Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Who: Sarah Ockler
What: Fixing Delilah
When: December 1st, 2010
Why: Tour
How: For Review

Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to
fall apart. She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it
together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother
refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling
apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new
friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between
mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her
most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

Fixing Delilah is a young adult contemporary novel about a girl who's dealing with the loss of her grandmother, the busy life her mom has that barely leaves time for her, new love, new friends, and a secret family past that had long since been kept from her. Sounds awesome, right? Well, if you know me, I wasn't a big fan of contemp when I agreed to review this book. But Sarah Ockler is super sweet, so I gave it a try. Oh. My. God. I loved it, so much. This is the reason I read Contemp now people! Now unto the actual review!

Sarah knows how to write about loss. Though I haven't read Twenty Boy Summer (but it's on my TBR pile!), it was especially apparent reading Fixing Delilah. The main theme in this book is family problems, and how every family has their closet secrets and problems. Delilah's mother, who is too busy with her work to pay attention to pretty much anything else, plays a major role in the book as something that Delilah is trying to understand. And I think she portrayed that mother-daughter relationship perfectly, how sometimes when you need them, they're too busy, but they still love you anyway.

Delilah was a well-rounded character, and I loved reading her story. I liked how she went looking for answers, with or without help from other people. She decided for herself that if no one else was going to tell her anything, she had to go figure things out herself. She didn't go for the whole 'Ignorance is bliss' thing, so kudos for her. Delilah's life is a lot about her trying to discover herself and who she is, and that's a major part of being a teen! The emotions and especially the imagery that Sarah wrote into the story was beautiful and I felt that I was really in that small town.

And then of course, I must talk about Patrick. Can I have one? Their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the book, mostly because it was something that you know grew over time. It didn't just materialize into thin air, they'd known each other since childhood. This fun summer-time romance turns into a meaningful relationship and you get to see it all unfold. What can I say? I'm a romance whore and Fixing Delilah totally gave me enough in the romance department.

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE. Pick up anything by Sarah definitely!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Who: Brenna Yovanoff
What: The Replacement
When: September 21st, 2010
Why: Cover
How: From Blogger

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in
the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky
water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a
Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of
fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to
survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us,
to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby
sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry,
known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his
rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

Just saying guys, i'm super sorry for not posting these past few days! I've been in Tennessee on vacation and I woke up extra early to be able to put this online! I've put off writing this review for a long time, mostly because I know this book is gonna be super hard to explain. I really liked it, but it wasn't totally crazy about it, and why I liked it...I have absolutely no idea. But i'll try to the best of my abilities!

First of all, Brenna's writing is fantastic. Even though I knew she was a debut author, I still found it pretty hard to believe! Gentry was a seriously creepy town, and she caught that perfectly into her descriptions. The House of Mayhem as well, beautifully described. I truly felt like I knew the town without her having to pour paragraphs of boring descriptions throughout the book.

The characters were compelling and creepy enough that I totally wanted to know more about then. I loved Mackie, he really was an intriguing and thought-out character. Tate was one of my least favorite characters honestly, not for any true reason, but she was just way to hot and cold for my taste. The Lady and the rest of the monsters were beautifully thought-out and described and I really did fear and love them at the same time. Some people might be bothered that the world wasn't fully explained, but I loved that. The lady said before that what people thought of them was up to their imagination, and Brenna left us enough to wonder but enough to go be completely scatter-brained.

The book was really intriguing over all, and the creepy things had some really blurred lines. Never completely good or bad and you know much I enjoy that!

Overall? AMAZINGNESS. I can't really pin down what made me NOT absolutely love it.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

ZOMG, it's Julie's Birthday.

So today, it's Julie from Bloggers Heart Books birthday and since she's an amazing friend and I talk to her way too often, I decided to do something the entire blogging community could do for her! You guys know i'm big on birthdays soo, I brainstormed, emailed, and here you go!
LOVE YOU JULIE!

Happy Reading and Happy Birthday!
-Harmony

In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren

For Review:

Haven by Kristi Cook
Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
The Samantha Granger Experiment: Fused by Kari Lee Townsend

Library:

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Headley
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell

Bought:

The Eternal Ones by Kristin Miller
Sister's Red by Jackson Pearce
Wake by Lisa McMann
The Lost Queen: Faerie Path 2 by Frewin Jones

Happy reading!
What did YOU get?
-Harmony

The Replacement by Brenna Yoganoff Excerpt

Today we have a scene from Brenna Yoganoff, author of The Replacement! This is an amazing book and I should have my review up by this week! Please remember, this is copyrighted by Brenna so just look but don't touch!

