The Summer I Turned Pretty

by Jenny Han
Published: 2009
Pages: 276
Review from Goodreads/Double Rainbow Nerds facebook

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Belly counts her life in summers. Only those months really count. She, her mother, and brother live with friends at a beach house in Cousins Beach every summer. The beach house is more of a home that Belly's year round house. Everything is normal and feels right at the beach house. One summer, however, the normal is interrupted by secrets, dating, and turning pretty.

I had high hopes for this book after one of my best friends urged me to read this ASAP. I picked it up in the HS library volunteer in. While I did enjoy reading this, it wasn't the most amazing thing ever. It was a wonderful break from all of the YA paranormal romance I read!

My main complaint is that I had a hard time relating to Belly. I usually can connect to most narrators and people, but Belly took a while. She kept complaining that she was being treated like a child and wasn't one, but she acted like one and didn't give anyone incentives to treat her like an adult. (view spoiler)

This read was mellow and had a relaxed pace, and I greatly appreciated that. The Summer I Turned Pretty left a warm feeling of content sitting on my chest, something I haven't felt in a while. 

While I'm not rushing out to pick up the next copy, I will probably read the rest of the series in due time.

______________________________

What time is it?: 10:11 PM

What I should be doing: AP Gov reading

What I forgot to do today: Eat dinner

Last person I talked to: My cat, Lucy

Last song I listened to: "Diamond" by alan (Ending theme from InuYasha: The Final Act)

What I'm thinking right now: Holy crap! I am soooo hungry! I wish Peeta was here to bake me cookies T.T

Bound

by Kira Saito
Published: 2011
Pages: 246 (estimated)
Arelia LaRue #1
Ebook
Review from GoodReads and Double Rainbow Nerds of Awesome facebook.

Rating: 2/5 stars
I really, really, really wanted to like this. And while I didn't hate it, I couldn't say I particularly enjoy it either. It was just... meh. Super meh. Like so meh that I went outside and watched as the fire department put out yet another fire on my street last night (3rd one this year, 4th if you count the fact that the fire department had to come back this morning and put it out AGAIN after it rekindled due to faulty electric lines.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

And for what it's worth, Bound made it onto my prestigious Cover Lover shelf. :) It's absolutely goooooooooorgeeeeeeeeeeouuuuuuuuus! :D

Complaints
The grammar.
Lots of sentences were constructed awkwardly and contained a few (not a great deal) of typos, plunging daggers into my AP English wired brain. -1 star
The characters. 
Sabrina was your stereotypical Garden district, Daddy's got enough money to support me forever, I'm better than everyone else, blonde bimbo beyotch. She is just so... so... You know what, when I find the right word I'll get back to you.
Arelia was hard for me to connect to (I'll accredit this to myself; it's not the author's fault) and became incredibly whiny as the story progressed. 
Ms. Mae I really liked at first, but... she failed to impress me and felt very flat.
Lucus was probably my favorite character. I loooove him! Of course, I have a thing for cursed boys (InuYasha, Ranma and Ryoga from Ranma 1/2, that guy from Beastlythat I can't remember the name of right now, Mackie from the Replacement)so I'm probably just insane. :D
And then Ivan. HATE. HATE. HATE. HATE. *stabs Ivan in the eyes with chopsticks*
-1 star
NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED.
Reading this was very slow going. Ms. Saito has TONS OF POTENTIAL and the overall idea is wonderful, but the execution is thin and leaves a lot to be desired. - 1 star 

I hear the next one is coming out soon, and I'll probably give it a try... If it's free on Amazon. Like this one was.

Demonglass

by Rachel Hawkins
Published: 2011
Pages: 359
Hex Hall Series #2
Review from Goodreads and Double Rainbow Nerds facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/DoubleRainbowNerds

Rating: 4.25/5 starsSchool's out for the summer and Sophie's whisked off to England to spend the summer with her dad, the Head of the Council. There, she finds two others like her, a very hot member of the L'Occhio di Dio, and more betrayals, secrets, and lies than she ever could have imagined. My, oh my... Mrs. Hawkins has such wonderful writing abilities... I was absolutely HOOKED. She manages to incorporate a rather complex plot while still adding in dashes of romance, humor, and bloody brilliant magic. My only complaints: Love triangles. SOOO overdone in YA paranormal lit (Twilight, Halo, Unearthly(although it completely worked there)). It works in Demonglass, but I just find them redundant by this point. Jenna was very... sensitive. She just didn't seem to be who she was in Hex Hall. ______________ Why I read it: Because I loooooooooooooooved Hex Hall! <3 Who should read it: YA paranormal romance junkies Last weird thing that just happened to me: The house down the street caught fire and the police were in my front yard for like an hour. Newest thing I've tried: Today has been a day of firsts. I ate my first dish from Chipotle, had my first chai tea latte from Starbucks, and my first caramel hot chocolate from McDonald's. They all were good.

The Replacement

by Brenna Yovanoff
Published: 2010
Pages: 343
Stand alone novel
Review from my Goodreads account:

http://www.facebook.com/DoubleRainbowNerds

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars.  I REALLY WISH GOODREADS OFFERED HALF STARS. Heartbreaking. What you have here is a creepy, enchanting, and interesting novel. In the town of Gentry, children go missing and are replaced with something that looks like them, but isn't. These children are taken for the good of the town, but what if one of "them" has a different idea about what's good for Gentry? My summary is very vague, because a lot of things in this book where vague. Things I personally want to highlight: 1. Mackie is one of my favorite narrators. I really connected well with him. 2. I hatehatehatehate Tate. HATE HER. *shoots lasers from eye sockets* 3. The Morrigan is one of my favorite characters. So creepy and yet endearing! Cosplay? When I'm not half-asleep, I'll write a decent review. Probably. Maybe... ___________________________ So, why did you rate it "3-stars" on Goodreads, but on your blogs it says "3.5 stars"? Shouldn't that round up to 4 stars? No. ROUNDING IS NONEXISTENT. The 3 star rating was assigned because while I like this book, I didn't think it was good enough to be a four star book. ___________________________ Why I read it: Because it looked interesting and I had hear so much about it over the Facebook book clubs I participate in. Then the HS library got a copy. I was sold. Who should read it: Lovers of dark, creepy stories. Fae enthusiasts. What I'm thinking at this exact moment: Gawd, I'm so tired! No wonder it looks like  I'm a raccoon. I don't sleep! D: with, strangely enough, Destiny's Child's Say My Name playing in the background. I scare myself.