Love And Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

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Title: Love And Other Unknown Variables

Author: Shannon Lee Alexander

Length: 350 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Friendship

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Entangled Teen!)

Read: September 2014

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Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.
The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.
By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared). (From GoodReads)

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

My Rating:

I just want to share: I LOVE the cover of this book. So simple yet amazing. I especially love the math symbols. Perfect.

A beautifully moving story about love, friendship, and hope.

Charlie is a Math geek. Pretty much everything he views in the world he can make the mathematical/scientific connection. (Which I found fascinating!) He has his future planned out before him and knows what he wants. Then he meets Charlotte, and things start to change.

I love this book! I really enjoyed reading it. I think that is was a fast read, because the story really grabbed my attention. I had so many emotions while reading this book! I loved all the references in this book too, especially all the comic book characters.

I think there is a wonderful combination of love/romance and friendship in the story. And the story felt realistic to me.

I think that not only is the story well developed, but I think the characters are absolutely wonderful!

Charlie has always struggled with trying to talk to girls. And the day he meets Charlotte is no different. I found it a tiny bit weird that he reaches out to touch the girl's tattoo on the back of her neck, but I feel that it also adds to his awkwardness around girls. At first, I felt like Charlie can be a bit of a jerk to those around him, mean to his sister (which is a pretty realistic sibling relationship) and a bit to his two friends, Greta and James. But I really loved watching his character develop throughout the story. And I came to really love his relationships with others in his life. Not just Charlotte, his friends and family. But the relationship created with Mrs. Dunwitty and Ms. Finch. And I love that these relationships help him see a different side to life and the world.

Charlotte is an amazing character! I really love her. She has so much hope and I love that she stands up for it. She has pretty much accepted her future. She wants to live life to the fullest and look at the beauty in everything. She is very artistic. She doesn't take crap from people. She felt very real to me and I became very attached to her character. She can be stubborn and frustrating at times, but also very sweet and caring. And I love that she is the opposite of Charlie.

Becca is Charlie's sister and she is quiet and sweet. She keeps to herself a lot. She likes to read, which I love. But her future changes in this story too, because she makes a friend. I did love seeing her sibling relationship develop more through out the book. And think that Becca's character is a great addition to the story.

I love Greta and James. Not only do I love their relationship. I love their friendship with Charlie. They are wonderful friends. They get into shenanigans together. They are always there for each other and they fight. Greta cares so much for Charlie as a friend and I love that she is there to help him. And James is just wonderful. He is not only a great friend to Charlie, but he is a great boyfriend to Greta.

I also like that Charlie and Becca's parents are present but not really overbearing in the story.

I love all the parts of the story that have Mrs. Dunwitty. They are funny. And like I said before I really love the relationship that develops between her and Charlie.

Also, Ms. Finch. I really love her. And felt for her. She is the new English teacher at Charlie's school and is subject to so many pranks. She has a lot of patience. And I love how things progress through her interactions with Charlie.
The pranks were entertaining and remind me a bit of high school. I was in the advanced program at my school and I had the same classes with the same advanced classmates for the entire four years. In fact, if I hadn't been in band as well, I probably wouldn't have known very many people outside of the advanced program. We didn't play pranks on our teachers everyday. But there was Senior Prank day and the Seniors always went all out to prank all the teachers. And these pranks reminded me of those days.

My Recommendation:

This story made me laugh. It brought tears to my eyes. And it gave me hope. I not only enjoyed the story, but it had characters that I love! I highly recommend reading it.

The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy

Title: The Winter People

Author: Rebekah L. Purdy

Length: 320 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy

Release Date: September 2, 2014

Source: e-galley (via NetGalley. Thanks Entangled Teen!)

Read: September 2014

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An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.

Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 


Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her. (From GoodReads)

***I received an e-galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

My Rating:

I started reading this book without knowing much about the story at all. I only read the first sentence in the synopsis and decided I wanted to read it.
I am glad that I decided to. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.

I found the writing to be awesome and beautiful. The author's writing style really pulled me into the story from the beginning and kept me wanting to keep reading as the story continued.

