Review: Heaven looks a lot like the mall-Wendy Mass

Summary: When 16-year-old Tessa suffers a shocking accident in gym class, she finds herself in heaven (or what she "thinks "is heaven), which happens to bear a striking resemblance to her hometown mall. In the tradition of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Christmas Carol," Tessa starts reliving her life up until that moment. She sees some things she'd rather forget, learns some things about herself she'd rather not know, and ultimately must find the answer to one burning question--if only she knew what the question "was."
Written in sharp, witty verse, Wendy Mass crafts an extroardinary tale of a spunky heroine who hasn't always made the right choices, but needs to discover what makes life worth living.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: This was a very enjoyable read. I liked how Tessa was not like all girls in books. Normally, Young Adult girls would be a Miss Perfect and a goody two shoes. Tessa, on the other hand, wasn't. She did bad things and knew she did bad things. She accepted that she was bad in a sense. But she really wasn't that bad. In my opinion she was just like a normal teenager. She was bullied, she bullied others, she stole and lied. Admit it, all teenagers do that at some point in time. Even the goody two shoes. Tessa was a remarkable character that you found to love. She grew and developed, she became a better person. In most YA novels, the girl stays the same. Not in this one. Tessa wasn't beautiful either. But she tried for her mother. She showed a love for her family. Unlike most teenage girls do now.

Enough about the main character for now. :D Now let's get to the plot.

The plot was very interesting. Tessa "dies" in the beginning of the book. When she wakes up, she's in the mall she grew up in. She thinks it's her heaven. Then she meets a guy with a drill bit in his head. Nail Boy's name isn't told in this book. That leads to mystery. He hands her a bag with a ton of stuff in it. It turns out to be one thing for every year in her life up to when she gets hit with a dodge ball. They hold significance later in the story.

I found Tessa's life story interesting. She had a bad life and she knew it. All the things she did she thought was good at the time. Everyone has those moments.

Wendy Mass's book, Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall, is a book I'd reccomend to any growing up teenager. It has growth, development and a true life lesson.

Currently Reading #1

Right now I am reading Heaven looks a lot like the mall by Wendy Mass. It is in verse and it's very short. A review should be up tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to read next though.

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Long time no post. Here's a review though :D

Title: Beauty Queens
Author: Libba Bray
Summary: The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: I liked this book. The characters were shallow, but they developed. I loved the writing style. But, at points in this book I was embarassed to be a woman. Especially at the commercial breaks. It was still a great riveting read and it made me feel like I was there. I didn't get the whole wild girl thing with Mary Lou though. Or the Petra Sinjin situation.

Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Finally finished it. I had a lot of problems with this book.

Pros: 1. Kristin Cashore had this way with writing that made me want to read the book all night. Its the way she wrote it, not the content though. 2. Liked the characters. Especially Po and Bitterblue.

Cons: 1. Hated the twists. They were not creative what so ever. 2. The author just threw bits and pieces of stuff in there. 3. It felt like they were going in circles the whole book. 4. Katsa, oh God how I hated Katsa. 5. Kristin Cashore dragged out the story more than it should have. 6. Leck, Po's eyes(at the end), Po giving Katsa his ring, just twists like that were boring. I think I already said that.

Overall, it was an okay book. Had a good plotline and everything. I for one, just wasn't a fan of it. I don't think I'll read Fire, but I might read Bitterblue.        

Writing Wednesday(a day late, sorry!)

Today, on Thursday, is Writing Wednesday! Sorry this is a day late, I can't really tell what the days are when I'm not in school. Speaking of school, I'm going back to school in 11 days, so I won't be reading or vlogging or blogging as much as I want. OH, btw, I'm trying to reach 100 subscribers by October, so.....Help me?

Title: Rewritten by Alex

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/277048-rewritten 

What if all of your favorite characters from your favorite fairy tales, had children? Four best friends. All cursed. A destiny forced upon generations, until one of them gets it right. Ella, Whit, Belly, and Rory are the bestest friends you can get. They've known eachother since they were born. All of them know what's coming when they are sixteen. The curse. Living out a fairytale's destiny, until someone gets it right. All of their ancestor's had to do it, now they will. None of them are willing to admit it, but they are secretly excited. Who doesn't want to live a princess's tale? But, some ...moreWhat if all of your favorite characters from your favorite fairy tales, had children? Four best friends. All cursed. A destiny forced upon generations, until one of them gets it right. Ella, Whit, Belly, and Rory are the bestest friends you can get. They've known eachother since they were born. All of them know what's coming when they are sixteen. The curse. Living out a fairytale's destiny, until someone gets it right. All of their ancestor's had to do it, now they will. None of them are willing to admit it, but they are secretly excited. Who doesn't want to live a princess's tale? But, some of those tales, don't have a happy ending. That is why the descendants of Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Aurora are supposed to rewrite that destiny. So far, no one has done it. These four besties are determined to do it though.

 

 

I hope you guys read it and like it!

Review: Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2) by Andrea Cremer

When Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemies, she’s certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer—one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack—and the man—she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive


Rating: 5/5 stars

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ NIGHTSHADE OR WOLFSBANE. IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST ONE, AND MINOR SPOILERS FOR WOLFSBANE.



I loved this sooooooooo much. I am totally team Searcher. We were introduced to a whole new world in here, and I loved it! There was very little that I didn't like.

Pros:1. A whole new world is introduced, a very cool one at that. 2.I loved all of the new characters. Connor was a smart a**. Adne was tough, but still a girl on the inside. Ethan scarred from losing his brother, and almost killing someone elses brother (whom I will not say) while also having a teeny crush on a girl. 3. This was action packed from page one. 4. It had some romance in it. Always gotta love romance. 5. THE TWIST AT THE END! OMG, I was not expecting that.

Cons: 1.Shay was a jerk. Ren was kind of a jerk too, but then I kept on reading, and I understood. Shay had no excuse though. 2. Andrea Cremer kept on killing people! And she either made them depressed or took away their reason to live. I understand that this is a war, but couldn't she kill off my least favorite characters?        

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
Rating: 4/5 stars

Characters: 4. Lena was annoying at parts. "Don't love me! I'm going Dark!" That was annoying to hear over and over and over in the book. Amma was annoying as heck.
Plot: 4. I've never really read a book about witches. This was a first. But, the whole Light and Dark thing, was a little over the top. I still liked it though.
Writing: 4. Some parts were slow.
Addictiveness: 3 nothing really made me not want to put it down.
Romance: 4. Over the top, but still cute.

Overall, this book gets a FOUR.