Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann Review

Title: Cryer’s Cross

Author: Lisa McMann

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Page Count: 233 pages, 263 KB

Book Type: Kindle e-book

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 9781416994815

ASIN: B004NEW0KM

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

My Review: "The smaller the town, the bigger the secrets." Ohh, scandalous. I like this cover. What I like even more is that it is significant to the book. Does anyone else get annoyed when covers have nothing to do with the book?

This was a very quick read. 233 pages isn’t a lot to begin with and the story was very easy to get drawn into. I didn’t find the story necessarily “scary,” but that doesn’t make this a bad paranormal book. I liked how a lot of reality was present throughout the book and that is wasn’t all paranormal. The characters build relationships and participate in activities just as any normal teenager would do.

The characters seemed very real in this story and I feel like most of the time they had normal reactions to the circumstances around them. They are unsure of themselves and are trying to figure life out. I don’t always see that in YA books.  I really liked the segments that were narrated by the “paranormal entity.” I even found them a little creepy at times, which takes a bit.

I also really appreciate the fact that this was a standalone book! It seems as if all new books are part of a series these days and it was nice to read a book and leave those characters behind.

Have you read this one yet? What is your favorite Lisa McMann book?

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld Review

Title: Pretties (Uglies #2)

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Page Count: 384 pages/435 KB

Book Type: Kindle ebook

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 9781416936398

ASIN: B001L5BUPM

Picture from Amazon

*SPOILERS FROM UGLIES*

From Goodreads:  Gorgeous. Popular. Perfect. Perfectly wrong.Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

*May contain a few small spoilers from Pretties...I will mark them. Spoilers from Uglies are fair game*

You can read my review of Uglies here. 

My Review: I love the cover on this one too. The twinkle in the girl’s eye draws me in. The tagline for this one is, “What happens when perfection isn’t good enough?” This leads us to believe that life isn’t as good for the “pretties” as the pre-16 year olds are lead to believe.

Once again, I really appreciated that Westerfeld addressed issues that are relevant to teens without being overly preachy. Superficiality is one of the main ones, but questioning authority and even questioning who you are is present throughout the book. *SPOILERS from Pretties* It becomes aware that even the pretties face societal issues when Peris makes the decision to go back to New Pretty Town instead of heading out into the wilderness and roughing it. He prefers to be blissfully unaware of the lesions on his brain and what they do. *END SPOILERS*

It was fun to see how the pretties live. I was overly intrigued with how and why the new pretties decided to alter their bodies for each new party or just because they felt like it. They get tattoos, put gems in their eyes and dye their skin. It is interesting that essentially these new pretties are perfect, yet they are still altering themselves to keep up with each new fad. It reminded me of the people who are addicted to plastic surgery. Tally even mentions that they are supposed to limit themselves to one transformation per week (I believe). Also, the pretties (especially in Tally’s group) will starve themselves, do dangerous stunts and even some cut themselves all to feel the rush and coherence it gives them. This just screams teen behavior and is mostly dangerous behavior. The parallels to our world are often striking and thought provoking in this series. 

I’m looking forward to reading Specials sometime! What do you think of this series?

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Review

Title: Uglies

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian 

Page Count: 448 Pages

Book Type: Paperback

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN: 9780689865381

Picture from Amazon

From Goodreads: Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Review: I love the cover of this one. I can’t really pinpoint why this is, but it just always catches my attention. I also like the tagline of, “In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly.” 

Uglies started out a little slow for me, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the story. It really made me think about what it would be like if everyone in the world turned “pretty” at the age of 16. In one way, it would be nice in the sense that potentially no one would be judged by their looks, but on the other hand, it takes away any individuality. It really is a difficult situation to imagine. 

The world Westerfeld created seems pretty fun to live in, if you take away all of the creepy Special Circumstances people. The idea of hoverboards and bracelets to make sure you never plummet to your death was such a cool idea. I would need those bracelets for sure. I am not the most graceful person on the planet. I also have been loving dystopian novels lately. 

I think this one could potentially be a good book to be read in a high school class. It teaches a lesson without being overly preachy and it is pretty “clean” for a teen book.

Have you read this series? I’ve only read the first two so far. Do you have any other dystopian recommendations? I would love them! Leave them in the comments below :)

Crank by Ellen Hopkins Review

Title: Crank

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Genre: YA

Page Count: 537

Book Type: Library Paperback

Publisher: Simon Pulse, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 978-0-689-86519-0

Picture from Goodreads

Summary from Goodreads: Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina -- she's fearless.

Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul -- her life.

My Review: I love how simplistic this cover is. There really isn’t much to talk about, since it is so simple, but I really, really think it has an impact. 

At first, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get into the poetry style writing of this, but after about 5 or 6 pages I found myself enjoying it immensely. Despite the thickness of this book it is quite a quick read. The subject matter is heavy, but it is appropriate. The writing style adds so much to the story and pauses in all of the right spots. By now, I’m sure you are all aware of the story matter and I will just add in that it is powerful and raw. I give Ellen Hopkins very high praise for her ability to draw the reader into the story and take us on this journey with Kristina/Bree. I highly recommend this book--it will make you think for quite awhile. 

This is the first of my reviews of banned/challenged books for the month. I don’t think that books should ever be banned. Every family needs to make their own reading limits and discussing “hard” books can be a great family bonding experience. It makes me so mad (and sad) when books are challenged because, I guarantee, half of the time the challenger hasn’t even read the book. Anyway, I’m just throwing my two cents in there. 

Have you read Crank yet? What is your favorite banned/challenged book? Let me know in the comments!

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare Review

Title: The Mortal Instruments Book Two: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA

Page Count: 453

Book Type: Library Paperback

Publisher: Simon Pulse, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

ISBN: 9781416972242

Picture from Amazon

Summary from Goodreads: A murderer is loose in New York City ... 

... and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary's father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, then what's his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor has arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary's brother, Jace. 

Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy.

My Review: I think the cover is gorgeous. I always seem to like Cassandra Clare’s book covers with their cityscapes and one character focus. I’m not a huge fan of the Stephenie Meyer quote being directly in the center, but to each their own. I love how the protagonist is a red-head. Yay for the red-head love. I’m so happy all of these books seem to match each other, so when I do buy them, they will look excellent next to one another on my shelf. They will also look nice with the Infernal Devices books. Score. 

I just want to start out with a couple things I tweeted while reading... 

1. “Page 271 out of 453 in 'city of ashes' by @cassieclare. i want to punch valentine in the face.” 
2. “he's such a jerk face” 
3. “Wahhh i just want to find out how city of ashes ends!”. 

Side-note: If you follow me on the Twitter, these are the kinds of things you will see. 

I’m pretty sure that Cassie makes me an impatient reader. It always seems as if I cannot read fast enough because I just want to know how this is going to end! Clearly, it will be awhile before I find out with one more book already printed in the series and three more after that which are currently unprinted. Luckily, the journey to find out what on Earth is happening in these books is quite excellent as well. 

I really like Clare’s writing style. She gives her characters some snark, which I always appreciate. She always makes me curious as to what is really happening. It makes me so frustrated when the characters think one thing, but in actuality, I think that something else is going on. It makes for a frustrating, but excellent read. I cannot wait to find out what the real deal is with Jace, Clary and Valentine. 

I may have preferred City of Bones a bit more, but that could change from day to day. I am really looking forward to the next installment I’m really glad I have it checked out from the library already!

Have you read this one? Which is your favorite book of the series? Let me know!

Wake by Lisa McMann Review

Title: Wake
Author: Lisa McMann
Genre: YA
Page Count: 210
Book Type: Library Hardcover
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ISBN:  978-1-4169-5357-9

Picture from www.amazon.com

From Goodreads: Ever since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow-student that she discovers her true power.

My Review: When I first saw the cover, for some reason, I thought it was a bag of drugs. Upon further investigation and actually using my head, I realized that it was a pillow. I like the simplicity of the cover and the one word title which is large. Black book covers always make me happy and if you would look at my bookshelf, you would see that I have nearly two shelves of them. I always saw this book at the store and would pick it up and put it down again and I am not really sure why. I finally put it on hold at the library and I was pleased.

You just have to feel a little bad for Janie. She is virtually living alone and trying to deal with her issues all by herself. Working constantly to keep up with house duties and hopefully go to college someday, she has a tough life. The whole concept of the story was very interesting. I always thought if someone saw my dreams, they would be so creeped out. I always dream things that don't make sense. Janie has the unfortunate curse of being sucked into the dreams of everyone sleeping around her. 

Sometimes I just wanted to shake Janie and say, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". She doesn't think somethings through, but that makes her real to the readers. I am very much looking forward to the sequel and have downloaded the companion piece to this one already. It was a super quick read and one night, without realizing it, I stayed up until 5 AM reading. 

Have you read this series? Did you like the following books?

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare Review

Title: The Mortal Instruments Book One: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA
Page Count: 485
Book Type: Library Paperback
Publisher: Simon Pulse, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5507-8

From Goodreads: Their hidden world is about to be revealed.... 

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder--much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary. 

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon. 

But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

My Review: I love all of the covers for Cassandra Clare's books. I like how you can't really see their faces, but you still know exactly what character they are supposed to be. Add in the cityscape and I'm sold. 

A little background from me.... I read an ARC of Clockwork Angel (review) before I started the Mortal Instruments series. I'm not quite sure why I never read them (obviously I was delusional). I always picked them up in the bookstore and then put them down. I still don't get it. I clearly love the covers. The synopsis' are awesome. Just a major fail on my part, I suppose. Anyway, I adored Clockwork Angel more than anything so I had to snatch up City of Bones as soon as I could.

Clare has the talent of making you trust a person completely and then turning the whole story around on you. It is amazing. She draws me in and then plucks at my heartstrings. It is a testament to how delightful this book is that I was on vacation in Boston and all I wanted to do was get back to the room so I could read. Jace is the quintessential bad boy with a past--how could you not love him? One of my favorite things about Clare's writing is she draws me in with the characters and then the plot. Obviously the story is fantastic, but it would be nothing without the strong characters to support it. 

If you have been living under a rock, like I apparently have, go read these books...now. Is there anyone else out there reading them for the first time?