Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

 

My rating: 3 of 5

(Book read from March 22nd to March 24th, 2013)

Summary:

Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

 

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Ok, so I guess I'd call An Abundance of Katherines an average comtemporary YA. Overall, I liked it, but it was nothing special. And from that aspect, it's definitely a disappointing John Green book. If you haven't tried his books, don't start with this one. Thankfully, I didn't :) 

It was kind of a quirky read, with a little bit of weird characters, that I can't say that I liked them. I didn't dislike them, but I just couldn't connect to them, I kinda started to like Colin & Lindsey near the end of the book, as to Hassan, I didn't warm up to him at all. And for someone that was suppose to be the funny guy, not so much. I guess I kinda got used to laughing out loud to John Green's books, and this just wasn't the case. I laughed some, and overall it was a fun & kinda interesting read, but nothing special.

But, what did I love? My fav parts in this book were the scenes in Lindsey's secret place - they were written in a lovely way, and they were sweet & made me smile.  I also loved the ending, this is where it felt like a John Green book, so that was better.

In the end, An Abundance of Katherines was nice enough YA contemporary, with good ending & quirky characters, and although it wasn't quite a read for me, I still liked it, so I say, try it & see for yourself.  

Challenges:

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013

Title: Beautiful Darkness

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Series: The Caster Chronicles, #2

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from March 15th to March 20th, 2013)

Summary:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I  absolutely loved Beautiful Creatures, so I was expecting Beautiful Darkness to be good, and yeah, it was good, but definitely quite different then the previous book! I guess I should split it into things that I liked & things that I disliked!  

What I liked? Well, once again I quite enjoyed Ethan's PoV, and I still like him a lot as a character. Here we learn a little bit more about his connection to Lena, and more about how exactly he is connected to the Caster world, as well as a lot more about his mom, about the Casters past, about Macon, and a lot more about the Caster world overall. I loved finding out more about their world. Once again I liked a lot Link as a character, and one of the unexpected characters that showed up is definitely one of my favs, and I can't wait to see where his story would go, as well as Ridley's & Link's, too. I guess so many things happened to all of them in this book that changed them, so I'm really interested to see where it will go. Surprising, but I'm more interested in the secondary characters.   

What I didn't like? Lena - she was such a bitch. I really disliked her in this book. I mean, yeah, ok, it happened what happened at the end of Beautiful Creatures, and it was really sad, and of course she feels guilty, but acting the way she does to Ethan, and not telling him what exactly happened & pushing him away, and just acting like a bitch, Ethan definitely doesn't deserve that, so I kinda almost hated her, and I really felt sorry for Ethan. This is my main complaint, but in the end, this was necessary for the story & the way it developed, so I can understand it. 

As for the story, there were actually a few storylines that kinda created one whole story, and overall I enjoyed them. Not, all of them, but most of them. Some were fun, but most of them really sad & heartbreaking, but in the end I was happy of the ending because of you know who :) Also, there were lots of twists & turns, some I saw coming, but some I totally didn't, so plenty of surprises in this book. The ending was great, although I think that Beautiful Darkness was more of a transition book that revealed what has happened in the past & with everything that happened to all the characters, it created set up for the next book in the series, so I'm looking forward to see where everything will go.

So, if you loved Beautiful Creatures, I recommend Beautiful Darkness, because it's a good sequel that will delve you deeper in the caster world!

Challenges:

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Author: John Green & David Levithan

 

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from March 6th to March 23rd, 2013 for a read-along)

Summary:

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens — both named Will Grayson — are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both of them legions of faithful fans.

 

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Ok, so my first thoughts on this novel when I finished it - absolutely hilarious! I just laughed so much. As you can see from the summary, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a contemporary YA novel about 2 guys that are both named Will Grayson, that meet accidentally, and that meeting will influence both of their lives. The story is narrated alternatively between the 2 Will Graysons, and the PoV changes with every chapter. So, so you'll know about who of the 2 Will Graysons I'm talking about, I'll use capital WG for the 1st Will a.k.a John Green's Will, and I'll use small wg for the 2nd Will a.k.a David Levithan's Will.

