Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 3/5 stars


This book is such a mind-fuck! At least until I figured out the twist about halfway through. But even then it was still enjoyable. I hate trying to review books like this because it's so difficult to review without giving anything away. So I'll just say that if you like slightly spooky books that keep you guessing, then you should totally read this book!

Paperweight by Meg Haston

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 3/5 stars

This was so disturbing, but in a good way. I've never had any sort of problem with food, so it was difficult to totally relate to, but the author did a good job of making me almost understand Stevie's motivations. There were parts that were almost too disturbing in the way that she sees food. But it seemed pretty true to what those who have eating disorders go through. Which made it even more disturbing.

This book was good, but I still didn't feel as much reading it as I felt like I should have. I just never fully connected to Stevie. Good, solid book, but not amazing.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 3/5 stars

This started out strong but I just got bored about 3/4 in. The concept was interesting and the world-building was solid. Every time I thought, "wait, but what about...?" it was explained.

And it was relatively unpredictable...for a ya dystopian that is. I wasn't quite sure where were going, but I enjoyed the ride.

Until we got there. And then I just got bored. I'm really not sure why, but I just lost interest. Maybe because it felt like the author was just trying too hard at times. Or maybe because some of the characters just weren't that well-developed. Regardless it was a struggle to finish this one even though I initially loved it.

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 5/5 stars

This book tackles so many difficult issues and it does it perfectly. Rape culture, consent, feminism. All handled perfectly. Finally. When the main character loses her virginity, she focuses on the active consent she's giving. And it's still portrayed in a sexy way (take that - anyone who thinks that consent isn't sexy!!). And when when of her friends bashes feminism, she defends it perfectly simply by defining it.

There is a lot of slut-shaming throughout the book, but it's believable under the circumstances. It's quite common for people to slut-shame rape victims. And it's dealt with well - rarely does the MC join in or think it's okay. Sometimes she doesn't object when I wish she would, but that's also understandable under the circumstances. Of course the slut-shaming bothered me - that's the point. 

It was good to see how differently everyone reacted to this one event. And it seemed that each of the MC's friends had a different reaction - from fear (that it could have been her) to sympathy to anger (that it was interfering with the basketball season). Each of these emotions was explored well - one of the friends who keeps slut-shaming the victim does so out of fear because she wanted to affirm that she's so different from the victim and that something like this would never happen to her.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 4/5 stars

I've been avoiding this one for a while because I thought the angel thing would annoy me. I'm not a Christian and I just don't like angel stories. I dislike angel stories so much that I actually stopped watching Supernatural when all the angel stuff started happening! (don't worry - I started back up again!!) But this doesn't hit you over the head with religion. Actually, Raffe, an angel, admits to being agnostic.  

This novel is essentially a typical YA post-apocalyptic survival novel. Girl's sister gets taken and she has to navigate her new post-apoc reality to get her back, with the help of a hot guy who may be good or evil. It's pretty standard, but it's a standard I like, so I'm cool with it!

Another Day by David Levithan

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 4/5 stars

This book was great, but nowhere near as awesome as Every Day. This is a companion novel instead of the sequel I've been desperately hoping for - seriously, there is so much more that could be done with A's story and to get a companion instead of a sequel is just plain disappointing.

If you read this immediately after Every Day, I would think it would be a bit repetitive. But it's been just enough time for me since I read it (it's been about a year) that I forgot some of the details, so this didn't feel boring to me. 

I didn't really like Rhiannon in Every Day and this book didn't make me like her any more.  She's just not independent enough for me. So I had a hard time understanding why someone as awesome as A would fall for her.

Bottom line: it's not really necessary to read both books and if you only read one, it should be Every Day.

Charity Raffle - Win a Kindle!!

Hey everyone! In September, I’m doing a 30 mile hike in 1 day to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems of approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States. Research and are supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation are making a huge difference in extending and improving the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose at least one precious life to CF each day.

To raise money to support this amazing foundation, I’m raffling off a (gently used) kindle!! This is a basic, last generation kindle (non-touchscreen with the buttons on the side) – it works perfectly! Each $5 donation gets you one entry. You can donate here: http://fightcf.cff.org/goto/loyet When you donate, just put “kindle” in the personal note section so I know that the donation is a raffle entry. Winner will be chosen on August 10 at noon! Thanks and good luck!!