The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

My four-star rating of this book shows how subjective my taste is and reveals how my reviews reflect nothing but my personal opinion. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (I know, it’s long) follows Juliet Ashton, a budding author who decides to write her second book about the island of Guernsey. Guernsey was occupied by Germans during World War II, and when Juliet goes there to meet its inhabitants and learn about its history, she gets more than what she bargained for. Perhaps, though, a change of scenery from living in London will do her good.

Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

Although my parents are heterosexual, Between Mom and Jo still spoke to me personally. As someone who wishes to have children with a male partner one day, it was saddening to read about how Nick had to put up with the taunting and teasing of his peers.

Looking at it positively, at least he had two loving parents who supported him through it. All his life, he’s known Mom and Jo would be there for him. They’ve gone through tough times together, battling alcoholism, cancer, and death. Which makes it that much worse when Mom and Jo start having marital problems and Nick’s left with no one to turn to. How can he choose between the two people in his life whom he cares about the most?

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

“If you pretend you love a boy, maybe after a while you start to care. If you spend months with the traces of someone else’s love and memories inside you, maybe those traces become a part of you. Or perhaps Amarra has nothing do with this. Perhaps I care because I’m jealous of what she had. That kind of love. That kind of freedom to love.”

As an echo, Eva’s sole purpose is to study someone else’s life and eventually replace her if she dies. Amarra, Eva’s “other”, happens to pass away after an unfortunate car accident. But when Eva leaves what she’s known for sixteen years to take the place of another girl, she finds that what she wants to do and what she was designed to do are two wildly different things.

The Lost Girl is almost a young-adult version of Frankenstein, with more sentimentality and slightly sweeter prose.

Every Day by David Levithan

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

If you stare at the center of the universe, there is a coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn’t care about us. Time doesn’t care about us.

That’s why we have to care about each other.

Every day, A wakes up in a different body. A different life. A has gotten used to it by now, but when he encounters Rhiannon, he finds himself falling in love – and farther away from what he’s ever known before.

Levithan just gets better and better. Boy Meets Boy and Love is the Higher Law failed to impress me, but after reading The Lover’s Dictionary and Every Day I can safely say I’m a fan of his. His writing has grown more gorgeous with each novel, and the quote above is one of the many that exemplifies it.

Plot-wise, Levithan focused on two main points in Every Day – A’s supernatural circumstance in which he wakes up in a new body every morning, and A’s romance with Rhiannon.

UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

The sequel to Neal Shusterman’s thrilling Unwind, UnWholly follows Connor, Risa, and Lev as they take on new enemies and events. They live in a world in which teenagers are able to be literally taken apart once they reach the age of thirteen (the process is called “unwinding”), and their separated body parts are sold to others. After the trio escaped Happy Jack Harvest Camp, unwinding has garnered some negative media attention, but not enough to do anything except lower the safety age from 18 to 17. Connor and Risa struggle to stay together and afloat while Connor takes charge of the Graveyard, a safe haven for AWOL unwinds. Lev leaves the spotlight and after some unfortunate occurrences strikes out on his own. And there are some newcomers to the game – Starkey, Miracolina, and Cam – who change things up for our three original protagonists. All six will encounter danger and will be forced to fight for what they believe in, if they can even figure out what they believe in at all.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

On her sixteenth birthday, Elisa has become the bride and secret wife of a wealthy and attractive king. This doesn’t do anything to make her feel more affluent or powerful like it should. Instead, she struggles even more to fulfill the quest she has been chosen for – chosen by the Godstone within her, by the God who only selects one person per century. As her political and personal conflicts exacerbate, Elisa must do whatever she can to defeat her foes, or she will fail the prophecy trying.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

A long book that requires real mental exertion, Thinking, Fast and Slow is a worthwhile read by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. It delves into the two complex systems of the mind. System 1 is impulsive, emotional, and often led astray, while System 2 is rational, thoughtful, and takes more time to makes decisions. He analyzes how humans use (and sometimes fail to use) both systems, and the resulting implications on topics ranging from how we perceive happiness to behavioral economics.

Thinking, Fast and Slow is one of the most in-depth Psychology books I’ve read.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

“When this is all over I’m going to found an association called ‘The Knights of the Idiotic Table,’ and its purpose will be to arrange an annual dinner where we all tell stories about Lisbeth Salander. You’re all members.”

The final installment in the intense Millennium series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest does not disappoint. Suffering from severe injuries, the infamous Lisbeth Salander has landed herself in the hospital. She faces several criminal charges and will need all of her skill to circumnavigate the forces against her. Luckily, Blomkvist, Berger, and others are fighting on her side – even when they have issues of equal or greater danger to deal with on their own.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

There are two reasons why I am jealous of Cinder. One, she is a cyborg. Two, her love interest is a super attractive Asian prince. Some girls get all the luck…

However, I’m not really jealous of the fact that she’s a cyborg. In her world, cyborgs are castigated and seen as inferior – which is why Cinder remains subservient to her stepmother, Adri. But when Kai, the Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth, comes to visit Cinder while she is working, that may all change – for better or for worse.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

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Rating: 4/5 stars.

I like to read books before I go to bed. It helps me fall asleep.

This is Not a Test is not a book you want to read if you want to fall asleep. It is subtle, yet brutal. Contained, but devastating. It will break your will to sleep before you’re able to put it down.

“This must be what Dorothy felt like, I think. Maybe. If Dorothy was six scared teenagers and Oz was hell.”

Six teenagers stuck in a dark and desolated high school. The living dead desperate to find a way in. Their resources are not renewable, and their struggle to survive escalates to epic proportions when the fight for life and death finds its way inside. For Sloane Price, this is the perfect chance to purge herself of her past – or, to give up, and give into the ghosts that continue to haunt her.