Between by Cyndi Tefft

Title: Between

Author: Cyndi Tefft

Release Date: April 5, 2011

Publisher: Self-Published

Page Number: 252

Sequel: Hell Transporter

Video Review (because I say other things too!)
SYNOPSIS

         I didn’t know what to expect when I first started reading “Between.” All I know was that I really wanted to read it, because it sounds amazing! I have never read a self-published novel and I didn’t know what to expect. I’m proud to say I wasn’t disappointed!

         “Between” isn’t the best novel that I have ever read, but it isn’t the worst either. I found that there are elements in the novel that I find entertaining, and yet there are some that I find downright irritating. However, to start this off positively, it is obvious that I am really fond of the idealism in this story. I want to find love like Lindsey and Aiden's so easily. I want there to be that one guy that I see in which I instantly know that he is “the one." In this book, everything appears easy, and it’s great to read novels like this every once in a while.

         Although I liked the novel’s general idea of love and romance, I wasn’t too keen on the pacing and the characters. The pacing of the novel is a little too fast for my taste and I found myself constantly overwhelmed by the information that rains down on me from page one. It appears that the plot doesn’t necessarily flow from point A to point B, but instead it just literally goes from point A to point B.
        Moving on to the characters, I find that I couldn’t relate to Lindsey as much as I’d like, because I just don’t see myself the same way she views herself. In truth, however, I might be wrong considering that I couldn’t find her relatable during the times when she’s in love (an emotion I’m nowhere close to experiencing).
         I am okay with Aiden. I do not love him as much as I love Four, Patch, or Jace, but he is quite the charmer. I love his presence around Lindsey’s, and their interactions are just plain adorable.

         What I also enjoyed are the interactions between every one of the characters. They’re fun, simple, and not too complicated. “Between” is a novel where I would love to just substitute my name for Lindsey’s and the guy I like’s name for Aiden’s, because the canoodling is definitely HOT which I would one day love to experience.

         All in all, I enjoyed “Between” because I love feeling the feeling of being in love. It’s something new and foreign to me and I’m glad it’s the focus of the book. It has definitely sparked the idea in my mind that I should give self-published books a shot, because some of them like, “Between” are worth it!

Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready

Information:

Title: Shift

Series: Shade Trilogy

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready

Release Date: May 3, 2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Page Number: 384

Sequel: Shine (2012)

Buy Shift: Amazon

Video Review (Because I say other things too)

Grabbing Line: Do you love her enough to let her go?

Synopsis:

Aura’s love has brought Logan back from being a shade. But now that he’s a violet-hued ghost again, Aura is more confused than ever. She wants to be there for Logan and support him as a friend, but their relationship will come at the expense of her relationship with Zachary, her very alive, very handsome, very Scottish research partner. Both boys hold a piece of her heart—and secrets that can help Aura unlock the mysteries of the Shift and of her past. Aura must decide between the two or risk losing them both. But how?

Synopsis from Amazon

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Title: Nevermore

Author: Kelly Creagh

Release Date: August 31^st 2011

Publisher: Athenum Books for Young Readers

Page Number: 560

Buy Nevermore: Amazon

SYNOPSIS from GOODREADS

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

His life depends on it.

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Title: Artichoke’s Heart  

Author: Suzanne Supplee

Release Date: June 12, 2008

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Page Number: 224 Pages

Buy Here: Artichoke's Heart

Product Description:

Blubber meets Steel Magnolias in this funny and honest story about body image and family.

Rosemary Goode is smart and funny and loyal and the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But only one thing seems to matter to anyone, including Rosemary: her weight. And when your mom runs the most successful (and gossipy) beauty shop in town, it can be hard to keep a low profile. Rosemary resolves to lose the weight, but her journey turns out to be about everything but the scale. Her life-changing, waist-shrinking year is captured with brutal honesty and humor, topped with an extralarge helping of Southern charm. A truly uncommon novel about an increasingly common problem.

Dear, Author: Suzanne Supplee

So, I decided that I would really love to do this sort of thing where if I email an author and tell him/her how much I loved their book, I will share it with y'all!

In account of Artichoke's Heart, here is what I wrote to Suzanne Supplee:

Hi Suzanne!

I really love your novels although I only own Artichoke's Heart and Somebody Everybody Listens To. I really love both of them especially Artichoke because it's really inspiring! I was able to come to certain terms about my self consciousness And it helped me alot! I also recommended it to my friend, Giselle who only reads Manga and she loved it! We still rave about it after reading it years ago. I'm really glad that you wrote that novel because it's really relatable and my friend and I really  connected to it because we both had issues with our weight. 

I also really liked Somebody Everybody Listens to but it didn't affect me like Artichoke did, although I really cried in the end of Somebody Everybody Listens to .

Thanks for writing amazing novels! I'm looking forward to your next one :) when are you going to come out with another?

I'm also wondering, not to be rude, but if you have any signed swag or bookplates? I'll be glad to send a self addressed stamped envelope :) [She did not address this question, so I guess that's a no, but that's okay!]

Thanks, 
Malyza Caballero 




Her response:


Hi Malyza,

Thank you SO much for writing to me!  Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you.  Your kind compliments are much appreciated, though.  Always so good to hear I made a reader happy…or…uh…made her cry.  Sorry about that part, but I will say that I cried while writing that ending, too.  Writing is a strange business.

Hope you're having a terrific summer, and please know how much it means that you took the time to write to me.  Thank you!

xo,

Suzanne

She's really sweet and she writes really great books! Check 'em out 


Buy: Artichoke's Heart
Buy: When Irish Guys Are Smiling
Buy: Somebody Everybody Listens To (Hardcover)
Buy: Somebody Everybody Listens To (Paperback)

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Title: Beauty Queens

Author: Libba Bray

Release Date: May 24, 2011

Page Number: 390

Publisher: Scholastic Press

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner. 

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up? Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again

Divergent by Veronica Roth

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:


Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Page Number: 496

Product Description
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

Matched by Ally Condie

Important Information:

Title: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Release Date: November 30, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Page Count: 384

I cannot fathom how much emotion I felt while reading this book. I'm in love! Move over, Peeta Mellark, because Ky Markham has definitely taken your place. Thus, said, I'm definitely Team Ky, mainly because I fall for the mysterious broody types a lot. 

Throughout this book, I felt love surge through me. I can't explain it, but everytime Cassia is with Ky, I melt into a puddle of goo. I find that Ally Condie's writing is exquisite and very organized. She's able to concoct a story with a full laid-out history that definitely boils down to specifics. 

Let's face it, I'm in love with this book. Yes, I rated it four stars, but I love it. 

The reason this novel received four stars is because it wasn't a book that I needed to read to get through. It's a book that I wanted to mull over, to sink into and float amongst the words as slowly as I can go. The book was an emotional book for me, as I felt so much passion through reading from Cassia's voice, to the Official's struggle to perfect society, and everyone else in between. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I would most certainly not, enjoy being in Cassia's place. To be stripped of my own free will, especially on love is a big no no. The society is just too uniformed and suffocating to enjoy. I believe that Ally Condie did a fantastic job to incorporate this to her novel and most importantly, through her audience. I felt like dying when I read that there are only 100 poems, songs, films, etc. and I would most likely commit suicide if I were forced to live in this world. A society where everyone's hands are always tied. 

I understand that the pace is extremely snail-like and excruciating for most, yet for me it was fine. I loved cruising along with Cassia and just riding everything out. What the book provided me was emotion. A deep, heart wrenching emotion that I was completely absorbed within the words, and they came from Ky. I couldn't care less about Xander, because no emotion surged within me when reading about him. 

Matched is definitely a beautifully woven story with wonderful intricate details that provide comfort. It's a book of romance and emotion.

I belong to Ky, hands down.

SEQUEL TIME:

Boy, am I excited!

Here's some information about the second book in the trilogy:

Title: Crossed

Release Date: November 1, 2011

BOOK COVER: