Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

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Publication date: 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 374
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 13+

Abby is in love with her best friend, but after having her confession been blown last summer, she has tried to be content with just being friends. Abby also wants to have her art displayed in a gallery show at the museum she works at, but is told that her art lacks feeling. These two things bring about the "Heart List"--a list of things that will help Abby experience more emotions to put into her art and to help her overcome her lingering feelings for Cooper.

I liked this book a lot better than the West's last book. I didn't feel like the main character was dense or stupid. She's still 17, so she had a lot of growing up to do. I think that the idea of a "Heart List" is a great idea on how to do that. Abby was able to experience different things, meet different people, and understand herself and those around her better. That improved not only her art, but her relationship with Cooper and those around her. She was able to learn something about herself.

This is mostly a cute, light book, but touched on some interesting subjects. I never felt like the more serious things were treated lightly or glossed over, but they also weren't the main part of the story. It was just that people are more than just background characters or circumstances are more than just plot points.

There was no sex or language.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pages: 304
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 16+

Aza Holmes finds herself on an ever tightening spiral of thoughts and compulsions, unsure why her friends stay with her and how to be better. When the father of an old acquaintance goes missing, Aza finds herself in the middle of Davis's life and worries.

This isn't so much a mystery story as it is about a girl trying to live with her mental illness. What I appreciate about this is that Aza's illness isn't shown as some quirky thing that helps her solve the Case of the Missing Father. It isn't something that is easily overcome or only happens when it's convenient. But at the same time, it doesn't mean that she also isn't just a teenager at times. It is neither consuming of her every moment nor only in some moments.  It's a spiral, which sometime is tight and unmanageable and sometimes wide and maintainable. If these descriptions seem to contradict themselves, it's because that is what mental illness is—a conundrum of inconsistencies.

I found Aza somewhat relatable, as I did her friend Daisy and her mom and Davis. People are more than just one trait and I think that Green showed that. Compared to The Fault in Our Stars, this wasn't as emotionally wrenching (I didn't find myself sobbing), but more true to life.

There was some hard language and talk about sex (not explicit).

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Lucky in Love by Kasie West

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Point
Pages: 352
My rating: 2.5 stars
Ages: 13+

Maddie spends most of her time studying, when she isn't at her job at the zoo. With the money problems her family has, she needs to get a scholarship for college and earn money to help out. So it's on a whim when she buys a lottery ticket on her eighteenth birthday. Her life changes over night when she realizes she won the 50 million prize.

This is the second book I've read this year about a teenager winning the lottery. I'll admit that Windfall was a better story, but Lucky had a simpler plot with more likable characters. Of West's books that I've read, I think this is probably the weakest. I just couldn't believe that Maddie, who we know is really smart with a GPA above 4.0, would be so dumb after she wins the lottery. Every time she mentioned that she should meet with a financial adviser, I'd yell at her in my head "Yes! Go! Now!" But who knows, maybe I would have been the same if I had won the lottery when I was 18.

The book does put forth the problem of not knowing if people are your friends because you have a lot of money or not. I think that I might have been more suspicious earlier than Maddie was, but seeing her trust and positive outlook on life crash down was a little heartbreaking. I'm glad that she had Seth, who was the one person who treated her the same after she won.

There is no language or sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 357
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 16+

After years of helping her mom plan weddings, Louna has become a cynic about love. If love does exist, than true love--walking in the sunset love--only happens once and Louna already had her chance. Then she's forced to work with the annoyingly optimistic and commitment-phobe Ambrose. As if working with bridezillas wasn't enough. But through the course of the summer, and a bet they make, Louna might discover that loving and losing doesn't mean love is gone.

Sara Dessen is one of the reigning YA romance authors. She's able to put forth a story, that, if I tried to tell it, would come across as completely unbelievable and contrived. Louna's first love happens in such a way, but is told with such sincerity that I have no problem suspending my disbelief.

