Ash Reads Stuff

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Publication Date:  February 28th, 2017 Pages:  444 (Hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: 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. My Re...

Release  by Patrick Ness Publication Date: September 19, 2017 Pages:  288 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  Inspired by Judy Blume’s Forever and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway , this novel by award-winning author Patrick Ness is a new classic about teenage relationships, self-acceptance—and what happens when the walls we build start coming down. Adam Thorn doesn’t know it yet, but today will change his life. Between his religious family, a deeply unpleasant ultimatum from his boss, and his own unrequited love for his sort-of ex, Enzo, it seems as though Adam’s life is falling apart. At least he has two people to keep him sane: his new boyfriend (he does love Linus, doesn’t he?) and his best friend, Angela. But all day long, old memories and new heartaches come crashing together, throwing Adam’s life into chaos. The bindings of his world are coming untied one by one; yet in spite of everything he has to let go...

The Border  by Steve Schafer Publication Date: September 5, 2017 Pages: 364 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: One moment changed their lives forever. A band plays, glasses clink, and four teens sneak into the Mexican desert, the hum of celebration receding behind them. Crack. Crack. Crack. Not fireworks―gunshots. The music stops. And Pato, Arbo, Marcos, and Gladys are powerless as the lives they once knew are taken from them. Then they are seen by the gunmen. They run. Except they have nowhere to go. The narcos responsible for their families' murders have put out a reward for the teens' capture. Staying in Mexico is certain death, but attempting to cross the border through an unforgiving desert may be as deadly as the secrets they are trying to escape...  My Review:  This book is a little out of my genre of YA simply because of the subject matter. While interesting, the writing was ...

In a Perfect World  by Trish Doller Publication Date: May 23, 2017 Pages:  294 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Caroline Kelly is excited to be spending her summer vacation working at the local amusement park with her best friend, exploring weird Ohio with her boyfriend, and attending soccer camp with the hope she’ll be her team’s captain in the fall. But when Caroline’s mother is hired to open an eye clinic in Cairo, Egypt, Caroline’s plans are upended. Caroline is now expected to spend her summer and her senior year in a foreign country, away from her friends, her home, and everything she’s ever known. With this move, Caroline predicts she’ll spend her time navigating crowded streets, eating unfamiliar food, and having terrible bouts of homesickness. But when she finds instead is a culture that surprises her, a city that astounds her, and a charming, unpredictable boy who challenges everything she thought s...

Blacksouls by Nicole Castroman Publication Date: April 11, 2017 Pages: 400 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult Fiction My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Nicole Castroman brings the dangerous pirate ports of the Caribbean to life in this vibrant sequel to Blackhearts —the reimagined origin story of history’s most infamous pirate, Blackbeard. Edward “Teach” Drummond is setting sail to the Caribbean as first mate on the most celebrated merchant ship in the British fleet—until he rebels against his captain. Mutiny is a capital offense and Teach knows it could cost him his life, but he believes it worth the risk in order to save his crew from the attacking Spanish ships. Sailing on the same blue waters, Anne barely avoids the Spanish attack, making it safely to Nassau. But lawless criminals, corrupt politics, and dangerous intentions fill the crowded streets of this Caribbean port. Soon, Anne discovers that the man entrusted to keep the peace is quite possibl...

The Sun is Also a Star  by Nicole Yoon Publication Date: Novembe 1, 2016 Pages: 384 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating:  3 stars Goodreads Synopsis: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story. Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us. The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true? My Review:  This...

This Side of Home  by Renee Watson Publication Date: February 3, 2015 Pages:  336 (paperback)  Genre:  Young Adult  My Goodreads Rating:  4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Maya Younger and her identical twin sister, Nikki, have always agreed on the important things. Friends. Boys. School. They even plan to attend the same historically African American college. But nothing can always remain the same. As their Portland neighborhood goes from rough-and-tumble to up-and-coming, Maya feels her connection to Nikki and their community slipping away. Nikki spends more time at trendy coffee shops than backyard barbecues, and their new high school principal is more committed to erasing the neighborhood's "ghetto" reputation than honoring its history. Home doesn't feel like home anymore. As Maya struggles to hold on to her black heritage, she begins to wonder with whom--or where--she belongs. Does growing up have to mean growing apart? In a captivating coming-...

South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf Publication Date: April 1, 2016 Pages: 272 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult My Goodreads Rating: 2.5/3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: What is Kaycee willing to risk for the sake of love? And what will she risk for acceptance? In Sunshine, Tennessee, the main event in town is Friday night football, the biggest party of the year is held in a field filled with pickup trucks, and church attendance is mandatory. For Kaycee Jean McCoy, life in Sunshine means dating guys she has no interest in, saying only “yes, ma’am” when the local bigots gossip at her mom’s cosmetics salon, and avoiding certain girls at all costs. Girls like Bren Dawson. Unlike Kaycee, Bren doesn’t really conceal who she is. But as the cool, worldly new girl, nobody at school seems to give her any trouble. Maybe there’s no harm if Kaycee gets closer to her too, as long as she can keep that part of her life a secret, especially from her family and her best friend. But the ...

Well, another year has come and gone and here I am (again) with nothing but a big pile of books that I've read. Trust me, though, I'm not complaining. Last year I read just over 150 books so I feel like I'm slacking a little bit this year because, as of today, I'm only at 133. Yeah, play your tiny violin, Pine. Anywho, here are some of my favorite books for 2015 and some things I'm looking forward to reading in 2016. All books have My Goodreads Rating and a Quick Review   of why I enjoyed it. These books are mostly my four and five star reads from this year. Also, just because I read these books in 2015 does not mean they were published in 2015.  Code Name Verity My GR Rating: 5 Stars Quick Review: If you know me, you know I love to read about WWII and strong women (or girls). This book has both of those things. To me, this was an amazing story about friendship. It was one of the first books I read in 2015 and one of the first books to ever make me ...

Yay, another time I remembered to do Top Ten Tuesday , a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish . Here's a list of New-To-Me Favorite Authors I Read in 2015. (Links to author's Goodreads profiles are on the books.) Jessi Kirby Wow. I loved this one a lot a lot a lot.  Nicole Yoon Diverse characters and a plot twist? Yes, please! Robin Benway So. Many. Swoons. Matt Fraction I seriously love this Hawkeye comic. And Pizza Dog. Pierce Brown I went on a dystopian binge a couple of summers ago and vowed to never read another. Then I did. Now I'm impatiently waiting for the third book.  Jenny Han Oh, my sweetness.  Sarah J. Maas This book. Wow. Yes. OKAY. Lauren Gibaldi This was so sweet and cute. I love that in a book.  Ann Aguirre I loved this book something fierce. Reading about Sage overcoming her past was so special.  Elizabeth Wein Congrats on being the firs...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish ! This week's topic is Ten Books The Celebrate Diversity/Diverse Characters. Below are some of my favorites that I've read. This is a great story about familial relationships and how we keep things from those we love. The backstory is pretty deep (telling about the family's Chinese American heritage), even though most of the book revolves around Lydia's death. It's interesting to see how the family ends up where they are. I originally picked this one up because I was reading my way through John Green, but it really helped steer me toward David Levithan's work. I loved both of the Will Graysons in this book even though they were complete opposites in so many ways. And, of course, there's Tiny Cooper.  I'm going to have to admit to falling in love with this cover, buying the book, and not even knowing what it was about. I loved the way that Emi grew up in this story...