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.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Book: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall (From the Dear America series)
Author: Barry Denenberg
Year Published: 2002
My Rating: 4/5
Recommended For: 11-13 years of age

Short Summary: Bess Brennan was recently in a tragic sledding accident leading her to completely loose her sight. To help her feel better, Bess's twin sister writes her diary for her as Bess takes a left turn in her life and has to go to a new school called Perkins School for the Blind.

Review (Spoiler Alert)

So I know I am a little old for this book, but I read it when I was eleven and it was one of the very few in the Dear America/Dear Canada series that really stuck out for me. Mostly because this one is very different from the rest, it's not directly written by the girl herself and the story isn't really based off a major tragic event in history. Also this story really caught me, it showed that people who are different are capable of doing so much and it fascinated me how they taught the blind to go on with their lives in different ways. I especially loved the parts where they showed braille. In this book I really enjoyed Bess's story because she was so real, she didn't whine or complain about things but she did have her frustrations about things from time to time. Bess was strong throughout the new complications that were given to her and I admired her for that. I also really enjoyed her new friend Amanda throughout the books because she gave a more positive spin on the book that was needed.
The book is a very short read, and is great for a rainy afternoon.

Twisted (Pretty Little Liars)

Book: Twisted (#9 in Pretty Little Liars series)
Author: Sara Shepard
Year Published: 2011
My Rating: 3/5
Recommended For: 12-14 years of age.

Short Summary: A year after the dreaded notes A sent them, four high school students Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily are making mistakes again. While on a trip in Jamaica a terrible event happened that has caused them to spread apart. Now months later, they are getting tortured by A again who knows their secret and a few others of each girl's own.

Review (Spoiler Alert)

Okay so when I bought this book a while ago I was in the direct audience, very young teenagers. Now I still am in that age category I suppose you can say but my views on things have changed a lot since back then. When I got this book a year ago I thought this series were extremely well-written and were the best things on the planet.
I guess you can say this series are very addicting. I've found myself guiltily reading them here and there because they are fun to read and some parts can be scary! The characters I find sometimes to be very tedious and the plot even in this book. Sara Shepard seems to have a certain way she likes to write each of the four books and she sure has stuck with it.
In this book another set of four books has started in the Pretty Little Liars stories, and you would think by now that the four characters in this book would begin to smarten up a little more but instead they just seem to be getting worse and worse. Allow me to go through each of the girl's individual stories in this book before getting into the main one.
So first we have Hanna Marin, a year ago she was my favorite character. I wanted to be Hanna because she seemed so perfect and funny and smart. Now I find her very annoying and a bit bitchy. I mean she's always so concerned about the most petty things and end up screwing everything and everyone over because of it. She has ditched so many people who actually treated her right just because she thought she could gain some social status. In these books little miss Hanna is feuding again with her step-sister because their Father is running for some sort of big title. I don't remember what it was..yeah I'm such a real professional here! Anyways, Hanna got a part in their commercial and this guy offered her a modeling job.  So Hanna being Hanna took it right away and didn't do any background checks on this guy. Of course the guy was scamming her, but Hanna was too much of an air-head to notice that! She was too locked on getting some sort of victory on Kate. And haven't we seen a scam before in these books with Spencer? So anyways Hanna stole money from her Father, blamed it on some innocent guy and made him loose his job. Real mature Hanna.
Next we have Spencer who is flirting with her soon-to-be stepbrother. She begins liking him and thinks the same way....until she finds out he's gay. So Spencer is cool with that, and her stepbrother makes her promise to keep his secret. Well one night they fall asleep in the same bed, their parents walk in and his father begins yelling at him. Spencer taking her own matters into her own hands decides to yell out "He's gay!" That sends her stepbrother off to boot camp and Spencer lost a potential best friend. Great job Spence.
Third we have Emily. Now Emily is my favorite out of the bunch so it's hard for me to hate on her, but she really did change in this series. She's not the innocent sweet girl who has bad luck when it comes to love anymore. Now she's just like the rest, and I'm not a fan of that. In this book we find out Emily has had a baby! Which is strange because besides a few mentions of side-effects of pregnancy in Jamaica there was no mentions of it until then. And it seemed really out of character for Emily, I mean teenage pregnancy, really? I would suspect that from Hanna sure but not Emily! Oh and then we find out Emily's new friend's Father is hitting on her and her new friend doesn't like that. I think Sara Shepard has been watching too many soap operas lately.... Another thing that gets me is she shows signs of morning sickness during spring break but gives birth during the summer? Where is the logic in that?
Lastly we have Aria's story. In this one Aria is with her boyfriend and she keeps putting off having sex with him even though Aria has done it before with other guys. Then some Finnish exchange student who is extremely cute moves into his house. The girl's name is Klaudia and she is probably THE most annoying character anyone has ever written in the books. I wanted to slap my own imagination in the face when I made up my own image of Klaudia's character, she is just that bad. She pretends to be this perfect little thing and then she turns out to be a huge Bi-otch. Of course Miss Aria isn't innocent, she pushed Klaudia  off the ski-slope when Klaudia told her in perfect English "I'm going to f*ck your boyfriend." Of course anyone would be kind of pissed about that but damn Aria...you've been pushing people off a lot of things lately aren't you?
That leads me into the main story of this next four books. The girls think they've seen Ali again while in Jamaica. Of course they have to bring Ali back into this whole thing, I really wish they would've allowed her to just you know die in the house fire and let that poor girl's story go away in peace. They really don't need to keep bringing Ali back. Well our four favorite girls decide to push her off a cliff! Well Aria did it. Anyways, turns out they killed an innocent girl named Tabitha. Smooth move Aria.

Seriously, I was very annoyed by this book. I thought the girls were very immature even though you would think by now they know better about certain things considering what they've been through. The book was still decent to read but it wasn't exactly enjoyable and i wouldn't read this if I were you if you get annoyed easily about petty teenage girls who just don't learn.