Review: How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

Title: How They Met
Author: David Levithan
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Source: Text Publishing. Thank you!
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Eighteen stories, all about love, and about all kinds of love.

From the aching for the one you pine for, to standing up and speaking up for the one you love, to pure joy and happiness, these love stories run the gamut of that emotion that at some point has turned every one of us inside out and upside down.

What is love?

With this original story collection David Levithan proves that love is a varied, complicated, addictive, wonderful thing.

Review by Nara

Review: Rebel by Amy Tintera

Title: Rebel (Reboot #2)
Author: Amy Tintera
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Note: I would recommend not reading this blurb as it's super spoilery.

The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

Review by Nara

The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review

Note: We saw an advanced screening of TFIOS on the 5th of May. Thanks so much to Bookworld!

The Fault in Our Stars is hands down the best YA movie adaptation we have ever seen. It was everything we hoped it would be: a perfect visualisation of the key moments in the novel. All the scenes we wanted, the majority of our favourite quotes: everything was there.

Review: Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Title: Life by Committee
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Source: Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

Review by Nara

Review: After the End by Amy Plum

Title: After the End
Author: Amy Plum
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Paranormal Fantasy
Release Date: 6 May, 2014
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads | The Reading Room

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

Review by Nara

Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Title: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Author: Leslye Walton
Genre: Young Adult, Magical Realism
Source: Walker Books via Goodreads First Reads. Thank you!
Goodreads | The Reading Room

Foolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright. And for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is an ominous thing to inherit. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, sixteen-year-old Ava ventures into the wider world. But it is a dangerous world for a naive girl...

Review by Nara

Reading Update (2/5/14)

Switching up the format of these posts a little: going to do a bit more in depth ratings breakdown for a few highlight books (either really good books or really terrible books will be featured here), and then list the others afterwards. Also going to include a recap of recent reviews.

You might recognise some of the mini reviews if you follow me on GR- in classic lazy Nara style, I've just copied and pasted them :P