Meant To Be by Lauren Morrill

Book:  Meant To Be

Author:  Lauren Morrill

Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Date:  November 18, 2012

Source:  Publisher via Edelweiss

My grade:  A+

Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.

It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").

But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.

Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be. (cover and description from www.goodreads.com)

Initial reaction

::sighs:: I just love loud, funny ginger boys!

Cover Story

Look at those colors!  The background of London!  The couple in the forefront……well, maybe not them so much.  They don’t look like high school kids to me.  And the boy should be more disheveled if he’s supposed to be the main male character.  Other than that, I love this cover.  It’s so colorful, bright and fun, just like Jason and this trip.  And the title is perfect for the story and catchy.

What’s the story?

I’m just going to go ahead and admit that I have a soft spot for gingers.  I do.  It goes all the way back to my high school days when I had these friends, 3 brothers, who were all red-headed and just as wonderful as can be.  They were loud and funny and great to be around.  Wait!  That sounds just like Jason in this novel!  Actually, he is just like one of my friends from high school and maybe that’s why I loved him so much.  Of course, it’s also because he’s a really great guy.

So here’s the deal.  Julia is stuck on a trip to London with her classmates but none of them are her friends.  She is secretly in love with a boy at her school who was her friend when they were little and she and her friend always talk about how he is her MTB—meant to be.  Her father died when she was 7 and she is convinced that her parents’ marriage was just perfect.  Julia is a bit of a nerd and always has her nose in a book and she’s just a little anal about schedules and routines and learning.  Ok, she’s a lot anal.

Enter Jason Lippencott.  He is loud.  He makes lots of sex jokes.  He chews grape bubble gum all the time.  He is always in trouble.  He is the antithesis of Julia and everything she cares about.  So what happens?  The teacher assigns everyone a trip buddy based on last names.  And of course, Lippencott comes right after Liechenstein.  Do you see where this is going?

This book is like a perfect mix of chick lit and a comedy of errors.  It’s a good thing the author keeps referencing Shakespeare because the plot is as full of missed opportunities and mistaken identities as any of Shakespeare’s comedies.  It’s brilliantly pulled together.  It also reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones’ Diary, with Julia pining after one guy that she thinks is “it” while totally missing out on Mr. Perfect right in front of her face.  She and Jason have adventures all over London and even Stratford-upon-Avon.  She makes him look at cultural stuff.  He makes her break rules.  They fight.  A lot.  Jason acts in ways that totally confuse Julia. And to make things even more fun, Julia met a bunch of guys at a party Jason dragged her to on the first night and one of them keeps texting her.  So they also chase the mystery guy, Chris, all over London as he keeps texting Julia and telling her where he is.  There were moments that were frustrating, funny, poignant and sweet and they all came together in this perfect, messed-up mix of a book.

This book has left me with a massive book hangover.  You know when you read those books that you can’t get out of your brain and you keep thinking about them at random times during the day?  You try to start another book but none of them can hold your attention because you keep going back to this awesome book you just finished?  Yep.  That’s this book.  I have found myself rifling through the pages (not easy on a Nook, I tell you!) re-reading my favorite parts and looking at the text messages at the beginning of each chapter and laughing because now I know the “secret”.  So if you don’t want to become totally addicted to a book and obsess over it like a 12 year old girl obsesses over Justin Bieber, you probably shouldn’t read it.  But if you love the feeling of closing a book and being totally in love with said book, go pick this one up ASAP.

The Soundtrack

Try by Jillian Edwards

Go Together by Jillian Edwards

Be My Only by FM Radio

Here’s Where We Begin by Joshua Radin

As Lovers Go by Dashboard Confessional

Here, There and Everywhere by The Beatles

The Final Grade

My final grade for this book is an A+.  In fact, I’m pretty sure this one is going to make it onto my Best of 2012 list.  If you love chick lit or funny romances or you just have a soft spot for silly red-headed boys, you are going to love this book.  And probably love Jason too!

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Book:  Black City

Author:  Elizabeth Richards

Publisher:  G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Date:  November 9, 2012

Source:  Publisher via Edelweiss

My grade:  A

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths. (Cover and description from www.goodreads.com)

Initial Reaction

Dystopian vampires??  Yes, please!!!!

Cover story

This cover is absolutely stunning!  I love it!  And the title is great also.  But just look at that cover!  I can’t stop staring at it!!

What’s the Story?

I really thought that I was done with vampire books.  Seriously.  I’ve read some pretty bad ones since Twilight came out.  Then, I picked up Julie Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules and realized that people could still write phenomenal vampire novels.  So if Julie restored my faith, Elizabeth Richards has just made me a born-again vampire lover.  I will never doubt the greatness of a fabulous vampire story again!

This one is very unusual.  There are different types of vampires and the vampires actually breed.  So this means that they can also breed with humans and that leads us to Ash, the half human, half Darkling hero of this book.  Ash is such a tortured hero and I love him for that.  In fact, he feels like the quintessential Byronic hero in many respects.  He is a cynical loner who holds both the human society and the Darkling society in contempt, yet he is loyal to a fault to those he loves.  He is intelligent and cunning and can be prone to some criminal activity, yet the reader is drawn to his goodness.  He is such a contradiction in terms and that makes him a wonderful protagonist to read about.

I really liked Natalie as well.  Even though I didn’t find her character quite as compelling as Ash, I really enjoyed watching her transform from a protected, naïve rich girl into someone who cared about the world she was living in.  The supporting cast of characters was also very well done.  They were fairly multi-faceted for secondary characters and I’m interested to see what will happen with all of them in future installments.

This novel has a little bit for everyone.  It is part romance, part mystery and part social statement on the ills of racism in society.  It is obvious that the author has drawn on racial slurs in existence as well as the Nazi treatment of the Jews to show how the vampires are discriminated against in this novel.  I was really glad that I had some knowledge of the history of Nazi Germany because I think it was helpful in reading the book.

This plot was wonderful.  It kept me on my toes the whole time, trying to figure out who was doing what and where it would all lead.  In many parts of the book, I was literally holding my breath, wondering what would happen next.  I felt totally immersed in the world that Elizabeth Richards created in this book.

The Soundtrack

Half of My Heart by John Mayer and Taylor Swift

Once you read the book, you’ll understand why this song is so appropriate.

In This Heart by Sinead O’Connor

This song is very haunting and reminds of some of the songs that the Darklings sing in the novel.

Vampire Heart by H.I.M.

Invincible by Muse

Forbidden Love by Madonna (from Bedtime Stories)

Forbidden Love by Madonna (from Confessions on a Dance Floor)

The Final Grade

My final grade for this book is an A.  I was completely enthralled with the dystopian vampire world created in Black City.  I loved the story and I loved the characters and I am anxiously waiting the next book in Ash and Natalie’s story.  If you think that you don’t want to read about vampires, just give this one a try.  It’s not your typical vampire book.

Monday Recommend a......

Recommend A...... is sponsored by Chick Loves Lit .  Every Monday, I just recommend one book that meets the weekly criteria! Hooray!

This week's prompt is recommend a:

Book That You Got at the Library  

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

This is not a book that I recommend a lot and I'm not sure why.  I think it's because I just assume that everyone already knows how awesome Sarah Dessen is.  But I checked this one out of the library because I didn't think I would like Sarah Dessen.  Boy, was I wrong!  This novel was great and had a lot of depth to it.  It was not the fluffy read I thought it would be.  So, I keep promising myself that I will pick up more Sarah Dessen and I hope to follow through on that promise sometime soon.

What books did you get at the library that you would recommend to me?

Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse

Book:  Rockaholic

Author:  C.J. Skuse

Publisher:  Scholastic

Date:  Available now

Source:  Publisher via Netgalley

My grade:  B-

She's got it bad, and he ain't good -- he's in her garage? 

Gonna have to face it: Jody's addicted to Jackson Gatlin, frontman of The Regulators, and after her best bud Mac scores tickets, she's front and center at his sold-out concert. But when she gets mashed in the moshpit, loses her precious moon rock, and bodysurfs backstage, she ends up with more than a mild concussion to deal with. By the next morning, the strung-out rock star is coming down in her garage. Jody -- oops -- kind of kidnapped him. By accident. And now he doesn't want to leave.
It's a rock-star abduction worthy of an MTV reality series . . . but who got punk'd?

Initial reaction

Ok, that book turned out waaaaaaaay better than I thought it would at first.

Cover story

I like both of them.  The cover is sort of cute but you get the whole rock vibe with the sunglasses and the black fingernail polish.  It works.  I probably wouldn’t hold it up in public, but that’s because I’m a 40-something year old woman.  The title is good too.  So, all in all, title and cover are alright.

What’s the Story?

I seriously thought several times that this would be a book I did not finish.  I really, really did not like Jody, the main character.  In fact, throughout most of the book I thought she was a spoiled, selfish, immature brat.  I mean, what kind of girl/woman, who is already out of school and works full time, gets that obsessed with a band and then takes the lead singer away and hides him in the garage???  I could not handle her.  She was so self-absorbed and the way she kept fawning over Mr. Rock Star and ignoring the wonderful person of Mac, who was standing right in front of her, was just too much for me to take.

Then, a funny thing happened.  I kept reading, hoping it would get better, and IT DID!  Jody started to grow up.  She saw how demanding and mean Jackson really was.  And she started to realize just how wonderful Mac was and how she had always taken him for granted.  This was when I realized that I really liked the book after all.  Let me clarify and say that I always liked Mac.  I could tell from the beginning that he was a really awesome guy.  I’m just glad that Jody finally noticed that too.

Now, I have to admit that the whole premise of this novel is a little preposterous.  Who kidnaps a rock star?  But ridiculous premise aside, I was glad to see Jody grow up so much during this novel.  If she hadn’t started changing some, I would have shut this book and never looked back.

I have to admit that I’m not sure why she and Mac were not in school.  They were both 18 (I think), but Jody had a full time job in a daycare center.  I wish that I understood more about the British school system and if this book is going into the American market, it might warrant a bit of an explanation somewhere.  Just sayin’…..

If you decide to pick up this novel, just stick with it a little while.  Jody’s whining and self-absorption does get better.  I promise.

The Soundtrack

Realize by Colbie Caillat

Friend of Mine by Lea Salonga

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg

Anyone Else But You by The Moldy Peaches

True Colors by Glee cast

Superstar by Taylor Swift

I know a country song really doesn’t belong on a soundtrack for a book about a rock star, but the lyrics to this song were just perfect!

The Final Grade

My final grade for this book is a B.  The beginning was not so great, but once Jody started to pull her head out of her rear, I liked it a lot better and Mac was great the whole time.  If you don’t mind slogging through the whininess, then you’ll be rewarded with a great ending.

                                                                            

SPOOKTACULAR GIVEAWAY HOP

Welcome to the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop at Into the Mystic!  Halloween is my favorite holiday, so to help you get in the mood, I am giving away your choice of a book (up to $15) that is about something Halloween-related such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, ghosts or any other scary things!  Just check out my Rafflecopter below and get busy entering!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out all the other blogs on this giveaway hop:




This awesome giveaway hop is sponsored by Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.  Check her out here!

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is:

The Top Ten Books to Get You in the Mood for Halloween

   The Demon Catchers of Milan  by Kat Beyer

     Hello!  Demonic possession get anyone in the mood for Halloween?

   Silver by Talia Vance

      To me, nothing screams Halloween like the ancient Celts.  After all , they are the original celebrators of Halloween.

      

   The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

     No Halloween list would be complete without a book about the zombie apocalypse.

       

   The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

  Seers that speak to the dead? Yeah, you can find that in this creepy read!

       Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

       A creepy mystery, an odd family returning to town and tales of murder most foul.  This book will definitely get you in the mood for Halloween.

      Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

     This one is a zombie book set in the Victorian era!

      The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

      You can't have a Halloween list without a vampire book, and if you are going to read a vampire book this year, it must be this one!  Julie Kagawa has worked her magic on the undead.

 

      Misfit by Jon Skovron

      This book features demons galore!  A half-demon heroine, her demon mother and other demons chasing her down. 

      The Cellar by A.J. Whitten

    This zombie book is for those who like a little more gore with their zombies.  There were scenes that really squicked me out in this one!

    The Hollow by Jessica Verday

    This is my required ghost read.  This book not only features ghosts, but it's set in Sleepy Hollow!

     Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

     I know that this is actually number 11, but I just had to put this book on the list.  It's not scary at all, but this tongue-in-cheek look at vampires is so, so entertaining!  Think of it like the book version of the Monster Mash!


So, these are my Halloween reads.  What books would you recommend to get in the mood for Halloween?

     

 

Monday Recommend a..........

Recommend A...... is sponsored by Chick Loves Lit .  Every Monday, I just recommend one book that meets the weekly criteria! Hooray!

This week's prompt is a fun one!  Recommend a:

Book That Kept You Up All Night Reading

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle 

OK, it technically wasn't all night, but I stayed up until 3 a.m. when I finished the book.  So that counts, right? 

I loved this book.  I could not wait to see what was going to happen and I kept anticipating much heart fail at the end.  I just hope and pray that she will write a sequel! 

So, what book has kept you up all night recently?