Reader: Alexis F.
Age: 14
Title: The Cellar
Author: Natasha Preston
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: 03/01/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: It was a good book in all, but there were a few things that needed a little bit of work. The plot and character were definitely interesting. It's not every day that you pick up a book that happens to have a serial killer with OCD in it. The only thing that I can really "complain" about (really it's not complaining at all, but whatever) is that there seems to be things missing that should be there. When the main character (Summer... who sort of turns into Lilly for a while ) gets thrown into the cellar, it seems like all she thinks abut is having her boyfriend come and rescue her. I've debated a lot about whether this makes her weak, or smart. In the end I picked weak, but that's just my opinion. Sure she thinks about smashing a frying pan over her captor's head a few times, but other than that all she does is sit around and whine... then again, I think a lot of people might do the same thing in her situation. Now that I think about it, that might be what made it more realistic than other books. In all it was a pretty good book (if you don't mind reading about people getting killed - A lot).
Memorable or Forgettable: It was a memorable book for sure. No, it didn't make me afraid of my basement or anything, but its plot had this sort of addictive feel. Trust me, that's pretty weird coming from a person that gets freaked out even thinking about killers and stuff like that. I didn't like how it ended though (so I'll most likely forget about the ending), but I'll remember the rest of it for a very long time.
Cover: The cover did reflect the content, but it didn't tempt me to pick it up. A single flower on the steps of a freaky and dark cellar. You could tell that it was going to be a little scary (or maybe a lot). I don't really look at the cover of the books that I read. If they have a good hook on the back, then I'll try them.
Age Range: 14 through 15
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
tags: mystery / thriller / contemporary / realistic fiction / ya lit
Reader: Alexis F.
Age: 14
Title: I Have a Bad Feeling About This
Author: Jeff Strand
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: 03/01/14
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: The book had some funny parts, but it was a little childish at times. Come on! What's not funny about a bunch of totally wimpy boys being sent to a "hard-core" summer camp? It may sound a little boring at first, but after you start to read it, it's pretty good. The plot was easy to follow and the characters had their own personalities (however, at times they talked exactly the same). I would probably rate it on a scale of one to five (one being the worst and five being the best) a three. It wasn't the best read, but it was good enough.
Memorable or Forgettable: It's one of those books that you'll most likely forget the majority of the plot, but certain things stick out. After each chapter there's a little "survival tip." I do not recommend using them...
Cover: The cover did not tempt me to pick it up. It's plain and I wasn't interested until someone told me that it was good.
Age Range: 12 through 13
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
tags: humor / realistic fiction / ya lit
Reader: Alexis F.
Age: 14
Title: Paradox
Author: A.J. Paquette
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: 06/25/2013
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: Paradox had a good plot and I enjoyed reading it, but it seemed like the characters had unreal personalities at times (mostly in the beginning) and there could have been a lot more detail. By the end (second half) it started to get pretty interesting. It would have been better if it started out a bit faster. I really liked how everything led up to the end and it all made sense (in my opinion. Other people might think differently) and there was a lot of twists which was pretty cool. At times I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen next, but it turned out that I was totally wrong! I sort of like that (it was unexpected). The three words I have to describe this book are: Bloody, space, bug. Yeah, it's interesting...
Memorable or Forgettable: It's one of those books that I definitely won't forget, but that's only because there was a giant freaky bloody space worm! Yes, you have to read the book to find out...
Cover:
I was interested in the cover mostly because there was a girl standing in front of a giant worm that was exploding out of the ground. The funny thing was that the girl just stood there like it was totally normal to see a giant worm exploding out of the ground! The title kind of stood out to me to for some reason. Really it just looked interesting. The cover definitely represents the book.
Age Range: 12 through 13
Quality: 2Q Needs more work
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
tags: science fiction / postapocalyptic adventure / ya lit
Reader: Alexis F.
Age: 14
Title: Smoke
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pub Date: 09/10/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: No
Convince us to read the book: Smoke was well put together (in other words, well written) and it had very realistic characters. I've read four other books by Ellen Hopkins so I was expecting what the plot was going to be about, but really this was a lot different. Smoke is definitely one of my favorites because it's focused on things that happen all the time, but yet people decide to try to ignore it. In a way I find these books to be inspirational to a lot of teens which is absolutely awesome! Smoke will most likely keep every reader's interest (especially mine) because it's realistic. You don't just want to pick up a book about magical fairy lands all the time (and if you do, you probably need to take a break every once in a while). You want to read about things that are real (or at least seem that way) - Smoke does that!
Memorable or Forgettable: I never forget about any of the books I read, but some things that make Smoke especially memorable is the fact that it's about a teenage girl trying to figure out her life (and no, it's not a big sappy love story or all weird). I like to read about how other people think (even if they happen to be fictional) and reading about a girl coming from the situation that she's from (it's pretty crazy mind you), it's interesting and informational.
Cover: The cover of Smoke didn't really interest me. It was more the fact that Ellen Hopkins was the author. Smoke is actually the sequel of Burned (but I haven't read that yet) so maybe the first book explains the cover a bit more, but I believe the cover is supposed to represent what goes on in the book. In Smoke, there's a girl finding her life again after something of a disaster happens (in the first book). So, the cover as well as the title is supposed to show that after the fire (disaster) there is the smoke (leftover of the fire. Still there, but mostly a memory).
Age Range: 14 through 17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
tags: realistic fiction / contemporary / Burned / ya lit
