This Raging Light

The Bookworm says... Probably. The Raging Light by Estelle Laure was alright. Lucille's whole life is falling apart. Her dad went off the deep end, her mom walked out, and she's stuck taking care of her younger sister. All of that is more than enough on a seventeen year old girl's plate, but add one more wild card- a boy- and you've practically spelt out the recipe for disaster. But does this boy have to be detrimental to Lu's future? 

This book had a pretty good plot set up, and it was generally enjoyable. The ending was perfect. I loved it so much. The writing, however, was not top notch. Some times it just didn't flow as well as I would have liked, but for the most part it was good. The cover is beautiful, by the way. A quick, cute romance. 

"Explain to me what the point of living is if you aren't willing to fight for the truths in your heart, to risk getting hurt."

DISCLAIMER: review and quotations are based off of an unpublished galley. Cover photo reproduced with permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Tentative release is January 2016.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

The Bookworm says... Yes! The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes was pretty good! The Kevinian cult has taken everything from Minnow, and in rebellion, her hands. Now that the Prophet has been murdered and their settlement in the woods burned to the ground, Minnow is locked behind bars. Set in a compromise with an FBI agent, if Minnow can help him find the murderer of the Prophet, he will recommend her for parole. She can have her freedom if she can free herself from the secrets of her past. 

While sometimes gory and horrifying, this book was generally very thought provoking. There's no denying that the plot is twisted and wrong, but it is written in such a way that it doesn't matter. I thought the book had been spoiled for me by a sticky note found inside, but it turned out even whoever read this before me didn't predict the ending correctly. Very well written, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly will have you shivering with anticipation. 

"It is amazing that, though I am small and I gifted and barely educated, even I can appreciate the scale of the universe."

DISCLAIMER: review is based on an uncorrected text. Tentative release is scheduled for June 2015. 

Trouble is a Friend of Mine

The Bookworm says... Yes! Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly is fantastic! Phillip Digby is rude, cocky, and a know it all. Zoe is not taken by his charm when she first meets him; in fact she wants nothing to do with him. Somehow, Digby drags her into the case of missing teenage girl Marina Miller. This case may or may not be related to the disappearance of his sister eight years ago. Zoe is generally a very good kid, but she can't say no to Digby, no matter how outrageous / illegal the scheme. A friendship that can't decide if it's a romance or not, a hero that's decidedly very unheroic, and a whole lot of trouble. 

This novel was filled to the brim with action. There was not a single dull moment. The sharp interactions between Digby and Zoe with witty comebacks had me laughing my head off. One of those books where the pages turn themselves. 

"Some people say the heart sees what's invisible to the eye. Other people say love means never having to say you're sorry. All I'm saying is, I see potential."

DISCLAIMER: review is based on an uncorrected text. Tentative release is August 2015

More Than This

The Bookworm says... Maybe. More Than This by Patrick Ness was a good book, but it wasn't outstanding. Seth drowns. He feels himself drowning. He dies. But then he wakes up. But he remembers dying, drowning, so how can he be alive? And now that he is alive, he has to find out where he is and how to survive. 

The plot of More Than This was very interesting, and I enjoyed it. Some parts of it were a bit hard to follow, and I found myself rereading some passages trying to make sense of it. Also- the ending was very unsatisfactory. I have more questions that I did not get answers to. 

"I don't believe in guardian angels, just people who are there for you and people who aren't."

Confess

The Bookworm says... Definitely! Confess by Colleen Hoover was outstanding. Everything in Auburn's life has gone wrong and fallen to pieces. In her attempt to rebuild it, she comes across artist Owen Gentry. She hasn't let her heart out of it's cage since her life went to scraps, but she feels it loosening. She finally starts to take chances, and let herself live again. But Owen has a secret, and it could ruin everything. To save the relationship, he just needs to admit what he did. But confessing his secret might be worse than keeping it. 

This whole story was amazing. The concept of paintings inspired by anonymous confessions is terrific. The artwork that is in black and white, small, as mentioned is beautiful when in full size and color in the middle of the book. With just the right amount of secrecy and mystery in just the right places, Confess is sure to hold you captivated. 

"There are people up meet that you get to know, and then there are people you meet that you already know."

Isla and the Happily Ever After

The Bookworm says... Yes! Isla and the Happily Ever After was perfect. Not unlike Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, it was the ideal romance. Isla has had a crush on Josh for as long as she can remember, but their relationship has never extended past an awkward encounter every now and then. As they begin their senior year, any possibility of romance between the two becomes nearly impossible under the imposing stress of college, parents, schoolwork, and the future that they may or may not be together in. 

