Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publish Date: March 2, 2010

Hardcover, 470 pages

My Review:
Imagine going into your last day of life and treating it like all others - don't we all since we never know when that last day is.  Now imagine waking up after a fateful accident to relive that day over and over until you get things right.  That is what Samantha Kingston has to do in this book.  And it is a powerful story.

While at first it seems a little repetitive (and of course if you live the same day over and over it is.  But then things begin to click for Samantha, she grows and she learns and then her experiences become so much more.  This book just continues to build and build until it finally reaches the end.  And the end and the book as a whole will stick with you for awhile.

I love this breed of YA books that take the popular kids, the mean girls, what have you, and shows their human side too.  Before I Fall does a wonderful job of this and I think it can help teenagers (and people of all ages) evaluate the choices they make on a daily basis and see how things affect not just themselves and their small group of friends, but others all around them.  It's a powerful message wrapped up in a book with a plot that makes the book hard to put down.

I found myself lost in Sam's world, getting to know her friends and her and her school.  It was a fascinating ride and while I didn't like Sam much in the beginning I was cheering for her in the end.  If you like books like Thirteen Reasons Why and some of the more serious YA books, then this is a book for you.  It will stay with me for quite awhile and I'm glad I read about it on other book blogs and picked this one up to read.  I truly believe it will be in my top 10 books of the year.

My Rating;  4.75/5.0


About the Book:
What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

About the Author (from Goodreads.com):
Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader.

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel.

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.

Her website.
Her blog.
On Twitter
On Facebook


An interesting article about Lauren Oliver at the Publisher's Weekly site.

FTC Information: I checked this book out from my wonderful local library for my reading pleasure.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.
 

Tuesday Teaser - July 6

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Oh," Poppy laughed.  "I was thinking that it really is a shame I'm only riding this poor thing.  If my brothers-in-law had been cavalry men, I'm sure I'd be jumping hedges by now."

From Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

What are you Reading Monday - July 5th

Come post weekly and see what others are reading too just so you can add to your tbr - I always do! For more information see Sheila at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books and join in!

Books Completed Last Week 

• Shattered by Karen Robards (library) 
• Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (library) 
• Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah (audiobook) 
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (library) 
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (library) 

Reading Now:

• Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (audiobook on Kindle)
• Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs (audiobook in car)
• The Rule of Nine by Steve Martini (review)
• Worst Case by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge (library)

Next:

• Next Time I'm Gonna Dance by Linda Rettstatt
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Amanda Memories by Joel Gecht

Summary -
Great reading week - lots of winners - finally finished Winter Garden on audio and it is beautiful.  Loved it - so touching and tough in parts.  I was driving down the road crying so maybe this audiobook should come with a warning :).  Also finished Shattered - a great romantic suspense and Perfect Chemistry which was just amazing to me.  I've got an Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket to pick up Rules of Attraction.  I put in a request for the library to get it (because they have Perfect Chemistry) but don't know if they will or not.

Right now I have started Definitely Dead which I am listening to at work through my Kindle (it's an audiobook, not the text-to-speech function) and Cross Bones in the car.  I have to catch up on my series - I keep falling further behind.

Book Review: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers

Publish Date: December 23, 2008

Hardcover, 368 pages

My Review:
I am not sure I can write a coherent review for this book without sounding like a major gushing fangirl of Simone Elkeles (which I have become).  So I'll start by saying Perfect Chemistry is just an amazing book.  The plot, the characters, the writing, it all comes together beautifully in this tale of upper class meeting lower class and finding they have more in common than they ever thought.

On the surface it seems like such a simple plot, but in Perfect Chemistry everything comes together so well to make this simple plot so much more.  It's more than the class distinction, it's more than the self-discovery of both main characters, it's more than the look into gang life.   It just becomes an amazing story when you mix all of these together with two explosive characters like Brittany and Alex.

I loved both characters, though Alex made it tough in the beginning.  But with Brittany and his hidden desires for his future, Alex was truly redeemed and grew so much in my eyes.  Brittany seems a little spoiled in the beginning, but she becomes so much more through her interaction in Alex's world and her own self-discovery process.  Both characters have so many different facets to them and Ms. Elkeles does a wonderful job in their development.

I read this in about a day.  I found it hard to put down.  It's not a glossed-over book, there are rough situations, it has gang involvement and alcohol and drugs.  Neither character has it easy.  One would expect Brittany to have it easy, but Ms. Elkeles shows that even when someone looks like they have a perfect life, those looks can be deceiving.  A real page-turner and eye-opener, I enjoyed Perfect Chemistry from the first page to the last and look forward to reading Rules of Attraction (love it's cover) very soon.  Also on one more note - the Epilogue of this one is so awesome I put the book down smiling!

My Rating:  5.0/5.0

About the Book:
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

About the Author:

SIMONE ELKELES has written three young adult novels, including Leaving Paradise, a Book Sense Pick. Simone was recently named Illinois Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She lives in Illinois with her family. 

Her website 

Official Perfect Chemistry Fan site

Her Discussion Group

FTC Information: I checked out this book from my wonderful local library for my reading pleasure.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.
 

Book Blogger Hop - July 2-5

The Hop is going to start having a CRAZY twist each week, to get to know each other a little better!  

To check out other answers and join the hop go and check out Crazy-For_Books.com for the Mr. Linky for the Blog Hop. 

Tell us your NAME and WHY YOU STARTED BLOGGING 

My name is Crystal Fulcher and I started blogging because I thought it would be a great way to keep up with the books I read and how I felt about them.  I also wanted to join in the wonderful world of other bloggers and how friendly they all seemed.  I have really enjoyed my year of blogging and it has turned into so much more than I thought it would.  I have met wonderful bloggers and authors and blogging has opened up a wonderful world of other readers like me.  I love it and look forward to continue reading your blogs.  I may not always comment, but I am reading a lot of your blogs.

Book Review: Shattered by Karen Robards

Shattered by Karen Robards

Publisher: Putnam

Publish Date: March 23, 2010

Hardcover, 388 pages

My Review:
I haven't read Karen Robards in a couple of years, just wasn't able to get to her release last year because of review books and other books screaming my name.  But when I saw Shattered was being released, I made sure to check it out at the library and read it.

I'm so glad I did.  It was a little bit of a slow start - getting to know Lisa and Scott and the situations that surround them, their past and their  present.  But after some of the preliminaries were gotten out of the way, the book took off and did not stop until the final page.  After reading the full book, you know that each thing mentioned in the beginning plays a role and the character development was essential to the book as a whole.

Shattered is a great example of romantic suspense as a genre.  There was always the suspense element in the background, but the characters and their romance was equally important.  I really feel there was a great 50/50 mix in this book of romance and suspense, which made it wonderful in my eyes.

Lisa and Scott made excellent characters along with some of the secondary characters.  At the beginning it seems that a lot is going on, but it quickly funnels into one main plot line and I truly did  not see the bad guy coming until Karen made it apparent in the book.  I never even got a handle on who it could be, it was really well done.

The romance is heated and these two love to hate each other at times.  Scott has crushed on her since he was young and Lisa has had a thing for Scott since she was 16 and he was 20, but now he's her boss and that adds that extra little obstacle.  But truthfully it seems that there has always been an obstacle in their relationship.  They just finally decide to go for it.  Sparks fly in this book and they are all good.

So if you like your romance mixed with suspense, then this is just the book for you.  I now remember why I read each Karen Robards book that came out a few years ago and now I need to go back and catch up on the ones I missed.  Ms. Robards does an excellent job with plot, characters and her writing.

My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About the Book:
The past is never over. It just gets dusty.

Lisa Grant was a rising star in a prestigious law firm in Lexington, Kentucky, when the firm went bankrupt and she lost her job. With an ailing mother to care fore, she takes the first job she can find: research assistant to District Attorney Scott Buchanan. Scott is as disagreeable as he is sexy, and Lisa suspects the only reason she got the job was Scott's fond feelings for her mother, who treated him well when he was just a farmhand on the Grant's large horse farm while Lisa was growing up.

After she misses and important court date, Lisa doesn't get any special treatment from Scott. As punishment, he sends her to organize cold-case files in the basement of the courthouse. What Lisa expects to be a mind-numbingly boring task turns into anything but that when a missing persons case draws her attention. The details of the case are engrossing: an entire family - father, mother, and two children - disappeared without a trace more than twenty-eight years ago. Except that's not all: the mother in a photo Lisa finds could be her own twin.

Before Lisa can learn more, a series of catastrophes strikes close to home, and she realizes that finding the photo has put her in terrible danger. Determined to uncover the truth, she confides in Scott, and there relationship develops into something beyond that of employer and employee. Together they unravel a terrifying web of criminal connections that could shatter what Lisa knows of her past. And it's clear someone will got to shocking lengths to make sure certain secrets stay hidden.

About the Author:
Karen Robards is a best-selling author of over thirty romance novels. After first gaining recognition for her historical romances, Robards became one of the first historical romance novelists to successfully make the switch to contemporary romantic fiction. Her work has been translated into eleven languages, and has won awards from both Romantic Times and Affaire de Coeur. 

Previous Books I Have Read by Karen Robards:
Vanished
Guilty
Superstition

FTC Information: I checked this book out from my wonderful local library for my reading enjoyment.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

ARC Giveaway: Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

In an effort to get some of my review books read and into others' hands before the release date, I am going to start doing some giveaways.  This will motivate me to get the book read so I can mail it to you.

My first one will be Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel which I plan on enjoying this holiday weekend.  It releases in August from St. Martin's Griffin so here is your chance to read it before it comes out.  Please note this is an ARC.  Haven't heard of the book yet?  Here is some more information:

When Lenah Beaudonte, a 500-year-old vampire queen, wakes up a human teenager at an ultra-cliquey prep school, she must choose between embracing the humanity she’s always craved and saving her new friends from her vicious coven. The first in a sizzling new YA series.

Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish.

Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?

Rules for the giveaway:  Simple, just comment and leave an email address where to contact you.  Nothing more.  No additional entries, just keeping this one completely simple.  Open to the US/Canada only.  Ends 7/8/2010.