Five-Star Friday: Going Too Far

Five-Star Friday is a periodically regular (say what?!) feature that I’m planning on running on Fridays (but not every Friday) in which I talk about (or verbally drool over) a book that I’ve read and ADORED (sometimes they’ll be recent releases and other times they might be older…my piles are tall and the bottoms are old). Yay! I always feel so happy and light and wonderful when I am beside myself with delight over a book, and I want to share the love with you all in the hopes that we can all get together and have an embarrassing, squeal-filled love-fest full of lots of high-pitched “Ohmygod, I KNOW!s” and chest-clutching sighs of contentedness. Huzzah!*

Five-Star Friday time, friends! Today, I’m highlighting one of my FAVORITE contemporaries EVER: Jennifer Echols’ GOING TOO FAR.

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Book Review | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Jesse Andrews

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Jesse AndrewsMe and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Published by Amulet Books on March 1, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Death/Dying/Grief, Young Adult
Pages: 295
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
four-stars

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

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Book Review | The Académie | Susanne Dunlap

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Académie | Susanne DunlapThe Academie by Susanne Dunlap
Published by Bloomsbury on February 28, 2012
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
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two-stars

Eliza Monroe—daughter of the future president of the United States—is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when—ooh, la-la!—she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn’t take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies—and that she’s about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.

Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe’s imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history.

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Graffiti Moon: The Artwork

So I talked about how Cath Crowely’s AMAZING book GRAFFITI MOON has pretty words in it. But as I was reading, I couldn’t help wondering what exactly all the artwork Lucy and Ed talk about and bond over looked like. It was all so important to them, and I had a major hankering to see the things that inspired them as artists and brought them together as kindred spirits in so many ways. I trolled the internet and found some images. The pictures link back to their sources, so click on ’em and peek around.

Also, in my internet travels to unearth some images of works mentioned in GRAFFITI MOON, I stumbled across this post by Adele from Persnickety Snark, an AWESOME Aussie blogger. She apparently had the same urge as I did and so she made a post, too. Check out her post for some other images and a little commentary as well.

V&A Chandelier, by Dale Chihuly

V&A Chandelier (detail), by Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is Lucy’s IDOL. And seriously, you guys NEED to check out Dale Chihuly’s glass sculptures, if you think you might be interested in them. It’s a NO BRAINER that Lucy would idolize him. His stuff is STUNNING.

Solitude, by Rosalie Gascoigne

This was Ed’s favorite Rosalie Gascoigne painting.

No. 301 (Reds and Violet over Red/Red and Blue over Red) by Mark Rothko

Lucy and Ed have some good, deep talks about this Rothko.

Till the Heart Caves In by Michael Zavros

I kind of love this. Lucy uses this drawing to describe what being in love feels like. Her words are STELLAR and beautiful (I believe this is from p. 66 of my ARC): “It’s of a horse falling, tumbling from the sky, legs to the clouds. There’s no way to right itself. It seems to me it doesn’t know how it got there, or where it is, or why it’s falling…it’s got something to do with how love should be. ‘You should feel it like a horse tumbling through you’.”

Book Review | Graffiti Moon | Cath Crowley

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Graffiti Moon | Cath CrowleyGraffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Published by Knopf on February 14, 2012
Genres: Aussie YA, Contemporary YA, Young Adult
Pages: 260
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
five-stars

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy’s stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they’re suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.

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Book Review | The Survival Kit | Donna Freitas

Book Review | The Survival Kit | Donna FreitasThe Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux on October 11, 2011
Genres: Contemporary YA, Death/Dying/Grief, Relationships, Romance
Pages: 351
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
five-stars

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a  paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

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Book Review | The Gathering Storm | Robin Bridges

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Gathering Storm | Robin BridgesThe Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Series: Katerina #1
Published by Delacorte on January 10, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Also by this author: The Unfailing Light
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
three-stars

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe’s royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina’s strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar’s standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina’s help to safeguard Russia, even if he’s repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

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Book Review | Ditched: A Love Story | Robin Mellom

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Ditched: A Love Story | Robin MellomDitched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom
Published by Disney Hyperion on January 10, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Relationships
Pages: 277
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
four-stars

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

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Book Review | Fracture | Megan Miranda

I received this book for free from BookExpo in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Fracture | Megan MirandaFracture by Megan Miranda
Series: Fracture #1
Published by Walker Children's on January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA
Pages: 262
Format: ARC
Source: BookExpo
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
three-stars

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine–despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

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Book Review | Uncommon Criminals | Ally Carter

Book Review | Uncommon Criminals | Ally CarterUncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #2
Published by Disney Hyperion on June 21, 2011
Genres: Adventure, Contemporary YA, Thieves
Pages: 298
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
four-stars

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

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