Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
3 out of 5 stars.

Expected publication: January 5th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Goodreads Description: Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself. Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed. When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.

“It’s scary not knowing what comes next. But not knowing might also be the best part.”

I was given an opportunity by the publisher via NetGalley to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description of Firsts sounded really interesting, so I knew I wanted to check it out. Honestly, at first I really wasn’t sure why it was categorized as YA. There was a lot of talk about sex (which I’m sure you can tell just by the description), so that made me question it. I guess because Mercy was 17 and still in high school. It kind of seemed a little unrealistic at times, because really, what teenage girl in high school is having sex with 14 different guys? Maybe high school has changed since I’ve been there.

Anyway! There was some bullying and shaming in this book and that really made me angry and sad for Mercy. You can tell right off the bat that she was going through her own issues and that was a big part of the reason why she decided to sleep with all of these virgins in her school. That was obvious from the start, but you don’t find out exactly what happened until closer to the end of the book. The bullying and shaming was very much realistic and I’m sure happens every day in high school still. A lot of teenagers may be able to relate to that.

There were a few times that I thought the book was going to end, but another chapter started again. It could have properly ended a few times, so I think it went on a little longer than it had to. There were times that I really did enjoy this book though and it was pretty easy to read. I really loved that Mercy had some pretty amazing friends. She probably wouldn’t have gotten through everything without them. I really liked Mercy herself as well and she was a pretty strong person.

Overall, I did enjoy it for the most part. It could have been better and it was a bit weird at times. It was interesting and different, so I definitely give it that. If you’re not really into reading about sex, then this book isn’t for you. It’s not too bad on that front, but it is mentioned quite a bit (which is to be expected) and sometimes there are some detail, but not super crazy with it.

Have you read Firsts? If so, what did you think? If not, do you think you will? Let me know! 🙂

I’ll be posting my December recap and my 2015 end of survey on my blog soon, so be on the look out for those posts! 🙂

I hope you have a happy New Year!

Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes
3 out of 5 stars.

“It’s one of those dumb days where nothing’s really wrong but nothing’s really right either and the sky can’t even choose to be white or gray.”

Goodreads Description: Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite. Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?

It took me a little while to think of a proper rating for this book, because there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it. The synopsis sounded promising enough, so I decided to give it a chance.

I really wasn’t an Anika fan and she seemed a bit annoying. I also didn’t like the way she (and other kids) used the word “gay” and “queer” in the story. For example, they would call things they didn’t like gay. That irked me so much. In the beginning of the book they did it so much that I almost didn’t finish it. Aside from not liking Anika (and some of the other characters) and their use of those words, I still continued with the book.

It had it’s fun moments and there were times I did enjoy it. I really liked both Logan and Jared, so with the whole love triangle going on it was hard to say who I was rooting for at first. In the end, I was definitely rooting for Logan! Anika really annoyed me in the fact that she felt her social status was way more important than being with Logan who she really liked.

The ending was strange, so strange. I honestly did not expect it at all. If someone asked me to make a list of possible endings for this book, I would have NEVER thought about the one it had. I wanted it to end so differently. Overall, I did enjoy it aside from the things I really didn’t like. It probably could have been written a little better, but it was a pretty okay read. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t the best.

“Ceaseless.
Almost too much for this small frame.
You make me part of the sky.”

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think?

I hope you have a great day! ❤

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom
4 out of 5 stars.

“It’s amazing how people can be so blind to what’s good for them and what isn’t, what’s truth and what’s not, or the difference between secrets and things just not known.”

Goodreads Description: Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart. When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there’s only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right, her eyes don’t work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn’t cried since her dad’s death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened–both with Scott, and her dad–the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

I won Not If I See You First from The Novl in their monthly newsletter! If you go to their website and sign up for the newsletter, then you can have a chance to win books and ARCs like this! 🙂

It took me a little bit to really get into the story. It wasn’t a horrible start, but it wasn’t blowing me away at first. It was easy to just read and read even if it didn’t exactly blow me away in the first half though. It was pretty enjoyable and there are tons of likable characters.

Parker was one of the more likable characters in my opinion. She was surprisingly such a strong person going through everything she has had to deal with day to day. She was a tough cookie, but she almost had to be. I was rooting for Parker throughout the entire book. She had a lot of struggles to cope with, but she did a pretty good job for the most part.

I think it helped that she had some pretty amazing friends! Sarah, Molly, and Faith were definitely good people in her life and didn’t abandon her when things got too tough. Everyone needs friends like that in their lives. I loved the love advice scenes that involved Parker and Sarah giving out love advice to fellow classmates.

This book will definitely make you laugh and it’ll also make you cry a bit. I’ve never really read a book with a blind main character, so this was a change. It was an interesting read and it was nice reading about something new. I really liked the way that Eric wrote this book. I can’t wait to see more from him! I think his writing style is what made it so easy to keep reading even if it didn’t exactly blow me away at first. Overall, it was a bit of a slow start but I enjoyed it so much. I will definitely be recommending this book!

“seeing
is not
believing”

 Have you read Not If I See You First? If not, do you think you’ll be checking it out? Let me know! 😀

I am starting back on Cress today, so I can get a move on with my December TBR. 🙂 I read a little bit in the car on the way to work today and it got pretty interesting and I was actually sad I had to put it down! Feel free to check out my other recent post linked down below. It’s a fun Christmas tag!

Tag||Dashing Through the Snow.

I am off to work! I hope you have a great day! ❤

Every Day by David Levithan
4.5 out of 5 stars.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: We all want everything to be okay. We don’t even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.”

Goodreads Description: Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Happy December! 🙂

I’ve been so back and forth on if I wanted to read this book and I am so glad that I did! I am kind of struggling with how to even write up a review or my thoughts on this book. At first it was a little weird for me, but also interesting at the same time. A wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with his girlfriend Rhiannon, which I at first didn’t like. It was insta-love for A, but I guess when you’re switching from body to body (life to life) then you don’t know what to expect or how to react about some things.

I personally wasn’t that big of a fan of Rhiannon. She kind of annoyed me, especially when she was falling in love with A but was so offish when he was in a body she wasn’t particularly okay with (example: when he was in the 300 pound body of a guy). I guess I can see where she is coming from though, because how do you react when someone you know and are falling for is in a new body every single day? That’s where all the weirdness came to me. It was SO strange, lol. I don’t even know any other way to put it. A seemed a little needy, but I guess I can also see where he is coming from with having to switch from body to body (life to life) every day and finally finding someone he wants to be with and can’t.

This post is kind of just everywhere LOL! So sorry about that. I just honestly have no idea how to form my thoughts on the book other than I really enjoyed it and I want to read the next book as soon as possible! I really liked how this book seemed so different from other books I have read and it was so interesting. I think the next book is about Rhiannon though, so I’m not sure how much I’ll like it. We’ll see!

“It’s as simple as that. Simple and complicated, as most true things are.”

Have you read Every Day? If so, what did you think about it?

I seriously apologize for this review. I really enjoyed the book SO much, but I just can’t really put it into the right words. I also apologize for my lack of posts. I’m around though reading all of your blogs, so at least I am not completely gone! I just have no idea what I want to post about, because I am not really reading much over the last month. Sigh. GIVE ME IDEAS 😛 I currently put Cress to the side and am currently reading Not If I See You First. I’m not too far into it though, but hopefully I’ll get a lot more read tonight.

I had to take out my Christmas fireplace picture, because I couldn’t get it to not be my main picture on the reader. I hate when it defaults to not being the picture I choose for my feature image, I don’t understand why it does that. I’ll save it for my next post. I think this weekend I am finally going to do that picture post that I’ve been wanting to do. It’ll just be a random little update about things going on in my life with pictures included! 🙂

I gotta get to work! I hope you have a great day! ❤