Leave Me

In Gayle Forman’s debut adult novel, Leave Me, we meet Maribeth Klein, a woman who is so busy working as an editor at a magazine  and taking care of her family  that she doesn’t even realize it when she’s having a heart attack. After her heart attack, she thinks maybe it won’t be so bad. It’s her family’s turn to take care of her but this doesn’t turn out to be the case. So sick and tired of it all, Maribeth beth packs a bag and runs away. She doesn’t even know where she’s going when she gets to the train station but she finds her self in Pittsburg.

I loved Maribeth from the first sentence of the first paragraph on the very first page of the book. I realize that she’s suppose to be a flawed character and not everyone is going to like her straight off. I realize a lot of the women who read this book aren’t going to like her at all. It’s going to be hard for them to understand how a woman could leave her family, her children behind and run away.

Honestly, Maribeth is probably the fictional character that i’ve related to the most since I read Lara Jean from Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Yeah, I know that’s an odd comparison but let me explain. I am a full time college student and I work on average I work 20 hours a week. When I started reading this book, it was November. I work retail, so it super busy at my store and everyday that I wasn’t in class, I was at work. I wanted to run away so badly. Believe me, I thought about it too several times.

I guess this was maybe a bit of an eye opener for me too? I see myself being very much like Maribeth when I’m older. In a way, she’s always what i’ve aspired to be. A career woman, living in New York with a family. I don’t have kids but work and school is basically like having two jobs. I learned from Maribeth that I need to always make sure that I stop and make time to take care of myself.

I really loved the plot progression. I loved how witty the writing is. I loved how all the characters served a purpose and were well developed. the thing I appreciate the most was that it ended in a good spot. Meaning, the story wasn’t dragged out longer than it needed to be. Which, if you’ve read any of my posts or other book reviews, you know that stories being dragged out longer than they need to be is my biggest pet peeve, well in books it is anyways.

There was a line in this book that spoke to me on so many levels “Yes, she was in motherfucking crisis!”.  I laughed out loud so hard when I read this line. I just love it so much. I even took a picture of the page in the book and circled this line and added it to my snapchat story. I feel like this is going to be playing in my head several times once I start classes again in April. Another one I loved was one where it said something about the kids being “fuck ups in training”.

I got to meet Gayle when she went on book tour for this book! This was actually my second time to meet her and hear her speak. The first time I met her, I was rushed through the line because it was a book fest and there was a billion people in line and she had to leave early to catch her flight. I love listening to her speak. She’s witty and the message she has always speaks to me and sticks with me. I’m really happy that I got to actually talk to her for more than two second this time and take a picture with her. She’s super sweet and was surprised to see that I had a copy of Sisters in Sanity with me. We both agreed that it doesn’t get enough love.

Something funny I want to include that’s kind of related to the book but not really. So I was really stressed out at work one day and I was telling someone I work with the plot of this book and she goes “So like Harry Potter?”. I love this girl but she has selective hearing, so i’m pretty sure the only thing she heard me say was “The book I’m reading” and zoned out when I was describing the plot. I’m not sure if I find this funny because i’m a book nerd or because this girl is crazy but I still thought i’d share it.

I’ve now read 5 out of 7 of Gayle’s books and I’ve yet to meet one that I didn’t like. I gave Leave Me, 4/5 stars. I really liked Maribeth and once I had time to read this book, I couldn’t put it down.

Much Love,

Kait

The Clique

The Clique, by Lisi Harrison, is the first book in the Clique Series and it also happens to be one of my all time favorite books. A couple of weeks ago, I made a reference to something that Dylan said in one of the books and I realized that the last time I read The Clique was in 2010, my freshman year of high school and the last time I read a clique book was when the last one came out in 2011. Needless to say, it was long past time for me to spend some time with Massie, Kristen, Dylan, Alicia and Claire.

Massie Block has everything that she could ever need in life. She has the best designer clothes, she lives in a mansion, She’s the most popular girl in the 7th grade at OCD, and of course, she has the bestest friends in the whole world, Kristen, Dylan and Alicia. When Claire Lyons and her family move in to the guest house on the Block estate, Massie’s parents expect her to become friends with Claire. But how can Massie be friends with Claire? She wears keds, jeans from the gap, eats gummy feet and not to mention she’s all around ah-nnoying.

