The Bibliophilism: Rating-5 Stars

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[Book Review]: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Book Title: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Source: Purchased
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Year: 2009
Page Count: 538
ISBN: 9780804138338
Find it at: Gillian Flynn's Official Website
Warning: Contains explicit murder scenes and some vulgarity
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

After the hype of Gone Girl, I had been curious of Gillian Flynn's works. But I ruled out the mainstream and tried Dark Places first, based on reviews I read. Thriller and mystery are genres are not really my main and favorite stuffs, but I can like, appreciate and am willing to read the good ones. Robert Galbraith and Abigail Haas' works are one of them.

In my opinion, thriller and mystery books are not like contemporary or fantasy young adults which are able to put different colours and sensation in the content. Thriller and mystery books are all typical. There are criminal cases, the process of finding out the truth, the chill and thrill when you read while guessing your speculations and then finally you get the answers. But there is something for me that makes Gillian Flynn's book truly high-class and stands out among other books within the same genre. Gillian Flynn does not follow the usual plot and flow that are common in the genre. She does not cheaply give away the clues and hints. The way she wraps the case is very gentle. Thus all speculations I made, were not really that strong. All in all, Dark Places is more that just mind-wrecked.

There are great deals of main and supporting characters in this book. But each of them has strong characteristics. Take this as an example, there are four children in the Day family. As you read their childhood story, you can see that Ben is a strange and unsociable boy who has malignancy inside him which he does not even understand; Michelle is a curious, meddling girl; Debby the crybaby; and Libby, the youngest of the family, who always needs someone to lead her. One of my favourite characters in this book is Diondra. Flynn shaped her into a tremendously horrifying character, in a savage way, despite her being a seventeen year old teenager.

I've read that this book is adapted into a movie too and I can't wait to see it immediately. Even though when I read the cast list, I just could not imagine how Charlize Theron playing Libby. So what's of Gillian Flynn that I need to read next? I'm just not sure it will be Gone Girl. Sharp Objects is in line immediately once I'm recovered from Gillian Flynn's syndrome.

[Book Review]: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Book Title: The Chosen One
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2009
Page Count: 213
ISBN: 9780312627751
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

Before I read this book, I know that there are these kind of religions, faith, cultures that hold polygamy value high. A few years back, there was a renowned religious figure in my country that married his second wife and caused such an uproar. Many people opposed and there were many that supported him too.

I don't know much things about the religious background for someone to do polygamy, but when I read this novel, I was appalled. I really was because there's apparently someone (and it happens to be Ms. Carol Lynch Williams) who writes about the whole things of polygamy in pretty much details. I never read one that lifts such issues. The worst part is that how Ms. Williams blatantly shows the fact that some men have only lusts towards their young brides, hiding beside the masks of religious duties, tribal myths and etc.

In this book, it's not that the author explores such sensitive issues (at least in my country it is), but she hauntingly shows the desperation that the thirteen-year-old Kyra feels about her having to marry her sixty-year-old uncle. Throughout her journey, I was constantly feeling enraged, shocked, anxious of what would happen to Kyra in the end.

Despite the severity of the topic, the novel is a very easy read and the characters will absolutely live in my heart for a long time.

[Book Review]: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Book Title: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
Author: Matthew Quick
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2013
Page Count: 273
ISBN: 9780316221351
Find it at: Matthew Quick's Official Website
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate, Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting look at a day in the life of a disturbed teenage boy, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

After reading two works of Matthew Quick, now I'm really sure he's a very kind man. I want to meet him in person and give him the biggest hug in the world. Seriously, how can an author manage to write two books that effectively dried my eyes from tears while I was reading them? T_T

Leonard Peacock is another ordinary teenager who is damaged. He's being bullied at school, no one befriends him, and his parents don't care about him. The four people who give a care are his old neighbour, one of his classmates, a devout Christian girl and his teacher. As I read through the book, these four people are the only one who at least can bring some happiness to Leonard.

Quick also once again puts one of the kindest characters I ever read. This time, it is Herr Silverman, Leonard's teacher. He plays the biggest part that determines Leonard's decision in the end.

About the main character, Leonard is also a very unique character. Even though he's been disappointed by so many people in his life, he got me thinking that he still cares about them and believes that everyone should not be forced to live a life they don't like. He's a contemplating and even a sweet boy, I think. There are only few authors that can create a character who makes me want to scream about the injustice they are through, and want to laugh at the same time at the naive, quirky and witty voices they bring.

