What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?

You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

You’d be wrong.

There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.

What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?

But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.

And yet I can’t help but wonder…what if?

I remember when I read Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein. I remember that it tugged at my heart and threw me for an emotional roller coaster ride. The story, the writing, the characters…it was all just so beautiful, and I remember that I wanted more. I read about Amy, sure, but I wanted to know more about Lila and Cassie. So, I was thrilled when I learned that Lisa Burstein was writing Dear Cassie, and I was not above begging and pleading if I had to to be a part of the Dear Cassie Blog Tour over at Rockstar Book Tours. Thankfully, it didn’t quite come to that.

Dear Cassie was so emotional and beautiful. It was so….raw. In Pretty Amy, we only got a small taste of Cassie. We learned that she had a horrible home life, she was emotionally screwed up, she did drugs, she didn’t really care about her life, and she had absolutely no taste in guys. Dear Cassie takes off right after Pretty Amy, and Cassie is sentenced to go to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp (somewhat of a boot camp) for 30 days. There she is forced to write about her troubles and her thoughts, interact with both friends and foes, do physical labor, suffer from poison ivy, and accept herself and her past.

I loved Dear Cassie so much. As someone who doesn’t overly love contemporary books, I get so extremely excited when I find ones that I fall head over heels in love with. And that’s exactly what happened with Dear Cassie. Cassie’s character was strong but weak at the same time. I found so much inspiration and strength in her. And those times that she wanted to fall down, I just wanted to pick her right back up and set her on her feet. I haven’t loved a character as much as I loved Cassie in a very long time, and kudos to Lisa Burstein for giving life to her.

This book does focus a lot on the topic of abortion, which could possibly offend some of you. I found it to be beautiful and heartbreaking. It’s not my place to say whether or not I agreed with Cassie’s decision, but it was a wonderful experience watching her come to terms with her decision. It was really hard, though, for me to read about her constantly punching her stomach (after the baby was already gone), because it was just too painful. I can’t imagine being in that type of position and it was just utterly heartbreaking.

On a negative note, I hated Ben’s character. Ben is a guy at Turning Pines Wilderness Camp, and he develops this weird thing for Cassie. I kind of wanted to see her end up with noone. I didn’t even want a semi crush or relationship in the book, because I felt that Cassie really needed to learn that she could survive without a man in her life. I also found Ben to be very controlling, something that I can not stand in men.

The ending of the book infuriated me. It’s not what I wanted or expected, and I’m hoping that maybe there will be another book about Cassie. Her story is really unfinished right now, and I hate when books end that way.

Overall, I flat out adored this book. It was beautiful, romantic, sweet and heartbreaking. It discussed topics that were difficult to read but necessary for the story. Dear Cassie was such a realistic story, and I cannot wait to read more from Lisa Burstein in the future.

 

Pages: 352

Publication Date: March 5th, 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Rating: :

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About Lisa:

Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.

PRETTY AMY May 2012 Entangled Publishing THE NEXT FOREVER January 2013 Entangled Publishing DEAR CASSIE March 2013 Entangled Publishing

Stalk Lisa: Website Blog Twitter Facebook Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway:

1 paperback copy of Dear Cassie (U.S. only)

1 ebook copy of Dear Cassie (International

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In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch-a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood-or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

 

Like most of you reading this, I have been a huge fan of Richelle Mead for years now. I devoured her Vampire Academy series, and I was crushed when it ended. I wasn’t an overly huge fan of Sydney in the VA series, but I was willing to give Bloodlines a chance. I remember that I read Bloodlines, and I just thought it was ok. It wasn’t Richelle’s best work ever, but there were also a couple books in the VA series that I was severely disappointed in. So, I read The Golden Lily when it came out, and I was impressed! It wasn’t the best book that I had ever read, but I liked it, and I was really excited to read The Indigo Spell when it came out. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. At all.

I’ve always found Sydney’s character to be a little bland. I know that’s how she’s supposed to be, but I don’t really think that that makes for good reading. I want her to develop a spark. Yes, that spark is slightly developing, but I shouldn’t have to wait until book 4 or 5 to really start to see it.

The one upside about this book was Adrian. Adrian. Adrian. Adrian. I love him. I loved him more in VA, probably because I like Rose a lot better than Sydney, but he still has that charming, adorable, flirty, sexy quality about him in this series. He was the only reason I stuck with this book as long as I did. And he was the only reason that I skimmed the last half of the book.

I know that everyone was all excited about the whole Marcus Finch thing, but honestly…I just didn’t care. I didn’t care when it was mentioned in The Golden Lily, and I don’t care now. Who cares who Marcus Finch is? And I ended thinking that while reading The Indigo Spell. There was nothing special about Marcus Finch. If anything, I thought he was a creep. So, I didn’t really understand the whole hoopla about that, and I still don’t. I actually wish that that whole plotline would have been edited out or just edited better..

I did find the magic portion of The Indigo Spell very interesting, but I was so sick of having Sydney whine about using magic. She’s definitely come to terms with it a lot better than she had in the previous books, but seriously…get over it! I feel that Sydney just wants to be this giant goody two shoes, and I’m sick of it. I want her to be interesting! I want to root for her and Adrian…and I want to read an amazing book in this series…but I’m starting to think that that’s not going to happen.

I’m sorry, guys, I know how much a lot of you loved this book and love this series. And really…my review really doesn’t mean that much. The Indigo Spell has a 4.53/5 rating on Goodreads out of 2,059 reviews. That has to mean something, right? So, I think it comes down to the fact that this series just isn’t for me. I will be continuing the series, because I love Adrian so much, but I will not be buying another book in this series.

 

Pages: 401

Publication Date: February 12th, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote: “Because I can’t help doing it,” he said with a shrug. “And hey, if I keep loving you, maybe you’ll eventually crack and love me too. Hell, I’m pretty sure you’re already half in love with me.”

“I am not! And everything you just said is ridiculous. That’s terrible logic.”
Adrian returned to his crossword puzzle. “Well, you can think what you want, so long as you remember-no matter how ordinary things seem between us-I’m still here, still in love with you, and care about you more than any other guy, evil or otherwise, ever will.”

“I don’t think you’re evil.”

“See? Things are already looking promising.”

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself-and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I literally just finished this book, and I need to share all of my feelings right away. Before I get into all that, though, let’s start out with a brief introduction of The Selection by Kiera Cass. The Selection is set in sort of a dystopian world where everyone is classified by numbers. If you’re a 1-3, then you’re living pretty well. You never go hungry or have to work too hard. If you’re a 4-5, things are a little different. You work a little harder, and you’ve probably experienced hunger every now and then. And then you have 6-8 (I’m assuming that’s where it stops…I didn’t hear anything about 9 or 10.) These people experience starvation, work really hard only to receive barely any money, and they are basically treated as the lowest of the low.

America Singer and her family are 5′s. They work as artists, singing and playing music to people who can afford their services. America has been in love with Aspen (a 6) for the last two years. But when she receives a letter in the mail for a chance to become one of the selected, Aspen jumps at the chance for her to receive a better life.

Every time a prince is ready to get married, there is a (supposedly) random drawing of 35 girls to come into the palace and fight to win over the prince’s heart. And this is where a broken hearted America ends up after Aspen decides to let her go. America has it set in her head that she is just there for the money and the food, and she has absolutely no intention of marrying Prince Maxon. But unwanted feelings start to develop once she realizes that Prince Maxon is not the pompous ass that she once thought him to be. Now America must battle her feelings for both Aspen and Prince Maxon and thing about her wants and needs for a change.

 

The Selection had a very Hunger Games type of feel to it that I really enjoyed. No, there’s no killing or bloodshed of teenagers, but there are 35 girls in one palace who are fighting for the attention and love (not the mention the title) of Prince Maxon. You can only imagine the entertainment that this brings. Only a girl can truly appreciate how vicious girls are to other girls, and I just loved the whole concept.

It did take me a little bit to really get in to The Selection. There were a few moments that I found myself a little bored. Once America goes to the palace, though, things start to pick up and the energy starts to increase. I adored the relationship between America and Prince Maxon. She was snarky, untrained, and just herself really, while he was regal, properly trained, a true gentleman, and really confused on how to be an individual and communicate his true feelings. I felt that they blended very well together, and I’m rooting for him to eventually steal her heart.

I did have a few moments where I was honestly confused about the era of the books setting. There was a big chunk of the book that made me think it was historical fiction, but there were also parts of the book that made me think it was set in the future. I mean….the book was obviously set in the future, but a lot of the mannerism reminded me of something you would see in like the 1800′s. This did not really take away from the book, but I was pretty confused about where we were at.

I feel like The Selection is something that the YA community hasn’t really seen before. It’s not your typical dystopia book. I also never ( and still don’t) knew what was going to happen. I liked the fact that Kiera Cass kept me on my toes, and I am absolutely dying to see what is going to happen in the next book, The Elite.

The ending of The Selection was a bit of let down for my taste. I was expecting something a little bit more actiony or scandalous. I also was a little let down that there were not very many “aha!” moments in the book. The writing made up for it, but that’s why I have to dock a star from the rating. Overally, the book was really good. It kept my on my toes, and I am ecstatic for the next book to come out. The Selection is definitely a book to get your hands on.

 

Pages: 327

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012

Rating: :

 

Teaser Quote: “What do you think my chances might be of finding a soul mate in the group of you? I’ll be lucky if I can just find someone who’ll be able to stand me for the rest of our lives. What if I’ve already sent her home because I was relying on some sort of spark I didn’t feel? What if she’s waiting to leave me at the first sign of adversity? What if I don’t find anyone at all? What do I do then, America?”