simplyalexandra's Reviews (890)

Powerful. Tough subject matter. Interesting. A bit over hyped perhaps?

3 - 3.5 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy contemporary YA that deals with difficult issues facing teenagers. I also recommend if you enjoy a bit of a mystery as far as how things are connected go.

This book follows Clay who receives a package containing 13 audio tapes from a friend who recently committed suicide. The tapes instruct him to listen to all of the tapes and then pass them on to the next person. If he doesn't the contents of the tapes will be exposed publicly. Each tape is associated with a person and a "reason" that Hannah killed herself. As the story unfolds, Clay will learn the mystery behind why Hannah ended her life.

Overall this book was a lot of hype, and I think it's really more the show that's the hype at this point. It was compelling enough to get through quickly, but I was expecting a mystery or something very thrilling to happen. However, I found that since it went in order, I wasn't too shocked at any point. I'm guessing that the show is more interesting in the sense that things don't go in chronological order, and you see things from multiple points of view. Overall this was just ok for me. I haven't watched this yet, but expect to enjoy the show.

4 Stars - Very interesting. Not what I expected, but very vivid and compelling.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy coming of age stories with magical themes. This is a retelling of The Tempest.

Miranda knows her father, and her island... and that is it. They live alone in a peaceful world. Her father toils over his work, which he will not explain to her. One day her father seeks to capture the wild boy, the only other human inhabitant on the island, and tame him. The boy is named Caliban and fights his capture. Over time Miranda and the boy become friends, and she teaches him to speak and to be "civilized". They bond as young friends, and as they are both held captive by Miranda's father. One day Miranda's father releases a wild elemental spirit who wreaks havoc upon their lives. What is Miranda's father up to? When will Miranda find out? What makes them better than Caliban or the spirits they command to do their bidding?

Overall this book was really interesting. I am not familiar with The Tempest, so I didn't quite know what to expect and I cannot speak to how closely it re-tells.... but, I enjoyed that this book had fantasy elements to it, but I also enjoyed that it was a side-by-side coming of age story between the two characters. It's a very vivid portrayal of the confusion that occurs when you become an adult. Parts of it also reminded me of things like Tarzan, for obvious reasons. There were some uncomfortable parts related to animal sacrifice, and others related to puberty/sexuality. But overall I found it really holistic and vivid. I liked the mystery of what Miranda's father was up to. Ultimately, I felt like there was a lot going on, a little too much perhaps... but that I was very absorbed by the world. It was left a little open ended, so I wonder if there is a sequel set up happening? I almost would have preferred and epilogue if so. We shall see. Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

This title was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. These reviews are my own opinion, and based on the edition of the book I was given at the time. Thank you Netgalley!

4 Stars - I recommend if you like YA, and light hearted, cute-as-can-be romance.

Madeline is 18 years old and she has never left her house, she's got SCID, so anything could kill her at any time. Most days she is fine living her life indoors. She loves her mom, her nurse Carla, and her books. When Olly moves in next door, everything changes. For the first time, she wants more.

I expected to like this book. But I could not even handle it. It was so cute!! It was really short, I loved that some of the sections were notes, or charts, or drawings, etc. I though Maddy and Olly's relationship was really well defined via texts, conversations, and all of their little notes and doodles. I love that this book is inspiring to live your life to the fullest. I didn't see the ending coming, but I thought it worked well. It was fun to read YA about 18 year olds rather than 15 year olds, I think it's more rare? It just made their relationship feel more realistic, and less insta-love-like... hard to explain, but I loved it.

We also saw the movie. Parts of it were great, parts were kinda "meh". They changed some things that were pretty arbitrary, but that I missed in the movie. Like the "if found return to Madeline," things in her books. Etc. I loved the casting and the depiction of certain things in the movie (like the bundt cake, etc.). The astronaut part was cute, but them talking through their text conversations was super strange... especially the one where they are in space... LOL. It also felt more "insta love" like... but it is hard to avoid that in such a short time. Overall it still left me feeling excited and inspired. KC is a saint for seeing any kind of movie with me. *swoon*

4.5 Stars - I LOVE THIS.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy short stories and YA. This collection was very diverse, so you're bound to enjoy some and not others, but I appreciated how many stories included POC and LGBTQ characters and relationships.

This book is a collection of diverse YA short stories based around the themes of summer and love.

1) The first story "Head, Tails, Tongue, Scales" by Leigh Bardugo was interesting, I almost got into it, but it was pretty out there. I wasn't expecting something quite so strange for the very first story. It was just OK for me.

2) Nina La Cour's story "The End of Love" is LGBTQ and I thought it was really nice. La Cour really captures what it's like to be a teen struggling with tough issues. I thought the story was equal parts cute and serious. A good mix!

3) Libba Bray's story "Last Stand at the Cinegore" about a vintage horror movie theatre closing was really fun. First off, I love having a teenage male protagonist. It's just so much fun to read for me. Secondly, the characters were quirky and that was amazing. The twist was bonkers. I dunno how I feel about the twist... but overall I still really enjoyed this one.

4) "Sick Pleasure" by Francesca Lia Block was really depressing for me. It went where I did not think it would. I didn't feel hopeful after reading it, and it wasn't much in the way of a cute summer-y love-y type story. There were also an awful lot of characters, and naming them all after their initial (A, M, I, S. Etc.) didn't help matters.

5) "In Ninety Minutes Turn North" by Stephanie Perkins was adorable as expected. I was delighted to immediately notice that she used Marigold and North (the characters from her story in "My True Love Gave to Me") again in this one!

6) "Souvenirs" by Tim Federle was pretty cute, I didn't think I was going to like it, but did quite a bit. It's about Kieth and Matty, who meet working the summer at an amusement park, the start dating knowing that Kieth is going away to another state for school in the fall. The start dating and create a "break up day". This story takes place on breakup day. Despite that, myself liking a happy ending... I enjoyed this one. It was very sweet. Another LGBTQ story.

7) Inertia by Veronica Roth is one that looked like it was going to be set in the present in our world... but really it ended up being more futuristic. Claire is woken and taken to the hospital to go to a "Last Visitation" for her best friend Matt. "Last Visitations" occur when a patient is not expected to live through a procedure. She goes and is able to share memories and "talk" to him during the procedure. This one made me cry, but I liked that it was quite different from the others, and not all together depressing despite the premise.

8) "Love is the Last Resort" by Jon Skovron was kind of fun in that it was about multiple couples, kind of love actually style... but more intentionally knit from the beginning. I found it to be an interesting setting, with quirky characters. I imagined them all to be painted by Janet Hill. :) Overall it was a little bit predictable, but really pretty fun.

9) "Good Luck and Farewell" by Brandy Colbert was about Rashida, a girl who was bought up by her older cousin, and how she copes when her cousin announces that she is moving across the country. During that time Rashida struggles with anger towards her cousin's girlfriend. She finds out that she's not alone in her grief, because Pierre's sister is leaving too. I loved that this one touched on some tough and diverse subjects like race, violence, and life apart from absent parents. I appreciated the diverse voices and the candid characters.

10) "Brand New Attraction" by Cassandra Clare was pretty whimsical and fantasy based as expected. It is about a girl who's father runs a dark carnival. When he runs away for money reasons, she must keep the carnival afloat. Her uncle comes to help and brings his step-son. The two bond, and quickly learn that there is something very very shady happening at the dark carnival. Overall I liked this one, but it was a tiny bit much for me at times. I shipped the main characters pretty hard.

11) "A Thousand Ways this Could All Go Wrong" by Jennifer E. Smith was about a girl who finally gets her crush to notice her, and go on a date with her. It was probably my favorite, because I loved the characters so much. It was just too sweet. I can't tell you why though, because it might ruin it for you if you read it someday. Think Big Bang Theory or The Rosie Project. I appreciated that this one was diverse in a different way that the other.

12) "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" by Lev Grossman had a really cool premise, that the same day repeats over and over, and he's the only one who knows... until he meets a girl who also knows. I wanted to love this one, parts of it were great, but it definitely left me wanting more. It was also pretty bittersweet.

3.5 - 4 Stars - I recommend if you like fluffy YA, Hamilton, and historical fiction. Though this book is more romantic fiction than it is historical fiction.

This book follows Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler's love story during the American Revolution. Alexander is a well-known man working for General Washington, but he's also a penniless bastard from the Caribbean. Eliza is a wealthy general's daughter. Whip smart, beautiful, and passionate about her country. When Alexander delivers bad news to her family they're off to a rocky start. As the story goes, the two are pulled together by the war.

Overall this book was really cute and fun to read. It took me just a day, and was very fun and fluffy. I enjoyed the first half of the book the most, I felt like it was just a tad weak toward the end. But to be fair, I was also starting to get pretty tired. This book is much more romantic than it is historical, though I did enjoy the historical bits of it. I can't say I'm a history buff, so I always enjoy reading historical fiction for the tid-bits that I don't remember or never knew. I haven't seen Hamilton, but it's not the entire story, and it's fuzzied up a bit. It is YA after all. The beginning reminded me a bit of P&P or something else regency (sassy sisters, mother who wants to marry off daughters, balls, extreme automatic dislike for romantic lead...etc.) Toward the middle and end I felt like Alex and Eliza's characters act or seem a different than they did. And not in a "they changed during growth" way, but in a "they are either pretty wishy-washy or just not that defined..." kind of way. If that makes sense. I basically thought I had a good idea of their characters, and then they felt completely different later in the book. Overall it's pretty cute. So if you're looking for a solid YA romance, check this one out.

**I was given an advance "sneak peek" of this book by Netgalley. I was able to purchase an ARC version of the full text though. :) So my review is based on the full thing ARC edition.

Woah.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy mysteries or thrillers, or anything pertaining to the lifestyles of the upper class.

This book follows Jane Chapman, a young kindergarten mom who moves to a beachy upscale suburb of Sydney for a change of pace and a better future for her son Ziggy. On the first day of kindergarten orientation Ziggy is accused of choking one of his classmates, which sparks a war between other kindergarten parents. Along the way Jane makes friends with Madeline, unapologeticaly dramatic and straightforward, who is dealing with divorced parenting of a teen. Celeste also becomes her friend, she seems to have the perfect life, but no one knows her dirty secret. When a parent is murdered, an investigation follows to figure out who did it, and as the reader, who died.

I was worried that I wouldn't like this one (because I did not like/abandoned Hypnotist's Love Story), and I mostly read it because I wanted to watch the show... but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the writing style, the changing POVs, and the dark comedy. I found myself pretty wrapped up in each character, and I really didn't know what was going to happen in the end. I had no idea who the murder was, or who would be murdered. It was pretty suspenseful, especially toward the end. The show, by contrast is a lot easier to solve as far as the murder goes. KC (like many other bloggy SOs) got it in about 4 episodes. I liked that the show was well cast, and well acted... but I found it quite a bit more depressing and/or "real" ... I enjoyed that the book was a bit hyperbolic and more funny. I still enjoyed it... but I'm not sure I want to watch season 2.

4 Stars - I recommend if you are looking for a cute YA read. The characters in this are complex and well written. I enjoyed the family relationship between the sisters (so Little Women!) and their dad. I also really enjoyed the perspective of a bi-racial main character, I wish there was more diversity floating around in popular literature.

This book follows Lara Jean Song's experience as she balances becoming "the lady of the house" with being a teenager. Lara Jean's mom passed away when she was a kid, and her older sister took on the role of caretaker and organizer of the house. When her sister goes abroad for college, Lara Jean must take up those roles, all while trying to make it through high school. While Lara Jean has been in love (5 times), she's never had a real boyfriend. When she ends her infatuation with each one she writes a goodbye letter to him, that's never meant to be sent. One day, she finds out that someone has sent her letters after all. There are mortifying consequences of this, especially that one letter, the newest one, is sent to her older sister's (brand new) ex, Josh. Things get complicated quickly.

