[Guest Review] The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Title: The Remedy
Series: The Program #0.5

Author: Suzanne Young [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster 

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Science Fiction, Dystopian

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

A huge thank you to Meghann for sending me this ARC and letting me review it!

I was a bit nervous to read this because I LOVED The Program but The Treatment let me down a bit. I was wondering which way this book would go. The synopsis immediately intrigued me though. 

Here it is:Quinlan McKee is a closer. Since the age of seven, Quinn has held the responsibility of providing closure to grieving families with a special skill—she can “become” anyone.

Recommended by grief counselors, Quinn is hired by families to take on the short-term role of a deceased loved one between the ages of fifteen and twenty. She’s not an exact copy, of course, but she wears their clothes and changes her hair, studies them through pictures and videos, and soon, Quinn can act like them, smell like them, and be them for all intents and purposes. But to do her job successfully, she can’t get attached.

Now seventeen, Quinn is deft at recreating herself, sometimes confusing her own past with those of the people she’s portrayed. When she’s given her longest assignment, playing the role of Catalina Barnes, Quinn begins to bond with the deceased girl’s boyfriend. But that’s only the beginning of the complications, especially when Quinn finds out the truth about Catalina’s death. And the epidemic it could start.

THIS BOOK. I loved it even more than The Program. I was on an emotional rollercoaster the whole time! I loved the relationship between Quinn and Deacon, her former partner and former boyfriend turned best friend. The humor between them was fun and reminded me of Sloane and James. On the actual "closer" job, I was somewhere in the middle. I can see how this could be a beneficial therapy but I also found the idea SUPER creepy and unhealthy for the grieving families. Quinn was such an interesting character. We essentially follow her tailspin into insanity. It was awful to watch but so addicting. My favorite thing about this book was how psychologically intense it was! There was a point in the book where she stopped investigating some of Catalina's mysteries and that bummed me out. This cooling off period didn't last too long. I won't spoil it, but after her assignment with the Barnes and Isaac, she had a few mysteries of her own to unravel along with getting back to Catalina's. THE END OF THIS BOOK HAD MY HEART RACING. It was still racing after I finished! I couldn't help myself and HAD to ask the author on Twitter if we will get more Quinn and she said yes! *happy dance* My only complaint about this book would have to be some of the character's physical descriptions. I feel like I didn't get enough to form clear pictures of them in my mind. I mostly just made them up myself.

Otherwise, I loved this book and I am definitely ready for more! Five out of five stars!

5 Stars from Harlee Rose (@Harlee_S)

[Guest Post] Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Title: Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Greenwillow, an imprint of HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Social Issues 

Release Date: May 19, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

omg I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved the writing style, the wacky school, Alex's humor and sincerity and MILES! I freaking LOVED Miles! And their whole little group. It was such a colorful cast of characters.

This is a story about a girl named Alex who has paranoid schizophrenia. She often hallucinates and takes photos with her digital camera to help her understand what's real and fake. The story starts off with her as a child trying to free the lobsters in the lobster tank at the grocery store. She meets a boy who has the bluest eyes she's ever seen... and later learns that the whole thing was a delusion.

Years later she's in her senior year of high school. Getting her last chance. She didn't do so well in her last school (due to paranoia about communists and a spray paint incident) and you get the feeling that if she doesn't prove herself this time around something bad is going to happen.

Alex is quirky and not just because of her schizophrenia. She's just a wacky girl with a good sense of humor. I loved her voice and I loved being inside of her head. So often people are scared of schizophrenics and this really helped me to understand what it might be like for people who suffer from schizophrenia. I felt for Alex and she broke my heart more than once. Towards the end of the book we learn a very sad truth that is devastating for Alex and my heart just broke.

Mile's is an incredibly interesting character. He's a genius, he's a jerk, he's king of the school. He does 'jobs' for people who pay him money to get revenge, get them out of tests, and other odd ball things. He does this because it gives him power. Without that he's just a nerd from a bad home who gets bullied. And he faces off with Alex, pulling pranks on her, and her pulling them back on him. They slowly form a bond thought and he later figures out that she's schizophrenic. But he's very good about it, and takes care of her. There are some of THE sweetest moments between the two of them. And I just loved him. And I also loved how she took care of him when he needed help.

The school they go to is almost it's own character. There's a lot of weird stuff going on and I just loved how it added to the story as an almost living background.

Pick this book up guys. It's brilliant and amazing!

5 Stars from Molly at

[Guest Review] Mosquitoland by David Arnold

Title: Mosquitoland

Author: David Arnold [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Viking Children's, an imprint of Penguin

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own. – review policy here.

You know those books that just stay with you long after you read them? The kind where you went in not expecting much, and was then blown away by it? This was that kind of book for me. I went into this book as I do most contemporaries, expecting mostly fluff, but this book was so much more than that. In fact, I never tab or sticky books, with a few exceptions, but I tabbed this one so much. And then I bought a finished copy. I’m not saying that this is a perfect book. It has its moments. But I still found it an exceptional read.

