Forever...

Book: Forever...
Author: Judy Blume
Year Published: 1975
My Rating: 2/5
Recommended For: Mature readers, teens considering have sex for the first time.

Short Summary: After Kathrine meets Micheal at a New Year's party, they begin to grow attracted to one another and eventually fall in love.From there they begin to grow a very exclusive relationship, until they are forced to have a summer apart.

Review (Spoiler Alert)
So I've been meaning to read this book since I was about maybe eleven years old when I first heard of it from a book called Eleven by Lauren Myracle. I decided to wait though until I felt old enough to read it and more mature. I have read many of Judy Blume's books in my lifetime such as Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing, and many more. So I had high expectations with this book coming into it. I also am grateful after reading this book that I decided to wait on this one when I was eleven. It's pretty in detail for the most part and I wouldn't have understood it when I was eleven, and I probably would've been pretty scarred by it at that age.
To be honest I am pretty surprised by this book and how explicit it really is. The scenes featuring intercourse in this book were extremely in detail, which was a bit strange to find in a Young Adult book. If I didn't know better I may have thought this book was an erotic novel. I could see this being a problem if any pre-teens or younger who didn't know better and enjoyed Judy Blume's children's novels came across this book. Like I know it is the theme of the book is about a girl loosing her virginity but I didn't think all of the minor details really needed to be placed in there.
However let's get into the actual story. I found the characters to really fall flat in this story. I mean all of the minor ones that weren't Kathrine or Michael really all blended in for me. And even Michael and Kathrine didn't really seem like much to me. Michael seemed like he was only interested in sex too me, and Kathrine was very simplistic. I mean there is more to love than just saying you love him. You have to know all the reasons why, and where the complications of it really are at. Something I find Kathrine really lacks in this book.
The relationship also really bugged me in this book, especially since it seemed to consist of nothing more than just sex. There really was no deep passion. I mean Michael seemed only in it for the sex right from the beginning. The feelings Kathrine had for Michael didn't really seem all there and they fell in love pretty fast. There were hardly any dates or anything else besides details that result in intercourse which I found very tedious.
Lastly I didn't like the plot of the book and how it ended. I guess you can say I found this book to be very dry and nothing special. I suppose teens can find it useful if they are considering on having sex for the first time and it helps them realize that nothing really does last "forever". Especially young love, when you aren't settled yet. I am pretty disappointed by this book, Judy Blume's other works are much better than this one. Don't judge just on this book, her other ones are way more enjoyable.

Summer Blowout

Book: Summer Blowout
Author: Claire Cook
Year Published: 2009
My Rating: 3/5
Recommended For: 15+, probably only women would appreciate this book.

Short Summary: Bella Shaughnessy is a make up artist in a family of Boston Irish hair salon owners who is still unsure how to keep going after her ex-husband started dating her half-sister. She meets another man through business and even though they keep bickering they can't stay away from each other.

Review (Spoiler Alert)
Okay it was really hard for me to write a summary for this book because well I really wasn't sure where this book was going. Bella was kind of annoying because she kept on switching between her ex-husband (Craig) and this new guy (Sean Ryan). Like in one chapter she was hanging out with Sean Ryan and things were getting pretty romantic, the next Craig walks in. Sean Ryan leaves at that point and before we know it Bella is doing the nasty with Craig. For that reason I really began to dislike Bella's character. I did however really enjoy reading the book, even though the story line was a bit fuzzy for me I really enjoyed the descriptions, some of the ways Bella thinks and the smaller things in this story. It is actually a very fun read because it's very light. I sometimes did get annoyed with the amount of make up names were put in here but it went with Bella's character I mean after all she IS a make up artist. Sometimes I find myself comparing people to fictional characters in real life, but that is just a part of who I am. So I allowed that one to drop.
Besides the fact that the whole love story part of the book wasn't really well placed in the book, I really did enjoy reading it. I will most likely read this one again next summer. It's a great summer read because it's fairly short but you just don't want to put it down. That is a quality I love in books, I don't want to feel like a book is lagging I want it to feel like it runs smoothly and when it ends you just want to find out what happens next.

A Very Strange Warriors Fanfiction

My friend posted this Fanfiction on my wall and well I am not exactly sure how to exactly explain this Fanfiction, mostly because I am not entirely sure what exactly happened in it. I used to be a huge member of the Warrior Cats fandom, I adored the books as as preteen and they really did help me get through a lot of things that happened in my life during those years. I am grateful for those books. The fandom though, can be very interesting. They usually are going through a faze of new-coming artists so their drawings aren't exactly the best and stuff like that. Warriors did help people get inspired to get into things they are much greater at now which is always a great thing.
However...I don't really think this Fanfiction really does help anything. I don't think a young aspiring writer wrote this story.
Here is the link to it from a blog on Tumblr called The Worst Warriors. It pretty well displays some pretty..interesting..things from the Warriors fandom.
http://theworstwarriors.tumblr.com/post/15969235061/fanfic-drugs-wtf


*Read this before or after, this will contain some spoilers*
I did find some pretty smart points about the books though in this story which is strange. The story is extremely stupid and I don't really know what exactly happened in it yet I found some really clever points about the Warriors series in there. Allow me to name a few.
1. First of all the amount of times Heavystep died. In the books Heavystep was a character from Riverclan who pretty much was the Kenny of the series from South Park. He died a ton of times but always came back only to die again. The Fanfiction made the same comparison with me and even brought in the infamous "Oh my God they killed Kenny!" line into that scene of the story. I find that very smart of the author.
2.Rowanclaw's changing gender. Throughout the series Rowanclaw's identity was always changed, a few times he was a boy, the next she was a girl. The books never really chose what poor Rowanclaw was.
3. The truth about sequels and how they are never as good. It really is true, for the most part of things anyways. Such as The Hunger Games series, I loved the first book. I thought it was amazing and I've read it many times. The other two books, I didn't like at all. I found them to be very dry and boring compared to the first. It was like that for the two Skyclan books in the Warriors series too, as pointed out in the Fanfiction. Firestar's Quest was a great book and I found it to be very intriguing the other Skylan book...ehhh not quite so much.

I still think that the Fanfiction is quite stupid, I'm just trying to look at it in a different perspective.

Cathy's Book

Book: Cathy's Book
Author: Jordan Weisman
Year Published: 2006
My Rating: 2/5
Recommended For: 13-16 years of age.

Short Summary: This follows Cathy's story as she discovers the truth about her-ex boyfriend and what the strange mark on her arm means.

My Review (Some Spoilers)
The thing that really got me into the book was when I opened the cover at the library, inside was a bag with many different objects in it. It's the closest to 3D books can get...you know besides pop-up books. It's pretty interactive with actual phone numbers the reader can call, many objects that look (and even feel!) realistic and the illusion of the book actually being someone's sketchbook. The idea of it is pretty genius, because you actually feel as if you are a part of the novel. However I found myself getting annoyed with a few parts of the book...
First of all the product placement in this book can be pretty tedious. Especially since they really don't have much to do with the book. In the object bag there is a business card for Being Girl. Which is pretty well for tampons and such...like Tampax? The author put a small sketch on the back of it so it looks related but it's still a little random is it not? The website of it really doesn't have anything to do with the book. So we all know where that came from. Also there was obviously some help from our good friends at Covergirl. In her sketches she often labels her sketches of girls pointing to parts of her face and then says the brand and exact colour of the make up. And then there is a small little piece of paper in the bag of objects which has little smears of different shades of make up and they're labeled! Oh and by the way...they are all from Covergirl.
As for the actual story, I could hardly keep on reading it. I found the story to be a bit dry, and it wasn't my cup of tea. I just found myself get very annoyed with it easily, and I couldn't connect with the main character so it just wasn't working for me.
The whole entire idea of the book though was great, that is why I gave it the extra star. I wish more books were like this but you know with a story line that doesn't get on my nerves.

Mockingbird

Book: Mockingbird
Author: Kathryn Erksine
Year Published: 2010
My Rating: 4/5
Recommended For: Everyone.

Short Summary: After facing the tragedy of a school shooting that killed her older brother and mentor in life Devon, Caitlin a girl with asperger's syndrome is forced to fend for herself. This book explains her journey into closure of dealing with her brother's death and takes a step into the daily life of her world..

Review (Spoiler Alert)
In my opinion this is probably one of the most beautifully written books made for young adults ever made. It's not one of those cookie cutter types of books for teens, it deals with issues that people don't tend to write about and talks about subjects that authors sometimes like to work around. Kathryn Erkine really did execute the whole idea of the book very efficiently and I found the writing to be very clean and smooth. Caitlin really did seem like a real girl to me and the book gave me very easy access into her world.
I also like how the book deals with how people take pain and tragedy differently. Following the school shooting in the books, it showed how the community dealt with it and how the families reacted. Some people tried to avoid the subject as much as possible and others only had their minds on it. The book gave a different perspective on things and I enjoyed reading about Caitlin's road to recovery.
Another detail I really liked in the book was how the cousin of one of the shooters often felt victimized by the other kid's by what happened and thought they all hated him because of it when in reality they only hated him because he was mean to the other children. It comes to show that sometimes the smaller things can be the blame for something larger and not everything is what they seem to be.
This book is just amazing and I don't think that it should be just for young adults. I think a lot of people should read this book because there is a lot you can learn from it.

A Shore Thing

Book: A Shore Thing
Author: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi
Year Published: 2011
My Rating: 2/5
Recommended For: I wish I could say no one in their right mind...but Jersey Shore fans, people looking for a simple read.

Short Summary: This book follows two cousins ready to spend the summer of their lives on the Jersey Shore filled with many wild adventures. Very similar to the show Jersey Shore and two of it's characters Snooki and J-Wow.

Review (Spoiler Alert):
So you probably right now are judging me a lot for reviewing this book, but well I found this book on my book shelf the other day and I am now getting rid of it. Before I do so though, I have decided on reviewing this book. Sadly I got this book a year ago, when I was trying to be something I wasn't and trying to fit into the norm of other young teenage girls. Well they all just loved Jersey Shore and so this book was a must-have. Now I can't be more embarrassed that I actually bought this book....anyways back to the review.
This book is obviously ghost written, I mean I highly doubt that a girl like Snooki would actually have the patience to write a feature-length novel. Yes I just wrote feature-length novel, but well the book is the average size of a normal novel. The thing that bugs me the most about this book though is that the cover is only focused on the "author" rather than the actual story itself. It's like if Stephen King wrote another novel and instead of talking about the actual contents of the novel all they wrote across the cover is STEPHEN KING followed by a small title about the book and then a GIANT picture of the author. It would make sense if the book was actually about Snooki, but it's not at all. Well if you replaced the name of the Gia character with the name Snooki than the novel would be about her.
The plot in the book is pretty simplistic and there really isn't any meaning too it. It's just about these two cousins spending the summer on Jersey Shore and trying to hook up with people...I'm serious. That's the entire story, there are a few other events that happen but it's all partying and hooking up. Just like the show, it really wasn't anything special. I recommend this book for people who want a simple book that has nothing at all too it, or people who like Jersey Shore. If you don't like Jersey Shore, don't read this book. It's like watching the show in your imagination. There is no difference.

D.I.Y BEAUTY

Book: D.I.Y BEAUTY
Author: Karen Bressler
Year Published: 2000
My Rating: 3/5
Recommended For: 13-18 year old girls, people cautious on how they look

Short Summary: This book tells you some simple ways on how to look beautiful inside and out. Professionals help clarify and prove people's theories and tips on certain subjects on how to look your best.

Review (I don't think there is much to spoil in this one):
So I am not a girly girl at all I probably should mention, nope I am probably one of the most low-maintenance 15 year old girls out there. I take good care of myself I shower, brush my teeth, put on products, minimal amounts of make up etc. but I don't go over the top. I don't go out to do my nails (I paint them myself saves money on something that's just gonna chip away), I don't wear a ton of make up so I look like a Barbie, I don't get facials and so forth. Like I said before I only do what I have to. I prefer to be happy doing the things I love to do such as my hobbies and being with the people I care about rather than worry about things such as that. But than again, that is only me. I stole this book out of my sister's room because she doesn't live at home anymore and I wanted to see what kind of books she has. My sister is the polar opposite of me and cares very much about her appearance and does participate and many things I would prefer not to do. Sometimes that leads to fights between us because it's very hard to find something the two of us would both like to do together. So I wasn't surprised when I found very girly books in her small library such as The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants series (which I may try later), Princess Diaries (I've already read it, I wasn't a fan), and books such as this one. I also found her old University textbooks and being the little nerd that I am I will end up reading those.
This book was pretty okay to read, it was exactly what I thought it was going to be. It talked about how if you look good you feel good and how certain foods and such would exfoliate this and brighten up that. I liked how it showed other people's beauty tips under each category (such as hair, eyes, skin etc.) and then professionals would talk about whether each one was true or not and give hints and tips to make it better. I also liked how they added in exercise and food in there so the book wasn't just about outer beauty. To be honest, I probably won't use any of the tips in that book since I am not really the type for it. It really depends on the person though, such as my sister the girly type I did recognize some of the things in there that I had seen her use and enjoy in the past. This book would be great for a girl who loves beauty and are always looking for new ideas and are up to just about anything. I did learn some pretty interesting things in this book however. It's simple, but it does give lots of information. I recommend this to any girly type of person who are looking for new ideas and ways to look and feel good. This one is for you.