Review: The Education of Hailey Kendrick

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Eileen Cook
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads educated me): Hailey Kendrick always does exactly what's expected of her. She has the right friends, dates the perfect boy, gets good grades, and follows all the rules. But one night, Hailey risks everything by breaking a very big rule in a very public way...and with a very unexpected partner in crime. Hailey gets caught, but her accomplice does not, and Hailey takes the fall for both of them. 

Suddenly, Hailey's perfect life--and her reputation--are blowing up in her face. Her friends are all avoiding her. Her teachers don't trust her. Her boyfriend won't even speak to her for long enough to tell her that she's been dumped.

They say honesty is the best policy--but some secrets are worth keeping, no matter the cost. Or are they?

My Thoughts on this beautiful novel: I don't think I've ever related to a novel like I related to this one. Okay so there was a lot different about her life: the dead mom, the boarding school, the being rich, the hot men in her life... ... ... I'm sorry, I was daydreaming, got distracted. What was I saying? Oh, right. Her life was do very different from mine. Yet, at the same time, it wasn't. There are so many things I would never dare try. I'm not a rule breaker. I am more afraid of the world than anything else. Honestly, it's true. Feel free to e-mail me if you ever wanna chat because I really am more afraid of you than you are of me. I could also understand why she eventually snapped. Who wouldn't snap with all that pressure she was putting on herself?

Since I saw so much of myself in Hailey, I feel in love with her. Okay, not in that way, I reserved that for the multiple nice guys in the novel. Unlike Hailey, boys have never been a problem in my life. Anyway, she didn't bother me. I can't think of anything about her that I didn't like (although, there must have been something).

I thought that her punishment was hilarious. It added a lot of comedy to the story. I loved that about it.

Her friends kind of made me man. Suddenly, they weren't there for her like I think they should've been. Would it have killed them to take a minute to listen to her side of the story? Probably not.

This novel was both easy and fast. It was also enjoyable. I caught myself laughing at a few parts. I also felt unbelievable anger during other parts. I've been avoiding high school stories lately but I'm glad I picked this novel up. It made me happy and was totally worth the time and money I spent on it. I'll just ignore that she was so much younger than me...

So, basically, I enjoyed this novel a lot. It was the first novel by Eileen Cook I'd ever read and I don't think that it will be the last. Can anyone recommend me some more good ones by her?

Life of a Blogger [7]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Halloween 
I've never really been a Halloween fanatic. Halloween was kinda always just a night. I didn't even have that cool of costumes, like ever. I just remember I loved my neighbourhood because they gave out king sized candy bars. And we would all trick or treat together with a pizza party to finish it off. Hasn't happened in a few years, but apparently this year, Kelsey and I are going to have a super awesometastic Halloween movie party. So, that's a thing. I don't know. I guess in my head, Halloween is just an excuse to buy candy (which I really really don't need) and watch movies with friends, which is pretty cool I suppose. 
- Kristen

I used to work a haunted forest for the three weeks before Halloween. I liked doing that a lot. a few years ago I have a full on meltdown because I realized that I was an adult and that I couldn't go out for Halloween and I didn't want to go to any parties (that isn't really my thing) and that I couldn't even dress up and hand out candy (not that we get any more than three kids at our house) because I had to be in school and I cried and I was very upset. It was awful...just like that sentence. So, for the last three years, I've had night classes on Halloween. This is the first year I haven't and I'm happy about it but I'm even more of an adult now. I'll probably watch a few fake scary movies (Young Frankenstein, for the win) and wear one of my pretty masquerade masks.

-- Kelsey

Top Ten Tuesday [7]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list and everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

October 28: Top Ten Books/Movies To Read Or Watch To Get In The Halloween Spirit OR Top Ten Characters Who I Would Totally Want To Be For Halloween

Kristen: 
I'm not very Halloween-y homeslices, so I'm going to say that I'd like to dress up as Katniss Everdeen. Also, horror movies are so not my thing, so there's that. 

Kelsey: (I shall answer all of the above questions)
1. Dracula by Bram Stoker 
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
3. Sister's Red by Jackson Pearce (I don't know this came to my mind but since it did it's going on this list)
4. Elphaba from Wicked
5. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
6. Sherlock Holmes
7. Alyssa from Splintered although few will know you you are...
8. Young Frankenstein (movie)
9. Read some Grimm's fairytales, they are terrifying.
10. Oompa Loompas

Review: Archer's Voice

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Mia Sheridan
Format: eBook
Pages: 345
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (from Goodread's voice); When Bree Prescott arrives in the sleepy, lakeside town of Pelion, Maine, she hopes against hope that this is the place where she will finally find the peace she so desperately seeks. On her first day there, her life collides with Archer Hale, an isolated man who holds a secret agony of his own. A man no one else sees.

Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.

My Thoughts: I'll start with the obvious. I really enjoyed this novel. This was my first Mia Sheridan novel and I already know that it won't be the last. I have a bunch more on my to-read list and I'm very excited for them. 

One thing I really didn't like about this novel, basically the only thing I didn't like about this novel, was how child-like Archer was. He wasn't emotionally stunted or anything. The abuse was bad. His pain was immense, yes. The guy was hurt but he was start. He was strong. A lot of the interactions with Bree (mostly the romantic parts, I won't lie to you) were awkward because suddenly he was written like a person who'd never interacted with anyone before. The guy read! It's not like he was born and raised in a cave with not a single other human being. I didn't like that he was so....young. He wasn't. These parts of the novel became evident to me very quickly and were horribly uncomfortable for me. This was the worst part about the novel. THEN onto of this, he changes from it so quickly. People with the problems he supposedly had don't just bounce back like that. I did like what he did to change. However, it made the novel stall and it got slow real past. I hate the pining. I hate the waiting and moping. Just get on with it, Bella! Gosh!

I'm not sure how much I believed about the stuff with her dad and who was out to get them. I don't want to spoil but it should have been better explained, I think.

Now, onto the good stuff. I fell in love with the characters. I fell in love with the neighbors and the friends. I fell in love with the town and the area and the whole atmosphere. I really think the author did a good job of putting the reader right where the action was. 

Plus, I really felt for these characters. I went from happy to crying to embarrassed. Everything. It was wonderful. This impressed me a lot. 

This novel was pretty great.

In Closing: I really enjoyed this novel. Kristen tortured me by giving it to me but then not reading it herself so that I have to suffer alone and suffer I did. I cried just a little bit. I would recommend this novel to practically everyone. It made me very happy...especially the ending. [Insert smiley face here]

Review: Monster High: Hopes and Screams

So, I asked my cousin to review a book for me while we were on vacation, just for fun. I'm not sure how much you'll learn as the insights from a nine year old come off a little vague but here it is nonetheless. Enjoy the change of pace and Halloweenish theme.
-- Kelsey

Reviewer: A sometimes cute nine year old who shall remain anonymous
Author: Heather Nuhfer, Josh Howard (illustrations)
Format: Paperback, Graphic novel
Pages: 112
Rating: 7 out of 10 (I think that's what she said...)

Summary (Screams Goodreads): Brand-new stories about all your favorite Monster High characters come to life in this gorgeous full-color graphic novel.

...Yeah that was informative.
Her Thoughts (edited): "My favourite thing about the book is when Robecca and the team had a bake sale to raise money for ... [spoiler]. My favourite character is Operetta. I like how she helps the team, and she is really pretty. I think the author, Heather Nuhfer, did a good job with the book. [It was a really good] idea to put six stories into one book. [I think it was really cool that it was] a graphic novel. The behind the screams (scenes) was a really good idea too. The author described the book really well because she told the reader [all the important details] like why they needed something really badly or why they became mad at each other during certain parts of the story. [She also always made it clear] why someone was in a hurry. 

The story really caught my interest because I love Monster High and the author did a good job [writing the story]. I didn't have a least favourite part at all. The book was all good. I think kids that like or love Monster High would like this novel too. If you don't like Monster High than this isn't the novel for you."

I guess: This would be a good novel for younger girls to read. I know that my cousin has seen all the movies or episodes or...whatever. She has about three or four of these novels and really enjoys them. When I asked her to review she wasn't certain what book to do. I said, your favourite or something you are excited to read. She picked this novel and I think that counts for something.

Enjoy your Halloween week!

Follow Friday

Characters, sometimes are favourites, die during books. If you'd get to choose, who would you bring back?

Ok... my answer is all kinds of spoilery for those of you who haven't finished The Hunger Games trilogy yet...

Are you ready? If you haven't read, ADVERT YOUR EYES NOW!

...

...

...

ALL I NEED FOR A HAPPY AND FULFILLING LIFE IS FOR FINNICK ODAIR TO NOT BE DEAD AND FOR FINNICK ODAIR TO BE A FATHER. IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS AND I'M STILL NOT OVER IT AND I CAN'T SEE THAT CHANGING ANYTIME SOON. 

So whose death are you not over? 

- Kristen 

Literally, same as Kristen. I was trying to think if deaths that were important to me in novels. I came up with one from The Taker but he was kinda self-absorbed. There was one in The Infernal Devices series but I mean, he was old and lived a good life. I can't really come up with a death that affected me that much. The fact that I can't remember deaths is bad, right? I would think it would be easy. 

 - Kelsey

 

Life of a Blogger [6]

Life of a Blogger is a weekly feature that I found through the amazing Rebecca at Vicariously! ,  hosted by the lovely Novel Heartbeat. Each week a subject will be chosen and we get to talk about it. The topics will be non-bookish so that you can get to know each other on a more personal level! Make sure to add your link on the linky list! 

This week's topic is: Origin of your Name
My parental units liked my name (fun fact: my parents almost named me all of my best friends names... so that's weird. And ya, Kelsey was on that list)
babynames.com says that Kristen means: 

The meaning of the name Kristen is Christian
The origin of the name Kristen is German
Alternate spellings: Krystyn, Christin, Christan, Christen

Here's another fun fact. In school we we're getting our novels signed by Alistair MacLeod, and he was asking for our names. So I was talking to Kelsey and said watch me spell my name wrong... and I did. I spelt it Krystyn which is NOTHING like Kristen. I don't know how my brain works, folks. 

 My mom liked it and my dad didn't get any say. I really don't know. 
Wanna know what babynames.com says about it?

The meaning of the name Kelsey is From Ceol's Island
The origin of the name Kelsey is English

-- Kelsey