Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Release Date: May 13, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Series: Broken Hearts & Revenge, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Hot sun. Blue waves. New romances. Old secrets.

Gemma had her summer all planned out, but it takes a sharp turn when she gets dumped and finds herself back in the Hamptons after a five-year absence.

Being there puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friends (that is, before Gemma ruined her life). But people don't hold grudges forever. Do they?

Gemma intends on making amends, but a small case of mistaken identity causes the people she knew years ago—including Hallie and her dreamy brother, Josh—to believe she's someone else. As though the summer wasn't complicated enough already.

Filled with summer sun, boys, and friendships gone sour, Katie Finn's first novel in the Broken Hearts & Revenge series sizzles and delights.

It’s taken me a really long time to get to this one, but I finally did it! I’ve been seeing Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend around the book blogosphere for a while now, and I’m quite glad I finally got to it. It was a cute story, although at times TOO predictable–I basically knew what was coming at the end because of the several hints dropped early on in the story. My biggest gripe with this book actually had to do with this fact: I went in expecting a super cute romance and came out with...something else. I unfortunately can’t say too much without giving much away, because trust me, I have a LOT to say on the subject. Anyway, this one was a short read and got me more into the summer mood, I’m happy to say.

While I didn’t enjoy the unsurprising storyline, I did love the romance. You guys–IT WAS SO CUTE. There were so many gushy, adorable moments that I couldn’t stop smiling. No doubt, I’m a huge fan of Josh aka total dream boat. As for Gemma’s character though, I was a bit torn. On one hand, I totally like that she’s trying to make amends for what she did, but on the other hand I feel like she should have said from day one who she was, despite the consequences, instead of going on with the whole charade of being someone else. Oh and there was the whole thing with what she did: how could someone so young do something that diabolical? I’m so confused and angry at the same time. By the way, I’m super jealous of these people living in the Hamptons. I’ve never been to the Hamptons, but Gossip Girl and Revenge have set their shows there, so I’ve caught a glimpse of it. I will go there one day, mark my words!

I’m really looking forward to reading Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold after the end of this book. Cute and engaging, Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend was a great summer read. A fast read, be sure to pick this one up soon!

If you like this, try...

• The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen ● Goodreads
• The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes ● Goodreads
• City Love by Susane Colasanti ● Goodreads

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Summer Reading #4

Wow...it’s been a few weeks since I’ve done this! Here are the books I read in the past three weeks:

I unfortunately didn’t read much in these past three weeks...mainly been watching TV, hehe :P All three physical books are from Pansing.

Dara Palmer’s Major Drama by Emma Shevah ••• Goodreads
Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking ••• Goodreads
Save Me by Jenny Elliott ••• Goodreads

Here are the books I read on my Kindle/laptop:

Don’t Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom ••• Goodreads

Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams ••• My Review ● Goodreads 

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman ••• Goodreads

Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars by Constance Lombardo ••• Goodreads

Some really great books here (a few I didn’t really enjoy) but yeah–here you go!

Have you read any good books recently?

SG Bookdeals Warehouse Sale 2015

Calling all booklovers in Singapore!

Date: 1-10 August 2015

Time: 11 am to 7 pm (Weekends & Public Holidays); 11 am to 2 pm (Weekdays)

Venue: No. 438 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1, Singapore 569619 (Opposite Pathlight School, above Rozel Furnishing Store).

• SG50 Box Sale – only at $50, in line with SG50 celebrations (was going for $100 at the sale in April)
• Free Book for Seniors – aged 50 years old and above, limited to ONE book of your choice per person, proof of identity/age is required.
• Prices for single titles as low as 50 cents
• Good range at great value
• Over 10,000 titles available at the sale
• Get updates via www.facebook.com/sgbookdeals

Hope to see you all at the sale!

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 151

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It’s to spotlight upcoming books that I’m DYING to get my hands on!

This week’s WoW is:

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

What if you aren’t the Chosen One?

The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.

Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

October 6, 2015 ● Goodreads

Oh man–I can’t WAIT to read this one. Ever since I read More Than This (read my review here) I’ve been LUSTING after another one of Patrick Ness’s books. Love the original concept for this one–I’m sure it’ll bring about some laughs–and I’m so happy I got an eGalley of this one. Need to start it soon! :D

What are you waiting on?

Another Day by David Levithan

Another Day by David Levithan

Release Date: July 30, 2015
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Series: Every Day, Book 2
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Pansing
Buy: Available at all good bookstores!
Goodreads ● Website

Read my review of Six Earlier Days HERE

Read my review of Every Day HERE

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. 

She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received an ARC of Another Day in the mail. Every Day was on my radar, and receiving this book for review meant that I would have to start the series. Luckily, my sister had bought Every Day, which I then proceeded to devour in one sitting because I loved it so much. Knowing that this was the same story from Rhiannon’s point of view, I decided take a little bit of a break between reading Every Day and Another Day. I knew that if this was Rhiannon’s story, the conversations she has with A would be pretty much the same, and I didn’t want to get a headache from reading the same stuff twice in a row. However, I couldn’t hold off for long and after reading only three books in-between, I picked this one up. My sister peeked at this one earlier and was slightly disappointed. She wanted to find out what happens to A after the end of Every Day and got annoyed that this was just the same story, but from another perspective. I will admit that I too was a little sad that this one wasn’t going to continue with A’s story, but I really liked Rhiannon’s character in the first novel so I was excited to find out what exactly was going through her mind throughout Every Day.

I read Another Day in one sitting. I just wish I’d been a little more patient with starting this one because, as I’d predicted, I ended up with a slight headache from re-reading some of the same conversations and storyline regarding Rhiannon and A. That’s not to say I hated the book. Quite the opposite actually. I loved this one! While I still like Every Day better, this one was still amazing. I’m just glad it wasn’t exactly the same–for instance, we get to learn a lot more about Justin and Rhiannon’s relationship with him. While he is a jerk (surprise, surprise) there were some moments when I got WHY she loves him. But yeah, learning more about him was pretty cool since we don’t get much of a glimpse of him in the first novel from A’s perspective. We also got to see more of Rhiannon’s friends, especially Rebecca and Preston. They were barely mentioned in Every Day so it was really interesting to see this other side of her.

Another thing about looking at the story from Rhiannon’s point of view is that we got to see and understand her reactions to her interactions with A. I remembered the several comments that A makes about her reactions in Every Day and surprisingly sometimes they didn’t line up to what A thought she was thinking. This was especially true for the first interaction, when A is in Justin’s body and sees Rhiannon for the first time. It was just intriguing to see the differences in outlook for the same situation. Some of the unanswered questions from the first book were also answered in Another Day. For instance, A and Rhiannon help out a girl that A has possessed for the day. We don’t know much about after, but in this book we find out! There’s also the emails that Rhiannon almost sends and her reactions to the different people that A is every day–it was just pretty cool to see the differences with A’s view of Rhiannon and reading the story from Rhiannon’s POV, because she seems a lot more idolised and perfect in A’s story, but this one shows her flaws, her cracks, and her inner-conflicts.

The end was a bit of a surprise for me. At the end of Every Day we’re lead to believe that Rhiannon’s end of the story is tied up. Well... kind of. However, the end of Another Day changes everything. I want another book in this series–one that alternates between A’s and Rhiannon’s perspectives, because as I see it this story is FAR from over. I mean, it wouldn’t be terrible if the story didn’t continue, but now with this ending there is so much more that could happen...and I’m hoping it does.

Another Day was incredible. It was such a beautiful follow-up to the absolutely gorgeous Every Day, and did not disappoint. I just hope that there’s going to be another book in this series because David Levithan is a wonderful storyteller and I’m DYING to find out what happens after. It goes without saying–my fingers are (very tightly) crossed.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell ● Goodreads
• Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett ● Goodreads
• The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June by Robin Benway ● Goodreads

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

Release Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Walker Books
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Paperback
Source: Pansing
Buy: Available at all good bookstores!
Goodreads ● Website

“I believe that I fell in love with Robyn Plummer last Monday. This feeling is extremely uncomfortable.”

Adam so wants to be Robyn’s superhero, but how can he let himself fall in love when he can’t even save the world? What he needs is a list:

1. Grow immediately.
2. Find courage.
3. Keep courage.
4. Get normal.
5. Marry Robyn Plummer.

A beautiful, funny and heart-wrenching story of love, brokenness and the purest form of bravery: giving in and asking for help.

I hadn’t heard of this one before I was offered a copy for review, but it sounded quite interesting and cute, so I thought “why not?” and started it. There were several things that I didn’t know about the book before starting because the blurb didn’t give too much away. Firstly, I thought this was a middle grade book but I found that it’s more young adult than middle grade. Secondly, this book deals with OCD. Most of the characters mentioned have some form of OCD–which is how Adam meets Robyn. Lastly, the mystery aspect. There’s a whole other side to the story (other than the romance) and it’s kind of a slow-thrillery aspect. The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B was a slow read but it was an excellent one. I really learned a lot more about OCD than I have from reading other YA novels on the subject.

I found it pretty interesting that the members of the support group all take on superhero personas. It’s a technique to disassociate with the OCD-part of themselves. It’s great how the superhero identities are the opposite of their problems, as you’ll soon come to learn. Adam’s character was so amazing. I felt so bad for him since on top of his problems he has to solve everyone else’s. He has to be there for his mother, his younger brother, Robyn...he definitely has a lot on his plate, sadly. While I didn’t think the romance was too different from other YA romances, I did love the relationship he had with Sweetie, his younger half-brother. It was really adorable to see how much they care for each other, and how they both have the same way of dealing with their problems. It was sweet to see how much Sweetie looks up to his older brother and doesn’t see him as having a mental illness or a problem, but instead as a hero.

There are slight religious tones to this book. It’s not outright, but it’s very slight in that Robyn is curious about Catholicism and the support group goes to Adam’s Church more than once. I’m not a fan of religious books, but this one wasn’t preachy and it felt like a very natural part of the book. I will admit I was first a bit doubtful when the first mention of religion came up, but as the book went on I came to see that it wasn’t a major part of it, which was good.

Charming and poignant, The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B was a wonderful and powerful novel. The ending was fantastic, and I had NO idea it would end like that. Teresa Toten's captivating novel will move readers. I can’t wait to see what this author brings to the table next!

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven ● Goodreads
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews ● Goodreads

Illuminae Bonus Content: Ship Schematics + Teaser Videos

Hey guys! I’m so excited to share some more amazing bonus content from the upcoming release Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the first in a trilogy–THE ILLUMINAE FILES.

October 20, 2015 ● Goodreads

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Every month there’ll be new content released–you can check out last month’s content HERE. This month, the ship schematics for Alexander-78v, Copernicus and Hypatia are available on the ILLUMINAE FILES WEBSITE. Here’s the ship’s layout for Alexander-78v:

Check out the website to see a larger image as well as the other ships’ layouts. There’s also a new teaser video out, “Emergency on the Alexander-78v”:

And I realised that I totally forgot to show you all the main teaser video for Illuminae:

I’m now even more excited than before to read this one. I CAN’T WAIT. Check back around the same time next month for even more exciting content!

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

Release Date: September 24, 2013
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: ALA 2013
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.

Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger . . .

Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of revenge, betrayal, intrigue — and one killer queen.

I remember picking this one up at ALA way back in the summer of 2013. I was immediately drawn to the cover and, of course, the title. I’d seen it around on goodreads and I knew the book was on my TBR shelf, so I took a copy for review. However, I only got around to reading it now, and...it was okay. Not the best book, but definitely not the worst. It’s a very silly book, but I would be lying if I said it bored me. I first thought this book would be about zombies, but it turned out I was very, VERY wrong.

I was really on the fence with Colette’s character. At the start and for maybe around half of the book, she’s pretty spoiled. Her mother had to work extra shifts just so she could go on this trip to Paris. Heck, her younger brother had to drop out of his private school to go to public school just so she could continue at the same school. This little fact just pissed me off. There’s also the fact that she treats other people like dirt. Definitely not a fun character to have as the heroine of the story. The romance also annoyed me. I didn’t really seem to have a problem with Jules (except his choice in girls maybe), but he also seemed like a pretty flat character. But yes, the romance. I mean, a few days and BAM they’re inseparable. Glad it wasn’t insta-love though–that would have been a disaster on top of everything else. Also, what I didn’t get, was how the heck these girls were able to go around Paris, a city in a different continent let alone country, by themselves. C’est étrange, non?

Speaking of French, there are quite a few French phrases in the book. It’s not too difficult to decipher them if you’ve got a good understanding of être, avoir and faire. Some of them sounded kind of ridiculous, but it’s pretty elementary French. There’s no English translations for some of the parts in the book, so if you have absolutely no experience with French, I suggest a phone or laptop translator on hand just so you don’t end up wondering endlessly what the phrases mean.

Anyway–the main story. Ugh, it all seemed so ridiculous. I mean, okay, with all the murders going on, you still think that this school trip is a good idea, let alone the girls walking around the city by themselves? And the whole history thing tied to a prophecy was pretty predictable. With the ghost of Marie Antoinette to top it all off. The plot was too cliché, too bland, and just too annoying for me. I felt like my eyes were constantly rolling throughout the book. It made you want to read more, yes, but around halfway through I just wanted it to end.

I had high hopes for this one, but I’m sad that Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer wasn’t the book for me. With a semi-ridiculous plot and an annoying main character, only the setting was a major plus–seriously, I NEED to visit France soon after reading some gorgeous descriptions and learning about some of the history in this book. I’ve heard some good things about Katie Alender’s other books, especially about Bad Girls Don’t Die, so I’ll probably give it a try. Oh well–il faut voir.

If you like this, try...

• Royally Lost by Angie Stanton ● Goodreads
• Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington ● Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 150

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It’s to spotlight upcoming reads that I’m DYING to get my hands on!

This week’s WoW is:

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie? 

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

September 1, 2015 ● Goodreads

I’m super excited for this one! Even though I do hate it when books take the Disney-fied version of the fairytale, story, legend, etc., Aladdin is one of my favourite childhood movies and I can’t wait to find out what happens. However, I am a little scared–most of the reviews already out don’t seem too favourable :/ Oh well, I’ll just have to see for myself!

What are you waiting on?

Rabiah’s Recommendations: Historical YA #3

As I’d mentioned in my first Recommendations post, I was inspired to do this series of posts by Epic Read’s The Age of YA: A Timeline of Historical Fiction. Last time I recommended books that were set in Ancient Greece and then books set in Ancient Egypt, so now it’s time for another time period/setting:

Historical Fiction #3:

The 1900s

(Part 1: 1900-1929)

Quite a huge jump, I know, but it’s frustrating for me, since I haven’t gotten to read about so many amazing time periods in history. I’ll be making jumps around the timeline from now on!

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

by Cat Winters

••• My Review ● Goodreads •••

I was super excited to receive a copy of this one, and it definitely did not disappoint. I’d never really heard about the Spanish Influenza, and this was a fantastic portrayal of the US at the time. I’ve heard a lot about Cat Winter’s other book The Uninvited which is also set during the same time period, so I’m super pumped to dive into it.

Blood Red, Snow White

by Marcus Sedgwick

••• Goodreads •••

I read this one in grade 7 or 8, and I honestly don’t think I understood it too much. The writing in this one is absolutely gorgeous–I know I need to re-read it. I also got the chance to meet Marcus Sedgewick at ALA in 2013, and got him to sign the copy I had since middle school! It’s really a wonderful story that I’ll need to pick up once again.

Bright Young Things

by Anna Godbersen

••• My Review ● Goodreads •••

Oh, the Jazz Age! I’m a huge fan of The Great Gatsby and I believe I read this one around the same time I read Fitzgerald’s novel. I love Anna Godbersen’s portrayal of the time period in both this book and The Luxe series. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up the rest of the series, but I’m sure I’ll have to pick this one up soon to do so.

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There’s so many more books I need to read from these three decades: The Diviners, A Death-Struck Year, Vixen...just too many good reads to pass up! And not just set in the US as well–there’s Russian history involved as well! Next time, more WWII books will be featured, as that’s next on the timeline (or I might jump back again...who knows!).

Do you have any recommendations for books set during the beginning of the 20th century?

Forever for a Year Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

Forever for a Year by B.T. Gottfred

Release Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other.  They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences.  When they’re together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can’t happen twice.

Told in Carolina and Trevor's alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.

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B.T. GOTTFRED

B.T. Gottfred is an actor, director, playwright, and author. Forever for a Year is his first book.

Website ● Facebook ● Twitter ● Goodreads ● Instagram

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Interview with B.T. Gottfred

What was the inspiration behind FOREVER FOR A YEAR?

I was yearning to write something very raw, very intense, and very character driven. Once Carolina and Trevor started to come to life, they took over. 

What are your writing conditions like?

I tend to write the first 50 or so pages (of any novel I’ve written) in a burst on inspiration followed by an existential crisis that sometimes takes me weeks or months to overcome. Then it becomes work ‘work’ for a while, where I have to sit down on a daily basis and just listen to the characters and get as much down as I can whether it’s for an hour or four. Once I hit the last quarter of the book, momentum and inspiration take over again and I tend to write 10 to 15 hours a day until I finish the book just before I die;) 

Why did you decide to take on two perspectives in your debut?

I have a very even balance of masculine and feminine inside me and I am always searching out how to make each side get along. So once Carolina and Trevor announced they would be my lead characters, I couldn’t see how I could let only one of them speak. 

What was the road to publishing like?

I finished my first novel at 22 and this is my first published novel after I just turned 40. Even though I’m very immature for my age (;), that’s still a long, long, loooooooooooong road. Now, I concentrated on movies and theatre and procrastination for huge chunks of time between 22 and now, but it does feel very rewarding to find myself at this stage now. I’ve always worked outside the system (producing my own movies, plays, etc), and it’s exciting to be inside the gates to see how they do it. 

What can we expect from you next?

I hope to announce more book news very, VERY, soon. On the theatre side, my play “Women Are Crazy Because Men Are A**holes” just had it’s Off Broadway debut in June and we are heading back to New York this October. 

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Question for the Blogger:

“How would you describe the feeling of falling in love for the first time?”

Well, I’ve actually never been in love with a person romantically. 

So let’s talk about when I fell in love with books.

I remember, when I was in kindergarten, for Christmas, all the kids in the class got presents. There was someone dressed up as Santa who went around giving everyone presents, and we all opened ours immediately. My present was pretty big and when I tore off the wrapping, I found a gorgeous hardback picture book. I can’t remember exactly what the book’s title was, but I fell in love with books and reading from that point on. That love grew even more when I turned 5 and my dad bought me The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, and after that I constantly demanded for more Enid Blyton books, and finally more books by various authors.

Since then this relationship has only gotten stronger, clearly!

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Giveaway time!
Enter to win...

A copy of Forever for a Year!

Rules

• This giveaway is open to US ONLY.
• It will run until the 31st of July – that means the giveaway will be over at midnight on August 1st (EST)!
• The prize will be sent out via the publisher.
• You must be 13+ to enter the giveaway.
• I am not responsible for any lost/damaged packages.

Enter via the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Thank you so much to B.T. Gottfred for answering my questions and Nicole at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for having me along on the blog tour!

Check out the rest of the tour stops:

Friday, July 17
Fierce Reads Tumblr

Monday, July 20
Pandora’s Books

Tuesday, July 21
Confessions of a Readaholic

Wednesday, July 22
Live to Read

Thursday, July 23
Once Upon a Twilight

Friday, July 24
Novel Ink

Saturday, July 25
A Dream Within A Dream

Sunday, July 26
I’d So Rather Be Reading

Monday, July 27
Effortlessly Reading

Tuesday, July 28
Bumbles and Fairytales

Wednesday, July 29
Books & Cleverness

Thursday, July 30
The Reading Nook Reviews

Friday, July 31
The Unofficial Fan Addiction Book Club

Saturday, August 1
Me, My Shelf and I

Sunday, August 2
Bookish Lifestyle

Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Ember
Series: Every Day, Book 1
Rated: YA 14+
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed from sister
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Read my review of Six Earlier Days HERE

I wake up.

Immediately, I have to figure out who I am. It's not just the body - opening my eyes and discovering whether the skin on my arm is light or dark, whether my hair is long or short, whether I'm fat or thin, boy or girl, scarred or smooth. The body is the easiest thing to adjust to, if you're used to waking up in a new one each morning. It's the life, the context of the body, that can be hard to grasp.

Every day I am someone else. I am myself - I know I am myself - but I am also someone else.

It has always been like this.

To be completely honest, I was a little afraid of going into this book. A few of my friends hated it. There were quite a few so-so reviews. My sister disliked it (although she constantly fluctuates between loving it and hating it, so...). I decided to pick up Every Day after receiving an advanced copy of Another Day, the companion novel, for review. This book had been blurbed by so many awesome people that I thought that it was time to finally pick this one up, this book that has been haunting so many top lists yet is one that everyone says fell flat. So yeah, I finally read it.

And I loved it.

I will admit: I’ve had a bit of a blind spot for books that were not-so-great but I made out to be greater-than-it-actually-was in the past. I know my radar is getting a bit better, as I’ve become more confident with voicing my opinions on books that I didn’t like. But this book? I’ve fallen hopelessly in love. I’d only read one of Levithan’s books before this one, which was Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (review here), one of his collaborations with Rachel Cohn. While I did like it, Every Day was something different.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how A’s existence. A is neither a girl nor a guy, A is the person that “it” inhabits. I loved this because A could be literally anybody and nobody at the same time. A holds onto little things but generally lets go of the memories gained from each body’s experience. I seriously felt like crying after reading some of A’s experiences, especially with love. It was beautiful to see that A could fall in love with anyone–regardless of gender–because of the people A inhibits. It feels like though most of the time that A was more a guy than a girl. Probably tone of voice? I don’t know. It’s also probably because A falls in love with Rhiannon, a girlfriend of one of the bodies occupied by A, and since it’s a guy’s body, that’s maybe why I associate A with being more of a guy than a girl. But it was pretty cool to see a character that’s androgynous.

I know some people who didn’t like the book’s end because it ends kind of with an uncertain future for both A and Rhiannon. I’m hoping that some of it will be explained in Another Day, but my sister took a peek at the end of the book and was frustrated with how the sequel ends as well. I actually liked the ending to Every Day because you have enough of an end for closure, but not enough that it’s final. It would have been great to get a tiny bit more information, but it still was quite a powerful ending.

A beautiful and heartbreaking story about an ephemeral life and living out every day, David Levithan’s novel was a remarkable read. Every Day beat my expectations by a mile–it made me laugh and it brought me close to tears. All I can say now is that I can’t wait to read Another Day and look at this story from Rhiannon’s point of view, as well as read more from this wonderful author who truly is one of the best writers in young adult fiction.

If you like this, try...

• Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith ● Goodreads
• Looking for Alaska by John Green ● Goodreads
• Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork ● Goodreads

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