Friday, July 17, 2015

look at her go: reviewin' reviewin': tiny pretty things

Name: Tiny Pretty Things
Authors: Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
goodreads/b&n/amazon
☼☼☼☼

synopsis: Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy, drama-packed novel featuring diverse characters who will do anything to be the prima at their elite ballet school.

Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.




Full non-spoilery review under the cut!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

waiting on wednesday: the boy most likely to

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted over at Breaking the Spine, where each week we talk about a highly anticipated release.

This week's pick: The Boy Most Likely To – Huntley Fitzpatrick
find it on goodreads
release date: august 18th

synopsis: Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
- need a liver transplant
- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more.


~~~~

This is a companion novel to Huntley Fitzpatrick's amazing contemporary called My Life Next Door. That book comes highly recommended from me, I absolutely adored it and have read it twice in under a year. From my understanding, this is a companion novel, not a sequel, so you could probably read this without having read MLND and be fine! I can't wait to see another story in this world, especially one about Tim and Alice. They were interesting characters in the other novel, so I am anxious to see what they're like this time around!! 


What are your picks this week? 

xx
Sunny

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

look at her go: reviewin' reviewin': beyond the kingdoms

Name: The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms (#4)
Author: Chris Colfer
goodreads/b&n/amazon
☼☼☼☼☼

synopsis: (SPOILERS):  Fairy tales are just the beginning.

The Masked Man is on the loose in the Land of Stories, and it's up to Alex and Conner Bailey to stop him...except Alex has been thrown off the Fairy Council, and no one will believe they're in danger.

With only the help of the ragtag group of Goldilocks, Jack, Red Riding Hood, and Mother Goose and her gander, Lester, the Bailey twins discover the Masked Man's secret scheme: He possesses a powerful magic potion that turns every book it touches into a portal, and he is recruiting an army of literature's greatest villains!

So begins a race through the magical Land of Oz, the fantastical world of Neverland, the madness of Wonderland, and beyond. Can Alex and Conner catch up to the Masked Man, or will they be one step behind until it's too late?

Fairy tales and classic stories collide in the fourth adventure in the bestselling Land of Stories series as the twins travel beyond the kingdoms!


Full review under the cut! Contains spoilers for the first three books!

top ten tuesday: last 10 books that I acquired

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is "July 14: Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession." I just did a huge book haul about three posts ago, so there will be some overlap from that post to this one, but I have gained a few new additions even since then.

1. The Heart of Betrayal – Mary E. Pearson – (spoilers for The Kiss of Deception) – Intrigue abounds in this hotly anticipated sequel to The Kiss of Deception!
Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.
Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to Lia, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives amongst them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny.


2. Nimona – Noelle Stevenson – The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."
Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.
But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.



3. Me Being Me is Exactly As Insane As You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy – A heartfelt, humorous story of a teen boy’s impulsive road trip after the shock of his lifetime—told entirely in lists! Darren hasn't had an easy year. There was his parents’ divorce, which just so happened to come at the same time his older brother Nate left for college and his longtime best friend moved away. And of course there’s the whole not having a girlfriend thing.
Then one Thursday morning Darren's dad shows up at his house at 6 a.m. with a glazed chocolate doughnut and a revelation that turns Darren’s world inside out. In full freakout mode, Darren, in a totally un-Darren move, ditches school to go visit Nate. Barely twenty-four hours at Nate’s school makes everything much better or much worse—Darren has no idea. It might somehow be both. All he knows for sure is that in addition to trying to figure out why none of his family members are who they used to be, he’s now obsessed with a strangely amazing girl who showed up out of nowhere but then totally disappeared.
Told entirely in lists, Todd Hasak-Lowy's debut YA novel perfectly captures why having anything to do with anyone, including yourself, is:
1. painful
2. unavoidable
3. ridiculously complicated
4. possibly, hopefully the right thing after all.

  
4. Between the Notes – Sharon Huss Roat – When Ivy Emerson’s family loses their house—complete with her beloved piano—the fear of what’s to come seizes her like a bad case of stage fright. Only this isn’t one of her single, terrifying performances. It’s her life. And it isn’t pretty. Ivy is forced to move with her family out of their affluent neighborhood to Lakeside, also known as “the wrong side of the tracks.” Hiding the truth from her friends—and the cute new guy in school, who may have secrets of his own—seems like a good idea at first. But when a bad boy next door threatens to ruin everything, Ivy’s carefully crafted lies begin to unravel . . . and there is no way to stop them.
As things get to the breaking point, Ivy turns to her music, some unlikely new friends, and the trusting heart of her disabled little brother. She may be surprised that not everyone is who she thought they were . . . including herself.
Debut author Sharon Huss Roat crafts a charming and timely story of what happens when life as you know it flips completely upside down.
 



5. Tiny Pretty Things –  



6. Every Last Word – Tamara Ireland Stone – If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.
 


7. I Am Princess X – Cherie Priest –  Best friends, big fans, a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl collide in this riveting novel, perfect for fans of both Cory Doctorow and Sarah Dessen; illustrated throughout with comics.
Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure. 
Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her. Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X?  When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.

 
8. Lois Lane: Fallout – Gwenda Bond – Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy. 


 9.  Love, Fortunes and Other Disasters – Kimberly Karalius – In the tradition of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, one girl chooses to change her fortune and her fate by falling in love. 
Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.
Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.
Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?



10. Emmy and Oliver – Robin Benway – Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.
Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.
He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling. 
Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together? Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story. 

Leave links to your TTTs below!!! 

xx
Sunny 
 

Monday, July 13, 2015

spotlight on: fairy tale fantasy

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆



 Spotlight on is a monthly series here at Stardust Words where each month is a different theme, whether it be a starred review, a list of favorite books or an author, etc. You can see the previous entries in the spotlight series here! This month, I decided to do a list of some of my favorite fantasy stories that take place in fairy tale-esque settings. These are usually high fantasy, but are usually cute and whimsical, unlike some other high fantasies that fall into the more "epic" category. Also, though some of these are, they aren't necessarily all retellings. I love these types of stories, and I'd like to make some suggestions, so I hope you guys find some of these to be to your liking!


☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

waiting on wednesday: armada

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted over at Breaking the Spine, where we discuss a highly anticipated new release!

This week's pick: Armada by Ernest Cline
Release Date: July 14
goodreads

synopsis: Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.


~~~
 

I am absolutely obsessed with Cline's other book, Ready Player One, and I am hoping that this novel can capture some of the magic, cleverness and unexpected twists that RPO had. I cannot wait to get my hands on this one! 

What are your picks this week?

xx
Sunny

june book haul!

As most of you know, I was in England for six weeks, and as such, I went a little bit crazy on the book buying, because there were so many British versions of books that are absolutely gorgeous, and I (obviously) had to have them. Then, I got back a couple days before the end of the month, and immediately went on a buying spree, because I was behind on my releases. All told, I got over 20 books over the past month. A few of them were gifts that I have already given away, but featured here are the 18 that are still in my possession and the 5 eBooks that I also bought! 

 1. I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith (not yet read) –  
Through six turbulent months of 1934, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal, filling three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries about her home, a ruined Suffolk castle, and her eccentric and penniless family. By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.

2. P.S. I Still Love You – Jenny Han– review here – (☆☆☆☆☆) –
Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once? In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing

3. The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak – Brian Katcher – (☆☆☆☆) – 
It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip. If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents. Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon. But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more… 

4. The Wrath and the Dawn – Renée Ahdieh– Review Here –  (☆☆☆☆☆) –
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

5. Emmy and Oliver – Robin Benway – (not yet read) –  
Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart? Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared. Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart. He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling. Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

6. Lois Lane: Fallout – Gwenda Bond – (not yet read) –
 Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy. 

7. The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms – Chris Colfer – (not yet read) – 
Fairy tales are just the beginning. The Masked Man is on the loose in the Land of Stories, and it's up to Alex and Conner Bailey to stop him...except Alex has been thrown off the Fairy Council, and no one will believe they're in danger. With only the help of the ragtag group of Goldilocks, Jack, Red Riding Hood, and Mother Goose and her gander, Lester, the Bailey twins discover the Masked Man's secret scheme: He possesses a powerful magic potion that turns every book it touches into a portal, and he is recruiting an army of literature's greatest villains! So begins a race through the magical Land of Oz, the fantastical world of Neverland, the madness of Wonderland, and beyond. Can Alex and Conner catch up to the Masked Man, or will they be one step behind until it's too late?

8. Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself – Walt Whitman, Allen Crawford (☆☆☆☆☆) –
Walt Whitman’s iconic collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, has earned a reputation as a sacred American text. Whitman himself made such comparisons, going so far as to use biblical verse as a model for his own. So it’s only appropriate that artist and illustrator Allen Crawford has chosen to illuminate—like medieval monks with their own holy scriptures—Whitman’s masterpiece and the core of his poetic vision, “Song of Myself.” Crawford has turned the original 60-page poem from Whitman’s 1855 edition into a sprawling 234-page work of art. The handwritten text and illustrations intermingle in a way that’s both surprising and wholly in tune with the spirit of the poem—they’re exuberant, rough, and wild. Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself is a sensational reading experience, an artifact in its own right, and a masterful tribute to the Good Gray Poet. 

9. Every Last Word – Tamara Ireland Stone – (not yet read) – 
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

10. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy – (not yet read) – 
 Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

11. Evelina – Frances Burney – (not yet read) – 
 Frances Burney's first and most enduringly popular novel is a vivid, satirical, and seductive account of the pleasures and dangers of fashionable life in late eighteenth-century London. As she describes her heroine's entry into society, womanhood and, inevitably, love, Burney exposes the vulnerability of female innocence in an image-conscious and often cruel world where social snobbery and sexual aggression are played out in the public arenas of pleasure-gardens, theatre visits, and balls. But Evelina's innocence also makes her a shrewd commentator on the excesses and absurdities of manners and social ambitions--as well as attracting the attention of the eminently eligible Lord Orville. Evelina, comic and shrewd, is at once a guide to fashionable London, a satirical attack on the new consumerism, an investigation of women's position in the late eighteenth century, and a love story. The new introduction and full notes to this edition help make this richness all the more readily available to a modern reader.

12. A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – (☆☆☆☆) –
In the debut of literature's most famous sleuth, a dead man is discovered in a bloodstained room in Brixton. The only clues are a wedding ring, a gold watch, a pocket edition of Boccaccio's Decameron, and a word scrawled in blood on the wall. With this investigation begins the partnership of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Their search for the murderer uncovers a story of love and revenge-and heralds a franchise of detective mysteries starring the formidable Holmes.

13. Tiny Pretty Things – Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton – (not yet read) – 
Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy, drama-packed novel featuring diverse characters who will do anything to be the prima at their elite ballet school. Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

14. Fangirl (Special Collector's Edition) – Rainbow Rowell – (☆☆☆☆☆) – 
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

15. I Am Princess X – Cherie Priest– (not yet read) – 
Best friends, big fans, a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl collide in this riveting novel, perfect for fans of both Cory Doctorow and Sarah Dessen; illustrated throughout with comics. Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure. Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her. Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.

16. I'll Give You the Sun – Jandy Nelson – (☆☆☆☆☆) –
A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world. This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

17. Heir Of Fire – Sarah J Maas – (☆☆☆☆☆) – 
(spoilers!!!!!!)
Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth...a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed. The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

18. Love, Fortunes and Other Disasters – Kimberly Karalius – (not yet read) 
In the tradition of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, one girl chooses to change her fortune and her fate by falling in love.Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love. Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian. Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?


 19. The Winner's Curse – Marie Rutkoski – (☆☆☆☆) – 
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.  

20. The Girl at Midnight – Melissa Grey – (not yet read) – 
Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known. Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act. Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, though if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it. But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire. 


21. The Start of Me and You – Emery Lord – Review Here – (☆☆☆☆☆)
Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances. It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

22. Open Road Summer – Emery Lord –  (☆☆☆☆☆) – 
After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes. 


23. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids – Sarah Ockler – Review Here(☆☆☆☆) – 
The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak. Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one. Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life. When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . .

xx
Sunny  .

top ten tuesday: hype

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, where there is a different themed list every week! This week's theme is "July 7: Top Ten Hyped Books I've Never Read." This one is pretty self explanatory, so I'll just get right to it!

1. A Song of Ice and Fire Series – George R.R. Martin– Admittedly, I did read the first book, A Game of Thrones, and I enjoyed it, but I never could make myself continue on with the series! I have all of them, I just haven't read them, and I don't really have any plans to in the immediate future.
2. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon– I know that this is also a huge series, but I tend to hear more hype about the first one, so that's the one I'm counting on this list. I have it on my nook, and I watched the first couple episodes of the show with the intention of reading it, I just never have gotten around to it!
3. Anything by Colleen Hoover – I have heard a literal endless amount of praise for so many of her books, but I have yet to read anything by her! I plan to remedy this at a soon-ish time, because I feel like I should jump on the bandwagon.
4. The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt – I've been seeing this one on the bestseller shelf in the bookstore for a super long time, and I've picked it up countless times, with the intention of buying and reading it, but I just never have!
5. The Girl on the Train – ^^^ same exact reason as the Goldfinch
6. The Mistborn Series – Brandon Sanderson – I haven't ever read anything by Brandon Sanderson, something that makes me ashamed, but I do possess the books in the Mistborn series, and I want to get to them soon. I have heard amazing things about them.
7. The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern – I have owned this book for almost two years now, and I really do want to read it, I just haven't gotten around to it yet! I've heard great things from friends and around the blogging sphere, so I am looking forward to the time I finally pick this one up.

There are many more that I haven't read yet, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head! What are some of your picks this week? Leave me a link to your post in the comments :)

xx
Sunny

Thursday, July 2, 2015

bedtime book tag

Hey everyone!! I promised myself that I would do at least one tag post before the month of June was over, and so when I was talking to my friend Violet and she recommended The Bedtime Book tag, I just had to tag myself and give this one a shot! ITS ONLY JULY 2 SO THIS COUNTS. I've gotten this from here if anyone is interested in doing it themselves! I'm not going to tag anyone, except for to tag everyone, so if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

1. A Book that Kept You Up All Night Reading
I stayed up all night reading this one because I desperately wanted to get to the end without seeing any spoilers online, so I read it basically all in one sitting on the day that it came out! Many tears were shed, many goodbyes were said, it was all around an emotional night.
 
2. A Book that Made You Scared To Go To Sleep 
I do not do scary books. Or scary movies. Or haunted houses. Basically I tend to avoid being scared for fun. Not because I have a lot of fears, just because I don't find it enjoyable to be jumpy and on edge, and so I don't have a whole lot for this category. However, the world of the 5th Wave freaked me out a lot, so I would say this is the one that comes closest to giving me nightmares.

3. A Book that Made You Go to Sleep 
 I was *so* on board with the premise of this book, I thought it was going to be awesome and different and that I would love it! However, when I read it, two summers ago, it was incredibly disappointing, and I just remember being so bored and waiting for it to be over.

4. A Book That Left You Tossing and Turning All Night in Anticipation of its Release
 For those of you that have read The Mark of Athena, which is the third book in this, The Heroes of Olympus series, you will know that it was one of the most intense and emotional cliff hangers. Then we had an entire YEAR to wait in between that one and this, and so that meant that the night before this was released, I was too excited to sleep.

5. A Book that Has Your Dream Boyfriend 
PAUL *heart eyes emoji* I love him so so much. In my review on this book, I basically just gush for about 500 words about how much I love him. He is loyal and has a strong moral compass, and he is utterly devoted to Marguerite, but he doesn't pressure her at all when she doesn't know where she wants to be with him. He's just perfect and brave and wonderful and I'm obsessed with him. 

6. A Book that Would Be Your Worst Nightmare to Live In
Ok, half of the reason that I really liked this book is because the setting scared the crap out of me, to be honest. I've never read anything like it. This book takes place in an insanely scary world ruled by the Martial Empire, where even a toe out of line could get you disfigured or killed. I liked reading about it, but I would never ever want to live there.
7. A Book that Reminds You of Nighttime
I'm not exactly sure why, but I think of a clear night when I think of this book. Maybe because its kind of dark and twisty, because it takes place in Prague, because of Eretz, the world with two moons, but this is definitely one that reminds me of the night.
8. A Book that Had a Nightmarish Cliffhanger
 Even though I already had the next book in this series when I read this one, I still remember being curled up in a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth, sobbing at the end of this one. Remembering that actually really makes me want to re-read this series...

9. A Book that You Actually Dreamed About
 I'm sure a lot of us have had the Hogwarts dream. I know that I've been sporadically dreaming about Harry Potter since I first read it as a preteen. Who wouldn't want to be whisked away from their life and into a magical wizarding world?
10. A Book Monster that You Would Not Want to Find Under Your Bed 
I'm going to go with a Strigoi vampire from the Vampire Academy series. They are scary as hell, and you have to be like a super badass to beat them. Definitely not something I'd ever want to meet up with.

This was fun!! I always love doing tags. What would your answers be? 

xx
Sunny

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

june wrap-up

It's so hard to believe that June is over, it absolutely flew by for me. I've been in London for all of June, which has been an amazing experience for me, and in being here I have spent a lot of time in various cafes and bookstores, mostly reading. As such, I have managed to read 15 books this month (a couple of them were for class, but I enjoyed them all the same) and also, I posted five reviews on here. So, all in all, it was an amazingly productive month for me, both in reading and on here! So, without further ado, here is my June Wrap-Up.

1. To All the Boys I've Loved Before – Jenny Han (reread) ☆☆☆☆☆

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.
~~~
I re-read this one in anticipation for its sequel, which was released at the end of May. I am happy to say that the second time through, this book was just as adorable and enjoyable as I remembered it being. I love Lara Jean's world, I wish that I could be friends with her and have her bake me things all the time. Honestly one of my favorite contemporaries, I just adore the way that Jenny Han describes everything, and the romance is completely adorable as well. I have a full review of this and its sequel up here.

2. P.S. I Still Love You – Jenny Han ☆☆☆☆☆

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

~~~
This was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year, considering how much I loved the first book in this duology. Though this was a bit shorter than I would've wanted (as is the usual case with contemporaries and me), I still had a blast reading this one. It took the adorable factor to the next level, but it also put in some tougher subjects, like the double standard for boys and girls and making tough decisions. All in all, I think that this leaves our characters in a good place. Again, the review for this one is here.
  
3. The Winner's Curse – Marie Rutkoski – ☆☆☆☆

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.
Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

~~~
This was a surprise for me. It was a lot different from anything that I was expecting, in the best way. The world is really rich and well-developed, and I liked the way it completely kept me on my toes throughout. The romance is kind of a slow burn that builds into an unthinkable passion, which is always a pleasure to read. I have so much respect for Kestrel, the main protag, because she is a complete badass in her own way. As in, she doesn't fight with swords and arrows, but with words and misdirection. This is definitely a new favorite series for me.

4. The Winner's Crime – Marie Rutkoski– ☆☆☆☆☆

(spoilers for the Winner's Curse!)  Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.
The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement... if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.
As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

~~~
SUCH a stunning follow up to the first novel in this trilogy! I ended up liking this one more than the first one, which is saying something because I really enjoyed the first installment! It was so intense, I was so nervous for the fate of the characters all during this, and was so frustrated when their decisions led them down the path of most resistance. I cannot WAIT for the third book in this one, it is sure to be a wild ride. I have a full review of this one up here
 
5. Bridge of Snow (The Winner's Trilogy Novella)  – Marie Rutkoski ☆☆☆


Ignore the stirrings of war. Let the carriage to a royal ball wait. There is a story to be told: of a starless night, a mother and her sick son, and a mortal who falls in love with the snow god, and will do anything to have her...
 ~~~
I don't know if this can really be considered one of the books that I read this month, seeing as how it is only sixteen pages, but it is so beautiful and sad that I had to put it on here. This is a prequel novella to The Winner's Curse, taking place when the male protag is only a small child. It is a truly gorgeous little story, and I really wish it was longer! 

 

6. Emma: A Modern Retelling – Alexander McCall Smith ☆☆☆

The summer after she graduates from university, Emma Woodhouse returns home to the village of Highbury, where she will live with her health-conscious father until she is ready to launch her interior-design business and strike out on her own. In the meantime, she will do what she does best: offer guidance to those less wise than she is in the ways of the world. Happily, this summer brings many new faces to Highbury and into the sphere of Emma's not always perfectly felicitous council: Harriet Smith, a naïve teacher's assistant at the ESL school run by the hippie-ish Mrs. Goddard; Frank Churchill, the attractive stepson of Emma's former governess; and, of course, the perfect Jane Fairfax. This modern-day Emma is wise, witty, and totally enchanting, and will appeal equally to Alexander McCall Smith's multitude of fans and to the enormous community of wildly enthusiastic Austen aficionados.
~~~
I bought this book for my mother, and she asked me to read it before she did "to make sure it had a suitable ending." A task which I took up happily. However, I found myself more than a little frustrated with this one. I felt that the exposition took up too much of the book, and the main action of the story was crammed into the last fifty pages. The language in this book is a little strange, sort of old-fashioned in a modern world.

7. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids– Sarah Ockler  ☆☆☆☆

The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.
Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.
Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life.
When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . . .

~~~
I love fairy tale retellings, and this was one that was so absolutely different from any other one that I've read. I've spoken extensively of how much I love this book, especially in my full review here, so if you want to know more about it, I encourage you to read it.

8. Beowulf – Seamus Heaney translation  ☆☆☆

The national bestseller and winner of the Whitbread Award. Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the classic Northern epic of a hero’s triumphs as a young warrior and his fated death as a defender of his people. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on, physically and psychically exposed in the exhausted aftermath. It is not hard to draw parallels in this story to the historical curve of consciousness in the twentieth century, but the poem also transcends such considerations, telling us psychological and spiritual truths that are permanent and liberating.
~~
Beowulf is an easy classic to read, especially in this translation. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, so its a solid three stars. 



 9. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis ☆☆☆☆

They open a door and enter a world

NARNIA...the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy...the place where the adventure begins.

Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In the blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever.

~~~
It was so great to revisit this old favorite. I'm taking British Fantasy Literature over this summer and this is one of the required readings for it. I had forgotten how enchanting and, really, short, it is. I absolutely love it though, definitely a book that stands the test of time.

10. The Wrath and the Dawn – Renee Ahdieh ☆☆☆☆☆

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

~~~
This is a book that was super hyped up, but I wasn't super interested in reading it until about ten of my friends texted me absolutely raving about it. I finally had to give into the peer pressure, and I'm so glad that I did. It was one of the most well-crafted stories that I've read this year, with an absolutely incredible world as a backdrop to an engaging story. I have a full review up here

11. The Fill-In Boyfriend – Kasie West ☆☆☆

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.
The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.
Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

~~~
I had read Kasie West's On the Fence earlier this year and ended up actually really enjoying it, so I was looking forward to reading this one when it came out a couple months ago. However, this one fell a little flat for me, especially in comparison to On the Fence. That's not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable read, because it was really cute, but I didn't enjoy it as much as her other book.

12. The Start of Me and You – Emery Lord ☆☆☆☆☆

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.
Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.
It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

~~~
I finished this book and was in tears, both happy ones and sad ones, and then I went back to the beginning and read it again, which is something that I have never done before. I was so moved by the story of Paige, by her relationships and growing experiences, and so while this one is definitely a really cute summery romance story, it is also a lot deeper than that. This is definitely a new top five favorite contemporary for me, and I have a full rave-review up here!

13. The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak ☆☆☆☆

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Book Award-winning author Brian Katcher’s hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens recovering from heartbreak and discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date.
It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip.
If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents.
Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon.
But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more…
 
~~~
I had a really great time reading this novel, it was something different and completely its own. It was quirky and a bit ridiculous, but that was what made it so much fun. It tells the story of a slacker fanboy and a straight-a, uptight girl over the course of one insane night at a comicon sort of thing. It was insane and hilarious, and I read it super quickly, because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

14. Open Road Summer – Emery Lord ☆☆☆☆☆

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own.
Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence.
This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

~~~
After reading and adoring Emery Lord's other novel, I had to get my hands on this one immediately and read it as quickly as possible. And I am happy to say that I loved this one just as much as I loved the Start of Me and You. I was a little skeptical of this because I don't really like country music, but that didn't really take center stage. I loved the friendship in this one, and the concept that a person can help you grow as you fall in love with them. Emery Lord is definitely a new favorite author, I will now read anything else that she puts out.

15. The DUFF – Kody Keplinger (reread)  ☆☆☆

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.
 ~~~
I watched this movie the other day, then felt that I had to reread the book out of pure loyalty to it. I really enjoy this one, the second time perhaps a bit more than the first. There are a couple parts that kind of annoy me, which is why it is 3 instead of 4 stars, but it is a really great read.

Hope you all are having a good summer!

xx
Sunny
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