Review: The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Title: The Boyfriend App
Author: Katie Sise
Publisher: Balzer & Bray

Publication date: April 30th, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Source: Edelweiss

Format: eARC

Pages: 320

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In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise was a book I was very excited to read! It was also a Waiting on Wednesday pick, and when I got it as an e-ARC, I was thrilled! A book full of geeks and electronics is a book that's for me! Audrey McCarthy is a full time computer geek. She learned all her skills from her father, who is not dead. Audrey can't wait to get out of high school and get into college, but she doesn't even have money for that yet. When Audrey's school announces an app competition hosted by a major tech company, Audrey is determined to win! The prize is $200,000 to the best app designed by a high school kid. 

The adventure starts with Audrey starts brainstorming and thinking about an app that would go worldwide. Due to her past experiences of finding the "perfect boyfriend", that's how she got the ides for The Boyfriend App. Audrey is a very interesting character. She is smart, and makes mistakes like any other teenage girl. Audrey's friends were fun to read about! They felt like real friends, and I'm glad that there wasn't this "competition" and "jealousy" between the two regarding this competition. The romance in this book was the best! It was so fun and very unexpected. I have read previous reviews, and some people mentioned that the tech stuff bothered them a bit. I honestly didn't think of the tech stuff being "too" detailed, or even bothering. 

Overall, I enjoyed The Boyfriend App. I have to say it wasn't that wow.. but it was still a fun, chill read that I enjoyed. The only thing that bothered me might have been the direction the story went to towards the end. I think everything just got messed up, and if it didn't go that way, I might have enjoyed it more. Though there were some CRAZY parts that just had me laughing my butt off the entire time!! I would definitely recommend The Boyfriend App for ages of 13-16, the younger young adults. 

Review: Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss

Title: Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris

Author: Marissa Moss

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jaberwocky

Publication date: September 4th, 2012

Genre(s): Middle Grade (Time Travel)

Source: Publisher
Format: Hardback

Pages: 205

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Mira is shocked when she receives a postcard from her missing mother from Paris. Her father decides it's time for a trip to France to search for her. While visiting Notre Dame, Mira touches a gargoyle and is whirled into the past. There she meets the famous painter Degas and catches a brief, shocking glimpse of her mother. Mira begins to suspect that her mom didn't run out on them but is a prisoner of the past. Can one family on an incredible worldwide adventure stop a plot in time?

When Mira's mother disappears unexpectedly, her whole family was shocked. No one knows where she went, and no one knows whether she's been kidnapped or killed or just ran away with another man. Now Mira, her dorky brother Malcolm, and her dad (who gets to travel around the world for a year as a photographer to take pictures of the Wonders of the World) get a mysterious postcard, and it's from Mira's mother!! Mira and her family travel to Paris and Mira starts to search for her mother. Only to find out later that she has been searching in the wrong century. Mira is a time traveler, and with one accidental touch to a stone gargoyle, she is whisked away into the past to follow her mothers clues and find out what really happened to her mother.

Mira is an awkward girl who is thrown into a unknown experience. Any girl who has experienced moving, going to a new school, or just even going to middle school will probably be able to relate to her. That was why I was also able to relate to  her. Lost in Paris is a historical fiction/fantasy book that was more interesting to me than most historical fiction books that I have read before.

This book was completely enjoyable and I honestly couldn't find anything in Lost in Paris that might have bothered me, even the slightest bit. It was great through and through so I didn't find any part of it boring.The flow was clear and easy to understand and read. The writing was in first person, and that was able to show Mira's dorky side. I definitely loved this, so I can't wait to read more books by Marissa Moss, especially the sequel to this, Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome.

 

Review: The Ward by Jordana Frankel

Title: The Ward (The Ward, #1)
Author: Jordana Frankel
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication date: April 30, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Dystopian)

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 480

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Sixteen-year-old Ren is a daredevil mobile racer who will risk everything to survive in the Ward, what remains of a water-logged Manhattan. To save her sister, who is suffering from a deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution, Ren accepts a secret mission from the government: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure.

However, she never expects that her search will lead to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist; a web of deceit and lies; and an earth-shattering mystery that’s lurking deep beneath the water’s rippling surface.

The Ward had the most gorgeous dystopian cover I have seen in a while. It really gave me hope that I will finally be able to read an authentic dystopian novel. The Ward, from the cover, is set a couple of years after the Wash Out in 2048, when the world, or at least the coastal cities of the US literally drowned. Due to pollution and the now contaminated water, a new disease, HBNC, emerged, which is known as the "Blight". Now, fresh water is like rare diamonds, where only the richest of the rich get to indulge in such delicacies. However the poor people, the ones our world always seems to treat them as scum, are now enclosed in an area known as The Ward. This is where the main protagonist, Ren, is from. 

Ren, at sixteen, is mobile racer, which I found to be pretty cool. At such a young age she is the bread winner of the family, even if her family consists of herself along with Aven, a girl two years younger than her that she met during her stay in a foster house and ended up loving her like a sister. Aven actually contracted the Blight, therefore she spends all her remaining days in bed. I liked how Ren, someone who you might assume is coldhearted at the beginning, cares so much for Aven to do anything for her. However, I wanted to witness that through their relationship. Unfortunetly their relationship felt a bit too superficial for me. I LOVE sibling bonding and love, from Layken and Kel from Slammed to Jamie and Wanda/Melanie from The Host. You can imagine that I was anticipating that sibling love that always makes my heart break, but it never came. Yes Ren calls Aven "Feathers" (I never got to know why) and people say actions speak louder than words, but I guess I needed some more words to convince me. 

For the World Building, I do have to say I was slightly confused at the beginning. Being a Chemical Engineer, and taking a course in water treatment and another in waste management, you can understand how I was skeptical that somehow fresh water, or at least desalination and distillation techniques were nonexistent. I did get it later on that the water is contaminated, meaning the contamination can't be removed using the above techniques, but I wished I knew that way before, in the beginning, so I wouldn't have had a "huh?" face whenever I read about the lack of water in this world. I also wished we knew more about the origin of the Blight, as well as what other cities (say ones that aren't on the coast), as well as other countries are dealing with this wash out. 

I do believe the bright spot in this novel is the main protagonist. I found her to be SO kick butt and independent. I loved how she had a mind of her own and held her ground in front of anyone. She was never intimidated into doing anything she believed was wrong and even her crushing on a guy never clouded her judgment. Speaking of crushes, there is a possibility of a love triangle, while not present in this novel, might be in the sequel. There is Derek, who is the receiver of the crush and then Callum. At the beginning, I was so conflicted on who to root for, but by the end of this novel I am already a solid member of one of the teams (not going to say which). I WILL say that I hope to get more history and background for each of the guys, especially Derek in the sequel. 

This novel is 480 pages, you can imagine the amount of action scenes and car chases (whether above or under water) that happen. I have to say that the last 100 pages or so of this novel started to lose my interest but the beginning was very solid. I can't wait for the sequel because the scene the book ended in was horrid, in a sense that you want to know what happens. Overall i really enjoyed this novel and while I don't completely label it as a dystopian, it feels more of an adventure novel, I would still recommend it to both fans. 

 

Review: The Originals by Cat Patrick

Title: The Originals

Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication date: May 7, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Sci-Fi)

Source: Publisher (HBG Canada)

Format: ARC

Pages: 304

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A riveting new story from Cat Patrick, author of Forgotten and Revived.

17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey Best grew up as identical triplets... until they discovered a shocking family secret. They're actually closer than sisters, they're clones. Hiding from a government agency that would expose them, the Best family appears to consist of a single mother with one daughter named Elizabeth. Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take turns going to school, attending social engagements, and a group mindset has always been a de facto part of life...

Then Lizzie meets Sean Kelly, a guy who seems to see into her very soul. As their relationship develops, Lizzie realizes that she's not a carbon copy of her sisters; she's an individual with unique dreams and desires, and digging deeper into her background, Lizzie begins to dismantle the delicate balance of an unusual family that only science could have created.

The Originals is the first book I have read by Cat Patrick, and it will also not be the last. In this book, Lizzie, Ella, and Betsey take shifts impersonating Elizabeth. See they are identical in how they look, however they are not identical triplets but clones, from an original. Their mother, a genetic scientist, implanted them in her womb and ran away with them. Now, almost 17 years later, they have been at this for several years. You all wonder why they don't just act as triplets? it is because the top secret project that is them was actually leaked and triplets are looked at with a bit too much interest by the government. 

This book, if it wasn't for the whole cloning, would have been marked as a contemporary. All three girls divide the day three way, Lizze and Ellie divide their school time halfway while Betsey goes to their part time job and night class at the local college. I loved the high school setting, since this is told from Lizzie's POV only, and also that there is none of the cliche high schooler plots, evil cheerleaders or douchey jocks. Actually, "Elizabeth" is part of the cheerleading squad! The story really kicks off when Lizze and Ellie start liking two different guys and have to find a way to be able to date them, even though in everyone else's eyes, they are just one person. Because the girls started becoming impatient and fed up with the way they're living, and also due to a coincidence, they find out that their mother has been lying to them, and hiding a few things that could change their lives. Lizzie starts snooping, while at the same time trying to see Sean without him seeing Ellie with her guy and thinking it's her. I loved the contemporary elements intertwined with the science fiction ones. We have a mystery of what really happened to make their mother leave her work and hide as well as for how long is she planning on keeping them on lockdown. I loved that the girls had the best friendship together, they each were so different and had their own unique personality. I really enjoyed that. 

The plot was pretty fast paced, The Originals is around 300 pages but it felt so short because I was flipping the pages like crazy. Sean isn't just a love interest here but he actually was a big supporter for Lizzie. I appreciated the progression of their relationship and how it didn't feel insta love for me. The plot twist was actually very surprising for me and the ending was even more shocking. It was bittersweet but also very heartbreaking, an ending that made me close the book and just think about it for a minute or two. I would definitely recommend The Originals to Contemporary and Sci-Fi fans, as well as fans of Cat Patrick.  

Review: If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

Title: If He Had Been With Me
Author: Laura Nowlin
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication date: April 1st, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary) 

Source: Publisher

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 330

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If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy.

I've been dreading writing the review for this book. As soon as I finished it, my biggest fear was HOW am I going to write my review for this? It's definitely difficult, but here I go. The main protagonist of this book, Autumn, is the awkward child. Autumn lives with her mom, and her dad visits for holiday's and weekly dinners from time to time. Autumn's mother is best friends with their neighbor, and the two are mentioned as "The Mothers" throughout the book. Being neighbors all their lives, Autumn and Finn (Who Autumn calls Finny) were inseparable. They were born the same month and same year. Their mothers were best friends since childhood. They completely did everything together, and couldn't imagine being separated when they were kids. In middle school, they somehow started drifting apart. Finny became more of the chill, popular guy, while Autumn stayed as the awkward child. They each that their own "clique". What's funny is that Finny and Autumn families still celebrate every christmas, thanksgiving, and any other family event together. Talk about awwwkward... The Mothers definitely found it weird that Autumn and Finny wouldn't speak to each other at those events, but decided not to say anything about it. The thing is Finny was never mean to Autumn, and vice versa. It was SO hard for me to read about a friendship like theirs drifting away. As we read through the book, we're taken about 4 years back, before the accident. 

As I read on and on, my heart was LITERALLY breaking into pieces. The way Laura Nowlin was able to grasp a perfect reality such as this, was breathtaking. The simple yet important things friends did was what she spotlighted. I loved it. Despite the book being throughout high school, there were many flashbacks in order to explain to us how precious and important their friendship was. Reading on, I started to think of the fictional characters, as NON fictional. I just couldn't believe how real they felt to me, like they were a part of my personal life. Just thinking about them now makes me feel like I've lost two of my best friends. I think the thing that got to me was how sad it was to see such a friendship as theirs drift apart. I was crazy with questions like why, and who was the one at fault, and WHYYYY? I was seriously depressed at that point. I remember on page 264, I read that page about five times, bawling my eyes out. Not because it was sad, but no, it was such a simple yet beautiful page. I mean yes, it's still sad that they aren't good friends, but oh God, I don't even know how to explain it. 

The annoying thing is that while I was reading, I had his death at the back of my head. No, I didn't spoil anything, it's in the synopsis. Whenever I read something about Finny, I loved him more, and thinking that he was going to die just shattered my heart into pieces. I didn't even want to finish the book because of that reason. I start crying every time I remember that he dies, and I would keep hoping that maybe, just maybe, Laura Nowlin just wanted to trick us. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I'm still glad I finished the book, because in someways, it was happy. Like Autumn would say, death can be happy sometimes. I know, it might sound weird, but she's right. This book, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. It will always be a part of my heart, because to me it's not just a book, but more like a memory I want to treasure forever. I thank Laura Nowlin SO much for letting me find a treasure as great as this. The writing style for this book was just exquisite. I will definitely treasure it forever. There's also a quote that Autumn said, that just literally described my feelings for this book:

“This book is a treasure; I did not suspect it would be so good when I picked it up, but now I can feel the printed words seeping through my skin and into my veins, rushing to my heart and marking it forever. I want to savour this wonder, this happening of a loving book and reading it for the first time, because the first time is always the best, and I will never read this book for the first time again” - If He Had Been With Me, Laura Nowlin

Infinite love

Review: Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike

Title: Life After Theft

Author: Aprilynne Pike 
Publisher: HarperTeen 

Publication date: April 30th, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal/Ghosts)

Source: Publisher

Format: ARC

Pages: 352

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Moving to a new high school sucks. Especially a rich-kid private school. With uniforms. But nothing is worse than finding out the first girl you meet is dead. And a klepto.

No one can see or hear Kimberlee except Jeff, so--in hopes of bringing an end to the snarkiest haunting in history--he agrees to help her complete her "unfinished business." But when the enmity between Kimberlee and Jeff's new crush, Sera, manages to continue posthumously, Jeff wonders if he's made the right choice.

The day I wanted to start this book, I have to admit that I was very hesitant. After hearing that it was a male POV, I started having doubts. Male POV's are very tricky with me, because sometimes they work, and sometimes they just don't. Fortunately, that worry brushed off after just reading the first ten pages. I was immediately in love with this book! Aprilynne Pike gave us humor, sarcasm, love, mystery, and sad in one go! The main protagonist, Jeff, just moved to California. In his new rich, preppy high school, he sees a girl lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway. The shock was that people WALKED OVER her! That's when we meet the awesome Kimberlee, AKA the ghost. Kimberlee is extremely excited that someone can actually see her, and starts following him everywhere. It was funny how Jeff didn't believe it at first, and thought the whole school was playing a joke on him. 

Speaking of Jeff, I think he was a perfect protagonist for this book. He had the right amount of sarcasm and seriousness in him, and I loved him to bits! Jeff also starts crushing on hot girl Sera, and tries to charm her in countless ways. That aside, Kimberlee thinks she's stuck in Earth because she's stolen some things in her life, and that the only way she can be in peace is if she returned every thing she stole to their rightful owner. When Jeff hears that, he agrees to do anything to get rid of her. Here's the catch, Kimberlee didn't just steal some "stuff", but a FULL cave worth of stuff. 

I think the most thing I enjoyed in this book were the characters. There were so many characters, and I was able to connect with all of them. They all felt real, and it was great seeing each and every one of them grow. There was never a boring page, and I just loved every second reading it. I'm definitely glad that I was able to get a copy of this one. I was also SO sad to see it end, but I'm hoping to read another great book by Aprilynne Pike! If you're in the mood for a funny, chill book with a twist and mystery to it, Life After Theft is the book for you!