Brenna's note: This is a scene from near the beginning of the book. Tate Stewart's little sister has just died, giving rise to amount of gossip at school. Not everyone is behaving kindly toward Tate, and Mackie feels bad for her, but mostly, he just wants to pass unnoticed.

We were finishing the unit on Romanticism and The
Scarlet Letter. Mrs. Brummel was tall and thin, with bleached hair and a lot of
different sweaters. She got very excited about the kind of literature that no
reasonable person would ever read for fun.
​She stood at the front of the
room and clapped because she was always clapping. “Okay, today we’re going to
talk about guilt and how Pearl’s very existence condemns Hester more effectively
than the A. This is most obvious in the fact that some of the villagers believe
Pearl is the child of the devil.”
​Then she wrote it on the board: Pearl as
a concrete manifestation of guilt.
​“Does anyone want to expand on this?”
​No one did. In front of me, Tom Ritchie and Jeremy Sayers were flicking a
paper football back and forth, mock cheering each time one of them got it
between the uprights of the other one’s hands. Alice and Jenna were still
watching Tate, whispering and then covering their mouths like they’d just said
something so shocking it needed to be contained and giving each other
significant looks.
​Mrs. Brummel was making bullet points with her back to
us, waiting for someone to start filling them in.
​I watched Alice. When
she’d taken her seat at the beginning of class, her skirt had slid up far enough
to show the tops of her thighs, and I was enjoying the fact that she hadn’t
adjusted it yet. Her hair was loose down her back and looked almost like bronze
in the fluorescent light.
​She propped her elbows on her desk and leaned
forward so she could whisper into Jenna’s ear. “I heard that her mom won’t get
out of bed since it happened. Like, not even for the funeral. I can’t believe
she’s acting like nothing’s wrong. I just wouldn’t even come to school.”
​Apparently, that one was loud enough for Tate to catch some or possibly all
of it because she stood up fast enough to send her desk screeching along the
floor. Her gaze was hard, sweeping over us, and I couldn’t tell if I was dizzy
from the screws and wires in the walls or from the way she was looking at me.
​“Oh,” she said, in a clear, challenging voice. “Was this what you wanted?
Did you want a good look? Take a good look—I don’t mind.”
​And maybe no one
had really been excited about Hester Prynne and her illegitimate daughter, but
they were paying attention now. I kept my head down, hunching over my desk,
trying to get smaller. My heart was beating so fast that I could feel it in my
throat and I kept telling myself that everything was fine, that I’d imagined
she’d looked at me, because I had to believe that. I had to believe that no one
in Gentry would ever hear the words child of the devil and then look at me.
​No one said anything.
​The room was so quiet that all I could hear was
the buzz of the fluorescent light. I had the idea that it was buzzing right over
me, like some kind of signal or alarm, but no one turned to stare accusingly. No
one whispered or pointed.
​Mrs. Brummel stood with her back against the
whiteboard and the marker uncapped in her hand, staring at Tate. “Is there
something you needed?”
​Tate shook her head and kept standing. “Don’t mind
me. I’m just waiting for my big red A.”
​“This isn’t funny,” Mrs. Brummel
said, putting the cap back on the marker.
​“No,” said Tate. “It’s not. But
we can all agree to smile anyway because it just makes things so much easier.”

And there you go!
Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Who: Jennifer Donnelly
What: Revolution
When: October 12th, 2010
Why: Historical Fiction Love
How: Bought

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her
father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and
heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are
destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most
prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany
him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two
centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful
encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t
want—and couldn’t escape.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never
knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes
something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort
and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight
journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and
time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

Revolution was just such a beautiful read. If you don't like Historical Fiction, you'll like it anyway. Jennifer goes an amazing job of combining Historical Fiction and Contemporary to flow in perfect harmony. Both Alexandrine and Andi were amazingly well-written characters with difficult lives.

A lot of times, "journal" books are a tough read. Especially when the main character and the person who wrote the diary are different people. But I felt that Alexandrine and Andi were two completely different people, just with similar situations. The story takes place both in Paris 21st century, and Paris during the French Revolution, following two girls struggling with love and loss. The writing was beautiful and lyrical, and the history accurate to everything i've learned.

