Book Review #4: Dollhouse by Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian

 

Pages: 277

Genre: Chick-lit*

Publication Date: 2011

     My Rating: 1.5 /5 stars**

 

*Not the good, Shopie Kinsella, kind of chick lit. More of the bad, horrible-written kind celebrity authors try to write. Think Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy series kind of chick lit.

** Only because some of the story lines were okay-ish, otherwise it would have gotten a 1.

“Nothing is more important to the Romeros than family. Just ask Kamille, Kassidy, and Kyle -- three beautiful, loving, and deeply loyal sisters who are the heart and soul of their family. Their mother has remarried and their new stepfather, a world-famous all-star baseball player, has come complete with two stepsiblings. Life in L.A. is pretty typical for this newly blended clan.
Until the day everything changes.
Overnight, one of the Romero sisters has become famous -- magazine-cover, fashion-icon, headline-making famous! Trailed by paparazzi, invited to every red carpet event, she has set a new standard for Hollywood royalty.
You'd think that all the glitz and glamour would make life a breeze. But as the sisters painfully discover, being a celebrity in L.A.'s gilded dollhouse isn't all it's cracked up to be. Suddenly their problems are much bigger than sharing clothes and discussing crushes. Who knew that having a famous sister would bring up so many issues: jealousy, backstabbing friends, fix-ups, plastic surgery, and paparazzi run-ins, to name just a few. As the sisters deal with their new lives, complete with a televised wedding, crazy nightclub parties, and forbidden stepsibling attraction, there's a huge secret that threatens to break even their tightest family bonds.”
Dollhouse is the Kardashians poor attempt at writing a book. Well this is the worst book I’ve read all year. Sure, the story lines were okay and kind of interesting, at times but the characters were completely, please excuse my language, ass holes! They’re selfish, evil, judge-mental, people. I wanted to punch them in the face. They completely insult their mother and any other woman from reasons such as being old. The only character I really liked was Kyle. She was great, although that girl has a serious porn addiction.
The dialogue and writing style was so bad. This was so poorly written. Too many clichés were used and the dialogue was completely unrealistic. And the vocabulary. I swear, it sounded like a thirteen-year-old preppy girl had written this. “Ohmigod”, “Oh my God”, “totally”, “definitely”, and “cool” were used a crazy amount of times. Here’s an actual sentence taken from the book: “Ohmigod, Kamille!” Kass tried to sit up, but she couldn’t. “You’re here! I’m so happy to see you! Ohmigod!” (Page 272) It’s so frustrating and irritating. I couldn’t take any of the dialogue seriously because of the overuse of those words. And why do they need to call each other “doll” so much! It’s annoying and stupid!
And the funniest thing about this book is in the copyright page where it says how the people in the book are made from the author’s imagination and how any similarity to people dead or alive is a coincidence. I guess that makes sense, since the authors are the Kardashians and they’re probably always thinking about themselves. What I’m trying to say is: this book is just Keeping Up With The Kardashians but written down on paper and with names changed. Like seriously, doesn’t the name Kam sound familiar? *ahem* Kim *ahem*. And there were just some many similarities to their lives. Why didn’t they just write an autobiographical book about themselves instead of this? Oh, wait, they did!  Ugh, it was awful. Just so awful.
Another thing I hated was the end. There were so many unanswered questions (Oh, gosh, no sequel, please! Just no!) and it seemed like all the problems were fixed magically. It’s like “Oh, yeah, I hated you for months, but it’s the end of the book so I’m magically gonna like you again! Yay!” And the confession their mom made at the end. Oh, please, that was just stupid. A stupid, stupid ending. Also, it seemed that Kamilla’s fame came instantly and easily. It’s like she didn’t work for it! It was just easy-peasy! And she fell in love with a guy after knowing him for 5 minutes! WTF? That’s all I can say!
There were some Okay-ish story lines. Like the getting-pregnant-from-sister’s-boyfriend line. But beside that, the book was, excuse my language once again, shit. Or scheisse, like the German say it. The characters were horrible and I hated them all, except for Kyle. They all sounded like friggin` teenage girls, and I’m pretty sure teenage girls don’t even speak like that anymore! UGH, I HATED, HATED, HATED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! If only they would have written it differently, then maybe it would have been good, or good-ish, at least. So what did I get out of this book, you may ask? Well, I got a headache and the pleasure of knowing what big fame-whores the Kardashians are. Adios, muchachos and muchachas. Au revoir!

-MS

 

 

If you’re feeling like you’ve been bad and diserve to be punished or if you want to torture someone, then here’s the link to go buy this piece of mother-flipping scheisse.

My Childhood: High School Musical

So as I was looking through my computer files, I found my High School Musical CDs hidden somewhere deep in my computer. You probably have no idea how happy I was. As I as those CDs I was transported right back into my childhood and my love and obsession for a beautiful, young blonde: Sharpay Evans.

I remember the first time I saw Sharpay. I was dazzled. She was so confident and poised, and sure she was fictional, but she became my role model. I guess you could say that Sharpay is where my blond obsession began. Maybe yes, maybe no. Who knows? Anyway, I loved Sharpay from the first time I saw her. I loved her so much, and my love for her grew when I saw High School Musical 2.
I was living with my cousins around the time HSM2 came out and we all watched it together in the living room. After an hour and a half of movie, we all became obsessed. The months following the premiere of HSM2, my cousins, my brother, and I watched the movie about ten times. We even made re-enactments of the scenes, mainly the “Fabulous” song by Sharpay.
Oh, you don’t know how many times we danced and sang to HSM. It was our obsession. My cousin even was Sharpay for Halloween – two years in a row! We bought endless High School Musical merchandise – books, CDs, blankets, dolls, stickers, notebooks, backpacks, and more! Our house was an endless HSM place! We loved it!
By the time High School Musical 3: Senior Year came out, we were die-hard fans. We were excited and sad for the premiere of HSM3. It was the last HSM movie. The end of our childhood. The end of those three years of happiness. We watched the movie on the day it came out and loved it. We laughed, sang, and cried. Our favorites characters had graduated and moved on to greater and better things.
Oh, we cried and cried. And then we moved on. Somehow, we stopped with the HSM stuff and moved to new things. We cousins grew apart. We pursued new things. We moved to different houses and we never talked like we use to ever again.
And today, about four years after HSM3 came out, here I am. Remembering the pas, listening to the HSM music, tears streaming down my face, tears of happiness. Happiness because recalling those good times I had with my cousins are priceless. Those are the moments that will always be in my heart. HSM was my childhood and it will always be MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE TRILOGY!  There hasn’t been any other movie that has had such an impact on me; that’s showed me that dreams do come true. That if you work hard and believe anything can be possible. There has never been a movie that has showed me the power of friendship and how much it means. I love HSM and I always will!
Me and my cousins don’t talk much, but we’ll always be connected even when we’re old and have kids. We’ll all be connected by the power of High School Musical. We’ll get our kids together and make them obsessed with HSM. We’ll show them how wonderful it is!
Okay, that is all. Good bye, darlings, thanks for reading this and remember, in the words of High School Musical, “we’re all in this together!”

-MS

Book Review #3: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

 Pages: 288

Genre: YA/ Suspense

Publication Date: 2007

     My Rating: 5/5 stars       

                 

 

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

It seems that each time I get my hands on a book by Jay Asher, I finish it in two days or less. I don’t know why, but I’ll take a guess and say that his books are raw and honest. He says thinks just as they are.

A month ago I read The Future of Us and really enjoyed  the book, but it was Thirteen Reasons Why that stole my heart.

Thirteen Reasons Why tells the story of Hannah Baker. A teenage girl who has committed suicide. But before that occurred, Hannah recorded a series of audio tapes in which she explained the thirteen reasons why she decided to kill herself. The main character, Clay, is one of the, but he doesn’t know what he did.

The book takes place over the course of one evening. Clay receives a box full of audio tapes and finds out that he has to listen to the tapes and pass them on to the next person, sort of like a chain letter, and if he doesn’t, another copy of the tapes will be released to the public, which would cause dangerous consequences for the involved. He listens to the tapes as he visits the places Hannah mentions in her tapes and discovers all the reasons why Hannah Baker decided to commit suicide.

As I read the book I felt sorry for Hannah, I related to the things she went through, and even cried a good deal of tears when the book reached its ending. And I because I felt like over the 288 pages of the book I had gotten to know Hannah a lot and had considered myself close to her. I listened to her woes and understood all of them. When the idea of suicide began to pop into her head, I wanted to stop her. To tell her not to go through it. To save her and convince her there was a lot to live for. I cried because I felt empty. I truly felt the lost of Hannah Baker. The author did so well portraying Hannah’s depression. It all felt so genuine. And the “snow ball” effect worked really well.

