Review: Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher.

My Review:

Falling into Place was an emotional read told from a unique perspective unlike any that I've ever read.  It had a mysterious narrator whose identity is revealed at the end, but before that, the narration reads as if it is told by an omniscient third person narrator.  We get to read the perspectives of Liz, Julia, Kennie, Liam, and Liz's mom, and possibly more that I'm missing, though I think that's about it.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Liz had not been a very nice girl in her life.  She was one of the "mean girls" at school, and she had been a bully.  There had been times when she had gone out of her way to plot against people and make them miserable.  There were also many times when she had the power to step in and say something that would have stopped others from bullying someone, and she chose not to step in.  She just let the bullying go on as she was a spectator to it.

Some of Julia's scenes were especially heartbreaking.  She has an interesting story because Liz led bullying against her when she first moved to the school, and then she and Liz ended up becoming best friends.  The flashbacks showed that Liz and Julia really did have a true friendship that wasn't just superficial.  The scenes where she was sitting by Liz's bed in the hospital crying were sad to read.  I was glad that Julia was probably going to get help from her drug addiction, since she was struggling with that throughout the book.

Kennie's story of the baby and the abortion is sad as well.  It was obvious that she didn't want to give up the baby and that she only gave it up because she felt that they had to.  The scene where she was imagining a future with the baby that she was never going to give birth to was sad.

Liam was such a sweet boy, and so undeserving of what Liz and her friends did to him.  I think of all the things Liz did, what she did to Liam was one of the worst.  I loved how he was there for Liz and loved him, even though she was broken and didn't deserve him.  He cared about her despite that, and it showed that maybe she could have a chance at redemption.  Also, the part when he found Kennie crying and was nice to her, despite what she had done to him, was so wonderful.

It's unusual to get the perspective of a parent in a YA book (in fact, I don't think I've ever read one with it before), but we do get Liz's mom's perspective in this book.  You get to see her face the thought of possibly losing her daughter, and see how much that thought breaks her heart.  Her parts were hard to read, since it must be awful for a parent to go through an experience like that.  One of her parts had her thinking about Liz's name and saying to Liz, "Don't make me write it on a tombstone."  That line was so sad to read and think about. 

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Review: No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace

Sometimes, the cost of love is too steep

Olivia's twin brother, Liam, has been her best friend her whole life. But when he starts dating, Olivia is left feeling alone, so she tries to drive away Liam's girlfriends in an effort to get her best friend back.

But she meets her match in Zoey, Liam's latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia's tricks. What starts as verbal sparring between the two changes into something different, however, as they share their deepest insecurities and learn they have a lot in common. Olivia falls for Zoey, believing her brother could never get serious with her. But when Liam confesses that he's in love with Zoey, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself?

My Review:

I started this book at almost midnight, thinking I would just read a few chapters and then go to bed.  Well, I was wrong about that.  This book kept me up until 2 am, and I stopped reading it because I was tired, and I still had a bit over 50 pages left.  Then, when I woke up in the morning, I immediately started reading it again, and didn't put it down until I finished it.  So, basically, I loved this book.  It was pretty light and fluffy overall, with a few heavier topics in there as well.  The love story was well written, and the characters were wonderful.


POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD


The evolution of the relationship between Zoey and Olivia was so well written throughout the book.  At the beginning, they didn't even like each other as friends, and they had frequent arguments.  Both of them made wrong judgments about the other, because they didn't really know each other.  I loved seeing how they first became best friends with each other, as they began to share more things with each other that neither of them had told each other before.  Then, I could see the attraction starting to develop through both of their perspectives, though neither of them would admit it at first, and then they began to fall into a relationship that was more than a friendship.  It seemed to happen naturally, without any big questioning of their sexualities.  I don't know at the end if they were bi or lesbian, but it wasn't particularly relevant to the story itself.

I liked how there was a good sibling relationship showcased between Olivia and Liam.  One of the things that keeps Olivia from jumping into a relationship with Zoey as soon as she discovers that they both have feelings for each other is that she cares about Liam and doesn't want to hurt him, and Liam was Zoey's boyfriend.  They don't have a perfect relationship, especially when he wants to something else on their birthday instead of their usual tradition as twins, and so Olivia has nothing to do on her birthday.  Liam wants to help Olivia to not rely on him quite as much as her main friend, which is why he does this. 

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Review: No Place to Fall by Jaye Robin Brown

Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

My Review:

No Place to Fall was a book that I sped through in two days.  It immersed me in the small town settings, and I came to love the characters, imperfections and mistakes and all.  They weren't perfect characters, but they were real, and I loved that about them.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Amber is a girl with some big dreams that go beyond her small mountain town.  She dreams of singing and getting away from the people who could drag her down, namely her sister's husband, Sammy.  She is a good singer and she originally doesn't even want to sing with her school's chorus, but when she finds out about a performing arts high school, she thinks of how it could be the perfect escape for her.  Amber makes several mistakes, the main one being something that she does that isn't smart at all that could jeopardize her future.  She has moments where she doesn't think things through, and this was one of those moments.  The good thing is that her heart was in the right place when she did this bad thing, since she wanted to help out a friend.

Amber's family is a bit broken since many of them have their issues.  Her dad is cheating on her mom and she and her sister both know it, though they don't know if their mom knows it too.  Apparently, this cheating has been going on for quite a while.  Amber's sister, Whitney, is married to and has a son with Sammy, a drug dealer.  Sammy is a jerk, and not a good father or husband.  He gets himself and Whitney into trouble more than once, and he risks losing their son to Child Protective Services.  I don't think he really cared about losing his son though, since he was just worried about his drug dealing and his band.  He also is very persistent about making Amber join his band, and even goes so far as to blackmail her, which is another one of the things that showed how much of a jerk he was.

I wasn't really sure about Will in the beginning when he cheated on his girlfriend and hooked up with Amber, but then still didn't break up with his girlfriend after that, but he grew on me by the end of the book.  He proved through his actions and words that he was a sweet guy who really cared about Amber.  I loved some of the scenes when they were singing together, or when she sang and he accompanied her on the banjo.  It was nice to see them making this strong bond and connection through music.  They clearly had a strong connection, though it took a bit of a rocky road for them to get to that point.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Review: For Real by Alison Cherry

No parents. No limits. No clue what they're in for.

Shy, cautious Claire has always been in her confident older sister's shadow. While Miranda's life is jam-packed with exciting people and whirlwind adventures, Claire gets her thrills vicariously by watching people live large on reality TV.

When Miranda discovers her boyfriend, Samir, cheating on her just before her college graduation, it's Claire who comes up with the perfect plan. They'll outshine Miranda's fame-obsessed ex while having an amazing summer by competing on Around the World, a race around the globe for a million bucks. Revenge + sisterly bonding = awesome.

But the show has a twist, and Claire is stunned to find herself in the middle of a reality-show romance that may or may not be just for the cameras. This summer could end up being the highlight of her life... or an epic fail forever captured on film. In a world where drama is currency and manipulation is standard, how can you tell what's for real?

My Review:

I sped through this fun page-turner about a reality TV journey around the world show.  I loved getting to know the characters, and getting to read about all of the rather crazy challenges that they had to complete.  

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

I love Claire's character growth throughout the book.  There are things that happen on the show that put her out of her comfort zone, but they also really help her to grow as a person.   The people that she meets and the relationships that she forges while on the show help build this character development.  Partway through the story, she realizes that she is on the trip not just for Miranda, but also for herself.  

The sibling relationship between Miranda and Claire definitely was not perfect, and there were times in the book when they fought and were able to work through the issues that they had with each other.  My main complaint about Miranda was that she often was patronizing to Claire whenever they had their interviews together.  She seemed to always think that everything would be so difficult for Claire, and she often said how proud she was that Claire made it through, as if she had thought she wouldn't make it through.  I do think she was trying to look out for Claire when she did things like warn her about how boys can be. 

