published: 2017
pages: 358
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1468-0
read: 2/9-13/2018
rating: gah! i LOVED it!
book: 6 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018
I don't know why it's so hard for people to admit that sometimes they're just assholes who screw up because they don't expect to get caught.
-Nate pg 121
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
MY THOUGHTS
ahh! this book!
this one crept up on me on instagram. sometimes you gotta love that place because i don't think i would have picked this up otherwise. and i honestly think it was the cover because i didn't really research much about it. i just checked it out at the library and went with the flow.
and wow.
what a different take on something that we just recently went through.
(you might know what I'm talking about but i don't want to mention it on here because of spoilers.)
this book had me emotionally tied up because here are these 4 kids who are being accused of a crime that they didn't commit (or did they?) and while the reason that each student had for being blamed was stupid AF, it was still pretty well tied up. enough to make me want to continue reading this. i mean, it made for a good story but the reasoning behind it is so DUMB! ugh! i wish i could say why here but it's a huge spoiler.
i will say this though, I'm glad, BEYOND glad, that:
a) i am no longer a teen
b) i am not in high school and
c) NO type of social media existed while i was in high school. i think i was at the end of high school, maybe even already out, when MySpace blew up.
a lot of the reviews on goodreads state that they saw it coming before you landed at the conclusion and while it is true, it was still a good ride to take because like i always say "just because you know the end, it doesn't mean you know the journey" and this book is a good example of that.
pretty interesting twist to put on a subject that we are all too unfortunately familiar with.
and in my opinion, before you find out why or who, the author does a good job keeping you hooked.
i still can't get over the reason for blaming each student listed above but also the reason that each student was personally chosen after they had already done what they did.
and yes, its a typical high school read. meaning, there's the typical high school stuff: parties, hookups, cheating...all that, with the exception of some things. like there's your usual listed above but then there's other stuff that I'm like "is that even a real thing that can happen!?" i don't ever remember high school being that tough! but then again, anything is possible.
also, i feel like i should mention this but i mean, it's a pretty standard description of the characters.
like YOU KNOW what the nerd is going to do.
you know what the pretty girl is going to do.
you know what the rebel is going to do (albeit, his was the stupidest reason.)
and while you think you might know what the jock is going to do, he "does" but his real secret isn't really that shocking. to me it's a pretty standard "thing" to do to a character now. i would have been more shocked if his secret was that he was banging his 15th cousin thrice removed because he didn't know they were related because he was adopted as a kid and he didn't find out til he was in high school but he didn't want anyone to know because he hated that he had been lied to all his life. *les comes up for air*
overall it was a good read for me and i definitely would love to buy this book to have in my personal library so i will be keeping an eye out for a copy.
jump on over for spoilers.
thanks for reading!
#lesreads on IG
(you know, now that i am re-reading the spoilers before i post, it was so obvious who did it. i mean, obvs you dont know then but there were just so many things. either way, still good rea!) 
published: 3/6/2018
pages: 183 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-0-06-239419-4
read: 2/7-8/2018
rating: LOVED IT!
book: 5 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018
Peg Savage has contractually agreed to move to Key West, Florida. The smudged signatures on the damp cocktail napkin are irrefutable proof.
“An adventure…” her husband Clark says.
Peg can’t swim; she’s afraid of bridges (there are 42 of them); and she doesn’t want to leave her friends. However, after a bottle of Cabernet, a move from Chicago to the southernmost city in the United States seems like the best decision ever.
But now Clark has taken a long term job in Cuba and she’s on her own.
Neither her dog Nipper, nor the ghosts in the attic, offer up any good advice. But how hard can it be living in paradise?
Peg dives into island life but the more effort she makes, the wider her wake of catastrophes. She is tortured by a paddle board, a giant poisonous toad, the local Conservation group, and the patron saint of hurricanes. Not to mention the persistent sweat rash under her left breast.
A tropical depression descends on the island – one that can’t be cured with medication. Peg must gather her strength if she has any hope of surviving the storm.
MY THOUGHTS
first off!, thank you to Carrie & Brittany for getting me an advance copy of this book to review but please note that all opinions are my own. (low-key, I've always wanted to type that sentence!)
Eunice (@nerdytalksbookblog) recommended me on Instagram (i wasn't aware she even knew who i was) to Carrie's rep and that's how i got a free e-copy but i will be looking for a hard copy as soon as it's available.
I decided to give it a go after i couldn't get into the Whitney Cummings book and I'm so glad that i did!
this book is SO FREAKING FUNNY!
this is the book i should have had with me when i was on vacation in Cabo. all i wanted to do was sit by the pool/beach and just read a good book...just like everyone else was doing.
Peg moves to Florida after some incessant nagging from her husband and its as okay as okay can be for the first few days until her husband hits her with the classic "I'm going to Cuba to save them all" spiel. and then its just one thing after another after another and i mean, poor Peg. but you have to hand it to her, she does the best that she can with what she's handed.
