Book Review: People Kill People

                                                      People Kill People Review

People Kill People is about the ways in which gun violence affects the lives of six teens in Tuscan, Arizona. The characters we follow are Rand and Cami two nineteen year old parents that have a three year old son, money is something that is a problem for the two of them even with Rand working all the hours he can at his construction job and Cami secretly working as a drug dealer(this is something that does end up causing problems later for her). These two both feel like it's a good idea to have a gun for protection. Daniel a teen that lives on the streets since he escaped from his step mother's place is another character that feels like a gun would be good for protection, Daniel is dating Grace and he loves her a lot but he seems to be a bit too focused on spending every moment with her and it seems he's not as stable as he first appears to be. The next two characters Silas and Ashlyn are both part of an alt right white power movement which is very power guns. Silas is part of the movement because he believes in the cause and it's racist sentiments while Ashlyn on the other hand is only part of the group because she is looking for a group to belong to since she's never been accept by anyone in her life. The final character we follow is Noelle who is very anti-gun since she was involved in a car accident in which someone shot the driver of the car she was in and said crash almost killed her and left her with pretty severe epilepsy which has made it hard for her to function normal, it makes it difficult to exercise or look at screens for a long period of time. Noelle ends up feeling pretty hopeless about her life.

Overall this book was really good it did I good job at making me interested in the characters even if I didn't end up liking them. This book had a writing style that is a bit different than Ellen Hopkins other books which were written in verse while this one was written in verse and prose. Overall I think that this book was pretty good it did a good job at fleshing out it characters and it had interesting things to say about the issues it discussed. Please tell me your thoughts about this book in the comment section down below.

Top 10 Books I Read in 2019

1. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue: This book is a historical adventure novel that is also a really good coming of age story in great character introspection and relationships that develop wonderfully as well. This book is the one that surprised me the most and I love it all the more for it.
2. Archenemies: This book is the second book in the Renegades series and it does great job expanding the story and the world of the first book. I continued to love the characters and I loved the main romance as well even if it wasn't the main focus of the story.
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: This book is one that focused on the life of a very complicated character that I didn't always liked but was always interested in what she was going to do next which is something that I actually quite enjoy in books.
4. Shadow Kiss: This book is the third book of the Vampire Academy series and everything expect the main romance of the series really worked for me in this book. This book had a bit more of a stronger plot than the previous books in the series and I liked how this book expanded upon the world's mythology as well as developing the characters and their relationships in this book.
5. The Blood of Olympus: The final book in the Heroes of Olympus reminded me once again why I love the world that these stories are told in and assured me that I still love this characters and that I want to follow the next spin off series as well.
6. Fallout: This book is the last book of the Crank series and set almost twenty years after the second book and instead deals with Kristina's children and shows how they turn out after having Kristina for their biological mother and not really being a part of their lives. This book is once again told through poetry like most Ellen Hopkins books are.
7. The Luxe: This book is the first in a series of books that deals with the life of wealthy New Yorkers in the late 1800s and I find that enjoy reading about their scandalous lives more than I expected that I would.
8. P.S. I Like You: This book is a really sweet love story that has to do with secretly sharing love notes with someone they don't know the identity of.
9. If I Stay: This book is one that is really sad but one that also really does a good job at keeping your attention.
10. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy: This book is the second book of the series that started with The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue but this book focus on Felicity that wants to be a doctor in 1700s and how her attempts to become one ends with her getting involved with pirates.

Book Review: Crank: Fallout

                                                                 Fallout Review

Fallout is the third book in the Crank trilogy and this book follows the story of Kristina's three oldest children who are now teenagers. Hunter is a college student who was raised by Kristina's mother and step-father he's mostly well adjusted but resents that Kristina couldn't get it together enough to raise any of her kids. Autumn lives her grandfather but doesn't even know that Kristina is her mom and she OCD and is overall very anxious. Summer is in the foster care system but sees Kristina the most out of the three siblings but that still doesn't mean that they have a good relationship.

This book basically deals with Hunter, Autumn and Summer's relationships with their romantic partners and their parents and how those two relationships can affect one another. Despite both the characters romantic relationship and parental being more or less developed than each other all of the main characters are affected by both relationships through out the book. The book ends with all three of the siblings romantic relationships in different places but in somewhat similar places with Kristina with them all seeming to give up any hope of her being a mom to them.

Overall this was a good book with interesting characters that were compelling to read about. The writing is this book was beautiful with the way it was written in verse like Ellen Hopkins other novels. Please tell me your thoughts about this book or the Crank series as a whole in the comment section below.

Book Review: Glass

                                                             Glass Review

Glass is the second book in the Crank series by Ellen Hopkins this book takes place months after the last book and starts off with Kristina being off of meth trying to raise her infant son Hunter and study for her GED. At first Kristina is determined to get her life back on track and be a good mother but since she's always tried and hasn't loss all her baby weight left she thinks that it would be a good idea to do meth just one or two more times. Kristina after some internal debate with Bree starts scheming to find a new way to score some meth without her mom finding out about it. Kristina ends up visiting a former party friend of hers and she ends up smoking some glass which is a stronger strain of meth that can only be smoked, she also ends up falling for Trey who is a meth dealer.

Kristina continues to use meth once she gets back home and she actually ends up getting a job in order to pay for her addiction while framing it as her trying to become more responsible. As time goes on Kristina's addiction becomes harder to hide and she ends up neglecting her son in favor of meth and Trey who she thinks she's in love with. After Kristina's neglect and drug use put her son in danger her mom kicks her out when it becomes clear that Kristina isn't planning on stopping with meth and she tells her that she isn't allowed back until she is clean. Kristina ends up staying with Trey's cousin who is also a drug dealer which just makes her addiction worse and after awhile she even gets involved with dealing herself, most of the book is really just Kristina making more of the same mistakes that she made in the first book but taken up a level or two.

