Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan

Paperback: 281

Release date: December 1st, 2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Goodreads Rating: 3.98

Goodreads Summary: What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

First and foremost I like the cover of this book, with its vibrant and exquisite image of two persons walking hand in hand. To be honest some of the reasons why I read a book is when it captivated  my eyes but it doesn't mean that I rely too much on them. 


Catching Jordan isn't the typical Young Adult contemporary, it isn't the ordinary Boy-meets-Girl situation but instead it holds its own kind of romance with enough conflict and in my opinion I was pretty impressed on the romance part although it is quite obvious that Henry has hidden feelings for Jordan. I rarely read a book where best friends of the lead character gets an "Ever After" with them because most of the time they were just confidants or become rivals and there will always be some new boy/girl that'll be introduced whom the lead character is going to end up with so this book is new for me.
Plus Football fans would like to read this book because the story does not only revolves around love and conflicts but also on one of the famous sports, Football, which is Jordan's passion and her life. It added spice and uniqueness that makes it ain't lacklustre. 


Catching Jordan is a story of friendship, dreams, being strong despite the reasons that life gives you for you to let go and most of all...falling in love when you least expected it. I enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait for its movie. Great Book!

Review: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

 

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder 

Kindle Edition: 360 pages 

Release date: December 8th, 2011

Publisher: Razorbill
Goodreads Rating: 4.05 

Goodreads Summary: Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles. 
 A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

Since finding out about the release of this book, I immediately knew I had to get my hands on it. After many months of waiting I finally had the chance to do so. Even with the excitement, it took me awhile to start reading it because the subject of cancer is quite sensitive to my family—having an uncle died of it and an aunt as a survivor, while my mom has been fighting Lupus for over a decade now. I’m glad I picked it up when I deemed myself ready because after putting it down, I was emotionally spent.

At first hundred pages, I could connect neither to the story nor the main character. It’s the biggest problem when you dislike being in the skin of a negative and blatantly sarcastic heroine like Cam. Against my initial criticism, I continued to immerse in her story. I know exactly nothing about a mind of a teenage cancer patient which helps me understand and open my mind. The good thing about her personality though, was her honesty and her love for animals. I was happy to see the transformation Promise, Maine has brought her. What makes it real is the time it took for her to see and realize the wonders of life. It didn’t happen with a snap of fingers and rather developed in a believable pace. She started to believe in things— things she has never believed in before like miracles and true love.

More than half of the book fell flat to me I almost put it down. I’m glad I didn’t because the remaining pages eclipsed the tediousness of the first half. I was indulged with a more alive and even romantic atmosphere. The plot doesn’t have complications and I didn’t have to guess to know what will happen in the end. Does it lessen the emotional impact to me? Definitely not. It wraps up with the kind of bittersweet ending that left me wanting for more, while at the same time resolving that it is the perfect one for this book.

The Probability of Miracles is a beautiful story of love, family, friendship and believing in unexpected, wonderful things that may happen in our lives. I recommend it to everyone especially to all the teens out there. This is the debut novel of Wendy Wunder and I can say I’m definitely on the lookout for another book of hers after this one.

 Subscribe in a reader

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway!

 Hi everyone! We celebrated our first blogoversary last May 15th and as promised, we're holding a giveaway  as a thank you to our followers. :) 


One winner will get to pick a book from the ones we've chosen below:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

or a 2012 YA book of choice up to $15 from The Book Depository.


Enter via Rafflecopter below
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Winner will be chosen a month from now and will have 48 hours to respond. Thanks for joining and good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday: Falling Kingdoms and Time Between Us

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) by Morgan Rhodes, Michelle Rowen  

Hardcover: 400

Release date: December 11th, 2012

Publisher: Razorbill

Goodreads Summary: In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power—brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined: 
 Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct. 
 Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making. 
 Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield. 
 Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword... The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed? 

I'm always in for a good Fantasy series and this one reminds me of Seven Realms, which I loved. I'm excited to know more about these four main characters and how they will weave the story together.

 

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone 

Paperback: 384 pages

Release date: October 9thth, 2012

Publisher: Hyperion

Goodreads summary: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility. 
 As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together. 
 Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, TIME BETWEEN US is a stunning and spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new talent in YA

It's been awhile since I read a time travel book. Throw in the romance and it's on my wishlist.  

What are you anxiously waiting on this week? Just leave a comment of the link to your WoW post!

 Subscribe in a reader

Review: Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

 

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Paperback: 272 pages

Release date: March 5th, 2009

Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
Goodreads Rating: 4.09

Goodreads Summary: Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it's all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery. But Annika's plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly fi nds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right? Janette Rallison's proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time.

nnika will do anything for her brother Jeremy, a cancer patient. And when I say anything I mean anything…even if it means that she has to take all the odds to get the strikingly handsome actor of Teen Robin Hood, Steve Raleigh for her brother to meet. For a one wish could mean and change everything.

A contemporary book that is so easy to be inclined to and to read because the words just flow with you. Just One Wish is a story full of emotion and a bit of drama, though I get enough of the drama part here in our country because of the TV series here, there’s enchanting about reading it. Annika’s love for her brother Jeremy a cancer patient could not be measured, until a wish changes not only her but also how she view the inevitable that may happen to Jeremy. I love the plot of the story as well as the characters. Every character has this attributes that’s enticing and real through them. I liked the journey of Annika from finding Steve through fulfilling the one wish of Jeremy, with Steve. The course of their love story was satisfying. I adore every part of the story though I wish there’s a bit more in the ending not that it was not good but it’s in the “that’s it?” ending. 

Still I find this book a good read for 2012 even though making the review part is hard with the “Time-Bomb” song very distracting on my part(he he). Just One Wish is not just a story that can make you cry but then laugh as well; it’s clearly a story that will touch your heart!