If I Was Your Girl

Title: If I Was Your Girl

Author: Meredith Russo

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 287

Date Read: 5/27/16 

Genre: LGBT, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school in Lambertville, Tennessee. Like any other girl, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret. There’s a reason why she transferred schools for her senior year, and why she’s determined not to get too close to anyone.

And then she meets Grant Everett. Grant is unlike anyone she’s ever met—open, honest, kind—and Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself…including her past. But she’s terrified that once she tells Grant the truth, he won't be able to see past it.

Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It’s that she used to be Andrew.

My Review: 

I enjoyed this book. It was something different than what I normally read, which for me was good. 

This book is about a girl named Amanda who moves in with her dad during her senior year of high school. The book is about her settling in the school and her new life as well as her first love. But its not all that simple. Because Amanda used to be Andrew. 

The book deals with the fear of being outed as a transgendered person and how that affects Amandas life. 

The book is told mostly in the present but some chapters flash back to some years when Amanda was still Andrew and we find out a bit about her past and how trapped she felt in her body. 

I liked Amanda and felt like she was a strong female protagonist who had to deal with her fair share of hardships. The reader can really see the progression of Amanda's character from the beginning of the book to the end. In the beginning, Amanda is fearful, always on alert and wants to be invisible. All she wants is to get through her senior year and get out of town to go to college somewhere far away like NY. By the end of the book she is comfortable in her own skin, is confident in herself and wants to be seen. She starts feeling like she doesn't have to run away to college and that she finally feel like she belongs somewhere. Amanda does go through many hardships and new experiences to become the character she is at the end. 

I also loved how Amanda found a core of three girlfriends who were there for her. They didn't know her secret for most of the book. However Amanda finally knew what it was to have friends who loved her, hung out with her and friends who just wanted to have fun together. Each girl is dealing with their own issue and Amanda learns how to become a good friend and listener to help them with their issues. 

The romance was ok. I just didn't like how insta lovey it felt. But it was cute. I like Grant. He was sweet, caring and thoughtful to Amanda. However Amanda struggles with her secret and has battles with herself on if she should be with Grant and if she should tell him her secret. 

I loved that Amanda's parents were involved in her life. Her mother is her rock and was there with her through her transitioning. Her father agreed to take her in and care for her when it wasn't safe for Amanda to live in her mom's town anymore. The book also shows how both her parents struggle(d) with their son transitioning into a girl. Her father had the hardest time accepting it but he still loved her, protected her and wanted the best for her. I love how the book showed each parent dealt in their own way but ultimately supporting their child. It was a wonderful touch to the book. 

I recommend this book to everyone whether you are transgendered or not. This book has something in it for everyone and everyone can take away something from this book. It can also teach not to judge other people before you get to know them and their life and/or struggles. 

Rating: A

Rebel of the Sands

Title: Rebel of the Sands

Author: Alwyn Hamilton

Series: Rebel of the Sands, Book 1

Number of Pages: 314

Date Read: 5/21/16 

Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three.  She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

My Review: 

I'm currently not able to type up a review but I did do a video review of the book, so I'll link it here if anyone is interested

Click on the link Below:

Rebel of The Sands Youtube Video Review

Rating: A+

The Raven Boys

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Series: The Raven Cycle, Book 1

Number of Pages: 408

Date Read: 5/8/16 

Genre: Paranormal, Supernatural, Fantasy 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

My Review: 

After reading this book I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I had read Stievater's book Shiver and I really didn't enjoy it. It was so boring and I was afraid this book would be the same. However after seeing booktube reviews on how good it was, I decided to give it a try. I figured I could always DNF it if I didn't like it. 

However, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I don't know what it was about it. It wasn't my favorite book but something about it made me keep reading. This book is told in multiple points of view but the main ones are Blue, Adam and Gansey.

This book is really about a quest to find a dead/sleeping welsh King. If the kind is awakened, he will grant a favor to the ones who woke him. However there are many other aspects and plot lines in the story. The main female character Blue, is a psychic's daughter who is not psychic. However she amplifies other psychic's powers. There is also a prophecy that if she kisses her true love she will kill him. So one day while helping her aunt on St. Marks day, she ends up seeing a boy's spirit (which means he will be dead within the next 12 months) which means that either he is her true love or that she kills him. He turns out to be Gansey, a rich boy from an ivy league high school. Gansey is the boy who is obsessed with finding the dead king. He has his motives as does his 3 friends who are involved in the quest as well. Because of their school, they are know as the Raven boys. Blue ends up meeting them and she becomes involved with Gansey's quest. And the story goes on from there. 

Aside from her ridiculous name, I really liked Blue. As it was said many times in the book, she is very sensible. After she was told the prophecy (which she had been told since she was little) she decided not to fall in love or at the very least not kiss anyone. And she kept her decision, not kissing anyone. She is also very helpful and gave her knowledge to the Raven boys easily. All she wanted was to be part of the quest. She cares for the boys and uses her amplification abilities to help on the quest. She is a loving daughter as well. Sometimes she is disappointed that she has no psychic abilities but at other times she glad she doesn't. She is very sweet to the boys but she is also very spunky and can hold her own against them. She can be very rude and argumentative if she is pushed. She also knows the value of money and will not take any handouts from the boys. 

I also liked Gansey, the ringleader of the raven boys. He is very straightforward and has a take charge personality. He looks out for his friends and helps them in whatever situations they find themselves in. He is rich but he doesn't really look at that. He doesn't realize that the things he says (about money or possessions) can be taken offensively by people who are not rich, like Blue. Gansey has this need to find the welsh king (can remember the name or spelling of it) to feel like he has made a contribution to the world. He really is a sweet guy though. 

The next raven boy is Adam. I really liked him too. He is soooo super sweet and so smart. He doesn't really have a good home life but that doesn't stop him from going to the prestigious school. He studies and works hard. He is very loyal to Gansey but at the same time he doesn't want to feel like Gansey owns him by giving Adam money or paying for things for him. He is very independent and want to make it through hard work, not handouts. He has very strong principals and he doesn't compromise them, which I liked about him. 

The next raven boy is Noah, who has a secret. Noah is not always in everything with the boys and at times he's missing from the excursions they go on. Noah is very quiet and shy but he has a soft spot for blue and is very affectionate with her (like petting her hair). Noah is easily not noticeable. He is described as being scruffy and always disheveled. I like him too as well. 

My favorite character of the book is the last raven boy Ronan. He is a bad boy with a worse attitude. He says whatever is on his mind and he curses up a storm. He loves to fight and I mean physical fighting. He really doesn't care about anything like school. He is very loyal to Gansey and readily believes in the magic and the quest. He would follow Gansey anywhere and he is very protective of him. However he has a soft side especially towards his baby raven that he finds. He feeds the raven, holds it, cares for it and its sweet to see that. He has a rough exterior but his heart is good. He is my favorite!

Lastly for the characters, I want to mention Blue's aunts and mother. I love her mother. She did such a good job of raising Blue to be the strong girl she is. She cares a lot for Blue, protects her and is funny at times. She doesn't want Blue involved with Gansey and the quest but she helps when she realizes she can't stop her. I also loved her aunt Calla, who is just as vicious and mean as Ronan. She is the female version of Ronan. I love how mean she is and how sarcastic. However its clear she loves Blue and Blue's mother. Finally is her aunt Persephone. I really like her because she is so weird. She is very soft spoken and very intuitive. She is very quiet but powerful. 

The world in the story was interesting. There's a lot to do with ley lines and energy. Ley lines are where supernatural events can happen. So there's a lot to do with that and the group wants to find and awaken the ley line in the town they're in. The ley line has something to do with the welsh king. There was a lot of psychic and supernatural elements in the book that I enjoyed. 

There is a small beginnings of a romance in the book but its very small. Like tiny. Right now all the boys are entranced by Blue but in this book anyway Adam is showing some romantic affection. However I get the feeling that Blue will end up with Gansey by the end of the series and certain things happen in the book that point that way. However I want Ronan and Blue to be together. I totally ship them. 

So I did like the book and I will be continuing the series. I know I'm late in the game since the last book just came out like last month but hey better late than never! 

Rating:A

Legend

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Series: Legend, Book 1

Number of Pages: 305

Date Read: 4/26/16 

Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fantasy 

This is a re-read for me and I stand by my review I wrote a few years ago when I read it. I'll link it here: Review of Legend by Marie Lu

My Sister Rosa

Title: My Sister Rosa

Author: Justine Larbalestier

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 398

Date Read: 4/23/16 

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Contemporary, Psychology, Mystery 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

What if the most terrifying person you'd ever met was your ten-year old sister? A spine-chilling psychological thriller from one of Australia's finest YA authors. 

'I promise,' said Rosa. 'I won't kill and I won't make anyone else kill.'

I can't see the loophole. Since the guinea pig there's been nothing. Months now without Rosa killing as much as a mosquito.

As far as I know.

Che Taylor has four items on his list: 1. He wants to spar, not just train in the boxing gym. 2. He wants a girlfriend. 3. He wants to go home. 4. He wants to keep Rosa under control.

Che's little sister Rosa is smart, talented, pretty, and so good at deception that Che's convinced she must be a psychopath. She hasn't hurt anyone yet, but he's certain it's just a matter of time. And when their parents move them to New York City, Che longs to return to Sydney and his three best friends. But his first duty is to his sister Rosa, who is playing increasingly complex and disturbing games. Can he protect Rosa from the world - and the world from Rosa?

My Review: 

This book took me wayyy to long to finish. Parts of it was good but for the most part it was pretty dull.

The premise of this book is that the main character Che, moves with his family to NYC as part of a business deal for Che's parents. Che doesn't want to go. Every time Che is moved with his parents he has a list of 4 things to do. Fourth is to go home. Third is to be able to spar not just train in boxing. Second is to get a girlfriend. And the first most important thing is to keep his ten year old sister Rosa under control. Because Rosa is a psychopath. 

The premise of this book sounds so interesting that I immediately bought the book off book depository because this is an Australian book and it doesn't come out in the US until November. And I waited over a month to get it delivered because the shipping of the book took forever. Needless to say I should of waited for it to come out in the US. 

Now I'm not saying the book is bad or anything. It was ok. But it wasn't really what I was expecting and I wasn't expecting it to be so boring. The book is basically Che's narration of his daily life in NYC, which is boring. The most interesting parts were about Rosa and the things she does. Che goes on and on about boxing and he spends the majority of time at the gym. He also talks so much about the girl he likes, Sojourner and sex. I don't care about Che masturbating or his wet dreams (which is said in the book...gross) or his gushing over this girl. I got this book because I wanted to read about his psycho sister not hear his dialogue of his life. I mean Che's not a bad character but he's just so boring. I did feel bad for him because he has to deal with his sister terrorizing him but really I wanted to know more about his being terrorized than about his girl crush. Meh.

Rosa is pure evil. She has no empathy and is able to pretend to be a normal girl. She gave me the creeps. I hated her but I was interested in what she said and what she did. It was interesting seeing how she manipulated the people around her. But she wasn't as evil or bad as the synopsis and Che made her out to be. Most of the scenes with Rosa was her talking to Che about her lack of feelings, how smart she was and how she manipulated others. It was like the book told you how bad Rosa was instead of showing it. The synopsis says Rose is "playing increasingly complex and disturbing games" but I didn't really see this in the book. There are two instances when terrible things happen but the reader is left guessing if Rosa was really behind those incidents. I thought Rosa was going to be killing animals or trying to kill people or something drastic like that because that's what the book leads to you believe and I wanted it to be delivered. But it wasn't and I was disappointed. 

Rating:B

Bloodthirsty

Title: Bloodthirsty

Author: Flynn Meaney

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 234

Date Read: 4/11/16 

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Vampire, Humor

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Some vampires are good. Some are evil. Some are faking it to get girls.
Awkward and allergic to the sun, sixteen-year-old Finbar Frame never gets the girl. But when he notices that all the female students at his school are obsessed with a vampire romance novel called Bloodthirsty, Finbar decides to boldly go where no sane guy has gone before-he becomes a vampire, minus the whole blood sucking part. 
With his brooding nature and weirdly pale skin, it's surprisingly easy for Finbar to pretend to be paranormal. But, when he meets the one girl who just might like him for who he really is, he discovers that his life as a pseudo-vampire is more complicated than he expected. 
This hilarious debut novel is for anyone who believes that sometimes even nice guys-without sharp teeth or sparkly skin-- can get the girl.

My Review: 

So this book is a reread for me and I have to say I loved it this time around as much as when I first read it. The book is just hilarious, I love love love the main character and it's a fun coming of age story. 

The plot is a simple one. Finbar (Finn) is 16 years old, a nerd and never had a girlfriend. His fraternal twin brother, Luke, is hot and gets all the girls. Finn has always been picked on but recently his family moved to NYC. Finn wonders what he can do to get a girl. He notices that a lot of girls are reading a book called "Bloodthirsty", which is about vampires. He figures out all girls love vampires and decides to become a vampire to get a girl. Hilarity ensues. 

I loved Finn. First off his name is completely hilarious. Finbar. Ha. Anyway he is the most down to earth character ever. He loves to read, is a science nerd and horrible at sports. He also recognizes his faults in both character and his appearance (in his opinion). Finn is a very sweet, kind, caring and loving guy and all he wants is to give his love to someone. It's a bit hard for him though. He also has problems with the sun and he can't be in it for long. He describes himself as tall, skinny, pale, with brown hair and creepy clear blue eyes. Finn totally makes this book. He is just so funny and his thoughts are hilarious. Finn is also completely oblivious when it comes to signals from girls. Its very funny. Poor guy. 

The situations Finn gets himself into because of his pretending to be a vampire are funny and I loved seeing how he got out of them. Also through his new vampire state, he becomes able to do things he wouldn't have been able to do when he was just himself. He is able to speak in class, about sex no less. He can talk to girls. He's popular. He can also actually win in a fight. Although there are many pluses for his new "species", some problems do arise and he has to figure out how to navigate through them. Especially when he falls for a girl he really likes. 

Finn's brother Luke, was funny too. His extremely catholic, obsessed with cleanliness mom was also really funny. She was just so awkward, the things she said were hilarious and she embarrassed Finn so much. I loved it. 

All in all the book was funny and it made me laugh out loud so many times. I highly recommend it.

Rating: A+

Salt to the Sea

Title: Salt to the Sea

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Series: Standalone

Number of Pages: 383

Date Read: 4/6/16 

Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical, World War II 

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com):

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

My Review:

Soooo....This book was ok. I liked it well enough but I was expecting an epic life alerting book with all the hype this book was getting. So I'm disappointed to say that the book was just ok for me. I went in expecting a lot but I found it so....boring. And yes, I know I'm in the minority on this one.

This book is basically about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship during World War 2. The boat contained over 10,000 people and over 9,000 lost their lives. It's known as the greatest maritime tragedy in the maritime history. 

In this book we follow 4 protagonists and the story is told in alternating chapters. All the characters find each other while they are making their way to the ships. The country of Poland is being evacuated and all the civilians and soldiers are heading to the boats to get safe passage to Germany. Russia has invaded Poland and is committing atrocities and massacres everywhere they go. 

The first character I'll talk about is Joana. She is a Lithuanian nurse that is was working in a hospital in Poland. We find her with a band of people that she takes care of. Joana is a very caring and loving person. She enjoys helping people and is always more concerned with the safety and health of others rather than herself. Throughout the book when disaster strikes she is always volunteering to help the injured and sick. She always checks on the welfare of her group before she rests. I really liked her a lot and she is genuinely a good person. She really does care for people. She is hiding a secret that is tearing her apart and she misses her family very much. She is my favorite character.

Next is the Prussian, Florian Beck. He has a secret mission of his own that he is carrying out. He seems to be a soldier. In the beginning of the book he was wounded and after awhile he finds Joana's group, where Joana tends to his wound. Florian is very secretive and is very protective of his pack. He also becomes very protective of another character Emilia and Joana. At first he wants nothing to do with anyone and prefers to travel alone but as time passes he becomes attached to the girls and the others in the group. He begins to open up a little more especially to Joana. I really liked him.

The next character is Emilia who is Polish. She also has a secret that is revealed later on in the book. Once she meets Florian she dubs him her "knight" and becomes very attached to him, though not romantically. While she likes everyone else, she trusts Florian completely and if he were to leave the group, she'd go with him. She was always looking for him even when disaster struck. He was very important to her. Emilia is very young in the book, maybe around 15 or so. She has had a hard life and bad things have happened to her. She can be moody at times and she doesn't like to talk much, except to Florian and later on Joana. She is also extremely loyal to people she trusts and cares about and for the most part, that person is Florian in the book. She would do anything for him and defend him to the end. 

The last character is the German Naval Officer, Alfred Frick. I hated him. He was bat shit crazy. He wrote letters to this girl in his head and made himself out to be the best hero and sailor there ever was where in reality he was in the lowest rank of officers. He tries too hard to be someone of importance and its so obvious that its embarrassing. He is also completely crazy. He aligns his beliefs with Hitler's and thinks that Hitler is the only one who understands him and his thoughts. He never even met Hitler. He of course hates Jews and polish people. He kick dogs, which as an animal love, pissed me the hell off and I wanted him dead just for that. He speaks condescendingly to other people especially the refugees and peasants trying to get on the ships, where in reality he's just a little piece of s**t. He thought he was so important but he was nothing. I really didn't like him. His attitude sucks. 

The setting and description of the characters' surroundings were good and detailed. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters and seeing their quirks. I just found a lot of it boring. It took them forever to get to the ships and then the actual main event if the book took a few chapters. There were some tragedies that took place along the way to the ships but it was few and far between. 

I did enjoy learning about Florian, Joana and Emilia's history, their backgrounds, what happened to them before they met and what happened to their families. I also enjoyed the romance that was brewing in the book between two characters. The romance was no where near the center stage of the book but I did enjoy the small presence that was in there. I found myself rooting for the couple and totally shipped them (no pun intended, lol). 

So all in all this book was good. I was just expecting so much more. However I still want to read Between Shades of Gray by this author. Oh and yes I did catch the link that attach this book to Between Shades of Gray and that was only because I read the synopsis of Between Shades of Gray many times. I am looking forward to reading Between Shades of Gray and I'll let you guys know my thoughts on it. Oh and I do recommend this book to be read because it is a good historical fiction.  

Rating:B