I overall thought that this was a really good book although I did find myself frustrated with the decisions that Kristina was making. This book is written in verse like the rest of Ellen Hopkins books and the writing style is as beautiful and insightful as it always is. Please tell me your thoughts on this book or series as a whole in the comment section below.

Book Review: Rumble

                                                          Rumble Review

Rumble is a story of a high school senior named Matt Turner who is still trying to cope with his younger brother suicide which happened a year earlier and before his death his brother was being bullied by many student that went to their school since he was gay. Matt now hates the majority of his classmates since he holds them somewhat  responsible for his brother's death and also has a big problem with religion now since many of the students used religion as an excuse for why it was okay for them to bully his brother. At the beginning of the story Matt is angry with almost everyone in his life for failing his brother in some way including himself, one of the few people that Matt isn't angry at is his girlfriend Hayden who he loves more than almost anyone but it soon becomes clear that she doesn't feel the same way about him.

The story is mostly about how Matt ends up getting himself to a point where he can start healing as he starts to see certain events a little differently as he gets more information on what happened back then and starts to see that maybe he blamed people that he shouldn't have and trusted people that he shouldn't have. In the end Matt is able to put to truly stop healing when he starts to be a little more willing to forgive and work towards moving forward in his life once he is able to accept what happened and figures out who are really on his side.

Overall I thought this was a pretty good book it dealt with serious issues and was good character piece as well. The writing was great as it always is in Ellen Hopkins novels, she is just so great at telling her stories through verse. Please tell me your thoughts on this book in the comment section below.

Top 10 Books I Read in 2017

1. All the Bright Places: This book is one that I thought had a really good writing style and I found myself completely invested in the lives of the two main characters which led me to feel like I just had to know what happens next. I also thought that this book did a good job of dealing with the issues of grief and mental illness without feeling too dark. Overall I just found that this book did a good job of gripping me through out it's story.
2. Cress: This book is the third book of The Lunar Chronicles series and I liked that this book continued the story for all the main characters that we met in previous books but also introduced us to Cress and gave Thorne a lot more focused and development. I liked that there was quite a bit going on in this book but still plenty of time for character and relationship development as well. One of my favorite things about this book was the relationship between Cress and Thorne which is probably my favorite relationship in the series and I really loved seeing their bond develop in this book.
3. Winter: This is the final book in the series and while I did love how so much happened in this book and so many characters stories were covered in this book there were times when I was a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening in this book since this book was by far the most eventful book of this already extremely eventful series. I really love the characters of Winter and I really liked that through her we saw the way the Lunars lived very different because she comes from a very different way of life than all the other characters. I also liked that Cinder and Kai are finally able to share scenes together again in this book since they really haven't been able to since the first book so that was something I really loved about this book.
4. Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue: I really just love the world and the characters that this series has in it so any time that I get to spend in the world and with the characters is something I enjoy reading about. I really like the way that Blue and Gansey's relationship is developing because you can tell how much they are growing to like each other but are still trying not to act on those feelings.
5. Highly Illogical Behavior: I really loved the writing style for this book that made this book a really quick read for me and I like that the plot dealt with a boy that doesn't leave his house because of social anxiety and a girl who wants to cure him so that she could get a scholarship for a good psychology program and I like that there wasn't a love story between them as well.
6. House of Hades: This book is the fourth book in the Heroes of Olympus series and I found this book to be a lot of fun and I feel like we learned new things about the characters and that we got to see new relationships develop and old ones strength in this book.
7. School Spirits: This book is a companion novel to the Hex Hall series and I like that this book deals with a girl who hunts supernatural beings rather than be one because it gives a new perspective to this world and I thought that the characters and writing in this book were good as well.
8. Rumble: This is the book that I'm currently reading and so far it's a really good read, it has Ellen Hopkins fantastic writing and it is dealing with a boy coming to terms with his brother's suicide and has quite a bit to say on religion as well.
9. United We Spy: This book is the final book in the Gallagher Girls series and I thought it was a fitting end of the series in that it dealt with an important spy mission but also Cammie not knowing what she wants to do with her life after graduating, I liked how the series ended with both the spy stuff and the relatable teen stuff because these two things coming together is what made the series what it was.
10. All Fall Down: This book is the first book in the Embassy Row series and I think that this book was a good introduction to the world and characters that this series will focus on and I think that this book did a good job telling it's story but also leaving room open for the next book in the series.

