Review: Pivot Point by Kasie West

Review: Pivot Point by Kasie West
Goodreads 
Release date: February 12th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: #1 in the Pivot Point series
Source: Purchased
Rating: I was so surprised at how much I loved this book! Unique, powerful, and full of shocking twists. A must-read!

 

 Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.


The cover: I like! It makes the book look a bit darker than it is, but the girl looks a lot like the Addie in my head, and it's got that whole duality feel down.

The story: I don't know why I sat on this review for so long. This book was a quick and engaging read, and most of all, it was fun. It's not intense or dark, though it has it's moments--mostly, this book is cute and funny and totally ordinal. West's take on supernatural beings is so much more fun than the average broody, angry creature. Rather, she's created a whole world full of people with cool enhanced abilities, such as persuasion, memory modification, telekinesis, and lie detecting.

Addie lives in an enclosed compound just for Paranormals. Addie's is the ability to envision projected futures. So when her parents split up, and her dad decides to go live in the Norm world, Addie envisions the two possible outcomes of the choice of which parent to live with. Both possible futures hold mystery and romance, and yes, that means there's a love triangle... OF SORTS. Because this is the most original interpretation of dual love interests I've ever seen, because of course they don't exist in the same reality.

In reality 1, Addie stays with her mom, her best friend, Layla (whose power is memory modification), and Duke, the hot, popular football player who's suddenly paying close attention to her. In reality 2, she relocates to Dallas with her dad and has to adjust to a brand new high school in a totally different universe from hers. She's surrounded by people who have no idea that people with supernatural abilities even exist. When Addie envisions her two possible paths, she actually lives them. Even the road not taken is etched in her mind as a solid memory. So we go along the two paths with her, alternating by chapter, never sure until the end which road is the actual story.

What really got me hooked on this book were the characters, particularly Addie. She's a bookworm who detests football, and she's hilarious. And Trevor, her love interest, is SWOONY TO THE MAX. He's just a legitimately great guy, and one of the sweetest book boys I've come across in a long time. All the awards to Trevor. Seriously. Laila is an awesome and colorful best friend who's relationship with Addie is strong and interesting. And Duke is charming and really, really attractive. But I found myself more interested in the "Normal" chapters set in Dallas than in the Paranormal chapters. Not to say the other storyline was bad--it most certainly wasn't. There was so much going on over there, and watching the two stories somewhat overlap--picking up clues from both worlds to solve the one overarching mystery--was totally cool. But the story of Addie the new girl becoming best friends with Trevor the cute boy... that was my favorite aspect of the book.

Honestly, I still have world-building questions about the paranormal city and stuff like that, but I was willing to let it slide in book one. Mostly because Trevor was there being all adorable, and Addie was being snarky, and there were mysteries to solve and stuff. The book got serious at the end, with all kinds of betrayal and heartbreak (my heart, specifically, though I suppose Addie was pretty sad too). 

I one hundred percent recommend this book and West's sophomore novel, The Distance Between Us. Both have a lot of humor and heart and will entertain you no question.

Review: Invisible by Marni Bates

Review: Invisible by Marni Bates
Goodreads 
Release date: , 2013
Publisher: K-Teen (Kensington)
Series: #2 in the Awkward series
Source: Netgalley
Rating: Super cute, super fluffy, and super funny. Not as funny as Decked With Holly, but with more heart.



Jane Smith has survived three years of high school without making a single enemy, all by keeping a low profile. Not even her three best friends, Kenzie, Corey and Isobel, can say the same. But with Corey dating the lead singer from ReadySet and Kenzie in a relationship too, being invisible tends to be lonely. But now she's written an article for her school newspaper that has accidentally snagged the attention of some celebrities. Turns out, people get really upset when their innermost secrets are splashed all over the front page. And new her well-ordered life is being blasted to hell, with results that are wildly unexpected.

My review for Decked With Holly, a companion to Akward, which was the precursor to Invisible.
Note: It's not necessary to read Awkward before reading Invisible (clearly, since I just did that). However, there ARE spoilers for Awkward both in the book and in my review.

Note #2: Awkward was narrated by Mackenzie, whereas Invisible is narrated by Mackenzie's best friend, Jane. 

The cover: Eh. This isn't my favorite type of cover. I sometimes like the whole doodling-on-notebook-paper, just-an-average-teen thing (and it especially works since Jane is on the school paper and wants to be a writer), but that picture is so strange to me.

The story: Invisible by Marni Bates was funny, light, and sweet-- everything I was hoping for after howling my way through Decked With Holly,which I compared in my review to a sugary cupcake. I love cupcake books, devoid of sustenance but high of enjoyability. They're just the perfect thing when you need them. This book tells the story of Jane, an every-day girl who gets steamrollered by basically everybody. She's a total pushover who's being ignored by her suddenly famous friends and belittled by her popular sister. While at times it may have been frustrating watching Jane allow people walk all over her, her journey to empowerment was truly a joy to read. The two scenes where she finally sticks it to everybody--while remaining the bigger person-- made me want to thrust my fist in the air.

Basically, Jane decides she's sick of being a pushover. She's going to make herself heard... and it starts with the paper. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and she's partnered agaisnt her will with douchey photographer Scott, who does everything he can to get under her skin and push her out of her comfort zone.

I love how much of this book focused on family relationships and friendships. Bates did an amazing job of underscoring how ignored, pigeonholed, and coddled Jane is by the people who love her, and you totally get why she's sick of it. Did a lot of things strain credulity? Sure. I still don't believe that Scott would be ordered to trail Jane around like that spoiler even on one of Jane's dates? Really? spoiler, but he and Jane had such funny, bantery, Beatrice-and-Benedick chemistry that I didn't care that much. I LOVED watching them snark all over each other. He was at times a complete jerk, but he managed to become an attractive jerk, and it turned out there was a lot more to him. I loved that all the characters ended up having a little depth to them, even Chelsea, who so easily could have been the stereotypical mean girl.

Not reading Awkward first may have hindered me a bit when it came to the characters. Mackenzie, Jane's best friend since elementary school, is the heroine of the first book, and presumably very endearing, but I actively disliked her in this book. She unknowingly treats Jane like crap, and while the resolution to their drama was sweet, I never ended up truly liking her.

But most of all, this book is funny. Jane's voice is a delight, the dialogue is witty, and as usual with Marni Bates, the situations the characters find themselves in are completely, over-the-top hysterical. Realistic? Not remotely. And I knew what the final catastrophe was going to be the second it was set up (which was also kind of fun... I was all DOOM IS COMING JANE but of course she couldn't hear me. When will I finally get the people in the books to listen to me?!). Jane is an easy hero to root for. I mean, what teen person HASN'T felt invisible or forgotten by their friends?. Scott is exactly the kind of charming-but-arrogant love interest that rubs you the wrong way for so long, but then suddenly is right. I love that he's not completely redeemed. He doesn't stop being arrogant and blunt. We just suddenly understand him.

All in all, this book was a fun read that I finished off in one afternoon. It didn't split my sides the way Decked With Holly did, but then DWH was sillier. Invisible still managed to deal with real life problems like bullying and homophobia and how hard it is to try on different personalities around people who have known you since birth, and already have a preconceived notion of who you are.

Book Haul (4)

Sadly, I've been very busy this week (read: I've been very lazy and have mostly slothed about eating very patriotic amounts of pie and mac and cheese, which means I look revolting and refuse to subject to audience to my post-Fourth of July countenance) so I didn't have time to shoot a vlog.But I got a lot of really cool books this week, so I did a Stacking the Shelves post regardless.

Review books:



Find Me by Romily Bernard (Thank you, HarperTeen!)
Bang by Lisa McMann (Thank you, Simon Pulse!)

Gifted, bought, or won:




The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (THANK YOU, SHELVER!)
A signed and personalized Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
A signed and personalized Legend by Marie Lu
An ARC of The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (Thank you, Lili and Skye! Lili sent me her copy, and then of course, because fate is like that, I won a copy from Skye. So Lili gets her copy back, and I get to keep the won copy)
And ARC of Teardrop by Lauren Kate (Thanks, Shelver!)

Ebooks:


 

Everbound by Brodi Ashton (Everneath #2) 
Shadow by Amanda Sun  (Ink #0.5)
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Clarie Legrand

Those last two are on sale at Amazon, if you want to snag them yourselves!

