Another book that I read for my young adult literature class. I have to admit, I didn't have high expectations for this, because most of the other books that I've read for this class have fallen short of my expectations. But this book was WONDERFUL. It sucked me in from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down - so thankfully, I read it while I was at the beach and I actually had time to read non-stop, haha. 

This book takes place in a fantasy world, with humans and dragons (who can take human form) at the forefront, but the world bears many similarities to medieval history, so it's very easy to adapt to as a reader. The world is easily understood and what isn't immediately understood is explained soon enough, and done so smoothly, without deviating from the story. 

The characters are so wonderfully crafted, each with the perfect medley of character flaws and strengths. Sometimes, the narrator's decisions could be frustrating, but even when she made decisions that I disagreed with, her reasoning was so solid that I couldn't get mad at her. I liked each character so much that I couldn't get mad at them, even when I wanted to be. 

The story had the perfect amount of mystery and adventure, tragedy and romance, magic and reality. It even had political undertones, but wasn't so overbearing with them as to distract from the story. This is truly the first young adult novel that I've read in a long time - especially from the fantasy genre - that I want to thrust upon every reader that I know. If you're thinking about reading this book, don't think about it any longer - just pick it up and read! I highly, highly recommend this book. It fully deserves all five stars.

Another book that I read only because of my YA lit class... and this one was so good. I didn't expect to like it. First of all, it's about kids with cancer, and that means that it's full of sadness, and I hate sad books. I read to escape reality for a bit (not that my reality's BAD, it's just sometimes I like to take a break from it - like a vacation, almost), and who wants to escape to somewhere sad? I certainly don't, so I usually avoid books that I know will be sad. The other reason I didn't expect to like it was because EVERYONE who I talked to about this book told me that I'd "LOVE" it. And I'm a bit of a book snob, so usually when everyone LOVES books, I tend to be overly sensitive their flaws. 

But this book was SO good. Yes, it was sad - I knew that going into it and you should, too - but it was written with a sense of humor. The narrator has a terminal illness and, even though she is certainly moody at times (and has every right to be), she's also sarcastic and she's able to laugh at her situation. And that's refreshing. 

And then there was Augustus. He was wonderful. You know those guys in books who you read about and they make you mentally swoon because they're just so perfect? Well, he wasn't quite THAT good - which I actually prefer, because it made him real. And that's always preferable to perfection. He's more of a Henry Tilney than a Fitzwilliam Darcy, but personally, I like those characters better, anyway. He was funny and sweet and he loved Hazel in spite of - and sometimes, because of - her flaws. 

Most importantly, this book sucked me in. I could not put it down. I haven't read a book that consumed me so completely in such a long time. This book is not fine literature, but it's an entertaining read that WILL make you think, and it'll make you realize as bad as your life might seem sometimes, at least you're living. So read this book. It will definitely be worth your time. 

I was assigned this book for a young adult literature class that I'm taking in the fall. I was definitely intrigued about it - I'm not a sci-fi fan, but I heard that it was comparable to the Hunger Games, and while that isn't my favorite series, it's definitely a good one. So I was really excited to start The 5th Wave. 

At first, I wasn't really impressed. It's well-written, especially for YA - it's not overly simplistic but it's not overwhelmingly challenging either. However, at first I didn't like Cassie, the main character. She's very snarky and frankly she's really unnecessarily nasty sometimes (which, looking back, I guess she's entitled to - after all, pretty much everyone she knows is dead). Also, as stated before, I'm not a big fan of sci-fi, so I found it really hard to get into the whole alien apocalypse thing. And on top of all of this, the first section is really scattered; it's a mix of Cassie's memories and the present and it can be difficult to differentiate between the two and remember exactly what's happening when the story does finally come back to the present. So for the first quarter of the book, I wasn't feeling it at all and was only really reading it because it was required of me.

But then, out of nowhere, it started to get really, really good. Soon enough, I couldn't put it down. Everyone is interconnected somehow, and I love books like that. My favorite character by far was Evan. At times, he was a little TOO perfect, but I just really couldn't help loving him; he's just wonderful. If you think about it, the plot is a little predictable, but if you just allow yourself to get engulfed in the story, you might not be able to predict it. 

I would recommend this book to anyone high school age or older. There is some pretty offensive language that I personally wouldn't allow middle school students to read. I would definitely recommend this to reluctant readers, especially boys. It's not a typical YA book at all and I think it could really appeal to reluctant readers in ways that other books might not. Definitely a good read!

This is such an amazing story! I read this for my YA lit class that I'm taking in the fall. It does start off a bit slowly, but once it picks up, it is REALLY interesting. It's very clearly well-researched, and it tells the story of two British girls during World War II. One, Maddie, is a pilot from England, while the other is a spy from Scotland. Their friendship is amazing and I loved reading about it. I think this would be a really interesting book for a high school history teacher to assign during a World War II unit, but I could see it getting looked over in favor of books that discuss the Holocaust or non-fiction accounts of the war. Language can be a bit strong at times, but it's used to add personality and spunk to the main character, so I personally did not find it to be offensive. I recommend this to anyone interested in planes, spies, or history in general - this action-packed read will definitely keep your attention!

I knew going into this book that I wasn't going to like it, but I read it anyway because it's on my required reading list for my Young Adult Literature class. I knew I wouldn't like it because it's a coming of age story and, in my experience, all coming of age stories are the same: they're about two best friends who meet by chance but instantly know that the other person is Integral To Their Life, and then the narrator becomes disenchanted with his/her friend (who, of course, is innately good and wonderful and teaches the narrator something important), and then just when the narrator realizes how absolutely wonderful said friend is, something terrible happens to the friend. And that is exactly what happened in this book. Except this book has two very important differences that set it apart from all of those other books and ALMOST made me like it: 1) the story went on after the tragedy and 2) the two characters ended up being gay. In these coming of age novels, I always suspect the characters of being gay but they never actually are (or if they are, the author chooses not to expose this), and because these two actually are, it felt more honest, more real. And I thought that was great - not that they were gay, but that the author was honest about it. Which makes sense, because apparently that's what this book is known for. I didn't know that prior to reading it and I'm glad that I didn't. 

So why did I give this book only two stars? Well, first of all, I didn't really like any of the characters, and for me, that's a crucial part of liking a book. And secondly, while I fully believed that Dante was gay, I just didn't buy it from Aristotle. I did at first, but then, when Dante came out to him, I was thoroughly convinced that Aristotle was straight and I thought this would end up being the story of how a straight friend supported his gay friend. Which would have been great! But instead, Aristotle's parents just sort of sat him down and informed him that he was in love with Dante. It felt incredibly forced. When you're in love, people don't need to tell you that. And from what I've been told, if you're gay, you just KNOW, just like I just KNOW that I'm straight. So instead of having a believable, amazing ending, this book ended with two friends falling in love with each other - simply because the author wanted them to. It did not feel real and it was not believable, two things that I believe are crucial in any good book. Mixed with the fact that I just didn't really LOVE the story in general, it's earned only 2 stars from me.