No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

No One Else Can Have You, by Kathleen Hale
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Mystery/Thriller/Murder
Rating: 5/5 stars

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 689 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.
Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary, sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.

Review:

• THIS COVER IS BEAUTIFUL, there, I said it. The stellar cover is one of the reasons I picked up this book, not gonna lie. As soon as I began the novel, I was addicted, it was like a drug.
• From the first chapter, the author digs you into the book. The whole time I was reading it, I felt like I was living in the novel. It was so detailed and I didn't even get distracted by the largest things, I didn't know that time was passing.
• I love how this takes place in an unknown small town. There won't be a large amount of press and the whole murder investigation wasn't airing all over America, that would change the book completely. 
• At first, I thought that it would be some hillbilly redneck book with weird language use and strange references, thank goodness the author got past that. *phew*
• The writing was amazing. I was stuck with this book until it was over, and when you read it, make sure you have time for one whole sitting with this baby.
• Kippy, the main character, was strange. At some points I liked her, and at others, I wondered why she was so attached to the whole investigation and why Ruth meant so much to her even though she treated her like a piece of rubbish. (See what I did there? :p)
• This book has so much to do with psychology, I'm not going to lie. There are characters featured with tough lives and who were currently going through some sort of disorder. That's what made the book even better, because you never know what could be going through someone's mind at the moment.
• There were so many suspects that I had in mind for the real killer, but by the end, the author definitely shocked me with the outstanding outcome. Murder mysteries don't usually end like this but this amazing author really did something special here. 
• I need more from this author as soon as possible, but I sure am happy that she is not turning this into some kind of murder mystery series or trilogy, it's over and done with. A definite 5/5 star rating for this book, it was beautiful.

Crazy by Amy Reed

Crazy, by Amy Reed
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Suicide
Rating: 4/5 stars













Review:

• I'm not going to lie, this was a suicidal/chick-lit/romance novel. You'd think that it's just a contemporary book, but its meaning and the romance goes way farther than that. I mean, it could happen in reality, but the genre was way farther out.
• Amy Reed is a spectacular writer. Writing through emails is something difficult to do, especially because you can't give out all of the details through one email. She knew exactly when to add something in, and you'd end up shocked because of the outcome.
• The romance was perfect. Izzy and Connor were adorable together and I loved the love-hate relationship that they had going on, and how through everything, they had each other. They were two peas in a pod, and they were the only people who could make each other feel like they were worth living for.
• The ending happened so fast, not how I liked it to be. It wasn't surprising. We all expected this to happen and it did, and then everyone at the end recovers, bam. No epilogue no after the whole story. Just like that. *snaps*
• This was a great book, I just needed more dazzle dazzle.

Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe, by Shelley Coriell
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Chick-Lit
Rating: 4/5 stars

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counsellor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Gram’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up holding a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the joy and fun in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

Review:

• I've never read a book about a radio station whatsoever. First of all, the cover's gorgeous. When I saw the book, I screamed and fangirled inside and had to buy it. Then, I found that Shelley Coriell wrote this as her debut novel. I read Goodbye Rebel Blue a week ago, and I needed to read this to give me more of her fantastic writing skills.
• I've read better chick-lit novels. This one didn't have a big story going on. It was just about Chloe getting over everything and going through a new beginning. 
• I did adore the romance. Duncan and Chloe were perfect together and I rate the romance a 4.5/5, which is really acceptable in my opinion. 
• In my world, the plot, characters and romance is the most important and this book definitely had a good 2/3 of them. The characters were good and hilarious, thanks to Shelley Coriell's humour, but the plot wasn't really there. 
• This was a good, quick read!

Lucid by Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass

Lucid, by Adrienne Stoltz and Ron Bass
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal/Supernatural
Rating: 1.5/5 stars

What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?
Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different--except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.
The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiralling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.
This is a dazzling debut that will steal readers' hearts.

Review:

• When I first found this book through Goodreads, I couldn't wait to pick it up. That sounded like my type of book. 
• I usually love books about dreaming and the facts behind it all. Lucid was definitely much lower than my expectations, and it was actually a really bad book. I don't recommend it at all, and here are my reasons;
• 1. The Characters- If you are the type of person like me who has read many books with many strong heroines, then you will hate the heroines, Maggie and Sloane. In my opinion, there was no sense in them at all, they were too lost the whole time. There was hardly enough drama and romance and everyone was "trying to find themselves."
• 2. The Pace and Plot- This was so slow paced. I couldn't even look at the book. Nothing was happening for 200 pages! I felt like I skimmed through it all because nothing was happening! It was so boring, I only kept going with it to see the ending, but even that wasn't interesting or made a big deal.
• 3. Can I say basically the whole book? The beginning was alright but it got worse towards the point where I realized that I wasted my time.
• Do yourself a favour, don't pick up this book unless you think I'm wrong.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, War
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.
Combining classic themes of fairy tales and war literature, Louise Murphy’s haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel tells a resonant, riveting story.

Review:

• I love to read books based on wars, especially World War II. They are always so heart-pumping and so addicting. I love the story of Hansel and Gretel and the two stories.
• The plot was very agonizing and sad. The characters were okay, but not the most interesting and their background stories were just like any other.

How To Love by Katie Cotungo

How To Love, by Katie Cotungo
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated-and pregnant Reena behind. 
After: Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

Review:

• I hate cheesy love stories. I hate the usual problems that couples have to deal with, especially the girls. Their hearts usually get broken when the popular jock ends up making out with another snobby girl and then the broken-hearted girl meets the sweet-bad boy and they fall in love and all the worries float away... nope.
• How To Love wasn't even close to the average-cheesy love story. There was much more depth into the whole story and it was plain beautiful.
• I adored Sawyer, like don't even get me started. He was... beautiful and sexy. You could say that he was the average bad boy, but to me, he was much more than that. He made Reena become a better person, and you'll figure that out throughout the book. Every adorable phrase he said made me smile and wish for him. 
• Reena sometimes pissed me off. She was too snobby sometimes and didn't act her age. She tried to act like an adult, but she never could accomplish that. In my opinion, she was a bad mother to Hannah. 
• I loved this book to death, though. The author just made the story so riveting and unstoppable. I need more!

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Survival
Rating: 4/5 stars

The compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos--and herself--from a violent coup.
The Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.
When one girl has to follow her mother to her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. It's her mother's passion, and she'd rather have nothing to do with it. But when revolution breaks out and their sanctuary is attacked, she must rescue the bonobos and hide in the jungle. Together, they will fight to keep safe, to eat, and to survive.
Eliot Schrefer asks readers what safety means, how one sacrifices to help others, and what it means to be human in this new compelling adventure.

Review:

• I'd never think that a book about a girl surviving in the wild with bonobos would be this good. I mean, apes? Really?
• From the first page in, I was hooked. It was so good and Otto looked so adorable on the photograph, I just wanted to eat him! (Not in a murder way, the cute way)
• I loved the plot twist toward the middle of the book. It was so surprising and didn't distract me one bit! The writing and words were so strong, and hooked me in, I didn't want to let go.
• I read many bad reviews about this book, and I didn't know what to expect. They were all mixed reviews. But overall, it was great, and I need more.

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, by Claire Legrand
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked, obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.)
But then Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t come out at all.
If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy.

Review:

• This was a really weird and creepy book. If you're looking for something like that, then go and pick up this book ASAP because you will adore it.
• Personally, I don't really like weird books, and I expected this to be more like Miss Peregrine. It was really different. First of all, this is about twelve year olds, and second, it's more English (British) and very posh and proper in writing.
• I found Victoria, the main character, to be a real sweetheart. Even though she had that whole attitude about being the best and all, I liked her a lot. She ended up being really caring by the end of the story.
• The author did a good job on having the heroine relate to the reader, but I needed more action.

Flutter by Gina Linko

Flutter, by Gina Linko
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science-fiction
Rating: 3/5 stars

All Emery Land wants is to be like any other 17-year-old—to go to school, hang out with her friends, and just be normal.  But for as long as she can remember, she's suffered from seizures. And in recent years they've consumed her life. To Emery they're much more than seizures, she calls them loops—moments when she travels through wormholes back and forth in time and to a mysterious town. The loops are taking their toll on her physically. So she practically lives in the hospital where her scientist father and an ever-growing team of doctors monitor her every move. They're extremely interested in the data they collect when Emery seizes. It appears that she's tapping into parts of the brain typically left untouched by normal human beings.
Escaping from the hospital, Emery travels to Esperanza, the town from her loops on the upper peninsula of Michigan, where she meets Asher Clarke. Ash's life is governed by his single-minded pursuit of performing good Samaritan acts to atone for the death of a loved one. His journey is very much entwined with Emery's loops. 
Drawn together they must unravel their complicated connection before it's too late.

Review:

• In the beginning, the book started off so scientific and so good all at the same time! As it went on, it got really boring and confusing.
• I didn't understand what was really going on in the book. The world and characters were so mysterious and so ferocious and weird all at the same time. I didn't understand anything.
• Emery was dumb. I didn't like the decisions that she made and she seemed so unexperienced. What was wrong with her?
• This book could've been better. I wanted to see the bright side, but I never got that.

Kill Me Softy by Sarah Cross

Kill Me Softly, by Sarah Cross
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fairytales
Rating: 3/5 stars

When Mirabelle runs away from her godmothers to Beau Rivage, the city where she was born, she hopes to discover answers about her parents' tragic death. Instead, she finds a group of unusual teenagers, each with a fairy-tale curse. In this strange seaside city, scenarios from fairy tales are played out over and over, and Mira has her own part in the drama: she's a "Somnolent," doomed to prick her finger and fall into an enchanted sleep like Sleeping Beauty. The problem is she's not interested in the charming (but slightly boring) "prince" who is fated to be her romantic counterpart. Mira is much more attracted to suave, handsome Felix, who bears a curse he can't, or won't, explain to her.

Review:

• I normally do enjoy books with the concept of fairytales. I don't exactly know why, but I didn't really enjoy this one. The Grimm brothers had definite interesting fairytales and ideas in their minds, Disney's fairytales aren't the real version of the story, so this book definitely showed you the truth if you didn't know, which I didn't exactly know before.
• I wish that the book was taken place in the past, I mean it was, but I didn't feel like it was at all. The setting and characters really weren't anything big or special, and I wanted more to happen. This book was basically about Mira finding who she is, and I didn't pick this book up for a contemporary romance, I picked it up for a paranormal-retelling romance, I got the total opposite, of what it felt like.
• I got easily bored throughout the book where I felt like nothing big was happening at all. The author did an okay job of relating the characters to the reader, and with the whole concept/idea, but that's about it.
• I don't really recommend this unless you'd like to become really surprised.