I really want to thank you to Matthew Quick for writing this kind of book. I'm wondering what a wonderful world we live in would be, if everyone read books like this and was changed to be a better person because of them.

Read my review for Matthew Quick's Sorta Like a Rock Star here.

[Book Review]: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Book Title: Dangerous Boys
Author: Abigail Haas
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Year: 2014
Page Count: 328
ISBN: 9781471119163
Find it at: Abigail Haas' Official Website
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?

Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

Two days...
Two days I was tortured by suspense from these Haas' books. I was never a fan of mystery novel before, but Abigail Haas has opened that door to this genre for me.

Firstly, this book is not the sequel of Dangerous Girls. It's totally different from Haas' previous work. Dangerous Boys is written in the first point of view of Chloe Bennet, in spite of the title. It alternately changes from the present and past. Chloe has been living in a small city since she was born. She is a normal girl, always goes with the stream in her life. She dreams of leaving the town once she graduates from high school, but it is shattered when her mother falls to depression, leaving her as Chloe's responsibility. During this moment, she meets Ethan Reznick, who is going to be her boyfriend and at first she believes that he is the only thing that keeps her holding on with all those pressure. While she's trying hard to accept the fact, she meets Oliver Reznick, Ethan's older brother who is the total opposite from his younger brother. Oliver is all Chloe needs to bring out the her inner demon. Yes, I write it correctly: 'demon'.

Even though this book is not as nerve-wrecking as Dangerous Girls, it's still a very powerful book. To say it out loud, this book is about damaged people. It's about how desperate you are in finding your own way in life, to do something in order to be someone. Haas once again drags out the worst of each character in Dangerous Boys. Throughout the story, you will once again guess and speculate about things, which will turn out wrongly at the end. You will be surprised on whom Chloe saves and why. Just like me lol

Dangerous books are really recommended for those who like to be in suspense and find gritting truth about the characters in the end. Two thumbs up for Abigail Haas!

Also read my review for Dangerous Girls here.

[Book Review]: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Book Title: Dangerous Girls
Author: Abigail Haas
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Year: 2013
Page Count: 388
ISBN: 9781442486607
Find it at: Abigail Haas' Official Website
Warning: Contains murder scenes and some vulgarity.
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations.

As Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.

As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...

So here is the thing. I've been caught up in inhumane busy-ness where my reading time has been cruelly robbed from me in these months. The last book I finished to read was in January and my brain was in idle mode.

What was it that urge me to finally grab this book which has been occupying my shelf since six months ago, I didn't know. I decided that I needed a little time-out from the real life and to be drown in fiction world once again.

And... such decision is proven fatal. My brain, which had been inactive for four months, was suddenly crammed with this nerve-wrecking, mind-blowing, and terrifying book. And I mean this in A VERY GOOD WAY.

The main character, Anna, goes to Aruba for spring break with her best friend, Elise; her boyfriend, Tate; and her other friends. It all goes wrong when Elise is found brutally murdered and the leads bring Anna and Tate as the main suspects. As we turn the pages of the book, we will find flashbacks about how Anna and Elise's became friends, the things that happened which shape Anna's character, and the process of Anna's trial in court. All is told in Anna's point of view, which will leave you judge and speculate some other possible suspects. What I love the best about this book is how the author has the ability to psychologically shows the characters and the relationship between Anna and Elise, which you will find really complicated. And the ending... It tops it all! The blurb is right, the final truth will be extremely shocking.

All in all, this book is about betrayal, insecurity, lust, friendship, bribery and other things that you will think foreboding, but with Haas' writing, it's crafted smoothly and fast paced, where you won't be taking this book off your hands the moment you open the first page.

I spent two days reading this book, and finished it last night, where I sacrificed my sleeping time and left me feel ill and uneasy afterwards, even it haunted me in sleep lol

Anway when I read news and the author's blog, I felt sad that this book doesn't have financial success which forces the author to self-publish her next book, Dangerous Boys. So in order to pay the respect and to show support for the author, I would like to post my package of these Dangerous books to you.

[Book Review]: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Book Title: On the Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher:
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2006
Page Count: 419
ISBN: 9780061431852
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.

Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.

And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.

The moving, joyous and brilliantly compelling new novel from the best-selling, multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca.

