2014 End of Year Book Survey Part 1

[Sorry, for some reason the graphics are all wonky in coloring]

 Another year has ended, which means it's time for the 2014 end of year book survey, which is hosted by Jamie at the Perpetual Page-Turner. Today will be Part One and on Sunday, check back in for Part Two. I also added a few questions of my own in the reading stats because my reading log is extensive and I thought it a shame to not use it. Organization is wonderful.

Number Of books you read: I read 53 books this year, which is really sad. I didn't even complete half of my goal, but I should've realized how many changes I'd be going through and how busy I'd be.

Number of re-reads: The number above does not reflect rereads because I didn't keep track of those. However, I estimate the number of rereads to be 3.

Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary wins out at a total of 32 books. Fantasy came in second place at 16, sci-fi at 2, then mythology, historical, and dystopian tying at 1.

Format You Read the Most Out of: I read 20 e-galleys, 17 hardcovers, 11 physical ARCs, and 4 paperbacks.

Source You Mostly Used: 26 from the publisher, 14 from the library, 5 from Shae, and the others from various sources.

Publisher You Read the Most From: 16 from HarperCollins, 7 from Scholastic (all Harry Potter), 6 from Bloomsbury, 6 from Macmillan, 5 from Simon & Schuster, 4 from Disney Hyperion, and 2 from St. Martin's Press. Harlequin, Hachette, HMH, Random House, and Penguin all tied at 1.

I was going to list how many ratings I gave books, but it got confusing. I actually had 9 5-star reads though, which I think is a win. And mostly all my reads were published in 2014.

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

And of course, I couldn't possibly pick only one so I'm breaking it down by...contemporary and fantasy. That's embarrassing. I realized these two dominated the game so here's the best contemporary and best fantasy!

Contemporary: Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

Fantasy: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski with a second place tie between Crown of Embers by Rae Carson and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (and the Deathly Hallows)by J.K. Rowling

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I DNF'd it and skimmed the ending.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?

Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

Technically, I pushed my beloved favorites from previous years more. But from the books I read this year, I probably pushed The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski the most and Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson recently.

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

Best series: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, hands down.

Best sequel: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes...again, hands down.

Best series ender: I actually didn't finish many series (and I read a lot of standalones), but The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson deserves this title.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

SO MANY. How can I choose? Emery Lord, Rosamund Hodge, and J.K. Rowling will now forever by in my heart.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

This doesn't really apply to me, but I guess I'd have to say Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, which was in a mythology-type of genre.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER. Specifically Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I had already started and finished a HP book that day and then decided to start and finish that one in the same day as well.

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg and The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski, no doubt.

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

Hermoine Granger because she kicks butt in brains and power.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

I’m not sure. I wish I had put these kind of details in my spreadsheet! Don’t Touch or Cruel Beauty, I guess.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson or Don’t Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?

Wait for it...Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Were you expecting anything else?

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

There were many that stood out to me (especially in Harry Potter), but I tweeted out this one:

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?” - Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014?

Shortest: 256 pages - Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana and Summer State of Mind by Jen Calonita

Longest: 870 pages - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Excluding the plethora of surprises througout Harry Potter (although that in of itself is surprising since I knew so many deaths beforehand), KILLER INSTINCT BY JENNIFER LYNN BARNES! She always manages to surprise me.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Even after all this time, I instantly thought of Elisa and Hector from the Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The great Harry Potter trio (he sought them out afterwards, which I thought incredibly important) and all the Cress friendships.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I don’t think it’s fair if I count series in here so it’d have to be Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord. I never read the back cover until many, many people recommended it.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

I did feel rather flushed when reading about Aelyx from Alienated.

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

I already said I loved Rites of Passage, so not counting that, Alienated by Melissa Landers was so much better than I hoped.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Harry Potter.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Landline by Rainbow Rowell, The DUFF by Kody Keplinger,

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. ROLLER COASTER OF EMOTION.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Alienated by Melissa Landers! And I still think Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt needed more recognition

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

If it made me tear up, of course Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows crushed my soul.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

If by unique you mean diverse, Don’t Touch by Rachel M. Wilson and Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy because I hated the main character, but oddly still liked the book.

Don't forget I'll be having Part Two of this survey on Sunday!

This vs That: Book Preferences

Ice cream or cake? Beaches or mountains? Carpet or hardwood? Morning or night? Ellen or Oprah? Tied, mountains, hardwood, night, and Ellen. We all have preferences and are asked many this or that questions. In a small way, they define us. So what about the common book preferences?

Paperback vs Hardcover

Some people prefer paperback because it's smaller, they don't have to deal with the annoying jackets, and they're cheaper. Hardcover comes out sooner though and I think a series in hardcover looks nicer on a bookshelf. 

My pick: Paperback. I don't have to take the jacket off and can still have my pretty cover when reading. 

Ebook vs Physical

Probably the most debated preference in the blogging world from what I've seen. Convenient, can tote around more books, less clutter...the list goes on with the bonuses to reading an ebook. With a physical copy, you get to feel the book in your hands, admire the cover, and have your book senses tingling. 

My pick: Physical. I tend to enjoy a book more when it's a physical copy.

Series vs Standalone

"Ugh, commitment," people say when asked about series. There seems to be more series than standalone books nowadays and many people groan at the thought of having to read three or so books to finish a character's journey. Or it's the problem of having to wait until the next book comes out. But then you finish a standalone and you crave more of the great characters you experienced and dangflabbit, you want more. 

My pick: Tied. 

Faces on covers vs Not

This could be better phrased as: do you want floating heads, weird poses, and odd facial expressions or symbols, buildings, and possibly another body part on your cover? 

My pick: Depends. To be on the safe side, a cool symbol (but I always like a WELL-DONE character visual).

Nice guy vs Bad guy

This usually relates to a love triangle in which a character has to pick between the nice, "safe" guy or the mysterious, "bad" guy. Usually the bad guy is misunderstood and wins, but sometimes the nice guy wins like in Phantom of the Opera. (If you were spoiled by this, it's not my fault. It's like being mad that someone told you Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennett get together.) Or you could just have a preference in what your love interest is like. Do you want your protagonist to meet a super nice guy or a possibly dangerous one? 

My pick: “I wouldn't want to marry anybody who was wicked, but I think I'd like it if he could be wicked and wouldn't.” Or just a nice guy. Less baggage, ya know? 

Music vs No music

After a comment I got on one of my past posts, I realized we may have different reading habits as well. Some people may need to read alone while others have to be in a certain spot. But what about music? Music can enhance the mood and connection to the book if you have the right playlist going, but others could be hindered by extra noise and words going on around them. 

My pick: Music. I felt pumped with music going on as I reread The Hunger Games.

Male vs Female

I wouldn't be surprised if most people said the latter when it came to not only the protagonists, but also the authors. I know that for some, it really doesn't matter to them and they don't pay attention. But others when I say that, I mean me might not read a book when they see that a guy is the main character. They might also hesitate when they see the author is a guy and not John Green.

My pick: Girl power! I connect better. 

There are probably a whole lot more that I didn't mention. Just like people have genre preferences, there are many book and reading preferences for people to have. Is it weird that I'm always wondering what people prefer in the categories above? It's cool for me to see who's the same and who's different from me.

So...what are your book preferences?

2013 End of Year Book Survey - Part 1

The lovely Jamie over at The Perpetual Page-turner creates a survey each year and this year, I'm actually able to participate! I know that I probably forgot a better answer or repeated a book title way too many times, but it was fun to answer Jamie's questions. I think 2013 was a fantastic reading year. I'll be splitting this up into two parts with part two coming tomorrow. So be sure to check back! 

