Book Review: League of Strays

Title: League of Strays

Author: L.B. Schulman

Publisher: Amulet Books

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: October 1st, 2012

Source: Paperback, ARC

Purchase: Amazon

This suspenseful debut follows a group of teenage misfits in their delicious quest for revenge on those who have wronged them at their high school. When a mysterious note appears in Charlotte’s mailbox inviting her to join the League of Strays, she’s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a motley crew of loners and an alluring, manipulative ringleader named Kade. Kade convinces the group that they need one another both for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have betrayed them. But Kade has a bigger agenda. In addition to vandalizing their school and causing fights between other students, Kade’s real intention is a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.

Wow, so where do I start? Well, I can honestly say that this book is not at all what I expected. I was intrigued by the cover at first. Just his eyes were enough to pull me in. Then I read the blurb on the back cover...I thought that this would be a pretty good read. And don't get me wrong, it was good, but it wasn't as great as I thought that it would be.

The writer is very articulate and the way they wrote this, it was not hard to imagine everything. I enjoy a book where you can visualize the story unfolding. If I can't visualize it, it's lost to me. Unfortunately for me, I had to put this book down a few times in the beginning before I could finally get lost into this book.

The characters are complex, but that's what brings this story to life. At first Kade's motives are questionable, but soon realize that there is something more to the story. Once the story starts to unfold we start to see the struggles the characters have to face and what Charlotte will do to try to stop them.

Charlotte's character is actually quite strong and she is the main one that can see Kade for what he really is worth once she can make it past his mesmerizing eyes. Zoe is one of my favorites, however, with her intense attitude toward things and people.

My final thoughts on this book are that this is a good read for people that enjoy mysteries, slight thrillers and contemporary pieces. I would recommend this book to anyone 13 years of age and older.

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Book Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Title: Epic Fail 

Author: Claire LaZebnik 

Publisher: Harper Teen 

Genre: YA Contemporary, Chick-Lit 

Release Date: August 2, 2011 

Source: ebook 

Challenge: TBR Pile 

Will Elise's love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school--not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn't exactly on everyone's must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise's beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince's best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

My Review:

I thought this was a very well written book.  I dove in and stayed with it to the very end. When I started to read this, I was like, “aw, this is going to be a really great and cute love story”, I didn’t realize that it was a Jane Austen re-telling. I absolutely LOVED Pride & Prejudice, so this was a welcome surprise when I realized that this is what it was, a modern re-telling of that for young adults.

At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Derek Edwards, but soon into the book I realized he wasn’t that bad. It was Webster Grant that I didn’t like right off the bat. You could tell he was a sneaky little slim-ball. The rest of the characters, they stayed true to character. Either you loved them or you hate them. To me, there really wasn’t a fine line between the two.

Final Thoughts:

This book is highly likable, however, very short. I can’t wait to read more work by Claire in the future.

Star Rating:

Purchase from: Amazon/The Book Depository

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2012 YA Contemporary Challenge

Angela from Reading Angel and Katie from Katie's Book Blog are hosting a YA Contemporary Challenge for 2012. So I thought, since I love YA Contemporary, why not join the challenge.

There are different levels that you can choose to challenge yourself in:

Level 1: 5+ books 

Level 2: 10+ books

Level 3: 15+ books

Rules:

You can read any contemporary YA novel that is published between January 1, 2012 and December 30, 2012 but you must read them in 2012! (All formats accepted: paperback, ARC, ebook)

Here is what I plan to read as of right now: 

1. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

2. Cracked by K.M. Walton

3. Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale

4. The Fine Art of Truth Or Dare by Melissa Jensen

5. Flirting In Italian by Lauren Henderson

6. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

7. Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

8. The Story Of Us by Deb Caletti

9. In Honor by Jessi Kirby

10. One That I Want by Jennifer Echols

11. This Is So Not Happening by Kieran Scott

12. Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

13. The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

14. The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

15. Life Is But A Dream by Brian James

16. Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

17. Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby

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