AND SHE IS HANDED A LOT.
it starts out with her getting a warning from the lady who cleans her house and that just spirals her a bit out of control (i mean, she's already a little bit out of control given the changes but after what she hears, i don't blame her. I'd lose my shit too). you kind of forget about that subject until after all this random but believable stuff happens to her and then...then it hits you (its not so much a spoiler because its listed above...but I'm talking about ghosts.) and when i read it i was like wait, what *scratches head* but i kept reading (you know when you re-read stuff to make it make sense because the first time around, it doesn't really click? that's what the beginning of that chapter did to me.) and it made sense. and for a quick second i was scared thinking that all of a sudden it was going to take a dark turn (y'all know how big of a chicken i am) buuuut...it went by quick. she just chalked it up to the long day she had had.
after that it just gets funnier and funnier. some of the things that she goes through!
i get the occasional one here and there. but that many to one person in that short period of time! but still, i was at work trying so hard not to laugh out loud because some of the scenes!!!! so hilarious.
that coconut!!!
Jesus. that whole scene with Trudy at the bar! a) that bar they were in reminds me of a bar we went to in Cabo. tree, lights, characters and all. b) i mean, Trudy! where did you go!??
and that ending!
GAH!
serves Clark all right! but i think i love it more because we don't see how it ends on his side of the story. its all about Peg and Peg is all about being a bad ass (to me anyway).
i LOVED Peg. she's so funny and i love that through it all, she doesn't beat herself up. shit hits the fan but she stands tall. things take a dive but she stands tall (on land anyway, lol!) and handles it all.
but that scene with Nipper (her dog) at the end, i loved her for it. i would have done the same thing. i hope it never comes to anything like that but if it ever does, i hope i have her courage to do what she did....although she did have some help. but still....
the entire time that i read this book i just kept falling in love with Peg. and i love even more that when its time for her to woMAN up, she does.
i read this so fast and if it wasn't for the fact that i was up way later than usual and falling asleep because of that, i would have finished this book faster and in one sitting. i couldn't get enough.
the very next day when it was time for bed, i was upset that i no longer had any more Peg adventures to read.
because the book isn't out yet, i won't do my usual spoilers after the jump. I'll come back and add them after it's released but definitely give this book a shot and be ready to laugh at everything and for the entire time. i just couldn't believe Peg. I LOVE HER!
thanks Brittany & Carrie for an ARC.
i ABSOLUTELY loved this book!
thanks for reading!
#lesreads on IG
DID YOU KNOW! that southwest lets you use paypal to pay for flights?
and if you spend more than $99 on paypal, you have 6 months no interest to pay it off?
this ain't an ad, folks. its the truth!
that's how i got us tickets to Oregon.
and then headed into Seattle and Canada from there!
we actually went back in November buuuut because i was too lazy to edit my pictures, its taken me this long (i haven't even scrapbooked this yet). and the reason for this trip was simply, The Capilano Suspension Bridge!
we of course could have just flown to Canada but we've been wanting to go to Oregon (+ i have family there) and we also wanted to hit up Seattle! so driving just seemed like the best idea.
we flew in on a Thursday...or Friday, i don't remember.
but we landed, got our rental (haha. I'm no longer allowed to book stuff) and went to our hotel.
we stayed in Troutdale Or. as opposed to Portland.
mostly because i booked it and i was trying to be considerate towards B since he was paying...so when i saw a $40 savings, i took it because well, its the least i could do. ....that's the other reason I'm not allowed to book. lol. he hated the location.
i do not regret staying in Troutdale but i could see why he'd rather stay in Portland.
but anyway, we stayed in troutdale. i think it was around noon and we didn't really have anything planned. we did want to see Multnomah Falls BUT it was closed because some a-holes burned it down during the summer and then the rain created a giant mudslide in the winter so it was a no go. (you can see it from the road but you can't go up there. at least not when we went. i'm not sure about now).
we asked the receptionist what there was to do in the area and she mentioned something about a bridge (that we didn't find) and the Mt. Hood drive so we set off.
THIS WAS MY FAVORITE PART OF THE ENTIRE TRIP!
and it happened all on accident. bah!
on the one side it was nothing but rain. and luckily since i wasn't driving i got to enjoy the view and OMG it was B E A U T I F U L !
we drove and drove and drove and it was so stinking beautiful but noooothing could have prepared us for what we saw when we finally turned the corner.
(but les, you would have known had you looked at the weather! for the record, my cousin lives in Portland and she didn't even know so haaay!)
IT WAS SNOWING!!!
to know me is to know that i LOVE snow.
(but like this kind of snow. not like real snow out on the east side where you gotta prepare for like a 2 week stay-at-home-cation)
it started out pretty slow and it wasn't much but the further we went in THE BETTER IT GOT!!!!
(best freaking $50 i have EVER spent at Target! i LOVED this jacket!)
afterward, we went back to the room to drop our stuff off and we headed into Portland.
i of course, went to Powell's while B had drinks at Deschutes (I think).
we then met up with my cousin and her husband for dinner and that was basically it.
we also went to the Japanese Gardens but because it was raining we didn't go in.
overall, it was fun and i liked what we did and all that walking around, but i would love to go back and go into all the little shops and explore a lot more.
(this is a good post to read if you're heading out there soon and want to know where to go eat/what to see & visit)
we'll definitely be going back. (hopefully, at the end of this month if it works out.)
originally, we were supposed to go to Seattle, then Canada, then Seattle one more night to spend Sunday in OR before our flight but after Canada, we went to Seattle for a bit and then just decided to drive straight to OR.
i go to the bathroom and it was THEE creepiest thing EVER.
it was all wooden and it reminded me a bit of where Harry Potter lives with the Dudley's as a kid under the stairwell. it was all covered with magazine clippings, some people had drawn faces on the faces and it was just dimly lit. i was creeped the fuck out.
my cousin and i go get drinks and i find this little flyer and it turns out that we were at the place where the tour takes place.
apparently the building is haunted and of course we decided to sit all the way in the back next to a dark ass section where we had no out. i was so creeped out.
definitely not going back at night nor when it's empty.
thanks but no thanks.
although, thanks to the guy who gave us free ranch and got in trouble for it. bahh!
like i said, we didn't really do much but i would really love to go back.
B has to go for work for a week so I'm going to see if i can sneak away towards the end of the week.
I'll come back with the rest of the pictures sometime next week.
thanks for reading!
published: 2017
pages: Lyra 266 // Gemma 236
ISBN: 978-0-06-239419-4
read: 1/19-23/2018
rating: yea. it was cool but overall, together as a whole, nah. maybe not.
book: 4 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018
In the world outside of the Haven Institute, Lyra and Caelum are finding it hard to be human—and Lyra, infected at Haven with a terrible disease, finds her symptoms are growing worse. When Caelum leaves without warning, Lyra follows him, seeking a pioneering organization in Philadelphia that might have a cure. But what they uncover there is a shocking connection to their past, even as their future seems in danger of collapsing.
Though Gemma just wants to go back to her normal life after Haven, she soon learns that her powerful father has other plans for the replicas—unless she and her boyfriend Pete can stop him. But they soon learn that they aren’t safe either. The Haven Institute wasn’t destroyed after all, and now Gemma is the one behind the walls.
MY THOUGHTS
one thing i didn't mention in my last post about the first book was the way i read it.
you can either read the entire Gemma story first and then Lyra or the other way or you can do like me and read one G chapter and then flip over to L.
it might be too late....but i would maybe suggest just doing the alternating thing because either way, no matter who you read first, you'll know whats going on at some capacity.
at least if you alternate, you'll know the whole cause and effect.
in this book, i started doing the alternating chapter but what's different in this story is that Gemma & Lyra literally only cross paths in the beginning and at the end.
so this whole story is just them as individuals.
i ended up reading Gemma's story first and i found that a lot of the questions i had were answered on Lyra's side and i didn't feel that it necessarily took anything away from the reading experience by not knowing right away.
anyway, enough about that. it doesn't matter what order you read it in because if you end up feeling like me, it'll have left you gutted and not in a good way.
this duology: exhausted face emoji.
the first book was soo good! i mean, it had holes but it was good.
and while unbelievable, i feel like this book took it to the eeexxxtttrreeemmmeee!!!
there were just sooo many things!
G&L went through ALL OF THAT in book 1 to barely have anything to do with each other in book 2.
there were sooo many holes or just stories that don't add up for me or that didn't make it seem "real" to me.
for every down that there was for Lyra & 72 and Gemma & Pete, there was an up.
shit went bad sooo many times that at some point you had to be like damn but no. there was always a solution to it all.
i as a human can barely read the metro schedule. I'm scared ill get lost in a new town and have no way out meanwhile L & 72 are traveling from state to state to county like no ones business.
every time they are about to hit the fan, they get saved.
every time Gemma & Pete get into shit it just gets worse and worse and worse but then it all works out.
at some point, i just wanted it to end bad already for someone just so all the shit that happened could have been justified.
i just had an aha moment!
in book 1, Lyra & 72 were kinda the ones that had the shit end of the stick while Gemma & Pete were out and great.
in book 2, Lyra & 72 run into shit but its nooooothing compared to what happens to Gemma & Pete this time around. so i guess there's that and i wonder if it was done on purpose.
but it's been a while since i finished this book and all i still feel is that it was just maybe a bit TOO much for me. and now that i have read both books, they're just too much as a story as a whole.
too much investment for so little in return.
so much AHHHHHHH for a little zzzz.
its like when you FINALLY get something you've been wanting just to find out that all that hard work just to achieve it wasn't worth it.
overall, they're not bad reads but i'd 1000% would have been okay never having had read them. they gave too much for little return.
ill jump over and do spoilers as best as i can remember them.
thanks for reading!
#lesreads on IG
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