Books Read in September 2012

1. Unraveling - Elizabeth Norris (445 pages)
2. Social Suicide - Gemma Halliday (277 pages)
3. Sweet Evil - Wendy Higgins (453 pages)
4. Sweet Evil Extra: Kaidan's POV - Wendy Higgins (14 pages)
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky (214 pages)
6. Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler (378 pages)
7. The Stefan Diaries: The Ripper (247 pages)

Books Read: 7
Books Read this Year: 60
My Favorite: Bittersweet, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sweet Evil
My Least Favorite: Unraveling
Books from Library: 4
Books I own: 2
Books Borrowed: 0
Reviews Posted: Unraveling, Social Suicide, Bittersweet

Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler

Title: Bittersweet

Author: Sarah Ockler

Release Date: January 3rd, 2012, Hardcover

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★★

 

Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life... and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last...

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I haven't written a review for a while so I'm sort of rusty. I just know that I won't be able to give this book the justice it deserves. I can't even tell you how wonderful and just down right awesome it is. This is what I wish all young adult contemporary was like. I also forgot how much I love Sarah Ockler's writing. It has been awhile since I read one of her books and it is just so unique and real.

Bittersweet tells the story of Hudson Avery. She is an ex-figure skater and the current Cupcake Queen of Watonka. She works at her mother’s diner Hurley's and tries to stay under the radar after her parent's divorce. One day she gets a letter in the mail about an Ice Skating competition for the prize of a scholarship. She starts to begin to dream about ice skating again and a way out of Watonka but with things getting in the way and her mother and friends depending on her she has to decide what is worth more.

Can I just say that this book made me wish that it was winter time. I started reading this just when it started to get cold where I live and it just made the reading experience much more great. I also was hungry for cupcakes, more specifically Hudson's cupcakes. Also there is a lot of ice skating in this book. For example: Hudson ice skates on a frozen Lake Erie. How awesome is that?! Sarah Ockler's writing was just so descriptive and so real. I felt like I was out on the lake with Hudson and Josh.

Let me now introduce you to Josh Blackthron. He is everything a love interest should be and the relationship between him and Hudson didn't seem rush or unrealistic but very real. That is how I felt about all the characters in this book. I feel like if I went to up-state New York and found a small town named Watonka then I would see Hudson and Josh at Hurley's. Anyways, Josh is the co-caption of the High school’s hockey team. He was just a great character and the relationship he had with Hudson was just fantastic. I really can't tell you why I like it so much but beside the fact that I just said; it seems real.

Hudson is such a funny and likable character to read from. Right from the first chapter I knew that Hudson would be someone that I would want to be friends with in real life. Even though she isn't the best friend to her friends. She is sort of a backstabber by accident. She never wants to treat her friends badly she just does without realizing it but at the end she does own up to her mistakes which makes her such a real and likable character to me! There is this one scene that made me laugh out loud that I just want to talk about because I still remember even though I finished the book a couple of days ago. Hudson is talking to Will about the hockey team and as Will is starting out the story, Hudson says, "Why does this seem like an episode of Friday Night Lights?" LOL. And that is just one of the many jokes that Hudson says during the book.

Overall, I loved, loved, loved Bittersweet. It has been a long time since I loved a contemporary book and I am happy that it was this one. This book is just special and wonderful to read. I highly recommend it. I just can't stop thinking about it and I couldn't stop reading it. I didn't want it to end. I remember when I got to the last chapter I felt sad. I wanted to erase the book from my mind so I could back and read the book again for the first time and experience all the feelings over again. This is definitely one of my favorite books of 2012 and of all time. Oh and by the way, don't read this book hungry and make sure you have come cupcakes near by. You will want them, trust me!

 

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★★

Ending: ★★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Waiting on Wednesday (28)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Breaking Point (Article 5, #2)

-Kristen Simmons

Release Date: February 5th, 2013

After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.

Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….

Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself. Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.

With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back?

My thoughts: I read Article 5 back in August and really, really liked it! I tend to just love dystopian books for some reason! I also love this cover! I can't to find out what will happen to Ember and Chase now. Article 5 had a huge plot twist towards the end and I can't wait to see how it will turn out in this book. I wonder where the story will be going from here. Sould be good! :)

Do you guys plan on reading this?



Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Haven't Finished (8)

This weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks Top Ten is:

SERIES I HAVEN'T FINISHED

1. The House of Night Series - P.C. & Kristin Cast
I use to love the House of Night series. I remember my friends and I reading these my sophomore year of high school. We hadn't just finished Breaking Dawn, you know from the Twilight Saga, and we found these at the bookstore and just loved them. I remember when I thought they started to go down hill. It was the third book Chosen. I still read them though. The last one I read the the seventh, Burned. I just haven't had time to read the other two that are out because there are books that I want to read more than those. Hopefully someday I will feel in the mood to read them.

 

2. The Iron Fey Series - Julie Kagawa

This has to be one of my all time favorite series. I loved all the books but still have yet to read the last one. I just don't want it too end! I keep putting it off. I do plan on reading it soon though so I can read the spin-off series about Ethan.

 

3. Morganville Vampire Series - Rachel Caine

There is just so many books in this series! I have only read the first four but feel like I will never finish this series. Do anyone know how many books that Rachel Caine plans to put out in this series. Don't get me wrong, I do like this series and think that they are good but I feel like there is too many. Especailly for them to start coming out in hardcover. I guess I will work slowly on this series for now.

 

4. Blue Bloods Series - Melissa De La Cruz

I started reading the Blue Bloods series about three years ago. I honestly don't remember the books that much. It seemed like there was a long release date from the fourth and the fifth book and I just never got around to picking it up. I did like the first four books in the series though I remember.  

 

5. Fallen Series - Kate Brian

I didn't like Fallen that much at all and people seem to write a lot of negative reviews about the upcoming books. I just feel like I wouldn't like them. I also don't remember what happened in Fallen that much regardless. Maybe when my TBR pile isn't so big I will try to work on this series again.

 

6. The Immortals Series - Alyson Noel

The last book that I read was Shadowland. I really wish that I could like this series. I do like it somewhat, but I don't know if I like it enough to continue. I just get so frustrated with ever event that happens to prevent them from being together. I probably will read the next book sometime though. I hate having a series left unfinished.

 

7. Percy Jackson - Rick Riordan

I hope that nobody hates me when I say this but I thought that the first Percy Jackson book was a little disappointing. I just had such high expectations and the book just fell short. I did like it, but just wasn't so great as I thought it was going to be. I will read the next books, just don't plan too anytime soon.

 

8. The Dark Divine - Bree Despain

I read the Dark Divine so long ago and loved and never got around to picking up the second. This has become a trend with me hasn't it? Lol. It has been so long that I would need to reread The Dark Divine before starting the next book and I just don't have time to do it. The guy who said the quote so many books, so little time really wasn't joking.

 

9. The Body Finder - Kimberley Derting

I really liked the Body Finder but I read Kimberley Derting's other book The Pledge and didn't like it at all. So now I am hesitant to pick up the next book. I hope that when I do pick it up that I will like it. I think that concept is really interesting and I do like mysteries. Have you guys read the second book? Did you like it?

 

10. Nightshade - Andrea Cremer
I am just so nervous to read Bloodrose! A lot of people loved it and a lot of people hated it. I don't want to hate it. I want to love it so much. I also don't want this fabulous series to end either. I do plan on reading it so I can read the prequel series Rift. Have you guys read Bloodrose? Do you think I should stop being a chicken and just read it? I think so too. Lol.

Showcase Sunday (9)

 

Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It was inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren. For more information about how this feature works and how to join, click here.

 

Bought:

The Diviners - Libba Bray

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

 

AND THEY ARE SIGNED WITH COOL CINDER SWAG.
 

 

From Library:

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

If I Lie - Corrine Jackson

Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler

 

I was going to go the Libba Bray signing last Wednesday but I got sick and had a big math exam that I had to study for so I didn't have a chance to go but the bookstore was nice enough to have Libba Bray sign my copy anyways! So when I went to the bookstore to pick it up on Friday night, there was another book signing going on. It was the Fierce Read's Panel that had several authors. I didn't have much money on me so I could only decide to get one book and I picked Cinder. So I got to meet Marissa Meyer. She was really nice and I even got some swag.

 

I also have gotten a few books at the library. I am so excited to read these! I am currently reading Bittersweet. I am about hundred pages and it is so fabulous. I can't tell you how much I love it. I can already tell that it is going to be one of my favorites just like Twenty Boy Summer. That is all for me this week. I am been somewhat lacking my blog recently. I have just been so busy with school and being sick. Hopefully that changes here soon. 

 

Post a comment and tell me what books you got this week!

Social Suicide - Gemma Halliday

Title: Social Suicide

Author: Gemma Halliday

Release Date: April 24th, 2012, Paperback

Publisher: HarperTeen

Group: Young Adult Literature

Rating:★★★★

 

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the "Herbert Hoover High Homepage" would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper's brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went . . . a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the homecoming queen-hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH's resident body finder, I'm stuck trying to prove that Sydney's death wasn't suicide.

I'm starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos...

************************************************************

Reading Social Suicide is like eating your favorite dessert. You just can't stop. I was so addicted to this book while reading it. I kept thinking about the characters and what I thought really happened with the murder that Hadley was investigating. The only thing that comes to mind when I think of these books is how fun they are. Sometimes it is nice to step away from the depressing deep books that just make you have so many feelings, which happens to me from time to time because I tend to become attached to characters. I did become attach to these characters but it is a different relationship. I feel so happy and there is the biggest smile on my face whenever I think about the gang in Social Suicide.

Social Suicide takes place right were Deadly Cool left off at. We have Hartley working for the school newspaper. There is a lot more funny jokes and intense scenes with Hadley and Chase. I just want them together so much! There is also her best friend Sam that comes up with a new slang word in this book: "Twittercide - the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting." I can't even tell you how many times I laughed out loud when Sam and Hartley would you the term twittercide. It is just so funny and clever.

Overall, if you haven't read these books yet I highly recommend. They are light and fun and will for sure make you laugh. I also love the titles to these books, "Deadly Cool" "Social Suicide". I can't help but wonder if there is going to be another book. Social Suicide did leave off on a minor cliff-hanger sort of. I would love for there to be another book!

 

Plot: ★★★★★

Characters: ★★★★★

Writing:★★★★

Ending: ★★★★

Cover: ★★★★★

Waiting on Wednesday (27)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Asunder (Newsoul, #2)

-Jodi Meadows

Release Date: January 29th, 2013

DARKSOULS
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

SHADOWS
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

LOVE
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

In this second book in the Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. Once again, Jodi Meadows explores the extraordinary beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy.

My thoughts: I read Incarnate awhile ago and was pleasently surprised by how different it was. It is something so weird but good at the same time. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. I really liked Ana and Sam. They were great characters and I can't wait to see what is going to happen to them next. This whole Newsouls thing is interesting and hope that Ana gets more answers about it in this book. Also look that cover! GORGEOUS :)

Do you guys plan on reading this?