Review: Where I Belong

Title: Where I Belong

Author: Gwendolyn Heasley

Date Published: 8 Feb. 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 304

My Summary

Corrinne lives in luxury in New York City, spending money without a care, going to classy parties, and attending a private school. Corrinne and her best friend will soon be leaving to Kent - a boarding school - when her father gets laid off in the recession. Corrinne's life is turned around when she is forced to move to Broken Spoke, Texas, join a public school, and get a job shoveling manure. She resents her parents for forcing her into the situation and plots her escape from small town life. But when her friend from New York comes to visit, she finds she has changed since she arrived at Broken Spoke. Maybe her Grandparents aren't so bad, and she is even making friends, plus, there are some irresistible hotties.

My Thoughts

This book sounds better than it is. I was genuinely looking forward to reading this book because I was looking for a YA western romance and because I read a good review on it. However,  I expected too much from it. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an awful book. The main character started out annoying and I thought she would evolve into a more appealing person, but by the end I still didn't particularly like her. The romance did not go as I had hoped it would. I didn't read it for the romance, but I did think it would have more substance. The book seemed to end abruptly without resolving all the kinks. It could have easily continued into another chapter to round it off.

There was a substantial amount of information on each character to know them decently. I knew them, but I didn't like them! I want to like the characters I read about. Some of them were sweet and fun, and all of the characters were realistic. Kitsy was cute, the brother made me go "Awwe!", and I want the Grandma to cook for me! The food sounded delicious... Her Mom was annoying.

Heasely's writing? Well she kept me reading. I read it in a day and ignored my company because I wanted to see how everything would turn out. Most of the conversations in the book were believable. There were a couple ridiculous parts, like when Corrinne said "But yeah, I'll go to the dance with Bubby because you two are my only friends in Broken Spoke, so I want to be with you guys."  She is a proud person and would not let any insecurities of that magnitude show, much less spell them out in those words. She is not a character to appear pitiful.

I am picking apart this book, but it wasn't a bad read. I enjoyed sitting down and reading it on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. This is Gwendolyn's YA debut, and I look forward to reading more by her in the future. Congratulations on it, Gwendolyn!

Gripped into Books 500 Followers Giveaway

Yes, I am being one of those people who post blogs trying to win a giveaway. But I'm quite happy to do this! Congratulations on 500 followers, Gripped into Books! That must feel really great!
So check it out here!

Review: The Truth About Forever

Title: The Truth About Forever

Author: Sarah Dessen

Date Published: 11 May 2004

Publisher: Viking Juvenile


My Summary

Macy strives to be perfect. Perfect grades, a perfect job at the library, and Jason, the perfect boyfriend. After her father died in front of her she has aimed to be in control, control of her emotions and her life. But when her boyfriend goes away for the summer, her sister starts fixing up the beach house, and she starts a choatic job catering emotions she buried come to the surface. Macy's new friends at the catering job are far from perfect, but they teach her that it isn't a bad thing. Along with their help, and especially from the help of Wes, an artistic boy with a troubled past of his own, she learns to live in the moment.

My Thoughts

Sarah Dessen, Sarah Dessen, how happy you make me.

I usually don't want to read books that have heartaches from deaths, I prefer the romance in stories. Sarah Dessen is changing that. Macy's Dad's death is sad, but it isn't the only focus, there is a romance, there is family trouble, there are evolving friendships and Macy's personal changes. The book is well balanced in a way that kept me hooked until I finished it. Sarah Dessen leaves mysteries through the whole book. I'll note a mystery in the beginning and middle and know that I'll have to wait a while to get the answer and it leaves me thrilled to hear the conclusion because they are PERFECT build ups to emotional events.

Macy is a wonderful character. Her fears, thoughts and reactions are all realistic. I found myself relating to her opinions. The book heavily relied on character development, and it was well done. The changes in Macy's family were sad and happy and made me leak some tears for them. Wes, ah, Wes... Bit of bad boy and sweet older brother and great, great guy. He does have the whole troubled artist thing going for him. All of the characters were substantial with their own ways of reacting and speaking and problems they struggled through. But through all the character intensity it felt smooth and easy, rather than leaving me overwhelmed.

Every time I read a book by Sarah Dessen I am in awe by her style and smooth writing and the way her characters are so REAL. No one writes like her. I'm picky with dialogue, and her dialogue is the ideal dialogue any writer aims for.

Review: In the Arms of Stone Angels

Title: In the Arms of Stone Angels

Author: Jordan Dane

Date Published: 22 Mar. 2011

Publisher: Harlequin

Read for LibraryThing Early Reviewers



Brenna Nash has a secret, she can see dead people. She left Shawano, Oklahoma two year before when she found the boy, White Bird, who she was in love with, at a gruesome crime scene wielding the murder weapon. Now she is forced to return and finds that White Bird has been in a mental hospital trapped in his own head since she betrayed him to the authorities. Brenna is having problems with bullies and police officers now that she is back, and she also has doubts about White Bird being the murderer. Can she convince everyone that White Bird is innocent? And if she succeeds, can she bring him back after the trauma of that night two years ago?

Some of the events that happened and  pieces of information they attained during their attempt to help White Bird were far fetched. Sometimes that's not a bad thing, but the random details they noticed made it unrealistic. Not only was it unrealistic, but I could easily see how the ending would play out from in early point in the book. The ending was being set up from the beginning and I had hoped Jordan Dane was tricking me and that the obvious solution would not be flipped around somehow, but the story played out the way I imagined it would. It seemed as though the Jordan Dane was afraid the beginning and middle would not set up the ending well enough, so she then prepared for the climax too early in the book. I felt there should have been more of a build up at the end, the entire book felt like a build up and the climax felt no different from the rest of the book. There were horrible events and struggles, but it was predictable.

I did not feel as though I had a connection to the character, I didn't even particularly like them. Brenna was irritating and I did not fall in love with White Bird the way I usually love leading male characters. Even though the story provided background information on them I don't feel I know them very well after reading the entire book. Sometimes it's hard to explain why you don't like a character. The characters grew and changed into better people, they struggled and got through whatever was thrown at them, they even sounded realistic, but I still didn't like them.

I don't know much about native Americans, but it appeared as though Jordan Dane did a great job with her research. I'm very picky when it comes to dialogue. Some authors can't get the YA voice right. This story was on the verge of bad YA dialogue, but it was bearable to the point that I'm unable to point out specific problems I had with the dialogue. The book was written from several different views. It was mostly from Brenna, other teenagers and two police officers point of views. The story was created around that, but at first it annoyed me. The other teenagers were such angry people they felt one dimensional from it and the police officers left nothing to the imagination. If the reader was uncertain how the officers and other teenagers were feeling and thinking it might not have made such a predictable story.

I don't like giving bad reviews, but I didn't like this book!

Smithsonian National Zoo

Yesterday I met my friend Nicolette at the Smithsonian National Zoo! Ah, I love that place. I've been going there my entire life and it's still as exciting as ever to go there. My sister and her boyfriend skipped school to come with me, my other sister, and my mother. Although, Nicolette and I went off on our own; we were just

every one's excuse to come.



Anyway, there's an eagle statue I've taken a picture with every time I go there. So, of course, I had to get one yesterday! See!

I warned Nicolette about my fear of birds and butterflies, and I asked her if she would be okay with skipping them. I can't stand the bird house! Birds flying around in an enclosed space scares me... Along with being stuck in a room with butterflies. If any of them were to touch me I swear I'd have a meltdown.  Usually my family goes in and leaves me to sit outside... Thankfully I did not have to deal with them this time.

A little while after we arrived we decided to consult a map and see what animals we should check out next. A man came up and asked if we needed directions, and he then suggested we go see the lion cubs. So that's where we went! They were great! I got some great photos of them! Check it out!

My mom has this sweet camera with an incredible lens (Don't ask me details about it, though. I am clueless.) So I'm able to get close up photos. And those lions were happy to give me some nice photos.

The elephants had a great new enclosure! It's not even finished yet. It's huge, though! We saw enough animals that I will not be naming them all, but I'll show off some of the other pictures I particularly like and tell you about them.

The  pandas were chowing down on that bamboo. They were facing the glass and devouring their food, and giving me good photos! How sweet of them, right? They look so cozy. I want to hug one. And I am not an animal person. At all. I am afraid of most animals. They tend to freak me out. I seem to have a lot of fears.

Check out this gray back! I thought he was pretty cool. There was also a baby gorilla, but I was unable to get any decent photos of him. Last year a got plenty of him, so I decided it was okay that I didn't spend time attempting to get anything good of him.

I had a wonderful trip and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do! (admit it, they're really cool!)

Toodles!

School's Out for the First Time

My first semester of college is over! Yes, I only took one class, but it was all very new and stressful for me. I took English 101, and I loved it. I excessively stress over everything, so I am glad it's over. My big research argument paper was on the effects of Twitter on language, so then I joined Twitter and found authors and fellow book fanatics. It turns out that they all have blogs. o.o This new world of tweeting and blogging is wonderful! Now that class is over I intend to join this world! I had my last class about 3 hours ago and now I'm starting this blog. I'll quote, review, ramble. This is only the beginning! Ah, I'm looking forward to this summer. Here I go!

I'm considering having my friends and family take bets on how many books they think I'll read this year. Sadly, it will definitely be less than the past two years. 2009 was 131, 2010 132. I doubt I can make 133, I'm way behind and know I'll be very busy the rest of the year. I'm at 44 so far, and it's May! Wanna take a shot at it and guess how many you think I'll have read by Christmas? (I go by Christmas, not New Years, because I get new books and Christmas, so I make sure I'm not in the middle of a book on Christmas, unlike New Years.) I'll write down guesses and check them at the end of the year. This is probably too soon to announce my plans, because nobody knows about my blog. I'll just have to re-announce this later.

I really hope somebody reads this... Maybe comments... I shall continue with this blogging later. MY FIRST RAMBLING! WOOT!