TTYL by Lauren Myracle

Title: TTYL

Author: Lauren Myracle

Release Date: April 1, 2004

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Page Number: 209

Source: Library

- Goodreads

 

Synopsis: Audacious author Lauren Myracle accomplishes something of a literary miracle in her second young-adult novel, ttyl (Internet instant messaging shorthand for "talk to you later"), as she crafts an epistolary novel entirely out of IM transcripts between three high-school girls.

Far from being precious, the format proves perfect for accurately capturing the sweet histrionics and intimate intricacies of teenage girls. Grownups (and even teenage boys) might feel as if they've intercepted a raw feed from Girl Secret Headquarters, as the book's three protagonists--identified by their screen names "SnowAngel," "zoegirl," and "mad maddieIM reduction of the Christian poem "Footprints"--"oh, no, my son. no, no, no. i was carrying u, don't u c?").

My Review

This is going to be a different kind of review today, because 1. TTYL is a different kind of book, and 2. I had kind of a like/dislike relationship with this book. Because for everything I liked in this book there were things I didn't.

 

Pros

1. This book is told in instant messages, which I thought was super nifty! I had never heard of a book told like that.
2. I really liked Zoe's character (zoegirl). She seemed the most down to Earth of the three characters, and she wasn't as dramatic.
3. This book was pretty funny sometimes. There were some parts that I just laughed out loud, and I thought that was refreshing.
4. This book seemed like real life. I felt like these girls could be real 10th graders talking through instant message about boys, school, and everything that girls talk about.
5. This book was a really quick read. There wasn't much of a plot, it was just the girls talking about their lives, but I still found it interesting.
6. All three of the characters showed real development throughout the book.

Cons

1.  Angela (SnowAngel) was really dramatic. She was always obsessing over her latest crush, and while I get that girls do that, they don't do it 24/7.
2. Because there was not definite plot, I sometimes felt that this book went in circles, with the girls talking about the same topics over and over again. Sometimes I just wanted a change.
3.  I felt that you couldn't really get a look inside the three girls' heads because this book was told in instant messages. I really just wanted to hear some of these girls emotions and know what they were thinking sometimes.

Rating: 4/5 worms

I thought this book was enjoyable, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Title: Tiger Lily

Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson

Release Date: July 3, 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Page Number: 292

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

 

Synopsis: Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

My Review

I had never heard of a retelling of Peter Pan, so when I heard of this I knew I had to pick it up. And after just finishing Peter Pan, I wanted more of Neverland, so I thought it would be awesome if I read Tiger Lily. And I was right, because this book was unlike any love story I have read so far.

 

Our narrator in this book isn't Tiger Lily, but Tinker Bell. I thought at first that because Tiger Lily wasn't the narrator it would take away from the story, and it kind of did at first. But then you find out that Tinker Bell can hear peoples thoughts, so you do get to hear some of Tiger Lily's emotions. However, I would have liked more, and because we didn't get a lot of her emotions, I felt like I couldn't connect with her fully. I felt sympathetic about everything she was going through, and while I had a connection, I would have wanted a better one. In Tiger Lily, we get to see what Tinker Bell was like, and I thought that was a really interesting take on the story, because it explains why she was so mean towards Wendy. As for Peter, he is still the same cocky, independent boy from the movies, but in Tiger Lily he has more of a softer side, and I loved that part of him.

 

This is by far one of my favorite books of this year for two reasons. 1. It is a retelling of Peter Pan, which is something I had never heard of. And 2. It is one of the best love stories I have ever read. The love in this book is so pure, and it's not like that insta-love stuff you read about so much in YA. This was a gradual love that just kept growing, but at the same time there were restraints. These two didn't have it perfect either, which is what made it so real. They had problems, they had fights, and they had times where they didn't want to see each other. I adored this book and the last 100 pages when Wendy comes into the story just shredded my heart, because you knew what was going to happen if you had seen a film or read the book.

 

I loved how Tiger Lily was different from the original story, but it described why and how somethings happened differently. I thought it was a fresh take on a well loved story, and after reading Peter Pan, I felt like the differences were awesome.

 

Jodi Lynn Anderson, if I gave a prize for the most beautiful writing, it would be yours. This book has the most beautiful, poetic writing I have ever read. Every few chapters a passage would come up and its would be written beautifully. The description of this book was also beautiful, and it was written so poetically that I was sucked into the story and I didn't want to let it go. When this book ended I wanted to cry, but I also wanted to smile because Jodi Lynn Anderson had wrapped things up, but not in a little box, so there was still room for people to imagine what came next.

 

Rating: 5/5 worms

This book is my new favorite love story and one of my favorites from this year! Definitely check it out!

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I HAD to buy....

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. They give bloggers a topic and we say our top ten things that fall under that list.

This weeks topic is...

Top Ten Books I Had to Buy But Are Still Sitting on my Shelf Unread

 

1. The Host by Stephanie Meyer: I really wanted to read this one before the movie came out, but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe next month.

 

2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare: I bought this right after finishing Clockwork Angel, but I never read it. I had to read it now so I can read Clockwork Princess.

 

3. Numbers by Rachel Ward: I've had this book FOREVER! I need to read it soon.

 

4. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney: I am going to read this in April, for sure!

 

5. Eon by Alison Goodman: This book is a monster but it looks soooo good!

6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: I must read this soon.

7. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han: I've heard such great things that I need to read this soon. I was going to read it this summer but I don't think I can wait!

8. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: Ok, I got this one fairly recently, but I still can't believe I haven't read it!

9. Warm Bodies by Issac Marion: Yes, just yes!

10. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: I can't wait! Dragons and fantasy, two of my favorite things!

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

Title: Steel

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Release Date: March 15, 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Page Number: 291

Format: Hardcover

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It was a slender length of rusted steel, tapered to a point at one end and jagged at the other, as if it had broken. A thousand people would step over it and think it trash, but not her.

This was the tip of a rapier.

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she find

 

Synopsis:

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It was a slender length of rusted steel, tapered to a point at one end and jagged at the other, as if it had broken. A thousand people would step over it and think it trash, but not her.

This was the tip of a rapier.

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword pieIt was a slender length of rusted steel, tapered to a point at one end and jagged at the other, as if it ha broken. A thousand people would step over it and think it trash, but not her.

This was the tip of a rapier.

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure.

The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home--one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain.

 

My Review

I hadn't read a pirate book before I picked up Steel, and I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't have normally picked this up, but it was on my friend's shelf and I figured why not.

The main idea of this book is Jill trying to find her way home after she was transported to the time of the pirates. I thought that was a pretty neat concept, and I thought it was cool that Jill was a fencer, because I also hadn't read any books on fencing. The pirates in this book aren't your typical movie pirates, but they aren't total softies either. They rescue slaves from slave ships, but they also are willing to fight a ship if need be. I thought these pirates were very well done.

Truth be told, I would have liked some more action in this book. I thought when I went into it that there were going to be fights on pratically every page, and that lots of people were going to die. And while I didn't get a lot of fighting, I was okay with what I had, though more would have been nice. This book went along at a fairly nice pace, and I found it rather enjoyable to read about.

Jill as a main character was pretty good. I liked her, and I liked how she wasn't cocky about her fencing skills and that she wasn't soft and terrified. I didn't love her as much as I was hoping to, but she was still a pretty good character. Like I said, I liked the pirates and I thought that all their characters were done really well too.

The writing style of this book was good. I liked how Carrie Vaughn described the whole aspect of pirate life, and I thought it was really neat. I liked how she created her characters, especially the pirates, and the whole aspect of this book was really unique.

Rating: 4/5 worms

I think this book would please many pirate fans and general readers alike. I enjoyed the pirates most of all and I would definitely recommend it.



Top Ten Tuesday: Books at the TOP of my Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. They give bloggers a topic and we say our top ten things under that topic.

Today's topic is...

Top Ten Books at the Top of my Spring TBR

 

1. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: I have been wanting to read this book for forever! I finally have it as an ebook now so I can finally read it!

 

2. 52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody: This books sounds so funny and just like a crazy funny contemporary!

 

3. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: The cover of this book is awesome, and it has super powers in it!

 

4. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney: I am finally going to read this! I've this ebook since August and I want to read it sooo badly!

 

5. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: This sounds like a great murder mystery, and I loved Ruta's Between Shades of Grey.

 

6. I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan: This book looks wonderful and it's so pretty on my shelf!

 

7. Warm Bodies by Issac Marion: I absolutely loved this movie, so I hope the book will be just as good.

 

8. Gone by Michael Grant: My friend Paige has been telling me how much I need to read this series, and it's time I finally do.

 

9. A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine: I'm so excited to finally read Gail's last book. I'm so excited!

 

10. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi: I've heard only good things about this series, and I can't wait to read it!

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Title: Game of Thrones

Author: George R.R. Martin
Release Date: May 28, 2002 (first published January 1, 1996)

Publisher: Bantam Books

Page Number: 811

Format: Paperback

Source: Own

 

Synopsis: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.

Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

 

My Review

This is the longest it has ever taken me to read a book, but I don't regret it for a minute. While this book is one of the longest I have ever read, I adored it and I wasn't bored for a minute.

I was really nervous to pick up Game of Thrones because of it's size. I thought I would be reading it forever and that I would get bored and just quit reading it, but that's not what happened at all. Game of Thrones is told in alternating perspectives, so the story is always changing and no two characters are ever the same. This book also has lots of action, because it's a high fantasy, so there were fights which made the story even more interesting. And the last 300 pages of this book were crazy, and this book literally ripped out my heart and jumped on it, because this is not a "happy" book all of the time.

The writing and world building were fantastic. The world building was so amazing, that at times I felt like I was right there with the characters. I felt like the things that were happening were really happening, if you get what I'm saying. George R. R. Martin also has a way of making you feel really emotions toward his characters and he makes reading this gigantic book not a chore that needs to be finished, but something that you want to do.

I have so many favorite characters in this book. George R. R. Martin made you love or hate them, and by the end of the book I felt like I had known my favorite characters for my entire life. And in case anyone is wondering, my favorite characters are: the Stark family (except for Sansa, I didn't really like her at all times), Jon Snow, and Dany Targaryen (I can't spell her first name). At first, the amount of characters in this book overwhelmed me, and I didn't know how I would remember them all, but you do remember them, and I adored when my favorite characters chapters came along, and I dreaded when they ended. I don't know what it was, but George R. R. Martin made me care for characters like I haven't done in a long, long time.

Rating: 5/5 worms

If you are intimidated by this books large size, don't be. I adored it and I can't wait to continue on with the rest of the series!

 

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday (20)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine. It showcases upcoming releases we are currently awaiting.

This weeks selection is...

Vengeance Bound
by Justina Ireland
Publication Date: April 2, 2013

Synopsis: Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Need to Start

Top Ten Tuesday was a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. They give bloggers a topic and we put our top ten things in that list.

Today's topic is....

Top Ten Series I Need to Start But Haven't Yet

 

1. The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness: The Knife of Never Letting Go is sitting on my shelf and is begging me to read it! I need to!

 

2. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare: I really want to read City of Bones before the movie comes out, and I've only heard good things.

 

3. The Legend Series by Marie Lu: My friend has been nagging me to read this book for ages, and now that Prodigy has come out I feel that I need to.

 

4. The Across the Universe Series by Beth Revis: Space, mystery, and romance. Sounds like my kind of book.

 

5. The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner: These books just sound soooo good!

 

6. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor: I love Alice in Wonderland and this retelling sounds awesome!

7. The Gone Series by Michael Grant: One of my friends has been telling me how wonderful this series is, and I have Gone on my Nook so I have to read it!

 

8. The Summer Trilogy by Jenny Han: Many of my friends have read these and they say they are amazing!

 

9. The Tiger Saga by Colleen Houck: A book about a cursed tiger sounds amazing!

 

10. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray: I don't know what these are about, but I've seen really good reviews of them.