In My Mailbox (30)

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren. Click here to learn more about it.

Marisa: Hey guys! I haven't been blogging lately and I miss it so much but I'm trying to be on as much as I can. I received two awesome books in the mail this week. They both sound so cute and fun!


A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

When the principal announces that every senior must participate in a mandatory year-long Marriage Education program, Fiona Sheehan believes that her life can’t get any worse. Then she marries her “husband”: Jerky jock Todd, whose cheerleader girlfriend, Amanda, has had it in for Fiona since day one of second grade. Even worse? Amanda is paired with Fiona’s long-term crush, Gabe. At least Fiona is doing better than her best friend, Marcie, who is paired up with the very quiet, very mysterious Johnny Mercer. Pranks, fights, misunderstandings, and reconciliations ensue in an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors about mistaken first impressions, convoluted coupling, and hidden crushes.

Love the cover! Can't wait to read/review it!


The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility! Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty! When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe? The Naughty List. Is your boyfriend on it?

Another cute and fun read :D


That's all I got in the mail this week! What did you guys get?

(Briana and Arielle may post later)

Wishlist Wednesday (26)

Briana:



Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

I've heard AMAZING things about this book! I'll read it eventually, and when I do, I know I'll love it.

Waiting on Wednesday (19)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.



Briana:


The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson



Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This sounds like such a great book! Can't wait for it to be out in stores :)

(Marisa and Arielle may post later.)

Teaser Tuesday (16)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

-Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Uglies (Uglies Series #1) by Scott Westerfeld

"Shay's voice pulled Tally from her reverie. 'Come on, I want to show you something.'

Shay cruised to the edge of the buildings, then out over the trees.

'Are you sure we can-'

'Look down.'

Below, Tally saw metal glinting through the trees.

'The ruins are much bigger than they let on,' Shay said.
'They just keep that part of the city standing for school trips and museum stuff. But it goes on forever.'"

Pg. 62

Briana: I read a little bit of this book before and didn't get into it. Hopefully this time I'll like it more :) What was your TT? Leave me your link so I can check yours out!



(Marisa and Arielle may post later.)

Bleed

Laurie Faria Stolarz

Published 2008

240 Pages

Rating: C

Over the course of a single summer day, ten teenagers in Salem, Massachusetts, will discover important truths about themselves and each other.

There is Nicole, whose decision to betray her best friend will shock everyone, most of all herself; Kelly, who meets the convicted felon she has been writing to for years; Maria, whose definition of a true friend is someone who will cut her. Then there is Sadie, a chubby eleven-year-old whose mother forces her to wear a "please don't feed me" sign stapled to her shirt; while Joy, a fifteen-year-old waitress hoping for true intimacy narrowly escapes a very dark fate. Derik discovers that his usual good looks and charm won't help him hold onto the girl he wants, while nineteen-year-old drifter, Mearl, is desperately looking for a place to call home. Sean is torn between his loyalty to his girlfriend and the possibility of finding something more with her friend, while Ginger's single-minded pursuit to bring down her nemesis only proves that they may be more alike than she thought.

I'm trying to think of where to start with this review. Did I love the book? No. Did I really like it? No. Was it okay and not a complete waste of time? Yes. When I bought this book a while ago I expected it to be great since I hear such amazing things about the author. Maybe I should give the Blue is for Nightmares series a shot and judge Stolarz more on that rather than this stand alone novel.

In Bleed, there are 10 different characters that narrate their own section of the book. As different as each of these characters can be, somehow they're all connected in a way. In a way, this was a really good thing since I seem to get bored pretty easily with books... but then at the end of their section, not many of the loose ends seemed to tie together and I wonder what happened with their lives.

I did like how the title connected to each of their lives whether it was a tiny issue or the kind of issue that revolves around their life completely. Some of the characters were definitely more fun to read about than others, but of course that's expected. All in all, the book was okay. I don't recommend you buying it though. Rent it from the library instead.

-Briana

In My Mailbox (30)

In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren. Click here to learn more about it.

Briana: Hey guys :) This week will probably be the last week for a good while before I get to come on again. I'm going back to school on Friday and I'll be busy, busy, busy! I'll miss this so much though, at least I read a few books while I was home :) I'll try to keep up with reading but I can't make any promises lol. Love you guys! <3





Bought:

The Lightening Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #1) by Rick Riordan- I'm not going to lie, I bought this book because the trailer for the movie looks sick! I had to buy this first to see what it's all about.

Tempted (House of Night Series #6) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast- Of course I'm excited for this one ;)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini- Basically I heard this book is a fantastic piece of literature and I need to buy it... so I bought it haha.

Romeo and Juliet (No Fear Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Edited by John Crowther- Go ahead... call me a wimp. I just wanna do good in school when I get to Shakespeare :)

Julius Caesar (No Fear Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Edited by John Crowther

Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare) by William Shakespear, Edited by John Crowther




(Marisa and Arielle may post later.)

The Line

Teri Hall

Publishing March 2010

220 pages

Rating: B+

Synopsis

An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.

Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.

Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?

My review

While reading The Line, I had no clue what to expect. I knew it would be different and maybe somewhat weird.

The beginning of the book was a little bit uninteresting and slow. It took me awhile to really get into it but when suddenly something exciting happened, I could not put the book down! It was full of action, twists, turns, romance, etc. The world and the way of the government in the book kept me interested and curious, dying to know what would happen to Rachel. It definitely reminds me of The Giver, although I enjoyed reading The Line more than The Giver.

Now we move on to Rachel. The story follows Rachel and her mother Vivian. I happen to really adore reading The Line from Rachel's perspective but the odd times where the book would be read in another character's perspective were different and enjoyable. It answered some of the questions I had about the book. One reason I do like Rachel is for the simple fact that she is strong and brave. Her determination throughout the book is fantastic. Most times, I find female characters to be weak, vulnerable and boring in books so it was nice to go through this marvelous journey with Rachel.

Throughout the book there were a lot of loose ends but they all got tied up near the end. I loved reading about all of the characters' background stories, especially Vivian and Ms. Moore's. They were interesting and were very crucial to the story's plot and ending. The end of the book was awesome and very surprising. I'm DYING for the sequel to this futuristic novel.

I fully recommend this book to all readers. It's captivating, passionately written, mysterious, romantic and suspenseful. Kudos to Teri Hall for a magnificent debut.

-Marisa

The Truth About Forever

Sarah Dessen

Published 2006

400 Pages

Rating: A+

Macy's summer stretches before her, carefully planned and outlined. She will spend her days sitting at the library information desk. She will spend her evenings studying for the SATs. Spare time will be used to help her obsessive mother prepare for the big opening of the townhouse section of her luxury development.

But Macy's plans don't anticipate a surprising and chaotic job with Wish Catering, a motley crew of new friends, or . . . Wes. Tattooed, artistic, anything-but-expected Wes. He doesn't fit Macy's life at all&150so why does she feel so comfortable with him? So . . . happy? What is it about him that makes her let down her guard and finally talk about how much she misses her father, who died before her eyes the year before?

Wow. This is hands down my favorite Sarah Dessen novel as of yet, hell it's one of my favorite novels hands down! Do you know the feeling when you read a certain book it just seperates itself from everything else you've ever read? Like it has it's own category, it was just that good! Well, that is exactly what The Truth About Forever did for me.

Macy is probably one of the coolest and most alike character to myself that I've ever read about. Maybe that's why I enjoyed this book so much... no, that's not the only reason though. I loved Delia, Kristy, Bert, Monica, and of course... WES! I'd like to meet someone who has read this book and not fell in love with Wes. Honestly, I'd be shocked if there were someone that didnt fall in love with his character.

I definitely feel like every character had such depth and was never lacking in any way. It's actually kind of depressing for this book to end. I feel like I'm losing my best friends in a weird way. I've just never felt so connected to a group of characters than the ones of The Truth About Forever. Would I recommend this? Duh! :) Go buy it. Right. Now.

-Briana