Book Review: Love is the Higher Law

Book: Love is the Higher Law
Author: David Levithan
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction (YA)
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 176
Favorite Character: Claire? Or Jasper... It's hard to pick one.

Plot(From Goodreads):
First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . .

The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever

Review:
I came so close to just sobbing while reading because it's just so raw and pure. And the characters are so real and how the react to everything is also so very real. It's my first book by David Levithan that is just by him and I really did enjoy it. I think I did so much because of the character, because it's all about them and they're so good. Just plainly good. I'm going to stop gushing about the characters.

I, also, was very young when 9/11 occurred, but I also live very close to New York City. But I wasn't there so to hear first story accounts, even ones from characters in a book, is just so... thralling and heart wrenching. But also amazing. I'd recommend this to pretty much everyone. It's not a long read and it's just a good read.

And I say that as someone who normally does read contemporary, who loves a good wizard or faerie or any kind of supernatural element in a book. So enjoy and I am really hoping to read more of David's books in the future.

Book Review: Tempest

Book: Tempest (Tempest #1)
Author: Julie Cross
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Romance (YA)
Rating: 5/5
Page count: 334 (Hardcover)
Favorite character: Jackson.

Plot(from Goodreads):
The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun. That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him. Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.


Review:
This wasn't a book that I sat down and read straight through, but I feel like I liked it better because I could draw it out. I don't think I would of liked it so much if I had just focused all of my attention on it for 2-3 hours and then it was over. So, if you feel like putting it down while you're reading it, go ahead, but you won't be able to stay away for very long. I wasn't.

I think it was because how interesting the plot was, and it was interesting, and how much I just liked these characters. These were characters I would like to sit down and just talk to because I feel like they're so well rounded. I mean, I've read good characters, but it was something more to see with the time travel thing as well.

Overall, I'd heavily suggest this book to pretty much everyone. I mean, not everyone may like it, obviously, but it as a book that after I finished it, I raved about it. A lot, actually. Jackson and Holly are a believable couple, Adam is a believable best friend, and the story kept me guessing which is not something I'm use to. And I loved it.

Event review: Tour de Nerdfighting(Boston)

I would of posted this yesterday, but I didn't get home until about 2. The actually event with John and Hank was fun and funny and just all around awesome, as it always is with a group of nerdfighters at something like that. And the only complaint I have is about how the signing line was done. (Normally, it's by row so people who get their earlier get to go earlier and leave and go home. Not at this event. The numbers were handed out randomly which I guess is kind of a good way, but the reason we go there so early is because the 3 people I was bringing home all had to get up and go to school.)

That's not what this is about, though. I'm going to try and get the videos I took up tomorrow. When they're up there will be a like HERE to the videos. (They'll be on the StoryNotion's YT). At the beginning everyone was so high energy and people were trying, and kind of succeeding, to do the wave with the books, which did look pretty cool. And then the event actually started. I'm not going to tell you what they did, because (1) you will see it in the videos I post and (2) if you're going I don't want to spoil it for you and (3) I wouldn't do it justice trying to explain all that happened and how amazing/awesome/funny it was.

However, meeting John and talking to him, and Hank and Katherine, is always an amazing experience. By the time we actually got to them, however, I was ready to curl up in a ball and fall asleep right there. I was tired and bored, really. I couldn't focus enough to read and we waited about 2 hours, i think, to get our stuff signed. It was crazy, but it was overall worth it and, really, I wouldn't change it. Although, the part where I slipped on someone's scarf and bruised my leg on the chairs, I might change. It hurts to even touch. (Lesson: beware chairs. And scarfs.)

I haven't had time to read The Fault in Our Stars yet. (I know, I know.) Anyway, I'm sorry about how bad we both are at posting on time lately, especially me on Saturday, I just completely forgot. And I meant to post this yesterday, because I thought we'd get back at like 10 at the latest, but obviously that didn't happen.

Now, even thought I had a complaint, it was really only one, and if you can go to one of the stops near you, I couldn't reccomend to just go enough. It's amazing and fun and just... it won't be something you forget. Probably ever. And now, have some photos(I only took like 3 at the event, I mostly took video):

Hank singing.

A closer picture of Hank singing.

My book signed, Hanklerfished*, and signed by The Katherine. :D (I also got my little program signed and the poster.)

*If this isn't already a word, it is now. :) (Cause he didn't sign it, really!)

A John Green Story

Happy John Green Week!

But to be honest with you I am not entirely in the mood to review a book right now so you are getting a story. Is that okay? I really do not know what I am supposed to be doing but ya I thought a story would be nice.

So. This story starts on April 11th, 2010. I am sitting at home, doing nothing. Probably reading, when Casey tweets me saying that John Green is having a book signing for his new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It is in Connecticut (if I remember correctly) and it started in like 5 hours. The drive was at least 4 hours so i got ready and before I knew it Casey and her mother picked me up and we were on our way to Connecticut. I had not read Will Grayson, Will Grayson yet so Ostarted to read it on the way there. I had almost finished once we had gotten there. We were there just in time and we ran in and got three seats closest to the back. This was before it really set in. I was meeting John Green. The John Green. I was also meeting Maureen Johnson and David Levithan. They started off by introducing eachother and talking about the book. That is when I realized it was real. They acted out scenes and we yelled out nerdfighter jokes that David did not understand. It was amazing.

This was my first book signing so I really didn't know how it worked. Soon enough though i had a copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson in my arms with a sticky note that said my name on it. Then we were hearded like cattle into a long line. This was also before i knew they would sign any books you brought.... my lose. But soon i was so close to John Green. This was actually when i met Esther Earl. I did not know it was Esther at the time but she was helping with the line and we talked for only a brief couple seconds and I regret now not talking to her for longer. Then my book was handed to John Green... I was at a loss for words. The only thing that would come out of my mouth was, "Hi. I love your books. DFTBA." I was about to be moved over to David when i asked, "How is Henry?" He smiled and he responded, "Henry is great. I actually just talked to him and when i mean talk the yeti held the phone out to him and he gurgled." I said thanks and was moved onto David. I did not know much about David so i told him i loved Norah and the infinate playlist. And the next question i don't know why i asked but i asked,"So David are you jealous of John's Puff." John chuckled and David had a confused face and John said, "My hair. How puffy it is." David then laughed, "Yes. I wish my hair was that puffy." I said goodbye to both of them.

Next i met Maureen, she was having a secret signing in the corner of the room, as Maureen does. I asked her why she was wearing pants and we had quite a funny conversation i am sure but i do not remember it much. But the next thing i remember was we were back in our chairs when someone came over and handed me an Iphone, "Is this yours?" They asked and I just laughed and yelled, "MAUREEN!" She spun around and gasped. "You saved him!" She then proceeded to stroke her iphone like a baby and called me a hero. Then Casey and I left. All I rememeber from the ride home was we just kept saying over and over, "WE MET JOHN GREEN. JOHN GREEN. WE MET HIM." One of the best days of my life for sure, not including Leakycon and Vidcon obviously.

Well i know that was different then what we usually post but like i said i just was not in the mood to write a review. So i hope you liked my story. I probably forgot a million things that Casey will point out to me later but that was how the experience stuck in my head. Well Casey and I will be at the MA Signing for John's NEW book the Fault in our Stars this on Tuesday! So if you will be there just comment! Can't Wait!

BYEE

-- Haley

My Favorite John Green Quotes

I love quotes and I kind of collect them. From silly to inspirational or sad, I've got a fair amount of them saved on Goodreads or in my quote notebook, as I call it. However, I do believe I have more by John Green then maybe any other writer. (Probably only rivaled by the amount I love from Cassandra Clare.) NOw, these aren't really going to be in any particular order, but I'll try and put them in such. They're all different kinds of quotes, though, so we'll see. Some will be deep and insightful, however, some will also just be funny. I hope you enjoy.

From books: (I'm just going to say: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

1. "Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia." (From Looking for Alaska)

2. "Book are the ultimate Dumpees; put them down and they'll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back. (An Abundance of Katherines)

3. "What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person."

