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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From My Notebook #4: Book Review - The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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: The Evolution of Mara Dyer 
(Mara Dyer #2)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Length: 528 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Source: Paperback
Read: May 2015

The truth about Mara Dyer's dangerous and mysterious abilities continues to unravel in the New York Times bestselling sequel to the thrilling The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.She can't. She used to think her problems were all in her head. They aren't. She couldn't imagine that after everything she's been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets. She's wrong. In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

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*This is the second book in a trilogy, so this review may contain possible spoilers for the first book, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. This is your warning, if you haven't read the first book, then proceed at your own risk of any possible spoilers.*

From My Notebook #3: Thoughts - Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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. 

From My Notebook #1: Book Review - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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. 

Book Review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Read: May 2015

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Title: Defy the Stars
(Defy the Stars #1)
Author: Claudia Gray
Length: 503 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Release Date: April 4, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Little Brown!)

She’s a soldier.
Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.
He’s a machine.
Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.
Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Letters to the Lost

Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: April 4, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Bloomsbury!)

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Quirk Books
Classification: Young Adult, Retelling, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: April 4, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Quirk Books!)

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.
Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?
Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Title: The Bone Witch

Author: Rin Chupeco
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Sourcebooks!)

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.
Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.
Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Title: Seven Days of You

Author: Cecilia Vinesse
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Little Brown!)

Sophia has seven days left in Tokyo before she moves back to the States. Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.
Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Title: The Unexpected Everything

Author: Morgan Matson
Length: 519 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Source: Hardback

Andie had it all planned out. When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future. Important internship? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).
But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life. Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected. And where’s the fun in that?

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A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Title: A List of Cages

Author: Robin Roe
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: January 10, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Disney-Hyperion!)

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian—the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.
Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He’s still kindhearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what’s really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives…

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Title: The Start of Me and You

Author: Emery Lord
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: March 31, 2015
Source: e-book
Read: 2016 

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.
Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.
It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

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Frostblood by Elly Blake

Title: Frostblood 

(Frostblood Saga #1)
Author: Elly Blake
Length: 376 pages
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic
Release Date: January 10, 2017
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Little Brown Books!)

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby's powers are unpredictable, and she's not sure she's willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.
All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part in the king's tournaments that pit fireblood prisoners against frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her and from the icy young man she has come to love.
Fast-paced and compelling, Frostblood is the first in a page-turning new young adult three-book series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies—but together create a power that could change everything.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

DNF Review: Bright Smoke, Cold Fire

Title: Bright Smoke, Cold Fire

Author: Rosamund Hodge
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Classification: Young Adult, Retelling, Fantasy
Release Date: September 27, 2016
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you, Balzer + Bray!)

Sabriel meets Romeo and Juliet in this stunning and atmospheric novel—the first in a duology—from the author of Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound.
When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.
The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.
Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.
Mahyanai Runajo just wants to protect her city—but she’s the only one who believes it’s in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death—and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.
Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting. . . 

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

Rose & Thorn by Sarah Prineas

Title: Rose & Thorn 

(Ash & Bramble #2)
Author: Sarah Prineas
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Classification: Young Adult, Retellings, Fantasy
Release Date: October 18, 2016
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you, HarperTeen!)

This beauty isn’t sleeping! Discover the true story of Sleeping Beauty in Sarah Prineas’s bold YA fairy-tale retelling filled with thrilling adventure and romance, perfect for fans of The Lunar Chronicles and The Girl of Fire & Thorns trilogy.
After the spell protecting her is destroyed, Rose seeks safety in the world outside the valley she had called home. She’s been kept hidden all her life to delay the three curses she was born with—curses that will put her into her own fairy tale and a century-long slumber. Accompanied by the handsome and mysterious Watcher, Griff, and his witty and warmhearted partner, Quirk, Rose tries to escape from the ties that bind her to her story. But will the path they take lead them to freedom, or will it bring them straight into the fairy tale they are trying to avoid?
Set in the world of Sarah Prineas’s Ash & Bramble fifty years later, Rose & Thorn is a powerful retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty tale where the characters fight to find their own Happy Ever After.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Title: Three Dark Crowns

(Three Dark Crowns #1)
Author: Kendare Blake
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic
Release Date: September 20, 2016
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you, Harper Teen!)

When kingdom come, there will be one.
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

Break Me Like a Promise by Tiffany Schmidt

Title: Break Me Like a Promise
(Once Upon a Crime Family #2)
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Length: 416
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Crime, Retelling
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Bloomsbury!)
Read: June 2016

No one is unbreakable.
All Magnolia Vickers has ever wanted was to follow father’s path as head of the Family Business. But new legislation is poised to destroy the Family’s operations in the black-market organ trade and Maggie’s recent behavior has wrecked the business-savvy reputation she’s worked her whole life to build.
She’s given an ultimatum: shape up or step aside.
Then Maggie messes up: she downloads a virus onto her father’s computer, and must sneak it off-estate for repair. When Alex, a tech whiz, uncovers the type of information on the machine, he offers Maggie a choice: her Family can give him a kidney, or he’ll irreparably scramble the data. Maggie agrees, but has no intention of keeping her promise or ever seeing him again. That night Alex shows up at her Family estate with copies of confidential Family files and a shocking revelation—the kidney is for him.
The Vickers aren’t willing to let Alex out of their sight, so he moves onto their estate and Maggie is assigned to be his keeper. A task she resents and he enjoys making as challenging as possible. But procuring black market organs is becoming increasingly difficult, and as Alex’s health declines, she’s surprised to find herself falling for him.
Like it or not, Maggie must accept that if she wants to save Alex’s life and carve out a place in the new legalized organ business, she’s going to have to fight for both. 

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Title: The Crown's Game

(The Crown's Game #1)
Author: Evelyn Skye
Length: 399 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Historical Fiction
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you, Balzer + Bray!)

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip-smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love…or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear—the Crown’s Game is not one to lose. 

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

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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The Memory Book by Lara Avery

Title: The Memory Book

Author: Lara Avery
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Poppy
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: July 5, 2016
Source: ARC 

They tell me that my memory will never be the same, that I'll start forgetting things. At first just a little, and then a lot. So I'm writing to remember.
Sammie was always a girl with a plan: graduate at the top of her class and get out of her small town as soon as humanly possible. Nothing will stand in her way--not even a rare genetic disorder the doctors say will slowly start to steal her memories and then her health. What she needs is a new plan.
So the Memory Book is born: Sammie's notes to her future self, a document of moments great and small. It's where she'll record every perfect detail of her first date with longtime crush, Stuart--a brilliant young writer who is home for the summer. And where she'll admit how much she's missed her childhood best friend, Cooper, and even take some of the blame for the fight that ended their friendship.
Through a mix of heartfelt journal entries, mementos, and guest posts from friends and family, readers will fall in love with Sammie, a brave and remarkable girl who learns to live and love life fully, even though it's not the life she planned.

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***I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***