Leibster Blog Award

Hi everyone!! Hope you've been having a good week! I have been very busy once again, doing lots of hiking recently (everyone seems to be organizing trips!) and well, attending boarding school and not really having access to a computer. Hopefully though I'll be back and blogging regularly now :)

Anyhoo, the lovely Manda at I Solemnly Swear  has given me an award! Isn't that sweet?? (It's my first one so let me be excited) Thank you! Now it's my turn to pass it on, so here are the rules: 

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you.

2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees.

3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen. (No tag backs)

4. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

So, here are Manda's questions for me and my answers:

1. What is your FAVORITE book of all time?

Ooh I hate being asked this! I guess my all-time favorites would be Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the Hunger Games. In that order. 

2. What is your worst reading/book habit?

EATING! I'm a healthy person, being trained to dance since I can remember, and every time I sit down to read I want to snack! It's awful, though I developed a liking to healthy snacks like raisins and such so it's not so bad.

3. Can you read in the car, or does it make you super nauseous like it does to me?

Super nauseous!

4. Have you ever read the Reached series by Ally Condie? In that series, the Society only allows it's citizen 100 songs, 100 paintings, 100 poems. I wont make you name 100, but if your society could only have 5 books, what books would they be? (e.g., the books society could not live without)

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Book Thief and everything by John Green! (Is this cheating?) And I've read the first of the series, Matched.

5. Do you write? If so, have you ever finished a work and/or attempted to publish it? If not, do you want to, or are you content with blogging?

I do write. I've never been published anywhere important (a few local magazines, but those weren't works of fiction), but I'd love to be someday! Blogging is just the first step:) 

6. (I really hope your answer is yes to this one,) Are you a fan of Harry Potter? Why or why not?

Um, what kinda question is that?? OBVIOUSLY. Why? Because it is absolutely legendary and is so friggin' genius and deep and every single time I read it I find some other expertly hidden detail I never noticed before. Because it's a bible disguised as a children's book. Because of FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY. Need I go on?

7. Do you have an e-reader or do you prefer hard copies? And if you prefer hard copies, do you buy or borrow from the library?

I have a kindle but I prefer hard copies. I buy sometimes, I trade with friends, I borrow from the library.  

8. Not exactly book related but, coffee or tea?

Tea. But ice coffee is heavenly. 

9. Do you have a favorite word? If so, what is it?

DISCOMBOBULATED. LOOK IT UP.

10. Do you like giving/receiving books as gifts?

Absolutely! 

11. Was this whole thing are tough for you as it was for me, or did you really enjoy coming up with all of this stuff?

So far so good, but now I have to think up 11 facts and questions so I don't want to speak too soon;) 

So 11 random facts.. let's see....

1. I speak Hebrew fluently.

2. I have 6 little siblings (cutest little darlings! Well, most of them) (kidding!) 

3.I have three citizenships.

4. I'd take a snow over beach any day! 

5. I am an obsessive planner. I have a yearly day planner and I actually fill in EVERYTHING.

6. My favorite Disney princess is Rapunzel. She's awesome-watch Tangled.

7. I love stand-up comedy. (well doesn't everybody??)

8.Despite dancing for years and years, I am not really skinny (at all!) or really flexible.

9. I hope to go into politics when I grow up.

10. Speaking of that, I've been reading the newspaper every day since I was 12.

11. I have no artistic talent AT ALL. More's the pity. I always wished I could be one of those people who had their own drawings on canvases hanging around their house.

So enough about me. I give you my nominees for the Leibster Award!

Angela @ AJ Arndt Books Blog

Jessica @ Imma Bookworm

Axie @ Books are Bread

So I know I'm supposed to list 11, but I'm new and don't know a lot of blogs yet! These were the only three I could think of who were under 200 and worthy, and they are! Check 'em out!

So here are my questions for them:

1. What is the genre you read/like the most? (Within YA or Adult- like romance, contemporary, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy...)

2. All time favorite author?

3. Have you ever met/ got anything signed by your fave/famous author?

4. Do you currently work in/plan to pursue a job related to books?

5. Why did you start blogging? Is it all you expected it to be?

6.What are five books that just made you explode (for any reason-good or bad)?

7. Best book cover you've ever seen?

8. What is your top reading/bookish goal for this year?

9. Do you have a lot of reader friends or did you buy into this life on your own? :)

10. Favorite quote from a book (if you have one)?

11. What release (if any) are you most looking forward to this year? 

Phew! Long but enjoyable:) So go follow their blogs and Manda's and if you recieve this award don't forget to pass it on! 

-Esty

Top Ten Tuesday

Hi everyone! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish for all list lovers! This week's theme is Top Ten Settings I'd like to see more of. Hmm, let's see...

  1. Boarding School      
 Hello? Hogwarts? Gallagher Academy? Culver Creek (from Looking for Alaska)? I've always thought the most magical things happen at a place where the students live together- it's like a family. Besides, now that I dorm at school myself I'm eager to compare my experiences with staff, roommates, food (this is a serious issue!!) homesickness, classes, sleep (or lack thereof) activities... there's just so much! It's such a rich world with so many possibilities for stories (i.e. prowling around a night in an invisibility cloak, pranks, scandals)

                                     

           

                                                                 



2. Another planet
Besides a few short stories by Edgar Allen Poe and a few memory scenes in The Lorien Legacies,  I have NEVER read a book that takes place somewhere other than Earth. Someone get me some sci-fi!!

3.Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century
What a beautiful culture there was before the wars!! The music, the art, the theater, the dance. Now, I know that at the time Europe was still dominated by the Counts and aristocrats and if you were a servant your life wasn't magical at all but if you have ever read any book by Eva Ibbotson set in this time period you will wish with all your heart you lived there- the estates with the names and histories, and the balls and dresses. Besides, in the books the main characters are sweet and loving toward their staff- not realistic probably, but hey, don't we read to escape reality for a bit? There actually are a lot of books set in this time and place, I'm just expressing my love for them here:) 

 4. Magical otherworlds 
Wonderland and Narnia would be my first and second choices of my future home if they existed. Yes, I'm the girl who checks the walk-in closet for a secret portal. Sue me. 

5. Spooky Towns      
Gatlin isn't actually as spooky as this picture indicates, but it had that dark element. I LOVED THAT. It's so cool- the mystery, the connections, the lies. Besides the Beautiful Creatures series I can't think of any others like this that I have read so if you know of one, let me know!                                                

   

6. Rural eastern Asia and other undeveloped areas
How often do you think of life in a third world country? I actually took a trip to Morocco two years ago and while it was half developed half not, I saw enough to get the idea. I've actually read a fair number of books set in undeveloped areas of China, India, Somalia and such, but it would be nice to see them read about more often. People don't really appreciate their life and education, and even those that do don't usually try to help those that lack them. Besides, those places are full of ancient traditions and beliefs that are amazing and enrich books so much, especially fiction.

















7. The Middle East
Everyone from the president to the bloggers have an opinion on the situation (or situations- there are sooo many different things going on) and how many people actually know what's happening? Even the most reliable media sources are biased and inaccurate when it comes to this and I think it would be an educational experience for us to read books set there. I don't know of any.. suggestions?






















8. Underground
City of Ember? Enclave? I love the idea of rebuilding society underground- not that I'd want to do that myself. Life with no rain or snow would be depressing! But it's such an interesting possibility that those kind of books are usually really great!


















9.Farm
Oh, how beautiful and quiet would life be if you lived on a farm? Yeah, right. A city girl like myself would go crazy, but I live in an agricultural country and there are farmlands everywhere, and I just love the views and smells and freshness and seeing hard work pay off. It would be nice to read something that features farming life but with a modern twist- working the land with technology.





10. L.A.
I can think of one series (Secrets of my Hollywood Life) that features this setting, but no others. I would love a closer look into the world of glitter and glam, stories and publicity. I mean, how much do we really know about the lives of the people the magazines write about? Their feelings, their regrets, if they really love their famous friends and boyfriends/girlfriends? Is is as amazing/hard as we think? Besides, don't we all wish we were that beautiful celebrity smiling for the cameras? I know I do, and I would thoroughly enjoy putting myself in one of their places for a couple of hours through a book:)

So those were my fave settings, what are yours?
-Esty 

Review: Out of Sight, Out of Time + My Opinion on Sublots

 

