French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Publisher: Listening Library
Source: Borrowed from the library
Format: Audio Cd
Discs: 8
Goodreads

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, perfect, Étienne has it all ... including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

An unabridged recording on 8 CDs (10 hours, 29 minutes).

I think contemporaries were my very first love. I've been hearing such amazing things about this book for such a long time, and I even had a chance to meet Stephanie and get signed copies. When your a blogger, avid reader, or just a fan of literacy, your bookshelves always seem to be bursting at the seams. This sat on my bookshelf for 2 years. You know how it is, so many books, so little time!

I saw this audio at my local library and decided to give it a try. I recently switched jobs and while I'm used to a commute, thought what a fun way this would be to get through my work week. This was the perfect audio to get me through even the most tough days!

Anna and the French Kiss is such a wonderful story. I adored every minute of it and wished I'd read this long ago! For me, the narrator can either make or break an audio. And in Anna and the French Kiss, the narrator did a fantastic job! It was such a fun audio to listen to, and such a cute contemporary, that I couldn't help but fall in love with it!

Perfect story + perfect narrator = perfect audio! If your a fan of audio books, this is a must! It'll make your drive home after a tough day at work infinitely better!

Review: Tilt

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins
Release Date:  September 11, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderberry Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardback
Pages: 604
Buy the Book:  Amazon

 

Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.
Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

 You guys may remember my recent review of Triangles. Tilt takes the story in a totally  new direction, with the children of the ladies from Triangles. I purchased these 2 books together, thinking I needed to read them both in order, and that is so not the case! I assumed that Tilt would pick up where Triangles left off, and it doens't really. I'd say a good half of the book takes place durring the events of Triangles, but from the perspective of their children. I felt like this was interesting to see both sides of the story and how it impacted not just the parents, but the children too, and vice versa.

I utterly adore books told in verse, and there is no doubt as to Ellen Hopkins huge talent at telling vivid stories in a non conventional way. She also has a knack for tackeling difficult, and hard subjects to talk about, and turning them into a work of art. She is a brilliant author!

For me, having just finished Triangles and jumping into Tilt, this was not quite what I was hoping for. Triangles was so raw, dark, and it totally went there. I thought in Tilt maybe it would lighten up a little or get better for these characters. In that respect, I was disappointed. While Ellen's work and writting is amazing, I would like to see something a little different from her in the future.

I'm not asking for a fairytale, but maybe... a little less darkness and problematic lfiestyles. Just sayin! All in all the writting was brilliant as usual! Just felt a little repetative as to the MO of the story.

Review: Paper Valentine

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 304
Buy The Book: Amazon

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between.

I'm not really sure how Brenna's work has always eluded me, but I'm so glad that this gorgeous haunting cover caught my attention! It was clear from the first few chapter's, that while her work is unusual, there is something so uniquely beautiful about it!

Paper Valentine is the story of Hannah, who is "haunted" by the ghost of her recently deceased friend Lillian. I love scary stories, and murder mysteries, but I shy away from ghost stories so I was reluctant to pick this one up. If you are too, let me reassure you, there are no crazy spirits or heebee geebee's going on here! Throughout the story, Hannah still see's Lillian, and hear's her, but no one else can. There are no weird posessions or excorcisms or anything that will make you feel uncomfortable. I promise!

There is a string of murder's going on in Hannah's town, and eventually, Lillian convinces her to investigate. This story had a little bit of everything, tales of life, loss, love, friendship, growing up and even tragedy. It was written so well that I don't think the any one part of the story detracted from the other. There was just enough love, but not too much to take away from the murder plot and vice versa.

As far as the murders go, I never was able to tell who was going to die, or why. Nor was I able to predict who the murderer was! I honestly couldn't even make a guess, which made the end that much more gripping.

There is something beautifully haunting about Brenna's ability to create a story and bring it to life and I highly recommend picking up a copy of Paper Valentine!

Review: Triangles

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins
Release Date: October 18. 2011
Publisher: Atria
Pages: 529
Buy The Book: Amazon

THREE FEMALE FRIENDS FACE MIDLIFE CRISES IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED EXPLORATION OF SEX, MARRIAGE, AND THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE.

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-athome mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles.

As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic,Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

So first off, I don't usually read Adult books. Unless it's Sophie Kinsella or Nicholas Sparks I don't even bother to look at the cover. I know, I know, your probably thinking how prejudice! But Adult books just don't excite me the way YA does. Despite that, I was really curious about Ellen Hopkin's Adult novel debut. And let's be honest for a second here, I wanted to buy it just for that gorgeous cover! I've told you guys before, I'm a total cover whore!

When I learned that Tilt, was the story of the children of the ladies from Triangles, it was all the excuse I needed to buy them both! Both the goodreads and Amazon descriptions say that this is a "no holds barred, exploration of sex, love and marriage" and let me tell you, they ain't kidding!

This was a very graphic story, with absolutely no holds barred. It was very candid and honest, and at times sordid. There is sex galore, erotica, and more. Being that I am a YA reader who occasionally dabbles in the works of Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella, you can only imagine my face as I read my way through Triangles. I blushed, I turned beet red, and in between reading breaks I hid it under my pillow like it was contraband!

I can't really say that I enjoyed this book. Or rather, the character's.  I personally, could not identify with them at all, having never married, divorced, or birthed children. Hence, why I solely read YA titles. HOWEVER, as usual, Ellen Hopkins writing still amazes me, whether she's writing for a YA audience or an adult one.

Because of the content... I feel like this is a book I can't personally recommend. My readers range from teenagers, to girls in their first year of college, to young women, to mothers of teenagers and beyond. Therefore, there will be no cute little cupcake ratings this time. I will let you judge this one for yourself.

As I mentioned, this is definitely an adult book written with no reservations, as the description promised. I often found myself turning read, and even feeling uncomfortable even at my age. Again though, I would like to stress that Ellen Hopkin's writing is as briallant as ever! I definitely do not recommend this for teen's, but encourage anyone curious or interested in this to pick up a copy and check it out for themselves!

And if you have read it, leave me a comment because I'd love to know your thoughts and feelings on it. And keep an eye out for my review on Tilt!