Oh gosh.

I feel like the WORST book blogger ever! I haven't updated in about 20 days... August has been so busy busy busy!

I was off at a Business Camp thing that was INCREDIBLY fun for about a week, and have been hanging out with friends way too much since one of them is from Korea, and August is his last month here. Actually, he's leaving Saturday :( so my brother and I wanted to make sure we have lots of memories together with him before he goes back to Korea..

AND, I've been incredibly stressed from my summer homework! Ahh, less than 2 weeks until school starts again, and I STILL haven't finished my AP Euro or my Honors English homework. Actually, I've barely started! All I've done is read the book for English, Fahrenheit 451, but haven't done any of the writing assignments. By the way, Fahrenheit 451 is a REALLY amazing book.

Plus, I am STILL to write a review for The Sacred Sin, but I have no idea when I'll have time to even finish the book. I feel incredibly horribly because I first promised the author I'd finish it by the end of July, then emailed him that I would finish it by the end of August. And now that the end of August is coming up, I'm pretty sure I can't even finish it by then because I have all this summer homework to catch up on! Plus my family and I are going to be on vacation until Sunday.

Oh dear, things are not looking very well for me.. I haven't even read a book for actual leisure for a month now! I started The Sacred Sin, but that was awhile ago so now I feel like I need to restart it since I sort of forgot what happened and I need to be re-sucked into the book. :(

Wake by Lisa McMann Review

If really been slacking off with this book blog haven't I? Sorry everyone! When I promised that I would do lots more for the blog in the summer I didn't expect for even my summer to be hectic. Next week I'm off to Washington Business Week and I've been real busy getting ready for that lately. Anywho, on the the review!

Product Description:
Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

Review:
In this book, in just a couple times, I was a little confused. As the product description says, she starts to become a "participant" in the dreams and that's when I got puzzled as to how the heck she got in them. They kind of explain it through context I guess, but it was odd. The plot was very very interesting though, and I have to give Lisa McMann kudos for writing a great story. Nevertheless, I somewhat felt like the story had depth to it--Janie's problem with that nightmare gets resolved a bit to easily for my taste. Plus her relationship with Cabel was too predictable for me. I definitely say that I'm a fan of Cabel, but their love interest was so obvious from the beginning because you can tell their relationship was set up from the first mention of Cabel.

Plus, I have to say that I actually had high expectations for this book since so many people love it. I say it's a good read, but it's not a favorite of mine or anything. It had a great idea and story, but lacked depth and unpredictability. However, I love Lisa McMann's style of writing for the book, so that's a huge plus! There were definitely some high and low points of the book--parts that kept you up at night reading, and other parts that made you not care so much and fall asleep. I'm still looking forward to reading Fade though, as I hear that it's really good as well.

3.75 smiles out of 5 smiles

If I Stay by Gayle Forman Review

Product Description:
"Just listen," Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel. I open my eyes wide now. I sit up as much as I can. And I listen. "Stay," he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones. Stay true to her first love--music--even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then, one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.


Review:
Wow. I must say that this is one of the most interesting books I've read. I've never read a book with the type of concept that was brought up in If I Stay. As it says in the product description, Mia is faced with a hard decision. Actually, for me it took awhile to understand what exactly she is trying to decide, but that is most likely just because I was a bit slow haha. During the beginning I was slightly confused because she was out of her body (don't worry, this isn't really a spoiler because it happens very early on in the book) and she was able to look at herself. But as the story progresses, you really start to understand everything. It might be a little odd, maybe even slow-paced, to some people because the whole book takes place practically over one night/day, but to me the slow pace didn't bother me at all.

Personally, I tend to like books with some depth and meaning, and books that require a bit of thinking. This book definitely meets those standards, and I love the way that Gayle Forman wrote it. Honestly, I got teary-eyed and cried a little while reading the book because Gayle Forman describes Mia's point-of-view so well, which makes me feel very close and personal with all the characters--a big plus in my view of a good book. I started rooting for Mia's boyfriend, Adam, a lot because I felt like I would want a person like him to be in my life :) He really cared for Mia, and as the more I read the book the more I was on his side. Defintely one of the best books I've ever read.

5 out of 5 smiles!

Oh dear,

I haven't posted a review in a while! Sorry about that, it's been so incredibly hot these past couple weeks where I live and my house doesn't have air conditioning which means I'm always out doing something else haha. Not being at home means I'm not on the computer as much! Darn the hot weather :( I love the sun and the heat when I'm outside, but inside.. it's killer. Anywho, I shall post/work on my reviews for If I Stay, Wake, and Charmed Thirds right now! I don't think I'll post them all at once though.. haha.

Everyone else having a good summer?