I did it! I’m on a mission to read the most hyped YA books and I finally made it to TFiOS. I’m not going to review this in the traditional sense, but here are my impressions and thoughts on one of the most buzzed books of the last 2 years.
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Young Adult Fiction
Book Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
- Release Date: December 2, 2010
- Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)
- Pages: 372
- Genre: Contemporary
This book has been on my to-read list since I saw this video where John Green practically gushed about it. I finally bought it in 2012 and its one of those books that sat on my shelf for so long I forgot about. I ended up picking this out of the TBR book jarand I figured it was about time, especially since book three in this series comes out later this year.
The titular Anna is the daughter of a Nicholas Sparks expy who decides that for Anna’s senior year she is going to The School of America in Paris, an American boarding school right in the city of love. There she joins up with a close knit group of friends and Étienne St. Clair, the American boy with a French name and English accent. Yes, you read that right.
Now, I’ve read a lot of contemporary YAs and Anna and The French Kiss hits all the usual marks:
Girl who is pretty, but doesn’t see it ? Check
Nice, hot guy, everyone likes ? Check
Mean girl ? Check
References to literature and philosophical concepts that call back to the plot ? Check
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This is How The World Ends: 2013 Book Series Enders
In 2011 we were newbie book bloggers not sure where to start in the new world of YA fiction. Soon we got swept up into four debut YA series that have followed us on our blogging journey. As Books and Sensibility grew these series continued to keep us guessing at how it was going to end.
Reviewing third books is hard, so we are going to review these final books as they relate to the series as a whole and give a final verdict on if we think the series is worth getting the whole box set or stopping book 1. And of course, these will be SPOILER FREE REVIEWS.
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Book Review: Through to You by Emily Hainsworth
- Release Date: October 2, 2012
- Pages: 272
- Genre: Supernatural Realism
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper Collins)
Through to You is one of those books that is an insta-pick up for me; a contemporary realistic story with a slight unexplainable element tossed in. The main story focuses on Cameron Pike as he mourns the sudden death of his girlfriend, Viv; and what happens when a mysterious girl and mysterious green light show him to an alternate version of his life.
This is one of those books that is hard to talk too much about without ruining too much of the plot. Nothing in the book is every really what it seems and there are some interesting twists and turns. However, I think this book would have made a great short story or novella, because as a novel it dragged on its feet in the middle and was grasping for plots.
Cameron as a protagonist didn’t pop off the page, while there are some great moments when we see him work through some of his depression and relationships his voice didn’t come through the page. The supporting character inhabiting both the real world and the alternate world were also kind of one note as well.
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Wide Awake and Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
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| Between 2013-2014 I attempt to read a large selection of David Levithan novels. See the full list here |
I’m reviewing these books together because they are both pretty short and deal with the theme of young people who become part of something bigger than themselves.
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Hostage Three by Nick Lake
- U.S Release Date: November 12, 2013
- Genre: Thriller
- Pages: 384
- Publisher: Bloomsbury
At Book Expo America last summer, Hostage Three was all the buzz at the Bloomsbury booth, so when I saw it on NetGalley I decided to give it a try.
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