Reading, Writing, and Me

The Beauty That Remains  by Ashley Woodfolk (March 6) Overview: Shay, Logan, and Autumn have all recently experienced losses of people very close to them. Shay lost her sister to Leukemia, Logan lost his exboyfriend to a drug overdose, and Autumn lost her best friend in a car accident. They all feel grief for incidents they had no control over, and this book talks about their journeys to cope. While they run separately for the most part, the once famous band, Unraveling Lovely, gathers all the grieving teens together for the chance at moving forward. Overall: 4 Characters: 4 I liked all of the main characters for different reasons. At the beginning, Shay's voice was my favorite to read from. As a twin who lost her sister, she struggles with an identity crisis about who she is now. Shay is also a music blogger, something she did with her sister and friends. I loved all the touches about blogging! Autumn's voice was an interesting insight as well, though I didn't feel

No Filter  by Orlagh Collins out on March 6 Overview: Emerald's summer is ruined on the last week of junior year. Her best friends betray her, her mother gets admitted to rehab after Emerald is forced to revive her, and her father ships her off to Ireland to stay with his mother, who Emerald hasn't seen in five years. Though she goes unwillingly, when she meets rising college freshman, Liam, her summer, and possibly her life, starts to take a turn for the better. The two lovers, unwittingly Romeo and Juliet, face plenty of challenges, both together and individually, as they fight to love each other. Overall: 4.5  Characters: 5 I absolutely loved reading about Emerald and Liam. The duel narrative is very successful here. Emerald has remarkable growth throughout the book from a girl who sees the world through Instagram filters to a young woman open to taking it on for herself. She must deal with her mother's addiction, her strained relationship with her grandmother, and t

Not If I See You First  by Eric Lindstrom (310 pages) Overview: Parker lost her site at the age of seven, at the same time she lost her mom. Then she lost her dad three months ago and her best friend two and a half years ago. All Parker has left is her best friend Sarah and a few friends at school as well as her aunt's family that moved in with her, though they aren't much help. While getting through junior year and deepening her love of running, Parker has to learn to confront the past and see that maybe she hasn't given every situation a fair look. Overall: 5+ Characters:  5 Parker is amazing. Her voice shines through so clearly. She's snarky, honest, and hilarious, and I love her for it. Her friends Molly and Sarah are great too. The minor characters throughout are extremely well developed without bogging down the story. I do have another favorite character, but revealing that would give alway some of the book. But if you're read this one before, I bet you&