Next Page Please!: Disney Hyperion

8/11/2015

Let's Talk!: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Every Last Word

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Pages: 368

Published by: Disney-Hyperion

Published on: June 16th 2015

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist. Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

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Guys, I loved this book. Holy crud it was such a freaking good book. Not only does it have the literary part of it (poetry), the main character has OCD that is purely-obsessional, so all the OCD happens inside her head. I thought the representation of the OCD was really good. Being a perfectionist, people constantly mistaken a perfectionist as someone who "has OCD" and people have constantly told me that. Now I know that I don't have OCD but to read from someone who does was super interesting because it was able to show me the fine line between being a perfectionist and having OCD. That is one thing I really enjoyed about this book. I loved the characters and the plot made for such an enjoyable read. Definitely check this book out.

Sam, is a teenager who is returning back to school and living her life as one of the "popular" girls. What her friends don't know is that she has OCD. She is able to hide that from her friends. One day she meets Caroline, and she brings the Poet's Corner into her life. There a group of people meet and write poetry and share it out. This book is basically her story with the Poet's Corner and what her life is with OCD.

I loved the characters in this book, I really did. It was really such a diverse group of characters as well. The group of people in the Poet's Corner already have people who all like different things but when you throw in Sam's friends, the popular girls, the different kind of characters in this book expand. We really see how Sam's personality could change when with different people. Sam herself is just so shy, unconfident, and a sensitive person. Due to her OCD, she was always questioning things and based on the book, I can tell that once she starts thinking about something and questioning it, it's difficult to stop. I loved the character development within Sam. She starts this book off as someone who let's her OCD take control of her and is just about used to that. Throughout the book, we start to see her meet new people and that really teaches her more about herself. She is able to find herself an outlet to reality-life-and just take a break from her disorder and complications. Caroline is also someone who really helped her with that because with Caroline, Sam was just able to be herself and not have any secrets.

I consider the Poet's Corner a character itself because it has so much history and words behind it, it really becomes a second home to some of the characters. Poet's Corner is where you can just release any feelings you have without being judged and I loved how important of an aspect this room became in this book.

Based on this book's plot, I really just expected one thing but it completely took me by surprise. There is just so much more to this book than what the synopsis tells you and I really really love that. The ending was such a beautiful way to end off the book and I compare the beginning of the book to the end and it's so great to see how much change Sam has gone through. She has taken control of her life and really caused change in it for the better. There isn't much to say about this plot other than it was such a great one and I definitely had a great time reading about Sam's story. Tamara's writing was great with this book. I haven't read her other book but I definitely will be looking forward to it because of how excellently executed this story was.

I gave this book 5 stars because it was a great read with awesome characters, an enjoyable plot, and beautiful writing.

7/20/2015

Let's Talk!: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars

Author: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Pages: 374

Published by: Disney Hyperion

Published on: December 10th 2013

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets to the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder - would they be better off staying in this place forever? Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won't be the same people who landed on it. The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

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I have heard really great things about this book and I am so glad I finally read it. I loved the plot, the writing, the characters, everything about this book was just great. There was action, secrets yet to be discovered, and oh the romance. If you like everything I just mentioned in the previous line definitely pick up this book!

Ohh the protagonists in this book were so two interest people. One is the richest man's daughter and another is a war hero. Lilac is such a sassy, independent, and strong female character. She is able to carry herself and being stranded on a planet with one other person really proved that. She didn't depend on Tarver to the point where she was dead weight. There was a part in the book where Lilac has to continue on surviving without Tarver and she survived just fine. This also showed that the girl is smart. As for Tarver, the least I would expect from a war hero is survival skills (and the skill of being able to use a gun). Tarver is brave, kind of quiet, and serious. He is one of those guys you tease about when he actually smiles for once you know? Tarver is probably someone I would want to be on a mysterious planet with. Only because of the fact that he is great at surviving and because he seems like a pretty cool person. If you didn't know this book is duo perspective, which seems reasonable since there are two authors writing this book. It was great to read from both the characters and see how they were dealing with the situations they were in. The duo perspective really helped me get to know more about the characters and personalites as well!

This plot was great. It was suspenseful and as I went further into the story, the plot thickens and got better and better. By the climax, it was such a greatly developed plot and I was so sad to know that I would never return back to Lilac and Tarver's story. I love how throughout the whole story, they are aiming to get one thing done and it was very clear on where the ending would take place. Some stories just keep going and when it ends is something that is very hard to predict; These Broken Stars is different. One thing I also loved was the world building, which was just great. The planet Lilac and Tarver get trapped on is so vivid in my mind because of the great world building. The ending was also great because it tied up this book perfectly. Since this book is kind of like a stand alone, a good ending is really important, which did happen. I would be pretty upset if this book left loose ends haha...

I have this book 5 stars because I loved the characters, plot, ending, world building, and everything!

6/10/2015

Waiting on Wednesday #12

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Breaking The Spine.

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Every Last Word

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Pages: 368

Publishing by: Disney-Hyperion

Publishing on: June 16th 2015

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist. Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

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Why I'm Waiting...

When I heard Tamara speak about her book and explains the OCD part, I knew I really wanted to read it. The plot seems so interesting to read about and the OCD part definitely caused me to want to read about it even more. This book has also gotten so many great reviews which caused me to want to read it even more now. Plus, I have never read a book about someone who has OCD. I know people always say I'm "OCD" due to the fact that I'm a perfectionist, but what is it really like for someone with OCD? Sam doesn't have straight on ODC but P-O OCD is close enough.

So tell me: What are your thoughts on this book?