Archives for January 2016

REVIEW | Not A Sex Positive YA Like I Expected (Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn)

January 18, 2016 Comments : 8

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes. Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.

Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.

When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from St. Martin’s Griffin for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “Tonight, I’m doing Evan Brown’s girlfriend a favor.”

When people tell you that Firsts is unlike any YA you’ll ever read, they weren’t lying. What book have you read that was about sex?

Events

2016 LOVE-A-THON · SIGN UP TIME!

January 15, 2016 Comments : 7

loveathon

Need an abundance of love? Or maybe a little joy in your life?

Well, I am here to announce the epic-est love fest event ever—the 2016 Love-A-Thon, previously known as the Book Blogger Love-A-Thon—is now open for sign-ups! Love-A-Thons are always my favorite time of the year because I get to shower my favorite people with so much love. (Though, they deserve love all the time.)

With my lovely hosts—Alexa of Alexa Loves Books, Hazel of Stay Bookish, & Mel of The Daily Prophecy, we’ve got plenty of fun things in store that will challenge your creativity and foster positivity and friendship in the book communities – on blogs, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. I hope that you’re ready to get in on sharing the love with us this year, whether you’re an event veteran or newbie! <3

Discussion

MUSIC TO MY Y(EAR) | 2015

January 14, 2016 Comments : 4

2015 is over, and what another amazing year for music!

This year in music was full of wonderful ladies with strong vocals that made me belt the songs along with them and dance around. (Though, that’s very normal for me.)

For the first four months of 2015, I listened to nothing but my music queens—Leighton Meester’s Heartstrings, Jessie Ware’s Devotion & Tough Love, Mandy Moore’s Wild Hope, and Marina and the Diamond’s Froot. I was belting their songs and bathing in their loveliness. I moved to artists and albums that consumed by every waking hour (see Metric’s Fantasies, Queen, and Hamilton the Musical). I absolutely love any music that I am able to sing along to, and these artists I listened to in 2015 fit that criteria.

Here are the albums I listened to. (It is in order of when I listened to them, and the links go to Spotify.)

Reviews

(ARC) REVIEW | Fighting For Her Country (Front Lines by Michael Grant)

January 8, 2016 Comments : 4

Front Lines

Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Code Name Verity, New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant unleashes an epic, genre-bending, and transformative new series that reimagines World War II with girl soldiers fighting on the front lines.

World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister; Frangie needs money for her family; Rainy wants to kill Germans. For the first time they leave behind their homes and families—to go to war.

These three daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they will discover the roles that define them on the front lines. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from HarperCollins for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “I’m not going to tell you my name, not right away.”

Expectations: A gender-bent WWII, where all soldiers are women.

Reality: Well, it’s an alternate world that lets women fight alongside men on the front lines.

« Previous Page

Archives for January 2016

Have you read any of these books? What 2015 releases did you mean to get but didn’t?