Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2015 Releases I BOUGHT but Haven’t Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn’t

I’m changing this up to Top Ten 2015 Releases I BOUGHT but Haven’t Read – because I suck. And I have problems with impulse control. And I have a problem with buying books I’m excited about but then don’t have time to read. Hopefully this list will help hold me accountable to reading them this year. Most of them are on my Rock My TBR Challenge to-read piles. (Titles linked to Goodreads)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saaed
Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman (actually bought for me by Becky Albertalli so it’s even worse that I haven’t read it)

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman (bought for me by my current #otspsecretsister)
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (ditto above)

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman (won in a giveaway from the author)
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Still Life Las Vegas by James Sie

Are there any 2015 releases you meant to get to or bought that you didn’t read?

Graphic Novel Review: Username: Evie by Joe Sugg

Author: Joe Sugg / Matt Whyman

Illustrator:  Amrit Birdi

Publisher: Running Press

Publication Date: September 22, 2015

192 pages, paperback

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

I feel like I should’ve known better, but I think that Joe Sugg is super funny (check out his YouTube channel ThatcherJoe) so I wanted to check it out and I wanted to like it so much. Plus the art on the cover looked pretty cool, but it was A LIE. I was more disappointed than I should have been – again, I should have known better.

Why this is bad:

• The story is ridiculously fast-paced. There is zero time to actually get to know and therefore care about any of the characters. It rushed through everything that happened and led to a very confusing and muddled plotline.
• The characters are flat in more ways than one.
  • The artwork has no movement whatsoever and all of the characters are 2D because of it.
  • But their personalities are also super flat and boring. There’s no explanation for why Mallory – Evie’s cousin – hates her so much; the science isn’t explained – although the idea of a virtual world that is influenced by a person’s thoughts/actions is pretty cool; I just didn’t care about anyone.
• The art. JFC. It’s just bad. Sometimes the characters aren’t proportional; sometimes Evie and Mallory look like the same person which is confusing. The art is flat and emotionless and bland, despite the vibrant colors.
• The writing. I’ll say that the idea is pretty cool, but the writing is not. The characters – mostly Evie – feel the need to constantly explain what they are doing or why something won’t work or that they are currently running. Okay, not the last one, but that’s what it felt like. Instead of showing the reader what was happening through the art or through dialogue, we are flat out told in long explanatory thought boxes. It was exhausting and unnecessary and annoying.

The bottom line: I was NOT a fan of this graphic novel. From flat art and characters to unnecessary explanations, Username: Evie is just not a good book.

Rating: 3 – Horrible; why am I reading this?

Top Ten Tuesday: My favorite reads of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015 (you can do it by only 2015 releases, overall, by genre (top ten fantasy books I read in 2015), etc. however you choose to make your BEST list)

I obviously couldn’t narrow it down to ten, so here are my top twelve books I read this year – each title is linked to my review and includes the “bottom line” section of my reviews. Top two are in favorite order, but the rest are in alphabetical order because I couldn’t decide how to rank them.

          

MOSQUITOLAND by David Arnold

Reasons are hard. Mississippi is hard. But you? You’re beautiful and quirky and plain ol’ strange, and I love you.

REASONS TO STAY ALIVE by Matt Haig

Read this book. Read this book because you have emotions and hopes and feelings. Read this book because you are human and because you are alive. Read this book to live. Reasons to Stay Alive is a celebration of life, books, words, and humanity.

              

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic is a gripping, thrilling, wonderful adventure. The world-building, writing, characters, Londons, and magic are all incredibly done. I can already tell this will be one of my favorite reads of 2015.

(I WAS RIGHT!)

THE DAY THE CRAYONS CAME HOME by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Brilliant and witty and everything I was hoping for. I can’t wait to be able to read these books to my kids one day. I was laughing out loud the whole time. I especially adored Esteban and Neon Red Crayon. I need more!

               

MY HEART & OTHER BLACK HOLES by Jasmine Warga

My Heart & Other Black Holes is a beautiful, honest, heartbreaking, real, and sad book. It deserves to be read – not only by anyone that has suffered any kind of mental illness, but by everyone.

I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN by Jandy Nelson

Apparently I didn’t review this one, but I loved it so much that I convinced my teens to read this one for one of our book clubs. I just want to reread all the Noah parts every day forever and ever.

               

ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae is fast-paced, emotional, and brilliant. It will make you rage, laugh, cry, and clutch the book to your chest. There’s some swoony moments, some holy-████-what-is-happening moments, some rage-y moments, and a lot of this-book-is-incredible moments. I am not even a big fan of sci-fi, but I devoured this one. Can we have the next book, please?! I ordered this book for the library, and I can’t wait for it to come in so I can push recommend it to everyone!

A PORTABLE SHELTER by Kirsty Logan

I really just wanted this review to be: OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE KIRSTY AND THIS COLLECTION AND HER WRITING AND YOU SHOULD ALL READ EVERYTHING SHE WRITES. It took a lot to not say that but just know that’s what I wanted to say. I am continuously amazed by how talented Kirsty is and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

               

THE ROSE SOCIETY by Marie Lu

If my review isn’t enough for you, I’m not sure how else to get my point across. READ THIS SERIES. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, you’re probably going to be completely enthralled, put under a spell that you won’t want to break.

THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner

I haven’t written a full review of this one yet because it isn’t out for another few months, but I loved it so much, I put it out on an ARC tour around the country. Here’s part of my review on Goodreads: The Serpent King is one that will stick with me for a long time and one I won’t forget anytime soon.

               

SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

Everyone needs to meet Simon. He’s so human that I feel like everyone would be more human after having met him. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but, basically, this book deserves to be read. It’s such a wonderful love story and it’ll make you feel all melty on the inside. I honestly can’t believe this is a debut.

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh

Apparently I didn’t review this one either. WHAT THE HECK. This book is beautiful, sumptuous, enchanting, well-written, and just wonderful. Definitely one you should read. I’ve recommended it a million times since I read it.

Which books have been your favorites this year?

DNF Review: Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson

Author:  J.C. Carleson

Genre: Young adult, contemporary

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 27, 2015

304 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers for letting me read this!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF Placebo Junkies. After a few days of not reading it, I had no desire to pick it back up. It’s not that the book isn’t good, because the concept is super interesting, but I didn’t care about any of the characters. I don’t think pitching the book as being similar to Trainspotting was a good idea either – possibly because that’s such a classic or because it just didn’t feel like that book to me. Placebo Junkies was confusing. I do think there will be some people who like this one, but I’m just not one of them. The book felt like it tried too hard in parts, and I didn’t relate to Audie nor any of her other lab rat friends. A lot of what I read also felt really unrealistic.

The bottom line: Not for me at all, but I wouldn’t rule it out if it sounds interesting to you.

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten New-To-Me Favorite Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015

I’ve decided to exclude 2015 debut authors for this list because they’d make up more than half of it. I’m going with authors who’ve written several books, but I read them for the first time this year. Titles either linked to my review or to Goodreads.

Kirsty Logan
What I’ve read: The Gracekeepers | A Portable Shelter | The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales

Marissa Meyer
What I’ve read: Cinder | Scarlet | Cress | Fairest | Currently reading: Winter

Andrew Smith
What I’ve read: The Alex Crow | 100 Sideways Miles

Sarah J. Maas
What I’ve read: Throne of Glass | A Court of Thorns and Roses

William Ritter
What I’ve read: Jackaby | Beastly Bones

Holly Black
What I’ve read: Doll Bones | The Darkest Part of the Forest | The Iron Trial

Emily Winfield Martin
What I’ve read: The Wonderful Things You’ll Be | Dream Animals | Day Dreamers

Authors who’ve written more than one book, but I’ve only read one SO FAR

Leigh Bardugo
What I’ve read: Shadow and Bone

V.E. Schwab
What I’ve read: A Darker Shade of Magic

Jandy Nelson
What I’ve read: I’ll Give You the Sun

What new-to-you authors did you read this year?

ARC Review: The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill

Author:  Lauren Morrill

Genre: Young adult, contemporary

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: December 8, 2015

272 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Delacorte Press for letting me read this!

This is a hard one to review. It’s cute – for sure. But is it original? No. It’s pretty much got every stereotype in it – from the love triangle to the evil-cheerleader-ex-best-friend to the drama fueled fight with her current best friend. It was rather predictable since I guessed how everything was going to turn out from pretty much the first page. Liza, the MC, isn’t really likable because she’s pretty judge-y and high-strung. The book is kind of…generic? I hate to use that word, but it was.

