Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick // Finally, A Good Becca Fitzpatrick Book!

Dangerous Lies, by Becca Fitzpatrick
Publication: November 10, 2015, by Simon and Schuster
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

A teen is forced to make a fresh start after witnessing a violent crime—but love and danger find her anyway in this novel from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga.
Stella Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home. This is not her real life.
After witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s drug dealer.
But Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets. She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about having to lie to him grows.
As Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her enemies are actually closer than she thinks…

My Thoughts:

Low expectations, guys, low expectations. Years ago, I read the highly recommended angel-love-story, Hush, Hush, by Becca Fitzpatrick herself. I seriously expected a beautiful story that would have me obsessed as I was with, say, Divergent, but I ended up having mixed feelings about it all, especially because of the instant romance that fluttered with love and hate coming back and forth with each other. Later on, I was excited to hear that Becca moved from writing paranormal romance to thrillers. If you don't know me by now, I LOVE THRILLERS. Everything about them just make my heart flutter and I occasionally get these outbursts where I need to read a hundred of them in a row. I still need to read Black Ice, which I own, but for now, Dangerous Lies did it for me. I really enjoyed everything about it, and it's one of those books that you'll want to spend a day reading because you constantly feel this outrage of tension, making you feel like something could happen at any moment.

Dangerous Lies has been getting mixed reviews on Goodreads, and I expected the worst, because I rather be pleased than disappointed in the end. There is a strong romance in this book, mixed with real-life events that could happen to anyone. Our heroine, Stella, who I adored, is in the Witness Protection Program, and that could seem like a minor detail in the plot, but I loved how Becca centred the story around that. Stella moves to a small town in Nebraska, which is a setting I have seen for the first time in a book, and it makes us readers feel this tension that anyone could find her. It's interesting to read about settings like this because we don't know what to expect. Some would prefer to hide in big cities where they won't be found, while other prefer small towns in the middle of nowhere.

As mentioned, Stella is in the WPP after she witnessed a crime in her own house committed by her mother's "boyfriend" drug-dealer, after he shot another man in Philadelphia, her old home. She moves to Nebraska and lives with a woman who she immediately feels connected to. And then she meets a cute guy, Chet, and their connection becomes bigger but of course, there's a guy at home.

This book makes you think about how life brings surprises all the time. You could be living your life in a certain, ordinary way until something unexpected happens and everything you've ever known is taken from you forever, it seems. You could just have to move, like Stella had, out of nowhere for something that wasn't your fault. This novel was part mystery, part contemporary, and I liked how there was just a bit of everything: mystery, romance and the life of a senior in high school. There was the looming tension that Stella's mother would come out of nowhere, leave rehab and come and get there. There was the other part looming where Stella's boyfriend from home, Reed, would show up. Every chapter literally brought something new up and I couldn't take my eyes off the pages.

Becca Fitzpatrick's writing is very simplistic, and for this type of novel, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for. I look for a pretty interesting plot, mixed with good characters and a mystery that's different—not your typical best friend murder story. 

Some people have mentioned how Stella's character is bit*hy. Yeah, she definitely is, but I actually loved that side of her, the arrogant, confident side that made readers be obsessed with her and wonder how she will solve her own problem. She's extremely independent, perfect for this small-town-setting. I loved how Becca made her have a relationship with her coworkers at the diner. Agh. This was just so great and refreshing, my friends.

Now, let's get to the romance. CHET AND STELLA ARE ADORBS TIMES A HUNDRED. Their relationship was not forced, as I have frequently read lately, and I love their carefree feeling, and how they could confide in each other. Go couples that tell each other their secrets and don't create drama that gets in the way of the real point of the book! *cheers*

Dangerous Lies, from its cover (which defines the book perfectly), to the last page, is just satisfying. It's one of the better mysteries I've read lately, and certainly one of the better books. I am seriously looking forward to what else Becca will be releasing in the future, and I just can see how this will make other readers go crazy. It took me long enough to read, though. By the way, there are tons of dangerous lies hidden in between the lines of the story, and you will be extremely shocked!

