Review: Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

• Pub. Date: January 15, 2013
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Pages:240
• Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.

Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical,  Uses for Boys  is a story of breaking down and growing up.

First Line: In the happy times, in the tell-me-again times, when I'm seven and there are no stepbrothers and it's before the stepfathers, my mom lets me sleep in her bed.

Review: I have no idea why I read this the whole way through when I clearly wanted to mark it as a dnf and never look at this book again. Uses for Boys was not my cup of tea, the plot sounded promising but it was nothing that I expected, the writing was pretty basic there were some very explicit sexual content that seemed it was there only for the shock factor and nothing more.

Anna is just really a sad depressing character in my opinion, she doesn't get any affection from her mother who changes men several times throughout the book and so Anna seeks that attention elsewhere...boys. She has sex alot with many different boys and doesn't care about how any of them treat her. Normally a character who is so emotionally damaged makes it easier for me to connect with them in some way or feel some form of sympathy for them that sucks me into the book but not Anna I really disliked her character.

Overall this was just an odd book, I'm not sure how else to describe it. I'm still trying to figure out what was the point of this book, I can see what the author might have been trying to accomplish with this book but it could have been done in a more tasteful manner. Also I don't think the cover really goes well with the words inside the book at all. Personally I can't recommend this book but I do recommend checking out other reviews because there were some who really did like it.

Review: Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones

• Pub. Date: October 2, 2012
• Publisher:St. Martin's Press
• Pages:304
• Series:Darklight #1
• Amazon/Goodreads/Book Depository

Ten years ago, Lorelei's parents disappeared without a trace.  Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home.  For Lorelei, life goes on.

High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be.  Until the day the school's designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it,  standing outside her house in the dark, night after night.  Things get even more complicated when a new guy—terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach—comes to school.  Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity.  What does Jared know about her parents?  Why does Cameron tell Jared he can't have Lorelei?  And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real? 

First Line: The small town of Riley's Switch, New mexico, had only one coffee house, and I sat at a booth in it with my two best friends.


Review: I really love Darynda Jones Charley Davidson series which is why I was excited to get my hands on her new YA novel Death and the Girl Next Door, but *sighs* I was not a fan of her latest novel, it fell short of what I expected. Do not get me wrong I loved the witty banter and humor that she thankfully also brought to this series but the plot and the characters were all too cliched.

My two pet peeves in YA books are love triangles, which thankfully there was none of that and my biggest pet peeve which is insta-love and this novel had that in big bold capital letters INSTA-LOVE, it was just a little too much. Actually this was one of those books where the romance came first and then the actual plot which by the way there were quite a few plot holes as well. Not to mention I got so annoyed with being reminded how hot Jared is. I get it the guy is sexy...jaw dropping gorgeous etc lets just move on from that.

Now as for the actual characters Lorelei had the classic case of she is beautiful but doesn't know it, and considers herself a plain Jane. One thing that bugged me was when she died and was brought back to life she  didn't question it all, just accepted it. Accepted everything really, about who Jared was, what Cameron was and then her and what her role was in all of it, she just took it all with stride. Which of course made her a very unrealistic character and in no way relatable. As for Jared he was an old being and it showed when compared to Lorelei and her friends. Jared had a maturity level that Lorelei and her friends didn't possess which also made the two hooking up seem so unlikely to really happen. None of the characters really grabbed me the only two that made somewhat of an impression were her friends Glitch and Brooklyn they are the reason I'm giving this book an extra half star.

 I'm still a little upset that I didn't love this book seeing what an amazing author Darynda Jones is, I had really high hopes for this one and like I said I love her other series, but this series of hers is just not for me. There were too many things that I couldn't get past to really enjoy the book. Overall Death and the Girl Next Door was just a little too all over the place that I do not see myself picking up the next book in the series.

Review: Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

• Pub. Date: August 07, 2012
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Pages: 336
• Series: Glitch #1

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.

When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.

As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.

First Line: "I felt it coming this time."


Review: I was excited to get my hands on Glitch. I'm not sure what it is but I have developed a love for Sci-Fi/Dystopian reads. And Glitch did not fail me. Now there was some unique elements that made the book stand out but in the end it still had a typical dystopian plot in which the government is controlling everyone and there is a rebel group trying to break everyone free from it. Nonetheless it was done very well and I couldn't stay away from this book.

We are introduced to a world in which everyone lives below the surface since earth is pretty much ruined and according to the government the surface is toxic and will kill you. People are controlled, they have chips installed in them that prevents them from feeling any form of emotion, smelling any scent or even seeing in color. Zoel or Zoe is a glitcher meaning she starts to feel things and smell and see color and she also discovers she is telekinetic. All this is very dangerous since the government deactivates glitchers. I liked Zoe, she acted the way I would have to assume someone in her situation would, although I wasn't a fan of her friendship with Max he had some serious unhealthy obsession with her.

Adrien the boy with the aquamarine green eyes, I can imagine how gorgeous eyes like that may be but it became a little annoying being reminded about it over and over throughout the book. Besides that little fact I loved Adrien. I'm not going to give spoilers on who he is but you find out pretty quick in the novel who he is and why he is there. I adored him for the fact that he was so patient with Zoe and helped answer a lot of questions she had about what she was going through. My only beef with him and Zoe was there was this insta-love between the two, it just wasn't realistic especially under the circumstances.

I loved the powers the glitchers had, that always makes things exciting and interesting and when Zoe finally tunes in to hers and unleashes what she can do it is bad ass. It only made me love her character more, I have a feeling she will grow a whole lot in the next book.

Overall this is a great Sci-Fi/Dystopia read. The author did a great job with the novel and the ending was very well done. Everything was explained and I was very satisfied with the way it ended. There was no major cliffhanger but I have enough curiosity built up to where I know I will be picking up the next book.