Overall this book was really sweet and fun to read. It's the first one that I have read by Jenny Han, and I liked the ways she wrote. While this book is definitely fluffy, romantic, and girly, I appreciated that there was a lot of plot related to the family dynamics, etc. in addition to the letters. I thought it was cool that Lara Jean and her sisters are bi-racial. It's not a perspective that I (or many) get to read a lot, but I found it eye opening. For example, her struggle with choosing a Halloween costume ("are you an anime character?" I liked that this family and these characters were interesting. They did fun things as a family, took care of each other, had their own traditions, and each of the siblings had their own interests and defined personalities. I feel like you sometimes get pretty generic characters in these types of books. I liked Lara Jean's romantic interests/struggles too. Her situation with Peter reminded me so much of Veronica Mars and Logan or Rory Gilmore and Logan, for that matter. Last random tidbit, I loved that they mention Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. It seems kind of obscure, but it was one of my FAVORITE things I read in 2015! I'm excited to read the next two books and more of Han's work!

2 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy family dramas and reading about characters that you love to hate.

This book follows 15 year old Bee's journey as she tries to track down her mother Bernadette. After Bee gets a perfect report card she chooses a prize of a family trip to Antarctica. Bernadette has been worn down by her life in Seattle, and can't stomach it anymore, and leaves. This book is a collection of letters, emails, notes, etc. that are collected by Bee as she tries to track down her mother.

Overall this book was incredibly hard for me to read. I liked the format, and the idea behind the book, but I did not like almost any of the characters. I'm admittedly pretty judgy... but my goodness, these characters were INSIPID AF. Well written certainly, as they were meant to be cringe-worthy.. but oh my! I thought that the format made it a quicker read, and I actually loved the format. I basically just had a hard time sympathizing with most of the characters. About 60% through it picked up and I started to be a bit more grabbed by the plot... and I felt for Bernadette and Elgie more. I loved the last part of the book the most, the setting was really interesting and you get to learn a lot more about Bee. I would have been more interested in the story if it was written from the character's perspectives instead of the little notes I think. I liked Bernadette and Bee's dynamic, and Elgie and Bee's dynamic. I don't know. I think this book is well written. You really get immersed in the upper-class Seattle world... I just hated it.... So I give it a 2 as far as my enjoyment, it was tough to rate because the writing was really good. She makes you hate Seattle and most of the characters. hahah

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy generational family stories, complicated mother-daughter dynamics, and coming of age themes.

This book follows the complicated history of three women; a mother, daughter, and grandmother. Cliona left Ireland for Boston in the 1960's. She raised her daughter Grace in the states, and she grew into a rebellious girl. When Grace is taken back to the island where her mother lived, her rebellion grows. She finds the island as cold as her mother's heart. Grainne, Grace's daughter is being raised in Boston, far away from the Irish Island that Grace hates, their life is unconventional, but they are close like friends. When Grace dies of her cancer, Cliona meets her granddaughter and the two return to Ireland to heal their broken relationship and dig up secrets from the past.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. Overall, I really enjoyed it. The writing was really vivid, and the characters were extremely complex. I like the way it was told, each chapter from one of the women's perspective. The timeline isn't linear, so it skips back and forth in time filling in the blanks and secrets of the women's lives. By the end I found myself pretty wrapped up in the pain that they felt, the secrets that were left untold, and the acceptance they were all looking for. A lot of this book has to do with sex. At first it felt a little odd, but I actually it's pretty representative of what it's like to grow up and not know who you are or what you want. I think it explains stigma on young women related to sex, and also how it complicates mother-daughter relationships. The contrasts between the mother daughter pairs reminded me a lot of Gilmore Girls, but much more stark. This book is not funny. I think mostly the book made me think about how important communication is. If you can't tell those you love what you need, how you feel, etc. it complicates everything. Sometimes causing huge issues. It's absolutely tragic to read about people who want and need love, but can't accept it, because they feel like it compromises their freedom and individuality. It's like none of these women could ever tell anyone how they actually felt. Never fully confide in anyone. That's not how love works, and it makes me sad to read it. As a side note, this book is not *about* mermaids, but the island in Ireland is named after mermaids, and folklore, etc. is woven through the novel.

I found this really fascinating but also kind of heart wrenching.