Chosen One by Carol Williams

Genre: Contemporary 

Hardcover: 213 Pages

Published: May 12, 2009

Series: None

Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

My Review:

This book was nothing short of spectacular. It was a very tense topic that was represented in a young adult novel and I was enraged at the mere thought of what these girls had to face. The book is told from Kyra's point of view and unfolds a story of desperation, love, fear, restrictions, sacrifice, and eventually freedom. Kyra struggles to live her life the way she wants to instead of following the back-wards-way of this so called cult like society.

Williams flawlessly balances Kyra's world and the world she lives in. At one end Kyra's family is full of laughs, love, respect, and kindness. She has many siblings who share many mothers and one father. They share many of the same family like qualities you would expect from a family. However, at the other end is the cruel, darker side of the society. Where killing innocent babies is deemed okay, while someone gets rid of defecated babies and no one bats an eye. Or beating and using torturous means to discipline women. All of this was outrageous and a very difficult pill to swallow. That people do this and have no sense of what is right and wrong. I was frustrated and because of this I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped that I would. 

Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt

Genre: Contemporary

Paperback: 288 Pages

Published: August 10, 2010

Series: None

Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She's been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon's dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler's lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn't made even half the money she'd hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn't react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon's caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money's this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

This fun, sexy, recession-proof story is a bubbly summer read with surprising depth—great for fans of Sarah Mlynowski.

My Review:

        Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. Not for anything bad, but for her education. After her father lost his job it's up to Shannon to come up with the money or not get an education. So when she finds a waitress job at a casino she's thanking her lucky starts. The job is fine and she's making money, but the problem is the money isn't enough. So when she gets an anonymous invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of talented college poker players who play in order to pay for college, Shannon is appalled at the idea. But when she realizes she needs more money she decides to give it a shot.

      As her nights at the casino making money get dangerous she meets Cole, a sexy 18 year old leader who is too powerful to ignore. Spending time at the casino and in Cole's company, Shannon finds herself in a web of lies that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Overall, it was an okay book. I read this book when I didn't have anything to read so I wasn't really interested in this story. It was alright for a stand alone, the characters were likable, and the plot was good enough to keep me awake. 

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Genre: Contemporary

Paperback: 470 Pages

Published: October 25, 2010

Series: None

Rating:★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay,Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam 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 ever imagined.

My Review:

I have heard many good things about this book so I decided to give it a shot. After reading I'm a little disappointed at the ending. I didn't expect the ending to turn out the way it did because I was hoping for more of a happy ending. But I guess the author had other things in mind.

Samantha is a young high school student who is a total bully. She is one of those popular girls who don't care about hurting others feelings and think they are the best since they are on the top of the pyramid. One day all of Sam's glory, popularity, and life is gone in the blink of an eye when she has a terrible accident. In the accident she dies, but when she wakes up the next morning alive and breathing she dismisses the accident as a dream. But when she realizes she's reliving her day, her reality suddenly changes. As she relives her day, she tries to change certain situations to prevent herself from dying that night. Instead she dies again and wakes up the next morning. This cycle continues for the next seven days until Sam learns her lesson and accomplishes what fate has planned for her.

Overall, this book was ok. Not amazing as I thought it would be and the hype for this book was over exaggerated. One thing that annoyed me was how I had to read about her day over and over again. Everyday it was the same and the story got really boring. It wasn't until the last few chapters where things started to pick up. However, the ending was bogus and I ended up not liking this book since it seemed like I wasted my time reading when I already knew how the book would end.