Review: Afterward

Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu
Grade: D
Release date: September 20, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: When Caroline's little brother is kidnapped, his subsequent rescue leads to the discovery of Ethan, a teenager who has been living with the kidnapper since he was a young child himself. In the aftermath, Caroline can't help but wonder what Ethan knows about everything that happened to her brother, who is not readjusting well to life at home. And although Ethan is desperate for a friend, he can't see Caroline without experiencing a resurgence of traumatic memories. But after the media circus surrounding the kidnappings departs from their small Texas town, both Caroline and Ethan find that they need a friend--and their best option just might be each other.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: After loving Jennifer Mathieu's sophomore novel, I had high hopes for Afterward. Unfortunately, these hopes were not met. 
I spent most of the book pissed off at Caroline and her parents, and I didn't connect with Ethan, so I didn't enjoy his chapters either. The character relationships were tremulously built. Mathieu wrote Rachel and Lauren's friendship so well in Devoted that I expected more from the developing friendship between Caroline and Ethan. I wasn't impressed by any of the narration or plot. The ending came about so quickly, and it didn't feel complete. I felt like so much of the plot was unresolved and like none of it really mattered.
I appreciated what Mathieu tried to do with the grayness of kidnappings. I liked Ethan's therapist; he was probably the best character out of the handful that held importance to the narrative.
There was a lot of foul language, and drug use and underage drinking were treated very casually.

The Verdict: Honestly, this is probably a book you should leave off your TBR list. 

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: No.

Top Ten Tuesday: All-Time Favorite Contemporary YA Books

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This post was so hard to do, because picking a favorite genre is impossible. I tend to read more contemporary novels, but I really love historical fiction and I do love a good fantasy story. But I decided to go with contemporary YA for this post. And I'm definitely cheating a little bit with the number.

1. Heist Society trilogy by Ally Carter

Ally likes to call her books unrealistic realistic fiction, and although I technically categorize Heist Society as mystery/thriller on my reading spreadsheets, it's close enough to contemporary that I have to put it at the top of this list.

2. The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Paige is a kindred spirit, and Max Watson is my dream guy, and if you need any more reason to read this book, check out this blog post of mine.

3. Morgan Matson's books

*curtsies to the Queen of Contemporary* Pictured above is her most recent, and I adore it, although Second Chance Summer and Since You've Been Gone are tied as my favorite of hers. Oh! And try and read them in publication order if you can because, while they aren't a series, characters from her earlier novels have cameos in the later ones.

4. Kasie West's contemporary YA novels

Swoony, very clean, and so much fun. Kasie is an auto-buy author by this point. AND we're getting two books by her next year!!!

5. Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

This one is a bit more serious than the previous books I've listed, but it is still near and dear to my heart.

6. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson

This one is for all the nerds and Shakespeare geeks out there. Plus, it has one of my favorite hate-to-love ships.

7. Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer

Much better than her most recent title, and way better for women empowerment.

8. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Whenever someone who doesn't know about a lot of contemporary YA talks about the genre, this is usually one of titles that comes up. But it's listed for a reason - it's possibly Jennifer's best, apart from her short story in the anthology Summer Days & Summer Nights.

9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

*shrugs* What can I say? It's really good. Hazel and Gus get me every time.

10. Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

If you're looking for a funny, friend group-centered book, this is a must-read.

So what topic did you talk about today? Have you read and liked my picks?

Why I Love Anna and the French Kiss

I've grown to like doing these occasional posts, telling y'all why a certain book is one of my favorites. The first post about The Start of Me and You was supposed to be a one-time thing, but I kind of got hooked on the idea. So let me tell you why I like Anna and the French Kiss so much.

1. The friend group

They go through such realistic ups and downs, and although I hate that Meredith makes things a love square, I love how different each of the characters are and how they make things work.

2. The swoony boy

French name and British accent at an American school. Etienne St. Clair, while an all-around screw-up, is still quite a bit swoonworthy. It's no wonder Anna falls for him.

3. The movie critic interest

So many YA protagonists love to read, but I love that Stephanie Perkins did something different - she gave Anna an interest in movies and a desire to be a movie critic, and she really followed through on this interest, actually showing Anna doing the thing she enjoys.

4. The Neruda poetry

I'd heard of Neruda before this book, but this was my first real introduction to his poetry, which has developed my interest in it in general. Oh, and it does play an important, squee-worthy part in the plot.

5. The food

I mean, they're in Paris for heaven's sake. This book is total motivation to go on a crepe adventure. (Which I have. Several times.) You must find a local creperie and pay it a visit. Crepes are a magical food. 

If you have wanderlust or love contemporary YA, it's about time you try Anna and the French Kiss.

Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble  Amazon

Review: Diplomatic Immunity

Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton
Grade: C-
An ARC was provided by the publisher via ALA in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the country’s most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—and winning will ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.

Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the intense competition in the journalism program—and the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school. And Piper knows access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.

The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s chance to get the full scoop. But as they spend time together, Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it could destroy the boy she just might love?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I really hate writing reviews for books that were just meh. There was nothing incredible about Diplomatic Immunity, but there also wasn't anything horrible about it. 
Piper felt bland to me. She wasn't anything special, and I never connected with her narrative. Ms. Ashton's writing style was kind of monotone, and the time jumps were often big and confusing. She would summarize what those time jumps covered, which felt like I was getting a book that was told, not shown. I think those time jumps were supposed to emphasize the times when Rafael acted distant, but they felt stilted and when Rafael and Piper would talk after them, I felt like there was supposed to be more tension than there was. I also felt like there was supposed to be more tension when it came to the Baird family's money problems, but I didn't care about them. I didn't understand why Piper and Charlotte were friends; they just seemed like characters interacting, not best friends. It also peeved me that Piper only had Charlotte as a friend. That seems to be the case with so many YA protagonists, and it's a trend I'm way over. I myself may not have a lot of friends, but I definitely have more than one (and I have more than one best friend, too). 
I knew Piper and Rafael would get together, because all the signs were there from their first meeting. But I never shipped it, and I honestly didn't care if they become an item. Actually, I kind of wanted Piper to remain strong and not fall for the stereotypically attractive, mysterious, foreign guy.
There were a few s-words and f-words. Lots of underage drinking and some talk of drug use. 

The Verdict: Probably not worth your time. Diplomatic Immunity felt very formulaic and bland.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: No.

DNF Review: Lucy and Linh

Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung
Grade: DNF
Release date: September 6, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Gilmore Girls meets Fresh Off the Boat in this witty novel about navigating life in private school while remaining true to yourself.

Lucy is a bit of a pushover, but she’s ambitious and smart, and she has just received the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to a prestigious school, and a ticket out of her broken-down suburb. Though she’s worried she will stick out like badly cut bangs among the razor-straight students, she is soon welcomed into the Cabinet, the supremely popular trio who wield influence over classmates and teachers alike. 

Linh is blunt, strong-willed, and fearless—everything Lucy once loved about herself. She is also Lucy’s last solid link to her life before private school, but she is growing tired of being eclipsed by the glamour of the Cabinet.

As Lucy floats further away from the world she once knew, her connection to Linh—and to her old life—threatens to snap. Sharp and honest, Alice Pung’s novel examines what it means to grow into the person you want to be without leaving yourself behind.

When did I stop reading?: 35% into my e-galley
Why didn't I finish?: That "___ meets _____" blurb in the synopsis totally sounded like my thing. Unfortunately, Lucy and Linh didn't deliver like I hoped it would. The writing style and narration were hard to connect to and I felt so distanced from Lucy. Also nothing really interesting was happening. I also felt like, for 35% in, I didn't know any of the characters as well as I thought I should. The author name-dropped a lot of girls that I had trouble keeping straight, and Lucy acted like readers should know them as intimately as she did. So I didn't want to spend any more time on a book I wasn't enjoying.

The Verdict: Idk, maybe y'all might like this book. It just wasn't my type of contemporary YA.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite TV Shows

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

I tried a variety of topic ideas for today's wide-open theme, but the only one that seemed to stick was the non-bookish one. I do like media other than books, so I think it's nice to take a break and talk about something else. So, in no particular order, here are my favorite TV shows.

1. Gilmore Girls

I love Lorelai and Rory so much that I wrote a poem in honor of their show.

2. Agent Carter

Peggy is queen. 

3. Veronica Mars

A recent love (in the last year and a half), but a steady one.

4. How to Get Away with Murder

I am slightly disappointed that I have not actually learned how to get away with murder.

5. Phineas and Ferb

Such a classic. The way they didn't even care about breaking the fourth wall by the end of the show was hilarious.

6. Bunheads

So fun story time. I liked Bunheads before I ever saw Gilmore Girls but now I appreciate it slightly more that I understand why everyone talks fast and references pop culture every two seconds. The only flaw? Sutton Foster is great, but she looked way older than her character was supposed to be which drove me batty. *laments that neither this show or Jane by Design is on Netflix*

7. The Great British Bake Off

I saw other bloggers talking about this show, and it has been the delight of my summer. I like baking (and cooking to some extent) but cooking shows always seem so stressful to me. Not so with GBBO. I'm sure the contestants get stressed out, but viewing it is a much more relaxed experience.

8. Full House

Favorite from my childhood (even though it was in reruns by that point).

9. Supergirl

I've been on board with this show since they announced it. It has a few off moments, but I love that we're getting a female-led superhero TV show.

10. The Flash

So I've only seen season one (curse you, Netflix), but I'm addicted. Barry is such a ray of sunshine like Kara, and I appreciate that.

So what did you talk about in your TTT today? What are your favorite TV shows?

The Possibility of Somewhere Blog Tour

The Book

Ash Gupta has a life full of possibility. His senior year is going exactly as he’s always wanted-- he's admired by his peers, enjoying his classes and getting the kind of grades that his wealthy, immigrant parents expect. There's only one obstacle in Ash's path: Eden Moore—the senior most likely to become class valedictorian. How could this unpopular, sharp-tongued girl from the wrong side of the tracks stand in his way?

All Eden's ever wanted was a way out. Her perfect GPA should be enough to guarantee her a free ride to college -- and an exit from her trailer-park existence for good. The last thing she needs is a bitter rivalry with Ash, who wants a prized scholarship for his own selfish reasons. Or so she thinks. . . When Eden ends up working with Ash on a class project, she discovers that the two have more in common than either of them could have imagined. They’re both in pursuit of a dream -- one that feels within reach thanks to their new connection. But what does the future hold for two passionate souls from totally different worlds?

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble  Amazon

The Author

Website  Twitter

Julia Day was born in Tennessee, raised in Mississippi, and now calls North Carolina her home. She has two twenty-something daughters, one old husband, and too many computers to count. When she’s not writing stories or software, she’s traveling to distant places or watching dance reality shows on TV.

The Possibility of Somewhere is Julia’s first YA contemporary romance.  She also writes YA paranormal as Elizabeth Langston.

The Q&A

Emma: If you could be the one to write any other already-published YA title, what would you choose?

Julia: My 24-year-old daughter loves anime, and I love spending time with her. So we’ve compromised by watching anime together. Since she knows I’m addicted to happily-ever-afters, she’s introducing me to anime with Snow White with the Red Hair. We’re in the middle of season 2, and I’m hooked. The story is fluffy and precious and adorable. I don’t see myself ever writing manga, but if I did, I’d want to write something like SWWRH.

Emma: If Ash and Eden were to create a road trip playlist, what artists would they include?

Julia: Eden would ask for Halestorm, Pink, Paramore, Sam Hunt, and Erutan.

Ash would add Mumford&Sons, 2Cellos, Sheppard, Kat-Tun, and Clean Bandit.

And they’d both want Prince and the Hamilton soundtrack.

Rewind & Review #68

Created by Shae Has Left the Room.

~I have been absorbed into the craziness that is junior year - at least it is craziness when you have a major and minor that require a lot of reading and writing. I swear, sophomore year NEVER felt this hectic.

~I joined my university's literary magazine staff! I'm only an assistant, but I'm still stoked.

~Nothing much else to report. I filmed a book haul video, which you can watch below.

Books I Received for Review

Timekeeper by Tara Sim (from Sky Pony Press via Edelweiss)

Books I Won/Traded for/was Gifted

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson (from my new Secret Sister)

Emma by Jane Austen (gifted by my mom)

Books I Bought

Mother-Daughter Book Camp by Heather Vogel Frederick

The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Books I Read

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (2 stars)

Chloe in India by Kate Darnton (3 stars)

Delancey by Molley Wizenberg (4 stars)

Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein (3 stars)

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (reread)

Peas and Carrots by Tanita S. Davis (2.5 stars)

26 Kisses by Anna Michels (2.5 stars)

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (2 stars)

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (4 stars)

Blog Posts You Might've Missed in the Last Few Weeks

   (from 8/22-8/27)

• A Trip Down Main Street
• 2016 Cover Love
• From the Bookshelf to the Kitchen: Cookies & Cream Cookies
• Review: The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts (4 stars)

   (from 8/28-9/3)

• So You Like... #32
• Top Ten Tuesday: The Syllabus of ENG 313 (Literary YA)
• A Day in Paris
• Review: How to Make Out by Brianna Shrum (1 star)
• Random Friday: Shakespeare
• The Odyssey Article - 13 False Stereotypes About Homeschoolers

Random Friday: Shakespeare

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following: 

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my post.
• Blog about this week's topic.
• Add the link to your Random Friday at the bottom of this post.

I'm a bit of a Shakespeare geek. I don't know all the crazy fun facts about him or his plays or adaptations/performances of his plays. But I love Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It are pretty great. 

I've seen one of the First Folios:

My mom and I visited the Folger Shakespeare Library while we were in D.C. this summer, and I want to go back because we didn't have a chance to see their theater or the reading room. Sometime, I'd love to even sit in the reading room and page through all the books, articles, dissertations, and whatever else they have on Shakespeare.

I'm also a nerd for Shakespeare retellings. If you're looking for a quality web-series, "Nothing Much to Do" is the way to go (although, fair warning, there is some strong language).

If you're more of a book person, though, than here are my top picks:

~The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson (a Much Ado About Nothing retelling with all the snark and fluff, and I gave it 5 stars, which is high praise considering how picky I am)

~Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub (what happens after Romeo and Juliet; I also think they're adapting it into a TV show to premiere this fall? I could be wrong, though)

~Something Rotten by Alan Gratz (Hamlet retelling from Horatio's POV)
~The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters (genderbent loose Hamlet retelling)

~And I also have it on good authority that I'll probably love Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George. It's a Much Ado About Nothing retelling set in the 1920s. 

Clearly the YA Shakespeare retellings shelf is still quite lacking. Here's hoping we get fewer fairytale retellings in the next few years and more Shakespeare retellings...

Review: How to Make Out

How to Make Out by Brianna R. Shrum
Grade: D-
Release date: September 6, 2016
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for review consideration.
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Renley needs three thousand dollars for the math club’s trip to New York City, and she knows exactly how to get it: she’s going to start a how-to blog where people pay for answers to all of life’s questions from a “certified expert.” The only problems: 1) She doesn’t know how to do anything but long division and calculus. 2) She’s totally invisible to people at school. And not in a cool Gossip Girl kind of way.

So, she decides to learn to do . . . well . . . everything. When her anonymous blog shifts in a more scandalous direction and the questions (and money) start rolling in, she has to learn not just how to do waterfall braids and cat-eye makeup, but a few other things, like how to cure a hangover, how to flirt, and how to make out (something her very experienced, and very in-love-with-her neighbor, Drew, is more than willing to help with).

As her blog’s reputation skyrockets, so does “new and improved” Renley’s popularity. She’s not only nabbed the attention of the entire school, but also the eye of Seth Levine, the hot culinary wizard she’s admired from across the home-ec classroom all year.

Soon, caught up in the thrill of popularity both in and out of cyberspace, her secrets start to spiral, and she finds that she’s forgotten the most important how-to: how to be herself. When her online and real lives converge, Renley will have to make a choice: lose everything she loves in her new life, or everyone she loves in the life she left behind.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I was so close to DNFing How to Make Out. The only reasons I didn't were that it's a short book (only 240 pages) and the writing is simple enough to make it a very fast read. But I was not a fan at all. The premise is cute and could've been fun, but the characters are very flat and do everything I expected them to do. Renley is not a nice girl. She barely cares about April, her supposed BFF, and she uses her guy BFF, Drew, too. It's pretty much all about Renley in her world. And yeah, it stinks that, when her dad cheated on her mom, her mom left and doesn't care about her daughter anymore. But that doesn't excuse her making poor choices, too. (Although, to be honest, her parents have not set the best example.) Her dad is a YA stereotype, barely present in his daughter's life and hardly caring what she does.
The romance is nothing special. I knew how it was going to end, and I honestly wouldn't have liked it if Renley picked either guy. She needed some time to grow up and work on her relationships with her dad and April.
I don't really have anything positive to say, which is unfortunate because I normally love contemporary YA.

The Verdict: This one is a miss, y'all.

Will I be adding this book to my library?: Most definitely not.