Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Genre: Contemporary / Realistic Fiction
Page Count: 357 pages
Series: Perfect Chemistry (Book One)

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. 

Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

So I read this book a few weeks ago after hearing how great it was from GoodReads reviews and such, and so I had high hopes for this book! Fortunately, my hopes were exceeded.  First off, if you're looking for a light read, pick up a different novel - this book has loads of drama that kept me on the edge of my seat.  I applaud the author because Perfect Chemistry is really well-written.

THE MAIN CHARACTERS:

The author could've easily made Brittany a bratty rich girl, but she didn't.  I loved how Brittany cared for her sister more than herself - she is practically the only person in her family that truly loves and cares for her sister, and I thought that really showed who she is as a person.  

As for Alex, he was VERY three-dimensional.  He's known as the "bad boy" and he acts like one around his friends, but you can see his true personality when it shows around his brothers and around Brittany.

THE PLOTLINE:

I felt like the plot dragged a bit in the beginning, but once it picks up it's very exciting and fast-paced.  It's basically a modern-day Romeo & Juliet, which I liked!  The story is definitely well thought-out and THE ENDING.  I loved the Epilogue especially.  I won't spoil anything, but the ending is fantastic, seriously.

OVERALL:

Very well-written story, enjoyed the moral of looking deeper than the surface, and would recommend to anyone in need of a good contemporary.

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Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Realistic Fic / Romance
Page Count: 325

Summary (from Goodreads):

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

I picked up this book because I had heard it was strongly recommended for fans of The Fault in Our Stars.  Turns out, I really enjoyed this book!

As the cover suggests, music played a part in Eleanor and Park's story, which made me happy. Music is a big part of my life, so I felt more engaged in the story.

Plus, the writing was spot-on for this type of story.  I liked how it wasn't "love at first sight" - it took a while for Eleanor and Park to warm up to each other, and that fact kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the drama to unfold.

The characters were excellent!  Character development is what I typically focus on when I'm reading, and I loved how the novel switched points of view - I liked knowing what was going on in Park's head and knowing what was going on at the same time in Eleanor's. That factor only works in some novels, but it definitely worked in this one.

The ending was heartbreaking, though.  Be warned!  Make sure you have some tissues lying around when you're reading those last few chapters.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  It dealt with some social issues and the story kept me reading.  The romance was cute and compelling.  Will be reading future Rainbow Rowell books for sure!

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The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan

Genre: Realistic Fiction / Romance
Page Count: 312

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Tim Macbeth, a seventeen-year-old albino and a recent transfer to the prestigious Irving School, where the motto is “Enter here to be and find a friend.” A friend is the last thing Tim expects or wants—he just hopes to get through his senior year unnoticed. Yet, despite his efforts to blend into the background, he finds himself falling for the quintessential “It” girl, Vanessa Sheller, girlfriend of Irving’s most popular boy. To Tim's surprise, Vanessa is into him, too, but she can kiss her social status goodbye if anyone ever finds out. Tim and Vanessa begin a clandestine romance, but looming over them is the Tragedy Paper, Irving’s version of a senior year thesis, assigned by the school’s least forgiving teacher.

Jumping between viewpoints of the love-struck Tim and Duncan, a current senior about to uncover the truth of Tim and Vanessa, The Tragedy Paper is a compelling tale of forbidden love and the lengths people will go to keep their love.

I really liked the characters in this novel. None of them were there just to fill up space - they all had stories and purposes.  This book captivated me from the beginning.  I just needed to know more about what happened to Tim, and how everything panned out.

I loved how the romance seemed real; not cheesy or over-the-top.  The way Elizabeth LaBan wrote it made me feel 

like this story, and Tim and Vanessa's romance, was very much alive - not fictional.  I loved it!

The story (mostly) takes place at a boarding school, so it was easy to imagine everything that was going on, since I experience school and everything that comes along with it.

Don't even get me started about the ending.  My emotions were everywhere.  The secret had been threatening to spill ever since the beginning, and when it finally came to light... well, let's just say I didn't see it coming.

Overall, excellent debut, I will be reading more by this author! 

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Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

This book is different than I was expecting it to be... in a good way!  I could really connect with the main character, Auden, which makes reading the book all the more fun.  I also loved how all the characters in the book had their own stories, that they weren't just there as fillers.  This was a cute book with drama at every turn! I recommend this book to fans of Sarah Dessen's other novels, fans of Stephanie Perkins, and fans of YA romance novels.

Summary (from GoodReads):
It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

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For more info, visit the author's website.

I'll definitely be reading more of Sarah Dessen's novels!

~thespectacularbookworm  

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

This is the second book in The Caster Chronicles. To see my review of the first, click here.

I loved Beautiful Creatures, and the sequel is even better! I like the new characters and you learn more about characters that lingered in the background of the first book, and it's much more exciting and fast-paced than Beautiful Creatures.  If you liked Beautiful Creatures, I would definitely recommend to continue the series.  Now I have to get my hands on the third book in the series, Beautiful Chaos! 

Summary (from GoodReads):
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

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The Caster Chronicles
BOOK ONE: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
BOOK TWO: BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS
BOOK THREE: BEAUTIFUL CHAOS
BOOK FOUR: BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION

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~thespectacularbookworm

Teen Angst? Naaah... by Ned Vizzini

This book was really fun to read. It's full of short stories from Ned Vizzini's teenage years, and they're all very relatable stories.  This is a really good book if you're looking for a light, comedic YA read.  I really enjoyed this book.

Summary (from GoodReads): 

“The events in these stories are real. Some names have been changed so I don’t get yelled at.” —Ned Vizzini
 
Ned Vizzini writes about the weird, funny, and sometimes mortifying moments that made up his teen years. With wit, irony, and honesty, Teen Angst? Naaah . . .  invites you into Ned’s world of school, parents, cool (and almost cool), street people, rock bands, friends, fame, camp, Cancún (almost), prom, beer, video games, and more.

~thespectacularbookworm

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I heard of this series a couple years ago, and I regret not having picked it up until now.  It was a really thrilling book and it was fun to read!  I liked how many characters were very mysterious--it made you want to keep reading and not put the book down until you've finished!  I recommend this to fans of YA fiction, fantasy, Harry Potter fans, Twilight fans, or really anyone who likes an addictive series.

Summary (from GoodReads):
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

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Plus there's a movie of Beautiful Creatures coming to theatres February 13th, 2013! Watch the trailer here (this trailer contains minor spoilers!):

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The Caster Chronicles

BOOK ONE: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

BOOK TWO: BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS
BOOK THREE: BEAUTIFUL CHAOS
BOOK FOUR: BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION

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~thespectacularbookworm

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I think the title and cover of this book kind of throws you off.  This book looks like a no-good cheesy romance, but this book is actually very good--full of quirky but three-dimensional characters, comedy, a cute romance, and it's just fun to read overall.  At first I didn't want to read this book, but a lot of people were saying this book was amazing.  Finally I gave in and picked it up, and was pleasantly surprised.  If you want to read a good YA realistic fiction romance, pick this one up!

Summary (from GoodReads):
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

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~thespectacularbookworm

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

John Green is a spectacular author. This is the fourth (out of five) books by him that I've read, and I've loved all of them. They're all really quotable and amazing. An Abundance of Katherines was no exception. It's funny and romantic and a lot of fun to read. I recommend this for lovers of the realistic fiction genre and if you've liked any other John Green books!

Summary (from GoodReads):
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. He's also a washed-up child prodigy with ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a passion for anagrams, and an overweight, Judge Judy-obsessed best friend. Colin's on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which will predict the future of all relationships, transform him from a fading prodigy into a true genius, and finally win him the girl. Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin's hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere.
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For more info, visit John Green's website.

~thespectacularbookworm

Looking For Alaska by John Green

This is the third John Green book I've read, and it's fantastic! (Although my favorite John Green book is still The Fault In Our Stars). The characters were three-dimensional and all likable--which is rare. I'd recommend this for lovers of realistic fiction and if you liked any of John Green's other books! (Plus it won the Printz award, which is a GIANT accomplishment!!!)

Summary (from GoodReads):
Miles "Pudge" Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps."
Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.
John Green's stunning debut marks the arrival of a stand-out new voice in young adult fiction.

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For more info, visit John Green's website.

~thespectacularbookworm

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

This book was pretty good. I liked Melinda's (the main character) voice -- Laurie Halse Anderson completely three-dimensionalized her. She was sarcastic and kind and real. This book is gripping and honest and I recommend this for fans of realistic fiction and fans of the book Thirteen Reasons Why. There's a movie, too (I haven't seen it though).

Summary (from GoodReads):

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

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~thespectacularbookworm

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

CAUTION: This is the fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series. To see my review of the first, click here.

This book was good, but I didn't think it was the best out of The Mortal Instruments series. Of course, there was still action, romance, and humor, but it wasn't my favorite of The Mortal Instruments books. I recommend this for people who like fantasy, and, obviously, fans of The Mortal Instruments series. :)

Summary (from GoodReads):
The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

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The Mortal Instruments Series
BOOK ONE: City of Bones
BOOK TWO: City of Ashes
BOOK THREE: City of Glass
BOOK FOUR: City of Fallen Angels
BOOK FIVE: City of Lost Souls
BOOK SIX: City of Heavenly Fire (RELEASING IN MARCH 2014)

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~thespectacularbookworm

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne

This book was a good mystery thriller -- it kept me on the edge of my seat, dying to figure out all the answers.  And I absolutely love the cover - it's so mysterious and interesting, and it looks like a tarot card. My only problem with this book was that some passages were very confusing and didn't make any sense. Overall, it was a good book.  I'd recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries or psychological thrillers!

Summary (from GoodReads):
When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.


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Click here to visit the author's website.

~thespectacularbookworm

The 13th Reality: The Hunt For Dark Infinity by James Dashner

*CAUTION: This is Book 2 in a series.  If you'd like to look at Book 1, click here.

I really liked this book.  I thought it was even better than the first one! 
I actually MET THE AUTHOR a few days ago -- which was extremely cool -- I've never actually went to a book signing before.  But I'm getting off-topic, okay, back to the book...
I recommend this to anybody who liked the first book!  And to anybody who enjoys fantasy!  (Or if you liked "The Maze Runner" series, this series is by the same author.)

Summary:
Tick, Paul, and Sofia haven't heard from Master George in a while.  When they do, and when Master George is supposed to wink them to the hideout in the Grand Canyon, they get winked to a mysterious place, where they must solve the riddle until it's too late.  And elsewhere, people in all different realities are going insane because of Mr. Chu and his new invention: Dark Infinity.

SERIES:
Book 1: The Journal of Curious Letters
Book 2: The Hunt For Dark Infinity
Book 3: The Blade of Shattered Hope
Book 4: Coming in Spring 2012

~thespectacularbookworm