Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles...

Series: Perfect Chemistry (Book #3)
Published: August 16th 2011 by Walker Books for Young Readers
Pages: 308
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

Luis Fuentes has always been sheltered from the gang violence that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. But that didn’t stop him from taking risks—whether he’s scaling a mountain in the Rockies or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, Luis can’t stop looking for the next thrill.

Nikki Cruz lives her life by three rules—boys lie to get their way, don’t trust a boy who says “I love you,” and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Her parents may be from Mexico, but as a doctor’s daughter, she has more in common with her north-side neighbors than the Latino Blood at her school. Then she meets Luis at Alex’s wedding, and suddenly, she’s tempted to break all her rules.

Getting Nikki to take a chance on a southsider is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he finds himself targeted by Chuy Soto, the new head of the Latino Blood. When Chuy reveals a disturbing secret about Luis’s family, the youngest Fuentes finds himself questioning everything he’s ever believed to be true. Will his feelings for Nikki be enough to stop Luis from entering a dark and violent world and permanently living on the edge?

Review:

I was really excited when I finally got this in the mail after having to have it re-prdered because it got lost in the mail. I had really high expectations for this book because the first two books in the series I completely loved! For me this book didn't really live up to my high expectations but it was still a really enjoyable and amazing book.

The plot. For me it took me about a quarter of the book to really be hooked, but when I did I couldn't put it down. I really loved the plot of this book and the other two books in the series I loved the use of dual narration between Nikki and Luis and how I got to see exactly what they both were thinking and feeling at the same exact time. I also loved the suspense that I felt when Luis went to do jobs for the LB and started to solve the mystery. I also thought that the ending of the book was great and I thought that it was the perfect way to end the series.

The characters. I loved the characters in this book and I thought that they were all written really well. I loved the characters of Nikki and Luis I thought that I really got a good sense of their emotion towards each other and how they really loved each other. I also thought that all of the side characters were written really well aswell and I felt that they were written just aswell as the main charcters, which in so many books is not the case.

Overall I thought that this book was amazing and a perfect end to the series. This would have to be one of my favourite series that I would recommend to anyone and that I will be re-reading for years to come.

Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard...

Series: The Lying Game (Book #2)
Published: August 2nd 2011 by HarperCollins
Pages: 309
Rating: 4 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

My perfect life was a lie.

Now I’d do anything to uncover the truth.

Not long ago, I had everything a girl could wish for: amazing friends, an adorable boyfriend, a loving family. But none of them know that I’m gone—that I’m dead. To solve my murder, my long-lost twin sister, Emma, has taken my place. She sleeps in my room, wears my clothes, and calls my parents Mom and Dad.

And my killer is watching her every move.

I remember little from my life, just flashes and flickers, so all I can do is follow along as Emma tries to solve the mystery of my disappearance. But the deeper she digs, the more suspects she uncovers. It turns out my friends and I played a lot of games—games that ruined people’s lives. Anyone could want revenge . . . anyone could want me—and now Emma—dead.

Review:

I had pretty high expectations for this book when I deceided to pick it up when it got to me in the mail, because I found the "The Lying Game" was left on such a cliff hanger. But I also was a little bit hesitant just because I know sometimes sequals arn't as good as the orginal, but this definitley is not one of those books.

The plot. I thought that the plot was great, though a little slow to start about a third of the way through the book it really started to pick up and then I found myself not being able to put it down. I thought that this book had a really great mix of suspense and mystery which I have come to really love when I am reading books because it keeps you guessing the whole way through the book and before you know it the book is over, which I think is a sign of a really great book and there were so many twists throughout this book that I had no idea of what was going to happen next which I loved!

The characters. I thought all the characters in this book were great, I thought they were all written really well and they were all written very realistically. The main stand-out characters for me were Emma and Ethan. I thought that they had a lot better chemistry in this book and it was great to see how their relationship developed over the course of the book. I also liked how I got to see Sutton's character be a little more caring in this book. I also liked how I got to see the relationship between Loral, Char, Mads and Emma's characters develop over the course of this book and how I could see that they had become a lot closer than in the first book.

Overall I thought that this book was a great second book to the series. I thought that it carried on the story really well and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book when it comes out.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma...

Series: -
Published: May 27th 2010 by Definitions
Pages: 336
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (due to course language and graphic content)

Synopsis:

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Review:

I had my doubts if I would like this book or not when I picked it up, just because of the subject that this book is on. But the reasons I did decide to finally pick it up was because of the rave reveiws I had seen on it and also because it has been recommended to me mulitpul times by poeple who have the same taste in book as I do, and everyone was right, this book is SERIOUSLY good.

The plot. I thought that the plot was slow to start but then about half way through the stroy really seemed to pick up and I found myself up to three in the morning not being able to stop reading it! I found myself really feeling for all of the characters about thier home situation and seeing what they had to do to survive and stay together, and then came the ending. For me this would have had to have been the highlight of the book, there was something about this ending that seemed to make me feel physically sick and kind of depressed for the night, which in a way may sound strange that I think this is a good thing about a book but I think that it shows just how great of a writer Tabitha Suzuma is in the way that she can really get her point across in her writting and really make you feel what she wants you to feel. I also loved the use of dual point-of-view between Lochan and Maya, and how that let us see how the other person was thinking and feeling at that same moment.

