Brain-Breaking-Books: EMPTY and HOPELESS

You guys. YOU GUYS. *taps screen*

Two new books I've recently read are stuck, trapped, WEDGED in my brain, I tell you.

I HIGHLY recommend both of them.

EMPTY by K.M. WALTON

PREMISE: Dell is used to disappointment. Ever since her dad left, it’s been one let down after another. But no one—not even her best friend—gets all the pain she’s going through. So Dell hides behind self-deprecating jokes and forced smiles.

Then the one person she trusts betrays her. Dell is beyond devastated. Without anyone to turn to for comfort, her depression and self-loathing spin out of control. But just how far will she go to make all of the heartbreak and name-calling stop?

FIRST LINE: I like the idea of making things disappear.

This book knocked my socks off.  And that ending (oh, that ending) left me breathless. This story is gritty and dark and raw. And K.M. doesn't tie up loose ends for you in a neat little package--just like real life. 

I know K.M. personally. So, I also know that she wrote this book from a very intimate place. From her own experiences with weight-gain and bullying. And knowing that, makes this book even more SIGNIFICANT.

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HOPELESS by Colleen Hoover

PREMISE: Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn't at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

FIRST LINE: I stand up and look down at the bed, holding my breath in fear of the sounds that are escalating from deep within my throat.

Not only was this one of the most intensely romantic books I have EVER read (the first kiss that wasn't even a first kiss--WHOA. Those who've read it will understand), the issues uncovered were profound and agonizing and heart-stopping. Hoover handled them expertly. This book was BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL!


What about you--read any brain-breaking-books lately?

Brain-Breaking-Books: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

You guys. YOU GUYS. This new YA book by John Green rocked my world. I mean, seriously. Cannot stop thinking about it, even a week later.

It also goes to show that the cover of a book has nothing on content. I envision a different front for this book. I picture Hazel Grace so perfectly in my head. And Augustus Waters. And they'd be sitting in the grass, near a playground, holding hands. But that's just because I want to be able to reach out and touch them. And then, hug them!


Premise: "Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten."



This is definitely a heart-breaking book (I cried at least five times) and John Green's writing is so amazingly raw and brilliant.



FIRST LINE: Late in the winter of my seventeenth year my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time thinking about DEATH.

One of my favorite lines: You are so busy being YOU that you have no idea how utterly unprecedented you are.

Have you read it? Is it on your list? Tell me what you're reading!

Three Reasons To Love CRACKED

1. Two distinct teen male points of view. How much more awesome (and crafty) can this author get? I mean, the writing is fantastic.

2. One is a bully and the other is his victim. And guess what? I rooted for both! My heart ripped to shreds hearing their stories before and after they ended up as roommates in the same psych ward.

3. K.M. Walton sewed my heart back together, stitch by stitch. She didn't force feed me a life lesson or give too tidy of an ending. What she did was give me realistic HOPE and as a reader that's all I really needed.

First line: I have wished that Bull Mastrick would die almost every single day.


YOU MUST (*must*) READ THIS BOOK!


Add it to Goodreads !
Order it HERE !


HAPPY NEW YEAR! ^_^

Reading and Writing Wednesday

This weekly meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To play along, answer the following three questions:

1. What are you currently reading? That's a loaded question because I read a few books all at once. I'm strange like that. O_o

So right now it's (totally awesome) DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth:

But also, FOREVER (the third book in SHIVER series) and WHERE SHE WENT (sequel to IF I STAY).

2. What did you recently finish reading? IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma and it totally wrecked my brain. The writing was so gorgeous, it made me want to ball up and trash my own work-in-progress. The story ending had me thinking for days. DAYS, I tell you.



3. What do you think you’ll read next? There's so much waiting in my TBR pile, including the new SHUT OUT, POSSESS and BAD TASTE IN BOYS. So many decisions!


HAVE A GOOD WEDNESDAY!

Brain-Breaking-Books: The Sky is Everywhere

...by Jandy Nelson
This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.

It's a book to own and keep on your bookshelf.
The sentences are poetic, gorgeous, and heart-breaking.
I want to hold her words on my lips and infuse them into my soul. TRULY!
Here's a blurb from Booklist:
Lennie has always been the companion pony to her sister Bailey’s race horse. When Bailey dies suddenly while rehearsing the lead in Romeo and Juliet, Lennie is thrust into the spotlight.

A normally reserved band geek who reads Wuthering Heights like a manifesto, Lennie is not prepared to deal with her grief. Nor is she equipped to confront the affection she feels for her dead sister’s fiancé. Adding to her emotional roller coaster is the gorgeous, musically gifted new boy in town who is clearly in love with her.

Readers will identify with her and root for her to finally make the first steps toward healing.

Nelson incorporates poems, written by Lennie and left for the wind to carry away, that help readers delve deeper into her heart.

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The book is littered with poems that Lennie writes.
They are so affecting. Here's one of my favorites:

When I am with HIM,

there is someone with me

in my house of grief,

someone who knows its architecture as I do,

who can walk with me,

from room to sorrowful room

making the whole rambling structure

of wind and emptiness,

not quite as scary, as lonely

as it was before.

See what I mean? BUY THIS BOOK!