Nobody But Us Kristin Halbrook

Goodreads Blurb

Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. 

Oh my GOODNESS. This was such an amazing book that made me tear up in the end. But, you know, sometimes I'm a rare crier, other times I'm the biggest wuss ever. But that ending. I just kept thinking "Please don't let what I'm think about to happen happen." 

When people talk about a raw and gritty story, I'm now going to always think about Nobody But Us.We have two teens who're running away from their harsh lives and while running away can sound stupid...it can definitely happen. No one said teens were smart, and teens with a hard life are desperate. I sympathized with them and both characters definitely had their own problems and were far from perfect...they were, perhaps, the most broken characters I've read about and my heart ached for them. The way this story is told, from both point of views, gives us more information, and more reasons to shed a few tears over what's happened to these teens. 

As for their trip, I enjoyed it? If that's the right word. I don't think I've ever read about runaways and I'm shocked by how...dangerous it was and how much risk they were taking. Trouble and suspicion became their companions and I found myself squeezing my eyes and hoping everything turned out okay in the end. Here's a spoiler--it doesn't. 

Zoe and Will's love was so real, but I feel it may have been born out of desperation for understanding. They were both broken and they were both reaching out for someone to get them. The result? A real love, but one that made them both a bit dysfunctional. Will and Zoe...wow. I think my only complain was how dysfunctional they got and how...well, how alike they were to Beautiful Disaster's characters. Travis and...Abby?  

The thing about this book is, well, it passes by so quickly. Their trip seemed so short, and by the time over 200 pages had passed by, I was shocked by how far I had read. I felt as if only maybe a hundred or so pages had passed before I finished and closed the book, shocked. It was just... exhilarating. This is, perhaps, one of the more raw books I've read, ever.

Pages: 272

Genre: Contemporary

Series: Stand alone

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: Jan 29, 2013

Rating: 4.5-->4 stars

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Goodreads Blurb

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

So, just starting with this, I''m not quite sure why I loved this so much. When I think about it, the plot was everywhere and the romance was iffy...but, there's just something about Out of the Easy that just draws you in. Maybe it's how real the story is? How there are absolutely no happy endings, how once things look brighter, something, someone, just rips that hope away? Maybe how nothing is perfect, how Septys captures this perfectly imperfect world in her writing? Maybe, possibly, probably.

Just like Just One Day, there's no way I can use my usual reviewing...format(?) because like I said, I'm not quite sure what made me absolutely adore this book.While the plot was really all over the place, a few questions left unanswered, I think that it really does portray how the world is. You know that quote up at the top? "Books say she did this because. Life says she did this"? I think this book was more realistic than most others and just left those questions unanswered because they didn't need to be answered, I think. Or am I just overthinking?

So as there are in the real world, there are some...harsh characters. Willie seemed to me like a mother for Josie, sometimes cruel, but always there and always supportive. However, Josie's real mom? Talk about a character you're supposed to hate! And the other characters, the secondary characters...I loved how they were written. No matter how small a part they played, they each had their own story, their own reasons, and  some of them reminded me of people I actually knew, in a nicer way, of course...sort of.

I'm not quite sure how much this got me thinking how lucky I am not to have a life like this. I mean, this could actually be, for all I know, completely real! Everything touched me in some way and as a person who hasn't read Between Shades of Gray (never mind that it's on the Lone Star List, for all you Texans), I definitely have plans to soon! And hey, I can now brag that I've read Ruta Septys next book!

Stunning and captivating, Out of the Easy was an amazing read that entraps you with an engaging tale about a girl who's trying to find herself and her future in a bleak present. It'll make you cry, laugh, scream, all within minutes. This is not a novel you want to miss!

Pages: 348
Series: Stand alone
Genre: Historical/Romance
Publisher: Philomel Books
Release Date: Feb 13, 2013
Rating: 5 stars

Book Haul + Weekly Recap

No pictures guys! Sorry!

For Review
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Bought
Crash by Lisa McMann
Just One Day Gayle Forman
Timekeeper Alexandra Monir

Thanks to Lenore for sending me a signed copy of this! I loved it! 4 stars! My review is going to be up mid-February though, since this month's schedule is full!
I preordered these so I'm so glad they came! My first time preordering! ;) I'm reading Crash and it is AMAZEBALLS. I already read Just One Day and LOVED it. (find my review here), and I can't wait to read Timekeeper! THE CLIFFHANGER OF TIMELESS WAS JUST CRUEL


Weekly Recap
Revolution 19 by Gregg Rosenblum
Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
Waiting on Wednesday
The Storyteller by Anotnia Michaelis
Venom Readalong Week 1

Venom Readalong (1-8)

WEEK 1 OF THE VENOM READALONG!!! Made by MOI and Annabelle (Sparkles and Lightning!) Yes, this is late, but I just wanted to do Friday. You know, for no particular reason...

I will be answering this and pretending like I haven't read this awesome book already.
(Here are some other posts for this week! Just click here)

What do you think of Falco so far? Do you trust him?
So far? Absolutely NOT. I mean, he suddenly leaves before dawn for "work", he pops out of nowhere, and HE'S IN THE GRAVEYARD AT MIDNIGHT. I don't buy that story of reading...he's up to something.

Thoughts on Siena?
She seems very timid and super shy...that's about it!

If you were in Cass's place, would you sneak out and try to solve it or try your best to shake it off?
Probably shake it off. Actually, I wouldn't be IN a graveyard in the first place. Those things freak me out.

Is it stupid of Cass to trust Falco so much? Would you, in her place?

YES. I mean, hello random guy who lazes around in graveyards at night. Creepy, no? But I probably would. I mean, FALCO.

Do you think Cass' Aunt Agnese is smothering her?

Without a doubt! Stuffy lady...but I'm guessing not all the high society women were exactly like Cass, then. 

Did anything seem off about the funeral to you?

Nothing, unless you count the fact that the preacher's eyes seemed to dark to Cass at that one moment...

Short answers, but trust me, the next questions are going to definitely have more in depth answers!

NEXT UP:

Chapters 9-17!

Check out Fiona Paul's blog here!

The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

Goodreads Blurb

A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.
It begins the day Anna finds the child's doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it's claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart. 
It's a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha's abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth.
Despite friend's warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.
But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it's Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?

I absolutely hated it, 100% hate.
I hated hated hated...
That I cried so much.

This book was absolutely spectacular, though a bit confusing at first. The writing was gorgeous and lyrical, poetic and beautiful, but there was a complexity to it that, if you couldn't figure it out, led to a lot of hard thinking about what this meant, who that was, etc. and honestly, it was sometimes hard to know until the straight-out tell! But it did create an atmosphere that added to the story--both the story and the fairy tale.

Honestly, while I did love the actual story, I found that the fairy tale actually captivated me more--just a tad! But I've always loved fantasy stories where nothing makes sense. But I was just as eager as Anna and Micha to find out what would happen next! Because this story was just what happened, what's happening, and what happens, in a more innocent and magical way.

Beyond anything, even how beautiful and touching the writing was, was how absolutely real the characters were. They were so...broken. All of them had their problems, even Anna who seemed to have a perfect life. There wasn't a mean girl, necessarily, who was a jealous (insert word), and there was no real evil person. It was just...life. How we decide who's our antagonist is really up to us and this book does accent that. (Ironically, I'm doing a presentation for Teen Leadership called "There is no Reality, Only Perception.") and I felt just sick how some people could seem so...kind and then have something ugly beneath. And this isn't just one character. I think this is, by far, the most accurate description of the world translated into a book. And I've read a lot of tries.

This book was absolutely touching and insanely emotional. I was almost SOBBING in math and that's not comfortable with people giving you strange looks and muttering "There she goes again", but the ending...Oh my GOD that ending. I think I melted into a puddle of tears. I couldn't...couldn't understand it, couldn't fathom it. I was just...shocked. Or maybe, like Anna, not shocked at all. This book didn't really have one conflict either, it was just...life as it sometimes is. I don't think there's ever going to really be another book that can beat it--it surpasses The Fault in Our Stars! (And I'd say 13 Reasons Why, but I never liked it anyways.)

Should you read it? Absolutely. Will you cry? Almost certainly. Will you wish you never read it, just so you could experience it over again? Without a Doubt. And will you love it? Of Course. Will you thank me later? OH, YOU BETTER. Because this WILL become one of your favorite books, and I can guarantee that you won't forget this. This is one that will leave it's own imprint on your heart--after it tears it up, glues, and breaks it again and again.

(Only reason it's not 10, though, was because of how depressed I felt afterwards. Not that it's necessarily bad...also, I just didn't see the romance. And Bertil creepeed me out)

Pages: 402
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Standalone
Publisher: ABRAMS
Release Date: Jan 1, 2012
Rating: 7 stars

Waiting on Wednesday

The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when seventeen-year-old Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.

At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.

The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.

If they play it right, then they'll be safe.

But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

Either suddenly the percentage of sounds-amazing-books of each year is increasing, or I just have a knack for picking out a lot of sounds-amazing-books! What first caught my eye was, of course, the cover! From the doll/person to the font, I absolutely loved how evilly innocent it looked! And when I read the synopsis, I was just hooked. Fighting to survive, to be with your supposed "true love" who won't, most likely anyways, even help you? To act like a doll all night and day? To both pass the test, and to stay within the bounds? Count me in!