Dancing with Fireflies by Denise Hunter

Summary: "Jade returns home to Chapel Springs after years of protecting her fragile heart. Then along comes Daniel, making her long to dance again.

Creative and complicated, Jade McKinley felt like a weed in a rose garden growing up in Chapel Springs. When she left, she thought she’d never look back. But now, pregnant, alone, and broke, she has no other choice but to return.

The mayor of Chapel Springs, Daniel Dawson, has been an honorary member of the McKinley family for years. While his own home life was almost non-existent, Daniel fit right into the boisterous McKinley family. He’s loved Jade for years, but she always saw him as a big brother. Now that she’s back, his feelings are stronger than ever.

As Jade attempts to settle in, nothing feels right. God seems far away, she’s hiding secrets from her family, and she’s strangely attracted to the man who’s always called her “squirt." Finding her way home may prove more difficult than she imagined."

Review: So I had written a review that I got really really worked up over, and it was a little more… passionate, as it were… than I wanted to be. So here’s a summary of the problems I had with the book, and just know that I feel fairly strongly about them.

-I think Daniel needs a little more self-respect. Being willing to be with a girl even though she keeps telling you she doesn’t love you is kinda pathetic.

-I think the benefits of therapy get downplayed in books like these. Yes, God can heal you, but He also created things like therapists and depression medications, and those heal you, too. And sometimes the notion that God will heal you “if you just have more faith” can make emotional distress worse, because when you don’t get better, you assume you are the problem and get even worse.

In a nutshell, those were my big issues.

That being said, the book was cute enough.  I liked the big family Jade is part of, and how supportive everyone is of her pregnancy. I liked that the religious aspects of the book are subtle; it's not preachy or anything. If anything, it could have used a little bit more; Jade's loss of spirituality is mentioned, but it's not a big plot point or anything. This book is more about the healing power of love than the healing power of God, for the most part. I like Jade and Daniel, as people. And in general, I like their relationship; it's really natural and sweet, and the sort of relationship I would want for them.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, is-this-a-kissing-book

Rating: 

**I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Dancing with Fireflies comes out on March 11.**

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Summary: "WHY CAN’T YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU FORGET . . .  AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER?  There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four- year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.  But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people— suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug."

Review: I'm not gonna lie. I hated a lot of this book. Zoey is just wandering around, having no idea what's going on at all, not telling anyone she has no idea, and therefore looking like an idiot. And I have a problem with people looking like idiots. I wanted to slap her.

Also, the Brandon thing. Zoey's in the classic "you knew what he was when you picked him up" situation, and I was appalled that she kept trying to pretend she was with him when she definitely should have known that she wasn't.

And one more thing. The summary says that Zoey tries to appear perfect and put up a show of being flawless. But I didn't see that at all. There was no character development in that department, besides the fact that she talked about her manicure all the time. (But I'm afraid that noticing the state of a manicure doth not a fully developed character make.)

So, to sum up: Zoey was an idiot, I didn't like her, I didn't like her dad (which I didn't mention because there's not much to do besides call him a big old d.b.), and I pretty much just didn't like this book. Although it still gets two stars, because at least I read the second half in one sitting.

Goodreads Shelves: fluffy, is-this-a-kissing-book, pretentious

Rating:plus a frowny face, for good measure :(

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Goodreads Summary: "Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful senses, superhuman reflexes and unstoppable physical strength. Life before she had a relentless thirst for blood... life before she became a vampire.

All Bree knows is that living with her fellow newborns has few certainties and even fewer rules: watch your back, don't draw attention to yourself and, above all, make it home by sunrise or die. What she doesn't know: her time as an immortal is quickly running out.

Then Bree finds an unexpected friend in Diego, a newborn just as curious as Bree about their mysterious creator, whom they know only as "her". As they come to realize that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagined, Bree and Diego must choose sides and decide whom to trus. But when everything you know about vampires is based on a lie, how do you find the truth?"

Review: That's right. I went there.

Honestly, it wasn't, you know, terrible. Compelling, certainly, as all of Stephenie Meyer's works are. I didn't particularly care for seeing familiar people from Bree's perspective (Carlisle, Jasper, etc.). Something about it felt off, but that might just be me.

Goodreads Shelves: fluffy

Rating:

The Squad: Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Goodreads Summary:  "Bayport High’s Varsity cheer squad is made up of the hottest of the hot. But this A-list is dangerous in more ways than one. The Squad is actually a cover for the most highly trained group of underage government operatives the United States has ever assembled. They have the perfect cover, because, beyond herkeys and highlights, no one expects anything from a cheerleader."

Review: So. Remember how I have a problem with telling? Yeah... I got really annoyed with Toby telling me how sarcastic she was, instead of just being sarcastic. In fact, I wanted to create a drinking game, wherein I did a shot every time she refrained from making a sarcastic comment. (Of course, she never said what the sarcastic thing she didn't say was.) Alas, I don't drink.

My other hangup was pretty basic: I didn't believe it. I couldn't suspend my disbelief. Seriously? A bunch of cheerleaders are supergeniuses in disguise and go around saving the free world all the time?? And they make this anti-social hacker girl seduce men, despite receiving no training? And they don't even know the identity of their bosses, who they've never met in person (which smells like Alias to me; I'm just sayin')? Anyway, suffice it to say, I wasn't terribly impressed.

I did like the boy, though. The dialogue he and Toby had was pretty good, and he actually made me laugh a couple times, so good job, The Boy.

Goodreads Shelves: fluffy, is-this-a-kissing-book

Rating: