Wishlist Thursday[123]: Violent Ends by Various Authors

Violent Ends by Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal Shusterman, Brendan Shusterman, Beth Revis, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Courtney Summers, Kendare Blake, Delilah S. Dawson, Steve Brezenoff, Tom Leveen, Hannah Moskowitz, Blythe Woolston, Trish Doller, Mindi Scott, Margie Gelbwasser, Christine Johnson, E. M. Kokie, and Elisa Nader

Genre: Realistic YA

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Release Date: September 1, 2015

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

It took only twenty-two minutes for Kirby Matheson to exit his car, march onto school grounds, enter the gymnasium, and open fire, killing six and injuring five others.

But this isn't a story about the shooting itself. This isn't about recounting that one unforgettable day.

This is about Kirby and how one boy—who had friends, enjoyed reading, played saxophone in the band, and had never been in trouble before—became a monster capable of entering his school with a loaded gun and firing on his classmates.

Each chapter is told from a different victim's viewpoint, giving insight into who Kirby was and who he'd become. Some are sweet, some are dark; some are seemingly unrelated, about fights or first kisses or late-night parties.

This is a book of perspectives—with one character and one event drawing them all together—from the minds of some of YA's most recognizable names.

Why?:

School shootings seem to be a popular topic lately, which I can understand why. And I like what this anthology is showing, with so many points of view and a different time-frame. There are a lot of authors on this list that I like, too. I’m intrigued for this book.

What’s on your list?

Novel Review: Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Contemporary (Romance)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse)

Publish Date: October 2nd, 2012

Spoilers?: Minor/Vague.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.

But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an everygirl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.

Something Specific:

Quotes!:

•  "Whenever Mom and Tony talk about What's on Boys' Minds, I want to scream." (Hardback, pg. 25) YES. I feel this way All. The. Time.
• "'Please,' Jacob says, with a wave of his hand. 'I'm the jump freakin' master.'" (Hardback, pg. 82) Does anyone else get the reference that I made with this quote? Please?
• "'You're not acting like yourself at all.' 'Maybe this is my real self and no one noticed before.'" (Hardback, pg. 273) I've thought about things like this so much...

Review:

I really wanted to love this book. And I did like it a lot. But the ending kind of ruined everything for me.

Coley is having problems. Her home life isn’t very good at the moment, and she’s trying to hide that behind a very chipper attitude. Her mom married someone else and had three kids, which makes her feel like an extra, unneeded. Her brother feels the same way, but he’s been away at college. Only, now he’s back, and while he and Coley have always been close, that’s not particularly a good thing.

At school, Coley has lots of friends, gets along with everyone. Except her ex-best friend, who she’s not speaking to anymore. She’s gotten closer with a different girl, Ming, as well as a boy at school, Reece. Then there’s Noah, a boy she’s known most of her life, who everything think she’s going out with, when she’s not.

(Also, throughout the story, there's this reference to a very popular movie/book series, which makes a lot of sense once you find out what the big problem Coley has is. It made sense to me because I've never read the books or seen the movies, but for someone who has (or is just faster than me), they'll probably catch the meaning much faster than I did. And, while I liked that a bit, I also think maybe it was a bit too obvious, given how often the movies are talked about. Just wanted to mention that before I really get into my opinion.)

I liked Coley. I liked how she tried hiding everything behind a smile, but I do tend to find those characters interesting—and there just isn’t enough of them out there. I like most of the characters, actually. Ming seemed nice and interesting, and her ex-best friend, Alejandra, seemed interesting near the end of the book. I really like Noah, he’s very sweet. And I also really liked Reece. I even liked Coley’s step-siblings.

My biggest problem is the ending. The ending just kind of ruined everything for me, as I said, and I’m not happy about it. If it hadn’t been for the rest of the book, and I was only rating on the ending, this book would have only gotten two stars. Because I didn’t like it. I was even mad at it. Like, I wanted to throw the book across the room, and would have, were I the kind of person who did that.

I’ve read other books that ended like this one did. It’s a common ending, and while I would usually like more to the story, sometimes it even fits. This one, didn’t.

