Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead #5 Vampire Academy Series

5/5 Stars

Ok- this entire post will be spoiler alert. You really can't read even the synopsis because if you haven't read the series- it will ruin it for you!

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B&N:

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong… After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere. She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true— Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. Only this time, he won’t rest until Rose joins him…forever.


My Review:

I love this series. I was very impatient waiting for this book. I must say after reading it once, it was good- but I expected more. I think now that I think back to it (I read it when it first came out- so it's been a bit) it was more of a lead into the last book.

The ultimate thing everyone thinks about when reading this book is why guy are you a fan of... Dimitri or Adrian? I really like Adrian, but I used to love Dimitri until he turned bad...but I still did like him then.

Now that's he's back and good, I'm torn. I talked to my students about this and they were all Adrian fans. They said Dimitri wasn't the same and he doesn't want Rose anyways. But- the one part that kept me a Dimitri fan is when they're in the cafe and the people come to take Rose away. Dimitri is ready to fight to the death for her.

It's frustrating to see Dimitri say how he doesn't want to be near her because of what he did to her. But Rose knows it wasn't really him...

I'm very exited to read the last one. AND I recently heard that she's going to do another series- a spin-off of some of the minor characters.

I hope Christian is seen more in the last book because I really liked him.

I want to go back and read the entire series again. <3 it.

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone

1/5 Stars
B&N:

When rejection comes back to bite you...

Jordan's life sucks. Her boyfriend, Michael, dumped her, slept his way through half the student body, and then killed himself. But now, somehow, he appears at her window every night, begging her to let him in.

Jordan can't understand why he wants her, but she feels her resistance wearing down. After all, her life -- once a broken record of boring parties, meaningless hookups, and friends she couldn't relate to -- now consists of her drinking alone in her room as she waits for the sun to go down.

Michael needs to be invited in before he can enter. All Jordan has to do is say the words...


My Review:


This book seemed more like a short story to me. Not much happened in a sense of a plot. I think the author had some good ideas, but they just weren't fully developed. So, either the story had to be written much stronger with more characters development, more dialogue, more back story, and basically...just a stronger plot. OR it could be made into a short story. I think it would have worked a lot better like that.

So, it's just an "eh" book for me.

Pretty Face by Mary Hogan

2/5 Stars

B&N:

That's what I am. A funny girl. A friend. Nobody's girlfriend. The girl with the pretty face.

Hayley wishes she could love living in Santa Monica, blocks from the beach, where every day—and everybody—is beautiful and sunny. But she just doesn't fit in with all the blond, superskinny Southern California girls who have their plastic surgeons on speed dial. Hayley is smart and witty and has such a pretty . . . face. Translation: Don't even think about putting on a bikini, much less dating superhot Drew Wyler. A bikini will never be flattering, and Drew will never think of her as more than a friend.

Just when Hayley feels doomed to live her life in the fat lane, her parents decide to send her to Italy for the summer—not for school, not for fat camp, just for fun. It's there, under the Italian sun, that Hayley's vision of herself starts to change. She's curvy, not fat. Pizza isn't evil. And life is so much more than one-size-fits-all. Who knows? Once Hayley sees herself in a new light, maybe the girl with the pretty face will finally find true amore.

My Review:

Eh. I was expecting much more from this book. The topic really had me interested. But, the author dropped the ball. The characters weren't great. I didn't really feel for them at all. And there was no need to introduce sex towards the end of the book. It was like- hey this is a young adult book, so in order for people to want to read it/buy it I better add sex. The girl new the guy for a few days and then had sex with him... not a great message. And it was supposed to be "true lo...more Eh. I was expecting much more from this book. The topic really had me interested. But, the author dropped the ball. The characters weren't great. I didn't really feel for them at all. And there was no need to introduce sex towards the end of the book. It was like- hey this is a young adult book, so in order for people to want to read it/buy it I better add sex. The girl new the guy for a few days and then had sex with him... not a great message. And it was supposed to be "true love"- blah blah blah, but it just didn't work.

It was interesting to read about Italy, but even that could have been better.

Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe

4/5 Stars

B&N:

No matter how many times Kyle rewrites the scene, he can't get it right. He tries it in the style of Hitchcock, Tarantino, Eastwood, all of his favorite directors—but regardless of the style, he can't remember what happened that day in the shed. The day Jason died. And until he can, there is one question that keeps haunting Kyle: Did he kill his best friend on purpose?

Debut novelist Heidi Ayarbe delves into the depths of the human psyche as Kyle wrestles with inner demons that make him wonder whether the world will ever be okay again—or if the best thing to do is find a way to join Jason.




My Review:

I was between a 3 and 4 star on this one, so I just upped it to 4. This book kept me thinking that if this every happened to me or someone I know- this is exactly what he/she/me would be feeling. The trauma and turmoil that Kyle goes through is so real and true. How the other characters act towards him was also so true to how I'd imagine it. You had it all. The hate, the denial, the trust, the friendships...everything.

Right before you hit the middle of the book, you kind of think to yourself, "Ok- lets move this along...I just want to find out________." But, once you get past that you get back into the book.

It's a good original story that really makes you think and relate even though you may never have been in that situation.

I will recommend this book to my students. The format itself is interesting and will add the appeal of the book.

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

3/5 Stars

B&N:

A teenager struggles through physical loss to the start of acceptance in an absorbing, artful novel at once honest and insightful, wrenching and redemptive.

On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything — absolutely everything — changed. Now she’s counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "That’s her — that’s Shark Girl," as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life? In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it’s like to lose part of yourself - and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again.

My Review:

When I picked up this book, I didn't really read the back. I thought this was a book about the suffer girl who recently lost her arm due to shark attack. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it wasn't, and this was a fictional story.

This book is told in poem format, which makes it an easier read for some people (I know many of my students enjoy reading this format.)

Her thoughts and feelings rang so true. She didn't sugar coat things. When reading this book you felt her pain, her confusion, her anger, her sadness.

Seeing how the school, her friends reacted was also interesting. Walking through the halls with her, knowing everyone is talking about her really made you feel for the character.

One thing I just thought of though is the male in the book (the one who she's crushing on) kind of disappears... you don't find out what happens with that. O-well.

Many of my students enjoyed reading this book. I think it's interesting for people to see what goes through the mind of someone who suffers such a public trauma.

Definitely a book I'll recommend to my students.

Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian

3/5 Stars

B&N:

He's absolutely perfect. If only he were real.

Lane and Vivi have had it with Isabelle Hunter's boyfriend, Shawn Littig (a.k.a. Sluttig). He is the only person who can turn their smart, confident best friend into a complete mess. When Shawn Sluttig cheats on and dumps Izzy just months before the prom she's been planning since the ninth grade, Lane and Vivi decide to take action.

With a few quick keystrokes, they create a MySpace page for "Brandon," the perfect guy to get Izzy out of her revolving-door relationship with Shawn. Too bad he's totally fake. Vivi's younger brother, Marshall, who they hire to be the "man" behind the profile, is way too into being Izzy's fake boyfriend. So they turn to cute, prep-school Jonathan to be the face of Brandon. But when Vivi falls for Jonathan, and Sluttig tries to wedge his way back into Izzy's prom picture, the whole plan starts to go south faster than you can say "fake boyfriend."

My Review:

I really need to remember to write the review right after I read the book and before I read other books. Since reading this one, I've read two others. But, I'm going to try and remember my thoughts.

I liked this book. I read it because I really enjoyed one of her other books, Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys, which was such a fun read.

This book wasn't as good, but it was still cute. The whole concept of creating a fake myspace character for the good of their best friend definitely spells trouble. You know something is going to go wrong. But, the characters were believable and the story over all was cute. I did like the little love triangle at one point.

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

4/5 Stars

B&N:

How do you ignore a ghost?

Sparrow Delaney absolutely, positively does not want to be a medium like her six older sisters, her mother, and her grandmother. She does not want to see, hear, smell, or talk to ghosts. If she sticks to her rules and doesn't let anyone know that she can do all those things—everywhere, all the time—Sparrow just might pass as a normal tenth grader at her new high school. She makes a new best friend and meets an irritatingly appealing guy in her history class. But when another boy catches her eye, all Sparrow's dreams of being ordinary go up in smoke. Because this boy is a dead one—a persistent, charming, infuriating ghost, who won't let her be until she agrees to help him Move On.

My Review:

This was a cute book. There were funny parts, parts that made you think (although not too heavy), and parts that made you say, "Awww." It has a good amount of humor, romance, and mystery. I really liked the character of Sparrow. Her situation was interesting and how she chose to deal with it in the beginning of the story seemed real (going to another school to hide who she was.)

I also liked the two male characters (one being a ghost). Overall a cute read that I will definitely put in my school library.

Cracked up to Be by Courtney Summers

3/5 Stars

B&N:


Gr 10 Up

Parker Fadley has it all-head cheerleader, honor roll student, Winter Ball Queen, perfect boyfriend, Chris. Then at a wild "school's out" party, she catches her friend Jessica's boyfriend kissing another girl and tells Jessica, who retaliates by hooking up with an older guy who crashed the party. The next day Jessica is missing, and Parker, suspecting that she could have done something to help her, nosedives into a downward spiral, drinking heavily, and attempting suicide in a motel room. All of this is revealed in flashback as Parker begins her senior year at her Catholic high school. She cuts class, goes to school drunk, ignores assignments, and goes out of her way to make everyone leave her alone. New guy Jake, intrigued by her self-destructive determination to be ostracized, persists in trying to get inside her head. The problem is that what's inside Parker's head is a fear she can't even admit to herself-that she knows what happened to Jessica and could have stopped it. Summers creates a gritty world of teenagers living on the edge, complete with explosive interactions and rocky relationships without getting mired in angst. Parker narrates the story, darkly fascinating in her turmoil as she slowly lets herself remember details from the drunken night of Jessica's disappearance. In her relationships with Jake, Chris, archrival Becky, her parents, and even her dog, Parker struggles with self-revulsion and a desperate need for love and acceptance. Marked by explicit language and frank sexuality, this compelling read is taut with tension.-Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS




My Review:

This book was good. Again, not a amazing. I wouldn't read it a second time. I actually liked her other book, the one she wrote after this one better. In this story, Parker, who used to be perfect, isn't perfect anymore. Something traumatizing happened to her and she goes off the deep end. She starts drinking, acting recklessly, and fails her classes.

One part I didn't really like was how her parents acted. Yes, they were concerned, but I'm pretty sure if that was me, I would have tried a bit harder and a bit sooner to get her help. I would have put her into a hospital. She wouldn't have wanted it, but to me the whole parents being "OK" with her behavior (concerned yes, scared, yes...but kind of OK) didn't work for me.

I did like her relationship with her ex. I found that part interesting to read about.

You don't find out exactly why she's so messed up until the very end. Like, the very end. Then the author kind of throws together an ending. You don't get everything answered that you may want.

It was interesting to see how this teenager reacted to trauma- the negative aspect of it. But again, the way others reacted to her...didn't mesh well with me.

Although, I did stay up pretty late reading it. I did want to know exactly what it was that happened. After I read it, I was like, "Oh. Ok, well that would suck." But then I got mad at the main character for not doing anything. Which in a way is exactly why she's so troubled.

Holding Still by Nina LaCour

3/5 Stars

B&N:

An arresting story about starting over after a friend's suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction

dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can't.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend's suicide. With the help of family and new found friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn't die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid's descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself

My Review:

This book was good. It wasn't anything amazing. Would I recommend it? Maybe if someone was getting it out of the library.

It was interesting to see how Caitlin deals with her best friend's suicide. She finds her journal and reads it little by little. During that time she's finding herself and finding her new life. Meeting new friends, finding a guy, dealing with teachers, all while dealing with the guilt of not being able to help her friend. She goes through the next year and needs to learn it's OK to move on. Moving on and forgetting are two different things.

You see Caitlin go through some of the stages of grief.

A decent book but not amazing.