ARC REVIEW: THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner

THE SERPENT KING

Summary:
Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

He and his fellow outcast friends must try to make it through their senior year of high school without letting the small-town culture destroy their creative spirits and sense of self. Graduation will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is content where he is thanks to his obsession with an epic book series and the fangirl turning his reality into real-life fantasy.

Their diverging paths could mean the end of their friendship. But not before Dill confronts his dark legacy to attempt to find a way into the light of a future worth living.

Title: THE SERPENT KING

Author: Jeff Zentner

Source: ARC via Stefani & also I bought it from TBD

Publisher: Crown BFYR

Publication Date: March 8, 2016

Rating: 5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I have been sitting on writing up this bit of a review for three days because I don't think I can adequately put into words how amazing THE SERPENT KING is. I am an avid reader of contemporary novels, but if you only read one more contemporary novel in your entire life, make sure it is THE SERPENT KING. I just. The writing, the characters, the feeling of moving on, it is all so beautifully done and written that I just cannot handle how amazing this is.

ARC #Review: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson

THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Summary:
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.

Title: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Author: Lily Anderson

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: May 17, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and fun retelling of Much Ado About Nothing which if you haven't read it (or watched an adaptation), you really should. This is most definitely my favourite Shakespearian comedy and I would recommend this retelling to everyone. Anderson writes a cute narrative that will have you laughing and swooning at the same time.

REVIEW: SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

Summary:
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Title: SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA

Author: Becky Albertalli

Source: Purchased from Kobo

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: April 7, 2015

Rating: 5/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

This book was just wonderful. It was so honest and perfect. It was everything I didn't realize I needed to read until I did. The characters, the plot, and the voice were just amazing. You could really tell that Albertalli GETS IT. Because it didn't feel like an adult writing a YA novel, it felt as though there was some kid out there named Simon writing down the shit that was happening to him.