This story will Change your Life!

It will! You'll roll your eyes so hard that they may just sink back into your skull or fall down your sinus cavity.  Halflings by Heather Burch was one of my most painful reads in recent history.  I'm not sure which got to me worse - the once-again need to have any and all YA female protagonists be saved time and time again by a romantic interest, or the cheesy lines that made me feel like I was reading a first-attempt at a romance novel. 
I'm sorry. I usually enjoy YA books, paranormal books, and other books that are very similar to this one. The problem is that there were no elements that jumped out (in a good way).  I will read 17 books about guardian angels, 86 books about demon hunters, and 6 books about pretend heavenly politics.  But this is 1 book that I will not be reading again.

Geek Girl by Cindy C Bennett

So I went into Geek Girl pretty much knowing what to expect.  "Let's turn the geek into a bad boy" books are highly predictable, but I also found this one touching. Awww.  It's like the stuff that teenage romantic comedies are made of.  Bad girl wants to prove she is bad by finding nerdy boy and turning him to the dark side.  But...but what happens when she starts to fall in love with him AND realizes he has nice abs???  I'm not going to tell you; find out for yourself.  Something that the ARC copy from NetGalley had that I hope is included in the regular release is a discussion question section at the end of the book.  I thought it added some depth to the story that I initially overlooked and made me sit and think about the choices that characters made in the book.

lNot a life-altering read, but one that I enjoyed. Recommended for teens - even though the "bad boy" crowd doesn't make the best choices, I think the author does a good job at pointing out that what they are doing is stupid without getting preachy about it.

Ashes, ashes, let's eat the adults

Ashes by Isla J Bick.  I am in love with this book. If I wasn't married, I would propose to this book. I read NOTHING about this book but the title before reading, and was so happy that I went in blind! I began thinking I was reading a book about dealing with a terminal illness, then BAM! I'm in a post-apocalyptic world without much in the way of electricity then BAM! Zomies show up! And just when I have all that tucked away, BAM! Enter slightly creepy distopic society. I love the fact that the author was able to surprise me so thoroughly and so often.

High schoolers to adults will enjoy this book, but the squidgy eating-people parts might make some people feel uncomfortable. I wouldn't necessarily say that this should be assigned reading, but it doesn't have to be. The story sells itself.

Buy this book. And feel the sheer terror I did at the end that the book had, in fact, ended. (I clicked 'next page' on my Kindle to no avail. It really was over.) It left me wanting more in a very good way!

Buried...and forgotten

Buried by Linda Joy Singleton.  Oooo...I so wanted to enjoy this book.  Cool cover art, mystery, AND goth?  That's like my quick-read guily pleasure hat trick.  Like I said, I so wanted to enjoy this book....but I just...didn't really.  Not a terrible concept, but also not completely original.  If you don't solve the mystery before the main character, you'll at least be close enough that you won't be surprised.  There were a lot of elements presented: parent trust issues, possible romance (because, evidently, all novels about teenage girls MUST include a romantic sub-plot), and search for identity. My problem is that none of them were covered thoroughly. I wanted more info. Not "please write a sequal" info, but "please flesh out what is there" info.  It was good for a weekend read, but not something I would have wanted to give up a week's worth of nightly reading for.

Samson and Delilah...and his wife...and his mom

I love Biblical fiction, and Desired did not disappoint. It was so interesting to hear the story of one of the Bible's famous "fallen heroes" from everyone's perspective BUT his own. Great historical context made the entire story feel alive and had me peeling open my Bible over and over to reread sections of Samson's story to see which parts were part of the Biblical record and which parts were fiction; they tied together so seamlessly that I had trouble differentiating between them. Gotta say, I really enjoyed this book!