17 First Kisses

Author: Rachael Allen
Stars: 4 out of 5

Back of the Book
No matter how many boys Claire kisses, she can’t seem to find a decent boyfriend. Someone who wouldn’t rather date her gorgeous best friend, Megan. Someone who won’t freak out when he learns about the tragedy her family still hasn’t recovered from. Someone whose kisses can carry her away from her backwoods town for one fleeting moment.

Until Claire meets Luke.

But Megan is falling for Luke, too, and if there’s one thing Claire knows for sure, it’s that Megan’s pretty much irresistible.

With true love and best friendship on the line, Claire suddenly has everything to lose. And what she learns—about her crush, her friends, and most of all herself—makes the choices even harder.

In her moving debut, Rachael Allen brilliantly captures the complexities of friendship, the struggles of self-discovery, and the difficulties of trying to find love in high school. Fans of Sarah Ockler, Susane Colasanti, and Stephanie Perkins will fall head over heels for this addictive, heartfelt, and often hilarious modern love story.

My Review
I managed to read most of the book in one sitting, such a fun and well written YA book. 

I like how the book bounces between present situations of the new crush of Claire and her past kisses and problems following every boy she ever kissed from since second grade. 

Claire learns in her last year of high school the pact she made with her best friend to do something different may have backfired for her. She fights for the new guys attention and after initially losing the battle she gets him, but the cost is her best friend. Claire starts to realize that maybe the guy wasn't worth the friendship, her family learns that shes going to the rival school instead of following in the footsteps of her mother and father. Towards the end of the book her entire family has healed from losing her baby brother after 11 months of life. 


I like the book and I ate the story up. Plus I'm a sucker for happy endings and she makes a pact to date her long time best friend Sam after they graduate college. 

Flawless

Author: Lara Chapman
Stars: 5 out of 5

Back of the Book
Sarah Burke is just about perfect. She's got killer blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and impeccable grades. There's just one tiny-all right, enormous-flaw: her nose. But even that's not so bad. Sarah's got the best best friend and big goals for print journalism fame.

On the first day of senior year, Rock Conway walks into her journalism class and, well, rocks her world. Problem is, her best friend, Kristen, falls for him too. And when Rock and Kristen stand together, it's like Barbie and Ken come to life. So when Kristen begs Sarah to help her nab Rock, Sarah does the only thing a best friend can do-she agrees. For someone so smart, what was she thinking?

This hip retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac is filled with hilariously misguided matchmaking, sweet romance, and a gentle reminder that we should all embrace our flaws


My Review
When the most "perfect" guy arrives at school Sarah is in love, usually this doesn't happen, but when a guy is the whole package of brains and good looks everyone is going to notice including her BFF Kristen. 

First off I love how the cover of the book depicts the main character and her only flaw her nose.

Sarah knows she can't compete with Kristen so instead decides to forget about her happiness and help her BFF even though she likes him. During this part I was like girl NOO! Dont do it, i personally know how to feels to do this thinking that you don't have a shot with someone based on your looks etc. So instead you give up because you think the other person has a better shot. Parts of this book made me cry (and I don't tear up that easy)because it reminded me off my high school experience with my friends and feeling like the ugly duckling. 


I loved her essay about loyalty and learning that in order to be loyal to other you have to be loyal to yourself. This has become one of my favs, you just feel like rooting for Sarah and having a happily ever after as cheesy as that may sound. 

Freefalling

Author: Darlene Susan Girard
Stars: 5 out of 5

** Book was given to me by the author in exchange for a honest review**

Back of the Book
FREEFALLING is an uncompromising view of the world as seen through the eyes of a 14 year old runaway caught up in a world of drugs, prostitution, and violence - living on the street, learning to survive, and not really caring if you don’t.

Powerful, poignant, sensitive, and sometimes overwhelming; Freefalling is a two and a half year journey that begins with the loss of innocence and ends with the death of a young girl in a skid row hotel room. And the story of everything that happens between is Freefalling.


My Review
It starts with a young girl Melinda who is only 14 when her father starts to rape her, she runs away away and into the life of prostitution. Melinda spends 3 years on the streets before her death. Within this time she learns about the streets and being smart and safe through her new friend Angel. Melinda has a child CeeJay by the age of 17. Melinda continues her downwards spiral into drugs and working to get her next hit. 
Such a moving story of a young girl forced to grow up. I felt so bad for her and I wondered why her sister never went to look for her. Melinda is such a brave character, I wished her survived for her daughter. One part that got me is when CeeJay met her "father" she called him "grandpa" which I thought was really creepy. That dude should just rot in hell.

One of the best books I've read this year. Such a sad story about a young girl Melinda who grows up to fast. This book touches on incest, prostitution, drugs, sex, rape, crime and love. 

10 years after her death Angel and CeeJay reunite, they form a bond and together try to heal and learn from each other. 
But other than that I demolished this book in one sitting. A good read for everyone.

Dead Girls Dont Lie

Author: Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Stars: 5 out of 5



Back of the Book

Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text. 

Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth. 

In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.

Summary

One of the best mysteries I've read in a while. I have been having luck with this genre of book so far this year. Another golden pick here and I must say I was little creeped out reading this at 1am in the morning it felt like i was in Lake Ridge being hunted down. 
Jaycees best friend is killed in her own room days later she receives a text and a video on her phone of her decrease bff. Jaycee believes there is a lot more to her death. Jaycee starts to look into her death with the help of Eduardo one of the people she was closes to before she died. Her bff has left clues along the way that only Jaycee would notice and understand, as she continues to dig, she becomes the new target of the people who killed her bff. 
Jaycee also doesn't know who to trust Eduardo the gang banger with a pass or the town's people she's grown up with her whole life.

One of the things that had me constantly banging my head was how gullible and naive Jaycee was. She ability to believe what everyone says was really frustrating. Another thing that I thought that was sad was the segregation between the Mexican migrant workers and the towns people but this is sadly a reflection of reality in some places.


The authors writing through the whole book makes you think you know who the killer was and to suspect every character. I didn't think the killer would be someone so close to Jaycee I was thrown off. One of the last people I expected was the killer and because of this I had to give the book 5 stars because usually mysteries I can figure out pretty early who the guilty person is.

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Author: Kody Keplinger
Stars: 5 out of 5

BACK OF THE BOOK
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. 

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

THE REVIEW

I love this book it's absolutely adorable. I've felt like I've watched this scenario in a movie before. 

Bianca is a cynical girl who doesn't believe in PDA or high school love also according the the hottest guy in schol who she detests calls her DUFF which is the "designated ugly fat friend". 

To escape reality of all this problems in her life she starts a friends with benefits deal with the hottest guy in school Wesley Rush. She soon starts the learn that Wesley has very similar problems like her. They start to fall in love with each other but before Bianca can admit this is decides to drop Wesley and avoid him. Now the guy who never chases girls in now chasing her. 

Bianca has to learn how to accept reality of the situations in her life and learn that it's okay to fall in love and have feelings for someone, she will learn to accept that her theory of love being a vast and stupid idea is the one she is current suck in. 

Totally have loved every single book Kody has written, she is one of my fav authors that i like to read for a light rom-com type of book.

Also I just found out in 2015 the movie adaption will be coming out staring Bella Thorne and other young actors. Will the movie live up to readers expectations or flop?

Book Review: Sister's Red

Book: Sister's Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Stars: 4 out of 5

I liked this book it took a classic fairytale and gave it a modern spin. The story involves thress characters that are all linked by Fenris(wolves. Each have there own reason behind hunting them and each have a different reason how helping each other. Scarlett is the oldest sister who put her life in jeopardy to save her younger sister, as a result she has gained a passion of hunting and is marred by wolf attacks and is missing an eye. Rosie her younger sister feels she is in debt to her older sister for saving her life and as a result she learns to hunt and tries to gain the same passion as her sister but wonders if there is something more. She also starts to fall in love with her sisters partner but is afraid of what this might do to the dynamics of the group. Silas is the woodsmans son who is falling in love with Rosie, he is also scarletts partner for hunting.
Togther they try to uncover the mystery of the wolves and the "potential" which all the wolves are hunting for. 
It was a great read slow in some parts but picks up and takes you on a great adventure into a unknown mythical side of the real world.

Book Review: Dead Is a State Of Mind

Title : Dead Is a State of Mind                                                                 
Genre : Teen supernatural romance                                                              
Length : 175 pages
Author : Marlene Perez
Series : Dead Is
Book number 2

The Summary
Welcome to Nightshade, California—a small town full of secrets. It’s home to the psychic Giordano sisters, who have a way of getting mixed up in mysteries. During their investigations, they run across everything from pom-pom- shaking vampires to shape-shifting boyfriends to a clue-spewing jukebox. With their psychic powers and some sisterly support, they can crack any case!


There’s a gorgeous new guy at Nightshade High: Duke Sherrad, a fortune-teller claiming to have descended from Gypsies. Even though she’s psychic herself, Daisy is skeptical of Duke’s powers. But when a teacher who was the subject of one of his predictions ends up dead, she begins to wonder if Duke is the real deal after all.

Maybe if Daisy can track down the teacher’s killer, she can find out the truth. The only trouble is, all signs point to the murderer being of the furry persuasion. Is Daisy any match for a werewolf? Maybe she is . . . in more ways than she bargained for!

Review
I really expected more from this book after reading the last one from the series. It was kinda dissapointing because it was more focused on Daisy and Ryan's slowly fading realtionship. The book was basically all about the predictable ways teens act when there in a realtionship.
There was a mystery to be solved though -  it was the murder of one of Daisy's teachers Mr. Davis and she must help determine who killed him and what their motive is.
I found the last 4 chapters were very rushed and poorly written and left me kinda of confused. Firstly she finds out who the killer is in the second last chapter when the book doesn't seem to have really ever reached a climax and secondly she introduces a new character named Bianca who I've never heard of.
So overall this was sooooo not my favorite book by far hopefully the next book in the series is better.