Top 10 Books on My Winter To Be Read List

1. Glass: This is the second book in the Crank series which is written by Ellen Hopkins who is one of my favorite authors so I'm sure I'll be a fan of this book as well since I've enjoyed all the books that I read by her so far.
2. Heartless: Since I loved Marissa Meyer's previous series The Lunar Chronicles and I also like Alice in Wonderland retellings I figure that I'll probably be a fan of this book as well and since I already own this book it's pretty high on my to be read list.
3. Isla and the Happily Ever After: Since I own this book already and I did really enjoy Lola and the Boy Next Door I'm looking forward to reading this book but since I'm one of the few people who didn't like Anna and the French Kiss I'm also a little worried that I won't end up liking this book.
4. The Fill-in Boyfriend: This book is a YA novel that involves fake dating and since I love fake dating I think this book sounds like it would be a fun read.
5.The Raven King: So far I have loved every book in The Raven Cycle series and every book I read written by Maggie Stiefvater so far and I don't think that will be changing when I read this book so I'm really looking forward to reading it.
6. Turtle All the Way Down: This book is the newest book by John Green and since I liked the other books he has written I think there's a good chance I'll like this one too.
7. Why We Broke Up: This book seems like one that could be really good and interesting because it's dealing with the ending of a relationship rather then the beginning of one which isn't something that I have read that many stories about so far so I'm intrigued by the concept of the story.
8. Holding Up the Universe: I really want to read this book since it's by the same author of All the Bright Places which was one of my favorite books I read this year so anything written by this author is worth checking out in my book.
9. Literally: I think the concept of this book the main character figuring out that she's a fictional character is really cool one and even though the reviews I read haven't been great so far I still want to read it because it would at the very least be fun to compare it to the kdrama W Two Worlds which deals with the same concept.
10. Be More Chill: I want to read this book since I loved It's Kind of a Funny Story which was written by the same author and because I really enjoy listening to the cast recording of the musical as well.

Top 5 Underrated Books

1. Dare Me: This book is one that I never really hear about on book blogs unless I'm looking for it although pretty much everyone who has read it has loved like I have. This book dealing with dark side of high school cheerleading is one that has a very different look at high school than I usually read about it as well as having intriguing characters with complex relationships with each other and the writing in this book is just incredible the descriptions just shows so much character and sets the mood of the book.
2. Traffick: This book is the squeal to Ellen Hopkins book Tricks and I think that this book is even better than the first one. I really loved that this book was about recovery rather than destruction which is what the last one was about and I liked that the characters had live with the consequences of their actions from the last book and I liked that the characters were shown to still be struggle in this book as well.
3. Triangles: This is another book by Ellen Hopkins but this one is an adult novel that dealt with lives of three women who all had very different things to deal with in life. I didn't like this book as much as the other ones on this list but  it was still a good book and deserves more recognition than it gets.
4. Also Known As: This book was just a really fun and sweet story of a safe cracker having her first solo spy mission and going to high school for the first time. This book had fun characters, plot and writing style that made this a joy to read and I wished more people would talk about this book because a great fluffy romance YA book.
5. Lola and the Boy Next Door: While this book is pretty popular I'm putting it on the list because I feeling it also overshadowed by Anna and the French Kiss and I think that people in general only pay attention to this book because it's the second one in the Anna and the French Kiss series. I think that this book is actually much better than Anna and the French Kiss, I think that the characters are both more likable and interesting and that the plot just feels a lot more down to earth and I think that the book deserves to be recognized for how good it's story is rather than how popular the book that came before it is.

Book Review: Traffick

                                                               Traffick Review

Traffick is by Ellen Hopkins and is the sequel to Tricks and it follows the same five characters as they deal with the fallout of the first book and try their best to recover and move forward with their lives which is easier said than done. Cody who's life hang in the balance at the end of the last book is alive but paralyzed from the waist down which is something that understandably makes him feel like things are hopeless and that everyone should just give up on him because maybe he deserves what he got. Ginger is in a sort of halfway house for teen girls forced into child sex trafficking while she waits for her grandmother to take her back home which will be considerably safer now that her mother can no longer work as a hooker since she's dying of HIV. Seth has now found a new man to be a kept man for but one that allows him more freedom and this time he's playing things safer than he was before and he's thinking about a future outside of sex work. Whitney is trying to beat her addiction to heroin as well as Bryan as she deals with the PTSD that she got from what Bryan put her through. Eden is staying and working at a safe haven for teens who got involved in sex work as well as deciding to contact the people from her life before and figuring out what to do about the people at the camp she was sent to.

This novel is one that I think was a very good and much needed sequel to Tricks since this book mainly dealt with getting out of and recovery from sex work which I think is something that people need to see is possible even if it's hard and sometimes dangerous to do. This book was still plenty gritty and raw like the first one was but it had a more optimistic feel then the first one because it shows that even if you went through Hell or you're damaged you can still find ways to move forward with your life in a positive way.

In this novel I found that the characters who's stories I was most invested in were Cody, Whitney and Seth. It surprised me a little bit who my favorites were in this book because in the first book Cody and Whitney annoyed me to no end but seeing them own up to their mistakes and struggle to move forward with their lives changed my opinions on them. Overall I really loved this novel and I would like to know what you thought of this novel or the first.

Book review: Triangles

                                                              Triangles Review      

                                                                

Triangles is about three women who all of their own struggles whose stories are loosely contacted to each other. Holly is a woman who has what seems like the perfect life with a kind and loving husband and three kids but she seems unable to be content with what she has because she has become bored with her stable life. Holly begins with fantasizing about sex with men other then her husband and then moves onto having sex with other men. Andrea is a single mother with a teenage daughter that is envious of the stable happy marriage that her best friend Holly has while she is just starting to consider getting back into the dating scene. Marissa is a woman who has allowed taking care of her terminally ill daughter take over her entire life and now that she's starting to take a look at the rest of the life she's realizing that there isn't much of anything that doesn't revolve around Shelly her daughter who won't be around much longer.

This book is one where I found that I actually did enjoy all three characters which surprised me a bit because Holly seemed like a character that I would just dislike because it feels like she's just throwing her life away for a cheap thrill but somehow I was able to understand her and therefore I did sympathies with her to some extend. Marissa is probably the character that I liked the most and I think that's because she is just very kind and in a really terrible situation and through out the whole novel I just wanted her to find away to live again for herself and be able to be truly happy. Andrea is a character that I liked but for some reason I don't remember as much of her story as the other two.

Overall I found the writing of this book to be very good and since it's written by Ellen Hopkins that's no surprise to me. I thought that reading this book was an interesting perspective shift for me since I read Tilt before this which is a companion novel to this book. Overall I really like this book. Please tell me your thoughts on this book.

Book Review: Crank

                                                                 Crank Review

Crank is a novel by Ellen Hopkins and it tells the story of Kristina Snow a high school junior who was a smart good girl before she went to visit her estranged father for a few weeks over the summer. While visiting her father Kristina is introduced to a whole new way of life after she lets her alter ego Bree lead the way for a bit she embraces both her sexuality and drugs while on the trip. The main drug that Kristina uses is meth which she calls the monster through out the book and considering how it takes over her life I think monster is an accurate description of the drug.

Kristina returns home unable to go back to the girl she was before she left and once back she has to come up with more creative ways to get hands on more meth. She ends up getting involved with people she would've steered clear of before and she ends up taking risks that she never would've dreamed of before the monster all to feed her addiction. The book shows how far down Kristina spirals with her addiction and how no matter how bad things get for her because of the monster she is  unable to give it up.

This book was beautiful written through poems like all of the other books I've read by Ellen Hopkins and the story that was told in this book felt emotionally honest like all her other books as well. I found the story to be very gripping if not also very sad do to the fact that the book is basically about a teenager throwing her whole life away with her addiction. Overall I felt that this book was very well written, the story gripping and I found that the characters felt pretty real to me and despite the fact that I've never been in a situation even remotely similar to Kristina I still felt like I could understand where she was coming, being able to understand  the main character in a book is always a good thing in my book. Please tell me your thoughts on this book or really any of Ellen Hopkins other books in the comments below.

Top 10 Books I Want to Re-Read

1. Fruits Basket: So I didn't re-read this series yet this year which really upsets me because I re-read this entire series at least once year because I truly believe that Fruits Basket is best series every written and it surely is my favorite. I really want to read this series again because I love it and it's been far too long, I love all the characters and every time that I re-read the series it gets even better which is pretty much never the case but it is with this series which is part of what makes it so special. I love that this series has a pretty positive outlook on life while also showing how dark life can be as well it's nice to see both sides in a story and I always feel that it's really important that the characters were able to overcome as much pain as they did. Anyways I want to re-read the series and actually post more specific thoughts I have on the series but I'm not sure how exactly to do that since I don't think that I can exactly review the series because I'm too emotionally attached to it and I've read it so many times but I know that I want to write about the series characters, relationships and even certain scenes at length so if you have any suggestions on how I should do that please tell me and if you haven't read this series please do.
2. Reading in the Dark: This is another book that I have re-read multiple times already and haven't read in awhile. Although I feel this one I have less of an emotional attachment to but I really do love the book but I don't really remember the book as well as I would like so I think that it's time that I read it again since it's a really great book.
3. Linger: I'm just really obsessed with this book and it's partially because of how most people think of this book as shallow fluff and that really upsets me because I've always thought of this book as really character exploration and I love the book for taking so much time to focus on characters in a genre that is usually about plot and love triangles but this book had so much to do with internal conflicts. I really loved Sam's story about how he was getting used to his cure being true and how he was continuing to heal from what his parents did to him when he was a child. I loved how Cole in this book was really trying to just not be himself to just runaway from himself because despite the confidence he seems to exude he really does hate himself in this book but doesn't know how to be anyone but himself. I loved how this book dealt with Isabel feeling guilt over her brother's death and how she was looking for a way to self destruct with her relationship with Cole. I've talked about how much I love this book before in this post and I think that I could probably talk about this book a lot more if I re-read and was feeling inspired also if anyone wants to talk to me about this book please comment because I really love this book beyond reason.
4. White Oleander: I've read this book only once and it was a pretty long time ago but the story stuck with me and I remember really loving it. I loved how the main character changed so much as she went from foster home to foster home adapting to each new world and I always love the complicated relationship that she had with her mother that ran through out the whole book despite the two of them being separated for most of the book. I really loved this book and I really would love to rediscover this book.
5. Impulse: I love this book it's probably my favorite Ellen Hopkins book and I really love Ellen Hopkins so that's saying something. I would just really like to read this book again simply because I love the book.
6. Rosario + Vampire: It's been a long time since I read this series and I really do love this series so I want reread the volumes that I already read and then catch up with the rest of the series. I'm also thinking that I might end up reviewing this series when I do get around to rereading it.
7. Secret Circle: I just really loved these books and I was just randomly thinking yesterday that it would be fun to reread them so there you have it.
8. Tilt: I love Ellen Hopkins writing and I just really love Shane's storyline which to be honest is probably the only part of the book I would end up rereading but it's such a good storyline and I really would love to revisit it.
9. Tokyo Babylon: This series is a favorite of mine because the last volume just emotionally devastates me and I apparently really enjoy that and I also do need to still review the last three volumes I think of the series so I think a reread is in order.
10. Cardcaptor Sakura: Well if I'm going to reread something as sad as Tokyo Babylon I'm going to need to cheer myself up with something as happy as Cardcaptor Sakura.

Top 8 Character Driven Books

1. Wolves of Mercy Falls: This a series that might come to people's right away when they hear this topic but I think it totally meets the theme of this list. The four main characters of this series are all well defined and different and what drives the story isn't the werewolf drama so much as it is the characters thoughts and feelings, I think that's a reason that most people find these books boring is because they look at it as plot driven when it's actually character driven.
2. Impulse: This book deals with three teenagers after they tried to kill themselves and we get see what led them to that point in their lives and we see them do their best to make a recovery and we get to see how there situations look likely they'll change or stay the same once they get back home.
3. Perfect: This one deals with four teens trying to live up to the impossibility of perfection and how they deal with fail to reach this impossible goal that they have set for themselves and when or if they realize that their goal is impossible.
4. Tricks: This book deals with how five very different teens from all over the country end up involved in selling themselves in order to survive. This book looks at all the different ways and reason this may happen to someone.
5. Identical: This book deals with twin sisters who are from a very dysfunctional family that looks nice on the outside but is anything but on the inside. This book shows how differently the two sisters cope with their family situation.
6. Triangles: This book is about three teens who's parents know each other but they have very different things that they all suffering through as the book goes on.
7. White Oleander: This book deals with Astrid's moving from a whole lot of different foster homes through out her life that are all pretty different and shows how she's pretty different in each home as well, this book also deals with a complicated mother-daughter relationship through out the book.
8. Game of Thrones: This book has tons of different characters who are all different and interesting and all effect the plot in someway and the characters are what really makes me love the series.

Top 10 Books on my Fall 2014 to be read list

1. Sinner: This book is the sort of fourth book of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and it deals with wrapping up Cole and Isabel's story and since I love that series and both of these characters I'm very excited to read this book.
2. Crank: I love Ellen Hopkins books and this is her most well known one so I think that it would be for the best if I read it.
3. The Mark of Athena: I loved the first two books of the Heroes of Olympus series and I'm sure I'll love this one as well and I've been meaning to read it for awhile anyways.
4. Paper Towns: I've read three books I've read by John Green so far and I have no reason to believe that I wouldn't love this one as well.
5. Dime Store Magic: I love Kelly Armstrong's The Darkest Powers series and this book sounds interesting as well and I hope that I love it just as much.
6. Also Known As: I hear that this book is sort of similar to the Gallagher Girls series which I love and I will be finished with fairly soon so I think this will help fill the void.
7. Triangles: Another Ellen Hopkins novel and this one is related to the book Tilt which I loved.
8. Splintered: This book sounds like an interesting retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story and since I already own this book I think that this is a good book to read soon.
9. The Scorch Trails: I liked the first book of the Maze Runner series and I think that I'll like this one as well.
10. The Sound and the Fury: So on a blog that I visited someone said that a character whom I love life is like a fanfiction of The Sound and the Fury, my first thought was that's bond to be a depressing book and my second thought was I have no idea what that is so I have to look that up and I did. Anyways the reference sort of makes sense to me now and I really really want to read this book because it sounds super interesting as well as very challenging so this book is on this list but I also know that I won't actually read this book this fall.

Top 7 Underrated Contemporary and 3 Underrated Fantasy

1. It's Kind of a Funny Story: This book I don't really hear people talk about but I really love because of how the main character is struggling in his life with what seems to be depression mixed with anxiety. I really loved the first half of this book and it was shown that it was something as simple of not doing as well as he expected to do in school that caused him to start to spiral downward and I like that it was some over dramatic thing that happened to him that caused this but rather that he didn't feel like he had a real reason to feel the way that he did so he had no clue how to fix himself. I also enjoy the second half of the book were he stays at the hospital and starts to sort himself out and recover as well, I just love the whole book because I felt like it dealt with the topic in a realistic way rather than in the super dramatic way that it's usually dealt.
2. Perfect: I really love this book because it's a story told through four viewpoints and I love when there's multiple viewpoints in a book because I love getting inside as many different characters heads as I can. I love how this book dealt with the concept of perfection by having characters strive for it and either show how destructive it is or come to the realization that perfection isn't possible so they should strive for being happy instead. I love how this book had the characters stories loosely connected with each other and I loved three out of four the viewpoint characters which is pretty good although I hated one of them but he was a very hateable character so I doubt that's uncommon but other than his storyline I loved the book, on a side note I'd really love for Jenna to have a book with her point of view since she's a self-destructive enigma who I'm still super curious about.
3. White Oleander: This book is one that takes place over a large period of time and the character lives many different sorts of lives because she has to keep moving around due to being in the foster care system and she also becomes many different people so it was really interesting to see how much she changed through out the course of the novel. I also really loved the complicated mother daughter relationship that was front and center through out the book, overall this is just a great book and if you only saw the movie you should know they probably cut out about half of it and so you need to read the book because it's so much better.
4. Tricks: This book is another multiple viewpoint book by Ellen Hopkins which I loved this one I believe had five different points of view and the theme that linked the stories together was that having to sell your body. I really found all the stories interesting in this one and I actually enjoyed most of the characters despite them being in such situations that usually make you look down upon people but you see how they got to the point in which they are desperate enough to do so which while not the most cheerful of stories is certainly interesting. The thing is while had my favorite characters while reading the book the one I actually remember the most years later is Whitney who frustrated me to no end because she just kept making the most horrible life decisions so I just wanted to yell at her to value herself a bit more but now looking back I enjoy her storyline a lot more because I realize how her bad decisions just made me more invested in her characters, anyways I just really love this book.
5. Identical: This book is really interesting with how it deals with this really messed up family and it has two sisters who are both a totally mess but one is really open about it and is just very publicly showing all her damage and the other is just as messed up but is quiet about it and doesn't want anyone to see her as less than perfect. I also found how the sisters saw there parents to be interesting in that one hated and loved one parent and the other vice versa which lead to level of understanding of the parents that I wasn't exactly comfortable with but it was really interesting experience and really well written. I also loved how this book made use of the poetry with how sometimes the poems would be in shapes such as a razor blade or a wine bottle I just think that's a really great use of the style.
6. Tilt: This book is told in three points of view and is the last Ellen Hopkins book on this list although this book has three narrators the reason this book makes the list is because of one story which is Shane's. I really was surprised by Shane's story because I thought I had him and his storyline figured out right away in that I thought it would deal with his sexuality or drugs but then it really didn't instead it dealt with him having a crisis of faith and struggling with grief and I really hadn't read anything else like it and I loved it for how raw the emotions felt in his story. His story is one that isn't told very often and I really loved it because he spent so much of the later half of the book spiraling and he half wanted his mom to notice and half didn't want her to notice because he didn't want to burden her so I spent so much of the book just wishing that they could lean on each other rather than suffer in silence. Anyways great book overall and I really would love if you read the book to tell me how you felt about Shane's storyline.
7. Manic Pixie Dreamgirl: This book is one that I loved for it's honesty with how it didn't shy away from the fact that the main character is an asshole for having a girlfriend and being in love with the idea of another girl and not only is the book aware of it but characters through out the book call him out on his behavior and that his pinning isn't something that is seen as romantic when it usually would've been. I also kind often refer to this book as a more honest version of Anna and the French Kiss because of how the main Tyler's behavior is actually pretty similar to St.Clair's only the difference is that this book doesn't romanticize and excuse his behavior like Anna and the French Kiss did with St.Clair in regards to his dealings with Anna and Ellie(St.Clair's girlfriend for 90% of the book) so I recommend this book to Anna and the French Kiss fans because I think it would make you think about the book differently.

1. The Darkest Powers Series: This series has a bit of slow start but once it gets moving in the last half of the first book it gets really exciting and from then on the plot doesn't really ever stop moving which makes for a very exciting read. I also really love the main character Chloe because she's smarter than most heroine's in this genre which is refreshing and I also just like her a lot and her powers are interesting as well. I like that the romance is very much in the background of these books to the point that I would think that calling these books paranormal romances would be a lie because really it's more like paranormal action/adventure.
2. The Looking Glass Wars: This book series is by far the most interesting retelling of Alice and Wonderland that I have ever read. The world of wonderland being a really place that is full of strange magical things that are quite frightening and Aylss being thrown into our world and being seen as insane before she convinces herself after years of living here that her home world is a lie only to have to go back to it and become a bit of a warrior queen is an excellent twist on the classic tale. I also absolutely adore the relationship between Alyss and Dodge which is important in the story but by no means the main focus and I really wished there were more relationships like this one in YA in general.
3. Linger(Wolves of Mercy Falls): While the Wolves of Mercy Falls series is quite popular I don't think anyone seems to appericate Linger as much as I do since most people see this book as a filler book that contains mostly fluff. To me Linger is the character book which deals with the inter workings of the characters minds. This is the book that with Sam's storyline I like to call it what happens after happily ever after with how his curse has been broken but he can't quite believe that he gets to stay in his human skin like he always wished for but never dared to hope for. I liked how Sam still had plenty of flashbacks to the times when he was young and newly became a wolf and how messed up he was and how even though his curse his broken the damage that it caused is still there and I especially loved the moment when he admits to Cole how much of a mess he still is but that he's trying to improve. For Cole this book is when he's at his lowest point with how the whole reason that he's a wolf in the first place is because he can't stand being in his own head because he hate himself so very much. Also I love Cole because he's a deconstruction of a bad boy in that he's that asshole guy who sleeps around, does drugs and drags people down with him and he absolutely hates being that guy but he doesn't know how to stop being that guy so he decides that it's best that he stays out of his own head as much as possible. I love how we see Cole who's half charming confidence and half self loathing and self destruction and I also love this book because it's the one that got Cole to the point of figuring out that he can't runaway from himself forever and he might not actually want to. I also love this book for Isabel who is struggle with the guilt that she killed her brother when she was trying to save him and I really loved how the relationship between her and Cole developed with her seeing him as a means of self destruction and I especially love the moment when she sees that he's starting to heal and she resents him for that because she doesn't want him to get better before she does and I love that because it's so completely toxic and interesting. Anyways I love this book to the point that it's probably one of my favorites of all time and I would really wished people would look at the book more as a character study than a fluffy romance because the book is so much better when you do. Also I made a list a while back of my favorite moments in books and like half of the list was from Linger.

Top 5 Authors Who I Own Most of Their Books

1. Rick Riordan: I own 9 books buy him because I love his series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles although I obviously don't own all of the books in these series expect Percy Jackson I plan to one day and I have loved every book of his that I have read and always look forward to reading more of his books in the future.
2. Ellen Hopkins: I own 7 books by Ellen Hopkins and I have read five of them and I have loved them all because of how she uses easy to understand poetry to tell her stories which always seem to cover heavy topics in ways that don't feel preachy. I loved all of her books that I have read but if I was to put them in order it would be Impulse, Perfect, Tricks, Tilt(mostly because of Shane), and Identical, I loved all these books and if anyone would like me to expand on my reasoning for the order I'd love to write about it because I would love to be able to talk about her books at length.
3. Ally Carter: I own 8 books by her because of my love for the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series these are both fun series about young girls that are filled with action-adventure, friendship, humor and romance which I love all of these things and there just great fun to read.
4.Natsuki Takaya: I own 25 books by her because my favorite work of fiction of all time is the Fruits Basket manga which she has written and that happens to be 23 volumes long and I would recommend that series to everyone whether they think manga is there thing or not because it has the best story, character development and writing that I have ever encountered and I feel that everyone should read this series because of this. I also feel that everyone should read Fruits Basket because it's a series where characters have to overcome a lot of things but they are shown to be able to overcome those things even when it feels impossible and they have to overcome those things by putting in a lot of effort which I think helps to inspire people to improve themselves. Also if anyone who reads this is a fan of Fruits Basket I would love to discuss the series with you.
5. Clamp: I own 67 books by Clamp but that is no where near close to most of the books that they have written since they have tons of series that they have been writing together for the past twenty years and I have loved everything that I have read of their's so far even though some of their series are very strange. I love Cardcaptor Sakura which is a very happy story that is about love in all it's forms as well as a young girl having to capture and control magic cards, I loved Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle which is about a group of misfits who travel across dimensions together and form a make shift family and then things get dark and sad then confusing to the point that nothing makes sense anymore. I love Tokyo Babylon even though for quite sometime it feels not much happens but when things start happening I felt like my heart was ripped out trampled on thrown through a woodchopper and then shoved back in my chest in summary the ending is completely heartbreaking in the best way possible. I love Magic Knight Rayearth which is about three young girls that have to save another world and become very close friends very quickly things don't turn out the way the expected it would. There's quite a few other series by Clamp I love but these four are my favorites and if list all their series it would take far too long but I definitely recommend their stuff if you're looking for something different.

Top 10 Books On My Summer To Be Read List 2014

1. Demonglass: I really loved the first Hex Hall book so I believe that I'll also love the second book of the series as well and since I know own this book I should have the chance to read it soon.
2. Out of Sight, Out of Time: I loved the first four books of the Gallagher Girls series so I'm sure I'll love the fifth one as well especially since I hear that this series just gets better and better as it goes on.
3. Also Known As: I thought that this book sound a bit like the Gallagher Girls series so I thought it would be a good idea to check out this book since I only have two more Gallagher Girls books left to read.
4. Splintered: I think that I'll enjoy this book because it's a retelling of Alice in Wonderland and I usually love those type of books and since I own it hopeful I'll read it soon.
5. Etiquette and Espionage: I really loved the title of this book and this was another series that I felt sound quite a bit like the Gallagher Girls series which I love so I thought it would be a good idea to give it a try.
6. The Mark of Athena: I loved all of the Heroes of Olympus books I have read so far as well as the Percy Jackson books so I think I really should read this book soon because I've been meaning to for quite some time now.
7. Crank: I love Ellen Hopkins books and this one it one of her most popular ones and I now own it so I really should get to reading it soon.
8. Triangles: Another Ellen Hopkins book but this one is a companion novel to Tilt which I loved and would love to see the story from another side so I plan to read this one soon as well.
9. Entwined: I've been meaning to read this book for a really long time and since I own it already this summer seems like as good of time as any.
10. The Gate Thief: I read the first book of this series and I always wanted to read it's sequel but I hadn't known that one had come out until I bought this one about a week ago.

Top 10 Most Unique Books I've read

1. Ellen Hopkins books: I really love these books because they are told through poetry but this poetry is easy to understand unlike most poetry and her writing has a way of making you completely understand where the character is coming from no matter how much they frustrate you. I also feel that her writing style is great because it allows for a brief glimpse into the characters sub-conscious which is almost impossible to get into in books not written in a style such as this.I also feel like her books are really different because they deal with such heavy subject matter but it just kind of tells the story through the characters point of view and while things usually don't turn out well for the characters there's no preaching or lessons being taught just characters making mistakes and either learning from them or sinking deeper into their issues.
2. Reading in the Dark: I feel like this book is unique because it's a historical fiction book where the time period isn't the focus but rather the story of the family is the focus which makes this story feel more timeless. I also think this book is different because in a lot of ways it's a coming of age story but it's an adult book and I think it's different that the family secrets are never brought to light just that the main character finds out about them and has to deal with the burden of knowing them feeling guilty for not being able to tell him but also his mother not really wanting him around because he knows the secrets.
3. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: I've never read a story even close to similar to this one it uses characters from a bunch of Clamp's previous series but manages to make them all new characters who are the same but different and I love them for that. The story is about having to travel throughout multiple dimensions which is a really cool idea and it has a ton of plot twist although some them towards the end are just confusing. I also love that the story id divide in two very different section the first is more lighthearted and really deals with the group bonding into a sort of make shift family and the second half is darker and is really about them loosing those they have come to relay and also find their way back to each other.
4. Clover: This is a scifi story that it's first two volumes are one continuing story but then the next two volumes take place before the first two volumes which is pretty odd. The idea of what clovers are is very interesting but most of all what stands out in this series is the use of blank space and song lyrics through out the series.
5. Perks of Being a Wallflower: This is a book that is told through letters which is something that I don't see often but it's also Charlie's sincere desire for everyone to be happy that makes this book unique to me.
6. Manic Pixie Dreamgirl: I love how this book is more or less about the main character being wrong about his dream girl and I love that his asshole behavior is something that everyone calls him out on throughout the entire novel. I just love that this book didn't make the main character seem romantic when he wasn't and pointed out that having feelings for someone who isn't your girlfriend makes you an ass for not breaking up with her and that's all on you not the girlfriend. I just really loved how this book handled everything and I loved that it wasn't afraid to make it's main character unlikable.
7. The Darkest Powers series: I really find this series to be unique because it's such an action pack series that deals more with developing powers and plots than romance unlike the majority of paranormal YA series and I think it's better for it.
8. The Book Thief: This book is narrated by death and it's about the regular German citizens of Nazi Germany which is something that isn't shown often or sympathetically like it was in this book.
9. The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy: I just thought that this was a really unique twist on how Wonderland could be a real place how Alice's story could come to be known to the world and how Wonderland could be a dark place but also a place that felt real but fantastical.
10. Slaughter House Five: This book is very strange but also very good and it's odd because it moves around in time so much because the main character can randomly time travel but it isn't something that anyone really notices or real effects his life very much. There was also some aliens that were in the book for awhile and it all connected to the bombing of Dresden, it was just an odd but good mix of things.

Top 10 Gateway Books

1. Vampire Knight: This series is the first ever manga series that I've ever read and since I'm now a huge fan of manga so I think of this series as a pretty big gateway series for me because while I only read like the first six or so volumes of the series it still had a big impact on my life since it's the series that introduced me to manga.
2. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: This is the first series that I read by Clamp and I have read a ton of series by Clamp now and I would saw that my love for this series surely had a role in my choosing to read pretty much every Clamp series I can get my hands on. This series also happens to be my favorite Clamp series despite me being confused and disappointed by it's ending although more confused than disappointed.
3. Harry Potter: This is pretty much the first fantasy series that I read so I would saw that this series had a big influence not just on my life in general like it does for pretty much everyone but also for my love for fantasy stories especially ones involving witches and wizards which I feel there aren't enough of those now a days.
4. Uglies: This is the first dystopian series that I've ever read and I have to say it's the best YA dystopian I read because while romance is part of the story it's not the main point and I feel like the dystopian society is always the main focus of the story. I feel like this series is part of the reason I'm so picky when it comes to dystopians because it was so good that I end up feeling let down by most other ones.
5. Alice in Wonderland: Reading this book made me interested in reading older children's books because the way in which they are written sounds a lot different in a charming way than any of the books that are written more recently. I like that these kind of books are easy to understand but still have formality and wittiness to it that children's books don't now a days but still have a childlike wonder to them that I like a lot.
6. Fruits Basket: This series is my favorite series of all time and I think you should read it if haven't already. This series is one I consider a gateway one because it was a very popular manga series that I only read because so many other people read it so it must be good which has led to me trying out books that are popular even when they don't sound good to me with various results such as I loved The Fault in Our Stars and I kind of hate Anna and the French Kiss and I really need to write about that someday.
7. The Fault in Our Stars: This is the book that made me become a fan of John Green and so far I have read three of his books and I have loved them all.
8. Impulse: This is the book that made me become a fan of Ellen Hopkins books because while I had been interested in her books for years before this not having read them I couldn't be a fan of her's until after reading one of her books and this was my first and still my favorite book of her's. I have now read and loved 5 of her books.
9. A Series of Unfortunate Events: This series is the one that made me realize two things I love in a story are smart characters and dark humor and if you can mix the two together I'll love it even more. While this isn't exactly a genre it is something that helps me to know what to look for while reading plot descriptions and reviews for books I'm considering reading.
10. Rosario +Vampire: This series is the first shonen manga I ever read and while I don't read a whole lot of that I do read some and I thought this series was really good but only the manga the anime was badly written fan service while the manga had plot, characters and relationships all of which I was really invested in.

Top 10 Contemporary Books

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower: This is my favorite book of all time so it's no surprise that it tops this list as well. I love that this is book where we just follow the main character Charlie through his freshmen year of high school because the plot is simple but this allows for a bunch of great character stories through out the book. I also just really love the way that Charlie thinks because it's so lovely and not like any other character that I've ever read.
2. Impulse: I really Ellen Hopkins books in general and this is my favorite book of her's that I have read so far. I love that this story starts with our three main characters recovering from attempting suicide and I love how we slowly learn what led them to the point of wanting to kill themselves. I really love that the three characters each have distinct voices and I really love the poetry form the story is told through.
3. Looking For Alaska: I really love how this story starts off as a going off to boarding school and just general teenage issues but half way through the book the story becomes darker and deeper. I also just really love the characters who had so much life to them and I love the way that the book was written as well.
4. Perfect: This book is a companion novel to Impulse and I like that it gave more depth to one of the characters stories in that book and also introduced us to the stories of 4 new characters. I love that this book dealt with the idea of trying to achieve perfection and how since perfection is impossible it's a very damaging thing to do and some of the characters learned this and other didn't.
5. Heist Society: I really love this fun light story about teenage con-artist that has lots of travel, heists, great characters and a nice dose of romance that at no point overtakes the plot which is a nice change compared to most YA novels.
6. Gallagher Girls: This is a nice fun story about girls spy school that has plenty of great friendship moments and mixes teenage girl and spy pretty much perfectly. As the series goes on the story gets more complicated and darker which I'm really enjoying. There's also a bit of romance that I enjoy quite a bit as well.
7. Tricks: This is a story about five teens who somehow end up having to sell themselves for various reasons and I really enjoyed how different each of their stories were and how they were told as well. I feel like this is a book that sounds a bit strange to say that I loved it but I thought it had a really good story to it although it was by no means a happy one.
8. The Fault in Our Stars: This is a book that is known for it's sweet romance and it's sad ending and while I agree that both those things are great parts of the book I also think that it's wicked sense of humor is also one of the major things that makes me love the book.
9. Tilt: While I always love the beautiful poetic writing of Ellen Hopkins I admit that the reason this book makes the list is only because of Shane's story(I didn't care much for Hardly's and Mikayla's stories). His story went in a way I never expected it to and I really loved him having a crisis of faith and just basically slowly falling apart wanting someone to notice and not wanting to bother anyone with his problems at the same time, it was a complicated story and one that I completely adored.
10. It's Kind of a Funny Story: This is the story about how the pressures of achieving became too much for a boy named Craig and how when he couldn't meet the especially high standards that he set for himself he became depressed to the point of being suicidal so he checked himself into the mental health wing of the hospital and slowly began the process of recovery.