How We Fall by Kate Brauning {Review}

{release date: November 3rd at Amazon & B&N: November 11: Nationwide Retailers}

Synopsis: {courtesy of amazon.com}:

Ever since Jackie moved to her uncle's sleepy farming town, she's been flirting way too much--and with her own cousin, Marcus.

Her friendship with him has turned into something she can't control, and he's the reason Jackie lost track of her best friend, Ellie, who left for...no one knows where. Now Ellie has been missing for months, and the police, fearing the worst, are searching for her body. Swamped with guilt and the knowledge that acting on her love for Marcus would tear their families apart, Jackie pushes her cousin away. The plan is to fall out of love, and, just as she hoped he would, Marcus falls for the new girl in town. But something isn't right about this stranger, and Jackie's suspicions about the new girl's secrets only drive the wedge deeper between Jackie and Marcus--and deepens Jackie's despair.

Then Marcus is forced to pay the price for someone else's lies as the mystery around Ellie's disappearance starts to become horribly clear. Jackie has to face terrible choices. Can she leave her first love behind, and can she go on living with the fact that she failed her best friend?

{Review}: 

So, for those of you who don’t know me: I really enjoy my sleep. Being a reading specialist for k-5^th grade, takes it out of me during the day, and at night, I really just like to sleep. I try to get in bed BY 8PM, and am usually asleep the minute my head hits the pillows.

I started this e-book {an ARC courtesy of Edelweiss}, last Sunday night at 9:45PM. I finally put it down at 10:40… simply dying to find out what happened next. The next day, I took it to school and read it on my lunch break, and then Monday night, from 9:45-12:57am EXACTLY…I finished it.

Why?

Because it’s just that good.

I’m a hoarder of ARC’s. I picked this one because I liked the charm bracelet cover, and I really liked the colors. I very rarely read the synopsis, and in this case, I’m glad I didn’t. I went in not knowing anything but that this “looked” like a great read.

We’re first introduced to the main characters: Jackie and Marcus, at a roadside farm stand, in a very rural backdrop. You can tell off the bat that there is a definite chemistry between the two of them. It becomes BLATANT when they start making out in his pickup truck after they close up shop for the day on a private/dirt-esqe road. You’ll find your fingers start to burn while you’re reading it, because you can tell there is an undeniable heat emanating from the two of them. The masterful way it’s written, you almost feel like a voyeur, looking in on these kids, who are obviously head over heels in love with one another, and can’t contain themselves.

And then, she hits you with it.

As in sucker-punches-you-right-in-the-gut/smacks-you-palm-open-across-the-face with it:

They’re first cousins.

I’ll admit, I may have dropped my kindle and had a little “What the HELL?” moment/fit.

But once I got my bearings, and read about 20% of the way in, I realized that this was way deeper than just a case of “kissing cousins”... even though they had made it clear that they hadn't consummated their love quite yet...

And then…

you just…

Can’t.

Stop.

Reading.

When we meet Jackie, she’s incredibly concerned about a friend, Ellie {great name, right?}, who has abruptly gone missing. She moved away last school year, and they really lost touch {and to her defense, it was mainly because she was so enamored and engrossed with her love affair with Marcus that she lost touch with her friend}. She’s incredibly upset over it, and is trying to solve this mystery, while continuing to attempt to maintain this forbidden relationship with her cousin and best friend.

You feel guilty FOR her, because you can tell this fear over her former best friend is so real, you feel incredibly sad when Marcus starts fawning over a new gal in town, and begins dating her (in an attempt to provide an air of normalcy to his life), and if you’re anything like me, you may start to cry because when the love of your life as a teenager starts showing interest in someone else—it breaks your heart. It’s also incredibly sobering because in addition to all of this, you’re getting a first-hand glimpse into the horrible guilt they’re feeling over potentially giving into their desires, and ultimately breaking up their family in the process.

By the end of this amazing tale… {and much to your own surprise}

You find yourself championing for their love.

It was literally about halfway through that I took a hot tea break, and as I’m watching the pot boil and thinking about what I’m reading, I’m thinking to myself: “I really hope this works out for them.”

Does it?

Pick up this PHENOMENAL read, and find out.

{Where can I buy this?}:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Fall-Kate-Brauning/dp/1440581797/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414967642&sr=8-1&keywords=how+we+fall

B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-we-fall-kate-brauning/1119045650?ean=9781440581793

{What would I rate it?}: 

5/5. One of the most masterful story lines since We Were Liars  {according to moi}.

{Who would I recommend this book to?}:

 Grade 8 plus. The make-out sections are steamy, but not too-terrible… I’m just not sure that any kids younger would understand the turmoil that this puts on the shoulders of these young characters.

Elixir by Ted Galdi {Review}

{Synopsis: courtesy of amazon.com}: Meet 14-year-old Sean Malone. He has an IQ above 200, a full-ride scholarship to one of the country’s top universities, and more than one million dollars from his winning streak on Jeopardy. However, Sean wishes he could just be normal. 

But his life is anything but normal. The US government manipulates him, using him as a code breaker in pursuit of a drug lord and killing innocent people along the way. 
For reasons related to his personal security, Sean finds himself in Rome, building a new life under a new name, abandoning academics, and hiding his genius from everyone. When he’s 18 he falls in love. The thrills begin again when he learns that his girlfriend is critically ill and it’s up to him to use his intellect to find a cure, a battle pitting him against a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical company and the demons of his past. 
Elixir is a story about identity, secrets, and above all, love.

{Review}:

I received this title courtesy of Netgalley. 

I’ve been reading far too many girl-themed YA… all drama and boys, and while well written, I was excited for a change of pace.

When I began this book, I didn’t love protagonist Sean Malone.

I mean, he was kind of a pompous kid, who knew everything in the world there is to know. However, when reading this book, even though you might not be rooting for him to begin with {again, because he’s portrayed as that snobby jeopardy kid}, the author weaves a story that’s impossibly good: you literally cannot put it down.

I really enjoyed that the character of Sean, was an outcast not because of how he looked, or how he dressed…but because he was so insanely smart. I feel like there aren’t many authors that take that risk, and in this case, it definitely took.

I maybe put it down for meals, and bathroom breaks, but it was incredibly good. While the plot might seem a little unrealistic, I promise you that it’s incredibly exciting (and actually seems as though it could happen) and well written, especially appealing to the YA men out there. Bravo Ted Galdi!

{Where can I buy this?}:

Amazon: Buy from Amazon

{What would I rate it?}: 4.5/5. A solid novel, especially appealing to those YA kids who aren’t wanting the Dystopian society/love at first sight/someone’s dying types of YA we’ve been reading as of late.

{Who would I recommend this book to?}: YA males, especially those who are smart, and might feel disconnected because they’re different.

Undone by Cat Clarke {Review}

{obviously: cover from amazon.com: link below}

{Synopsis: courtesy of amazon.com}: Jem Halliday is in love with her best friend. It doesn't matter that Kai is gay, or that he'll never look at her the way she looks at him. Jem is okay with that. But when Kai is outed online by one of their classmates, he does the unthinkable and commits suicide.

Jem is left to pick up the pieces of her broken life. Before he died, Kai left her twelve letters—one for each month of the year—and those letters are all Jem has left. That, and revenge.

Although Kai's letters beg her not to investigate what happened, Jem can't let it go. She needs to know who did this, and she'll stop at nothing to find the person responsible for Kai's death. One way or another, someone is going down. Someone is going to pay.

{Synopsis: courtesy of amazon.com}: Jem Halliday is in love with her best friend. It doesn't matter that Kai is gay, or that he'll never look at her the way she looks at him. Jem is okay with that. But when Kai is outed online by one of their classmates, he does the unthinkable and commits suicide.

Jem is left to pick up the pieces of her broken life. Before he died, Kai left her twelve letters—one for each month of the year—and those letters are all Jem has left. That, and revenge.

Although Kai's letters beg her not to investigate what happened, Jem can't let it go. She needs to know who did this, and she'll stop at nothing to find the person responsible for Kai's death. One way or another, someone is going down. Someone is going to pay.

{Review}: I received this book as an ARC from netgalley.com.

A few years ago, Thirteen Reasons Why was added to the syllabus of the school that I work for’s 9^th grade required reading list. Many parents were urged to read the book, as it is a story about teen suicide, where the protagonist left behind 13 audio tapes that basically explained her thought processes in her last days.

I IMMEDIATELY went back to this book when I read Undone. Now, with that said, really the only similarities that exist are that they both deal with teenage suicide, as well as people speaking from beyond the grave. They are also both impeccably written YA books that you literally just melt into. The book becomes a part of you while you’re reading it, and you can’t eat, sleep, or anything until you’re done with it.

We start by meeting Jem, a sweet lost soul who has just had to bury her teenaged best friend. He’s committed suicide (it isn’t a secret), but what is, is really why he felt the need to end his life, as well as who was behind the “straw that broke the camel’s back?” I don’t want to give it away, but Jem is gay, and there was social media involved.

It’s a mystery, but Jem decides to “get back” at whomever she thinks might have done this to him. Meanwhile, she starts to get these letters from Kai. All well-meaning and good letters about her moving on with her life, and attempting to better herself, while she’s in the midst of trying to punish those that she thinks are responsible for her best friend’s death.

You’ll be blindsided by the ending to this book. Really, you’ll be staring with your mouth open at around 85% completion… and your jaw will continue to slacken throughout the ending of the book. And you also might cry.

It’s masterful.

Brilliant, even.

One of the best of 2014 {Right now, this book is tied for 1st place IMO, with Oblivion & We Were Liars}.

And the length, at first glance…kind of scared me. I don’t love any YA read that’s over 300 pages…but this FLEW by. I finished it in a day and a half at the beach. It was WONDERFUL!

I also enjoyed the fact that Cat Clarke brought the ills of social media into it. It’s very interesting to see what could happen at a get together, that could then end up all over the internet.

{Where can I buy this?}:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Undone-Cat-Clarke-ebook/dp/B00IJEVN9Q/ref=la_B005XPT5CQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404846608&sr=1-1

B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undone-cat-clarke/1113965658?ean=9781402292248

{What would I rate it?}: 4.99999999/5 stars. It was practically perfect.

{Who would I recommend this book to?}: Anyone who enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why or We Were Liars. It was a good combination of those two. I received this book as an ARC from netgalley.com.