RAPIDFIRE REVIEWS, April 16-May 4

So okay, I meant to keep doing the book review thing and then I got distracted. Who is surprised? Not me. Anyway, I have read several books since then! So I figured I might as well put a bunch of them in a post together.

What have I read since The Start of Me and You?

Half Bad, by Sally Green
Verdict: WOW FEELINGS, this worldbuilding does a lot with a little and I had such a hard time finishing this but at the same time I found it so impossible to put down — such terrible things are done to Nathan but I needed to see it through until the end. I really like Nathan as a narrator and main character; some of the other characters call him simple, and he's functionally illiterate, but that doesn't mean he's not still very smart. I don't usually gush over first-person pov, but in this case I don't think it could have been written any other way, and I liked Nathan's thought patterns.

Half Wild, by Sally Green
Verdict: God, ducklings, I just really like Nathan. I love him. I love Gabriel. I like Nathan's complicated relationship with his father and I may have screamed a little over Gabriel's passionate but undemanding devotion? I would like them to actually have a little bit of peace in their lives. Do not read this book unless you can handle a ton of violence and an interminable wait for the sequel, because the last chapter comes like the freaking asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, which is to say: fast and catastrophic.

The Start of Me and You

I'm making this new resolution to start writing about books that I read after I finish them, although god knows how long that resolution will last given A) the sheer quantity of books that I go through these days and B) how hard it sometimes is for me to convince myself to do anything, even the really low-effort stuff, how it sometimes feels like I have all the time in the world but absolutely no time at all to do anything of worth, but I finished this book three and a half hours ago and I'm still feeling a little wobbly so I figure it's worth an exorcism or two. Probably.

Not in a bad way. I liked this book a lot.

The summary:

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for a year, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live? 

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics, The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.