Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik (Allie's Review)

So this week I read a book that Jewelz recommended to me: Epic Fail. This book is amazing, the romance had me swooning, the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat, and the end definitely left me happy.

Elise was one of those characters that you just wish you could be, ya know? She was hilarious and easygoing. She made me wish I was more cynical just so I could have the same absurd look on situations. (sadly, I could never be cynical, I'm too much of a romantic... disappointing, no?) She definitely had her problems though. Such as being a little bit full of herself thinking she was above liking someone (a very hot someone..) just because everyone else did. But throughout the book she learns from that mistake, apologizes, and grows as a person because of it. Also, she had me seeing some weaknesses in her hard shell of cynicism... One in particular is my least favorite and favorite character: Derek Edwards.

Ah Derek. Despite being a mega-douche in the beginning of the book he is definitely.... Well swoon worthy and adorable. Towards the beginning of the book Elise said something about not wanting to date someone like herself... That definitely backfired on her. He's the male version of Elise except he is much much much much much more guarded. Considering everything that he goes through on a regular basis, I don't blame him. An added bonus for me and one of the reasons I loved and hated him so much was the fact that he was hot. Like eggs cooking on the sidewalk hot. Sizzling. Smoking. Whatever you want to call it, he was beautiful. And in the beginning of the book being hot was the only reason I wasn't hoping he would get hit by a bus. He redeemed himself from being a total butt-hole right around the part when he asked Elise to semiformal. He then promptly became a douche again and remained that way until the night on the field trip to the beach. That night he went from being my least favorite character to being number freaking one.

And then there was Webster. Webster Slimeball Grant. (may or may not be his actual title) It was sad because I really liked him... Up until I started questioning his motives. But in the end he was a butt-munching, crust face, who doesn't deserve to live. You'll see when you read it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever been the new kid at school, wondered about what a celebrity's life is like, or ...well breathes. Yeah it was that good. 5/5 "diva" mustaches!

My English Inquiry Project: Obsession/Where I'm from Poem!

Hey, everyone! I'm in the process of finishing up the book I'm reading now, Flat Out Love by Jessica Parker and I don't think I'm gonna have enough time to review it today. Hopefully, I'll have it finished by tomorrow afternoon so I can review it for you guys tomorrow!

So, instead of a review I thought I would show you guys my video and poem I made for my final English Literature and Composition project!

In the middle of the year we were told to choose an inquiry topic where we would ask the question, "What is the nature of..." My topic I chose was obsession, making my question, "What is the nature of obsession?" We were also supposed to find a book that related to our topic. I chose Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. For our final project we had to use our inquiry in a creative way. We could make a video, make a collage, make a diorama, have a photograph essay, stuff like that. I chose to make a photo video based on my topic. This took me FOREVER to do but I think it turned out really great. So here it is:

















For another part of our project we were to make a "Where I'm From Poem" based on a character that was in any of the novels/ short stories we read this year. I chose the little boy, Doodle from the story, The Scarlett Ibis by James Hurst. In my poem I am the voice of him. Doodle was born with a caul which makes him handicapped. I wanted to write about him because I thought it would be interesting for people to see how he deals with his struggles, especially since the story was told in Doodle's brother's view. So, here's my poem:

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Where I'm From

I am from go carts,

 from Paris green, and shade from the trees. 

I am from a cautious home. 

(paranoid, worry-some, it smelled like grave yard flowers.)

I am from the wild violets, 

the wire grass, 

that me and Brother would use to weave into necklaces. 

I am from walking celebrations and signs of rain frogs, 

from my doubtful Mama and my pessimistic Daddy 

and over-religous Aunt Nicey.

I am from the frequent doctor visits 

to my every wobbly step being watched. 

From he won't live and being invalid.

I am from strict Christian beliefs, 

where I am believed to become a saint.

I am from North Carolina and cotton fields,

iced tea and fried chicken.

From Daddy building me a little coffin,

and keeping it in the barn loft,

to Brother teaching me to walk.

I am from the Old Woman Swamp,

where I could do and believe in anything.

I am from those memories- 

knowing that I would be gone before I could enjoy life to the fullest,

but still trying anyways. 

