Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

                                                              Synopsis:

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.








Kay so, this is my alltime favorite book. Words can't even express how amazing it is. I've read I am the Messenger by Zusak, and though it was really good, The Book Thief completely smoked it. While I read it, I was reminded of To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, because both had children who came to understand complicated things in difficult times.


There are so many great things about this book, I can't even pick a favorite. I adored the narrator, and all of the characters. Even though the book wasn't in Liesel's perspective, I felt I knew her so well, and because there was a narrator, I knew all the other important characters just as well as I knew Liesel. I came to love them all, and was heartbroken over and over throughout the sad book. It wasn't all sad though, there were amazing really happy and heartwarming parts, aswell as dark comedy that suited the story perfectly. Though it was really difficult, I have figured out that my absolute favorite thing about this book was the bits of poetic words sprinkled throughout. It made me adore words just as Liesel had, and they still haunt me now, as they will for a long time. If you haven't read this book, it is a MUST read. I warn you though, you WILL cry.

Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Calla Tor has always known her destiny:

After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything-- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?





Okay, I had a hard time getting through this book. A REALLY hard time. The biggest problem for me was the constant touching and bodily reactions. Yeah, it's supposed to be electric when you touch someone you love, but in this case it seemed to be mostly lust. Calla is 17, just like me. I have felt the electric feeling too, but I felt that with her it got a little ridiculous. There was a little while where she couldn't meet up with Ren or Shay without being overcome by her senses, and to me she came off a bit pathetic because of it. At one point I couldn't pick up the book for a few days.

This weekend I picked up the book to get it over with, but I found myself enjoying it. Once Calla and Shay came to realize the truth about the Keeper's secrets, things got much more interesting. They focused on what had to be done, and though about half of  it was about Calla's love life, I liked it because it was based on pure love, and not lust. I really enjoyed the ending, and I'm REALLY glad I decided to finish it. Now, I'm actually excited for the next one, which I will be reading sometime soon, I hope. A lot of other people enjoyed it, and I would DEFINITELY suggest this book for anyone to read, especially if you like romance.

Review: Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga

A Few of the Many Sins of Fanboy

1. He Kissed Dina Jurgens.

2. I was in the hospital for six effing months and how many e-mails or phone calls or letters or IMs or texts did I get from him? None, none, none, none, and none.

3. He's got this great graphic novel, but he's publishing it in Literary Paws.

4. He told me I'm a suicide wannabe.

5. He wanted to kiss me.

6. He didn't kiss me.

7. He never told me his third thing.

FOR ALL OF THOSE SINS, HE DESERVES PAIN.

Kyra Sellers doesn't get angry--she gets even. After six months in the hospital, where she was DCHH, she has some matters to settle with the traitorous Fanboy. Plus, Roger is being his typical pain-in-the-ass self, the Spermling is breathing down her neck, and that hypocritical Miss Powell deserves to be exposed for what she really is.

So maybe she does get a little angry...

At first, I REALLY didn't like this book. Kyra is the typical goth girl, and she overuses the words "like" and "totally" almost every  time she speaks.  Now, I'm not trying to say how all goths should be, or how goths are, but I feel that if she didn't overuse those words, she would have seemed more goth to me. I felt like I was reading about some blonde popular girl. (no offense blondes, but most popular girls are portrayed as being blonde). She doesn't type text talk, while everyone else does it, so why would she talk improperly like everyone else?

Fortunatly, I was able to get passed that. I think Kyra is a likeable character. I could really connect with her because I went through a goth stage too. My favorite thing about her was that she realized that even being goth was being part of a trend. She wanted individuality, and when she realized that wearing all black didn't make her unique, and she didn't feel like herself while wearing it, she changed her appearance to reflect her. I found what she did to be very brave, because she knew she would be given tons of attention, which she didn't want. There were some parts that I felt that she was just being pissed off about something just for the sake of being pissed off, but overall, I liked this book and I would recomend it.



Review: XVI by Julia Karr

Synopsis:

Nina Oberon is a 15--soon to be 16--year old. Most teenagers can't wait to turn 16, but not Nina. When a girl turns 16, the government labels them with a tattoo on their wrist. XVI. This tattoo tells everyone that they are legal, and ready for sex. This is her only concern, but only for a little while.

Soon Nina's life is turned upside down with a tragic loss and new information that shatters the foundation of all that she thought she knew. Now, everyone she knows and loves could be in danger, and her sole focus is to keep them safe from the threat of a man who could destroy the rest of her world.




I really enjoyed this book. It had a very nice balance of adventure, inner struggle and romance. The main character was strong, and extremely likeable. She's a leader, not a follower, and refuses to follow the latest trend, because it isn't who she is. I love that all the characters are completely different from eachother, but still they were all equally wonderful people. The only character I didn't like was Sandy. I didn't like her because she embodies everything that's wrong with youth today. So sex crazed and trendy, she lacked originality, but I feel that she did have a place in the book.

I believe the major theme is that the media has too much power. The government controls the media, and the media controls the people. Even though the book shows the exreme, it symbolizes what our society is becoming. My absolute favorite thing is that while in our world, most teenagers are fighting to lose their "V-card", Nina is fighting to keep hers. It's was very refreshing, and I believe that a lot of people (mostly girls) would relate to her character.

Review: The Marbury Lens

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them. Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind. Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.But it’s not. Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.




I had never heard of this book before I entered a giveaway held by Lady Reader's Bookstuff. It sounded interesting, and it recieved high praise from a lot of people. I won the book and was SO excited when it arrived at my house. I started it right away, but less than halfway through, I ran into a problem every reader dreads. I couldn't connect with the characters. This really upset me, because I can't really explain why. There's nothing wrong or dislikable about them, so I guess it's just me. Luckily for me, the story was so good that I was never bored. So much went on. Some weirdo came and handed him a pair of glasses, and it went back and forth between Jack trying to fight his inner demons to fighting and escaping real-life ones. After his multiple traumatic experiences, he struggles with keeping his most precious friendship alive, and  trying not to scare off his new lover. Then there is a ghost named Seth, who did help out.  I did connect with him. I adored him in fact. He has such a tragic story, and I felt so unbearably sad while reading it. The book had the perfect ending, which made me exremely happy and glad that I did finish the book. I would definatly recommend it to all my reader friends.