Category: YA Book Reviews

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Zac and Mia

Posted on by Little Bee

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My rating: 3.8 Stars out of 5. Goodreads rating: 4 stars

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. The following is an honest review that I was in no way compensated to give 

First, I should say, this if I could rate this more than a 3.5 but less than a 4 on Goodreads, I would.

When I first entered this giveaway, I was excited to find out that I won. Once I received the book and started to read it, I found that i constantly had to remind myself that this book is not John Greene’s The Fault In Our Stars. If you plan on reading this and you liked The Fault in Our Stars, Zac and Mia is WAY different. If you go in thinking it might be just as great, you might be disappointed.

Zac was an enjoyable character. He was funny, and your almost typical 17 year old male. He was a smart ass and was obsessed with success rates. Cancer success rates that is. Zac has lukemea, with a very low success rate. In the 50s. If he is lucky. At the beginning of this story, Zac is in the hospital after having just received a marrow transplant. Chemo didn’t work, and this transplant has a “hit or miss.” Zac was always the strong one. For his family, for himself, and eventually, for Mia.

Mia was atrocious. I am not trying to be insensitive. I do understand why she was upset, having osteocarcoma and ultimately having part of her leg removed…I get that she would be upset. Mia was very shallow, and instead of doing what the doctors told her, she RAN AWAY….because running away from our problems means they won’t ever catch up right? Page after page of “woe is me” is too much. Especially when you have Zac, who had to have a marrow transplant that MAY NOT work and he is not crying or sniveling or stealing from family to run away. I think Betts could have spent a little more time on Mia. I couldn’t stand Mia until part 3 when she finally got it together.

Zac was strong. He just tried living what he had left of life to live. He never gave up on Mia, even when she gave up on herself. This story is about more than cancer and friendship. It’s about growth and strength.

I feel this story took too long to get to the point. I liked it was told from the points of view of both Zac and Mia, but I found myself more engrossed in Zac’s narratives. This book did bring tears to my eyes. Even though it took me a while to read and truck through, part 3 was worth reading and bumped my overall rating.

This book was far from The Fault in Our Stars, but then again, it’s not supposed to be the same is it? Just keep an open mind.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Susan Ee is a GENIUS.

Posted on by Little Bee

AngelfallWorld After

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Both books

I have heard so many good things about Angelfall. It was constantly being recommended for me to read, so I finally obtained a copy and read it. In one day.

Every now and then, I am truly captivated by what I read. I mean OBSESSIVELY captivated. I am trying to find where to even start with this review. It was so good, I have no words other than to tell you to read it. Immediately.

This story is not just your typical angel romance…in fact…I can’t even say there is any romance in there…well maybe a smidgen of lust ;). I LOVED Penryn’s character. She was strong. She is a survivor in every meaning of the term. And..I LOVE Raffe, who is actually the archangel Raphael. He is arrogant. He is an asshole. But he is an observer. He cages his feelings and emotions to protect those around him. I loved watching Raffe and Penryn grow close. Watching Raffe learn that not all humans (“monkeys”) were bad. Penryn has such a loyalty. Even when all hope was lost, and most of us would just give up, she kept going. Kept moving, kept pushing. Learning to trust the angel that came and helped destroy the world as we know it.

The only downfall is that these books are released every other year, with book 3 being released May 2015. I HATE waiting…so, if you are wanting to read this series, I would keep that in mind.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this series. The subject matter touched on paranormal, angels, a slight touch of lust, strong characters, violence, hatred, loyalty….it has everything I like in a story. They were well written, imaginative and fresh. There is no way I could write a review to give this series justice. Just take my word for it and read it. Check it out on Goodreads if you need anything else to help sway you.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

The Maze Runner

Posted on by Little Bee

Maze Runner

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This book had been suggested to me a number of times, and when I saw who was going to play Thomas in the movie, I decided that I HAD to read it. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. I am confused how people relate this book to The Hunger Games. As far as that goes, I just can’t see it. Not all dystopian novels are like The Hunger Games. That said, majority of this book, I found myself extremely confused. I figured it was the point to be confused, because we learned what was going on as Thomas did. Upon finishing the book, I figure the ending was faked, but I am still confused.

