Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Title: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Released:  September 5, 2011 by Poppy

Pages: 273

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Carey

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling

***

(Note: I was on vacation and read/wrote this review over a four day period and it was quite awkward.) 

The thing about this book is that I started it being really unsure about it. I had read maybe three chapters of The DUFF, also by Keplinger, and just couldn't get into it. But I loved the synopsis and everything, so when I went to the library and saw it, of course I picked it up. Contrary to The DUFF, I immediately got into this book. I'm not sure what it is, but something about I made me so obsessed with it so quickly. But I'm glad it did.

It starts off with the main character, Lissa, and her boyfriend Randy in the car making out. Then their car gets egged, some stuff happens, and Lissa gets pissed. Apparently this isn't the first time this has happened in their year and a half long relationship. Lissa goes into detail about the rivalry between the school's soccer and football team, which is the reason why Lissa, a few chapters later, recommends the sex strike to the other girlfriends of the football and soccer players.

You get introduced to Lissa's life very quickly. Her mother and father were in a car accident, leaving her father handicapped and her mother dead. She has an older brother, Logan, who she pretty much plays Mom for, even though he's ten years older than her. And then you meet Cash Sterling. Cash is one of the soccer players who she has a bit of a past with. He's perfect: attractive, athletic, smart, a master flirter, and a good kisser. And of course he gets a job with Lissa, which starts some drama right there.

When Lissa tells Randy about the strike, she says that he's supposed to be acting more mature, not putting soccer players into the hospital because of a stupid rivalry. But then Randy fires back that she also hasn't kept some promise that she made. Which makes you wonder: what is the promise? So, naturally, I got even more invested in the book.

And holy plot twist, Kody Keplinger! There are literally three plot twists in maybe four pages about the said promise. It's insane with how everything just picked up all of the sudden with those plot twists. I hated the fact that I was busy the entire time I was reading this book and I that I had to put it down so often because I wanted to continue reading so badly! It got sooooo good soooo quickly. And it was already so good, too! 

As I got farther and farther into the book, everything in Lissa's life started to change. Randy and Lissa broke up, which obviously opened some windows for her, even if it was bad break up (which it was). The Strike got even worse, even though the football and soccer players started to get along. As you may have expected, Lissa brought her personal feelings into the strike. 

Let me just say this: Randy is an asshole.  I can't say that enough. Cash is the perfect guy, which is how Keplinger, I think, wanted to get him across as. And Lissa is a brave, brilliant girl with a touch of OCD that makes everyone love her. I actually might go as far to say that she's one of my favorite characters in a book ever. And I've read a lot of books. So, props to Keplinger. 

Throughout all of the character developments, plot twists, minor plot/relationships, and a fun major plot in general, Shut Out recieves five stars. And, by the way, this would definitely make a kick-ass movie!

Review: Take Me There by Susane Colasanti

Title: Take Me There by Susane Colasanti
Released: May 29, 2008 by Viking
Pages: 290
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Carey


Rhiannon is devastated after the breakup with her boyfriend and wants him back. Nicole's ex is still in the picture, but she can't help having a new crush. James and Rhiannon are just friends, though he may try to take it to the next level. Will their desire to take a mean girl down a notch bring these three friends what they want . . . and more?

Set during one life-altering week and told in three realistic perspectives, this engaging, witty novel by the author of When It Happens shows the ups and downs of love, friendship, and karma.

***

Like I said with the When It Happens review: I love me some Susane Colasanti. I love how all of her situations are so real and authentic and how all of the stuff she writes about actually happens. I love how the conversations are so true. I love how the characters are so developed, even though this novel literally only takes place within a week.

The thing that I didn't like about Take Me There: that it was written in three different points of view. Two is okay, but three is definitely pushing it. And I think that Colasanti got it, as she didn't write another book in dual POV until 2013. Awkward.

But the personalities were so spot on with this book. Not even just the three main characters, Ree, Nicole, and James, but even the minor characters. Danny was this really hip guy who loves politics and plans on not becoming corrupt. Sheila is going through some tough stuff, but she seems so real. And even the hot popular girl is a real human being... who knew? I honestly would not be surprised if Colasanti based her characters directly off of some students, since she was still teaching at this point (at least I think she was).

But this book goes places and makes you raise your eyebrow. Because Nicole is in love with someone she shouldn't be in love with, plus she has her own personal issues with her parents to deal with, while Sheila comes along and helps her realize that she's not on her own. This books gets deep so quick that you don't even realize it. And of course, there's some romance for all of the characters, including the minor ones. And who doesn't love teen romance? You're lying if you say you don't.

So definitely read Take Me There. You'll be hooked on the juicy boy drama instantly; I promise.

Carey on: Why I Hate Libraries

Oh, libraries. I loved them when I was a kid. I mean, my mom would take me to the library every other week and I would come out with one, if not two, bags full of Junie B. Jones or Amelia Bedlia books, and I was only five or six. The library I went to in Atlanta was fabulous. The kids section was amazing. I bet the library is even better now, since it's been a good twelve years since I've lived in Atlanta.

But then I moved and stopped going to libraries because they were far away from where I lived and my mother wasn't going to drive me that far to get a couple of books. It wasn't until I got my first job in 2011 when I started to get back into reading a lot. I started to build my own personal library. Since 2011, I've probably spent well over $400 dollars on just one bookshelf that I have (I have two...almost three, I need to get a new one soon). It's worth it though, because I honestly do hate libraries. And here is a detailed list why:

1. I like to have my own personal copies of books. Simple as that.

2. Libraries seem to never have the book you want to read. Whether it's checked out or they just don't have it, it's never there. 

3. You have to read them by a certain time.

4. There's no minimum in how many books you can get.

5. It's like they only have one copy of each book.

6. The YA section is always so scarce and only has the same authors. 

7. They never really update the YA section.

8. The librarians always seem so upset to be there. Like, if you're going to work in a setting with books, please enjoy your job. 

I could go on for a while longer, and even make it more detailed and elaborate on each reason. But I won't do that to you.

Anyways, I have a friend who loves the library. She'll sometimes ask me to take her since she doesn't have her license. Today was one of those days. So, of course, I say yes. I go to the computer to pull up the catalog, and pull up my Goodreads to-read list. And, of course, they don't have but four books that I wanted to read, out of sixty on my to-read list. At that point I just ended up scanning the shelves and found an author that I really wanted to start reading and grabbed, like, five of them.

So, I actually left with nine books today. To be honest, I probably won't read half of them, just because I hate reading books that people have already read. It doesn't have the new book smell. Corners are dog tagged. One of the books has water damage. Stains could be anywhere, people can write in them, etc. But this way, if I like the books enough, I can always buy them for my own library.

So within the next few days/weeks, be ready for reviews of these books: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (which I'm nervous about, only because I couldn't get into DUFF at all), Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala, The Story of Us, The Secret Life of Prince Charming, The Fortune of Indigo Skye, all by Deb Caletti, The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart, Struck by Lightening by Chris Colfer, Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg, and Lola and the Boy Next door by Stephanie Perkins. I'm also re-reading Take Me There by Susane Colasanti, so expect that one either tonight or tomorrow morning!

Reason 9 Why I Hate Libraries: They had the last two books in the Perfect Chemistry series, but not the first one. It wasn't even in the catalog. Like, what the heck?!

Review: When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

Title: When It Happens by Susane Colasanti

Released: May 4, 2006 by Viking

Pages: 287

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by: Carey

At the start of her senior year in high school, Sara wants two things: to get into a top college and to find true love.Tobey also wants two things for his senior year: to win Battle of the Bands and to make Sara fall in love with him. However, a popular jock named Dave moves in on Sara first. But Tobey’s quirky wit and big blue eyes are hard for Sara to ignore. Plus, he gets the little things that matter to her. Can a slacker rock-star wannabe win the heart of a pretty class brain like Sara?

Hilariously and movingly told through Tobey and Sara’s authentic voices, Susane Colasanti’s debut novel sizzles in its portrayal of two young people searching for The One. 

***

First of all: Susane Colasanti is tied for my favorite author, along with Sarah Dessen. Second of all, I'm in the middle of rereading all of my Colasanti books right now, so I will probably be reviewing all seven of her books right now. Actually, just six, because last year before my unofficial hiatus, I did review Keep Holding On.

I found this book around the end of March 2012. I had only then been getting back into reading, thanks to Sarah Dessen, and my growing obsession with her books. I only had one book of her's left to read: Lock and Key. And I could not find it anywhere. Barnes and Noble did not have it, and that was the only major bookstore around my area. Walmart/Target didn't have it, and neither did the cute little used bookstore in my old town. That was when Janice, the owner, called another bookstore a town over, asking them if they had a copy. And they did.

When I got to the bookstore, they didn't have it set out for me. They directed me to the YA section, and I thanked them. I instantly found it, and almost left, but then I saw the cover of When It Happens. I'm not going to lie: I judge books by their covers. I mean, come on. Everyone does!  And this book, right next to D for Dessen, was sitting with it's cover facing me. I instantly fell in love with it. I scanned the back, seeing if I would be interested in it, and then made sure it was written in first person point of view, and I bought it. I had never heard of who Susane was until that day.

About two weeks later, I was in a horrible car accident, causing me to be on bed rest for five months. I was stuck on the couch on a bunch of pain killers for what seemed like forever. And then , once I got used to being loopy all the time, I remembered this book, just sitting on my bookshelf. 

I fell in love immediately with Sara. I loved how she wanted to be so zen. I loved how driven she was.I loved how she wanted Mister Perfect. And then Tobey, oh, Lord, Tobey. He's so quirky and adorable and he plays guitar, of course I fell in love with him. I loved that Susane wrote in both points of view. I love how she made each character view things somewhat differently with their perspective chapters. I loved her writing style, I loved the romance, and I loved how Tobey chased after Sara for so long and finally got her, despite the asshole who is Dave.

This was Susane's debut novel, and it was perfect, honestly. It's weird to think that it came out in 2006, and  I didn't even know about it until 2012. But I'm glad that I did, because now she is my favorite author.

I guess this turned into a Susane Colasanti review in general, rather than for When It Happens. Awkward.

This book is honestly such a fun read in my opinion. It took a couple of chapters to get used to the dual point of view--- every other chapter is a different narrator (either Sara or Tobey). But it was just so real. Sara and her friends have such realistic high school problems, like not being the smart friend, worrying about relationships, their parents splitting up, sex, everything that actually happens their senior year. Even Tobey and his friends, with being slackers, and that they're in a band, everything. It's just so realistic. 

And it's just so simple and honest. I know high schoolers don't want to admit this, but all we do is talk about relationships. Okay, at least 95% of the time. Some people would be irritated because it's pretty much only about relationships and how Tobey is trying to steal Sara away from Dave, but I think it's just so honest. Like, that really is what high schoolers do. If you don't say so, you're lying to yourself.

I think Susane did such a good job with this because when she wrote When it Happens, she was still a high school teacher. Props to her.

Five out of five stars, Susane Colasanti. You go, Susane Colasanti.

Carey on: The Moon and More Book Tour

This was my third time meeting Sarah. Once when What Happened to Goodbye came out, and the second was for the paperback tour of WHTG. The event that I went to was held on June 3rd, at The Regulator in Durham, NC. I was lucky, because I live literally twenty minutes from Sarah, that I got to go and see her a day before pub day. It was probably the best night I've had in a while. I sat next to my favorite book bloggers, Magnet 4 Books, Alli and Tiffani, and also met Lauren (Nose in a Book). Alli, Tiffani, and I were the last three people in line to have Sarah sign our books. We got to talk to her for around fifteen, twenty minutes. It was absolutely amazing. Apparently she dated my high school counselor. She actually asked me to record a video message of her to show him so I have a video of her talking directly to me and my counselor and she told me to do it, and I couldn't believe it. I also won the first trivia question (in The Truth About Forever, my favorite book by her, what was Wes's brother's first car when he got his license? AN AMBULANCE, DUH.) and I got this fabulous Colby Reality shirt. It's soooooo soft, and it's perfect for my super bad sunburn right now. And I got some Colby stickers for my car.

Picture time!

