Waiting on Wednesday – Week 82

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight on upcoming reads which I'm DYING to get my hands on!
This week's WoW is:
The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder

Loyalty. Envy. Obligation. Dreams. Disappointment. Fear. Negligence. Coping. Elation. Lust. Nature. Freedom. Heartbreak. Insouciance. Audacity. Gluttony. Belief. God. Karma. Knowing what you want (there is probably a French word for it). Saying Yes. Destiny. Truth. Devotion. Forgiveness. Life. Happiness (ever after).

Hannah and Zoe haven’t had much in their lives, but they’ve always had each other. So when Zoe tells Hannah she needs to get out of their down-and-out New Jersey town, they pile into Hannah’s beat-up old Le Mans and head west, putting everything—their deadbeat parents, their disappointing love lives, their inevitable enrollment at community college—behind them.

As they chase storms and make new friends, Zoe tells Hannah she wants more for her. She wants her to live bigger, dream grander, aim higher. And so Zoe begins teaching Hannah all about life’s intangible things, concepts sadly missing from her existence—things like audacity,insouciance, karma, and even happiness.

An unforgettable read from the acclaimed author of The Probability of Miracles, The Museum of Intangible Things sparkles with the humor and heartbreak of true friendship and first love.
April 10, 2014 ● Goodreads

THE COVER IS AMAZING. OMG. LIKE SERIOUSLY AMAZING. And the plot sounds fabulous and super original (plus I love road-trips :D). I haven't actually read The Probability of Miracles (yet), but I've heard amazing things about it so I'm confident this one will be as good!

What are you waiting on?
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Torn by Stephanie Guerra

Torn by Stephanie Guerra

 Release Date: May 15, 2012
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
Stella Chavez is your classic good girl: straight As, clean-cut boyfriends, and soccer trophies . You’d never guess that Stella’s dad was a drug addict who walked out when she was a kid. Or that inside, Stella wishes for something more.

New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella’s polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels . But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world—a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn’t be tried once.

It’s not long before Stella finds herself torn: between the best friend she’s ever had and the friends she’s known forever, between her family and her own independence, between who she was and who she wants to be.

But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn’t show anyone—not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

Torn was quite an emotional contemporary, featuring some of the more harsher truths and reality of high school life. It was a short but very powerful read. I found myself enamoured with the story, and I couldn't stop reading from start to finish.
I've had this one in my pile for a very long time, but I have no idea why it took so long for me to get to it. I guess it was just the other books which were upcoming, and various other commitments that took time away from reading this one. However, when this was finally going to expire, I knew I had to read it before it went away. I'm certainly glad I managed to read it because the story drew me in and had a very unique premise.

 I really liked both Stella and Ruby's characters. I would have obviously liked Stella, because she's the reasonable one with a conscience and you could really empathize with her character, but the person I was surprised to like was Ruby. Initially, I hated her. As their friendship grew on, however, I started to see the bond that these two girls had. I could also see Ruby's genial nature, as well as her dream of having a family like Stella has, and the person hidden behind that confident and ruthless façade starts to come out, which I began to like. Her character does show growth throughout the course of this novel, and it's great to see how much she's changed from the beginning to end.

 In terms of romance, I thought that Stella's relationship with Mike was really good (don't even get me started on Ruby's relationships... I don't even want to go there). I really didn't like the drifting apart thing though– that really dragged on way too long in my opinion and besides, I actually liked Mike. I thought Stella was a teeny bit annoying, especially with her reactions to Mike's feedback on her essay (although I completely think her reaction to a later thing with his parents was what I would have done!), and I thought that their relationship could have been a strong one, but things go haywire after a while and don't turn out the way you plan.
I thought the ending of the book was great. Not only was it hilarious and brilliant from Ruby's character, but I also thought that it concluded the book nicely without actually tying up every loose end. It left some parts to the reader's imagination, and I enjoyed that aspect of it.

 Overall, Torn was a great contemporary which I loved diving into. This one made me laugh as well as allowed me to gain more perspective on several issues that teens tackle today. Stephanie Guerra is an amazing talent and I'll be on the lookout for more from her! 

If you like this, try...

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Summer Book Giveaway!


Hi everyone,

 Albert Whitman & Company is hosting giveaways across the blogosphere, and I have a giveaway for you today!
They came back from ALA 2013 with over 100 signed books and they wanted to distribute it as giveaways hosted on different blogs. You can check out all the blogs hosting giveaways in the newsletter HERE.

 Anyway... onto my giveaway!

 What can you win here on Confessions of a Readaholic?
One (1) SIGNED copy of 
The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule by Kashmira Sheth 
Illustrated by Carl Pearce



Ishan Mehra wants a dog, but his mother has a rule about dogs. (Guess what it is?) Ishan figures if he's helpful enough and does enough things right around the house, he can change her mind. Somehow, though, the right things seem to come out all wrong. whether it's making paratha for breakfast or repainting the hallway! Award-winning author Kashmira Sheth's first novel for younger readers introduces Ishan, whose hilarious misadventures will resonate with kids everywhere.

Learn more about the book HERE.






RULES:
  • This giveaway is only open to US or Canada addresses only.
  • This is a publisher-sponsered giveaway from Albert Whitman & Company.
  • I am not responsible for any lost/damaged packages.
  • This giveaway will run from the 3rd of August to the 20th of August, and will end at midnight.
Enter in the rafflecopter below and good luck!

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Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane

Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane

 Release Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
Mean girls are always the haters - Right?

Hailey Harper has always felt invisible. Now her dad has a new job and the family is moving to Hollywood. Just what Hailey needs: starting a new high school.

As she's packing, Hailey finds a journal that belonged to her older sister, Noel, who is away at college. Called "How to Be a Hater," it's full of info Hailey can really use. Has Hailey found the Bible of Coolness? Will it help her reinvent herself at her new school? Will her crush notice her? Will she and the other Invisibles dethrone the popular mean girls? After all, they deserve it. Don't they?

Caprice Crane's funny--and deeply felt--observations about high school, bullies, popularity, friendship, and romance will leave teens thinking...and talking.

When it comes to contemporaries – YA contemporaries more specifically – I'm always a little two-minded about it. On one hand, contemporaries don't need to follow the "guidelines" that a paranormal would have to, for example. There's no mythical creature law for vampires, werewolves, fey, etc. because all this stuff supposedly could happen in real life. However, on the other hand, contemporaries also start to form their own clichés: taking down the mean girl at school, falling for the jock and then realising the right guy was next to you all along, getting pregnant, the climb for popularity, friends falling out, and so on and so forth.

 Confessions of a Hater did have some of the clichés I've mentioned before, but what made me really love this book and find it different from some of the other contemporaries that I've read would have to be the atmosphere, the feel I got from reading the book. I found that I enjoyed myself immensely when I read this book in one sitting. It's quite a long novel, but it's so packed and I found there was never really a dry moment in the book. Some things could have been left out, yes, but I found it entertaining overall and had a couple of chuckles along the way. I also liked that this was a great mix between hilarious and seriousness. It didn't have the whole mood of being one of those books that you know that it's doomed from the start, or just complete absolute fluff and stuff of fairytales, but I loved how it balanced it out when it came to Hailey and her problems.

It was a little bit like a dance of my emotions when it came to Hailey's character. First off, she has a WICKED sense of humor. I loved it. Her snarky, sarcastic comments I fell head over heels for, because I find myself thinking of things the way she does time to time. I liked that she was artistic. I like that she didn't like running (because neither do I)! I found that through this way you could really connect with her character.
However there were times when I was like, "uh-oh, NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" and she does some stuff which I find myself thinking that the result is not going to go well. I think that other than this though, you can really see that her character grows throughout the novel as she learns from her mistakes.
Skylar. Oh my gosh, it's like every single high school nightmare. She's the queen of the school, the top of the tier. She made me want to roll my eyes just reading about her. Definitely a character I loved to hate. Anya was a great character as well! She added a teeny bit of suspense to the plot, but you really do love her and you can see why Hailey becomes friends with her.

 There was one part of the book which kind of wanted me to change my rating from 14 to 15 years old, because there's um, a pretty awkward part in which it gets a little more in detail... it lasts a few pages, but it's something I definitely wouldn't want my younger sister to read! The end result is quite hilarious though, but it's just a little bit too much I would think, especially for a younger YA reader to read.

 Overall, I thought this book had the right amount of humor with a dash of depth that I appreciated greatly when reading it. I was hooked onto this one from start to finish and didn't let it go anytime throughout. Caprice Crane's YA debut does not disappoint, and I'll be on the lookout for more from her in the future!

If you like this, try...

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