Andi's story was so heartbreaking. I really felt like her past just leaped off the pages, and I suffered with her for her loss. Her journey through her pain really was beautiful, and you could see her transformation from beginning to end. Alexandrine made her feel the same, but I loved her more out of the two. I just think Alexandrine was so brave to do what she did, just to make Louis happy. If you didn't know, Alexandrine's story is that she had made the sullen prince laugh at one of her puppet shows and Marie Antoinette took her in as his companion. And it goes on from there throughout the whole revolution. It was really amazing.

Then there's Virgil, who's Andi's love interest. Revolution had just enough romance to keep me interested and really? The book was so fantastic that I wouldn't have needed it. And that's a big deal, since according to Julie, i'm a romance whore. He was sweet and really cared about her, and was a big part of her healing. Finally, the major connection the story had to music was woven so perfectly that I made me want to play some piano after. Andi's deep understanding of music was just beautiful.

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Who: Jeri Smith-Ready
What: Shade
When: May 4th, 2010
Why: Hype
How: Traded

Love ties them together. Death can't tear
them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With
Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate
after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's
life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death
leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone
born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has
always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why
the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit
still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and
so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever
complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of
Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.

Shade was a book that I had heard countless praise about from bloggers all over, so I finally decided to give it a try! And i'm so glad I found it on a trade list and snatched it when I could!

Shade was a seriously enjoyable read. The whole Shift was intriguing and I loved that Jeri didn't gave me just enough information about it that I want more. A lot of times, books give you too little information, or too much. But she found that perfect balance. I have plenty of questions, but some of them have been answered. The fact that pre-Shifters couldn't see the ghost presented some comedic relief, especially when one of them didn't notice their was an old lady ghost crying next to him and Aurora talked to her.

Aurora was a good main character, believable. She was also relatable, I believed whole-heartedly that she missed Logan, her boyfriend, after he died. But while he was still there, just as a ghost, you could still feel the pain of the fact he couldn't touch her. It even made me sad. She was reserved and always had a sort of ulterior motive to the things she did, like the research project. She was definitely a well-rounded character.

Now unto the love triangle, which Jeri did beautifully! I really believed that Aurora didn't know who to choose! I know that's the definition of a love triangle but a lot of books you don't really feel how torn she is. Logan was nice and really loved her, but he's well...you know...a ghost. I understand why she had mixed feelings about the relationship while he was alive, because he didn't really completely show how much he did love her. Zachary was just....yum. Complete with a sexy Scottish accent and a nice, sweet personality. He never forced himself on her, and helped her out when she was freaking out over Logan's death. Both two very good choices, but i'm totally leaning towards Zach.

My rating? AMAZINGNESS

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Trending isn't just for Twitter.

Trends. Some people cringe, some people fist-bump when they hear this word. It's essential to the publishing biz and it also affects how a lot of us buy our books! Jackson Pearce, who's liveshow I attend (and YOU should to on Wednesday at 8EST), made the topic Trending this week and we had a pretty in-depth discussion on how exactly this works. I've made up my theory that there's always a catalyst for every trend, and here i'm about to name a few:

Harry Potter: After this? DOZENS of wizarding books and books about magic and crazy stuff like that. This went totally viral, and as a result, shifted the entire industry into everyone looking for something to be the next Harry Potter. Of course, nothing got more popular! (Off topic but, OMG 7 DAYS UNTIL HARRY POTTER)

Twilight: Yeah, I know you'll start cringing. We all have a love/hate relationship with this book, but the point of it all is, it opened the door for YA. Sure it didn't set a very good example for what YA is all about, but now, there are so many paranormal romance books out there. Whether it's vamps, witches, werewolves, faeries, or...kraken (nope, not Kraken), it mostly resulted from the Twilight explosion.

(A little smaller than the other two but HUGE nonetheless) Hunger Games: This one is the most recent but you can't tell me you haven't noticed a HUGE mass of Dystopians since this came out? Matched, Birthmarked, Delirium....the list goes beyond! We're in the middle of this trend right now, and it's gonna be going strong for a little while longer. And I surely don't mind, who doesn't love dystopian?

Sometimes, trends can be a bad thing. While I love awesome vampire books like Vampire Academy and Blue Bloods, there are SO many vampire books out there that it just makes your head spin. Paranormal is all starting to blend together, with few standing out (There some do. Examples: Firelight, Angelfire, The Replacement, Nightshade, etc.. etc..) The wonderful thing about dystopian is that it can go in so many different directions, so I think they're good for a while.

Now, my fellow readers, I want to hear from you. I want you, to tell me what you think the next trend will be. I have my bets on Contemporary as a whole genre, especially with all the awesome ones coming out. Also, High Fantasy is gonna return from after Graceling, or at least I think so.

But what do YOU think?
Happy Reading!
-Harmony

The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer

Who: Carolyn Meyer
What: The Bad Queen
When: April 12th, 2010.
Why: History Geek!
How: Library

History paints her as a shallow party girl, a spoiled
fashionista, a callous ruler. Perhaps no other royal has been so maligned--and
so misunderstood--as Marie-Antoinette.
From the moment she was betrothed to
the dauphin of France at age fourteen, perfection was demanded of
Marie-Antoinette. She tried to please everyone--courtiers, her young husband,
the king, the French people--but often fell short of their expectations.
Desperate for affection and subjected to constant scrutiny, this spirited young
woman can't help but want to let loose with elaborate parties, scandalous
fashions, and unimaginable luxuries. But as Marie-Antoinette's lifestyle gets
ever more recklessly extravagant, the peasants of France are suffering from
increasing poverty--and becoming outraged. They want to make the queen pay.
In this latest installment of her acclaimed Young Royals series, Carolyn
Meyer reveals the dizzying rise and horrific downfall of the last Queen of
France.

I'm gonna tell you right now, this story doesn't have a happy ending. After I finished, I spent hours going over what I had read in my mind, especially that ending. Because in Marie Antoinette's family? No one ends up happy. That's the thing about writing about historical figures, you can't change the ending. Marie Antoinette lived a complicated, misunderstood life all the way until her brutal demise. And I absolutely loved this book for that reason and more. (I'd like to point out i'm not reviewing the actual history, but the story.)

Besides seeing the Petit Trianon and the Versailles on my trip to France, I hadn't known much about Marie Antoinette before reading this. I knew the basics, she was considered one of the worst queens in history. But in The Bad Queen, you read her story from the beginning, her journey through her marriage, the lack of real passion and how desperately she wanted a baby, and how much she really cared for the country of France. Though we are vastly different in time periods, I related to Marie. She did what she had to do to fit in, but also tried to make it comfortable for herself despite her mother's harsh and sometimes cruel criticisms on her character. She was frivolous, fun-loving, and didn't like the stiff etiquette of the French Court, which caused vicious and nasty rumors to spread on her behalf. She handled them as well as she could, until they lead to her death.

King Louis XVI was a loveable character, though very naive when it came to what his purpose was in marriage (you know, producing heirs and such), and didn't know the first thing about being king when his father died suddenly. I found it unbearable adorable when he give her the key to La Petit Triaton (which is supposed to be the mini castle of the king's favorite. Louis XV had his mistress live in this place, Madame Du Barry, who everyone extremely disliked.)

Then there's her secret romance with a Swede, Fersen, which was completely fueled by passion and desire, the thing lacking in Marie's life. She maintained her loyalty to her husband, never thinking once to abandon him even when she could've escaped with her children but without him. She loved her four children, two dying of sickness before she died, one dying later, and the last, her daughter lived to be the queen of France but then died lonely and unhappy. As I said, there is no happy ending to her story. This novel was 100% accurate, and every single character was a real and actual person in history! Which is just, awesome

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Freefall author Anne Levine stops by!

Anne Levine is the author of Freefall which I reviewed on the blog a while back right....here!

And here she is!

~~~

What do you write YA? Favorite part of it, hardest?

My favorite part of writing YAs is writing about
characters who fall in love. There’s nothing like trying to get that feeling
down. The hardest part is getting the voices of the characters to sound unique,
capturing the difference in their personalities. I write YA because I love
writing about first experiences discovering characters who are not afraid to
take chances and are on the brink of discovery learning about their environment
and about themselves.

~~~

Thanks for coming over Anne!
Happy Reading!
-Harmony

In My Mailbox (17)

Woot! In My Mailbox time! Hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren and inspired by Alea over at Pop Culture Junkie!

For review:

The Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan Williams

Gifted/Borrowed:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Torment by Lauren Kate (If you're watching this Sabrina, I was totally kidding! Giving it back to you this week!)

Bought:

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Library:

The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie Antoinette by Carolyn Meyer

What did YOU get in your mailbox?
Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Incareron by Catherine Fisher

I want to apologize for not being on this week! My computer was being wacky and I had SO many AP stuff to do! Never again, promise!

Who: Catherine Fisher
What: Incareron
When: July 15th, 2010
Why: Hype
How: Library

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view,
where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by
rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living
building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character,
and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons.

A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and
cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world,
Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of
prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an
imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it
exists.

But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and
Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which
they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

Ohh, Catherine Fisher, what a twisted web you weave. Incareron was a wonderful dystopian about a prison that can talk, and create, and kill. Claudia, a girl who is being married to the prince of 'Outside' so she can become queen, finds a key that makes her able to communicate with a boy inside Incareron named Finn, who is a starseer and believes he came from 'Outside' and decides to help him escape and put an end to her arranged marriage.

The world-building in this book had stuff I loved and stuff I hated. I absolutely loved Incareron, how it worked, the way it was alive and created half-human people out of recycled skin! That was just so creepy yet....amazing! What I didn't like, was the Outside. I didn't understand why everything had to be 'Of Era', like they'd say, and what exactly protocol was. I knew they couldn't use modern devices or something, but she never really explained why? And the Wars of Rage? Never got explained much either, just that they happened. Didn't like that.

I wasn't too fond of Claudia either, I found her a bit selfish. While she did try to get Finn out, she was mostly doing it because she believed that he was her key out of her marriage and never really did anything for just the sole purpose of doing it. She didn't understand Finn's devotion to his oathbrother (more on Keiro and Attia in a minute) and just brushed it off during the ending. Which ticked me off. Finn was super sweet and shy and didn't speak his mind until he snapped. I loved how caring he was for all things, and even when everyone told him Attia was just a stupid girl and too leave her behind, he didn't. So bonus points for him.

Keiro and Attia were the side characters on Finn's side of the story. Keiro was arrogant, cocky, and just an all-around funny sidekick. You didn't hear a lot from Attia, but I loved how devoted she was to helping Finn get out of Incareron. Jared was the main side character from Claudia's side, and I loved him. He was sweet and gentle and knew when to pull Claudia back from her wild ideas (though it says didn't work). I saw the subtle hints of a one-sided romance between the two, but as Claudia's father said, I see him more like a father to her.

Finally, the ending. Umm...I need Sapphique like NOW. Just as a sidenote, the book doesn't have romance, like whatsoever. And I kept reading. This may not sound like a big deal...but it's a BIG DEAL.

My rating? AMAZINGNESS

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Crash into Me by Albert Borris + Contest!

Who: Albert Borris
What: Crash Into Me
When: July 21st, 2009
Why: For review
How: From Author

Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in
common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide
and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a
summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final
destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding
over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it
up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is
worth living--or if there's no turning back.
Crash Into Me was a beautfiully meaningful and
thought out story about 4 kids who take a road trip to visit suicidal
celebrities graves before offing themselves in Death Valley. This is gonna be
one of those reviews where I don't know what to say because I really liked the
book, but I don't know exactly why.

Owen, the MC, was quiet, quirky, and lonely. I really enjoyed reading from his point of view, mostly because he was simple. He thought things and didn't know why he thought them, same with the things he did. He knew why he wanted to kill himself, but he never knew why he himself thought it was worth it. And a lot of people do things without really knowing why, so it was real. Also, he's like, the master of suicide information.

Audrey, Jin-Ae, and Frank were perfectly formed secondary characters. Even though it's in Owens point of view, they all had their own stories and lives and I felt connected to them as well which is a hard thing to do in 1st person. My favorite would have to be Audrey for how she always spoke her mind. She reminded me of Alaska from 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green, or is that just me? Both had that sort of silent sadness to them, the anger, the jokes and outspokenness overshadowing the bad.

Albert did his research, because a lot of the people he named I hadn't even known had killed themselves! I loved how he interwove all the lives and deaths of these famous celebrities into the plot without drowning you in information.

My rating? AMAZINGNESS.

Finally, the CONTEST! I have a copy of Crash Into Me up for grabs! Fill out THIS FORM to enter! Deadline is November 20th.


Happy Reading!
-Harmony