However, don’t get me wrong – there are A LOT of teen girls I know who would be gaga over The Trouble with Destiny. It’s got the romantic setting and the cute boys and the drama. Maybe I’m just a bit too old for this one. It was still an okay read. My main issue with the romance isn’t even the love triangle – even though it’s not quite your typical love triangle. It was the fact that it took so long for the romance to play out. I won’t give too many details that might spoil it, but you kind of just wanted to slap Liza in the face and yell, “OMG. Come ON!” I wanted some more swoony moments between Liza and the boy.

I did really enjoy the musical aspect of the book though. I was in band for a couple of years and then I transitioned to color guard, so I could really relate to those scenes. I think the author did a great job of bringing those scenes to life while not getting overly technical – it’s hard to represent music well in books because it can be difficult to picture and hear, but the scenes when the band is playing had me bobbing along – especially since my band actually did a Pirates of the Caribbean theme one year.

The bottom line: A fast, fun contemporary that read a little young for me – maybe I’m getting old when it comes to cutesy books. But I enjoyed the musical side of the book and when the romance finally did play out, I was definitely grinning. I still liked this reading this one overall.

Rating: 6 – good, but not great

ARC Review: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Author:  Kate Scelsa
Genre: Young adult, contemporary
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 8, 2015
368 pages, hardcover (356 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to the wonderful Little Shop of Stories for letting me take this ARC! Check them out if you’re ever in Decatur, GA!

I feel like the black sheep on this one. I was somewhat disappointed in Fans of the Impossible Life. I read it, yes, but I just feel kind of meh about it, I guess. I think one of the main issues I had was that it is really not at all about what you think it’s about. The very first line of the description made it out to be a bisexual love triangle between the three main characters (“This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them”). It is not that. At all. It had some things I liked and that you don’t usually see in YA books, like the the switching of the different tenses for each point of view: Jeremy (1^st person), Mira (3^rd person), Sebby (2^nd person).

However, there were some things that rubbed me the wrong way: mental illness was somewhat romanticized, there was some lack of consent, and several destructive relationships and friendships. Also, for a story SO about mental health issues, they aren’t really ever addressed. They’re more brought up in a “Oh, I have this issue. I’m so damaged. We can bond over this.” kind of way, but that’s it. It was strange.

I felt like nothing in the end was resolved. The characters pretty much felt the same (or worse) than they did in the beginning, and no one really grew or changed. It almost felt pointless, like why did I read this? I kind of want to do a reread at some point to see if I feel the same way later, because I did really like some of the characters (Sebby, especially) and the idea behind it. I’m not sure though.

The bottom line: I really don’t know how I feel about this one.

ARC Review: Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt

Author:  Marie Marquardt
Genre: YA, contemporary
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
352 pages, hardcover (328 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an ARC of this book from the publisher as Marie was on one of the panels I moderated at the Decatur Book Festival. This does not influence my review.

Dream Things True is essentially a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet but the boy is a white, upper-middle-class son of a senator and the girl is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. In terms of the characters, I really appreciated how flawed everyone was, because it felt real and relatable, even though my life falls nowhere near either of these characters.

I’m sure most of you won’t be surprised when I say one of my main issues was the relationship – because it developed WAY too quickly. There was a bit of instalove instalust almost right away, and it made me pretty uncomfortable. I think this took the focus away from the actual issues in the book and I would’ve appreciated a little less of the Romeo and Juliet inspiration here. I think the book could’ve benefited a lot had the (somewhat forced) relationship not driven the plot so much.

My favorite character is hands-down Whit. He was witty and smart, open-minded and oh-so-flawed, but that’s why I loved him. He was real. He stood up for what he believed in, and although he did some terrible things, he acknowledged what he’d done and worked towards fixing it. I also appreciated Alma a lot; she was honest and young and felt very realistic to me. I honestly probably could have done without Evan’s perspective though.

I appreciated the end of this one as well. Marie obviously knows what she’s talking about, and I think she did a great job of properly representing the tediousness of immigration and race and the issues surrounding it. I really respect the fact that Marie just presented the story as is – this is what happens and this is how our society is. I do feel like we could’ve gone a little bit deeper into some of the issues, however.

The bottom line: Dream Things True is a realistic, complex, dramatic, engaging story of immigration and young love. I had some issues with it, but I enjoyed it overall, and I would recommend it to fans of romantic tragedies.

 Rating: 6.5

Book Review: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys (ARC)

Author:  Various authors; stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Dial Books

Publication Date: August 18, 2015

385 pages, hardcover/ARC

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys was a horrifying, creepy, thrilling, strange collection of stories from some of the coolest YA writers out there right now. It was a perfect one to read during this time of the year, and I would highly recommend it for a Halloween read. I love that each of the stories are based on horror stories and movies, and it was really cool to try to figure out their inspiration or find out when I finished the story.

My favorite stories of the lot were:

Jay Kristoff’s “Sleepless” – a story that is sure to creep out anyone who’s ever spoken to someone on the internet and never knew who they really were. It’s full of unexpected twists and turns that are sure to surprise you. Although I knew where the inspiration for this one came from pretty quickly, it wasn’t predictable and was quite horrifying. I really want more from Jay Kristoff.

Nova Ren Suma’s “The Birds of Azalea Street” – Nova is so good at magical realism, and this story is no exception. I really like her writing style, and this one was decidedly creepy because it felt real even with the addition of the magical realism.

Carrie Ryan’s “In the Forest Dark and Deep” – Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but oh so much creepier. It’s a terrifying story of monsters in the woods, mean girls, tea parties in the woods, and the terrible things that people…or creatures can do.

Marie Lu’s “The Girl without a Face” – I love that this one was inspired, in part, by the film Los Ojos de Julia, which is one of my favorites. You could really get that super creepy and eerie feeling from it. It’s definitely the most “traditionally” scary one of the whole collection. It makes you want to keep your closet door open and check under your bed. *shudders*

The rest of the collection is made up of some great stories as well, and a few that I could’ve done without. I was a little bored with Stefan Bachmann’s “M” and Cat Winter’s “Emmeline”, but was intrigued by A.G. Howard’s story inspired by Frankenstein. Overall, I really liked this collection, and I’ll definitely be rereading some of these at Halloween next year.

The bottom line: Add this to your Halloween TBR.

Rating: Each story has its own rating, but overall, I’ll give this collection a 7 – pretty good

Shout out to Dahlia Adler who sent me an ARC of this one.

ARC Review: Persuasion by Martina Boone

Author:  Martina Boone
Genre: Young adult, paranormal
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: October 27, 2015
464 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Simon Pulse for letting me read this!

I read and loved the first book in this series, Compulsion, earlier this year. I really enjoyed the southern gothic feel, the mythology, and Watson’s landing. All of which were things I still loved in this sequel.

One of my favorite things in Persuasion was the new magic that Barrie discovers once she comes back to Watson’s Landing. She meets a man named Obadiah who may or may not be strictly human. He wants her to find something that will let him break the Colesworth curse, but because he threatens to take away her ability if she doesn’t find it, she must go behind everyone’s back and lie to those closest to her in order to do so. Even though I really liked Obadiah and thought he was that perfect kind of magical, creepy character, he created the biggest problem I had with this book.

Barrie lies in this book. A lot. She “has” to because she thinks it’ll save those closest to her and not get them involved with whatever Obadiah will do should he not be satisfied. But because of this, her relationship with Eight was a lot of “I love you, but I want to protect you, so I’m going to push you away” but then she’d be right back in his arms making out. Then arguing with him and pushing him away. Then making out. UGH. It felt very toxic and not as adorable as they were in the first book. In addition to this, I also was a bit bored in the middle – partly because of that back and forth I mentioned above but partly because it was just a bit too long. There was a lot of history and…these flashbacks that were a bit overwhelming.

However, I really loved the voodoo magic and the ghosts and the southern charm and the mystery. I think Boone is really skilled at creating a magical-feeling world with a lot of mystery. The magic, the voodoo, the curses, and all that is what really makes these books shine, and I was not disappointed in the slightest on that aspect of Persuasion.

The bottom line: Despite the fact that I wasn’t quite as impressed with this one as Compulsion, I’m still excited for the next one. Here’s hoping Barrie and Eight’s relationship gets better. That cliffhanger at the end gave me the grabby hands though.

Rating: 6 – good, but not great