Title: Along For The Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Rating: 3.5/5
Auden needs a break. That's why she decides to visit her dad and her
stepmother, including their new-born baby girl Thisbe. In the first few
weeks her mother seemed to be right: People never change. Her dad is
more focused on his work than on his wife and his new daughter, just
like Auden's mom told her. All those negative thoughts make Auden
staying up really late until sunrise. Then she meets Eli, who isn't much
of day person either.
I needed some time to finish this book. Two days is a lifetime for me. I wasn't so sure to pick up this book. I liked This Lullaby and Keeping The Moon, but That Summer disappointed me a lot. I'm glad to announce that Sarah Dessen made up for that and is on my top list again!
What I really don't get is why Germany named this book Because Of You. Why did they have to change the title? I like Along For The Ride much better. Guess that's one of the reasons why I read it in English.
First, I can't believe that Auden never bowled. How can someone not
love to bowl? I mean, I understand that she didn't do all the things
other teenagers do. To be honest, I don't think that you always have to
go along with the float, that's kind of boring. And I also think that
she didn't do some things on her list because she was allowed to do them
anyway. Like breaking curfew. How can you break curfew if you don't
even have one?
Enough of that, uhm.. The only characters I liked in this book were
Auden and Eli. Perhaps Maggie aswell. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy
this book, I did. But i.e. Auden's dad is really much a... I'm not going
to use that word. He is an author and puts his work over everything,
even his family. He never looks after his new-born daughter which is one
of the reasons I'd have thrown him out. Eli's mom was right: It takes
two people to make a baby, so why did he leave Heidi with all the stuff?
It wouldn't have hurt to take the baby once or twice. I wondered how he
was with Auden, but her parents only explain how it was with her
brother Hollis. And then there is Auden's mom who thinks way too dark
about everything. You can have an opinion, that isn't a bad thing, but
she made the impression like she forced Auden to have the same opinion
about everything. I'm happy that she lightened up during the story.
(Notice: There are a lot of books in which the parents of the main character are authors.)
A little note for Heidi: I imagined her to be Heidi Montag (who I actually do not dislike actually) in the beginning. All blond, not a clue how to raise a baby. I'm glad I was wrong with the negative thought here.
Eli is just wonderful. I didn't understand Auden in that
"I-better-stay-away-from-him"-part. He is everything you're looking for:
Charming, always listening, and hell yeah, even a pro at riding bikes.
That bike thing is the main point here. Eli lost his best friend at an
accident. He thinks it's his fault because he rode and ever since the
tragedy, nobody saw him riding a bike again. It changes though when he
meets Auden. Cute, cute, cute!
I probably should have written a lot more, but all I can say is that this book is great. If Keeping The Moon wouldn't be my number one favourite by Sarah, then this one would be.
Title: The Sky Is Everywhere
Author: Jandy Nelson
Rating: 4/5
How do you deal with your sister's death? That is the main question
for Lennie, whose sister Bailey died a couple of weeks ago. Lennie
always looked up to her sister and now she is just gone. Who should lead
the way now? She feels like she's lost. When Toby, Bailey's boyfriend,
shows up, Lennie and he immediately feel comforted by the other one's
present. He might be the only one who really understands what's going on
inside of Len. But then there is this new guy Joe, who seems too good
to be true. Feelings grow and feelings fade and in the end Lennie has
got to make the right decision, not just the one out of pain.
Oh, I loved this book! I don't know what took me so long to finally
read it. It was better than I expected, though I really didn't have any
expectations for this book.
Actually, I'm not that into books where someone just died and you
don't know how to deal with the grief and the pain. But with this book
it just felt right to me. The story is really great and the characters
are so real and honest. Lovely.
Whenever I read a book that includes a love triangle, I instantly
know which guy or girl I prefer. It was very difficult for me here. In
the beginning I liked Toby better, but then it seemed to me that he just
wanted Lennie to be Bailey. Like he had this image of his girlfriend
inside his head and couldn't see the real Len through that. I felt so
sorry for her when I thought like that. I mean, he seemed quite hot,
yeah, but then again you think: "Jerk, back off! You don't deserve her!"
It was a decision out of grief, I understand that, but I wished for him
to truly love how Len was.
On the other hand there is Joe. I don't like that name, because I always think of a mid-thirty rocker guy (perhaps because there is a guy in a German show whose name is Joe and is a mid-thirty rocker guy :P),
but nevermind. He was that gorgeous guy that suddenly comes around the
corner and you just want him and Lennie to kiss and live happily ever
after already. It's a little more complicated with this guy though. His
ex-girlfriend betrayed him, poor guy, and he never ever wants to feel
like that again. Honestly, you just wait for him to cry or freak out or
something. For me, he was a little too smooth, but I loved his character
anyway. He was just as crazy from his thoughts as Lennie.
Now the main character Lennie. Well, I haven't got a lot to say. I
liked her, but I was a little annoyed by her obsession about Bailey
sometimes. Maybe because I just don't relate to that since I don't have
any sisters or brothers. I wouldn't want to know her pain though. Her
grandma was a little bit too harsh with her I think. Saying she was
selfish and pretened like she was the only one who had a hard time. I
never got the impression that Lennie was selfish. All she ever thought
about was Bailey and if she could ever forgive her, if she even watched
over her and all that. Since I'm an athetist, this wasn't a part for me
either.
Though there are some points I didn't like or didn't relate to, I
loved this book very much. The writing is really beautiful and the story
itself also makes you think. It sounds weird, but I even dreamed about
the story when I went to sleep and wasn't finished with the book yet.
Whenever that happens I know that I've found a real beauty. I hope to
read more from Jandy Nelson very soon.
Title: So Over You
Author: Gwen Hayes
Rating: 3.5/5
Layney Logan wants to be a reporter. Or the best reporter actually.
The thing is, the school paper is dying and they need a good story and
they need it now! Jimmy Foster has got the perfect idea: Twelve blind
dates for every month of the year and find out what girls really want
when it comes to boys. Layney doesn't know what's worse - to meet high
school boys and not being intrested in them period, or spending time
with her ex-boyfriend Jimmy. With memories coming back she is suddenly
asking herself what she really wants.
Every girl clicks with Layney's character. At least that's what I
assume. I sure did. She's full of doubts and her life includes issues.
Not tons of it, but enough to feel tired. Maybe that's why she is
holding on to this reporter thing. It's what she does the best and what
she plans to do in the future. I didn't like her view on the future at
first. Having everything planed like that and call herself married with
the "job". This is something a thiry year old can tell me, but not a
teenage girl. I was happy whenever I had the feeling that she loosened
up a little. But I completely understood why she acted like she did when
she told her shocking story in the end. I hadn't expected that! She
dealt with it quite good.
Jimmy, I think, is the kind of boy every girl falls for. For good reason. “I told her I liked the way your name made my heart jump.”
How cute is that? If you read about him first you'll think he is kind
of a jerk. Teasing and joking around too much. But he is a good soul and
has a pure heart. He wants to protect Layney so bad. He understands her
perfectly and gives her the space she needs, never forcing her to make
decisions she's not ready to make yet. The end of Layney's report should
have said: Jimmy is the guy girls want! Because it's the truth, though
sometimes you just wanted to punch him for making unfriendly comments,
or comments that girls get the wrong way.
So Over You is a very realistic young adult story. I liked
it a lot and I'm actually a little disappointed by myself for not
picking this book up earlier. It didn't do as good for me as for my
friends on Goodreads, but it didn't fail either.
This was my second Gwen Hayes book, and I am proud to say that she
can write both genres damn well - Fantasy and Young Adult. Will I read
her other books? Sure thing!
Title: Looking For Alaska
Author: John Green
Rating: 3/5
"I whispered, 'Do you want to be my girlfriend?' And she said, 'Yes please,' and smiled." - Miles to Lara
Miles
Halter isn't much of a popular guy. In order to change that, he decides
to go to a boarding school in Alabama. What he didn't expect was that a
girl like Alaska could turn his world upside down. His new friend and
roommate Chip, known as the Colonel, warns him. Things with Alaska would
never be what Miles imagined. She is acting strange sometimes, yet
Miles still want her. But then everything changes and Miles has to face
that remembering last people's words isn't always an advantage.
My summary basically sucks. It's really tough to describe this book anyway. Tried my best.
John
Green, what can I say? It's not that I didn't like this book, I did.
But I assume I'm just not that into all these we're-all-so-mortal-books.
What
I liked the most was the fact that John Green has a great point of view
for me here: A boy admitting his love to a girl without having slept
with her yet. I loved that, because in a lot of other books, you always
read the boy admitting his love after they slept
together or they sleep together and he never admits his love. I don't
like the idea of that. It's simple: Whether you love someone or not. Why
should you wait that long to tell the person of your dreams? What's to
fear? Enough said now, just wanted to make clear that I liked it.
Miles,
Lara and Chip are my favourite characters here. Chip pretends to be
that super cool guy, though he actually can be sensitive too. I imagined
to hear Lara's accent through the book. I bet she is a cute little girl
and you'd never expect her to do some naughty things. Not even sneaking
out at night or something. And then there is Miles. I wanted to hug him
and comfort him, but sometimes he has those weird point of views (I'm using the sentence point of view too often!). At least he respects women and he also seems really cute. Gosh, I'm out of words lately.
The
idea of this so called labyrinth was tempting to me. Probably because I
think about life that way sometimes too. I caught myself thinking about
the things the characters are taught in class. And I agree with them -
when you're older you just hope to find the way out of that labyrinth
and a great firework waiting for you, saying you made it. And then
you'll look behind and see the people you left there and the memories
are fading away until they are PUFF! gone. So, this book makes you think about life and the journey of life.
I could say how I wished for different things to happen in Looking For Alaska,
but I like it as it is and I'm happy John Green wrote it like that. The
way he thought was right and it is. Some parts made me want to smile,
some made me really sad and when I closed my eyes, I pictured the story
perfectly. So, even though I gave this book three stars only, those are
good three stars. I'm looking forward to read other books by John Green.
Those are my final words. I wonder if Miles would remember them. :P
Title: It's Not Summer Without You (Summer #02)
Author: Jenny Han
Rating: 4/5
It's
the kind of shock nobody wants to know of or even feel: Susannah, best
friend of Belly's mom, died. It doesn't seem fair. To Belly, Susannah
was a second mother. If she feels so strong pain already, she doesn't
know how Susannah's sons Jeremiah and Conrad are dealing with it. The
answer comes along - one day Jeremiah calls Belly and tells her that
Conrad ran off. Jeremiah and Belly are searching for him and soon they
find theirselves back at where everything started - at Cousins Beach.
I
don't know what to say actually. I liked the second book even better
than the first. That's probably because there are also views from
Jeremiah's point of view and since he is my favourite character in this
book, I really liked those parts. If you asked me, he is the better
match for Belly. I don't even know why she started something with
Conrad. Of course I'm feeling sorry for his loss in this book, but he
doesn't behave that friendly and nice. I don't like him all too much as
you can see.
Again, I liked the flashbacks like Belly remembering
her prom with Conrad. Sometimes the flashbacks confuse me, but I like
them anyway.
I'm excited to read the third and final book of this series. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #01)
Author: Jenny Han
Rating: 4/5
Oh, how I long for summer now!
It's
the same thing each summer: Belly, her brother Steven and their mom
visit her mom's friend Susannah at the beach. Those two months have
always been the best for Belly, especially because of Susannah's sons
Jeremiah and Conrad. They never really saw her the way she wanted to,
but this summer everything changed. Both act different when she's around
now and Belly herself got to admit that she likes it. But who of those
two does she like better? And what's the deal with Susannah lately? One
summer to find out.
The more I think about it, the more this book reminds me of the How To Ruin
series by my ultimate favourite author Simone Elkeles. Since I read the
second book of this series aswell, I can say that I like the Summer series a little better. At least that's what my brain tells me right now.
The story is simple: Two boys (two brothers by the way) want the same girl. And whooo - I liked this book a lot! Five stars might be overrated, so that's why only four stars for me.
Belly
is the kind of character I love and hate at the same time. She is cute
and stuff, but I'm not sure if 'd want to be friends with her if she
existed. Sometimes I wondered if she knew what she wanted herself.
Obviously, she did not and that's what made me want to scream.
Conrad
is the popular one, I think. You know, all the girls want him and he
could have them all, yet it seems like he is afraid to open his heart
for someone. No big surprise here, his first love broke his heart. Guess
that had him crush hard. Great crated character, but I hated him
though. His personality is bleh to me.
Jeremiah. Characters like
his make me want to be a witch like Sabrina and ask my aunts to bake
him. He is super sweet and I'm feeling sorry for him at so many parts. I
hated how Taylor always called him Jeremy. Jeremiah is a good
alternative name and rarely used. I liked that. He cares so much for
Belly and they even might belong together in my eyes, but I wouldn't be
happy with them as a couple then again. It's confusing, I know.
So
. . . It's definitely a book for girls. I wouldn't mind boys reading
this kind of books too. Maybe they'd finaally understand us girls a
little better then. Think about it guys ;) Reading this book wanted me
to be back in summer, lie on the beach and see the waves in front of my
feet. It's a really cute book and I also loved the view of it - those
turning backs to Belly's childhood. I'm glad I found this one.
Title: The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys #01)
Author: Abbi Glines
Rating: 4/5
One of the best books I read so far. :)
Ashton Gray has the perfect life. That also includes the perfect
boyfriend, Sawyer. But Sawyer is on a trip with his family for a while
and just then Beau, his cousin and the bad boy in town, shows up and
turns Ashton's world upside down. With him she doesn't feel like she has
to be perfect. He doesn't want her to be something she is not. She sees
her as she is.
Beau loves Ashton since they were kids. He never had the guts to ask
her out anyway, leave alone tell her how he feels about her. When his
cousin Sawyer is out of town, he sees the perfect chance to get closer
to the girl of his dreams. Even though he knows she means trouble and is
also well aware of the fact that she is too good for him.
OH MY GOSH! I loved this book so much! I had high expectations and I
wasn't disappointed a bit. This books has the main thing for teens -
love triangle and a lot of drama, oh yes! We all love that, don't we?
Ashton, Beau and Sawyer. First I love the name's choice. I mean, you
don't read these names very often in books or anywhere else. Good
choice Abbi!
Ashton - She really can't decide who she loves more and what is
right or wrong. She wants everyone to be happy with her choices, even
though sometimes those make her unhappy herself. She doesn't care. She
needs to be the good girl everyone wants her to be. There were parts
when I wanted to yell at her and tell her she should quit all the
good-girl-show, but that's what the drama is about. Lovely character
though because teenage girls totally get her.
Sawyer - What a softie! I'm happy he doesn't appear that often in
the beginning, he would have ruined everything. His character takes the
drama a little further and makes everything more explosive in my
opinion. So not a bad thing! I'm happy with the way he is and he is very
cute too. The way he teels Ashton he plans a future with her and stuff.
Very cute, but not quite that what girls are looking for. Well, they
are looking for that, but the relationship has to be special too. It
just wasn't with those two for me and for everyone else I think. I felt
bad for him anyway. Poor Swayer.
Beau - Don't get fooled by his name! He is everything but good or
nice or whatever. I bet if he'd exist, he'd be damn hot. I can't help
but like characters like his. Those typical bad boys who you want to
punch because they slept with so many girls until they realize: "Hey, I
love someone else and want to spend the rest of my life with her." I
like the parts of his kind of view even better than those of Ashton. He
has a cute way to think of things, especially of Ashton of course. And
once again I wonder why real guys can't be like that.
Four stars because I think the thing between Ashton and Beau took
off a little too fast. But actually there is nothing I can add. I adored
this book, I'd definitely recommend it and it's just amazing! And the
cover is extraordinary as well, so thumbs up for that. I wish there was a
second book, but story's over, told and done.
