In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. Check out The Story Siren to learn more!

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, faeries are just something from childhood stories. Then she meets Sonny Flannery, whose steel-gray eyes mask an equally steely determination to protect her.

Sonny guards the Samhain Gate, which connects the mortal realm with the Faerie's enchanted, dangerous Otherworld. Usually kept shut by order of icy King Auberon, the Gate stands open but once a year.

This year, as the time approaches when the Samhain Gate will swing wide and nightmarish Fae will fight their way into an unsuspecting human world, something different is happening . . . something wondrous and strange. And Kelley's eyes are opening not just to the Faerie that surround her but to the heritage that awaits her.

Now Kelley must navigate deadly Faerie treachery—and her growing feelings for Sonny—in this dazzling page-turner filled with luminous romance.

Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White

When someone leaves three mystery flowers outside her dorm door, Laurel thinks that maybe the Avondale School isn't so awful after all -- until her own body starts to freak out. In the middle of her English presentation on the Victorian Language of Flowers, strange words pop into her head, and her body seems to tingle and hum. Impulsively, Laurel gives the love bouquet she made to demonstrate the language to her spinster English teacher. When that teacher unexpectedly and immediately finds romance, Laurel suspects that something -- something magical -- is up. With her new friend, Kate, she sets out to discover the origins and breadth of her powers by experimenting on herself and others. But she can't seem to find any living experts in the field of flower powers to guide her. And her bouquets don't always do her bidding, especially when it comes to her own crush, Justin. Rumors about Laurel and her flowers fly across campus, and she's soon besieged by requests from girls -- both friends and enemies -- who want their lives magically transformed -- just in time for prom.

-Amanda

Paper Towns by John Green

****Paper Towns by John Green****

Originality- 18/20
Characters- 19/20
Remembrance- 9/10
Quote-ability- 10/10
Entertainment- 20/20
Ending- 9/10
Recommend to read- 10/10
TOTAL- 95/100
Grade- A

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge— he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues— and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.

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I absolutely loved the whole concept of the book. It starts off really fun with Quentin finally able to hang out with a childhood friend and realizing that she was all he thought she was. Then later when Margo disappears he slowly comes to terms with knowing that Margo is many different peoples interpretations of her rolled into one.

John Green wrote an amazing story that I couldn't get enough of. I was constantly laughing and having a great time. All great things in a story were mixed together. It was nice to even get a little bit of a mystery. Also I can't help but connect Paper Towns with Looking for Alaska. I don't think I could choose a favorite.

If you haven't read this one do it soon. Paper Towns is hilarious, and meaningful, and amazing. You and all of your friends will adore it.

-Amanda

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

****Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen****

Originality- 17/20

Characters- 20/20

Remembrance- 8/10

Quote-ability- 9/10

Entertainment- 18/20

Ending- 9/10

Recommend to read- 9/10

TOTAL- 90/100

Grade- A

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

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Along for the Ride was such a great read. As usual Dessen created characters with depth and back stories. I loved everything about this book; the plot, the characters, and the setting. I just couldn't get enough.

Each character is crafted so carefully, I'm able to feel each and ever thing they are. As all Dessen fans do, I enjoyed the cameos from characters from her other books in this one.

I just can't say enough good things about this book..Auden and Eli are fantastic characters. We got to get to know them so much, I feel like I could recite a short biography.

There is just something about Dessen novels that make me want to read more because they are written so beautifully. Overall I would say that Along for the Ride was great but not as great as a few of Dessen's other books.

-Amanda

In My Mailbox + I'm Back!!

I am SOOOO sorry for not posting. Our charger started sparking and melting so I had to wait until today to get a new one.

I am now aware that I have over 100 followers! Thanks sooo much! Expect lots of good things soon.

Here are all of the books that I received since I've been gone not including what I got so far this week.

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge— he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues— and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers. Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him. Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

Darklight by Lesley Livingston

Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was Faerie royalty, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved New York City from a rampaging Faerie war band. When a terrifying encounter in Central Park sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful—but cut short. For they’ve been plunged into a game of Faerie deception and wavering allegiances in which the next move could topple a kingdom…or part them forever.

-Amanda