Review: Eleanor and Park

“Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.

Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

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I was really surprised with my reaction to Eleanor and Park. I stayed up all night reading Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl but with this book I just couldn’t get that same feeling. I loved both the main characters, but I felt like I was reading two different story lines in one book. Eleanor’s home life is horrible, but we don’t ever get closure with her family. I felt like I was screaming at the decisions she was making in regards to her school, home, and romantic life with Park. I also noticed that it felt extremely rushed or something in the end. All of Eleanor’s relationships were just ended and I couldn’t understand why she was acting the way she was. Overall, I loved the connection both her and Park felt with each other, but the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry Rainbow.

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

“You’re mistaking bitter animosity for heartfelt affection.”

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

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Mara Dyer… I’ve heard so much about you, and I’m glad I was finally able to get my hands on this book. For parts of this novel I was very confused, but it all made sense in order to lead into the next book. I would not say that this book is a “thinker” book but it was good just to get lost in the story. I feel like the next books in the series will have more thinking parts. A lot of this book felt like it’s sole purpose was to lead in to the next book. I liked the characters, although the banter between Mara and her mom gets repetitive and exhausting at times. Give this one and chance and let me know what you think.

Review: All The Bright Places

“You are all the colors in one, at full brightness.”

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

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I had to give myself a week before writing up a proper review for this book. I think sometimes in life we find something that makes an impact on our life, and one of those things for me was All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I felt very connected with the characters, and I read this in one sitting. Now, this isn’t to mean that it was just a quick read. It was an amazing read. Finch is a character that stays with you for the long haul, and Violet is just as remarkable (see what I did there?). The subject may be a heavy one, but Jennifer handles it beautifully. I would suggest this book to anyone, especially young adults.

Review: Not Today, But Someday

“There’s not protocol for falling in love with someone. There’s no game plan to tell you when it’s appropriate to do certain things, say other things.”

Emi is heartbroken. She’s always believed in love, but what happens when she discovers her father is cheating on her mother. Emi must move schools. At her new school, she meets Nate. They develop a friendship that can stand the test of time.

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This is a prequel for a series but can be enjoyed before or after. I stumbled upon this book from BookBub and it was free for my nook. It was so good! And even though it was a novella, I found myself not being able to stop reading and staying up late to finish it! I can’t wait to continue on with the series! I absolutely loved the relationship between the characters, especially between minor characters as well. Would recommend to everyone, especially YA.

Review: Between Shades of Gray

“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.”

In Between Shades of Gray, we meet Lina, a 15 year old girl living in Lithuania. June 1941 her family is taken by the Soviets to live in a prison labor camp in Siberia. From the start Lina has hostility towards the soviets and even some of the people in her camp. She meets some people along the way who show her strength and courage like she has never seen. Lina works towards her freedom and seeing her Papa again. Will she get the chance?

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I LOVED this book! It’s a horrible reality of what happened during Stalin’s reign of terror, but it’s so beautifully written that it will reach hundreds of thousands of people and let it be known exactly what happened during this time. I connected with every character, including the “villain” characters and that is really rare for me. I will recommend this book to anyone I get a chance too. Only warning is that it contains some graphic violence and very little sexual content.