Will I continue on? Sure…eventually. This series is not at the top of my list to finish, but at least I have read the book prior to the movie’s release.  Some of the issues I had with this book was that NO one seemed to know what was going on. You would think they would have been issued SOME guidance somewhere? I understand, ultimately, why they didn’t have any, but still, the issue became redundant. There were multiple times I wondered how in the hell James Dashner got so many books into this series? Another thing I had an issue with is The Changing. I am still not sure what it is. Or why the kids went through it when they got stung. And why they went crazy? I still do not understand the purpose. Finally, my other big issue, the terminology. I am all for when authors create new worlds, or what they believe the world is going to be like at “The End,” but “shuck” and “shuckface” and the like are a bit much I think. I still don’t exactly know what a Shank is and why they apply a Shank to someone new. I can understand “greenie” because that is what we call people new at something…I have heard “they are still green” etc in normal language.

I have a feeling I will enjoy this movie more than I enjoyed the book. That doesn’t happen very often…I do think the author was creative, and this is a new concept, which is commendable. I just really, as I stated before, felt a lot of it was redundant and it felt like a college paper with extra filler to lengthen it up.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Beastly

Posted on by Little Bee

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Rating 3.5/4 out of 5 stars

Sometimes I feel like I give away 4 and 5 stars too easily, and that people won’t take my reviews seriously (ha) if I mark every book a 4-5 star book. I don’t think I do, but sometimes I feel like I give them away too easily. Here are a few factors in which I am more likely to give a higher rating: how quick do I read the book? when I am not reading it, do I think about it? Are the characters ones that I can fall in love with/relate to/want to love/want to hate/personable/flawed? Level of creativity? Something that has been done over and over again? Etc. These are very important aspects to me.

Recently, I feel like I have been reading more fairy tale re-tellings. Some of which have hit the mark and made me excited and feel good, while others have just failed miserably leaving me needing more. Beastly made me feel good. It is your typical Beauty and the Beast story, beautiful, cocky arrogant boy, is mean and hateful to everyone, pisses off the wrong girl one day, a girl who also happens to be a witch, puts spell on boy and turns him into a beast with the stipulation that should he fall in love and receive true love’s kiss, then spell would be broken. Beastly stuck pretty close to the original origins of the story, but modernized it and relocated the story to good old New York City (where seeing beastly sights is not unheard of). Beastly keeps to the original message, but keeps it relatable.  I think at some point in time we have all met that boy just like Kyle/Adrian who thought they owned the world and could do what they want to whomever they wanted regardless of consequence because of how he looked. We know girls like that as well. And we (if you were anything like me) would always tell ourselves, one day they wouldn’t have beauty anymore. That when the wrinkles came, and the skin sag, what would they have left? I love how Alex Flinn teaches Kyle/Adrian this message. Which, without giving any spoilers, I never saw coming, even with the subtle hints in the book that now makes me think why I didn’t think harder on that prior to the end of the story.

This story made me feel good. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about reading it. Not necessarily how it would end, or what would happen next, because, if it was anything like the original tale, I knew how it would end. That didn’t spoil it for me, because the enjoyment came out of how Kyle/Adrian transformed into someone much better. How he came to appreciate life and those around him, when he no longer had a life and was forced to take a better look at what he did have, and how to appreciate it. I can appreciate how Flinn made Kyle/Adrian vulnerable (I refer to him as Kyle/Adrian because he changes his name to Adrian. He felt like Kyle was a negative name, which meant beauty, that held on to who he was previously and not who he was now, or who he was becoming.

I think Lindy carried herself rather well. If I had a father that was always looking for his next fix to the point that he willingly gave me to a monster just to get out of trouble when he got caught stealing, I don’t know if I could have or would have handled myself in the way she did. Bully for her. I was glad it was Lindy who became the true love. I guess I should have paid more attention at the beginning of the book, there was so much foreshadowing! Sure, I am not a complete dope, I knew eventually, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be her at the time, until the father broke into Kyle/Adrian’s home.

I am torn between 3.5 and 4, because, even though I read it in less than a day, and it meets all my criteria, I still feel in some ways it fell short. I still wish maybe there was some twists in the story that would differentiate it between the original story making it more creative. It was still a good book, and I hope to obtain the movie in the near future so I can compare some more.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Ketchup Clouds

Posted on by Little Bee

ketchupclouds

Rating: 3.5 stars

I listened to Ketchup Clouds via audiobook, that is not why I gave the book 3.5 stars. The audiobook was wonderfully narrated and made it enjoyable to listen to. The audiobook I would have to give 4.5 stars. Narrators can really make or break a story.

The book itself is written in the form of letters, letters that a young high school girl in London sends to a death row inmate in Texas. This young girl calls herself Zoe, and writes letters from a fake address to send to this man on death row, explaining how she too, is a murderer.

Each letter sent explains a different part of her life leading up to the death of someone she cared about, the loss of another person she cared about, and the betrayal that lead to the death. You never really know until the very end who it is that died. Or how they died. I flip flopped back and forth between a couple of people that she was close with. Trying to figure out what possibly could have happened.

That being said, I felt like it was normal ‘teenage’ stuff during the entire novel. Not a whole lot of excitement, not a whole lot of plot line. ‘Zoe’ just goes through and tells bits of information here and there, how she feels or thinks, or how she relates to the death row inmate to whom she is writing. She also writes about how she blames herself and what she thinks of each situation to which she is writing about.

I do think this is a good book on how to not blame yourself for the death of someone else. I do believe that a lot of people blame themselves for situations outside of them, thoughts of “what could I have done differently?” tend to be asked a lot. We always tend to blame ourselves when someone close to us dies, or something happens to them. Like we could have stopped it. We like to put the blame on ourselves. It is human nature.

I liked the end of the book. Some book reviews I read didn’t like the ending, and I can understand why. I think it ended how the story needed to. But, to prevent spoilers, I won’t say what happened. I think it depends on the reader, and what you like as an ending. The only kind of endings I don’t like, are ones that don’t really ‘end’ but just kind of stop, almost like the author got bored or couldn’t finish. Where it leaves you wanting more, but the book isn’t going to be a series, so there is no waiting for the next installment. It just suddenly ends, the carpet ripped right out from underneath you. For example, Eleanor and Park. That ending left me dumbfounded with a WTF look all day trying to figure out what in the world just happened. Those endings, no thank you! Same with Looking For Alaska, that wasn’t really an ending I was expecting or wanting and I was left almost not ever wanting to read another John Green novel again.

Do I suggest this book? Well, if you are all out of other reading materials, and you want to read something a bit different out on the market than the normal vampire, paranormal, and hot steamy romance, sure. Will you be disappointed? Maybe, maybe not. I didn’t go into this book with high expectations, or low ones at that, but I am still glad I read it. It was different. And I am all about trying to step out of my comfort zones in reading this year.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Darren Shan

Posted on by Little Bee

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Let’s do something different, instead of focusing on multiple books, I want to review an author that I have really grown to love and appreciate….Darren Shan.

My first encounter with Darren Shan was Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare a couple of years ago. I have since read a couple more books in this series, and each one is a little reminder of how much I really love Shan’s style of writing. Even though they are considered “YA” (and I would say YA to the max in some points), they are so beautifully written.

Shan has a variety of book series, and I find myself wanting to read them all. I recently started Zom-B. I figured hey, another “zombie” book is on the market…but…it is Shan, so I felt more inclination to read it. This particular book is absolutely amazing in it’s own right. Shan pushes the boundaries. This book is so much more than zombies, but beyond that. It incorporates intolerance, racism, and how by not standing up for something unjust is just as bad as the intolerance itself. Sure, it still has zombies, but it is so much more than that.

I believe that the messages Shan includes in his stories are so much deeper, that you almost don’t realize they are there (except for Zom-B). I believe that is what makes YA so amazing of a genre. Sometimes, young adults do not get to see positive influences. Hatred and intolerance is a learned pattern. I believe that Zom-B is one of those books that really could help a reader who may be in an abusive home, where a parent is full of intolerance and hate, yet they do not feel the same as their parent. B loves her father, yet hates him at the same time, who plays into the hatred just to stay on her father’s good side to deflect abuse. All of his book has some message, mixed in with the fantasy, humor, and, often times, gore to really captivate the reader.

I recently found another book by Darren Shan, The Thin Executioner, and I am pretty stoked at reading it. Series by Shan tend to be a couple hundred pages a book. The Thin Executioner appears to be a full on novel. With his series, each book tends to be left with a cliffhanger (bah!).

If you want to try something new, that you might not have given the chance before, I would suggest any of Shan’s books. I haven’t read all of his series, but it is my goal. I enjoy his writing enough to say that he can’t write anything bad!

Posted in YA Book Reviews

A Monster Calls

Posted on by Little Bee

A monster calls

5 out of 5 stars. Seriously.

I don’t have a single negative thing I can say about this book. It was beautifully written. Surprisingly unexpected in the best way possible. I refuse to give a summary, because it gives away the beauty of the unexpected.

I will say this, it has been a long time since anything (book, person, event) has pulled out that kind of emotional output from me. I have read quite a few books lately that has really tugged my heart strings, but this book didn’t just tug. It yanked and broke my heart strings, ripping my heart right out from my chest. And I would read it again. And Again. And again.

This book deals with the topic of letting go and understanding in a way I have never experienced. There are moments in my life that I wish I had this particular story to help me through things. I am glad I finally checked it off of my to-read list. This is a book you definitely should buy. Not borrow, not buy the e-book, but the actual book. It is one of those books that needs shared and re-read often.

Who knew we could gather such strength and understanding from our own monsters?

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Everything tastes better smootherd and covered…right?

Posted on by Little Bee

Butter

3.5 out of 5 stars

As I stuffed my face with a bunch of crap this weekend, I started Butter by Erin Jade Lange. Oddly enough, the book opened with Butter, sitting on the couch, watching a news report about how airlines were going to charge obese individuals for two seats starting January 1st. As Butter watches this program with disdain, he looks at the coffee table full junk. And I mean…FULL of junk. His pre-dinner snack. So as I guiltily shove another piece of chocolate into my mouth, I quickly lose my appetite and read on.

I am going to be completely honest. (Though, I always try to be as honest as possible..sometimes brutally so). I am not huge. I am not skinny. I am not perfect. I talk down to myself… constantly. I put myself down constantly. I am my own worst enemy. My own worst critic. I degrade myself anytime I eat something I shouldn’t. Even if it is in moderation. Even if I count it towards a set amount of calories I may or may not be recording for that day. I look in my mirror and tell myself how disgusting I am. How I am not good enough. How I am not pretty enough because I am not a size 0-6. (Though, I don’t want to be that size.) But it hurts that that is the “size of beauty” in this day and age. It is disgusting. And I know, with 100% certainty, I am not the only person to do this, think this or say this.

Why? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Is there really a reason? Sure there are about a million reasons. It is what people say around us, or to us, in the pivotal moments in our young, adult life, when our bodies are changing, that shape our thoughts. And those thoughts, those moments, are hard to overlook, are hard to put out of our minds because they literally shape the person we become later in life.

Butter, was a miserable, self hating, 432 pound, 16 year old boy who drowned all his problems, thoughts, stresses, happiness and every emotion in between, with food. His mother was no help, constantly cooking and shoving more food into his face. His dad was no help, allowing Butter’s mom to go about ‘allowing’ Butter to get that big, yet his dad would not even talk to him. Seriously. His dad acted and reacted in a disgusting manner and instead of reaching out to Butter, shunned him. Rejected him.

Butter sat alone at school during lunch. He had to sit on a bench instead of normal lunch chairs because he was too big. He had to have special desks in all of his classes because he could not fit in the normal desks. He hated himself. One day, upon seeing a list of “Most Likely to…” online about his classmates, he discovered he was most likely to die of a heart attack. Many people who didn’t know Butter made comments on his “Most Likely To..” and someone even posted a candid shot of him eating during lunch. Butter decided, no one who didn’t know him was allowed to post negative and hateful things about him on the internet except him. He created a website called ButtersLastMeal.com where he stated on New Years Eve at Midnight, he was going to eat himself to death. Live.

The next day, he became one of the most popular kids in school. The book from there on was him trying to make peace with those in his life he would be leaving, the back and forth of him getting mad at his new ‘friends’ for being so supportive that he WANTED TO KILL HIMSELF, to reminding himself that the only reason people were talking to him and including him in was BECAUSE he was going to kill himself. LIVE.

I was appalled throughout this book. I was so ashamed for each and every one of those supportive assholes. I was pissed at Butter. I was pissed at his parents. I was pissed. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!? I was never a bully. I was always the person who stuck up for the kid being picked on. Always. I might not always be the nicest person, I might not always be the happiest person. But one thing I cannot tolerate is hatred. I remember only ever saying one disgustingly hateful thing in my life, and it was because I didn’t know any better. And that is what breaks my heart most about this book.

These kids SHOULD have known better. But no one cared. No one cared enough to TELL someone. In fact, they would post comments on Butter’s website about what his last meals should include. Egging him on EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. of the way.

Out of meanness, I wanted Butter to die. Because, that would make for a “WTF” face at the end of the book. So I prepared myself for his death. I am not saying he died, and I am not saying he didn’t. But I wanted to prepare myself no matter the outcome. Then I thought, maybe he would disappear, fake his death on the internet live, and then just disappear. There were talks about some Institute that helps heavier kids. In a state far away from Arizona. I prepared myself for every single thing that could have happened. So if you read this book, I suggest you do the same.

I shed some tears. But mostly, I was just angry and appalled and ashamed for humanity. For cycles of viciousness that should have been broken long ago. It is these moments in our lives, that shape who we are now. I don’t think I would have been as hard on myself, if it wasn’t for all the times I had food ripped out of my hands or told I needed to lose weight when I was an okay size. Still to this day, I hear it. I had to put up with it from my ex. True story: I lost 20 pounds while he was on a short deployment during Hurricane Isaac. 20 pounds. TWENTY. I figured he would have a look of wow! on his face when he came home. Do you know what I got? “Keep going, you still have more to lose to get to your goal.” That is what I got. So, to everyone who is a dick to someone because they aren’t like you. Fuck you. You should be ashamed of yourself. We aren’t supposed to look the same. It doesn’t mean we suddenly become less of a person. How boring would life be if we were all the same everything?

The important things is this. Be happy. Love yourself. I have been trying to do this, love myself. Getting through all the years of hating myself is hard. But, I want to be happy. Sure, I want to be healthy. But I am not going to not do something if it will make me happy. So I will eat chocolate when I want to. I will eat crap food when I feel like it. I will live my life. For me. Why should I live for anyone else? Why should you? Why should Butter?

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Living is more than just surviving and making it through the storm…relax and enjoy the waves.

Posted on by Little Bee

The F-It List

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads. I am trying to decide if it is 4.5 stars, or 3.5 stars, or somewhere in between. Either way, I highly encourage this book.

I want to start out first by mentioning, The Fault in Our Stars, By Johne Greene. I do not want to compare, because they are totally different, but at the same time, they are the exact same. I do not care what any other review says regarding they are not anything alike. Because I call Bullshit on that! Having that said, the difference is simple, yet, they are the same things. Confused?

In The Fault in Our Stars, Greene writes an intricate tale of two teens suffering from cancer, who meet in a support group for other teens with cancer, and who learn to love when tomorrow may never come. In The F-It List, it is from the perspective of Alex, Becca’s best friend. Becca finds out she as cancer, Becca has been creating a list since she was 9 years old of things she wanted to do before she died. Becca wanted Alex to complete items off this list so Becca could live vicariously through Alex.  Alex, did not want to think this way, about Becca dying, especially after her dad died right before summer break. Becca convinces Alex that its more of a list to help Becca feel more alive.

