Review: Wishing For Someday Soon by Tiffany King

Goodreads description:

Seventeen year old Katelyn Richards is a stronger person than anyone will ever know, and that is just the way she wants it. Behind her normal facade lies the reality of a broken home life. Thanks to her abusive mother, a string of deadbeat stepfathers, and an unsympathetic system, Katelyn has learned that the only one she can count on is herself. Her life’s mission has become to shield her nine year old brother, Kevin, and to give him the future that they both wish for. A life with no more abuse, no worries about where their next meal will come from, and no more wondering if they will have a roof over their heads.

When her mother moves them again, this time to a small town in Montana, Katelyn’s resolve is shaken when she meets Max, a cute boy from her new school, who gets a glimpse into her real world. Max slowly manages to break through Katelyn’s wall of distrust, stirring up feelings she never saw coming. Now with her world more complicated than she ever intended, Katelyn struggles with the decision to follow her heart into the arms of the first boy she has ever loved. A decision that could risk the promise she made to protect Kevin, and to give them the ‘someday soon’ that is so close within their grasp.

Wow. Just wow. I don’t know if I can stop crying long enough to write this review. Wishing For Someday soon was so beautifully written. It had me laughing one minute, then crying the next.

Katelynn is probably the strongest (emotionally speaking) character I’ve ever read about. She’s had to deal with an abusive mom who definitely doesn’t care about anyone but herself. On top of that she practically raised her little brother. It was no surprise that her brother looked up to her. I would look up to her!

Her brother, Kevin, is adorable. He’s the one who made me the laugh the most. His expressions like “true dat” just had me cracking up. Not only is he extremely cute, but he’s so mature for his 9 years. It was very sad, a 9 year old shouldn’t have to see the things that Kevin has. Yet, he managed to stay upbeat. My little brother is the same age as Kevin, and this made me really appreciate him.

Max, Max, Max. I love him. There was no love triangle in this story. And I’m glad. Max was the perfect guy for Katelynn. I’d say it was a simple love story between them, but it really wasn’t considering everything going on around them. Max treats everyone nicely. I think that’s what makes him so great. He was like a role model for Kevin and the type of guy everyone goes to for help. And his family, though a little judgmental at first, were actually really kind.

Really, everyone in the town Katelynn’s family moves to is very caring. They were all willing to help- the student’s at their school, the teachers, Old Man Withers down the street. If people were as good and helpful as these characters were, the world would be a perfect place.

Enough about the characters. The overall story was just…phenomenal. I’ve mentioned before how I schedule my reading, right? Well, I am so glad I allowed myself a week for this one though it was just 281 pages. I just felt like I enjoyed it so much more without rushing it. This one has so much potential to be so much bigger! I’m talking New York Times bestseller, award winning movie. Just.. please. Go get this book and read it. I promise you will not be disappointed by it at all.

Cover Analysis (3): Between by Jessica Warman

First and foremost, I am going to point out the swings. I just don’t get them. There was maybe one scene where there were swings. A very minor scene. It looks good on the cover though, I guess.

Is the girl the right choice? Well, she’s skinny. You can see that. That’s basically all you can see of her. Good representation of the anorexic main character, but it doesn’t show how supposedly gorgeous she is supposed to be. I wish the artist would have shown her face instead of her looking down with her hair covering everything.

I love the theme, though. If you really look behind the title, it looks like water, right? And then obviously there’re clouds at the bottom. I wouldn’t consider this a spoiler, since it happens right at the beginning of the story, but Liz dies by drowning. And by setting the model between the water and the clouds, it’s like she is “Between” life and death... trying to move on after dying.

My favorite part of this cover is the title. It’s a simple word, really. “Between”. But the effects placed on the type sticks with the theme. There’s a blurry copy of the “Between” both above and below the bolded title. The bold is BETWEEN the two others. This really proves that I can never become a cover designer because I don’t have that kind of creativity.

Check out my review of Between here.

Review: Between by Jessica Warman

Goodreads description:

Elizabeth Valchar-pretty, popular, and perfect-wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her six closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, what she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no one around her, least of all Liz herself, was perfect-or innocent. Critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman brings readers along on a roller-coaster ride of a mystery, one that is also a heartbreaking character study, a touching romance, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go.

Between was very, very good. As a fast paced read, couldn’t put it down. It was the first thing I thought of in the morning, and the last thing before I went to sleep.

I loved this book despite unlikable characters. Because honestly? I hated the characters. Even the main character. The main focus was on a group of rich popular kids. They were just so mean to everyone who wasn’t like them, and even were mean to each other.

And they do drugs. Mostly just marijuana, but still. I think it was the 2^nd page that drugs and alcohol were first mentioned, and I really considered not even reading more. But I’m glad I did. It was good to read a book where drugs are present within the main group, because, really, drugs are also present in the real life. It was good that Jessica Warman brought it to attention that these popular kids, the ones that everyone thinks highly of? Yeah, the do drugs. They aren’t as good as some people think.

Liz, the main character, yep I hated her. She thought everything revolved around her and that everyone loved her. By the end of the story though, no I didn’t like her, but I came to understand her. She was anorexic, a habit picked up from her mom. My heart literally broke when Liz flashed by to when she was 9. Her mom was basically lecturing her about the calorie/fat content of peanut butter. What 9 year old deserves to have to worry about that??

It was a little difficult to be shocked at a lot of things in the story. They were actually kind of predictable. But there were parts like “whoa, I did not see that one coming.” It made the book more enjoyable, the mixture of predictability and shock.

Overall, though in reality I should have hated this book- I mean, I hated the characters, the drugs, nearly every detail- as a whole, the book came together beautifully. It went by smoothly, I liked the change of not actually liking the main characters. I would definitely recommend Between to anyone.

W.W.W. Wednesdays (22)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I know I had Torn on the list last week, but then... I got Redheads are Soulless by Heather M. White and just could not pass up the opportunity to read it. It was AMAZING by the way. But seriously, I promise that Torn will get read this weekend.

Cover Analysis (2): Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Cover Analysis is a meme inspired by Monica here where I’m going to just basically post my thoughts on a cover.

The background is the same throughout the series- one color with a picture of Bianca. Of course, the color and picture is different each time, yet similar. I like how it keeps the cover simple and still appealing at the same time.

Below the title it says “An Evernight novel”. You might not notice it at first, and I like that. It’s good that it’s there so you know what series the book is apart of. Yet, it isn’t too distracting.

I noticed the clock, right above the “a” in Hourglass. It would have made more sense to see an actual hourglass there, but it still goes with the theme of “time running out”.

Wait, now that I’m looking for more detail I think there might be an hourglass below the “u”. I’m not sure, but I do know it’s meant to symbolize something.

On every one of these Evernight covers, I’ve noticed the designs coming off of the letters. What sticks out the most to me is how on each cover, it seems to be a cursive “L” coming off of a few letters. Look above and below the “o”, and below the last “s”. I could be just imagining this meaning anything, but to me the “L” is meaning Lucas, the main male character throughout the series.

High Five for Friday (1)

Easy! Just post 5 things that made you happy this week. If you click on the button above, it will direct you to where you can link up.

1. My teacher, Mr. Massey, putting my newspaper on my desk. I was having a really bad, stressful day. I was late to his class (It's ELO, basically study hall). I had to talk to the guidance counselor about my stupid ACT packet thing (hence the stress) and when I got to my class, Massey was like "Oh, I put the paper on your desk." Just something I appreciated since

 a. I read the paper everyday expect weekends

b. It was just a minor break for me

So...thank you Mr. Massey!

2. Happy hour at Sonic. After school one day, my mom asked "Sonic still has happy hour right?" Me: "YESOFCOURSETHEYDOLET'SGO."

So we went and I got a chocolate, vanilla, Dr. Pepper.

Yum!

3. Hollywood Undead CD at the library. I love HU, and I keep forgetting that our public library has CDs to loan out. But then when I went there last night, I thought about looking and...they had Hollywood Undead's newest CD! Oh yeah. So I checked it out and am currently listening to it :)

4. Krave cereal every morning for breakfast. Need I say more?

5. American Idol last night- Phillip Phillips was saved. If you're following me on Twitter, you know how much I love Phil Phillips.

Review: Afterlife by Claudia Gray

Goodreads description:

Destiny awaits Bianca and Lucas . . .

Bianca and Lucas have always believed they could endure anything to be together. When a twist of fate not only transforms Bianca into a wraith but also turns Lucas into a vampire--the very creature he spent his life hunting--they are left reeling.

Haunted by his powerful need to kill, Lucas can turn to only one place for help . . . Evernight Academy. Bianca is determined to remain with him. But with the vampire leader of Evernight waging a war against wraiths, her former home has become the most dangerous place she could be, despite the new powers her ghostly transformation has given her.

A battle between wraiths and vampires looms, and Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They've overcome every obstacle life has thrown at them, but is their love strong enough to survive the challenges "after" life?

Positive:

The very first pages- I liked how this book started out. Sometimes with series, the sequels start out weeks, sometimes months, after the ending of the last book. We’ve all read those super annoying sequels where we can’t remember what happened in the last book, right? Well, Afterlife isn’t like that. Not at all. It starts out exactly where it left off in the last book. Okay, not exactly. It was supposedly a few hours afterwards but still. I had a full understanding of what was going on. If I’d read this, say a year after I read Hourglass, I’d still know what was happening.

Portrayal of the “afterlife”- Okay, I absolutely adore books that show what happens after death. Each time I read a book like this, I get a feel for what it might be like after I die. I’m so open to many possibilities that it’s interesting to sort of picture myself in an afterlife like this.

The happy ending!- No, it wasn’t how I would have made things happen. But the characters got their happy ending and that’s what matters. Not everything was perfect for them, but I know they’re going to make it work.

Negative:

Slow start to the action- I felt like it took too long for me to get into this book, especially compared to others of the series. This could really be just because it’s the final in the series and I did not want it to end. Though, it could also be because the action, to me, was slow at the beginning. It definitely picked up towards the middle and end and made up for the slow start.

I’m going to miss reviewing this series. I was honestly not sure of what to expect when I first started Evernight, but now I’m so sad that the series is over. There was a good conclusion though that wrapped things up and didn’t leave me hanging. Miss Claudia Gray, I think you may be my new favorite author.

Come back tomorrow for my cover analysis of Hourglass(Evernight #3) !!

Review: Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Goodreads description:

Bianca will risk everything to be with Lucas.

After escaping from Evernight, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas seek refuge with Black Cross, an elite group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at its hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend—the vampire Balthazar—all her secrets threaten to come out.

Soon, Bianca and Lucas are on the run, pursued not only by Black Cross, but by the powerful vampires of Evernight. Yet no matter how far they run, Bianca can’t escape her destiny. Bianca and Lucas have always believed their love could survive anything—but can it survive what’s to come?

First line: “I gasped for air so hard that my chest ached.”

Positive:

Vampire living undetected among vampire hunters- Such a contradiction that keeps you on the edge of the seat hoping that the vampire doesn’t get caught, because, these are hardcore vampire hunters that will kill even their closest friends.

Bianca and Lucas living together- It was sweet. A lot of the times in books, the characters have to go to each other’s houses to see each other or meet up somewhere else, but in this one, the couple lives together. It makes me think of two kids just getting out of high school and living on the bare minimum.

Ranulf and Vic- These have to be my favorite characters in the entire series. Ranulf is a vampire from hundreds of years ago and he has no clue about the present life. That’s where Vic comes handy. Vic is a laid-back teenager. You really think he’s kind of stupid, just by how he acts, but then you realize that he’s actually a genius and knows way more than expected. Ranulf goes to live with Vic and picks up on a lot of customs. Some of the things Ranulf says are hilarious!

No real bad guy- Well, there is a bad character, of course. But what I mean is, I think every side has their own reasons for what they do. The vampires want Bianca safe, the wraiths want Bianca to join them, and the vampire hunters want to end evil. Yet, all of these people are fighting each other, with Bianca in the middle not sure what to do.

Negative:

Bianca being sick- No L I felt so bad for Bianca and especially for Lucas. Bianca gets really sick and Lucas tries so hard to make her feel good. Then, there’s still vampires, vampire hunters, and wraiths coming after them, making everything so much worse for them.

The end- No! How?? No L I can’t believe it ended that way, and really it could go in several directions in the next book. Making me absolutely need to read the next, and final, book in the series.

W.W.W. Wednesdays (21)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

Review: Stargazer by Claudia Gray

Goodreads description:

The vampire in me was closer to the surface...

Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all—vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas—a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross—or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning....

Positive:

Prologue- This applies to the first and third book in the series as well. I love how the prologues foreshadow an event later on in the book without giving away too much. It creates a hype and makes you want to read more.

Balthazar!- I just love him, okay? No, I don’t think he’s necessarily the right guy for Bianca. He’s just a good guy who’s been through a lot. Plus his name is just the coolest thing ever.

Wraiths- I finally know what wraiths are! I never really knew. I guess they are just ghosts. And now, after reading this, I’m so into ghosts. Anyone know a good book about ghosts??

Negative:

Charity- Ughhhhhhh why does she have to ruin everything??? She just likes to start trouble and is making things difficult for the main characters and I really just want her gone at this point. At first she was sweet and innocent and now I hate her with a passion.