Usually when it ends like this, the reader is left feeling like everything is going to be okay, like the main character, and everyone around her, is going to find out the truth and deal with it, and that they are ready to deal with it. It’ll be hard, but they will be okay and are capable. I didn’t feel like that with this one.

In this book, it felt like the rest of the story still needed told. It felt like things were just getting started when the book ended. I mean, I do want more story, I would like to read how things fall apart and come together after this, but I also feel very unsatisfied, and like the story isn’t finished. There’s more to it, and I feel like I should get to read what that is.

I mean, I want to read her parents reactions to what happened, and I feel like there were several hints within the book that would lead to the readers' seeing how they reacted, that deserve coming to a head. I don’t feel like what’s going to happen next with Coley and Reece is settled in any way, and I feel that should be told. Also, Noah’s reaction to finding out. And how her brother is going to react, which will surely be bad.

I’m just… I’m really unsatisfied and upset and angry, and I feel like there should be more. I want a sequel, very badly, and I don’t think there’s going to be one. I want there to be, I think one deserves to be made, but I don’t think there will be one.

Nonetheless, I am still planning, and looking forward, to whatever Scott releases next.

The Cover:

 I rather like the cover, plus I think the meaning of it fits with what happens in the book.

Teaser Tuesday[43]: Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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This week’s book is!:

Live Through This by Mindi Scott

Genre: YA Contemporary (Romance)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse)

Publish Date: October 2nd, 2012

Buy it here: Amazon (or paperback). Book Depository. Barnes and Noble. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.

But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.

In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an everygirl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.

Excerpt:

“I can’t see anything at first as my pupils adjust, but then I’m startled by the messy hair, red eyes, and tear-streaked cheeks of the mostly naked person blinking back at me in the mirror.” (Hardback, pg. 158)

So, what are you reading right now?

Review: Freefall by Mindi Scott

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): ~3.5

Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)

Goodreads Synopsis:

How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Isaac, alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn't wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.
Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth soon realizes he isn't the only one who needs saving . . .

Review:

I really liked this book. I'm not sure if I'm surprised by how much I did, but I was a little surprised with Seth. He was different than what I expected, and I liked him more for it.

Seth's best friend Isaac has just died, and he's still upset over it, and having a hard time with his family and friends and band and a girl. And while he hides from things more than confronts them, and goes to alcohol when he shouldn't, I still liked him. Most of his flaws I fully understood, and I saw why he did the things he did. He's a bit more adorable than I thought he would be, and he's very much his own person. And I loved reading him talk about Rosetta. That was especially cute.

I really liked Rosetta, and Seth's relationship with her is very nice. They're very similar, and are dealing with almost the same thing, and so they lean on each other and work together, instead of her or him leaning on the other, even if sometimes it didn't really seem like it. And I liked her on her own. She has her faults, and she does something stupid, but still. We don't get to see her unless she's with Seth, because the book's written in his point of view, but I would have liked reading from hers. I liked her that much, and at several points in the book, I would have liked knowing what was going through her mind, and what she thought was going through Seth's.

He's also in a band with his brother and their friends. His friends seem okay, and Daniel is interesting, but I wasn't too big a fan of them. He later joins a different one, (cause some stuff happens,) and I liked them much more. They were just more my type of people, though. And I liked Seth's mother. She was very sweet and fun, even if we don't see a lot of her. I also would have been interested in seeing some of Isaac. Memories, or something. They talk about him quite a bit, and Seth thinks about him, but when the book starts, he's already dead. And with how everyone talked about him, I wouldn't have minded reading scenes with him still around.

As I already said, the books written from Seth's point of view, and it's written each chapter a new day, with time stamps between scenes. I liked how it was done, as it gave a break between some things, and a new start for Seth's thoughts. It in a diary like sequence, only Seth wasn't written with diary like thoughts. It was really well done, though, and I liked it.

Most of the book was focused on Seth. And he moves past some things, and finally talks to some people by the end of the book. But I kind of feel like a lot didn't happen. And yet it kind of did, at the same time? Whatever. And the rating isn't higher because I don't feel that it deserves a higher one. It was really good and I really want to read Scott's next one, but I wouldn't call it amazing. But again, whatever. The book was really good, and I liked it, and you should go read it.