Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Published by Razorbill 2007

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face.

Thirteen Reasons Why is the gripping, addictive international bestseller that has changed lives the world over. It's an unrelenting modern classic. (From Goodreads)

*****

My first review since May, think I might be a bit rusty at this, so please forgive me if I make a few blunders! 

I'd heard of this book before, but it had always managed to take a backseat in my mind. That is, until I hit a bump in the road to "reading recovery" (as I like to call it), and I asked my Tumblr followers for help. This book was recommended by one of my followers, and it finally gained my attention. I was weary when I first picked it up because I'd never read this kind of book before, but I took the plunge.

A box of tapes arriving on the front doorstep sounds intriguing in the least, and I was instantly curious because let's face it, who listens to tapes anymore? Nonetheless, a box of tapes is what Clay Jensen, the story's protagonist, finds on his doorstep. Clay was a very likeable character, and his reactions throughout listening to the tapes were plausible. I felt as if I was right there with him, on the edge of my seat, listening to Hannah's words.

Hannah was the biggest surprise, in my mind. She wasn't at all like I'd thought she'd be. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but I certainly didn't expect what I got. Maybe a little more sadness? Hannah's character mainly came across as bitter, and perhaps even resentful. I understood that Hannah had sent out those tapes to explain why she committed suicide, but I thought she was not only using the tapes for that, but also as a way to lash out at the people mentioned on the tapes. I also appreciated the dual narrative between Hannah and Clay; thoughts and feelings coming across from both sides filled the book with raw emotion.

Ultimately though, this book puts the little things into perspective. The things you might've seen as jokes and you simply brushed them aside: they can have a profound effect on someone. You don't know what goes on inside a person's head, and how these little things can build up gradually. I guess the most terrifying thing that I learnt from this book is that the changes these things can make to someone are very subtle, and they're easy to overlook. A powerful read that's sure to strike a chord in everyone and a must-read for every teenager.

3.5 stars

Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Switched (Trylle Trilogy #1) by Amanda Hocking
Published by Tor 2010

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might've been telling the truth.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - and it's one she's not sure if she wants to be a part of.

♥♥♥♥♥

The Tyrelle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking was originally a self-published ebook trilogy that eventually became an internet ebook sensation. In 2010, it was published in regular book format by Tor. Before I picked this up, there was already a lot of hype surrounding it but I was still a bit skeptical.

Wendy Everly has never quite fit in anywhere. She's been moving from one school to the next for years, and she had a rough childhood. When Wendy was six, her mother tried to kill her using a knife and called her a monster. With the arrival of Finn, the new guy in school, Wendy discovers that her mum might have been right. 

I had seen many positive reviews for this book before reading it, and I wanted to get in on how great this series was. This book also offered the interesting concept of trolls, and how the way we usually picture is a misconception. The main protagonist, Wendy, was an interesting character that I really liked. She cared very much about her family and was a strong person despite her terrible childhood. Wendy was fussy, opinionated and most of all, loving. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind, which I admired about her. Finn is Wendy's primary love interest. At first, I found him very weird but interesting. As the story went on however, I found him cold, aloof and a bit irritating. He never really offered Wendy any useful information on her whole situation and he seemed to carry an air of indifference. Needless to say, I didn't like him as much as I would've liked. Also, he's not very swoon-worthy. There were some really great secondary characters in the book which I hope to see more of in future books; they had their own personalities and attributes which made me really like all of them. The chapters up towards the ending is when everything important happens, and there's a quicker pace from there with lots of action. As was the case with Aces Up though, I didn't feel like I connected with the story very well and the pace was slow at times. I did enjoy the ending though, and I want to see what happens next. Overall, I enjoyed this book and it had interesting characters and elements, but it was slow at times.

3.5 stars 

Review: Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt

Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt
Published by Delacorte Press 2010

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

♥♥♥♥♥

This book caught my eye when Clover over at Fluttering Butterflies reviewed it as part of Love Month. She gave it a glowing review, and I bought myself a copy.

Shannon Card is a high school senior who has received early admission into Wellesley, the college of her dreams. Problem is, her dad just lost his job at the bank and her family didn't set up a college fund, so now she has no money for college. She decides to take a job at the Collosio Casino, using a fake ID and even a fake birth certificate. While working there, she meets Cole, who invites her to join a secret underground poker society called Aces Up, based on her excellent maths ability. At first she doesn't like it, but her job doesn't pay as well as she'd hoped, and when her feelings get hurt by her secret crush, Max, it's the last straw. She joins Aces Up, and soon gets caught up in something dangerous.

When I first heard about this book, I wanted to read it immediately. I've never read anything like this before, and I've never even heard how a game of poker works, let alone played an actual game. It all sounded very intriguing. Shannon is the average girl, apart from the fact that she has exceptional maths skills. I liked how she did what she had to do in order to get money for college and I see why she got the job at the casino because it paid a lot more than other jobs, but I just felt a bit uncomfortable with the fact that she had to work in a (quite frankly skanky) casino wearing a really tight outfit. She was, however, a likeable character with lots of ambition, and I liked that about her. I found Cole very alluring but shady. Yes, he was the mysterious type with the cocky grin and he's very good-looking. He knew how to get around things and get the things he wanted, and he was very good at manipulating people. However, Shannon still had common sense throughout the whole ordeal with Cole, which I really admired about her because she knew that he was essentially doing something illegal and things could get dangerous, and that being a part of Aces Up could put her early admission to college in jeopardy. But yes, she did go along with it because she needed the money, and that's where things really start getting interesting. I liked how Barnholdt managed to explain the fundamentals of poker and its complexity without making it seem boring. Barnholdt's descriptions of the game also helped add to the thrill Shannon was feeling while playing, and I felt the thrill along with her. Things start to go wrong towards the end of the book, and I loved how Barnholdt really managed to turn the tables (see what I did there?). It really picks up from there and I couldn't get enough of it. I don't know why, but the mood and some things that happened in the book kind of put me off the book a little bit. The book just didn't really stick with me as much as I thought it would; although, don't me get wrong, the story overall is great and the ending was sweet. For those reasons, I'm giving this book 3.5 stars.

3.5 stars

Review: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter
Published by Orchard 2006

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it's really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real "pavement artist"-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she's on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

♥♥♥♥♥

Ever since reading Heist Society by Ally Carter, I've been dying to read her other books because Heist Society was so amazing. This series has also been going on for a while and it has a huge fan base, so I have no idea how I didn't come across it until now.

Cammie Morgan may seem like a regular girl who goes to an elite boarding school, but she's so much more than that. For one thing, she just doesn't just go to a regular boarding school; it's a school for spies. She can speak to you in 14 different languages, and can kill a man seven different ways. Her year has already started out rough now that she's taking Covert Operations with harsh new teacher, Joe Solomon, but she's about to face her most dangerous mission yet: falling in love.

This was full of laughs and lots of spy knowledge that made for some pretty interesting reading. Cammie was a great character - she was bubbly, smart and very girly. I laughed quite a lot while reading this book because Cammie had had practically no contact with boys until now and seeing trying to make sense of what everything meant when it came to boys was very hilarious. I also loved Cammie's best friends, Bex and Liz. They were funny in their own ways and supported Cammie every step of the way. Also, although Cammie was fascinated with the prospect of actually dating a boy, she still mostly managed to think of her spy training first and that not exposing what the school really taught was the main thing. She was also very real in a sense because even though she was a spy, she made mistakes and had a lot to learn, both in her studies and in life.


Things that I didn't really like: Cammie's over-enthusiastic persona. I understood that she was new to dating and boys in general, but sometimes it came to the point where that's all she thought about most of the time. It was funny and charming at first but then it started to get a bit annoying when she started exclaiming at everything boy-related. There were also some parts of the book that were a bit dull.


This was a fun read with lots of laughs but I kind of felt a little disappointed at the end. I felt like I didn't fully connect with it at times. I feel that Heist Society was the better book, but I enjoyed this one nonetheless :)


3.5 stars

Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Published by Macmillan 2011

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Glow is the most riveting series debut since The Hunger Games, and promises to thrill and challenge readers of all ages.

♥♥♥♥♥

I was skeptical about this book at first, and then once I'd seen quite a few positive reviews for it, I was really excited to get my hands on a copy. To be honest, it was a bit of a letdown. The beginning is very slow. It took somewhere between 170-200 pages to get into and I almost considered not finishing it. Reading it was like trying to walk through a river of mud. I also thought the name of the main protagonist was ridiculous. Who names their child Waverly? But once I got over that and got through the slowness, I found Waverly to be a headstrong and fierce main character. I really found myself rooting for her and the girls who were imprisoned. She really came into her own whilst struggling to survive and escape her captors on the New Horizon. She never once came across as a damsel-in-distress. Kieran was also a great leader; I thought he was doing a great job with the boys. But as the story went on, I felt conflicted about Kieran's leadership and his choices. I thought maybe Seth was doing a better job than he was. It kept going like this; going back and forth between Kieran and Seth - who's side are you on? Seth was the complete opposite of Kieran. He had, without a doubt, a strong mind and seemingly good ideals about where their new situation was going and how they were going to handle it, but ultimately he was a very dark and angry person. Kieran was kind but somewhat weak. The villain of the book, Anne Mather, captain of the New Horizon, was a true villain and just plain evil in a sly way. I felt as if I wanted to beat her to death through the pages. Once the slowness was over, the story really picked up and it was a roller coaster of determination. I couldn't put it down. I think anger really drove this book because it was present throughout the book in a very strong way; I felt angry. There were also a lot of losses and sadness. Overall, the first half of this book was slow and boring; the other half was one heck of a roller coaster. Despite what the description says, it didn't really feel like The Hunger Games though. I will be reading the sequel because I'm really interested where this will go and I have a lot of unanswered questions.

3.5 stars


P.S. The tagline on the cover had nothing to do with the story whatsoever... yet.