The Paige Turner

A blog for young adult book lovers

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...

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Read a synopsis here! 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"....

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

Read a synopsis here! 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...

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Read a synopsis here! 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...

Gossip Girl: The Carlyles by Cecily von Ziegesar

Read a synopsis here! 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...

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Read a synopsis here! 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 Giver by Lois Lowry

Read a synopsis here! 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...

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Read a synopsis here! 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...

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! Pai...

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,...