Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Every year it's the same. The football team and the soccer team continue with the rivalries that have been going on much, much longer than any of them can remember. It's been going on so long that they can't even remember why it started in the first place. The girlfriends of the players are tired of it though. Every year they are cast aside for the rivalry. Example, if a girl had a date with a football player, he might cancel on her to go do something stupid like toilet paper a soccer player's house. Lissa vows to change this, so she gets together a group of the girlfriends where they take an oath. They say that the guys won't get any action from them until the rivalry stops. It seems simple enough, until it escalates into a full on, guys-vs-girls battle instead.

I loved the humor of this book! It was hilarious and it made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. The plot is interesting enough, and the author takes a light tone that makes it easy to follow. I loved how it was modeled after a Greek play, especially since that's what we're studying in English right now.

However, I found it to be a bit unrealistic. First of all, how many high school relationships last over a year? Well, being a high-schooler, let me tell you. A year is a longggggg time. So it seems a bit odd that like all the players have such long lasting relationships lol. And also, how desperate the guys are for sex. Like it's almost at an extreme haha. But anyway, besides these few unrealistic qualities of the book, I found It quite enjoyable.

Lissa, I didn't like too much. She makes me want to smack her so she can realize what she's doing and what she's missing out on and all the bad choices she's making! She is basically just clueless to everyone else's feelings around her due to her controlling attitude. Randy kinda disappointed me, because he seemed really sweet and I actually had liked him. Until...... well I won't ruin it for you ;). Cash was adorable, I approve of him haha. And Chloe is awesome. I liked her personality!

I liked how the book wasn't REALLY about romance. The romance was more on the side, and even though the book is about a sex strike, it's also about friendship, girl power, and discovering yourself. Points to Lissa for becoming a better person in the end!

It's a bit forward about sex, but not graphic or anything. So if it will make you uncomfortable I don't recommend it. But for anyone else, it will be a light, entertaining, fun read :) I found it entertaining and enjoyable.  4 out of 5 stars.

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin (Birthright #1)

When I heard that the author or Elsewhere had a new book out, it was on my to-read list instantly. Elsewhere was one of my favorite books when I was like in 5th/6th grade and I've probably read it on 5 different occasions. I had also recommended it to my friends and my mom, that's how much I liked it. So you can see how excited I was to be reading something new from Gabrielle. Then Queen Taco recommended it to me, so then I was like, "I have to actually read this... like now."

All These Things I've Done takes place in 2083, when chocolate has been banned, caffeine is illegal, as are a number of other things. You have to have vouchers to buy pretty much everything. You even have to pay postage to send an email. New York is full of crime and suspicion. Anya Balanchine, our protagonist, is a simple 16 year old. Well, maybe not so simple considering her deceased father was involved in major crimes. All Anya wants is to take care of her family, go to school, avoiding her ex. It's all been going okay for her, until one day her ex ends up in the hospital and Anya is charged for "attempted murder". And after that, she knows her life will never be the same.

When I first read the summary, I thought this was going to be a dystopian read. And for some reason I'm really into dystopia so I was kinda excited haha. But this novel isn't dystopia at all. It's actually more crime and mystery, with romance, friendship, family, adventure, and science fiction. Honestly, this book covers a million different genres and I think that a lot of people could enjoy it.

The best thing about this book is probably the characters. Anya is so real and I can completely relate with her. I love how she has flaws, and you can clearly see them when you read, but yet somehow you're always on her side because you can relate to her. She's smart and easily loved. As for her best friend Scarlet, wow. I wish I could have a best friend as loyal as she is. She's seriously awesome, and I don't think Anya really deserves her forgivingness and everything lol. Her younger sister Natty is adorable, and Leo is so cute and you really just have to love him. And Win? OMG I love him <3 Almost as much as Sam from the Shiver series haha. Win is soooo cute!!!! Argh Anya, she really needs to snatch him up! The characters of this book are very well developed and easy to relate to, you find yourself loving them all.

The plot was quick, intriguing, and very unique. The romance was almost like a Romeo and Juliet thing, starcrossed lovers and all. The ending, was a little sad for me though. First of all, I didn't know this was a series until I was about 50 pages from the end and I was like "I don't think this is all going to be solved so it must be a series!" lol so I was a little sad :( because I wanted more. And Win.......

Well, I wouldn't want to give away anything I'm not supposed to haha. So, I recommend this book. There's a little bit of something for everyone, and you won't be dissapointed. 5 out of 5 stars. I'm looking forward to reading the next one :)

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Alright so this is going to be a quick post because I have to get back to my homework :P Super fun right...

