Righteous by Kim Lehman

Author: Kim Lehman

Author website

Publisher: Lucky Stars Publishing

First published: June 1 2013

Re-release: Feburary 24 2015

 

Introduction

       Righteous is down-right fed up with every aspect of her life. Her mom seems to care more about her messed up boyfriends, that she picks up at the bar, than about her, the only person she confides to about anything is an old lady with Alzheimers. She just wants her senior year to go as smoothly as possible, sick of the predictable, boring hallways of high school. When she lands herself in the principles office on the first day, things aren't off to a great start. Things get worse when she meets Colt Jackson. The boy who may or may not have killed his best friend back where he came from.  All Righteous wants is a smooth senior year, but Colt Jackson looks like he's going to get in the way of that.

Righteous "Ria"

       Righteous wasn't a terrible character, but I found her kind of predictable. She'll get angry at her mom, leave for a few days, have a run in with her principle to tell her to make good decisions, go back home, realize that her mom hasn't changed and the cycle repeats. 

       Righteous doesn't really have any friends, and she doesn't want any. I guess she believes that the easiest way to not get your heart broken is to pretend you don't have one. I can sympathize with that, but just because you don't want friends, doesn't mean you have to blow off every body that talks to you.

Colt

       Colt's story was interesting--the story of if he really did kill his best friend--He was a more interesting than Ria, but I didn't still didn't like him very much. The romance that bloomed between them didn't interest me either. Speaking of the romance that bloomed between them. I think Colt has some kind of Edward Cullen thing going on, with the way that he just conveniently shows up whenever Ria needs help. Or the way that he shows up in the middle of the night when she's sleeping, just to make sure that she's okay, of course.

Cecile   

       Cecile has been trying to become friends with Ria for years, but every single time Cecile tries to make plans with Ria, Ria hits he with the same answer "Can't today. Sorry." Honesty, if I was turned down for years, I would have given up, so props to Cecile for sticking with it.

        I knew from the moment I started this book, from the first moment I knew that the protagonist was named "Righteous", I knew somebody was going to hit her up with a self-righteous b*tch comment. But for Cecile to be the one to do it? I wasn't expecting that. So again, props to Cecile. This time for being my favorite person in this book.

Conclusion.

       In all honestly, I thought that I would enjoy  this book a lot more than I actually did. I didn't really connect well with the characters. Usually I can, but I just didn't with this book. With this book being contemporary, not connecting with the characters is a big problem. 

       

Finding North by Allyson Gottlieb

       
Author: Allyson Gottlieb
Author website 
Publication date: January 29 2015


Introduction 

       Kathrine "Kat" Zova, joined the war as a medic on the side of the Alliance to stay with her boyfriend, Tyler. Now, with Tyler dead after being shot, Kat is living with crushing grief. She walks with haunted eyes during the day, at sleep offers no escape from her despair. While she and a small team of soldiers are out in the field, they get captured by the enemy, all of them hauled off to prison. Except her. The leader of the group that attacked them has requested that Kat be taken to his room. The leader of the small group that attacked them, is the son of Alistar Craverly, the head of the enemy army. Now, Kat lives in a mansion inhabited by the Craverlys. They have a reputation for being cruel, but as Kat spends time with Reynan, she learns that like-father-like-son may not always be true. With Kat battling demons, it's possible that Reynan is too.

Kat
       
       Kat is dealing with the death of her boyfriend, Tyler, one day at a time. I didn't mind Kat. Much. Sometimes she just decided that she wanted to be alone, which I can totally understand and sympathize with until she decides to wander through the Vegas strip. Alone. At night. Most of Vegas is uninhabited, but sometime soldiers can be found wandering, visiting some of the few operational casinos, or doing something slightly more sinister in "abandoned" hotels. It was in which, that Kat got herself into a few dangerous  situations. I'm sure you can figure it out...She's a girl...she ran into some to some boys...in abandon hotel...You would think after a situation like that, you wouldn't just run away from the mansion and not go wandering alone at night again, right? Wrong. It was slightly aggravating that she didn't lean the first time.
        Kat is living in a mansion. Alistar's masion, but a mansion, nonetheless. In the book she mentions feeling guilty about how she's safe with Reynan in a mansion with pretty much everything she could need while her friends are in prison, but I wasn't quite sold on the fact that she felt guilty. Every time it was mentioned it was so fleeting. She would feel guilty for about two seconds, and then go back to thinking about Reynan.


Reynan
       
       Finding North is told in dual first person. I liked Reynan's point of view more than I liked Kat's. Reynan doesn't truly believe in what he fights for, and he doesn't have the best relationship with his father. He's sick of people judging him because of who hi father is, who he really isn't anything like. Reynan kind of reminds me slightly of Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth and a little like Warner from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.He seems kind of mean, kind of spoiled, kind of an asshole, but he's really just misunderstood, and the kind of life he has isn't one that would be chosen deliberately.