What do you think of Becca Fitzpatrick's writing and her books? What have you heard/thought about Hush, Hush?

Sweet Madness by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie // A Sad DNF For Me

Sweet Madness, by Trisha Leaver
Publication: September 15, 2015, by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical, Mystery
Pages: 223
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

Seventeen-year-old Bridget Sullivan is alone in Fall River, a city that sees Irish immigrants as nothing more than a drunken drain on society. To make matters worse, she's taken employment with the city’s most peculiar and gossip-laden family—the Bordens. But Bridget can’t afford to be picky—the pay surpasses any other job Bridget could ever secure and she desperately needs the money to buy her little sister, Cara, passage to the states. It doesn’t hurt that the job location is also close to her beau, Liam. As she enters the disturbing inner workings of the Borden household, Bridget clings to these advantages.
However, what seemed like a straightforward situation soon turns into one that is untenable. Of course Bridget has heard the gossip around town about the Bordens, but what she encounters is far more unsettling. The erratic, paranoid behavior of Mr. Borden, the fearful silence of his wife, and worse still…the nightly whisperings Bridget hears that seem to come from the walls themselves.
The unexpected bright spot of the position is that Lizzie Borden is so friendly. At first, Bridget is surprised at how Lizzie seems to look out for her, how she takes a strong interest in Bridget’s life. Over time, a friendship grows between them. But when Mr. Borden’s behavior goes from paranoid to cruel, and the eerie occurrences in the house seem to be building momentum, Bridget makes the tough decision that she must leave the house—even if it means leaving behind Lizzie, her closest friend, alone with the madness. Something she swore she would not do.
But when Bridget makes a horrifying discovery in the home, all that she thought she knew about the Bordens is called into question…including if Lizzie is dangerous. And the choice she must make about Lizzie’s character could mean Bridget’s life or death.
SWEET MADNESS is a retelling of the infamous Borden murders from the point of view of Lizzie’s Irish maid, Bridget Sullivan.

My Thoughts:

DNF @ 150 pages

I like to be a nice person when I read books. I like to read historical novels, especially those that are mixed with romance and mystery. Speaking of historical-romance, I recently read Jennifer Donnelly's These Shallow Graves, and that is actually the best book I have read (so far) this year. I had high hopes for Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie's new YA novel that has been constantly raved about. I sadly had to DNF it, and that kind of broke my heart because I was 100% sure that I would give this at least a 3.5 star rating. I was prepping myself to write a nice, positive review, and make the whole world happy with my review. I was so wrong. The two authors have written a nice novel, I'm sure, for some people, but this was focused on a mystery that I couldn't care less about. It seemed like I had to have had some kind of background information on the Borden murders, and I didn't know anything about it. It was extremely boring and bland, and eerie.

I get that mystery novels are supposed to have that eerie, mystic feel in them when readers are reading and are trying to figure out the secret behind all of the murders. This was just too weird. I like novels that are well-researched if the author(s) is/are exploring a subject matter that many do not know about. I can tell that Leaver and Currie certainly did do their research on Fall River and everything that occurred in it back in the day. I just wasn't interested. 

I was stuck with this book for an entire day, and it felt like a chore to read. There was no enjoyment whatsoever. This reminds me of a similar situation with Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows, another really-loved-and-admired story, but not my type. I just cannot appreciate these two authors' writing style.

I like that the story is written from the perspective of Lizzie Borden's maid, Bridget. We readers usually get to read the first-hand perspective of a victim of a family murder (someone who lost their whole family or some members). This was an unique take on that stereotypical formatting of YA historical murder mysteries. This story is very old-fashioned, and I just didn't like the time-frame that this was set in. 

I DNFed this because I was too bored. I didn't want to waste my time, you know? I feel like I'm DNFing and hating too many books lately. Meh.

You see, I could have kept reading this one until it was over, but I wouldn't enjoy it anyway, and I sadly didn't really want to know the ending. Sweet Madness wasn't really sweet, from my viewpoint, but it sure was mad.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is your favourite historical novel? Have you read The Secrets We Keep by Trisha? What were your thoughts?

The Yearbook by Carol Masciola // Meh.

