Everyday by David Levithan

Summary: Everyday A wakes up in a new body. Everyday A is trying to get back to their love. 

3.5


Didn't really have many feelings on this book. It was an okay read but i seemed kind of repetitive after a while. It was interesting, the magical or whatever, elements and I may look up what happiness in the next book to fulfill my curiosity on the reason but I'm not sure yet. It was just there and although I enjoyed it I'm not sure I'll be reading the next one. 

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Rating: 4 Stars
Summary: Dave and Julie are best friends. Their freshman year they made a list of all the high school cliches they would never do. A few month before graduation they find the list again and decide to do them all, especially rule number 7, Do not fall in love with your best friend. 

The last few books I've read haven't been outstandingly bad or outstandingly good. They've all been in that weird middle ground where I don't regret reading it at all, but I'm not like crying over how beautiful it is or no being able to sleep because Jessica Fictional Character might do this or that or... Maybe its because I've been reading romantic contemporary and i need to get back in my warm bed of science fiction fantasy...

Anyways, as you might've guessed Never Always Sometimes was mediocre. I enjoyed his other book, Let's Get Lost, a lot more. This one was slightly predicable, about thankfully didn't follow the typical romance book plot. I think the biggest thing that didn't make this book stand out to me was the characters. I didn't root for them, they were annoying and didn't have much depth to them. The writing sometimes seemed that there were holes in description/ narration and always left me a little distant from the book. It was difficult to fully engage myself in the book as well.

Overall, it was an okay read that was actually pretty funny. It's an fun, summer read that doesn't follow the usual romance book plot point but has lackluster characters.

Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway

Rating:4 Stars

Summary: When they were seven Emmy's best friend Oliver was kidnapped by his father. 10 years later Oliver is found and brought back to southern California and everyone must readjust. (It's the TV show Finding Carter but a book).

I really enjoyed this. I start most of my reviews this way, I apologize. The characters were great, the plot steady and overall very very cute. I really related with how Emmy's parents treated her, as something similar happened to my parents. It was more then the usual surface level typical love story as well.

Overall great read, very relateable, very cute would recommend.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Summary: Sydeny lives in the shadow of her brother. When she is greeted with open arms by a new family she starts to feel the sun.

I've read every single Sarah Dessen book out there. They re my guilty pleasure I'm not so guilty about. I was disappointed in her last book she released, but  it seems shes getting back on track with this one. It was definitely better than the last one she wrote, To The Moon And Back, but its not as good as her earlier books.

Overall this book didn't stand out to me in any way, the plot predictable the charters ordinary, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

Rating: 3 Stars
Leila is a Iranian american high school student lesbian. Thankfully, she has gone through high school without crushing on any girls. That is, until Saskia shows up.

Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel  at first glance I thought was a good read but then I realized it felt like this book was written for a 12 year old. I liked the characters and it was surprisingly entertaining.  The story was also slow and I wish it had more depth. My major complaint with this book though is, Leila the main character is on the, as they said, theater tech crew, and I, as some body who is also on theater tech crew, was just cringing a lot by how wrong the author got it.

Overall, this book was an okay story with okay writing.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

3.5 stars 

Summary: Vera was in love with her best friend. Then he ditched her. Then he died. 

So far, this is my least favorite novel by A.S. King. But that isn't saying much. I have also read Glory O'Brien's History of the Future and Ask the Passengers by her. 

I'm writing this really late so I can't really remember it. I thought the mystery was kind of weak and the story was dark in a weird way I can't describe. Wow, this is horrible I need to get out of here. 

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

3 stars. 

Summary: When the world learns Earth will be hit with a meteor, killing 2/3 of the world population, in two months four teenagers must get their shit together. 

This book could've been really good.

It has a great premise and a really nice cover and name. There was so much potential but sadly, it didn't follow through. The writing wasn't very good, the plot a little everywhere with questionable decisions, characters a little flat and cliche, and unfortunately, a little slut shamey. 

However, this did not stop me from enjoying the book. I am a sucker for the-world-is-ending-quick-lets-fall-in-love stories. Which this is. It was cute at points, funny at others and kept me on the edge of my seat. After the beginning, which was kind of slow and boring, I was at the edge of my seat. 

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Summary: When Emily's best friend disappears, leaving only a to-do list behind Emily has to figure out what to do with her life. 

I really enjoyed Since You've Been Gone.  It was a quick, cute, fun light read that was both engaging and interesting. I especially loved the theater aspect to it, something I don't think I've really ever read before.

 I only really had two problems with it, it's predictability (which is pretty much inevitable in YA romance) and the characters. They weren't really complex, with some having absolutely no flaws, while others would have one big flaw that was resolved. Also, now that I think about it, some sub plots were kind of useless, made a bigger deal than they should've, or didn't arise to be anything. This book wasn't anything that stood out to me, it wasn't amazing or thought provoking but I did get me out of a reading slump, which is always good. I also heard a lot of hype around this book, which probably affected my experience with this book too. 

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

Summary: Glory O' Brien doesn't care about her future. When Glory drinks a dead bat's ashes she begins to see the history of the future and her viewpoint begins to change.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I've been meaning to read a A.S. King book for ages. I dont think I've ever seen anyone not like any of her books. This did not disappoint. It's so much different from anything else I've ever read. I've read magical realism before, but not this extreme. It was great, flipping the pages so fast and being shocked when realizing I was almost done.

The sub plot of the book she was writing was almost more interesting than the main story. I would love a whole book of just that story.  It was also the first time I've read a book where they talk about feminism and it not be the focus of the book. It's good to see it be mentioned as easily as saying you're favorite color is blue (and I have a shirt that says the same thing Glory's dad's bumper sticker which made me happy). There is romance in this, but it's a sub-sub-sub plot which I enjoyed.

The story was incredibly interesting. original, and entertaining. There was never a time where I got bored or thought the story was going slow. I would definitely recommend and plan on reading more of King's books.

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Two stories, one about a girl who drops out of college to publish and rewrite her novel in NYC, the other story, the novel she's writing

     Rating: 4 stars

     After hearing about this books months ago, I was hooked. Even though I HATED Uglies, another book by Westerfeld, I knew a lot of people loved it and wanted to give him another chance, especially with this plot. This won't be a long review as even though I really liked it, I don't have many strong feelings.

  I really enjoyed Darcy's POV, the realistic one. I thought I was really real, relateable, and funny. Lizzie's however, i didn't like. It was kind of confusing and felt rushed. I think I missed something because the couple met and then their next meeting they were making out. Insta love on steroids. Although, the novel did have one of the best first chapters.

  Overall, even though one story was a lot better than the other, I still really enjoyed it, thought it was really cool and would recommend it.

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

         Two stories from the point of view of twins, one story from the point of view of 13 year old Noah, the other from 16 year old Jude. Rating: 5 Stars

Beauty in the form of a book. The whole entire book I was on the edge of tears, but only now as I am writing this do I actually begin to cry. This book is so beautiful I don't know where to begin. Reading most of it I was in 40 degree weather with barley a jacket on, but I didn't care. This book consumed me, and I am internally grateful.

   This book had dual-POVs, which I love in general, and only increases my love of this book. I would hate the current POV I was in a few pages into it, yearning to get back the previous one, but the hate was gone within 10 pages and it only restarted the next transition. I think overall I liked Jude's better, I think I related to it more. Both Jude and Noah were amazing characters and so relateable and when they were together my heart grew 10 sizes. The supported characters where also always so complex and fully fledged you couldn't help but fall in love with them, except a certain bastard I can never forgive, but let's ignore that.

  The mystery unraveled itself so slowly but so quickly it was breathtaking. The interchanging of knowledge switching between POVs was such a perfect example of dramatic irony that I've never seen before. I didn't think it was too obvious, but I think some of them you were meant to conclude.

  I think the thing I love most about I'll Give You The Sun, other than the beautiful characters was the writing style. Each POV was so much different from each other, not just in maturity, but in tone and personality and word choice.  Each twin had their own little quirk which made the writing different from the usual, which i loved. Especially how Noah would title situations like they were a painting. They're really good writing/ drawing prompts, my favorite being,

(Self portrait: Boy Rowing Madly Back Through Time).

To sum this up, go read I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Rating: 4 Stars
Final Anna and the French Kiss. Girl who attends a French boarding school starts dating her long term crush, a senator's artistic son.

I didn't really want to read this. I heard bad reviews, the synopsis didn't sound interesting, and I've read contemporary a lot lately. But I knew it was going to probably be good as both of Stephanie Perkins last 2 were amazing (although I didn't remember Lola I know I liked it) and I knew both Anna and Lola were in this and everyone needs more St.Claire in their lives. So I picked it up, put I down for a while and then one night I wanted to read for about 5 minutes before I go to bed. And then next thing I know I'm at the acknowledgments and it's one in the morning.

I fall for it every time. Its a problem.

I really liked Josh. He’s definitely my favorite out of all of the Perkins boys, but that might just be because of his art. My favorite part of the book was the graphic novel. It not spoilers if you haven’t read it, but you know what i’m talking about if you have. His art was really easy to imagine and I need fanart of his art right now. I wish the cover was something he did in the book, that would be sooo cool. I was very happy how they got together so quick, it was a good refresher to most contemporary where it takes seven years for the couple to get together.  

Although I really enjoyed it, but not as much as Anna (again, I don't remember Lola) I did have some problems with it. I liked her relationship with Kurt, her best friend, but I thought she talked about him too much to others (no wonder people thought they were dating) and after being friends for so long I thought it was rude of Kurt to cut her off after only a month of Isla being absent. I didn't really like Isla, I thought she didn't really have a personality or defining characteristic and I thought the whole insecurity trope in the end was out of character and out of the blue. It was a little long, I would something find myself skimming to see when things would start to happen.

Overall, really enjoyed it even though I had some problems with it, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it without read Anna or Lola.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Rating: 4 stars

Mysterious girl on a road trip on the way to Alaska meets four people, changing their lives forever. 

    I knew going in it was going to be cheesy and cliche and it was. I picked it up for the cover and only read it because I needed something for school. It was a lot better than I expected, most of the characters being very relatable. The writing was standard, nothing extraordinary, but not horrible. It was engaging and sometimes really funny. I'm also a really big fan of multiple perspective books and enjoyed the postcards at the end of each section.                                                                  Some of my complaints about it was I really hated Elliot, the third perspective, he wasn't interesting, he was whinny, and he had the whole "nice guy" persona. I thought all of the stories, except Leila's, were cliche and overused. I didn't think Leila was sincere about Hudson until later in the book when she talked about him and the postcards. Altogether, I really enjoyed it and thought it would be a good quick summer read.