Review: How I Lost You by Janet Gurtler

How I Lost You by Janet Gurtler
Release Date: April 23rd, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire (that's today!)
Details: 320 pages, paperback
Genre: Young Adult > Contemporary
Source: NetGalley (Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks Fire!)
Find It: Amazon || Goodreads || B&N
Summary:

There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.

So I've realized that I don't really like books about friendship break ups. They annoy me. It's always the same thing --- there's the push over friend who always takes the heat and there's the friend who doesn't know how to stop fuckin up. But I guess that's what it's like in real life, right? We've all been there (and if you haven't, consider yourself lucky), we care too much about someone and don't mind covering for them. Even when it hits that point where you know deep down inside enough is enough and then that inevitable moment where it all blows up in your face and you realize you wasted all this time on someone who doesn't give a shit about you. Sorry, got a little mad there. Whew, moving on...

Grace and Kya are Buds Before Studs (which goes beyond BFF). They even have a secret handshake type thing going on, that's when you know it's legit! They're a package deal, on the paintball field and off. We catch a glimpse of just how close these two are together, the intense loyalty that Grace has for Kya no matter what and slowly we start to see Kya pull away from Grace and into self destruction. Throw in a male best friend and you've got some awkward stuff goin on that isn't reveled until pretty much the end. 

I got Grace's loyalty, I did. I obviously have been in her position (multiple times in fact to the point where trusting females is now a challenge for me) but Kya did some pretty messed up things that would had me call it quits right there. Kya had not self control, no self respect and no respect for her best friend. You wanna be reckless? By all means but not when you're somewhere with your best friends MOM and your best friends future is on the line! Have some damn common sense! I kinda liked James, he was (as Grace put it) unapologetic for his nerdyness and it was cute. You don't see that too often in high school!

I also really liked Levi. I didn't at first but the more we got to know him and the more the romance between him and Grace grew, the more I liked him. I liked how the book had romance in it, but Levi and Grace weren't the main aspect of the book. It was more about Grace and Kya. I think Janet did a great job of pulling that off. 

Overall I really enjoyed this read! I also LOVED Grace's family. Her mom is hilarious ! They sort of reminded me of Olive's family in Easy A how they were embarrassing and silly haha.

James trotted closer. "Hey, Grace." He put the mike down on the counter.
"What's the matter, James, I don't get a hello?" Kya said without taking her eyes off the linebacker.
James glanced at him and then Kya.
"She writing a book on how to flirt using only her eyeballs?" He asked me.
Kya lifted her middle finger but didn't look at him.




"Ice cream with breakfast might be good," I said.
"I am here to make these sorts of sacrifices for my family," Dad said, jumping up. "Red Velvet, Chunky Monkey, and Vanilla."
Mom swatted his butt as he got up to go on his mission. "Vanilla?" she asked, as if it were as surprise after all these years.
"I like my ice cream the way I like my women," Dad said. "Plain and simple."
"Then why the hell did you marry me?" Mom winked at him.

Blog Tour: My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

My Life After Now is about a girl named Lucy who breaks under pressure and does something completely out of character one night only to find out she's been tested as HIV positive. You can check out my review here. 

I'm so excited to have Jessica stop by the blog and share her thoughts on the musical theater theme of the book!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to write a guest post for your blog! I’m super psyched to get to talk a little bit about my new book My Life After Now.

To say I love musical theater is an understatement. I blast show tunes at all hours of the day and night, singing along at the top of my lungs—my neighbors must hate me. The bulk of my pre-writing years were spent on stage (and in NYC audition rooms). I’d always been into music (I sang and danced and played the violin from a pretty young age), but the moment I joined my high school drama club, I don’t know, something just clicked for me. Musical theater isn’t just about singing and dancing. It’s about emotion. It’s about telling a story that’s so big, so real, that words alone can’t contain it. No matter if it’s a drama or a comedy, the songs, belted out by a thirty-person chorus or a single actor under a spotlight, bring it all to another level.

When I set out to write My Life After Now, I knew I didn’t want my main character, Lucy, to be just a walking statistic. Like, she has HIV so that’s all we need to know about her. No, she needed to be a real person, with a very full life. And I also wanted to make sure I balanced out the darker moments of the story with lightness and joy. What better way to do that than to submerge Lucy in the world of theater? Throughout the book, Lucy is on stage, at auditions, studying her script, listening to show tunes, quoting plays, and so much more. The chapter titles are all titles of songs from musicals (“What I Did for Love, “It’s a Hard-Knock Life,” and so on) because I felt like if Lucy were describing the chapters in her life, well, that’s how she would do it.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy Lucy’s story!

Thank you so much for stopping by Jessica! I'm sure my readers don't need to wonder what my favorite musical is :P  And thank you Sourcebooks Fire for inviting me to be part of this blog tour!

Review: My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi
Release Date: April 2nd, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire
Details: 304 pages, paperback
Genre: Young Adult > Contemporary
Source: NetGalley (Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks Fire!)
Find it: Amazon || Goodreads || B&N
Summary:

Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it's all too much—she wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of.

And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family?

Now her life is completely different...every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left.

My Life After Now introduces us to Lucy. Lucy who lives with two days, has two of the most amazing friends a person could ask for, and a great boyfriend who's into theater just as much as she is. Lucy lives for being on stage. Everything seems to be perfect until Lucy's absent mother drops by and her on stage rival not only decides to steal the part she's after in the school play Romeo & Juliet but also her Romeo as well. Oh the nerve! Not being able to deal, she goes out on a reckless night out on the town with her two besties.

That one night changes her entire life.

After that incident Lucy shuts herself off, she doesn't know who to tell, who to trust or what to do and while I feel for her panic and I feel for her anxiety... I think she handled it a little wrong. But who am I to judge the actions of a seventeen year old girl who has just found out that she's HIV positive? How do you cope with that? Honestly? So while Lucy annoyed the crap out of me, I think she handled herself pretty well.

What I did love about the book was Lucy's support system, her dad's were MORE than supportive. The new friends she made and the new boy in her life who cared about her when she thought she didn't deserve it. It's a tough thing to deal with but I think the message behind the actions was indeed strong. I also really liked that Lucy was into theater! It's always nice to see that in books or movies since it's given off that theater is "uncool" and all of you who have been following my blog for the last few years know I feel about theater :P

Overall I did enjoy this read, it was something different than what I usually dabble into. And while the situation is tragic, the story isn't!

Also, Jessica will be stopping by the blog on the 29th. Be sure to check out her thoughts on theater as well!

There's something about New York City that gives you permission to just be. There's no need for pretense, no need for masks. You can be real, without risk. [....] New York is beautifully anonymous.

Review: The Prince by Kiera Cass

The Prince by Kiera Cass
The Selection #0.5
Release Date: March 5th, 2013 by HarperTeen
Details: ebook
Genre: Young Adult > Dystopia
Source: Bought for Kindle
Find it: Amazon || Goodreads
Summary:

Before thirty-five girls were chosen to compete in the Selection...

Before Aspen broke America's heart...

There was another girl in Prince Maxon's life...

Don't miss this thrilling 128-page original novella set in the world of the New York Times bestselling novel The Selection. Also features a teaser to The Elite, Kiera Cass's hotly anticipated sequel to The Selection.

Of course there was another girl in Maxon's life, there had to had been... right? No one of royalty would just go into something like The Selection without having to let go of someone else because of some dumb law!

The Prince takes place during the preparation for The Selection and while I had a little itty bitty thing for Maxon it was nice to see his perspective on this whole thing and how he really viewed America. 

The only thing is that I wish there was more to the whole "another girl in Prince Maxon's life". I felt like even though the history between the two were there, it was a quick scene of heartbreak. Though Maxon's reaction was a little surprising. 

Overall, I do enjoy novella's like this that give you a peek into something else versus the ones that just seem like "fillers" (mostly because in the following book they spend two chapters going over the novella anyway). I didn't read the teaser, I think I'll wait until The Elite actually comes out!

Waiting on Wednesday (58)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

This Wicked Game by Michelle Zink

Release Date: November 14th, 2013 by Dial

S u m m a r y :

Claire Kincaid’s family has been in business for over fifty years.

The voodoo business.

Part of the International Guild of High Priests and Priestesses, a secret society that have practiced voodoo for generations, the Kincaid’s run an underground supply house for authentic voodoo supplies. Claire plays along, filling orders for powders, oils and other bizarre ingredients in the family store, but she has a secret.

She doesn’t believe.

Struggling to reconcile her modern sensibilities with a completely unscientific craft based on suspicion, Claire can’t wait to escape New Orleans – and voodoo – when she goes to college, a desire that creates almost constant conflict in her secret affair with Xander Toussaint, son of the Guild’s powerful founding family.

But when a mysterious customer places an order for a deadly ingredient, Claire begins to realize that there’s more to voodoo – and the families that make up the Guild – than meets the eye.

Including her own.

As she bands together with the other firstborns of the Guild, she comes face to face with a deadly enemy – and the disbelief that may very well kill her.

[ via Goodreads ]

Reason for waiting:

I have a strange relationship with books that take place in New Orleans. I love reading them but I always think I'll be disappointed even though I don't know what my bars are raised at lol. But this sounds interesting. New Orleans? Voodoo? Ooooh.

What are you waiting for this week?

Stacking the Shelves (5)

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

ViNE

• Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley
• Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

NETGALLEY

• A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty
• Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington
• Breathless by Brigid Kemmerer
• The Shit No One Tells You by Dawn Dois
• Brother, Brother by Clay Carmichael 

KiNDLE

• The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (!!!!!!!!!)
• Strong Enough to Love by Victoria Dahl
• Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
• Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
• The Prince by Kiera Cass
• Never Forget by Emma Hart
• Losing It by Julia Lawrinson
• In Honor by Jessi Kirby

What did you get this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (57)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Release Date: April 30th, 2013 by Ballantine Books

S u m m a r y :

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works. Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dish washing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet. Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

[ via Goodreads ]

Reason for waiting:

The idea of a struggling actress in New York is an interesting one. I have a lot of friends in NY who are broadway musical actors and actresses, so this hits a bit of interest with me (:

What are you waiting for this week?