From the Bookshelf #12

Hello, lovelies!

I apologize wholeheartedly for no posts last week, but my brother's getting married this week and I've had my hands full of all kinds of wedding things (not including cake *sad face*). But I've managed to finish a decent amount of books recently, so here's what I've had my nose in lately.

(If you're wondering if you'd like any of these, I tried to include a little bit of what it's about under each book, so feel free to take a peek.)

* * *

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Star Rating: 4

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance

Notes:

This book was an adventure. It's really sad at times, but their relationship is just too adorable to not love. Both of these characters have home lives that are less than perfect (Eleanor's being abusive at times), and school life isn't all it's cracked up to be either. And when they find each other, it isn't instant sparks, but they're not at each other's throats like most cliche books start out with. There are decently mature things in here, so it's up to you to judge if you think you can handle it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Star Rating: 4

Genre: Historical fiction

Notes:

This is definitely a well-known piece of literature that takes place in the 1920s. I didn't see the entire movie before reading this, but I did accidentally see a spoiler part of the older version of the movie (the one not with Leonardo DiCaprio), so there is that. With so much hubbub built up around the book, I'd felt an instant disliking to it, but as I eased into it, I really did like it. The main character, Nick, is very relatable, just trying to find his way in a world where his neighbor is a party host every weekend and his cousin-in-law is having an affair. It's a little hard to get into, but overall a lovely, yet sad, book.

Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts

Star Rating: 4

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Notes:

I like to think of this as the Fault In Our Stars with way less cheesiness and making out. It's a cancer story, told by Zac and Mia, who both have it. But instead of trying to create soliloquies and woo each other, they keep things real. I love that it wasn't a depressing cancer book, but it wasn't unrealistic either. So if you liked TFIOS but you want something that hits you like a freight train, that this is for you. It's very much about strength and overcoming, but also just being there when it's impossible to overcome.

Hungry by H.A. Swain

Star Rating: 2

Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian

Notes:

I went into this thinking it was a similar story to the Giver, just with food. This takes place in the future, and instead of food, the people drink these weird nutrition things and take medication to keep hunger at bay. The plot was predictable at best, and the characters were so dull. The MC and her love interest would fight just because the author needed filler, and the entire thing wasn't interesting. It felt really shallow and weak, and their society wasn't intoxicating and didn't hook me. 

Just another cliche "Our government is secretly corrupt! Let's join an underground movement and start a rebellion! Oh wait, people are chasing us!" book. The ending was terrible, and it took almost 3/4 of the book for things to finally start moving along. (Also, nobody poops in their society because of the nutrition things, which kind of weirds me out. Sorry if that's TMI!)

One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington

Star Rating: 3

Genre: Fantasy

Notes:

This is a story of a girl who has two lives. Every night at midnight, she shifts into that life. Both take place in about the same area, but she's completely different people in each life, and eventually she has to figure out what to do when her "rules" of shifting start changing. Interesting idea, for sure. 

But the plot was almost sickening to read. There's one point where she starts cutting herself to see if she'll be cut in her alternate life, and that angered me, because some people seriously struggle with cutting and drug abuse (which she also has a little bit of in this book). Her love interest is . . . okay. But the author tried too hard to pull a fast one on the audience at the end, and there was nothing earlier to hint to this plot twist. It just wasn't realistic. But there were a few underlying good themes to it, which is why I didn't rate it a 2.

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Star Rating: 4

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance

Notes:

Each short little chapter segment is different people (like a squirrel, teacher, Starbucks barista, waitress, etc.) narrating this love story. Two shy people who just make eye contact and smile in class, but are too bashful to admit anything. It was so cute to see other people's observations on Lea and Gabe's relationship that starts to become apparent. I just thought the whole thing was adorable and it made me smile.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Star Rating: 2

Genre: Fantasy

Notes:

I enjoyed Marie Lu's Legend trilogy, but this book horrified me. It's about teens who survived a plague, and ended up marked, scarred, and shunned by their communities. However, some survivors gained strange powers along with their marks. Those were called the Young Elites. The idea sounded cool. Teens with powers to kick butt sounded good to me. But this book was so dark. The MC has darkness laced in her powers, but instead of being fascinating like darkness can be, it filled me with such disgust for the MC. She seemed weak to me, and all of the darkness seemed pointless. It was like the author was trying to hype up something that just didn't have the power to be exciting. 

There are a few deaths in the book, but they had no meaning. I raised my eyebrows, but I didn't care about them. I was really excited to read it, but it just left this bitter taste in my mouth. I did not enjoy this book like I'd hoped. I just wish the plot was stronger and the characters had more depth than the cliche ones where one hates the MC and other is in love with her.

* * *

That is all.

Cheers,
Seana