

All the stories are linked by one, giant snowstorm. And I loved how characters from one story would pop up in others. It was super interesting to get more perspectives on particular situations and romances than you initially get. The first story (by Maureen) was about a girl on the train that crashes. She’s upset to not be spending Christmas with her boyfriend. Her parents were actually arrested due to a mob at a certain Christmas decoration store and she was on the train to her grandparents for Christmas.

On the train are also a large group of cheerleaders coming back from an important competition. And the cheerleaders are a focal point for the second story (John Green’s story), where a bunch of guys and one girl –named the Duke, are off on the ultimate race to make it to the cheerleaders before anyone else does. The girl from the first story comes to realize how much of a jerk her boyfriend is, while she falls for a guy who rescues her from the cheerleader party. John Green’s story is about two friends falling for each other. And then the third story is about a barista who used to date someone who was on the same train. Her story is about coming to terms with herself and growing up, and possibly trying to get her super sweet boyfriend back.

As you can probably induce from this, the book was a little cheesy. There was a lot of romance. And there was a lot of classic holiday romantic comedy moments. However, the cheese factor didn’t bother me. I mostly read the whole thing as super adorable. What made it adorable versus cliché, were the remarkably real and flawed characters.

There’s the boy who was heartbroken from a cheating ex who was more than aware of other people dating bad people. There’s the girl who comes to realize that she deserves more than the few minute phone calls from her boyfriend during times of emergency. There’s the girl who really sees how she makes everything about herself, and sometimes forgets to notice how everyone else is doing. There’s the boy who finally notices that his best friend is a girl, a girl with more interesting characteristics than any of the cheerleaders he’s talked to. And there’s the girl willing to do anything for her crush/best friend, including driving in a blizzard to meet cheerleaders.

It’s clear that all three writers excel at character development. Who didn’t know this already? They also all know how to write some amazing YA romance. I laughed a lot while reading this. I loved the characters’ relationships with their families. I learned about teacup pigs and waffle houses. And I was a little sad when it was over. I can’t really come up with anything negative to say here. I just loved it.

If you’re looking for something adorable to read or something to get you to forget about climbing summer temperatures, this is the book for you. I loved every moment of it. It gets a 10/10 from me.

Waiting on Wednesday (97)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente (3/3/15):

 
Description on Goodreads:

When a young troll named Hawthorn is stolen from Fairyland by the Golden Wind, he becomes a changeling – a human boy -- in the strange city of Chicago, a place no less bizarre and magical than Fairyland when seen through trollish eyes. Left with a human family, Hawthorn struggles with his troll nature and his changeling fate. But when he turns twelve, he stumbles upon a way back home, to a Fairyland much changed from the one he remembers. Hawthorn finds himself at the center of a changeling revolution--until he comes face to face with a beautiful young Scientiste with very big, very red assistant.

Time magazine has praised Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland books as "one of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century." In this fourth installment of her saga, Valente 's wisdom and wit will charm readers of all ages.

Why I’m Waiting:

I had no idea there would be more books! A friend of mine just alerted me to this fourth installment, and I jumped up and down with joy. Seriously, the series is wonderful. There’s nothing out there quite like it. And I’m not sure why it’s not hyped a million times more than it is. Also, it sounds like there will be some new, interesting characters in this one. I love the cover. I like that it’s consistent with the rest of the series even though it sounds like there is a different main character. And normally a different main character would annoy me, but I’m just so happy there will be more books that I can’t even bother to be annoyed.

What are you waiting on this week?

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary (from Goodreads):

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?

Review:

This was one of my top 3 books I had to get my hands on at BEA. Thank you Scholastic for dropping these ARC’s. I waited in an unofficial line for an hour to be able to pick up this copy. And it was worth every second of line-waiting. It comes out at the beginning of July, so no one has much longer to wait, but still…I needed this book.

This sounds weird, but every time I read a Maggie Stiefvater book, I forget how unbelievably talented a writer Maggie Stiefvater is. Like how does a person forget this? Does my brain under-praise her so then when I get to her next novel, it will be even better than expected? Seriously, every time I pick up one of her books, I have to read certain passages out loud to myself. Her writing is just that good. Her characters are fascinatingly real.

I thought I was done with these characters. But, clearly I wasn’t. And clearly Maggie wasn’t either. And then of course I got into the book further, and I was like, “how can I ever be sick of Cole and Isabel?” Along with the rest of the world, they were my favorite characters from the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. They are both such complex people. They are flawed in such obvious ways. Both have lost someone important to them. Cole was known for wanting to always escape his pain with substances and then with being a wolf. And Isabel was all about hiding her pain –coming off as kind of a terrible person, but at least a terrible person who didn’t show emotion.

I thought it would be hard remembering things because it has been so long since I’ve said goodbye to this werewolf series. But, I guess with excellent characters, it’s not hard to remember things. They speak, they live, they feel, and it’s like I was never apart from them. Maggie Stiefvater writes characters in a way that makes you feel like you are never really apart from them. I feel like I know them. I wish I knew them for real. And I certainly feel everything they feel. It wasn’t hard to get into the story, and I never really felt like I couldn’t remember something important.

This definitely read more like a contemporary though than a werewolf novel. The wolf thing is a part of it; how can it not be? But, I feel like it’s a small part. It’s more about coming to terms with loss and finding love. And the love/chemistry between Cole and Isabel is so ridiculously strong. I found myself smiling at every scene that involved the two of them together –even the hard to read scenes that were painful and sad.

It’s so easy to ship these two. I so badly needed them to be happy. And while I loved the side characters in this story (like the rest of the band and Sofia), no one could hold my focus like the two stars. There’s some interesting stuff that happens plot-wise. There’s a reality tv show, a scary fire, some family drama, a lot of dark snip bits about Cole’s past, some references to other loved characters from the earlier series, parties, and pain. But, like a lot of other books by this author, this was more of a character-based story than an action-based one.

I really got inside Cole’s and Isabel’s heads. And if I didn’t love them before, I certainly do now. This book is for everyone who wanted more Cole and Isabel. It’s for people who like character driven stories. It’s for people who love exquisite writing. And it’s for people who don’t mind a little darkness with their romance. I give it a 10/10. And I know I will need to own all the books this writer will write. I’m so glad for this chance I had to get to know Isabel and Cole better.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Summary (from Goodreads):

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Review:

This was such an amazing surprise of a great book! I knew I’d like it because there are so man good reviews for it. And I’ve owned it for a long time. It’s on my reading challenge list of the year because it kept getting pushed to the end of my TBR lists, and I’m so glad I finally read it and put it at the front of my list. The only problem now is that I want to read the rest of the series, and I won’t have time to for a while. But still, it’s so good.

The book is kind of this smorgasbord of all cool YA themes: there’s mind-reading, feminism, talking animals, a creepy mystery, lots of discovering everything you knew about the world was wrong moments, war, kidnappings, fight scenes, important books, family drama, other worldly travel, aliens, and plenty of growing up. Seriously, just when I decided something like, “Oh, this is one of those dystopias,” I’d change my mind and declare it fantasy. And then after a while, it becomes sci-fi to the extreme. And despite all these fantastical elements, it never became too unbelievable. Like all good dystopias, it seems so real; like it’s possible the world can turn out this way (though I very much hope that it never does).

The whole concept of a world where men always know what everyone else is thinking and there’s never any quiet, is so completely terrifying. I love the idea that women’s mind’s are unreadable (once we know there are women alive out there –I’m not spoiling; this happens in the beginning). I also loved the writing style. Nothing is info-dumped on the reader. The reader is actually responsible for figuring out some things for him/her self. I called the biggest mystery only because I have read a lot of other dystopias. On the other hand, there were smaller details I didn’t guess. And I loved not guessing these things.

Todd is both the typical and also not so typical main character. He’s typical in his goodness. He can’t kill people (even the bad ones who attack his family and friends and then try to kill him). He does what his family asks of him even though he has no idea what is going on for a lot of the story. He wants to help his new friend, Viola, even though he knows nothing about her.

On the other hand, Todd can be selfish. He complains a lot. He swears. He judges people before knowing them. He never thinks of his dog before he thinks of himself. He’s terrible at lying and keeping thoughts to himself, even thoughts about how his world has not been kind to women. And his dialect is annoying…I had to throw that in. There is a definite slang to the language he speaks and lots of misspellings done on purpose that I never officially got over. But, all of Todd’s flaws (except maybe his language) add to his charm for me. I liked that despite all these things, he’s probably the nicest character in the book.

Nothing is easy for Todd, ever. Between the deaths left and right, the running for his life constantly, the starving, the fighting, the bruises, the losses, and the life-altering realizations he never really has a moment of peace. And this made for some highly entertaining plot devices. This book is action-packed. It read like a mixture of a Stephen King novel, a Veronica Roth novel, and The Giver.  I honestly do not know how better to describe it than by making those comparisons.

I enjoyed the book from start to finish. It’s filled with tons of action, a never boring plot, and lots of twists and turns. The characters are wonderful. The world is terrifying. There’s pieces of fantasy, dystopia, sci-fi, and even contemporary YA in it. There is some weird language stuff I was not the biggest fan of, but still I give it a 10/10.

A Good Week in Books (77)

I had a nice little book week! All weeks seem small after the books a girl brings home from BEA. However, I had my eyes on all three of these little gems, so I’m still very excited. Thank you, Macmillan Kids and Disney Hyperion for these gorgeous finished books to review.

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore

How was your book week?

Series Giveaway (Unforgotten)

I’m in the process of attempting to make more shelf space. And I have a great series to give away (to my US followers). Keep coming back this month for more giveaways; I have a feeling I will have a lot more books to giveaway soon.

Any way, I’m giving away these two hard covers:

Unforgotten by Jessica Brody

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Standard rules apply. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email with a shipping address, or I will have to randomly select a different winner. This contest is only open to US followers because I’m shipping the books myself.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday (96)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson (3/5/15):

Description (from Goodreads):

At the end of Maureen Johnson’s New York Times bestselling novel, The Madness Underneath, Rory, Callum and Boo are reeling from the sudden and tragic death of their friend and squad leader, Stephen. The Shadow Cabinet picks up where readers left off, and now Rory is convinced there must be a way to bring Stephen back. Meanwhile, new dangers arise: Rory's classmate Charlotte is missing, and Jane and her nefarious organization are clearly planning something big—with Rory as their most valuable asset. Time is running out as the ghost squad struggles to protect London and Rory fights to bring Stephen back. 

Why I’m Waiting:

Honestly, I will be waiting on all Maureen Johnson books, always. I love her books. But I particularly love these books! They take place in London. There’s ghosts. There’s a kick-butt girl main character who I love. There are wonderful characters, just enough mystery, and all the good kinds of Maureen Johnson type teen drama. I find the covers kind of boring, but oh well; you can’t win everything. It’s hard to believe that it won’t be out till 2015!

What are you waiting on this week?