The Story:

This story focuses on a girl that is afraid of winter due to falling into an icy pond as a child and almost dying.
I found this story to be unique and creative. I was really interested in the voices and things that haunted her in the woods. I was completely fascinated by this element of the story. Trying to figure out why these things have been happening to her and why they keep continuing.

I liked the pace of the story. It felt like there was always something happening.

I love the magical elements that are part of the story. It made the story a very entertaining and exciting read for me.

There were a couple things that frustrated me a bit while reading.

My biggest frustration was the love interests. There are three of them. So a love rectangle of sorts. There are three boys that she bounces around and seems to have some feelings for. For me, it really frustrated me at first. But as the story progressed it didn't bother me as much. And now being finished with the book, I feel like I have a better understanding of why the author chose to write the love interests that way.
I can't speak for others, but for me the love rectangle didn't bother me the more I read the book. And I definitely had a boy that I liked more than the others near the end.

I also was a little sad that she needed rescuing so often. But I also get that part of that has to do with her fear of winter.

So even though there were a couple things that bugged me, I was still able to enjoy the story and the mystery. And I felt satisfied with the ending.

The Characters:

I liked the characters.
Salome was a little frustrating at times, but I did empathize with her a lot. I can't imagine being so terrified of something like a season. It would be so hard to deal with this fear. There were times that I wished I could have been her friend so I could help her.  And I like that her character evolves as the story goes on. I like that she questions what is going on and wants to find out what is happening around her.
Colton- I really liked how he is the first love interest because she already knows him. It made it really easy to be interested in what was going to happen between these two characters. I like that he appears to be mysterious and was very curious about him.
Nevin- I really got wrapped up in this character in the beginning. He is pretty mysterious as well, so I was wondering what his story was. I kept wanting and longing for the next time she was going to see him. He is very determined and protective.
Gareth- I really like him. I feel that he is a very strong character. I think that he is very loyal. I really loved all the parts of the story that included him.

I also really like that the mother is pretty present in the book. She really cares about her daughter and wants what is best for her. The grandparents are also interesting and caring. They don't have as big of a part in the story as the mom does.

My Recommendation:

If you like books that are beautifully written,  have mystery, and aren't easily deterred by love triangle situations then I recommend giving this one a read. I enjoyed reading it.

Mini Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

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Title: The Collector (Dante Walker #1)

Author: Victoria Scott

Length: 352 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Source: e-book (purchased)

Read: May 2014

GoodReads

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence has made him one of Hell’s best — a soul collector. His job is simple, weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag. Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment: Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within 10 days. Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of Hell. But after Dante meets the quirky, Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect—he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector, and uncover emotions long ago buried. (From GoodReads)

My Rating:

I bought this book and book number two because they were both on sale and I saw some other bloggers talking about the series on Twitter. So I thought I would give it a try. Then I saw that Jessica at Just a Booklover and Stephanie from Ohana Reads were having a Read-a-thon. So I decided to participate and read the books. 

My Thoughts:

• I didn't know what to think when I first started this book. Like I wrote earlier, I knew that there were some bloggers that have enjoyed reading this series, so when they went on sale I bought them. I didn't read the synopsis at all, and it was fun going into the book only knowing that the main character was a hot guy. :D
• Dante's character starts off as this guy that is pretty unlikable. I wasn't sure that I would end up liking him. He seems to only really care about himself and is just an all around jerk. But since he started off this way, I really enjoyed his character development throughout the story. And I was really interested in what he was up to. I especially enjoyed reading from Dante's point of view.
• Favorite thing: Dante's humor. I found a lot of this story to be funny. 
• I liked Charlie. Overall she was a likable character. Very sweet and caring. The complete opposite of Dante. 
•  I also really liked Charlie's friends. They were interesting and likable. 
• There were a lot of things that surprised me while reading this book and there was something that I did see coming, but it didn't ruin the book for me.
• The entire book kept me hooked and interested in what was going to happen next. And I left me wanting more, so I was very happy to start the next book. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. And I am very glad that I participated in the Read-a-thon!