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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Aww, this was actually quite sweet. It was predictable but I liked how so many sad, angry, or annoyed comments morphed into something positive towards the end. It’s a super quick read, but worth it if you like angsty teen books with happy (happyish?) endings.
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of january≫
╰┈➤ 1. all that's left in the world by erik j. brown
╰┈➤ 2. the female of the species by mindy mcginnis
╰┈➤ 3. the battle of the labyrinth by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 4. exit west by mohsin hamid
╰┈➤ 5. don't call us dead by danez smith
╰┈➤ 6. warm bodies by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 7. the other side of perfect by mariko turk
╰┈➤ 8. the last olympian by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 9. counting down with you by tashie bhuiyan
╰┈➤ 10. a matter of death and life by irvin d. yalom and marilyn yalom
╰┈➤ 11. the new hunger by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 12. dorothy must die by danielle paige
╰┈➤ 13. starfish by lisa fipps
╰┈➤ 14. one true loves by elise bryant
╰┈➤ 15. chlorine sky by mahogany l. browne
╰┈➤ 16. for every one by jason reynolds
╰┈➤ 17. fight night by miriam toews
╰┈➤ 18. shooter by walter dean myers
╰┈➤ 19. wade in the water by tracy k. smith
╰┈➤ 20. we the animals by justin torres
╰┈➤ 21. locomotion by jacqueline woodson
╰┈➤ 22. the strength in our scars by bianca sparacino
╰┈➤ 23. forbidden by tabitha suzuma
╰┈➤ 24. the song of achilles by madeline miller
╰┈➤ 25. burned by ellen hopkins
╰┈➤ 26. muted by tami charles
╰┈➤ 27. one of those hideous books where the mother dies by sonya sones
✧ ✧ ✧
≪reading 31 books for 31 days of january≫
╰┈➤ 1. all that's left in the world by erik j. brown
╰┈➤ 2. the female of the species by mindy mcginnis
╰┈➤ 3. the battle of the labyrinth by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 4. exit west by mohsin hamid
╰┈➤ 5. don't call us dead by danez smith
╰┈➤ 6. warm bodies by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 7. the other side of perfect by mariko turk
╰┈➤ 8. the last olympian by rick riordan
╰┈➤ 9. counting down with you by tashie bhuiyan
╰┈➤ 10. a matter of death and life by irvin d. yalom and marilyn yalom
╰┈➤ 11. the new hunger by isaac marion
╰┈➤ 12. dorothy must die by danielle paige
╰┈➤ 13. starfish by lisa fipps
╰┈➤ 14. one true loves by elise bryant
╰┈➤ 15. chlorine sky by mahogany l. browne
╰┈➤ 16. for every one by jason reynolds
╰┈➤ 17. fight night by miriam toews
╰┈➤ 18. shooter by walter dean myers
╰┈➤ 19. wade in the water by tracy k. smith
╰┈➤ 20. we the animals by justin torres
╰┈➤ 21. locomotion by jacqueline woodson
╰┈➤ 22. the strength in our scars by bianca sparacino
╰┈➤ 23. forbidden by tabitha suzuma
╰┈➤ 24. the song of achilles by madeline miller
╰┈➤ 25. burned by ellen hopkins
╰┈➤ 26. muted by tami charles
╰┈➤ 27. one of those hideous books where the mother dies by sonya sones
I have been wanting to read this for years reminds me so much of Ellen Hopkins
I never added this to my books? This was the first review I did for TeenReads, back when Sones' agent was kind of my agent too, before I alienated him to the point of him not returning my calls. Review here: http://teenreads.com/reviews/0689858205.asp
I am a massive fan of Sonya Sones and I've been waiting to read this book for ages. What I find most appealing about Sonya Sones' verse novels is how much emotion can be packed into these simple poems. Even the very mundane details of Ruby's life are filled with her hurt and anger over moving to California to live with a father that she's never known, the grief she is feeling over her mother's death.
Ruby's mother passed away, and as much as she doesn't want to talk about it, Ruby's thoughts and her poems always seem to come back to her mom. Wanting to hold her hand on the flight to LA, writing her emails discussing heaven, the afterlife. Poems that describe the last time Ruby saw her mother alive. Ruby is in pretty desperate need of her mother now. She's moved from Boston to California, she's started a new school, she's left behind her best friend and her boyfriend. And she's living with a really famous actor father (named 'Whip Logan' of all things!) who seems egotistical and attention-seeking. Ruby sees her father's attempts at buying her things and driving her to school every day as actions of a guilty and controlling father. All Ruby wants to do is yell at him that it's too little, too late. But eventually, she must come to terms with how different her life is now and that her mother is never coming back...
On top of everything, she must deal with fitting in at a new school, the fact that Cameron Diaz lives next door to her (and is possibly dating her father), she has to make new friends at a school where everyone wears designer clothes and takes weird classes like dream interpretation. And she has to deal with yet more loss by leaving her best friend and boyfriend behind. At times, this book can feel a little bit angsty, but it's really understandable with every thing that Ruby is going through. I love that at least Ruby has Max, Whip's personal assistant around to have someone to talk to about her troubles.
I felt Ruby was a teenager that most of us can relate to. Needing her mother, her best friend, in the middle of an intense first relationship, being unsure of herself and awkward at a new school. I really felt her bitterness at Whip for what she believes he did to her mother and her grief at her mother's death pulled at my heartstrings.
Here is one of Ruby's poems on page 4.
My mother hated flying
Especially after September 11th.
She used to squeeze my hand so hard
during takeoffs and landings
that she'd cut off my circulation.
