The Perfect Candidate by Peter Stone | Book Review

Title: The Perfect Candidate
Author: Peter Stone
Publisher: October 2nd, 2018
Published Date: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Mystery, YA, Thriller
Page Count:384
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
From debut author Peter Stone comes a heart-stopping, pulse-pounding political thriller that’s perfect for fans of Ally Carter and House of Cards.

When recent high school graduate Cameron Carter lands an internship with Congressman Billy Beck in Washington, DC, he thinks it is his ticket out of small town captivity. What he lacks in connections and Beltway polish he makes up in smarts, and he soon finds a friend and mentor in fellow staffer Ariel Lancaster.

That is, until she winds up dead.

As rumors and accusations about her death fly around Capitol Hill, Cameron’s low profile makes him the perfect candidate for an FBI investigation that he wants no part of. Before he knows it—and with his family’s future at stake—he discovers DC’s darkest secrets as he races to expose a deadly conspiracy.

If it doesn’t get him killed first.

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 My Review:

"It’s the presidents, the Hancocks, the loud ones who get noticed. No one pays attention to the people in the background."

I first wanted to read this book, because it's about an intern in Washinton D.C. and with how I've become invested in elections and what politicians are doing in the past two years, I wanted to read a book that covered that as well.

The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera :ARC #BookReview

Title: The Education of Margot Sanchez
Author:  Lilliam Rivera
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: February 21st 2017
Genre: YA, Contempory, Realistic Fiction,
Page Count:304
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
Pretty in Pink comes to the South Bronx in this bold and romantic coming-of-age novel about dysfunctional families, good and bad choices, and finding the courage to question everything you ever thought you wanted—from debut author Lilliam Rivera.

Things/People Margot Hates:
Mami, for destroying her social life
Papi, for allowing Junior to become a Neanderthal
Junior, for becoming a Neanderthal
The supermarket
Everyone else

After “borrowing” her father’s credit card to finance a more stylish wardrobe, Margot Sanchez suddenly finds herself grounded. And by grounded, she means working as an indentured servant in her family’s struggling grocery store to pay off her debts.

With each order of deli meat she slices, Margot can feel her carefully cultivated prep school reputation slipping through her fingers, and she’s willing to do anything to get out of this punishment. Lie, cheat, and maybe even steal…

Margot’s invitation to the ultimate beach party is within reach and she has no intention of letting her family’s drama or Moises—the admittedly good looking but outspoken boy from the neighborhood—keep her from her goal.

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 My Review:

"Basically. I'm the last saving grace for the Sanchez family. There's some unwritten family commandment that states that I will graduate from Somerset, attend an Ivy League school, and major in some moneymaking profession. The pressure is on to excel."

This is a book that deals with the pressures of fitting in with the 'cool kids' and living up to the expectations made by your family. It does both of those things in a very realistic, but also at times it appears to be privileged in way. Margot is a young woman who is going to private school and because of this is now trying to fit in with the popular crowd, but she always feels like shes floundering and she also has to do some things she shouldn't be doing in order to stay with them financially. When she gets caught for using her father's credit card for non emergency situations she is forced to work at the family supermarket in order to pay it off.

"Everyone in this house hides behind closed doors. We build fortresses to bar people from scaling the walls and getting in. But even with the amount of time we spend sheltering ourselves there's no way of concealing our problems."

For the majority of the book she appears to hate her whole family, and all of the workers at the store for multiple different reasons. She doesn't really make friends easily it appears which makes sense as she is the store owners daughter, but she is also extremely stand-offish and acts very privileged towards the other employees in the store.

"Any dreams I may have about my future is dictated by my family's hopes. The burden falls on me to lift up the Sanchez family but how can I do that?"

It wasn't until the actual last quart of the book that I found myself enjoy it. This is when Margot starts realizing things that had been going on around her, and how every cause has an effect. That certain things might not be there forever and that they way she's acting and what she's doing doesn't just affect her.

"I can see the domino effect if that were to happen. I complain about working there but the supermarket is my family's livelihood. How do you move forward without crushing others around you? I've never thought about how a new store can ruin another person's life. Our supermarkets are fixture in the community but what if the community becomes unrecognizable?"

Once she started realizing things Margot also started to notice things about her family and how everything wasn't always how it had seemed to be. She decides to take matter into her own hands about something with her brother, that leads her into stumbling upon something else that ends up breaking her heart and makes her question so many things.

