bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

The ending redeemed this Korean American re-telling of Jane Eyre. The Jane Eyre I know and love would not find much in common personality wise with Jane Re, who I found much more of a spectator in her own life than a driving force (until hitting the midway point). Worth a read for the story, I wish the comparison with the classic just wasn't there. The story can stand on it's own.

Basically a fantasy where having a one night stand, ending up pregnant, and being only 22 lands you a hot, womanizing rock star who changes his ways because YOU'RE THE ONE. A fun thought, but the plot was so thin that I couldn't enjoy the fantasy. Character development didn't go much beyond basics.

However, for those who enjoy rock and roll romance with a focus on the sex scenes versus the characters, go ahead and enjoy! Just not really for me.

Thank you to www.netgalley.com for the ARC.

Set in 1989, this story focuses on a liberal (poor) boy named Seth and a republican (rich) girl named Quinn and their love story. My issue with this book was that it spent so much time loading the reader with details on Reaganism, liberalism, history, suicide, and other typical debate match topics that the character development suffered. It felt very after school special to me.

Worth a breeze through if you are feeling nostalgic for the era, but I wouldn't' necessarily hand to teens at my library.

The honeymoon appears to be over for Suzie and Jon, and the Sex Police may have won. Introducing several new characters, Volume 2 of Sex Criminals is compelling, but does lose a little of the pure joy and fun of the first. Can't wait to keep reading - and I hear a TV show may be under development?!

I read this during Graduate School. I found it compelling and excellently written take on this terrible topic. I especially liked reading about Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire.

A knockout all around. A wonderfully tight premise (food as memory and story-driving force) AND glorious art that is simple yet makes you ready to eat. I've been meaning to read this for quite awhile, and I am so happy I finally did. I would buy this in a heartbeat for any young foodie.

Little blue-haired girls have all the fun and have awesome pets like Twig, and get to go on awesome adventures. This reminded me a bit of Adventure Time, albeit far sweeter. The art is stunning, with a Nordic color scheme and so beautifully detailed. I love Hilda's sense of adventure, and that so much of it has to do with the mundane (sleeping in a tent in the rain, reading books). I will definitely be introducing graphic novels/comics to my daughter with this one.

Actual rating is 3.5 stars, but this was charming enough to round-up.

Imagine a hyrbrid of Blair Waldorf/Southern Belle/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and you'll get Harper Jane Price. Harper stumbles into the role of Paladin one fateful night in the bathroom of her High School and completely misses her Homecoming Queen coronation. To top it off, she is charged with protecting her arch-nemesis. Fate and Cotillion will collide.

I enjoyed the premise, and it was fun seeing a different sort of leading lady. Harper loves makeup, clothes, fashion, and academic success, but also takes on the tough jobs as needed. Hawkins does a great job of making a girl who most would see as a popular bitch be well-rounded and actually a lot of fun. The fact she is also more than a little anal and uptight is also endearing.

What kept this from being great for me is that everything else was shallow and came together a little too conveniently. Plus, there was way to much explaining instead of showing.

However, I would definitely read the other books in this series, so yay.

Again, actually more of a 3.5 star for me, but rounding up because I think this is a great book for Young Adults.

Not yet openly gay, theatre geek Simon’s steamy emails with pen pal “Blue” are discovered by fellow classmate Martin when Simon forgets to close his email on a school computer. Simon must decide if he’ll let Martin’s discovery out him or if he’ll take control of his own destiny in this funny, poignant, and heartwarming coming of age tale.

My quibbles included the very "right now" pop culture references that will age long before the relevance of this book. Also, I've never heard anyone reference Tumblr as "the Tumblr" in casual conversation. Every time I read it (which was too often), it took me out of the story. The ending is a little too "perfect," but overall I enjoyed this sweet tale.

Tackles the horrific Armenian genocide with graceful verse, lending it gravitas yet making it accessible to younger (14+) readers. I was pleased to finally find a YA novel in verse that wasn't about drug abuse or self-mutilation, but this topic was definitely as heavy. I don't think this will be a book casual readers will pick up, because while Walrath deftly weaves her story, this is one better read in a classroom setting along with concurrent history lessons. Very timely for the 100th anniversary of this tragedy that Turkey still resolutely denies ever happened.

I read also used this title to tick off my "poetry" square for my 2015 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.