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Friday, April 29, 2016

WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT by April Genevieve Tucholke

Published March 22nd 2016 by Dial Books
Read: April 2016
How I Got It: Purchased Hardcover (256 pages) from Amazon

Midnight had a fling with Poppy, but realized she’s a bully with feelings for someone else. So when he moved two miles away from Poppy (across the street from Wink), he thought he could finally be free of her. But, when he starts to fall for the “strange” girl across the street, Poppy gets jealous. Wink becomes a target for Poppy, and is picked on and plotted against. However, Wink and Midnight decide to turn the tables on Poppy, but at what cost?


The book’s tagline regarding a hero, a villain, and a liar keeps readers guessing and making predictions throughout. However, readers will find that it is not that simple, and a person is never just one thing. The mystery aspect is alluring and admittedly entertaining, and April Genevieve Tucholke’s writing is lyrical and fitting to the world she has created.

The book has been talked about a lot throughout the YA community, but it did not live up to the hype. Wink, Poppy, Midnight made a good effort but was ultimately unsatisfying. Readers would be better off reading the comparisons of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars or Michelle Hodkin’s The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

THE ART OF NOT BREATHING by Sarah Alexander


25897845Expected Publication April 26th 2016 by HMH Books for Young Readers 
Read: April 2016
How I Got It: Ebook (approximately 288 pages) from NetGalley 

Elsie’s family has not been coping well with the loss of her twin brother, Eddie. Her father has moved out, her mother can’t get out of bed, and her older brother is losing more weight every day.  Elsie thinks she has found solace with the boy she met at the diving club, but even he has secrets. Ultimately, freediving is what will save Elsie from her grief. Eddie drowned five years earlier, and freediving allows Elsie to remember parts of that day previously blocked out from her memory. How deep will Elsie have to dive to get her answers? And will her family, and her relationship, survive what she finds out?


The Art of Not Breathing is a deep (pun intended) novel about grief and what it does to families. Sarah Alexander also captures the intricacies of the emotion that involve guilt, anger, and numbness. The novel keeps the reader intrigued with character’s secrets, and it ends with a twist that will make the reader want to flip back to the first page immediately after finishing.   

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with  an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 


Sunday, April 10, 2016

FLAWED by Cecelia Ahern

23438288Published April 5th 2016 by Feiwel & Friends 
Read: April 2016
How I Got It: Ebook (approximately 368 pages) from NetGalley 
Series: Flawed (subsequent book to be released in 2017)


Celestine North lives a perfect life… that is, until she doesn’t. No one suspects that Celestine, whose boyfriend is the son of one of the Guild’s most powerful judges, would aid a Flawed, but Celestine’s world of black and white and logic require her to show compassion to sick man no matter his societal status. Because of Celestine’s act she is forced to go on trial so that society can determine whether her act of helping a Flawed man means that she is Flawed as well. People who are found to be Flawed must be branded and forced to live a bland life. The Flawed are mocked, ridiculed, and treated like criminals even though their flaws may have been minimal offenses like infidelity or lying. Celestine’s case may be the turning point for the entire system, however. She will turn into the poster girl for a movement that is trying to overturn some of the rules of the Guild and change a system that is, in itself, flawed.


Cecelia Ahern writes an intriguing story about a dystopian society. The concept of the book is great, however, the execution was lacking. There is so much information introduced, so many characters, and almost too many separate events occurring for Celestine that it’s hard to keep up. It is important to the story to see what Celestine is going through, but there were so many annoying little things to read through as well like Celestine’s reliance on her boyfriend, a flat character that only seems to be written so that Celestine could have a tie to the judge (oh, and he has to be jealous of another character for a minute because what’s YA lit without a love triangle?). Also, after all of that build up, this may be viewed as a spoiler, but there is zero resolution. This book will be a part of a series, but even knowing that fact, the ending of this book was still disappointing. 

Possible Read-Alike: Uninvited by Sophie Jordan (The branding especially is similiar to this dystopian novel about a gene that determines whether a person will become a murderer). 


*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with  an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Sunday, April 3, 2016

WHEN WE COLLIDED by Emery Lord

25663637Expected Publication April 5th 2016 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Read: April 2016
How I Got It: Ebook (approximately 352 pages) from NetGalley 

Emery Lord (The Start of Me and You) has written yet another poignant YA novel. Vivi and Jonah meet at a pottery shop and from that moment on Vivi becomes part of Jonah’s family (along with his five brothers and sisters). Jonah’s family is going through a rough time of loss and financial issues, but Vivi brings life back into them. What isn’t obvious to the family though is that Vivi has her own dark issues that she’s dealing with. Vivi and Jonah create a sweet relationship, but their respective ailments, Jonah’s grief and Vivi’s depression, cause rifts. There are many elements of suspense that make readers wonder not only will Vivi and Jonah’s relationship survive, but will the characters survive the challenging lives they’ve been given?



When We Collided is a beautifully written love story, but, more than that, it is a well-articulated explanation of mental illness. All of the characters have difficulties, and although Vivi states that she cannot properly define her disease, Lord’s writing expresses it very well. In the midst of the seriousness, Lord introduces many quirky “townie” characters, and the town itself, Verona Cove, becomes a character too. It is important to open a dialogue about mental illness, and Lord has done that with her incredibly moving writing. 

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with  an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.