Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
By Lucy Christopher


3 out of 5

Gemma and her family are in an airport waiting for their plane to come. Gemma goes to get a cup of coffee and her entire life changes. She runs into a cute man. He buys her coffee. They sit down and talk, and then, things get fuzzy. The man has her arm. He's guiding her through the airport. He's having her change clothes. And then... Gemma wakes up in an unfamiliar room, with only her captor as company.

This book was just ok in my mind. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to finish it. The thought of being taken like that, in a crowded airport haunted my and I almost gave right up then. But, I powered through. The middle of the book, I wasn't in love with. I found it boring, and I was forcing myself to read it instead of wanting to read it. The end, however, I thought was really good. I could understand how Gemma was feeling having "been there" while it was just her and her captor. Everyone assumed the worst, when Gemma had seen an entirely different side of her captor and couldn't completely agree with everyone. Which is true. There were flashes of a sad, hurt, confused person that made it impossible for me to completely hate Ty. I thought the end was great, and I found myself enjoying it immensely. I'm glad I stuck it out for the good ending, but overall this book was not one of my favorites.

Allegiant (Divergent #3)
By Veronica Roth

4.5 out of 5

In the finale of this trilogy, no time is wasted before the action starts. Told from both Tris and Tobias' points of view, the story starts with Tris being questioned about her actions in the releasing of the Edith Prior video. Evelyn has taken control of the city, and the factions are being demolished. But not everyone is happy about this. A rebel force, called the Allegiant, has formed and they have to goals. 1) To send people outside the city to see what's out there and 2) to reinstate the factions. Both Tobias and Tris volunteer to go outside the city. What they see out there changes their lives, and their futures forever. Danger, betrayal, love, and plenty of tears are sure to happen if you dare to read this book.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! You can't do that! You can't have it end like that. Never have I ever read a book where I dreaded getting to the ending. From everything I had heard, I knew that there were a lot of character deaths, but there was no way I could have predicted what happened. That being said, that is a sign of a great book, and this book was great. These characters are so vibrant and so real, that you can't help but cry when their lives are unfairly ended. I hold the Divergent trilogy dear to my heart, and the story stayed true to itself. I have enjoyed the story from start to finish, and I am interested to see how they interpret it into a movie (hopefully better than the Mortal Instruments film).

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
By Laini Taylor

4 out of 5

Karou is a girl caught between two worlds. Raised in Brimstone's workshop, Karou knew nothing but it for years. Now, she lives her world in the human world, traveling all over the world, moving whenever anyone gets suspicious. Karou attends school like a normal teenager, but she also has secret responsibilities. She travels all around the world, to every corner of civilizations to collect teeth. Human, animal, any teeth that can be found. Karou  is sent to collect them and bring them back to Brimstone. Karou doesn't know what the teeth are for, and Brimstone isn't telling. But then disaster strikes. Black handprints show up on all of the secret doors. What can they mean? Where did they come from? And when all the doors simultaneously burn, will Karou be left alone forever in the human world?

As per usual with me, I had no idea what this book was going to be about. But, as per usual, I completely surprised and fully enjoyed it. Laini Taylor was able to create an entire other world, with connections to ours. I loved Karou's character, and the outlook she had on the world. also, I liked how we were given pieces of the whole story throughout the book, but the entire truth wasn't revealed until the very end. I will definitely read the second book in the series, and I am curious and excited to see what is going to happen next. Hopefully we will be able to see more happy Akiva (keep your fingers crossed)!

Champion (Legend #3)
By Marie Lu

 5 out of 5

The final book in the Legend trilogy, Day is living in San Francisco and June is living in Denver. It has been 8 months since their passionate and painful separation. Day is undergoing treatment for his brain tumor, but none of them are proving to be particularly successful. Day is doing his best to forget June, but then she calls him, asking him to come to Denver for a secret meeting. Day could never refuse June so he packs up Eden and heads to Denver. From there things spiral out of control. Day's condition is worsening, and he can no longer keep it a secret, the Colonies are attacking and there is no help in sight for the Republic. Will June and Day make it through their most recent set of obstacles, or is it too much this time?

Wow! What an ending! Marie Lu sure knows how to give every reader a heart attack. She ripped out my heart and then sheepishly gave it back to me. So much happened, but the book never felt rushed. Everything flowed together great, as always. The characters were intense and vibrant, causing "eeks"of panic, and uncontrollable smiles from me. I love the ending, it's not the magic fairy tale, everything is instantly perfect, but it is a good ending, and is very appropriate for the book. The end is true to the characters, and I am so happy! Having said that, I haven't cried this hard about a book since The Fault in Our Stars.

My Life Next Door
By Huntley Fitzpatrick

4 out of 5

Samantha has always listened to her mother. Every step of her life, she followed without question. She went to private school, she worked the posh summer jobs, she attended all of her mother's political events, and she stayed away from the Garretts. The Garretts were Samantha's lively next door neighbors. With eight kids, the Garrett's house is always messy and loud and welcoming. In comparison, Samantha's house is a museum. But her mom said no, so Samantha never met her neighbors. But it didn't stop her from watching. She watched for years, until one son, Jase, decided to get to know her. Jase and Samantha begin a relationship, but will it last? Or will the differences in their lives, and Samantha's disapproving mom keep them apart? Or with something much worse, a dangerous secret, tear them apart when they need each other most?

This book, which starts out at just an adorable summer romance turns out to be so much more. Samantha and Jase's romance reminds me a lot of my own relationship, and I found it very easy to relate to the characters. But the other characters were great too. No one was flat. Everyone had so many layers and dimensions, even the baby, Patsy. Every character was full of personality, my personal favorite being George. The emotions and problems that Sam and Jase deal with are very real and they way they deal with them is very realistic. This book is called Contemporary Fiction, and I like it so much that I am planning on reading more Contemporaries. Marry Christmas y'all!

The Final Warning (Maximum Ride #4)
By James Patterson

 

2.5 out of 5

We catch up with the flock in Washington D.C., where they are talking to national representatives and trying to decide what to do next. Luckily--or not so luckily--they don't have to wait very long to decide. Their safety in D.C. is short lived and the flock is on the run again.  But then an interesting opportunity comes about. The flock is invited to work with a team of scientists to  stop global warming. The only downside, the research takes place in Antarctica! The flock must bundle up if they want to have any chance of saving the world. But even at the bottom of the planet, our favorite flock of flying kids isn't safe for long. Can Max and her friends get out alive, or is this the end of the road?

I cannot believe James Patterson turned this story into a call to action about Global Warming! Are you freaking kidding me? Not happy. This was definitely the weakest book in the series for me. The book is short, the plot is, loose, and the characters are thrown in willy-nilly without any development. Like this Uber-Director. What was his story? Why didn't he have a body? How did he create this "army" of robots to carry out his dirty work? And the scientists, I never even bothered to learn all of their names. When something would happen to one of them, I wouldn't know if that was the one Fang was crushing on or not. And I'm not even go into the exploding pizza box that was NEVER resolved! Honestly I felt like James Patterson was tired with this series--and wanted to move onto The Dangerous Days of Daniel X which I have read and liked--and he just gave up on Max and her story. It was disappointing, and I'm sad that it had such a downfall.

Now, that being said, I am too invested in this series to just give up. And plus I have to rest of the series here with me, so, why not? I will carry on, and finish the series. Even if that means I have to post bad review after bad review.

The Way We Fall (Fallen World #1)
By Megan Crewe

3.5 out of 5
        
Kaelyn is writing a diary to her estranged friend Leo. She is apologizing for ruining their friendship, and she talks about how she is trying to be a better person. Then things get knocked off track. Rachel's (Kaelyn's friend) dad gets sick with a crazy virus. Then Rachel gets it, and then it explodes. On a small island in Canada, the virus is spreading quickly and no one knows how it's spread, what started it, and how to cure it. Kaelyn tries to help in every way she can, but will it be enough? and will she end up sick, or will she be one of the lucky ones?

 

I had my doubts about this book in the beginning. It started out really well. Kaelyn is writing a diary to her estranged friend Leo. She is apologizing for ruining their friendship, and she talks about how she is trying to be a better person. Then things get knocked off track. The virus is all over the place, and I thought that it would get bad. But luckily, it didn't. Kaelyn is an excellent character with a very mature personality, but at the same time she is very scared. However, she knows she can't show it because people, like Meredith, are looking to her. She is an extremely complex character, and a good one at that. I really liked Gav, and the role he played in the book. I will admit, I cried at the end, but I think that made the book even better because it had such a powerful ending.