Along with Anna and Lola, Isla and the Happily Ever After is definitely very cliche. But again, I have a soft spot for cliches. I love the cameos from Anna & Étienne and Cricket & Lola. Stephanie Perkins's novels have a very unifying quality that is beyond the matching covers and cast of characters. 

"Phones are distracting. The Internet is distracting. The way he looked at you? He wasn't distracted. He was consumed."

Previously reviewed by Stephanie Perkins: Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door

The Bookworm says... Absolutely! Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins was so mushy and sappy and basically everything I want in a romance. Lola is a very talented aspiring designer, with very strong beliefs. The crazier the costume, the more appropriate for daily wear. Her boyfriend, Max, is the lead singer of a punk rock band. Her life is going perfectly the way she wants it, until the Bell twins move home. Calliope and Cricket. Lola thought her painful past with figure skating Calliope and engineering Cricket was gone and buried, but the day she sees them again Lola realizes that that is far from the truth. 

This book was so good. Like the preceding novel in the trilogy, Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door is very cliche. If you're the type of person that cringes at the mention of cliches, you should not read this. I, however, am not one of these people, so I loved it. I absolutely adored the way Anna and Étienne tied into this novel, and the general unfolding of the plot. 

Previously reviewed by Stephanie Perkins: Anna and the French Kiss, 

"At the sound of her name, a second star would appear... The neighbors wondered who turned on the floodlights. The boy did. By thinking about the girl."

The Department of Speculation

The Bookworm says... Yes! The Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill was terrific. The husband and the wife are headstrong in love, with no thoughts to the future. All of the unknowns, the variables in their lives are referred to as "The Department of Speculation". When the marriage starts to fall apart, along with everything else in her life, the wife tries to backtrack and see where they went wrong. 

The Department of Speculation was not a relaxing read. It's not a book you should expect to be calming to read, or even remotely reassuring. It's not. It makes you think about everything from that itch you had yesterday behind your right ear to whether or not you still love your significant other. A book filled with symbolism, none of the characters were named. Only referred to as "the wife", "the husband", "the daughter", etc., or told from the wife's perspective. A truly thought provoking read. 

"The invention of the ship is also the invention of the shipwreck." 

Evermore

The Bookworm says... Yes! Evermore by Alyson Noël holds a charm that lasts forever. A horrible accident claims her mother and father and her dog, leaves her sister trapped in an "in between", and leaves Ever with the ability to read minds and see auras. She abandons her fashionable clothes and popular life in Oregon for sweatshirts and sweats and around two friends in California. She lives locked into headphones, until Damen comes along. Damen Auguste is mysterious and beautiful and he turns Ever's world upside down. She might not be the only one with supernatural abilities. 

Evermore is an excellent first book of Alyson Noël's Immortal series. I read this a few years ago, but it just gets better. The charm isn't lost, no matter how much later. The story is immortal, if you will. 

"I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone- you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence."

The Reason I Jump

The Bookworm says... Yes. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida leaves me speechless every time I read it. Naoki Higashida was thirteen when he wrote this book, and he was also autistic. He still is. He learned how to communicate using an alphabet grid that included the entire  Japanese hiragana (the most basic alphabet), and the characters for "yes", "no", and "finished". Through this grid, Naoki was able to answer the questions about autism that we have all been asking. Translated into English, Naoki Higashida provides the answers to questions about autism, such as "Why do you jump?", that we have so desperately needed. 

This book helped me understand so many things about my autistic brother that I had been completely clueless to before. If you know any autistic child or adult, please read this book. It helps you understand them on a new level. 

"True compassion is about not bruising the other person's self-respect."

The Invention of Wings

The Bookworm says... Yes!! The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd was fantastic. Set in the early 1800's, two girls form a very unlikely friendship when one becomes property of the other. The story of Handful (Hetty) Grimké, a young slave, 11 at the start of the novel. The story of Sarah Grimké, a young and very privileged white girl in Charleston, South Carolina, also 11 at the start of the novel. As years go pass, the girls grow closer and drift and closer and drift. Growing up at the same time, both girls strive for very different things. While both experiencing the same sorrow and loss, Sarah and Handful seek out their futures in freedom of some type, whether it be from a master or from a domestic life. 

Sarah Grimké is an extremely under appreciated figure in American History, along with her sister Angelina Grimké. Some of America's first true feminists, these girls led numerous iconic protests/movements for the feminist cause. Sue Monk Kidd gives them each a new appreciation in this novel. A flawless blend of fact and fiction, The Invention of Wings was truly beautiful. 

"If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from."