Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Pages: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
From goodreads.com: What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them all at once?
Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved: five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control.
As soon as I heard the concept of this book I was intrigued. A girl writes letters to the boys she's loved when she doesn't want to love them anymore. It's how she closes her chapters with them. She seals them, addresses them (big mistake!), and puts them in a hatbox in her closet so she can move on. Well, the letters get mailed and chaos ensues. Lara Jean has to start doing damage control because one of those letters was for her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. So she does what anyone would do - gets a fake boyfriend and lies through her teeth that she doesn't have feelings for Josh anymore.
This is where the book starts to lose me a little. Everyone keeps telling Lara Jean that Peter (the fake boyfriend) is bad news for some reason? He plays sports? Is incredibly good looking? Hangs with the popular crowd? I don't really know what everyone's problem was with him because he was never anything but good to Lara Jean and her little sister, Kitty. He never tried to take advantage of their fake dating situation and no one ever gave a specific reason for not liking him (except for Josh who was totes jealous). The other thing that felt off to me was that Lara Jean felt very young to me. She was supposed to be a junior in high school, but always felt more to me like a freshman. It might just be that she spent so much time with her sisters and Josh that she didn't know very many other people or wasn't comfortable being social with them, but it comes off as her being younger.
Even with these snags, To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a solid contemporary read from Han and would appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Eulberg, and Jennifer E. Smith.
June 19, 2014
June 17, 2014
Top Ten Tuesday (69)
Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This week's topic is
Usually my summer TBR
lists are full of contemporary books that take place at the beach. Y’all should know by now I love a good
theme. This year, though, so many of the
books I’m looking forward to do not fit that mold – and I'm trying to be okay with that.
1.
Isla and
the Happily Ever After – Stephanie Perkins
It
feels like I’ve been waiting my whole
ever after for this freaking book. I
can’t wait for it to finally grace my shelves.
From the glittering streets
of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for
hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their
senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the
heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.
Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.
Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.
2.
Silver
Shadows – Richelle Mead
Gimmie. Gimmie now.
How is anyone that read Fiery
waiting patiently for this book? Because
I passed patient a couple miles back.
In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line
to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.
Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.
For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .
Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.
Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.
For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .
Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.
3.
Glory
O’Brien’s History of the Future – A.S. King
One
of the only books that I refused to leave BEA without.
Graduating from high school
is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for
what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old,
and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same
way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing
new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to
many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees
ahead of her is terrifying.
A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.
A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.
4.
Famous in
Love – Rebecca Serle
I’ve
always wanted to read Rebecca Serle, but just haven’t gotten there yet. Luckily I picked this one up at BEA (and got
to meet her!) and I can’t wait to check it out!
Meet Paige Townsen, Rainer
Devon, and Jordan Wilder…
When Paige Townsen, a young unknown, gets cast in the movie adaptation of a blockbuster book series, her life changes practically overnight. Within a month, Paige has traded the quiet streets of her hometown for a crowded movie set on the shores of Maui, and is spending quality time with her co-star Rainer Devon, one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive. But when troubled star Jordan Wilder lands the role of the other point in the movie’s famous love triangle, Paige’s crazy new life gets even crazier.
In this coming-of-age romance inspired by the kind of celeb hookups that get clever nicknames and a million page views, Paige must figure out who she is – and who she wants – while the whole world watches.
When Paige Townsen, a young unknown, gets cast in the movie adaptation of a blockbuster book series, her life changes practically overnight. Within a month, Paige has traded the quiet streets of her hometown for a crowded movie set on the shores of Maui, and is spending quality time with her co-star Rainer Devon, one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive. But when troubled star Jordan Wilder lands the role of the other point in the movie’s famous love triangle, Paige’s crazy new life gets even crazier.
In this coming-of-age romance inspired by the kind of celeb hookups that get clever nicknames and a million page views, Paige must figure out who she is – and who she wants – while the whole world watches.
5. Jessica Darling’s It List #2: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to
Friends, Foes & Faux Friends - Megan McCafferty
Loved
the original series, loved the first of this series, I’m sure I’ll love this
one too.
Jessica Darling is getting
the hang of seventh grade -- finally! While her old BFF, Bridget, is busy
talking (nonstop) about her new boyfriend, Burke, Jessica tries to fit in with
her new friends, Sara, Manda, and Hope. The IT List instructions from her sister,
Bethany, and an epic slumber party may help Jessica secure her spot in the cool
clique, but does she even want it?
