The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon

So many reviews to catch up on! Wintergirls, Bloom, and I still have to read at least 7 more!!

RAWR.

Summary:
Brent Runyon is your normal 8th grader. Sort of. After accidentally setting a matchbook on fire and then burning a gym shirt and locking the matches inside a locker, he knows he's doomed. So he decides to commit suicide. The Burn Journals detail his recovery in the hospitals, the people he meet, and the friendship he kindles with practically everyone.

Review:
I really only finished it bcause I would die if I didn't. I'm kind of glad I did, and I'm kind of disappointed that I did at the same time. This book was so perverted. In the beginning, he was talking about literally MOLESTING another girl. Like, are you serious? I literally put the book down and hit it with another book. I was so disgusted. And this is a true story too! Ughh I just had a taste into the mind of a normal teenage boy. -___-

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The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby

My friend's sleeping over tonight, but I decided that I absolutely had to do this review today because it was gnawing at my conscience all day today. Oh, what I do for this blog. o__O

Anyways, let me begin by informing you that there WILL be spoilers! BEWARE!

Summary:
Catherine Howard is your average 15 year old .. living in Tudor England. Her family is one of the highest ranking families in England at the time and will do anything to assume their spot on the throne. Over a course of a year, she marries King Henry VIII, tries to get pregnant with an heir, has an affair with her cousin, Thomas Culpeper, gets accused of treason, and eventually gets her head chopped off after being stripped of her royal status.

Review:
The novel was sort of a creepy read .. I had to go grab Infamous in order to get the chills out of my spine. I found it sort of scary because she starts seeing the ghost of her cousin and second wife of King Henry, Anne Boleyn. Everyone betrays her in the end to "protect their own necks" and she's left with only a crazy lunatic, Jane Boleyn, the former sister-in-law of Anne.

And I sort of had a question at the end of the book. HOW ON EARTH DOES SHE NARRATE AFTER HER DEATH? Like it says something along the lines of: "After some time of pain, I feel myself fall ... I am finally home." What does this say about her? She was Catholic! And I guess someone can't be kept from going to Heaven, but she lied and committed adultery, for Pete's sake! Like ... I don't know how to explain it, so I guess I'll just stop here. I'm just confusing myself.

Rating: 3/5

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Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Hello, hello, hello! I'm back from hiding in my room doing nothing! Okay, well I did have work twice this week and I only got through a couple books: Wondrous Strange, The Burn Journals, The King's Rose, Wintergirls, and It Had to Be You. These can all be found on my previous Library Loot post. (:

So, here is my review of Wondrous Strange, my favorite out of all the books.

Summary:
Kelley Winslow is an aspiring actress who's finally found a job as an understudy for A Midsummer Night's Dream at the local theatre, Avalon Grande. One night, she meets Sonny Flannery, a handsome (my word for this would be SMOKIN HOT, but I won't use that lol.) guy she meets in Central Park. Little does she know that he is one who guards the Samhain Gate, the gate between the mortal and faerie realm, a Janus guard to be exact. Through twists and turns, they fall in love and learn about the faerie realm and Kelley's heritage.

My Side of the Story:
In the beginning, Kelley started getting on my nerves cause she was just so arrogant and stubborn. I've noticed that most heroines and novels and anime are exactly that. I feel bad for the main guy character and then eventually grow an obsession.

I liked how there was foreshadowing/hinting at the fact that Kelley wasn't a mortal. There were tons of clues and flashbacks that made me go "OHHH" when everything was finally revealed.

The hate relationship between Sonny and Kelley was okay. The love relationship? I'm sorry to say, but it was WAY too rushed. I didn't get how one minute Kelley thought Sonny was a stalker, and then the next minute she was saying, "I love you". VERY rushed.

Eh, I would probably have to give Wondrous Strange a 3.5/5. One point off for the rushing part, and .5 off because of the arrogance. Just not my cup of tea when the main character is so ... full of herself (is that the right term?).

Anyways, I should stop here because I have nothing left to say. lol.

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3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows
by Ann Brashares


There are just TOO many words to describe this book. I had high expectations, and they were, uhm, whaddya call it. FULFILLED! I wouldn't do the book justice if I just chopped it up into paragraphs. And of course, this is my very first review, so I need to put in 110%!

So, let me start out with a summary. Ama, Jo, and Polly have been best friends since the third grade, when they met because their rides were late. They all received small willow plants that day in class, which they all later plant three in a row on Pony Hill on the last day of school. It's a tradition to them now that after school they stop by the 7-Eleven and get blue Slurpees, Cheetos, and Butterfingers.

But now it's the end of eighth grade and it seems they're not nearly as close anymore. Jo seems as if she would rather be with the popular kids she started hanging out with since the beginning of seventh grade. Polly seems withdrawn and lonely. She gives me a vibe that she's just following Jo. Lastly, it seems as if Ama would also rather be somewhere else. Maybe with Grace, her science partner?

*SPOILER ALERT!*

Anywho, it's summer and it looks like these girls have plans! Jo has a job busing tables near her family's beach house. She also finds out her parents are getting a separation. Ama was planning on going to camp (coughcough ACADEMIC!), when she gets a letter saying she was picked to go into the wilderness. Polly discovers her grandmother was a model, and decides that maybe she has model potential. She slowly goes into a bout of slight anorexia while her mom is also slowly becoming an alcoholic.

I want to reveal absolutely everything, but that would be like making this whole review a whole rewrite of the book. So let me start with the review.

It was so relatable. I could connect with Polly with her insecurity about her body. I could connect with Ama with the pressure to get perfect grades every semester. I could connect with Jo with her thoughts about her little romance with Zach and the complications that came with it.

AND THE TITLE! I actually came up with three different ways it could be interpreted.

A. The three willows Ama, Polly, and Jo planted on the last day of third grade on Pony Hill.

B. The girls - Three strong willows who weathered the storm.

C. The friendship of the girls. Although it was challenged, it found its roots again and now they're a happy family again. [:

Wow. I think this is one of the most horrible reviews I have ever read. But hopefully I'll get better with time ;) This book was so amazingly good (to me) that I finished it in one sitting. Well, I read Infamous, part of the It Girl series, right after I finished this, so in total, it took me about 6 hours ish? I started around 11, and ended at about 5. In the morning. And then I fell asleep and woke up at 11:30. Oh what I do for this blog.

The 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge

I found another challenge today! The 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge. I'm definitely challenging myself and picking option 3. Hahah corny joke. Read 50 books! I have a lot of time this summer, so why not? I have a lot of books in mind, and might as well "help my local library. Hee. Here's my list so far:

1. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
2. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
3. The King's Rose by Alisa M. Libby
4. It Had to Be You by Cecily Von Ziegesar
5. 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares
6. Forest Born by Shannon Hale
7. Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
8. The Luxe by Anna Godberson
9. Rumors by Anna Godberson
10. Envy by Anna Godberson
11. The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
12. Fade by Lisa McMann
13. Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart
14. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
15. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
16. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
17. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
18. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
19. Being Nikki: An Airhead Novel by Meg Cabot
20. The Stolen One by Suzanne Crowley
21. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
22. The Debs by Susan McBride
23. The Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale
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