I liked the characters, too. Each one was complex and lifelike, instead of just there to move along plot or Louna and Ambrose. The relationship and care between Louna, her mother, and William was wonderful. It's nice to have adult characters who respond well and understand teenagers.

There were some f-words and mentions of sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

I See London, I See France by Sarah Mlynowski

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 375
My rating: 2.5 stars
Ages: 17+

For years, Sydney and Leela have been planning their trip to Europe. When it finally comes, it's overshadowed by Leela's recent break-up and Sydney's worry about her family back home. When Leela's ex and his very attractive best friend show up, Sydney must adjust her plans for this trip.

To be honest, I didn't like the girls from the start. Part of that was that I couldn't make the way they really were fit with my first impression. We first meet the girls in the airport, running for their flight. Sydney is presented as a neat, rule following, good girl, while Leela was a wild, chaotic, party girl. Come to find out, it's just the opposite and learning that really made me bothered for some reason. And then I started to not like Leela even more because she never seemed to think about Sydney and how she might feel. Meanwhile, Sydney never seemed to stand up for herself to her friend. I was really expecting them to have a big fallout and go their separate ways.

The writing was good and it was fun to "visit" all the different places that they went, but it's hard to like a book when you don't really like the main characters.

There was also drug and alcohol use, sex, sex talk, and sexual situations.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

This is How it Happened by Paula Stokes

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 368
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 15+

Genevieve Grace woke up in the hospital with no memory of the accident that landed her there and killed her famous boyfriend, Dallas Kade. With the internet exploding with accusations against the man in the other truck and reporters camping out on her front lawn, Gen decides to escape and spend the summer with her dad in Utah. But as Gen's memory of that night starts to come back, she starts to realize that things may not have happened the way everyone else thinks.

This was a book that I wanted to keep reading, to discover what Gen would do and how people would react. I'm not sure if there has been a book that has focused so well on the downfalls of living in the digital age, where netizens become judge and jury, condemning people in trial by media.

Having been born and raised in Utah, I was a little apprehensive about the portrayal of the state and its people, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was nice to have a Mormon character in a nonreligious book that wasn't overdone or made of stereotypes. It was also great have some appreciate the beauty of the state, which some people miss because it isn't green and lush.

There was some mild language, sexual topics, and talks of suicide.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 388
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 16+

When Bailey moves across the country to live with her dad, she attempts to find the guy she only knows as Alex she's been chatting with online who lives in the same town. Instead, she ends up meeting Porter, a cocky and rude surfer boy who Bailey can't seem to get away from. But when things start to change with Porter, will Bailey be able to forget Alex?

This is kind of a take on You've Got Mail or The Shop Around the Corner—two people meet through writing to each other and don't realize when they meet in real life who they are.

What makes it interesting is that both Bailey and Porter are damaged, both physically and mentally. It makes their friendship and interactions deeper and more difficult to understand. Fortunately, there isn't a lot of misunderstandings, or if there are, they don't last long.

There were times when I wondered about descriptions of the town, set in central California, since I've been to that area and it isn't the sunniest and usually isn't very warm, but the characters would be wearing shorts, but I suppose it could be different from where I was thinking.

There is swearing and sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Jane of Austin by Hillary Manton Lodge

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Waterbrook
Pages: 308
My rating: 3.5
Ages: 14+

Jane and her sister Celia run a fairly successful tea salon in San Francisco. But then the rent is raised to more than they can afford, they move their younger sister out to Austin, Texas, partly running from their past and partly because they have people willing to help them. Callum has just returned to Austin after a medical discharge from the marines. Sure that no one could love a man as broken as he is, he has come to terms with living alone--until he meets Jane.

This retelling of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is populated by fun and interesting characters. While most retellings and adaptations of Austen's novel seem to focus on the oldest sister, this is told from the alternating points of view of the middle sister Jane and Callum Beckett.

This book isn't meant to be taken very seriously. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece, but it's fun and enjoyable. Simple and easy to understand. I read it in less than 24 hours on the weekend. There are some recipes at the end of certain chapters, and quotes about tea and Texas at the beginning. I'd say that it is cozy.

There were a couple of small continuity mistakes here and there, but nothing that really bothered me.

No language or sex.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 300
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 15+

Alice doesn't believe in luck; at least, not good luck. So when she buys her friend Teddy a lottery ticket as a joke for his birthday, she doesn't expect anything to come of it. But the next day, Teddy becomes the youngest winner of the lottery ever. Alice is scared what this change will do to her best friend--who she has been in love with for years.

I usually love Smith's characters; however, I really didn't like Teddy. Even at the end. He had ignored and brushed off Alice so many times, got mad at her for sharing her opinion, and never seemed to try to see things from her side. Then he would get jealous and childish when she seemed interested in another person. Even at the end of book, I still just couldn't find myself liking him.

That said, I did like the book and the concept of it. Who hasn't thought what they would do if they won the lottery? How would life change or not change? How would it affect your friends and family? Though, really, the story was more about Alice growing and learning about family and friendship than Teddy winning the lottery. And the writing was spot on.

There is some mild language, but no sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 388
My rating: 4 stars
Ages: 16+

Lucy in secure in her life as a Pastor's Kid, relying on her faith and her relationship with her family to guide her life. But when her mom is diagnosed with cancer, Lucy's faith fails her and she starts pushing back against the things she was taught. Instead of helping with her parents' church camp over the summer, Lucy becomes a counselor at the "hippie" camp. It's there that she learns about who she really is and what it means to love and be loved.

I just really love Lord's writing. It's so approachable and easy to read, but with a depth that usually comes from much more complicated writing. I like the view of Lucy's crisis of faith--I think it's something that a lot of people go through. She still held onto the things she was taught, and still wanted to be faithful, but was angry at God.

There comes a time in every teenager's life that they need to learn for themselves and stop relying on their parents to tell them how they should be. And there comes a time when a child learns more about their parents as people, with histories and faults. Lucy learning these things and growing as a person and a friend was natural.

Also, I cried several times.

There is some swearing (about four f-words) and mention of sex.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentmer

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Crown
Pages: 399
My rating: 3.5
Ages: 16+

Not only did Carver lose all three of his friends at once, but he has to live with the guilt of knowing he caused their deaths. Not on purpose, but caused all the same. With school starting, Carver isn't sure how to face everyone without his friends. Battling crippling guilt, Carver has to come to terms with what happened, even while being blamed by those around him.

I didn't mean for my last two reviews to be about grief and death, but sometimes these things just happen. However, this is a completely different look at grief and guilt than was in Letters to the Lost. This time, something that Carver did directly attributed to the accident that killed his friends, and it's something he has to live with. What I think is important though, is that in grieving, we all start thinking of things we could have done different and we all experience that guilt and need to come to terms with living while others are gone.

This book also deals with panic attacks, being blamed, and friendship. It's not a deeply depressing book, but it does deal with serious subjects.

There is some language and sexual talk.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 388
My rating: 4 stars
Ages: 15+

Juliet spends her free time in the cemetery, writing letters to her mother. Declan is likely to be voted "most likely to end up in jail." He's serving community service when he finds a letter left on a grave. When he decides to respond to it, he starts a relationship with an unknown person who seems to understand him better than any other person. But when he learns that the person he's been writing is Juliet, he wonders if he can continue to share with her.

I loved this book--I could barely stand to put it down. While it does deal with heavy topics such as grief and guilt and judging by appearances, it didn't feel heavy even while addressing them in a good way.

It took a little while for me to realize that when the chapter started with a letter from one character, it meant the chapter would be in the other character's POV. I think I would have liked a more obvious clue than that.

The secondary characters were also interesting and well developed, to the point where I believed that they had a life outside of reacting to the main characters' drama.

No sex (thought mention of it and mention of nudity) and only mild language.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

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Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 291
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 17+

Beatrix wants to be the next great anatomical artist and to do that she wants to do what da Vinci did and study real bodies. Jack is charming, ridiculously handsome, and . . . maybe a criminal. A chance meeting turns into something mutually beneficial, and then even more. But each has baggage that could interfere with their newfound romance. Can the heart actually break?

This was a somewhat standard teen romance novel. The writing was good, nothing was really off, but I can't say that it was something that stuck around with me after reading it, but it was entertaining to read and had interesting characters and intriguing conflict.

I had never thought about the fact that all those drawings in science textbooks were the hard work of someone studying the human body intensely and thoroughly.

The approach to mental illness was good.

There was some hard swearing and some sex as well as sex talk.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak

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Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pages: 329
My rating: 3
stars
Ages: 15+

When Stella meets a cute guy in Starbucks, she doesn't realize that he's the lead singer of the Heartbreakers--the biggest boy group in the world. With her sister sick, Stella doesn't have time to worry about Oliver Perry, especially since he's so famous. But when an opportunity comes to work with the band, Stella isn't sure if she can turn it down. With business and pleasure mixing, along with worry over her sister, Stella is in for an adventure of a lifetime.

This is a nice, fun light read that also deals with some heavier subjects like family, friends, illness, and taking chances. It's nice when something that could just be another teen romance, feeding into the adolescent fantasy of meeting someone famous, is actually a bit more complex and fleshed out.

Both Stella and Oliver are dealing with fears and insecurities that I think a lot of teens (and adults) are familiar with. And throughout the course of the book, they make progress, with a few setbacks, on overcoming them, which makes for good character growth.

There was some hard language and some mild sexual talk.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

A Season of Daring Greatly by Ellen Emerson White

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 420
My rating: 2 stars
Ages: 13+

Jill Cafferty has made history as the first woman to be drafted onto a MLB team. That was the easy part. Now she has to deal with her new found stardom, her teammates, and the haters that come with it. Jill isn't sure if she can handle it, or if baseball is worth it.

This book had such great potential. The story of someone making history. . . it could have been such an amazing story. However, right off the bat, I was distracted.

The editing wasn't up to par. Usually I dismiss this as me just being an editor, but it was so prevalent, on every single page, that I just can't this time. Sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, chapter breaks . . . all of it together made it difficult to get into the story.

When I did try to ignore the editing, I started to notice little things about the writing. So much of the book was internal for Jill, but it was written in the third person. Changing it to first person would have made it much more approachable and bring the reader closer to Jill. Then we could have focused more on the difficulties and her insecurities in a better and deeper way. There were also parts of the book that were too long, which, if shortened, would have allowed for other parts to be longer or more fleshed out.

There was some language and sexual discussion.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

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Publication date: 2013
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 368
My rating: 2.5 stars
Ages: 16+

Franny Banks is on a deadline. She has given herself three years to become a working actor in New York. With only six months left, she's starting to despair that it's every going to happen. Through odd jobs, strange auditions, and relationships, Franny discovers what is most important to her and what she wants from her career.

For a debut novel, this is good. However (there's always a however, isn't there?), I felt that the story was a little predictable. From the beginning, I knew exactly where it was going to go and what was going to happen.

I missed Graham's innate humor, which is so obvious in her interviews and memoirs. Instead, I was left with a somewhat flat character who just let life drag her along, no matter how she felt about it. Franny never seemed to take action or responsibility. I understand--sometimes I ignore my mail for a couple of days because I just don't want to deal with it--but Franny seemed to still be acting like a 19 year old college student.

I did like that Franny was mystified by show business when it came to everything but acting. And in the end, she made the right choices.

There was some mild language and sexual situations.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Crown
Pages: 274
My rating: 1 stars
Ages: 18+

At fifteen, Lane's mother commits suicide. That means Lane is shipped off to Kansas to live with the grandparents she has never met. There she becomes part of the legacy of the "Roanoke Girls." But there is more to that legacy than she knows and once she discovers the secret, she runs. Eleven years later, Lane is drawn back to Roanoke when her cousin goes missing. Lane is forced to face the past she had left behind.

This was well written and intriguing. However, I couldn't finish reading it, though I read 105 pages. The topic was so perverse that every time I read it, I felt sick.

I don't usually give away spoilers in my reviews, but I feel that for the sake of readers, I should. This deals with incest. Serial incest. A man who not only sleeps with his sister, but his daughters and granddaughter. A man who uses his charm to convince impressionable young girls who look to him as an authority figure to sleep with him, that there isn't anything wrong. And a woman who turns an eye to it. Perhaps he gets his comeuppance in the end, but I couldn't wade through it to see.

There was also a lot of language.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Everyday Magic by Emily Albright

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Merit Books
Pages: 334
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 15+

Maggie's father expects her to go to UCLA and become an entertainment lawyer. What Maggie wants is to get far away from her famous and abusive father and become a designer. Things seem to be coming up Maggie when she gets into the school of her dreams and meets Preston. But she just can't seem to get out of her father's control, no matter what she tries, and that starts to get in the way of her relationship with Preston.

When I picked up this book I had just finished reading a series of books that involved a lot of crying over deaths of beloved characters, so I needed something light and quick to read. This book fit the bill perfectly. Despite what could be construed as some dark themes (abuse, blackmail, etc.), the book didn't really dwell on the really dark parts.

There were some inconsistencies throughout concerning chronology (one date was called the second, the fourth, and the fifth date between two minor characters). Some of the dialogue was a bit awkward and unnatural sounding. There was some jumping over long periods of time, which sometimes seemed to cut things short or require retroactive telling instead of showing it while it happened.

As it was, the book was a fun read, just because it happened to be what I needed at the time. There was romance, dreams coming true, just some fun escapist fiction for a few minutes.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

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Publication date: 2016
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 312
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 15+

The River Point Boys are all anyone will talk about, everyone wondering which was the one that shot the gun that killed their friend. Kate is an intern at the DA's office and the attorney she works for just got the case. Kate has her own reasons for finding justice for the boy who was killed and is determined to dig into the case to find out who shot the gun. But things aren't always as they seem, which Kate is about to discover.

I read this book in a day. It was interesting and gripping, with some twists and turns I wasn't expecting (of course, I never expect them). Each character had hidden depths, and interactions between characters were natural and interesting. There were times when Kate didn't do what she should have done, but I remember being a teenager and teenagers don't tend to think things through in the most logical way.

There was something that bothered me; Elston frequently used the phrasing "hands framing her face" (or something similar). It got to the point where I rolled my eyes every time it showed up. Not that the action it was describing was annoying, but that it was only described that way. I wish that she had thought of other ways to portray it (i.e. "he cupped my face in his hands"). It was used often enough (especially near the end of the book) that it became repetitive.

In all, though, it was a good read and a good mystery.

There was some hard language and some sexual talk.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.

My Unscripted Life by Lauren Morrill

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Publication date: 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 276
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 13+

Dee thought she knew exactly how her summer was going to go, but instead, she's looking forward to a hot Georgia summer with no art school and no best friend. So when a movie starts filming her in her small town, she jumps at the chance to work as a PA on set--though knowing the film would star Milo Ritter was a big incentive too. However, her first meeting with Milo was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

This is the kind of book that you can just curl up with and enjoy. It's decidedly aware of its genre, which is kind of what makes it work.

I like "behind the scenes" things, so I enjoyed the stuff on the movie set, though I'm not exactly sure how accurate it was--my knowledge of film sets being based on cobbled together information that I have gathered from various places. I was a little unsure about a full-length movie being made in three weeks . . . but it has happened, and since it was an indie film . . .

I liked Milo. I thought that his struggle with being famous and having to deal with all that brings was very well put together. Dee was sometimes annoying, sometimes fun, sometimes a little dense; so, a teenager.

Very little language and some mild sexual references, appropriate for teens.

*I do not receive compensation from Amazon.