This modern take on a centuries-old story is a delightful mixture of light-heartedness and surprisingly insightful commentary that leaves an unexpected mark on the reader. There is both humor and sweet romance that electrifies the fast-paced plot. The witty personalities of Izzy and Tristan against the Brooklyn setting provide interesting insight on the difficulties of teenage years, especially when love is involved. The addition of third narrator, Brianna, brought a refreshing outsider's view to the love story that sets this novel apart from its genre.
Ariel Stone is the epitome of a perfect student: he takes AP classes, volunteers, and plays first chair in the school orchestra. However, when his classes start to push him past his breaking point, he finds that sacrificing his health and relationships isn't giving him the same satisfaction and results it once did.
When teenager Rhett dies, he becomes a skelletor on the Harbinger, which is a ship that collects souls when people die. Suddenly, a demon appears and wants some special power that Rhett seems to have. What could it be? How will Rhett and his new friends stop her? Or can they even?
This book is about a girl named Adele who can see the dead. She's diagnosed as a schizophrenic and given pills to stop her "hallucinations", but one day, she misses a dose, realizes how alive she felt, and started flushing her pills. However, she sees the ghost of a former best friend who was murdered, and winds up being the prime suspect.
Kiss Number 8 tells us about all of the kisses that Mads (the main character) has had so far in her life. The book leads up to her kiss number eight. After that, the book continues to tell us how her life dramatically changed after kiss number eight. The most compelling aspect was how after she kissed one of her good friends that was a girl, and all her friends suddenly stopped hanging around her. I was never disappointed, and I thought this book was very good at connecting with teens.
Although this book was a sequel, it draws readers in even more than its predecessor, The Cruel Prince. Characters will be faced with even more difficult decisions, alliances will be formed and broken, all while Black manages to wow the audience with an even more intriguing world than before. I really enjoyed the cover. It well reflects the tensions in this book with the main characters and the Kingdom of the Sea, and between Cardan and Jude over the crown.
Lena Wise is your average high school book nerd, just coasting through life until college, always looking for tomorrow to be better. Though she faces some complications in life with her dad, and beside the fact that she is in love with her best friend, Lena's life is pretty normal. That is until tragedy strikes and Lena begins to realize that for some people, there is no tomorrow.
The most compelling part of this book was the way it approaches teen drinking and survivors guilt. I was happy with the ending and the way all of the events progressed.
Dino's ex-best friend, July, just died. Or so Dino thinks. Dino's family owns a funeral home, and Dino's family tries to make dead people look like they're peacefully resting in their coffin before their burial. Dino is preparing for July's funeral, putting make-up on her, doing the usual, when suddenly, July bolts upright and starts screaming. She's not dead, but she's not quite alive, either. Dino then learns that July's awakening has made it so that nobody, and I mean nobody, is able to die anymore! This compelling, coming-of-age story about friendship will suck readers into it.
Zach Mays is notorious for having the worst luck in Orilly, a small oil town. His father has died and left him and his older brother to care for the family. Zach is lost trying to put his bleak life together until Vanessa, a confident, radiant girl who's planned her whole future, comes into his world.