Melina Marchetta really rules contemporary young adult books! I had been holding myself to read this one, since I heard it was a very emotional reading and it indeed was. And after finished turning every page, I found myself crushed, torn, but sometimes I laughed too at occasional humor this book brought.

After having Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son read, I've slowly begun to recognize Marchetta's novel theme pattern. She is one of the few authors I've encountered this far, to have the courage to take up such dark and heavy themes for young adult, which is inevitable that we need to examine such restricted matter, and Ms. Marchetta was flawless in doing it.

Marchetta applied the first person point of view which is of Taylor. As a seventeen year old teenager, Taylor is moulded in such a way that she's not a common young girl character you find in a novel. She is tough, has been through much predicament which uncommon to teenager like her and not what you think as the oldest in the orphanage, that is always expected to be responsible in her role.

In this book, you will also find the novel draft written by Hannah, which leads to clues that can reveal Taylor's past. Will Taylor reconnect with her long lost mother at the end? You should find out further in this masterpiece.

[Book Review]: The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Book Title: The Piper's Son
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2010
Page Count: 328
ISBN: 9780763660628
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
The award-winning author of Finnikin of the Rock and Jellicoe Road pens a raw, compelling novel about a family's hard-won healing on the other side of trauma.

Award-winning author Melina Marchetta reopens the story of the group of friends from her acclaimed novel Saving Francesca - but five years have passed, and now it's Thomas Mackee who needs saving. After his favorite uncle was blown to bits on his way to work in a foreign city, Tom watched his family implode. He quit school and turned his back on his music and everyone that mattered, including the girl he can't forget. Shooting for oblivion, he's hit rock bottom, forced to live with his single, pregnant aunt, work at the Union pub with his former friends, and reckon with his grieving, alcoholic father. Tom's in no shape to mend what's broken. But what if no one else is either? An unflinching look at family, forgiveness, and the fierce inner workings of love and friendship, The Piper's Son redefines what it means to go home again.

I'm in love with Melina Marchetta. Totally.

The Piper's Son is another contemporary work from her and, it's like a spin-off of Saving Francesca, only this time the main characters are Thomas Mackee, Francesca's friend; and Georgie Finch, his aunt. While Saving Francesca applies first person naration, The Piper's Son uses third-person one and Marchetta has proven that she is the author who can handle everything perfectly.

There are several themes this novel raises. The relationship between Tom and his father, who is an ex-alcoholic; the friendship with his so-called ex friends who never give up on him, the girl Tom betrayed; the long grief of Tom's family towards the sudden death of Tom's beloved uncle; and Georgie's unexpected pregnancy and her strange relationship with her unborn child.

Seeing those considerable themes, one is likely to doubt the capability of the author to handle it. But once again, it's Melina Marchetta! No need for such thought.

Just like what it was with Saving Francesca, the author writes the first hundred pages of the novel in such way it's full of mystery. You might find yourself puzzled with what's really going on in the novel, but that was what kept me going, the author's inexplicable way to reveal one by one like peeling an orange.

And now I'd like to talk about the cover. Actually what I got is the other version of the cover:

It's really indie, but I don't get the feeling that the man in the cover is Tom, which I think the major character among the others. Instead I think it's Tom's father, Dominic. Since the texture of the figure says it doesn't belong to someone below twenties. I much prefer the Australian version (on the preface of this post) than this one. It really resembles Tom in such way.

This novel is one of those which I won't forget as long as I live. It brought me sadness, warmth feeling on how a family unites to fight the grief despite all their broken relationship, and what a truly friend is like.

Thank you very much, Ms. Marchetta for such a warm book.

[Book Review]: Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

Book Title: Sorta Like a Rock Star
Author: Matthew Quick
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2010
Page Count: 355
ISBN: 9780316043533
Find it at: Matthew Quick's Official Website
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Amber Appleton lives in a bus. Ever since her mom's boyfriend kicked them out, Amber, her mom, and her totally loyal dog, Bobby Big Boy (aka Thrice B) have been camped out in the back of Hello Yellow (the school bus her mom drives). Still, Amber, the self-proclaimed princess of hope and girl of unyielding optimism, refuses to sweat the bad stuff. But when a fatal tragedy threatens Amber's optimism—and her way of life, can Amber continue to be the rock star of hope? With an oddball cast of characters, and a heartwarming, inspiring story, this novel unveils a beautifully beaten-up world of laughs, loyalty, and hard-earned hope.

Wondering why all books I read recently were given five stars? I'm wondering as well. Maybe because I've been trying to read all good books recommended by one of my most favorite Goodreaders, Emily May. I don't know, we just happen to have the same taste, so I always rack her shelves to find new gems to read. Thanks, Emily!

I've seen The Silver Linings Playbook before, and I've been wanting to read the book even though I haven't got the chance. So this is my first Matthew Quick's written work. To say that I liked it, would be an understatement. Because i really LOVED this book.

This book is divided into four parts, where the first two parts recount that how much Amber convinces herself to be everything but negative. She has her own special group of friends in school. She teaches English into a number of unconfident Korean women. She volunteers and thus mingles with the elderly people in a retirement home. She makes best friend with a Vietnam war veteran. Amber is nothing but a bundle of sunshine to everyone around her. Now the last two parts deal at how suddenly her life is turned upside down and she loses all the cheerful demeanor and starts to not care about people.

This book is about good people. About no matter how much life shatters you, you need to keep going and be good to others, even though there will be no guarantee that other people will treat you the same as you do them.

Even though the title of this book seems to lead you into an idea that this book is all about rock music, but I think that the 'rock star' part means that no matter how hard her life is, Amber needs to be a rock star to herself, get up and move on from the tragedy life brings to her.

Read my review for Matthew Quick's Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock here.

[Book Review]: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Book Title: Saving Francesca
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2003
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
A compelling story of romance, family, and friendship with humor and heart, perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Lauren Myracle.

Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys' school that pretends it's coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can't seem to stop thinking about.

Then there's Francesca's mother, who always thinks she knows what's best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life and—hardest of all—herself.

I needed to force myself looking up from the pile of excellent books I've been currently reading, and started to write about them before the feeling goes out.

Since the first time I heard and read about this book, I was not really sure about the title, it didn't seem to blend well with the synopsis. But as I turned out the pages of this book and was engrossed in the writer's simple yet deliverable proses, it all made perfect sense.

There were tons of topics this book discussed, using the high-schooler's daily life, Francesca. From complicated friendship, school, sisterhood, teen romance and family's issues. I'm not sure how those great contemporary writers write, Marchetta is one of them who had that skill which could grip you in such topics without being too intricate and complicated. Each character was perfectly carved, and so different with each other. But the other thing I loved that the writer did them all in Francesca's first person point of view.

I was so lucky that I could get the opportunity to read Marchetta's work, and I certainly can't wait to get my hands on the next one, The Piper's Son.

[Book Review]: Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Book Title: Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Author: A.S. King
Publisher: Ember
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2010
Page Count: 323
ISBN: 9780375865640
Find it at: A.S. King's Official Website
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?

Edgy and gripping, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

This review is going to be hard, because I don't think I can find exact words to describe how I feel about this book.

Vera Dietz is just like other ordinary teenagers we know. Her father is a parsimonious accountant, who always emphasizes the importance of having a work for Vera. Her mother left her when she was in her early teen age. Vera is also that girl who can still keep her straight A grades while having a full time job in a pizza store. And she had a best friend, Charlie Kahn, whom she secretly fell in love.

The book is delivered in first person point of view, most of it is Vera's, with occasional from Vera's father's, Charlie's and even the ancient Pagoda (one of the symbols for Vera and Charlie's friendship. You will find the story recounts between the past and the present time.

This book is all about Vera Dietz. About how Vera copes with her best friend's death and with her mother leaving her and her father. The author has a very neat way in delivering the story, the readers can feel and understand Vera's grief without her being a noisy character. This leads into how such a complex story becomes a very light reading.

Enough what I have to say. It's better if you just grab the book and read it. Trust me, some books are not meant to be reviewed, and just to be felt and experienced so that you will know how I'm feeling.

[Book Review]: Some Girls are by Courtney Summers

Book Title: Some Girls are
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2010
Page Count: 246
ISBN: 9780312573805
Find it at: Courtney Summers's Official Website
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around. Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

Another mind-blowing story from Courtney Summers!

Just like Cracked Up to Be, Some Girls Are is a story of high school teenagers. In this book, the main character is Regina Afton, who was once a member of a feared girls-gang in Hallowell High, led by her best friend, Anna Morrison. On one occasion, Anna is convinced that Regina has an affair with her boyfriend. Regina then is frozen out and bullied by the gang and avoided by the students, except for one nerd and misfit, Michael Hayden.

If I could feel the sensation of being Parker in Cracked Up to Be, in this book, I only needed to put myself as the reader, but felt the magnificent effect that gnawing my mind. This book creeps me out. I know the bullying in this book is not that nasty as what I heard in real life from other sources, but the way the author describes and drives the story are the one which put fear and horror into me.

In her trademark, the author puts some mystery and reveals it little by little in the most vague ways, which made me wondering whether I got my interpretation right or not. In short, I think every teenagers, teachers and parents should read this book. No, they should read all Courtney Summers books so that they can understand what really happens in high school.

Hell, it even brought me the aftereffect to fight bullying in every way and form in real life.

I think I need to take a rest for a while from Courtney Summers' works. Fall for Anything should be the next of her works that I will read after this. Once again, read her books, people!

[Book Review]: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Book Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Year: 2008
Page Count: 214
ISBN: 9780312383695
Find it at: Courtney Summers's Official Website
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

Two words: mind-blowing!

The first time you read the synopsis, it might make you think this would be 'one of those cheesy high school stories', but guess what? It's all wrong! Because Ms. Summers does a VERY GOOD job in delivering what teenagers go through in high school, and how they feel when nobody understands, and instead belittles, narks them of how they are not up for life challenge and how they can do much better than this one.

Parker Fadley is an unconventional character who is not supposed to be loved by the readers. It was not the author's intention at all. You can feel how the author is incredibly honest in developing Fadley's character. The first 80% of the book does not even tell you what really is going on in the story, it makes you keep wanting more and more.

I guess, this book is a really must-read for parents and high school teachers. I can only think that one message that concludes the book perfectly: Don't think that high school problems are that petty. Wear their shoes and walk a mile on it.

I'd like to deliver my greatest gratitude to Courtney Summers for writing such a book. Especially when I was in a reading-crisis, hopeless in finding great books. This book completely healed the syndrome. One thing for sure, I'm officially Ms. Summers's fan now. I'll always be hugely anticipating her works.

[Book Review]: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Speak - Penguin Group
Format: Compact Disc, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, eBook, Digital Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Year: 2011
Page Count: 260
ISBN: 9780142420898
Find it at: Official Website of Gayle Forman
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.

And three years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

Opposite from the first book, Where She Went is narrated by Adam Wilde. The book takes moments in one day. In one day, like any other day, Adam wakes up, goes through her daily routines as the frontman of a bona fide rock group and deals with the emotional breakdown when Mia left her after her accident three years ago and thus he never sees and hears about her again.

In one day, the book recounts about Adam and Mia at the beginning of their relationship, a little about how he was coping when Mia was still in comatose condition, how the accident affected their relationship until Mia decided to one-sidedly end their relationship.

In one day, after a small fuss with a reporter, with his band manager's approval, he goes out for a walk to clear his head, surrounding the New York city. And there he sees an advertisement with a picture of her, telling him that there is to be her concert that night. In that one day, he will see her. Will Adam gets the answers to his questions all this time? Will Adam get a clear disclosure of their relationship? Will Adam be finally healed with his eventual encounter with Mia? Those all are to be answered in one day.

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay. To read my review for If I Stay, please click here.

As I recall, there are not too many young adult books out there with male as its main character, or at least I haven't read them in a significant number.

I know that men have emotion too. They deal with happiness and sadness in quite different ways with women. Before I read this book, I could not believe or at least, haven't witnessed emotional breakdown on men. I don't believe that they will feel and hurt that deep.

But Gayle Forman fights against all my perceptions. She spells every little detail about Adam's emotional struggle amazingly that I sometime found myself agape when I read it. The first point of view the author adepts on If I Stay was awesome, it made me know how Mia feels and think. But in Where She Went, I could understand and felt in behalf of Adam. The narration in the whole book, made me like I was in Adam's head for real, and I was the one who experienced it all as Adam. The angst, depression, and tension Adam felt, I could feel it too.

Near the end of the book, I was already too depressed that I could only hope that Adam ended it all up with Mia, even I hoped that he would yell, shout and went mad at her, made her know how she had broken him down to the point he did not know who himself was anymore.

Apart from that all, I'm glad now that I've been over all that agony as the book was finished. And I willingly give this book the highest available rating in my standard for all the feeling experience the author rendered to me.

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