Kiss Of Life (Generation Dead #2)

*Spoilers......and overall uninteresting if you haven't read Generation Dead*
After Adam is killed by Pete, a zombie hater, he returns to life.  Phoebe  feels love and guilt that Adam died saving her.  Since Adam is techincally still walking around, Pete was not convicted of murder.  Phoebe spends a lot of time with Adam since she was told that love brings the undead back faster.  Adam struggles with simple movement and speech.  The rights of the undead are being tried.  Groups are out to see the zombies returned to complete death or to do scientific research on them.

I could go on and on but the book really wasn't as good as the first one.  I was excited to pick this book up to see what happened with the zombie love triangle between Phoebe and Adam and Tommy.  I wish I had only checked it out from the library instead of purchasing it.  It took forever for the book to go anywhere.  Not until the very end is there very much action but it felt unfinished.  I hate second books that are merely a bridge to book three.

I will definitely read the next book in the series, "Passing Strange", because it has one of the better characters, Karen, a zombie sometimes passing as human.  By the end of the book we are unsure what has happened to her.  I have the feeling that there will be loose ends even as the series wraps up.  I also have suspicions about what will happen next and will be glad to have everything explained.

Rating 3 Meh.......
Rating PG 13 Death, zombies, murder, torture, language.

Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors #1)

If you have ever needed external motivation to beef up your food storage......here it is.  It heightened my naturally high anxiety level to 'frantic'.  I plan to begin stock piling wood, asprin, batteries, fuel, canned fruit and veggies, and canned chicken, like nobody's business.  And I am beginning to think that my vaulted ceiling was a mistake.  It won't hold in enough heat when the ash comes.  I'm getting ahead of myself.....

Teenager Miranda is your run of the mill girl.  She worries about blog stalking her Olympic crush. She's a little shallow. She wants less homework and worries about her changing friendships.  Then a once a life time meteor collision with the moon goes from block party atmosphere to apocalyptic.  The moon is pushed closer to the Earth causing it's gravitation to spur one natural disaster after another.  No longer is Miranda worried about which sport to play or the fact that she is growing apart from her childhood friends.  Survival is at the forefront.  Sacrifice, starvation, desolation, and death quickly take the place of free spirited American life.  Miranda captures it all in journal entries.

This is a superb work of post-apocalyptic fiction.  It is so believeable that you can't decide whether to keep reading or start hoarding.  It is very simply written and a tad slow at the beginning.  The simplicity makes it scarier on one hand.  The sense of desperation and grueling day to day survival is vivid.  And then sometimes I felt like the simplicity also took away.  I didn't get the sense of urgency that I think would exist during a crisis.  That took it down a point for me.  Also, I am now realizing......hello! Where was your weapon stock pile? How were they going to defend their wood, asprin, and canned chicken for Pete's sake. That part is so unrealistic I can't believe I forgot it was one of the point deductors. And I just have to put in my 2 cents....I realize the author can write any old thing she wants and if I were to author a book I could splatter my opinions everywhere....but I didn't like the Conservative slamming, from President bashing (which granted I would do if the President in the book I wrote were a so Liberal he was suffocating) to making Christians look like Kool-Aid sipping nut jobs. I think I may have been more forgiving if this book wasn't aimed at a younger audience. Just my opinion.



Rating 4
Rating PG 13  Crisis situations, death, destruction, scarey situations, talk of promiscuity.

Rumors A Luxe Novel

Is it wrong to swoon over a cover of a book so much that you don't care what takes place inside?  I would love to put on this blood red frosting and walk right into New York elite society 1899.

Spoilers if you haven't read The Luxe.

Elizabeth has gone to meet Will in a very underdescribed manner....out West.  Diana is hot for Henry.  Henry is hot for Di.  The fact that Henry was engaged to Diana's dead sister is keeping them apart.  Penelope is a hot mess as far as I am concerned.  Her kitty claws are out and ready to capture Henry.  Lina, the personal maid that Elizabeth fired is on the loose and vying for a place in a society she has envied her whole life.

I was completely caught up in The Luxe.  This book was a severe disappointment.  I quickly tire of the intrigue, gossip, backstabbing and jealousy.  I just want the people in love to get together.  The surprise ending was a nightmare.........a serious, serious nightmare which I don't understand.  And it will lead me to pick up the next book as soon as I can.

Rating  3  I HATED the end of this book.  It magnified how in need the rest of the book was. 
Rating PG mature themes but not entirely dirty

Spirit Bound (A Vampire Academy Novel #5)

If I haven't mentioned before.....I really hate the pictures on these books.  The people are not that hot and they are too old. 
Well, somehow I have submerged myself right into another love triangle.  I fall for it every time but I am getting REALLY tired of it.  Dimitri is still Strigoi and still alive after Rose failed to kill him.  She has returned to the Academy in time to graduate and become a guardian.  During this time she has promised Adrian to give a fair shot to a relationship with him.  The whole cast of gradutates go to court to await their new stations in life.
Rose has hatched a plan to use Lissa's spirit magic to somehow change Dimitri from Strigoi back to dhampir.  She needs information from the one person claiming to have already worked this magic.  This includes breaking an enemy out of a secure Moroi prison.
There are lots of side stories.  The book was entertaining as usual but by the time I reached the surprise ending and realized that this was NOT going to end the series I was.......perturbed to say the least.  I don't know how much more I can take of Rose not being settled in a relationship.  I want her to be with both Adrian and Dimitri......this seems to be a running theme in my life, er well, my literary life. 
The side stories were good.  The romance went up a notch.  The mysterious ending left me intruguied but praying that the next book will put an end to it all.  And finally, getting a little sick of the love triangle angle.

Rating 4  I will fully admit this is due to the emotion I felt over Dimitri, the gladness I felt over Rose and Adrian hooking up, and the intriguing ending.
Rating R  Very strong language for teen fiction including multiple uses of the F word, sexual situations, smoking, alcohol consumption by teens, contraception.

The Luxe

I have heard this series likened to Gossip Girl.  Since I have no idea what that is I can't say one way or  the other.  I suspect it wasn't always a flattering comaprison though.  Either way.......I have to admit up front that I liked this book.  Originally I was attracted to the cover like a child to a chocolate bar.  The dress is phenominal!  I still put off picking it up and reading it for a very long time......but like anything pink and glittery, I will eventually sucumb.
Elizabeth Holland is at the top of the richie rich game in New York elite society 1899.  She is in love with the stable boy.  She is engaged to Henry Schoonmaker; rich, handsome, playboy.  Liz's bestie, evil biddy wrapped in scarlet, Penelope Hayes.....wants her finely sharpened claws dug into Henry.  Liz's little sis Diana is in love with the Henry that no one else sees.  Not a one of them is going to get what they want. 
I can admit this is a fluff piece.  Yet I really connected with the heartfelt desire to have what you can't.  I am not kidding, I even shed a tear......well a few.  Yes, it was pool side and I do consider this light reading.  But I did feel strongly about the girls.....the saner two....having to watch while what they wanted more than anything slipped from their fingers. 

Rating 4.......I know, sort of fluffy for a 4 but I tell you, I'm in it for the desire.
Rating PG 13  Sneaking off to the stables and the green house, or one of the many kitchens in your mansion for a tryst gets you a PG 13.  It wasn't salacious really or even well described but I wouldn't want my 10 year old to read this even though she is literate enough.

The Dead-Tossed Waves

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

Years have passed since Mary left the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  She lives at the edge of the ocean, caring for the lighthouse and the beach.  Her own daughter, Gabry, is not as daring and adventurous as Mary.  Gabry wants nothing more than to be safe and stay in her small seaside town with her new love Catcher.

As many teens are prone to do, Gabry follows her friends outside of the barriers that keep the village safe from the Mudo.  When a Breaker attacks the group of friends, turning many into the undead, Gabry flees to the safety inside of the barriers.  Catcher is contaminated with a Mudo bite.  The ones not 'turned' are captured by the Recruiters and locked up to await punishment for endangering the whole community.

Mary decides it is time to go back to the Forest and reclaim the past she left behind.  Gabry, too afraid to follow her mother, stays behind.  Gabry wonders why she can't be brave like her mother and adventerous like her friends.  When she finds out Catcher is still alive and outside of the barriers, but contaminated with the virus that will turn him into an undead, Gabry tries to find the inner gumption to leave the community and brave the dangers outside of the barriers for the boy she always saw herself loving.

At the beginning of the book I felt a little like I wasn't reading a sequel.  The unconsecrated are now called Mudo, meaning 'mute'.  The fast Mudo are called Breakers.  You turn Breaker if there are not enough Mudo around when you are infected.  I didn't feel like these were covered very well.  I felt like I walked into the middle of a conversation.  Then the more I thought about it, I realized that this was many years after the first book and it took place in a society that knew more about the zombies. 

I would have like to delve into the reason for the zombies and how the rest of the new civilization worked.  I do however LOVE this author's writing style and the way she puts the words together.  She uses very descriptive words in a way that I would not think to put them together, but then somehow you understand exactly what she was trying to evoke.

I am pretty sure that I marked a lot of quotes but now that I am looking at my markers I see that my kidlets have pulled most of them out:(

"His words cut into me, his desires and dreams mingling with my own, throwning at me everything I've lost.  Everything that will never be mine."

Gabry's life strays completely from the narrow path she saw for herself in the future and she miraculously steps onto it with bravery that I don't know if I could muster.

Rating 4  Great, great writing style.  I was still interested in the Mudo virus and the society that was built up after the Return, which I didn't get many answers to.
Rating PG  No language or sexuality really.  Just some sensual kissing and peril.

Dramarama

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Two teens from small town Ohio dream of making it big on stage.  Demi is gay and black and determined to leave small town forever.....leave behind what small town expects him to be and what his parents grit their teeth and bear.  Sadye (Sarah) can't wait to leave behind being a nobody, that nobody understands.  So the two bestfriends audition for summer drama camp. 

Once they make it to Wildewood Academy; one of them sees their dreams quickly coming to fruition while the other realizes that though their love for the arts makes their heart beat, they might not have what it takes to be the big star. 

There's lots of love, laughter, singing, dancing, and a strain on true friendship.  If you have not had much experience with musicals or theater, you may struggle with the references to the multitude of productions spoken about.  At the end the author leaves a list of movies and a playlist that the characters like.

Rating 3  Loved the musical and theater parts.  Sweet book about owning who you are and making it work.  Worth a quick read.

Rating PG 13  Underage drinking, homosexuality, sexual references.

Impossible

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

The song 'Scarborough Fair' takes the starring role as a curse.  Lucy is a regular girl living with her foster parents.  Her life takes a dramatic change;  her crazy birthmother shows up just as Lucy is heading off to her first prom, a strange and enchanting man shows up for dinner at her parent's house, her long time neighbor/best friend Zach, moves into her house, and her prom date becomes posessed and rapes her.
Lucy realizes that the song 'Scarborough Fair' isn't just a song her looney mother sang because she was nuts.  It is a curse, a riddle, and a warning.  Lucy has to find a way to accomplish all of the tasks in the riddle, in order to break the curse put on all of the women in her family by an Elfin Knight.  She only has a short amount of time to break the curse before she becomes crazy......as all of the women before her have.

Lucy was easily likeable.  She is quiet and determined and makes the strange plot easy to believe.  Lucy and Zach quickly fall in love despite their ages.  Zach, along with Lucy's very supportive parents, help her unwind the riddle that will soon take her mind.  I didn't really end up liking Soledad (Lucy's foster mother) very much.  I think somehow I took her to be a liberal, granola......and she never sat well with me most of the time.

Rating 4  Loved Lucy and Zach together.  I loved the magical quality and unique way that the song was turned into a curse.  The characters where a great group that I became attached to.

Rating PG 13   Rape, teen pregnancy, information about abortion, evil magic used to cause a mental disorder and to coerce someone into being a sex slave.

Shadowland

Shadowland (Immortals #3) by Alyson Noel

*Spoiler in here, if you can really spoil this book.
Ever and Damen are unable to solidify their eternal bond because Ever added her blood to the elixer that saved Damen.  Now, if their bodily fluids mix, their immortal souls willl perish and be sent to Shadowland.  Ever wants more than anything to rectify the situation.  Damen at first decides that this is all because of bad karma that he caused by being so self centered for 600 years. 
Ever tries to persuade the elusive Roman to give her the information she needs.  Roman in turn tells her she will have to pay the price (which Ever imagines is probably sex, but turns out to be saving her friend Haven from death by having to decide if Haven becomes immortal or dies). Damen decides to dress like he shops at Wal-mart and ride the bus in order to turn his karma around.  Pointlessness.....upon pointlessness.
Ever gets a job at a psychic shop.  The owner, Jude, turns out to be a major player in their immortal game.  It seems that we now find Jude has followed Ever throughout her lives and that he may have also been her boyfriend/lover.  Damen thinks that because he has persued Ever throughout time, that he has actually negated her agency to choose and now leaves her to spend time with Jude and decide once and for all whom she wants to be with.  In the mean time, he cares for two twin witches that left Summerland in the last book, and have now lost their magik.
The whole book was like an after-thought/segue (and not a smooth one) to book #4.

Rating 3   I can connect with the whole I wish we weren't damned to hell if we touch each other......meh, okay, that's horrible.  But the rest of the story was blah.  Ever's friendships are dull and shallow.  Ever and Damen can't do anything but wish they were together.  The whole Jude ordeal may have been interesting if we were ever given anymore information than 'he followed her through every life'. 
Rating PG........honestly I can't remember....they can't do more than kiss with a magic forcefield between them so it couldn't have gotten too bad.

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4)

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) by Richelle Mead

Spoilers.........
Book #3 ends with Dimitri becoming Strigoi and Rose running off from the Academy to end his life.

Rose has taken off to Siberia in hopes of tracking Dimitri back to his hometown.  She promised to kill him if he ever became one of the undead.  She meets up with Sydney, an alchemist.  This is a new twist in the VA books.  An alchemist is a human that is like your basic 'men in black'.  They clean up after Strigoi have been killed.  Syndey is able to lead Rose to Dimitri's family.
Rose quickly learns that Dimitri's mother and sisters have no idea of his death.  She is obligated to come clean with the terrible events that she hasn't yet come to grips with.  The family comes to love Rose and treat her like Dimitri's widow.  They do not know that Rose has come to kill him.
Eventually Dimitri finds that Rose has come to hunt him down.  He takes her to an estate in Siberia.  She is held captive.  Dimitri tries to convince her that he is the same but better as a Stigoi and that Rose she allow him to turn (he calls it awaken) her so that they can be together.  During her captivity, Dimitri drinks from Rose and she becomes addicted to the vampire endorphins. 
During her travels, Rose meets another bonded pair, like Lissa and herself.  The woman is a spirit user and is able to help Rose learn more about Spirit and healing.  As she is away from the academy, Lissa finds another friend in Avery, the new headmaster's daughter.  The deeper their friendship grows, the stranger and more dangerous Lissa begins to act. 
It all comes to a head, when Rose must decide to become Strigoi or die.  She searches for some clue that Dimitri is still himself and still in love with her.  When she realizes that this isn't true, she knows she must kill him and return to Lissa before Avery kills Lissa.

The more I read about Rose, the more I like her.  She reminds me a little of myself.  I'm not totally into the whole bondmate thing though.  I still don't find myself really feeling for Lissa.  I was more interested in the to kill or not to kill your soulmate issue.  I guess I'm not really like Rose........she was able to descern if there was any real Dimitri left in the Strigoi Dimitri.  I would have taken one look, seen the man I loved and probably did whatever he wanted.  This book did contain more Rose/Dimitri and less Lissa, so even though there was no happy ending, it was a likeable book.

Rating 4   Love me some Dimitri.
Rating PG 13  Sensualality, swearing, danger, fighting, drug use (vampire endorphin), crack whores (blood whores but the same general idea)

Uglies

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In the future world that Tally lives in, everyone becomes pretty.  At age sixteen all of the Uglies (genetically normal without help of cosmetic surgery) get their chance under the knife and ta da......Pretty.  Science has determined what is attractive to the eye.  Once you are gorgeous, you move to the Pretty side of town, where you basically party till you drop.
Tally's sixteenth birthday is upon her.  Just as Tally is about to receive the surgery she has been dying for, when she meets Shay.  Shay is another Ugly that teaches Tally there is another way than Pretty.  Tally runs away from the only society that she ever knew existed.  She enters a world where people are genuine.  Tally learns that turning Pretty might be more than skin deep.......it could also alter who you are.

Loved the idea of this book.  It did take me forever and a day to read because I've been tied up.  I can't decide if it was the speed with which I read it or that it was actually just meh.  It was a little lack luster for me.  It could have been seriously meaty, but somehow I felt nothing for the characters.  The traveling parts were boring.  This book is a trilogy and if I get around to it I might read the next two.  I wanted it to be awesome and it just wasn't. 

Rating 3
Rating PG  Very clean book considering the target audience is creamed with sex lately.  I think there may have been a few kisses and a knock on the head.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary lives in the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  She lives in a village within the confine of fences that keep her and her village safe from the Unconsecrated.  The Unconsecrated have overtaken everything since the Return.  Mary wonders if there is anything outside of the forest, if there is anyone left.
Mary's mother has tempted her with stories of the ocean and now she cannot rest.  Nothing can satisfy her desire to see what is beyond the forest.......to make it to the salty ocean.  Even the love of one boy, the exquisitely haunting desire for another, the mysterious threats of the Sisterhood, or the danger of becoming Unconsecrated herself, nothing is enough to stop her need to go beyond.

I finished this book very quickly, but I am still haunted by the acute pain left by Travis (Mary's love).  Travis is betrothed to Cass, Mary's bestfriend.  He is also the brother of Harry, Mary's betrothed.  Although the book is about zombies that have come about by a virus at some point in the future, it still has the feeling of being in the past.  Between the fear for their lives and the desire for something Mary can't have, the book was gripping, and tore at my heart.

Book quotes that I LOVE.....
Mary says....."Tonight my body pulses with awareness as I kneel by his bed, our fingers intertwined.  We've been sharing each other's breath for what seems like weeks now even though it's only been a few moments.  It's as if there is infinity between our lips and we will never actually touch.  Like math, where dividing by half can last for eternity."

"Suddenly he doesn't feel like my friend but like something more and I have to force myself to remember that he is not mine to desire."    (ugh.......so painful!)

"In the last few days I had already begun to imagine what Travis's and my children would look like, how their tiny hands would curl around my finger.  I had already dreamed an entire life between Travis and me.  And now that was the only life that we would ever lead together-the one in my dreams."

"It is not about surviving.  It should be about love.  When you know love.. that's what makes this life worth it.  When you live with it every day.  Wake up with it, hold on to it during the thunder and after a nightmare.  When love is your refuge from the death that surrounds us all and when it fills you so tight that you can't express it."

Rating 5  This was a good book.  It may not be super fantastic but it still left me feeling it after more than one day so.......I have to give it credit.
Rating PG  It's totally clean despite the desire thick enough to cut with a knife.  The zombies (Unconsecrated) are trying to kill everyone, so the threat is a little scary.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead

Book three gets even darker for Rose.  She realizes that she might be taking some of the dark feelings that are conjured in Lissa when she uses magic.  It is nearing graduation and Rose is sent out to do her field test.  Instead of guarding Lissa, she ends up being Christian's guard (Lissa's social misfit boyfriend).  Rose's anger begins to get the best of her.  To make matters worse she starts seeing ghosts.  Having made her first Strigoi kills have only made her closer to the world of the dead.
When a huge group of Strigoi attack the Academy, Rose is faced with losing what she has waited so long for (or at least it felt like it) ....Dimitri.
I loved this book just as much as book two.  Rose has more depth and the psychological toll that it takes to put someone else's needs before your own.....always....is delved into.  Her friendships with other characters and her mother, play a larger role this time around.  And of course the romantic tension keeps building. Very bitter sweet.
Rating 4  Still not top notch lit. but I really did go for the wanting what you can't have aspect.
Rating R teen sex, alcoholism, violence, tense and scary.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)

Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead

Rose and Dimitri come upon a Strigoi attack, the likes of which are never seen.  The attack sets off book two in this series.  Guardian are being brought in to reinforce the Academy over winter break.  Rose's estranged mother Janine (a famous guardian) appears on campus in time to set Rose off, just as the whole vampire culture is being shaken.  The Moroi are faced with deciding if they want to uphold tradition and let the guardians keep them safe, or should they learn to use their magic and help defend themselves?
Rose has little tolerance for what appears to be Janine's haughty ways and lack of maternal instinct.  Rose also has to face the fact that she can't have Dimitri and she should start looking for love elsewhere.  She begins seeing Mason, a close friend.  Mason and a group of other friends decide not to wait for the Strigoi to come to them.....they run away from the posh resort in Idaho, where Moroi families have gathered for safety.  Rose, of course, feels she must rescue them.
Rose seemed to come into her own in this book.  I admit liking this book better than the first one.  Rose's love life picked up, she became palatable, and the other characters rounded out better.  It turned out to be very entertaining and I immediately picked up book #3.
Rating 4  Not serious high quality literature, but still fun.
Rating R Swearing, violence, alcoholism, sexual aspects.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Thomas wakes up in what seems to be a dark elevator.  All he knows is that his name is Thomas.  Every other important memory has been wiped.  When 'the Box' finally opens Thomas is pulled out by a group of boys.  They live in the Glade and are surrounded by the Maze.  They hope someday to be able to escape if they can find their way through the Maze.  The group is completely cut off from the rest of society with no recollection of their lives before the Glade.  Each night the walls in the Maze move and doors close between the Maze and the Glade, protecting the boys from grotesque and hideous beasts.
Thomas is confused and getting hardly any information from the Gladers when the Box arrives again........this time containing a girl.  The girl seems to be in a coma but they do learn from her that she will be the last Glader and that she is there to trigger the Ending.
The bright group of boys begin to realize that the Maze may be unsolvable.
This book seemed a bit like Hunger Games/Lord of the Flies......(the author states that he came up with the idea from two of his favorite books Enders Game and Lord of the Flies) but much more civilized.  The book was creative and the main character developed enough despite not knowing anything about himself, that it was a fun and fast read.  The Maze Runner is the first book in a trilogy.   By the end, I couldn't even guess where the next book will go.  So exciting!

Rating 4.5  Loved it.
Rating PG  The beasts are gross and do leave carnage upon their attack.  The boys have some of their own words which I guess could be considered swear words....but they aren't. 

Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace meets 'her wolf' when at the age of eleven she is attacked by a wolf pack in her backyard.  After being dragged into the woods, all she remembers is the unmistakable yellow eyes of 'her wolf'.
Years later, her parents' lives revolve around each other and Grace is left to her own devices.  She waits yearly for the winter when she knows her wolf will be out in the woods watching her.  It is fall and the wolves have attacked Jack, a classmate of Grace's.  The men go out to cleanse the woods of the deadly animals.  Grace finds Same bleeding from a bullet wound on the deck of her home.  She instantly recognizes the eyes of the wolf she has loved for years.
Sam and Grace are inseparable from that moment on.  Luckily her parents are mentally out to lunch and never notice that a teenage boy has moved into their daughter's room.
Sam knows that as a wolf ages, he or she will eventually stop changing into a human.  He feels that this is his last season as a human.  Sam and Grace have finally found each other and it seems that Sam's human life span may be over.
Very Twilightesque.........fantastic writing in comparison yet I didn't feel the fierce depth of emotion that I felt for Edward and Bella.  Seems sadder and moves faster.  The parents are idiots in this book.  (Charlie is not an idiot......just a single father duped by a very quiet vampire.  Plus Charlie is a cop and thus beyond reproach.)
Rating 4  Great writing yet something was missing in there.
Rating PG 13 Grace and Sam sleep in the same bed immediately which was fine with me but considering this is a teen novel......not so great.  Grace and Sam eventually do more than sleep together......fulfilling for me of course but not too cool when its geared for teens. This part is alluded to and not graphic.  Just another good book my daughter can't read until she is 21...:)

This Lullaby

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Remy is a bit caustic about love.  Her father wrote her a lullaby that turned him into a one hit wonder.  The lullaby was the only thing he ever gave her.  Her mother is a romance novelist on her fifth marriage. 
Remy just graduated from high school and this story is about the summer 'between' before she heads off to Stanford.  She has always been the mother in the relationship with her mother.  She has always taken care of everything.  Remy has always protected herself from love by having a formula by which she picks up a guy and dumps him within a short amount of time.  This summer she is ready to have another fling and then head off empty handed to college.  Then she meets Dexter.  He is a musician that eats in her car, doesn't tie his shoes, make his bed or even have food in the fridge.  Dexter is quirky and a much freer spirit than Remy.

I picked this book up determined to hate it.  I thought it was going to be like all of the other teen lit that I have seen lately.  Way over sexualized and without a point.  Well the book was meh.  I did not like the constant drinking and smoking.  The underage drinking did lead Remy into trouble which was only touched on.  Remy was able to acknowledge that she was heading down a bad path because of the way she acted.  She was also able to realize that she was wrong about many of the things that she thought.  She was willing to change when she learned something about herself. 

Rating 3  Not bad.  I did like that the character was able to she her errors and change.  I also liked that despite what I thought........there wasn't sex.
Rating PG 13 to R  Potty potty potty mouth.  Underage drinking, smoking and sex. (The sex is not explicit.  It is indicated that the character has had many sexual relationships during high school.)

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I love fairytale retellings!  Beastly is a Beauty And The Beast from the viewpoint of the Beast.

Kyle is a rich fifteen year old attending a private school in NYC.  His father anchors the news and his mother left them when Kyle was little. 

Kyle is one of the biggest jerks I have ever read about.  He has an entitled outlook on life.  He cares only for appearance.  Kyle decides to play a prank on a new girl at school because he thinks she is ugly and probably not rich.  He asks her to homecoming.  Then he stands her up.  When he returns home after a night of partying and sex (at the age of fifteen) the girl/witch is waiting for him.  The witch tells Kyle that she is going to make his outside match his inside and before he knows it, he is a beast.  He is given two years to find a girl that will fall in love with him and kiss him despite his appearance.

This could have been a great book.  It is based on one of my favorite fairytales.  Instead it was teen smut.  I don't care if anyone thinks that it should be normal for a CHILD in ninth grade to have various sex partners, shack ups, their own limo, alchohol and all name brand clothing.  It isn't normal and shouldn't be portrayed that way.
The book would have been more credible had it contained characters that were at least in their twenties.  What does a child know about true love, having a woman in his bed, etc..........   Uh, nothing.
Each section of the book was prefaced with a chat room session.  It was lame.  I can see that it may have appealed to a very young teen, but it will really date the book in about no time.

And if we are lucky...............they just might make this trash heap into a movie.  I hope the screen writer does a better job than the author.

Rating 2  I will admit that even though this book should not be read by a young teen and therefore is really geared to NOBODY......I was still marginally entertained.
Rating R Teen sex.........young teen.

Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

New York's elite society is made up of more than just rich, entitled, old money.  The blue blood in this society is ancient and it is vampire.  Schuyler is fifteen and learning that the marks beginning to show on her skin, her ability to contol minds, her mother in a coma, and her new dog, all tie to one big secret.  She, along with most of the teens at Duchesne, an elite private school, are young vampires.
Not long after Schuyler makes this discovery, she is also hit with the realization that something out there is preying on her kind.  Her ancestry makes her one of the only people able to find the powerful being and put the killing to an end.

Great mix of history, lore, and heavenly beings.  I had a good time with this story.  I especially liked the twist they put on vampirism and the use of the Roanoke Island mystery.  HOWEVER, this is a book aimed at the youth and I was not at all happy with ninth graders acting like they were twenty somethings.

Rating 3
Rating R sex, drugs, alcohol, murders, sensuality

Crashed

Crashed (Skinned trilogy #2) by Robin Wasserman

In the follow up to Skinned, Lia Kahn has left the home of her former family and is living in a compound/mansion with other mechs. Rights of the mechs' are in question as the Brotherhood become more vocal about how dangerous this new breed of people may be. When Lia's former friend Auden begins speaking out for the Brotherhood against the mechs, Lia is devastated.

Even though she has had no contact with her family in months, when things get tough, they pull through for her.

While living in the compound and trying to figure out or forget what she has become, Lia finally lets someone get close to her. She gets to know Riley.

Although I love the 'idea' of these books, I felt like this one was pretty flat. It took about three hundred pages to feel like I had finally reached the heart of the book. Before that there was too much emotional turmoil........you know the kind.........where you just keep rehashing something you can't seem to get over.

I was glad to see Lia finally have a friend. She felt much more angry in this book and I wasn't going for it.

I did however like learning more about the society after the big wars, and how the caste system had placed people in cities, corp-towns or rich suburbs.

Rating 2.5 I did like the book. It just took a lot of time to cover little ground.

Rating R For language, sex, some homosexuality, drug use (even though it was more like a download, you still understood that it was drug use).