Elizabeth Scott. LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU.

Another great one from Elizabeth Scott! What a thoroughly awe-inspiring author!

Amy’s just been released from Pinewood rehabilitation center. It’s been 75 days since Julia died. 75 days since she’s had anything to drink. She won’t drink ever again, since it reminds her of that night. Amy thinks it’s her fault that Julia died. She begins writing letters to Julia in a journal to work through her grief. She also begrudgingly sees a psychiatrist.

The worst part of it the whole thing is that her parents are acting differently towards her. They’re acting like they care all of a sudden. Before they left her alone most of the time. She’s trying to deal with getting through the day with the crushing weight of Julia’s death on her mind, not to mention being a total outcast at school. So the last thing she needs is doting parents. Will she ever be happy or even want to be happy again?

As I may have said before, Elizabeth Scott is fast becoming one of my favorite authors! I always feel a sort of kinship with her characters and stories. Is that weird? Anyway, this is one of those books that I didn’t want to end. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs:
“I didn’t want those words from her, not like that, not there, but at the same time I wanted them so badly that if I could have plucked them from the air, swallowed them down, and let them swim inside me, I would have”

This is a book you won’t soon forget. It’s beautifully written. The characters are deep and real. Loved it!!

Justine Larbalestier. HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY

This one’s been on my list for ages! Justine Larbalestier wrote the awesome MAGIC OR MADNESS trilogy, so I knew this would be good!

Fourteen-year-old Charlie lives in New Avalon where everyone has a personal invisible fairy. Each fairy has a specialty that helps you with your life. For example, Charlie’s friend Rochelle has a shopping fairy, which means that Rochelle always finds the perfect clothes at the right price. Stefan has a “getting out of trouble” fairy and other students have sports fairies that help them perform at their best. Unfortunately, Charlie isn’t as lucky as all those people. She has a parking fairy and she doesn’t even drive yet. But that doesn’t stop Danders, the school bully, to force her to help him get good parking spots all over town. Charlie detests her fairy and is determined to get rid of it, somehow, someway. When she finds out that Fiorenze’s mom is a fairy expert, she hopes for a way to finally ditch her fairy and maybe even get a better one.

This was a hoot! I thoroughly enjoyed New Avalon! The idea of having a personal fairy is fun and intriguing. The author is so inventive. This was just as fresh and creative as the MAGIC OR MADNESS trilogy. I enjoyed and was impressed by the new vocabulary and the lore of the fairies.
Highly Recommended!

Katie Alender. BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE

Do you like ghost stories? Haunted Houses? Who doesn’t! I had forgotten how much I love them myself!
When I picked up BAD GIRLS DON’T DIE I had avoided spoilers – not even reading the book jacket. It started out as a pretty normal YA book. So I got a delicious surprise when the book turned supernatural.
Alexis has a normal dysfunctional teenage life. She has pink hair. Her parents aren’t around much. She hangs around with a group called the doom squad, although she isn’t really close to any of them. So she spends most of her free time on her photography hobby and developing the pictures in her dark room, the old fashioned-way.
She has a thirteen-year-old younger sister, Kasey, who was just annoying at the beginning of the book, but then begins to change into something that Alexis doesn’t recognize. Kasey begins to behave in an old-fashioned way in her movements and with her phrases like “mother” and “oughtn’t.” She loses chunks of time and her eyes even change colors.
Furthermore, when odd events start happening in the house like unplugged electronic devices turning themselves on and doors slamming, Alexis starts to believe there is another presence in the house. She has to turn to someone for help. The only logical person turns out to be a cheerleader who happens to be her enemy. Can things get any worse for Alexis?
I loved the suspense! I stayed up super late to finish it, because I could not put it down!
Bottom line ~ This is a fantastic debut novel by Katie Alender!
To find out more about the book and the author click here.
My description is nothing compared to this cool book trailer – check it out: