Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is a young adult fiction novel featuring the main character, Samantha McAllister. Samantha “Sam” is part of the popular girls’ group at her high school, dressing in fancy, cute outfits, eating the right types of lunches, and having crushes on the cutest and popular guys in the school. She has to do all this, or else, her “best friends” will turn toxic and exclude her from their group.
TW: This book contains mentions of suicide attempts and a murder by stabbing (off page).
This was a sweet, heartwarming story about the highs and lows of familial connections, tradition, friendship, and you know what? It’s just about connections in general. Not only that, this book manages to keep it real with us this entire time and still be light-hearted and heartwarming.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an apocalyptic dystopian novel, McCarty is able to present a bleak and death-ridden world like no other that uses vivid imagery and extensive world-building to create a real sense of hopelessness. A father and son travel across the desolate world following the road seeking a warmer climate facing the “bad people’ along the way with close calls and showing the true horrors of the wasteland, cannibals, marauders, and a constant struggle for supplies and safety.
The Selection is the perfect dystopian book if you love high society and competition. If you're looking for an easy read this is it. This book follows the main character American Singer and her journey competing for the crown. Although the names in this book might not be creative the plot pulls you in making you want to read more. By the end of the first book in this trilogy I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the second book.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, is a murder mystery-love novel that takes place in the marshes of North Carolina. The life of the protagonist Kya known as the marsh girl is on display showing her rough upbringing as her family leaves her and her father abuses her as she hides within the confines of the swamp. She meets Tate, they fall in love but Tate leaves for collage and doesn't come back then Kya meets Chase, the star of the small town but then Tate returns.
Normal People is a young adult novel written by New York Times award-winning author Sally Rooney. It explores two protagonist Connell and Marianne, and we are introduced into their world and how they collide. It’s a complex exploration of young love, social dynamic, and finding one’s identity. Rooney’s writing is raw and honest, ensuring the feeling of teenage innocence with every page you turn. The characters in this novel feel so incredibly real, flawed, yet relatable.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a film adaptation of the novel written by Suzanne Collins. The plot of this film follows the rise of Coriolanus Snow, the ruthless president in The Hunger Games series that is set to take place around 65 years after the plot of this film. Coriolanus lives in the Capitol and is graduating during the time of the tenth Hunger Games.
1984 is a dystopian novel about what life is like in Oceania with the totalitarian government watching over every citizens’ move. The main character, Winston, struggles with the concept of freedom since citizens are not allowed to have thoughts, or do what they want. The book explores how Winston tries to go about rebelling against the totalitarian rules. I would highly recommend that everyone reads this book. It exposes a world of fear and the unknown, and how characters live a life in a situation like this.
The book tells a story about a twelve-year-old girl named Willow Chance. She has a unique personality, finding interest in things such as nature and medical diagnoses, as well as an obsession with counting by 7s. Willow struggled with making connections with others around her age due to her unique personality, and the book gives an inspiring message on the importance of resilience. This book is one that has stuck with me for a long time. Willow’s story and the hardship she faced was inspiring to read about, and the book has taught me a lot about never giving up.
The Social Network is a movie that goes on a step by step journey of the creation of Facebook through the eyes of Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. The plot accelerates through flashbacks of their time as Harvard students with the intermingling of the present day lawsuit happening over dividing up the shares of Facebook. I found this movie extremely captivating, as I never truly understood how a platform as big as Facebook came to life and what the motives were behind the creation of it.
