Between Here and Forever Review

Title: Between Here and Forever

Author: Elizabeth Scott

Number of Pages: 256

Genre: YA Contemporary

 Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: May 24, 2011

My Edition: ARC Paperback

Reading Level: Young Adult

Received From: Publisher

Author's Website: elizabethwrites.com

Summary from Goodreads: 

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible. Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could...

Review: 

I've read all but two of Elizabeth Scott novels and have loved them dearly because they all have a way of touching me with the diverse social issues presented in each one. I was ecstatic to open my mail and unexpectedly found that I received her new book! I automatically moved it up to the first book in my reading queue and immediately dove right into the story. First off after reading the summary and looking at the absolutely gorgeous cover, I had high hopes that this one would be one of my favorites by her. And I was right! It was a relatively short, quick read, but the beautiful, intriguing writing and story had me hooked till the powerful end.


I wish however that I knew beforehand that a couple characters from the first book she wrote, Bloom, were going to be in Between Here and Forever because I didn't find out until I already finished reading it. I read Bloom over two years ago, so I don't remember much of the story. I am still baffled about which characters from Bloom were in this one! My advice to you would to read Bloom first, so you wouldn't be as confused as I was and still am.


The main character Abby has always felt she was inferior and in the shadow of her "perfect" older sister who is now in a coma after a bad car accident. Abby visits her sister every day at the hospital mostly because she feels compelled to help and talk to her in order for her to wake up because her life has been on hold since the accident. Abby at times really irritated me because she didn't think much of herself even though she is a strong, smart, and level headed female. She thinks no one could ever love her with her beautiful sister there instead and fails to realize a certain male right in front of her. I adored reading about Eli the most because he was a delight compared to the gloomy past and present in Abby's life. There were many unexpected revelations about Tess's life that comes to light which I was very surprised to learn. The romance and drama combined were perfect and made for a very good read!


All in all Between Here and Forever was just as amazing and heartwarming as Elizabeth Scott's others. If you have not read any of her books, you need to right away! If I were you, I would read Bloom while waiting for Between Here and Forever to come out this May 24, 2011.

Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday (51): Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights an upcoming release that I'm eagerly awaiting. This week I can't wait for Chain Reaction: Perfect Chemistry Book 3 by Simone Elkeles. 

I absolutely adore every book by Simone and have fallen in love with Fuentes brothers, so I'm beyond excited to read Chain Reaction! I'm sad though that theres only three brothers, since this will be the last book about the Fuentes. However, the cover and summary are perfect and comes out just a few days before my birthday on August 16, 2011.
The cover and summary below are from Goodreads:

Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn't live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he's never known, and just when he thinks he's got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?

Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.

Delirium Review

Title: Delirium

Author: Lauren Oliver

Number of Pages: 441

Genre: Dystopian

 Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

My Edition: Hardback

Reading Level: Young Adult

Bought From: Amazon

Author's Website: laurenoliverbooks.com

Summary from Goodreads: 

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Review: 

Going into Delirium, I had such high expectations because I previously read and loved Lauren Oliver's debut book Before I Fall so much. Delirium exceeded my high expectations and had such an intriguing, unique dystopian story. The concept was so crazy to read about at first since I couldn't possibly imagine our society without love within it, which definitely made the book highly enjoyable and interesting to read. I've come to love reading books in the dystopian genre, and Delirium was one of the most original ones that I've ever read.


The beginning started off a little slow which made it a little hard for me to get into the story and relate to the characters. By the middle however, I was entirely engrossed and could not put the book down until I finished the heart-pumping, unexpected ending. My advice to you if you find yourself confused and bored at the beginning (like I was) is to continue reading because it gets a lot better and you will not regret finishing it. I also really enjoyed how much Lauren Oliver developed the back story like with the snippets from their law book in the beginning of each chapter.


The story starts off set in a time period where love aka amor deliria nervosa is considered a disease which is outlawed and surgically removed after you turn 18 years old. We meet the main character who is a senior about to turn graduate, turn 18, and undergo the surgery to rid her of the "disease" of love. Lena has never conversed with a boy, let alone touch one since the society doesn't allow the two genders to be around each other until they are fixed of the disease. When she meets an older boy from the Wild, her life totally turns around and changes everything she once wanted: a set future with a husband handpicked for her with a stable career that suits her. All throughout, I really enjoyed reading all about Lena and the insane society she lives in. The romance in the story was very easy to fall in love with which made the ending so powerful and sad, to the point where I had tears in my eyes when I finished.


Overall, Delirium was everything I was expecting and more with unexpected twists, amazing characters, and a great story. I absolutely recommend picking up a copy immediately if you love dystopian reads and if you don't, I recommend it anyway because it's just that good! I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel Pandemonium which will be coming out next year in 2012. The ending left off on such a cliffhanger, I am dying to know what happens next!

Rating:

Happy Earth Day + Quotes!

Happy Earth Day everyone! 

Listed below are some interesting Earth Day related quotes I found that will hopefully inspire change or intrigue you a little bit:

"Every day is Earth Day."
~ Anonymous 
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."

~ Mohandas K. Gandhi 
"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry."

~ Thomas Fuller
"For 200 years we’ve been conquering Nature. Now we’re beating it to death."
~ Tom McMillan 

"I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours."
~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" 
~ Henry David Thoreau

Waiting on Wednesday (50): Love Story by Jennifer Echols

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights an upcoming release that I'm eagerly awaiting. This week I can't wait for Love Story by Jennifer Echols.


I have read every book by Jennifer Echols and have not been disappointed yet, so needless to say I'm very excited to read Love Story! The cover is adorable and will fit in nicely next to my other Echols books. I can't wait until it comes out this summer on July 19, 2011. The cover and summary below are from Goodreads:

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. Erin Blackwell is headed to college in New York City to study creative writing and earn a living as a romance novelist. Her grandmother has other plans: she approves of the college, but she wants Erin to major in business and then come back home to Kentucky to run the family’s famous racehorse farm. There is no way Erin will agree. Studying in New York and writing her way into a career is her escape from the farm and the family tragedy that happened there. So Erin’s grandmother decides Erin really will live life as a starving artist. She takes Erin’s future job running the farm, her inheritance, even her college tuition, and gives them all to Hunter Allen.

Hunter has lived on the farm for years. He’s Erin’s age, he’s the stable boy, and he’s the romantic dream of every girl in her high school. But he was involved in the family tragedy. Erin has always given him a wide berth. And he’s a slick opportunist. She’s furious that he fooled her grandmother into giving him Erin’s birthright and sending him to Erin’s college.

At least she’s free of him in her creative writing class. So she pens a story that has haunted her lately, in which the horse farm heiress at the very first Kentucky Derby starts a forbidden affair with the lowly stable boy. Unfortunately for her, the day she’s sharing this story with her New York classmates, Hunter walks in. He’s switching to her class. And after reading about himself in Erin’s story, he writes his own sexy assignments that lure Erin into dangerous fantasies about what could have been between them, and what might be.

Books Read Update 3: Tiny Review & Rating

Hey again, this post is round three of books read update with my tiny reviews & ratings which will finally be the last of all the books I've read since I stopped posting regularly many months ago. This post is dedicated to those books I've read with some brief adjectives and/or thoughts of mine on each book and my rating. Without further ado these are more of the books that I've read the past several months and recently:

Beastly by Alex Flinn (Audiobook)

5 stars: an a-maz-ing fantasy, loved the Beauty and the Beast twist, unlikely lovable characters, perfect 'fairytale' ending

 Across the Universe by Beth Revis (ARC)

5 stars: loved loved loved it, dystopian story, many unexpected twists, cute romance between two very different people, can not wait for the sequel, highly recommend read!

The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan (Netgalley eBook)

5 stars: surprisingly unique, very entertaining mermaid story, cute characters, slow at times, loved the romance between the main character and an unexpected male under the sea, kind of a sad but happy ending

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (eBook)

4 stars: beautiful cover, intriguing mythology, many unexpected turn of events, great characters, heart pumping ending

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (Paperback)

5 stars: oh my I just love Jennifer's books, this one did not disappoint at all, such lovable characters, fell in love with the forbidden and steamy romance

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn (Paperback)

4 stars: charming modern twist on the Snow White fairytale, fast-paced read, predictable but still satisfying ending, endearing characters and story

The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran (Paperback)

5 stars: wonderful sequel to Nefertiti, I just adore all of Michelle's historical fiction books, love reading plots based in ancient Egyptian times, words can't describe how much I fell for the story and characters, I wish I lived back then!

Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert (Paperback)

5 stars: wow just wow, a crazy impactful story about life/love/loss after experiencing a life of hardcore drugs and partying, loved reading the ballads throughout, such fascinating and unique characters and story, I so highly recommend reading this one!

Eye Candy by Tera Lynn Childs (Kindle eBook)

4 stars: very cute, light romantic read, fast-paced, hilarious and likable characters, love triangle that will ultimately end in you deciding which man is the 'one' for the main character

Wings by Aprilynne Pike (Kindle eBook)

4 stars: interesting twist on faeries, fun quick read, cute and enjoyable characters, ending that made me want to read the sequel right away, I also really love the cover!