Famous Last Words Review

FAMOUS LAST WORDS BY KATIE ALENDER

I loved this book from middle school. I picked it up at a book fair and I read it my eight grade year, so by now it has been four years and I decided to give it a go again.

This book is about Willa and her new life as she moved to California. Her life was turned upside down and now she has to adjust from her small town to a private school where she has to try to fit in. She is also dealing with weird visions, like seeing a dead body pool floating in the pool and writing on the wall that only she can see. While she is living all that, a new string of murders makes their way through Hollywood, murders made to look like famous scenes from movies. How will Willia deal with all this mess in her new life?

I remembered most of the plot. I knew the overall story and how it ends but now reading it back I think it is interesting seeing it again and picking up the details scattered throughout.

My first thoughts are about the characters. I love Willa. Sure, she can be a bit uncaring and uninvolved in my opinion but I still find her interesting. I liked learning about her father and what happened to him (this was one of the things I could remember) and getting excited when she could figure out a clue to solving the puzzle.

Also Wyatt. I think Wyatt is one of my favorite characters I’ve read about in a long while. He is something, stands out from his peers and while it may seem a bit like a loner (which he is) he has forced this on himself by accepting what everyone says about him. I think he could have helped his situation but that’s fine.

I don’t even want to start with Marnie. I didn’t like her from the start and when we got to know more about her it only added proof to what I already thought about her.

I want to add I think I know why I like this book so much (and why I liked Missing Her by J.L. Willow) is because it was a thriller with a small supernatural element. It wasn't in your face and over the top with how supernatural this book was, it had hinted, like Missing Her.

I liked the overall murder story. It had things going for it and it also almost had me again. I think there were parts that could have been a bit short but I felt that everything had a place.

Four out of five stars will read again.

~ KIMBERLY

Be More Chill Review

Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini

I first found this by the musical over on YouTube. I was very excited because I'm on a musical high, starting with Hamilton, moving to Heathers, parts of Hadestown, a but of Dear Evan Hansen, 21 Chrump Street somewhere in there and finally Be More Chill. Yesterday, at about 12:30 (and it's also 12:30 the next day when I'm writing this) I found the book at my local library as an ebook. So I picked it up and finished it in less than 24 hours.

So let's try to just review the novel, not compare the two forms.

Be More Chill is about this junior named Jeremy Heere who wants to be more Cool to get the girl. Once he learns of a pill he could take that will help him become more Cool, he pays the 500 dollars and is given a SQUIP, (Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor). From here he is able to learn how to become more chill.

If there is one thing I loved about this book, it was how much it felt like high school. High school isn't pretty, I know this personally. I love Jeremy and his whole being in the beginning. He is realistic and so relatable. His comments on the actions of other characters and how he sees the world is fun and I feel that within me.

One thing I would change was the end. I don't feel like it was very climatic. There wasn't much of an ending. I love the ending that will get my heart racing and fear for the characters. There were so many places Vizzini could have taken it. This is like one of my only complains.

I don't have much else to say about the book other than it was a quick fun read and I think everyone show try to read it once.

Soooo, can I compare the musical and the novel now as I listen to the musically again? I'm going to do it anyway.

The opening:

The musical starts off with Jeremy waiting for his porno to load while the book starts off with math class. I'm going, to be honest, I prefer the porno one because it shows a big part of the musical theme and who Jeremy is. The math class starting does this as well but I just liked the musically more.

Michael:

This one is going to the musically again because of two things, the friendship between Michael and Jeremy, and Michael's role as a whole. In the book, Michael is more of a side character and we don't get to see much growth between the two. I questioned how close friends they were. In the musical, it showed their friendship in so many ways. They show the two playing videos games together, the two making plans and the whole boyf reind thing. In the book, Michael doesn't have much of a role other than getting Jeremy to where he needs to be for the plot while in the musical he is part of the action and knows what's going on. It's more proactive and I like it more.

SQUIP:

This one is a bit hard. They were good in both the musical and novel. I think I liked the SQUIP more in the novel because of how much more we learned about them. I liked how it didn't have a different plan that went against Jeremy. It wanted Jeremy to reach his goal and worked everything to be in his favor. The musical was nice because it was able to show it better but I did enjoy both versions.

Christine:

This whole reason for the plot was something I didn't like in both. I don't care for her. I think in the novels he had more character and that will take the win for this case. She doesn't grow much the play and it takes the lost here. I don't have much to say about her.

So, the tally score:

Musical: 2
Novel: 2

The winner...depends on you.

Personally, I loved the musical and I will add this to my daily fix of music. The novel is a great way to get the story if you're trying to watch it on YouTube and your lost.

Oh, wait there is one more thing to bring up, the ending.

The musical wins, no question in my mind. It was more dramatic and emotionally filled on my end. The novel was just okay.

What do you think?

The Stolen Kingdom Review

The Stolen Kingdom by Bethany Atazadeh

The Stolen Kingdon is a loosely based retelling of Aladdin. Following Princess Aire as she finds a way to take back her kingdom from a king who uses his powers against people. She is thrown into a fight or die situation where she meets a band of thieves and learns more about the world she lives in.

From the start, I was pulled in. The writing is simple and clean in a way that I feel apart of the story. I would find myself lost in the world as time passed. The prose is what can draw me in or pull me from the story altogether.

Atazadeh's characters were something I strive to write myself. She is able to create characters I feel in love with the moment I meant them. I fell in love with Arie the moment I read her first pages.

She is a character that knows her place but also will hold her opinions when tested. I love how she grows from chapter to chapter. She is able to flex and bend to her situation in a way that felt realistic and something I would do myself.

I would like to take a second to touch on the romantic subplot between Aire and the leader of the group of thieves, Kadin. I was worried, as I do with all romance subplots, that the story would somehow appear even though the characters didn't speak even two words to one another but I was amazed by this story. I was able to route for the two and when things flowed on, I was begging for the first kiss, for something.

Even though I've only just read the very first few pages of Evanena's Number, I know that world building is something that Atazadeh puts much time into. I love the way she is able to add details here and there about the world to pull me in and give me the sense I'm living the story right along with the characters.

As this was an ARC of her novel, I am refraining from any spoilers, but that doesn't even matter. I loved this novel so much that I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you. This story had me from the beginning and was a beautiful read.

It is worth the time and money to own a copy of this novel.

I can't wait for the new book in the series!

~ Kimberly

The Female of the Species Review

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

I'm not even sure what to share. I wasn't fully sure what I was going into when I read this book. I didn't know the number of triggers there were. I didn't know that it would be so brutally raw that my heart would race and at times I thought I would throw up. I didn't know that I would be in the middle of a test and want to just scream as I read the pages leading up to the climax.

If that doesn't tell you enough about this book I'm not sure what will. This book has everything that high school can be. It takes me on this path I didn't ask to be a part of but I couldn't stop reading. (I would like to note that I'm writing this right after finishing it and my hands are still shaking from the ending).

This book has it all and this review will not be spoiler free, just to warn you.

My thought on the topic is so everywhere, I'm not even sure this will make sense. I'm going to list all the triggers I can think of when I was reading this novel. Rape, molestation, death, alcoholism, underage drinking….

I must give McGinnis some props though. I think she did a good job of showing each of these. I'm not sure I could do it the same way.

Her characters were something as well. I went on a trip with them. We felt things together. We connected. They showed me the story in the best way I could ever think of.

The cover may have you thinking this book is simple and sweet but it ripped right into me and I can't look at the world the same. One thing that stuck with me wasn't the killing, or the sex or even the rape culture this book shows, it's this small line, "are you interested in her." For me as a person, I don't really fall in love. I'm more of a person who thinks someone is cool and don't realize that they are detoxing until someone said something or we break up. This book had me going on this love trip and I think it's really changed the way I see the world.

At the end of this book, I started thinking about the genre this book falls under and I couldn't think of it. Maybe romance, thriller maybe. From Google, I found that it is a contemporary YA novel. Do I think this fits that novel? Yes to a point.

To focus on my usual parts, characters, and plot:

The characters were good. I think they work well with the story. The story you tell should impact your characters and your characters should impact the story. Without what each character when through, the story would have come out in a very different way.

Was I always happy with the characters' choices and wish I could be there to yell at them? Yes. But what this the best part? Also yes.

As I do more and more reading in finding it easier to get into the characters and feel what they feel. Great prose also works. McGinnis' decision to write the novel in the first person with rotating pov characters was a make or break the decision of the book and I'm very happy she wrote it that way.

I think the one thing I could say against this book would be I didn't see how some chapters connected right away. A few left me thinking why did she add this? It would take another chapter or two for me to fully understand why but it always came.

I will say, if you are thinking of reading this novel, be warned about how triggering it can be and how emotional it can get

~ Kimberly

My Experience with Rewriting (And the Last Ten Months)

Hello everyone!

So if you don't know, last August I finished my first novel, The Key to Hell. It was amazing. I was so excited. It took only a month and a half. I question on my mind was: what do I do next?

School was starting back up and I had marching band. I had less time to write and too much anxiety to even think of writing a new project. During this time, I didn't write much but I didn't end my author life. I continued to post on Instagram and keep up with that. Reading was also back on my radar.

So as many things go, NaNoWriMo came and I was unprepared for it. I started writing the second novel to The Key of Hell but that didn't last long as I realized I needed to change so many things from the first novel. That ended five chapters in. I started writing some other projects and almost won. But I realized I needed to write and I needed to make a plan.

December comes around and I have winter break. I take this time to realize what I want to do and what needs to be done. I give myself the goal that by the end of January I would starting my first round of beta readers. Big mistake. I'm not going to get into that too much here, it will get its own post. To do that, I needed to rewrite my novel and edit it for them.

This started strong, I got a few chapters in and sent out the first chapter of The Key of Hell to betas. My goal was to have the novel finished in two months so I could start a new project for Camp NaNoWriMo in April but that didn't happen.

For me, rewriting is the hardest thing in writing I've ever done. I think it had to be that I knew the story and I knew where I was going to go. I was writing the story again and I wasn't into it this time. I wanted it done and that leads to mistakes and breaks.

I would take weeks off of writing. I would make excuses why I wasn't writing and I got sick, really sick for three months. From basic March until to May I was very sick, having trouble breathing and sleeping as hard. So writing at that time was hard.

I did push myself, for my betas and mine sake. I needed to stay ahead but feel so behind. I pushed to write three chapters a week, something that last July would have been nothing. But now, anything that wasn't sleeping or laying down watching shows was hard.

As time passed and depression set in hard, everything became hard. Waking up in the morning for zero periods for school. Playing the flute and practicing was impossible because of my breathing. Writing was something I never wanted to touch. But I would slowly keep up and write more.

It took time but last week, a week from today, I finished my rewrite. I was on a live stream for writing sprints and I was so happy to be done. Everything was ready for the last round of betas and I could give in and writing something new.

Part of myself wanted to stop writing altogether. We finished the novel and we didn't need to write no longer, but I couldn't let that happen. I jumped right back in and now I'm almost 10,000 words into a new novel in less than a week. Things are better and I'm happier.

Rewriting took so long and I've decided it was worth it. I know my plot better, my characters better. I know my strengths and weaknesses more. The story came together. Do I recommend rewriting to people? I can't say. I knew to go in that rewriting could be the best thing. I had may too many random things in the first draft do I need to focus more on the main plot. I was adding a new POV and that would change the story. To me, rewriting was easiest.

Creative was something I didn't fully realize was something that could leave me. I've been writing for so long that I thought it could be easy. I would be able to write whenever. And I can. It's all mindset and my mindset over the last six months was not in a good place.

Looking back, I realized my first mistake was with my betas. I started beta reading way too early and that's on me. I also realized I didn't push myself enough. I could have written more. Self-care is important and that wasn't a priority from so long that I burnt out.

I know my limits and what I need. So in my next drafts and stories, I know what it takes and what I need to do. I need to take care of myself. I need to breathe in and out and give it time. Things will work itself out.

Rewriting is amazing but the last few months were hell. I'll be working on that more.

I hope you enjoyed my story!

~Kimberly

Can't Look Away Review

Can't Look Away By Donna Cooner

Death is something I know well in my life. I've been through a few deaths myself and this book was something I think we help me with them. Torrey Grey is a beauty vlogger with her whole life on video for anyone to watch but after a drunk driver kills her sister in a car crash, her life is completely changed. She blames herself for her sister's death and so does many of her follows.

This book has a lot going for it. It shows the pain of losing someone and moving to a new city with the intent of helping the family move on. It shows the dying want of Torrey to fix in just as she did at her last high school, with the popular kids.

I think this book went well because of:

Characters:

This book has one of my favorite characters in it and they aren't even the main part of the book. Mrs. Annie Florence and Maria Rivera. They are a side character but I think they were amazing. The two are best friends and don't impact the main character very much. I think they are fun anyway. Maria is the grandma to Luis Rivera, the main love interest. From sugar skeletons to ice tea on the porch on a hot day, the two are great for each other and they made me smile.

From there, Luis Rivera. When I first meet him, I thought he would fit the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks but he turns into more. I love that not everything about he was just given to us when we wanted it. We learn about him the more we read about him. I think the best thing about him is how he doesn't push Torrey to talk about anything. He is there to listen to her and help her but he doesn't push to know the details. He knows about her vlog and YouTube videos but doesn't treat her like some big star. She is a normal girl who needs help with grieving her sister. He's a loveable character who had me rooting for him and Torrey to get together.

And for the main girl herself, Torrey Grey. Torrey Grey is a grieving, teenager who has hit it big in the world of YouTube. Her online presence as Beautystarz15 was one of the biggest parts of her life before her sister was killed. As the book went on, her need to check her accounts went down and so did the bed comments and blog posts about her. Torrey was a bit bland in the beginning but I think this was a choice by the author. Torrey is grieving the death of her sister and so she feels a bit distant from the world. Slow as the book goes on she becomes more fo herself. She becomes more full of life and we get to see the real Torrey Grey shin through.

Raylene Anderson was another high point for this book. The most relatable character through the whole thing. Raylene is Torrey's cousin. She was the girl she gave her rides to schools and was the bit annoying at times. Raylene was the character who I felt the closest to. She was about her cat and twirling. I think she was that bit in Torrey's life that she needed. Raylene is a girl who tries so hard but is always happy with the outcome. She looks on the bright side of things and even gets to be an alternate for the twirling team at her high school.

Blair Cummingham was a girl who I wish I could forget. She was a bit there. I understand that she is obsessed with the world and only cares about staying on top. I think there could have been more to her character. I think she is what Torrey could have become if she let herself. Blair is the top girl of the school, she tries to look the best, even if she is only borrowing clothes from a family member's shop and she hangs out with only the most popular kids at the school. It is a privilege, not a right, to sit with her. I think there wasn't much to her other than she is the popular girl.

And that leads to Mia Rogers, one of Blair's friends. She got a bit more character depth than Blair. She thinks that Torrey is a threat and is the one to tell everyone who Torrey is. She is jealous of Torrey and aims through the book to tear her down. I think Mia was a bit sad. She just wanted the approval of Blair and she though Torrey was getting in the way. There wasn't much else to her character.

I would like to comment on all three girls, Blair, Mia, and the other girl Emily. I think these three could have just been replaced with the three girls from Main Girls and you would be set for the book. They were there to create tension and drama. They weren't given much characterization. I don't think this is a bad thing but I just wished there was something more to them that I could have seen.

Moving on.

The story as a whole:

I think there is a good message behind it all. The story didn't feel rushed and each part worked with each other well. There wasn't any part of this novel where I was confused or lost. I think the one thing I would have changed was the love subplot. If you don't know, romance is not my thing but I'm experimenting with more romance novel and better written love stories. I think this novel rushed this a bit much. There were parts I think were spot on. I was all for the first kiss but towards the end I wasn't so much for it. I think the graveyard scene was a bit soon for there relationship but other than that I liked it.

For small parts, I can't complain too much. The biggest thing for me was the characters and their purpose in this novel. I feel like they fit this very cliches reason and I feel like there could have been more done with them.

One more thing, I have always had this question, how do you write a good climax in a realist fiction novel? This book's climax was amazing. I feel like this book has just the right amount of spirits and the dead compared to the living and how we see things. I was very happy with how things wrapped up with this novel.

Setting:

I'm not from Texas. Washington State is very different, I believe that Texas but with this novel, I feel like I have a better understanding of Texas. I liked how the Torrey wasn't from the area but compared it back to her home town. Anyone would have done this but I liked how it gave me a clearer picture of the area.

I feel like the town this story takes place is a very generic place. A coffee place, a Mexican restaurant, a high school. My very town has all this and more. I think the best place was the Morge and Cemetery. I have a thing where I find cemeteries very interesting. They can have old graves from hundreds of years back to recent as yesterday. Each person there has a story. I liked how the moral and lesson of this story tied in with a graveyard.

Can't Look Away is a book that I can't get off my mind. From the characters to the story keeps my mind running. I think for a middle schooler this book is good. Maybe even a freshman in high school. The story lesson is good and the story is one I've not read other places.

Want a quick read with a good story, pick this book up and give it a go.

~Kimberly

Missing Her Review

Missing Her by J. L. Willow

If there is one thing I don't know how I would react is if my best friend was to disappear. Sure, I would be sad, maybe angry, but truthfully I don't know how I would react to any part of it. Would I try to take the matter into my own hands and open my own investigation? Would I cry and move on?

Missing Her was different than I thought it would be. When I read the blurb and read the book, two different things came to mind. When I read the blurb on the back, I'm not sure I knew what was going to happen but I did not think of what Willow did. The two main things I loved about this book was her characters and plot.

Let's start with the characters:

Very first on the list is Vanessa Stockton. Vanessa was an interesting character, to say the least. I think she handles her situation in a very real way. Not to give too much away, she does what a reasonable person would have done. I think even though she is in other minds I could still get a feel for who she is. One thing about this character that I'm not so sure about is her character arc. I think she does go through one but I'm not sure what it is exactly.

Next up is Vanessa's best friend Eliza Barrows. Eliza was a good character. As we went through her life from Vanessa's point of view, I could get the feel for her normal life and her personality. She is a normal female teenager. She has a boyfriend. She had things she likes to do. I could feel the amount of friendship Vanessa and she had as Vanessa was able to live as her pretty well, knowing her schedule and how she would react in a situation. When we got to see Eliza her characteristics came off well and not forced.

Later in the novel, you meet Tony and Jacqueline. These two twins are the very definition of siblings. I could feel the relationship very well in the short amount of time we got wit the two. I could feel myself smile and laugh along as they did think my siblings and I do. For their personalities, they came off as college students with two different lives. One was the typical lazy boy out of high school living with his parents and the other was a girl who got good grades and was still holding on to part of high school. The two did their parts well and I connected with them well.

Overall, these characters were good. I connected with them for the most part and my favorite character has to be Vanessa and not only because she is the main character. I felt the most like her. We knew what she felt and while there were good scenes with the other three, I loved when her personality would come across in the other's lives.

The plot:

If there is the only thing I have to like, it's plot. The plot, to me, is the most think in a book. Sure, boring characters can ruin a book but who wasn't an interesting character's in a boring situation where they don't get to do much? Hint, not me. As for the plot of this novel, I really enjoyed it. Like I said many times over on Instagram and Twitter, this book was almost nothing like I thought it would be. It took a different turn than I thought it would and it had me guessing on what was going to happen next.

The best part for me was the way Willow wrote Vanessa in each mind. I wasn't sure how you could make a story based on that but she did in a way that keeps me reading. Once I was able to get past the first about 50 pages I could barely put this book down. I enjoyed each moment and I was emotionally invested in this one. My heart would race along with the characters and would I would cry with them.

At the end, with the climax, I was left breathless wanting more. I flipped to the last page and wanted another 100. This book was a nice fast read and I'm very grateful to Willow for gifting me with an ARC of her amazing second novel.

I'll touch on one more part I think was important as well, Willow's writing:

The writing of this novel was good, maybe even more than that. I loved how I was able to follow along and get into her characters. I felt in the situation with them and this is a hard thing for me to do. As a person who is very emotional but also very emotional distance when it comes to people, I love when a book is able to suck em up like this one did.

I will thank Willow one more time for this story. The connects I was able to build was something I will not forget and this book was able to get me out fo read slump that I was dragging myself through.

I can't wait to read more by you, maybe even The Scavenger can be next. Who knows?

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick read and who likes to solve mysteries. I would recommend this novel to about four of my friends so I would say it's a safe bet that it's good.

~ Kimberly