en-US Thu, 31 Dec 2015 18:44:28 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 26041948
“The Grownup,� originally appeared as “What Do You Do?� in George R. R. Martin’s Rogues anthology.]]> 64 Gillian Flynn Kyle 4 3.65 2014
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/31
date added: 2015/12/31
shelves: 2015, addictive, adult, amazing-atmosphere, antihero, awesome-writing-style, better-than-expected, e-book, mystery, mystery-thriller-suspense, mild-dissapointment, psychological-rthiller, really-excited, short-stories, so-creepy-that-i-loved-it
review:
Fantastic opening and the middle is the perfect amount of unsettling, but it all kind of falls apart in the last 10 pages or so, which is truly disappointing. Flynn is a great writer, and this story may have benefited from being longer by maybe even 30 pages. The ending tries to constantly undo itself in such a short amount of time that it comes across as rushed and a lazy attempt at being a psychological mindfuck, when I know that Flynn is more than capable of doing given a proper amount of pages.
]]> 19542841
Sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. He's slowly remembering what happiness might feel like this summer with the support of his girlfriend Genevieve, but it's his new best friend, Thomas, who really gets Aaron to open up about his past and confront his future.

As Thomas and Aaron get closer, Aaron discovers things about himself that threaten to shatter his newfound contentment. A revolutionary memory-alteration procedure, courtesy of the Leteo Institute, might be the way to straighten himself out. But what if it means forgetting who he truly is?]]> 293 Adam Silvera 1616955600 Kyle 5 tragic 3.96 2015
author: Adam Silvera
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/11/17
date added: 2015/11/17
shelves: 2015, 2015-favorites, addictive, awesome-cover, awesome-writing-style, better-than-expected, bittersweet-ending, bittersweet-romances, contemporary, e-book, egalley, favorites, love-story-good, mind-blowing, really-excited, review-copy, science-fiction
review:
tragic
]]> 25110515
This is the funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.

Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."]]> 295 Jesse Andrews 1419719602 Kyle 5 3.40 2012
author: Jesse Andrews
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/20
date added: 2015/10/20
shelves: 2015-favorites, 2015, addictive, awesome-writing-style, better-than-expected, contemporary, favorite-characters, favorites, really-excited, screenplays, where-for-art-thou-plot, will-definitely-re-read, writing-flowed-well
review:

]]> 17250
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, "Political opposition... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence."

WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
(back cover)]]> 143 Arthur Miller 0142437336 Kyle 4 3.60 1953
author: Arthur Miller
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1953
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/15
date added: 2015/10/20
shelves: 2015, better-than-expected, bittersweet-ending, classic-lit, historical-fiction, plays, really-excited, school, screenplays, so-so-reviews
review:

]]> 22573856 What do you do if you're in trouble?

When Michelle runs away from her drug-addicted mother, she has just enough money to make it to New York City, where she hopes to move in with a friend. But once she arrives at the bustling Port Authority, she is confronted with the terrifying truth: she is alone and out of options.

Then she meets Devon, a good-looking, well-dressed guy who emerges from the crowd armed with a kind smile, a place for her to stay, and eyes that seem to understand exactly how she feels.

But Devon is not what he seems to be, and soon Michelle finds herself engulfed in the world of child prostitution where he becomes her “Daddy� and she his “Little Peach.� It is a world of impossible choices, where the line between love and abuse, captor and savior, is blurred beyond recognition.

This hauntingly vivid story illustrates the human spirit’s indomitable search for home, and one girl’s struggle to survive.]]> 195 Peggy Kern 0062266950 Kyle 5
Although not told in explicit detail, there's no avoiding the horror that this book portrays, and it's a book that tackles a subject matter not discussed seriously enough. Easily one of the best books I've read this year, or in my life.]]> 3.91 2015
author: Peggy Kern
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/08/01
date added: 2015/08/01
shelves: 2015, 2015-favorites, addictive, awesome-cover, awesome-writing-style, bittersweet-ending, contemporary, favorites, favorite-characters, library, mind-blowing, phenominal, really-excited, writing-flowed-well
review:
A tautly written, quietly horrifying novel. It's one of the most powerful books I've read this year, and has a whole lot to say in very few words, and says it well.

Although not told in explicit detail, there's no avoiding the horror that this book portrays, and it's a book that tackles a subject matter not discussed seriously enough. Easily one of the best books I've read this year, or in my life.
]]> 23080245 I can't believe I fell for it.
It was still dark when I woke up this morning.
As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.
A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.
There are six little rooms along the main corridor.
There are no windows. No doors. The elevator is the only way in or out.
What's he going to do to me?
What am I going to do?

People are really quite simple, and they have simple needs. Food, water, light, space, privacy. Maybe a small measure of dignity. A bit of freedom. What happens when someone simply takes all that away?]]> 264 Kevin Brooks 146775420X Kyle 3
A compelling story with solid writing and an interesting cast of characters, but I find myself too put off by the ending.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not somebody who's against a less than HEA ending, but I'd have to agree with other reviews that I've read that described it as "pointless." As a reader, we've stuck by the characters for 260 pages, and then left with an ending that opens up more questions and answers none. In some ways I feel the novel may have suffered with given answers, but the reader could leave more satisfied than this.

I can't even accurately put into words why the ending a disappointed me as much as it did, but I can't help but feel cheated, almost as though I wasted my time by reading this. I didn't come to read a book plagued by hopelessness and that's all. Because truly, what else happened? This book was nothing more than our central cast of characters slipping down into absolute depravity.

I'll give Brooks his credit for creating a compelling story and characters that held my attention and was also solidly written, but I can't quite say this is a book that I can give a higher rating. ]]> 3.68 2013
author: Kevin Brooks
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/16
date added: 2015/07/15
shelves: 2015, addictive, amazing-atmosphere, awesome-writing-style, contemporary, evil-cliffhanger, horror, isolated-settings, library, mild-dissapointment, mystery-thriller-suspense, mystery, psychological-rthiller, really-excited, so-so-reviews, unique-setting, suicide-depression, what-did-i-just-read
review:
*no specific spoilers, but do not read further on if you intend on reading the book and don't want to be spoiled at all*

A compelling story with solid writing and an interesting cast of characters, but I find myself too put off by the ending.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not somebody who's against a less than HEA ending, but I'd have to agree with other reviews that I've read that described it as "pointless." As a reader, we've stuck by the characters for 260 pages, and then left with an ending that opens up more questions and answers none. In some ways I feel the novel may have suffered with given answers, but the reader could leave more satisfied than this.

I can't even accurately put into words why the ending a disappointed me as much as it did, but I can't help but feel cheated, almost as though I wasted my time by reading this. I didn't come to read a book plagued by hopelessness and that's all. Because truly, what else happened? This book was nothing more than our central cast of characters slipping down into absolute depravity.

I'll give Brooks his credit for creating a compelling story and characters that held my attention and was also solidly written, but I can't quite say this is a book that I can give a higher rating.
]]> 21469108
Four linked stories boldly chronicle madness, obsession, and creation through the ages. Beginning with the cave-drawings of a young girl on the brink of creating the earliest form of writing, Sedgwick traverses history, plunging into the seventeenth century witch hunts and a 1920s insane asylum where a mad poet's obsession with spirals seems to be about to unhinge the world of the doctor trying to save him. Sedgwick moves beyond the boundaries of historical fiction and into the future in the book's final section, set upon a spaceship voyaging to settle another world for the first time. Merging Sedgwick's gift for suspense with science- and historical-fiction, Ghosts of Heaven is a tale is worthy of intense obsession.]]> 360 Marcus Sedgwick 1626721254 Kyle 3
I think I get it. Maybe this story is just way too sophisticated for me, but I can't say with certainty that I understand what exactly Sedgwick was trying to say here. I believe I have the general gist of it, and I appreciated the twist in the last chapter that truly tied everything together, but I'd really need somebody to walk me through the significance of the spiral since probably a big chunk of it went over my head.

Between a combination of my confusion regarding the entire meaning of the book as well as my complete boredom with the entire first story and half of the second, I can't find it within me to rate this one much higher than 3.5 stars.

Amazing writing, great second half of the second story and amazing third and fourth story, and I can definitely appreciate what Sedgwick set out to do by writing a highly intelligent novel marketed for teenagers (although I'm sad to say that as a teenager I didn't quite get it).]]> 3.72 2015
author: Marcus Sedgwick
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/14
date added: 2015/07/14
shelves: 2015, alternate-history, amazing-atmosphere, anthology, awesome-cover, awesome-writing-style, historical-fiction, horror, isolated-settings, library, magical-realism, mild-dissapointment, mystery, mystery-thriller-suspense, psychological-rthiller, really-excited, science-fiction, serial-killers-murderers, unique-setting, verse
review:
3.5 stars

I think I get it. Maybe this story is just way too sophisticated for me, but I can't say with certainty that I understand what exactly Sedgwick was trying to say here. I believe I have the general gist of it, and I appreciated the twist in the last chapter that truly tied everything together, but I'd really need somebody to walk me through the significance of the spiral since probably a big chunk of it went over my head.

Between a combination of my confusion regarding the entire meaning of the book as well as my complete boredom with the entire first story and half of the second, I can't find it within me to rate this one much higher than 3.5 stars.

Amazing writing, great second half of the second story and amazing third and fourth story, and I can definitely appreciate what Sedgwick set out to do by writing a highly intelligent novel marketed for teenagers (although I'm sad to say that as a teenager I didn't quite get it).
]]> 14807762
Until now.

Michael Hassan's shattering novel is a tale of first love and first hate, the story of two high school seniors and the morning that changed their lives forever. It's a portrait of the modern American teenage male, in all his brash, disillusioned, oversexed, schizophrenic, drunk, nihilistic, hopeful, ADHD-diagnosed glory. And it's a powerful meditation on how normal it is to be screwed up, and how screwed up it is to be normal.]]> 532 Michael Hassan 0062112902 Kyle 4 4.5 stars 3.91 2013
author: Michael Hassan
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/06
date added: 2015/07/06
shelves: 2015-favorites, 2015, addictive, awesome-cover, awesome-writing-style, bittersweet-ending, bittersweet-romances, contemporary, love-story-decent, mystery-thriller-suspense, really-excited
review:
4.5 stars
]]> 22616269 USA TODAY bestselling author of Unteachable, which was praised for its "lush, haunting prose, deft storytelling, and scorching sensuality" (M. Pierce, bestselling author of the Night Owl trilogy), and called "one of the best forbidden romances" (Lauren Blakely, New York Times bestselling author).

"Love is not a thing that we create. It’s an undoing."

It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn't worth sticking around for.

If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.

She's not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who has thorns of her own.

But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully who broke her down completely—she decides it's time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.

Which was the plan all along.

Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.

She's going to show them all.]]> 384 Leah Raeder Kyle 5 3.72 2015
author: Leah Raeder
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/26
date added: 2015/06/27
shelves: 2015-favorites, 2015, amazing-atmosphere, awesome-cover, awesome-writing-style, antihero
review:

]]> 8135686
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.

Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was.

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.

This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.]]> 180 Elizabeth Scott Kyle 5 3.72 2008
author: Elizabeth Scott
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/31
date added: 2015/03/31
shelves: 2015, 2015-favorites, amazing-atmosphere, awesome-writing-style, better-than-expected, bittersweet-ending, horror, phenominal, psychological-rthiller, really-excited
review:

]]> 18249281
Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others� ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.]]> 300 Rick Yancey 0399162429 Kyle 2
This is one of those rare books where, despite the fact that there's plenty of explosions and deaths, virtually nothing happens in terms of important events or even plot progression up until the very end. The progression of the story is very stagnant, and the reader often finds themselves in the same location for long extended periods of time, and the first half of the book is basically just the different perspectives of the characters all getting to the exact same point.

Ringer is definitely a much more interesting character than Cassie though, however I just can't find myself rooting for or all that invested in any of the characters. I'll read the final book since there's only 1 more to struggle through, but overall this is a disappointing series thus far. I could see The 5th Wave being adapted into a movie, but I'd be very interested to see what they could really make out of this.]]> 3.88 2014
author: Rick Yancey
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2015/03/30
date added: 2015/03/30
shelves: 2015, awesome-cover, bittersweet-ending, evil-cliffhanger, isolated-settings, love-story-meh, lust-not-love, mild-dissapointment, mystery-thriller-suspense, overhyped, science-fiction, aliens, where-for-art-thou-plot
review:
2.5 stars

This is one of those rare books where, despite the fact that there's plenty of explosions and deaths, virtually nothing happens in terms of important events or even plot progression up until the very end. The progression of the story is very stagnant, and the reader often finds themselves in the same location for long extended periods of time, and the first half of the book is basically just the different perspectives of the characters all getting to the exact same point.

Ringer is definitely a much more interesting character than Cassie though, however I just can't find myself rooting for or all that invested in any of the characters. I'll read the final book since there's only 1 more to struggle through, but overall this is a disappointing series thus far. I could see The 5th Wave being adapted into a movie, but I'd be very interested to see what they could really make out of this.
]]> 17131869
Collects: Saga #7-12.]]> 144 Brian K. Vaughan 1607066920 Kyle 4 4.49 2013
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Kyle
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/03/08
date added: 2015/03/08
shelves: 2015, adult, aliens, awesome-cover, evil-cliffhanger, fantasy, graphic-novel-or-comic, library, love-story-decent
review:

]]> 18480081
That’s the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it’s all thanks to a few simple rules: don’t commit, don’t be needy, and don’t give away your heart.

So when smoking-hot Nathan Diggs transfers to Lincoln High, it shouldn’t be a big deal. At least that’s what Aubrey tells herself. But Nathan’s new-boy charm, his kindness, and his disarming honesty throw Aubrey off her game and put her in danger of breaking the most important rule of all: Don’t fall in love.]]> 376 Alexis Bass Kyle 5
The characters are messy, mean, and not easy to like, and at times it seems like they deny their feelings and refuse to develop for too long. There isn't a whole lot of big plot points, however that isn't where the strengths in this book lie.

No, the reason why I went from wanting to give this book 4 stars to 5 is because the ending ripped my freaking heart to shreds, and maybe it's because I've finally entered high school, and the thought of leaving behind my entire life for adulthood, of leaving behind the memories and the friends that I've been fortunate enough to make, destroys me. However, this book is real, and so are the emotions that it stirs up inside of me.

I also loved the writing, character dynamics, as well as the development of the characters. At times it does seem like the book is just sort of wandering around, unsure of where it's going, and it's very possible that is what happened over the course of the writing, however when it finally does get back on the path, there's no stopping this book.

A book written with this much heart and reality simply cannot get a lesser rating from me. Easily one of the most surprising reads I've experienced in a long, long time, seeing as how I thought I'd only mildly enjoy this one.]]> 3.22 2014
author: Alexis Bass
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/07
date added: 2015/03/07
shelves: 2015, 2015-favorites, awesome-writing-style, better-than-expected, bittersweet-ending, bittersweet-romances, contemporary, e-book, favorites, favorite-characters, got-all-misty-eyed, love-story-decent, mind-blowing, new-adult, phenominal, really-excited, review-copy, via-edelweiss, will-definitely-re-read
review:
I think this's a book that I lot of people won't like, or appreciate.

The characters are messy, mean, and not easy to like, and at times it seems like they deny their feelings and refuse to develop for too long. There isn't a whole lot of big plot points, however that isn't where the strengths in this book lie.

No, the reason why I went from wanting to give this book 4 stars to 5 is because the ending ripped my freaking heart to shreds, and maybe it's because I've finally entered high school, and the thought of leaving behind my entire life for adulthood, of leaving behind the memories and the friends that I've been fortunate enough to make, destroys me. However, this book is real, and so are the emotions that it stirs up inside of me.

I also loved the writing, character dynamics, as well as the development of the characters. At times it does seem like the book is just sort of wandering around, unsure of where it's going, and it's very possible that is what happened over the course of the writing, however when it finally does get back on the path, there's no stopping this book.

A book written with this much heart and reality simply cannot get a lesser rating from me. Easily one of the most surprising reads I've experienced in a long, long time, seeing as how I thought I'd only mildly enjoy this one.
]]> 11640897 Take Me There, a fast-paced novel in verse about a girl caught between life and death and the boy who will do anything to save her.

Ally is devastated when a scandalous photo of her is texted around school. With her reputation in shambles and her life essentially over, she hides out in a back hallway, trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

Elijah has spent time in that hallway too. He landed there after taking a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Now he can see ghosts, and he knows what Ally has yet to suspect that she's already half dead, and one choice away from never coming back. Elijah has loved Ally for years and would do anything to save her from the in-between place. But if she's going to live, Ally must face her inner demons and find the will to save herself.

Told in interwoven verse narratives, this crushingly honest and poetic exploration of pain and redemption will appeal to fans of Ellen Hopkins.]]> 384 Carolee Dean 1442432543 Kyle 2 3.92 2012
author: Carolee Dean
name: Kyle
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2015/02/05
date added: 2015/02/08
shelves: 2015, boring, contemporary, love-story-annoying, magical-realism, mild-dissapointment, mystery-thriller-suspense, verse, where-for-art-thou-plot
review:

]]>