Will Divine is a character who deserves his own paragraph, though I'm not really sure how to correctly talk about him without spoiling.  I liked him very much at the beginning, and enjoyed reading his flirtations with Claire.   He was such a sweet guy to her.  But what this book explores is how much of reality TV is actually reality, and part of that includes Will.  Will is an actor, but the question is - is he acting or being real in his interactions with Claire?

The show was also so much fun, because it involved doing challenges that were like marriage rituals in different countries.  Some of these marriage rituals were quite unusual and strange, which made for some fun challenges to read about. 

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie 

Top Ten Most Anticipated Debuts

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.  This week's theme is awesome, so I'm participating.

1.  Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - I think I'm going to love this one, since it sounds like a cute LGBT book, and I like You've Got Mail.

2.  None of the Above by IW Gregorio - I've never read a book with an intersex character, so I'm looking forward to checking this one out and finding out more about that.

3.  More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - The concept of this one is awesome, with the idea of being able to erase memories.  Plus, it explores things like class, race, and sexuality.

4.  The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall - This sounds like an adventurous read and really different from everything that I typically read.  I haven't read the Da Vinci Code, but I still think that a YA version of the Da Vinci Code sounds interesting.

5.  The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi - I like the premise of this book, how it takes place over two different nights, one in the past and one in the present.

 

6.  The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes - This sounds like both a good survival story and a character exploration.

7.  Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca - The romance in this sounds amazing and I've heard good things about it.

8.  Play On by Michelle Smith - This baseball romance that also deals with depression sounds like it will be amazing.

9.  The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy - This sounds like a dark and creepy mystery.  The cover also has a creepy feel to it.

10.  My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga - I've had this book preordered since June 2014 and it seems like it will be an amazing and emotional story.

 

Those are my Top Ten picks.  What are yours?

Katie

Review: Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

Top Five Things That Are Ruining Chloe’s Day

5) Working the 6:30 a.m. shift at GoodFoods Market

4) Crashing a cart into a customer’s car right in front of her snarky coworker Sammi

3) Trying to rock the “drowned rat” look after being caught in a snowstorm

2) Making zero progress with her crush, Tyson (see #3)

1) Being accused—along with her fellow teenage employees—of stealing upwards of $10,000

Chloe would rather be anywhere than locked in work jail (aka the break room) with five of her coworkers . . . even if one of them is Tyson. But if they can band together to clear their names, what looks like a total disaster might just make Chloe’s list of Top Ten Best Moments.

My Review:

I read this book within the span of one day.  It was an amazing, quick, light, and fun read, with characters that were so well-developed, especially for the fact that the entire story took place in the span of one day which was Christmas Eve.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The friendship that developed between these six completely different teenagers was wonderful to get to read.  Before Christmas Eve, these six were nothing more than acquaintances, but by the end of the day, after all they had been through, they had become friends with each other.  Some of their break room conversations when they were stuck there helped them talk about some real issues of things such as judging other people without really knowing them.  Which is what they had all basically done to each other was judge each other without knowing each other.  But this changes by the end of the book.  This cast was diverse in both personality and in their ethnicity.  Zaina is a Middle Eastern Muslim girl who is soft spoken, sweet, and beautiful.  As the book progresses, the others learn how people judge her based on her beauty and make assumptions that she is easy.  Sammi is a bit rougher.  She smokes and has hair that is cut short and dyed.  She was in the foster care system as a child.  Now many people judge her by her looks and automatically assume she's a lesbian, even though she is actually straight.  Micah is the sweet, homeschooled boy who is smart.  He has a deep sense of moral commitment, and would not do anything wrong.  Tyson is the sweet African American boy that Chloe is crushing on, who is working at the grocery store to make money to afford college.  Gabe is athletic and rich and feels like he has option other than following the path for college that his dad has chosen for him.

And of course, we have the final member of the six, Chloe, who is the narrator of this story.  She is a shy girl with diabetes, who is also really funny, though she often is funnier in her narration than in her dialogue since she often doesn't let that side of her show to people when she interacts with them.  She reads like a real teenager.  She makes mistakes like accidentally running a bunch of carts into a car, and she gets freaked out over things like this.  She doesn't always take care of her diabetes like she should, especially when she ends up stuck at work for hours when she should already be home.  She doesn't want people to know about her diabetes, which causes a bit of an issue later in the story.  She also is a bit of a book nerd, which is relatable to someone like me who loves to read.  She has a crush on coworker Tyson, but she doesn't know how to make any progress with him.  This day at the grocery store helps her make new friends, since she didn't really have many friends at all since moving from where she used to live.  Anyway, Chloe was a lovable character and a great narrator of the story.

The setting of a grocery store was such a fun place for this book to take place.  There were the games that the teenagers played where they would try to guess what groceries different customers were going to buy.  There were all the weird things that the customers did or wore, and how they would trade stories about these with each other.  There were the lists that Chloe made about grocery store related things, which were always funny.  Also, these six got up to a few shenanigans when they were set loose in the store to clean it while they still weren't allowed to leave.  One of these such shenanigans included a race around the store.  The grocery store setting enriched the story by adding these fun adventures and observations to the story.

If you like fluffy YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie

Some Statistics of What I Read This Year

I find the statistics of what I read each year very fascinating, so I put together a post on all of these statistics.

Point of View:

1st Person Female Narrator: 51 books

1st Person Male Narrator: 12 books

1st Person Two Narrators: 13 books

1st Person Three or More Narrators: 2 books

3rd Person: 6 books

Genre:

Contemporary: 65 books

Paranormal: 5 books

Dystopian/Sci-fi: 11 books

Historical: 2 books

Fantasy: 1 book

Series Status:

Standalone: 57 books

1st in a series: 5 books

Last in a series: 8 books

Any other book in a series: 8 books

Companion novels: 4 books

Novellas: 2 books

Katie

Review: Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot

When Julia Buchanan enrolls at St. Anne’s at the beginning of junior year, Charlotte Ryder already knows all about the former senator’s daughter. Most people do... or think they do.

Charlotte certainly never expects she’ll be Julia’s friend. But almost immediately, she is drawn into the larger than-life-new girl’s world—a world of midnight rendezvous, dazzling parties, palatial vacation homes, and fizzy champagne cocktails. And then Charlotte meets, and begins falling for, Julia’s handsome older brother, Sebastian.

But behind her self-assured smiles and toasts to the future, Charlotte soon realizes that Julia is still suffering from a tragedy. A tragedy that the Buchanan family has kept hidden... until now.

My Review:

Even in Paradise is a beautifully written and atmospheric story that is reminiscent to The Great Gatsby in that it is a story about an outsider becoming part of a life of someone who has an extravagant life of parties and such things like that.  This story draws you into the world of Julia and the Buchanans, just as Charlie gets drawn in as well.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Charlie is a well-drawn character in this book.  I certainly didn't agree with every choice that she made, but I could see what her motives were behind making the choices that she did.  When she dropped all her friends for Julia, I didn't think that was a good idea, but it seemed like she had no choice but to put either everything or nothing in that friendship.  I thought it was especially hurtful to Rosalie, since she had been her roommate for so long, and Charlie just dropped her as a friend, basically.  She deserved better than that from her.  Though I was glad to see Rosalie forgive her near the end, and for there to be some reconciliation there, even if Charlie didn't really deserve it.

Julia and the rest of the Buchanan family are fascinating and intriguing.  Julia's brother, Sebastian, was sweet to Charlie most of the time, though he made mistakes as well, by sometimes showing that he was a bit snobbier because of the lifestyle that he was used to living.  He made a couple thoughtless comments to Charlie because of that that made him a bit less endearing.  Boom was a sweet father and always good to Charlie.  I liked how the family had all their nicknames to each other that didn't necessarily make sense to people outside of the family.  Something that I didn't like about the family was how they acted as if Julia was Charlie's responsibility now that Charlie was friends with her.  Boom basically told her that she had to be her roommate the next year, which was unfair of him to make her feel obligated to do so.

I always love boarding school settings, and this book was no exception.  It makes for a different school experience for the characters when they are living there together all the time.  This was important in Julia and Charlie's story, since they probably wouldn't have met if this hadn't been a boarding school.

If you like Gatsby-ish contemporary YA, read this book.

Katie
 

2014 End of the Year Book Survey

 

This is created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner, and I thought it would be fun to look back at what I read this year and answer the questions.

 

Number of Books Read:98

Number of Re-Reads: 14

Genre I Read the Most From: contemporary YA

 

1. Best Book You Read in 2014?
This is a really hard question, since I read so many amazing books, but I'm going to say that Far From You by Tess Sharpe was one of the best that I read.

2. Book You Were Excited About and Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn't?

I was very excited for Great by Sara Benincasa, so I even ordered it and bought it shortly after it released.  I ended up liking it, but I thought I would like it more.  It isn't really one of my all-time favorites, or a book that I can really see myself re-reading.

3. Most surprising (in a good or bad way) book you read in 2014?

4. Book you pushed the most people to read (and they did) in 2014?
I don't really push books on very many people, so it's hard to think of a book that would apply to this question.  I pushed a lot of books on one person, who read all of the books that I pushed on him, though.

5.  Best series you started in 2014?  Best sequel of 2014?  Best series ender of 2014?
 The best series ender of 2014 was Split Second by Kasie West, which I believe I read twice in this year.  The best sequel of 2014 was either Deadly Little Sins by Kara Taylor or Frozen by Erin Bowman.  I don't think I really started many new series.

6.  Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?
I kind of want to put an author who I read for than one book by this year, but I can't think of any, so I'm going to go with Tess Sharpe for this one.  She debuted this year with Far From You, which was a stunning debut that I've already read twice.

7.  Best book from a genre you didn't typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I would say that the book I read this year that was most out of my comfort zone was Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.  It was very much a mythology and fantasy book that had some very developed and possibly sometimes confusing worldbuilding.

8.  Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

The most thrilling book of the year was definitely Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley.  This book had me worried for Sam's safety throughout it.

9.  Book you read in 2014 that you are most likely to re-read next year?
I'd say that I'm likely to reread Far From You by Tess Sharpe next year.  I've already reread it twice, and it's been a great reading experience both times, so I can see myself reading it again next year as well.

10.  Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?
I really like the cover of Something Real by Heather Demetrios.

11.  Most memorable character of 2014?
A very memorable character of 2014 was Sophie from Far From You.  She was such an emotional character to be in the head of.

12.  Most beautifully written book read in 2014?
I would say that Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot was the most beautifully written of the books that I read this year.

13.  Most thought-provoking/life-changing book of 2014?
Falling Into Place was a book that I finished on December 29th, so it just barely makes it onto this list, but I thought that it was very thought-provoking.

14.  Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?
I can't believe I waited until 2014 to read Boundless by Cynthia Hand.  I really enjoyed the first 2 books in this series, but I didn't read the final book of the trilogy until over a year after it released.

15.  Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2014?
I don't really mark down passages or quotes from books, so I'm going to skip this one.

16.  Shortest and longest book you read in 2014?

The shortest book that I read this year was The Blue-Haired Boy by Courtney Stevens, but that's a novella, so I'm also going to put the shortest full-length book.  The shortest book that I read this year was The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu.  The longest book I read this year was Take Me On by Katie McGarry.

17.  Book that shocked you the most?

The book that shocked me the most was The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi.  I'm thinking of that one that I won't say for spoilery reasons, but if you've read it, you know the part I'm referring to, and it was very shocking.

18.  OTP of the Year
My OTP of the Year is actually one where one of the character isn't alive anymore at the start of the book, so it probably seems strange that that was my #1 ship of the year.  This book was Far From You by Tess Sharpe, and the ship was Sophie and Mina.  I rooted for these two so much, even though I already knew how this would end.  Also, I feel like I've put this book for quite a few categories so far.  I'm also going to say that another one of my favorite OTPs was Micah and Lainey from The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes, which was a much lighter and fluffier book than Far From You, though they were both amazing.

19.  Favorite Non-Romantic relationship of the year

My favorite non-romantic relationship was definitely Olivia and Zoey from Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor.  This book was really powerful and sad, and their friendship was written so amazingly.

20.  Favorite book you read in 2014 from an author you've read previously

I've loved every Miranda Kenneally book that I've read previously and her 2014 release, Breathe, Annie, Breathe, was no different.

21.  Best book you read in 2014 that you read SOLELY on a recommendation from someone else/peer pressure?

I didn't really read this on any direct recommendation to me, but it isn't the genre that I typically read, so I probably wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been for all the raving reviews of it that I read.  This book is Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.

22.  Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?
I had a character that I thought would be good for this category and then something happened in the book, and I changed my mind about that.  That character was Will Divine from For Real by Alison Cherry.  Instead, I'm going to say that my fictional crush is Bodee from Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens, since he was such a sweet guy.

23.  Best 2014 debut you read?
I'll say that the best debut that I read this year was Far From You by Tess Sharpe.

24.  Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting you read this year?
The worldbuilding of Cruel Beauty was very intricate and interesting, so I'm going to put that for this category.

25.  Book that put a smile on your face/was the most FUN to read?
I read Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas twice this year, and it was a pure fun read.

26.  Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2014?

The closest a book has some to making me cry this year is Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor.  I didn't cry or nearly cry while I read it the first time, but when I re-read it, I nearly cried, since I knew what was coming soon in the story.  Another book that also came very close to making me cry this year was Far From You by Tess Sharpe.

27.  Hidden Gem of the Year?
I'm going to say My Best Friend, Maybe, since I've seen this on lists of not getting as much attention, and I loved it.

28.  Book that crushed your soul?
Far From You by Tess Sharpe also wins for this category.  I don't usually cry while reading books, so while I didn't cry reading this, it was the book that came the closest to making me cry.  Sophie's pain and grief was so palpable throughout the book, and it was absolutely amazing.

29.  Most unique book you read in 2014?
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge was a really unique story.

30.  Book that made you the most mad (doesn't necessarily mean you didn't like it)?

The book that made me angry was The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi, since I didn't like the idea of the camp in this book.  Also, Mr. Martin made me so angry.  But I loved this book, despite how angry it made me.  Another book that also made me really angry was Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley, because of all the horrible misogyny of many of the male characters.  I don't know which of these two books made me angrier.

1.  One book you didn't get to in 2014 but will be your number 1 priority in 2015?
I didn't get to read Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas in 2014, but I ordered it and it should arrive at my house tomorrow, so I will read it in early 2014.  I loved Liz Czukas' debut book, Ask Again Later, since it was really fun and cute and a quick read, and it looks like Top Ten Clues You're Clueless will also be a light and fun read, so I look forward to it.

2. Book you are anticipating most for 2015 (non-debut)?
I'd say one of the non-debuts that I'm most excited for is Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes.  I loved The Art of Lainey, and even though Liars, Inc. is going to be very different than The Art of Lainey, it also sounds like the type of book that I like to read.  I'm also excited for Cynthia Hand's first contemporary, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, since I loved the Unearthly series, and contemporary is my favorite genre.

3. 2015 debut you are most anticipating?
It's hard to pick one for this, since there are so many 2015 debuts that I am excited for.  I'm going to list two here, and there are many more that I'm excited for that I'm not going to list.  One of the books that I'm excited for is None of the Above by IW Gregorio, since it will be the first book I've ever read with an intersex character, and I don't know much about intersex, so I hope I'll be able to learn more about it by reading this book.  Another 2015 debut that I'm very excited for is Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.  This sounds like a light LGBT story, and the comparisons to You've Got Mail also make it sound really good.

4. Series ending/a sequel that you are most anticipating in 2015?
I'm excited for Forged by Erin Bowman to see how this series wraps up.  Also, I hope that the ship that I'm rooting for will officially set sail in Forged.  This ship is Gray/Bree.

5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2015?
I hope to be able to read about 100 books in 2015, and to get back into blogging more, since I know that I didn't blog for a while at the end of this year.

6. A 2015 release that you've already read and recommend to everyone?
I haven't read any 2015 releases yet, so I can't answer this.

Katie

What I've Read From My Monthly Lists

I find it interesting to find out at the end of the year how many books I've actually read from the lists of the books that I am most excited for each month.  Some months I do really well with actually reading most of the books, and other months, I do not do so well.

January

What I Read:

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Fake ID by Lamar Giles

Timestorm by Julie Cross

What I Have Not Read:

Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd

Fraction: 3 read out of 4

February

What I Read:

Stolen by Erin Bowman

Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Split Second by Kasie West

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

What I Have Not Read:

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Perfect Lies by Kiersten White

Fraction: 6 read out of 8

March

What I Read:

Wicked Little Secrets by Kara Taylor

#16thingsithoughtweretrue by Janet Gurtler

The Sowing by Steven dos Santos

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy 

Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

What I Have Not Read:

Fraction: 6 read out of 6

April

What I Read:

The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi

Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell

Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell

Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Great by Sara Benincasa

Pointe by Brandy Colbert

Frozen by Erin Bowman

High and Dry by Sarah Skilton

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Chance You Won't Return by Annie Cardi

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

What I Have Not Read:

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

Fraction: 12 read out of 14

May

What I Read:

Rebel by Amy Tintera

Nantucket Red by Leila Howland

Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Take Me On by Katie McGarry

The Swift Boys and Me by Kody Keplinger

What I Have Not Read:

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Renegade by Debra Driza

The Rules for Breaking by Ashley Elston

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Fraction: 6 read out of 10

June

What I Read:

My Best Friend, Maybe by Caela Carter

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

#scandal by Sarah Ockler

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

In the End by Demitria Lunetta

What I Have Not Read:

Paranoia by JR Johansson

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

Fraction: 7 read out of 10

July 

What I Read:

On the Fence by Kasie West

Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

What I Have Not Read:

Extraction by Stephanie Diaz

Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Fraction: 2 read out of 4

August 

What I Read:

Deadly Little Sins by Kara Taylor

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

What I Have Not Read: 

Astray by Amy Christine Parker

Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

Fraction: 2 read out of 4

September

What I Read:

No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace

Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley

Remember Me by Romily Bernard

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

What I Have Not Read:

Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeline Kuderick

Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

Echoes of Us by Kat Zhang

Fraction: 5 read out of 8

October

What I Read:

What I Have Not Read:

Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir

Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez

Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

Fraction: 0 read out of 3

December

What I Read:
For Real by Alison Cherry

What I Have Not Read:

Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

No Place to Fall by Jaye Robin Brown

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Love and Other Theories by Alexis Bass

Fraction: 1 read out of 5

Katie

January Releases I'm Most Excited For

January 6th:
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven - This sounds like it will be a heartbreaking read.  The pitch of it being compared to Eleanor and Park and The Fault in Our Stars sounds awesome, and from some of the early reviews, it looks like it delivers.



January 13th:
The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall - This sounds like an exciting and adventurous story that would be really unique in YA.



January 20th:
The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson - This sounds like it will be a good story of grief and healing from it.  I am interested in finding out how it is partly a graphic novel.
Twisted Fate by Norah Olson - This sounds like a really interesting psychological thriller type of story.



January 27th:
Cut Me Free by JR Johansson - I enjoyed Insomnia by JR Johansson, and this sounds like an interesting contemporary thriller.  It sounds like a good mystery as well.
Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff  - This sounds like an interesting and emotional story.  I'm excited to read it.  Plus, it's male POV.



Katie