Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Summary: It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion.

Review: So... I don't think I liked it? I mean, it's realistic, but hopefully not too realistic? Because Greg is pretty much a jerk. Like, super obnoxious. (So basically, a 13-year-old boy.) He lies to his parents, lets his friend get in trouble for something he did, refuses to own up for ANYTHING he does wrong, and is incredibly selfish at all times. Are all 13-year-old boys like that? (Oh my gosh... are all 13-year-olds like that? As a new mother, I'm officially worried about 13 years from now...)

Confession: I did like the drawings. They're pretty funny.

Goodreads Shelves: fluffy, funny, is-a-movie

Rating: 

Split Second by Kasie West

Summary: Addie has always been able to see the future when faced with a choice, but that doesn't make her present any easier. Her boyfriend used her. Her best friend betrayed her. So when Addie's dad invites her to spend her winter break with him in the Norm world, she jumps at the chance. There she meets the handsome and achingly familiar Trevor. He's a virtual stranger to her, so why does her heart do a funny flip every time she sees him? But after witnessing secrets that were supposed to stay hidden, Trevor quickly seems more suspicious of Addie than interested in her. She wants to change that.

Laila, her best friend, has a secret of her own: she can restore Addie's memories . . . once she learns how. But there are powerful people who don't want this to happen. Desperate, Laila tries to manipulate Connor, a brooding bad boy from school—but he seems to be the only boy in the Compound immune to her charms. And the only one who can help her.

In the suspenseful sequel to Pivot Point, Addie tries desperately to retrieve her lost memories and piece together a world she thought she knew before she loses the love she nearly forgot.

Review: I liked it! I mean, I read it in approximately two days, so clearly.

I like Trevor. He takes the whole Supernatural Abilities thing really well, like we all wish we could, and is basically the most chill guy ever. (Like Oz from Buffy. Anyone remember how super chill that guy was?) I was pretty surprised by how cool he was with Addie's admission about being in love with him in an alternate timeline, but I guess since he already had a thing for her, he was able to take it in stride.

Laila's storyline took me a little more time to get into. Connor's whole Teddy Bear on the Inside thing didn't really do it for me... I feel like a disproportionate amount of angry guys turn out to actually be sensitive sweet guys in books. N'est pas? (And is he in the first book? I don't remember his deal.)

Overall, it was a pleasant way to spend two days or so.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman

Rating: 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Summary: Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

Review: Okay! So... that happened.

So the first half was AWESOME. I LOVED all the crazy hallucinations she has from her PTSD. It was creepy and unsettling, and I really really liked it.

I wasn't really into Noah, though. Lots of "creepy stalker boy" type behavior, although that kind of gets explained later? Maybe? But Mara starts off all kick-a and totally not interested in him, and then all of a sudden... what, he has eyes? He has magical biceps?... and she just kind of loses all her willpower and self-respect and stuff. And was it necessary to indulge in the Rude Boy is Insanely Rich trope? Because that one gets old. Speaking of tropes, though, this book played with the Supernatural/Immortal Boy/Man Falls For Normal Teenage Girl trope in a way I rather liked.

And later in the book... I dunno. It picked up speed, that's for sure, and I liked how the narrative played with my mind -- I knew what was going on, but I could also recognize when something had turned out to be false.

Overall, I like the way the book plays with narratives, and although I'm not sure how I felt about the plot, I like how we got there.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book

Rating: