Modern Monsters by Kelley York

Vic Howard never wanted to go to the party. He’s the Invisible Guy at school, a special kind of hell for quiet, nice guys. But because his best friend is as popular as Vic is ignored, he went…

And wished he hadn’t.

Because something happened to a girl that night. Something terrible, unimaginable, and Callie Wheeler’s life will never be the same. Plus, now Callie has told the police that Vic is responsible. Suddenly, Invisible Vic is painfully visible, on trial both literally, with the police, and figuratively, with the angry kids at school. As the whispers and violence escalate, he becomes determined to clear his name, even if it means an uneasy alliance with Callie's best friend, the beautiful but aloof Autumn Dixon.

But as Autumn and Vic slowly peel back the layers of what happened at the party, they realize that while the truth can set Vic free, it can also shatter everything he thought he knew about his life.

My Thoughts:
I was really wary about this book. It's about rape. The book starts out at a party and shortly after that we learn that a girl was raped. So I was expecting some graphic details and disturbing imagery and lots of drinking and drugs and cursing. But there wasn't. Kelley York handled this subject so incredibly well. We hear this story from the perspective of the boy who is accused of raping the girl, but he's innocent. So we see what happens to him as a result of being wrongly accused and how this storyline plays out with police and reporters and kids at school and friends. It's heartbreaking. And enlightening. And beautiful. And, mostly, it's hopeful. Yes, horrible things happen. Yes, there are terrible people in the world. And there are good people who make awful mistakes. But we can gather ourselves up again and keep moving, keep going, find happiness. Especially for being such a serious subject, this book was actually really uplifting that way.

I loved Vic's voice. He was such a sweet, kind, just all-around good guy who gets put through so much crap for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just wanted to reach into that book, wrap my arms around him and protect him. He felt like he needed protecting. Especially with the whole mother storyline which, btw, I totally guessed from the beginning and she just made me hate the world. Her and the father. Seriously, every scene she was in, I was kind of annoyed by the way she treated everything. Made me mad. And sad.

Then there was Autumn. I liked Autumn as a character, as a loyal friend, as the fiesty girl that she was. Which was why I didn't fully understand the connection she made with Vic. I just didn't see that happening naturally. It made the story, for sure, but I just didn't think it would have actually happened in a real-life situation. That's all.

The end of this book broke my heart. I saw it coming and it was still tragically sad. I really did just want to jump in there and protect Vic. That poor guy. But this book was lovely. Tragic and realistic and hopeful. I loved it. Thank you, Kelley York for handling such a delicate subject so carefully and tastefully. I will definitely read more by this author.

Sexual Content: Mild (amazing, considering the entire premise of the book!)
Language: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
Violence: Moderate

Call the Shots by Don Calame (Swim the Fly #3)

And . . . action! As the uproarious trio returns, sensitive Sean takes the spotlight — scripting a low-low-budget film while fielding unexpected female fans.

Coop is cooking up another sure-misfire scheme (big surprise), and this time the comedy plays out from Sean’s point of view. What’s the new master plan? Making a cheapo horror movie guaranteed to make Coop, Sean, and Matt filthy rich! It’s a terrible idea, and Sean knows it. But he actually is desperate for cash — and for a way to wipe that big fat L off his girlfriend-less forehead. But when he agrees to write a script about the attack of zombie-vampire humanzees, he has no idea just how powerful a chick magnet this movie will be. Suddenly Sean is juggling not one butthree interested ladies. There’s his accidental-girlfriend-turned-psychotic-stalker, Evelyn. There’s the wicked hot actress from drama class, Leyna, who seems willing to do anything to land the starring role. And even his twin sister’s gothed-out best friend, Nessa, is looking at Sean in a whole new way. Will any of them wind up as Sean’s true leading lady? Will Sean stop being a doormat and finally start calling the shots?

My Thoughts:
The last book in a series. As with the first two books, this was laugh-out-loud funny. Much laughing going on. And lots of raunchy boy humor. It was hilarious. And highly irreverent.

So we've established it's funny. What else did I like? The boys' friendship is really nice. They all give each other a hard time and call each other on whatever stupid thing they've done but they're ultimately good, loyal friends. And all the other relationships in the book seemed very normal, very layered. Brothers and sisters and parents and friends and everyone had relationships in which they cared for each other but sometimes got mad or sad or irritated or whatever else and it was so very normal without being boring. Well done, there, Mr. Calame. Except for Nick and Evelyn who were pretty much always scary/crazy. Evelyn's character actually bothered me a bit; I felt like she was an easy excuse for everything. She was the cause of the love triangle and just about all of the conflict and she made the book wrap up really quickly, concisely and easily without too much explanation or difficulty. So poor, psychopath, Evelyn, made this book possible by being the one everyone hates. I felt bad for her. And it felt like really convenient writing.

Apart from Evelyn, things that happened in this book seemed extremely coincidental. Like, Sean would be thinking about someone and, suddenly, they were knocking on the door. Or that time when Sean was at the mall and, like, five different things happened in quick succession to keep him from meeting up with that girl. While hilarious, I couldn't help but feel annoyed by the convenience of the way things happened. My mouth would be hanging open in disbelief by the time those scenes finished. But, yeah, it was funny. So maybe it was worth it.

I don't know what else to say. This book was hilarious, even if completely absurd. I love the characters and how they treat each other but there's a whole lot of raunchy, dirty boy humor going on.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild (if any)

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

Four minutes changes everything. Hadley Sullivan 17 misses her flight at JFK airport, is late to her father's second wedding in London with never-met stepmother. Hadley meets the perfect boy. Oliver is British, sits in her row. A long night on the plane passes in a blink, but the two lose track in arrival chaos. Can fate bring them together again?

My thoughts:
I wasn't expecting too much when I picked this up. Expectations were exceeded. 

One thing I loved about this book was that the romance was an important part of the story. It wasn't just the entire story; There were other plotlines and major things going on besides two people falling in love. And, to be honest, the romance wasn't "love at first sight" so other than that one tiny allusion at the end of the book, the title is completely wrong. It's a good title but it doesn't really fit this book.

The romance itself was sweet, though. I loved the banter between Hadley and Oliver. Their interactions made me grin like an idiot. And their relationship evolved well. It was cute. Even with the heavier story of their families, this book was a cute fluff read. Fast, easy, sweet and clean. Just how I like 'em. And it mostly takes place in London. 'Nuff said.

One thing that bugged was that it was written in 3rd person but definitely should have been 1st. POV was awkward. Especially since we were basically inside Hadley's head for the entire book. And characters didn't feel quite as rounded as they should have. I like read fully three-dimensional fleshed-out characters. Most of these were meh. 

But I did like the book. Definitely obtain it and read it if you're into contemporary fluff romance.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild
Violence: None
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

Crash by Jerry Spinelli

Meet Crash Coogan. Crash seems to be all brawn and no brains, but he will need more than mere muscles to face the upcoming challenges in his life. Now available in paperback, Award-winner Jerry Spinelli has created a hilarious, poignant story of a cocky seventh-grade super-jock.

My Thoughts:
This is about a kid in middle school so it's for kids, right? But there's so much in here that's nice for anyone to read about. I would absolutely recommend this book to any kid in middle school, especially boys who like sports since they'd relate really easily. This book was clean, poignant and actually pretty heartwarming. And funny. Not, like, laugh-out-loud funny but I smiled and was entertained, you know? I'm betting middle-school aged kids would find it funnier than I did.

So Crash is about a boy named Crash. Well, that's his nickname, anyway. He's your typical label-loving popular jock until something happens in his family that makes him see everything differently. One thing I loved was that feelings weren't really explained at all; Spinelli showed his readers everything but didn't waste the paragraphs explaining exactly what was going on in Crash's head. Thank you for thinking highly of us, Mr. Spinelli. We can understand complexities without it being spelled out for us.

I loved all the characters, too. Crash's progression felt natural. The way he was felt real. He acted like a pre-teen boy was a jerk sometimes but overall he was just a decent kid. His sister, Abby, was hilarious and I loved her. The way Crash's parents progressed throughout this story was nice, too. Since I absolutely agree that spending time with family is more important than having lots of money, I loved the message from this book. And the way it was delivered. Scooter was just about the best grandfather ever and his storyline made me sad. Which was the point. But, man. The ups and downs in this middle-school book. 

If you're looking for a short, nice read that is fun but also has a good moral message, then please, check it out. It's fast, it's mostly light, it's clean and you'll like it. If you have a middle-school-aged kid, though, or maybe as young as 10, they might love this book. Go get it for them.

Sexual Content: None
Language: None
Violence: Mild (football and boys roughhousing)
Drugs/Alcohol: None

Tracked by Jenny Martin

On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn't stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It's up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?




My Thoughts:
It took me a long time to get into this book. The beginning didn't hook me, Phee seemed a bit too reckless and immature for my taste and the love triangle was annoying. Really annoying. Lots of waffling emotions and deep introspective thought analyses. ugh. And did anyone else just feel bad for the loser of the love triangle? I mean, like, throughout the entire book? I felt like the poor guy was just shuffled to the side all the time. He lacked any depth at all since, really, we only saw him when/how Phee dictated he would be around.

Once the story evolved into a political/corporate story with intrigue and spying and stuff, it got really interesting. The plot was very well thought-out in that respect and I enjoyed all the plotting and planning. It was smart. 

But it didn't overshadow the lackluster writing and borrowed concepts. I mean, this entire novel was basically Speed Racer with a girl main character. I can't think of a single major difference. I'm really trying to think of major difference. Maybe the love triangle could be thought of as the major difference but I wish that hadn't been in there at all. Why do YA authors feel like they must put love triangles in YA books? This book actually would have been BETTER if the poor, shunted third member of the love triangle had been a different character entirely; Why wasn't he a brother? Or the strictly platonic best friend? Or gay? Or any number of things that would have prohibited any notion of a love triangle? It pulled me from the story and I was more annoyed than anything. Actually, I felt more sympathy for him than for Phee. Phee annoyed. I definitely see the potential for more angsty pining and love-triangle drama in the second book since this book ended the cliffhanger way it did. But I'm still annoyed. 

Another positive in this book was the racing. And it wasn't even so much the racing itself as much as it was the way Martin portrayed Phee while racing. I loved being in her head for those moments; The way her adrenaline was written, her inherent need to race, the calm before the race and all that. So well done. Loved those moments.

Phee was likeable enough as a character. I guess. But I didn't like her as much as I could have. I would have appreciated more humor; This book was Very Serious. I would appreciated less introspective whining; So much unnecessary drama. I would have appreciated smarter actions on her part, a little bit of subtlety, maybe. She was so very in-your-face blunt and easy-to-read. The worst possible spy. The worst possible secret-keeper. But I guess that was just her character. Wasn't a huge fan.

By all means, if you're into post-apocalyptic stories with a Speed Racer/Fast and Furious spin (maybe even some Mad Max minus any violence whatsoever), obtain and read this book. You may like it much more than I do. But I wouldn't recommend you own it until you read it first and decide for yourself.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Mild (it's all irritating new-world slang cursing. So no real curse words. Just annoying rusting made-up foul language--Actually in a way I appreciate the non-use of bad words but the fake cursing annoys me. If you're gonna say it, just say it)
Violence: Mild (if any)
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate (though it is generally frowned-upon by the characters in the book)

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

My Thoughts:
I was hooked from page one. It was a fast-paced could-not-put-down, urgent, layered, intelligent, easy-to-read-yet-complex story that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. So good. It was kind of all its own but if I had to compare it to anything else it would be the intensity of Hunger Games, the quality of writing of Shatter Me (but not the subsequent books in the series), and the world-building of the Across the Universe series. This book was really nothing like any of those books and, all-around, better than them, but if you want a comparison of some sort, that's a decent place to start.

The world-building started immediately and the way we learned about this strange place, as a reader, was completely natural. There was no info-dumping. No pause in the book for a backstory moment. It all flowed so flawlessly and effortlessly that I felt like I could have just landed in this world myself. And the world was so detailed and well-thought-out. And interesting. I wanted to learn about it. I wanted to learn why everyone was the way they were. I wanted to know the history of this place. It was just so well done.

The characters and the way people spoke were fascinating. Everyone had depth. Everyone had inner conflict and layered backstory and just inherent interest. I was so interested in everyone. Our main character, Todd, and his talking dog, Manchee; They were so likable. Todd was a regular, nice kid asked to do crazy difficult stuff, make insane choices. And he just did the best he could. He was sweet and kind in spite of being raised in a bizarrely mean place. And Manchee was just a good, loyal dog. I loved the portrayal of Manchee and his simple thoughts.

Some of my favorite moments were with the villain characters. Todd's depictions of them (because we were in Todd's POV the whole book) were just perfect. Ness just got inside those characters and portrayed them so well, with so much depth that I couldn't help but be fascinated by the evil people. Seriously, so well done.

The writing itself was amazing. Thoughts felt like real thoughts. Dialogue felt natural. Reactions and events were completely believable in this foreign world. Ness has a way of making you feel on-the-edge-of-your-seat that I've rarely seen in a book. It's incredible. I loved the different dialects people spoke in and the phonetic spelling; It added so much to this world. The twists and turns this plot took were sometimes expected but always worth reading. So much happened to these people in such a short amount of time that I was kind of exhausted after finishing the book but also super amped to read the next one because there is an Insane Cliffhanger! I mean--Worst/Best Cliffhanger Ever! I'm simultaneously annoyed and excited about the ending. But I will definitely read the next one. And probably the whole series. And anything else Patrick Ness writes.

It was just that good.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Moderate
Violence: Heavy
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

Beat the Band (Swim the Fly #2) by Don Calame

In this hilarious sequel to Swim the Fly, told from Coop’s point of view, it’s the beginning of the school year, and the tenth-grade health class must work in pairs on semester-long projects. Matt and Sean get partnered up (the jerks), but Coop is matched with the infamous “Hot Dog” Helen for a presentation on safe sex. Everybody’s laughing, except for Coop, who’s convinced that the only way to escape this social death sentence is to win “The Battle of the Bands” with their group, Arnold Murphy’s Bologna Dare. There’s just one problem: none of the guys actually plays an instrument. Will Coop regain his “cool” before it’s too late? Or will the forced one-on-one time with Helen teach him a lesson about social status he never saw coming? With ribald humor and a few sweet notes, screenwriter-turned-novelist Don Calame once again hits all the right chords.

My Thoughts:
This followed the exact same formula as Swim the Fly. Which is to say it was hilarious and thoughtful with lots of raunchy guy humor and idiotic stuff going on. The plot also developed in almost exactly the same way as the first book in terms of girls and who likes who, how things things more or less happen. Some things were different, of course, but it was pretty much the same story. But this time it was about Coop instead of Matt. And there were some different girls.

Anyway, it was funny. I laughed. And, honestly, I felt like there was a bit more heart in this book than in Swim the Fly. I think I had more of a connection to Coop than Matt, even though Matt was a more likable guy. Coop's story was just a bit more from the heart where Matt's story felt like it was told from arms-length. Even so, I didn't feel as close to the characters as I should have. I wasn't as invested as I could have been. This was a fast, fun, hilarious fluff read. Read for a good laugh.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild (?)
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

One Of The Guys by Lisa Aldin

**An ARC of this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.**
Tomboy to the core, Toni Valentine understands guys. She'll take horror movies, monster hunts and burping contests over manicures. So Toni is horrified when she's sent to the Winston Academy for Girls, where she has to wear a skirt and learn to be a lady while the guys move on without her.

