Review: Written in the Stars

Title:  Written in the Stars
Author:  Aisha Saeed
Rating:  4/5

Summary:

This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?

Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. 

When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.

Review:

I think it's obvious by now that I love cultural based books, especially when they revolve around family.  This one, while not one of my favorites, was rather well written and the family dynamic was fantastic, as well as the center of the plot.

Naila (and I cannot seem to settle on a pronunciation of her name in my head), is a bright young Pakistani-American teenager who has her whole life in front of her, until her parents take it away in the worst way you can imagine.

In the summary it says that Naila's parents found her a husband in Pakistan, that is an incredibly watered-down version of the events of the second half of the book.  Naila is thrown away like a dog who couldn't behave.  

Arranged marriages are not uncommon in this world, but this one is described in a detail that shocks people like me, someone who has never seen it first hand.  Many times they work out, but just as many times they do not, and this is a devastating example of when family pushes too far.

Review: If I Was Your Girl

Title:  If I Was Your Girl
Author:  Meredith Russo
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school in Lambertville, Tennessee. Like any other girl, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret. There’s a reason why she transferred schools for her senior year, and why she’s determined not to get too close to anyone.

And then she meets Grant Everett. Grant is unlike anyone she’s ever met—open, honest, kind—and Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself…including her past. But she’s terrified that once she tells Grant the truth, he won't be able to see past it.

Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It’s that she used to be Andrew.

Review:

I waited two weeks for this to come to me from my library after I saw the day it was released.  I read it in two days I think.  No, it wasn't the most in depth work of transgender young adult fiction I've ever read, but there was a depth that made it enjoyable.

Amanda is your average girl, described physically as someone many of us females wanted to be when we were growing up.  Her secret, is that she wasn't born in the body she craved and she went to drastic measures when she couldn't take being Andrew anymore.

Out of all the characters in this book, aside from Amanda, my favorites are the three girls that embrace her immediately in her new school and prove to be true friends even if they don't completely understand.

I give huge kudos to the author who admitted to being a transgender woman herself and undertaking a writing project like this.  It was an amazing read and I highly recommend.

Also, the woman on the cover is transgender and I think she is beautiful.

Review: One With You

Title:  One with You
Author: Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire (#5 Final)
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

Gideon Cross. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I've ever done. It happened instantly. Completely. Irrevocably.

Marrying him was a dream come true. Staying married to him is the fight of my life. Love transforms. Ours is both a refuge from the storm and the most violent of tempests. Two damaged souls entwined as one.

We have bared our deepest, ugliest secrets to one another. Gideon is the mirror that reflects all my flaws ... and all the beauty I couldn't see. He has given me everything. Now, I must prove I can be the rock, the shelter for him that he is for me. Together, we could stand against those who work so viciously to come between us.

But our greatest battle may lie within the very vows that give us strength. Committing to love was only the beginning. Fighting for it will either set us free ... or break us apart.

Heartbreakingly and seductively poignant, One with You is the breathlessly awaited finale to the Crossfire® saga, the searing love story that has captivated millions of readers worldwide.

Review:

I picked up the first book in this series two or three years ago.  At first, I didn't have high hopes for it; I thought it was just going to be a slightly less kinky version of Fifty Shades of Grey.  I was so wrong!

This series was beautiful most of the time.  I admit the third and fourth books were slow compared to the rest, and I complained in the past about the repetition of relationship issues, but this book more than made up for those instances.

My favorite was the last 200 or so pages when Gideon and Eva finally seem to just click in that magical way we've always been craving.  The ultimate last hurtle for them was amazing as well.  And Lucky was the cutest little sidekick ever.

I really recommend reading this entire series.  There is some sex scenes, sure, but they by far do not overshadow the genuine writing and relationship between characters.

Review: Captivated By You

Title:  Captivated By You
Author:  Sylvia Day
Series:  Crossfire (#4)
Rating:  4/5

Summary:

Gideon calls me his angel, but he's the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own.

The vows we'd exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn't sure I was strong enough to bear.

At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we'd worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we'd had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream...

Review:

I LOVE this series.  Seriously.  I hate the idea and writing of everything that has to do with Fifty Shades of Grey, but the Crossfire series actually has substance on top of the sex scenes.  Gideon is just... wow, what a man.  His demons just make me love him more.  And Eva, she's perfect in all of her imperfections.

There are two reasons why I gave this book a 4 out of 5 instead of the full rating:  POV shifts and lack of problem resolution.  First, the POV shifts aren't big, just jumping one chapter for Gideon and one for Eva and so on, however it's kind of a pet peeve of mine and it wasn't done in the first three books of the series.  On the second point, I mean it's the repetitive problems we've been seeing for four books now with little to no progress, but there was some progress I suppose.

All in all I cannot wait to read the fifth and final book which just came in the mail!

Waiting on Wednesday #3

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title:  The Problem with Forever
Author:  Jennifer L. Armentrout
Expected Publish Date:  May 17, 2016

Summary:

For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.

Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.

It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.

I've got my tissues ready!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough or In a While

Meme by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In a While

1. Scribbler of Dreams by Mary E. Pearson - I literally never talk about this book, and a lot of people don't know it exists.  However, this was the book that made me actually enjoy reading it!  One Mother's Day some 13 or so years ago (I was in seventh grade) I read this entire book in a day and I haven't been able to stop reading ever since.

2. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer - This book is heartbreaking, actually far beyond heartbreaking.  This poor child and everything he went though, and is still going through as an adult survivor of horrific abuse is just amazing.  I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone with a weak stomach or under the age of thirteen.

3. I'll Be Seeing You by Lurlene McDaniel - This book is probably my favorite by this author, and I've read the majority of her books (she's written about 80 I think).  These books are always equally romantic, sweet, and heartbreaking in turn.

4. The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks - I love Nicholas Sparks books, he's one of my favorite authors.  This is my favorite book by him and I hope it never gets made into a movie!  Especially because they would never be able to do the son justice and he is a crux of the book.

5. Burning Bones by Christopher Golden - The best book of the best mystery series I've ever read.  Unfortunately these books are extremely rare, so I've only read three of the series.  One day I hope to read them all!

6. Godchild Vol. 1 by Kaori Yuki - My favorite manga series!  It's a murder mystery series.  My favorite mini-mystery in these books is the Alice in Wonderland murders.

7. Bent by Sean Michael - Guilty pleasure, end of story.  This is book one of many.

8. Dancer with Bruised Knees by Lynne McFall - I'm not sure I can ever properly explain why I love this book.  There's not even a summary on the back of the book when I bought it.  You just need to dive right in.

9. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix - Best horror book I've every read!  And yes, I'm counting this above Stephen King books.  It's just so unique.

10. Santa's Angels by Janet Kaderli - I know none of us wants to think about winter and snow since it's finally spring, but this is my favorite Christmas book.  It's just the right amount of sweet.

Top Ten Books I Enjoyed Recently That Weren't My Typical Genre

Presented by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books I Enjoyed Recently That Weren't My Typical Genre

1. The Martian by Andy Weir

I don't really do science fiction, pretty much ever.  If I delve into that side of literature I go towards fantasy, but this book was amazing.

2. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

I actually read this as a brand new book, that I requested through the library because it had been on the bestsellers lists (or at least the author had).  I don't typically read mainstream, new releases, but this was kind of hilarious.

3. Breakwater Bay by Shelley Nobel

Just a basic family drama/romance, not normally exciting for me.

4. Awesome Sh*t My Drill Sergeant Said by Dan Caddy

This was straight up hilarious, and nonfiction is not my favorite genre by far.

5. If You Feel Too Much by Jamie Tworkowski

Again, nonfiction, but it's from To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA), so I had to because I love them, and I loved this.

6. Raising My Rainbow by Lori Duron

Blah memoirs usually, especially whiny ones about how someone is different and life is hard, but I found this rather inspiring.

7. American Sniper by Chris Kyle

Again, memoir, but war.  I love war movies, not typically books.  This was the best book I read in 2015 hands down.

8. Entwined With You by Sylvia Day

I normally find myself embarrassed by reading books that are known to be about sex and not much more, but this series has actual plot and Sylvia Day can actually write, so I make the exception for her.

9. Who Was Alfred Hitchcock? by Pamela D. Pollak

Need I say memoir again?  I'm starting to think I read these more than I think, but this was childrens level.  If you have a child and they don't like nonfiction, introduce them to this series of books, they'll love it.

10. The Terrorist's Son by Zak Ebrahim

Memoir!  Mostly I loved it because it was related to a Ted Talk, and if you don't know what Ted Talks are, then google it.  Now.  Seriously.

Review: 5 to 1

Title:  5 to 1
Author:  Holly Bodger
Rating:  2/5

Summary:

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa doesn’t want to be a wife, and Contestant Five, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. Sudasa’s family wants nothing more than for their daughter to do the right thing and pick a husband who will keep her comfortable—and caged. Five’s family wants him to escape by failing the tests. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Five thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view—Sudasa’s in verse and Contestant Five’s in prose—allowing readers to experience both characters’ pain and their brave struggle for hope.


Review:

This book left me wanting a lot.  The first thing that drew me in was the magnificent artwork on the cover, and next that the majority of the book was in poetry.  However, those two points are about the only things I liked about this book.

I love dystopian novels, but this felt as disjointed as an imagined future world seems to be.  The writing was loose and there several grammatical errors that I'm unsure how they passed editing.  The concept was very interesting, especially considering China's one-child policy and the likelihood of this situation (outnumbering girls) will happen in that country.

The first time the author switched points of view I was lost.  The paragraphs were dense blocks of text with little meaning and less emotion.  This story could have gone two ways, and should have chosen one of these paths:  [1] been a short story of no more than 75 pages and only in Sudasa's point of view; or [2] been lengthened by at least 100 pages and have Kiran's point of view more developed.

Lastly, the title is just ridiculous.  It makes the book hard to search for and while it applies to the book well, I think something symbolic of the poems that were mentioned would have been a much better fit.

Review: Fangirl

Title:  Fangirl
Author:  Rainbow Rowell
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow Fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it.  She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon SNow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading.  Rereading.  Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go.  She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates.  Cath is on her own, completely outside her comfort zone.  She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand?  Is she ready to start living her own life?  Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?


Review:

I don't believe the summary of this book does it justice at all, but that summary and the title are what initially drew me into Cather's world.  I am a long-time reader and writer of fan fiction (for the better part of the last 10 years).  The fact that this underworld was brought into the world of a published book made me far to excited to pass this book up.

When I did finally get my hands on the book (ebook...), I couldn't put it down for very long.  Cath draws in every introvert (like me!) and gathers us together to let us she how she evolves.  She goes from a scared girl who is set adrift by her twin and is ensconced in the world of Simon Snow, to a young adult who is trying to make the best out of her life.

It's also a bit of a plus in my opinion that Simon Snow was obviously Harry Potter (with Baz being Draco Malfoy in my opinion).  This is one of the biggest fandoms I read and I was just so happy with this.

I wish more people knew about fan fiction, but at the same time I like how it belongs to only us, the fans who want to see where the story could have gone if the author had went there.  There is some truly astonishing pieces out there, and I hope some day their author's are like Cath and they go on to publish worlds of their own.

I can't recommend this to everyone, because unless you love the fan fiction world [and are a bit of an introvert], you won't get the same value out of this book.

P.S. - Rumor has it that "Carry On, Simon" is going to be written as a full book.  Who else is majorly excited about that?!

Rating:

Review: Stronger Than You Know

Title:  Stronger Than You Know
Author:  Jolene Perry
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

After police intervention, fifteen-year-old Joy has finally escaped the trailer where she once lived with her mother and survived years of confinement and abuse.  Now living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in a comfortable house, she's sure she'll never belong.

Wracked by panic attacks, afraid to talk to anyone at her new school, Joy's got a whole list of reasons why she's crazy.  With immense courage, Joy finds friends and grows closer to her new family.

But just when hope is taking hold, she learns she must testify in her mother's trial.  Can she face her old life without losing her way in a new one?  Will she ever truly belong in a world that seems too normal to be real?

Review:

I have a thing for books dealing with mental health issues.  It's a personal thing, but it makes a book all that much better when the author gets the feelings right.  Joy deals with anxiety and panic, things that are hard to describe without making the character relatively useless.  The author did a fantastic job though.

Joy breaks out of her shell relatively quickly (and it is a pretty short book), but it doesn't seem rushed.  The fact that the chapters are names clever things that Joy is dealing with just adds to the book's charm.

There were a few times I wanted to put the book down because I was so afraid something lousy was going to happen to Joy just when she was finally getting better, but this book won't let you.  I think I read it in two days, which is a record for me in the last couple years.

I'm also glad it wrapped up where it did, Joy isn't fixed, but she's on her way.

Plus, just look at the cover with the paint strokes, awesome.

Rating:

Review: Allegiant

Title:  Allegiant
Author:  Veronica Roth
Series:  Divergent [3]
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

Review:

For those of you who remember, I had the countdown ticker for this book on this blog for at least a month before it was released, and at least a month after it released.  I bought it early and started it the day it came out, then put it down for almost 4 months.  It lost my attention and school grabbed my free time.  FINALLY though, I finished it, just a couple weeks ago.

For those who haven't read this book or haven't read either of the others (and don't want spoilers) turn back now and go read one of my other fun posts, the spoiling will begin after the picture.

^My thoughts exactly, and yes at the end I ended up almost crying in public.  This is why you don't read emotional books in public!  Except I didn't expect it to be emotional, I expected it to be predictable with a quasi-happy ending like every other book series with a "hero."

I'm not going to say I loved Tris and wish she hadn't have died, because really I liked her, and she was a good person, but she was human and definitely shouldn't have been impervious to everything, highly divergent or not.

I did like her death in a way because it made a piece of dystopian fiction more real.  The characters weren't superheros and they weren't super human.  And even though Tobias was amazing, he wasn't divergent like everyone thought, and he went through an identity crisis because of it!

Biggest problem I faced in this book was that I didn't remember who everyone was by the time I reached this book because I had read the other two back when Insurgent came out.  I could have looked up the characters, sure, but I don't do that.

I loved the paradoxes and life questions that seemed to face the reader at every turn, even if we didn't realize it.  For example:

“Knowledge is power. Power to do evil...or power to do good. Power itself is not evil. So knowledge itself is not evil.” 

It gives you life questions and a lot of their lives were about making choices where they seemingly had none.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt like that.

I just... I liked this book, not as much as the first two, but I love the direction it took.  I like that I didn't predict the end, and I liked that it incorporated human nature in "our world" back into the equation.

What do you guys think?  I give it:

Review: The Devil's Arithmetic

Title: The Devil's Arithmetic
Author: Jane Yolen
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This critically acclaimed novel by award-winning author Jane Yolen is now available in a beautifully designed new edition. Hannah dreads going to her family's Passover Seder—she's tired of hearing her relatives talk about the past. But when she opens the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah, she's transported to a Polish village in the year 1942, where she becomes caught up in the tragedy of the time. "Readers will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels." 

Review:

I have a thing for Holocaust books.  I and I definitely have a thing for people who refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust so I really liked this book if only for those two reasons.  I get (sorta) how Hannah is sick of remembering her past, especially when she sees it just as a boring religious ritual that is only enjoyed by the adults.  I love the time she spent in the past and how it wasn't just a dream.

However, I hated spending most of the book with her questioning everything as a dream (and me thinking it was an alcohol-induced hallucination/collapse), and then telling the people how right she was.  I hate when people are like that, thinking they are all knowing.

Once her memories faded though I love how she found her inner strength and then the book was all neatly, satisfyingly wrapped up in the end.

I'm normally extremely sad at the end of Holocaust books, this time I was relieved/happy/content.  It was odd.  I highly recommend the read though (then again, when do I post a review and not recommend the book?  Maybe I should try that some day)

Review: Me Since You

Title: Me Since You
Author: Laura Wiess
Rating: 5+/5
Release Date: February 18, 2014

Summary:

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?
Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old; a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.
If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger's shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother, and herself; from the endless replay of heartache and grief.
Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

Review:

It took me an inordinate amount of time to read this book.  And considering both the author and the subject matter, that has to be some kind of crime.  I got this book as an ARC and was immediately intrigued because I've read "Such a Pretty Girl" by Laura Wiess and she's an amazing, heart-wrenching, author.

I've thankfully never experienced the world of suicide first hand, but I can count the number of times it's been a close call. The emotions in this book are raw and uncensored.  The author isn't writing this book for us to read, she's writing it to tell Rowan's story, to help her heal.

A few times I had to put the book down before I started crying in a public place (and it takes a lot in a book to make me cry), and maybe that's why it took me so long to finish.  I had to continuously stop and breathe and wait until I was better mentally to go back to it.  I've read a lot of powerful books that take a lot out of you, but this one was different.  It was certainly emotional, and it took energy out of me, but it put something back too: hope.  Hope for healing and for human life.

I don't know I can possibly gush more about this book, but I hope Laura Wiess never stops writing, especially books like this.

I recommend this to everyone I possibly can.  (And it comes out to the public tomorrow so go and get it!!)

Rating:

Review: Two Boys Kissing

Title:  Two Boys Kissing
Author:  David Levithan
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 
While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

Review:

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book.  After reading 10 pages I was ready to put the book down and never pick it up again.  When I read the book jacket it sounded really interesting so I actually ordered it through my library system.  I started reading it and realized there were no chapters, but little breaks that separated a few very different story lines.

The story line that I was most disenchanted with (until the end when things seemed to get real) was the marathon kiss that this book centered around.  Personally, I liked the story of the blue-haired boy and pink-haired boy (of whom I cannot remember their names because I read this book a couple weeks ago).

Anyway, I obviously finished the book, but the interesting thing is that when I didn't put it down at that 10 page mark I ended up reading it in a little over 2 hours, no stopping.

So I'm not sure how to recommend this book because I'm not sure what drew me to it in the first place anymore, nor why I would read it again.

Rated: 3/5

Review: My Book of Life by Angel

So I checked my latest posts and realized I haven't done an actual review of a book in well over a month!  This shocked me.  Considering that is the main type of post people read on book blogs, and the main type I've aimed to provide my readers with.

While I have no time to read an actual (non-law related) book until Christmas break, I can at least try to review some of the books I've read in the last year or so.  Plus I can review some of my all time favorites.

So up today is a book I read in April.

Title:  My Book of Life by Angel
Author:  Martine Leavitt
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

When sixteen-year-old Angel meets Call at the mall, he buys her meals and says he loves her, and he gives her some candy that makes her feel like she can fly. Pretty soon she's addicted to his candy, and she moves in with him. As a favor, he asks her to hook up with a couple of friends of his, and then a couple more.

Now Angel is stuck working the streets at Hastings and Main, a notorious spot in Vancouver, Canada, where the girls turn tricks until they disappear without a trace, and the authorities don't care. But after her friend Serena disappears, and when Call brings home a girl who is even younger and more vulnerable than her to learn the trade, Angel knows that she and the new girl have got to find a way out.

Review:

This is one of my favorite types of books for three main reasons:

• Hard-hitting current issue (thus emotional)
• Poetry based fiction (not written in the traditional prose format)
• No sugar-coating of the characters or the storyline

I read this in two days, and while it took me a while to pick up after I got it out of the library, I couldn't put it down as soon as I started reading it.  I don't recommend it to readers under 15 or 16 because it is an issue that is disturbing, and because of the format it can be a bit cryptic in its message.

I like how not every feeling and situation is fully written out because of the author's style, but I can understand how it can be a hard read.  Personally, I like that it forces my imagination further.

Rating: