Black Box – Review

When purchasing the book back in July of 2016 I was immediately intrigued by the romantic cover. Yes, it was a cover buy, but that was not the only reason, the blurb played a part also. Fast forward one year, I finally decided to read Cassia Leo’s novel, but the story I got was not what I expected at all.

At nineteen, Mikki is tired of the meds and the hopelessness in her life. In order to make the pain go away, she booked a plane ticket to LA, not to turn her life around, but to kill herself. Twenty-one-year old Crush has his own demons to fight and found an outlet in writing and playing music. He is on his way to LA to record a song he was working on for the past three years: Black Box. When Mikki and Crush meet in Terminal B, it takes only a short while for both of them to realize they have met each other on two different and tragic events in their pasts before. Is it fate that brought them together a third time?

Caterpillars Can’t Swim – Review

I am having a difficult time with Young Adult novels these days. Most of the time I find them too cheesy and not believable and this is why I usually keep my hands off them. Only when a blurb really piques my interest do I pick it up. Caterpillars Can’t Swim was one of those novels.

Ryan and Jack can’t be more different: Ryan sits in a wheelchair and swims successfully for the school’s swimteam. Jack on the other hand is a loner and the kid everyone picks on, since the school is full of rumors about his sexuality. When Ryan saves Jack from drowning, their lives become connected, whether they like it or not. Ryan keeps his promise to Jack and doesn’t tell anyone about that day, although he knows that Jack needs help. In an attempt to do so, he invites Jack to accompany him and his best friend Cody to Comic Con. Now the three will get the chance to defy society’s stereotypes.

Revelry – Review

Everyone was raving about Kandi Steiner‘s new release, even before it was even available for purchase. So of course I had to buy Revelry and read it too.

Wren Ballard is a successful Seattle based fashion designer. Her love life, however, is anything but successful: she is 27 and freshly divorced. To free her mind of the past few months, she decides to spend the summer in the mountains just outside of Seattle. Wren finds the perfect place to stay and the people in town make her feel welcome immediately. Well, not all of them. Her broody and good-looking neighbor seems not to care about Wren at all. But Anderson Black does not only care about her, he doesn’t really care about anyone in town. He is lost and has his own demons to fight, this is why he can’t deal with someone else’s problems on top of his. But this all changes when he comes face to face with Wren. Sometimes you need to get lost in order to find yourself.

Thirteen Reasons Why – Review

Thirteen Reasons Why is definitely not your typical young adult novel. When I heard it was adapted for a tv show and would release soon, I saw this is as an opportunity to finally read the novel.
Clay Jensen comes home from school to find a strange package waiting for him. It only has his address but not the return address written on it. Inside he finds a bunch of recorded cassette tapes from Hannah Baker – the Hannah Baker who committed suicide only two weeks earlier. On the cassette tapes Hannah explains there are thirteens reasons why she killed herself – Clay is one of them.

It is really difficult for me to find the right words to express my feelings. On the one hand, the story didn’t completely blow away my mind as I hoped it would, but on the other hand it is still a great book with such a strong and important message for all of us.