Halflings by Heather Burch

After being inexplicably targeted by an evil intent on harming her at any cost, seventeen-year-old Nikki finds herself under the watchful guardianship of three mysterious young men who call themselves halflings. Sworn to defend her, misfits Mace, Raven, and Vine battle to keep Nikki safe while hiding their deepest secret—and the wings that come with. 
A growing attraction between Nikki and two of her protectors presents a whole other danger. While she risks a broken heart, Mace and Raven could lose everything, including their souls. As the mysteries behind the boys’ powers, as well as her role in a scientist’s dark plan, unfold, Nikki is faced with choices that will affect the future of an entire race of heavenly beings, as well as the precarious equilibrium of the earthly world



The Review:
My Ranking: 4 out of 10
Ages 16 & up


I have always enjoyed paranormal stories with unique twists and intriguing characters, so when I heard about this book I was eager to give it a try. While it was well written and had a "cool" story, I was less than impressed by this tale. Let me tell you why.

Starting out, I found it to hold my attention well and it seemed interesting enough. The characters were captivating, and the story had potential. But as it continued, and the romance developed, I soon recognized the book for what it is: A Christian Twilight.
Honestly, after I made this recognition it all pieced together. Almost every aspect of the romance in the book matched Twilight, which I have read, perfectly. The forbiddenness, the excessive "beauty" of the men(which, by the way, I just find weird and slightly creepy), and the struggle between the bad boy and the sweet guy. Of course, both are in danger of dying by loving her. The romance was very physically charged and seemed to hold little to no personality interest. It was really all about appearance and fleshy whims.

A few things that stood out to me content wise were the continuous mentions of teenagers of both genders being referred to as "hot", obvious and eerie obsessions(very much like Twilight) between Nicki and Raven and Mace, all physically charged. There's a scene in the woods where Raven is training Nicki and it is apparent that he thinks she "wants" him. Among these, the romance was, as mentioned, heavier and in my opinion weirdly obsessive. 

Overall, the story plot was interesting and I may read the next book should the opportunity come up, since it was quite a cliffhanger, but in general, this book was definitely not for me and not one I would recommend to any of my friends. But, like always, these are strictly my opinions and I am sure many would enjoy this novel. :)

I received this free book in return for an honest review from Zondervan. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Departures by Robin Jones Gunn

Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen cross paths on their way to summer vacations that reveal what a gift it is to have a true Forever Friend.

Now Boarding at Gate 10
After her high school graduation, still aching from Todd’s departure, Christy joins her family on a trip to Wisconsin to visit relatives. While there, she reunites with Matthew, an old friend from junior high. When Matthew starts to show a romantic interest in Christy, she realizes this summer vacation could change everything she thought her future would be.

In the Event of a Water Landing
Fifteen-year-old Sierra Jensen can’t wait to spend her summer vacation with her friend Jana at a pristine lake in Montana. But when they arrive, it becomes clear that Jana’s only interest is acquiring a boyfriend. Sierra just wants to hang out with the guys as friends, but Jana turns every encounter into a possible romantic relationship. As their friendship begins to suffer, Sierra wonders if it’s possible to find a Forever Friend who will listen to you, laugh with you, and keep your confidences.



The Review:
My Ranking: 10 out of 10
Ages: 13 & up

This short book took me about two hours to read, and it was two hours of happiness! ;) I am a fan of Christy Millers, so I knew I'd like this book which had a Christy Miller story along with a Sierra Jensen story. Both were cute and fun to read.

Out of the two, I think I liked Christy's story more. It might have been that I already know Christy pretty well from reading the first three books in the Christy Miller series, while Sierra was new to me. But still, I enjoyed both of their stories. In Christy's, I really liked Matthew and the lessons Christy learned while she explored her relationship with him. Since I fell completely for Todd, I didn't like how she had a bit of a crush on Matt, but he still was a really sweet character and I would have liked to know him in real life.

In Sierra's, I really liked Gregg and was a bit surprised Sierra didn't. Well, not that she didn't, but for the reasons she didn't. Gregg was really protective -- a trait I really like -- so I was kinda annoyed by her about that, but I really liked what she learned through the book. I won't tell you what -- you'll have to find out yourself by reading it! ;)

Sensuality:

There was little to tell about this book -- Christy contemplates kissing a guy a bit but never does. Sierra is pushed into a lake while she has a skirt on and her skirt falls off. The mother tells the two boys present to turn around while she got her skirt.
There is a bit of crush talk -- "that guys cute" or "I have to go talk to him!", blah blah blah -- but that's all. Not even a kiss was present.
This was all around a cute book that I really liked! I recommend it to teenagers who enjoyed the Christy Miller or Sierra Jensen series, or for any girl who wants to read two short stories with comical events and life long lessons.

I received this free book in return for an honest review from Waterbrook Multnomah. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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In Between by Jenny B. Jones

Unlike most kids, teenage Katie Parker never got a fair shot at a normal life. With a mother in jail and a missing-in-action dad, she's never known what it's like to truly be loved. Low on options and family members, she's soon shipped off to a foster home. 


Now in an unfamiliar town, Katie's rebellious attitude is at odds with her new family, school, and classmates. And after falling in with all the wrong people at school, things go from bad to really bad after she takes the blame for vandalizing the local performing arts theater. 


But in the midst of a dark situation, Katie finds light in the most unexpected places: through her new friendship with an eccentric senior, the commitment of her foster family, and a tragic secret that changed them forever. And as she inches closer to acceptance and forgiveness, she finds that God has been there all along.




The Review:
My Ranking: 10 out of 10
Ages: 14 & up

HAHA!!!! Those words were continually flowing from my lips as I soared through this novel. Written from the point of a girl with a dry sense of humor, as I do, I was easily able to relate and enjoy this book to it's fullest.

The characters in this book were all a joy to get to know. I loved Katie's personality(as I already said, much like mine) and enjoyed watching her grow in maturity and faith. Her foster parents were a bit of a puzzle to me, and I am eager to read the following books in the series to get the full story. Katie's friend, Frances, was a very sweet girl and I loved reading each scene where she was present. She definitely gave Katie the encouragement and friendship she needed!

The writing style flowed well and I enjoyed reading it in the first person. There was a lot of dry humor that may bug some people, but it was not bothersome to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
There was only minor content.
Sensuality:

Katie gets some padded bras and is very happy about it. She also gets shorts that show off her calves, it says, and "make it look like she actually has a butt". There is a part in biology where she asks her partner how she knows the pig is male and the girl begins to say "Well you lift it's leg" before Katie cuts her off and they change the subject.

Other:
Katie gets in the wrong group of kids and ends up accidentally taking part in breaking into a theater and vandalizing it. She does none of the vandalizing herself, but she is there and does break in. There are definite consequences though.

All in all, this was a totally awesome book and I will be getting the next two in the series as soon as I am able. If you love to laugh while you read, definitely keep an eye out for this series!

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Blog Tour - How Huge The Night

BLOG TOUR:
How Huge The Night by Heather and Lydia Munn


Fifteen-year-old Julien Losier just wants to fit in. But after his family
moves to a small village in central France in hopes of outrunning the
Nazis, he is suddenly faced with bigger challenges than the taunting of
local teens.

Nina Krenkel left her country to obey her father’s dying command: Take your brother and leave Austria. Burn your papers. Tell no one you are Jews. Alone and on the run, she arrives in Tanieux, France, dangerously ill and in despair.

Thrown together by the chaos of war, Julien begins to feel the terrible
weight of the looming conflict and Nina fights to survive. As France fallsto the Nazis, Julien struggles with doing what is right, even if it is not enough—and wonders whether or not he really can save Nina from almost certain death.

Based on the true story of the town of Le Chambon—the only French town honored by Israel for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust—How Huge the Night is a compelling, coming-of-age drama that will keep teens turning the pages as it teaches them about a fascinating period of history and inspires them to think more deeply about their everyday choices.







The Review:
My Ranking: `9 out of 10
Ages: 16 & up

I've always loved learning about WWII, and my favorite way to learn is through fictional books based off of true events: so when I saw and looked into How Huge The Night, I knew if it had great characters and was well written I would love it. Love it I did! From page one, I was drawn into this remarkable, unique, and informative story about the impact of the war on several different young-adult characters. The writing style was easy to read and flowed quite nicely. 


One thing that I found interesting was that Nina and Julien are actually together for a very short amount of time. In fact, the don't even meet each other until the last 75 pages of the 300 page book. While it didn't really bug me, I did find it didn't sync with the back-cover description much, but it didn't affect how much I enjoyed this book. :)

Out of all of them, Julian was my favorite of the characters, which ia strange because he also was the main character and usually my favorite is a secondary character. I'm not sure exactly what made him my favorite, he just was. I looked forward more to reading Julian's scenes rather than Nina's. I felt I could connect more with Julian, as I could see more into his feelings, struggles, etc, while Nina was harder for me to get to know. In fact, I think Giovanni should have been the second main character, as I was able to connect more with him and, frankly, liked him more. 

I almost had the feeling that Nina was kinda a baby. While I sympathize with her situation, it was part of what made it hard to connect with her. She seemed to be such a strong character at the beginning, but then totally changed and broke down. I totally believe this to simply be my preference, and in no way condemn their writing because of it - it was just something that I noticed.

Two other characters that I really enjoyed were Pierre and Benjamin. I think Pierre was my second favorite character - I absolutely loved him and looked forward to reading the next scene that included him. Benjamin was an awesome add - a Jew hiding with Julian's family. I loved getting glimpses of what it might have been like for the hideaway Jews. 

As for content, there is little to tell except one part that, while historically realistic, prohibited me from handing it to my 13 year old brother. A stranger tells Nina and her brother he'll help her but Nina, who is crippled and is riding piggyback on the mans back, thinks the mans hands were not so supportive under her legs, but feeling. Barely escaping(but with no further description of what she thinks he will do to her), she and her brother continue their journey. Later, Nina mentions how they barely escaped a man who wanted to rape her.
I was actually disappointed by this add-in, and wished it had been left out. The history in this book was wonderful, but unfortunetly none of my brothers will be able to enjoy and learn from this book any time soon.

All in all, this was an excellent book that I absolutely loved. The only thing that kept it from receiving 10 stars was the lack of connection between the reader and Nina and also the added content that made it impossible for me to hand it down as a historical book to my brothers. Other than that, I absolutely LOVED this book! I wouldn't consider it a rereadable, but I definitely do not regret putting this book down and highly encourage it to all older teenagers who love to learn history and life lessons. 


I received this free book in return for an honest review from KregelPublishers. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Shattered: A Daughter's Regret by Melody Carlson

Everybody does it—sneaks out of the house now and then. It's harmless enough, right? Not this time. Cleo Neilson faces the chilling consequences of her actions. Now she has a secret and can’t tell anyone, and it’s breaking her heart. As Cleo fights through her grief and guilt, she learns about faith in God and forgiveness through him. As teenage girls read Cleo's journey, they too will learn the value of having faith and receiving forgiveness as well as just how dangerous it really is to keep a secret.










The Review
My Ranking: 4 out of 10
Ages 14 & up


Shattered: A Daughter's Regret was my first book by Melody Carlson. A friend of mine has read her book, Christmas at the Harringtons, and enjoyed it. I was looking forward to a lesson-teaching book, with perhaps a bit of suspense and adventure, too.
Though I hate to say it, I was quite disappointed with this book and didn't like it much at all. It may be because I have a very low tolerance for snobby, rude, and disrespectful teenagers, but I am very sad to say I really did not find this book worth the time.

I never got to the point where I liked Cleo. She spoiled her whole reputation so much in the first few chapters with her sour, mean, rude, and unthankful attitude that I even had problems feeling bad for her later. Her mom was being smart and protecting her daughter and Cleo in return was blatantly hurtful and rude. Maybe it's just because I hang with a different crowd than this...all of whom for their families, this is a huge No No...but I couldn't stand her attitude.

A lot of elements of this book were extremely unrealistic, such as how Cleo becomes addicted to a pain medication in like 4 days and can't live without it. People expected her to act perfectly normal only a few days after her mother passed away...apparently not realizing there was a time of grief.

As for the content, this book was pretty clean. As I mentioned above, Cleo became hooked on pain meds and actually met up with a guy who sold her more after she ran out. The drug guy also informs her that there are "other ways" to pay for the drugs when she runs out of money, obviously being very suggestive. Other than that, nothing stood out to me. 

By the end, Cleo's attitude has improved but there was no moment of realization where she took note of her horrible attitude and I'm not really sure if she fully realized it was wrong of her to act in such a manner. But to be honest, it wasn't horrible. It is probably only because of my beliefs of how teens should treat their parents - with respect and obedience without argument - and it just drives me crazy when teenagers are rude and disrespectful. But a lot of people did in fact like this story, so if none of the things I mentioned would bother you, you may like this book! :)

I received this free book in return for an honest review from Navpress Publishing. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

Scotty Dawn has all the freedom a fifteen-year-old girl could want. As she and her mom, Charley, travel to movie sets for Charley's work, Scotty's allowed to go anywhere and be anything. But there are costs to such a life. Scotty doesn't know who she is, where she comes from, or who to trust. And who is the mysterious man they've been running from? Does he hold the clue to Charley's big secret?
Scotty writes in her Hollywood Nobody blog, and the answers she finds are darker than she had expected. Will she discover who she can trust and finally make sense of her world?








The Review:
My Ranking: `6 out of 10
Ages: 16 & up


I picked up Hollywood Nobody about a month ago and ended up setting it down to finish a few other books that needed to be reviewed. Yesterday I picked it back up again and finished the somewhat small book this morning. I found the way it was written - a personal journal - very funny and insightful, as I could tell exactly what Scotty was thinking, and I also loved the add-in of an occasional post for her blog - Hollywood Nobody. I normally don't enjoy first-person accounts as much as third person, as I like to know what the other characters are thinking, I thought that Hollywood Nobody was excellent in first person and not once while reading it did I wish it was from a different perspective. I thought that Scotty's view on Hollywood was a cool one to look through and I thought Samson did a good job with that!

Scotty was a very humorous, blunt character that I enjoyed learning about. We had a common ground - we love our cheese and meats. Of course, Scotty's mother, whom she calls Charley, never permitted her to eat meat or cheese so that may be why she enjoyed it so much...but I still agreed with her 100% when she got all excited about having cheese! lol
While there were a few qualities of her that I didn't enjoy, such as her deceitfulness(explained further in content advisory), when all is done, I found Scotty a sweet and funny character that I wouldn't mind knowing in person.

Seth was a nice add-in. I found his personality charming and very friendly. His and Scotty's relationship was close and I thought they were very funny together. He was a great older-bro type, even though Scotty had a crush on him all throughout the book. ;)

Charley made me chuckle on more than one occasion! She was such an interesting, unique character. Ha! She was, to put it mildly, just plain weird! :P I loved her character though, and though she made some bad choices, she loved Scotty more than anything.

As for the content, I could write a mile long paragraph for this if I was to point out everything. So I shall point out the major things and a brief heads up on the minor things. The whole nature of the book should make it at least somewhat obvious to what type of content is in it. After all, it does take place in "Hollywood".

First off, there are several instances where Scotty mentions and casts down thong underwear and bathing suits. In one instance she is referring to how ridiculous Tom Cruise has become, another saying how she even though she isn't a Christian(only because she knows very little of God, yet is curious), she knows God disapproves of them(and low rise jeans), and another she is talking about how stupid the bathing suits are and that they should put more fabric on them. There is also an instance where Scotty is blogging and she says she has a new favorite actress because the woman loves cheese, and Scotty says she likes to "show off her girls" a bit, but forgives her because she likes cheese. One of the comments on the blog post said that she didn't mind that the actress shows off "her girls" because "you should flaunt them if you've got them".  There is a mentioning of a woman being called "slutty". There is also a part where Seth mentions how his past relationships haven't gone well and Scotty writes "Translation - had sex and regretted it." and later after he mentions he didn't want her to make the same mistakes he did, she writes how she was wondering if Seth was trying to drop a hint at her being better off without sex cause a guy wouldn't want to "touch her with a 10ft pole anyway". There is also the mentioning of a girl wearing bikini and looking ridiculous because it was like 65 degrees outside. Another thing is that a girl is caught doing drugs in her room along with two drunk thirteen year olds. 
Scotty has a crush on a guy and calls him "Hot" often in her journal.
Scotty is also deceiving and disobeys her mother, going behind her back when she's asleep. She never gets in trouble for such behavior, even after her mother found out. 
Wow - I still manage to write a mile long content paragraph! :P It is all what you would expect in a teen novel. I did have some respect for a few of Scotty's disapprovals, but some of the things she still said I found uncalled for. Other than that, just a bit of crush talk and such. 

Honestly, I had hoped for a cleaner book. After all, it was written for teenagers and is labeled "Christian fiction", but I wouldn't give this book to anyone younger than myself(16) and wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, really. As much as I would like to read the next one and see what happens(this one's a bit of a cliffhanger), I think I am going to pass. I really wished it hadn't had as much stuff in it.
One thing I did really like though was that Scotty attended a Christian tent meeting and when she had a desire to learn more about God and realized that it was all just a show. She thought the woman prophet was ridiculous and that everything - all of it - was just a show put on. I loved that! She ended up by the end just reading the Bible and for that I was happy. :)

So, all being said, it was an interesting book but I can't really recommend it highly to anyone. Of course, this is totally just my opinion and you may see it quite differently. If you like a typical teen book and want to see Hollywood through the eyes of a girl who's seen it all, this would be an excellent book for you!

I received this free book in return for an honest review from Navpress. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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