Bad Girls With Perfect Faces

The Bookworm says... Yes! Bad Girls With Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten is twisted and sick in all the right ways.When Xavier dumps his cheating girlfriend, Ivy, Sasha is relieved that her best friend has finally seen the light; however, a few short weeks later, Ivy and Xavier are back together. Sasha feels the need to protect Xavier, whether it be out of platonic or romantic concern, and creates a fake online persona to trick Ivy. As Sasha poses as the confident, mysterious Jake behind a screen and begins messaging Ivy, she hopes that Ivy will be distracted from Xavier and that he will somehow realize Ivy is unfaithful and untrustworthy. The more Sasha pretends to be Jake, and the more she talks to Ivy, the more she realizes she is digging herself into a hole she won't be able to escape from. 

Much like in her novel Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls, Lynn Weingarten creates a haunting plot line with twists and turns to keep even the most seasoned readers engaged. The most admirable quality of her writing is how genuine the stories are; all of her characters are real. Ivy is you, Sasha is me, Xavier is that boy who lives down the street... We can see ourselves in the characters, and as we watch them make wrong decision after wrong decision we wonder if we could ever do something like that. We wonder if we know ourselves as well as we think we do. When a book makes you question your moral standings, your character, your integrity, and your mental strength, you know the author is doing something right. How far would you go for someone you love? (If you think you know the answer to that question, read this book and then think again)

"When you are careening toward disaster, you never know it until it is way too late"

DISCLAIMER: Review is based on an advance uncorrected reader's proof. Tentative on-sale date is September 5th, 2017.

Previously reviewed by Lynn Weingarten: Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

The Bookworm says... Yes! Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli was an enjoyable read. Simon, under the alias of Jacques, exchanges emails with a peer under the alias Blue. The boys are in school together, they are both gay, and neither of them has come out. As they continue to email back and forth, Simon begins to fall for Blue. Not even Simon's closest friends know that he is gay, so anyone reading these emails would wreak havoc on Simon's life. Naturally, that is exactly what happens. When the class-clown Martin gets his hands on the emails, he puts not only Simon's privacy and sexuality at stake, but Blue's as well. Martin blackmails Simon with the emails, and Simon's life begins to enter turmoil. Suddenly, everything in Simon's life is a question. Who is Blue? Who does he love? Is he attracted to boys or girls? While fighting through tension from every direction in his life, Simon has to figure out why he's so in love with a boy he's  never met.

This was a quick, light (ish) read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The plot seemed vaguely familiar, but I can't place exactly what it is that it reminds me of. One of the best aspects of this novel is how true it is to teenagers. With the dominance of the internet in this day and age, relationships beginning online are not uncommon. That makes Becky Albertalli's story feel more real. The characters she created are so artfully crafted that you fall in love with them falling in love with each other. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda is  a book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, relaxing read that still has an eventful plotline.

"Why is straight the default? Everyone should have to declare one way or another, and it shouldn't be this big thing whether you're straight, gay, bi, or whatever."

Never Always Sometimes

The Bookworm says… Maybe. Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid is extremely disappointing. Dave and Julia are best friends. Entering their freshman year of high school, they make a list of clichés they would never do- be recognized by a lunch spot, dye their hair extravagant colors, and lots of other typical high school clichés. The most important thing on the list: never date your best friend. With only a few months left of their senior year, Julia and Dave decide to try to do every Never on the list. By doing the Nevers, Dave and Julia break out of their comfort zones and do things they never dreamed of doing. They get into trouble, and they get out of it. Most of all, they learn things about themselves, each other, and their feelings for each other that they wouldn’t know if not for the Nevers.

            I was so disappointed by this book. I was a huge fan of Let’s Get Lost (also by Adi Alsaid), and I had very high hopes for this book. I would go so far as to say that this was one of my most anticipated releases of 2015, and I was greatly let down. The writing was not bad, but it was not remarkable. While the concept is interesting, the way the plot unfolds is lackadaisical.  I got bored with it very fast. There was some notable character development, but some characters could have benefited from a little bit more.

Previously reviewed by Adi Alsaid: Let's Get Lost 

“Human beings are more or less formulas. Pun intended. We are not any one thing that is mathematically provable. We are more or less than we are anything. We are more or less kind, or more or less not. More or less selfish, happy, wise, lonely.”

DISCLAIMER: Review is based off of an unedited proof. Official release date is August 4, 2015.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before

The Bookworm says... Yes! To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han was great! Lara Jean is the type to be consumed by love. She falls in love, and can't concentrate on anything else. So, she writes love letters to the boys she loves. Once she writes, seals,  stamps, and locks away her letters in a box, she can finally go about her daily life. One day, her letters get mailed. Lara Jeans secret love letters to her loves throughout the years have been delivered, and whether the boys knew about her feelings before, they're about to find out. 

I had heard so much about this book, it would practically be a crime not to read it. I had very high expectations, and it met them! My only complaint would be that after about 90 pages, the rest of the book is fairly predicable. However, that didn't make it less enjoyable! 

"My letters set me free. Or at least they're supposed to."

The Sky is Everywhere

The Bookworm says... Yes! The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson was a  great book! Not as good as her other novel, I'll Give You The Sun, but good all the same. Bailey's death tears everyone apart, especially her sister Lennie. Her heart overflowing with grief, she needs to find a way to relieve herself. Toby, her dead sisters boyfriend. Joe, the hot/mysterious/musical prodigy new boy. One boy helps her remember how good it is to be alive, and the other helps her forget everything. She needs them both, yet she knows she can't have them. Hearts collide, as do universes. 

To be quite honest, this book was not as good as I hoped for it to be. The beginning seemed to drag on. I did, however, love the poetry. Beautiful. 

"Lennie, the sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet."

Previously reviewed by Jandy Nelson: I'll Give You The Sun

Read Between the Lines

The Bookworm says... Yes! Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles was a lovely book that I had the pleasure to read an advance copy of. The release date is set for March 2015. Living in a small town, the whole cast of typical high school characters is there: the nerd, the jocks, the (almost) high school dropout, the cheerleaders, the closeted basketball star, and the one cheerleader that always seems to be overweight. The day begins with Nate breaking his finger in gym class. His middle finger, earning him the nickname "Finger Boy". Throughout the day, throughout different points of view, relationships will end, they will begin. People will lose friends, people will find friends. They will defend their pride. And most of all, they'll let their middle fingers fly. This was an excellent book and I can not wait for the official release! 

"I don't know when finding Grace's boyfriend's parties became more important than trying to find ourselves. Maybe it's because we became afraid of what we'd find." 

**official release is March 10, 2015!

All The Bright Places

The Bookworm says... Absolutely. I am sitting here, a heart broken mess over this book. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven was absolutely outstanding. Violet and Finch meet on the bell tower, 6 floors above the ground. It becomes clear that they are there for the same reason: death. Whether desire for death, fear of death, or memory of death, it brought them there. The rumors fly- Violet Markey rescues resident suicidal freak, Theodore Finch. Wandering through Indiana's not so typical but oh so lovely wonders, the unlikely pair that is Theodore Freak Find and Ultrviolet Unremarkey-able are able to connect to each other in a special way. They show each other all the bright places within the state borders of Indiana, and within themselves. 

I cannot describe how much I loved this book. I'm speechless. Here is the best way I can describe my love for it: when reading, if I come a cross a passage or a page or a thought that I really truly love, I fold the bottom corner of the page down. Most books, around 1-5 pages get turned. 14 pages. I turned 14 corners of pages. Jennifer Niven, I am in love with your lovely book and the characters that live in not only the fictional realm of this story, but in all of our lives. 

"I grew out of my clothes because, it turns out, growing fourteen inches in a summer is easy. It's growing out of a label that's hard."

Love Letters to the Dead

The Bookworm says... Wow. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira left me speechless, in the best possible way. It starts as an English assignment: write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain, because May loved him. The letter to Kurt Cobain becomes a notebook full of letters to Kurt, Janis Joplin, E. E. Cummings, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse. Laurel writes to them about starting high school, her new friends, her parents splitting up, and learning to grieve for her sister, May. It's not until Laurel has written down her truth that she can begin to tell other people. She can finally accept that May was not perfect, nor was she. 

This book was stunning, for lack of a better word. It explored all the hardships of loosing someone dear to you, entering high school, and facing the world. Terrific. 

"There are two most important things in the world- being in danger, and being saved." 

The Maze Runner

The Bookworm says... YES! The Maze Runner by James Dashner was an absolutely enticing novel. From the moment I started reading, it was painful to put it down. When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only think he can remember is his name. He gets hoisted out of the lift into an utterly unfamiliar setting: The Glade. When all the boys start talking with slang words he doesn't understand and talking about locations he doesn't recognize, his head begins to spin. He learns that they are stuck in a maze, and they have to get out. They get one new person a month, always have and always will. Once Thomas arrives, things start to go haywire. He gets attacked by a boy Ben that was stung by Grievers, crazy half animal half machine creatures in the maze. The next day, they get another recruit. Two in one month. And it's a girl. She delivers a message sure to terrify them all, and then slips into a coma. Thomas learns the rules of the Glade, and the jobs. He feels a need to be a Runner, those who run the maze and learn it. One problem: the walls change every night. One night Thomas breaks the number one rule, and goes into the maze. He gets trapped overnight, but manages to survive. When he returns from the maze, things get weirder. He hears a girls voice in his head, and realizes it's the new girl. She tells him she triggered The Ending, whatever that is. The doors stop closing. The sun disappears. Even worse, one person gets killed by a Griever per night. They need to do something, and quick. Will Thomas sacrifice himself? Will they sacrifice someone else? Will someone voluntarily get stung by a Griever to get back some memories? Will they find a way out of The Maze? And if they do, is what's outside any better? This book was amazing, and had me up until the break of dawn reading. 

"If you ain't scared, you ain't human."