She'd screw her eyes closed
and whisper this silly prayer someone taught her once.
Something about manifold diving blessings
being unto the plane or the universe
or some hippy-dippy thing like that.
And if there was even
a teensy bit of turbulence - forget it.
She'd start apologizing to me
for every mean thing she'd ever said
or done or even thought about doing.
This morning
when the plane was lurching down the runway
and I didn't have Mom's hand to hold,
my heart flung itself up into my throat.
And for a minute there
I couldn't even breathe.
I didn't know how much
I depended on
being depended on
by her.
Ruby's mother passed away, and as much as she doesn't want to talk about it, Ruby's thoughts and her poems always seem to come back to her mom. Wanting to hold her hand on the flight to LA, writing her emails discussing heaven, the afterlife. Poems that describe the last time Ruby saw her mother alive. Ruby is in pretty desperate need of her mother now. She's moved from Boston to California, she's started a new school, she's left behind her best friend and her boyfriend. And she's living with a really famous actor father (named 'Whip Logan' of all things!) who seems egotistical and attention-seeking. Ruby sees her father's attempts at buying her things and driving her to school every day as actions of a guilty and controlling father. All Ruby wants to do is yell at him that it's too little, too late. But eventually, she must come to terms with how different her life is now and that her mother is never coming back...
On top of everything, she must deal with fitting in at a new school, the fact that Cameron Diaz lives next door to her (and is possibly dating her father), she has to make new friends at a school where everyone wears designer clothes and takes weird classes like dream interpretation. And she has to deal with yet more loss by leaving her best friend and boyfriend behind. At times, this book can feel a little bit angsty, but it's really understandable with every thing that Ruby is going through. I love that at least Ruby has Max, Whip's personal assistant around to have someone to talk to about her troubles.
I felt Ruby was a teenager that most of us can relate to. Needing her mother, her best friend, in the middle of an intense first relationship, being unsure of herself and awkward at a new school. I really felt her bitterness at Whip for what she believes he did to her mother and her grief at her mother's death pulled at my heartstrings.
Here is one of Ruby's poems on page 4.
My mother hated flying
Especially after September 11th.
She used to squeeze my hand so hard
during takeoffs and landings
that she'd cut off my circulation.
She'd screw her eyes closed
and whisper this silly prayer someone taught her once.
Something about manifold diving blessings
being unto the plane or the universe
or some hippy-dippy thing like that.
And if there was even
a teensy bit of turbulence - forget it.
She'd start apologizing to me
for every mean thing she'd ever said
or done or even thought about doing.
This morning
when the plane was lurching down the runway
and I didn't have Mom's hand to hold,
my heart flung itself up into my throat.
And for a minute there
I couldn't even breathe.
I didn't know how much
I depended on
being depended on
by her.
I saw the events of this book coming a mile away, but this was still a good read. The girls in my class love the books by this author, and I must say that I'm a fan, too.
good! i love books in verse so this was outimaticly a good book. ;D
While reading this book I wasn't thrilled until the end. The ending I thought wrapped it up nicely and brought the book to a wonderful end. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and easy read.
Ruby’s mom dies and she’s forced to move across the country, leaving her best friend and boyfriend, to live with her Oscar winning absentee father.
This is YA so I’ll cut it some slack for being extremely predicable. Surprise surprise ruby’s mom dies.
I know I’m getting older bc the second she mentioned how her and her boyfriend were going to make things work long distance (in a pre cell phone/ texting era) I immediately saw what was going to happen. Lizzie and ray dating for 2 weeks came as no surprise. Although ray pulling the “forgot what he was saying mid sentence to stare at my gorgeous face” move with both Lizzie and ruby and becoming a certified douche bag was a little shocking.
Whip and max being a couple was not a shock.
There was really no reason for ruby’s mom to keep Whip from her. “Because she loved him too much” is not a reason to not let a willing parent into the life of their child. her homophobia prevented her child from having a relationship with her dad. Instead he had to sneak around behind her back with the help of (I’m assuming) her sister to see his kid. It also seemed like she was kind of poor and there was no reason for that either when Whip offered to pay child support. Honestly I’m glad the mom died. She was honesty the villain of this story and ruby is much better off living with her dad.
I am really loving books written in verse right now. This was a super quick read but it read very smoothly but I thought it could have had more depth even for YA. It felt like this was written for even younger young adult as it was very surface level stuff.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
This is YA so I’ll cut it some slack for being extremely predicable. Surprise surprise ruby’s mom dies.
I know I’m getting older bc the second she mentioned how her and her boyfriend were going to make things work long distance (in a pre cell phone/ texting era) I immediately saw what was going to happen. Lizzie and ray dating for 2 weeks came as no surprise. Although ray pulling the “forgot what he was saying mid sentence to stare at my gorgeous face” move with both Lizzie and ruby and becoming a certified douche bag was a little shocking.
Whip and max being a couple was not a shock.
There was really no reason for ruby’s mom to keep Whip from her. “Because she loved him too much” is not a reason to not let a willing parent into the life of their child. her homophobia prevented her child from having a relationship with her dad. Instead he had to sneak around behind her back with the help of (I’m assuming) her sister to see his kid. It also seemed like she was kind of poor and there was no reason for that either when Whip offered to pay child support. Honestly I’m glad the mom died. She was honesty the villain of this story and ruby is much better off living with her dad.
I am really loving books written in verse right now. This was a super quick read but it read very smoothly but I thought it could have had more depth even for YA. It felt like this was written for even younger young adult as it was very surface level stuff.
Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Nice idea but saw everything coming a MILE away. Still an enjoyable quick read.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced