Young Adult

The Selection

2017, Books in Bed, Fiction, Young Adult /

TW read The Selection ages ago. It was just some random YA romance she picked up at the library and I never expected to read it. When she finished, instead of putting it into the return bag, she put it back on the shelf and said it was surprisingly good… for what it was.

When I needed a quick and easy book, in between Disney World trips, I picked it up. And it was good, considering what it was about. (The prince chooses his bride from a “selection” of his subjects, one from each region – kind of like that Bachelor TV show.)

What I hated was the end. I didn’t realize it was a series and was thrown for a loop when it didn’t END PROPERLY. Gah. Now I feel like I have to read the next book but I’m afraid that it’s going to drag this out for many books and I’m not sure I can handle that. I do really kind of want to know how it ends, though. Gah.

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Shades of London 1 & 2

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Maureen Johnson is awesome and I really enjoyed the first and second books in the Shades of London series — though I do admit to being a little frustrated with Rory in the second book (The Madness Underneath.) TW particularly enjoyed Johnson’s descriptions of rain in London – spot on.

I just downloaded the free prequel, The Boy in the Smoke and I’m looking forward to reading the other two books in the series. UPDATED 10/28: I read The Boy in the Smoke prequel. It was excellent!

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Salt to the Sea

2017, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

We listened to Salt to the Sea (a YA Cybil) on audio and it took awhile. It’s tough to listen to this kind of book on audio – the subject matter is SO depressing and it’s not really something you are dying to listen to while driving to/from Walt Disney World, ya know?

It was well-written, good character choices and development, good ending (you know what I mean, since there really aren’t good endings to WWII historical fiction), and it’s definitely worth reading.

TW says it’s going to be a movie. I hope they do the book justice and don’t turn it into a WWII version of Titanic. I really hope they don’t do that. Maybe you should read the book before the movie comes out, just in case.

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The Hate U Give

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

I put The Hate U Give on my TBR list ages and ages ago. I reserved it at the library and then put the reservation on hold because I was traveling a lot and knew I wouldn’t be able to read it while traveling. I reactivated the hold and then completely cancelled it because you’ve seen my monthly reading counts – they’re abysmal! I knew I’d need a lot more time and energy to read this than I’ve had for most of the year.

So, September it was. Not an ideal month for this book but I really, really wanted to read it and I was tired of putting it off. I’m so glad I finally read it.

It was just as good as you’ve heard it was. Just as painful. Just as anger-inducing. Everyone should read this. Everyone should talk about it.

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

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Hotel Ruby

2017, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I picked up Hotel Ruby when we wandered around the YA section of the library last month. The title and description sounded appealing — and I like horror but haven’t read a lot of it lately.

This wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible, either. I can’t decided if I liked the ending or not, at least it wasn’t an altogether happy ending. Heck, I’m not sure I liked the premise or not.

And, interestingly — it looks like this book got a new name in the paperback version, it’s Hotel for the Lost? (or maybe it’s a US vs Canadian version thing? I’m not sure but it’s interesting… the new name is possibly a better name for the book. I just hope people who read one version don’t buy the other version thinking it’s a sequel or a different book. I assumed it was a sequel at first.)

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Run

2017, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

Woot! A Cybil I loved, loved, LOVED. Run was excellent. Both Agnes and Bo felt like real people. I especially liked the ending — Agnes’s parents behaved true to character rather than tying things up in the perfect happily ever after. (And, I admit I might have shed a tear or two there towards the end.)

PS. Four books in the first four days of the month. How long has it been since I could say that?

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Three YA! Yes, THREE!

2017, Books in Bed, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction, Young Adult /

Considering I read a whopping five books total in August, September is off to an amazing start! Three books down (all YA) and it’s 8amish on 9/4! How awesome is that? (And, today’s a holiday so I should be able to get some more reading in — even though we need to run into a city of some sort where there is a Lowes… anyway, back to the books…)

I read the next two books in the Stranje House series. (Refuge for Masterminds and Exile for Dreamers.) Both were just as good as the first one. Now, how long will it be before we get the next two books in the series?

After that, I read The One Memory of Flora Banks was difficult. I think it’s the mom part of me that read this and just shuddered all the way through it. I kept trying to figure out how I would parent a child who had no short-term memory. (I also wonder how kids feel about this story. I might have to go track down some kid reviews to find out.)

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A Shade of Vampire

2017, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I stumbled into A Shade of Vampire because I was looking for another series written by this author and realized that there seems to be some sort of “cultish” following of this series so I thought, what the heck… while I’m waiting for the book I really want (that has four holds ahead of me) I’ll grab the first book in this vampire series and see what the fuss is.

The fuss is that it’s exactly the kind of vampire series a Twilight lover would enjoy. Meaning, I ENJOYED IT. I don’t care who rolls their eyes (TW) and judges me for it. I absolutely enjoyed it and I’d read another (though I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t read all 40+ books that may or may not be in this series.)

PS… it looks like this sucker is self-published, too? Or pay to publish? I don’t know but I’m fascinated by the following and the lack of a big name publisher. The power of the internet is at work here. It just is. (Yea, I’m going to go reserve the second book in the series, now. Judge away. I DON’T CARE! lol)

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