Better Off Friends (Book Review)

Better Off Friends
Elizabeth Eulberg
Expected publication: February 25th 2014 by Point

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?






Review:

This book was absolutely adorable. The story starts when Macallan and Levi are still in middle school. So this is definitely a story that younger readers can enjoy.
The book switches between Macallan and Levi's point of views......Also, at the end of ever chapter you had these adorable comments between the two of them.
Both Macallan and Levi's characters were great. Macallan wasn't a whiny character. I though that here character was sweet and realistic. She handled the different things that were thrown at her with ease, but she still didn't act too old (she is younger than the average YA character). I really liked Levi's character for most of the book. He was a pretty typical boy. Although, sometimes I think he acted a bit older than his age.

The entire story line has just the right amount of sadness and comedy. The plot and characters were(for the most part) realistic.
Not going to go into the plot too much, because it would ruin the entire story line. But I will say that I was very pleased.
I would call this one an older middle grade book. It is definitely clean enough for pre-teens to enjoy also.

Will Levi and Macallan become more than friends? Or will they just stay best friends?
You are going to have to read it to find out!

This book was great. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, innocent contemporary. Much cleaner than the average YA book of today.


**Point via Netgalley provided an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Do you like books with best friends? Have you read this one? What did you think?

Top Ten Popular Authors I've Never Read

Hosted by  http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/

 

Top Ten Five Popular Authors I've Never Read

 

 

Stephenie Meyer

Twilight series

The Host. 

 

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter series.

 

Kami Garcia

Co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series.

 

Alyson Noel

The Immortals series

The Soul Seekers series

 

Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy

 

 

Paper Towns (Book Review)

Paper Towns
John Green
Published 2008 by Dutton Books

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.





Review:

YA Genres:

Romance
Historical Fiction
Sci-Fi
Fantasy
Contemporary

And then there is John Green, he is in a genre all of his own.
This is my third John Green novel, after really liking The Fault In Our Stars and thinking that Looking for Alaska was ok I wanted to pick up Paper Towns to try it out.

The first 1/3 of the book was both hilarious and captivating. I loved the chemistry between Q and Margo.
After that, I wasn't really loving the story. The plot didn't interest me and I wasn't crazy about all of the "mature content" of the book.

The Characters:
For the first 1/3 of the book I was LOVING the characters. Q and Margo were so funny together, and I was laughing along with there entire night of (you'll see). After the first 1/3 I slowly started to dislike both of them. Although disliking Margo took only 1 chapter, Q took a while for my dislike of him to set in.
Part of the reason is I honestly don't like reading books in the guys point of view only. I don't mind alternating points of view, but only in the guys point of view frustrates me.
I had hoped for more of a romance in this book, so in that way comparing it to The Fault In Our Stars this was a huge disappointment.

The plot was just OK....Although a high five to John Green for such a unique story line, I just wasn't really getting it.


Altogether I did think this one was good. But I also think that I was hoping for something as good as The Fault In Our Stars, which this definitely is not. If you liked Looking for Alaska, you will probably like this one....Because I liked the two of them about equally

February Challenges Wrap Up

 

I only read and reviewed one book for this challenge this month...

Being Sloane Jacobs (review posted) 

 

Adding this one to the others that means that I have read and reviewed 3/15 2014 YA Contemporary's for my goal.

 

 

 

For the "Real" Book Challenge this month I did good. But not as well as January.

 

February:

17. The Offering
18. Vitro
19. Juliet's Moon
20. The Impossible Knife Of Memory
21. Dairy Queen
22. The Off Season
 23. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
24. Unremembered
25. Annie Between the States
26. You Be the Jury 

 27. Front and Center
28. Tuck Everlasting
29. Resistance
30. Forget You

Characterize It (8)

 

Welcome to Characterize It, a meme held every Thursday and hosted by http://theyabookbutterfly.blogspot.com/

As usual for memes, link the meme back to the host page so that other can join in!

If you want to know more about Characterize It, go to this page.

Recently, Characterize It was added to the Book Blog Meme Directory. It is a great way to find new memes........Check it out here:http://bookshelffantasies.com/book-blog-meme-directory/

 

 

Wild Card - Any character! From any book! Just come up with a favorite!

Today I picked Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.

 

I read the Chronicles of Narnia years ago, but I can still remember enjoying reading about the adventures that they found in Narnia.

 

Great books for all ages.

Waiting On Wednesday (15) (Don't You) Forget About Me

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is-

(Don't You) Forget About Me

Expected publication: June 10th 2014 by HarperTeen

 

 

 

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

 

 

I was not the biggest fan of Another Little Piece (review here) , but this one looks like it is more my thing.

Into the Still Blue (Book Review)

Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)
Veronica Rossi
Published January 28th 2014 by HarperCollins

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
Review:

Going into this story, I made the mistake of not re-reading Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night. And even though this did confuse me a little, I soon got into the story all over again.
One of my very favorite things when I started this series was Aria. And I had high hopes going into Into the Still Blue that she would continue to be the same strong character that I had gotten to know and love throughout Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night.

Veronica Rossi didn't disappoint me at all. She delivered a strong female lead......Someone that you can connect with, and someone that you can cheer for.
I had hoped for more scenes between Aria and Perry, and although there were a few.....I didn't get as many as I would have liked. I can understand why there weren't though. With everything else going on, it would have been hard to include more Aria-Perry scenes.
I liked reading Perry's point of view, I found it refreshing to find myself immersed in his mind (as weird as that sounds).

The plot was exciting, with lots of action.....But enough conversation to keep it interesting also. There is definitely a bigger sci-fi element than Through the Ever Night. Which I wasn't a huge fan of.....But it was still enjoyable, even for me.

If you have read Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night, reading Into the Still Blue should be a no-brainer. But if you haven't, then I would definitely recommend this series.
Great ending Veronica Rossi. Thank-you for not disappointing me.