Oliver
      
       Oliver is one of the few friends that Reynan has that gets introduced in Finding North. He usually fights alongside Reynan in the field and he offers some comic relief, which I enjoyed.


Helena
      
       Helena is another one of Reynan's friends who quickly becomes Kat's friend as well. Helena works as Reynan's maid/cook and lives in the mansion as well. Helena has a history that I found interesting, the story of where she was before Reynan took her in was fun to uncover.


Story progress
       
       I found that the story progressed at a slow pace, and at some points, nothing was really happening at all, sometimes it was entire chapters where nothing was happening. I never felt that I wanted to put the book down and take a break from reading it for a few days but there were times when I wasn't really interested.


Ending (I'm going to try not to spoil things here.)
       
       The decision that Reynan made regarding Kat was very abrupt. He didn't really think about what he was about to do. He just woke up and acted. There as nothing leading up to it. It was so abrupt that I was almost doubting that it was really happening. It didn't even feel like a plot twist. It was too quick. Poorly thought out, in my opinion.


Conclusion
       
       Despite the ending. I did enjoy reading this book and would like to read the second installment. Originally thought that Finding North would be more of a dystopian, but it was mostly romance. So if your looking for a YA romance with hints of dystopian aspects here and there, I would recommend this book to you.

Chat With Me Thrusday #9: Allyson Gottlieb

       Today, I bring you Allyson Gottlieb Author of Finding North (Compass #1) Darkest Legacy and the Mortal Sin series.

       

 Growing up, Allyson was always the girl with a big imagination and even bigger dreams. A California girl by birth, she currently lives in Boston while attending Emerson College. She has a slight addiction to Starbucks, eyeliner, and chocolate—and, of course, books. Visit her at www.allysongottlieb.com for the latest book news and fun extras.

1. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
       

       I love telling this story. I was seven, and I had a dream I was so certain I never wanted to forget, so I asked my dad to set up a word document so I could type it up. (Such a child of the technology age--the idea of handwriting it in a notebook never crossed my mind. To this day, I rarely handwrite, and only if there's absolutely no other option and I'm desperate as hell.) Of course, looking back, that story was awful, but it opened the gates and the rest was history.

2. Do you believe in "Write only what you know for certain"?
       

       Absolutely not! Because if I believed that, I wouldn't be able to write much at all, since I'm young and haven't had many life experiences. But for a more thoughtful answer, I'd say that I think anyone can use what they know in combination with a vivid imagination to write whatever they want. You certainly don't see anyone arguing that fantasy authors shouldn't exist because no one knows for certain what it's like to ride a dragon or cast spells. Even if the plot is all grounded in reality, a great writer can put themselves in the headspace of whatever character they've created, no matter how far removed the character's circumstances may be from the author's own life.

3. Was writing "Finding North" easier or more difficult than your first book?
       

        Well, there are different levels of difficult. Did it take longer? Yes, but that's because it was a full-length novel as opposed to a novella. In fact, I think I wrote the first draft of Finding North more quickly (relative to its size) than I've ever written anything. But then I spent almost a year editing FN before deciding to publish (admittedly,  part of that lag time was because publishing is expensive, and I had to get the money).

4. Any advice on how to get rid of a case of writers block?

       
       I wish there was some magic formula--if you find one, please let me know! What works best for me is just having multiple projects going at once, so if I get stuck on one, I can switch to something different. (It's also the only way I'll ever possibly get everything I want to write written.) But even then, sometimes the muse is just not cooperating, and you have to wait for another spark of inspiration. I read or watch TV/movies, and sometimes the strangest little things will get you back in the game.

5. I know that "Finding North was just released, but have you started anything else? Or do you plan to?

       
       Currently, I'm working on book 2 of the Compass series, which I'd like to get out by fall 2015. My "writer's block prevention" second project switches out a lot, depending on what plot bunnies are bothering me the most, but right now, it's an NA urban fantasy/PNR with a very underutilized supernatural creature as the male lead.

6. Who was the most challenging character you've ever written?
      Well, writing Reynan's POV (since Finding North is in dual first-person) was certainly different; I love first person, but I've only recently experimenting with the male voice. But in terms of most challenging character? Definitely Valentine from Darkest Legacy. Because you think you know him, but then when you see things from his eyes, it's a whole different perspective and you actually start--gasp--falling for the bad guy. It's a bit of a mindfuck, I've been told, as a reader, and to set the record straight: it was that way for me as the writer, too. Hehe.

7. Any advice for aspiring authors?

      
       Don't give up. I could go on for pages and pages, but really, that's what it boils down to. Don't give up on your dream. There are always going to be obstacles, so don't fall into the trap of "oh, well maybe in a few years it'll be better" or "maybe when I pay off my student loan debts" or whatever the problem is. If writing is what you love, keep at it, and if you want to be published, there's always a way.

It was a pleasure to have you Allyson!

Check out more on Allyson and her books here!

Website: https://www.allysongottlieb.com

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Twitter: @GottliebAllyson

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The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

       First post of the new year! I know I'm late and I wasn't able to make a post like I did last year, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody!

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 528
Author website
Author Twitter
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 23 2013

Introduction

        Mara wakes up in a psychiatric ward sure that Jude is still alive despite the people that are insisting that seeing Jude was just a hallucination. Of course Mara's family wants to help her get better so they put her in an program to see if she would be best suited for in-patient care or out-patient care. Horizons is filled with people with all different kinds of issues, some more severe than others. Mara knows that she doesn't belong there. She has to get out, she has to find out what is happening with Jude and she has to sort out all of the other weird occurrences in her life and figure out if Jude is behind them, and if he is, why is he doing them. Mara knows she isn't crazy, but it'll take a lot to convince all of the people around her.

Jamie
       Jamie makes a comeback! After being expelled from Croyden, his parents placed him at Horizons. He's taller and without dreadlocks, but I'm ecstatic that Jamie is back, (Even if he is dreadlockless) him being my favourite character in the first book.

Stella
       Stella is another person at Horizons, she can almost pass for stable. I wish that a little bit more attention would have been payed to her considering that she is quite important.

Phoebe
       Phoebe is pretty much the complete opposite of Stella. Meaning, that she is entirely unstable. She is absolutely aggravating, Which, is probably what the author meant to do. So props to Hodkin.

Noah and Mara
       Noah and Mara are indeed still dating, but they are always very cautious with what they do physically, considering the Mara-maybe-almost-killing-Noah-while-they-were-making-out-although-it-might-have-just-been-a-hallucination-thing. I respect the fact that are constantly acknowledging what happened because even though Noah refuses to admit it, Mara is dangerous, being with each other is dangerous. However it makes me happy that they know that something could happen and don't throw themselves at each other because Omigodwe'resoinloveandIcouldn'thelpit.

Mara
       Mara didn't have any hallucinations in this book, which was fine. I think it was a good decision to stop the consistent hallucinations although I am aware that hallucinations are a very serious thing for people that suffer from PTSD. Now Mara sleepwalks, which is an interesting change.

"Before"
       Some chapters are labeled "Before" and are set in India. I believe they are dreams of some sort, and it is not Mara living them, I think it's Mara watching to see what unfolds. Usually I am not a fan of things that cut into the story, but the way that these "before" chapters are written is interesting and didn't bore me at all.

Ending
        The ending was not something that I expected. Like, at all. It was done well though. A lot of times twist endings like this one upset me because so much changes to quickly and then I have so many questions, but I liked thin ending, although it isn't something that I expected.

Conclusion
       I think I like the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer better than this one, but that is not to say that The Evolution of Mara Dyer is not great as well. It progressed nicely, and I am very excited, (and a little sad) to read the final book.

The Forgetting by Nicole Maggi

Sorry it's so small,

Author: Nicole Maggi

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352 
Expected publication date: February 3, 2015  

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Introduction

                Georgie Kendrick’s heart was failing. She was going to die. Lucky for her, a match was found just in time to save her life. When she wakes up, nothing is right. She has a taste for strawberries despite the fact that she is deathly allergic to them. She has memories of sleeping in cold, dark basements although she has a beautiful warm house. With gaining these new memories, she’s losing some of hers. She can’t remember last summer, last Christmas, important dates and happy occasions are disappearing from her memory replaced with ones that she doesn’t want. Georgie’s certain that it has something to do with her new heart. After some digging she finds that her heart donor had fallen out of the foster system and lived a life on the streets, living a life where her body is sold to anybody who will pay. Her cause of death was documented as a suicide, but Georgie needs to find out the truth before she loses everything that makes her, her.

Cover

                The cover is nice. I like the font and the effect on the title.

Georgie

                Georgie was an alright character. She’s reckless, very, very, reckless. At some points I can understand why, but at others, I wish she would have thought a little bit more. Not everything is always about her. It’s not only her life in danger all the time. Other people are involved and at points she is putting people at risk for plans that she thought so little about.

Nate

                I liked Nate. He spends his time between working at Starbucks and helping trafficked girls get back on track with their life. Lately, it’s been tough for me to come across a male character who has a purpose other than to be the romantic interest. Even tougher for me to find a male character that shows more emotion than just love, for that romantic interest. What I’m saying is, I like that sometimes Nate gets angry at the decisions that Georgie makes. I like that he isn't always great and super happy and perfect.

Writing

                I wish that the author would have gone into more details about certain things. I find that some events that should be big aren't dwelled upon long enough. I wish that the author had gone into more detail about what happened with Sarah and things like that. Also, I desperately wish that a prologue had been written. Did Nate continue with helping the trafficked girls like I hope he did? Did Georgie? Did Georgie get her memories back? Did her and Nate stay together? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

Conclusion

                Overall, I liked this book. I’m not entirely sure I would read it again, but mystery elements and characters kept me interested.

Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards

Author: Natalie D. Richards
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Author Website
Author Twitter
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication Date: January 6, 2015 

Introduction

       Piper Woods is just like any average high school senior. Ready to leave the bustling hallways behind, and excited for the change of a college that she's been waiting for. She isn't popular, but she has friends, a good place on the yearbook committee to express her love for photography, and despite her parents crumbling marriage, she's pretty happy. Until Piper finds a notebook filled with many accounts of student sin. She tries to write it off as a joke until pretty, popular, Stella dies after a sex tape starring her goes viral. Piper saw Stella before she died, at school being teased about the tape. Piper knows she could have done something to stop it. But she didn't. Soon-after, Piper receives an anonymous text, proposing that if she sent a name of somebody who has done wrong, they could make it right, and for the first time in ages, justice could be served. All Piper has to do is text a name...

Cover
       I like the cover. I especially like that the camera that Piper almost always has throughout the book was included.

Piper
       I loved Piper as the protagonist. She is flawed, but not in ways that make me want to throw the book at the wall in annoyance, but in ways that make her realistic. Most of all, what I absolutely love about her is that she actually thinks about things before she acts. Another thing I really love about the character of Piper is that she has interests. Namely, photography. I feel like in many books the author will mention a talent or something that a character likes, and then and never mention it in the book again. Piper's love of photography is consistent throughout the book and it makes her interesting, because like any actual human being Piper has plans and didn't count on life throwing her a curve-ball. Lastly, it's not that important, but I really like the name Piper.

Nick
       Nick was the only character I had a problem with. He doesn't really have much of a personality. He's just, perfect. Nevertheless, I liked the relationship between Piper and him, I didn't feel like it moved to quickly or didn't progress at all.

Manny & Piper
      I don't really have much to say about Manny individually, but Piper and Manny's friendship however, is great. I am so, so happy that the book didn't lean towards a love triangle between them. I have read so many books where the two best friends fall in love and I suspected that, that was how it was going to play out in this book. It didn't. It did however state that Piper and Manny  dated before and it didn't work out, which in some ways is realistic. Just because people are best friends does not mean that a relationship would work out.
   
The Notebook and Texts (*Jumping right into pretty big spoilers here!)
       I would just like to point out that it doesn't make sense for the notebook and the texter to be two different people. The timing is just way too convenient. Any logical person would try to link it together. I mean sure, you could find a book full of student sins and then get texts telling you that you can help make them pay all in the same week, but it is very, very unlikely.

Conclusion
       I loved this book. The characters were great and the mystery kept kept me guessing. If a series of books ever came out with a protagonist like Piper, I would be all for it. I think that boys and girls would enjoy this book, as long as they are up for a mystery. I couldn't put this book down, and I would definitely read it again.
       

The Clique by Valarie Thomas

Author: Valerie Thomas
Format: Paperaback

Introduction (official synopsis)
      The Clique is the story of Audrey Hughes, and the attempt of a boy to win her over by bringing her down. Manipulating her friends, poisoning her relationships, and tearing at her family; Devon will stop at nothing to get what he wants. But Audrey isn’t so easily ruined. She fights for her friends, pulling closer even when they would push her away.

Cover
       The cover, is beautiful. It looks as though it is sketched into paper with a pencil and I love it. Though, I do not believe that it is fitting for the story. I think a more fitting cover may have been Audrey and her friends, since the book centers around friendship. All that aside, though. It is very appealing to the eyes.

Characters
       The book mostly centers around Audrey, but also has little bits of her friends, Hannah, Maddie, and Kate. I found that they were all kind of the same. Other than the fact that Audrey hates cussing and is admittedly a virgin. All of the girls in this book are the same popular teenage girl I am tired of reading about. In fact, they were so the same, that I kept getting confused as which girl was dating  what  guy and little things like that.

Dislikes
    Hannah, Maddie, Audrey and Kate throw parties and drink and fool around with guys frequently in the book, which I found boring and just a way to make the girls look "edgy" and "badass" I for one, wasn't buying it for one minute.

Conclusion
       This book didn't hold my attention at all. The characters were worn out and tired, the drama inside was boring and childish. I wouldn't read this book again. Would I ever recommend this book? Maybe. Not necessarily for young adults. This book might be better suited for a middle-grade audience.