Book Review- Bad Taste in Boys

I finished reading Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris for a Teen Book Scene review.

From Goodreads:

Someone's been a very bad zombie.

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town . . . and stay hormonally human.
 
The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking that it read like one of those teeny-bopper horror movies.  Which sounds bad, but the thing is, I LIKE those teeny bopper movies!
 
Kate is a butt-kicking character with good morals--I liked that!  And I liked the fact that she had such strong goals for her future and didn't question who she was and what she liked.  And the secondary characters were good too (Rocky, Kiki, Jonah, Aaron) but I would have liked to know more about them.
 
I don't really have too much to say other than it was a light, quick read with a horror theme.  Definitely a fun story.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 20
2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 18
2011 Debut Author Challenge: 6
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 16
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Teen Book Scene.

Book Review- Between

I just finished reading Between by Jessica Warman for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Elizabeth Valchar--pretty, popular, and rich--wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday on the yacht where she'd been celebrating with her closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, she finds her own drowned body is hitting the side of the boat. Liz is dead.

She has no memory of what happened to her, and can only observe in horror the fallout of her death. She's also soon joined by Alex Berg, a quiet boy from her high school who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The two keep each other company, floating in and out of memories and trying to piece together the details of what happened to each of them.

In her regular life, Liz was a runner. It wasn't abnormal for her to run 8-10 miles per day. But as memories from closer to her death begin to surface, Liz finds that she'd been running much more than normal, and that she'd all but stopped eating. Liz's mother, who died when Liz was nine, had battled with anorexia as well, and those around her worried Liz was following in her mother's footsteps. But something more sinister was consuming Liz from the inside out. . . .

From critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman comes a shocking mystery, a heartbreaking character study, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go.

Between was such an intriguing story.  I wanted to find out what happened to Liz--who killed her and why.  I had a guess at who it was right from the beginning, and I was right in my guess and I was right as to why the murderer did it.  But all of the other details of Liz's life leading up to her death had me shocked.

Liz is a girl we all love to hate.  She was popular and beautiful.  And she was mean.  She was spoiled and acted like it.  So while I hated her character, I didn't hate that I hated her if that makes sense.  It was a good kind of hate--she didn't get on my nerves.  And Richie.  If it wasn't for the drug aspect, he would definitely be my kind of guy.  I loved their love story.  A couple since they were toddlers--too cute!  And so genuine.  Whenever Liz talked about Richie, you could just imagine the love she had for him.

This book definitely kept my interest.  I hated having to put the book down because I wanted to find out just what happened!

I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

Between will be released on August 2, 2011.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 57
2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 47
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 44

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

Waiting on Wednesday- July 13, 2011

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Lola and the Boy Next Door
by Stephanie Perkins
Publication Release Date: September 29, 2011

From Stephanie Perkins' website:

In this companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss, two teens discover that true love may be closer than they think.

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Book Review- Shut Out

Early this morning I finished reading Shut Out by Kody Keplinger for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.

Inspired by Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality.
 
It took me a while to get into this book.  Simply because the main character, Lissa, got on my nerves.  She was totally bitchy the whole time.  I get that she is OCD and a control freak.  But guess what?  So am I.  But hers went above and beyond that.  She was bossy and often times just plain mean.  You can be OCD without being rude about it.  Once I got past just how much I disliked her, I got into the story.
 
I really liked Cash.  What a sweet guy.  I liked how he was a jock, yet had a soft side.  And I loved how he was working, just to help his parents pay bills.  And he was well-read!  My kind of guy! 
 
The plot was pretty good, as was the underlying message about how there's not really "normal" when it comes to sex and everyone is unique in their own way and thoughts of sex.  I liked how Chloe embraced her sexuality and wasn't afraid of it while Mary wasn't too afraid of her virgin status.  I think this would be an important read for teens.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3/5.
 
Shut Out will be released on September 5, 2011.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 56
2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 46
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 43
2011 YA Contemporary Challenge: 8
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

Mailbox Monday- July 11, 2011

Mailbox Monday: Here's what came in my mailbox this week


TUESDAY

Shut Out- Kody Keplinger--review for an Around the World Tour

Touch of Frost- Jennifer Estep--review for a Teen Book Scene tour

FRIDAY

Heist Soceity- Ally Carter--for review from publisher

Smokin’ Seventeen- Janet Evanovich--for review from publisher

SATURDAY

My Fair Lazy- Jen Lancaster--PaperbackSwap

Between- Jessica Warman--review for an Around the World Tour

The Sunday Salon- July 10, 2011

The Sunday Salon

This past week I went with one of my friends to our condo in Hilton Head.  It was nice to relax with my parents and brother after the craziness of the wedding.  Usually I do a ton of reading on this yearly trip, but since my friend doesn't like to read (gasp!) I didn't get much done.

And the two books that I did read aren't being posted until the fall, so I don't have anything to put up here!

The Teen Book Scene: Guest Blog: Carrie Harris

I am honored to host Carrie Harris, author of Bad Taste in Boys, on my blog today as part of a Teen Book Scene Blog Tour.  I got the chance to ask Carrie what she does when she's not writing.

Before I sold my book, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about what it would be like to be an author. (Admittedly, if I’d spent less time daydreaming and more time WRITING, I might have found out a lot sooner.) Would people actually want my autograph? Would anyone ever recognize me out in public? Would anything change? Were the rumors true, and did my book deal come with a free sparkly vampiric pool boy?

Sadly, it didn’t. But I’m holding out hope that he might arrive when book 2 hits the shelves.

But really, my life is pretty much the same as it was before. People have asked for my autograph, which is surreal, especially when you open up the cover and realize you have no idea what to write. I think I signed my first book, “May the brains be with you—Carrie Harris,” because I figure you can’t go wrong with a zombie Star Wars reference, and I’m hoping someone will take the hint and give me a lightsaber. People ask me to do interviews and give them writing advice, and that’s pretty surreal. In real life, I’m the kind of girl who you hunt down when you want to know random bits of useless medical trivia or need a name for your new zombie penguin. I’m not the girl you go to when you need to know something, you know, useful.

See, when I’m not writing or doing something related to writerdom, you can find me doing the same things I’ve always done. Usually, that means something that solidifies my geek cred. Yes, I parent and clean the house and things like that, but I also spend way too much time searching for the perfect zombie wallet. (Found it—and it turned out to be my Mother’s Day present.) I crochet ninjas. I make baked goods in the shape of supernatural beasties. I like to swim, which sounds comparatively normal until you realize that I’m in the habit of impersonating merpires when I do so.

A merpire = a vampire + a merperson. They drag their baby pools into your bedroom to watch you sleep. So if you hear a sloshing sound coming from your carpet in the middle of the night, you’ll be prepared.

And then, after a long day of baking cupcakes shaped like skulls and swimming back and forth in the pool yelling, “SLOSH SLOSH SPARKLE SPARKLE,” I go back to my computer, where someone has emailed me to ask for writing advice. I guess the best thing I can tell you is to be yourself. Because it CAN happen, even if you’re a monster-obsessed crazy person.

Trust me. I know these things. Anybody want a cupcake?

Carrie, you seriously crack me up!  And yes, I'd love a cupcake!

Mailbox Monday- July 4, 2011

Mailbox Monday: Here's what came in my mailbox this week


WEDNESDAY

My Way to Hell (Hell #2)- Dakota Cassidy--PaperbackSwap

Tout Sweet- Karen Wheeler--from publisher for review

SATURDAY

It’s Not Me, It’s You- Stefanie Wilder-Taylor--PaperbackSwap

Meridian- Amber Kizer--PaperbackSwap

Eternity (Fallen Angel #2)- Heather Terrell--review for Teen Book Scene

Frost (Stork #2)- Wendy Delsol--review for Teen Book Scene

Then Came You- Jennifer Weiner--for review from publisher

Discord’s Apple- Carrie Vaughn--PaperbackSwap

The Faerie Ring- Kiki Hamilton--review for Teen Book Scene

The Sunday Salon- July 2, 2011

The Sunday Salon

So this past week Kory and I went on our honeymoon.  We took a cruise to Cozumel, Isla Roatan, Belize, and we were supposed to go to Costa Maya but thanks to the tropical depression, we couldn't dock and had to have another fun day at sea.  It was sooo much fun!  We swam with dolphins, zip-lined, went caving where we zip lined, rapelled down cliffs, and walked across rope bridges.  We also played blackjack, drank fun drinks, ate waaaay too much food, won bingo, made some great new friends, and just had an awesome time.  I didn't want to come back!  Luckily, I don't start teaching again until the middle of August but Kory has to go back to work on Tuesday.

I finished and reviewed the following books the past 2 weeks:

The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

If I Die by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent

 Reaper by Rachel Vincent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I fulfilled items in the following challenges the past 2 weeks:

2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 

2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 41, 42, 43

2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 36, 37, 38, 39, 40

2011 YA Contemporary Challenge: 7

2011 A to Z Challenge: V

I am currently reading Frost by Wendy Delsol and up next is The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton.

Book Review- Reaper

After reading a first book on the Nook, I was hooked and quickly read Reaper by Rachel Vincent.

From Goodreads:

Tod Hudson was a typical teenager. He liked girls, sports, food and tolerated his younger brother, Nash. In fact, he had his whole life in front of him--and due to his bean sidhe heritage, it was going to be a very long life indeed. And then the car accident occurred.

Suddenly Tod's future wasn't so sure, and he had to make a choice. Life... Death... or something Between....

An ebook exclusive Soul Screamers series novella.

Once again, since this was an ebook, I didn't get around to reading it now.  And again, it tied in nicely with the fifth book in the series, If I Die.  In this fifth book, we found out what happened to Tod, briefly.  This novella really went into detail about the night he died and just how he became a reaper. And I liked the little tie in where he first sees Kaylee, but they don't know about each other yet.  After reading this novella and the fifth book, I am liking Tod more and more!  (Side note...I'm not a fan of the cover I'm seeing online.  The male model on the cover looks too young to me)

I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 53
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 40

*FTC Disclosure: I paid for and downloaded this e-book to read for my personal enjoyment.