"Don't give up on your dreams---- they will soon be a reality!" I thought of this quote literally as I was waiting in line. She signed maybe four of my books at a previous event saying, "Never give up!" I didn't want all of my books to say the same thing, and I thought this was absolutely perfect. As my future is becoming a lot closer, and the possibilities are coming at me, this is so true. Plus, considering the fact that some people I know think that I am way too ambitious. But hey. When I'm a best-selling author, I can rub it in their faces and tell them that they were wrong. 

The morning after the event, I decided to tweet this picture and say, "Reppin Colby Reality! @sarahdessen" and she retweeted me. She never retweets fans!  I literally fangirled so hard.

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Title: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Released: June 4, 2013 by Viking
Pages: 435
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by: Carey

If you're familiar with Dessen's novels, you would know that she tends to tie in past novels to current ones. The Moon and More is set in her fictional town of Colby, where high school graduate Emaline lives. When the book starts off, she's dating Luke, who's perfect in all aspects. Enter Theo, an movie-making intern, who immediately falls for Emaline. Her father and half-brother show up with some big news, which of course causes some drama. And all her mom wants to give Emaline is the moon and more.

First off, I want to say that this is Dessen's longest novel ever, beating What Happened to Goodbye by around 33 pages, and Along for the Ride by 40. Props to her. This is the only reason why I gave it 4.5: it took me a while to get into it, and it sort of dragged on for a bit. To be honest, it wasn't typical Dessen Style. But it was still fabulous and I did love it. It got so emotional towards the end--- I would say why, but I really don't want to spoil it or anything. Dessen is right on point when it comes to teenage problems. How nerve wracking it is the summer before college, having siblings in your room, break ups, new relationships, etc. Everything Dessen is writes about it right on point, in every single book she writes. And I loved the fact how she described the differences between dad and father.

As for the characters: I loved Emaline. She didn't want to let people push her around, and I love that. She was so kind to everyone, even someone she didn't really like. Luke, despite the reason why he and Emaline broke up, was literally perfect. I was really expecting them to get back together once they went of to East U, and I was truly disappointed when they didn't. Morris made me laugh every single time his character showed up, and I'm actually really excited for his character to show up in later Dessen novels. Theo, though. I disliked him so freaking much. I'm pretty sure that he's my least favorite in any of Dessen's novels. He was so... arrogant. Too clingy. I hated it. But hey, he was a dater who loved events and was just really arrogant. That's who he was. And I hope that he's one of those characters that stays in the vault and never shows up again. Sorry, Sarah.

Anyways, Dessen always brings the same thing to the bookshelves: true things that happens. I hope that made sense; I wasn't really sure how to word it. This book, although not my favorite, was fabulous, and as she is my favorite author ever, I do recommend this novel, along with all eleven others. Overall rating, 4.5.

Carey on: The Unofficial Hiatus is Over!

Obviously, I stopped posting about a year ago. I started working 28+ hours a week and honestly had no time to read. Then, once summer ended, senior year started. And let's just say that I had a rocky start to school this year. I had a rocky school year in general, honestly. But everything seems to be working out a bit better, especially now that I graduate in a week. I've been reading a lot more, and I even have an internship with a publishing company! It's fabulous, honestly.

Anyways, since I've been ready so much more than I have been recently (which I LOVE), it means that I am going to try (emphasis on try) to come off of the unofficial hiatus. I am out of a job right now (it's a long story), and I have this thing with libraries (another long story), so I'm sort of out of books. So it may be rough, not updated as often as I'd like this to be, etc., you know what I mean.

SO. The book I will be reviewing next is The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen. Today is actually pub day for this book. Last night she kicked off the tour at The Regulator in Durham, North Carolina. This was my third time going to one of her events. I was there two years ago when What Happened to Goodbye came out the first time, and I also saw her in Chapel Hill last month for the paperback of WHTG. She'll be at Cary and Raleigh (both in my area) again for TMAM, so of course I'm going to go. I'm a little obsessed, not going to lie.

Okay, this post is long enough now. Hopefully I will update soon with the review of The Moon and More and I'll keep it up this summer. I have this summer bucket list going on, and I'm already doing so well on it, so I'll put this on there. 

PS: I won a contest today! I get a signed copy of Susane Colasanti's new book, All I Need. I already have it (of course), but hey, it's signed! I'm so lucky when it comes to authors and writing and everything.