"I want my life to rewind to two years ago when I cared less about impressing other people and more about having fun."

This is when I feel like we really see Margot start to grow-up and from then on she wasn't the same. Not just because of what she had found out, but because she realized certain things weren't important anymore and how instead she needs to be focusing on other things. I feel like I'm not doing this book justice with this review, but I honestly can't figure out a way to state how much I did enjoy the ending of this book without giving things away.
Margot is one of those characters that is going to stick with me for quite a while.

"You have to find what you love and do it." Jasmine says " Get it right, get it tight. Because these mocosos out here aren't going to help you. You got to help yourself. You know what I'm saying?"

Thank you to JellyBook and Simon &Scushter for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson : Book Review

Title: The Flip Side
Author: Shawn Johnson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers  
Published Date:  June 7th 2016
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Realistic Fiction, Gymnastics, Olympics
Page Count:309
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 

Charlie Ryland has a secret.

She may seem like your average high school sophomore—but she’s just really good at pretending.

Because outside of school Charlie spends all her waking hours training to become one of the best gymnasts in the world. And it’s not easy flying under the radar when you’re aiming for Olympic gold…especially when an irresistible guy comes along and threatens to throw your whole world off balance.

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 My Review:

"I don't stand for stalling, not in myself. Fear is one thing. Everyone's allowed to have fear. But stalling means I'm letting fear win."

The Last Boy And Girl In The World by Siobhan Vivian : ARC Book Review

Title: The Last Boy And Girl In The World
Author: Siobhan Vivian
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: April 26th 2016
Genre:  Contemporary, YA, Realistic Fiction
Page Count:320
Format: Kindle Edition

My Rating: ★ ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
What if your town was sliding underwater and everyone was ordered to pack up and leave? How would you and your friends spend your last days together?
While the adults plan for the future, box up their possessions, and find new places to live, Keeley Hewitt and her friends decide to go out with a bang. There are parties in abandoned houses. Canoe races down Main Street. The goal is to make the most of every minute they still have together.
And for Keeley, that means taking one last shot at the boy she’s loved forever.
There’s a weird sort of bravery that comes from knowing there’s nothing left to lose. You might do things you normally wouldn’t. Or say things you shouldn’t. The reward almost always outweighs the risk.
Almost.
It’s the end of Aberdeen, but the beginning of Keeley’s first love story. It just might not turn out the way she thought. Because it’s not always clear what’s worth fighting for and what you should let become a memory.
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 My Review:

"We're trying to make the best out of a bad situation.We're making lemonade out of lemons." "Is that what you call it?" he chuckled "Because I think you're trying to pretend it isn't happening." 

Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame : Book Review

Title: Wentworth Hall
Author: Abby Grahame
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: May 1st 2012
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA, 1920's
Page Count: 276
Format: Hardcover

My Rating: ★ ★.75

Goodreads Summary: 
The prettiest people often have the ugliest secrets…

Eighteen-year-old Maggie Darlington has turned into an entirely different person. The once spirited teen is now passive and reserved. A change Lord and Lady Darlington can’t help but be grateful for.

It’s 1912, and the Darlingtons of Wentworth Hall have more than just the extensive grounds to maintain. As one of Britain’s most elite families, they need to keep up appearances that things are as they have always been… even as their carefully constructed façade rapidly comes undone.

Maggie has a secret. And she’s not the only one… the handsome groom Michael, the beautiful new French nanny Therese, the Darlingtons’ teenage houseguests Teddy and Jessica, and even Maggie’s younger sister Lila are all hiding something. Passion, betrayal, heartache, and whispered declarations of love take place under the Darlingtons’ massive roof. And one of these secrets has the power to ruin the Darlingtons forever.

When scandalous satires start appearing in the newspaper with details that closely mirror the lives of the Darlingtons, everyone is looking over their shoulder, worrying their scandal will be next. Because at Wentworth Hall, nothing stays secret for long.
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 My Review:
"But you still won't run away with me because being a Darlington is not only about things. It's about family, too. You told me yourself, nothing means more to the Darlington's than keeping the family lineage clean and prestige."

Winger by Andrew Smith

Title: Winger
Series: Winger #1
Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date:  September 2nd 2014
Genre: Contemporary, realistic fiction, YA
Page Count: 464
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ .5

Goodreads Summary:
Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers,
and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some
happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen
apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional
balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.


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My Review:

“And then it's always that one word that makes you so different and puts you outside the overlap of everyone else; and that word is so fucking big and loud, it's the only thing anyone ever hears when your name is spoken.
And whenever that happens to us, all the other words that make us the same disappear in its shadow.”

I really didn't know much about what this book was besides it was about a boy who was a rugby player. I'm not going to lie I wasn't expecting to like this book at all. But boy was I wrong. I ended up really enjoying it. In this book, for a change a teenager actually acts like a teenager, while that can be annoying at times, but Smith did a really good job of showing the main characters point of view of things so you never got too overly annoyed with him.
While Ryan is very immature you also have to remember that he is the youngest one of his friends, and while he might be super smart the majority of the decisions he makes aren't.
The only downside to the whole story to me was that for the first good half of the book I didn't really care for any of the characters. It wasn't until Ryan got to be good friends with Joey that I started to care for the book. I loved their friendship. I wish there had been more Joey, but then again I don't because I didn't want to get anymore attached to him then, I already was.

I was not expecting that ending. It has been a few days and I still can't think of anything besides heartbreaking to explain it. Just wow.

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: November 4th 2014
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Page Count: 
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.

Retribution has arrived.
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 My Review:

While I didn't hate this book as much as the others. I still had a lot of problems with it. But first lets go with what I liked.

I liked that we learned so much about how a lot of it happened somewhat and that they weren't the first people to have it.
I liked Stella and Mara's "friendship" and how Stella wouldn't always go with whatever she said.

Now what I didn't like was that almost everyone just went with whatever Mara said even though she was always the most clueless. All she ever cared about was Noah. She didn't care about trying to figure out what type of damage her ability could do, or what everyone else could do. She didn't even care about the experiments done one other people that Kell's did. All she ever cared or wanted was Noah and while some people might think that was super romantic I found it to be rather pointless in this situation.

Also if Noah's dad didn't want them to ever be together then why did he make certain things happen that would bring them together. Why did he leave Noah there alone with Mara, if he really didn't want them together shouldn't he have forced Noah to leave with him.

What was Lukumi problem throughout the whole thing and why didn't he talk to them all in person and try to explain better why he did certain things. I got that he had tried to change certain things through his letter he wrote to Mara but still he should have known better then to make certain other things happen or try to control them.

Were the last 20 pages even really needed? I didn't care about that, we knew what choice they would make because they had made it before and will continue to make it until they do eventually die. 

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: October 23rd 2012
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Page Count: 528
Format: Kindle

My Rating: ★ ★.5

Goodreads Summary: 
The truth about Mara Dyer's dangerous and mysterious abilities continues to unravel in the New York Times bestselling sequel to the thrilling The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.She can't. She used to think her problems were all in her head. They aren't. She couldn't imagine that after everything she's been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets. She's wrong. In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?
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 My Review:

After having a lot of up and downs with the first book in this series I wasn't sure if I would want to continue with it. I am so glad I did though. This book was everything I hoped the first one to be. It was creepy, and gave us insight on possibly why she has this power. It also showed us that she wasn't alone in it and there is a lot more people with it then I ever expected it to be.

While their still was some romance elements they were drastically cut back thankfully and it was more about Mara, and what is happening to her, and who is doing certain things to her.

That doctor has to go though. Something very fishy is going on there and I don't like it all.

Now on to the third book and I hope it doesn't leave me feeling like the first one did. 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published Date: September 27th 2011

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy, Horror
Page Count: 456
Format: Kindle
My Rating: ★ ★ 

Goodreads Summary:
Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.
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My Review:
I had a like/hate relationship with this book. I say like because im not in love with this story. The only reason I kept reading it was do to the mystery element.

I hated the insta-love and the main guy protagonist. But even more then that I hated how Mara just let him get away with it after a while of knowing him. She stopped caring that he was a guy that did whatever he wanted and got away with it for the most part and she fell for him. Now im not saying I wont grow to like them as a couple I just think it happened way to fast, and there our bigger things going on that need handling.

Now the part of this book that I did like was the fact that Mara had no clue what was happening to her or how to make it stop or control it. I also really enjoyed the mystery of it all, and that ending oh my.. That is the only thing keeping me reading this series. I have to know if what she saw was another hallucination or real life.