Reality Check by Jen Calonita

Sixteen-year-olds Charlie, Keiran, Brooke, and Hallie live on the quiet and quaint North Fork of Long Island. It may not be glamorous, but it is real—and that’s exactly why they get signed to star on their very own reality TV show.

But cameras and interfering producers surreptitiously scripting their lives start to affect their relationships. Brooke seems to want all the screen time. Keiran is written off the show—and consequently the group’s friendship—when she doesn’t rate well.
When Charlie realizes what is going on, she figures out the perfect way to give the studio and her home audience a much-needed reality check.

Stars: 3/5
Cover: B+

I must admit, I had pretty high expectations before reading this book, because I've read Jen Calonita's Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and her novel Sleepaway Girls, and over all, I really enjoy Jen Calonita's books.

Reality Check was no exception.

Charlie, Brook, Hallie, and Keiran are a group of high school friends that are practically inseparable. When a reality TV producer sees Charlie and her friends, she knows immediately that they are perfect for her new reality TV show.

Charlie is "the star" --- basically the show revolves around her --- but her friend Brooke won't have any of it. Brooke wants all the spotlight for herself and her new friend (who is only hanging out with Brooke for the fame).

The girls are shocked after they see the first episode --- all of their words are taken out of context, and made to seem like they are all trash talking about each other. 

Arguments among the girls start to break out, and soon, Brooke and her old group of friends aren't even talking anymore. 

Reality Check kind of --- no, not kind of --- really reminded me of Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy series, that is based around being on a reality TV show, also. So for originality, I'd have to dock the points a little bit. 

The book, I felt, was completely predictable, which sort of took away from the story line --- for me, at least.

There wasn't really much suspense at all, not that I was expecting this book to be a thriller or anything, but I did want there to be at least a little bit of a cliffhanger.

The characters' dialogue was really good and flowed very nicely, which is something I really like about books, in general. Jen Calonita didn't make the dialogue seem like it was an adult trying to talk like a teenager, which was a plus.

I feel like maybe Jen could have been a little more creative with the hard ships of reality TV, instead of just the usual, like loosing your friends and having your words taken out of context. After all, she has enough experience in this field of celerities and reality TV.

All-in-all, I thought this was a good book, despite the originality issues and the predictability of the plot.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a really fast, really easy read that doesn't require too much brain power.

FTC: I bought this book.

Book Haul VIDEO? Yes, please!

Happy Sunday!

I HAVE MY FIRST FOLLOWER!

Oh, happy day, LOL.

Anyways, I am about halfway done with Reality Check, and I plan on finishing it tonight so that I can get a review up for you guys tomorrow. We'll see, though.

ALSO: I am making my Christmas list and am at a loss for what books to add to it. (I already have The Lying Game by Sara Sheperd and Fallout by Ellen Hopkins).

BOOKS IN THIS VIDEO: (in order of being mentioned)

Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley

The Light by D.J. MacHale

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Skinny by Ibi Kasik

Just One Wish by Jannette Rallison

Willow by Julia Hoban

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

This Lullaby and Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

The Taker by J. M. Steele

The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Enjoy the video! :)

NANOWRIMO Indeed

Yes, that is correct. I have decided to take the Nanowrimo (National November Writing Month) Challenge. And I am already twelve days behind, so that means that I need to get my little fingers into hyperdrive in order to write 50,000 WORDS (175-page novel) by midnight on November 30th.

I really think I can do it, but it'll take a lot of brain power.

And I've already calculated it all out: I will have to write 3,000 words a day in order to meet the deadline. If I'm fully focused with no distractions (which rarely ever happens) that's equivalent to a minimum of 1 1/2 hours of writing per day.

I did contemplate waiting until next year to do it, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it this year.

I am super stoked, and yes, I'll admit, a little bit nervous. I have a pretty strong feeling I'm gonna need to ice my fingers because of how sore/tired they'll be after a crap-load of typing.

I need to go write my story, so I'll see you guys soon, with a review of Reality Check by Jen Calonita (author of Secrets of My Hollywood Life Series).

Enjoy your weekend! :D

One Night That Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt

Four dares. Two secrets. One night.

Eliza is in a full-blown panic. Her notebook has been stolen --- the one that lists everything she wants but is afraid to go after. And the absolute worst person in the world has it: her ex-boyriend, Cooper. 

Like it's not bad enough that Cooper was lying to Eliza for their entire relationship --- now he and his friends are blackmailing her. They're giving her just one night to complete the most humiliating tasks on her list or they'll post her secrets online --- including the ones that aren't just about her.

Eliza's sure of only one thing: She isn't going down without a fight. Cooper may have what's left of her dignity, but she's not the only one with something to hide . . .

Stars: 4.5/5

Cover: B+

Eliza's parents go out of town for the night, so Eliza plans on having a nice, quiet, and relaxing movie night with her two best friends, Clarice and  Marissa. But her plans get all turned around when Cooper tells her to meet her at a club that is notorious for not carding. She has no choice but to go, because, well, he has her notebook. The one that she writes all of the things she wants to do but is too scared to? Yeah, that one. 

Cooper and his friends make her do the tasks in her notebook, starting out with easy ones, like getting a hot guy to dance with, turning into more serious ones, like telling her sister a secret that could potentially tear their sisterhood apart. Eliza is forced to do everything they ask, because if she doesn't, they threaten to post her entire notebook online.

Meanwhile, Marissa and Clarice are accompanying Eliza for most of the excursions that last until the sun starts coming up the next morning.

We learn what Cooper did to Eliza to make her hate him and break up with him, and then we learn the truth of why it happened, which was pretty shocking, I think. 

Not everything goes according to plan --- Eliza and her friends get caught breaking-and-entering, Marissa goes to jail for marijuana possession (and she was truthfully "just holding it for a friend"), and Cooper actually tries to help Eliza get her notebook back.

I felt like this book was a magnet and I was a metal --- all throughout my day, all I wanted to do was go sit down somewhere and read this book. I thought it to be very interesting, and it really didn't have any dull points.

I thought it was extremely unique that this book takes place over the course of one night.

The book was written kind of like a movie --- at least, I could totally see it being a movie. In fact, it kind of reminded me of the movie that came out in 2006, Sleepover, with Alexa Vega in it. (If you haven't heard of it, check it out: it's a cute movie). 

I loved that at the beginning of the book, Cooper was portrayed as the enemy, but as the story line progressed he became almost a night-in-shining-armor, saving Eliza.

The characters' dialogue was extremely entertaining and realistic.

Possibly one of my favorite things about this book was that it actually had a message --- an obvious one, not something that you have to deeply analyze to reveal. I'll let you read the book and figure out what it is though. ;)

I would've given this book a 5/5 stars if I hadn't predicted the ending.

In the past month, I have read three of Lauren Barnholdt's books, and I am admittedly becoming a big fan of hers. I intend to read her other books that I haven't read yet: Watch Me and Aces Up.

This book was amazing, and I would recommend to anyone that wants a light read that made them feel all good inside. :)

FTC: I bought this book.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Some summers are just destined to be pretty.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Stars: 4/5

Cover: A-

I originally bought this book in June, intending to read it immediately to get into the summer mood. Unfortunately, I kept putting it off and off --- not because I didn't want to read it, but because I had a lot of other books to read. It didn't matter that I ended up reading this book in November, though, because it would have been amazing, and made me feel like it was summertime, in any season. 

Belly (Isabel), her mom, and her older brother, Steven, go to Cousins Beach every summer to stay at her mom's friend Susannah's beach house with her and her two sons, Jeremiah and Conrad. Belly is the youngest one of the four teens. 

Up until the summer where she "turns pretty," the older boys used to leave her out of everything. But, the summer before Belly turns sixteen, she goes to Cousins Beach finally free of her glasses, her braces, and her chubby, childish cheeks. The boys finally start including her in the things they do together, and she feels like she belongs.

Belly had spent her entire pre-teen and teenage life pining away for Conrad, the oldest of the boys. He'd always been mysterious, and of course extremely handsome. But then there's Jeremiah. He's a year older than Belly, and makes it pretty obvious he likes Belly that summer.

Belly goes back and forth between the two brothers, not knowing which one she likes more, when she meets a familiar-looking Cam (Cameron) at a Fourth Of July barbecue. He seems perfect --- good looking, sweet, and full of charm. While getting to know each other better, Cam tells Belly why they look so familiar to each other. The reason, I felt, was a little cliche, but none the less made your heart go, 

"awww! How cute!"

Belly goes back and forth between all three guys the entire summer, which I thought was pretty fickle. It's like, she's going out with Cam, and leading Jeremiah on until the point where he tells her he basically loves her. Meanwhile, she's still going after Conrad, who says he doesn't like her, but occasionally does something that Belly interprets as a sign that he likes her anyways.

All-in-all, the characters seemed extremely realistic. When I was reading the dialogue, I felt like I could hear the characters talking myself.

I liked that this book was romance-y, without being a full-on love-fest or a smut book. I thought it was unique that Jenny Han made the book come off like it would be a light read, when in fact a lot of serious topics are discussed in the book.

Another thing that was unique about this book was that a lot of the chapters flashed back to previous summers. I liked it, because it helped me get to know all of the characters a little better.

I've heard a lot of people say they didn't like the book because Belly came off as whiny, selfish, and annoying, and I can see that a little bit, but I believe it just made her all the more realistic. I mean, really, what human being isn't even the slightest bit selfish? I think these traits made her different from a lot of the other protagonists that are portrayed as having no flaws.

I finished this book in no time (it was a pretty easy read), and I do admit I enjoyed it. I found myself wanting to stop whatever else I was doing to go sit down and read this book! I am excited to read what other stories Jenny Han comes out with, and I fully intend on reading the sequel, It's Not Summer Without You. 

Look for an upcoming review on it.

FTC: I bought this book.