genieinanovel's Reviews (752)

2.5 stars

The first time I picked up this book, I was expecting a gut-wrenching story that would utterly destroy me. This didn't happen, though for some reason after reading it a second time, I did like the book a little more. Maybe because I picked up on some things that I might've missed the first time... or maybe because I had just watched the Shooting Star episode of Glee and was more sympathetic to the characters.

The book follows four characters - Tomas, Sylvia, Autumn, and Claire. Three of them are inside the school while the shooter is inside, and Claire in on the outside hoping everyone - especially her little brother - is okay. The three inside have no idea if they'll make it out alive, especially since they know the boy with the gun personally, and have their own reasons to fear that he might make them his next target.

The problem wasn't that there were too many characters to follow. I liked the different perspectives of where they were during all of this. The issue was that there were too many flashbacks to give backstory to them and it didn't focus a lot on their present feelings, or give depth to them at least. I just felt like there could have been more character development in this story, or at least some way to get to know them more. And that includes the shooter, Tyler, because he didn't really have a motive for why he did this, other than being angry. He and his sister did have to endure abuse at home, but that was more of a personal home issue... it wasn't as though he was bullied at school.

What I will say that I liked about this book was that it's fast-paced and keeps you wanting to read the next chapter. There are no slow areas at all that makes it feel like the book is dragging on. I wanted to know what would happen to these kids, even if I didn't relate or know them well. And in my re-read I was hoping to find something I missed to see why Tyler went on this spree, but still found none.

Overall, this book is good, it's just not a favorite. Maybe the story would've been better with less flashbacks and maybe one less POV... or just longer POV's for some development. That's my opinion anyway on how this book could be a little more emotional for the readers.

After the twist of an ending in The School for Good and Evil, Sophie and Agatha are back home like they wished. Since they are the first two kids to ever come back from the School, they're regarded as heroes in their home-world. But after one of them unintentionally makes a wish, they find themselves back at the School for Good and Evil, only it's different now. So different, in fact, that it's not even the same school anymore.

It's the School for Girls and The School for Boys.

Princes are no longer needed in this world. Sophie and Agatha realized they didn't need one at the end of the last book, but they didn't realize how it would affect the world where fairy tales are born. While the girls are taking reign of this new independence, the boys and princes from the classic stories are angry. Angry enough to want to get rid of Sophie once and for all and restore order.

As for the characters, I feel pretty much the same about them. I love Agatha and feel for her throughout this book because she's confused about having her happily ever after with her best friend, like she intended, or if she wants more with Tedros. Feelings are hard, and that's something that Sophie tries to control about Agatha because she lost out on the prince and does actually want to remain Good. Tedros is doing the same thing - pressuring Agatha to choose. While I feel bad that he was scorned at the end of the first book, I think both he and Sophie needed to lay off Agatha a bit and try to be more understanding.

I think that's what I enjoyed about this book the most was the torn feeling of choosing between a best friend and a possible boyfriend. It's something so common in relationships because you have to split your time with your friends and significant other. Though sometimes one or the other will make you choose who is more important, and that's what Agatha has to face in this book. I love how the author threw in this very relatable situation. It makes this "fairy tale" more relatable to the audience. Again, feelings are hard!

This book ended with another great surprise ending that I felt like I should've seen coming but I didn't. I'm going to blame my kitten for that one because he's very distracting. But what an ending! I'm definitely excited to pick up the next book soon!

RIP Naya Rivera

It's only fitting that after binge-watching Glee for the 4th (maybe 5th?) time that I went ahead and picked up Naya Rivera's memoir. While celebrity memoirs are a hit or miss, this book was definitely a hit!

Before she hit the big-time on Glee, Naya was on shows such as The Royal Family, Family Matters, and even one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when she was a child. She was a professional actress before she could even read! Something that maybe not too many people know, since I'm pretty sure most people assumed Glee was her first real project. At least, I wasn't aware of that until looking into her acting credits once Santana Lopez became a favorite character of mine.

Naya doesn't hold back in this book. She talks about mistakes she's made, including with dating and career moves, and just puts herself out there in a "yeah, people might judge me for this, but it happened and that's that" attitude that I have to say I admire. She talks about her pre-fame eating disorder, never really feeling like she fit in due to her multi-racial background, her relationships, and, her faith, even her heartbreaking abortion. I love how honest she his in this book, and what really amazed me was her faith that in no matter what happened, even the shitty stuff, she believed that God had a plan for her, and she learned to take it all in grace rather than complaining about the bad stuff.

After all, she wouldn't have even gone to the Glee audition without it. In fact, when she had auditioned for Glee she had just about given up on acting and only went to the audition for her mom's sake. And it's a damn good thing she did, otherwise we wouldn't have the iconic Santana Lopez!

What's amazing is that even though Glee projected her into stardom, she didn't ever "go Hollywood." She remained the same person that she was before and didn't let the fame or money change her. Instead, she got her crap together, got out of debt, and made a life for herself that she was proud of. I admire that. And sure, there was some drama along the way, but she dealt with it and moved on.

The only thing I wish she had touched more on was the friendships she made with the cast on Glee, specifically with Heather Morris and Kevin McHale, since she was so close to them. Though I get that maybe she didn't feel it was relevant for the theme of her memoir (though she does touch on Heather being her "wing-woman" to talk to her future-husband). But I really would've just loved to have seen her gushing more about her castmates that she was close to.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you're a Glee fan or just love celebrity memoirs. This one is one of the best I've read because of the ease of reading and the honesty. I'd also recommend the audiobook if you prefer that format because (as any Glee fan knows) Naya's voice is just amazing to listen to, even reading a book!

I'm only sorry that I didn't pick up this book when it was first published, or even before Naya's untimely, tragic passing.

When Douglas Healy, a former juvenile delinquent, sets up a program that allows three troubled teens to get out of juvie and into a halfway house, things don’t go quite as he expects. The three boys, Gecko Fosse, Terrance Florian, and Arjay Moran, are given the chance of a lifetime. But one wrong move and they’ll end up back in juvie for good. While Gecko and Arjay aren’t in a rush to get back behind bars anytime soon, Terrance just wants out of this program and back onto the streets.

There was a great little group of characters in this book that I enjoyed. Aside from Mr. Healy and the boys, you had the nosey, elderly neighbor who is suspicious of the boys at first, the girl that Gecko crushes on but her rich dad doesn’t want him around her, the other kids in group therapy, and the mean social worker who’s basically out to shut down this program of Healy’s. My favorites were obviously the boys. Yes, they were criminals, but in Gecko’s case he was just his brother’s lackey, Arjay was only acting in self-defense (not that the court saw it that way), and Terrance is just misguided.

The differences between these boys called for clashing right upon them meeting, and even throughout most of the book they argue. Terrance is mainly the problematic one, since he just wants to find a street crew to run with and get back to the gang life he tried to have before. So at times I found him annoying because he wasn’t appreciative of this amazing opportunity, but he does end up having common sense hit him dead in the face eventually. Gecko and Arjay on the other hand, were total sweethearts that honestly just had bad luck throw them into juvie (though it was Gecko’s choice to follow along his brother’s schemes).

Overall this is a very easy read that keeps you interested. I would say this is a book that could be read in a day, easily, and the only reason I didn’t finish it the night I started it was because my kitten kept attacking me while I was reading. This was my second book that I’ve read by Gordon Korman and he is becoming one of my favorite middle-grade authors. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’ve read some of his books before.

Rating: 4.75 stars

Blackout is a collection of six connecting short stories. Set on a summer night in NYC, six Black teenagers are trying to make their way across the city from different areas when the lights in the city go out. What these teenagers have in common, aside from connections to characters in the other stories, is that they're dealing with some kind of romance. From heartbreak to first meetings to finally professing their love... there's enough love fluff to go around.

What I really enjoyed was the unification of these stories. Characters from each one were related to one in another in some way, whether they were cousins, siblings, best friends, or just knew them from school. It tied the anthology together, which made it a little easier to stick with. I often find that I trail off when reading normal anthologies since there isn't a story to continue, but the fact that all these did... I liked it a lot. 

