Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Synopsis:

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn't even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

You know when you read a book that you enjoy so much that you just want to shove it in everyone’s face and tell them to read it? Yeah, that is how this book left me feeling when I was done reading it.

It was a very well-written book that covered a lot of different topics. It was a very good coming of age story that portrayed what some young gay men may be going through on a daily basis. Everyone has a different experience, but I think the basic concept of Rafe’s feelings and beliefs can touch many different people.

This book was fun, it made you think, and it was heartbreaking all at the same time.

It covers topics of inner-struggles, acceptance, homophobia, and misconceptions – about many different “types” of people or “labels”.

Once I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. I read it straight through and didn’t even notice I was sitting there reading for 6 hours. It is very fast-paced, and I just needed to see how it ended.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys YA novels.

5/5 Stars

 Click To Purchase!

High Five by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #5)

Synopsis:

In her fifth high-octane thriller, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum sets out to find her missing uncle-- and along the way smacks slam-bang into: a dead body, a nasty bookie, her stun-gun-toting grandmother, two very sexy men, an angry little man who won't leave her apartment, and a Mafia wedding...

Another book of witty conversations, unfortunate luck for Stephanie, and sexually charged encounters. Oh, and some crime on the side!

This book made me laugh out loud more than any of the previous books in the series. The way that Ranger and Morelli both just laugh when something unfortunate happens to Stephanie makes me laugh even harder.

If you need a pick-me-up, these are the books that you should read. There are plenty of interesting storylines with different crimes and mysteries, but there is also a lot of comedy. Whether it comes from Grandma Mazur, Lula, or Stephanie herself.

There is a good balance of funny and serious, and it keeps you interested the whole way through.

I was really annoyed with Briggs as a character when Lula and Stephanie were trying to catch him, but once she had to have constant communication with him, he really grew on me. I hope that he shows up in the following books. They had interesting banter back and forth, and I think he could be helpful to her.

I really wanted to just crack open the next book right after I finished this one. These characters are addicting.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Okay, so sometimes I wasn’t the world’s greatest bounty hunter. I wasn’t a fabulous cook. I didn’t have a boyfriend, much less a husband. And I wasn’t a big financial success. I could live with all those failings as long as I knew that once in awhile I looked really hot.”

“Stephanie Plum, master of diversion. If your hair is bad, shorten your skirt and ass extra mascara.”

“I really needed juice. And a Snickers bar. If I had juice and a snickers bar, I probably could forget about sex. In fact, I didn’t even need the juice anymore. Just the Snickers bar.”

Click To Purchase!

Cross Justice by James Patterson

Synopsis:

Alex Cross left his hometown, and some awful family tragedies, for a better life with Nana Mama in Washington, DC. He hasn't looked back.

Now his cousin Stefan has been accused of a horrible, unthinkable murder, and Cross drives south with Bree, Nana Mama, Jannie, and Ali to Starksville, North Carolina, for the first time in thirty-five years. Back home, he discovers a once proud community down on its luck, and local residents who don't welcome him with open arms. As Cross steps into his family home, the horrors of his childhood flood back--and he learns that they're not really over. He brings all his skill to finding out the truth about his cousin's case. But truth is hard to come by in a town where no one feels safe to speak.

Chasing his ghosts takes Cross all the way down to the sugarcane fields of Florida, where he gets pulled into a case that has local cops needing his kind of expertise: a string of socialite murders with ever more grisly settings. He's chasing too many loose ends--a brutal killer, the truth about his own past, and justice for his cousin--and any one of the answers might be fatal.

In Cross Justice, Alex Cross confronts the deadliest--and most personal--case of his career. It's a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that proves you can go home again--but it just might kill you.

This book was very different from the rest of the series. It was almost refreshing. We get to learn a lot more about Alex’s past than we have before and get to meet a lot of his family.

It took me awhile to get through this book, and I’m not even sure why. Perhaps because it was a lot different than the others, or maybe I am just in a reading slump. But, I would pick it up and only read a few chapters at a time. But than vanished when I was about halfway through the book. Once I hit that point, I could just not put it down!

I am still not really sure what the purpose of Coco as a villain was to this book. I know it helped to bring Alex together with a pretty significant character, but that was about it. I was waiting for that story to have a huge twist that made it integral to the book’s plot, and it really didn’t. It was interesting, but I didn’t think it was all that necessary.

My complaint is that there was almost no Sampson in this book, but it wouldn’t have made sense for him to be in it. I just like Alex and John’s interactions.

Overall, Cross Justice is a really solid book in the Alex Cross series. Maybe one of the best in awhile!

4/5 Stars

 Click To Purchase!