The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

I was very hesitant about this book until I saw that it was pitched as "Mean Girls meets Life of Pi" though I wasn't a fan of Life of Pi and I am a big fan of Mean Girls. The Lifeboat Clique is witty, highly entertaining and a lesson about stereotypes that is a quick read you won't regret picking up.

After a falling out with her best friend Abigail, Denver is an outcast. Though not content with this Denver keeps her head down and just goes through everyday just trying to get through high school. That is until Croix asks her to a party that Abigail is hosting. Hesitant because she isn't well liked, Denver goes because she longs for a chance of normalcy in her life. Little did she expect to be washed out to sea. The first step was surviving the tsunami that hit California was the roof, but her next step is now surviving on a boat with four of the most popular people in school, one being her ex-best friend.

Denver is extremely witty and funny. There were several times that I laughed out loud at the things she said. In my high school we really have no social standings of who is popular, we all just intermingle together. (Of course there are people that think they are "popular" but they aren't) But in Denver's it is broken up by the popular kids, jocks, nerds, ect. The popular kids look down their noses on the kids who aren't popular. Once upon a time Abigail wasn't popular, but after her falling out with Denver she earned her seat that the popular table. I felt for Denver in loosing someone who was like a sister to her, it was devastating.

The other two girls on the boat remind me of Karen from Mean Girls. They are the stereotypical sidekicks that really aren't that intelligent. The are materialistic and rude to Denver. At first I hated both girls, and I could understand Denver's hatred too. But as the story goes on you couldn't help but like these girls. They would say things that would have me shaking my head and snickering at the same time. But the main thing is that they learned a lesson on that boat.

Though I loved the quirkiness of this book it does bring up some serious points. "A person is a person no matter how small." And it is a shame that it took something as devastating as the death of most of their friends for the popular girls to realize that they are't much different from everyone else. Its a simple word that makes them different. I liked how Denver and Abigail in the end try to make a point that none of the stereotypes matter. Even though they didn't get through to many people, they learned a lesson just like everyone else in what is now called The Lifeboat Clique.

Overall I really enjoyed The Lifeboat Clique. It was both entertaining and serious, but taught a valuable lesson. I am looking forward to Parks next works. This book is highly recommended for the fans of Mean Girls and Life of Pi alike, but also someone who is looking for a quick fun read.

Reviews + more can be found at The Book Bratz

I read the first half of this book pretty fast, and overall I really wasn't impressed and skimmed the second half. It was the typically story of the "broken hearted girl" who falls in love with the best friend who isn't so bad now that she gets to know him. I found the plot to be predictable and boring, there wasn't much that had me pushing to finish this book. I didn't have any connection to any of the main or secondary characters, and the secondary characters seemed kind of flat and uninteresting.

Reviews + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Books that are always popular on social media before their release dates are always the ones I struggle with the most. I have one expectation for the book, but when I actually read it it isn't what I expected it to be at all. I am going to call this the "Book Media Effect."

My main problem with Into the Dim was the main character Hope. I was able to connect with her on an emotional level with her anxieties. In the first few pages she is seemingly made to be this delicate girl that is scared of almost everything. But then she does anxiety inducing things, with out the anxiety. I think this is more of a me problem since I know anxiety first hand and expect it to be the same for everyone. (Even though I know it isn't) She was also very naive at moments, things would be right in front of her and she literally DID.NOT.GET.IT. Hope also came off as a know it all because of her photographic memory and I hate know it alls. Ending it with this: I did not like Hope at all.

The secondary characters where entertaining and well developed, but I couldn't fully enjoy them do to my issues with the main character. This is why I say connections to characters are IMPORTANT.

The idea and world building were interesting, and I loved the good vs. evil aspect that it had going on. Especially the world that they traveled to (Which I had issues with because all Hope did was gush about how much she loved it and became and encyclopedia of facts and information. Like girl, you are suppose to be saving her mother that you are heart broken about.)

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Thoughts before Reading:

I love Megan Shepherd's writing (and not just because we have the same last name) but her writing is dark, mysterious and drags me right in. I was super excited when I heard news of The Cage, and couldn't wait to start it. Sadly, I didn't get to start it until after Christmas. I was really excited to see how this all was going to play out!

Characters:

Cora: A majority of the chapters are Cora, but they do change as the story continues on. Initially I felt bad for Cora. We learn that she has been in juvie for the last eighteen months, and longs for her life to go back to normal. As the story went on, it was easy to see that Cora was the only one seeing through the mind games that the Kindred were putting them through. She has a few quirks that irritated me, but as I whole she was really the only character (Besides Cassian that I liked!)

