Ashley (yAdult Review)

Original rating: 5 star2013 rating: 3 star

Original review: 5 Stars.2013 review: 4 stars.

Review closer to pub date.

Originally reviewed at yAdult ReviewI’m not sure what I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said. Yes, it is awesome, and yes, it is that relatable. This is the story of Cath, a girl who has severe anxiety, something I related to so well, I had to put the book down because it hurt my heart so much. (I actually tweeted about this and the author tweeted me back saying “It’s okay! It gets better!”) And better it does. Cath finds herself, like many do, in college. She also happens to be a fairly big writer in the fanfiction world for Simon Snow. Now I have never written fanfiction, but I’ve read more than enough that I got her feelings on the topic.Cath enjoys her world at home. She has a safe boyfriend and shares her life with her twin sister. Then one day before college starts, her sister tells her that she doesn’t want to room with Cath. She wants to be her own her. While I understand why her sister wants to be her own person, I understand where Cath is coming from. Cath thought of her twin as her safety net. The one who got her through the time her mom left and her dad went manic. Cath doesn’t like change and going to school was going to be a big enough change for her. She’s going an hour away from home. To her that is all the change she needs and again, I get that. I went 45 minutes away from home.Her first day is painful; she barely talks to her roommate, Reagan, she gets annoyed at her roommate’s boyfriend and she fears the dining hall so she decides to eat in her room until she runs out of food. Thankfully one day her roommate, who I love and adore because she is snarky, decides she’s had enough and she calls Cath on her bullshit. Or what she views as bullshit. She asks Cath if she is anorexic. Of course Cath finds this to be the craziest thing ever and from that moment the two begin to bond. What Reagan brings to the relationship, along with snark, is Levi.Levi, my book boyfriend (*hearts in eyes!*). Rowell knows how to write men. Not everyone will enjoy Levi, but oh, did I enjoy him. He’s awkward, he isn’t perfect, he gets that Cath writes fanfiction and he embraces it. He is that guy who will do whatever you need and be nice to everyone. He grates on Cath’s nerves. Slowly however he begins to wear her down and there is a nice lovely slow burn (cannot believe I just said that). Levi and Cath have a moment, which is promptly ruined by both sides. But once again Rowell makes it work and makes it authentic to the characters.Along with Levi there are growing pains with not only Cath, but with her sister and her father. The family dynamic is huge to not only this book, but truly Cath at her core. Throughout the story Cath discovers she can change while being true to herself. To say I loved and adore this book would be putting it mildly.Bonus points: Rowell embraces fangirling. The photo with the tabs is how often I related to Cath.

After two months. I'm DNF it. review to come.Originally posted at yAdult ReviewI tried. I tried to read this book for three months. That is not a good sign. Finally I decided that I had had enough and I was not going to finish it. Which goes against everything I believe in. It pains me to not finish a book, which I think is why I tried for three months to finish this. At the end of the day I couldn’t care about Stephen or Elizabeth. No really, I couldn’t. It got to the point where I couldn’t remember the characters names or what was going on in the story.When I read certain books I tend to take notes for when I review later on. Even with notes I couldn’t really figure out what was going on. There was a pivotal point in the novel and I started to skim because I was like “will this ever go on?”I’m not saying I never skim, I do. But I generally start to skim because I’m so excited I can’t wait to see what happens. This was very much a skim in the sense that I no longer cared and just wanted the book to be done.Sorry Invisibility, it isn’t you, it’s me.

ugh. this book.

Originally reviewed at yAdult ReviewLevithan has created a game changing masterpiece. This book will make people thrilled and of course this book will make people rage. This is a story with no true happy ending but instead one that has hope. I was lucky enough to grab this at ALA in Chicago and I tried to put this book off as long as possible. I didn’t want to read it for many reasons, but mostly did not want my heart to be ripped out and stomped on and yes. That happened. But what also happened was Levithan mended my heart and gave me so much hope for the future.This book is told from a chorus of essentially gay angels who died in the 80s/90s of AIDS. While this takes a bit to get used it, it works for the book. It is almost easier to relate to the characters throughout the novel because of the commentary the angels provide. The commentary comes from a place of love and sometimes anger. There is not much in common with any of the boys besides the fact that they are gay and teenagers. Some of the boys’ families took the fact that they are gay fine, they didn’t even blink. Other boys families it tore apart.It is hard to explain how I spent most of this book wanting to hug them all and tell them it will be okay. It will get better. But it is hard to do that for many reasons. Mostly because it is a book but not even that. I’m a straight woman. Ultimately besides the fact that they are teenagers and I was once a teenager, it is actually very hard for me to relate to them. But Levithan ended up writing a book I wish I could crawl into and hug each and everyone of them. Which is funny for me to say because I am not a hugger. I have a space issue, but I was very much into fucking the space issue and holding every single one of the boys tightly. Including the two standing up kissing for an extremely long time. Mostly because they were exhausted and they dealt with everything from standing up, from peeing, to families, to eggs. I stood for 8 hours at ALA and that was enough for my feet. To stand for 30 hours straight just doing what you do? Bravo, boys.There is no way to properly review this book. No matter how hard I try, it cannot be done. This book broke my heart, mended my heart, gave me hope and finally changed my life.

Originally posted at yAdult Review accidentally started this book series. I picked up the second book from the library, got all the way home and realized I was missing some important parts (like reading the back of the book closer!). This book is the story of Katy, who’s father legit dumps her at this mysterious boarding school on the East Coast. Katy comes to find out that the boarding school is owned by her family, on her mother’s side. The mother that Katy does not discuss since her mother died.From the first step she takes on campus Katy is hated. Hated. And she has no idea why. She comes to find out she comes from a long line that can do magic. A powerful line no less. (Of course it’s a powerful line!) Katy not only has to adjust to this, but adjust to the fact her family has a few twisted things in their past. Plus, she is having to deal with her father and his girlfriend who have never really understood what was going on in Katy’s life.While this is a good story, I’m completely neutral to the book. I shut the book, started the second one and have no real memory of it. I didn’t hate the book while reading it, not at all, I mean, I picked up the second book! I just had not strong memories of the book. While I still recommend it because it was enjoyable read, it was just not memorable.

Originally posted at yAdult ReviewOh this series. I understand that is not the best way to start a review, but sometimes it is the only way. Pierce spent this series much like in the previous books frustrating me, but at the same time made me love her more. I mean she’s a teenager, she is going to be frustrating. Looking back on my teenage years, was there a time I wasn’t frustrating? Probably not. And that is OK. But Pierce is much of the same.Of course she is now Queen of the Underworld with her boyfriend, King of the Underworld, who is a teeny bit strange. John is not only weird because he is, you know, dead, but also because he wants to get married and wants to get married now. He introduces himself to everyone as “Hello, I am John. I want to marry Pierce, but she will currently not let me because she says this is not the ways of present day.”I know.There is an interesting turning point where Pierce becomes an even stronger girl. Don’t get me wrong, she has been pretty strong throughout this series but there becomes a point when you can feel the light-bulb go off above her head and you’re like “YES! YOU GET IT! GOOD FOR YOU!” Not to say there weren’t moments in which I wanted to kill her, of course there were those moments. But again, she’s a teen who is dealing with a lot of shit.This is also the first book in awhile that I have felt like Meg Cabot is back to the Meg Cabot that I know and love and that makes me excited for the future.

Originally posted at yAdult ReviewWhile not a full length novel, I am fully in love with Zits: Chillax. It’s Jeremy’s coming of age story told much how the daily funnies are, but with a bit more substance. I also relate to Jeremy and the way that he deals with his parents. The fact that they force him to get out of bed and talk is a lot for Jeremy most days. And no matter who you are, when you’re a teen there are many days that you just want to lay in your bed and ignore the world.This book also deals with two very important issues to Jeremy. 1) The Gingivitis concert, only the most important concert of Jeremy’s life and 2) the fact that Tim’s mom recently got cancer. The way that Scott and Borgman weave together not only the concert, but the heavy story of cancer is a testament to how a graphic novel can be. Jeremy handles cancer as well as can be expected for Jeremy. He speaks to Tim is dude code and doesn’t get why his girlfriend and her BFF are freaking out. Boys don’t show emotion, they know that! But through the girls, and growing up not only do Jeremy and Hector grow up but they learn while everything doesn’t work perfectly all the time. Life often is perfect for them in the end.And as always, Scott and Borgman, really sell the novel and the life of a teenage boy.

huh.Originally reviewed at yAdult ReviewHmmm. This book. I really feel like it was two books in one. The first half and the second half.In the first half of the book we meet Violet. Violet who was forced to grow up to soon while missing her grandma the only person who really “got” her. Violet lives at a crumbling estate called “Citizen Kane” with her brother, who is a bit of a jerk. Their parents are off in Europe being artists who don’t have time for their children. This leaves Violet to be the adult in the family. Violet decides to rent out a small guesthouse to make some extra money.And that is when things get weird. Violet rents it to a boy around her age name River West. River West who charms her right away and there is then instalove. There is a reason for that as the blurb says, but it doesn’t mean I had to like it. Because of River and the instalove, this makes Violet an extremely unreliable narrator. Which, if I’m being honest, I often enjoy. It is nice and refreshing however to have a character know they aren’t being reliable.Which brings us to book two, the second half. There comes a point in the novel which Violet knows that she is under this spell and understands the control that River was using and she’s still like OH OKAY YES I LOVE AND ADORE YOU. Dude. COME ON. THINK ABOUT THIS.Plus the giant twist, which legitimately shocked me, annoyed me more than anything. While this is a solid book and will have its fanbase, it is just not for me.

Review closer to date.

Read in 2010: Four StarsRead in 2013: 3.5 StarsReview to come

Read in 2012: 4 stars.Read in 2013: 5 stars.review to come.

So. so. so. so. so. many feels.

Originally reviewed at yAdultReviewTo be quite honest I am not sure how I heard of this book because it starts out as not a very “Ashley” book at all, but by the end I was engrossed and could not believe the book was ending because I wanted more of these characters. Out of the Easy is a coming of age story featuring Josie, a girl who has had it rough from birth. Josie’s mother is a brothel prostitute and Josie is determined to get out of the life her mother is trying to lead her. No matter what Josie does her mother will tell her that she is just jealous of her. Josie’s mother is that mother no one wants. Josie half way through the novel finds out who she is named for: not the book character she always thought.Josie is extremely smart (brain and street-wise) and she knows there is more to the world than this little corner of New Orleans that she is stuck in. The problem is no one around her really understands this. One of the few women in her life, that she trusts, tries to understand her, but wants her to stay near everything she’s ever known. She’s willing to pay for Loyola or Newcomb, which even in the 1950s was not cheap. Even with this offer, she still wants to leave the area. Mostly because of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend Cincinnati, a perpetual abuser who often makes Josie fear for her life. Cokie, one of the few men that Josie trusts tries to collect money so that Josie can go to her East Coast School, only to have her mother find out about it and get ideas.Through a chance meeting with a girl named Charlotte, Josie comes to believe that she can really get out of New Orleans. Charlotte comes from a snoby-East-Coast family who, at a party, makes it clear that no, Josie doesn’t belong. They look down on her, but Charlotte encourages her to follow her hopes and dreams: to look outside of New Orleans. While Josie is looking outside New Orleans she meets Mr. Lockwell. Mr. Lockwell who promises to help her get into an East Coast College. Mr. Lockwell though from the very beginning gives Charlotte a bad feeling. The same feeling she gets when she is around Cincinnati. Josie ignores this feeling because she wants to go to said East Coast College so badly. This of course comes to a head at a pivotal point in the novel. Warning: there are many pivotal points in this novel. So much happens in the last 50 pages that you’re hoping and begging that Josie will be okay.Out of the Easy is not only a story of self-discovery, but also one of self-acceptance. While at the beginning Josie is content with who she is by the end she is happy with who she has become and one day will be because some interesting experiences end up shaping her for the better. The book does not have the perfect happy ending, and there is no way it could, but it does end extremely hopeful.