To all the boys I've loved before

To all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

 

I devoured this book. I had no choice because I simply could not put it down, even brought it to work with me. First of all, I love that Lara Jean is Korean and white because I'm Korean and white so it made me feel cool. Just kidding, but I do love that Jenny Han puts in little tidbits that I connect with like the Pocky sticks and the yogurt drink. But this book had me on an emotional roller coaster. One thing I generally dislike about contemporary is how predictable the story ends up being. However that's not how I felt reading this story. It had me emotional. I felt so invested in the characters. A great number of stories I have read lately have let me down with this perfect cookie cutter ending where everything has to come together in a perfect ending for everyone. Jenny Han did not let me down.I will say I was a little creeped out that she was in love with her sister's boyfriends, but whatever I'm still team Joshy all the way!

An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.

It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.

This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

The author follows all 8 girls that are victim to this list. However most of the girls unfortunately end up being simple, vain, shallow, or predictable. The story touches on taboo subjects such as eating disorders and many issues teenage girls face such as peer pressure, fitting in, and how fake and malicious teenage girls can be (we've all met at least one "mean girl").

I found near the end, the only reason I kept reading was to find out who wrote the list. I started to lose interest in the story lines because they started to fall apart. However I did like the very ending and with the comment of the tiara the author is able to sum up Margo's realization that sometimes things aren't as great as we perceived them to be.

One of my favorite quotes: " Maybe you haven't noticed, but everyone shares the same brain around here. It's like a mass cult. They've all drunk the Kool-Aid."

Between the Lines

By: Jodi Picoult and

Samantha Van Leer

Simon Pulse

Delilah, a loner hates school as much as she loves books— one book in particular. In fact if anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially her cooler than cool classmates, she’d be sent to social Siberia forever.To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page. Sure, there’s a handsome (well, okay, incredibly handsome) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there’s something deeper going on. And one day, Delilah finds out there is. Turns out, this Prince Charming is not just a one-dimensional character in a book. He’s real, and a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye. But they’re from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work.

I've always wanted to read one of Jodi Picoult's books but just never got around to it. When I found this book that was wrote by both Jodi Picoult and her daughter, I was intrigued. When I learned it was about storybook characters coming alive I was sold! It was a cute story about storybook characters that come to life once the book is closed. This book is YA but it reads for a much younger audience. It is a fun read. It keeps you reading to see if Oliver and Delilah find a way to be together in the realm of reality. I am not a huge fan of the ending but it was a cute story.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl





In Ethan Wate's hometown there lies the darkest of secrets . . .

There is a girl. Slowly, she pulled the hood from her head . . . Green eyes, black hair. Lena Duchannes.

There is a curse. On the Sixteenth Moon, the Sixteenth Year, the Book will take what it's been promised. And no one can stop it.

In the end, there is a grave.

Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided. Ethan never even saw it coming.





When I first started reading this book I thought it was refreshing that the narrator was a teenage boy. But I quickly realized the narrator may be a boy but thinks and feels too much like a girl, so that was a little disappointing.

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. This book is over 500 pages and very much felt like it. There were chapters that felt irrelevant and parts of the book that crept so slowly that I felt I was never going to be able to finish it. Usually a book either captivates me to the point I can't put it down or doesn't so that I can't make myself endure through it. This story, however, was a combo of both. I would get frustrated with it but I was still captivated enough that I couldn't give up and had to follow it through. The story had enough surprises to keep me wondering what Ethan and Lena would have to endure next.

The authors gave so much back story on the town I wish they would have gave more about Ethan's mom and less about Ethan's daddy issues. I also wished the telepathic conversations were a little deeper, most of them felt pointless. Regardless of the disappointments, the story was still worth reading. I loved the ending it wasn't entirely predictable nor did it have some cookie cutter happily ever after ending.

My favorite lines:
I heard every word she had said, but I only knew one thing. I was all in.

I had fallen. I think I had always been falling. And she might as well know, if she didn't already, because there was no going back now. Not for me. She looked up at me, and the whole world disappeared. Like there was just us, like there would always be just us, and we didn't need magic for that.

She was powerful and she was beautiful. Every day was terrifying, and every day was perfect.

 Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures.

Atlantia

I loved the fantasy world the author created and I loved the divide so that the reader longed with Rio for the above and what life would be like.

The book made me go through some intense emotions. I felt abandoned and lost with Rio, I felt confused as she was trying to piece together what was happening. But one thing that was completely lacking in the the story was love.
I felt the love between Bay and Rio at the end but the love story that was building between Rio and True I felt never quite developed.
It just leaves you hanging.
Good story but not one I'd read again.

Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

In Divergent I was hooked and couldn't put the book down. I loved Tris's pride and strength and Four kept me intrigued. In Insurgent I couldn't relate to Tris anymore. She was completely a different person. She become so wreckless she was some what of a trainwreck, she was a hot mess. The relationship with four no longer kept we wanting more but was so full of tension it felt awkward reading about them.

Divergent Cast

CAN'T WAIT!! Only four more months.