THUMPED

– Exceeds Expectations

Book Summary:  It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day!

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous:

Tell the truth.

Book Review Overview:

• Teen pregnancy is no laughing matter … but THUMPED will make you crack up
• There are two swoon-worthy guys in this book: Jondoe and Zen.
• Satisfying conclusion that is definitely worth your money

I can’t believe I had doubts coming into THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. I breezed through BUMPED by Megan McCafferty and I could not have enjoyed it enough. I couldn’t wait to read more about Harmony and Melody, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit of apprehension when I picked up the sequel. Would THUMPED by Megan McCafferty be as funny? Would it live up to my expectations? The answer is yes. THUMPED by Megan McCafferty is the perfect conclusion to Melody and Harmony’s story.

I think it is important to remember the author’s intention when reading THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. No, she is not trying to promote teen pregnancy. McCafferty is forcing readers to think about media and society and the way we portray teen pregnancies. We shouldn’t be glamorizing teen pregnancies. We shouldn’t be making these pregnancies as a form of entertainment on MTV. By poking fun of teen pregnancies in the most hilarious and absurd way ever, Megan McCafferty forces you to realize how serious the matter is. The world in BUMPED and THUMPED is based on reality.

It’s been a while since I read BUMPED so immediately, I had a problem differentiating between Harmony and Melody. They are completely different people, but because of the similarity of their musical names I have difficulty in remembering who’s who. I can finally tell the two apart, but it did take me a couple of chapters to get used to their names again.

I loved reading about Harmony and Melody and seeing them grow as characters from the first book to the end of THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. Harmony obviously changed a lot more than Melody because she previously had such a conservative lifestyle. I found it inspiring to read about how she finally manages to balance out her religion with her other beliefs. It’s not as if she traded religion for a whole new life with her sister, Melody. She found a way to live with both, and I honestly respect that.

Furthermore, I definitely got my romance fix in THUMPED by Megan McCafferty. Okay, Jondoe is seriously pushing tacky at times, but there are other moments where he just made my heart melt. His intentions are so pure – sometimes a little bit naive – that you just can’t help but fall for him a little. I know Harmony has a reason to distrust him, but I really couldn’t help but cheer her on to trust him again.

On the other hand, there’s Zen. Oh my gosh. Of the two guys, Zen has my heart. I seriously love the chemistry between Melody and Zen. Reading about the two of them was one of the biggest highlights of the book. I probably sped through the book so quickly just to read how the conflict between the two of them would be resolved. I wish that there were more chapters that focused on the two of them, and I did feel that Harmony and Jondoe overshadowed the others at times.

The ending of THUMPED by Megan McCafferty was satisfying, but at the same time, it was not tied up entirely. Readers can only guess what will happen to Harmony and Melody, and what impact the truth might have for the rest of the country and even the rest of the world. Harmony and Melody did not end teen pregnancy – that is something completely out of their hands. But they managed to make an impact in the way they can. The open ending leaves the characters in the book to act upon the sisters’ impact and create even more change.

I strongly urge you to pick this up if you read and loved BUMPED by Megan McCafferty. If you’re a fan of her Jessica Darling series, you should really read this series. They’re completely different and you really won’t find yourself comparing the two.

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Post written by Muggle-Born.net

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’LL HAVE TO KILL YOU

– Acceptable

Book Summary: Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?

Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission-falling in love.

I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You Book Review Overview:

• Love the concept but the plot was a little lacking; the book is definitely a lot more development than anything else
• I love the family dynamics and I can’t wait to read more between Cammie and her mom
• Will definitely check out the rest of the series because there’s nothing better than teenage spies!

So, I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is basically the contemporary version of my much-loved Agency series by Y.S. Lee (in case you don’t know about the books: Victorian girl spies… yep!). It is also one of those books that I’ve known about for years but never picked up. Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy. Despite the deceiving facade, the Gallagher Academy is not your ordinary boarding school; it is an academy where the brightest girls are training to be spies. They are experts in just about everything: foreign languages, hand-to-hand combat, weapons… but when it comes to boys, these girls are absolutely clueless.

I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter is such a quick and easy read and I enjoyed every moment of it. I really loved the set up of the characters so I didn’t mind much that the plot was a bit lacking. Nothing really happened. The tension in the novel came more from Cammie sneaking around trying to see Josh, rather than the romance itself. Because no one knows what the Gallagher Academy really is, the school has a reputation of being a school for rich, snobby girls. So on top of the fact that Cammie cannot tell Josh that she is a spy-in-training, she also cannot tell him that she goes to the Gallagher Academy because she doesn’t want him to think she is stuck up. It was fun to read about Cammie’s dual lives – especially because I knew the duplicity couldn’t last for long.

Cammie was such an easy character to relate to that I had no problems getting into the story. I easily related to her boy woes and her constant overanalyzing of anything that had to do with Josh. I was able to put myself into Cammie’s shoes which made I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU by Ally Carter a lot more enjoyable to read.

One of the highlights of I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter is the interpersonal relationships between the girls. I loved how close she was to her best friends, Bex and Liz – especially because she doesn’t have any siblings. Furthermore, I love the development of the friendship between Macey and the other girls. Despite their differences, they were able to forge a friendship. I also loved reading about Cammie and her mother. They have a strange relationship due to the fact that her mother is the headmistress of the school, but I think it’s quite obvious that they both want to be closer to one another. I can’t wait to see how this mother/daughter relationship develops in the future books. All in all, Carter has written a fantastic book with strong, female bonds in I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU.

Overall, I enjoyed Ally Carter’s I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU. I wish the plot had a bit more substance, but hopefully the next few books in the series will make up for that. I enjoyed getting to know Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, and Josh and I can’t wait to read more about them in the rest of the Gallagher Girls series.

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Post written by Muggle-Born.net

THE SHADOWS

Summary: Old Ms. McMartin is definitely dead. Now her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, she knows there’s something odd about the place—not least the walls covered in strange antique paintings. But when Olive finds a pair of old spectacles in a dusty drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside these paintings to a world that’s strangely quiet . . . and eerily like her own Yet Elsewhere harbors dark secrets—and Morton, an undersized boy with an outsize temper.

As she and Morton form an uneasy alliance, Olive finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It’s up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

Review Overview:

• Full of humor and wit
• Finally, a book with talking animals that I actually enjoyed

I decided to tackle THE SHADOWS after reading a bit of Jacqueline West’s writing during my past internship. I don’t read too many middle grade novels, though I ought to, so THE SHADOWS was a refreshing change of pace to my reading pile.

Olive moves into an old Victorian house over the summer. After exploring the house’s various rooms, Olive discovers a pair of old spectacles that allows her to jump into the various portraits throughout the house. The concept of THE SHADOWS, the first book in the Books of Elsewhere series, reminds me a bit of the old Nickelodeon cartoon Chalk Zone. The idea was well executed and the paintings came alive in my imagination.

This book is quite funny. I don’t know if it’s middle grade humor in general or just simply West’s writing that cracks me up into a fit of giggles. Olive’s parents nerdy jokes sometimes went right over my head, but I adored their geeky ways. Olive was a great protagonist. I love how she isn’t characterized as traditionally book smart. Unlike her scholarly parents, Olive has no talent for math. Instead, she has more of an artistic streak. As a person who loves humanities, I was really glad to read about a protagonist who excelled in the arts.

Believe it or not, this is one of the few instances where I find the talking animals okay – in fact, they were more than okay. Horatio, Leopold, and Harvey added wit and humor to the novel and it would not have been the same without them. The three cats were fantastic secondary characters. They each had a vibrant personality. They made me giggle.

I did start to feel frustrated by the storyline halfway through the book. I thought the pacing started to drag. However, the pacing did pick up towards the end of the novel.

THE SHADOWS ties up nicely, so I am curious to know what’s next for Olive in the following Books of Elsewhere novels.  This isn’t my new favorite middle grade series, but I did enjoy reading it. I will definitely continue on with the series, but I might pick up the sequel in audiobook format.

Post written by Muggle-Born.net

DRINK SLAY LOVE

Summary: Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire… fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil… until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’re even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast — as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Review Overview:

• Plot seems silly, but it’s so entertaining. Durst is not afraid to poke fun at vampire cliches.
• Giggle-worthy; I laughed out loud reading this.
• Fantastic secondary characters but I do wish the romance was upped just a bit.

The whole novel seems really silly when you think about it, but it was so silly that it was entertaining. Pearl, a fierce vampire, gets suddenly staked by a rainbow-pooping, oh-so-mythological unicorn one night and she can suddenly walk in sunlight. There are a ton of vampire books in the market and it’s pretty much safe to say that this one is nothing like what’s out there. And can I just say title love?

What I love most about DRINK SLAY LOVE is that it really doesn’t take itself too seriously. Though a vampire novel, it makes fun of typical stereotypes and even pokes fun of Twilight (hah, which really amused me). I’m not that into paranormal and vampire books in general. If you know me, the only vampire series that I really love are the Sookie Stackhouse books (guilty pleasure adult series that the True Blood show is based off of) and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. This one was just so refreshing and the summary was just so inviting. I wanted to see how Durst would take what is now such a cliche and turn it something into her own.

To be honest, I was a bit wary of the execution at first. When I started reading, I think I had to put it down after a chapter or two, read a historical romance novel, and then come back to it. I am so glad that I did. It was fun to read from Pearl’s perspective. I loved how she described humans as snacks, but not in a weird, gross, and creepy way. She was funny and the humor of the novel overall makes this such a delightful paranormal book to read. It isn’t dark. Based on the play on the title (Eat, Pray, Love), you can just tell that this will be a fun, light-hearted book.

Surprises? Yeah there were a few. I thought I can usually see things coming, but this time, I was mistaken. Things definitely got interesting when a big surprise was dropped on Pearl. I gasped out loud and started giggling. Yeah, it was that bad but it was really giggle-worthy. The fact that Sarah Beth Durst was able to thrust me into Pearl’s perspective so much that I also got blind-sided needs to be applauded. This rarely happens to me.

Evan and the secondary characters are just to die for. This definitely gets a four-star rating based on the fun characters alone. I’d hate to spoil anything about the book so you’d just have to read it for yourself to see the vast array of different characters and what roles they play in the novel.

There is a tad bit of romance in DRINK SLAY LOVE but I wished that it was upped a bit more. The ending was satisfying, but I craved for just a little more romance-wise. The chemistry between Pearl and Evan was super fun so the ending was a bit anti-climactic. Definitely don’t make this a deal-breaker for you. It’s a really slight complaint to an overall fun read. Furthermore, Pearl and Evan’s relationship was a great contrast to Pearl and Jadrien’s. Human vs. the arrogant self-centered bad-boy vampire. Fun times.

DRINK SLAY LOVE is a fun, light-hearted vampire novel that would be a great read for reluctant paranormal readers such as myself. And yes, I can’t believe that I actually put fun and light-hearted in the same sentence with vampire, but you better believe it. This is not your stereotypical vampire novel. Don’t pick this up expecting that.

Post written by Muggle-Born.net

BUMPED

Summary: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Review Overview:

• Refreshing dystopian novel that will make you laugh out loud
• Rocky start, but I ended up loving it by the very end
• Incomparable to the Jessica Darling series – it’s fantastic in its own way

First impressions are never a good basis to judge a book. Despite my initial thoughts on BUMPED, Megan McCafferty has not disappointed me: in a year full of heavy, hardcore dystopia, BUMPED stands out as a light-hearted and funny novel that still tackles important issues on teen pregnancy. Yes, you will laugh out loud.

Don’t expect a scientific explanation about the virus. The book deals with more about the social aspect of being “bumped” than the science behind the whole epidemic. It’s not about politics, but more about the choices that these girls have at sixteen. It’s about what Melody and Harmony are experiencing – two girls from two very different backgrounds and how they are each handling the issue.

My initial qualms with the book was with Harmony. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of her Bible-loving character. Reading from her perspective was a little annoying since she was a bit eccentric and I couldn’t relate to her views. Furthermore, the alternating perspectives did turn out to be confusing for a while. Melody and Harmony have very similar names but opposite attitudes. While I knew the distinction in their character, I still had trouble putting the name to the character. I was able to sort it out around halfway through the book. It took long enough…

So what is so great about this book? McCafferty does a wonderful job tackling a controversial issue in this satirical dystopian novel. From the fake baby bumps to the silly jingles of Babiez R Us, I couldn’t help but laugh at it all. The whole novel is kind of silly and ridiculous. The whole concept of girls making a competition of how many they can birth before they’re 18? Massive sex orgies to see how many girls can get pregnant in one night? McCafferty makes it seem silly and fun, but when you really think about it, it’s a scary concept. And the worst part is, it isn’t too far from the truth.

BUMPED is incomparable to McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series. The protagonists have a completely different tone from Jessica Darling, and I don’t think that readers should try to compare the two series at all. BUMPED is targeted towards a different audience and market, and readers should be aware of that.

BUMPED is a fantastic dystopian novel that will stand out from the many others that are being released this year. It tackles controversial issues with wit and humor, but still manages the reader to think, What if? BUMPED is definitely my new favorite series and I am counting down the days for the next book.

Post written by Muggle-Born.net

DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions? (Goodreads)

I love the premise of this book first of all! I only recently visited Strand for the first time a couple of weeks ago so it was a lot of fun reading about it. I love the idea of Dash and Lily trading this red moleskin notebook and going on adventures throughout New York City. I live near Mrs. Basil E’s brownstone so it was really exciting to read about their adventures happening so close to me. My favorite NYC spot that Dash and Lily visited, other than the Strand, was Max Brenner. For teens living outside New York City, I would recommend taking a trip here and going through their adventures. Sounds like a blast!

Dash vs. Lily? It’s tough to say which character I enjoyed reading more about. I don’t think I have a preference because they are both just written so well. I think on some level, I can definitely relate to both characters.

Favorite dare? I love the first dare in the Strand. I thought that was absolutely clever and it made me just want to keep on reading.

DASH AND LILY’S BOOK OF DARES is a great read to prepare yourself for the upcoming holiday season! Lily’s love for the holidays is infectious and before you know it, you’ll be baking spritz cookies and building snowmen! I laughed many times throughout the book; David Levithan definitely sprinkled in some slap-stick comedy as promised. I cannot wait to see this up on the big screen – I hope it pulls through.

I think that fans of Levithan and Cohn will definitely enjoy this book. Lovers of romantic comedy and/or the holidays will also find this a fun book to read.

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Post written by Muggle-Born.net