The characters. I loved the characters in this book, I thought that they were all written really well I found them all to be really relateable and believeable characters and that they all really had a personaloty and not everyone just being flat like you see in so many books. The main stand out character for me was Lochan, throughout this book he was the one that I really felt I got to see the most emotion out of and I came to really love amd feel for his character throughout the book.

Overall I thought this this book was AMAZING and I would recommend it to almost anyone to read, this book really left me at a loss for words when I was done and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. This is a book that will have you up all hours of the night until you have it finished and really it was just an amazing book.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling...

Series: Harry Potter (Book #3)
Published: October 1st 2001 by Scholastic Paperbacks 
Pages: 435
Rating: 4 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well; and the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts . . . he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Review:

I really enjoyed reading this book, I thought that this was definitely the strongest books out of the three I have read, I thought that the characters were developed a lot more and overall I just found this book a whole lot more interesting and enjoyable to read.

The plot. I thought that the plot in this was really interesting. I thought that it was really fast paced and I think if I hadn't already seen the movie it would have kept me guessing the whole way through and I weould have found a lot of things that I wouldn't have seen coming. But sadly, I have already seen the movie so I wasn't all that suprised by the plot though there were a few differences and parts of the plot were explained a lot more which I found explained a lot of parts in the movie that I didn't understand. Overall I thought that the plot was great, I judt wished I got to the book before I watched the movie!

The characters. I loved how we got to see the existing charatcers grow throughout this book and also how we got introduced to new characters. I still have problems with Harry's character even after reading the third book, there is just something about his character that I really can't relate to and I just find to annoy me. I found Hermione's character was a lot better in this better in this book because she started to go along with Harry and Ron in breaking the rules which I liked. As always I still love Ron's character, he's always made me laugh throughout the books and this book was no exception. Now onto the new characters. I really liked Professor Lupin's character I thought that he was written brilliantly and we really got to see what his character was like, I loved his character the whole way through the book and he was a character that really made me enjoy this book a lot more. I also loved Sirus Black's character, I love how throughout most of the book he's portrayed as this mad villan, then we get to see what he's really like.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it has definitely got to be my favourite book of the three I have read so far and I can't wait to start reading the next book.

Some GIrls Are by Courtney Summers...

Series: -
Published: January 5th 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 246
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

I had really high expectations for this book because I really loved reading Courtney Summers's other book "Cracked Up To Be" and I had also read really great reviews about the book and when I read the synopsis I thought that this seemed like it would be a really good book and, I was right.

The plot. The plot of this book seemed to remind me quite a bit of "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson which is another book that I adore and is a book that also holds a strong message. That was the main thing that I loved about the plot of this book, that Courtney Summer's wasn't afraid to write about the issue of rape and bullying in schools and we're also shown how violent we all know that it can get. One thing that I really loved about the way that the story was written was how it was broken down into the days of the week so we know exactly what happen on that one particular day.

The characters. I thought the characters were written remarkably well. I think that Courtney Summers really has a talent for writting characters and making them really believeable. Regina. I thought that her character was amazing! She was so strong throughout the whole book and we saw how much she was hurting. Another charatcter that I really loved was Michael. I thought that his character was really relatable and I thought that even though he was bullied by Regina in the past that he was a great person by being able to forgive her. The characters I didn't like ofcourse were Anna and Kara, they were horrible, for me even though that Anna was the leader of the group and what she did was horrible, for me the worst was Kara, she used Regina's horrific experience to climb her was to the top and to become popular which for me makes her character someone that you have to hate.

Overall I thought that this book was a truly amazing read and I am so glad that I picked this up. I think that this is a book that every teenage girl read, this is a book that you will be thinking about for a long time after you turn the last page.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling...

Series: Harry Potter (Book #2)
Published: September 1st 2000 by Scholastic Paperbacks 
Pages: 341
Rating: 4 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart; a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom; and the unwanted attention of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone—or something—starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects . . . Harry Potter himself?

Review:

I had pretty high expectation for this book because I had really enjoyed the first Harry Potter book and I was really excited about seeing how the characters developed in this book, and I found that I really did enjoy reading this book, though I did find it quite hard to get into reading at first.

The plot. Overall I found myself really likeing the plot, though at times I did find that it dragged a bit, but for the most part I found that the plot was pretty fast-paced and interesting. There were parts that had a lot of susupense and made me keep on reading because I had to know what was going to happen next. Another thing that has amazed me with reading this book is the complete imagination that has gone into the books with the spells, plots and even the characters which makes me see how these books can be so popular with everyone around the world.

The characters. For the most part I loved the characters I found Harry still annoyed me a bit with ordering his friends arouns but it seemed to happen a little less in this book. I still found myself loving Ron and the Weasley twins the three of them never fail to make me laugh and end up making the books so much more enjoyable to read, I'm also starting to like Hermione's character more with each book she seems to be becoming more of a relateable character for me as she starts to break the rules more. But one character that I really disliked while reading this book was Professor Lockheart, I thought that he was arragant, a know-it-all and generally just really annoying he seemed to do more to get on my nerves each time he popped up in this book, here hoping that he doesn't make too many appearances in the books to come or if he does he has changed a lot.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I thought that it was a great second book s to the series and I am really looking foward to reading the next book.