Posts Tagged: Contemporary

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

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I received this book for free from HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Challenger Deep by Neal ShustermanChallenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
Published by HarperTeen on April 21st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: HarperTeen
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four-stars

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence, to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

A captivating and powerful novel that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by one of today's most admired writers for teens.

This book was so confusing at first, but ended up making so much sense and really stuck with me. The way it is written pulls you in right away. Even though I wasn’t quite sure what was going on when I started, I was compelled to keep reading. I hoped that it would make sense to me as I got further in. It did and it didn’t. What I mean is that I realized why it was written how it was, and I understood it, but it was still a very confusing story. It fit perfectly with the main character though, and the mental illness that it is about. This was a brilliant book, and I have already recommended it to many people.

Caden is the main character, and the story is told by him. It starts off with him on a pirate ship, then goes into different parts of the storyline. As I read and got to know him, I found myself really feeling for him. As I was confused, he is too, but not on the same level. Everything he is telling us is his reality. Or what he thinks is his reality. He can’t really tell the difference between what is real and what isn’t. He is so imaginative, smart, and mentally ill, though he doesn’t know it for quite a time. I really liked his character. He was fascinating. He sees so much in other people that most people wouldn’t think to look for.

This book is really hard to review because I don’t want to give too much away. It is an experience to read it. I loved and hated the confusion. The way I felt at times while reading this was a bit overwhelming due to the awesomeness of the writing. It was written in the perfect way to almost put yourself into the characters mind and feel how they feel. Obviously not to the same extent, and I knew that when I didn’t want that unsettled, confused feeling, I could step away. I was confused at what was real and what wasn’t. I especially loved when things kind of blended together. I can’t really find the right words to explain how reading this book made me feel, but it was amazing, and I think an important book. Mental illness is such a complex thing, and I really love reading about the different ones. This book was done in such a way that it really puts you right there for a short time. I have not read this author before I read this book, but I know that I will definitely be picking up more of his books.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Tour: All the Rage by Courtney Summers Review & Giveaway

Tour: All the Rage by Courtney Summers Review & Giveaway

Posted by on 04/27/2015 • 12 Comments

I’m super excited to be taking part in this blog tour. Today on my stop I have my review and a giveaway for one copy of All the Rage (US & CAN only)

This book is one of those gritty dark contemporaries, that although tough to read at times, is so engrossing that you don’t want to put it down. There is no fluff to this. It’s harsh reality and tragic circumstances. It covers small town politics, bullying, and rape among other things. It’s not an enjoyable book to read, but it is a good one. I find books like this refreshing actually. They represent real issues that people go through, and all the horrible things that go along with them. I really felt for the characters…

Review: In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Review: In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Posted by on 04/23/2015 • 12 Comments

This book was interesting. I really enjoyed being in Jonathan’s head and trying to figure out his different worlds and the whole “world making” thing. It was a bit confusing at times, but it kept me interested the whole way through. Especially when his worlds start colliding. I can’t say that I really liked the other characters much, but they weren’t horrible. The main thing that kept me engaged was wanting to know what was going on, and how it would all end up. I didn’t have strong character connection, but enough to want a happy ending for this. I wouldn’t say this is quite a parallel universe, but something kind of like it I guess. It was a unique story and I did enjoy it a lot. More than…

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens  by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens by Becky Albertalli

Posted by on 04/06/2015 • 27 Comments

This book was so sweet and realistic. I couldn’t help but love it. It really captured the reality of someone who might be going through the same type of situation. I loved the characters, the story, all of it really. It didn’t totally blow me away or anything, but it was an amazing story that I will highly recommend to others. Once again, I am happy that more and more YA books are covering topics such as this in such a fantastic way.

I adored Simon. He isn’t embarrassed about being gay, he just doesn’t know how to tell anyone. His family is great and caring, but his dad is known to crack some gay jokes. He knows that they will except it, as well as his friends, but…

Review: Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik

Review: Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik

Posted by on 03/17/2015 • 6 Comments

I don’t even know where to start with this one. I love a good mystery/thriller, and I also love gritty contemporaries. This book is both of those, but I just didn’t feel it. I wasn’t a fan of the MC, and I thought that this was very drawn out and it bored me at times. The mystery really is pretty good, but being the sleuth I am, I did connect the dots before we are given the reveal. I do think that this book had a lot of potential, and there are great parts of the story, it just didn’t have me needing to keep reading. In fact, most of the time I wanted to yell at the MC and tell her that she was a bit crazy and stupid….

Blog Tour: The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe – Review and Giveaway

Blog Tour: The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe – Review and Giveaway

Posted by on 02/26/2015 • 18 Comments

This book was very refreshing. The MC was such a fabulous voice and I really liked reading this from his POV. While I didn’t always like the character, he was really wonderful and I felt for him. I loved the writing and how he would be telling us something and create a scenario, then tell us that wasn’t what really happened. It was entertaining. He was bright and creative.

Billy was one of those characters that you really feel. He is not the stereotypical rich kid at all. In fact, he doesn’t really care about any of that and he sometimes thinks things would be easier if he was not the child of rich parents. Not to mention the death of his sister that is a constant ache for…

Review: I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Review: I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Posted by on 02/23/2015 • 34 Comments

It’s been a little bit since I have read a contemporary, especially one that sucked me in and I read the book in one day. This book did just that. Well, almost. I actually started the book late at night and only got a few chapters in, then when I picked it up the next day I didn’t stop until I was done. I really liked the characters and their stories were hard, but amazing. I understood where both the MC’s were coming from, even if sometimes their behaviors did irritate me. Most of all, the overall story was just great. All of it, from beginning to end. And I loved that it was dual POV so we get to be in both Skylar and Josh’s head.

Skylar was…

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Posted by on 02/16/2015 • 12 Comments

I almost stopped reading this book because I didn’t really like the MC very much. I am glad I continued it though because it really was a good book. I still never really liked Juliet much, but I thought that the story itself was well done and loved the subject matter that it covered. You know when you look at someone who is pretty, smart, has a perfect looking life and family? Well, who is to say that their life isn’t completely fucked up? That is what this story is about and that is why I enjoyed it. I don’t agree with some of the things that Juliet did, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t think this was a really well told story, that holds a lot of important…