Then Toni meets Emma Elizabeth, a girl at school with boy troubles, and she volunteers one of her friends as a pretend date. Word spreads of Toni’s connections with boys, and she discovers that her new wealthy female classmates will pay big money for fake dates. Looking for a way to connect her old best friends with her new life at school, Toni and Emma start up Toni Valentine’s Rent-A-Gent Service. 

But the business meets a scandal when Toni falls for one of her friends--the same guy who happens to be the most sought-after date. With everything she's built on the line, Toni has to decide if she wants to save the business and her old life, or let go of being one of the guys for a chance at love.

My Thoughts:
This started out really slow. So Toni is supposed to be 17, right? This is the summer before her senior year of high school. But she still dresses like a boy, in basketball shorts and baggy T-shirts, belches like a man and doesn't show any real interest in boys romantically, even though she's straight. I get the the Tom-boy, thing. I was one. But I grew out of it when I was, like, 12. As most girls do. The way Toni acts and tries to hold on to the past and still insists on acting like a boy made me think there might be something wrong with her. And the mooning thing? What 17-year-old girl, Tom-boy or not, would come up with the idea to moon anyone and who would do it on foot? The way to moon someone is to roll down the car window and drive by so you have a quick getaway and it's harder to identify the moon-er. I didn't get it.

So it wasn't until, about 70 pages in, Toni recruits her guy friends to go on fake dates that I finally became interested in the book. After that point, I actually really liked the book.

The writing wasn't stellar, but it was readable. There were a lot of typos and grammar things that pulled me out of the story and a few too many, "Why do I have these feelings about my friend?" moments. But, overall, I wanted to read. I wanted to know what would happen and I enjoyed it.

And once you learn Toni's backstory you realize that there was, in fact, a legitimate emotional reason for Toni wanting to hold onto the past; There was something wrong with her. Emotionally.

There's not much to say about this book. It was a cute fluff read. That's all.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate

Deadly Little Sins (Prep School Confidential #3) by Kara Taylor

It’s August and Anne is back in New York City for the summer, but she can’t escape the memories of the terrible things that happened at the Wheatley School last spring— and the possibility of being expelled looming over her. When an unexpected— and suspicious— turn of events gets Anne sent back to Wheatley, she’s determined to figure out what happened to her favorite teacher and only adult ally at the school: Ms. Cross.

After a shocking, gruesome murder with connections to the Wheatley School occurs, Anne is convinced there’s more to Ms. Cross’s sudden disappearance, and that her favorite teacher is in danger. But after an ugly breakup with Brent and a new, inexplicable distance between her and Anthony, Anne isn’t sure who she can trust. And even worse, someone at Wheatley knows the truth about what happened to Ms. Cross— someone who will stop at nothing to keep Anne from learning the truth in this engrossing, unputdownable read.

My Thoughts:
Meh. if you've read the first two books in the series then I always think it's nice to continue on but otherwise there's no real reason to read this book.

The first two books were so cute. Not only was there some kind of who-done-it mystery and some major sleuthing, but there was a lot going on with friends and family and school. Anne and her group followed multiple storylines and it was interesting. This book was basically only about the mystery. I got a little bored of just reading about new clues and developing leads, without any personal stories about Anne and her friends. It was almost like Anne just wanted to not have friends anymore, the way she ignored and bailed on everyone. In fact, I don't understand why these kids were her friends at all; She wasn't all that nice to anyone, used them to help her access information and lied to everyone. A couple of times a person would randomly choose to give her some kind of critical information or a tip of some sort without her giving any compensation, or even asking. It didn't make sense.

The way things played out with Anthony was abrupt. And annoying. I felt like he deserved better than that. Shoot, I wanted better than that. The Brent storyline boring, sporadic, expected and lame. The climactic scene and ending was the same way. I just wasn't invested in this story like I was the first two; There wasn't enough connection with Anne or any of the other characters.

And then there was the matter of So Many Characters being introduced then forgotten about. I was getting really confused trying to keep all the names straight. And Anne started using a whole lot of really cliched, cheesy sleuthing terminology. I mean, it was everywhere. Once in a while in a silly little gum shoe mystery book, the corny PI terms could be cute. But it was way overplayed.

The way this ended felt like it was leading up to another series, which could be fun. If the next books are more like the first two books and not this third one. I was disappointed.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Moderate
Violence: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate

Carter's Unfocused One-Track Mind by Brent Crawford

After an eventful freshman year and disastrous summer, fifteen-year-old Will Carter returns to Merrian High none the wiser. His sophomore year will present a host of new problems: the return of Scary Terry from juvie, the pregnant presence of Amber Lee, friends-with-benefits negotiations with Abby, prom night expectations, and the ever-constant harassment from his boys. When Abby announces that she might be transferring to a New York arts school, Carter's world is turned upside down and he'll be forced to make the biggest decision of his life. In his signature voice, author Brent Crawford details young Will Carter's high school struggles, this time focusing on Carter's discovery of his true passion and the sacrifices he'll need to make.

My Thoughts:
I really love some things about this series:

Carter's voice is so real. He's an average teenage boy who thinks about normal things in normal teenage boy ways. I say "normal teenage boy" ways because he absolutely thinks like a boy. Not a girl. Some reviewers (women) complained about how crass and gross and inappropriate some of the stuff in this book was, to which I reply, "It's about a teenage boy. Have you never met a teenage boy?" So, to be clear, there are a lot of references to sex and fighting scenes and boys doing really stupid stuff. But it's so accurate. Teenage boys really are just like that. Crawford honestly and accurately and beautifully captures the essence of average teenage boyhood and writes his character so perfectly that I want every girl in the world to read this just to understand how teenage boys think. Seriously, ladies. Go read it.

Crawford manages to work in some really poignant morals and epiphanies. Carter is always discovering things about himself or about those around him and there are these "Ah-hah!" moments that people sometimes gloss over in real life, if that makes sense. Carter reacts to things like a normal person would but reading about them in this context just makes things so much more clear. 

The characters are so fun and lovable. I really just love all these characters and I want to know what happens to them. And they're all layered. I don't think there was one flat character in the whole series. Love that.

Humor. I seriously laughed out loud reading this. Not as much as I laughed during the first book but it was definitely funny. I love Crawford's humor. I wish I could say more about how funny it was... other than, "It was really funny!" But that about sums it up.

So, there's a lot to love here. The whole series is entertaining and teaches some good things without ever being preachy or lame. This last book didn't feel as strong as the first but I still loved it. And I think everyone should read it: Boys to feel completely related to, and girls (and women) to understand how boys think. 

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Moderate (although most "language" is fake curse words, so there's really not much)
Violence: Heavy (lots of boys fighting)
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate

The Secrets of Attraction by Robin Constantine

Madison Pryce thinks she's got everything figured out—she's working on a portfolio for a summer art program and hanging with her friends. Plus she has her hot boyfriend, Zach. But then a visit from a family friend turns Maddie's life upside down.

Jesse McMann is still reeling from a breakup that shattered his heart and his band. Then pride (and some goading from his bass player and fellow barista) forces him to find a new drummer—and the inspiration to write music again.

Kismet arrives in the unlikely form of Grayson Barrett, who tries out for Jesse's band, and whose girlfriend is BFFs with the cute girl who orders a chai latte after yoga every Thursday: Maddie. What Jesse and Maddie thought they knew about the secrets of attraction and the rules of romance changes once they start falling for each other.

My Thoughts:
**An ARC of this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.**

This was extremely middle-of-the-road for me. It was about a boy. And a girl. Both of whom had semi-serious relationships before they met each other and weren't initially attracted to each other. Stories like that are fun but I've definitely read it before. Also the boy, Jesse, was in a band and played guitar and sang. Again, fun but not a new theme for a YA novel. The girl, Madison, was all into artsy stuff and had major goals for her life. Great and all, but seen it already.

There was just nothing in here to set it apart from any other contemporary YA romance. Maybe the plotline with Madison's mom was a bit unique, sure, but it was minor. It wasn't enough of the story to make the book different.

The writing was fine; I wasn't really pulled out of the story because of some flow/grammar/writing issue. I wanted to keep reading and actually read it in about a day, so that was something. The writing wasn't particularly memorable, though. Actually, you know what, now that I think about it there were times when Madison would think/do/say something that would be way too feelings-y or repetitive. It was annoying. Especially when she would repeat the same thoughts over and over in different places. That was the only really irritating issue with the writing.

Ok, one more thing bugged: There was a lot left open-ended when the book was finished. I know that's kind of like life and all but in a novel (unless it's a series) I like for things to be very spelled-out for me in the end. I don't want to have to imagine what happened to these characters, what choices they made, where they ended up. I could do that. But I shouldn't have to. These are not my characters, not my world and I want to know what happened to them. That's all.

And the cover is terrible. It's one of those book covers that I would never carry around in public. I'm a little embarrassed to have read this book because of the cover.

So all in all this book gets a solid "meh". If I could shoulder-shrug on here, that would about sum up my feelings about The Secrets of Attraction: It's fine for a fluffy feel-good romancey read. Not good for much else.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild (if any)
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild-Moderate (honestly don't remember--must not have been much)

Paper Towns by John Green

Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

My Thoughts:
I usually leave a John Green novel feeling like I'd like to be friends with all the characters. They're all normal but funny and quirky and have interesting conversations. These kids were kind of the same. Except I didn't think we could be friends. 

For one thing, Margo was a completely self-centered, self-righteous, self-important, selfish little girl whom I wanted to leave town and never return. What kind of person runs away but leaves convoluted clues telling her neighbor-boy--who she largely ignored for about 10 years--where to find her? Why all the clues and mystery? If she just would have told Q, the neighbor-boy, where she went, or maybe called him or something, I would have found that a lot more believable. And likable. As it was, I hated how she expected this boy that she hardly knew to drop everything and make her the focus of his life. And she was just mean to everyone in general. Infuriating. Why was Quentin so obsessed with her?

And then Quentin. Seriously, why was he so obsessed with Margo? She ignored him completely. They were childhood friends, then they weren't. And still Q obsessed. I don't get it. Other than that I thought he was okay. But his obsession is kind of the krux of the book. Q's friends, Ben and Radar, were fun and entertaining. Lacey seemed like a random addition to the cast of characters, as a kind of after-the-fact "we need a girl in this novel" thing.

I did love all of Quentin's discoveries. He discovered a lot about himself and those around him and some of it was kind of profound. And the thing about the discoveries was that they were real and natural but they're things you don't usually think about. Typical John Green. I love that. There were a lot of random facts in here, as is also typical of John Green aka Mental Floss guy, which was fun and educational. 

Most of this book was set in Orlando. And it was written by a person who actually lived in Orlando. I'm kind of a sucker for books written about my hometown. Especially when the author actually knows about Orlando as a local, as opposed to an I-went-there-once-for-vacation person.

The writing, as always, was lovely. I wanted to keep reading. I wanted to see what would happen. I was entertained and engaged. I just didn't love the characters like I usually love John Green's characters. That's all.

Sexual Content: Moderate (talk but no real scenes)
Language: Moderate
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate