Before I Die by Jenny Downham...

Series: -
Published:  July 5th 2007 by David Fickling Books
Pages: 336
Rating: 2 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

Review:

I had pretty high expectation for this book because it had been reccomended to me by my english teacher and also by a friend of mine but I still had no idea what to expect because I have never really read a book like this, but to be honest I found the pace to be pretty slow and decided to stop reading when I was about half way through as nothing was really happening in the book.

The plot. I don't really know what I can say about the plot really the first half of the book is just about what Tessa wants to do before she dies and has made a list of all the things she wants to do and the first half of this book is her completing all the things on that list, well this is what has been happening upto the halfway point. I think I got up to number four.

The characters. I didn't really feel like I could relate to any of the characters in this book I think that this might have been why I decided to put it down. I didn't really like the way that the characters of Tessa or Zoey had been written either.

Overall I thought that this book was a bit of a let down, I thought that how Tessa carried out the list could have been made a whole lot more fun but I did think that from what I read of it that it was an ok book.

Unbelievable by Sara Shepard...

Series: Pretty Little Liars (Book #4)
Published:  June 1st 200 by HarperTeen
Pages: 368
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Four pretty little liars' charmed lives have turned into living nightmares.
Emily's been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria's boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer's afraid she was involved in Ali's murder. But Hanna's fate is far worse: She's clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much.
If these girls don't start listening to me, Hanna's going to look like the lucky one.

Review:

I had super high expectations for this book after reading "Perfect" and I am very glad to say this book does not dissapoint.

The plot was great! Just like all of the other books it was full of a whole lot of suspense and mystery and twists and turns that you were not expecting and it was a book that I couldn't put down and you find out quite a few things in this book and things didn't turn out like I was expecting them to.

I thought that the charcters were great in this book and with every book in this series that I read I find myself being able to relate to the girls a whole lot more and understanding the side characters a lot better.

Overall this book was a great book in the series and is definitley worth reading it was a really great book

Perfect by Sara Shepard...

Series: Pretty Little Liars (Book #3)
Published:  September 1st 2007 by HarperTeen
Pages: 298
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

In a town where gossip thrives like the ivy that clings to its mansions, where mysteries lie behind manicured hedges and skeletons hide in every walk-in closet, four perfect-looking girls aren't nearly as perfect as they seem.
Three years ago, Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and their best friend Alison were the girls at Rosewood Day School. They clicked through the halls in their Miu Miu flats, tanned in their matching Pucci bikinis, and laughed behind their freshly manicured fingernails. They were the girls everyone loved but secretly hated—especially Alison.
So when Alison mysteriously vanished one night, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna's grief was tinged with . . . relief. And when Alison's body was later discovered in her own backyard, the girls were forced to unearth some ugly memories of their old friend, too. Could there be more to Alison's death than anyone realizes?
Now someone named A, someone who seems to know everything, is pointing the finger at one of them for Ali's murder. As their secrets get darker and their scandals turn deadly, A is poised to ruin their perfect little lives forever.

Review:

This would definitley have to be my favourite book in the series along with the 9th book that has just been released I loved this book so much and ended up finishing it in a couple of hours the first time I read it, I couldn't put it down.

First off the plot. The plot in this book was so fast-paced and suspenseful I couldn't stop reading and before I knew it I was half way through and then the book was over. Everything happens in this book and I think that is what makes it such an faced and enjoyable book to read and the book ends on a great cliff-hanger!

Next the characters. I thought that you got to see a whole lot more emotion from the characters in this book and I found that I felt like I could relate to the characters a whole lot more and I felt that I knew the characters a whole lot more aswell.

Overall I thought this book was really great and definitley worth the read.

Flawless by Sara Shepard...

Series: Pretty Little Liars (Book #2)
Published:  March 15th 2007 by HarperTeen
Pages: 330
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

 Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is making her sick. And their most horrible secret yet is so scandalous that the truth would ruin them forever.

And why shouldn't I tell? They deserve to lose it all. With every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message I send, I'll be taking these pretty little liars down. Trust me, I've got enough dirt to bury them alive.

