Novel Review: Golden by Jessi Kirby

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: 2013

Spoilers?: No.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.

Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.

Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

The Cover:

I really like this cover. I think it's pretty and simple, but eye-catching. I think it represents the book in a good light.

Review:

I can tell why so many love this book. It’s definitely her best yet, and now I can really see the comparison to Sarah Dessen; I felt it in this book.

Parker has always been the good girl, too afraid to do anything to cause trouble, always trying to keep her mother happy, to be a good student. And yet when she finds a journal from a dead girl at her school, a well-known classmate who died with her long boyfriend several years ago, Parker starts taking some risks. It forces her to look at her own life in a new way, see what she really wants and who she really is.

While I didn’t relate to Parker personally, I did understand her, and I liked the journey she took. I really liked the chances she took, and how honest she finally was with herself and her mother. It was what she needed.

The romance was definitely more in the background to the character development of Parker, but I did like it. Trevor was a fun guy, and I was happy when Parker finally was honest with him and went after her feelings.

Overall a really enjoyable book, and I was really happy with the ending for all of the characters. I look forward to reading her next one, as she has really gotten better with each book.

Wishlist Thursday[161]: You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: June 7, 2016

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour, the award-winning author of Hold Still and The Disenchantments, and David Levithan, the best-selling author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

Why?:

Pretty much anytime David Levithan releases a new book I’m intrigued, and that’s doubly so when it’s a collab book. I haven’t read anything by LaCour yet, but I do have one of her books. And I love the cover.

Special Mention:

What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle out on June 7, 2016—I really enjoyed her previous book, so of course I’m excited for this one. I’m not too sure what it’s about, and I don’t love the cover, but I’m still really looking forward to it.

What’s on your list?

Manga Review: A Silent Voice, Volume 5, by Yoshitoki Oima

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: January 2016

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: Light.

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

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Years ago, Shoya Ishida led his peers in tormenting a hearing-impaired classmate, Shoko Nishimiya. When she transfers schools, Shoya finds he has gone from bully to bullied, and is left completely alone. Now Shoya struggles to redeem himself in Shoko's eyes and to face the classmates who turned on him. He learns sign language to apologise to Shoko for his behaviour, and so begins a relationship that will change his and Shoko's lives forever.

Review:

My god, this series!

Shoya’s past is fully revealed in this volume. The friendships he was slowly starting to form with his classmates, and the ones he had with the others, blow up in his face. Old hurts are shouted at each other, betrayals, and blaming. It’s pretty bad. And to say that Shoya handles it badly would be putting it lightly. He doesn’t.

I will say I’m surprised by Satoshi. He didn’t stand out much in the previous book, but he has a pretty strong personality, and he has a contrasting point of view to bullying as Shoya does.

After that, Shoya is left alone, with only Shoko at his side. She’s confused by what happened, but ultimately feels terrible, taking the blame on herself. Shoya is just sulking and being a depressing mope about it.

And all of this leads up to the ending. It’s horrible. It’s a terrible turn of events, and I can’t believe this is where they’re ending it. Ugh.

I need to read the next one immediately.

Teaser Tuesday[203]: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1) by Ransom Riggs

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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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1) by Ransom Riggs

Genre: YA Paranormal

Publisher: Quirk Books

Release Date: 2011

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Excerpt:

“And yet, standing there in dusty half-light in that dead house that seemed so alive with ghosts, I thought, maybe…” (Paperback, pg. 120)

What are you reading right now?