REVIEW: Caraval by Stephanie Garber - 5 stars

Title: Caraval

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fantasy

Author: Stephanie Garber

Publisher: Flatiron

Publication: January 31st 2017

Cover Rating: 100/5

Goodreads | Amazon

I keep telling myself, Jenn, you need to sit your ass down and form coherent thoughts so that you can write a review for Caraval. But all I hear is, 'You should barricade yourself in the house and read Caraval over and over'. Oh, I'm sorry, what was I saying? Ah, yes, this book is set in a world that feels like The Wizard of Oz Mixed with Alice in Wonderland but a little darker. So, basically, if Marissa Meyer were to write a retelling mixing the two worlds, that is what this book feels like to me. 

We start off on this little island where our main characters, Scarlett and Tella, reside. Scarlett is the protagonist and we experience this book through her eyes. I disliked Scarlett for most of the book. As soon as you get to Caraval, the contestants are told that everything is only a game. Don't believe what you see. Scarlett does exactly the opposite. She takes everything at face value but I would have loved to see Scarlett be a bit more laid back and involved in the game. If there was a picture next to the word RESERVED in the dictionary, there would be a big old picture of Scarlett.

Where Scarlett is super reserved and indecisive, her sister, Tella, is her opposite, almost to the extreme. Tella wants to run around with guys and defy her tyrant of a father. That's all fine and dandy but for every horrible choice Tella makes, her sister will always be the one who suffers a punishment. Tella knows this, but she still continues to be the way she is. I don't think she realized that she doesn't deserve a sister like Scarlett. 

After some events take place the sisters find themselves on the island of Caraval. It is 'owned' by Legend, the master of Caraval. Throughout the book, we get thrown back a few times to when the girls were younger and it is in these flashbacks that we learn a little back story about Legend. It was meant to be this sad story that tied Scarlett to Legends past, to make us understand why Legend is the way he is. I did not pity him, at all.

Julian gave me whiplash! Oh man, it was bad. I mean, yeah, Scarlett did it too, but she had every reason to not trust anyone. Julian, on the other hand, was always a changing story and very unpredictable. One moment I was swooning and the next I was like oh hell no you are a bad guy, aren't you? It was one hell of a roller-coaster.

So let's touch on the Circus subject. There is a lot of hype surrounding this book about it being a circus or carnival or what-have-you. While the title of the book leans more towards carnival, the book is on the circus side. With that being said, if you are reading Caraval for the circus atmosphere or thinking about picking it for that appeal on its own, I would advice you to either turn away or pick the book up without high hopes for that heavy circus theme. 

Scarlett's father also played a big roll in this book. He was abusive and controlling but after something that happened towards the end of the book I was actually starting to wonder what his true motives for his actions were. Along with the father, Scarlett had a fiance that her dad set her up with. He didn't seem like such a bad guy but I can't really know that for sure because we didn't get very much of him in the story. I honestly think these two characters could have been omitted and the book would have been the same. The author could have just given a brief history of the abusive father and that could have been it.

In the end, I kind of did expect everything that happened would happen. I don't like how things with Julian ended up. I felt like Scarlett was kind of pushed into keeping her feelings about certain things even though the reasons she loved someone or something were entirely changed now. I wish I could elaborate more on this without giving away any spoilers. But when you love someone, you love their quirks or the things they do. Maybe even a nickname that person gives you. Imagine if that person you loved just stopped all of those things and changed but you were still expected to love them. It was almost like Scarlett was handed a shell of the person she loved and was told to figure out how to love that person again because she isn't allowed to not love them. 

Aside from the Scarlett situation, the book ended on a cliffhanger from hell. the worst part for the cliffhanger was that I expected it. So, with expecting it, now I get to sit here and make up all these theories in my head until the second book comes out. Ahhh!!

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars.

There is one more thing I want to touch on for this book and all other books ever written. You know how someone will say oh I hated this character, blah blah blah, and they give the book a low rating because of that? It has me really confused because characters are written with all sorts of personalities and quirks, we are meant to hate certain characters because that is how the author wrote that specific character. I do not understand why this warrants someone giving a book a low rating. What the book written badly? Did it have shitty romance and too many plot twists? You telling me a character sucked means nothing to me because they were probably written that was on purpose. Malfoy was a complete dick yet everyone still swooned over Harry Potter. So why are other authors and their books so much different that they end up getting a low rating? Character development is a good reason to give a book a lower rating but if that character does something you don't personally like or is a total bitch, that is not a reason for a low rating, regardless if that character was a bitch or not, you still felt strongly enough about her/him that you reacted negatively towards them. To me, this entire subject is like sitting down to watch a horror movie and giving it a low rating because it scared you. 

Author Spotlight: Please Don't Tell by Laura Tims

Laura Tims is the author of PLEASE DON'T TELL, coming Fall 2015 from HarperCollins.

She's a mental health advocate, a cancer, and a reasonably cute organism. She likes Tumblr, anime, Neko Atsume, Homestuck, Steven Universe, and Undertale. She likes you even more.

She writes books about strange relationships, pain, and people who are scared but good. She loves to talk and if you also love to talk, find her on Twitter @laura_tims

Title: Please Don't Tell

Genre: YA Mystery

Author: Laura Tims

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication: May 24th 2016

Cover Rating: 4/5 

Goodreads | Amazon

Please Don't Tell is a very fast paced mystery type novel with a trigger warning for sexual assault. With that being said, if you would rather not read books with that subject then please do not pick this book up. If you are okay with reading about that subject then please DO pick this book up as it was a very quick read for me and I enjoyed trying to figure out who did what and why.

Joy is one of the twins. Joy really doesn't have a personality or anything outside of being a twin. She is kind of dull. She wants to be like her sister, smart, studious and whatever else she can think up. While reading the book I kept thinking to myself that Joy really needs to find out who she is apart from her twin sister. But towards the end of the book I found myself wondering which twin was the leader and which one was the follower.

Grace is a timid, annoying little girl. She has a lot of OCD type quirks. Her quirks work like this: If I do this a certain number of times or in a certain time frame then this will happen as a result. At first I found it a bit amusing but after a while I realized that Grace needed help. Lots of help. And I have no idea how she fooled everyone into believing that she was even remotely okay. 

I know I shouldn't, but... I actually liked Adam. Aside from what he did, he spoke the truth. He was harsh and he was tired of the bullshit life had to offer. And, honestly, the crap that happened with Grace... I am honestly not even sure it happened. This book made it hard to trust what anyone had to say. I think that is what made me like Adam. He was straight forward. But the crap with his grandfather being famous for writing a "love" song about the quarry being his house was a bit weird. Adam didn't seem like he wanted to become the music legend everything thought he would become. I would how different things would have been if his grandfather never wrote that song.

I didn't like Cassius. He was too timid and too weird and wayyyy too whipped for his own good. I mean, Jesus, he witnesses a crime and a girl got him to promise not to say anything. He was supposed to be the good guy out of his friendship with Adam but I really don't think he was much of anything. 

I almost forgot a pretty big part of the book. Levi. The step brother. I think he was hiding crap. Nothing that really had to do with Adam but still sketchy and always talk talk talking. Maybe he was making up for something or maybe he was staying with his dad for selfish reasons but in the end I didn't like him. He seemed sweet and shy and flirted a lot but he just didn't feel like he had anything going for him. I did feel bad for him with his mother being sick and his father.. well... his father being the way he was. I wouldn't have stuck around for that man. But if Levi didn't have any other motive for staying around then my next thought was he was very pliable. He was a sucker for punishment and way too soft.

I enjoyed the mystery of this book. It was a easy read and flowed very well. The author gave each character very in depth personalities and it felt like I was actually meeting the characters in person. The world was just a simple high school type setting but those are always fun books to read. The best drama happens in high school. Don't you agree?

At the end of the book I was kind of sitting here just staring at the pages. I honestly wasn't expecting it to end with this one person being the bad guy. I also kind of didn't like the end because I still have SO many questions. What happened to Adam's murderer? What happened with Levi? I am glad that Grace ended up where she did. Hopefully the rest of her life won't be so horrible now.

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.

Reset Button

Hello everyone! I know no one really reads this stuff but I still feel the need to write it.

For the next 18 days I'm probably going to be pretty busy and MIA from the book world. Today, February 28th, I am going to be attempting to get as many reviews and other posts up as possible.

Starting March 1st, I will be stepping back and trying to find peace of mind. I have been extremely depressed lately. I haven't been cleaning, reading, sleeping, eating, organizing my shelves or any other things I usually do frequently.

I wanted to do a little list on here to see if these next 18 days have any progress towards some of my goals. So here is a list of things I want to get done in the next 18 days:

All of March's posts done
Finish Caraval
Get laundry under control
Husband's Anime shelf
Husband's lego shelf
Finish bunny's room
Read 10 books of my choice
Finish last 2 Author Spotlight posts
Hold off buying any new books(preorders don't count)
Find my passion for reading and living again
Lose 20lbs(currently 415.6)
Try to nap less and SLEEP more
Get more things done during the day
Stop looking at most activities as a chore
Visit my sister without her asking
Start waking up at 6
(Might periodically add more)

I might even add pictures when I'm done certain things.

