ARC Review: Me Since You by Laure Wiess

Title: Me Since You
Author: Laura Wiess
Publication:  February 18th 2014 by MTV Books
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher..

Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding—in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?


-- My Rating --
4/5 Oscars: Really liked it

-- My Thoughts --

     I am definitely not familiar with the author. And anyone who has been following this blog for a long time, knows that I have a knack for trying out new authors that I know nothing about. I really didn't put a lot of expectations into this one but it took me totally by surprise.
     Rowan's life is boring enough, for a high school student. But things take a different turn when a man decides to suicide on the bridge near her house with his little kid. This devastating incident takes its toll on Rowan's father, the police officer on the scene and one of the witnesses, Eli. Life will never be normal again for Rowan, and a while later, the person she loved her whole life is going to leave her and she has to cope with it alone.
     This is a very dark read. It doesn't seem like that in the beginning , considering Rowan and her actions. She is a rebellious teenger who hates being under the control of her strict parents. It almost feels like she does things just to piss them off. Then her officer father witnesses a suicide by a man and his kid, and this changed everyone. This book takes a dark side when another suicide happens in Rowan's family. This book is mainly about suicide and the aftermath of it. How it affects the people who are left behind,not the people who are gone.
     Rowan undergoes a lot of changes through the course of this book. Not exactly for the better, but not for worse, either. She just develops and grows up, which is something we need to do in our lives, sooner or later. Her relationship with her mother was a focal point in the story and i loved watching them cope with being left alone with their extreme sadness. It was a refreshing take on the whole aspect of grief and what it really means.
     There is also a romance in this story and it was so beautiful. Eli is a broken guy, too. With his father dead and him witnessing a suicide, it changes him a lot. But together, Eli and Rowan try to fix each other and slowly, you fall in love with their determination and everything about them. Watching this whole reckless, sweet, and loyal love unfold was surreal for me.
     The end was definitely not what I expected and it took me a little by surprise but it also healed my broken heart over the events in the book. Although this book might be a bit too dark for some people, I really couldn't find anything wrong with it. IT was thought-provoking and intense and it left me with a lot of thoughts, for later, I'm sure it would be for You readers, too.

ARC Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Heartbeat
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publication: January 28th 2014 by Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?


-- My Rating --

4/5 oscars: Really like it.



-- My Thoughts --

     I have only read one other book of Elizabeth Scott's, and it was a really catching and amazing story but not deep. It was cute in a happy way, but this one was much deeper and more complicated and emotional, which I loved.
     Emma's life turned upside down when her mother died. But her stepdad is keeping her alive for the baby inside her. Emma hates to see her dead mother hooked on tubes and her stepdad making that decision without her. And her new growing feelings towards Caleb, the bad-boy she would have never even thought about before.
     Elizabeth Scott tackled a very new subject that I have never read about before. Keeping a body alive when the brain is dead, for the sake of a baby inside the womb? It's a very refreshing idea and I loved how the author explained and developed it. Seeing the characters' reactions toward the whole thing in general was also new.
     The main character we see is Emma. Who is as three-dimensional as any normal person. I could hear her voice inside my head, her feelings in my heart, it was like she was just here, with me. I felt extremely close to her, and her development was obvious in the course of the novel.

     The romance is at its peak. I loved the interactions between Caleb and Emma. They are two opposites that feel like they could never get along, but they do. Their shy, emotional love story makes you remember your own love and how amazing it made you feel. The ending was amazing and it left me teary-eyed with its vulnerability and honesty. Elizabeth Scott definitely knows how to write the most real of contemporaries. And it's recommended to everyone with a soft side and a love of emotional reads!

ARC Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated (Alienated #1)
Author: Melissa  Landers
Publication: February 4th 2014 by Disney Hyperion
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.



-- My Rating --
3/5 Oscars: Liked it

-- My Thoughts --

     Well, when I received this book for review, I was intrigued. I really like ANYTHING that deals with aliens and their generation. Their ideas, their lives, it's all so interesting! And although this book didn't satisfy all that, it was cute, altogether!
     Cara is thrilled to host the first ever exchange program between humans and the L'eihrs. But when Aleyx, the cutest alien she has ever seen, arrives, she can't even stand him. And the feeling is mutual. And it seems like a huge group of humans want the L'eihrs off of Earth and out of their lives, and that only fuels more problems.
     The idea of this book is more towards the contemporary genre not the science fiction one. It's a story of two teens falling in love, who are not fit for each other but still try to make it work. I would have liked some more world building, because i felt like it was lacking a bit in this aspect. I never fully understood the differences between the aliens and us, but i have to say that I liked the information that was provided. 
     The romance is sweet , cute but nothing serious. It's the kind of high school romance that you know, might not be forever. I don't know what the author will do with this romance for the future books in the series, but I am hoping that she'll make it more mature and long-lasting. I did like the main characters, not at first, though. I didn't like Cara and Aleyx's arrogant attitude towards each other, but they did grow out of it. So, the character development was really evident.

     Although this book is not the best science fiction book out there in the blogging world, but it is interesting, nonetheless. And I know that it has a lot of potential so I am waiting for the author to show us more of this interesting world!