Lucky: Lucky and Cora have a history together that they don't know about. Lucky is the reason that Cora was imprisoned anyway. After the death of his mother and racked with grief he attempted to shoot Cora's father (A senator) but his guards caught him and offered him a deal. Initally I really liked Lucky, and shipped him and Cora together pretty hard. But as more things were revealed my taste for that ship lessened as well as my liking of him.

Rolf: I.HATE.ROLF. Seriously. I hate know it alls and he is the biggest one of all time. Pretty quick in the book he develops feelings for Nok. Her is overly protective, jealous and quick to turn everyone against Cora. He actually wants to stay in the cage.

Nok: I hated her more then Rolf (It depends) She knew how to manipulate men and she had Rolf wrapped around her finger and then Leon. Siding with Rolf she blamed Cora for much of the unfairness among the group, and that Cora was overall a bad person. I had very little pity for Nok (For her past yes, but as far as the cage goes no.)

Leon: I don't have much to say for him. He was just there. My heart broke for some of his chapters, but there wasn't much I felt towards him. I hope he makes a reappearance in the next book though. His end was very open ended.

World Building:

I think Shepherd did a pretty good job with creating the biosphere, there are multiple locations in one, that are geographically impossible. But besides the biosphere she created several new and interesting life forms (The Kindred being one of them) that aren't as "pleasant" as the Kindred. The Kindred were really well developed and you learn a lot about them through out The Cage. We learn minor details about the other alien species, but that was just a taste. I can't wait to find out more in the next books!

Romance:

Originally I shipped Lucy and Cora but that quickly changed. It is easy to see that in Cassian's and Cora's interactions that he does care about her (On some level) At first Cora hates Cassian but as time goes on she develops and attraction towards him. It was slow burn romance, and not much of anything until the end of the book. But I hope their relationship continues on in the next book. I really do like them together.

Thoughts after Reading:

I was really impressed with The Cage and I am excited for the next book. The ending wasn't as much as a cliffhanger as I expected it to be. But there is still a lot of curiosity with what is going to happen next.

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

*PLEASE NOTE THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I don't have much to say about The Art of Not Breathing. I did like it. But it isn't my favorite book I ever read. It also won't be one of the most memorable. There were qualities that I liked, and then many things that I disliked.

Likes:

-I like that is was set in Scotland. It took a little getting use to the terms that were use. But it was refreshing to read.

-Alexander created a cast of realistically flawed characters (For the most part. Read in the dislike section for more)

-Free diving isn't something you read about. It was cool to read about. It actually makes me want to try it out. (I won't)

-I especially liked that Elise was depicted as a chubbier then most girls her age, and she views her body in a disdainful way. I found it realistic about how some girls view themselves.

Dislikes:

-Flawed characters are good. They make a story sometimes. But every character in this book was flawed. It was hard to keep up with what was going on with who, and why this character acted this way.

-There was one part of the story that threw me off. Elsie's other brother has a girlfriend. So one day she is peaking through the lock on his door and catches them having sex. Most people would turn away, but Elsie continues to watch for a minute or two. (Which maybe isn't a big thing? But I just found it odd) And then one day that girlfriend says that Elsie could watch if she wanted too.

-From the summary the book it makes you think that the story is about Elsie coming to terms with Eddie's death and stuff. It is and it isn't. But suddenly Elsie is is trying to piece together the memories of that day she can't remember, and then who else was involved. How her brother knows Tay and Adam. It suddenly turned into a mystery.

-In the last half of the book, Elsie's brother develops an eating disorder. But it comes out of nowhere. One minute he was fine and the next minute he is sickly thin.

Overall I found the story rushed and too much crammed into less then 300 pages. It might have benefited if it was longer then 288 pages.

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

I didn't realize what this book was about when I requested it. My mind was something like this: Cool cover! *clicks request.* So when I started reading this I only knew it was that aliens were somehow involved. Mr. Fahrenheit was a pretty cool book, it was filled with some interesting characters, an interesting concept, and an alien that was only able to speak through song.

I liked Mr. Fahrenheit. But it was slow, I read up to 60% before I started to skim and skip a bit. Nothing action-ish or otherwise doesn't happen to the end. A majority of the book is the panic of having shot down an alien space craft, and now stuck with the pod that survived and Benji's weird connection to it. I spent a good chunk of this book hoping an alien was going to pop out, and sighed and frustration when it didn't. Which happened about every five pages.

I did like the characters. They were fun, but they felt two dimensional to me. We knew enough about Benji whose POV the story is told from. But that was it. The group as a whole was a riot together. CJ specifically said the funniest and most quotable things.

I just don't have much to say about this book. It was okay, but I wasn't blown away. If you are questioning whether to read this book or not, I say give it a shot. You have nothing to loose really. I think this book is going to be a hit or miss for people. Sadly despite a cool idea, it was a miss for me.

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

First off, can we just look at the cover. The colors, typography, the darkness of it. It screams mystery. I am obsessed with it. The moment I discovered this book (Of course, I see the cover and had to see what it was about) I knew I would have to read it one day. The May Queen Murders, was interesting, thrilling, and left me on the edge of my seat for what was going to happen next.

Ivy was a likable character, she loves how superstitious things are and is content with the life Heather, her cousin and best friend have. Heather isn't so content though. Ivy was at a lost for words when Heather starting pulling away from her, keeping secrets, making hasty decisions, it wasn't the girl Ivy was use too. Then Heather goes missing and Ivy learns all new things about the life she thought she was living, the people she is living among, and her best friend. Though, there were moments where I found Ivy to be incredibly stupid. Girl, there is a curfew for a reason. Follow it. Don't get your self killed. It isn't that hard.

I really love the setting of this book. I could only imagine the beauty of the sites of the Missouri Ozarks, where the Glen is located. I just enjoyed the simpleness of their life. Society is so wrapped up in technology and ways to make things simpler, and these people didn't succumb to the hustle and bustle of it. They stuck with themselves and thrived in a modern day society. In a sense they reminded me of the Amish, only less Amish. (If that makes sense?)

In my opinion the mystery was done well in this book. I liked that the further you went in the book the more you learned about Heather. I found the murder of the animals to be bone chilling and an eerie touch to a community that was already on the edge with superstition. The climax of the story was the real shocker. There are three people who are involved in this murder, and one that was committed nearly 25 years earlier. Jude did a good job at balancing several different mysteries, to wrap up the biggest mystery of all.

Overall I really liked The May Queen Murders. Jude managed to balance all the elements of the story out, to keep is running smooth. It was thrilling, mysterious and eerie all wrapped into one.

I am probably going to be the black sheep with this one. Thoughts coming soon...

I loved Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder series. So when I saw that she wrote another novel I was really excited. I was even more excited when my library finally had it.

I really did enjoy The Taking. It was about a young girl accepting her faith, and trying to make her life normal after being "returned" from being abducted five years earlier. There were many things how ever I did not liked and made this harder for me to get into the book.

First, Kyra awakens behind a dumpster 5 years after she is abducted, still in the same clothing (Softball uniform, with her hair entwined with ribbons) and looks exactly the same. Like she hasn't aged in five years. The only person who mentions this is Tyler. I don't know about you but if someone I cared about returned after being abducted for the amount of time and still looked like they did when they were abducted I would be quote curious.

Second, Kyra was 16 when she disappeared, which was five years ago. So now she would be around 21.
"This was Tyler Wahl. Tyler, who looked far too much like his older brother—my seventeen-year-old boyfriend—in looks, in stature...and, most of all, in age.
Tyler, who, the last time I’d seen him just the day before, had been only twelve years old."
Five years and a day to be correct. Whether she looks 16 or not she is still technically 21 years old. I found it kind of weird.

Third, The Taking takes play over eight days. eight days. Saying "I love you" after only eight days doesn't sit right with me. On day two when Kyra started saying how she got butterflies looking at Tyler and how he made her smile I knew what was coming. I just expected it to be a lot slower. Especially she still had to deal with Austin.

Fourth, Kyra didn't make a big attempt to hear Cat or Austin out. She kept saying how they are so important to her but she wouldn't communicate with them. She avoids Cat's phone calls, when she comes to see her Kyra runs inside. I was expecting Cat to be in more of the book were she was really only in five pages. Austin was in like three.
This review and more can be found at The Book Bratz




Enough with what I didn't like. There was a lot I did like about this book. The idea especially. Alien's seem so cliche and overdone so I wasn't expecting much from this. The last thing I expected was fire flies.

I grew up with these little bugs living in my backyard. I have caught jars and jars full of them. But aliens? I really liked that idea. Though I was a bit confused. Were the fireflies aliens? Or like transporters? Lets just say I will never look at the little suckers the same again. (Though I am now really itchy after reading a certain part in the book. That would be my worst nightmare. No matter how harmless they are.)

Though I was unhappy with how fast Tyler and Kyra's romance progressed I did enjoy it, I always enjoy romance. It was cute and simple, not much of a science behind it. Never mind the fact it is her ex-boyfriend's kid brother. How crazy is that? Like the ultimate F you.

Kimberly knows how to leave us all hanging. That ending? Oh my. My heart is pounding. I need to know what happens. Like now.

All in all I did enjoy The Taking very much and I am eager for the second book in the trilogy to come out. (So far no release date)