Review | I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

Title : I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Release Date : May 30th 2017

Genres : YA, Contemporary

Pages : 336 

Rating :★★★★☆

Desi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That’s how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it’s how she’ll get into Stanford. 

But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. 
She finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It’s a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study.

REVIEW : Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson

  ​​Gena/Finn - Hannah Moskowitz & Kat Helgeson
  Publisher : Chronicle Book
  Release Date : May 17th 2016
  Genres : Young Adult, Contemporary
  Pages : 287
  Rating : ★★☆☆☆

Gena and Finn have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her posh boarding school for college; down-to-earth Finn is a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in the big city. Gena’s romantic life is a series of reluctant one-night-stands; Finn is making a go of it with long-term boyfriend Charlie. But they share a passion for Up Below, a buddy cop TV show with a cult fan following. Gena is a darling of the fangirl scene, keeping a popular blog and writing fan fiction. Finn’s online life is a secret, even from Charlie. The pair spark an unlikely online friendship that deepens quickly (so quickly it scares them both), and as their individual “real” lives begin to fall apart, they increasingly seek shelter online, and with each other.

REVIEW : Cryptids by Lauren Evers

 Cryptids - Lauren Evers
 Publisher : Pronoun
 Release Date : September 4th 2016
 Genres : Young Adult, Contemporary
 Pages : 254
 Rating : ★★½☆☆

 Ell Weyanoke, the daughter of a multi-billionaire, does bad things for bad reasons; she doesn’t know why. No one does. Eventually, her schemes get her sent away to a prestigious academy where her father hopes for her to finally settle down.

It’s at this academy that Ell meets Percy, her seemingly perfect dream-boy. With Ell’s judgment clouded by Percy’s kindness, Ell forgets that dreams can be nightmares, too.

In this coming of age story, which analyzes complex social issues, Ell learns what it means to truly suffer. She learns what life is: making friends just to lose them.

REVIEW : Confess by Colleen Hoover

Confess - Colleen Hoover
Publisher : Atria
Release Date : March 10th 2015
Genres : NA, Contemporary
Pages : 306
Rating : ★★★☆☆

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

REVIEW : This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

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This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date : January 5th 2016
Genres : YA, Contemporary
Pages : 285
Rating : ★★★☆☆

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival

REVIEW : Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Maybe Someday - Colleen Hoover
Publisher : Atria Books
Release Date : March 18th 2014
Genres : NA, Contemporary Romance
Pages : 385
Rating : ★★★☆☆

Sydney is living in an idyllic bubble—she's a dedicated student with a steady job on the side. 

She lives with her best friend, has a great boyfriend, and the music coming from the balcony opposite hers is fast becoming the soundtrack to her life. 

 But when Sydney finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, the bubble bursts. The mysterious and attractive man behind the music, Ridge, gives Sydney hope that she can move on and they begin to write songs together. But moving on is harder than she expects, Sydney can only hope…. Maybe someday…

REVIEW : Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella

Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Release Date : June 9th 2015

Genres : YA, Contemporary

Pages : 286

Rating : ★★★★☆

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. 

She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him.  Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

REVIEW : Since I've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Since I've been Gone - Morgan Matson
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Release Date : May 6th 2014
Genres : YA, Contemporary
Pages : 449
Rating : ★★★★★

It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just…disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list.

On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back?

Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough.

Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not?

Kiss a stranger? Um...

Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane's list. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go skinny-dipping? Wait...what?

REVIEW : I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
Publisher : Dial Books
Release Date : September 16th 2014
Genres : YA, Contemporary
Pages : 371
Rating : ★★★★★

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. 

Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

REVIEW : Losing It by Cora Carmack

Losing It - Cora Carmack
Publisher : William Morrow
Release Date : February 26th 2013
Genres : NA, Contemporary Romance
Pages : 259
Rating : ★★★☆☆

Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. 

But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. 

And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Unteachable - Leah Raeder
Publisher : Atria
Release Date : October 14th 2014 (First published in July 27th 2013)
Genres : New Adult, Contemporary
Pages : 305
Rating : ★★½☆☆

Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.

But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.

When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.

That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.

Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.

Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script. 

REVIEW : It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini

Publisher : Miramax

Release Date : May 1st 2007

Genres : YA, Contemporary

Pages : 444

Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.

REVIEW : Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Faking Normal - Courtney C. Stevens
Publisher : HarperTeen
Release Date : February 25th 2014
Genres : YA, Contemporary
Pages : 336
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Alexi Littrell hasn't told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in "the Kool-Aid Kid," who has secrets of his own. As they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face the truth.