Book Review: {Peaches}

Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Synopsis: Peaches, a young adult novel written by Jodi Anderson, is a refreshing new story about friendship, relationships, hard work, and loss. Three girls who have nothing in common find themselves stuck together for the summer, working on a peach orchard in the hot Georgia sun. Birdie, whose whole world is turning upside down, finds herself pining for a boy named Enrico almost as much as she pines for girl scout cookies. Leeda, Birdie's cousin, is at the orchard in order to avoid her family and spent more time with her boyfriend, Rex. Murphy is a rebel, sentenced to work in the orchard, who is also enjoying Rex' company. When these girls' worlds collide, interesting antics ensue and the girls learn the true meaning of friendship.

My review: This book was slow to start, but I found that these girls were genuine - they had both virtues and flaws, making them very realistic. They each make mistakes, learning and growing. There's a bit of romance along the way, but the story really focuses on the tests of friendship and the growth of the girls. It's a wonderful book for teens, and a nice, light beach read.

My rating: 3/5

xoxo

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Book Review: Twenty Boy Summer

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Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Anna Reiley is getting out of town with her best friend forever, Frankie Perino, for a twenty-day-long trip to sunny California. Frankie thinks that the trip to Zanzibar Bay will make it the "Absolute Best Summer Ever" (A.B.S.E. for short). According to Frankie, if they meet at least one new guy a day, it is likely that she will find her first summer romance. Even though Anna agrees to the game, there is a secret Anna's been keeping from Frankie: she has already had her summer romance. A year ago, with Frankie's brother, Matt, right before he died last summer.

My review: For starters, let me just say that the cover art is absolutely perfect. It's rare that the cover fits so perfectly with the content of the book. Moving on, the beginning of the book totally grabbed me by the heart, and then broke it (my heart, that is). It really gets you involved, right from the beginning, making you feel like a part of the story. When the pace began to slow, I will still so emotionally invested in what was going to happen to Anna and Frankie that I had to get through the book. Anna's emotions and thoughts/memories about Matt were sad but made it so easy to relate to her. While the story was filled with sadness, there was also rebirth: a new beginning in California, meeting new boys, etc. It was hard to Anna to stomach at first but even after everything, I did not walk away from this book feeling sad. I felt hopeful, and that is something that I rather like in a book.

My rating: 4/5

xoxo

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

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The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Synopsis: The story begins many years after the zombie apocalypse; we meet a young girl named Mary, who lives in a small village. There, she has a few simple truths: The Sisterhood is not to be questioned; they know what is best. The guardians are there to protect the village. And the unconsecrated will always be there, lurking just outside the gates surrounding the town. Always searching for their next victim. But then all of Mary's truths are failing: she finds herself questioning the Sisterhood, which has more secrets than it should. Then the fence is breached, and Mary's entire world changes. She and her lifelong friends must enter the Forest of Hands and Teeth that has always been home to the unconsecrated. Could there be other life in a place with so much death?

My review: I really wanted to like this book, I really did. But I couldn't. I couldn't connect with the main character at all, which was my main problem. She was willing to throw aside family, her friends, her village, the love of her life... to see the ocean. To see if the stories her mom told her about the olden days (read: our present) before the "unconsecrated" were true or not, and she was willing to throw everything away to have a glimpse at a body of water. Unfathomable.
I felt as though this book was split into two parts: the first part was great. The part in which Mary lives in the village, where she falls in love with Travis, and loses her mother to the unconsecrated outside of the village gates. Travis's brother, Harry, intends to marry Mary, but after her mother turns into a zombie, he turns his back on her. She is forced to join the Sisterhood, a very religious group of women that controls the lives of all of the people living in the village.
In the second part, which I greatly disliked: Mary, Travis, Harry, and her friend Cass all head into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, trying to find a way to the ocean. This half was suppose to be more action-packed, but I found the first half of the book far more interesting. In the second half, Mary seems to forget about the Sisterhood's secrets that haunted her throughout the first half. I would have much rather heard about what happened with the Sisterhood than hear that Mary killed a bunch of random zombies.

My rating: 2/5, Only because the first half of the book was so interesting!

xoxo,

Caryn Elizabeth

Book Review: The Pledge

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Synopsis: In a country called Ludania, language is the dividing factor of the classes. Someone in a lower class cannot look upon a member of a higher class while they are speaking in their own language, is punishable by death. This is where our protagonist, 17-year-old Charlaina "Charlie," who has a secret: she has the ability to comprehend the languages of all the classes. But then she meets a mysterious boy, named Max, who can speak a language that she has never heard before, and she almost exposes her secret. As she is drawn to Max, she becomes aware that she doesn't truly trust him, nor does she know where his loyalties lie. When things in her violent country grow worse, and more  information comes to light, we learn that Charlie may be the key to change in a country with a powerful, and deadly, regime. 

My review: This book was a fast read, but I was hooked so I really didn't put it down for a whole day! I found it easy to relate to Charlie, the main character, but I could see some people having issues relating to her. As a lover of languages, I was hoping to get a peek of some of the fictional languages described in the book (with translations!) but it was all written in "Englais," our English. However, I could see how adding the other languages could be unnecessary and make the book a tad lengthy. The plot was a bit slow to start, but it gave us time to get to know a bit about each character first, which I enjoyed. The best part of this book, though, was that we readers got an ending of sorts, despite the fact that it is a book in a series. NO CLIFFHANGER! It was actually kind of wonderful. All in all, this was a good read. 

My rating: 4/5

xoxo