Dan & Blair

  Da, gledala sam novu epizodu Gossip Girl i, da, navijam za Dana i Blair (još od prve sezone). i šta mislite - hoće li ovo potrajati? Ja se nadam da hoće!:)

xoxo,
glass!

Citat sedmice

Broken - Megan Hart

There are many things I don't know, but quite a few I do. I know you can't be lost if you know where you are. I know that life is full of precious and fragile things, and not all of them are pretty. I know that the sun follows the moon and makes days, one after another. Time passes. The world turns, and we turn with it, and though we can never go back to the beginning, sometimes, we can start again.

Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly

   You know how sometimes you start to obsess over new girl you've just met - you like her hair or clothes, playlist on iPod, way she thinks, how is seems that you two are on the same page... Yeah, I'm talking about girl crush! I have, so far, the biggest girl crush ever. On Tara Kelly! She took my breath away - cheesy, I know, but I can't help it.

   I thought that Amplified was awesome, but Harmonic Feedback is even better. So, what it's about? For starters, Tara Kelly (again) writes from her personal experience. This is a story about girl named Drea and her struggle to fit in definition of being normal. She was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and no one had ever let her to forget about that. When she's forced to move in with her grandmother due to the money problems, it looked like her life had gone from bad to worse. Or maybe not? There's this weird girl with purple hair Naomi who likes Drea's honesty and music, and new guy Justin who, for some reason, follows them around. Yeah, and he plays piano. And Drea can't stop thinking about kissing him. And her grandmother is pain in the ass. (Pardon my French!)

   Before you start to read this book, you have to know that it's completely different from Amplified. Topic is - how could I say to make it sound right... Harder? Deeper? More serious? It doesn't really matter because if you love the way this woman writes, you'll enjoy reading Harmonic Feedback. I was laughing and crying and this morning I woke up with massive headache because I only had four hours of sleep. I couldn't put the book down - I even reread some pages. 

   For the end, I want to share with you one of my favourite quotes. I think it sums up whole point of this book.

   

  Normal is an ideal. But it’s not reality. Reality is brutal, it’s beautiful, it’s every shade between black and white, and it’s magical. Yes, magical. Because every now and then, it turns nothing into something.
  

   Until next reading, 

  

Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine

   Lately, my top choice when it comes to the books are those with stories about music and people who love  music. But this one wasn't of that kind. I wanted to read something else, but title caught my attention - I remembered that one of my Goodreads friends had read this book and she liked it. I opened it just to read first few sentences (something I do when I'm not sure what to read next), and before I knew it, my Kindle shown me that I was on 80% of the book.

   Sophie and Carter are high school seniors, next door neighbours and friends. This last part is something their school colleagues do not know. Why? Because they like it that way. Because, when they are back at home, they are not the persons that everyone thinks they are. Sophie's taking care of her three younger sibilings and Carter is living with mentally ill mother and memories of abusive father. Now that high school is coming to the end, two of them will have to make some serious choices.

   The story is told from two points of view - Carter's and Sophie's.  Even the writing changes in every chapter - as if Chelsea Fine is trying to make them more believable trough the way they "talk". It reminded me a little bit on Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma (there's no incest here, but it's all about atmosphere and writing style) and Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie (the storyline - two kids out of system taking care of themselves).

   If you're interested in books that will make think about them days after you finish with reading, Sophie & Carter is really good book to pick up.

  Until next reading,

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Book description:

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.
As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.
And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul.

My review:

   I've decided to read this book because of a friend - and I'm happy I did it.

   I've read some interesting reviews about Falling Under and there's one thing I must agree with - it makes you like it and hate it at the same time. But, obviously, like part is stronger in my case. The most annoying thing about it for me was language - luckily, this book isn't translated on my native language - I would hate it because of it. Somehow on English it doesn't sound that lame. It's a bit too much, but it goes with dark fantasy and gothic elements of the story.

   Gothic part is the main reason why I loved it. It's scary and beautiful, and on moments it reminds me of my favourite fairy tale - Beauty and the Beast. I think it would be an awesome anime, so Hayao Miyazaki, please! Something like Spirited Away but with prettier characters!

   Second book, Dreaming Awake, was published earlier this year.

 Rating: 4/5

Amplified by Tara Kelly

Book description:

When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . .

My review:

 
    I already know what will be the biggest "don't like" for some of the readers - ending of this novel. But that's just what was turning point in my decision to give Amplified five stars instead of four. Author didn't give in to the temptation of the usual happy endings - girl gets the boy, daddy and mommy are my biggest fans after all and so on... And this girl knows how to use the words and not make them pathetic and cheesy.
    I have to admit that I didn't completely understand all those music terminology - I googled a little bit about it and Tara's "background" - she is writing from her personal experience which is in my opinion one of the best quality in my favourite author. Yes, she goes on my fave list!:)
    One more thing - as soon as I read word Placebo and Meds, I knew she would me my kind of a girl!
    If you want to learn more about author or her books, visit her web page thetaratracks.com or the Amplified Official Book Website amplifiedthebook.com.
    I can't wait to read Harmonic Feedback and everything she'll write in the future.

   My rating: 5/5

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Book description: 

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...

   I was afraid to read Shut Out because friend of mine was disappointed after reading it. But I'm happy that I read it - it was refreshing novel in the flood of young adult fiction. I recommend this book to all teen girls, and to some girls over twenties, who have some issues with sex and what is expected of them when it comes to it. Ending is the only thing that I was... how to put it...sarcastic, maybe? I know you writers want to make us satisfied, so, obviously, you give us happy endings. But in the real life, things don't end that way. Girl who sleeps with more boys than it's by some twisted social standards acceptable is still a slut, and guy doing the same thing is the man. But most unnerving thing is this - girls are the biggest enemies to each other - they are first to call someone slut or whore or easy. They hide the truth about their sex lives, they are feeding all those double standards instead to fight them.
   
   So, my dear girls all around the world, stop acting like f***ing prudes! We all love sex! We are all doing it! Next time, don't stand on sidelines and let someone judge a girl you know because she sleeps with her boyfried (it's normal! What? Like you are just going to stare into each other eyes for a whole year? Get serious, please!)

My rating: 5/5

Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie

Book description:

Life sucks for orphans Callum Tate and Harper Bailey.

Kicked out of their foster homes because they suffer the 'eighteen disease' with nothing but a hundred dollar check from the government and a pat on the back, they're forced to rely on a system that failed them miserably.

So they sit. They sit inside Social Services, waiting for their social workers to call their names and offer them the miracle they know will never come but they sit anyway because they have nowhere else to go, no other options on their very literal and figurative empty plates.

But as they sit, they notice the other. Although captivated, they each come to the conclusion that life is complicated enough without throwing in a boiling tension that can't ever be acted upon because they're both too busy thinking about where their next meal will come from but when their names are called and both are placed on a year long waiting list for permanent housing, suddenly relying on each other seems like a very viable plan B.

And, oh, how lovely Plan B's can be.

Well, except for the psycho from Harper's past that haunts her and, oh, yeah, there's the little issue that neither of them knows they're in love with the other.

Needless to say, Callum & Harper's life just got a bit more complicated.

   So... I expected one of those "hard" readings that leaves you with bitterness, broken heart, tears in the eyes and healthy dose of the angst against the system. But, no. This is not that book. Callum and Harper is "true American fairy tale" - it's a sweet, naive story, you might even enjoy it. (Young girls will love it for sure!)Author has a talent when it comes to the art of written word, she knows how to crate the atmosphere and subtly express emotions. Only thing she needs to learn is that sometimes less is more, and "all is peachy in the peachyland no matter the fact that by all the logic in the world we should be totally screwed up" isn't always the wright approach to the subject.

I would, maybe, give this book four stars, but ending made me change my mind - all that stuff with praying and miracles was way over the top. As I said - less is more. I do hope that her next book will be better - she is talented writer.


My rating: 3 stars