Suite Dreams by Rachel Hawthorne

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 288
Rachel Hawthorne does it again with another cute teen chick lit book! Her books are such light and fun reads (perfect for the summer) and, like I've said before, even though they may be a little predictable, they're still very, very good.
Actually, this book wasn't as predictable as I thought. There were a few twists that surprised me and the story, near the end, didn't follow her usual form of writing/endings like the rest of her books. So, it was nice to see a change up.
Suite Dreams takes place in Vermont where it is currently snowing up a storm! (Pun intended) Alyssa is currently on winter break from classes at college, but she is still taking an extra class, in the hopes that it will help her graduate early. Alyssa's boyfriend, well not really because they decided to take a break, signed up for the couch surfing program and flew off to Australia where he will crash on people's couches. In exchange for Rick, her (ex)boyfriend, flying there, another guy flew to Vermont to take his place and surf on people's couches. The Australian that comes back is, of course, a really hot guy, and he ends up staying on Alyssa's couch.
She is confused with her feelings towards Jude, the Australian, because she recently "broke up" with her boyfriend, she knows Jude will be leaving at the end of the break, she doesn't know if he feels the same, and she doesn't want to get distracted with boys if she's taking an extra class. However, a lot of situations arise which change her mind about a lot of her dilemmas (Go read it and find out what happens! I don't want to spoil it!)
I really liked this book! Rachel Hawthorne's writing is simple, doesn't require you to think to hard, and the stories are always adorable and have you rooting for the main characters from page one. However, some of her characters could be considered "Mary Sue's" (a character that is not described that well and could fall into any category of looking like someone. Generally used so the reader can relate to the main character and imagine themselves as that character. Bella Swan. Need I say more?). Alyssa was running a little into the Mary Sue category for me. I had to go look up her name!
The same can be said of the boys too. The boys in Rachel Hawthorne's books are all the same pretty much except for one major factor. In this case, he was Australian. However, the settings are described beautifully and really transports you to where the characters are so that kind of makes up for the lack of character descriptions. 
I would definitely recommend her books though! Light, fun, easy, reads that are fairly short! Go check them out!
See you soon!
Paige

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Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

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Number of pages: 170
This was a really short and really harrowing book. I was deeply moved by it from beginning to end. The entire story takes on a sort of somber tone that is not lifted until the very end, and even then it is still daunted by darkness.
In Living Dead Girl, a girl, we don't know her real name for the majority of the novella, is kidnapped by a man named Ray when she is 10 years old. She was on a field trip with her classmates when she wandered away and he said he would "show her back to her classmates". Eventually, they leave the aquarium where the field trip is occurring and he takes her back to his house. He starts to call her Alice and requires that she stays his "little girl" forever.
Two days after her kidnapping she attempts to run away, but Ray finds her and tells her that if she ever tries that again he will go to her house where her family lives and kill them. Throughout the story we see flashbacks of when "Alice" was first kidnapped and how she dealt with her kidnapper and the circumstances and it really puts into perspective what people go through when they are kidnapped and why they simply don't just run away. We are shown the fear that Alice feels from her kidnapper and all the things she learned to do to obey him and at all costs not make him angry. Ray also has rules for Alice that she must follow like not talking to police, staying silent, and most of all remaining a little girl forever.
However, it is impossible to not grow older and a couple of days before her 15th birthday Ray realizes that she is not as little as she once was and he begins to abuse her even more. He is angry with the fact that she is growing up and he tells her that it is her duty to find a new little girl for him. Alice is sent to the park so that she can find the next "Alice" for him and there is an entire slew of events that follows after she finds this girl.
I would say it's a tale of survival, but at the same time it's not. It's not the perfect story of being able to overcome a situation, but the ending is satisfactory to my standards. This was really eye-opening and kind of scary. It seems like one of those books that parents and adults would not want their kids reading because it's SO true and parents want to protect their kids at all costs. However, I would say that this could be used as a learning tool between parents and kids to show that kids should never talk to strangers and should stay together as a group. Really good book, and definitely pretty dark. I'm going to need a light read after this to brighten my reading mood because this got me pretty down.
Really short book though and I flew through it in about an hour!
See you soon!
Paige

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The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

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Number of pages: 298
This being the second novel I've read by Syrie James I think I can safely say I love her writing even more now! She writes impeccably and the twist that she added to the way of writing as Jane Austen instead of about her or her books was simply fantastic!
How did Syrie James do this you ask? Well here's what happens in the book; Ms. James writes as Jane Austen writing her diary about her life (the interactions and basic things that happen are made up, but the places she went and the people she met are real!). Jane's life parallels many of her stories and we can see from this fictional piece of work perhaps how Jane got the ideas for her stories (any true Jane Austen fan will notice the similarities between her stories, and Syrie James helps out along the way by adding footnotes that make the whole story a lot more adorable than it already is).
Jane accounts her daily life and how she feels about moving homes, meeting new people, dealing with her family, and the struggles she encounters with her writing. Now, I don't know if this is true or not but it's written in the story, Jane often feels she should give up her writing because she isn't good enough, or because she's a woman, etc. Thankfully for me er the world, she continues to persevere and write her stories with the push and support from her sister Cassandra and Jane's love interest Mr. Ashford (who sounds absolutely charming!).
I love the way this story was written (can't say I loved the ending though...not because of how it was written but because...well you have to go read it! I don't want to spoil it!). There are only so many ways authors can switch up, flip around, and totally change the worlds that Jane Austen has created, but to create a story where Jane Austen herself is put into a slightly fictional world, well, let me just say that it TOTALLY worked! I loved this story from beginning to end and Syrie James' writing always grabs me from the beginning and begs me to read what happens next as quickly as possible.
I would definitely recommend this to any true Jane Austen fan who has read most/all of her works (like me!) because it is such a cool way to view the world of Jane Austen, literally through her eyes, and the way England was in the early 1800's. 
5 out of 5 stars for me! I will definitely be reading this again (if I ever find the time...)!
See you soon!
Paige

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Fallen by Lauren Kate

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Number of pages: 452
This book was...amazing!!! I seriously had my doubts about it, and I'm not really sure why. The story was fantastic! A lot of people think that it's really similar to Twilight but I didn't think they were THAT similar. Twilight does not set the precedent for a book where a girl does not believe a boy is not mortal/human. I'm like 99% positive there were books like that before Twilight came out (Actually I'm 100% sure of it because the Night World series and Vampire Diaries series were written before Twilight, in the 90's so ha!).
Anyways, staying on topic, Fallen was great! And it ended on a total cliff-hanger! I can't wait to go out and buy Torment so I can see what happens next.
So, in Fallen, Luce is sent to a reform school which is really strict, but all the kids get away with doing things that are against the rules anyways (sneaking out of school grounds, holding parties, sneaking in forbidden contraband like food and electronics). So Luce befriends one of the craziest most bizarre girls, Arriane, and a girl that she can really relate too, Penn. Luce's love interest include Daniel who she really likes but he is extremely mysterious with her and sends lot's of conflicting signals. A boy that genuinely shows interest in her is Cam, whom Luce can't decide if she likes or not because of Daniel (yes this story has a slight love triangle but it's not too over the top). The characters were all boat loads of fun too. All of them had so many different quirks and such different personalities that they all meshed together somehow and it worked. The end of the story may have you reaching for some tissues...(I really want to tell you guys!!! Go read this and see what I'm talking about!!!)
Anyways, there are a lot of circumstances that lead too Luce trying to find out more about Daniel and this is how she gets herself in some deep trouble. I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoiling it but there was tons of twists and turns in this story and just when you though one thing was going to go one way...BOOM! It totally veers off in another direction! Very exciting read!
Like I said before it also ended on a cliff-hanger so reading the next book will be a must for me. I can't wait to see how things get resolved. This book had tons of action, romance, twists, and overall just bad ass fun! I hope the next books follow that same pattern too!
Definitely one of my all time favorite books!! (I also like that this isn't about vampires it's about...well you can figure that out on your own too once you read the book!)
See you soon!
Paige

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Gossip Girl: The Carlyles by Cecily von Ziegesar

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Number of pages: 243
Wow! Another fantastic book by Cecily von Ziegesar! I think I'm going to like this series more than Gossip Girl! Not really sure why, perhaps the characters were a little more relatable and the story moved along a lot more quickly. There was also a lot less main characters to keep track of. Much easier for the story to move more quickly because then you don't have to keep going back to one character and then another, and another; in general the story will move much more slowly.
Anyways, so a group of triplets, the Carlyles, move to New York from Nantucket and basically take on the Upper East Side (this is a spin-off series from Gossip Girl, obviously, so there are references to the old characters. For example, the Carlyles live in Blair's old penthouse). Avery and Baby go to Constance Billard, just like Serena and Blair did. However, this time the girls start out as the nobodies with a famous, dead, grandmother who used to wreck havoc on New York back in her day. 
Avery is trying to become one of the popular girls at Constance Billard and is vying for the position of Student Liaison (the Student Liaison, makes decisions for the rest of the class). Her enemy Jack, short for Jacqueline, is also campaigning for the position, and the girls go on a rampant of back stabbing. Oh fun!
Baby hates the fact that she had to leave Nantucket behind, along with her boyfriend, and is trying to overcome heartache in Manhattan. She is also trying to break as many rules as possible (cussing in French class on the first day? Awesome!) to get kicked out of Constance Billard's so she can be transported back to home sweet home. However, her views begin to be questioned when she meets some very interesting people...
Owen, the last Carlyle triplet, goes to St. Jude's and is attempting to get over a girl he had a fling with over the summer in Nantucket. He's also trying to make some new guy friends, because he didn't have many before he moved because he was always going after girls and the guys didn't want to compete with him. Surprise, surprise, however, the guy that Owen befriends has some shocking circumstances that will put Owen in a tight place.
I adore Cecily von Ziegesar's writing and I can't wait for the next book. Yes, there is the typical partying, drinking, and overall, misbehavior by teenagers, but you can't hide this from teens forever! Let them read these books and look at is as a learning tool to show that after the party is over, there's ugly hangovers to deal with and ruined reputations (doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but to a teenager it is).
Five out of five stars for another name-dropping, trash talking, overall guilty pleasure of a novel! Can't wait for the rest of the series! I've already ordered the next one's!
See you soon!
Paige

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The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

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Number of pages: 108
You would think that because this is such a short book, I would get through this book fairly quickly, but no. It was a fantastic book but it's one of those where you have to take your time and devour every word to really absorb the story to its fullest extent.
So here's what happens; The Time Traveller, as he's called in the story, takes his Time Machine and basically transports himself into the future. He lands 800,000 years in the future and then describes how the world is different and the adventures he went on. The Time Traveller is telling this story to a group of men, who, in the end, must decide for themselves whether or not to believe him.
What I really liked about this book was that it took off right from the beginning; literally. There wasn't much time spent setting up the scene, characters, etc. and the story built upon itself as it grew and progressed. Actually, by the end of the story I knew more of what the Time Machine and the future looked like than the actual Time Traveller himself. However, this was good because I think the story was less biased, somehow, like his physical attributes didn't take away from the story. I was able to enjoy the world as it was, through my eyes, not the attributes of another.
The scenes were painted so vividly and described so carefully and this really helped enjoy the future as it was (will be?). It was also scary to think "Will this ever happen? Will the future really be like this?" Just a heads up to someone living 800,000 years from now let me know (because by then you probably really will have time travel).
This was such a great classic and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in perhaps super natural, or dystopian worlds. It's a fairly short read so check it out!
See you soon!
Paige

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The Giver by Lois Lowry

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Number of pages: 179
This book captivated me from page one. I know that sounds totally cliche but it did! The Giver is the story of a dystopian world where everything is the same and the citizens are governed by people who monitor everything they do and say. These people are taught from a very young age to not be rude, to say things precisely as they mean them, and to be honest (there's many other rules, but those are some of the main one's). Jonas is an eleven year old boy when the story starts and he is very wise, that's the impression I got from him. Apparently so does the so-called government he lives under because at his ceremony of becoming twelve he is given the job of The Receiver, which is a very honorable position in the community.
From here, Jonas' whole life turns around, he is encouraged to lie, be rude (ask questions) and not accept things as they appear. Throughout the story we see how Jonas grows and learns from The Giver. There a couple of plot twists that completely caught me by surprise but they really helped the story move and grow.
I loved this book. It was flawlessly written and is so simple, yet so complex. There is a lot of deeper meanings and messages. It also makes a person think about "What if we had to live that way? How would we survive without simple basics like creativity and choices?".
I can't wait to read the next three books in the series although they are not necessarily sequels, but companions. This book ends on a sort of cliffhanger so you'll be guessing until the very end and have to come up with your own conclusion.
Overall, an amazing book, which I initially had my doubts about, but I would know recommend to anyone! This is also a fairly short read so check it out!
See you soon!
Paige

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Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

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Number of pages: 346
I wish this book had been a lot better. It was good but it didn't completely grip me, pull me in, and make me want to spend hours upon hours reading its pages.
The story follows Alexis as she tries to cope with whether or not her sister Kasey (I hate that name so I'm glad they cast her as the sort of villain in this book) has become possessed. Alexis realized that this slight possession started when they moved into their new, grand, and Gothic house a few years ago. However, lately the possession has started to become more violent and controlling of Kasey's body. Alexis wants to get to the bottom of this sort of mystery of who's possessing her sister and why before Kasey begins to harm any more people or herself.
I have to admit, based on the way Kasey treats Alexis while she's possessed it's a miracle that Alexis wants to help her sister. Any normal person would think they're sibling is going crazy, would tell their parents, and attempt to get them diagnosed with some mental disorder (By the way I found that a little unrealistic about this book; there was hardly ANY parent interactions. Yes, her mom worked long nights and her dad was in the hospital but that's beside the point).
This book was written a little strangely. I don't think I really liked Kate Alender's writing style. The way things are described and told leaves a lot of room for you to fill in the blanks yourself and I typically don't like doing that when I'm reading because I might assume something and then find out later it was wrong, so it changes the whole dynamic of the story.
Either way I gave this book three stars out of five, but I was being liberal so it probably deserved a 2.5. I will not be reading the next books because this one ended really solidly so I don't feel the need to have to know what happens next.
See you soon!
Paige

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May 2012 Book Haul!

I only got a couple of books this month so here we go!
Crank by Ellen Hopkins


Thrill Ride by Rachel Hawthorne


Anthem by Ayn Rand


Yepp, so not a great book buying month, but I plan on getting a ton more over the summer and I'm trying to lower my (literal) To Be Read pile.
See you soon!
Paige

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Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 537
Another great book by Ellen Hopkins! I didn't like this one as much as Tricks but it was still wonderful. Ellen Hopkins' writing is so dark but it is also heartfelt and makes you really connect with the narrator and see what they are going through. So, this story follows a girl who becomes addicted to "crank" or meth. Throughout the book we see how Kristina personifies her inner bad girl to become "Bree", a girl with no shame, and this results in her downward spiral of addiction, depression, and a whole mess of other problems.
Whenever I read these books I always see how horrible these situations are and it makes you kind of realize that the world isn't perfect and stuff like this happens to teenagers and adults alike, every single day. Kind of a harrowing thought, but it happens. I would recommend these books to a lot of teenagers for that reason because it really shows you how catastrophic the consequences can be once you become addicted to drugs, or, really, anything else.
I also like how the books are written in a sort of verse that doesn't rhyme. If the books rhymed, I don't think I'd like them half as much but since they don't to me the words just look like they are put into funny shapes on the page. If this was written as a full story too, I think there would have to be a lot more detail, but since it's in verse the story is a little more loose, but it works.
Definitely would recommend this one for people 14 and up, because there are some sensitive subjects, but after the 14 year old mark this should be read by teens. Honestly, reading Ellen Hopkins' work, makes me think "I'll never make the same mistakes these kids did. I don't want that to be me." And I think that's part of the point Ellen Hopkins is trying to make with her work; to spread awareness and prevent other teens from getting messed up in the wrong stuff.
I can't wait to read the next two books because this one kind of ended at a cliff-hanger!
See you soon!
Paige

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