Look, I know the summary I just gave of this book above make it look super shallow but it’s not. I’ve read this book so many times that I can’t summarize it without telling the whole story. (Maybe the summary on the goodreads page will help you out better) The Clique is a story about friendship. At the root of everything, Massie is insecure and while she’ll never admit it, she’s threatened by Claire. Claire wants more than anything to make friends and to be accepted by Massie.

What I loved most about this book when I was in middle school is still the very same thing I love most about this book today. It shows you that even when someone has it all, money, designer clothes, popularity and friends, that they’re still insecure. Even though I’m nothing like Massie, I related to her as when I was her age reading these books and I still relate to her now because of her insecurities.

The Clique has often been criticized for being shallow, teaching girls to be mean to each other but anyone who has read the series knows this is not the case. The Clique is about wanting to be accepted. I mean, as humans, isn’t that what we all want?

I loved reading this book again as an adult. I’d actually forgotten a lot of the minor details of what happens but as I was reading the words, I remembered exactly. It was like knowing all the words to a song you hadn’t heard in a really long time. I loved all the one liners. Lisi Harrison is the queen of one liners. I loved picking up on some things that I never picked up on as a kid. I loved picking up on the writing style, and how Lisi used the duel points of view from Massie and Claire not only show things about the person whose perspective but things about the other character too. I realized how much I actually learned about Massie from Claire’s point of view and vice versa. My favorite thing I picked up on was Vince, the art teacher being “very special friends” with the hot coma guy on all my children. I can’t believe that I never picked up on that before. Mostly, I loved falling in love with Massie and Claire all over again. When I was younger, I always liked Massie more but this time around, I loved them equally. I guess you can say I fell in love with Claire.

I know I will never be able to say enough nice things about this book to do it justice. You know how most people talk about the Harry Potter books meaning so much to them? That’s me with not only just this book but this whole series. I will never not love this book. I will never not love Lisi Harrison. Did you guys know that I named this blog as a reference to The Clique series?  The purple color of the website is a reference/ tribute to Massie because her favorite color is purple because she once read that it is the color of royalty. These books were the first books that I was ever really excited about reading. These are the books that made me go from someone who likes reading to a reader. These books are everything to me.

You guys have no idea how tempted I am to just binge read the whole series. If I didn’t have so many books on my shelf that I hadn’t read, I probably would. I can tell you this for sure, It won’t be so long before I pick up the second book in the series, Best Friends for Never, for a reread. The who am I kidding, i’m gonna read Revenge of the Wannabes right after that because that’s my favorite one in the whole series.

Much Love,

Kate

Saige Paints the Sky

Saige Paints the Sky by Jessie Haas is the second book of two about Saige, American Girl’s 2012 Girl of the Year. WARNING: This is the second book and while this review is spoiler free, reading it might accidentally spoil what happens in Saige.

The sequel picks up right where the first book leaves off. There’s still no art program in the school and Mimi is still in the rehab center. Saige misses spending time with Mimi after school at the ranch, riding horses and painting in the art studio. Mimi let’s Saige ride her horse, Georgia with Luis, her next door neighbor but Saige finds out that Mimi might sell Georgia and this worries her. Also, Saige is having problems balancing her two friends Gabbi and Tessa.

Honestly, I feel like this book didn’t need to be written and reading it dragged out the story line. I was very happy with how everything wrapped up at the end of the first book. This book was around 120 pages and I read these American Girl books in about an hour. So the fact that like 10 pages in, it felt like it was dragging says something. I also think that if I was eight or nine years old reading this, it’s something I wouldn’t have noticed.

I did still enjoy reading the book. I liked getting to know Saige more. I really loved reading about her painting and riding horses, the things she’s most passionate about. I love how Saige is willing to fight for those passions. I think Saige is a good role model for little girls.

I enjoyed reading Saige Paints the Sky but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the second part was unnecessary and because of that I give it 3/5 stars.

Much Love,

Kait

Isabelle

Isabelle by Laurence Yep is the first book in a series of three about Isabelle, American Girl’s 2014 Girl of the year.

Isabelle has just started school at Anna Hart School of the Arts. And while she’s excited to finally get to go to school there, she can’t help but noticing that all of her classmates are so talented, especially Jade, her older sister. The Autumn Festival is coming up and while she does great helping her mom design costumes, Isabelle can’t help but feel like she’s falling behind her classmates in the dace room. She has to learn to stop comparing herself to others and become her own dancer.

