Review: Wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



First, let me say that I love books with endings like this book has. There is nothing wrong with a cliffhanger, but there is something to be said about books that end in such a way that you would be happy with just the one book. You are happy with just the one book, but you want to read the second one simply because the first one was so wonderful. I don't feel forced into reading it because I want to know what happens next, I want to read it because I want to experience another one of Lauren DeStefano's beautiful stories.

Destefano is an amazing writer. Her tone is so classic and beautiful, very reminiscent of maybe a few Victorian classics. Her story was very deep and dark and sad.

I can't wait till the story starts getting into the mess with Housemaster Vaughn. I just know that he is going to do some sort of damage in the future. I really feel for Linden, he is just so fragile, but he can be strong when he wants to be. For some reason I felt this wall go up between me and the main character Rhine Ellery. I'm not sure if it was because I am not sure how to pronounce her name, or the fact that she tried so hard to disconnect herself from the basic life of the story. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed her character. That might sound weird, but I really loved her character. She felt like a grown "proper" lady in a 16 year old body. I just found her really interesting.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone. Although it is one of the darker young adult books I have read so far, I think that young adults as well as adults will enjoy reading it.



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Review: Darkness Becomes Her

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book almost got three stars, but I guess that I am really into the Greek myth stuff. The second half of this book was a fair amount of exciting, and it really bumped up the rating to 4 stars. The writing was nothing too special, and a lot of the first half of the book was pretty boring, but I liked it as a whole. It is definitely a gateway book, meaning reading it has developed my interest in other Greek myth fiction. I will also definitely read the next book, if only for the fact that Ari should be getting even more bad ass.



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Review: Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2)

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I must say, I do quite enjoy this book. The characters are extremely well developed, like I wouldn't have believed. From some of the one-star reviews, I was under the understanding that this would be a stale version of Twilight, which is already pretty stale. I like Twilight, in spite of its flaws, but the Fifty Shades series is no stale version of anything. There are plots, and they are exciting. There are characters who actually evolve and grow throughout the story.

As a reader, I appreciate the romance between Ana and Christian. Not because they love each other so much, or because they fell for each other in such a small time frame. I appreciate their love because it is raw. Despite the biggest secrets, Ana and Christian are unusually open and honest with one another, saying things to one another that most couples hide for years (maybe thinking it will soften the blow). They may argue a lot, but they put their feelings on the table, and they get stuff done. I have a deep respect for their relationship because words left unsaid will always be one of my biggest pet peeves.

Despite the fact that this is a fan fic of Twilight, I am in awe that James pulled this, from that. I expected overly libidinous sex scenes, and forcing things into canon territory, but I did not expect James to be so truthful. She is not trying to hide the fact that her main male character is creepy, possessive, controlling, 10 miles of messed up, and 20 miles of crazy. She is also not trying to force her main female to ignore those details. Things are dealt with, not just explained away, in this book. Harsh realities are met, not just dodged with a quick "I Love You", and because harsh realities are met head on, it makes the story so much more believable, the romance so much more passionate.

I don't read much exotic literature, and I am only 19, so I wouldn't know how to rate the sex scenes. They were pretty hot to me. If the writing was inadequate, I didn't notice, I hardly ever do. The small details pulled from Twilight were indeed "eye-roll worthy" but often enough made me giggle, and did nothing to detract from my reading experience. Sure, I felt that some of the character personalities were annoying at times, but honestly, show me a perfect character, and I'll show you five people who think otherwise. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

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Review: The Duff

The Duff by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, it was refreshing for sure.

Writing:
There was nothing too special about the writing. It was okay, just the usual contemporary young adult writing style. It was relate-able. I had fun reading through the point of view of the female protagonist, Bianca. She was a bit bitchy, and her expressions did seem a bit limited when it came to words, but overall, I couldn't really help but enjoy the tone that she brought to the story.

Characters:
Like I said, Bianca was a really interesting character. She was cynical and judgmental. She was so flawed, and sometimes she was ridiculous. But she was also loyal, smart, and a loving (no matter how much she denied it). She was really fun to read about, and throughout the book, I felt really close to her character.

Wesley's character, I really liked. This is a proper jerk, His personality wasn't just swept under the rug by the ever so popular "love changes a man". Love does not change people's personalities, it just makes it easier for two people to stand each other. The awesome thing about Wesley is that he wasn't suddenly revealed to be this prince charming, but it was revealed that there was more to him than just being a jerk. A very real layered character, instead of the popular "washable surface" characters. I wish I would have gotten a lot more back story on him, but that is probably me just finding him way too interesting to pass up more layers revealed.

Very nice supporting characters. They were all just as exciting as the main characters. I enjoyed them so much, that if Keplinger wrote companion novels for every character, I would read them all.

Story & Plot
Very well done! The main plot and the sub-plots, had me sticking around for a single sitting. I read the book in a little under a day, and anytime I took a break, I had to pry myself away. I would even come running back as soon as I finished my task. It was a fast paced read, very light, and packed with drama. Very good!

Basically:
I had a lot of fun with this book. This book has sex and inappropriate language in it, but I really want to recommend it to High school students. High school students can handle this. Keplinger likes to work learning experiences into her books, and I think it works out well. Learning good stuff + entertaining = A+. I would also recommend this to anyone else who enjoys contemporary ya novels, it could run with the best of them.


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Review: Shut Out

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, another refreshing novel from Kody Keplinger. I just loved this book. I am really getting lucky with my contemporary ya picks.

Keplinger has a really nice conversational tone to her writing that I really enjoy. It is very down to earth, and real, it definitely adds to the refreshing atmosphere.

I loved the characters. I seem to be able to really connect with Keplinger's characters, even if they drive me crazy, and believe me, they do. The main protagonist Lissa had me really frustrated, but in the way that a best friend might make me frustrated. I kept yelling, "Lissa, I love you, but chill out, Damn!" Cash was the cutest thing ever, but I really wanted to know more about him, he still feels like a mystery to me. I was really cold towards Randy, that...ugh! Ok, I am not going to rant about him, but I appreciate not feeling indifferent towards him. This might make me a bit masochistic, but I love when writers create characters that I can really hate, because I don't spend my hate on just anyone, they need to be proper dicks. The supporting characters did their jobs well. They supported the main characters, as well as the story. I adored Chloe and Ellen! All of the strike girls were really good minor characters as well.

The plot and how it finished out in the end, excellent. The characters learned throughout the story, and they learned a lot. I felt like everything that could have been addressed, was addressed. It was really well paced, and really fun to read.

Keplinger is a really amazing writer, and I just want to be on whatever committee that chooses the high school book lists, because this book should be on it. Shut up, I know, all the sex, but seriously, SERIOUSLY! This is what teenage girls are really thinking, I would know! If you are too thick headed and embarrassed to talk about it, then at least let teens read about it. Honestly Guys, stop trying to withhold good information!



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