Mary Iris Malone, known as Mim, has been uprooted from her mother and childhood home, to move with her father and new stepmother to what she has dubbed “Mosquitoland”. When she finds out her mother is sick, she hops on a Greyhound bus to go back to Ohio. Along the way, she gets into quite a few skirmishes, and meets an eclectic group of people.

Mim isn’t the most likeable character, I think, but I also think that was the point. I actually enjoyed her quite a bit. She was blunt, honest, and clever. She has a different and unique way of looking at things, and she wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. This book is told in two ways: Mim narrating her current journey, and Mim’s letters to someone that mainly include flashbacks from her life. We get to learn who Mim really is, and she is quite an interesting person. She sees the world differently, and that’s a good thing.

I love a good road trip story, and this was just that. But along the way, Mim also has to learn to fight her demons. This was a coming of age story, in which Mim learns who she is, and what she wants out of life. Her father has spent most of Mim’s life obsessed that there’s something “wrong” with her, so Mim either covers up how she really feels, or wonders if maybe there really is something wrong with her. Mim isn’t a perfect character. She makes mistakes, does many things wrong. But that’s all part of her learning experience. This book touches on subjects that are so important, says things that really need to be said, that people need to hear.

And I loved the supporting cast. Walt, Beck, every person she meets along the way. Mim gets herself into quite the situations, but they were so much fun to read about. This book is so well-written, the pages will seem to fly by. Mim herself says that she is not a fan of predictable endings, and I think Arnold did a great job of tying up loose ends while still keeping them open, and not being predictable.

This is definitely one of those books that I wish I could shove on everyone. While I realize this book may not be for everyone, I loved it so much. I thought it had an important message, one we all need to hear. But it wasn’t so serious that it bogged down the story, it was also fun and entertaining. An all-around great story.

thenerdherdreads.blogspot.com

[Guest Review] Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger

Title: Lying Out Loud
Series: companion novel to The Duff

Author: Kody Keplinger [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Scholastic Books

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary, Romance

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

The main character, Sonny, is a compulsive liar. She tells lies about everything; about how her mom kicked her out, how her dad is in jail, and how she is secretly living at her best friend Amy’s house because she has nowhere else to go. Sonny has always told lies, but Amy is the only one that she has never lied to.

Ryder Cross is their nemesis, and they both have a strange hatred towards him. Ryder is the new kid at school and he is an annoying prep school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. She is the only person in Hamilton that he seems to be interested in, and she is too nice to tell Ryder that she doesn’t like him. However, Sonny isn’t. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the best friends see it as a prank opportunity that is too good to pass up. When Sonny unintentionally stays up until the crack of dawn talking to Ryder, she has a shocking realization that might actually like him. But, Ryder thinks he has been talking to Amy, so that kind of puts a damper on things. In order to try and fix it, Sonny comes up with a plan that might end up costing her both Ryder and Amy.

I normally don’t like contemporary books, but for this one I can make an exception. I loved everything about this book: the characters, the plot, the writing, and pretty much everything else. The characters were so relatable, and down to earth. The struggles that they went through were so inspiring, and they make you look at your life and reflect and appreciate the things that you have. Sonny is a character that draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. She is witty, and funny, and she is into Grunge music, which is definitely a plus! Amy is another character that I absolutely adored. She is so adorable and quiet and she reminds me of another side of myself. Another character that I found myself liking was Ryder. I loved how trusting, and real he was as a character. In most books, they try to make the male lead the stereotypical guy, and try to make it seem like he doesn’t have any flaws. That is not the case with Ryder and, in fact, Sonny actually points out some of his flaws in the book. I guess that is another reason that this is an amazing novel to me.

The main thing that attracted me to this companion novel was the plot. I really liked how original and fun it was. I personally like books that tear at your heart a little, and I knew that this book was going to do just that. I was definitely right, because it pulled at my heart strings so hard. The plot flowed very well, and the pace was good and almost soothing. I finished it very fast, and the rhythm was so well that it made me want to flip to the following page just so that I could find out what happened next.

With all of the things that I loved about this book, there were still some aspects that I didn’t particularly care about. For example, I didn’t like how Sonny was very persistent about keeping her secrets, and telling so many lies. She was keeping herself from telling the truth, and it kind of got frustrating at times because I knew that she would be much better off if she would just tell the truth. Another thing that irked me a little was the ending. I’m not going to give anything away, but the ending did not leave me feeling satisfied. I felt like there should have been more closure, but I would be fine if Kody finished it like that just so that she could do another book in Amy’s point of view! *crosses fingers*

Well, that’s about it. I recommend this to anyone that loves contemporaries and I also recommend this to anyone that is in a reading slump. It is a fun, quick read and it will most definitely get you out of a reading slump!

Thanks for reading!! 

I will leave you, my lovelies, saying:

“Boys are whatever, Friends are forever”

-Someone on google :)

Sarah from YA Headquarters

[Guest Review] Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom

Title: Don't Ever Change

Author: M. Beth Bloom [Facebook]

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

I'm a writer. I love to read books about writers because it's like reading the story of a kindred spirit. But when that writer is Eva Kramer, well...the book isn't quite so enjoyable.

Don't Ever Change was such a YA cliche, that I'm still not even sure if it was serious or satirical. Now don't get me wrong - certain YA tropes can work quite well...but not all together and not like this. Eva seemed like she was supposed to be unlikable. She was snobby, pretentious, and judgmental. Now, if a character can mature and grow out of those bad behaviors realistically than I'll accept them. But Eva becomes downright detestable. She takes a job as a day camp counselor as a life experience for her writing. Consequently, she abandons her campers way too often and doesn't actually seem to engage with them much. It was almost like the job was a joke to her. She treated her friends like they existed only for her convenience, calling them up when she wanted something and not really caring about their lives. Eva strung guys along and her relationships with all of them were weird. Foster, the guy she knew from high school and who got her the job at the camp, summed it up pretty well when he said she just wanted experiences to write in a book.

And then, overall, not much happened in Don't Ever Change. Eva was mostly just gathering life experiences (and ones that I think wouldn't make a great book at that) and making bad choices. Don't Ever Change is honestly a miss. (Also, as a side note, I'm pretty sure most teenagers don't text like that anymore. The ones I text don't use excessive abbreviations.)

1 Star from Emma at Awkwordly Emma

Stacking the Shelves #39 + Books Up For Review!

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews

Hi there strangers!! I've been kind of hit and miss on the blog this past spring but school is out!!! I'm not in school but I work at a university so it gets a bit chaotic. :/

Anywho... last month I kicked off book for review under the #booksfortrade tag on Twitter. So far so good! So after attending BEA and doing some spring ARC cleaning I'm hosting a round 2. The deal is simple, you receive an ARC and have three weeks to submit your review to becomingbooksblog [AT] gmail.com. I'm not super strict or anything but communication is key. Those that have been guest reviewers in the past will get priority. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the books up for review.

---

In the Mail

Dear #OTSPSecretSister thank you soooooooo much!! I love TX so much 😁 I hope you're dry and safe! pic.twitter.com/iySSd7FPNK

— Meghann (@BecomingBooks) May 27, 2015

eARCs

 

  

From BEA 2015

I tried really hard to limit the books I picked up at BEA after having way too many last year. I did get lucky and picked up a number of finished copies. :) Thanks to all the awesome publishers and authors!

 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, special edition and signed!

Dangerous Deception by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones 

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Watch The Sky by Kirsten Hubbard

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

Pawn by Aimee Carter

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch

Available For Guest Review

Please email your requests to becomingbooksblog[AT]gmail.com if you're interested in reviewing any of the following titles. Reviews should be at least three paragraphs long. *More ARCs may become available as I evaluate my reading schedule. So check in on future StS posts.

Early 2015 ARCs

 2014 ARCs

June/July 2015 

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

What have you added to the shelves lately?

[Guest Review] Proof of Forever by Lexa Hillyer

Title: Proof of Forever

Author: Lexa Hillyer [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary, Science Fiction

Release Date: June 2, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

Proof of Forever follows four former best friends---Joy, Tali, Luce, and Zoe--that end up reuniting in a very bizarre way. At their camp reunion, they step into a photo-booth that transports them back in time. To be specific, they travel back to the summer they were fifteen. Pretty out there, right?

This just screams summer read. Camp, friendships, drama...what else could you ask for? I've been campaigning for more stories about friendship so I was very excited to read this book. I think I can say this is a pretty solid friendship story. Well, kind of.

This story is very captivating. I was drawn to the plot from the very beginning. You're not sure why the main characters are not friends anymore so the mystery kept me reading. The time travel element was unique and I really enjoyed reading the craziness that ensued. I have to get technical for a second and say that this novel is beautifully written. Every description is vivid, the four points of views are very unique, and the prose is so lyrical. I can't say enough nice things about this. Just gorgeous.

To be honest, I did find the story boring at times. I had a hard time at the beginning but it does improve (quite a lot actually) so stick with it if you feel like you want to stop. Also, I have a hard time connecting with characters when the narrative is written in third person. I wasn't as invested in the story because of it but this is more of a personal issue than anything else. The way the story is written works well since the author is juggling four points of view. I just prefer books that are not in third person.

Overall, I enjoyed this book enough to recommend it. If you're looking for a well-written summer read, definitely picked this one up!

3 Stars from Paola at

[Mini Guest Review] The Cage by Megan Shepherd

Title: The Cage
Series: The Cage #1

Author: Megan Shepherd [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Science Fiction, Dystopia

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

This book reminded of few other books that i read recently that are along the same lines kids are kidnapped, some rules are set in place, you got the leaders, those that want to escape, those that want stay extra. Don't get me wrong that not a bad or a good thing it just a standard format i seen in a few books the Maze Runner, Alive, and Hunger Games. It a format that works it keeps you guessing you never quite sure what going to happen. The Cage kept me guessing on who the bad guys where and the fact that it aliens and your not sure if Earth is gone or not is a pretty interesting concept. I like all the twists and turns in the story and excited to see what happens in book two, also liked the ending as it was not cliff hanger but makes me want to read the rest of the series.

4 Stars from Jan at J.R.'s Book Reviews

[Guest Review] Tangled Web by Lee Bross

Title: Tangled Webs
Series: Tangles Webs #1

Author: Lee Bross [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Historical Fiction, Romance

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

This is literally the first non-fantasy YA novel I've read in months! I actually can't remember the last time I read a book without any fantasy elements, so I was curious to see whether I'd like Tangled Webs, which is sort of a historical fiction. The book is set in 18th century London, where an orphan girl named Arista navigates the London social scene as a notorious blackmailer. The premise is interesting and certainly unique, but it was a bit slow at first and actually took me several days to finish it. It got really good in the last quarter of the novel, which is probably a little too late but nevertheless boosted the rating. I actually started tearing up the last two chapters because of a certain someone, which I absolutely did not expect with this novel. That just goes to show that Lee Bross does an excellent job making readers fall in love with the characters.

I was under the impression that there would be a love triangle, but Arista and the reader both knew that there was only one guy for her from the very start and that was great. I don't mind love triangles too much, but it was consistent with her character; Arista isn't one to dilly dally. I didn't care for the romance as much as I did the story since I didn't find it too believable. Since this is set in the early 18th century, the fast paced nature of Arista and Grae's relationship is probably normal, but to me, it just went way too fast and I would have liked to see more development.

As for the characters, Lee did a wonderful job developing all of them and it was nice to see a strong supporting cast. Although some of the decisions Arista made were frustrating, I didn't hold it against her. Grae is an absolutely sweetheart and is someone you just want to protect and hug all the time. Nic is also very well developed and multi-dimensional and by the end, he probably became one of my favorite characters in this story. However, I thought that Lee could have done a better job with Bones, the villain. The best villain is one that readers can almost sympathize with, but this guy is downright hateful with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever; I hated him right until the end. Wild was much more interesting and multi-dimensional, though.

Overall, this was a good book for me to get off the fantasy track (though the next book I read will still probably be fantasy haha), and reminded me of why I enjoy reading YA historical fiction. It appears to be a series, but I thought it ended nicely the way it did and I would have been satisfied had this been a standalone.

4 Stars

http://wonderlandnovels.blogspot.com

[Guest Review] The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Title: The Wrath and The Dawn

Author: Renee Ahdieh [Twitter | Website]

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, a imprint of Penguin

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.

The Wrath and the Dawn was inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, but I wouldn't say it's a retelling. The motives, back story, and characters are different, although some are inspired by the original characters. Although I have heard of some of the stories, I haven't actually read A Thousand and One Nights but became so fascinated with it after reading this book that I actually watched the 2000 TV mini series Arabian Nights, which is essentially a retelling of the original tale... so yes, I loved this book!

For some reason, I didn't pay much attention to the prologue but turned back to the beginning after I had finished it, re-read the prologue, and was like whoa. I guess that's a good thing though, since it became all the more mysterious and suspenseful as the book went on. I found myself wanting answers as much as Shazi did. Renee is an excellent storyteller; there was rarely a dull moment and I found myself flipping through the pages much faster than I thought I would.

I also like how the book is written in third person; most of the YA novels I've read are in first person and sometimes it's frustrating to see only from the main character's point of view. I loved seeing things from Khalid's perspective and it gave the characters much more depth and we see their multiple dimensions so much more easily. Additionally, Renee does an excellent job with all of the characters' story arcs and intertwining them together later on (such as Shazi's dad, Tariq, and the main plot with Shazi and Khalid). In fact, reading this has made me realize that I like the third person perspective so much more than first person.

In terms of characters, Khalid is my favorite and his character development throughout is pretty great. I went from hating him, to pitying him, and then finally to just adoring him. I found most of the characters to be pretty interesting and I love how there are so many important supporting characters!

Overall, The Wrath and the Dawn is a beautiful story and Renee is one talented (and cruel - that ending!) writer; it's going right up to my list of "Favorites". :)
And that ending will make you want the second book, The Rose and the Dagger, ASAP. Trust me.

5 Stars

http://wonderlandnovels.blogspot.com