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Goodreads 
Release date: August 27th, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series: #2 in the Throne of Glass series
Source: BEA
Rating: AAAAAAAAAHHHH SDFGHJHGFGHJ FEELSTRAVAGANZA also Chaol. Action, danger, Chaol, shocking developments, Chaol, my heart in shreds, Chaol. Plus Chaol.



 After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?


Warning: There be spoilers for book one and the prequel novellas in these waters. Ye be warned.

My review of Throne of Glass
My review of the Throne of Glass novellas

I STRONGLY, STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ THE NOVELLAS BEFORE CoM. They're not one hundred percent necessary, but I'd say they're about eighty percent necessary. Also, they're really good. I guarantee you, you'll be confused about certain things if you haven't read them. You will understand Celaena better, you'll understand the world building, and you'll meet SAM. Come on. You NEED to meet Sam.

The cover: I approve so much of this redeseign. Celaena is a bamf, the colors are all fiery and awesome, and I covet her hair. It's Celaena in a nutshell.

The story: Okay. So. So.

I don't know how to write about this book. Like, all I want to do is fling sobby and swoony gifs at you and then say THE END, but that won't do, will it? You guys and the publisher people and my own conscience demand a little coherency. So I'll try.



Crown of Midnight is an action-packed, rollercoaster ride of a book that will make mincemeat of your emotions, and it is, I feel, an improvement on the already glorious Throne of Glass. In my opinion, the strength of this series has always been the characters. I care about Celaena, Chaol (CHAOLLLL), Dorian, Nehemia, and Fleetfoot the dog like they're my best friends. I swoon and squeal so violently when good things happen to them that I accidentally knock water glasses off nightstand (true story). And when bad things happen, I cry like my eyeballs are god damn Niagara Falls, and my heart is in a barrel and Sarah J. Maas has pushed it over the edge and made me forget how to metaphor.

Also true story: I read this most of this book on the plane coming back from BEA. My advice: DO NOT DO THIS. Because you will be feeling such THINGS, but you will not be able to express them because the evil Armrest Nazi currently jabbing her elbow into your ribs will give you strange looks. As if it's abnormal to weep silently into your airline-provided blanket at 30,000 feet. Yeesh.




Celaena is, as ever, my favorite. I just love this girl, in all her brash and brilliant glory. She won the not-so-coveted position of King's Assassin at the end of Throne of Glass, and now finds herself as the person who must do all of the evil king's dirty work, alienating the two boys who love her and the best friend who sees the good inside her. The relationships in this book just tug on my heartstrings, you guys, even the love triangle, which is as un-love-triangle-ish as you could get. Celaena is NOT a flip-floppy, wishy-washy girl. She makes choices, and she lives and dies by them. There's grief and strife and love all around. Nehemia and Celaena are an awesome pair, full of fire and female empowerment. I even love Dorian and Celaena int his book. Dorian is dealing with some... things that I can't talk about, but suffice it to say I gasped so loudly at his revelation. It was the best thing to ever happen to this character. That was the part of the mythology that made me go OH, DAMN, in a good way.

Now. Chaol. CHAOL.

 

I think I've been Team Chaol since the very moment he appeared in Throne of Glass, which is on, like, page two. He is one of my favorite book boyfriends ever, and he gets all the awards for being stalwart, honorable, and just plain old sexy. He and Celaena are perfection together. Kudos to Maas for writing an almost-couple with such UST that I die a little just seeing their names on the page together.

 

 Obviously, because I'm so openly, blatantly, VIOLENTLY Team Chaol, any comments I make about their journey in CoM will reveal the way things go down, so I'll just tell you that a) something happens between them that actually made me scream with joy, hug my book to my chest, and dance around my bedroom, and b) something happens between them that made me want to FLING AIRPLANE PEANUTS AT EVERYBODY ON THE PLANE OH MY GOD HOW DO PEOPLE SURVIVE THIS BOOK HOW COULD SARAH DO--

Okay. Okay. I'm calm. Let's not talk about that anymore. Seriously, this book isn't perfect--I'm not a huge fan of the mythology, the final Celaena-centric revelation is like NO DUH, and there are an awful lot of scenes of people wandering secret passageways at night and/or reading books in the library after dark--but holy CRAP is it good. It's been awhile since a book affected me this viscerally and emotionally. The plot is pretty aces as well, and the climax... is insane. Oh my god. That thing in the... and then down below in the... AND THEN CHAOL WHEN HE... and Dorian... AND CELAENA OMG.



SORRY. I just... GAH. It's been over a month since I read this, and I'm still not over it. Also, the very last scene is a thing of heartbreaking beauty. Sarah J. Maas, you wonderful jerk.

 

Book Three. Give it to me right this second, Book Gods, and I promise not to go all Celaena Sardothien on your asses. ALSO ALSO! A little birdie at BEA told me there will be... at least SIX books in the series! MORE CHAOL FOR ME TO NOT SHARE WITH YOU! Also, lucky for you guys, Goodreads is giving away five copies of Crown of Midnight. GO FORTH AND ENTER! Go forth and experience the heart-wrenching, soul-crushing pain and horror and wonder of this tremendous sophomore novel. Your therapist will thank me.

If you don't look like this at the end... you read it wrong. Or you're a Vulcan.

Review: Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Review: Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton
Goodreads
Release date: July 8th, 2013
Publisher: Flux
Source: e-ARC via Netgalley
Rating: A bittersweet and beautifully written book with an original concept and a somewhat disappointing resolution.

 

 I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

The cover: Eye-gasm. Seriously. The bleak and empty landscape, that disintegrating dress of butterflies, her hair in the wind--they all add up to one completely stunning cover.

I got approved for Some Quiet Place on NG, and then it turned out the author was at BEA! I got to meet her and get a hard copy signed, and she was lovely and nervous about being a debut author.She was definitely one of the nicest, chattiest authors I got to meet. So I just thought I'd let you know that.

The story: I requested this book for two reasons: 1) the COVER, and 2) the concept.I just loved the idea of a girl who can see Emotions as people. They're totally anthropomorphized beings that appear just when a human needs them. Anger, Sorrow, Regret, Fear--all they have to do is touch the human, and the human will get a blast of whatever feeling they represent. Except for Elizabeth.

It is absolutely nothing like this.

 What surprised me was how incredibly invested I was in Elizabeth. Usually, what makes me connect to a character is how well I feel her emotions. Obviously, that's not the case with Elizabeth, since she feels nothing. But it was like I felt everything in her place. I knew what she was missing, I saw how brutal and horrible her life was (and it really is horrible--there are things here that are not for the faint of heart). She's aware of her nothingness, and she always regrets it, and that regret lingers throughout the pages. There's a certain gorgeous tone to Elizabeth's narration that is pretty spellbinding.

This is a tricky book to discuss without spoiling things. I won't, obviously, but just know there are a lot of things I can't get into--namely the entire last 100 pages, which just so happened to be the parts I had problems with. The first 200 or so are gorgeous, atmospheric, and rather slow-going at times, but then the action would pick up. it's set in a tiny town in Wisconsin, and that lent a lot of richness to it. The mystery surrounding Elizabeth and the reason for her imperviousness is really intriguing. No one is more invested in this than Fear, the beautiful male Emotion who always makes a habit of trying to break Elizabeth's walls down, even though it seems fruitless. Joshua, a human boy from Elizabeth's high school, also tries to break through these walls.

Hold on... that sounds suspiciously like a love triangle...

Well... not really. Sort of? Again, I can't really comment on it, except to say that Joshua is adorable and sweet and Fear is sexy and dark. I'm still a little confused about the purpose of one of the boys-- Sutton made sure I got really invested in him, and then he just seemed to disappear. Actually, no. I understood his purpose, in the grand scheme of things, and liked how unapologetically bittersweet the ending was, but it also ended up feeling like much ado about nothing. Especially since I was sort of rooting for the guy who ended up being just a tool in Elizabeth's journey.

Which brings me to my one complaint: the resolution. There is a CREEPTASTIC, WONDERFUL villain, and I liked that showdown. But the big reveal... well, I didn't like it so much. I really loved the first, say, 250 pages. It was just that final development. Which, obviously, I cannot talk about, and which just may be me. Vague review is vague.

But I loved Elizabeth. She's detached, cool, and exceptionally observant, and it was a bizarre but beautiful experience being in her head and seeing the world the way she sees it. This book didn't feel like any other book I'd ever read, which was fabulous. Even if the romance didn't grab me-- and it almost did, as I came to care for both boys, even if one of them made frown disapprovingly--Elizabeth and her unique situation of being a shell of a person, a stranger in her own dysfunctional family, really moved me. For that reason, I recommend trying this evocative, strange, and haunting novel. I'm excited to see what Kelsey Sutton writes next.

Twitter is #Awesome for Bookish People

Most of you bloggy and readerly people I've come to know through Twitter. It's the best way to meet and talk to people in this community. It's also an really great way for a lot of FUN THINGS to happen. Case in point: two amazing hashtags popped up on Twitter, both of which which here book related, and both of which I participated in LIKE A FIEND.

A QUICK LESSON:
(For those of you confused by the Twitter, as I was once upon a yesterday, a hashtag is something you put in your tweet to indicate a certain topic. For instance lets say you're watching the latest episode of Doctor Who, and you want to live tweet your feels. You'd tweet something like "ASDFGHJHGFVDFGH WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY #DoctorWho". That way, anybody following the #DoctorWho tag-- basically, all you have to do is click on the words #DoctorWho-- can see what you've written!)
LESSON OVER.

A lot of book-related hashtags pop up every now and then, and they are tons of fun. The first one I'm going to shed some light was started by my blogging buddy Shelver over at Bookshelver's Anonymous (she did a really good write-up of the Twitter chat here). Last Thursday, literary agents and editors had started a hashtag called #MSWL, which stands for "manuscript wishlist", in which they were all saying what their ideal manuscripts would be--ones they'd love to receive. Well, Shelver got the brilliant idea to star #RBWL, or reader-blogger wishlist, in which readers and bloggers detail their ideal books. Here are some of my favorite suggestions of the day:

Ladies and the war effort back home during WWI/WWII. So many social issues and gender politics to play with! #rbwl
— Jennifer H (@ournoisyhearts) June 28, 2013

More YA/MG books about more subgroups. Doomsday preppers. Survivalists. Nomads. Pig farmers. Daredevils. Clowns. Something different! #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 28, 2013

Now on my #RBWL: Dark urban fantasy with new creatures. Anne Rice for YA. A real swoonworthy romance in YA. NA paranormal + fantasy.
— Pam van Hylckama (@BookaliciousPam) June 28, 2013

Oh! What about teens on separate sides of the Berlin Wall? I know so little about East and West Germany. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 28, 2013

@mizgillianberry While we're on the topic of classic French novels...I want a fantasy reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo. #RBWL
— Jillian (@Savanting) June 28, 2013

Per @dreamoforgonon, gender-bent fairy tales (male Sleeping Beauty, female Beast, etc.) LOVE THIS. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

Ah! A story set in ancient Pompeii leading up to the volcano eruption! Yes! #RBWL
— Jessica Reid (@MsJessR) June 27, 2013

And, of course, more diversity in all aspects. Race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, class, etc. #RBWL
— Jon E. Christianson (@HonestlyJon) June 27, 2013

Genre mash-ups! Historical sci-fi, dystopian fantasy, romances set in space, etc. #RBWL
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) June 27, 2013

I'm really curious about a prehistoric story. Writers, show me your imaginations... how did our first human ancestors survive? #RBWL
— Jessica Reid (@MsJessR) June 27, 2013

Many more books with slow-burning romance and less insta-love! A la Aria and Perry from UTNS. #RBWL
— Molli (@courageousgrace) June 27, 2013

A book about the kraken. Or with the kraken. Or around the kraken. #RBWL
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) June 27, 2013

Something that takes me back to Little House on the Prairie! I ADORED those books. #RBWL
— Jessica Reid (@MsJessR) June 27, 2013

I'd love to see more familial relationships explored in YA. Tired of absentee parents. Want more sibling relations! #RBWL
— Ardo the O-some (@a_wordsmith) June 27, 2013

First colonization of Australia when being settled by criminals. Hard land, teen criminals, far from home, lawless society. Gimme. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

And SUPERVILLAINS a la VICIOUS! RT @mizgillianberry Superheroes! Real, honest-to-goodness, straight out a comic book SUPERHEROES. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

More books like TEAM HUMAN where YA tropes are poked at by self-aware MC's, or even inverted. More snarky humor! #RBWL
— Molli (@courageousgrace) June 27, 2013

YESSSSS RT @mizgillianberry: THE ROMANOVS. Give me anything and everything about the Romanovs, please. #RBWL
— Katy C (@ablightedone) June 27, 2013

Off-the-grid teen adapts to real world. Either contemporary or even fantasy or sci-fi, 'cause how cool would that be? #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

Contemporaries that take me to countries I've never been to, like in ENDANGERED. Mongolia, Tanzania, Peru, Iceland! #RBWL
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) June 27, 2013

In general: more self-aware female characters in YA! Self-worth! No validation-through-the-love-interest. #RBWL
— Molli (@courageousgrace) June 27, 2013

More girls disguised as boys. Let the reason for her disguise be very real, present, and urgent. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

And because great minds think alike:

#RBWL High fantasy about the gods, or with gender-bending. Give me girls disguised as boys ALL DAY LONG.
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) June 27, 2013

I've mentioned it before, but whoever gives me a proper retelling of Little Women with Laurie and Jo together can have my firstborn #RBWL
— Gillian Berry (@mizgillianberry) June 27, 2013

YA space stories that take place IN SPACE (ie. not teens crashing to earth.) Bit dangerous, some kissing. Think FIREFLY for teens! #RBWL
— Molli (@courageousgrace) June 27, 2013

More upper YA LGBT coming-out stories that are authentic/subtle and not sensationalized. #RBWL
— Molli (@courageousgrace) June 27, 2013

More specifically, I would ADORE a YA or MG set in North Korea. It's like a real-life 1984 from what we can tell. Run with it! #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

#RBWL: Fat girls whose entire stories are not about how terrible it is to be fat. Something that's realistic when it talks about fat.
— Meagan Rivers (@mgnwrites) June 27, 2013

A setting I'm dying to see written about is Woodstock '69 or some other significant hippie counter-culture event from the 60s. #RBWL
— Jessica Reid (@MsJessR) June 27, 2013

ASSASSINS. As protag., antag., both. Historical, fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary! ALL ASSASSINS ALL THE TIME. Bonus points for poisons. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

I want Gilmore Girls-esque books, including the quirky town part. #RBWL
— Stormy C (@stormydawnc) June 27, 2013

I would LOVE to see more YA mysteries a la adult cozy mysteries. I feel like every mystery has some element of paranormal or something #RBWL
— Brittany (@bookaddictguide) June 27, 2013

And then, the best of all:

I want Belle's book. Daring sword-fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise! If this happens to be non-European, so much the better. #RBWL
— Shelver506 (@Shelver506) June 27, 2013

 Read more for the HASHTAG HILARITY in the of #YABooksWithALetterMissing!

Top Ten Most Intimidating Books

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

You know how there are just some books you WANT to read but you just DON'T? Like, one look at that page count, and you're intimidated. Or you remember how all your friends and every reputable reviewer around practically wet themselves while reading that book. Well, these are the books that most intimidate me, along with the reasons why.


 

1. Book: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype, Batman; Because everybody freaking loves it; cancery cancer makes me cry; I don't want to be THAT PERSON who doesn't get it
Reason I WANT it: Am I a bad book blogger if I haven't read this?

2. Book: The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype, Batman; Because everybody freaking loves it; Holocausty Holocaust makes me cry
Reason I WANT it: I want to know all about the brilliance that is apparently in this book!

3. Book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy page count, Batman; if I don't like it, will I look stupid?; I KNOW THE ENDING
Reason I WANT it: I can't wear my Literate Snob badge if I haven't read Anna Karenina.

4. Book: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepytus
Reason I'm intimidated: Genocidey genocide makes me cry; Holy hype, Batman
Reason I WANT it: I love good WWII fiction, and I LOVE books set in or around or having to do with Russia/the USSR.

5. Book: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype, Batman; Because everybody freaking loves it: I don't want to be THAT PERSON
Reason I WANT it: I love Aussie lit, it sounds really good, and I already own it.

6. Book: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Reason I'm intimidated: Because everybody freaking loves it; "it's the new Harry Potter"; aren't there like a million of these?
Reason I WANT it: I would like a new Harry Potter, I love mythology, and these books look like tons of fun.

 
 

7. Book: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Reason I'm intimidated: Because everybody freaking loves it; vampires schmampires; why is Angelina Jolie on the cover; aren't there like a million of these?
Reason I WANT it: Because everybody freaking loves it, and I need new book boyfriends, and apparently these are NOT your Grandma's sparkly vampires.

8. Book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype, Batman; because everybody freaking loves it
Reason I WANT it: Magical magicness, a beautiful concept, and a romance sure to make me swoon.

9. Book: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype, Batman
Reason I WANT it: It's right up my alley, and I got an ARC of the sequel.

10. Book: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy hype Batman; Because everybody freaking loves it; I have a feeling I'll be THAT PERSON; deathy deathness makes me cry
Reason I WANT it: This book is supposed to be really moving, gorgeous, and well-written.

11. Book: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Reason I'm intimidated: Because everybody freaking loves it
Reason I WANT it: I've never read any Maggie Stiefvater, but this totally sounds like something original that I'd enjoy.

12. Book: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Reason I'm intimidated: Holy page count, Batman; because everybody freaking loves it; George R.R. Martin makes me cry
Reason I WANT it: As a diehard fan of the TV show, I obviously will and have to read this book. BUT UGH IT MIGHT DESTROY ME BECAUSE I KNOW THINGS NOW.

Honorable mentions: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Maze Runner by James Dashner(lots of runners), Just One Day by Gayle Forman, Wicked Lovely by Marissa Marr.

The Absolute Terror of the Final Book in the Series

There is nothing better, and there is nothing worse, than finishing a series you've loved for ages. There's just so much EXCITEMENT and INTENSITY, because OMG YOU'LL KNOW HOW IT ENDS! But at the same time... it will end.

I am, and always have been, a diehard Harry Potter fan. I read each book pretty much the day it came out, except for the first two, because I was about six and eight, respectively, and didn't know things yet. But for those of you in the HP generation, do you REMEMBER what it was like waiting for The Deathly Hallows to come out? I wanted it soso bad. So badly I thought I was going to go insane with wanting it. Like any day I'd snap, charge over to the nearest bookstore, and be all

HAND IT OVER BITCHES

I was so excited I felt sick, but I was also filled with so much dread. I mean, that would be it. There would be NO NEW HARRY POTTERS EVER. And what if something AWFUL happened? (A LOT of awful things happened, but we won't get into that now.) What if the book itself was no good? You've invested so many years and so much of your soul into a series, and you always want the last installment to do all that investment justice.

But what if it doesn't? How do you cope?

This post was actually inspired by a conversation I had with another blogger I love (who shall remain nameless). I discovered that, while she has read all the Harry Potter books when they came out, she has YET THE READ THE LAST ONE. She has it. BUT SHE HASN'T READ IT. I love you, oh nameless blogger, and I understand why. I mean, it's terrifying to finish a series you love. I'm anxious for The Bitter Kingdom, the last book in The Girl of Fire and Thorns series--anxious in the good way AND anxious in the bad way. I can understand why you haven't been able to take that leap yet.

But I also think you're kind of crazy because HELLO THAT BOOK CAME OUT IN 2007 AND IT'S HARRY FREAKING POTTER okay I'm okay now

So many great series are ending this year, like the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, the Legend series by Marie Lu, the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter, the Watersong series by Amanda Hokcing, the Razorland series by Ann Aguire, and the Croak series by Gina Damico, among many others. Many already ended, such as The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, the Shadow Falls series by C.C. hunter, the Revenants series by Amy Plum, the Unearthly trilogy by Cynthia Hand, and the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver.

Basically, 2013 has been nothing but a biG angst-fest for the series-addicted.



I know your pain so well, little cartoon girl. There are some books I just can't bring myself to read because I know I'll love them so much (logic: not my strong suit).

But then there are the times where you do take the plunge, where you do rip the Amazon package containing that last Harry Potter book right out of the UPS guy's hands, and then you tear the package open and start reading it right then and there. And the book is SO GOOD that it's just like



and the series goes out in this blaze of Bon Jovi glory and awesomeness, and you're so happy-sad and it's just... ugh. BOOKS.



 So yes, it's totally terrifying when a series you love comes to an end. But when the end goes right, there's nothing better. There's payoff for beloved characters, and payoff for you for those years of investment. So I'm thinking, somehow, we'll survive all these series ending. Because there's always a NEW series just around the corner. Hey, we addicts have got to get our fixes somehow. Ending a series just gives us room for a NEW obsession!

 What about you? Do you have a panic attack every time a series you love ended? Or are you totally cool about it? Which series ender are you dreading, or have you dreaded in the past?