Review: Ask Me Anything

Ask Me Anything by Molly E. Lee
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

My Review: First off this is totally a book for those who love hacking. It brought back memories of that old movie Hackers that I fell so in love with I think it was in the 90's. It also is a great story about sex education and how important it is. I think this one would be an amazing story for teens of high school to read. It is just so important especially in our day and age for this story to be told.

Schools need to get away from thinking of sex as evil. Telling kids just don't do it and start accepting it for what it is. Sex isn't the enemy miss information and people being to embarrassed to ask questions is the issue. I love the parts in this where Amber is talking to her mom. They are open and honest about sex and they are both better for it. Have an open policy with your kids about this topic (really any topic). I love that my daughter's know that they can come to me and talk about sex and anything else. It's not taboo, or shameful, or nasty, its part of life and more people need to accept that. Your kids will be safer if they can come to you with their questions.

Another part of this book is about rape. So be warned, Amber goes through a lot of PTSD (lightish vs. other books about this topic.). But I think the author did a wonderful job with the micro flashbacks and Amber talking about it. Another great message in this story is that it doesn't matter if you are a girl or a boy rape is rape and no means no. My best advice about going out and parting is to always make sure your drink in moderation (if you drink at all). Know your limits!! And always do the this rule of thumb! It might sound lame but it will keep you safe.

Drink Rules: 1 Alcoholic Drink, 1 Glass of Water, 1 Snack or some kind of food, wait a minimum of 1 hour before you repeat this cycle. This gives your body enough time to to start breaking down the alcohol in your system.

One letter that Amber answered in this story is about a girl who is forced to change her shirt because she is showing to much skin. However the boys are allowed to go shirtless. This reminded me of an issue that was going on at a local high school here a few years ago. Girls were singled out and told that they could no longer show their collarbones. Which is so stupid. I totally agree with what Amber told the girl to do that to use her social media and her voice. Because we as women and girls are NOT a distraction.

The story itself was great. With all the elements it had the only one I kind of had an issue with was Dean. Don't get me wrong he was an awesome boy but I found myself just not enjoying his chapter as much as Ambers. By the end of the book I did warm up to his part of the story and it really started to unfold and made more sense since it gave us information that we wouldn't have known. So when it all went down we already knew who knew what.

There is just so much to say about this important novel. But I just do not have the words to say it all here. This is just one of those stories that you need to read. Buy it for your daughters and sons and your schools and libraries!! Get it into the hands of teens because that is where it will do the most good.


Go Into This One Knowing: Dual POV, Sex Education, Hacking, Attempted Rape (PTSD Flashbacks), Doesn't Shy Away from Hard Topics,


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Review: The Ghost Hunter's Daughter

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Caroline Flarity
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spooky & Wonderful!

What drew me in for this book was the cover. It was creepy and interesting and I have to say that the book didn’t disappoint at all. This one really reminded me of mashed up episode of Supernatural, The Conjuring, and Mean Girls with Hoarders tossed in for good measure. And I have to say that IT WORKED!! I have have been in the pahanmoral field for over 20 years and I have to say that this author did a very good job with the ghosty demon aspect of this story. I felt like she did justice to those who cleanse objects etc. And I loved every second of it.

The characters in this one were great. I loved Anna and really enjoyed that she was just a normal teenager. She had her faults and well she acted her age! How many young adult novels can say that? I know that I have seen some people say that this reads for younger teens and I would have to disagree. Her being 16 in this she sounded just right. I know that my 14 almost 15 year old acts a lot like Anna in some aspects. And over the course of the story she grows and learns that its ok to make mistakes. And its also ok to just let things go. Because in the end no one can make you feel bad unless you let them. Her friends were perfect for this story as well. I do wish we would have gotten a little more romance in this one but I could see that happening in a book two. Her dad although a hoarder was also great. He was understanding for the most part and his new partner was so adorable!! I love her so much!!

I think that I would love to see a book two that centers around the house being cleaned up. Her dad going forward with healing after his wife's death. And some romance blooming between some characters. As well as maybe then going on the hunt to start ridding the world of bad spirits etc. Esp. with how this one ended with Anna having a certain connection.


Go Into This One Knowing: Bullies, Pedophile (old teacher), Ghosts, Death of a Parent, No Cliffhanger

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Review: American Panda

American Panda by Gloria Chao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review: This was such a cute little book. I loved it so much but did have a few issues with it. I have to say that it was a little off putting to read about a set of parents that didn't get their daughter the glasses she needed. Many times during the story Mei talked about how she couldn't see something because of her bad eyes. If this is the real way this culture is for those families that are I fear for these children. How are they supposed to get this amazing education if they can't even see right?

Ok so my rage for glasses is now over. Other than that these parents were so in this story that it kind of makes up for all the other stories out there where the parents are not there. The other characters were great to. I really wished that Mei would have taken a hold of her own life and just told her parents how she really felt. There comes a time at an age where you just need to do what you want. You are almost an adult or you are one and its time to cut the cord.

The story itself was really good. There were a few parts that were kind of stagnate and I think this one could have been a little shorter. But all in all it was still a very cute story.



Go Into This One Knowing: Slight Child Abuse, Family Relationships, Overbearing Parents, Light Insta-Love

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Review: I Believe in a Thing Called Love

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: OMG This book was just adorable. I have been a fan of telenovelas for a while now and this one based on K Dramas was just as good if not better. This reminded me of the TV show Jane the Virgin and I would love this to hit the tv screens as a movie or short series. If you are looking for a great read to enjoy at the pool side or beach look no further than this one right here.

I just loved how strong a character Desi was she knew what she wanted to do when she got done with high school and went after it head on. I also enjoyed how she grew as a character in the last few chapters. I do wished that the story would have covered her being just a tad to obsessed a little more but what we got really fit with the story.

I think that they only thing that would have made this story even better could have been maybe if it would have been dual POV but I fear that it might have slowed the story down. I would love to have a novella book or something in Luca's POV just so we could fall in love with him even more. I could see a collector's edition of this being full of art that Luca did.

The story itself was so beyond adorable. It had some of the funniest and cuties quotes (you can see those here) that I have ever found. It was well paced and I enjoyed every page. I also really enjoyed how the chapter names changed from chapters to steps and then back to chapters. It was just a little addition that made this story even cuter.



Go Into This One Knowing: K Dramas, Korean Culture, No Love Triangle

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Review: Toward a Secret Sky

Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My Review: I was so enjoying this story. It was well paced and had a lot of mystery in it. I loved the romance that was coming and the suspense of figuring out what in the world was going on. But that all came to a crashing halt when around 70 pages our heroine finds some girl laying in a pew and this girl holds all of the answers that she was looking for. She knows where Maren's parents worked, the necklace, and she just goes on an info dumping story of telling Maren everything she needed to know. For me that killed the story. It was way to much to believe that this girl who says o don't let any information fall into the wrong hands. That she would just blurt out all this information to this girl that she JUST met. It was just to much for me to believe. So although I would kind of still want to know what was up the story just pretty much fell apart. I wished that this girl didn't exist in this story and maybe Maren could have overheard something from the nun that was there or something else. Because this just did not work for me at all.



Go Into This One Knowing: Unrealistic, Info dumping the Mystery starting at page 70

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Review: The Last 8

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My Review: OMG this book was so good. I was up until 3am just to finish it and I did that in just over 4 hours. This alien invasion/dystopian was freaking great!! The characters were awesome and the story just kept going. I was kind of sad about the ending but I am so excited to see what the author does with book two.

This young adult story has almost no romance so if that isn't your thing don't worry about it this book doesn't have a lot in it almost at all. Theres really only like two parts that deal with it and that's it.

This is kind of how I hoped The Fifth Wave would have been. With the world going to the trash heap and the aliens taking over. If you have been searching for a great alien story then look no further than right here!!

The characters in this one were diverse and amazing. I loved everyone!!! And the author did a wonderful with all of the twists and turns that came at me. The world was full of everything from creepy creatures to real questions about life. The author didn't shy away from creepy scary action and man o man this was one for the best reads list!!


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Review: The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting

The Art of Visual Notetaking: An Interactive Guide to Visual Communication and Sketchnoting by Emily Mills
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Review: I love this book about visual notetaking. It was so informative and had space for practicing the steps in the book. I do wish that it would have given more complete samples. But these really remind me of those infographic. I am excited to try and do some of these for the books that I read as I think that they would help me with keeping my thoughts in order to do reviews. And of course its so freaking cool looking!!! This would be great for all skill levels and I like that the author drops the hammer that you should keep all of your work. So that over time you could see how much you have learned.

I could see someone using this for school as well as for work. It just has so many applications. That the possibilities are endless.


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