Here's a little about what I enjoyed from each story and the order of which I enjoyed them:

"Seymour and Grace" by Nicola Yoon - Two strangers meet on an Uber-like service, and when the car runs out of gas the two have to walk to their destination and maybe find a gas station along the way. I just thought the characters in this were adorable and loved their philosophical talk along the way.

"The Long Walk" by Tiffany D. Jackson - A five-part story (that alternated with the others) about exes who have to travel across the city to a block party in their neighborhood. I just liked the flow of this story and looked forward to getting back to it after the other stories.

"No Sleep 'til Brooklyn" by Angie Thomas - An emerging love triangle among some students visiting the city and they're stuck on a double-decker tour bus. It was short and sweet, but I really enjoyed it and the message that went along with it, which was to put yourself and love yourself first.

"All the Great Love Stories... and Dust" by Dhonielle Clayton - The classic childhood friends where one has been crushing on the other forever, but doesn't know if the other feels the same. It was cute, but this was one where I kind of trailed off and wasn't super-invested in.

"Mask Off" by Nic Stone - Two former sort-of friends connect again while stuck inside a dark train. This one kept going into the past a little, so I had to remind myself when the main character was talking about the past vs. the present. Otherwise, it wasn't too bad.

"Made to Fit" by Ashley Woodfolk - Two girls connect while looking for a lost item in a senior-living facility. I wasn't into this one and kept losing my place because I was trying to speed through it so I could get back to The Long Walk.

So for the most part I did enjoy this little anthology. The ending did show some of the characters from the other stories at the block party that was mentioned in each story, but I wish there had been a little more. In any case, if you're looking for a cute and not over-whelming anthology of short stories that focus on Black teens.

Rating: 4 stars

*I received a free e-galley from NetGalley of this in exchange for an honest review*

Tabitha and her friends all wear purity rings. It’s what links them in their friendship as they’ve all made their promise to God to not have sex until marriage. It’s always been a no-brainer for Tabitha, at least, but when one of their circle breaks their promise, they find themselves divided and for different reasons. Placed in the middle of all this, Tabitha has to figure out what being a true friend means, and learns how your beliefs can affect your friendships.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. It took a while for me to really get into it, and there are times when the narration loses focus on the story itself, but I’m glad I pushed through those first few chapters to get into the grit of the story because it was something I felt deep inside and accessed a little bit of my own 15/16 year old self. Right away when Tabitha was placed in between her friends I knew she was doing the right thing by not judging that one friend for her actions, and instead tried to understand without giving in on her own beliefs.

Everything seemed to happen at once for Tabitha in this book – her first boyfriend, her friends falling apart, trying to figure out where she really stood in her beliefs, and what it means to be a real friend. It’s a lot more drama than I went through in high school as a teenage Christian, but I definitely see how it tore Tabitha apart inside and how she was unsure of what to do, especially since her parents weren’t exactly believers. Honestly, she handled it all much more maturely than a 15-year old normally would, but of course still had her moments and that’s where I saw a lot of my younger self in her. Wanting to do the right thing, but hating to lose friendships along the way, but also knowing that God works things out for the best for those who love Him. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s one of the best.

So, reading this was also a little trippy for me because for the first time ever, I share my name with the main character. The “T” in T.K. does, in fact, stand for Tabitha. I go by T.K. on my blog for a number of reasons, but being ashamed of my name is NOT one of them. I love my name and the fact that it’s so rare (unless it’s on book twitter or bookstagram) but again, I’ve never read my name in a book before (expect for the Bible, obviously). Anyway, that was the weirdest thing for me in the entirety of this book was reading my own name when family or friends were talking to the main character (and writing this review).

Overall, this was a great book and one that I wish I had read when I was a teen (this book was published the year I graduated high school, go figure). Though I would have liked it a lot more if the narration had been a bit less sporadic and if it hadn’t dragged like it did in the beginning. Other than that, I definitely recommend this book, especially to Christian teens out there looking for books they can relate to.