The Unwritten Rule: Blog Tour Review

Title: The Unwritten Rule

Author: Elizabeth Scott

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Publication Date: 

March 16, 2010

Pages: 210

My Edition: ARC Paperback

Reading Level: YA~Ages 14+

Where I got it from: Elizabeth Scott for blog tour 

Summary from Elizabeth's website:

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like you best friend's boyfriend. Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend.

Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.
Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more... 

First Line:

"I liked him first, but it doesn't matter." 

Review:

The Unwritten Rule was a short, quick, fun read about two friends and the boy that tears them apart. I loved how quickly the story flowed and how hard it was to stop reading. Page after page, the story started to get more complex for the main character Sarah, and I started to really dislike her best friend Brianna. She had a way of putting down her so called "best" friend by seeming like she was just being nice. Granted, Brianna did have a messed up family and just wanted someone to truly love her and never leave her. I felt really bad for Sarah because she was a good friend, but she just loved her best friend's boyfriend since eighth grade and he vice versa.

The tagline of the story says the unwritten rule is you don't like your best friend's boyfriend and that line totally describes the essence of the story. It's a hard situation to be in, and Elizabeth Scott wrote a great story about just that. The characters were so well-written, I fell in love with Ryan and pretty much loathed Brianna. I love reading books where I have strong feelings for the characters, so that's why I really liked the Unwritten Rule. By the end, I guarantee you will be rooting for Sarah and Ryan to be together! I've read most of Elizabeth's books and have loved every one. The Unwritten Rule was one of the shortest, but I loved the story just as much as the others. I'm so happy I got to read this for the blog tour, thanks!

Rating:

Before I Fall: Debut Author Challenge Review

 
Title: Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date:

 March 2, 2010

Pages: 470

My Edition: ARC Paperback 

Reading Level: YA: Ages 14+ 

Where I got it: 

B&N's First Look 

Reviewed for: B&N's First Look Book Club & Debut Author Challenge

Summary from Amazon:
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Review:
Before I Fall was an amazing story about a teenage girl whose every action on one single  day can make a huge difference in many people's lives. She lives the same day seven times and sees that every act she does has an impact on someone else. In the beginning of the story, you meet Samantha and her friends. They are the "popular" senior girls of the school, and everyone wants to be them and all that. They all are selfish, nasty, petty, and cruel to all the other unpopular people at their high school. They say and do want they want, and they get away with it because they don't think about how they affect everyone around them.

I won't go much more into the plot than what I stated above because you will figure that all out in the first twenty pages or so, and the unexpected plot makes the book so amazing. I loved the story because it was very original and unlike many other Young Adult books. The mean things Sam and her friends did made her very hard to like in the beginning of the story, but finally by the end I started to really like and even admire her. Once she finds out that she can change something important each day as she relives the same day over and over, she starts to make the right decisions and changes her attitude towards her old life.

The ending was sad, even though you knew what must happen. It was a really good ending, and it left me thinking about the story even after finishing it. I teared up at the end because I was moved by Sam's final act. She was a great character who made a total 360 by the end of the story. I don't have any complaints about the book, so I can guarantee you that you will have trouble putting this book down because each page keeps you wanting more. Even though she does relive the same day seven times, it never was repetitive because each day was so different. I can't believe this is Lauren Oliver's first book; it was very well written and unique, she made it seem like she had been writing for years. I look forward to reading other books by her in the future!

Rating:

IMMB (22)

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren. IMMB is where I post the books I won, received for review, bought, borrowed, or ect. Since I only got one book this week, I just posted a picture from goggle and it's description like I used to do. Anyways, this is the book I got this week, and I'm very excited about it!

The Unwritten Rule ~ Received for review for her blog tour 

By: Elizabeth Scott (Summary from her website)

In Stores March 16th 2010!
Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like you best friend's boyfriend.
Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend.
Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.
Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

What books did you get this week?

Snowed In! Plus Snow Pictures!

Hey everyone! My town in Pennsylvania got a ton of snow Friday and today, Saturday. Right now we have about 2 feet of snow and it's still snowing! I haven't seen so much snow here for a loooong time. The storm is setting records in D.C., Baltimore, and many other places. A small town about 15 minutes away from me was announced on the Weather Channel of having 25 inches of snow. It's all so crazy! Here are some pictures of all the snow:

Friday night just as the storm started.


Saturday morning when I woke up!

 Close up of all the snow on my back porch table.  
The snow is so pretty and looks pretty yummy : ) Anyone else snowed in?

Friday Firsts (14)

The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

• Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
• Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
• Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title and the author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
• Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?

The book I'm currently reading is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I'm about 150 pages into it already, and it's really good so far! It's pretty hard to put down. Here is the first sentence of the Prologue:

"They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me."

Wow, what a great way to start off a book! It explains a lot about what the book will be like and is so intriguing, it keeps you wanting to learn more. The prologue sets off the book very nicely, and the plot is very original. I can't wait to get more into the story and find out how it ends. I will finish it this weekend and review it too because I'm going to be snowed in!

What's your current book's first sentence?