4. "So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." (Looking for Alaska)

5. "It always shocked me when I realized that I wasn’t the only person in the world who thought and felt such strange and awful things." (Looking for Alaska)

6. “Thomas Edison's last words were 'It's very beautiful over there'. I don't know where there is, but I believe it's somewhere, and I hope it's beautiful.”

From VlogBrother's videos:

1. "Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself." (Vlogbrothers video)

2. "You can love someone so much...But you can never love people as much as you can miss them." (I'm not sure if this is from a VlogBrother's video, but it's not very spoiler-y, anyway.)

3. "The venn diagram of boys who don't like smart girls and boys you don't want to date is a circle." "Vlogbrothers video)

4. “…because nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.”

5. “Lucky Charms are like the vampires of breakfast cereal. They're magical, they're delicious, they're a little bit dangerous and bad for you. They initially make you feel great, but then over time you realize that maybe your relationship with Lucky Charms is just a little bit unhealthy and you start to think, 'Maybe I don't want to be in a long-term relationship with a breakfast cereal that tastes delicious but damages my health.' But then the Lucky Charms gets all stalker on you and for some reason you kind of like that. It makes you feel special. So yeah, you spend your life with Lucky Charms. That's awesome. That's a great way to... get diabetes.”

And, lastly, we have:

6. “Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting.”

I hope you enjoyed the above quotes. However, this week is John Green week, being hosted by IEatWords (with the help of others), so we're going to try and post something everyday. Maybe not every single day, but almost.

Best wishes!

Book Review: Evermore

Book: Evermore
Author: Alyson Noel
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance (YA)
Rating: 4/5
Page Count: 306 (Paperback)
Favorite character: Ever, I guess. None of them really stuck out to me.

Plot: (From Goodreads)
After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact and suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school-but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic, and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head-wielding a magic so intense, it's as though he can peer into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea who he really is-or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

Review:
I wasn't sure going into the book, because it sounded like so many other YA books out there. And while it does kind of feel like that at the beginning, I loved how it changed from the normal pace of things. And for some reason I had this preconceived notion that this book was about vampires, but it's not. (I don't know why I thought this, but I was so relieved it wasn't.) Anyway, I enjoyed the pacing and the plot and the way the aura's of people are described.

Also, anything with past lives is something that makes me interested in what could come of it because there are so much stuff. I'm not going to spoil anything by going about that further, but I'd recommend this book to a lot of people. It's not a fun and fluff book, though, she's not a very happy person for most of the book with the sensing auras and hearing thoughts and other things. But, overall, I really did enjoy this book and I really didn't think I would.

If you've read this book: tell me what you thought of it. And if you haven't, what's one of the favorite book you've read this year? (Or just recently if it's too hard to choose, I know I have problems choosing.)

Darker Still

Book: Darker Still

Author: Leanna Renee Hieber

Genre: YA Romance/SiFi

Rating: A+

Plot Summary:

The picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. New York City, 1882. Seventeen year old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of a handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like daze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that the details in the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the guilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

( From Goodreads )

Review:

Yes before you say anything I realize Casey has already reviewed this book but 1. this book was too amazing not to review and 2. I haven't really finished any books since i last posted... but that is besides the point. This book was just entrancing, it was impossible to put down. This book kept you on the edge the whole way through with the Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde element of the plot. Then there is the fact that the heroine, Natalie, is unable to speak so the story is told through a diary she keeps.

Now how do I start to explain Lord Denbury, he is handsome, a gentleman, everything a girl would want in a man. So obviously I fell in love with him alone with Natalie. I have always loved Victorian novels but Leanna's Darker Still is now number one on my list to recommend to people. The characters are believable and I found myself really caring for Natalie. The mystery part of the novel was amazing, I loved how the clues and results unraveled with Denbury's possessed body.

Where YA novels are now all about vampires and werewolves Leanna Renee Hieber brought in something new and exciting. I am a fan of her other novels and this story did not disappoint. The end of this book was not a cliffhanger but it gave enough information for me to really want to read the sequel. Have you read Darker Still yet? If you have leave a comment! And if you have not... well what are you waiting for??

-- Haley <3

p.s. YES. I realize this post is late yet again. I kind of suck at these schedule things.