Transitive Verve

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  As the good-girl daughter of a society matron and the Chief of Police, Piper has been in love with her best friend's brother, bad boy Jase, since she was fourteen. She hung onto her feelings for him even during all those years she watched him chasing other girls and even during the seven years he spent in prison for killing a man. (It was self-defense, of course.) As she finally decides to stand up to her parents about her future, she finds herself cut off and without a place to stay - until Jase conveniently has a spare room and an opening at his tattoo shop. Jase has always avoided letting Piper get too close, since she is too good and pure

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Seven years ago in high school, new girl Gemma and black-sheep-son Pax experienced a soul-searing connection before Gemma decided to date his clean-cut, football-player older brother Blake instead. But after she accused Blake of date-raping her and was essentially forced to leave their small Florida town, it seemed that any connection between Gemma and Pax has been severed. When Gemma returns to help with her father's business after while he's in the hospital, she and Pax find that actually, their connection - and attraction - are stronger than ever. But there is so much between them that any sort of relationship seems impossible. Though

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Jace is an up-and-coming actor whose role in a SyFy channel movie has gotten him noticed by a famous starlet who wants him for her next movie - and her bed. And he is psyched because it means that this could be his big break, as well as his chance to get some good no-strings-attached sex from a beautiful woman. Because that's pretty much his goal in life. Jace and his agent, Shaylene, need to get from Los Angeles to Alabama for the screen test in just a few days, but as they begin their journey, anything and everything that can go wrong does - including the fact that Jace can no longer ignore the attraction he begins to feel towards Shay,

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Things were normal before - Lucille's life consisted of normal things, like her best friend Eden, her little sister Wren, and Eden's brother Digby, who is beautiful and perfect and unfortunately already has a girlfriend. But then Lucille and Wren's father has a nervous breakdown and is released from the mental health facility without leaving any way for his family to contact him. And then their mother leaves for a two-week vacation to get herself together... and then doesn't come back. Now Lucille is scraping by to keep the two of them afloat, to keep the reality of their situation a secret from the world so that no one will tear them apart. On top of this, Digby suddenly starts showing an interest in Lucille, and it suddenly becomes a messy business trying to keep everyone at arm's distance, especially since Digby is t

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: ** (It was okay) Summary:  Noelle lives in a world where the written word is obsolete - everyone is connected to a information network called Verity that is equally responsible for educating people as it is for monitoring them. The night before she is to undergo the societally-mandated brainwashing ritual, there is a glitch in the system, and her family discovers what she's been hiding her whole life - she inexplicably has the ability to read. Now she's on the run from the government, with an underground group of rebels... Thoughts:  Okay, so, that's about as far as I got, since I didn't finish the book. The premise is amazing ( Fahrenheit 451  is one of my favorite books, remember?), but there was something about the execution of it that just didn't work out well for me - I was either confused and struggling to picture what was going on, or I ju

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Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Kat Chandler hasn't had it easy - not only did she recently lose her fiance, John (a Marine, who died in the line of duty), but she is also the new principal of Seaside Elementary, being tested every day by unruly students and colleagues/community members who doubt her ability to lead.  Sergeant Micah Peterson hasn't had it easy either - he has enrolled his son, Ben, at Seaside hoping to give him a new start far away from the bullies at his last school. Ben has cerebral palsy, and his ex seems to have no desire to come home to be a mother to her son. Micah takes a job as Seaside's landscaper, hoping to eventually replace his milita

I decided to keep close track of the books I read this year for the Goodreads Reading Challenge, which is not something I've done before (and this blog only just began in March!), so this is my first top ten list! These are my favorite books that were released this year. I know there are a GREAT many books that were left off my list (like books from Sabaa Tahir, Rainbow Rowell, Patrick Ness, etc.), and that's because I haven't gotten around to reading them yet! I know, sacrilege! If only there were more hours in the day and more of me to get things done. But these are my top ten that I've read  from this year. Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order: Illuminae  by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Okay, I know I said "in no particular order," but I'd be lying if I didn't say that this was probably my FAVORITE book from this year. It was clever and unique in terms of its format, but it also just had a fantastic, gripping story.

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is book 3 of the Starbound  trilogy. Unfortunately, I read the first two before I started book-blogging, so I don't have any previous reviews to link you to, but suffice it to say that I gave each of the two previous installments five stars as well, so full disclosure: I LOVE this series. Starbound  features three books, each one about a different couple, but they are all sequential and take place in the same universe. Their stories are connected, and if you go back and look, you'll see that the later characters were mentioned in earlier books, and earlier characters make appearances in later books. These Broken Stars  kicks off the series, with Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux. He is a jaded soldier on a victory tour onboard the luxury spaceliner Icarus , and she is the daughter of the most powerful man in the universe, Roderick LaRoux of LaRoux Industries; the Icarus  is Daddy's ship. Suddenly, the Icar

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors. This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review . Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary: Corin is obsessed with death and illness. Both of her parents passed away in quick succession when she was a teenager, and ever since then, every single cough, sneeze, or ache has convinced her that she's next, even though her doctors swear that her tests come back normal. Beckett has actually almost died - was clinically dead for a little bit - from a heart condition that he didn't know he had. He can no longer do any of the things that he loves - running, soccer, bungee jumping, even drinking coffee - and though he has tried to remain positive, he's still struggling to come to terms with how much his life has changed. They

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Jordan just wants to finish school and get on with her life. Having moved to LA to escape some major trauma, she crosses paths with Nic Medina, the drag racer/auto shop owner with a traumatic past of his own. Nic has to steal a car or else the shady cop who put him up to it will come for his nephew - unfortunately, that car happens to belong to Jordan. Forced to "kidnap" her, he finds himself drawn to her, and before long, she too is caught up in his dangerous world. Thoughts:  This one was definitely action-packed. And I liked finally reading a romance novel with a POC male, even if it seemed like there was some stereotypical

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  Preschool art teacher Elizabeth Marks is not having a great time at her friend's bachelorette party. She's really just not into male strippers. She catches the attention of the club's owner, Matt Stokes, who seems to have her pegged instantly as the "perfect princess" who needs to shed her facade as well as her fantasy of the perfect life with the perfect man. It's just as much of a fantasy as anything that happens onstage at the club, he tells her. He challenges her to let loose, and in the weeks to come, they develop a tryst that starts to become more than just physical the more they get involved. But she'

(Spoilers for the previous movies/books from here on out. But I am going to avoid spoilers for this one.) Links to all my writeups for the previous HG films available  here . So, if you truly understood the message of The Hunger Games  (I mean... some  CLEARLY .  Did .  Not ), you should not go into this movie expecting to be "entertained." I cannot with conscience give this a "Two thumbs up, fine family fun!" sort of review. Don't go into this expecting to have fun. Don't go into this expecting to be amused. Don't go into this expecting an escape from the very harsh realities of the world we live in today. Because that's what I feel this series is all about - The Hunger Games  is not about a teenage girl in a love triangle (which so many people mistakenly assume), it's about a corrupt government, it's about systemic inequality, and it's about war. It's about a nation that is fed up with seeing its children die, if not from v

If you've read my recent review  of Illuminae , you should not be surprised that I was super excited about authors Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman coming to my area on tour to promote the book. It was great! They are funny and charming and Australian  (which is cool, because yes, I'm an American who likes hearing accents other than mine!), and it's easy to see how their partnership and friendship led to the creation of such an amazing story. The copy that I read for review was an ARC that wasn't in its final stages, so something that actually surprised me when I heard them speak was that in addition to the casualty list that is in the book (that's all I'll say, because spoilers), there were also photos. I immediately checked my actual purchased copy, and yes - there was a "gallery" of people who died in the [redacted] and it actually brought tears to my eyes. As if this book didn't make me cry enough the first time around. If I didn't lo

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) All the Gail Carriger books I've read were read before I started really getting into book blogging, so I don't have any previous reviews for you, but suffice it to say that she is one of my favorite writers. Quick summary of the series (since this is my first time actually writing up one of Gail's books on my blog):  Sophronia Temminnick, who doesn't seem to fit in with proper London society, is enrolled by her frustrated mother in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Little did Mrs. Temminnick know, this Finishing School also teaches young ladies to FINISH people, in the Mortal Kombat sense of the word - the graduates can not only throw a proper tea party, but they can also maim, poison, seduce, infiltrate, and fight. In short, they are trained to be intelligencers and assassins, and Sophronia takes to her new training like a duck to water. Proving herself to be one of the s

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  Devon Tennyson admits that she leads a pretty unremarkable life, and that's probably why she's having trouble thinking of what to put in her college essay. She's perfectly happy not  getting involved in extracurricular activities, hanging out (and crushing on) her best friend Cas, and avoiding thinking about the future. But as her senior year begins, her younger cousin Foster comes to live with her family and demonstrates a remarkable talent that makes him an unlikely athletic star. Finding herself spending more and more time around surly football hero Ezra Lynley, Devon starts to learn that she's not as ordinary as she once thought either and that no one is simply how they seem on the surface. Thoughts:  This book was billed as " Pride and Prejudice  meets Friday Night Lights ," but I don't think I would describe it that way. I mean, yes, there are lots of Jane Austen references, since Devon i

Disclaimers: while my blog post itself does not contain any graphic sexual content, this book does. This is a review for a book that is meant for mature audiences, and therefore is unsuitable for minors.  This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  Cole Sharpe is a shoe-in for the new Senior Editor position at Oxford  magazine - he's been a freelance writer there for quite some time, and he's good friends with all the guys (and the ladies as well!) - but things take a turn when he finds out that he actually has competition, in the form of Penelope Pope. Penelope recognizes a charmer when she sees one, and Cole is definitely a charmer. Despite being competition, they hit it off immediately and become friends, the ladies' man and the tomboy. But as their attraction and connection become undeniable, they both have to decide whether an office romance is a good id

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary:  It's the summer after graduation, and Margie is getting ready to go to Paris for college to get a degree in management and then to go to culinary school when her parents drop the bomb that they will be returning to the small wealthy community where she grew up, bullied to the point of inducing PTSD and requiring six years of therapy. She is determined to avoid any run-ins with her childhood bullies when she finds out that she will be working alongside one of them, the handsome and wealthy Zach Robinson, for the summer. Zach swears that he's not the same person anymore, and that he's trying to be a better person after the death of one of his friends. Fighting him every step of the way, Margie eventually comes to realize that if she deserved a second chance, he should too. Thoughts:  I can't remember what originally made me purchase this book, but it's been sitting on my Kindle a while, and when I recent

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: ** (It was okay) Katie Willfield and Drew Reilly are of course destined to be enemies, as her father is the Republican candidate for President, and his mother is the Democratic candidate. Also, they seem to be complete opposite - Katie lives and breathes politics, while Drew just wants to be a normal kid. But when a morning show interview throws them together, sparks fly between them, and as Katie helps Drew adjust to life in the spotlight, Drew helps Katie loosen up and be a normal teenager. However, things get interesting when the media catches wind of their relationship right when they break up, and things get even more  interesting when both parents want them to continue their relationship for the cameras. (This story is told in alternating viewpoints.) Spoiler alert: You won't know who wins the election. So... I felt like this book had a lot of potential. T

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) That morning, Kady Grant broke up with her boyfriend, Ezra Mason. That afternoon, both of them were scrambling for their lives as mega-corporation Bei-Tech bombed and destroyed their tiny planetary settlement. While Ezra is conscripted as a pilot aboard the battlecarrier  Alexander , Kady puts her computer skills to use aboard the science vessel Hypatia  as a series of mysterious and suspicious events occur, decreasing the number of survivors at a steady rate: a dangerous virus begins to spread aboard one of the other ships in the fleet, and the Alexander 's AI system may be more sentient (and dangerous) than anyone could have imagined. As Kady uses her hacking skills to wade deeper and deeper into the truth, she finds that the fleet's commanders are covering up something huge, and Ezra is all that she has left, as Bei-Tech closes in on

This morning it was announced that the 10th anniversary edition of Twilight  would include a genderbent version called Life and Death , in which Bella is now Beau, and Edward is now Edythe. As you can probably imagine, a lot of the Internet response has been pretty disdainful, as most discourse has been regarding anything having to do with the series, including Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who have since moved on with their lives to do other awesome film projects. I'm not going to lie - I can be snarky about Twilight  sometimes too. It's very easy to do so - there are a lot of problematic elements within the book series itself, and then add to it the fandom fervor, the gossip headlines, etc., and it's a perfect storm of mockable elements ripe for the picking. There has been a lot written and said about what is bad about Twilight . So I'm going to talk about what I  like about it instead. At the time that I first read Twilight , which was well after t

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) I'm filing this under "book to movie adaptations," though it is actually a book and not a movie. This is because it's a sequel to a book based on a series that is an adaptation of a book. Wow. That sounded complicated. Okay, some backstory: Pride and Prejudice  is my number one favorite book. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries  is a modernization of P&P, and is framed as a series of vlogs posted by Lizzie, who is a 24-year-old grad student getting a degree in Mass Communications. Her life consists of her two sisters, Jane and Lydia; her best friend, Charlotte; and her upcoming senior thesis project. And then all of a sudden, rich med student Bing Lee moves to town, with the even-richer William Darcy in tow, and everyone's life changes. On camera. On the internet . Full disclosure: I am a SUPER fan of this series. I mean, not super enough to have befriended the cast members and creators, but some of them actually

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: ** (It was okay) Audrey comes from a poor family in a poor neighborhood, and she is extra-dedicated to academics because that is her only ticket out of her life after high school. Scarlett West is beautiful and wealthy, and needs help bringing up her grades. Despite some past drama between the two, Audrey agrees to help her, and against her better judgment, she finds herself more and more preoccupied with thoughts of Scarlett. Despite their different backgrounds, there is an undeniable attraction between the two, and both girls find themselves conflicted about whether or not to pursue a relationship with each other. Meanwhile, Audrey is also preoccupied with her mysterious new neighbor whom she is convinced might be a serial killer. Again, against her better judgment, she keeps formulating plans to find out who he is. Mild spoilers below

This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts at a glance: * (I didn't like it) I was a huge fan of Saved by the Bell  when I was a kid, and I watched it religiously, like many others my age. I thought Zack was so handsome, and Jessie was so smart, and Lisa was so cool. Even though I have a different perspective on the show now that I'm older (and I'm also a high school teacher), I still have soft spot for it in my heart. So when I saw this modernization of SBTB in comic form, it really piqued my curiosity. How would  our favorite Bayside High supergroup fare in the 21st century? How would things be different? Would Jessie be an advocate for more social issues than just her stereotypical brand of feminism? Would Lisa have a fashion blog? Would a nerd like Screech be actually... COOL? Well... this book offered some  answers, though they weren't as satisfying as I had hoped. In fact, I only got through 50% of