Erin Blackwell is working long hours in a New York coffee shop. She has a goal to become a romance novelist and is paying her own way through college in hope. It's tedious, but she holds onto the goal of an internship to keep herself going. It wasn't always like this for Erin, she lived in Kentucky and her family owned many horses. She used to have lots of money and get anything she wanted. Then, Erin told her grandmother that she wanted to be a romance novelist instead of being a business major so she could run the horse farm. Erin's grandmother disapproved of this, so she cut Erin off. She wouldn't support Erin's dream job, so if she wanted to get somewhere, she would have to do it herself. To make matters worse, her grandmother gives the stable boy, Hunter, Erin's inheritance. So Hunter is the one who is getting designer clothes and a free ride to college. Erin had a complicated relationship with Hunter in the past, and she writes a fantasy romance story  about him for her English class. Everything is fine, until he walks through the door and everything changes.

I loved the way the author wrote, I can't really explain it but its so lyrical and like the words were individually chosen perfectly. I liked Erin, but she did have a few flaws, and I loved Hunter. They were REAL characters to me because I saw bits of them in myself and other people I know.

The plot is interesting, and I loved how the author included the short stories throughout the book.

And the ending. Ohmygod, I LOVED it. I won't give anything away, but I think it's worth it to stick it out to the end in this one. It was really, really cute. It made me wanting more, but I'm glad it ended when it did.

I also liked how this story wasn't really a "Love Story". It had romance in it, but its really about Erin learning about herself. I love when you think books are supposed to be about romance, but its much more than that. There's also a downfall to that though. Because Erin is spending so much time figuring out herself, her and Hunter are never really on good-terms with each other, which kinda sucks because the reader wants them together. You just want to yell at them "Get over yourselves, move along with your life, and fall in love!!!"

Haha but anyway, it's a cute story. Not the most capturing story, but one that will keep you going. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Lost Voices (Lost Voices #1) by Sarah Porter

Luce has lived with her alcoholic uncle ever since her father went out to sea during a storm and never returned. Her mother died a long time ago, and she is very alone. She doesn't have any friends and chooses to spend her time alone. She dreads coming home to her uncle, unknowing of what he might do to her. One night, when he uncle is especially drunk and tries to rape her, she runs away and is contemplating jumping off a cliff into the ocean. Before she can think any more, she falls off the cliff. Instead of dying, she is turned into a mermaid who now has a home with a tribe of mermaids who eagerly accept her. These mermaids are all "lost girls", who have been cruelly mistreated. That's why they have become mermaids, so that that they can sing to ships and get revenge on the evil things humans have done to them. Luce has an extraordinary voice and quickly becomes second-in-command to the beautiful, mysterious queen Catarina. Luce is thrilled to have a home now, but she questions the morality of killing humans.

Lost Voices  was captivating! I loved the world they lived in, and I love mermaids, and I loved the whole idea of the story. Especially how they were like EVIL mermaids, and had such a dark side.

The writing is beautiful and haunting at the same time. It's cruel but lovely. I love the descriptions and the whole imagination part of this ocean world. And thumbs up to the author for the "larva". Even though I know they were just baby mermaids and I have no problems with babies, I still felt just as repulsed reading about them as the mermaids felt. The characters are fascinating and mysterious, and I wish the author would have focused on them as well as she had focused on the story. The plot is a bit slow, the exciting parts are mainly at the end. Argh, why do authors do this to us haha.

However, the ending ruined Lost Voices for me. How, you might ask? Well there basically was no ending. I almost felt like there was supposed to be some missing chapter that had fallen out of my book. The ending is a promise for another book, but I the problems of the novel are unsolved and a real let-down. I was very disappointed with how the story ended. Not because I'm impatient and I want to know what happens next (well, that too), but because I believe that books in series should also be a good stand alone novel. Like, if someone wanted to read the first book in a series, they would find a complete story and a promise for more. I felt like I had a missing ending and a promise for more.

The cover is beautiful <3 But if that mermaid is supposed to be Luce, the author didn't read the story because Luce has very short hair. And I adore the title. It goes perfectly with the story.

I really did like this story, but I think I would probably recommend the series in a whole rather that just this book. Because I liked the concept and the writing, but not so much the plot rate and the ending. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this trilogy :) This is a 4.5 star book for the overall concept, but  a 3.5 out of 5 stars for me because of the ending, the rate the plot progressed, and how I wanted more out of the characters. And I'm crossing my fingers for a male character in the next book! **cough** merman **cough**

Happy Reading! :)

Beastly: Movie vs. Book

So, I just watched Beastly and decided that I would do a comparison of the movie vs. book version. This will be kinda quick because I have to take a shower soon lol.

First of all, the obvious difference was Kyle. Kyle isn't "beastly" he just looks like he was in a gruesome knife fight and got some cool tribal tattoos and piercings at some point. And Lindy isn't "homely beautiful", she's just pretty haha. There were some plot changes, like the whole beginning! There were a few things that made me a little angry like "OMG how could you change that!" like Kyle's new name. Was there really a point to changing it from Adrian to Hunter? What was the big deal?

The movie would probably be pretty good if you saw it on it's own, but compared to the book it's nowhere near as amazing.

