4/5 Stars
272 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: November 3rd, 2015
ISBN: 9781250072801
An emotional contemporary YA novel about love, loss, and having the courage to chase the life you truly want.
Reeling from her mother's death, Georgia has a choice: become lost in her own pain, or enjoy life right now, while she still can. She decides to start really living for the first time and makes a list of fifteen ways to be brave - all the things she's wanted to do but never had the courage to try. As she begins doing the things she's always been afraid to do - including pursuing her secret crush, she discovers that life doesn't always go according to plan. Sometimes friendships fall apart and love breaks your heart. But once in a while, the right person shows up just when you need them most - and you learn that you're stronger and braver than you ever imagined.
Wow. I really didn't know what I was getting into when I picked this book up. It was definitely unique and I'm still a little shocked by it. Filled with the realistic drama that comes with life it really kept me turning the pages and I seriously couldn't put it down.
I really loved how strong the main character was and how she didn't really care what anyone else thought about her. Georgia was herself at all times and that amazed me. It was also really great how flawed she was but she still managed to persevere and get through everything with her head held high.
My least favorite person was probably Georgia's best friend, Liss. All she seemed to care about was herself and really annoyed me. She made Georgia make so many bad decisions and each time that happened I cringed. I was okay with Daniel, the love interest, and I felt that him and Georgia really seemed to bring out the best in each other. Even though we didn't really get to know him that well I still liked him much more than Liss.
I'm not going to lie, this book is probably not suitable for the younger YA crowd. They talked about grown up stuff a lot and there was also some drinking, drug use and overdose. It was mainly caused by Evelyn but I'm not saying that Georgia and Liss wouldn't have done it anyway. I'm not really sure how I felt about Evelyn, she kind of got on my nerves and yet she wasn't really in the story that much and when she was she meshed with Liss. Overall I would recommend this book, it was a very good, quick read for me and I hope you go out and read it too!
A huge thank you goes out for including me on this tour!!!
***I received a review copy in exchange for my honest review. I have given this above.***
3.5/5 Stars
400 Pages
Publisher: St.Martin's Griffin
Release Date: May 20th, 2014
ISBN: 9781250035912
Return to the beloved world of Shadow Falls, a camp that teaches supernatural teens to harness their powers—and where a vampire named Della will discover who she’s meant to be.
For Della Tsang, Shadow Falls isn't just a camp: it's home. As a vampire who's never fit in with her human family, it's the one place she can truly be herself. But when a mysterious new guy arrives at camp, Della’s whole world is thrown into turmoil. Chase is a vampire with secrets, who knows more than he’s telling. But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to trust this attractive stranger—and feel drawn to him. But romance is the last thing she wants—as she keeps telling Steve, the hunky shapeshifter who won’t stop trying to win her heart. And if Della isn't careful, he just might succeed. When a new case puts everyone she cares about in danger, Della’s determined to do everything she can to save them . . . even if it means teaming up with Steve and Chase, who leave her more confused than ever. With their lives on the line, will Della and her friends survive—with their hearts intact?
I recently received a review copy of the third book in this series. I had no idea that it was even part of a series so when I found out I immediately bought the first and second books too. Wow am I glad that I did. Full of twists, mystery, and of course romance, this is a must read for anyone who wasn't satisfied with the Twilight series. I for one hated that series and this was very different from that.
This series has a really unique world compared to other paranormal books and I loved how it took place at a camp/boarding school type of place. That was interesting to read about and it kind of reminded me of the Percy Jackson series in a way. I also really liked the romance and I honestly don't know how Della will choose between the two guys. Yes there is a love triangle, but it wasn't as bad as some other ones that I've read about. Honestly, both guys have pretty great qualities in them and if I was in Della's shoes I wouldn't know what to do.
I found Della to be a really great main character. She was strong and definitely didn't take crap from anyone. I wish more girl characters in YA could be like her and I feel like the whole age genre would actually be a lot more popular with older audiences if they were. I love the turn YA has taken in the past year though with stronger main characters and I feel like it has made my overall reading experience with all books a lot better.
I would definitely recommend this book. I have not read the prior series and I feel like I understood everything perfectly fine without reading it. I will be coming back to it though someday. I really want to read more about Kylie's story and that's who that series focused on. I really hope to see more about Miranda too and I'm hoping that if there's another series that she's the main character.