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Contemporary – United We Spy by Ally Carter and Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic – Unravel Me by Taherah Mafi

Historical Fiction – Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, and Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anna Blankman

Paranormal — Parallel by Lauren Miller and The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Science Fiction — All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill and These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Fantasy — Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Other than YA: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

It's sad that I had quite a few titles pop in my head when I read this question. The book that really wins this title though is A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan. I was expecting another beloved retelling, but ended up really annoyed. Such a disappointment.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

 

For some reason, I was surprised by Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and its complete awesomeness. I do not doubt Bardugo any longer.

 4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

Probably The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I read it and went completely fangirl on it.

 5. Best series you discovered in 2013?

I take this to mean that I read more than one book in the series and if that's the case, the problem is that many series I discovered has its sequels coming out next year or my other problem is that I loved the first book and haven't been able to get to its sequel yet. I knew about it before, but I finally read The Song of the Lioness series and finally started the Graceling series and the Throne of Glass series.

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

I have a whole list about it here. Someone who isn't on the list: Cristin Terrill because I read her afterwards and her book was AMAZING.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

Nothing is ever really out of my comfort zone nowadays, but Dark Triumph was pretty bleak and uncomfortable with its, uh, familial relationships.

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Hands down, All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill. I read 200 pages in one night and then woke up and read the rest in the morning.

 9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

 The Program by Suzanne Young, probably. The sequel comes out next year, woohoo!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

The cover of Fangirl makes me happy.

11. Most memorable character in 2013? 

This is an extremely difficult question so I'll break it up by girl, boy, antagonist, and secondary into an incomprehensive list.

Girl: Audrey from Audrey, Wait! and Celaena from Throne of Glass
Boy: Cole from Everbound and Zach from United We Spy
Antagonist: Reinhard from Prisoner of Night and Fog and d'Albert from Dark Triumph
Secondary: Thorne from Scarlet and Gabrielle from Perfect Scoundrels

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

Was there any question about it?

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013? 

This is hard for me because I feel that many books have some sort of impact on me. But Parallel made me really question things. I've always what-iffed everything to death and this made me think about it in a deeper way. What if one tiny choice can change your whole life?

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

 

The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce! I (audio)book binged on that and regret not starting sooner.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

Chapter 62 of Unravel Me! Chapter 62! Oh, I should actually quote a passage or a quote that's non-spoilery? This may be the hardest question because I don't do well with remembering quotes. I know there are certain ones I love or laugh with or cry with or brings out some kind of emotion. So I'll just pull another quote from Unravel Me instead and then later be aggravated that I didn't think of so-and-so's quote that another blogger highlighted.

"As far as I can tell, you've got food in your mouth and clothes on your back and a place to pee in peace whenever you feel like it. Those aren't problems. That's called living like a king. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd grow the hell up and stop walking around like the world crapped on your only roll of toilet paper. Because it's stupid," he says, barely reining in his temper. "It's stupid, and it's ungrateful. You don't have a clue what everyone else in the world is going through right now. You don't have a clue, Juliette." —Kenji from Unravel Me

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

According to Goodreads, the longest was Graceling by Kristin Cashore at 471 pages. As for the shortest, possibly In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce at 262 pages because I'm not counting novellas.

 17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

It's probably tiring to see these books coming up so many times, but I can't lie...Parallel for the ending, All Our Yesterdays for the same reason (thankfully I had my sister and Lauren), These Broken Stars for THAT PART, and Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones for a frustrating love triangle.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

Romance – Cath and Levi from Fangirl, Rob and Scarlet from Scarlet, and MANY more.

Friendship – Maddie and "Verity" from Code Name Verity

Familial — Penny and her family from The Lonely Hearts Club

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Unless sequels count, which is a whole different ballgame.

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

Solely? See, I take my time and weigh many people's opinions. But maybe The Naturals because of Ally Carter's recommendation or The Song of the Lioness because Gillian PRESSURES.

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?

I'm taking a guess here and saying fantasy type books? 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

Levi from Fangirl, Tarver from These Broken Stars, Xander from The Distance Between Us, George from The Song of the Lioness, Sturmhond from Siege and Storm, Po from Graceling, Finn from All Our Yesterdays...can I keep going?

23. Best 2013 debut you read?

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, but you probably knew that already, didn't you?

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Again.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt was super cute and really fun to read. It was also my first ARC! I smiled throughout Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell as well.  

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?

I don't cry in books, but Code Name Verity was a heartbreaking read.

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards because personally, I barely heard about it through the blogosphere.

~*~

Check back in tomorrow for part two of the survey!

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Review: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Title: OCD Love Story

Author: Corey Ann Haydu

Publication date: July 23, 2013

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Source: an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he's her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again. 

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can't stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a ton about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she's obsessed. 

Bea tells herself she's got it all under control, but this isn't a choice, it's a compulsion. The truth is, she's breaking down... and she might end up breaking her own heart.

Review: 

Lucky for me, I don't get panicky in small dark spaces or anything. I'm a different breed of crazy.

I knew coming into this that OCD Love Story and my feelings on it could go either way. I was intrigued of the different aspect that this YA book held since I haven't read any other OCD-centered book before. At the same time, I was hesitant at the thought that the main character is a teenage girl stalker. A teenage girl stalker is way different than a normal stalker in my mind. A teenage girl can have different narratives while stalking and can verge on being annoying, at least that is what I pictured them to be.

In a way, I was correct in Bea being annoying. In another, I wasn't. After a stalking incident with her ex-boyfriend and a traumatic experience with a former crush (boyfriend? croyfriend? boyfrush?), Bea was forced to go to therapy. Now, in addition with her one-on-one sessions, she has to go to group therapy. There, she sees that she is in the same group as the very hot guy she had to calm down earlier during a blackout.

This book was slightly disturbing in the way that wasn't bad or good. I think the outcome was what Haydu was wanting, but I still sat afterwards and wondered if I liked it or not. I did and I didn't. Yes, it's another floppy answer, but this book evokes many floppy answers from me. Many people, myself included, will probably joke that they or someone else has OCD. I think of OCD in a way that everything needs to be in order and you can get pretty darn touchy about it. But Haydu shows it in a different light. Bea stalks. To "help" her anxiety, she picks a person and obsessively takes notes on them, following them, "checking up" on them, and that anxiety won't go away until she has done her "duty." There is also another detail that casts her in a "Um, let me just keep my distance here" light. SEMI-SPOILER Her violent thoughts made me hesitant, I'll admit. I think everyone wonders about how those seemingly harmless people can commit horrible things and there's the fact on what happened with the traumatic incident she saw in her past, but Bea really took it to the extreme. SEMI-SPOILER DONE.

With all that, I think Bea and Beck were intentionally set as characters you would have mixed feelings for. I may be wrong and Haydu wanted us to sympathize with them, but I felt a vibe saying that we were supposed to be iffy about them both. They are messed up characters and make really stupid decisions. The decisions they make are ones that force you to howl with frustration and tell them point-blank that they are screwed up. I think that was the whole point though. They ARE screwed up. They have panic attacks, anxiety issues, and deal with them differently. It affects not only themselves, but the people around them.

Bea's best friend Lisha is a character that I had mixed feelings on and then the dislike finally took over at the end. I put myself in her place and saw how hard it must be to have Bea as a best friend. Bea is selfish. She sees her problems, denies that they are really problems, but allows her life to be ruled by them and to satisfy her anxiety cravings, she makes the people around her miserable. She shows a little improvement in one scene when Lisha's life starts to crack, but Bea still is placing herself center stage. However, no matter how Bea behaves, I couldn't condone Lisha's. Like any best friend, she probably didn't know how to act when Bea was being odd. But that did NOT give her an excuse to do some of the things she did.

The love story aspect of OCD Love Story wasn't exactly what I was expecting either. It had its moments, but this book was mainly about her problems and his problems. They had their sweet interactions and I'm not necessarily saying that the romance was bad. I just hope that no one places a firm expectation on it. They tried to help each other and Bea wanted to lessen his pain while appearing fine herself. She wanted to love him and did, but she couldn't behave like a normal sort-of girlfriend when she was stalking some other man. In amidst of the romance, Bea made me feel like I was cringing all throughout the book. I was embarrassed for her and sometimes that can be the worst emotion for a reader to feel. I already feel stressed about my own life as it is!

