The Awakening by Kelly Armstrong

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl — someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment — not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends — a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch — and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying (Barnesandnoble.com).

This is the second book in the Darkest Powers trilogy. I love trilogies because it doesn't feel like the series is going on...and on...and on. But at the same time it's better than a stand alone book because there is more room to expand on the story and fall in love with the characters.

In this book Chloe is finding out more about her newly discovered powers and she is getting to know Derek. In the first book of the trilogy, Derek is scary and we don't like him. In this book, we find out that Derek is really protective, even though he gets on Chloe case a lot.

This book was not as good as the first book of the series or the the last but we do find out a lot of good stuff. It was a good read but I the ending wasn't a cliff-hanger that makes you want to read the next one. That is good and bad. I hate when I read a book in a series and there is a serious cliff-hanger ending that have to wait a year to find out what happens. So, it was nice end without that pain. BUT, I already had the third book in the series so I would have actually liked to read a cliff-hanger ending in this case. Just my luck.

I really like this trilogy but compared to other books it wasn't my favorite. I do love the characters, though. The characters are some of the best I have read.

Overall: 3/5

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at

Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never co

me.

But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started—at Cousins Beach (Barnesandnoble.com).

Wow. Just wow. This is the second book in the Summer trilogy by Han. This sequel was so awesome. I couldn't stop reading it. I read The Summer I Turned Pretty and this book in the same day because they were so good. This book is everything the first book in the trilogy was and more. It was heart-aching. I couldn't believe what happened at the beginning based on the end of the first book. I started reading and I thought, "Wait, what?".

My favorite thing was the character development. I can't chose who Belly should be with. If I am torn, I can't imagine what Belly is going through, haha.

The end of the book was such a tease! It was so good! I couldn't stop thinking about it. If you haven't yet, you should check this trilogy out. There's no time like summer.

Overall: 5/5

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Some summers are just destined to be pretty

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer — they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along (Barnesandnoble.com).

This book is hauntingly good. I can't stop thinking about it. It wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be a fun, quick summery read. It is but it is more than that. It is romantic, endearing and heard-warming. It's a "I don't want to put this book down and you can't make me" kind of book. I read this book very quickly and immediately picked up its sequel and read it in the same day. It's that good. I laughed, I cried. I couldn't stop until I knew how it ended. I am craving more!

My favorite parts of the book: the family, the characters, the writing. The book takes you into flashbacks, back into Belly's past summers at the house. I felt like I was there and when I was done reading I had a layer of sand on my feet. Everything was so good.

This is an amazing book, as is its sequel. Definitely worth checking out. I can't believe I have to wait until May 2011 to read the third book in the trilogy. So. Not. Fair.

Overall: 5/5

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country (Barnesandnoble.com)



This book is AMAZING! It had me laughing out loud more than a few times. It is funny, interesting and real. I could not put it down. Do you ever read a book that is so good that you are pained when you have to set it down? This is one of those. From page one I was sucked into Melinda's world.

The writing is fantastic. I love the characters. The whole story is down-to-earth, so real. I felt like I had joined Melinda's high school when I was reading it. I really like how the story unfolds in an unconventional way.

I want to read more of Anderson's work...right now!!

Definitely check out this book! You will not be disappointed.

Overall: 5/5