Get Even (Book Review)

Get Even (Don't Get Mad #1)
Gretchen McNeil
Published September 16th 2014 by Balzer & Bray

Bree, Olivia, Kitty, and Margot have nothing in common—at least that’s what they’d like the students and administrators of their elite private school to think. The girls have different goals, different friends, and different lives, but they share one very big secret: They’re all members of Don’t Get Mad, a secret society that anonymously takes revenge on the school’s bullies, mean girls, and tyrannical teachers.

When their latest target ends up dead with a blood-soaked “DGM” card in his hands, the girls realize that they’re not as anonymous as they thought—and that someone now wants revenge on them. Soon the clues are piling up, the police are closing in . . . and everyone has something to lose.



First of all, I was expecting to not like this one AT ALL. In the synopsis, Get Even is compared to Pretty Little Liars which I happened to dislike immensely. So, this comparison initially turned me away from reading Get Even.

Even so, I picked it up timidly to find out for myself if it was worth a read....And I am SO GLAD I picked this one up.

The novels mystery is complex, and I don't mean a little complex, I mean that there are so many factors in this novel that I had a hard time sometimes keeping up! High Five to Gretchen McNeil for keeping this all straight....That in itself is quite an achievement!

One thing I did not like. There are four main characters in this book. And they are all supposed to pretend that they don't know each other. So you are following four different girls, with four different lives, which also means four different groups of friends. It took me the first 1/3 of the book or so just to start keeping all of the characters straight (and even after that, I was still confused till the end.)

But again, Gretchen McNeil performed amazingly and made all of these characters totally unique and individualistic.

Yes there were other things that seemed unrealistic and I wish that there was more background on Don't Get Mad.
But Get Even kept me interested till the very end. It was interesting, complex, and had diverse characters. I never felt bored, and I need Get Dirty now. Like, RIGHT NOW.
June cannot come soon enough.

Waiting On Wednesday - I Was Here

"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-

 

I Was Here

Expected publication: January 27th 2015 by Viking Juvenile

 

 

Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

 

 

 

Have you read any of Gayle Forman's other books? Are you looking forward to this one?

Top Ten Books I Want to Re-read

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

 Top Ten Books I Want To Re-read

 

Most of my very favorite books I have re-read. These are the ones that I have read recently and are really great. I want to eventually re-read them all. Some are also series that I haven't got around to re-reading.

 

1. The Lunar Chronicles Series.

 

2. The Girl of Fire and Thorns Series.

 

3. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

 

4. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father

 

5. The Chronicles of Narnia Series.

 

 

6. The Wings Series

 

7. All Our Yesterdays

8. Perfect Chemistry

 

9. The Naturals

 

10. The Summer I Became a Nerd

 

 

The Real Book Challenge October Wrap Up

Sign Up Post

 

Out of the 22 (I think) books I read this month, 13 of them were "Real Books" which brings my (sort of) total up to 116!

 

 

104: Ignite Me

105: Sever

106: Pretty Girl - 13

107: Four

108: Two Lies and a Spy

109: The Best of Me

110: Cruel Beauty

111: Frostbite

112: Stay With Me

113: Blood of my Blood

114: The Lost Hero

115: The Witch of Blackbird Pond

116: As Long as You Love Me

Thoughts on Pretty Girl - 13

Pretty Girl - 13
Liz Coley
Published March 19th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books

When thirteen-year-old Angela Gracie Chapman looks in the mirror, someone else looks back--a thin, pale stranger, a sixteen-year-old with haunted eyes. Angie has no memory of the past three years, years in which she was lost to the authorities, lost to her family and friends, lost even to herself. Where has she been, who has been living her life, and what is hiding behind the terrible blankness? There are secrets you can’t even tell yourself.

With a tremendous amount of courage and support from unexpected friends, Angie embarks on a journey into the darkest corners of her mind. As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: when you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the people responsible, or is there another way to feel whole again?






Pretty Girl - 13 is different than most Young Adult that I have read. There are similar Adult books that I have read, but Young Adult? No way.
As a matter of fact, there are not many thrillers and mystery's in the Young Adult genre in general....So when I heard about a new(ish) one, I jumped at the chance of reading it.

-The writing wasn't that great. It got better as the book went on, but as a whole...The writing could have been better.
-The main character is not very realistic in her journey.
-The last hundred pages or so and what happened? A little weird. But I could see where it tied in.

I can see what the author was trying to accomplish, and if not for the writing quality and the unrealistic plot points....I thought that this one was quite well done.  After I got through the first hundred pages, the writing did get better, and Pretty Girl - 13 kept me interested till the end.

Bookish Halloween Costumes Day 8 (Wings Series)

Bookish Halloween Costumes Day 8

 

My goal for these Bookish Halloween Costumes is giving you ideas that you already have in your closet. Some of the things that I put up there might be far fetched as to what you have around, but who knows?

 

Laurel loves loose and flowing clothes, (preferably with an open back because of her wings :-)

I found these that I thought would be something like Laurel wearing....

 

Laurel:

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know in the comments below what you would add to this look, or if you decide to be one of these characters, shoot me a picture on twitter @embookbutterfly I would love to see it!

 

***Note*** All of these bookish costumes are to my best memory what the character would wear in the book (or what I imagine they were wearing).....I don't claim to be an expert of the characters different fashion tastes. I am just here to offer cheap and sensible options for an awesome costume that will celebrate all of your bookishness (and mine!)

 

Bookish Halloween Costumes Day 7 (The Selection Series)

 Bookish Halloween Costumes Day 7

 

My goal for these Bookish Halloween Costumes is giving you ideas that you already have in your closet. Some of the things that I put up there might be far fetched as to what you have around, but who knows?

 

These are a little far fetched as to things you might have around the house......But still, the dresses are GORGEOUS!

 

 

 

Let me know in the comments below what you would add to this look, or if you decide to be one of these characters, shoot me a picture on twitter @embookbutterfly I would love to see it!

 

 

***Note*** All of these bookish costumes are to my best memory what the character would wear in the book (or what I imagine they were wearing).....I don't claim to be an expert of the characters different fashion tastes. I am just here to offer cheap and sensible options for an awesome costume that will celebrate all of your bookishness (and mine!)