Gone Girl

The Bookworm says... ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY YES! Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was terrifyingly excellent. Nick and Amy have been married 5 years, happily for the most part. Well, maybe not so happily. On their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing and Nick is the number one suspect. Nick can be hostile and he's definitely not perfect, but would he murder his wife? This novel was outstanding. The sharp plot twists you never saw coming, the amazing characterization, the literary excellence. The ideas put into this book are unheard of. I've never been so disappointed that a book ended.

"It's a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters."

The Infinite Moment of Us

The Bookworm says... Yes. The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle was an excellent book. Wren Gray is eighteen years old, but she always does what her parents say. Always. Her parents raised her, and they know what is best for her, right? Wren thought so, until her high school graduation. Her parents decided she is going to the college of their choice. Wren wants to go to Guatemala with the Peace Corps. Then, Charlie Parker comes into her life. Everything Wren wants is right in front of her, but she can't have it all. She has to choose: Charlie, college, or Guatemala. Are there any possible combinations? Wren needs to choose, her heart or her parents ideas? It's time to make a decision.

"You're saying the mysteries are worth examining, even if they're too big to be understood. That maybe they're bound to be too big to understand, but that doesn't  take anything away from them, and in fact just adds to their beauty."

Previously reviewed: Let it Snow (co-written with John Green and Maureen Johnson)

Before I Fall

The Bookworm says... Yes! Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver was a lovely read. Samantha Kingston was killed in a drunk driving accident. She is dead. Was dead. The one problem: she wakes up the next morning. And everyone around her? It's like it never happened. She relives this day, her death day if you will, several times. Each day she changes things she realizes she has done wrong. being the most popular girl in her high school, Sam has messed up a few times. Now she has a chance, or seven, to fix her ways, and die peacefully. I adored this book. Absolutely adored it. The main reason I had picked it off the shelf was because of the review on the cover from Jay Asher, one of my favorite authors. I'm indescribably happy with Before I Fall, and Lauren Oliver. In fact, it drove me straight to Barnes and Nobles to buy another one of her novels, Panic. I think I just found a new favorite author.

"Maybe for you there's a thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around in it, let it slide like coins through your fingers. So much time you can waste it. But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know."

The Whole Stupid Way We Are

The Bookworm says... No. The Whole Stupid Way We Are by N. Griffin was not my favorite book. Skint Gilbert and Dinah Beach live in a small town in Maine, and they are best friends. It's the dead of winter, but Skint refuses to wear a coat. Dinah, thinking she is looking out for him, tries to get him to wear a coat. All Dinah ever wants to do is help people, but she doesn't realize that sometimes, people don't need help. Or, her "help" is just worsening the situation. Help help help. Dinah helps everyone from Skint to a dancing donkey to Skint's dad. Skint's dad suffers from dementia, and Dinah just wants to help. But is it really Mr. Gilbert that needs help? This novel was written in the third person point of view, but there were certain points in which the line between third and first person was blurred. I also found it perplexing how Dinah sometimes referred to her parents as "Mom and Dad", and sometimes "Mr. & Mrs. Beach". The use of nicknames was confusing. I feel that the plot took much too to develop, and the amount of side plots was excessive. Over all, I did not really enjoy this book. 

"Go back, go back. Undo these days and let us go back to before."

Every Day

The Bookworm says... Absolutely! Every Day by David Levithan was a brilliant book. Every day, A wakes up in a different body. Always a sixteen year old. Accesses the body's memories, and lives its life. At midnight, he changes bodies again. He leaves lives untouched, and doesn't remember any details about former lives. Until one day, he's  in a boy named Justin's body. While in this body, he falls in love with Justin's girlfriend Rihannon. Every day, A tries to contact Rhiannon. Every day, A loves her more. Every day, she doubts him. Will Rhiannon be able to overlook the constant body/gender change, or will A be able to stop changing bodies? This novel was absolutely breathtaking. The ending was not very satisfying, I'll admit. Ending aside, an amazing book. I wish there was a sequel to this fantastic story. 

"If you stare at the center of the universe, there is a coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us. Time doesn't care about us. That's why we have to care about eachother."

Previously reviewed: Will Grayson, Will Grayson  (cowritten with John Green)

Lovely, Dark, and Deep

The Bookworm says... YES! Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Amy McNamara was an outstanding novel. Mamie Wells was a perfect student, but also an avid partier and social butterfly. One accident causes this girl to disappear forever. She moves from New York City to live in a secluded home in Northern Maine to live with her artist father. She no longer goes by Mamie, but Wren. She completely abandons everything from her old life, and tries to build a new one. This being said, she promises herself that someday she will return to NYC and go to college as planned. One day, after nearly being run over by his car, Wren meets a boy named Cal. They keep in touch, but not often. After months of living like a recluse, Wren's parents intervene. She is forced to get a job, and help out around the house. After being pushed to go see a therapist, Wren heads out on a stress run, forgetting it's nearly midnight. There she runs into Cal, who is with his ex girlfriend. She jumps to conclusions and runs away, back into the woods. In her stress and confusion, she ends up hospitalized with hypothermia. She recovers, and is seemingly happier. Until, that is, her best friend from her former life arrives with a stack of letters she had been meaning to send and two bottles of champagne. Will Wren welcome Meredith back into her life, and return to her old self, or will she continue to push Meredith away and sink back into seclusion, accepting her life for what is? After having this book recommended to me by a close friend (and then proceeding to steal her copy), I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. I even put off reading it for a while; once I started the novel I couldn't put it down until two hours later when I finished it. This book is outstanding, and I would recommend it to any young person that may have, not unlike Wren, lost themselves whilst loosing someone else. An excellent debut novel.

"The only constant is change."

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."