Review: Crank by Ellen Hopkins

My rating: ★★★★★

What the story is about:
(This story is based on the true story of Ellen Hopkins' daughter)Kristina is a good student and incredible daughter who rarely ever gets into trouble. She lives at home with her mom, stepdad, and sister... who happens to be a lesbian. One summer, everything changes for Kristina when she goes to visit her real dad in Mexico. Her father is not anywhere close to a perfect parent. He's lazy and far more involved with drugs than he is with his daughters. While Kristina is visiting, she meets a boy named Adam, who brings Kristina into a whole new world after offering her crystal meth.  It is right around the time that Kristina meets and becomes involved with Adam that she creates her alternate personality, whom she calls Bree. She begins referring to herself as Bree every time she does anything bad, and to Kristina as the 'old her'. But Adam isn't who she thought he was, and before she can realize what's happening, she's hooked on meth, which she refers to as 'The Monster.' Her life quickly spirals downward, until something big happens to her and changes how she views everything. 

My opinion:
I used to be annoyed with the idea of Crank. Everyone in my high school that read it was deeply involved in the party scene and they raved about the descriptions of the trips and how badly they wanted to experience it. For that reason, I went on a small strike and refused to read it until a few weeks ago when I caved in and bought it. The moment I started reading, I realized what I had missed out on. The book is written in a series of poems. Some of them are very metaphorical and hard to understand unless you really focus, but as you keep reading, you get the hang of the book and it drags you in so quickly. I finished this book in less than two hours -- that's how addictive it was. And I didn't like it because of the detailed trips, but because of the pure poetic way it was written. It showed you the dark sides of meth and the way it took complete control of Kristina/Bree's brain before she could stop it. I'm absolutely in love with this book and if I could throw it at everyone and force them to read it immediately, I would.

Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

My rating: ★★★★☆

What the story is about:
(Don't worry, this IS descriptive but it also doesn't spoil anything -- this is basically what's on the back of the book) The Apocalypse happened six weeks ago, and now seventeen year old Penryn is living with her schizophrenic mother and wheelchair-bound little sister, Paige. They're living every day and night in constant fear of both the demonic angels and street gangs that surround them. One night, Penryn decides it's time they make a run for it, knowing that soon the street gangs, or worse, would find them. But minutes after they leave their secluded living space in an abandoned building, they run into a fight between several angels. In a dramatic turn of events, one of the angels spot them and grab Paige before flying off with the rest of his group. Penryn's mom runs off in fear, feeling as if the 'demons' her ill mind has made her see everywhere have become real and have found her. Penryn is left alone with her sister's empty wheelchair and a single angel that has been left on the streets, abandoned. The story is about Penryn's journey to find her sister, and the difficult relationship that forms between her and the angel, Raffe.

My opinion:
Alright, so I know the book sounds weird. I'm in love with the 'end of the world' book idea, but I admit, the idea of angels just seemed strange to me in comparison to the other books I've read like Angelfall. The price is what finaly got me to buy the book. It's new and not quite popular yet, so you can find it for pretty cheap. But... the moment I started reading the book, I was hooked. It sparked a lot of curiosity and it has a lot of interesting twists, including a rebellion by the humans and some horrifying and gut wrenching descriptions of a flesh eating (at first a mystery) creature. The book was definitely not what I was expecting and it definitely won me over quickly. I absolutely cannot WAIT for the next book to be released this year, and it's even been signed over to eventually be made into a film by some of the same people who made the Hunger Games, The Posession, Spiderman, and Hope Springs!

Review: The Clearing by Heather Davis

My rating: ★★★☆☆

What the story is about:
The Clearing is the story of Amy and Henry. Amy is a teenage girl, still in high school, who has just left an abusive relationship. In order to move on with her life, she decides that she needs a change. This decision leads to her live with her Aunt Mae in the country. She moves from the city, and the transition isn't too easy for her. She's closed up and very hesitant to trust anyone. One day, Amy ventures through the woods by her aunt's trailer and finds a wall of fog in the clearing behind them. Curiosity surges through her, and she ventures to the fog, only to find herself face to face with a boy named Henry... and to realize she's gone back in time to 1944. The story then focuses on both the lives of Henry and Amy and their struggle to move on with everything that has been holding them back. Along the way, an impossible love blossoms between them.

My opinion: 
The book is a very cliche coming-of-age/romance story. It's slightly empowering and it did tug on my heartstrings a few times. Although it's predictable in some parts, I still found myself wondering how it would end, and the ending was not what I expected. I picked up this book wanting a short, simple, and lightweight read. I  definitely wasn't disappointed. I do recommend this book if you have some free time to burn, but don't pick it up expecting something epic. I read some of the reviews on Goodreads and I feel as if several people judged it too harshly and didn't recognize the fact that the book wasn't meant to be in the same league as series such a Twilight.

Book Reviews To Come

• The Clearing by Heather Davis - UPDATE: POSTED!
• Cracked by K.M. Walton
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Insurgent by Veronica Roth
• Crank by Ellen Hopkins - UPDATE: POSTED!
• The Future of Us by Jay Asher
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• Angelfall by Susan Ee - UPDATE: POSTED!