“All the more reason to do a bucket list. We have no idea how much time any of us have left, and what if we don’t get to do all of the things we dreamed we’d do?”

“We should never have any regrets, not when we’re dying and not when we’re alive. Like Ke$ha so wisely puts it, ‘Let’s make the most of the night like we’re gonna die young.'”

Such wise words for a 17 year old who has to put her life into perspective much sooner than most 17 year old high school seniors do. The book primarily focuses on Alex. Unlike The Fault in Our Stars, The F-It List focuses on those individuals who are forced to watch someone they love suffer with a disease they can do nothing about. I think this is where Greene lacked slightly. I think BOTH perspectives are super important. More than one person suffers, and they are different sufferings but both need some kind of help to move forward. The entire book was about Alex coming to terms with being allowed to be happy even though her father died and her best friend was sick and dying. This book makes the reader put into perspective just how precious life is. So many of us are caught up in trying to make it, we forget how to truly live. Or maybe, we never learned how to live. All we do is try to survive. When do we actually start living?

Read the book. It was relate-able. It uses current, real life situations. About two very real girls. Trying not only to survive, but to truly live.

Posted in YA Book Reviews

Insurgent

Posted on by Little Bee

insurgent

Where do I even begin? I guess a rating? I give this book an overall 4 stars. Up until the last two or three chapters, the rating would have been much lower.

One of my main issues, and pet peeves with books, is when scenes suddenly change. I found myself often having to re-read passages to make sure I was following along correctly. In one sentence, they would be in one situation, but the next sentence would be hours later. That is very hard for my brain to switch from one to the other so drastically. This happened a lot more frequently during the middle of the book, up until after Tris was rescued. In fact, every chapter in which Tris was being tortured, I had to re-read multiple passages. HOWEVER! Man that ending!! The last couple of chapters really pushed that rating up!

Overall, the book wasn’t bad. It was continuously stimulating. Tris is a little annoying, with her constant questioning, and beating herself up. Where is her confidence?! Maybe that is the whole point of her particular level of Divergence…either way, mentally she appears weak, but always comes out strong, yet puts herself down and makes her self weak again. And then gets angry when others either thinks she is too young, thinks she is too weak, or thinks anything other than what she thinks of herself. I guess it is better than the alternative, where the female characters ARE weak and flaky, you know the ones I am talking about right? I know I have gone off on a tirade before in a previous blog how weak female characters is the bane of female existence? Princess Syndrome should not be reflected in YA books because so many of the readers are impressionable, young, females, who might not necessarily have other strong female influences in their lives. Being a damsel in distress is made to look awesome, where each girl wants their own Edward to protect and love them like Bella. Or those whiny females that can’t fathom going through the emotions and feelings, that are related to being a TEENAGER. Seriously, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS are needed! Take Cathy in the Split Worlds series (previous posting), she was a strong female character who went against what it was meant to be a woman! The Fae continued to place women in the same roles as in the earlier, medieval and 18th-19th century, with no rights, no say, just look pretty and give me heirs. Cathy FOUGHT this ideal like all the other women in the suffrage movement that gave us a voice. (I seriously just diverged a little, however, as you can see, I have strong feelings towards weak female characters in books because often times, readers RELATE to the characters and if a female character can’t cope, then the reader feels defenseless and unable to cope as well). Tris pushes that line. She is strong, but she lacks confidence. She is wreck-less, but she puts the lives of everyone before herself. She is somewhat relate-able, but she is almost entirely unreasonable. Which makes Tris a fickle character and one I don’t think I would want younger females to aspire to be like. What is the point of a strong character, who lacks confidence and makes herself weak with her own harshness?

I hope, with how Insurgent ended, it will give Tris that confidence in Allegiant. That is my hope anyway.