From My Notebook #5: Book Review -Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

When I read I write notes, thoughts, and quotes about the book in a notebook. I sometimes write drafts or full book reviews in my notebooks too. And sometimes I forget to write up a review from those notes. Or sometimes I would forget to type up and/or post those reviews. So From My Notebook will be the notes, thoughts, quotes, or full reviews that I had in one of my notebooks from other the past years that I forgot to share before. 

Title: Emmy & Oliver
Author: Robin Benway
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: June 23, 2015
Source: e-book
Read: 2016

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?
Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.
She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.
Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.
He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.
Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?
Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

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Mini Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: These Broken Stars
(Starbound #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Length: 378 pages
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Source: Hardback & e-book

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive – alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. 
The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

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An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Length: 443 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Source: e-galley via Penguin First to Read (Thank you so much!)
Read: March 2015

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.
LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.
ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.
When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Penguin First to Read in exchange for an honest review***

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

Title: Liars, Inc. 
Author: Paula Stokes
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Classification: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller
Release Date: March 24, 2015
Source: ARC (won giveaway from author, Thanks Paula!)
Read: February 2015

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.
Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?
When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.
Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

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***I won an ARC from an author giveaway. This does not change the way I view this book.***

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Heir of Fire
(Throne of Glass #3)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Length: 562 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Source: Hardback
Read: December 2014

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy. 
While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?

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***This book is part of a series, so there are spoilers for the previous books! If you haven't read those books yet, you will find out things that happened.***

Mini-Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight
(Throne of Glass #2)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Length: 418 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Source: Hardback
Read: October 2014

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

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Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

 Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door
(Anna and the French Kiss #2)
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Length: 338 pages
Publisher: Dutton Books/Speak
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: July 2013 (reprint)
Source: Paperback
Read: August 2014

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the negihborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. 

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***This is part of a series. There will be spoilers of things that happened in the other book(s) so if you haven't read it and don't want to know things that happened, please stop reading now.***

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Anna and the French Kiss 
(Anna and the French Kiss #1)
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Length: 372 pages
Publisher: Dutton Books/Speak
Classification: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Release Date: August 4, 2011
(reprint)
Source: Paperback

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her  affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's waiting for?

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Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy 

(His Fair Assassin #1)

Author: Robin LaFevers

Length: 576 pages

Publisher: HMH Books For Young Readers

Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Source: e-book (purchased)

Read: July 2014

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others. Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart? 

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Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Title: Something Real

Author: Heather Demetrios

Length: 403 pages

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic 

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Source: Hardback (Won an annotated copy from a giveaway given by the author. Thank you again, Heather!)

Read: June 2014

There’s nothing real about reality TV.Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before. 

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***I won a copy of this book from a giveaway hosted by the author. This does not change the way I view this book.***

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Length: 550 pages

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Classification: Young Adult, Retelling, Science Fiction

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Source: e-book 

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
 Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
 When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has. 

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***This is part of a series. There will be spoilers of things that happened in the other book(s) so if you haven't read it and don't want to know things that happened, please stop reading now.***  

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass
(Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Source: ebook
Read: May 2014

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 
Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 
Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

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The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Title: The Art of Lainey

Author: Paula Stokes

Length: 384 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: May 20, 2014

Source: ARC- Won From GoodReads FirstReads Giveaway. (Thank you GoodReads and HarperTeen!)

Read: May 2014

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.
 And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they're sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous. After a few "dates", it looks like her plan is going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like more than just a game.
 What's a girl to do when what she wants is totally different from what she needs? How do you figure out the person you're meant to be with if you're still figuring out the person you're meant to be? 

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**I received this book from a giveaway that was part of GoodReads First-Reads.**

Mini Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone 
(The Grisha #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Length: 416 pages

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Release Date: June 5, 2012

Source: e-book 

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

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The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Truth About Forever

Author: Sarah Dessen

Length: 374 pages

Publisher: Penguin Group Inc.

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: May 11, 2004

Source: Paperback (Thank you again Kristina!)

Read: March 2014

A long, hot summer...

That's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father.

But sometimes, unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?

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Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Title: Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)
Author: Laini Taylor
Length: 513 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Source: Paperback *won a copy from GoodReads First Reads giveaway*
Read: March 2014

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.
This is not that world.
Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.
In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.
While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.
But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream? 

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***I won a copy of this book from a  Goodreads First Reads giveaway. This does not change the way I view this book.***

***This is the second book in a series. There will be spoilers of things that happened in the first book, so if you haven't read it and don't want to know things that happened, please stop reading now.***

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1)
Author: Laini Taylor
Length: 418 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Source: Paperback 
Read: March 2014

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself? 

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Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Title: Into the Still Blue
(Under the Never Sky #3)
Author: Veronica Rossi
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins
Classification: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Source: E-book 

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do—and they are just as determined to stay together.

Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival—he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most. 

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**This is the final installment in a trilogy, so this review will involve things that happened in the previous two books, if you haven't read them, then you should stop reading here.**

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys
(The Raven Cycle #1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Length: 468 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Classification: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
Release Date: September 18, 2012

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore. 

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Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Steelheart
(Reckoners #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Length: 394 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Source: e-book

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.Nobody fights the Epics . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

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