Review:

When I first read this book I had really high expectations because I loved Pretty Little Liars so much and this book really did not dissapoint. And reading the book for a second time made me love this book even more and I managed to pick up on a whole lot of thinggs that I missed before.

First the plot. I thought that the plot was amazing! I didn't think that you could improve on Pretty Little Liars but this book definitley proved me wrong. there was a whole lot of suspense and mystery in this book that I loved and overall just a very interesting plot.

Now the characters. I loved the characters in the first book but with reading the second book I found that I understood them a whole lot better and found myself getting more attached to the characters and really just being able to relate to the charcters a whole lot more because I found that I knew them better.

Overall I thought that this book was a really great edition to the series and if you liked Pretty Little Liars you will love this book.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard...

Series: Pretty Little Liars (Book #1)
Published:  October 1st 2006 by HarperTeen
Pages: 286
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis: 

Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic, sets in. Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back? A strong launch for a suspenseful series.

Review:

After reading "Twisted" the 9th book in the series, I found myself still thinking about the characters and the plot that happened in that book even though it had already been a few weeks after I read it and I decided that I really wanted to read the series again.

Onto the review.

I found that reading the book for a second time just made me love everything about the story even more and also picking up on things that I had missed before and also because I had already finished the series I found that the things that the girls did made a lot more sense then it did to me when I read the book for the first time.

I thought that the plot was really amazing. This is such an original concept for a book and I have never come across anything like it before I read this series. The book is filled with a whole lot of suspense and twists and turns and a whole lot of things that you just didn't see coming at all.

The characters in this book were so relatable and written so well that you really felt like you knew them and that you were apart of their circle of friends aswell, I really loved all of the characters and reading the book for a second time really helped me understand the characters a whole lot more.

Overall reading this book again made me love the characters and the series even more then I originally did and I think that this is a book that almost all YA fiction readers would enjoy.

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead...

Series: Vampire Academy (Book #4)
Published:  August 25th 2009 by Razorbill

Pages: 503
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

Review:

When I read this book for the first time I was really excited to read it because "Shadow Kiss" ended on such a cliff hanger, and this book definitley did not dissapoint.

First off the plot. I thought that the plot was amazing I thought that the story line was great and even though it was a littleow to start off with when it got to about half way through the book really started to pick up and then I couldn't put it down! The plot in the second half of the book is so fast paced and suspenseful that I found myself staying up really late telling myself that I would only read one more chapter but then reading about another five. The plot is seriously amazing and the ending... wow is all I can say.

Next the characters. We are introduced to a lot of new characters in this book and I think that that did add to the story. We get to meet Dimitri's family which I thought was great because we got to learn a bit more about him and what he was like when he was younger. We also get introduced to Abe, to be honest I found his character to be kind of annouying and pushy, but he was nessasary for the story. Then we are introduced to Avery, who I really really did not like but again she was nessasary to the story. Last but definitley not least we got to knoe Sydney the alchemist, at the start of the book I found myself really not likeing her but then I found that her character grew on me throughout the book.

Overall I thought that this book was a really good edition to the Vampire Academy series and carries on seemlessly from Shadow Kiss and really does show how great of an author Richelle Mead is.

Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork...

Series: -
Published:  February 1st 2011 by Scholastic
Pages: 320
Rating: 4 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear--part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify--and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world."

There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file -- a picture of a girl with half a face -- that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

Review:

I really didn't know what to expect from this book as I have never read anything like this book before, but I did have pretty high expectations for this book just because of all the great things I've heard about it.

For me I found the plot to be very slow, but I think that this was because we were seeing the world through Marcelo's eyes and that he finds the world a difficult place to be in. I also thought that seeing the world through Marcelo's eyes really did enhance the story and made the story so much more memorable then if it was told from anyone else's point of view.

I thought that Marcelo's character was amazing, he was a very genuine person and you got to feel what it was like to be in his position and what it was like to see the world in a very literal way.

Overall I thought that this book was really good. I think that it really makes you look at your life and see how you can change it for the better. I thought that this was a really moving story and something that everyone should read.