ARC Review: Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks #4) by Miranda Kenneally

Pub. Date: December 3^rd, 2013

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Paperback

304 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads:

They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…

             _______________________________________

There are so many great parts to Racing Savannah. From the humor (especially the character of Rory, whose script ideas ranged from groan inducing to eyebrow raising), to the different family dynamics, the ridiculously amazing setting, and the personified animals, the novel is so full and so fulfilling for readers. All of those aspects may be great, but seeing a character grow to accept who she is the way Savannah does, is incomparable in its greatness. Jumping out of her comfort zone and taking chances turns out to be the best possible thing Savannah could do. Savannah goes from having insecurities about where she comes from and who she is, to realizing that she is the one who has set her own bar of expectations too low. She moves from insecurity to empowerment, and that journey is invigorating and powerful for the reader.

The one element of Racing Savannah that I could have done without was, second half of the novel’s Jack. I know I’m probably alone in this, and that Jack and Savannah’s relationship will probably have a

ARC Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Pub. Date: September 17th, 2013

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Hardcover

288 pages

Elise Dembowski is one of the funniest, most relatable girl next door while being a complete individual, characters that I have had the privilege of reading. Her voice is completely encompassing and this book touched me profoundly.

Everyday for Elise is a struggle. Even when she tries, its obvious that she’s not like everyone else. The take away, avoid being unique and don’t be special, it just makes you lonely and miserable. So, Elise makes the only decision she thinks she has left, to commit suicide. After a failed attempt followed by major support and healing time, Elise finds comfort in listening to music while night walking. Her walking leads her right to where she will heal the most - a warehouse party, with a DJ. Finding a place where people appreciate music as much as she does is like finding Mecca. But when Elise’s natural DJ ability threatens her new friendships, she has to decide if it’s better to fit in, or be true to yourself.

I loved this novel. The realism, humor, and music blew my mind. Within the first few pages there was one of the most descriptive, affecting, ‘practice’ suicide attempts that I have ever read. I felt sick to

Review: Unspoken (Woodlands #2) by Jen Frederick

Pub. Date: September 16^th 2013

Publisher: Pear Tree LLC/ Jen Frederick

260 pages

Paperback/ ebook

Having read a fair amount of New Adult lately, I’m finding that there's a bit more ‘rough’ than diamonds in the rough out there. Unspoken is definitely a diamond – but a diamond that needs just a little more polishing until it reaches perfection.

Bo is not your typically college student. At 23 he’s already been a Marine stationed in Afghanistan, and carries more baggage than a sorority house sees on moving day. AnnaMarie, AM for short, carries just as much baggage after a series of rumors involving ‘‘extracurricular activities’’ with the entire Lacrosse team were falsely spread. The only two non-freshman in Biology class, Bo slyly groups the two together. Under the guise of schoolwork, Bo and AM spend increasing amounts of time together, showing the other who they really are beneath the baggage and rumors that they have been brandished with. 

I appreciate NA without Insta-love immensely. Insta-love is so unrealistic and I typically lose interest the second it is introduced. Frederick really proved to the reader the relationship between Bo and AM, and why the two characters connected, long before they actually became a couple. As a reader you had to work towards the Happily Ever After, it wasn’t just handed to you, so you appreciated it that much more. I especially appreciated that once the two are together, they’re together. There is very little of the ‘what is going to break them up before they’re eventually brought back together’ drama. Bo and AMs relationship felt much more true and realistic to real life than most NA relationship do for me.

Review: Skin by Donna Jo Napoli

Pub. Date: August 6^th, 2013

Publisher: Skyscrape/Amazon Pub.

341 pages

Paperback

First days of school are always stressful – but waking up to find your lips are white for no apparent reason, blows Sep’s stress levels through the roof. Diagnosed with Vitiligo, a skin pigmentation disorder, Sep starts counting down the time she has before white spots sprout up all over her body, brandishing her as a “freak”. Never the one to be worried about being in a relationship, or being in love, Sep questions if she’ll ever have the chance to experience these things once her appearance starts to change. Changing who she is, using whomever in her quest to experience as much as possible while she still looks “normal”, Sep’s grasp of herself both physically and emotionally, crashes. Before she completely loses herself, Sep needs to learn how she can be comfortable in her own skin – no matter what that skin looks like.

I really and truly felt for Sep. Not knowing what was going on with her body and the fear that goes along with that, I found really effectively portrayed. I thought the focus on Vitiligo, which affects your appearance versus your health, was an interesting twist on novels that center on illness. So much of the struggle that Sep faces is being able to look in the mirror no matter what reflection is staring back at her, and learning to love herself anyway. I felt her apocalyptic thinking that her life would shatter

Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Pub. Date: August 27th, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
330 pages
Hardcover

I’m not going to lie, when I first picked up The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, the retrospective first person point of view threw me in its unusualness. But, after a few chapters, once I was more acclimated, the wit and heart of the lyrical writing truly pulled me in, and I felt silly for not seeing it right away.

Ezra Faulkner is forced into the kind of self-discovery we all hope to have, but that many of us are too afraid to really attempt. After a car accident leaves the once top tennis player permanently benched with a seriously damaged knee, he no longer fits in with his athlete friends. Yet, something many would see as totally negative, for Ezra is ultimately more bittersweet. For the first time, Ezra is able to see how superficial and unsupportive the people he called his friends really were. Open to forging new friendships, Ezra meets new girl Cassidy Thorpe and reunites with his childhood best friend, whose unusual tragedy years early cemented him on the unpopular list, ultimately separating him from Ezra. Surrounded by people who actually care about and challenge him for the first time, Ezra is finally asked what he wants, who he is, and most importantly who he wants to be. Discovering the answers to these questions propels Ezra in a completely different direction than he was headed before, this time, on his own terms.

Review: A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin

Pub. Date: July 23^rd, 2013

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Ebook

288 pages

A Really Awesome Mess is like The Breakfast Club for a new generation. It really shows how you never really know what other people are dealing with, or maybe even the extent of what you yourself are dealing with, until you take the time to ask the questions. Like the characters in The Breakfast Club, the A Really Awesome Mess characters have to work on breaking down their own prejudices, in order to find out how amazing their relationships with people they thought they had nothing in common with, can actually be. The two sets of characters rebellions against authority are pretty darn entertaining to.

The novel is told through the alternating perspectives of Emmy and Justin, two of Heartland Academy’s (or Assland as it is affectionately known) newest “students”. Emmy is struggling with anger and feeling she is unlovable, stemming from being adopted, and also from a recent breakup that affected Emmy more than she is willing to admit. Justin, after being walked in on with a girl mid sex act is sent to Heartland for Sexual Reactivity classes, and the fact that he attempted suicide by swallowing a