Monday, July 27, 2015

THE WRONG SIDE OF RIGHT: JENN MARIE THORNE


I thought this was pretty exceptional. When I was a few chapters in, I was really excited about this because it was really a refreshing read. It has been a long time since I read a YA book that was taking a different view on the subject of being a teenager. And I loved the political backdrop, because books about politics have been done for adults, but I've never read one starring teens.

ALL of our characters, including the smallest ones were well-rounded, well thought-out and REAL. Seriously, I felt like these people really existed. And, I loved being on the campaign trail. I'm not a political girl myself but this was just so entertaining and interesting. It was light hearted, while being extremely serious. It was a story about families while also raising issues about the seriously flawed world of presidential elections. It accomplished so much in one book.

BOOK BLURB:
Kate Quinn’s mom died last year, leaving Kate parentless and reeling. So when the unexpected shows up in her living room, Kate must confront another reality she never thought possible—or thought of at all. Kate does have a father. He’s a powerful politician. And he’s running for U.S. President. Suddenly, Kate’s moving in with a family she never knew she had, joining a campaign in support of a man she hardly knows, and falling for a rebellious boy who may not have the purest motives. This is Kate’s new life. But who is Kate? When what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign’s talking points, she must decide. Does she turn to the family she barely knows, the boy she knows but doesn’t necessarily trust, or face a third, even scarier option?

Set against a backdrop of politics, family, and first love, this is a story of personal responsibility, complicated romance, and trying to discover who you are even as everyone tells you who you should be.


This is a mostly clean read with a few swear words, but nothing too offensive and the romance is G rated. If I taught teens in school I would have every single one of them read this.  

Thursday, July 2, 2015

I'LL MEET YOU THERE: HEATHER DEMETRIOS


This is the first 5 star read I've enjoyed in a long time. I pretty much loved everything about this. I've never read a book before that so artfully captures what it is like to grow up in a poor small town. The heroine's experiences are so far from mine, but I felt like I could relate to her so well. There is some male POV as well and the snippets from the mind and heart of our hero were heartfelt and raw and just the perfect amount of his voice to make the book more meaningful and more well rounded.

I devoured this book. I couldn't read it fast enough. It has been ages since I felt like that about a book. 

BOOK BLURB:
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.


This has some steamy scenes and character driven foul language.