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I hope you liked both of my pieces for my projects! Let me know in the comments what you think about them! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Hope your day is filled with *SPARKLES*!

Big Big Big News!!

I'm super super super fantabulously excited to announce that we will be adding on a permanent guest reviewer to YA Book Diva Reviews!

I thought it would be a good idea  to add a guest reviewer because it would be better for you guys, so you got more reviews out of my blog, and better for me so I wouldn't have to worry about not reading enough to review!

So I bet you all are wondering who's going to be the newest guest reviewer to the YA Book Diva team, right??

Welcome our new Diva....

ALLIE! 

Yay! Allie has been my friend since about 7th grade! She joined my book club I made in eighth grade for some girls who wanted to beta read my Momma's book. Allie was always asking for book recommendations and borrowing books from me and always giving me her opinion on the books, so I thought she would be the perfect person to become the new member of this blog! I'm super excited that she's joined and now I wont be the only person who is always talking about books now. ;) Sorry Allie, you're gonna get sucked in.

Allie will be guest reviewing every other week so you guys can get another opinion every once in a while! SO, instead of 1 review a week, there will be 1 review one week and then 2 reviews the next and then so on!

Here's Allie's bio:

"Wellll, I'm Allison. I like making people laugh, acting, and well obviously reading. I'm a sucker for accents. Big time. I hope to someday get a degree in Theatre and travel the world. I loove nature, fishing, and hiking. I would love to climb a mountain one day and go skydiving(:" 

Well, doesn't she just sound delightful? ;D

I "interviewed" Allie so you guys could get to know her a little more!

J: What's your favorite genre? 

A: Contemporary Romance.  

(We have VERY similar taste when it comes to books. ;) )

J: What's your favorite book?

A: Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

J: What do you like to do when your not reading?

A: Act and hang out with my friends!

J: Do you ever want to write a book someday?

A: Nope, I just like reading them! 

I pretty much guessed half of these answers.. ! Not only do Allie and I have similar taste in books we also have some similar qualities! We both love acting, we both love reading, and sarcasm is our second language. ;) But, we are also VERY opposite when it comes to things.. Such as, I would choose a crown for my signature whereas Allie would choose a mustache... I would choose PINK, Allie would choose blue. I have a slight over obsession with sparkles and Paris, Allie does not. With those differences aside, we still seem to get along quite nicely. We both have very strong personalities so watch out! ;)

I asked Allie if she could write a quick review so you guys could see what she thought. I told her she HAD to read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and she whipped up a review in no time! I thought it would be cool for you guys to see what she thought about the book compared to what I thought. If you haven't read my review of it you can find that here!

Here's Allie's first review! 

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Oh my. Oliver. If I could, I would talk about Oliver for this whole review. However, that might be slightly annoying to all of you. So here's all I'm gonna write about him: he is British. There you should already be in love with him.

Okay so adorable British boys aside, I LOVED this book. I really connected with the main character, Hadley. When Jewelz recommended this book to me, I thought it would be a light, fluffy read. (there is totally nothing wrong with that, I live for those books!) But it was SOOO much more than that. It was such a deep story. And although the books main conflict wasn't about Oliver at all, I was not disappointed. The author, Jennifer Smith, really captured the feelings of anger towards Hadleys father perfectly!! The resentment, the struggle to talk with him about it, their trip to Aspen, everything was perfectly timed and executed.

But um, back to whole boy situation... BOYS LIKE OLIVER: Y U NO GO TO MY SCHOOL?! I'm not really a believer in "instalove" but even I was completely sold by the time the plane took off to London. They just had this instant connection and every time they were together I was literally swooning. SWOONING. Full-out. Complete with an "AWWW!" every three pages. The only reason I didn't want to totally steal Oliver from Hadley was because they were just SO DARN CUTE! 

The only thing I wasn't completely and totally sold on (other than it ending to quickly;)) was the third person narration. I don't know, it made me slightly confused as to whether something was a flashback or not.. But other than that a GREAT book!!! A must have if you love contemporary romance and British accents! 4.5 diva mustaches! 

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Isn't she fantabulous?! I hope you all are just excited as we are. Yay for more reviews! 

And....

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (Review)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Number of Pages: 236

For ages 12+

"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it." -Goodreads

I was just browsing through contemporary romance on Goodreads and found this little gem! I needed a little refresher from so many paranormal/ dystopian books and what better way to do that than by reading contemporary romance! 

On a side note... the title is definitely a mouthful! ;)

The story takes place in the span of 24 hours. You would think that since it had at least 200 pages the events would just drag on, but it definitely didn't. It was fun knowing that so much could happen in one day. Especially so many eventful things!

I loved Hadley. I loved her personality, I loved her flaws, and I loved the way she thought. Plus, she loved to read. Who wouldn't like that in a main character? She wasn't one of those main characters who made a whole bunch of stupid decisions. Her decisions actually had reason behind them, and even though some were on a whim, I couldn't help agreeing with her. Hadley has to go all the way to London for her father's wedding where he will be getting married to a woman Hadley has never even met. Talk about difficult. And on top of that, she's just missed her flight. Fortunately, without her missing her flight, there would pretty much be no story to tell! While waiting, she meets a fantabulous and may I say, SWOON WORTHY boy named Oliver.

Oliver was super duper sweet and had loads of charm. Plus, he was quite the gentleman! The chemistry between him and Hadley was absolutely there and you couldn't help rooting for them to work out. I'm not usually one who thinks that someone can fall in love or even realize that they have really strong feelings for someone in the span of 24 hours, but by the end I was on board! Of course, under the circumstances it could be a tad different than other situations. You got to learn a lot about Oliver and his life in America and in London. You saw what problems he had to deal with and some of his flaws. Both he and Hadley both uncovered each other's true personalities.

Something else that I really liked was the way the author used those 200 pages. There's only so much you can write over something that happens in the span of 24 hours in 200 pages. She had lots of flashbacks that gave you a great background on Hadley's life and why some of these problems in her life occurred.

This book definitely had a little flair of Anna and the French Kiss, and there was definitely an English boy in there too. ;) I couldn't help sharing all of my comments to my friends nearby and I'm sure they got annoyed at times..

After reading this book I had realized that contemporary romance may be my favorite genre. Surprising, I know! I LOVE dystopian romance and paranormal romance and fantasy romance and all that jazz, but when I've read a whole bunch of those different genres, it's nice to be able to read a book where the main aspect is romance and there isn't any huge aspects to digest.

This book was a super fast read for me, it had amazing romance, and super fantabulous characters! 5 out of 5 diva crowns! :)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Review)

Genre: Dystopian

Number of Pages: 525

For ages 12+

"One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so." -Goodreads

Sorry, everyone, for not writing my review yesterday. I was totally planning on writing it and then we went to go see The Avengers, (SUPER GOOD!) and then we came home and cleaned, (Super fun... I know you're feeling the sarcasm.) and then I had to read a whole bunch more of Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury because that's my assigned reading for English Literature and Composition. YAY. So, anyways, long story short, I didn't have any time to write my review yesterday. And I SO WANTED to write it yesterday, because I knew it was going to be a long one. So here we are! Going on....

I was extremely excited for this book to come out. SO STINKIN' EXCITED. And I came home and there it was in its cardboard beauty in between my screen door and my front door, when I came home from school. I immediately started reading it when I got it. 

The book starts right back up where it ended which causes SUPER tension right in the beginning. I loved that there was no "easing into the action." We were right there in a matter of pages. Tris is one tough girl. Which I guess, of course, she should be considering she transferred to Dauntless. But seriously, she just saw *SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ DIVERGENT!*

both her mom and dad die, and now she has to move on quickly in order to save her life. *SPOILER OVER!*

Four/ Tobias is still AWESOME. I had re-read Divergent about a month ago, and one thing that kinda irked me was the fact that Tobias agrees with the fact that Tris isn't "the best looking." Yes, looks aren't everything. I whole-heartedly agree with that fact. But the fact that this guy who really cares for Tris is agreeing she isn't beautiful kind of made me mad. I just brought that up, because I guess I never realized that until the second time I read the book. BUT WHATEVS. Back to the fact that I still think Tobias is FANTABULOUUS. He was still super (Have you noticed I say super a lot?) sweet, and was always there for Tris. What is different about this love story, is that Tris isn't the "damsel in distress." Tobias knows how strong Tris is, and he isn't going to comfort her when he knows she can do better. Now, of course, I've just made it sound like he's some kind of jerk that doesn't care about his girlfriend, but he really does care for Tris. So, don't let my explanation turn you off. I loved the romance between these two because they weren't always lovey- dovey "I'll never be mad at you" kind of thing. They had their fights and got over them. Their arguments had reason and it was as realistic as a romance in a dystopian novel can be!

I can not tell you how many times I just wanted to SCREAM AT TRIS. Goodness gracious. That girl did so many things that I would never ever ever ever ever ever (did I mention ever?) do. She also did some pretty stupid stuff. I can't really say what she did, but lets just say she should have listened to Tobias in some situations. 

In Insurgent you get to meet a whole bunch of new characters and you get to reconcile with some old ones! There are twists and betrayal and all that fun stuff. So you HAVE to read this book. It was just as good as the first and maybe possibly even better. Which is really hard to do in a sequel. Especially a sequel! So, I give this book 5 out of 5 diva crowns. LOVED IT! 

Note: I love how I spent most of my time talking about the romance in the book. Sounds like something I would do. ;)

Hope your day is filled with *SPARKLES*

Everneath by Brodi Ashton (Review)

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Number of Pages: 370

For ages 12+

"Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s [queen]." -Goodreads

I know I was supposed to review the whole series of the Celestra series, but then I figured out the last two books aren't even out and I got super frustrated by the ending of the sixth book. So, I'll be reviewing a different book!

My momma went to the RT convention in Chicago and got me scads of books! YAY for books! This just so happened to be one of the books she got me. PLUS she got me a super special surprise that I'll show you at the end of the post because I really need to start writing this post now.

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I got into it, it was pretty good!

The plot is fantastic. It's something new and something I've never read before. 

Nikki wasn't a character that completely stuck out to me, she wasn't a character that I would remember when I thought of my top favorites. She was still enjoyable to read, though. Nikki has to find a way to explain to her friends and family why she left for so long, and why she came back. Too bad she can't really explain without people thinking she's crazy. Cole persuades Nikki into coming with him in result of taking the pain away. Nikki had dealt with a lot. Her mother had died from a hit and run crash, the jury found the man who did it guilty, and she had caught Jack, her boyfriend at the time, *SPOILER ALERT* with another girl. *SPOILER OVER*

There's two love interests in this book, Cole and Jack. Cole was the one to take her into Everneath where she fell in love, Jack was her boyfriend before she left. I can tell you right now, I was definitely loving Jack. I'm hoping the author wasn't wanting me to like Cole whatsoever because I definitely didn't. I did feel some sympathy for him at specific points, but I wasn't too fond of the guy. I could not help getting SUPER frustrated at Nikki when she even THOUGHT about going back with Cole to be his queen. That guy is a cockroach. Luckily, Nikki was pretty stuck on keeping away from Cole. But Jack, he was stinkin' amazing. He was willing to hear why Nikki left, and was willing to help. 

There were definitely twists in this book, things you weren't expecting. And the ending? HUGE TWIST. It really gets you excited for the next book without pulling out your hair in anger. 

I really loved this book. It was an easy read that I read quite fast. It had a great plot, and it had great twists. I give this book 5 out of 5 diva crowns!

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My momma was super sweet and got me one of the most amazing surprises EVER....

A SIGNED COPY OF LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR!

I literally squealed when I saw it! Probably one of the best surprises ever. :) I'm one lucky duck! 

The Celestra Series Is Taking Over My Reading Life

So, I've been reading a series called the Celestra series. There are EIGHT books in the series and I was hoping to be done by now. This series has literally been taking me over two weeks to read and, don't get me wrong it's a great series, but I REALLY need to read something different. Luckily, I'm on the sixth book. I'm pretty sure the eighth book is the last, but I'm not completely sure.

I was hoping to be able to be finished with this series by today so I could review it as a whole, but no such luck. So, I'M SORRY EVERYONE. I WILL, and I repeat, WILL be finished with this series by next week to review and give you all the "low down" on it because I have A LOT to say about it. :) There's just so many books that it would take me almost two months to review them and I don't think you want to be reading only about this series for the next two months. I will be back, just thought I would fill you in over my absence!

Hope all is well with everyone. :)