The Yearbook, by Carol Masciola
Publication: October 2, 2015, by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical, Time-Traveling
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Misfit teen Lola Lundy has every right to her anger and her misery. She’s failing in school, living in a group home, and social workers keep watching her like hawks, waiting for her to show signs of the horrible mental illness that cost Lola’s mother her life. Then, one night, she falls asleep in a storage room in her high school library, where she’s seen an old yearbook—from the days when the place was an upscale academy for young scholars instead of a dump. When Lola wakes, it’s to a scene that is nothing short of impossible.
Lola quickly determines that she’s gone back to the past—eighty years in the past, to be exact. The Fall Frolic dance is going full blast in the gym, and there she makes an instant connection with the brainy and provocative Peter Hemmings, class of ’24. His face is familiar, because she’s seen his senior portrait in the yearbook. By night’s end, Lola thinks she sees hope for her disastrous present: She’ll make a new future for herself in the past. But is it real? Or has the major mental illness in Lola’s family background finally claimed her? Has she slipped through a crack in time, or into a romantic hallucination she created in her own mind, wishing on the ragged pages of a yearbook from a more graceful time long ago?

My Thoughts:

With so much insta-love that it hurts (well, there's only a case of it and I didn't like it) and the fact that the main idea that the plot is centred around, time-traveling, is not explained, as well as the absolute boredom I experienced, The Yearbook by Carol Masciola was not a good read that I could recommend to others. I received this book in return for a review a while ago, and the fact that the cover is extremely bland and how it pushes me away from reading it made me un-intrigued. To be perfectly honest, there were some good aspects of this whole story, like the fact that the protagonist, Lola, was exactly like I would want her to be, and how the whole story began.

I wanted to like this one, a lot. I have heard of many similar stories, except this is even COOLER. When I first read the summary, I was instantly intrigued because the protagonist time travels after seeing a yearbook in her high school library, of the class of 1924. Who wouldn't want to go back almost a hundred years back in time and get to see how life was back then? Knowing everything that occurred after that year, it's interesting to see what life was like for the many people who didn't see what was coming. But then, of course, there were dark, dumb moments that didn't work out for me. I swear, Lola spent almost a whole chapter searching for things that she obviously knew weren't around in the States during 1924, like pizza. I mean, she went searching for pizza. That was definitely a low for me.

So as I mentioned, the plot is basically very self-explanatory here. A girl takes a blast to the past, but she goes crazy. Carol Masciola does have a good idea by turning this into a story about mental illness as well, but it kind of didn't make sense as it occurred. I have no idea how this time-traveling idea came to be. Usually, even if the story is mostly contemporary or historical, we readers get to see the reasons why the time-traveling happens. Here? Nada. And it makes sense that we do get something, a little something. I usually don't really like science-fiction mixed in with a story that is supposed to be talking about something else, but it was needed in this novel, no doubt about it. That was my biggest complaint.

Lola Lundy is your teenage example of a rebellious girl. She undergoes this character development who makes her someone who doesn't care about anything to someone who does care and falls in love. I really liked that cutesy aspect added in. But there were too many plot holes, plot pieces of boringness that made me just want to rip my hair out. Except I didn't. I actually ended up finishing this book because I have definitely seen worse. I felt like the story moved like molasses, though.

I hate reading bad books. The Yearbook wasn't horrible at all, but there were points where I just wanted to stop reading and wasting my time. It was boring, and things didn't click together and make sense. You had to guess and see if you're correct the whole time while reading. Don't even get me started about Peter (although he was cute and made me squirm of joy). WHY DID LOLA HAVE TO GO HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HIM RIGHT AWAY. Guys—love at first sight doesn't have to occur in every YA book, okay? There are a few exceptions, but this wasn't one of them.

The Yearbook is a time-traveling, mystery kind of historical read (yes, I'm mixing all of the genres together here) that some will really enjoy, and some will not. I have read many better time-traveling stories, like Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You, which mixed in romance and a more scientific feel all together. If you enjoy those kinds of stories where you have to keep guessing and making these theories so you don't get confused in the midst of it, then this story is most definitely for you. Don't get me wrong, fellas—I enjoyed the characters!

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the latest time-traveling book you have read? Do you enjoy time-traveling as a subject in YA?

Tell the Story to Its End by Simon P. Clark // A Nice Middle Grade "Horror" Story

Tell the Story to Its End, by Simon P. Clark
Publication: October 20, 2015, by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 198
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

In this beautiful, haunting debut, a boy is whisked away to the country in the wake of a scandal, and finds a captivating creature in the attic whose attention comes at a sinister price.
People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him why his dad where his father is. Why isn't he with them? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, and only an old, empty house in the middle of an ancient forest for answers. But then he finds a secret of his own: there is a creature that lives in the attic… Eren is not human. Eren is hungry for stories. Eren has been waiting for him. Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what’s happening downstairs with his family. But what if it’s a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth—or abandon himself to Eren’s world, forever. Reminiscent of SKELLIG by David Almond and A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness, EREN is richly atmospheric, moving, unsettleing, and told in gorgeous prose. A modern classic in the making.

My Thoughts:

What a bunch of 3.5 star ratings I have been giving to books lately. That's not a bad thing!—3.5 ratings are pretty good, if you ask me. Simon P. Clark's Tell the Story to Its End was sent to me a looooooonnnnnggggg time ago, and I am so upset that I chose to read it now. This is a fabulous middle-grade horror story that resembles the gorgeous A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a book that stands as a classic horror story for me, most definitely because I have never read anything close to it and I can only use it as a sample to compare other lesser-good books to. This is honestly so so so similar, which kind of frustrated me because I came here for middle-grade luxury. I wanted to read a rich story filled with dark fairy tales and moments where I wanted to pull my hair out of my scalp. (Sorry for the harsh imagery!)

This wasn't scary, sadly. I am always in for a good horror read, and I will do whatever it takes to seek that perfect scary story that will cause me to have trouble sleeping at night. Whatever it takes. I honestly didn't even suspect that this was middle-grade fiction. I remember requesting it last year, simply for the reason that this was a horror story. I have read some great ones in the past, like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Asylum. I occasionally get so inspired by these stories that I write things based on them, including reviews, obviously. This? It was blander than I expected. Perhaps you middle-grade fans will enjoy this one—it was great, just not 100% me, you know?

Tell the Story to Its End has this foggy, misty feel to it. It screams out eerie, it screams out craziness. I loved the cover from the first time I saw it, and I just wanted to read about this so-called monster named Eren. This book once was called Eren, in case you didn't know. What I really enjoyed was the protagonist's connection to this monster. Oli is our hero, in this case, and instead of that fear factor impacting each of us to death (practically), this was more of a friendship story, something that is really difficult to seek. It's just that I wasn't looking for friendship, but horror, instead.

"Living is the strangest story there is, boy. Try not to forget that. It's swings and roundabouts in the end. Stories define you, but you are the stories that matter. I'm just an outsider, in the end" (73).

This is just such a quick read, which was a HUGE highlight for me. Because of the way Clark has written and formatted the story, it deserves a small story with so much more depth on the outside for readers to explore. It simply was philosophical, and not about what's on the outside perspective—not Eren or Oli, but life. That's why I enjoy reading middle-grade from time to time; I am older, so I always find myself receiving a different message out of the book compared to the direct point-of-view. By the way: Eren is a story-eating monster. He keeps on living by hearing stories that Oli tells him. THAT'S MEGA COOL.

So, for a quick summary, this is your "new kid moves into a new town" kind of book where he has no friends and misses his home. Oli and his mother "temporarily" move into Oli's uncle's house a far distance from London, his previous home and the home he has always known, and Oli discovers Eren in the attic of his new home. He obviously makes some eerie friends outside of the house, and he just spends the novel seeking answers, seeking the answers to life and why everything that has happened to him has happened. It's simple, but carries so much more than the surface story.  

Oli was the cutest little boy, the most heroic hero I have read about in a while. Readers, he compares to kick-ass teenage protagonists, like Four from Divergent and yadda yadda yadda. THAT'S A HIGH STANDING. As mentioned before, Oli makes friends besides Eren: Takeru and Em. TALK ABOUT DIVERSITY AND COOL STUFF. We also need to talk about the illustrations in the book—they were gorgeous and self-explanatory. Without them, Clark's majestic story wouldn't carry the same depth as it actually did. 

This is a book that you need to explore on your own—you need to go out and understand the tricks and twists to really enjoy it. I certainly liked that about Clark's story, because we rarely find these riddles and twists in middle-grade or in fiction at all. I like complexity, and this novel certainly did carry that throughout. I found the complexity as a goal, even. And it absolutely was succeeded.

"As long as there's people, there's tales. Always has been, and touch wood, always will be!" (131)

Tell the Story to Its End is a real story about a kid. You don't have to begin reading to suspect a happy ending, because there will be that voice in you telling you that because of the mood, there might not be that happy ending after all. From beginning to end, I was intrigued with the storytelling-concept and the friendship between Eren and Oli, but I certainly was expecting something different. Patrick Ness, you should take a look at this one and see if you see a resemblance to something else that is quite... amazing.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What are some other middle-grade horror stories? What is a recent book that fooled you? 

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly // My Favourite Book of 2016

These Shallow Graves, by Jennifer Donnelly
Publication: October 27, 2015, by Delacorte Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 488
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.
Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.
The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.
The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

My Thoughts:

It's been a few weeks since I last finished reading this novel and its last beautiful pages (every single page was honestly beautiful), but I still feel like I'm living in 1890's New York City with Jo Montfort and her family, grieving over the loss of her father and exploring the city. I cannot get over how amazing These Shallow Graves is and was. Easily, I would like to classify this as my most favourite book of the year, and perhaps, one of the best books out of my whole life. This is perfect, beautiful, and I am blessed to have a review copy of it and have gotten it signed by the ah-mazing author who started it all. Jennifer Donnelly, this is your best work yet, and I have read a few books by you. Keep writing historical fiction, and I would ADORE IT if you continued this series and if you let me read more about Eddie and Jo's future in the city where the American dream really began. Agh.

I cannot stop fangirling and freaking out over how amazing this was. From the smooth, precious cover that screams out "mystery" and "beauty," to the fact that Krista Marino, Jennifer's editor, has written a letter inserted in the novel explaining how she loved editing this story and loves everything about it, there is nothing that you cannot love about the story... besides the deaths that occur. I finished this in a day, slowly devouring it all and being unable to put it down. To be honest, I normally finish books in a few hours, but this took me like 10, because I just wanted to enjoy the writing and didn't want to let it go, because I knew, from the start, that this is a standalone novel.

These Shallow Graves began with a boom. We are immediately thrown into Jo Montfort's rich, spoiled world where everything she has ever desired is given to her. Most especially, we are immediately thrown into the world of Jo's thoughts, and how she is a happy feminist, trying to hide her thoughts from her family, because she knows they wouldn't approve. Jennifer Donnelly expresses the theme of feminism throughout, and most especially, the theme of achievement. Jo, our lovely heroine, had huge dreams, and alongside the fact that she is trying to solve the mystery behind her father's death throughout the story, she is finding her place in the world, in the city where these dreams are granted to those who seek them.

The pacing was fabulous. It seemed as if it was completely natural, but I knew that deep down, Donnelly planned the whole story out, planning out Jo's character development and how she would spend time with Eddie to fight crime in New York City. The plot was exceptional, and I was never bored—ever. It was racing and I legitimately wanted to bite my nail-beds off. I was that anxious throughout, because I felt that something could happen to Jo and her family at any moment.

"Eddie flooded her senses. He made her giddy. He made her ache. He filled her a hunger that was new and deep and dangerous" (124).

This story takes place in the glorious city of New York, where the Montforts are rich and live a luxurious life. Out of nowhere, her father is killed, and at first—it looks like a suicide. Seeking out information, Jo meets Eddie, a young journalist who works at the newspaper agency that her father owned, alongside her uncle. They go out into the dangerous parts of the city, even though Eddie warns Jo not to, and she eventually discovers that she'd rather live poorly and happily, than rich and unhappy with the life that her parents have planned out for her, like marrying a man who she has known for her whole life, but barely feels anything for, except for friendship.

Jo is my most favourite heroine. HOLY GRAVES (that was an intended pun), SHE HAD SO MUCH INDEPENDENCE AND A PERSONALITY THAT NO ONE CAN BEAT. I love reading about girls who take a stand in their lives, and this takes place in an era that I have never read about before, but have always wanted to read about. Jo feels that other journalists are such inspirations for her, and that is something new and improved in YA fiction, because instead of a mother or sister, Jo looks up to someone in the same profession field that she would like to work in. 

I have been putting off this review ever since I finished it because I knew that I would write until the world ended. The characters, the plot, the setting, the timeframe, everything was so magnificent. Yay for the minor characters like Fay who surprise us, initially looking like people who Eddie and Jo shouldn't trust, later impressing us with their kindness and love for helping people out. Now, let's move on to Eddie. HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY. This guy makes me blush every time he speaks and I just cannot help but fall in love with him. I have realized that I have a thing for journalists right now. Eddie is the perfect companion for Jo and oh my gosh, I just adored him and her together. The romance wasn't everything, but it was something so powerful that was specially created to fit the story. 

This is historical fiction created with so many interesting tweaks about setting and society—I was addicted. I loved the way society worked at the time of this story, I honestly feel like I was so connected to the posh lifestyle of Jo. We see a jump from place to place, learning about the area of SoHo that Jo and her family live in, and even landmarks that we currently know of today in the city that never sleeps. Adding moments where we learn about prostitution and crime at the time, I couldn't help but want to read more online afterwards.

"He pulled her close and kissed her again. In his arms, she no longer knew where she was or who she was, only what she wanted—him. The strength of her feelings frightened her. This passion was the wind that would push her off the cliff and leave her broken on the rocks" (179).

I would like to warn future readers of a love triangle. That did not bother me at all, and honestly? It clicked and worked. Jo is torn between a man who she doesn't love, but who could provide her with all of the luxuries that her life currently has been giving her, as well as a good reputation for her family, the Montforts, or a man who makes her so happy, shares the same passions as her, but who isn't rich at all. I think we all know who the winner here truly is.

GOSH AND THAT ENDING? THAT WAS ACTION-PACKED AND EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED. I was seriously shocked because Donnelly kept fooling us. On one page, we were sure that Jo would choose her life to go one way, but then things change suddenly and she ended up choosing the best thing of all. Jennifer ends up leaving us off with an open ending, leaving us to dream about Jo's future and what would happen next. Sometimes, those are the endings that work. 

These Shallow Graves deserves all of the possible book awards, and I just wish that it got more publicity, all of the publicity ever. Everything is beautiful about it and I am so grateful that I cherished my experience of reading it slowly and wonderfully. This is a time-traveling experience for every teen reader—an experience where we are thrown into the best setting possible, in the best time era, with an electrifying romance, with the best ending, and a plot twist that will practically blow your brains out. I am not giving you any other choice but to go and pick it up right now. This is #1 for everything. CAN I REREAD IT NOW? I am undergoing a severe case of post-book depression.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America in exchange for  a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the best book you have read (so far) this year? Do you know of any historical YA books taken place in the late 1800s?

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes by Randy Ribay // Gaming and Road Trips Galore

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, by Randy Ribay
Publication: October 16, 2015, by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, LGBTQ
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

As their senior year approaches, four diverse friends joined by their weekly Dungeons and Dragons game struggle to figure out real life. Archie's trying to cope with the lingering effects of his parents' divorce, Mari's considering an opportunity to contact her biological mother, Dante's working up the courage to come out to his friends, and Sam's clinging to a failing relationship. The four eventually embark on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to solve--or to avoid--their problems.

Told in the narrative style of Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMAN, AN INFINITE NUMBER OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES is at turns geeky, funny, and lyrical as it tells a story about that time in life when friends need each other to become more than just people that hang out.

My Thoughts:

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes is a lovely contemporary novel that embraces people that are currently being discriminated in the world today. It certainly embraces nerd culture, and how people can become social and talkative by finding something in the world that makes them want to speak, just as I have found blogging/reviewing as my voice being heard. Randy Ribay has written such an intriguing, fun, but realistic story with a gang of characters who each have their distinct personality that makes them, them. This is one of the better road trip novels I have read, definitely comparing to John Green's Paper Towns, except in this case, each of the characters who are tagging along on the trip are finding themselves, not just the protagonist. In fact, there really isn't one protagonist, every person—Archie, Mari, Dante and Sam—is a protagonist. Ribay focuses this novel on each character and how they develop into new people.

I received this one to review ages ago. I loved the cover from the first time I spotted it, and I just couldn't wait to pick it up and learn more about what Dungeons and Dragons is all really about, and why an ex-friend of mine really wanted to learn how to play it. Sci-fi related things like that are not really my type of activities to do, but I certainly enjoyed being tagged along as a reader and embrace the nerdiness coming out from each character in this case. I loved how there was a climax where each character found that inner peace; that was extremely important for me to find because I somehow knew that this would be the kind of book to showcase that exactly. 

This was about a heartbreak going on in a group of friends, but it secretly is actually about the development of each character after something goes wrong in each of their lives. Archie's father is gay, and he divorces his mother, which gets him depressed and feels like everything he has ever known is swept away from him. Mari's mother has cancer, and things get crazier when her mother gives her information about her real mother, since Mari was adopted. Dante has a personal struggle—he's gay and he doesn't know what to do because his strictly religious family does not approve. Sam's girlfriend breaks up with him after she moves across the country to Seattle. All together, they head on a road trip through all over the place to get to Seattle.

"She feels the centrifugal force pulling her into space. Her body rises from the ground, just barely at first, but then higher and higher. The grass she holds rips out of the ground, soil crumbling from the nests of tiny roots. She opens her hands. The grass clumps fall. Loose green blades flutter downward" (71).

As you can tell for that quote, this is such a poetic novel. Randy Ribay writes with such passion towards the topic, and I was so entertained because I loved the amount of diverse topics featured. We see discrimination, as Dante feels that people are looking at him differently because he is African American, and gay, at the same time. Then, Mari undergoes the struggle of her adoptive mother and how she doesn't know what to do with the current status of her life. Archie's father is gay, as mentioned before, and he struggles, too, knowing that his dad never really loved his mother in a real way. 

I loved Archie and Mari's relationship. There wasn't instant-love at all, and I loved how they relied on each other for personal help. Aw. THAT'S THE ROMANCE I'M LOOKING FOR. I find that we frequently are caught in romances that are too fake or too lovey-dovey, but Archie and Mari had this instant connection that I just saw as a real relationship. They didn't make out, they didn't go crazy at each other, it was just slow and beautiful, exactly in the way a bookworm like me (who does love slow-paced romance) would want something like this to become.

Road trip novels make me want to grab a map and run away. Not in a literal sense, but I just have this serious case of wanderlust that makes me want to go and find new cities, meet new people and have the time of my life. I loved reading about the different cities that the crew stopped in, especially Chicago (I love Chicago!) and the adventures they had there. You know, they took risks, made a change in their lives from the usual Dungeons and Dragons thing. 

I read this book because I wanted a similar situation to what it actually turned out to be. It was light but complex at the same time, where I was able to not make any predictions for the ending because it could turn out any way. Randy Ribay seems to have put so much effort reading into modern teenagers today and how they act, because this is the realest thing I have read for a long time. Many authors struggle to portray or write about characters who are teenagers because some of us are so different compared to teenagers of the past that it is just ruined. The book is, I mean. In this case, the characters were relatable and I couldn't stop feeling sorry for them and all of the pain that they had to suffer, internally especially. 

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes takes contemporary fiction, mixes it with real-life issues that many teenagers today struggle with constantly, mixes it with relatable characters and situations, and creates a great plot that I was so captivated to that I couldn't stop reading. It is a strong story that will make you want to turn your engine on and ride away, to who knows where? Most of all, it teaches us to not forget how to love.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the most relatable book you have read recently? What is your recent most favourite fictional couple?