Unfortunately, if I did rate by stars, it would lose at least half of one based on the ending. Haydu seemed to attempt at a not-so-clean ending, but it still felt a little too neat. A little too unrealistic. A little too odd. However, odd can probably be ignored since that was the reoccurring theme.

This is a hard book to review because it was a hard book to read for me. It dealt with odd and somewhat disturbing things. It involved characters that I didn't necessarily like or enjoy. It dealt with issues that I hadn't been exposed to before. That might all seem negative, but overall, I applaud the author for writing this book. She wrote something that I personally think is unconventional in YA fiction. Her work was brave. Slightly uncomfortable and probably not a book I will read again, but brave.

Verdict: A book that I didn't necessarily enjoyed, but was glad to have read with romantic and relationship plusses mixed with cringe-worthy and weird negatives.

This is an ARC. Any quote used may be changed.

Review: THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: The Lonely Hearts Club

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg

Publication date: January 1, 2010

Publisher: Point

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

Review:

I can sum this book up in one word: CUTE.

Penny Lane is, yes, named after a Beatles song. All of her sisters are actually, but she considers hers to be the weirdest. Instead of rebelling and getting sick of anything Beatles, she turns to them for comfort or enjoyment of any kind. Thanks to her parents, she knows every Beatles song and probably knows every Beatles fact. Then comes the heartbreak. After catching her longtime crush and short-time official boyfriend cheating on her in her own home, she vows to be off of boys. The only boys allowed are, of course, the Beatles. She calls herself the Lonely Hearts Club and decides to stop dating until she gets out of her high school, which, to her, is filled with brainwashing pigs as guys.

In the amiss of all that, we meet her best friend Tracy, who is so obsessed with getting a boyfriend that she makes a huge list of potential candidates every year. Unlike Penny, Tracy has never had luck with capturing a guy and is a bit desperate. However, that's what made her likable. She wasn't perfect. She was acting like a normal teenager girl (which is pretty sad actually) with a sprinkling of weird. However, I did not like her saying, "What to the evs." It made me twitch.

Another reason why Penny thinks that boys are nothing but trouble is how her falling out with former best friend Diane came to be. After Diane started dating Ryan in seventh grade (seriously?) and continued to date him, Diane started ditching Penny, altering her social life around her boyfriend. Even though Penny doesn't particularly like to be around Diane, we are let known through Tracy that Penny has somewhat flirting conversations with Ryan and player Todd with her being unconscientious about it.  In the beginning of the book, Penny and Diane make up thanks to Ryan and Diane breaking up and Diane apologizing profusely.

While I get an old friendship can be picked up quickly, I felt that part was handled unrealistically. They haven't had a true conversation in years, their relationship was abandoned and so was Penny due to a guy, and suddenly Diane wants to be friends...and it happens? Penny definitely was against it at first, but it didn't take her long to declare that it was easy to be best friends again. Huh.

After each girl close to Penny start hearing about her club and coincidentally has their own frustrating experience with a guy, she starts to gain more members. The club becomes a hot topic at school with some people joining for fame or wrong reasons while others turn their noses up at it, thinking that the girls are pathetic and lonely. Of course, it also doesn't set well with the guys in school.

I loved Penny's narrative and how she tries to organize her life, set boundaries with Nate, and make sure she keeps her friends a priority. I love her relationship with her family and sisters, even if we don't see much of them. Sad novels without parents (If I Stay, maybe?) are good too, but I love the feeling of reading a book where the character has a great relationship with her parents, especially if there's some wit in there. With Penny's narrative, there's definitely wit because she made me smile many times. I love how cute it all is. I especially love how each chapter starts with a Beatles song quote because I adore music. This novel received my love. 

My mother was a small woman, but she carried the wrath of God in her. I didn't like to make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.

BUT I had a couple negatives. One was the overall boys aspect. Firstly, I disliked how Penny and all the girls claimed that all the boys in their school are jerks/idiots/pigs/etc. Generalizations are unfair and pretty much just suck. It's like picking a couple YA books that treated you badly in the terms of writing or relationships or some pet peeve you had and then declaring that all YA books are the same and that they need to be banned. Ridiculous. I wanted to go walk around Penny's school and find the nice guys that are being lumped into this generalization and give them free ice cream. They didn't deserve it. Thankfully, near-ish the end, Penny realized this as well and tried to mend her wrong ways.

He was a guy. A guy guy. As far as I was concerned, he probably had the dead bodies of small children and puppies hidden in his locker.

On the other side, Todd and some jerky guys were being morons. They guffawed and behaved even worse when the club starting getting popular. I see their indignation, but as a girl, I wanted to spit on them. In addition, I wanted to do even worse to the principal. The principal, who is a guy and I do not think that's a coincidence, was vehemently against the club and claimed that Penny was causing trouble and disrupting the order of things, blah blah blah. Just because you're a guy and a principal gives you no excuse to interfere on a non-school club and try to punish her. I wanted to applaud for her parents who didn't even hesitate to stick up for their daughter.

For the actual jerks who were horrible to their dates/girlfriends.
LOSERS

The last issue I had was I felt that the club was unrealistic. I might be wrong, but I don't see it all rapidly happening like that in a high school. There were a few other instances that was cheesy movie-worthy. You know, where everyone forms together and cheers on someone and miraculously, the person overcomes some obstacle because she had people cheering her on. Whatever. I'll excuse it, Ms. Eulberg, because I enjoyed your novel.

The family closeness, cuteness, song references, and the fun aspect of this book made up for the unrealistic elements, jerks, and eye-roll-worthy actions and statements. Like I said, it was cute.

Verdict: a fun, cute novel that sucked me in with a couple irritations, but was a really great break from reality. 

Cover Love #13

Hosted by Bookshelvers Anonymous

Title: The Cutting Room Floor

Author: Dawn Klehr

Publication date: October 8, 2013

Publisher: Flux

Behind-the-scenes secrets could turn deadly for Desmond and Riley

Life in the Heights has never been easy for seventeen-year-old Riley Frost, but when she's publicly dumped and outed at the same time, she becomes an immediate social outcast at her high school. So Riley swears off romance and throws herself into solving the shocking murder of her favorite teacher, Ms. Dunn.

Riley turns to her best friend, budding filmmaker Desmond Brandt, for help. What she doesn't know is that Dez has been secretly directing her life, blackmailing her friends, and hoping his manipulations will make her love him. When his schemes go too far, Dez's web of lies threatens to destroy both of their lives.

Why I love: 

It's just so...creepy. The main character's best friend is a filmmaker, but he's molding her own life by manipulating and blackmailing because he wants her to love him. Creepy and controlling, how nice. With him being a filmmaker, I love the hands even more on the cover. The girl seems to be in a dark alley and I feel like any moment, the hands will suddenly reach out for her. The tagline is also a really nice touch.

Thank you, Cover Snark, for showing me this fantastic cover! 

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Review: TIME BETWEEN US by Tamara Ireland Stone

Title: Time Between Us

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Publication date: October 9, 2012 

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Source: an ARC given through ARCycling

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

Review: 

I was just bemoaning the fact that I had been going through "pokeable" and disappointing books, leaving me in a book rut. Thanks to ARCycling, it changed!

Since I'm having a hard time explaining my thoughts clearly (I've written this review about three times so far), I'll try to do it in list form. Hopefully my thoughts will be more organized.

Positives: 

• The beginning - Anna is older and is working up the nerve to hand younger Bennett a letter. She does and then we're presented to younger "present" Anna running on the track with a smiling Bennett watching her. For me, it was a great opener because I was instantly intrigued. 
• The secondary characters -  I enjoyed reading about the British Emma, the music loving Justin, and her parents were a definite bonus. While I would have liked more Justin and depth to him, I liked him and Emma, Anna's best friends. I was confused at the part of them saying Justin and Anna were best friends. I didn't see that. I could definitely see them being friends and they said they had been since they were younger. But best friends? Eh, wasn't clicking for me, but I'll get more into that in the negatives. Anna's parents though were great! Another married set of parents, still alive, and not going through divorce. We didn't see much of her mother, but her father was present and protective, supportive too. Yay for great families!
• Time-traveling + teleporting - Time-traveling in itself is awesome to me. I was a bit afraid that it would hurt my head and at times, it was a bit confusing, but it reminded me of The Lake House and although I haven't read or watched it, it sounds similar to what I've heard about The Time Traveler's Wife. Added to that, Bennett could teleport himself to anywhere in the world, bringing Anna with him. I found both of those aspects fascinating, a power I wish I could possess. 
• Bennett's rules - I liked that Bennett had set rules for himself. He limited himself and didn't want to destruct the world by changing big events. However, while I liked the rules, I was displeased on how everything turned out. This will also pop up in my negatives.
• Time-sucking - While this could be possibly a negative since you find yourself only wanting to read and nothing else, I love when a book captures me in and doesn't let go. Some people complained that it was slow and confusing and they didn't like it. I'm in the other category of people who was captivated. I can see it being slow and possibly too confusing, but I liked when they explained things. I liked the progression of things. I found myself staying way too late for my own good and while I love my sleep, I love that I'm reading a book that makes me want to actually keep reading. I had been getting in a reading rut so it was quite refreshing. 

Negatives:

• Anna and her secondary relationships - She called Justin her best friend. But what I saw was a girl using her long-time friend's crush on her for her own musical pleasure. Justin worked at a record store so she got free music all the time, even gaining some tickets now and then. When Justin gets in a relationship with someone else, she's surprised and a little hurt, I guess you could say, that he actually didn't have a crush on her. She had been thinking that whole time that he did so she would keep their conversations short. I get it. I just couldn't resist yelling, "HA!" to the page because I felt like she should get taken down a notch. I liked Justin. 
• Bennett's rules - I liked Bennett's rules. I didn't like how he proceeded with them. He was so tough on them, but eventually gave in to Anna. Backbone, Bennett. 
• Anna with Bennett - When she finds about Bennett and something tragic happens, she begs for him to do a do-over like any normal person. Then he repeatedly says no and she starts saying accusatory things. I couldn't see why Anna could just pause a moment in her strife and realize that NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT HER. Also, why didn't Bennett just go forward a couple weeks to see if everything would be alright? While I liked their romance in parts, the critical side of me kept thinking that Anna was just using Bennett for his powers. She was disappointed at first when he didn't take her to another country, she grew bitter at the thoughts of not going anywhere and him going everywhere, she manipulated to change the past and go to the future, and the list seems to continue. I hate users so this especially bugged me. In addition, I have to ignore the fact that they seem to have not been together long before they started proclaiming that they couldn't survive without each other.

• The oh so many open ends - I can't even list the open ended questions because there are spoilers. It feels like there are tons. I know that there's a second book coming out (yay!), but after reading a book, I don't want to be left with lots of questions. While the book was enjoyable to me, I started thinking about it more and felt like there was too many question marks and not enough periods, which didn't settle well with me. 

After writing the review, I know it looks like there were more negatives than positives, bigger issues to be dealt with. However, I did like this book. I thought it was captivating and interesting. I know I will be anxiously awaiting the sequel, I will be hoping that the negatives in the first book will be remedied in the second though.

"When did you manage to cut your hair anyway?" 

He shrugs. 

I lean in and whisper, "You traveled?"

He moves even closer to me and whispers in my ear, "No. I went to Supercuts."

Verdict: A time-sucking novel with negatives, but I feel that the positives outweigh them.