Review: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Why I chose this book: 

I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK. Before I begin, let me explain that I have a mighty love for my homegirl Sylvia Plath. So when I saw that a YA novel based around her works was coming out, I did a little dance. Plath has so much pain, passion, and life in her writing. With that being said, I was very anxious to see how it would be connected to the realm of YA lit.

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Publisher: Dutton Juvenal

Publish Date: September 30th, 2014

Format: Hardback

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary/Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism

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Synopsis:

If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be  at home in New Jersey with her sweet British  boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching  old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing  him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss. (Goodreads)

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Why I chose this book: When I finished If I Stay, I immediately knew I had to read Where She Went. My heart broke for Mia and Adam at the end of the first book, and I longed to find out if they were ever able to find happily ever after. The good thing about reading oldish books is that you are able to pick up the sequel immediately after finishing the first book. So I quickly loaded Where She Went onto my kindle for my recent western road trip and found my heart breaking somewhere between the New Mexico and Texas border.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Publish Date: April 5, 2011

Format: Kindle 

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance

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Synopsis:

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance. (Goodreads)

Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Why I chose this book: Okay so before I wrote this I decided to watch the movie trailer for If I Stay, and now I’m crying like a big huge baby. Why did I choose this book? So many reasons! For one, this book is one that everyone and their dog is talking about. Yes, even dogs have been found to cry whilst reading this book. When I read this book I was craving a heart wrenching read, and I knew that this would be the book for me. I was totally right. Warning, the feelings train is right around the corner.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Publish Date: April 2, 2009

Format: Kindle

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult

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Synopsis:

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.

I sit up as much as I can.

And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make. (Goodreads)

Review: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Why I chose this book: 
There was a lot of buzz surrounding this book before its release. Two boys falling in love during a grasshopper apocalypse? What author could pull off such a bizarre story and make it good? The questions rumbled across the internet as the release date loomed further. One of my goals this year was to try and read more LGBTQ lit, and this book piqued my curiosity as well as helped me achieve my goal. 

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile 

Publish Date: February 11th, 2014

Format: Hardback

Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult, LGBTQ

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Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.

To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He's stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann. Ultimately, it's up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition. (Goodreads)