A World Without You by Beth Revis

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Beth Revis' website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Beth Revis' website):

Can Bo live in a world without Sofia?

Bo cannot imagine a world without his girlfriend Sofia. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to. Even though he accidentally got her stuck in the past, he’s attending an elite school for kids with powers that should help him gain better control of his time traveling abilities and save her. Although the appearance of some nosy government officials at the secret school may cause some problems…

Phoebe can all too easily imagine a world without her brother Bo. Without him, her mother wouldn’t retreat into herself with worry. Her father wouldn’t lock himself away and pretend like Bo doesn’t have a problem. And she would have a chance to be a normal girl, not the sister to a boy whose paranoid delusions make him think that he has super powers and can travel through time.

As Phoebe learns to speak her heart in a family that uses silence to ignore its problems, Bo must face the fact that if his super powers aren’t real, neither are his chances to save Sofia.

Bo goes to a school for gifted kids.  They all have super powers, and he's accidentally left Sofia hundreds of years in the past.  But the story starts with her funeral, and Bo can't figure out why everyone's acting as if she's truly gone.  Do they not have enough faith in his powers to go back in time and save her?  Because he's going to save her.

Phoebe is Bo's younger sister who has had to live in his shadow.  Where he gets the attention and the treatment for his needs, she's expected to be the perfect child.  She's getting the grades, setting herself up for college, and living her parents' dreams.  However just once, she wants to be able to let go and live a life of uncertainty like Bo can.  She doesn't want the responsibility of being the perfect child living in silence anymore.

This book was very slow going for me, and I had a very hard time being in Bo's mind.  It was hard and mind-boggling.  I don't know how Beth Revis was able to write his character.  It isn't hard for me to say I related to the sister.  I was one of those 'perfect' kids trying to live the 'perfect' life.  And no matter what kinds of issues you might be dealing with, you're always going to feel overshadowed by your siblings.  I was the same way with my brother and then later on with my much younger siblings.  But this story dealt more with mental issues and how everyone affected tried to deal.  And it does point out things broken.  And your heart slowly begins to melt as Bo tries to piece together what happened to Sofia.  It's just a sad one for me that was hard for me to deal with.

These contemporary books are the reason I dislike contemporary but at the same time have to read one every once in a good while just because they're good.  And they face those unpleasant issues that we have a tendency to bury as fast as possible.

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Marieke Nijkamp's website

Expected publication date:  January 5, 2016

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Marieke Nijkamp's website):

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

At the beginning of the year in a small town called Opportunity, students are in an assembly getting pumped for the new semester.  Just as the principal finishes her speech about your decisions becoming your future, the students are ready to return to class.  But the doors are locked.  No one can get out.  Gunshots erupt and people realize today is no ordinary day.

Claire, the track star and ROTC officer, has special permission with the track team to skip the assembly.  Tomás is convinced a certain student's file in the principal's office holds the key to what's bothering his sister.  Autumn is done with the principal's pep talk and ready to be done with the year and out of the city as soon as possible.  Sylv is still contemplating whether her reasons for staying in Opportunity outweigh the reasons for leaving as the assembly ends.  All of these students become united for less than an hour where they will share tears, heart ache, bravery, and defiance.

This is a quick read that goes through the emotions as quick as the world changes upside down.  While being determined to save their own necks, we see a lot of students step up to save their fellow classmen.  And what I loved seeing was the siblings fighting for each other.  Sylv and Tomás.  Claire and Matt.  Autumn and Tyler.  This book gives no explanations; it just goes through the emotions and the scene.  The only thing I kind of disliked is it tried to give an explanation for the shooter.  We see his backstory and are pushed to blame the parents.  Parents in one way or another will fail their children, but their children's choices are still their own to make.  And this only slightly bothered me.  But I think that's the point of the story.  So many little pieces done slightly wrong which pushes one kid over the edge until he becomes a firecracker.

This book takes about two to three hours to read.  And if you like contemporary, pick this one up.  It makes you appreciate the little things in life.  Friends, family, acquaintances; in the end, that's who we have in this world.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

Remembrance by Michelle Madow

Genre:  YA Contemporary Romance with a splash of reincarnation

Transcend Time Saga, Book 1

Michelle Madow's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Michelle Madow's website):

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from 1815, England ... but she doesn't realize it until she meets her soul mate from the past and he triggers her memories to gradually return.

When Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school, she feels a connection to him, like she knows him. But he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching Drew is more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, but fighting fate isn't easy, and she's determined to unravel the mysteries of the past.

The beginning of the school year has come about, and Lizzie has the perfect life: she's smart and she's got the boy.  But when Drew walks into her life, Lizzie realizes her life isn't so complete anymore.  In fact, she finds herself drawn to the 1800s, but she doesn't know why.

Lizzie realizes a couple of things after that first day at school.  One - her boyfriend, Jeremy, has become a little bit more cocky ever since becoming co-captain of the soccer team.  Two - the new boy has a bit of familiar mystery, but she can't figure out why he has a hot/cold attitude with her.  Three - her best friend, Chelsea, has a crush on the new boy and she's going to ask him out.  And four?  Well, there's this slight nagging feeling that Lizzie's been through all of this before.  In fact, she knows Drew from somewhere...

This is one of those books where I really wish I could say I liked it, but I didn't really care for it.  Yes - this is a contemporary romance that transcends time.  Yes - you will see a story from the past interweave into the present with specific triggers.  But - they're still in high school.  And the cynic in me kind of rolls her eyes when you talk about forever romances in high school.  So, I had a hard time with this story and the romance that presents itself.  And I really wish there was more to the story instead of just the romance.  I think I would have enjoyed this story more if I had read it in high school.

This is a book that I wanted to enjoy but just got caught up in my own reservations.  I can tell you that I want to read the next one, Vengeance, because it looks like a good one...  This story is definitely for the die-hard true romance fans (in a young adult setting).

The Last Time we Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Cynthia Hand's website
Expected publication date:  February 10, 2015

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Cynthia Hand's website):

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Lex is a senior in high school trying to deal with her brother's death.  With Dave the psychiatrist's attempt to help her, he asks her to write about memories of her brother.  And as the story weaves through Lex: her home-life and her school-life, she travels back to her favorite memories of her brother.  But as she tries to cope with her life moving on, can she accept that her brother's is over?  Can she answer the whys and the what ifs?

With the fallout of her brother's suicide, Lex and her mother have distanced themselves.  Coming from an imperfect family and coping with visions of her brother's ghost, Lex just wants to move on without the hurt.  Then one of her childhood friends shows up and offers a way to help her mourn and move on.  But she's still holding onto a secret.  A secret that could have changed the outcome of her brother's death.

This book is a story you can get into easily and really enjoy.  I loved the story-telling in between what was happening in Lex' world.  It was really easy for me to connect with a smart/nerdy girl (because I definitely am one).  But what I absolutely loved was watching Lex try to reconcile her mistakes with her brother's mistakes.  And the fact that some romance creeps up on you in the story without seeming overwhelming.  This book is a story about a girl dealing with death.  And it's good.

Honestly, I loved this one.  And it's coming from someone who isn't a huge fan of contemporaries.  This book would be the reason why I have to pick up a contemporary every now and then.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

Genre:  YA Contemporary Thriller

Stephanie Kuehn's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Stephanie Kuehn's website):

Two years ago, fifteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor’s fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.

But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.

Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to finally know the truth about their past. A truth she’s kept hidden for years. A truth she’s not supposed to tell.

Trust nothing and no one as you race toward the explosive conclusion of this gripping psychological thriller from the William C. Morris Award–winning author of Charm & Strange.

Jamie is your average teenager trying to survive high school and keep his parents happy.  Only, he has a terrible past that he can't remember, but his sister remembers it.  And while his adoptive parents are perfectly okay at letting the past be forgotten, Cate refuses to let him forget it.  But can Jamie handle the past?

Cate has barely gotten out of juvenile detention, and now she's hell-bent on making those responsible pay.  But Jamie has always been there.  He's always been along for the ride and putting up with Cate.  So it's confusing that she's decided to come after him.  Maybe it's because of sibling jealousy or maybe she's just looking for an ear to listen to her.  But Jamie's not sure he wants anything to do with her.  After all, she's just trouble trying to make more trouble.

So, I can't really go into this novel too much without ruining it.  However, I will say one word: terrible.  That's how I felt about the novel, the writing, and the epic conclusion.  I felt like the writing was so choppy, and I couldn't handle the two-paged chapters well.  So of course, I wasn't enjoying this too much.  And while I felt like the whole plot premise was glaringly obvious, I felt like the terrible ending had quite a few redeeming qualities to it.  But it just wasn't one that made me think it was time well-spent reading.

With all the open-ended questions each chapter leaves, I'm sure there's going to be plenty of others who love this chase.  I just feel like I would have done better if I could ride through this chase with a Hummer instead of a tricycle (I'm sure my imagery makes no sense)...

Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard

Welcome to my tour stop for the Phantom's Dance.  You will find a book bio, my review, Lesa's bio, and a giveaway.

Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Lesa Howard's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Book Tour):

Christine Dadey’s family uprooted their lives and moved to Houston for her to attend the prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. Now, two years later, Christine struggles to compete among the Academy’s finest dancers, her parents are on the brink of divorce, and she’s told no one about her debilitating performance anxiety and what she’s willing to do to cope with it.

Erik was a ballet prodigy, a savant, destined to be a star on the world’s stage, but a suspicious fire left Erik’s face horribly disfigured. Now, a lonely phantom forced to keep his scars hidden, he spends his nights haunting the theater halls, mourning all he’s lost. Then, from behind the curtain he sees the lovely Christine. The moldable, malleable Christine.

Drawn in by Erik’s unwavering confidence, Christine allows herself to believe Erik’s declarations that he can transform her into the dancer she longs to be. But Christine’s hope of achieving her dreams may be her undoing when she learns Erik is not everything he claims. And before long, Erik’s shadowy past jeopardizes Christine’s unstable present as his obsession with her becomes hopelessly entangled with his plans for revenge.

This is my first Phantom of the Opera retelling.  The ballet dancer Christine is trying to live a normal high-schooler life while attending a prestigious ballet school.  However, her dancing needs to be improved.  And during the moments of first-time dating, a mysterious teacher shows up who promises to help teach Christine become a better dancer.  And that's the twist this book plays on the well-loved classic; no singing involved.

Christine just recently moved to Houston for Christine's dancing.  She wants to become a professional ballet dancer, but she has a problem.  Not all of her teachers thinks she has what it takes to dance.  Meanwhile her home life is barely staying together with her parents avoiding each other.  So when the opportunity to tutor football players comes along, best-friend Jenna encourages Christine to go on a date.  As Christine begins to experience normal real-life things, she still tries to figure out her dancing mishaps.  That is until a pompous mystery-man volunteers to help her.  Suddenly, Christine's dancing life gets better and her social life gets happier.  That is until the Phantom puts a halt to all of this.

As far as the retelling goes, this one followed the storyline really well.  And it puts a fun teenage twist to the plot.  I enjoyed the relationship dynamics between Jenna and Christine.  And Raoul is one of those good guys that every girl wants (or will want eventually).  The only thing I didn't really enjoy is it never really gave the opportunity to put the phantom in a good light.  I mean we all know he's a a bad guy, but I love reading books that can twist your thinking/opinion of a person around until you question whether or not they really are evil.  Really, that was my only complaint.

This story's definitely one for Phantom and ballet lovers.  It gives you a moment to relive high school and first loves with a lurking phantom.

Thanks goes to Lesa Howard and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me a review copy.

Author Bio

I'm not the typical author. I didn't always enjoy reading or writing. While in school, I found it to be a chore I'd just as soon skip. I would rather have been daydreaming, my favorite past time. It wasn’t until I grew up and didn’t have to, that I realized reading was fun. I soon discovered that reading fueled my daydreaming. So, remembering a short story I'd written in high school, I began imagining expanding that story into a book. Before long I found I had loads of ideas for not just the short story but other books and stories as well. Fast forward a few years, a lot of studying about writing, practicing my writing, studying some more, taking classes from people who knew what they were doing, studying and practicing yet more, and ta-dah, author! In the same way I had learned I loved reading, I learned I loved writing, too. It’s just that writing is a lot harder than reading.

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Ava Dellaira's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Ava Dellaira's website):

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead. People like Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and most importantly, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn someone when you haven’t forgiven them? And how do you find your true identity when so much of who you were died with the person you loved? It’s not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself can she finally begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly begin to discover her own path.

This book should be one that a lot of teenagers can relate to.  It has a lot of teenage emotion and angst.  And Laurel has so much feeling that she doesn't know what to do with it.  There's feelings that she's not sure she should have, and that leaves her trying to shut things out and ignore the problem.

Laurel writes to a lot of dead people in this novel.  She's barely started high school, and she's going to school in a brand new district.  It gives her a fresh start where no one will no her as the girl whose sister died.  But even if no one knows, can she shut out the memories of what happened?  As she meets best friends and new loves, Laurel begins to open up.  But she doesn't like what she's feeling, so she shuts down. And that's the worst mistake she can make.  As her life navigates through the school year, a lot of mistakes happen, but the truth does eventually come out.

Honestly?  This book dealt with a lot of real-life issues.  You've got a young death, a fresh love that isn't traditional (but it's still beautiful), and you have teens trying to prepare for college and their futures.  But...  It wasn't for me.  I thought it way too slow.  And it seemed like once the climax hit and we found out what happened, everything took a nosedive with happy pills to make everything end perfectly.  However, there was one letter that I truly loved and it got me teary-eyed.  For those familiar with the book, turn to page 207.  You've got true anger and betrayal, something I have felt before and lashed out with.  I absolutely loved this letter even though I did not care for the book.

I think contemporary lovers are going to enjoy this novel.  It's got a very unique concept in that it follows a diary transcript but in letter-form.  And it follows a teenager just trying to live her life and cope with her sister's death.

Spin by Catherine McKenzie

Genre:  Adult Contemporary

Catherine McKenzie's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Catherine McKenzie's website):

KATIE’S TO-DO LIST:
1. Go to rehab
2. Befriend/spy on “It Girl”
3. Write killer exposé
4. Land dream job
Piece of cake!

Katie Sandford has just gotten an interview at her favourite music magazine, The Line. It’s the chance of a lifetime. So what does she do? Goes out to celebrate — and shows up still drunk at the interview. No surprise, she doesn’t get the job, but the folks at The Line think she might be perfect for another assignment for their sister gossip rag. All Katie has to do is follow It Girl Amber Sheppard into rehab. If she can get the inside scoop (and complete the 30-day program without getting kicked out), they’ll reconsider her for the job at The Line.

Katie takes the job. But things get complicated when real friendships develop, a cute celebrity handler named Henry gets involved, and Katie begins to realize she may be in rehab for a reason. Katie has to make a decision — is publishing the article worth everything she has to lose?

This quirky chick-lit contemporary is proof that even as adults, we still have no idea what we're doing with ourselves in the future and the now.  We still have imperfections to work on and aren't as clean-cut as some people seem to think.  And there's more swear words, haha...

Katie is living the life, well she thought it would be much more glamorous than it really is.  She's a struggling writer who left home after graduating high school and moved to the city.  While trying to land the dream job, she acts like a 25-year0old with her friends and tends to drink a little too much.  While failing to land the dream job, a gossip magazine sees potential in her.  They'll throw her in rehab, the same one that famous Amber Sheppard is in.  After spying on her and writing the expose of the year, they'll offer her her dream job.  Only problem is, Katie finds rehab brings the truth out of people.  And when you're laid bare in front of others, it's easy to pick up feelings for the people you're trying to write about.

This book was cute.  We see Katie's problems manifest, watch her deny these problems, and try to work through them.  There's a lot of humor, many moments to relate to Katie, and a touch of romance.  I really enjoyed the incorporation of music and movies into this novel.  I think the best thing I could relate it too is Bridget Jones' Diary but without the obnoxious weigh-ins at every chapter.

It's a quick read for someone looking for a happy-go-lucky one that does deal with real issues like friendship, love, and addiction.  Plus, it can be a nice breather from young adult novels if you're like me (I tend to read a lot of young adult).

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Lauren Oliver's website

Expected publication date:  March 4, 2014

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Lauren Oliver's website):

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

It all starts with a game: a game that tests your fears and causes some to panic.  The payoff is great and the winner becomes a legend in the town.  But the risks are high.  Would you play the game?  I had to pick up this novel after reading the Delirium series.  And while I absolutely loved (for the most part) the Delirium series, I'm not so sure I loved this one.

This book is from two point of views:  Heather and Dodge.  Heather lives with her sister, alcoholic mother, and the mother's sometimes-boyfriend.  After graduating high school, Heather has the same dream as every other teen in Carp: get out of town.  After dealing with a terrible breakup, Heather decides to enter the game called Panic.  There's a whole pot of money that will go out to the winner, and this may be her chance to get herself and Lily out of Carp.

Dodge, the city's newcomer that no one cares to know enough about.  After dealing with his sister's accident in a previous game of Panic, Dodge only has one goal: to win Panic.  But in the process of the game, he interacts with Nan, Heather's best friend.  Alliances begin to form, and Dodge begins to question his original motivations for the game.  In this deadly game, people will be tested, hearts will break, and others will panic.

I honestly don't know what to think about this book.  Some might say it's a thriller contemporary, but I found no thrill in the story at all.  Instead, I got to hear people's stories, where they were coming from, what motivated them.  But looking strictly at the plotline, I found that uber predictable.  The only surprising things in this story were how far people were willing to go to finish their endgame.  Kind of like the real world.  But I'm not sure I truly understood the point of this story.  Maybe, at the end of the day, we're still living a life and need to make the most of it.  Who knows?

Coming from Delirium, I wasn't expecting a pure contemporary read with this.  I guess after reading this, it proves I am not a major fan of contemporary, and I do not have a new favorite author to pin up.  But don't let me get you down, this book might fit you better than it fit me.  I'd recommend checking out other reviews by people with your own tastes in books.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a copy.

Sia by Josh Grayson

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Josh Grayson's website

Expected publication date:  November 20, 2013

Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

Have you ever looked at your past and wished for a second chance to do the right thing?  Don't even look at your distant past, consider the last week.  Were there some bad choices, things you did that hurt people, stuff you wish you could have done differently?  Sia has a case of fugue amnesia where she gets just that chance to start everything new.  But she has the old, mean-girl-her overshadowing her every step.

First off, what is fugue amnesia?  According to Wikipedia, it's a disorder where someone forgets his/her personal identity, including memories, personality and other characteristics.  And Sia suffers from this.

The story begins with Sia not remembering who she is.  With no memories, she has no way of protecting herself and finding shelter.  And the streets of Los Angeles are not kind to the homeless.  After spending a week living the homeless life, her parents find her.  As she begins to be introduced into her normal world, she finds she wasn't the nice, naive girl that she's become.  Will people's memories of who she was prevent them from getting to know the new her?  Can Sia overcome the shadow that her past has become?

This book makes you feel good.  Or it makes you want to think that everyone has a little bit of good in them no matter how mean they might be to you.  I guess it gives you hope.  I really enjoyed it, and I had a smile almost the whole time reading this.  Because if a mean-girl like Sia can change her ways and overcome her meanness, can't we all?

If you've got an afternoon, go read this one.  It'll make you happy.

My favorite quote:

True friendship is when two friends can walk in opposite directions, yet remain side by side.
     ~p 108

Thanks goes to Josh Grayson for providing me a review copy.