Did you miss me?

You may have noticed that I have not posted for the past week or so. This is because I just got back from Disney World this morning (WOOT WOOT!). I love Disney World. Everyone is so carefree and the cast members are always telling you to "Have a magical day!" whether you want to or not. Although, I do have to say that after a while the happiness starts to get to you. You start to wonder how these people can possibly be happy all the time, or if they are this joyful when they are not working in a large theme park/resort. After seven days of almost getting hit with toddler-transporting strollers, eating fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and watching oblivious children hug Disney characters that are actually people inside big costumes, you get kind of tired. Needless to say, even though I had an awesome time on my vacation, I am happy to be home.

I will be posting more reviews shortly, so stay tuned for those. I tried to read often while I was away, but it didn't really work out. I planned to do most of my reading on the plane to and from Disney World, but instead I ended up watching reruns of Dog the Bounty Hunter during the flight. (I love Dog. He's my obsession.) But don't worry! I did manage to do some reading during the week in the hotel I stayed in, so we're all good!

Yours Truly,
NutFreeNerd

Book Review: PERFECT CHEMISTRY

Author: Simone Elkeles
Number of Pages: 360
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Release Date: December 23, 2008

Brittany Ellis is a seemingly perfect girl. She has an amazing boyfriend, she's Captain of the pom squad, she's outrageously popular, her family is very wealthy, she gets great grades- what more could she want? What people don't know is that she's hiding the tense arguments between members of her family and the fact that her older sister can't even feed herself.

Alex Fuentes lives on the other side of town, in which he is part of the gang his father belonged to before he died when Alex was only six years old. On the outside, Alex looks like a tough guy- he rides around on a motorcycle, he displays his gang colors, he has many tattoos. What people don't know is that he's only part of the gang because he needs to protect his family. Deep inside all he wants is to go to college, but he knows that will probably never happen.

As these two teens start their senior years of high school, they find that they are paired up as partners in chemistry class- for the rest of the year. Brittany worries that it will ruin her social status, but she soon realizes that maybe, just maybe, Alex Fuentes isn't all that bad.

My friend recommended this book to me, and I am really glad that I took her advice and read it. I loved the depth of both of the main characters. They seem to grow immensely throughout the book. I thought that the relationship between them was close to realistic, which I appreciated (I would consider that a spoiler, but I think the cover already gives that away). This book was great, however I really didn't like the epilogue. It sort of ruined the book form me, actually. I hate epilogues where everything ends like a fairy tale, where everyone is happy and nothing is wrong. That's not realistic! In the case of this novel, the epilogue ruined a perfectly good book.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0)  4 out of 5 smileys. Perfect Chemistry was great- except for the epilogue.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

I will definitely be reading the next two books in this series. I've heard they are even better than the first one.

Yours,
NutFreeNerd

Book Review: A NORTHERN LIGHT

Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Number of Pages: 396
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release Date: September 1, 2004

"Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder."
                                                     - Goodreads.com

I picked this book up at a local used bookstore and thought that it might be an okay read, but nothing spectacular.Well I was totally wrong! Jennifer Donnelly is an amazing writer who creates characters with so much depth and personality. I loved how she incorporated words into the book because it kept everything connected in a way-plus, I got to broaden my vocabulary a bit. The fact that this is historical fiction and based on an actual event makes it an even better novel in my eyes. Overall, A Northern Light is an amazing book that I'm so glad I took the time to read.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Definitely! Especially those who are fans of historical fiction/ murder mysteries. This book is sort of a mixture of both.

Hugs,
NutFreeNerd

Book Review: STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE

Author: David Yoo
Number of Pages: 386
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: September 30, 2008

Albert Kim has been the "intentional loser" of Bern High School for years. He quickly gave up on trying to fit in a be popular and decided to go the less painful route- don't talk to anyone, don't make eye contact with anyone, don't be friends with anyone. So when he gets a job one summer and finds himself working with Mia Stone, one of the most popular girls at Bern High, he doesn't know what to do. Will Albert Kim stay invisible forever, or will Mia finally get him to shine?

This book was okay, but definitely not one of my favorites. Albert Kim, the main character, just seemed so whiny to me, and I couldn't really relate to him at all. Some of his actions were extremely idiotic, especially towards the end. The ending itself was sort of rushed and thrown together, and I thought it was too cliche. This book was funny in some parts, and then weird in others.My favorite part of the book was probably the first hundred pages when Albert and Mia were working together during the summer. Then The House (Mia's ex-boyfriend) came along and ruined everything. Overall, this book was an okay read, but not something I would pick up again.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Honestly, not really.

Yours,
NutFreeNerd