So, the book starts with WG. We meet WG, and his best friend (the unforgettable) Tiny Cooper & of course there's Jane. I liked WG right away, he was such a great character, and through the book he carved himself a special place in my heart (both he & Jane actually - they were just so sweet), so, yeah, I really liked Jane as a character, too, and I was hoping for some romance between them, and I was really happy with the way it developed, it was quite sweet, fun & romantic, and they were perfect for each other.

Now, the other Will is actually quite a different character from WG - he's depressed, he has a friend Maura, and an online romance with a guy named Isaac, and he's the only bright light in his life that actually makes him happy & keeps him going. So, they finally decide to meet, and that's when he actually meets WG & Tiny Cooper. 

Ok, I won't go into details because it will spoil the story, because something major that I definitely didn't see coming was revealed, I couldn't believe it how that someone could do that?!? Yeah, I'm still a little bit pissed about it, but that evening is also where some of my fav scenes happened - the ones between WG & Jane were both sad & amazing, and poor wg - I was heartbroken for him, yet really happy in the end, and that was so sweet, too. And something that I saw coming (and I was hoping for) happened :)     

And now a special mention for the man himself - Tiny Copper.  This guy was hilarious, he made me laugh so much. But, he was also a great characters, and a good friend & a real sweetie, and yeah, for a while he became my fav character in the book, although in the end my favs were WG & wg. And his musical, that was lots of fun, too :) 

The ending was good & fun, although I would've loved for some epilogue, but it was fine like this, too. I absolutely loved both writing styles. They were just so amazing, and captured the characters & the story perfectly, and I could only wish that this book would never end. 

Also, I was reading this for a read-along, and I was sticking to the reading schedule, and you have no idea how hard it was to stop reading the book until it was time for the next part, so Will Grayson, Will Grayson is definitely one of those unputdownable books that you'll just breeze through until you finish them. 

So, if you enjoy YA contemporary novels about friendship, love & support, that will both make you laugh-out-loud, yet will bring tears in your eyes, then I can't recommend this novel enough. Now it's definitely one of my favs, and I know that I will read it again & again.  

Challenges:

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013

Title: In A Glass Grimmly

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Series: A companion to A Tale Dark & Grimm

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from March 15th to March 16th, 2013)

Summary:

More Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classic

Take caution ahead —

Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.

Lest you enter with dread.

Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.

Step lively, dear reader . . .
Happily ever after isn’t cutting it anymore.

In this companion novel to Adam Gidwitz’s widely acclaimed, award-winning debut, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Jack and Jill explore a new set of tales from the Brothers Grimm and others, including Jack and the Beanstalk and The Frog Prince.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I loved A Tale Dark & Grimm. It was one of the most entertaining fairy tale re-telling books that combined lots of different fairy tales in an almost perfect whole, so of course when I found out the author decided to write this companion, I was excited to read it!  

And what did I think about it? I loved it of course. Although I think A Tale Dark & Grimmly was a little bit better, if you enjoyed it, you won't be disappointed with In A Glass Grimmly. In this one we follow Jack, Jill & Frog on an adventure.   

I liked the way the author incorporated the different fairy tales, and some of these re-tellings I liked, some of them I loved, and although it took me a while to warm up to the characters, as the story progressed, I did & I started to like them & cheer them on on their adventure, and the stories kept getting better & better as the story developed, and in the end it all wrapped up in the perfect & quite satisfying ending.

As always, I won't go into details, because they will definitely spoil the story, but In A Glass Grimmly is another read that every fairy tale lover wouldn't want to miss! It was fun, interesting, cute, sometimes dark, witty, humorous, magical, entertaining & mostly adventurous, and I highly recommend it!

Challenges:

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013