Literally Lenny: April 2017

What's it about?:

"In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.
When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.
Only he doesn’t come. No one does.
Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?" - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

Storyline:

I went into this thinking it was just going to be another contemporary romance with the same conflict, same resolution, and same ending. But amazingly, I was proven wrong. Although this book does have a little bit of that “I’ve definitely read a million of these books” feeling, but it also addressed mental health. Mental health is something very personal to me, so when it’s brought up in a book, a platform that could spread so much awareness, I am instantly hooked on the book.

The only thing that frustrated me was the fact that Autumn never thought to try to break a window. I get that after she discovered Dax in the library, things changed, but that would’ve been my first go-to if I discovered I was locked in a library with no phones, food, or heat. I feel like when it comes to survival of the fittest, Autumn would not do well.

Characters:

Autumn: Autumn at the beginning was that prissy girl that I hated in high school. But slowly but surely, her true character started to show and you realize that she actually has really bad anxiety, something I can personally relate to.

Dax: Obnoxiously “bad boy” in the beginning with not a care for anyone else in the world. Maybe I didn’t like Dax too much because to me he never “opened up” to Autumn about basically anything and that really irked me. Like, I get that he was a nice guy, but I didn’t really find any other qualities that were endearing. But maybe that’s just me being picky.

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What's it about?:

"Gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she’s fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.
When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan’s palace—she’s determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan’s secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she’s a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she’s been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.
Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about Djinn and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. I generally have a really hard time accepting sequels to books that I absolutely adored, and this definitely is one of them. I loved the adventure and unknown in the first novel, and this sequel just made it seem like every other fantasy novel, which really disappointed me. It was still a good book, don’t get me wrong! It definitely does not deserve anything less than a 3 star review, but I wish I could give it 5.

Storyline:

I wanted more Amani and Jin, plain and simple. But instead, I got Amani and the Sultan and Sam. While it did make for a more “dynamic” book, it wasn’t exactly the adventure I was hoping for. I wanted another adventure with Amani and Jin together, and instead we got just Amani. The two of them together make for a better story, in my opinion, so when I realized this was going to be centered around mainly Amani with a little bit of Jin, I was quickly disappointed.

Characters:

Amani: A badass with a gun. Basically. Even when the entire world was against her, she didn’t give up. She has a big heart and an incredible brain. There’s no one like her. However. I found her to become boring and monotonous after a while. I absolutely adored her in the first book because she defied all odds set against her. We got to know her and her story, which I enjoyed much more than being introduced to a whole slew of new characters and their own backstories.

Jin: My favorite character in the entire book, which is probably why I didn’t LOVE this book because he made very small appearances and I really just wanted to see him and Amani be the dynamic duo again.

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What's it about?

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life." - Goodreads Synopsis

My Thoughts:

This book is so insanely important to read, especially in this day in age. This book is relevant to everything that our society has been facing for the past couple years.

Storyline:

Absolute perfection. All you really hear when these tragedies happen are what the news outlets have to say about the story, but you never hear from the actual people it directly affected. I found that it was also important to see not only the short term effects it had on society, but also the long term effects. Many people forget about these tragedies because they were not involved, but what we don’t realize is that people continue to struggle day-to-day with the memories of what happened, and that’s important to acknowledge. Tragedies don’t just vaporize as if they never happened. They’re still there, having an everlasting effect on people’s lives that the rest of society likes to just ignore or forget about.

Characters:

I like that Angie Thomas was able to write about so many diverse characters in such a realistic way, without it seeming forced.

Starr: The girl who saw it all. Strongest and bravest girl to have ever fictionally existed. Probably one of my favorite fictional characters of all time as well. She was so REAL. Angie Thomas nailed the mindset of a teenage girl going through a tragedy.

Chris: The white boyfriend who saw no difference between black and white. An outlook that I think the entire world could benefit from. He was that typical preppy high school boy who had absolutely nothing wrong in his life, but that never stopped him from wanted to be 100% involved in Starr's life.

Khalil: The boy whose life ended too soon. The alleged “drug dealer” and “gang banger” who supposedly “deserved” what was coming to him.

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