Out of Sight, Out of Time (Gallagher Girls book 5) 

Ally Carter

Contemporary YA

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, her memory is a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and dirt under her nails. All she wants is to go home. But even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers as Cammie and her friends face their most difficult challenge yet. With only their training and a few clues to guide them, the girls go in search of answers on the other side of the world. But the Circle is hot on their trail and will stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

First off, I have been a bad, bad blogger recently for which I apologize. It's been a very busy (in a good way) week. Rest assured, I am being well berated by myself. Plus, American Idol has started!! I know many have jumped off that wagon in the past few years but I'm a faithful worshipper and if you can ignore the judges you'll see that the talent is as great (if not better) than ever. 

So, GG5 out of 6. I have been looking forward to this one for a loooooong time. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint. In fact, it was actually better than it predecessors on a few things. For example, the whole Zach-shows-up-kinda-randomly-kisses-Cammie-says-something-mysterious-and-leaves thing usually bothered me. In this book Zach had known, concrete reasons for being in the places he was for which I was grateful. He was sweet and protective but not in the annoying over-protective way YA guys tend to be. AND, he was AWESOME and SWOON-WORTHY as usual. Still not convinced? 4 words. ZACH. WEARING. ONLY. TOWEL. in a certain drool-inducing scene. 

Aside from Zach, Cammie's friends were striking and kicking butt as usual. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but the crew's reaction to her return is not what you're expecting and while I'm sure not everyone will love it, I thought it was necessary and realistic. It just wouldn't make sense otherwise. You'll see what I mean ;) As the story moves on, we get to see Bex and Macey being involved and majorly helping out and just being their FREAKING AMAZING selves the whole time. However, In my opinion there was not enough Liz in this book and I was not happy about that at all. 

Another minor problem I had with this series as whole is that there aren't any subplots. They're short books and while they're great, I think I would love them so much more if there were subplots. The reason I think so is because when there are other, smaller things going on you learn so much more about the personalities of the characters involved and the more supposedly "insignificant" details about the world that just  cause you to be that much more invested in the story. I mean, what would Harry Potter be without Quidditch? Or the scenes in the beginning with the Dursleys? Or Lupin being a werewolf? All these things help you understand the character's background and the decisions they make later on, and the world of the book in general. I'm interested to hear about Cammie's summers in Nebraska, for instance, or how her dad became a spy. 

Now for a tiny scene that made me jump up and down like a maniac (no, not said towel scene though I was pretty darn close then, too). You know a book is good when something in it reminds you of Harry Potter (or at least I do).  There was a little moment in there where Cammie is supporting someone who always played the "Dumbledore" role in this series (see if you can guess who!) while they are in a weak situation, insisting on taking him/her to someone who can help him/her medically (like Madam Pomfrey) but he/she keeps asking to see some other seemingly unconnected teacher (Snape).  Sound familiar?  It was pretty cool. I wonder if Ally Carter did it purposely... 

In conclusion, it was a great read and left me looking forward to the last book which doesn't have a name or title yet. Grade: 87%
By the way, I'd like to add a countdown widget to my blog for Heist #3... where do I apply the URL?
-Esty

Stacking the Shelves #2

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by an awesome blogger over at Tynga's Reviews. This week I recieved...

Abandon by Meg Cabot
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (!!)  

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man & Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce. 

I'm very excited!! Absolutely LOOOVED Leviathan (read my review here) and the Alanna books (read my review of book 2 here). Meg Cabot is and always has been amazing so I'm sure Abandon will be no different. Have a good week and leave me your link and I will check it out soon!  

-Esty

Review: Beautiful Redemption

   

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles book #4) 

Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Fantasy 

***SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, DARKNESS AND CHAOS***

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect. 

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series.

SO, AFTER THE MASSIVE LIFE-ENDING HEART ATTACK WE ALL SUFFERED AT THE END OF BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, WE NOW HAVE A DEAD ETHAN. See, I was very nervous about this. The whole dead-narrator thing is usually a hit-or-miss for me. I'm happy to say that this was a hit. A MASSIVE one:)

The Afterlife thing was done perfectly for this book. Somehow, if it had been like the realms in A Great and Terrible Beauty, or Summerland in Alison Noel's books it just wouldn't have been right, you know? This was like a second Gatlin of the town's deceased. It was ironic and comical how it's pretty much the same.. you'll see. 

I looooved how the POV's were done. Finally we get to hear some of what's going on in Lena's mind. And speaking of Lena, I can't even begin to describe the EMOTIONS I felt when reading this. I was crying and laughing all at once (=mark of a good writer/s) and there is no other word to describe the beginning other than HEARTBREAK. Everyone is in such a state of utter sadness and you just have to stand by and read and not be able to do anything about it. And just a hint, the end is a little like that, too. 

The characters?? One of the best sets out there. Link and Ridley's relationship is so funny and so THEM that it just makes you smile through the tears even during the bad times. It's even oddly realistic. And Amma, Sweet Redeemer you are amazing. End of story. Macon- I heart you. Nuff said. Ethan, I hope one day I'll meet a guy like you. And Lena is the kind of girl I hope to be, who doesn't care what they say and fights for the ones she loves, four books long. 

And last but MOST, the sisters. I have always said no series is complete without its trio of old ladies, and these women play the part proudly. I think I actually choked with laughter because of them in one of the earlier books. I love love love how Ethan is with them and how they know pretty much everything but you'd never tell and how Aunt Prue left an entire plan for her own funeral and their southern accents and their "E-mergencies" how they never let anyone get a word in edgewise. God bless them. They are officially the coolest ancient great-aunts EVER. Yeah, I said it. ;) 

Well, as it says on the last page in Latin, "The story is finished, but the writings remain forever" (Thank you, Google Translate). Now all that's left is the happy-sad feeling when you finish one of your favorite series.*wipes tear* Bye-bye Gatlin. Grade: 100%

-Esty

p.s. if you have already read this please tweet me so I can gush over the ending!!!

Review: Fearless

Fearless
Francine Pascal
YA/Fantasy-ish


Gaia Moore is brilliant and beautiful. She’s trained in three kinds of martial arts, has a reflex speed that’s off the charts, and can break codes in four languages.

She’s also missing the fear gene.

All Gaia wants is to be like everyone else. Instead, she’s left wondering about her past, her missing family . . . and the unavailable boy she’s falling for. But everything changes when she learns that someone is hunting her down for her special skills, and they’ll do anything to get her to.

But Gaia isn’t worried.

She is FEARLESS.


Yeah, it's about as awesome as it sounds :) BUT it had some problems. What do I mean?

PRO:
There are some really SICK (and I mean that in the best possible way) characters in this book that will keep you hooked. Gaia Moore is right up there with all your favorite kick-ass heroines. She has some awesome skills and never lets any emotion get the better of her (she can't feel fear, but she isn't an emotionless bot or something. She feels happiness, sadness, loneliness, pity, excitement etc..). And her best friend?? HOT COOL GUY IN A WHEELCHAIR. Why is that so freakin' amazing, you might ask? Because in what other book are there handicapped characters that the point of the book isn't their disability?! He's brave (as in, not lacking fear like Gaia, rather, he overcomes it) and cute and confident (but shy when it comes to Gaia- he develops a crush on her) and funny and smart and just such a sweetheart you'll find it hard not to love him. The only minor flaw in his character is that he tends to play the part of a devoted sidekick a little bit but it really isn't a bother.

CON:
Naturally, can't have such a skilled protagonist and no fights now can we? Gaia battles gangs of people trying to kill/capture her while she tries to figure out why. I liked the fighting scenes, but this part of the plot with all her scheming enemies kind of fell short with me. When the reason she's being hunted is explained I was pretty disappointed. It was just not believable. And the identity of the mastermind behind these schemes becomes REALLY predictable and REALLY cliche when you figure it out (which, if you're an experienced reader, will be early on).

PRO (at least for me; this one isn't really everyone's cup of tea) (HA it rhymed!!) :
Personally, I usually like it when authors switch POVs or first/third person. It provides insight and diversity
to the story and most of the time my favorite character isn't the main one so I look forward to his/her take on everything. Fearless was no exception. I'm warning you that there are a lot of switches so if that doesn't work for you this probably isn't your book. With this method we got to hear fascinating snippets of Ed's (see above HOT WHEELCHAIR BOY) story and Sam's and Heather's thoughts (more on them in a minute). Also, we get to understand her family situation a little better (you'll see what I mean if you read it- don't want to give too much away!).

CON:
Do you believe in love at first sight? No? Well... are two cases of that here. Now if you do, this won't be a con for you so just scroll on down but, I imagine most people don't. So Gaia, who I sang her praises above, falls in love with Sam Moon for NO REASON WHATSOEVER. They never had a full conversation but they are both wholly obsessed with each other. Make of that what you will. As for Heather- she is the supposed shallow, popular arch enemy of our heroine who is a social pariah (what's new?). Except this time, you can't hate her. This isn't Lana (Princess Diaries) or Marcie Miller (Hush, Hush) who picked on our narrators since childhood and have been making their lives miserable for years. Gaia meets Heather by accidentally spilling coffee on her and leaving without an apology. Heather then spots her with Sam (her boyfriend) and her ex. She then walks in on Heather in a situation you do not want to be seen in, and later does something else to her that's bad enough to loathe that person for life. Gaia didn't do any of those things out of bad intent and she had reasons but all the same Heather had every right to hate her. Besides, thanks to Sam's and Ed's POVs we know she is actually a good person who has struggles of her own, so I didn't justify Gaia's dislike for her and her portrayal as the evil queen bee.

Note- this edition of Fearless is actually the first three volumes out of a series of 36 (!!) books. If you decide to read Fearless, get this edition. Not enough happened in each one on it's own.
Grade: 75%

-Esty

Top Ten Tuesday #2

Hello all! I'm STILL behind on reviews but starting to catch up. Anyhow, it's fun to break up the norm with a nice meme so I give you my Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and Bookish. This week it's top ten bookish goals for 2013! This year I want to...

1) Read 4 classics (as in, widely accepted as a classic. Personally I perceive anything older than me as ancient but...) I plan to read Lord of the Rings (The Hobbit: check!) so I'll choose one more. Maybe Little Women?

2) Read 60 books total (this one should be easy:))

3)Turn a roommate into a reader. I think I've chosen my victim already! 

4) This one might be tough but... get 100 followers by the end of the year (I started blogging last month). Help me out with this one? *does puppy eyes* please?

5)Finish 5 series-there are so many conclusions I need to get to! I made a list of these 2 weeks ago here.

6) Write 2 blog posts a week. This one might be challenging (busy year) but I can do it!! (Hey I've managed so far) 

7) Write 4 chapters in my future novel (among other things, I hope to be a writer someday:))

8) Get 10 authors to retweet my reviews of their books. I've had Scott Westerfeld and Sara Zarr do it already! So honored:)

9) Get my kindle fixed (it's really about time...:/) and go crazy in the kindle store!

10) Enjoy and appreciate every minute I get to read:) Not everyone is as privileged as you and I are to be educated and have easy access to books. I even have a classmate who I know for fact saves up for months before she can buy a book. If you know anyone like that, lend them as many as you can be thankful <3 

I can't believe I actually got to ten! Leave your link in a comment and I promise to take a look! 

Have a healthy winter, people! (unless you live in Australia or South Africa in which case enjoy your summer vacation! {it's still vacation there, right?}) 

-Esty 

Review: Messenger

Messenger
Lois Lowry
Dystopia/alternate universe

For the past six years, Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man, known for his special sight. Village was a place that welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself

Well. Not a bad read. Very metaphorical. Messenger is a campanion novel to The Giver, which I'm sure most of you have read. I myself read it last year in English class last year, and although it was annoying to read a novel sloooooowly and analyzing the smallest of details, I'm glad I did. With these books, unless you're in the right mindset and reading critically, you're likely to miss the point. By the way, in between The Giver and Messenger there is Gathering Blue, which I recommend reading before Messenger.

Matty is a very interesting character. About 16 years old, we don't learn much about him other than the fact that he lives with Seer and that he came from an abusive family, but I think we read more about his background in Gathering Blue. He's a typical teenager- goes to school, hangs with his best friend, moons after the pretty girl next door. He also takes voyages through the forest and passes messages to other communities on behalf of Leader (Jonas). He is the only one who can travel through the forest unharmed. I really liked him. I enjoy reading about characters that act and speak and think normally despite all their supernatural powers. On the other hand, Matty is rather ignorant of a lot of things, but it's not his fault and he catches on quickly so don't let it bother you.

A word about Forest-

Forest is symbolic to all the problems and negative forces of humanity like greed and cruelty and misery that sometimes needs a sacrifice to heal (i.e. people start to be more careful driving after they lose a loved one to a car crash). Once you understand that, you can grasp the point of the story and the set of books in general (it isn't really a trilogy). I didn't figure it out until I read the interview with the author at the end of the book which I was lucky to have, because without it I would have been unsatisfied as I was before I read it. I hope this review helps. :) Grade: 65%

Anyway, I can't really tell you much more without ruining the whole thing for you, so that's all for today. Have a good week!

-Esty

Review: Sweethearts

Sweethearts
Sara Zarr
Contemporary YA

As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend. 

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.


Sweethearts was a touching novel about a girl named Jennifer who had a rough childhood. Known as "fattifer" she was bullied at school and never got the moral support she needed from home, what with her mother being away all the time trying to make a living. With no one to help her out, Jennifer was the poor girl who smelled and got a sandwich from charity. She had one friend, who came from an even worse situation than she did: Cameron Quick. *Sigh* Cameron. 

Like it says, he disappeared, and Jenna turns her life around. It's quite admirable. During the beginning I really started to like her, and while she does some less-than-admirable stuff throughout the book, you have to give her credit where it's due. (Though not too much; the main reason it got turned around is because her mom remarried and she moved to a private school) 

The book starts at Jenna's seventeenth birthday, and you can tell she endured some sort of trauma on that day during her childhood. What happened that day is told in a series of snippets throughout the story, which personally I didn't like. It just made the whole scene kinda unclear for me, so I started to build a theory and then I figured that it was about half as horrible as I thought it would be. (But it was traumatic). Anyway, I approved of Jenna. She stopped with some of the negative stuff she had been doing, she worked out, socialized, and built a totally new life, dispite the hardship and mourning for her old friend.

And then he comes back.

The beauty of this book is that no matter how hard you think about it, you won't be able to figure out their relationship (at least, I didn't) until her mom says something that pretty much sums it up but I won't blow it. It really is wonderful to see that kind of connection. Not romantic, exactly, not really family either. Something unexplainable but deep. Really deep. And I liked how when you get to the scene I just mentioned you'll get a good feeling. I love when books have that line that makes you think and helps you realize what the author is REALLY trying to say. Like I said, beautiful.

HOWEVER, as mentioned in the summery, Jenna has a boyfriend. Obviously there was going to be some friction when Cameron (GOD BLESS HIS SWEET SOUL) arrived and there was but I really did not like how it was handled. It seemed that there needed to be some sort of excuse for Jenna to break up with him, so there were disconnected uncharacteristic scenes for Ethan that felt forced. As if the author couldn't make Jenna look mean by breaking the heart of a great guy so she put in some dumb fights. Eh. 

AS FOR CAMERON

I loved him. For about a hundred different reasons but I've told you enough already and should probably leave you guys soemthing to read. All in all it was a beautiful book. Grade: 80%

Hope everyone is doing well!
-Esty

IMM

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. This week, I received: 

    

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien 

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

*Not Pictured* Bossypants by Tina Fey

I can't wait cuz I absolutely LOVE the Uglies series and I've been looking forward to reading the last installment for awhile now! The Giver and Messenger were great and thought-provoking, too, so I have high expectations for Gathering Blue. As for the Lord of the Rings, well, how can I be a self proclaimed bookworm without giving them a try? Just read the Hobbit (FYI, BEFORE I knew there was going to be a movie) and it was good but slow (written over 60 years ago, so what you gonna do?). The Host- Oh come on, you gotta admit the with all Bella's flaws, Stephanie Meyer is an amazing writer. I've heard only positive reviews on this book so I can't wait to see for myself. I also received Bossypants by Tina Fey but chose not to show the cover because yes, I'm petty, and yes, the cover kinda creeps me out (I pulled of the jacket of the copy). My friend gave it to me and said it was really funny and from what I've read so far it is. Anyway, I'm really behind on reviews hopefully will catch up this weekend! Happy New Year everyone! And does anyone know of a 2013 readers challenge going on? 

-Esty