I feel the need to do this because I am barely living. We don't have very long to be here anyways but when you don't even want to get up most days, your quality of life is even shorter. My outlook on everything is that it's a chore. I don't enjoy shopping or seeing my sister because I feel like it's a job. Not some fun time being spent with someone I love. I always tell people that I am fine. I'm not depressed. But the more I think about what I am writing here, the more I am realizing that that might be a really big lie. And I need to change that.

So thank you guys for listening. I hope to be back soon and I hope I will be a better me when I do return! I will be making update posts for when I mark something off the list so please keep an eye out for that.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale + Author Interview

Peternelle van Arsdale is a book editor who never thought she'd write a book. She lives in New York City, where she is at work on her second novel. Visit her at http://peternellevanarsdale.com.

Title: The Beast is and Animal

Genre: YA Fantasy-Fairytale

Author: Peternelle van Arsdale

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication: February 28th 2017(ARC says March 7th)

Cover Rating: 4/5

Goodreads | Amazon

Lately, the YA book world has been taken a storm by fairytales and all the amazing retellings. What could be better than a twist on your favorite childhood tale? I personally LOVE that retellings are a big thing right now. I know, soon, they will die out just like Twilight and its Vampire craze. But unlike with Twilight, fairytale retellings can capture a wider audience of readers with their diverse stories and characters. Fairytales have so many elements that I feel it is entirely possible for them to outlive all the other book crazes. But, what about original fairytale ideas? The Beast is an Animal falls into that category. Maybe, one day, people will be writing retellings about this book.

This book starts off with a rather 'Salem Witch Trials' event. Woman gives birth to twins. The town somehow ends up seeing those twins as being evil. Town makes sure the mother and twins are exiled. Small town hive mind is a dangerous things. But that situation did lead me to an idea and left me wondering a lot. That idea being, do people create their own monsters? Their own tragedies? Or is everything just destined to turn out this way whether someone acts on an impulse out of fear or not.

So, the book is told around the comings and going of the twins. They are called soul eaters. I feel like the best way to describe them would be to say they are Dementors except in a more human form. They serve a similar purpose, is what I am getting at. These sisters seek as form of revenge on a family member that didn't help them when the town was trying to kick them out. From this act of revenge, we meet a new character, Alys. I pronounce it 'Alice', but I could be entirely wrong. Alys lost her family because of the soul eaters. She is picked up by a man on his way to her village to do a trade and that is where the story truly begins, at least for me it does.

The man Alys meets is named Pawl. I ended up really loving Pawls character. I really wish he could have taken Alys and raised her or something other than the situation that did end up happening. But that would have meant the end for the book so I understand why that couldn't have happened.

After everything with Alys village and the other kids is sorted out Alys has to figure out some stuff and she ends up going in the place where The Beast is said to live, the fforest. Yes, fforest, that is not a typo, even though I did think that the first time I saw it. And from there I cannot say much else or I'm afraid I would be getting into spoilers.

So, to recap, the book starts out in a tiny village. I would like to give you guys a year so you could better imagine what things looked like but the best I can do is say that it's a village where you would think Little Red Riding Hood would take place. There is a Beast that the villages fears(which really makes me think of Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge). There are paranoid villagers that end up on a witch hunt which, I feel, caused their downfall, creepy ass nursery rhymes and then an adventure where a girl ventures out in an attempt to try to repair herself, her world and to get away from people before her secrets become known and she is branded a witch herself. But also to finally figure out what The Beast's true purpose really is. I am just going to stop here, if you aren't convinced that you need this book in your life then I feel sorry for you!(just kidding... or am i?)

With all the fairytale aspects aside, this book has a very scary and hard to swallow meaning behind it. Fear. Fear makes people do the most insane and horrible things. With all the stuff that is happening with the real world this very moment, and although this book is a work of fiction, the meaning and morals are still very real. Fear makes entire towns, cities, countries, etc, do horrible things. Hitler? Slavery? The very real war we are still a part of today? I don't think telling everyone they need to learn how to love people even when they are different is going to ever work in this world. It isn't love, or even hate, really, that makes this world so terrible. It is fear. Fear is the root of most evil and FEAR will be the wrecking ball that tears this world apart.

A little extra to add to the review. This is more on a personal level. When I was younger, around age 7 or 8, I started watching horror movies. Nothing like the good old SciFi channel, right? Well, now it's called SyFy and I haven't been on that channel in years. But before it became mainstream, it gave me my love for all thing macabre. One of the movies I loved the most was called Ginger Snaps. Over the past few days I found myself flashing back to scenes of those movies(yes, there are 3 in total). I couldn't figure out why until I sat down to write this review. The third movie takes place in a village much like the one in this book. I not entirely sure why this book connected in my memory to those movies but I'm entirely okay with that and am happy for the reminder that those movies exist.

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.

REVIEWER Q+A:

1) Series or Standalone: I believe the book is a standalone but I would be okay with more books in this world.

2) Would you recommend it: Yes. Especially if you are enjoying the fairytale retelling craze. This book is an original story but is a fairytale to me.

3) Glad you read the book: Yes, I actually am. And I am not eagerly awaiting the authors next book! Especially now that I know it's going to be another dark fairytale!

1) What inspired you to write The Beast is an Animal?

I was most inspired by the classic Grimm fairy tales that I red as a child and have been obsessed with every since. They’re quite dark, and even the ostensibly good characters behave in terrible ways. As an adult I’m still fascinated by the idea that we’re all good and bad combined. That’s definitely an underlying theme in my novel. 

2) Are you a coffee, tea or soda drinker? Any drink suggestions?

Primarily a tea drinker. My new obsession is matcha lattés, which I make at home (unsweetened), with almond milk. I got myself a nifty little hand-held milk frother that does a great job. They’re also wonderful cold in the summer. 

3) What was your favorite part to write in The Beast is an Animal?

I’d have to say the prologue, which I wrote before I even knew what the novel was going to be. It was such a magical writing experience. I sat down and wrote those twelve pages in one single flow of inspiration. 

4) What is your favorite genre? Do you have any book recommendations? 

I don’t have a favorite genre, I’m pretty omnivorous—although certainly I go through stages in my reading where I seem to be drawn more to one thing than another. The books that have meant the most to me in terms of forming me as a writer are the three that make up the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy by Philip Pullman. Recently I particularly enjoyed V.E. Schwab’s A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC, and I’m looking forward to finishing that trilogy. Right this second I’m close to finishing Margaret Atwood’s CAT’S EYE, and it’s so suspenseful I almost can’t bear it. 

5) Are you currently working on any more books?

Yes, I’m at work on my second novel. It’s also a dark fairy tale that should appeal to the same readers as THE BEAST IS AN ANIMAL, but it has a completely different setting and set of characters. 

6) If you had to pitch your book to a potential reader, in person, what would you say?

It’s a dark fairy tale about how fear makes people do terrible things, such as build walls and turn our backs on the most vulnerable members of our communities.

REVIEW: The Sky Between You and Me by Catherine Alene - 4 Stars

Title: The Sky Between You and Me

Genre: YA Contemporary - Mental Illness

Author: Catherine Alene

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Publication: February 7th 2017

Cover Rating: 5/5

Goodreads | Amazon

The Sky Between You and Me was a book I was actually pretty iffy on picking up. I did request it so I could review it but then I realized I am pretty ignorant to any and all things farm or horse related. I don't herd cattle or do 4H club stuff, although, I do own a bunny and that is the extent of my farm knowledge. I am glad that I pushed through the beginning because the rest of the book was pretty good. But it was so slow for the first 50 or so pages that I did find myself wanting to pick up another book. After those pages? I got the book done in one sitting. 

So we have Rae as the protagonist. She lives with her dad on a farm. The entire town she lives in is pretty much close, farm town people. Everyone knows everyone and people help each other. That means, her best friend is from the town, her boyfriend is from the town, so everything in pretty close knit. Rae lost her mother a few years back and it has just been her and her dad. Rae strives to be just as good as her mom when it comes to rodeos.  And her striving for this make her want to lose 5 pounds so she can fit in her moms old saddle better. That is where everything starts to go wrong and it just spirals out of control.

On top of Rae's declining health, a new girl had just moved to town to live with her grandmother. For some reason this sparks jealousy in a girl who normally isn't jealous. I also think this girl moving in was maybe the breaking point for Rae and her eating disorder.

I would definitely say Rae is an unreliable narrator. I had no idea whether the stuff between her boyfriend and the new girl was actually happening or if her messed up brain was actually amplifying some of the stuff. If it wasn't all in her head then Cody was a horrible person. I understand being friendly and wanting to help the new girl but some of the things he said/did were way out of line.

Then we have Asia. She is Rae's best friend and ends up being just like Cody with the new girl. She also wasn't exactly very understanding of Rae's situation and you think she would be considering they have been best friends for pretty much their entire lives. So I was kind of pissed about her being like that. I know how hard it can be to be friends with someone who is mentally ill and I also know what it's like to BE the ill one. Both sides are pretty crappy but you can't turn your back like that on someone who needs you. No matter how much  they try to push you away. 

I felt pretty satisfied with the ending. I am glad Rae ended up where she was. Things definitely could have ended a lot worse for her. Mental illness is really no joke and it can cripple anyone at any age. I know Rae is a fictional character but there are hundreds of thousands of girls out there who are just like her right now. This is silly but I hope Rae moves on with life and is fine. And I hope anyone suffering the same pain can move passed the horrible crap and go on to live a great life!

Regardless of the fact that I didn't know a lot of things about horses or farm life, I can say that Catherine Alene could very well be the next Ellen Hopkins. Yes, I know no one could ever really BE Ellen Hopkins but I have hope that it could one day be possible. This book had a lot of emotions and a really hard hitting subject and that is how Ellen's books are. 

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.

REVIEW: History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera - 4/5 stars

Title: History is All You Left Me

Genre: YA LGBTQ Contemporary with Mental Illness

Author: Adam Silvera

Publisher: Soho Teen

Publication: January 17th 2017

Cover Rating: 3/5

Goodreads | Amazon

Love fucking hurts.

Honesty is the best policy, right? So here is some honesty. I picked this book up thinking it would just be a quick YA M/M relationship book with some sad parts. I didn't expect much more. But what I got, was a lot more. Yes, it has the M/M relationship but it is also about mental health and love and loss and a lot of pain. It is about trying to find your way back to happiness and some semblance of normality after your life has been turned upside down and shaken.

We have a few main characters. Griffin is the narrator then we have Theo, Wade and Jackson. Griffin, Theo and Wade are a threesome. The best buds group we see all over the place. Then things between Griffin and Theo change. The entire dynamic of the friendship changes, as well. Even though they both promised it wouldn't. 

So we have Theo and Griffin dating. Theo is older which means there are a lot of decisions to be made about the future. With the impending future, Griffin makes a choice that he thought would be best for the situation. I, personally, believe what Griffin did was very mature of him. Well, that was until the book progressed and I saw that what he did had some pretty negative effects on both boys. Mostly mental. And that leads to this horrible spiral downward with their friendship and any future plans they might have had. Jackson also had something to do with the future plans changing.

Something ends up happening to Theo that brings a lot of issues to the surface for Griffin. And we get to see that horrible spiral in his mental health that actually started long before Theo but became worse with the circumstances. Then you throw in Jackson, Theo's new boyfriend and Griffin clone. Yea, things get a little messy. And with this messy situation, Griffin just keeps making it worse. I hate what he did to his parents and his immaturity with thinking he NEEDS to do certain things. He thought he had his best interests in mind but he really wasn't mentally stable to say that.

I really don't like how Griffin dealt with his emotions. He just stuck his dick in stuff in order to try and push the negative and crazy thought aside. Obviously this didn't work too well for him. But I am proud of how he progressed by the end of the book and I really approve of the decisions he made regarding Wade and Jackson. And I also really loved the relationship everyone kept with Theos family. Just because your biggest connection to someone isn't there anymore doesn't mean you have to tuck tail and leave. A lot of people seem to think that a break up or death is an end to relationships you had with the other persons family. It doesn't need to be that way and it really shouldn't be like that. 

The ending took on a darker tone that I was expecting. A lot of blame goes around when someone dies from an accident. Normally, that blame and guilt is un-found and people just need to move on from that. Sometimes that grief and despair will destroy you if you let it run rampant. Even though the ending was dark and had a big plot twist situation, I still felt it was a proper way to put everything to rest. 

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.

REVIEW: Last Years Mistake by Gina Ciocca - Valeria

Title: Last Year's Mistake

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Author: Gina Ciocca

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication: June 9th 2015

Cover Rating: 4/5

Goodreads | Amazon

Meh, I didn't really get into this book, it took me a while to get into, towards the middle I stopped and left it for a while and then it was collecting dust on my bedside table. 

I was gonna put the book back on my shelf but I knew that if I did put it back, I was never going to pick it back up xD

It wasn't bad. You must understand that it was not bad. But it was just.... Not memorable to me, which is a shame because I had very high hopes for it, I was super excited to get it xD 

Kelsey got a bit on my nerves to be honest, maybe its what she did? XD No Spoilers here though.

One thing that at first irked me, but then I ended up liking was the change in times, going back and forth, it prevented it from being predictable, you know?

At first I didn't like it because I was getting confused and stuff.. But that's just me.. I'm a dumb.. person xD

I don't regret reading it but I don't think ill be rereading it either. 

Recommend it?

I honestly don't know what to say for that

Overall, I gave the book 3.5/5 stars.

*You can see Jenny's review for this book here.*