1.)"Fifteen minutes pass before I walk to the sink and look at my reflection in the mirror. I look like I've been crying, That, or I have a very bad cold."
2.)"When Madison passes the bong to me with a big smile, I want to forget about Kiara and SATs and college and bein' good. I'm a thug, so I better start actin' like one."
Title: Rules of Attraction. Author: Simone Elkeles. Format: Hardback. Pages: 366. Series: Yes #2. Source: Barnes and Noble. Publisher: Walker & Company. Published Date: April 13, 2010.
Summary:
"When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for the past year, he doesn't want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him in Colorado. When he meets Kiara Westford, a good girl totally unlike any of the girls he's usually drawn to, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she's too good for him. But will he put his pride aside when he realizes that being with Kiara might finally allow him to be his true self?"
Cover:
I have to admit the cover of Perfect Chemistry was....awkward, to say the least. I don't know if I would want to be seen out reading it. The way Alex is just laying over Brittany is just weird, maybe it's just too lovey dovey for me!
But thank goodness this cover is sooo much better! It's cute! I mean who wouldn't want to be kissed in the rain? And their in cars, reaching out, just to kiss each other!? AWWW!
Characters-
If you have read a few of my reviews before, than you know I usually have a favorite and least favorite character in every book (or at least something that someone did, that bothered me). But this time my favorite character is also my least favorite...is that even possible? I don't even know!
But it's Carlos! He was just hilarious at times, but at other times, I just wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him, and tell him to open his eyes to see whats right in front of him!
Maybe, halfway through Rules of Attraction I just wanted him to get off his high horse and get over his pride. If you like her who cares what someone might think? If you are willing to do anything for her (like Alex would for Brittany) then do it!
Story Line:
After Alex went off to college with Brittany, Carlos, Louis and their mom moved back to Mexico. Hearing that Carlos joined a gang, he forced him to come back from Mexico and move in with him; so he wouldn't be around that and would focus more on school.
Both Alex and Carlos, soon find out that Alex's student apartment (or dorm, same thing) was too small for the both of them, one of Alex's old professors invites Carlos to live with them. Feeling like a fish out of water, Carlos' feelings for Kiara (the professor's daughter) wasn't making things much easier.
I had such a great time reading Rules of Attraction, and I can't wait to read Chain Reactions, even though I don't want the series to end! I love Simone Elkeles' writing style, and how she includes real Spanish! If you haven't checked out this series, than you REALLY need to!
The End of Days (Fallen Series #5) by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey
Reckless by Cornelia Funke
Monster High (Monster High Series #1) by Lisi Harrison
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Firelight (Firelight Series) by Sophie Jordan
Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
Hardback:
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle ZevinAshes by Ilsa J. BickVanish (Firelight Series) by Sophie JordanThe Hidden (Hollow Trilogy Series #3) by Jessica Verday
Welcome to another "Everything That Happened This Week"! I love doing posts like these because it gives all of my other blog posts throughout the week, a second chance to be looked at, and commented on(:
Also make sure to check out my current contests! They won't be running for much longer, so enter!!
"The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy."
Mercy, by Rebecca Lim.
"A fallen angel haunted by her past. Yearning for her immortal beloved. Forever searching for answers.Who will show her Mercy?
Mercy has lost herself. She can’t count how many times she’s “woken up” in a new body, and assumed a new life, only to move on again and again. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by him. Mercy’s heart would know him anywhere. But her memory refuses to cooperate.
But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen year old reeling from the loss of his twin sister who was kidnapped two years ago. Everyone else has given up hope, but Ryan believes his sister is still alive. Using a power she doesn’t fully comprehend, Mercy realizes that Ryan is right. His sister is alive and together they can find her. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose; she can help. So she doesn’t understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the dark mystery of his sister’s disappearance, danger looms just one step behind.
Will Mercy be able to harness her true self and extraordinary power in time?"
Girl Wonder, by Alexa Martin.
"As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.
Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.
But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.
Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?"
Putting Makeup On Dead People, by Jen Violi.
"In the spring of her senior year, Donna Parisi finds new life in an unexpected place: a coffin.
Since her father’s death four years ago, Donna has gone through the motions of living: her friendships are empty, she’s clueless about what to do after high school graduation, and her grief keeps her isolated, cut off even from the one parent she has left. That is until she’s standing in front of the dead body of a classmate at Brighton Brothers’ Funeral Home. At that moment, Donna realizes what might just give her life purpose is comforting others in death. That maybe who she really wants to be is a mortician.
This discovery sets in motion a life Donna never imagined was possible. She befriends a charismatic new student, Liz, notices a boy, Charlie, and realizes that maybe he's been noticing her, too, and finds herself trying things she hadn’t dreamed of trying before. By taking risks, Donna comes into her own, diving into her mortuary studies with a passion and skill she didn’t know she had in her. And she finally understands that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting someone you love.
Jen Violi’s heartfelt and funny debut novel is a story of transformation—how one girl learns to grieve and say goodbye, turn loss into a gift, and let herself be exceptional...at loving, applying lipstick to corpses, and finding life in the wake of death."
Calli, by Jessica Lee Anderson.
"Fifteen-year-old Calli has just about everything she could want in life—two loving moms, a good-looking boyfriend, and a best friend who has always been there for support. An only child, Calli is excited when her parents announce that they want to be foster parents. Unfortunately, being a foster sister to Cherish is not at all what Calli expected. First Cherish steals Calli’s boyfriend, then begins to pit Calli’s moms against one another, and she even steals Calli’s iPod. Tired of being pushed around and determined to get even, Calli steals one of Cherish’s necklaces. But this plan for revenge goes horribly awry, and Cherish ends up in juvenile detention.
Isolating herself from her moms, her boyfriend, and even her best friend, Calli wrestles with her guilt and tries to figure out a way to undo the damage she’s caused. When her moms are asked to take on another foster child, Calli sees an opportunity to make amends for her past mistakes."
Saving June, by Hannah Harrington.
"Harper Scott, trying to come to terms with her perfect older sister June's suicide, takes a road trip and finds love with a mysterious boy who had a connection to June-- and may know more about her sister's life and death than he's telling."
Title: Shut Out. Author: Kody Keplinger. Format: ARC. Pages: 288. Series: Nope. Publisher: Little Brown. Published Date: September 5, 2011.
Summary:
"Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.
Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming."
Cover:
I usually like covers, where you can guess what the story might be about before you even turn the book around and read the summary! Yeah, yeah, don't judge a book by it's cover, but truth be told, that's what pulls in interest. Unlike just a face, or a girl in a dress, or any character for that matter.
Obviously this cover has a face, but I'm actually really liking it. The black paint stripes tells a lot about the story! It has something to do with sports, my guess was football, and since it's a girl on the cover, maybe girls sports? Or boys against girls?
Characters-
Favorite:
Lissa (the main character) and Chelsea (and her bestfriend), all the way!
Even though Lissa was a little over protective of her brother and dad, it was understandable. Her mother passed away in a car crash and she doesn't want to lose some else who's really important to her. She seems like someone I could be close friends with.
While Lissa is more conservative, Chelsea is crazy! She's hilarious, she's open about everything; including her love for sex. Not caring what any of the over girls think, Chelsea admits to liking sex, and just because she's a girl doesn't mean she's not allowed to. Chelsea is really funny and I had a great time reading about her.
Least Favorite:
In Shut Out, I didn't really dislike anyone, all of the characters were really interesting; especially Chelsea!
When Lissa started this "hook up" strike, she did it because her boyfriend, Randy,was paying more attention to their High School, football and soccer rivalry, than her. She was tired of it. Getting together with a few of the other players' girlfriends, they decided not to give them sex, until they finally ended the rivalry.
But throughout this strike, Lissa lost her focus. Instead of doing this for the strike to end, she was doing it for herself; cause another rivalry, but this time between the girls and the boys.
I think this was the only thing that would bother me. Instead of noticing that the boys were done fighting with each, and actually started working together to finally get their girlfriends back, Lissa just kept pushing the girls farther away.
Story Line:
School rivalries? Yep, very high school has them. But ever heard of a rivalry between the football team and soccer team of the SAME school? No? Well of course not!
But at Hamilton High School, that's how it's been for a long time. So long the players don't even remember how it all started.
When Lissa, the girlfriend of the football team's quarterback, gets tired of this rivalry, she starts a sex strike. Of course she can't do this alone, so she gets a few of the players' girlfriends, and her best friend Chelsea (who doesn't actually date any player, but does occasionally have sex with a select few) together; agreeing not to have sex until the rivalry stops.
Instead of just ending one rivalry, Lissa and the girls start a whole new one; this time between themselves and the boys.
I had a great time reading Shut Out! It was HILARIOUS, and I can't wait to read more from Kody Keplinger(: Especially The DUFF!
Welcome to my very first monthly wrap. If you've been keeping up with Turning Pages, than you might already know that I usually do my "Everything That Happened This Week" on Mondays. After looking and leaving comments on a few blogs that I enjoy reading, I noticed a few had monthly "Wrap Up" posts.
At the end of every month, you basically write a post that tells us everything you blogged about for that whole month; including reviews, memes, author interviews, giveaways, etc.
Giveaways:
I've had a few giveaways lately, but my current ones are...
So if you haven't entered those yet you really should! Haven't heard of either titles? Not sure if their something your interested in? Just stop by my reviews! Leaving a comment, will get you some extra entries too!
Reviews:
I try to post a review every two to three days, so that I have at least two or three reviews up in a week. In the month of August I feel like I've been very productive! Note* Comments are very much appreciated(:
I don't know about you guys, but I love watching and seeing what other people received in their mailbox! It gives me ideas, of what I might want to read next. In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.
That's all fun and good, but why not have a book and/or author of the month? A blog/blogger of the month? But that's all for next month! Thank you so much for stopping by and a special thank you, if you clicked any one of these pretty little links above!