One of the major themes of this book was bullying. Hannah was bullied in many ways. Rumors were spread about her, people called her names, and they made her feel so lonely, so alone. They all gave her reasons to end it all. To give up. Even when some of the characters thought they were doing no wrong, they somehow contributed to Hannah’s reasons. It really goes to show that we don’t know how much impact our actions have on a person.

I loved every single scene of the book, but there were two that I like a bit better than others. Firstly, there’s the scene where we discover who the last person who caused Hannah’s dead is: her counselor. Hannah has given up in life, and this scene is pretty much her last cry for help. But the counselor didn’t realize then what Hanna was about to do. My other favorite part was the end. Clay had seen this girl, Sky, having a lot of the same symptoms Hannah had had (changing appearance), and at the end of the book he went to talk to her. We don’t really know what happens after this, but I like to think that Clay stopped this girl from committing a huge mistake. Perhaps the same mistake Hannah Baker had made.

I have never felt so connected to a character before. I have never related so well. It’s a weird feeling, really, relating and feeling for a fictional character, and yet it’s also somehow liberating. Even though Hannah might not be real there are teens who feel the same way she did. Helpless, lonely, lost. The cause of those feelings might be many, bullying, a dysfunctional family, or a hurtful rumor. Things that a lot of teens these days go through.

And there was a quote that touched me very much. A quote that made me break down. The quote is located on page 280. It is told in Hannah’s perspective and goes like this: “A lot of you cared, just not enough. And that…that is what I needed to find out.” This quote is heartbreaking and it is easily the best quote of the book.

This book came in 2007 and it surprises me that I haven’t picked it up until now. I have heard of it before, of course, and I was even aware that Selena Gomez is going to play Hannah Baker in the movie adaptation for it, but I haven’t had enough interest to pick it up. Thirteen Reasons Why really shows that we need to be careful what we say or do. You never know if you’re affecting someone or not. You need to open your eyes and help that friend who so desperately needs to be aided. This book is eye-opening, it has had such an effect on me, and I would recommend it to everyone! Gah, what was wrong with me? I want to keep gushing and gushing about this book, but that would be very annoying for everyone, I’m sure. So I’ll leave you saying that Jay Asher has become one of my favorite authors.

Au revoir, darlings!

~MS

 

Interested in the book? Buy it here!

Book Review #2: Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen

Pages: 358

Genre: YA/Historical Fiction/Romance.

Publication Date: September 20, 2011.

My Rating: 5/5 stars.

After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys’ lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan’s bustling metropolis. But Letty’s not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams—no matter the cost.


Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey’s legacy . . . and take her revenge.
Promised to Cordelia’s half-brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights—and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly.


Beautiful Days, the sequel to Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen takes place in the summer of 1929. Around this time alcohol was prohibited, gangsters provided illegal liquor to speakeasies, places where people could purchase illegal alcohol, and women were becoming flappers, a type of women who wore short skirts, bobbed hair, and acted in a way that was unacceptable back then.


Cordelia and Letty left their small Ohio town known as the Union for the glittering city of New York. Weeks after their arrival, the girls have left their past behind and are ready for their future. They live in the Dogwood mansion, which belonged to Cordelia’s father, a well-known boottlegger (someone who provided illegal liquor to speakeasies.) who was killed by Thom Hale, a man Cordelia had believed to be charming and kind, along with Astrid Donal, the young flapper who is engaged to Cordelia’s half-brother, Charlie.


Cordelia goes from loving Thom Hale to loathing him in a snap. After she discovered that he had killed her father, Cordelia realized that he had only approached her so that he and his father’s men can enter Cordelia’s father’s house. Now all Cordelia want is revenge, and when Charlie tells her the perfect way to get even with the Hales (by opening a new speakeasy, making sure they go out of the bootlegging business.) it does not take her long to say yes. Being the long-lost daughter of the late bootlegger, Cordelia is quite a celebrity, she knows that, and she also knows that people are dying to get a look at her, therefore the success of the speakeasy is almost guaranteed. As the opening night of the speakeasy grows closer, Cordelia becomes a bit distracted as her romance with famous pilot Max Darby. The two become close, taking rides in his plane and going out for dinner, but Cordelia feels like maybe he isn’t interested in her. She is proved wrong, though, when he takes her to meet his mother, a black woman, and she realizes that if anyone ever finds out who his mother is, his carrier could be ruined.


Letty lakspur was fired from her old job as a ciggarette girl, kicked out of her apartment, and her heart broke when she saw that the man she had fallen for, Grady Lodge, an aspiring writer, was with another woman, but she still faces the world with a dazzling smile. She’s been hurt, yes, but she knows that her dreams to become a famous singer and actress will become true. At a party, Letty discovers that the girl she saw Grady with was only his siter, which makes her relieved, and when Cordelia’s brother hears her sing and offers her a job as the opening act for his speakeasy, Letty becomes gleeful and believes her life is becoming better. Her world is crashes down, however, when Cordelia and Charlie tell her she can’t sing at their club because she isn’t popular yet, and what they need for their opening act is popularity. Then it turns out that Grady isn’t a poor man working hard to get what he wants, but a spoiled rich boy who is rebelling against his parents. As Letty’s dreams are shattered and her relationship with Grady ends, she becomes sad once again. Astrid Donal, who has become a good friend of Letty, tells her that it is better if she becomes better by her own work, not by the help of a friend. Astrid also tells Letty that she really does believe she’s a star. With those words of encouragement fresh in her mind, Letty goes to audition to be a choir girl, a job she gets. Letty is excited to start her new job! On the opening night of Cordelia and Charlie’s speakeasy, Letty finds out that Mona, the woman who was supposed to perfomr that night, is too drunk to even stand up, so she takes her place and sings for her. After her performance, Letty is approached by a famous actor who offers to mentor her, an offer Letty accepts.


Astrid is engaged to Charlie and she loves him, but ever since his plans of revenge toward the Hales started, he has been home less and less. After countless arguments, Astrid and Charlie break their engament. On the night that Charlie’s speakeasy opens, Astrid is kidnapped by a few of the Hales’ men. Charlie finds out of this and saves her. The two realize they can’t be apart, so they marry the following day.


I felt like there wasn’t as much excitement as there is in Godbersen’s previous novels, but the beauty of the 20’s and the way she describes it makes up for that. The book is also shorter than her other novels, but I was surprised to see that the story wasn’t rushed even a bit. It developed very smoothly, just like her other ones.


On the previous book, Bright Young Things, Anna Godbersen doesn’t really talk much about speakeasies, the prohibiton, or flappers, and I was slightly disappointed. In Beautiful Days, though, she does and does it so perfectly that I felt as if I was living inside that world, going out to parties with Astrid, preparing the speakeasy with Cordelia, and dreaming along with Letty.
All the characters were well-developed and likeable, but I found myself becoming more attached to Letty than any of the others, because Letty is more innocent and humble than the others. She dreams big, and although she is a bit self-councious, she knows she can make them come true. I love the way Letty speaks, she speaks in a charming and elegant way like the other girls, yet there is a childish and silly hint to it. I loved Letty so much that if she was somehow hurt, emotionally or physically, I felt it too. I hope that in the future Letty remains this way.


I loved the way the charcters spoke. I loved it some times that I found myself answering people with a “yes, darling” or using expressions such as “that’s the bee’s knees”, “that’s the cat’s meow”, or, my favorite one, “that’s jake.” The language of that time was incredible, and I wish people would like that in the present, but we’ve become way too lazy and now use words such as “’cause” or “hella”, which aren’t actually words. Each time I read an Anna Godbersen book, whether it takes place in the 1890s or the 1920s, I fall in love with the dialogue, just as I did with the dialogue of Beautiful Days.


Godbersen has written yet another great novel. Her writing is charming, beautiful, and elegant. I found myself submerged into the world of the 20’s as I read this book. The way she writes is elegant and similar to the way people wrote back then, yet it is easy to comprehend. Godbersen managed to pack a huge story into a mere 358 pages. I was a fan to Anna Godbersen’s books before this and after reading this book my liking for her work increased.
If you like books with romance, friendship, rivalry, and not much action, then I would recommend you to read Beautiful Days!

Au revoir!

~MS

Interested in this book? Go buy it here!

Confessions of a Bookaholic

 I woke up this morning with a bright smile on my face and a strong feeling of bliss. Actually, I woke up with my hair tangled up like it was string and with a bad case of morning breath. But, anyway, I woke up feeling good, because, well, it was Monday the 16^th and there was no school today. I got off my bed and my blissfulness was immediately overshadowed by shock.

     

My desk was a mess!

     

Books and notebooks were strewn around its black surface. Hardcovers, paperbacks, a DVD copy of Mean Girls. I looked at the books, titles such as The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith and Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan were among the mess, and I realized I was in the middle of reading all of them.

     

And that, my friends, scared the bejesus out of me.

     

There were at least ten books in there; I couldn’t possibly be reading all of them, right? But I was. I really was.

     

Oh, God, I was.

     

I’ve been in this situation before. Just a few weeks ago I’d been reading 12 books at a time. And whenever I finished a book, I would find another one and another one. Reading was getting in the way of my writing and my life; I was spending way too much time reading. Then I realized it was too much, and I tried hard to finish those books. And I did. I finished all those books and I promised myself I would never let it happen again.

     

But I did.

     

I don’t know how it happened. I just started reading one book. One! Just one tiny, thousand page book by Stephen King. Still, it was only one. And somehow that turned into two. And three. Then there were those two Lois Duncan books I got. And the L.J. Smith book my mom bought me. And the newest Sara Shepard book. I couldn’t possible pass out on the newest Pretty Little Liars novel! Let’s not forget about the series of young Sherlock Holmes. And if that wasn’t enough, I have three books in my closet I’m planning to read sometime soon, and those two books I bought ages ago but never really read.

     

That’s when I realized the truth: I was a bookaholic.

     

It might not involve drugs, or alcohol, or shopping (yes, I’m referring Becky Bloomwood right here), but I guess it was still an addiction. And addictions are bad, right?

They’re horrible. They make you do horrible things, like kidnap people and stuff. I bet Hitler was some sort addict. Hateaholic, perhaps.

     

Now, if reading is a joy in life, then would being a bookaholic be technically considered the addiction to joy? That wouldn’t be bad. That would be wonderful, fantastic. Joy is not bad. Joy is good. Really good. Extremely good. Who wouldn’t want to be addicted to joy?

     

But, still, I’m not entirely sure I’m a bookaholic. Yes, I read way more than any other teen in the town I live in – Tracy, California – but that’s because they all barely reads. But that doesn’t mean I’m a bookaholic. It surely doesn’t.

     

Is bookaholic even a word? And if it isn’t, then how could a fake word describe a real addiction? So if the word wasn’t technically a real English word, then term would also mean nothing. It wouldn’t exist.

     

I write, so maybe, just maybe, every single writer out there is a bookaholic. Maybe it’s a normal, everyday-thing for us writers. Perhaps Sara Shepard has a closet full of books she’s reading, and at night she stays up and reads the all. Maybe Anna Godbersen has a purse stashed with the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton and she pulls one out when the line at the grocery store gets too long. What if L.J. Smith has a bed made of books and when she’s bored she just slips her hand under the covers, grabs one, and cracks it open? I mean, our favorite writers could be bookaholics!  

     

What if everyone in the whole, wide world is one too!

     

Ok, I need to clean it up. I need to finish all those books up and go back to reading one book at a time. I can do that. Yes, yes, I can. I really can! I know I can!

     

Well…

     

…the new Sara Shepard novel comes out next month – Two Truths and a Lie, Book #3 of The Lying Game series – and I’m obviously going to buy it. And then there’s book #5 of the Gone series on April. And Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins on May. And the other Pretty Little Liars book that comes out on June or July. Also, let’s not forget about The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen during the fall. And then there’s those other books I’ve been wanting to read since forever.

     

Oh, God, I’m never going to be done, am I?

    

     

NaNoWroMo Day One!

As some of you may know, during the month of November some of us writers participate in Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is an event in which you try to write a novel or 50,000 words of a new novel in one month.

NaNoWriMo began today, and a few of my writer friends have gotten a lot done. So today, at 10: 00 p.m. here in my town, I will show you my NaNoWriMo materials!

Some people type their book for NaNoWriMo, but, considering I mostly write at school and i definitely DON'T want to take my laptop to school, I am doing my in a pretty green notebook. Above you can see my notebook, my two pencils, and, yes, you guessed it, my wicked witch eraser my brother gave me yesterday on Halloween!

Isn't is just so wicked?

Next there's my book outline. Since I am writing a mystery (meaning I need to plan every twist and turn way before it happens) and I don't want to get stuck and not know what to write, I wrote a 46-chapter outline for my book. It took me a week, but I'm sure it's going to pay off once I finish my novel!

And lastly, whenever I get tired I pick up my Carrier of the Mark book by the wonderful and talented author Leigh Fallon. I know this probably has nothing to do with NaNoWriMo, but I just can't help it but gush about the book! The cover it's soo pretty! And so it's the back! And the story itself! Oh, it's so good! i recommend that EVERYONE buy it! If you have it then you are AWESOME! If you haven't *gives stink eye* SHAME ON YOU! Just joking, you are still awesome, but seriously, go buy it here!

So that was it! My list of NaNoWriMo materials. So what about you? Are you using a notebook or are you typing? And have you bought Carrier of the Mark yet? What do you think of it? And do you have a wicked cool witch eraser like mine (i don't think so)!!!!

Happy writing, my darlings!

MS

Book Review #1: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Pages: 336

Genre: YA/Dystopia

Publication Date: April 26, 2011

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.

   

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

   

Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pegging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

   

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

   

Bumped by Megan McCafferty takes place in a dystopian world in which a virus has made everyone over the age of 18 infertile. Now teenage girls are payed to be surrogates. In the world where Bumped takes place being pregnant as a teenager is actually a good thing!

Twin sisters Harmony and Melody (I love the names!) were separated at birth and they’re completely different. Harmony is the goody-two-shoes church girl who wants to take her sister to the Goodside to save her from the sin that “bumping” for pay is, while all Melody wants is to score a good pregnancy deal. A case of mistaken identity, though, could destroy their perfectly-laid plans.

The book started a bit slow for me. There was way too much telling. Telling about Melody’s past, telling about Harmony’s past, etc. And it honestly confused. There are things such as the MiChat that threw me off. I had absolutely no idea what they were! But as I read on I managed to figure it out. After I got past the book’s slow start, I actually began to enjoy it. The pacing became faster, the characters more interesting, and a lot of scandalous things were revealed. I enjoyed the character’s voice, and I loved the terms they used (like “for serious”, “bonerkiller”, and “spermhood”). And the songs the characters they listened to were hilarious!

The book was a good read, but there were some things that bothered me. Close to the end of the book, there was this 11-year-old who was pregnant. This freaked me out! 11-years-old pregnant! And the whole pregnancy obsession was like the Justin Bieber obsession girls have these days. And when I read that one of the characters lost his virginity at the age of fourteen I was aghast. Fourteen! This book was like 16 and Pregnant gone extreme. I clearly see that McCafferty threw all those things in the book to show teenagers, parents, and people in general how bad teenage pregnancy can get! It’s the sneak peek of an eerie future I don’t want to live in!

Another thing I would like to point out (it’s so important that it got its own paragraph) it the sex parties. The cheerclones (cheerleaders) had orgy parties in which they would all “bump” with boys and hope to get pregnant. That right there screams “desperate” and “slutty” to me clear and loud!

Personally, I loved this book. L.O.V.E.D. It was wonderful, fast-paced, and had a great message. I loved the characters, especially Zen, Melody’s best friend. He was sweet, charming, but was a bit too much of a pervert. I liked Jondoe at first, but at the end of the book I didn’t whether to believe him or not. And the end! Oh, it was so brilliant and it left me hanging! I really hope there’s a sequel!

I loved this book, but I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. Some might find it too disturbing and even sickening! So read at your own risk! Now I will leave you with one last message: Be safe, don’t do drugs, and use a condom if necessary!

Au revoir, darlings!

~MS

Interested in this book? Go buy it here!

UPDATES!

Hello, peeps. I haven't been posting in this blog lately, i know. I've had school and stuff, but I am ready to start blogging again. I will be posting reviews, videos, recommendations, and other cool things. but first off, I'm going to update you all.

UPDATE #1: The Secrets of Apple Jenks is finished. The book is done, and i just need to edit it, but the edits won't be major. Just tiny tweaks here and there. The plot will remain the same and so will the characters. Hopefully by next year I'll be ready to query.

UPDATE #2: I am currently outlining the sequel of The Secrets of Apple Jenks and I will (try) write the manuscript for NaNoRiMo next month.

UPDATE #3: I am going to have a new tab called "Tales of Love, Revenge, and Pure Insanity" in which i will put up a link to my short stories.

Well, those are all the important updates. I will hopefully have my first book review by next week. Hopefully!  I can't promise anything since school stuff might get in the way. I will try, though.

    

 Have a nice day/night Darlings!

             MS