Waiting on Wednesday #17: The Female of the Species

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Because... What the What?!?!

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

Release Date: Sept. 20, 2016

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Goodreads Summary: Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever. Acclaimed author Mindy McGinnis artfully crafts three alternating perspectives into a dark and riveting exploration of what it means to be the female of the species.

What are you waiting on?

TTT #59: Bookish People You Should Follow On Twitter

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I can't say that I am a big fan of this week's topic, mostly because I had such a hard time deciding on what I wanted to do. Sigh. I guess I finally decided to just go with talking about some people I think you should be following on Twitter. In no particular order...

1. Epic Reads | @EpicReads | Quizzes, videos, infographics, and more!

2. Swoon Reads | @SwoonReads | Cover voting and swoons!

3. Bout of Books | @BoutofBooks | Know when the next read-a-thon will be.

4. The Recaptains | @Recaptains | Keep up to date with all the new book recaps.

5. Brooding YA Hero | @BroodingYAHero | Hilarious!

6. Book Riot | @BookRiot | Fun and informative on all things bookish.

7. NOVL | @TheNovl | Blog tours, polls, and more.

8. Fierce Reads | @FierceReads | Giveaways and bookish fun.

9. B&N Teen Blog | @BNTeens | Full of entertaining posts!

10. We Need Diverse Books | @diversebooks | It's in the name.

Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry (Jan. 2016)
390 pages
Genre: YA Other
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: The Library.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

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My Review

First things first, look at that beautiful breathtaking cover! Seriously. This is my favorite cover of 2016 so far. The cover alone is what convinced me to read this book. So what do I think of the words behind that amazing cover? I can say with complete honesty that The Love That Split the World is like no book I have ever read before. I am honestly not even sure what genre to categorize this book as, but that didn't stop me from loving the story.

Natalie is one heck of a young lady. I am so glad that I will never have to go through what she has. Natalie is just trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be, which is hard for any teenager, but seeing visions while going about your every day business makes it a little more complex. Then she meets Beau, who happens to help her and yet make everything that much harder. I won't be forgetting any of these characters any time soon, BUT I also had a hard time relating to the characters which made me take a little longer to warm up to some of them. I did always like Natalie. As for the love aspect of this book.... I am not sure what to say. It was a little bit too insta-love for me, even if there was a reason behind the way Beau and Natalie acted.

The Love That Split the World is a book full of old legends and creation stories. I loved hearing them, but I also sometimes wish there were a few less because I tended to thing "get to the point of this story and what is going on with Natalie." The pacing of this book wasn't perfect for me. At times I found it to be slow while others I was completely captivated. Sometimes I would ask myself "now where is the plot again?" 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was beautifully written and very unique. I just wish I could have really shipped the romance, and that I didn't have flashes of being bored while reading. As for recommending this book to others, I have no idea what to say. It's so different and so very good. I guess you should just give it a try. 

Waiting on Wednesday #16: Kids of Appetite

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Because... This Author's Debut Novel was Amazing

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

Release Date: Sept. 20, 2016

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Goodreads Summary: In the Hackensack Police Department, Vic Benucci is being questioned in interrogation room #3. Mad, the Stoic Beauty with an intoxicating punk cut, is in room #2. They’re both explaining how they found themselves wrapped up in a grisly murder. But in order to tell that story, they have to go way back…

It all started when Vic’s dad died. Vic has a rare neurological disorder—characterized by facial paralysis—which makes it hard for him to relate to others, as he can appear affectless and unfriendly. His dad was his best friend—in losing him, Vic lost a piece of himself. Even now, two years later, he can’t bring himself to touch his father’s urn.

But one cold December day, Vic falls in with a mysterious and alluring band of kids that wanders his New Jersey neighborhood: Coco, the spunky orphan from Queens; Baz and Nzuzi, Congolese brothers with murky pasts; and Mad, the girl who changes everything. Vic finds himself connecting to this ragtag group, and along with his newfound friendship comes the courage to open his father’s urn, the discovery of the message inside, and the epic journey it sparks.

What are you waiting on?

Take 5

This is how our puppy Bash likes to take 5.

I loved this Take 5 post by Chrstine @ Bookishly Boisterous and just had to do my own! I love making lists.

5 Things that I Wish I'd Do But Am Not
Read more
Organize my closet/dresser
Listen to podcasts
Workout every day (as Bash gets older we will take him on longer walks every day)
Finally getting my wedding rings re-sized

5 Bad Foods for You that I Not-So-Secretly Love
Kraft Mac & Cheese
Cookies
Cheesy French Fries
Ramen Noodles
Movie Theater Popcorn

5 Things that Make Me Irrationally Angry
Spoilers
A Super Messy Room
Rudeness
Horrible Drivers
Getting Woken Up Unexpectedly

5 Things I'm Looking Forward To
A whole slew of book releases
My friend's wedding in April
BEA & BookCon in May
My husband's birthday in April
My birthday in April

5 Places I Wish I Could Go Right This Damn Second
Greece
England
NYC
Disney World
To Bed

TTT #58: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I LOVE these types of topics. Throwing my favorite books at people's faces is my favorite thing to do. Not literally of course. Therefore, if you haven't read these books yet then you MUST! 

1. Velvet by Temple West | This book is fun, adorable, and has some vampires.

2. Mosquitoland by David Arnold | A fierce and unique coming of age story.

3. Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby | An emotional and beautiful story.

4. The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle | This is a unique horror novel you all should be reading.

5. Torn Away by Jennifer Brown | This book will break you.

6. Sanctum by Sarah Fine | This is a dark and highly addictive series.

7. Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers | FUN.

8. Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott | Adoreable animals. 

9. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas | This is a great YA mystery/thriller.

10. First Visions by Heather Topham Wood | A mystery series with a little romance and some paranormal elements.

Review: Need by Joelle Charbonneau

Need by Joelle Charbonneau (2015)
352 pages
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: I bought a copy!
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository
My Rating: 

Goodreads Summary: What do you really need?

One by one, the teens in Nottawa, Wisconsin, join the newest, hottest networking site and answer one question: What do you need? A new iPhone? Backstage passes to a concert? In exchange for a seemingly minor task, the NEED site will fulfill your request. Everyone is doing it. So why shouldn’t you?

Kaylee Dunham knows what she needs—a kidney for her sick brother. She doesn’t believe a social networking site can help, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

Or could it?

After making her request, Kaylee starts to realize the price that will have to be paid for her need to be met. The demands the site makes on users in exchange for their desires are escalating, and so is the body count. Will Kaylee be able to unravel the mystery of who created the NEED network before it destroys them all?

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My Review

Need is a hard book for me to rate. As I'm sure you know, I love reading young adult books. They are my favorite even though I do read adult books as well. Usually, I have no problem with the younger characters, but I had a slight problem with the teen characters in this novel. They were so very immature, and therefore even though I didn't love this book I think a lot of teens will enjoy it more than me. With that being said, I ended up giving Need 3.5 stars.

Need started off strong. I was interested in this website right from the start and I was liking Kaylee's character just fine. Then a handful of chapters in is where the teenagers became a little annoying to me. I just wanted to shake them and tell them that NEEDS are different than WANTS, but then again I even know some adults that don't seem to know the difference... I guess my personality was just really clashing with this story. (Don't get me wrong, I too don't always admit that some things are just wants and not needs...) On the bright side, not all of the characters were annoying and some were complex. There are 10 point of views, this was a little hard to follow at first, but since it mostly keeps going back to Kaylee it isn't too difficult to stay on track with who is who.

Now let's talk about plot. I was interested enough to want to know who was behind this sinister website. The requests of the students along with the website's request of what they must do to fulfill their needs escalated extremely quickly. I wasn't bothered by this since it kept me engaged, curious, and it was a shorter story. So basically what I am saying is that the pacing was spot on. Now for that ending, it was a little over the top and pretty predictable. I mean, the whole story was a little unbelievable, but still. On the other hand, social media is kind of a scary thing. You don't really know who is behind those profiles and websites out there. Do you ever stop and read the terms and conditions of the sites you use? Those ideas play a big role in this book, and that aspect/message is handled really well.

Overall, this book was a pretty solid read. I do think a younger audience will enjoy it more than I did, which makes sense since that is its target audience. I did enjoy Kaylee's company even if I wasn't a fan of the rest of the characters. I also thought the whole idea behind the novel was good. If you are curious I say give this book a try. I will say without a doubt that this author's Testing series is far superior, so you definitely without a doubt need to read that if you haven't yet.