Between

Hola, new book: Between, by Jessica Warman. After her eighteenth birthday party on a boat with her closest friends, something about Elizabeth Valchar happens; she dies. But when she doesn't move on, staying in our world as a ghost (type-thing), she knows something is not right. While she observes her family and argues with her now only friend, she can't help but notice that nobody is what they seem, least of all herself. I accidentally lied in Lola and the Boy Next Door, this is the hands down most teenage-booky piece of literature I will ever read. Liz's boyfriend is a freaking drug-dealer! The characters are all horrible people, (Maybe except for Alex...) and it was really confusing to read a book where the main character barely knows anything about herself. It is also a little late for Liz to have an epiphany about her personality, she is dead, after all, can't change much now! It was a chore to read, but I did finish it. One star.

The Beginning of After

Hola. The Beginning of After, Jennifer Castle. Laurel's world is torn apart when her parents and brother are killed in a car accident. The son of the man thought responsible confuses her even more while she tries to reconstruct her suddenly unsteady life. But with Laurel questioning everything, how can she understand their relationship, let alone her friendships? Seriously depressing. I think David is really strange, too, it made me feel bad for Joe. And Meg is a little bit unfeeling, she is not the best friend I would want to help me through tragedy. I know this is so short but I don't have anything else to say, it was kinda bland. Two stars.

Notes From an Accidental Band Geek

Hola, I am very efficient this month! Notes From an Accidental Band Geek is by Erin Dionne. Elsie Wyatt is a high-schooler with high ambitions, to get into Shining Birches (A very prestigious orchestra thingy,) and nothing can get in her way. Even if that means joining marching band to fit the requirements. But this place-filler turns out to be much harder and--more fun?--than anticipated. Elsie must use her new experiences to learn much more about life than just how to play the mellophone. This book was overall lame. Yes, she does learn a good lesson but it was SO unrealistic! One: Elsie has about as much empathy as a rock. Two: her friends are incredibly sensitive—she snaps at then once and they completely freak out. It wasn't a horrible book but just rather annoying to read. One and a half stars.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Hola! Daughter of Smoke and Bone is by Laini Taylor. Karou's life is split into her real life and her real life. The former is of a rather mysterious but highly gifted art student in Prague, while the latter is the one littered with animal hybrid caretakers, many near-death experiences, and innumerable teeth. But when mysterious hand-prints turn up, scorched on the portals into her secret life, both Karou's worlds fall to pieces. While she tries to regain her lost lives, her past comes back, and along with it, a danger that could just tear her apart. This book was a little bit strange. I have heard of the characters before, chimaera and Seraphim, demons and angels, but the context was weird. And the ending was so bizarre and unfulfilling! The book itself wasn't too bad, but the finish was a complete cliffhanger. (And Akiva reminded me of Edward Cullen which was odd.) Not the best but it could have been worse, two stars.

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Hola, super short one here. Lola and the Boy Next Door, by Stephanie Perkins (Companion to Anna and the French Kiss...). Lola Nolan lives in San Francisco with her two dads and has a boyfriend who is way too old for her. She wants to be a costume designer and expresses herself by not wearing the same outfit—all bizarre. And the main conflict is that she has issues with her next-door-neighbors. This book was lame and so teenage-booky that it was almost painful. Drugs and serious dating had to crop up somewhere! The characters were all slightly strange and definitely wouldn't exist in real life. The only bright spot is that you get to see Anna and St. Clair in their lives after French Kiss. And Cricket is slightly awesome but I have major problems with Lola. Waste of time, one star. (Sorry if I just ruined Anna and the French Kiss for you but you really had to see it coming!)

Anna and the French Kiss

Ho-- I know! I know! Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is not my usual genre but I did read the Clique books so... Anna Oliphant's father made his fortune writing smut novels, (Smut, a term I picked up from my aunt: those trashy romance novels with a Fabio-type character on the cover.) Now part of a higher social scene, Anna has to fit into his idea of "class," so he sends her to France. However, Anna was perfectly happy in her home of Atlanta, Georgia, with her best friend Bridgette and crushing on her work colleague Toph. But if Anna keeps an open mind, Paris might not be that bad, especially if the dreamy Etienne St. Clair is around. Can Anna balance her chic Parisian life with her home in Atlanta, or even get her tangled love-life smoothed over? I liked this book more than I should have. It was not too teenage-ish, only laced with the occasional swear word or suggestive comment. It was highly entertaining and the characters are actually really interesting. I'm not saying that it was fabulous but it was much better than I thought it would be for a teen romance novel. Three stars.

Divergent

Hola. Divergent is by Veronica Roth. Five "factions" divide the world of Beatrice Prior: Amity, Candor, Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation. Each represents a way of life that, when one turns sixteen, one chooses their lifestyle. Amity stands for peace, Candor for honesty, Dauntless are the brave, while Erudite strives for knowledge and Abnegation are selfless. Beatrice has to make the almost impossible decision—stay with her family or follow her heart. What follows is a time of grueling struggle for the newly named Tris as she tries to fit in with her new life. Even more hardship comes, while trying to deal with a mysterious boy and possibly murderous friends. And Tris has a secret, which it just might be the end of her. I actually really liked this book. The characters were good, very mysterious and hard to anticipate, and the premise was awesome as well. This book is what The Hunger Games should have been. But the ending was horrific. I felt like I had lost a few chapters somewhere. I now know that it is going to be a trilogy—but that ending was the biggest cliffhanger in the world! I am torn between three and a half and four stars (Maybe even four and a half if I am feeling generous).