6. The Darkest Part of the Forest –
Holly Black
Anything
by Holly Black is an automatic must read.
Children can have a cruel,
absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of
themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a
knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s
been made for.
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.
Until one day, he does…
As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.
Until one day, he does…
As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?
7. Forever – Maggie Steifvater
I
started this series a million years ago and now that I have Sinner, I really need to finish it.
then.
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.
now.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.
forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.
I
loved Throne of Glass so much and somehow I never got to the second one. That will change this summer.
From the throne of glass
rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena
Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from
loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she
serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
9. Guy in Real Life –
Steve Brezenoff
Another BEA acquisition and it sounds awesome.
It is
Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark
street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal,
and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and
Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up,
continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.
But they don't.
This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.
But they don't.
This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.
10. Tape – Steven Camden
Yet another BEA find, and let me tell you, I’m
an eighties baby - the way to my heart is definitely through cassette tapes.
Record a
voice and it lasts forever…
In 1993, Ryan records a diary on an old tape. He talks about his mother’s death, about his dreams, about his love for a new girl at school who doesn’t even know he exists.
In 2013, Ameliah moves in with her grandmother after her parents die. There, she finds a tape in the spare room. A tape with a boy’s voice on it – a voice she can’t quite hear, but which seems to be speaking to her.
Ryan and Ameliah are connected by more than just a tape.
This is their story.
In 1993, Ryan records a diary on an old tape. He talks about his mother’s death, about his dreams, about his love for a new girl at school who doesn’t even know he exists.
In 2013, Ameliah moves in with her grandmother after her parents die. There, she finds a tape in the spare room. A tape with a boy’s voice on it – a voice she can’t quite hear, but which seems to be speaking to her.
Ryan and Ameliah are connected by more than just a tape.
This is their story.
So
that’s what I’ll be reading this summer, after I finish The Mortal Instruments
(and The Infernal Devices – what have I gotten myself into?) What are you excited to read this summer?
June 9, 2014
Top Ten Tuesday (68)
Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This week's topic is
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD TOPIC.
The books I’ve been reading this year have been amazing. How do I only pick 10? Looking through my books, especially my five
star books on goodreads, I’m struck by how DIFFERENT they all are. These people talking shit about YA and saying
that they’re simple stories with happy endings need to check themselves because
that’s not what I’m finding. At all.
Afterparty – Ann
Redisch Stampler
A crazy, twisty friendship story that begins and ends with a
plunge off of a rooftop.
Where the Stars Still
Shine – Trish Doller
A girl who was kidnapped by her mother at a very young age comes
to live with the family she never knew.
Vengeance – Megan Miranda
An accident causes Delaney to be able to sense when deaths
occur before they happen, or could it be that death is now following her? (Bonus: best friends in love)
Some Girls Are –
Courtney Summers
You want a mean girl book?
You’ve freaking got one. What
happens when the meanest of mean girls turn on one of their own? It’s not pretty, but it’s one hell of a book.
The Scar Boys –
Len Vhlaos
Punk rock. A road
trip. Scars. An awesome journey told through Harbinger
“Harry” Jones’s college application essay.
We Were Liars – E.
Lockhart
You’ve seen the description, right? If
anybody asks you how it ends, just LIE.
The twist is so worth it.
The Impossible Knife
of Memory – Laurie Halse Anderson
Anderson always gives an amazing look into the lives of
people doing their very best just to survive in the crappy situation they’re
in.
Nearly Gone – Elle
Cosimano
A YA book about a serial killer. That’s basically all you
have to tell me. Well, it’s not about
the serial killer, but it is about the girl the killer’s framing for their
crimes. Awesome.
Since You’ve Been Gone
– Morgan Matson
What happens when your best friend disappears for the
summer, leaving only a list of crazy things she wants you to do in her
dust? If you’re Emily you attempt to do
the things on the list, finding an awesome group of people along the way.
Rebel Belle –
Rachel Hawkins
You know what I love more than ass kicking girls? Ass kicking girls in debutante gowns. Add in really cool Paladin mythology and I’m totally
head over heels for Rebel Belle.
There you go – the best books I’ve read so far this
year. And the year’s only half over. There’s still so much to look forward to: SILVER
SHADOWS. ISLA. Come at me y’all. What can you guys recommend that I’ll love as
much as these?
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