Wild Roses by Deb Caletti

This book is about Cassie, who is going through a hard time after her parent's divorce. She's not having a hard time with the divorce itself but instead her mean and vindictive step-father, Dino Cavelli. He is a "genius" composer who her mother fell deeply in love with and married five days after her divorce was final. Just when she thinks she's got him figured out, he surprises her again by becoming paranoid, convinced that his former manager William is listening to them through the cable and is watching them from the windows. As he slips more and more into his paranoid visions, he becomes even more violent and mean as the days pass. Another thing surprises Cassie: Dino takes on a student. She knows this won't go very well, probably ending in a violent screaming match and something being throw. But when she meets his student, gorgeous Ian Waters, she starts to think that it actually might have its advantages after all. When she and Ian start to get to know each other, Dino only gets worse. And, for the first time since knowing Dino, Cassie is actually scared. I loved this book! I read Caletti's book Stay a while ago and liked it. This one was just as good, showing she has the talent of Sarah Dessen, but also brings a little extra trouble into her books.
Grade: A+
SC: 6
V: 5
C: 5

The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan

Charlie West is back in prison. After having woken up being tortured by terrorists, escaping, and learning that he was being blamed for his best friend's murder. Serving time in prison would be bad enough but the so-called Yard King has developed a grudge against Charlie. As Charlie tries to keep away from the Yard King, the Nazis, and the Islamist terrorists in prison, he remembers the final piece of his memory. This memory involves the head of the terrorist organization (called the Homelanders) Prince talking about The Great Death and how it was going to happen at the start of the New Year. Charlie figures that they are going to kill a large number of Americans in only a few weeks. When the Nazis approach him about escaping prison, he decides to participate. Between the worsening conditions in prison and the Great Death approaching, he has no choice. But will he be able to make it to New York (his guess at the target area) before its too late? This is the final book in The Homelander series by Andrew Klavan (the first three being The Last Thing I Remember, The Long Way Home, and The Truth of the Matter). The other ones were great but this one wasn't as good. I think part of the reason was because a large part of this book was set in the Abington prison, where Charlie was incarcerated. A lot of books and movies are less exciting when they only happen in a small setting. Overall, good close to the series but could have been a little better.
Grade: A-
SC: 1
V: 8
C: 2

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola has always been known for being wild, especially with her fashion choices and her choices in men. For fashion, she loves to wear colorful, sparkly combinations, never wearing the same outfit twice. As for choices in men, her boyfriend, Max, is in an angry punk rock band and forced to go to weekly brunches with Lola's family. Just as school is getting back in session, her neighbors move back, which is an occurrence Lola has been dreading for quite some time. Although she tells her boyfriend she is more worried about Calliope, the gorgeous and intimidating figure skater, her twin brother Cricket is the bigger problem. She has always loved him, and she thought for a while that he loved her, too. But after his disastrous birthday party several years earlier, she knew it wasn't true. Now that he's back, and clearly interested in her, she has to keep him as far away from Max as possible. But as Max starts to get suspicious of her true motives in staying away from her neighbors, she starts to find herself falling into old habits with Cricket. But when Lola's perpetually drunk birth mother shows up, things somehow go from bad to even worse as Lola simply tries to hold it together. This book is the sequel to Anna and the French Kiss. Although this book was very good, I liked Anna and the French Kiss much better. Anna and St. Clair, the two main characters from the first book, are in this one quite a bit.
Grade: A-
SC: 7
V: 3
C: 5

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

This author has never written anything before and she apparently got the rights to her book bought to be made into a movie before the book was even published. I just had to see what the hype was. And it was actually pretty good. When the book starts, teenage Juliette is being held captive in a mental institution while the outside world is deteriorating daily. There is no food, no water, and the sky is literally falling (well, the sun anyway). Juliette is informed that she will soon have a roommate, which she is actually kind of excited about, especially after not talking to another human for many months. She soon learns, however, that her roommate is actually a boy, which makes no sense other than the fact that the people in charge of the institution might actually want to kill her. She soon finds out that he used to go to school with her, someone that she hasn't allowed herself to think about in a long time. Despite his many questions, she also doesn't tell him about her huge secret. That she is able to kill people with just a mere touch. As she gets to know her roommate, it becomes clear that he has even more to hide than she does. She is taken by a man known only as Warner, who is crazy and wants to use her to further his own cause. But Juliette will not become the monster that he wants her to be. Because, despite her "disease", she doesn't want to hurt anyone. This book was very good, especially at the beginning. Once Juliette meets Warner, it becomes a bit confusing. But, overall, good work for a first time writer.
Grade: B+
SC: 6
V: 8
C: 3

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Fifteen-year-old Haven is 6 feet tall and still growing. Her bratty older sister is getting married to boring Lewis and yelling at everyone in sight. Her mother has been sad and lonely since her father left. And, to top it all off, her father (sportscaster) and new step-mother (weather girl) have just announced that they are going to have a baby, a month after they were married. Haven is dealing with the crisis in her normal way: being quiet and taking care of everyone around her. Little does the family know, it is only the calm before the storm. To add to the growing stress, one of Ashley's many ex-boyfriends shows up. Sumner was Haven's favorite of Ashley's boyfriends and he reminds her of what the world was like when Ashley still liked her, her parents were still married, and she was happy. As the wedding gets closer and closer, Haven is afraid that she will explode. This book was good, but it wasn't as good as Dessen's normally are. Very short read. This book and one of Dessen's others (Someone Like You) was turned into a movie called How To Deal starring Mandy Moore.
Grade: B-
SC: 3
V: 2
C: 4