Author Spotlight: Burning by Danielle Rollins

Danielle Vega is the author of THE MERCILESS and SURVIVE THE NIGHT. She's also the author of BURNING, under the name Danielle Rollins.

Title: Burning

Author: Danielle Rollins

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication: April 5th 2016

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

The tagline for Burning says "Orange is the New Black for Young Adult readers", or something along those lines. I have never seen that show, I think I understand the gist of it from seeing commercials, but... I HAVE read the Mara Dyer trilogy and I can definitely say that this book is OitNB meets Mara Dyer. If you like either of those things then this is the book for you.

Angela is one tough main character. The book begins with her being a kid and talking about the stories her father used to tell. I actually had no idea what that had to do with the book until a little further in, but it's definitely relevant, maybe not entirely but it do help with the plot. We get to learn the kind of lifestyle she comes from and then after all that, BAM, she's in Juvi in the middle of this frozen tundra called New York. 

I loved Cara and Issie. Cara was a little bit on the unlovable side but she had her perks. Like the government conspiracies thing. Issie seemed normal. She had a huge family waiting for her and she loved them. I could see Issie being okay when she was released. I am not sure about Cara though. She would have probably ended up in a mental hospital somewhere. People don't take too kindly to paranoid people but Cara had this loving feel about her. After all, she did read Charlies letters for Angela. 

So, while all of these girls are locked up in this center, a new doctor comes in when a new patient arrives. It doesn't seem that odd at first but after SciGirls got thrown in and the doctor replaced the old director, things start to change drastically. It's actually hard to believe that ALL of those girls could be that naive when it came to joining SciGirls. 

We didn't get to know a lot about Jessica but she was extremely interesting. I wanted to know more about her back story. We got a good bit but it didn't satisfy me. 

Ben/Mateo was another character I would have loved to know more about. What did he see in Angela? What made him do the thing with the cassette tape? I would have loved to see further into the future of the book to see what happened with him. 

I really enjoyed this book. The only big things that bugged me were A) Angela backstabbing Jessica. I know she was scared but that was some bad judgement on her part, and B) How could Dr. Gruen not be able to figure out HOW Jessica got to be the way she was? Maybe she was playing stupid. I have no idea. 

By the end of the book I was praying that it would end without a cliffhanger, considering it's a standalone book, but noooo, it ended without answering so much and I NEEEEED more.  Like, what was the reasoning behind Angela's mother writing that letter? What happened to Charlie? Jessica? The doctor? The other girls? And most importantly, BEN?!? AHHHHHHHHH. Hopefully the author will magically write a sequel? Maybe? A girl can hope... right? 

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

REVIEW: The Selection by Kiera Cass - 5 stars

Title: The Selection

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication: April 24th 2012

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

I really don't like starting a series when I know there will be a lot more books coming out. So I put off The Selection for years, and years. Then, it was 8:45pm and I just picked the book up on a whim and had it finished by 1am. 

America Singer can sing. Shocking? I know, right? But that is just a small part of her life. The world she lives in has been through more World Wars and everything is very different. No more President. Instead, we have a King, Queen, Prince, etc. But in this world there is also no Halloween. It's been gone for so long that it is sort of an urban legend. I have no idea why this one fact sticks out to me so much but it's just stuck in my head.

In this "new" world there aren't high, middle or low classes. There are things called Castes. Royalty and the likes are 1's. America and her family are 5's. But the guy she falls for is a 6 and and it seems like it's a fate worse than death. Because of these castes your true love could be a 7 and you could be a 3. It isn't good to marry below you and there is this entire procedure to go through if you do want to marry lower. The government will give you a grace period before they sign anything just to see if you will come to your senses.

America loves Aspen. She doesn't give two craps whether he is a 6 or an 8. She doesn't care if she goes hungry. She just wants to be with Aspen. But Aspen doesn't see it the same way and wants America to have a better life. Or, at least, that's how he makes it seem. 

Then The Selection comes into play. 35 girls from all over are picks to meet the Prince and live in the palace for a little while all in the hopes that they will be picked as Prince Maxon's wife. America is the right age and gets the application in the mail to sign up. Her mother has to bribe her and Aspen basically pushes her out the door. Aspen needed to swallow his pride. I do not approve of what he did nor the way he did it.

So America enters, gets picked and has to move to the palace. Along the way a lot of funny and sad things happen. America isn't there for Maxon. She is there for her family. So they can eat better, live better. But as things moved on she wasn't so sure what her true reason for being there was. Then someone reappears and confuses America more. She is a no nonsense type of girl but when it comes to this guy... she is pretty much obedient and doesn't want to hurt him no matter what he did to her. 

While America is in the palace you really get to see how truly selfless she is. She befriends servants, talks to the other girls like they are just that, other girls. But, honestly, I was kind of hoping she would roundhouse kick this one girl. We also get to know Maxon a tiny bit. I will judge his character in my next review. 

In the end, I am rooting for Maxon because I don't think Aspen's motives are pure. If you love someone enough you don't do the crap Aspen did. The book ends on a note that just makes readers want to read the next book asap. I think if I would have had the next book in my hands after I put The Selection down I would have consumed that by 5 or 6 in the morning. I definitely can't wait to start the next book. The Selection was a wonderfully pleasant surprise.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

#FakeReaderGirls

At first, I didn't think I was going to respond to this drama that is going on since BEA. It doesn't effect me. I don't wear make up when I do videos, I don't have production lighting. But after watching a few peoples reactions to this I realized that this does effect me because it hurts the people I love to watch everyday. It hurts the book community. 

I like to think of myself as this badass strong woman. And I am. I will stare down a guy in Costco that is looking at me because I am not entirely covered up. My husband gets dirty looks because he isn't "controlling his woman". I like to say that we both wear the pants in this relationship but honestly, if there is a noise outside or if there is trouble or something that looks like it will turn violent I will be the one to step in. Not because my husband is weak. But because if you try to hurt someone I love I will end you. I wouldn't want my husband to get hurt because he was defending me but you better bet your ass that I will get hurt defending him. Just the thought of someone saying shit or touching him sets me off. I protect people. I am a protector. And just because I am a woman doesn't mean I cannot protect the ones I love as well as a man can. My dad raised me as a kid. Not a daughter, not a son, but as a kid. I don't let anything touch me when it comes to sexism. But just because it doesn't touch me doesn't mean it doesn't touch the ones I love or care about. So that is what brought this rant on.

I have ALWAYS been a reader. I am 27 years old and I cannot remember a time when I didn't have piles and piles of books. When I was in 7th grade I started reading Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, Patricia Cornwell, etc. So by the time I was 20 I was kind of burned out by all the adult books I had read. I switched tracks. I started reading Young Adult literature. I love the books that YA authors put out there. This generation has a huge problem with being butt-hurt. This generation also has a huge problem with suicidal kids and adults. These YA books are something I think that is helping some of these kids and adults. Yes, the books are fiction, but reading a book about someone who might be going through what you are going through gives hope. These books help take kids and adults minds off of how truly shitty their life is and gives them a little piece of calm and comfort. Saying Young Adult books aren't real books is like saying "fuck you, you stupid little suicidal, depressed kid" and why would anyone say that? I have watched the YA book world EXPLODE in the last few years. Just this year alone, 2016, I have like 200 new release books. When I first started reading YA there wasn't much of anything out. Mainly Goosebumps and Babysitters Club. Those are great books, don't get me wrong, I grew up on them. But now, books mean so much more than just a spooky read. These books have emotions. They have structure. They have MEANING to A LOT of people. 

So the video this hateful person posted makes no sense to me. How can someone want to tear down children? Young Adult books are read by EVERYONE. And, in a world where technology has taken over, why would someone trash talk a book convention where people are actually interacting with each other, face to face, instead of through a computer screen? To be honest, I don't think this guy even thought about that. I think he just wanted to put his sexist point across and try to hurt a big group on women. But guess what? We aren't just a big group of women. We are readers. We are strong and we will stand behind one-another until the day we die. There is so much shit going on in this world right now and you chose to bitch about young girls wearing makeup and showing off their new books? Shame on you. Some of these people only have books in their lives. Books are the only thing that helps them get through the day. And you want to belittle them? And my nest question is WHY are watching girls haul YA books when you don't read that genre? I know Booktube is open to everyone but I don't see the point in watching girls videos where they haul or talk about books that don't interest you unless you have an ulterior motive. 

I will leave this rant at that before I start saying some nasty things. Don't EVER let anyone belittle you because of something you enjoy. NEVER STOP READING! NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE IN!

Review: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Kindred Spirits

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: Macmillian Childrens Books

Publication: February 25th 2016

Cover Rating: 2/5

Goodreads | Amazon

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU

I knew this book was about Star Wars but when I woke up this morning, sick I wanted to read something during class, I tend to read during art class, and I wanted something short on my tablet anddddd I remembered that this book was short but I hard totally forgotten that A) It was about Star Wars and B) IT WAS MAY 4TH so it was all a happy coincidence

So the book really WAS short which is why I get to do the review on the same day xD

This is actually my first Rainbow Rowell story

STOP! I knooooowwwww I've heard it before!

I have a plan to read Fangirl this month as well soo... Im getting there! And I also have Eleanor and Park but haven't even opened it yet u.u

Shameful

So I really liked this one, I feel like I could relate to it a lot, not because I stood in line for The Force Awakens  (I was sick) but because I HAVE been in line for movies, the one I stood/sat in line for the longest was either Breaking Dawn or The Hobbit, I can't remember which one xD

Point is, I've been to a lot (not DAYS before though) and so I really liked the story for that, because if you haven't been in line for a movie before you must know this, you DO kind of form a bond, for Breaking Dawn, well it was mid November, freezing, SO many people ! Like, it was insane, there are people with tents, blankets, buffets

Dead serious about the buffet, there was a family that brought huge platters of food and by the end of the night there was still a lot and she ended up sharing with my small group of peeps xD

People were signing, dancing, watching movies, freezing together and once inside, everyone was covered in blankets, taking pictures, drinking coffee and trying to stay up.

It is a heck of an experience.

Which is what I feel this was mostly about, about the experience of doing something extreme for something you love.

Even if in the end it doesn't work out the way you expect xD

The ending seriously made me crack up xD

Recommend it?

I mean, if you love/have stood in line for a movie, love star wars, cute short stories are your thing, then this is totally for you

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

I am back!!!!

Well, I promised myself I would restart my blog on May 1st... And here I am, alas, a day late, but hey, at least I'm here. I am going to be trying many new things on here. So bear with me. I will also post a huge update post to let everyone know why I was gone and all that crap. So HI! I can't wait to start posting reviews again... I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Update

Hey guys. You might have noticed that I haven't exactly been posting a lot lately. Well, that's because of a bunch of things. My health sucks, my cobloggers are each going through their own issues and I am currently working on rebuilding my book collection. (If you wish to donate(books or money) to my rebuilding fund please let me know). So I haven't exactly had the time to sit down and do all of my reviews. If I owe you an author spotlight, have no fear, it will get done. I am just trying to handle a lot of difficult things right now. I am taking care of my dad, trying to find a second job, even though just having one job kills me, health wise, and I am just trying to cope with all of this. I am actually reading more than I ever have but after I finish one book I immediately pick up another and don't sit down to write my reviews like I used to. I am currently in the middle of reading Cassandra Clares books. I am on Clockwork Prince. I am just struggling with so much on my plate that it's hard to function somedays. So I am sorry I keep disappearing. I hope someday I will be able to have an entire year without vanishing. But, until then, thank you guys for reading my reviews and being here for me.

xoxo,

Jennifer

Release Day Review: You Were Here by Cori McCarthy - AKA go buy this book right now

Title: You Were Here

Author: Cori McCarthy

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication: March 1st 2016

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

If I had to describe You Were Here in one word that word would be INTENSE. There are so many point of views, emotions and family issues. I seriously loved this book. I bought it because the cover is amazing and after reading the synopsis I didn't think it would enjoy it that much but I was extremely wrong. The book is told from five point of views and it's actually extremely unique. Normally I dislike books with multiple voices but I really enjoyed it here. There are normal chapters then we have views from comic strips and views from artistic doings.

Jaycee was a time bomb. She was living her life as if she were her dead brother. Filling in the void he left her with. She didn't know how to let people in and her wit, and brutal honesty kept people at a distance. 

Mik was probably my favorite. I think he will be pretty much everyone's favorite after they read this book. He never gave up on Jaycee and that is a very admirable quality. 

Natalie and Zach were kind of annoying but they both had their endearing qualities. I liked how the book ended for them. The used each other as a crutch. I think everyone was using someone else for something in this book. 

Bishop was pretty much the only character I didn't get to know. There wasn't must dialog with him and his portion of the book was told through pictures of art he did. I also would have loved to know more about Marrakesh and Bishops relationship. There wasn't much background on that.

This entire book shows what grief and secrets can do to people. This group of friends almost lost each other but in the end honesty and love prevailed. It also shows just how many people are touched by a tragic event. Not just family but friends and even acquaintances can be damaged by witnessing something horrible.

I can't put into words just how much I loved this book. There are no words for how I feel right now. I laughed, teared up, got mad at certain characters and loved every moment of it. There is so much more to this book that what I put in this review. Some things I can't say due to spoilers and other things I can't find the words for. But one big thing in this book is family. Most of the families are horrible. I admit Jaycee's father was probably the best parent and that isn't saying much.

Overall, I gave this book 5/5 stars.