Google Play Samples: May

Because my HTC kept telling me I didn't have enough room to download the Overdrive app to read books from the library and I overcompensated by downloading just about every free sample book I could get my hands on.

That was a really long sentence.

Google Play has a good selection of books that you can download samples of. (I'm not sure if you can download one for every book they offer.) The samples are usually at least two chapters.

Now, I'm kind of cheating because I'm sampling them to get them from the library instead of buying them, but I'm figuring I'll buy at least a few over the summer. Ebooks are cheaper than physical ones, after all, and I already have enough physical books as it is. And ebooks are much more portable.

Books that are starred after their TBR number means that I added them after reading the sample. Ones that are carroted (what is ^ supposed to be called?) were on my TBR and I didn't realize it until I typed this post up.

These also aren't in order of how I read them.

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking, TBR #1114^

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray, TBR #983

Dream On by Kerstin Gier, TBR #1565*

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh, TBR #1551

The Siren by Kiera Cass, TBR #1502^

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, TBR #1562*

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki, TBR #1566*

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan, TBR #1472

I also downloaded the sample to The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak, but I got my hands on a library copy before I ever touched the sample. (Here's my review.) I also checked out Saving Montgomery Sole from the library as a result of reading the sample, so I'd say this has been a success so far!

I liked all of the samples, so I'd definitely recommend trying these books out. I have more samples downloaded that I haven't gotten to yet, so I'm hoping to do that in June. I'm also hoping to get more of these books from the library so I can report back on them. (Also, The Hidden Oracle is $11.99 from Amazon Prime. I'm waiting to pass on a few books to friends before I go ahead and buy it.)

All in all I think the Google Play samples have done their job of making me more interested in the books, and it'll most likely be my source for any ebooks I buy over the summer. (But I'm also an Android user, so I'm biased. I definitely like being able to read my Google Play books on my laptop, though, something I never figured out how to do with iBooks.)

If you guys have read any of these or find some good Google Play samples, I'd love to hear about them!

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

TL;DR Simon can't really get a break

TBR #1164, added Jan 7 2015

finished 5/12/16

I managed to kill most of Simon Vs on my second day of exams, much like I killed The Geography of You and Me the day before. Both books were a great format for it: compelling but light-hearted, just distracting enough that I didn't fret over my exams. 

I've been waiting for Simon Vs for a while now and I finally got my hands on it! I've heard lots of good things about it from various bloggers and I was excited. I can definitely say it lives up to the hype. 

Unfortunately, I waited too long to write this review, and I forgot most of what I wanted to say. You think I would've learned by now. smh

(I apologize for this non-review in advance)

I enjoyed the story and the journey of the different characters. It wasn't just about Simon, but I do wish there was more attention on some of the other characters' conflicts. The plotline of finding Blue's identity was fun, but I'd have to go back and re-read it to see if there were enough clues to be able to guess who he was. I made a couple of different predictions and was way off the mark lol

I think the aspect of the school's tumblr was interesting, and I think it's accurate that some of the students used it to harass others. My high school had a confessions twitter, which surprisingly was mostly used to compare the popular students against each other. I've never modded a tumblr run by submissions but I think that the concept was used idealistically in order to make the story function -- if nothing else, I have no idea why the tumblr's mods would have allowed the Important Post to be posted. 

Also, if there's ever any doubt about Abby's driving skills, she is exactly on point for a kid out of the DC area. Our traffic sucks. Atlanta's gotta be a breeze compared to our driving. I'm super excited to get my hands on her book in 2017. All the books I've encountered that are set in DC seem to center around politics. (Except Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I guess, but I last read that series in elementary school.) 

The cameos of The Varsity and Junkman's Daughter made me super happy, because those are two of the places we went in Atlanta on our trip through the south in 2011. (My mother apparently doesn't remember Junkman's Daughter lol. I bought a Vampire Knight t-shirt there. I've worn it like maybe four times. I still own it.)

I stole a glorious #gpoy from my mom's Facebook photo album from the trip. Somehow this is the only picture she has from The Varsity. (I'm the one on the right. I think I still own that shirt, too. Good lord.) 

Anyway, I realize this review probably isn't much help, so here's a Pinterest board for the book by a wonderful Pinterest user I follow. They also have a bunch for other YA books! They do a great job of capturing the aesthetic and important details of the books and the characters in them. I'm amazed by their collection skills. 

TL;DR Simon Vs a great LGBT+ book that isn't all sorts of dark angst.  I enjoyed the experience of reading it but my chaotic May has written over my memory of most details. I need a better memory than a tape deck. 

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis

TL;DR sci-fi Snow White retelling

TBR #1146, added Nov 25 2014

finished 5/20/16

You like The Lunar Chronicles? Read Stitching Snow.   /end review

Just kidding, I have more to say than that. But seriously, if you like the aesthetic of TLC but are a little scared about the size of the series, Stitching Snow is a perfect alternative. It has a much more streamlined plot, focusing on one girl instead of four, but it still has the whole sci-fi-revolution thing going on. 

And Essie is just as mechanic-savvy as Cinder! The two stories and characters are very unique despite the aforementioned similarities. Essie was a very endearing character and I liked her from the beginning. Her narration was engaging and I was invested in her story the entire time. 

I liked that the story was clearly a Snow White retelling but that it added onto the story. I never really liked Snow White's story before (maybe I found the Disney movie boring, idk), but Stitching Snow was engaging and developed the story much more than I was anticipating. 

I initially thought this book and Spinning Starlight were in a numbered series, but it looks like they're only loose companions (meaning you can read either first). I know my library has a copy of Spinning Starlight, so I'll try to get my hands on it and report back. 

CWs for the book: abuse from parental figures, attempted sexual assault

TL;DR I really liked finding a new book with the same aesthetic of TLC, and I'm excited to see more of R.C. Lewis' writing. 

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

TL;DR

TBR #1167, added Jan 8 2015

finished 5/17/16

I really liked the premise of this book, and I'm ashamed to admit I almost quit it to return to some other time. We've had really terrible weather recently (ironically, what I imagine Seattle weather is like), and I've been really listless because of it. I didn't find Ana or Zak endearing at first and I wasn't in the mood to read 300 pages of them. 

Thankfully, I followed the "read til page 50" rule, and by then I'd built up enough curiosity that I got through the whole book by the evening. (So I can tell you for a fact this can be read in an afternoon.) I'll readily admit that my feelings about Ana and Zak were probably influenced by this gray weather we've had these past three weeks. 

(Seriously, you know all those stereotypes about Seattle? About how it's always gray and kinda rainy and it's never sunny? We've had, like, two sunny days in May so far. It's miserable.) 

I'm really not sure the premise of the plot is plausible, but it sure as hell ended up interesting. These kids get into more shenanigans in 12 hours than I have in my five-year history of con-going. Like, good lord. Kinda makes me feel like I gotta step up my game a little bit. 

A ton of plot and character development happens over that period of 12 hours. Some things felt too sudden for anything to actually have changed, but I'm amazed by how much happened over the course of the book. There was so much more depth than I expected and I really did enjoy the journey. 

I completely enjoyed reading something set in a convention. I honestly never expected to get my hands on something like this, since con-going and reading YA don't exactly go hand-in-hand. At least, they're nowhere near the same audience. Washingcon was a little different than my experiences going to anime conventions, but it still felt familiar. I think it managed to capture a convention's vibe, especially when you're there for a mission. It's a pain in the ass to try and find a single person in a convention center. 

(Although, honestly, why didn't they ever call Clayton's phone? You gotta at least start there. Zak should've known trying to find him would've been a literal needle in a haystack search.) 

TL;DR I'm really glad I didn't try to put off reading this. It's a really good shenanigans book. After writing this review I'm definitely making "shenanigans" a category just like contemp or dystopian. I definitely think this deserves its own classification. 

Nameless by Lili St. Crow

TL;DR alternate-history Snow White retelling

TBR #332, added Apr 7 2013

finished 5/16/16

Nameless took me a couple days to get through, unlike the two books I'd read before it. I'd plowed through two books in two days and Nameless felt so much longer in comparison after that. 

The book has a really good aesthetic, creating a world with new concepts like jacks and Twists and Family. The Family got the most attention in the book, but the other concepts got enough attention that they added depth to the rest of their universe outside of Cami's story. The aesthetic was also dark and gloomy, which most likely contributed to how slow my reading pace was. 

Cami's backstory felt a little out of place. It was pretty late in the story by the time you learn anything about her outside of the Voltusino family, and at that it wrapped up fairly quickly and a little too nicely. I thought it was kind of disappointing since the blurb made it sound like there would be more focus on her origin. 

It didn't really feel like much of a retelling, either. Ellie and Ruby's retelling origins were a lot clearer than Cami's. It felt more like it was inspired by Snow White than a retelling of it. (I'm only familiar with the Disney version of Snow White, so I could be wrong with this.) The execution of the original story aspects was unique, but there wasn't enough of it for it to be all that interesting. 

I liked the trio of girls and the variety of secondary characters, especially Marya. I didn't like Cami and Nico's relationship, and I don't think any of the characters really changed over the course of the story. Well--Nico changed a little bit, but I'm not really sure it's growth. 

TL;DR it's not a super impressive or compelling book, but I'm interested enough in the universe (and Ellie and Ruby) to add the next book to my TBR. I don't think I'll have a complete opinion of Nameless until I read Wayfarer.