Andye Reads

Review by Jackie... OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS By Krystal Sutherland Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: G.P. Putnam (September 6, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts, and the golden seams that put them back together again.   Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.   Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when ...

Review by Sara... LEARNING TO SWEAR IN AMERICA By Katie Kennedy Hardcover: 346 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury (July 5, 2016) Grade Range: 9 up Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Brimming with humor and one-of-a-kind characters, this end-of-the world novel will grab hold of Andrew Smith and Rainbow Rowell fans. An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been called to NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. He knows how to stop the asteroid: his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize--if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But Yuri's 17, and having a hard time making older, stodgy physicists listen to him. Then he meets Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and save a life worth living. Prepare to laugh, cry,...

Review by Sara... JULIA VANISHES By Catherine Egan Series: Witch's Child #1 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (June 7, 2016) Language: English Grade Range: 8 up Goodreads | Amazon Julia has the unusual ability to be . . . unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people's senses.  It's a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it's a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned--crime pays. Her latest job is paying very well indeed. Julia is posing as a housemaid in the grand house of Mrs. Och, where an odd assortment of characters live and work: A disgraced professor who sends her to fetch parcels containing bullets, spiders, and poison. An aristocratic houseguest who is locked in the basement each night. And a mysterious young woman who is clearly in hiding--though from what or whom? Worse, Julia suspects that there's a connecti...

Review by Sara... THE GIRL I USED TO BE By April Henry Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books (May 3, 2016) Language: English Grade Range: 7 and up Age Range: 12 and up Goodreads | Amazon When Olivia's mother was killed, everyone suspected her father of murder. But his whereabouts remained a mystery. Fast forward fourteen years. New evidence now proves Olivia's father was actually murdered on the same fateful day her mother died. That means there's a killer still at large. It's up to Olivia to uncover who that may be. But can she do that before the killer tracks her down first? This is the first book by April Henry that I have read and if all of her books are like this one, I may sit them out. My initial reaction was to give this book 3.5 stars but I may drop that down to 2.5 stars. The more I digest this book, the more I realize things just don't add up. This is the story of Olivia Reinhart, who is actually Arial Be...

Review by Sara... HOW TO HANG A WITCH By Adriana Mather Series: How To Hang A Witch #1 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Knopf books for Young Readers (July 26, 2016) Age Range: 12 up Grade Range: 7 up Language: English Goodreads | Amazon For fans of  Conversion  and Mean Girls, comes a debut novel where the trials of high school start to feel like a modern day witch hunt for a teen with all the wrong connections to Salem’s past. Salem, Massachusetts is the site of the infamous witch trials and the new home of Samantha Mather. Recently transplanted from New York City, Sam and her stepmother are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for  those  trials and almost immediately, she becomes the enemy of a group of girls who call themselves The Descendants. And guess who their ancestors were? If dealing with that weren't enough, Sam also comes face to face with a real live (...

Review by Krista... THE GILDED CAGE By Lucinda Gray Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (August 2, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon After growing up on a farm in Virginia, Walthingham Hall in England seems like another world to sixteen-year-old Katherine Randolph. Her new life, filled with the splendor of upper-class England in the 1820s, is shattered when her brother mysteriously drowns. Katherine is expected to observe the mourning customs and get on with her life, but she can't accept that her brother's death was an accident.  A bitter poacher prowls the estate, and strange visitors threaten the occupants of the house. There's a rumor, too, that a wild animal stalks the woods of Walthingham. Can Katherine retain her sanity long enough to find out the truth? Or will her brother's killer claim her life, too? The Randolph's lost their parents after moving to Virginia from England. Relying on the friend...

Review by Krista... RUINED  by Amy Tintera Series: Ruined #1 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (May 3, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon A revenge that will consume her. A love that will ruin her. Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war. She lacks the powers of her fellow Ruined. Worst of all, she witnessed her parents’ brutal murders and watched helplessly as her sister, Olivia, was kidnapped. But because Em has nothing, she has nothing to lose. Driven by a blind desire for revenge, Em sets off on a dangerous journey to the enemy kingdom of Lera. Somewhere within Lera’s borders, Em hopes to find Olivia. But in order to find her, Em must infiltrate the royal family. In a brilliant, elaborate plan of deception and murder, Em marries Prince Casimir, next in line to take Lera’s throne. If anyone in Lera discovers Em is not Casimir’s true betrothed, Em will be executed on the spot. But it’s the only way to salvage Em’s kingd...

Review by Sara... FRANNIE AND TRU By Karen Hattrup Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (May 31, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon When Frannie Little eavesdrops on her parents fighting she discovers that her cousin Truman is gay, and his parents are so upset they are sending him to live with her family for the summer. At least, that’s what she thinks the story is. . . When he arrives, shy Frannie befriends this older boy, who is everything that she’s not–rich, confident, cynical, sophisticated. Together, they embark on a magical summer marked by slowly unraveling secrets.   All of these debut books are starting to read as if they are the same. This was no different than the rest I have read recently. It started promising and then turned boring, leaving me to wonder what I just read. This is the story of cousins Frannie and Tru(man). Frannie overhears her mother talking one day and mentions that Truman (who goes by Tru) is gay. Tru'...

Review by Sara... THE FALL OF BUTTERFLIES By Andrea Portes Hardcover: 386 pages Publisher: Harper Teen (May 10, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Willa Parker, 646th and least popular resident of What Cheer, Iowa, is headed east to start a new life. Did she choose this new life? No, because that would be too easy—and nothing in Willa’s life is easy. It’s her famous genius mother’s idea to send her to ultra-expensive, ultra-exclusive Pembroke Prep, and it’s only the strength of her name that got Willa accepted in the first place. But Willa has no intentions of fitting in at Pembroke. She’s not staying long, she decides. Not at this school—and not on this planet. But when she meets peculiar, glittering Remy Taft, the richest, most mysterious girl on campus, she starts to see a foothold in this foreign world—a place where she could maybe, possibly, sort of fit. When Willa looks at Remy, she sees a girl who has everything. But for Remy, having everything co...

Review by Sara... CIRCLE OF JINN (Becoming Jinn #2) By Lori Goldstein Age Range: 12-18 years Grade Level: 7 and up Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (May 17, 2016) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Being Jinn is Azra’s new reality. As she grants wishes under the watchful eye of the Afrit council, she remains torn between her two worlds—human and Jinn. Soon, secrets spill. Zars are broken. Humans become pawns. And rumors of an uprising become real as the Afrit’s reach extends beyond the underground world of Janna. Straddling the line becomes impossible. Aware of her unique abilities, Azra must not just face but embrace her destiny. But when the role she must play and those she must protect expand to include a circle of Jinn greater than her own, Azra will be forced to risk everything. A risk that means there’s everything to lose, and at the same time, everything to gain—for herself and her entire Jinn race. In this dramatic sequel to Becoming Jin...