I did like Alex Pettyfer's acting though, I think he played a GREAT Kyle. And especially the anger and frustration part. And of course, after reading the book, you feel like you got absolutely nothing out of the movie because they took out huge, giant chunks of the book from the story, but hey, they have to fit it all in in an hour and a half.

If you plan on watching this movie, I would recommend you read the book first, because its much, much better and more romantic. And then, see the movie, but prepare yourself for a little disappointment. Because Alex Flinn's writing is pretty damn good.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

At one point of this past summer, I saw the cover of this book on GoodReads and I said "Oh, I remember I wanted to read that!" and then after I got the book I was like "I could have sworn that I read this book" but I couldn't quite remember what happened. At about page 200, I realized that I HAD read the book. Wow, so smart of me!! haha

So, in Twenty Boy Summer there's Anna. Anna's best friends with Frankie, and her brother Matt. Anna has been in love with Matt ever since she was 10, and finally at her 15th birthday party, he kisses her. Life is perfect for Anna. She and Matt don't want to upset Frankie with the news, so they decide it would be best if Matt told her himself when they got back from their California trip. Then, their lives take a tragic twist. Matt dies in a car crash because of a heart problem that no one knew he had. Anna never tells Frankie about her and Matt because it was "their secret". So she goes on with her life, secretly hurting. Frankie changes and so does Anna. A year later, it’s time for Frankie’s family’s annual California trip and Anna is invited along. Anna and Frankie plan for the A.B.S.E. (Absolute Best Summer Ever) and plan on meeting 20 new boys between the two of them. Anna reluctantly agrees, even though she has no desire to meet anyone because she’s still not over Matt.

Twenty Boy Summer broke my heart. I was so devastated reading about how Anna loses her love and has conflicting emotions regarding Frankie, love in general, and herself. I connected with this book so personally because I have a boyfriend, and I would be so so so heartbroken if anything happened to him. I feel her pain, and really felt like I understand Anna.  

Frankie was a little bit difficult to relate to. She and Anna are supposed to be best friends, but I don’t know how Anna puts up with her. I guess their duo needs a leader and a follower, and that leader is definitely Frankie. She pushes Anna into things, forces her to look a certain way, lies to her, and is oblivious to the feelings she had for Matt for SIX years. She seems a bit like a diva, but I think she’s also misunderstood. She’s just grieving like everyone else, but her grief is in a different way. She has her soft spots, though and I grew to like her despite her flaws.

I loved pretty much all the characters, and Matt. The cover is beautiful, and goes along with the story perfectly. The only thing that’s a little bit iffy is the title. If you read the book, you understand it and you love it. But if you don’t, it sounds kinda… sleazy, right? But anyway, I would definitely recommend this book, especially to readers who like Sarah Dessen. I absolutely adored this story, even though it was a little sad for me. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s a good kind of heart break because you know everything’s going to be okay in the end. 5 out of 5 stars.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Beastly is a modern-day re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. If you aren't familiar with the story, I will summarize it for you:

Kyle is rich and spoiled. He's good looking, and his father's a hot-shot, which let's him get away with pretty much anything. He invites an "ugly" girl to the dance, planning on standing her up, which is his mistake. The girl turns out to be a "witch" that casts a spell on him. She turns him into a beast to teach him a lesson about beauty. At the dance, Kyle had given the corsage he had bought for his date (who rejected it because it wasn't expensive or pretty enough for her) to the girl at the ticket booth. The witch recognizes this kindness, and then gives Kyle a chance to break the spell. She says that if he can get a girl to fall in love with him even with his appearance, and if he loves her back, and they kiss within 2 years, the spell will be broken.

My god, I loved this story. I love the story of Beauty and the Beast, and the morals of it. And I loved how the author was able to translate all of that into a modern-day retelling of this classic story. I disliked Kyle in the beginning, he was sooo full-of-it. But after a while, I really started to feel for him. I actually started to like him and want for the spell to be broken. I love it when authors can change your mind about a character! The writing was excellent, I think that Flinn captured the teenage mind of Kyle perfectly, and made him so real. I loved the morals, the characters, the writing, the plot, the romance, and the re-telling.

I wanted to read this book because I heard it was going to be turned into a movie, and I wanted to read the book first. I had read Cloaked by Alex Finn, and I really liked the whole modern-day fairy tale idea. Soo I decided to read Beastly. I would definitely recommend it if you plan to see the movie, or you like Beauty in the Beast, or you like fantasy, or romance. Basically, there's something in it for everyone!

The only thing that bothered me when I was reading this book was the cover. The book I had was the newly published one:

I don't know about you, but Kyle doesn't look very "beastly". In fact, I think that Alex P is still very attractive. And Linda isn't supposed to be conventionally beautiful, but I don't think Vanessa is really doing it for me because, let's all face it. She's pretty no matter what!

I plan on reviewing the movie Beastly once I see it, and compare it to how well I think it followed the story, which was better, etc. So stay tuned for that!

I would recommend Beastly to just about everyone, and I think it deserves 5 out of 5 stars !!!!!

Happy Reading!!!

<3