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Review: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

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AZFIP

ABOUT THE BOOK

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang
young adult contemporary published by Greenwillow Books on September 9th, 2014

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect?

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Review: Wildlife by Fiona Wood

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FWW

ABOUT THE BOOK

Wildlife by Fiona Wood
young adult realistic contemporary published by Little, Brown on September 16th, 2014
second book in the Six Impossible Things companion trilogy

During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating.

New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can’t help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

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Review: Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

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CAHLBC

ABOUT THE BOOK

Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu
young adult realistic contemporary published by Katherine Tegen Books on May 13th, 2014

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

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Review: Last Summer by Rebecca A. Rogers Blog Tour

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Title: Last Summer
Author: Rebecca A. Rogers
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Realistic
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: 18 July 2012
Pages:  152 (eARC)


Synopsis
All Chloe Sullivan wants to do is get through the summer. Her life has been in disarray for more than six months, and she knows the only reason her parents made one final trip to Sandy Shores is because of her. They are, after all, two seconds away from filing for divorce. When Chloe stumbles upon a boy in one of her childhood hangouts, she’s in for more than just a relaxing summer vacation. 
Logan Andrews is exhausted, famished and, quite frankly, kaput. His parents kicked him out when he refused to attend a rehabilitation program for his drug addiction. Now, he wishes he would’ve listened; he’d be receiving appropriate medical care rather than living in a dingy, godforsaken shack, holing up from money-hungry drug dealers. 
Logan’s godsend arrives in the form of Chloe, who can’t hold her tongue when it comes to matters of the heart. They’re both in for a rude awakening when Logan’s past catches up to them, though. Can they escape the drug dealers showing up at every twist and turn, or will things end much worse than they ever imagined?

WARNING: contains strong language, drug use, and sexual situations, including an explicit sex scene and a near-rape scene. Mature audiences only. 17+

My Rating

* * * *
The Review

There are certain books that take from you as much as they give you. They drain you emotionally, drawing out your mentally weakened form and transforming your thoughts into fire, igniting a passion in you like no other. The passion to live life to its fullest. These are the books that make me think and think hard about what life has to offer to us. The possibilities are endless. Last Summer is such a book.
Last Summer began with a glum feel to it, a resentment boiling inside Chloe for the way her life is turning out to be with no control over the outcome. So Chloe does what she can, she pretends but she knows she cannot hold out for long. With parents who can go without saying two words to each other for a week, who could?
Short of hanging out at their summer home in Sandy Shores, Chloe figures wandering around the lake and the forest will be good enough. Then she finds Logan in the abandoned cottage and it’s like she’s been introduced to a new challenge. Now Chloe has someone to look forward to during the persistently dull summer and to do something more than just daydream about the childhood summer days spent carelessly with Jessica, a long lost friend. And finally, to say goodbye to isolation.
However, for Logan, what started as an undeniably euphoric moments might be the very moments which will make him regret ever taking up the habit in the first place. Withdrawal seems like the only plausible solution but of course he isn’t strong enough to do it himself. So when help willingly arrives in the form of Chloe, Logan is hesitant and suspicious. He sees Chloe as a poignant reminder of all things home and a craving stirs in him. But Chloe is strong and she believes that she can help Logan out of his addiction.
Spending time together makes them realize that it could easily turn into something more. And it does, by developing into something deep. With both their souls bared to each other, what will they do? Will they last or will it be their first and last summer together? The book is told in alternating point of views and I really liked reading what was going on in their minds.
Last Summer turned out to be a book about surviving the worst and relishing the best. I appreciate what Rogers has done with the issue of drug use and she definitely have a very fluid way with words.

Best Quotes:
‘There’s just something that’s fascinating about a person who looks at their reflection. What are they contemplating? Is he reminiscing about how he got to this point, about everything that’s led him to the right here, right now?’
‘In moments such as these, it’s the minor seconds that count. Seconds that can make or break you. Seconds that can save your life.’

P.S. For a chance to win one of five eBook copies of Last Summer go over to Rebecca’s blog to enter!

About the Author

Growing up, I pretended to be characters from books, movies, and TV shows (especially Xena). Now, though I don’t run around my backyard and freak out the neighbors with Xena calls and invisible weapons, I still live inside my imagination, and it’s better than reality.

I’d insert something here along the lines of living in Massachusetts or Europe (dream places to live) with my wonderful husband (who I haven’t met) and our dogs, but these things haven’t happened yet. Instead, I’ll tell you I’m an avid gamer, chocoholic, coffee addict, animal lover, and own way too many books and shoes.

Rebecca A. Rogers can be found at 

| Website Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

| Amazon (Kindle) | B&N | iBookStore | Smashwords |

Thanks to Rebecca A. Rogers for providing me a copy of Last Summer for review.

Review: Holding on to Zoe by George Ella Lyon

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Title: Holding on to Zoe

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic, Contemporary
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Release Date: 17 July 2012
Pages: 166 (Paperback)

Synopsis
After sixteen-year-old Jules has her baby, Zoe, it doesn’t matter anymore that her mother thinks she’s a drama queen, or that her father left them years ago, or even that Zoe’s father is gone, too. She and her baby make a family now; she doesn’t need anyone else in the world except Zoe. Though it’s tough being a new mom, balancing Zoe’s needs with working at the Toyota factory and thinking about how to finish school, Jules is sure she’ll figure it out. Still, she wonders, why can’t anyone be happy for her and Zoe? And why does her mom refuse to believe that Zoe’s real?
My Rating
* * *
The Review

Sometimes people take extreme measures to live in denial and sometimes, just sometimes, a person is blissfully unaware of going to that extreme level. Life finally catches up with them and they end up getting out of it a better human being. So does that mean that the mind needs its own time to come to terms with their life to carry on? Maybe.
Jules is living a normal life, better than some. But she has lost one thing: a chance at having a normal family ever since her father skipped town when she was five and her mother went into an all-work-no-time-for-Jules mentality. She has her reasons though, to fulfil the expenses and everything. But is that enough of a reason to be ignorant of the emotional needs of your only daughter? Maybe so; if you’re born an unemotional, no touchy-feely type of a mother.
But Jules have Reba and then she gets pregnant. Having a baby will mean a family and so Jules go over the top when the doctor talks about getting rid of the baby which is easier now that Jules is having an ectopic pregnancy. That doesn’t sit well with Jules and she relents. Damon may have also chosen to skipped town, if forcefully by his mother, and ignore the existence of their baby even when he swore he never would. But for Jules, Zoe is a lifeline. So it’s only logical that Jules feels overprotective for Zoe when her mother tells her to drop the drama and Reba is all uncomfortable whenever she mentions Zoe. Only Dr. Douglas understands and Jules feels comfortable talking to her because she’s the first person to accept Zoe.
Holding on to Zoe is a gripping mystery of Jules life after she gets pregnant and the outcome of being 16-and-pregnant. It is a short book and I finished it in a few hours. The book left me thinking how people choose to cope with the difficulties in their lives.
The poem, Fire and Ice by Robert Frost, mentioned in Holding on to Zoe perfectly defines what Jules is going through. It is a beautiful way to describe the story: how hard the process of letting go and of acceptance is.

“Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

Best Quote(s):

“I just know when I quit looking to other people for directions, I found my own map.“

Thanks to MacMillan Books and Farra, Straus and Giroux Books for providing me a copy of Holding on to Zoe for review.