I’d bought Isabelle off eBay in March. She didn’t come with her book so, when I was at the American Girl store for Melody‘s release and saw it was on sale for $3, I picked it along with the other two books in her series up without hesitation.

This was a nice fun read. I liked how it was simple and to the point without unnecessary characters and subplot lines. I really enjoyed the writing. I liked how the story was resolved but there was just enough at the end so that i’m intrigued to read the next book.

What I really liked was how Isabelle was dealing with the feeling that she isn’t as good as the others students at her school. This is something that we all go through at some point, feeling like we aren’t good enough. I applaud American Girl for taking on such strong themes and for doing it in a way that not just me as an adult can relate to but in a way that someone who is eight or nine years old, the target audience, can relate to. And while I won’t say what it is, (it would be a spoiler) I love the lesson that Isabelle learns at the end of the story.

Overall, I give Isabelle 4/5 stars and I can’t wait to read the second and third parts of Isabelle’s story!

Much Love,

Kait

No Ordinary Sound: A Melody Classic 1

Melody Ellison is American Girl’s newest historical character. No Ordinary Sound: A Melody Classic One by Denise Lewis Patrick is the first book of two about her.

Melody Ellison is nine years old and she’s living in Detroit in 1963. She’s been choose to sing a solo for youth day at her church and she’s having a hard time decide what song to sing. She takes advice from her older bother who is a really good singer and whose dream is to be a Motown singer. She also takes advice from her grandmother, Big Momma, who is also a singer. What ultimately, inspires Melody to choose a song is the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There are many unfair things happening during Melody’s time, even to Melody’s own family. It’s a tragedy that happens at a church in the south that leaves Melody silent. Will she be able to raise her voice and sing at youth day?

First things first, Melody is such a cute doll. I got her a week ago right when American Girl released her and I don’t like to play favorites with my dolls but she’s definitely one of mine.

Melody’s story struck a cord with me (musical pun intended). I remember learning about the Civil Rights Movement all throughout school but reading about it from Melody’s point of view. I liked seeing how Dr. King influenced her and gave her hope. They way that melody took the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church broke my heart. I almost cried reading that part.

I loved how bold and brave Melody is. She fights for what’s right and she won’t stand for the discrimination. Eventhough she’s a fictional character, I admire her.

I liked this Beforever bind up better that Maryellen’s. My biggest problem with Maryellen’s volume one was that it felt like it was three different short stories tied together in to one novel. This was not the case with Melody. Melody’s story was one story and I really appreciated that.

This story was beautifully written and because of that, I give it 5/5 stars. I will definitely be reading part two of Melody’s story in the very near future.

Much Love,

Kait

Normal Gets You Nowhere

In December 2010, I was on Christmas break with my sleep schedule all screwed up and I was flipping channels in the middle of the night and I came across a rerun of The Hills. It was thirty minutes of complete drama and bull shit but I was completely hooked.  I ended up watching the series on netflix. While I liked the drama and bull shit that was 90% of the show’s content, my favorite part was the other 10% of the show’s content, Lauren Conrad trying to make a name for herself in the fashion industry. Specifically, in the later episodes when Lauren was working for Kelly Cutrone at People’s Revolution.

I fell in love with Kelly right away. She’s brutally honest, doesn’t put up with any bull shit and has her focus is on getting the job done.

In her second book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, Kelly gives advice and lessons that she’s learned based on her life experiences.  She talks about everything from her spiritual beliefs, personal branding, sex, the law and family.

Do I recommend this book to everyone? Not necessarily. Kelly can be a bit out there but I do think there are two chapters in the book that should be required reading for all living humans. The first chapter, Comfortably Numb, it talks about how everyone and everything is a brand and how we as a society have become numb to hearing about bad things. The other chapter that I think everyone should read is the seventh chapter, The No Matter What Club. In it, Kelly talks about how you should have your group of people who you have their back and they have your back no matter what. How you need to have people like that in your life to survive.

Now, if you’ve been following this blog for awhile, it’s no big secret that one of my favorite books is Kelly’s first book, If You Have to Cry, Go Out Side. I’ve actually read it a couple of times now. I love that book so much, I had pretty high standards going in to Normal Gets You Nowhere. My only regret with reading it was waiting so long to do so. I gave it 4/5 stars.

Much Love,

Kate

 

Devoted

In Jennifer Mathieu’s second novel, Devoted, we meet Rachel Walker, a seventeen year old girl, who is devoted to god. She and her family attend Calvary Christian Church and she prays daily. Rachel helps take care of her younger bothers and sisters (there are ten walker children in all), dresses modestly and is preparing to be a wife and mother. It’s all Rachel has known her whole life but Rachel is curious about the world that exists out side of her church and she’s not finding the answers in her homeschooling textbooks or in the bible. Until now, she’s always found comfort in her beliefs but will those beliefs be what destroys her?

You know the Duggar family? The ones from that TLC show and who always seem to be caught up in some kind of scandal? Yeah, that one. I first heard the author speak about this book at Teen Book Con 2015 and she described it as “Duggar gone wild.” I was immediately sold on the book. Also, I should point out this was right before all they were caught up in all the scandals.

The writing is just fabulous. There’s no better way to describe it. The story is written in such a way where you’re hooked from the very first page. She brings the characters and the world to life. I also love the way that she weaves in background information and how everything mentioned in the background information comes in to play somewhere else in the story. I wasn’t able to put this book down.

The thing I love about Devoted along with Jennifer’s other novel, The Truth About Alice is that while they are the contemporary, character driven stories that  I love there’s a unique element to them that makes me think, not just about the story but makes me question my own life. I read Alice last year and her story has stuck with me. I have a feeling Rachel’s story will stick with me too.

I gave devoted 4/5 stars and I very highly recommend that you check out Devoted and if you haven’t read Jennifer’s other book, The Truth About Alice, that you check that one out too.

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

Sisters in Sanity

You probably know Gayle Forman from her books If I Stay or Just One Day, a couple of her more popular books. Sisters in Sanity was her debut novel.

As told on the back of the book, Sisters in Sanity is about “sixteen-year-old Brit Hemphill, it’s hard to know who she can trust. Convinced she’s out of control, her father has sentenced her to red rock: a center for supposedly rebellious teens, where therapy consists of name calling and the girls who get privileges are the ones who rat out their peers.

But then Brit meets V, Bebe, Martha and Cassie- four girls who keep her from going over the edge. Together, they’ll hold on to their sanity and their sisterhood despite the bleak reality.”

Prior to reading Sisters in Sanity I had read three of Gayle’s other books: The two books in the If I Stay duology back in 2014 right before the If I Stay movie came out and Just One Day the first book in the Just One Day duology last summer.

Just like those three books, Sisters in Sanity was super hard to put down and super easy to read. The story was unique and unlike any other book I had read before. I connected with Brit, the main character, right from the start and I was intrigued right from the start. I like how the story started right with the action and weaved in the back story as it went.

I really liked Sisters in Sanity and gave it 4/5 stars. I can’t wait to read more of Gayle’s books.

Much Love,

Kaitlyn

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

This is my Best Friend’s Favorite HP book. I sent her this when I started reading it.

I’ve started reading the Harry Potter series for the first time… and I’m in college.

As a child, Harry Potter never interested me. I didn’t want to read about a boy who was off at wizzarding school. I wanted to read american girl books, the Junie B. Jones books and as I got in to middle school, I started reading Ally Carter and Lisi Harrison’s books. I’ve always been (let’s face it, I still am) in to the more contemporary type books.  I did try to read harry potter once when I was in grade school, around fourth grade. I read about twenty pages before I decided I didn’t like it. (I think a lot of it had to do with the fact it was the wrong book but i’m not a hundred percent on that. It was over ten years ago.)

So what made me decide to pick up Harry Potter later? The main thing that made me decide to pick up Harry was that everyone who talks about it raves about how amazing the writing is. As a writer, I’m always wanting to read the writing of those who are better than me. Other reasons that contributed to me picking up Harry include, I was sick of not getting all the references to it in pop culture, I was sick of getting the GASP! YOU HAVEN’T READ HARRY POTTER, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s my best friend, Tina’s, favorite thing ever.

I wasn’t initially going to finish the series. The I had mixed feelings on the first book when I finished in in 2015. What made me decide to finish the series, was one day when I had writer’s block, I decided to watch interviews of J.K Rolling on youtube. Man, that woman is amazing. I loved watching her talk about these characters, as if they were real people and how she knew what happened to them, long after the series finished. Now, i’m not comparing myself to her by any means but the way Joanne talks about Harry and this gleam in her eyes, is similar to me when I talk about my characters/ stories.  It was then I decided that I would finish the series in 2016.

Quick disclaimer before I start talking about the book, this post contains spoilers from this point on.  I know, that you all have probably read the series but if some slim chance, you’re like I was, it’s your chance to escape this post before something is ruined for you.

Normally when giving a review, I’d give a summary of the book, but since more people than not have read these, I’m not going to do that. However, if you need a refresher, click on the tittle of the book and it’ll take you to the good reads page where you can read the book’s summary.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the very first book I read in 2016. First, let me start off by saying that I am still blown away as Voldemort as Tom Riddle used Ginny to open the chamber. Truthfully, I don’t think i’ll ever get over that. The pace in this one moved much faster (witch I really appreciated) and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  One thing I loved about Chamber so much was that you start to see the relationship between Ron and Hermonie start to develop (At this point, I knew that Ron and Hermonie get married. Also, I knew that Harry and Ginny marry. Remember those interviews I watched? Not exactly spoiler free.) The thing I loved most about Chamber was that the smallest, almost insignificant details from Sorcerer’s Stone came in to effect such as the storing hat almost placing Harry in Slytherin (I’m a Hufflepuff in case you were wondering) and Harry talking to the snake at the zoo. Honestly, I’m amazed at how much these much have been planned out.

So far, this is my favorite Harry Potter Book. Though, I have a feeling i’m going to love the fifth. What’s your favorite Harry Potter Book? Please NO SPOILERS, I haven’t finished the series yet!

Much Love,

Kate

 

Truly Madly Famously

Madly Truly Famously is the sequel to Famous In Love. By reading this blog post, you might accidentally spoil Famous in Love. I suggest that you read the first book and then come back and read this blog post. Never heard of Famous in Love? You can read my review of it here.

At the End of Famous in Love, Paige made her choice. She choose Rainer and while she knows that she choose wrong, she is happy being Rainer’s girlfriend. Rainer makes Paige feel safe in the crazy Hollywood World. Yet, Paige can’t deny her feelings for Jordan. At a party where Paige and Rainer fight, Paige calls Jordan to come pick her up. The media gets ahold of some pictures that aren’t what they look like and it blows up in the meida. Even though she’s made her choice, Paige is still very much caught in  a love triangle, just like the one in the movie that she, Rainer and Jordan starring in. Only, this is real life, not a movie.

I think I liked Truly Madly Famously even more than I liked Famous in Love and I really liked Famous in Love.I was sucked in to the plot. There nothing better than a good love triangle! Placing it in Hollywood, with fame and paparazzi, just adds to the drama- all for the better.

Something I loved in Truly Madly Famously that Famous in Love was lacking was characters other than Jordan, Paige and Rainer. The addition of Alexis was a great move because it gave Paige someone to help guide her through Hollywood and a friend who gets what she’s going through. Anther thing I really liked about Alexis, was that she had known Rainer and Jordan, long before the story started. It helped give more depth to their characters.

There was so much character growth in Truly Madly Famously. I really enjoyed these characters figure out what they want and what they should do about it. In that process, they learned so much about themselves and the world around them. I really do love all these characters and I want to see them be happy.

When I was reading Truly Madly Famously I thought there was going to be a third one, up until the last page where it seem to end with no loose ends. I was happy with the ending. But when I was playing around on Goodreads, I  saw this:

PLEASE LET IT BE TRUE! I’ve really come to love Paige, Rainer, Jordan and Alexis. I would absolutely love to get another story with them. Also, while I was playing around on Goodreads (or procrastinating on doing my homework is a better term) I found out that there’s a novella e-book of Locked the novel turned movie franchise that Paige is starring in. I can’t wait to read it.

Reading the sequel, has made me even more excited for the TV Show adaptation of Famous in Love. I have no idea when it’s going to air or if its even in production but I’m really looking forward to it.

I gave Truly Madly Famously 4/5 stars. I’ve really enjoyed reading this duo and I’ve really come to love Rebecca Serle’s writing style. It won’t be long before I pick up one of her other books. Her book, The Edge of Falling looks amazing!

Have you read Truly Madly Famously or any of Rebecca Serle’s books? Share your thoughts with me!

Much Love,

Kate