Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

(Goodreads)

Summary from Goodreads - "Me: Lucas Swain--I'm nearly sixteen years old and live in London. I was fairly normal until the night I found Violet. Then everything changed.
The Missing: Dad. He disappeared five years ago. Nobody knows what happened to him, and nobody cares except me. It's enough to drive you crazy.
The Dead: That's Violet . . . in the urn. Speaking of crazy--I know she's trying to tell me something, and I think it's about my father. . . .
A dead lady may not be much to go on, but my dad's out there somewhere, and it's up to me to find out where."

My Rating - 3.5/5 urns (how macabre)
POV - First
Liked - The character growth and depth of Lucas
Favorite Quotes - "Sometimes, when I'm deciding which route to take to, say, the cinema in Camden, I get this feeling like maybe if I choose the wrong route, bad stuff will happen to me. This sort of thinking can make decisions really, really difficult because I'm always wondering what happens to all the choices we decide not to make." Pg. 2

"People give up. We're defeatist and we stop striving or fighting or enjoying things. It doesn't matter what you're talking about - war, work, marriage, democracy. It all fails because everybody gives up trying after a while; we can't help ourselves. And don't ask me to solve it because I'm the worst. I'd escape tomorrow if I could, from every single thing I've always wanted." Pg. 168


I really can't decide how I feel about this book. It was really fantastic in the middle and end parts, but otherwise it was slow. The author portrayed Lucas with a lot of depth, I thought, and I saw a character who was trying to figure himself out, but getting stuck and retreating into who he thought he wanted to be. But I didn't like the lack of description in some parts. I also feel like the author did some telling instead of showing, but sometimes that can be excused. I don't know, some parts of the book felt like they weren't as well-written as other parts. But, despite all of that, I really did like this book.

It took me some time to get really interested in the story, but it picks up after a while. At first, it was hard to understand Lucas's pull towards Violet, but after I found out little things about her it all clicked for me. It was easy to relate to Lucas, someone who was misinterpreted often by others and lost. Lucas's perspective was refreshing, as he wasn't the type of male character that's a jerk or girl-crazy or caught up in silly drama.

This book wasn't super fantastic, but if you're looking for a casual read while waiting for an anticipated book to come out or something, I would try this novel out.

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

(Goodreads)

Summary from Goodreads - "When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister's urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life."

My Rating - 4/5 vinyl records
POV - First
Liked - Music was incorporated into the story and the book had play lists at the end (which I always love), the author described Harper's grief really well.

Favorite Quotes - "'Think of it this way,' he says. 'You're experiencing everything she'll never get to. It's like... a tribute, or something. Not living your life won't help anyone.'" Pg 172

"All I can think of is how when I was six, I jumped out of a tree in our backyard with paper wings taped to my back and sprained my ankle. June was only eight, but she didn't freak out. She just held my hand while I cried my eyes out, the whole time until Mom found us. And she told me when I was suspended in the air for just a moment, I looked like a bird flying out of its cage." Pg 292


**Only a small spoiler near the end, nothing majorly revealing.**

First, I want to praise the author on a good job of writing out some of Harper's grieving moments. Sometimes when authors write really intense moments of emotion, it drags and doesn't feel genuine. But, although I've never lost a sister, I was able to feel how Harper was feeling. This book hurt pretty bad, I have to say.

Second, I love that the author included play lists at the end. There was a lot of song and artist names being tossed around, and I really wanted to listen to the songs, but there was no way I could remember them all. In fact, I put off reading this book so that way I could bring it home from my cousin's house to go back and YouTube the artists. But thankfully, I didn't have to go back through every page. So thanks, Ms. Harrington.

I understand that Harper was under a lot of stress with taking care of her mother and everything, but the fight between Harper and Jake was, I thought, too dramatic. It seemed like the author thought to herself, "Oh man, the book's about to end. Hmm... one last twist should wrap this story right up." I felt bad for Jake, and Harper over-reacted majorly. I was quite mad too, especially after everything that he did for Harper. The story didn't need this blowout. The push-and-pull kind of relationship gets annoying. Like, after the second time. I wish I could erase that part of the book from my memory, because every time I think of it I cringe and then become angry.

I read this book fairly quickly, considering I was on vacation and seemed to be busy a lot. The book was really good, possibly the most tolerable teen angst-y book I've read. When I saw this book on Barnes and Noble the first time, I wasn't interested, mostly because I don't really like reading about suicides and sadness and just general bad feelings. If my cousin hadn't recommended this book and let me borrow it, I would never have given it a second look. But I feel like there are good reasons as to why this book has a 4+ star rating on Goodreads. I feel like the author went about the subject of suicide very humbly. The only thing I had bad feelings about was Harper, so if you can get past an occasionally daft main character, then give this book a go.

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors

(Goodreads)

Summary from Goodreads - "When you're the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can't write it. Alice needs a story for her mother-and she needs one fast.
That's when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol's voice in her head and see things she can't explain, she must face the truth-that she's either inherited her mother's madness, or Errol is for real."


My Rating - 4.5/5 love arrows
POV - First
Liked - I loved learning about a little mythology since I've never heard the story of Cupid before, the ending is so amazing.
Favorite Quotes - "What is more terrifying-the things we imagine or the things that are real?" (Pg. 72)
"'If it makes you feel better, only sane people worry about losing their sanity.'" (Pg. 128)


Possible spoilers ahead-tread carefully.

Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

(Goodreads)
Summary from Goodreads - "There are two sides to every breakup.
This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.
It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.
Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other."


My rating - 3/5 Post-it notes from my cousin proclaiming, "Best Book Ever! Love you, Syd" 
POV - First, alternating between Jordan and Courtney.
Liked - A lot of the lines and situations were pretty funny and added comic relief to an otherwise stressful situation, the ending was nothing very climatic but showed growth in the characters.
Two of my bookmarks holding the places for my favorite quotes fell out so I'm just not going to have one. 


My cousin sent this along with some other books with her parents one holiday because she couldn't come along. On the cover was a post-it from her, reading: "Best Book Ever! Love you, Syd" (I did not get an exclamation point after my name. I see where her loyalties lie.) I decided to trust my cousin on this and finally picked it up a few days ago (her Best Book Ever has most likely changed by now). The opening isn't all that impressive, and Courtney comes off a bit spoiled and... oh man... what's the word? I don't want to say ignorant, because that's not it. Maybe a phrase will convey the message. She seems full of herself. That's not quite it either. But maybe a combination of those two things. She's not someone I totally liked at first. Same thing goes for our co-protagonist (is this a term?), Jordan. He definitely seems a bit full of himself and I couldn't relate to him early on because he mostly talked about hot girls, partying, drinking, etc. So its becoming one of those books.
But wait! Jordan gets caught up in something he was not supposed to find out about. Now it gets interesting. I caught on to what the main conflict was as soon as it was introduced, which left no real surprises, and I imagine for other readers it was predictable as well. It didn't ruin much for me, because I still saw the characters growing from this and I really liked that. As he is fighting with himself internally and we see his thought processes, its easy to understand that things are building up and are bound to get ugly. 
The author switches back and forth from present time to a specified time in the past, which I really liked. I also think the switching helped to show the growth of the characters.
One thing I really didn't like about the writing was that the character would think something and then say it in the exact same way. The first couple of times it was kind of cute and funny, but after that it was just over-used. An example- "I swallow. How does he know about that? 'How do you know about that?' I ask." (Pg. 282) This was probably the last occasion it was used, and I almost threw the book on the floor. I was really tired of the repetition. I promise I'm not usually so almost-violent to my books.
The characters were a little frustrating to me and I got really bored of Jordan describing himself and blah, blah, blah. This book wasn't so good for me. I hope its no longer my cousin's Best Book Ever. Now that I'm thinking back on it, the ending was pretty bland. I've changed the rating from 4/5 to 3/5. I don't think I would recommend this book to you, dear reader. This is not the Best Book Ever.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

(Photo from GoodReads)

Summary from GoodReads - 

“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”
So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

My rating - 5/5 Red Moleskin Notebooks

POV - First, alternating between Dash and Lily

Liked - Supporting characters were fun, the idea behind this story is cute, made me feel fuzzy inside :)

Favorite Quote - "It's hard to show that you tried unless you end up succeeding." From a notebook entry by Dash (Pg. 121)