Wonder By R. J. Palacio

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I've never read anything like this book, and it was completely beautiful. It was a rollercoaster of emotions: sometimes I wanted to cry, sometimes I smiled really big, and other I just wanted to punch some of the characters.  The story begins, when August, who is a kid with a couple of diseased that turned it's face a little deformed, starts school for the first time. It’s about how people react to him, and how he really takes it in. I was so mad when he was called names like orc, or Alien, or freak. Why would you do that? I like to think that if I were ten tears old, and I bumped into August, I would react in a cool way. I don’t want to be hypocrital, cause I’m no ten anymore, and I don’t know how I would have reacted, cause we humans tend to be afraid of the things that are not normal to us, but I know that I wouldn’t have cause him pain on purpose, being mean.  August is amazing. He’s so good: he doesn’t do confrontations, he never wanted special treatment, and he’s incredibly funny. I kept reading her dialogues and thinking: ‘Aw, he’s so cute!’“I actually agree with my mom,” she said. “I do think we’re too young to be dating. I mean, I just don’t see what the rush is.”“Yeah, I agree,” said August. “Which is kind of a shame, you know, what with all thosebabes who keep throwing themselves at me and stuff?” I laughed SO hard with that. I love August. Summer was August first real friend at the school. She was so adorable, and kind. I know that that first day she felt sorry for him and went to his table to be polite, but then she realized that August is a really cool guy, and they become great friends. Jack Will, was in the beginning kind of forced to be close to August, and he was a little freaked out, so he said same mean things of August behind his back, that August overhead, and gets upset about. He cut Jack Will off, and that’s when Jack finds out that he really missed August, and that he wanted to be his friends, without having to pretend. I love his two friends. There very loyal, and they didn’t get intimidated for the mayority of people who was rejecting August.  I love the transformation of the fifth graders through this book: how at first, they all feared and rejected August (they even had this game called The Plague, that if you touch August and don’t wash your hands in the immediate thirty seconds, you get the plague), and how that starts changing little by little, until the trip. They protect him from some bullies of seventh grade, and the story goes around through all school, and they start loving August. I was SO HAPPY after this. And the award part! I wanted to cry of happiness so much! "And as I walked up the steps to the stage, the most amazing thing happened: everyone started standing up. Not just the front rows, but the whole audience suddenly got up on their feet, whooping, hollering, clapping like crazy. It was a standing ovation. For me."  His family is fantastic. His parents loved their kids more than anything in the world, and they were the best parents for August: they took care of him (physically and mentally), they loved him unconditionally, and that's something you don't find easily these days.  “Come on, Auggie, please try to understand,” he continued, putting his hand under my chin and tilting my face toward him. “You were wearing that helmet all the time. And the real, real, real, real truth is: missed seeing your face, Auggie. I know you don’t always love it, but you have to understand … I love it. I love this face of yours, Auggie, completely and passionately. And it kind of broke my heart that you were always covering it up.”  I love how we get different points of view in the book, cause we get to see the whole situation, and what it meant to every meaningful character in the story. (I must admit I got kind of lost in Justin’s part). It was great to see how much August changed people lives, and how he got to be so loved. I loved every POV, and every character that spoke.  I totally recommend this book. It’s a display of humanity and kindness, and loyalty, and blindless not superficial love. (Love the part when they talked about faceless souls that recognize each other by the love they feel in their hearts). It’s a very moving, hopeful, beautiful story, that I’m gonna treasure, and re read it a couple times! I take my hat off to R. J. Palacio !

Top 5 Favourites YA heroines

All this girls have something in common: they're brave and loyal, and kick-ass! They're really inspiring, with a strength in spirit that's difficult to find, and courage to face everything that's laid in front of them. I take my hat off to this ladies!

• Izzy Lightwood (from the Mortal Instruments series): she went to save his brother from a shadowhunter/demon, without knowing what to expect, because she couldn't let Jace thought he was curse. Such a great sister. 
• Tris Prior (from the Divergent series): she gave herself to the Erudite leader for experimentation, to save the people she cared about. 
• Hermione Granger (from the Harry Potter series): read the seven books. She's ALWAYS there for Harry and Ron. Big brain, huge heart. 
• Clara Gardner (from the Unearthly series): she fights for what she thinks it's right. She makes sacrifices and push herself to the limit to protect the ones she love. 
• Celaena Sardothien (from the Throne of Glass series): she's letal. She saved Nox several times, and set Sam free. Underneath the bad ass looks, she has a tender heart, and cares for people, trying to protect them in her own way.

New June Upcoming Books

June, 4th: The Moon and More by SARAH DESSEN

                         
                          Siege and Storm by LEIGH BARDUGO

June, 11th: Linked by IMOGEN HOWSON

June, 18th: Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale (The Bane Chronicles) by CASSANDRA CLARE AND SARAH REES BRENNAN

My Bookshelf!

I've got YA books, and classics, and contemporary books, and some chick lit books. So, here it is! For the moment! New books to come of course, cause a bookshelf for an avid reader, it's always in constant transformation! 

Forbidden By Tabitha Suzuma

OMG, this book. What can I say? It's brilliant.

How something so beautiful and natural for someone can be seen as repulsive and illegal and sickening for others. (The interrogation part! I felt just like Lochan at what they were saying).

It’s all about perspectives.

When I read the summary, I didn’t want to read this book. Brother and sister? No way! But a friend recommended it, and I decided to give it a try.
I don’t believe I’ve ever cried so much with a book before. I cry a lot with movies and TV shows, but I don’t know why, not so much with books. It should be the other way around, with all the descriptions and inner thoughts and feelings that you got in a book… I guess I’m weird that way.

Lochan and Maya are the oldest of five brothers, with a careless, alcoholic mother, who leaves them alone all the time, under the care of Lochan and Maya. They have the role of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ in their little family, sharing the burden and the responsibilities. Just by reading it I got stressed. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a teenager in charge of other three kids, with their own demandings and needs.
Through the years they have formed and unbreakable bond, feeling closer and closer to each other everytime. They began to have feelings for each other, realizing that they have always felt towards the other more than fraternal love.
"He was always so much more than just a brother. He is my soul mate, my fresh air, the reason I look forward to getting up every morning. I always knew I loved him more than anyone else in the world." 
Even after they realize what they felt, they kept struggling. They never feel it completely right, despite how happy they made them. And the questions start coming: What would people think? How can we have a future? How could we possibly avoid the law? What could happen to the children if anyone finds out? 
So they keep fighting it, until they finally return to each other’s arms, the only place they feel at peace.

Lochan is such an atypical main character: he has social anxiety, panic attacks at times, he has never had a girl (ALWAYS the guy has had a girlfriend or a laid before the story), and it’s completely selfless. He’s always taking care of the situation, taking responsibilities and thinking and planning.
Maya is really mature for her age. She had to grow up quickly, but she’s also very very wise, and caring, and loveable.

Their love is epic, and eternal, and selfless and so beautiful. I didn’t feel disgusted by it once I began the story, and you get to be inside Lochan and Maya’s heads and in their household.
The writing style is amazing, both POVs completely descriptives and rich in details, and the pace of the story is reliable and catching.
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I cried so much because it was beautiful and real, and I think I will never read something like this again. There’s not even a slight of happy ending. It was a heart- breaking, yank your hair, cry your eyes out, ending. But ending it any other way… it would have been cliché and not believable. Thank you, Tabitha Suzuma for this amazing ride, and giving life for such a fantastic, one in a life time story.

Top 5 favourites male characters

1. Will Herondale (from The Infernal Devices series): great sense of humour. Greatest, biggest heart. He's so very honorable. He sacrificed everything he was and everything he wanted  for the well- being and happiness of the people he loved. He's my hero.
2. Will Cooper (from Slammed): he took everything the world threw at him, with strength and an unbreakable will. He made lots of sacrifices and never asked anything in return. 
3. Magnus Bane (from The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments series): he's so fucking awesome. He drools charm and everywhere he goes is a party. He's very special, but he still wishes to be treated like everybody else. He's always looking and finding the good in people and trying to fix the broken. 
4. Percy Jackson (from Heroes of the Olympus): the best word to describe Percy Jackson is loyal. He goes to hell and beyond for the people he loves, and they always, always come first. He faces every obstacle with a smile and a snarky comment. He's the guy who sees the glass half full and makes people laugh even in the dark times. He's completely lovable and a natural leader.
5. Daemon Black (from Obsidian): once he passed the jerk phase... perfection. 
   

The Sea Of Tranquility By Katja Millay

This book was mind-blowing. I can't explain just how great this book was. It's so intense and emotional, and real. This is the kind of book for which you just have to stop once in a while to exhale and have your emotions leveled. Nearly impossible not to cry with Josh's and Nastya's histories. 

Josh and Nastya are two teenagers who had to grow up too fast, cause shit happened in their lives, that changed who they were. They both now they're fucked up and they react differently: he isolates himself and she tries to call for attention to her outside, so no one can see the true her. 
"I don’t dress this way because I like it so much or because I want people to stare at me in general. But people are going to stare at me for the wrong reasons anyway, and if they are going to stare at me for the wrong reasons, then at least I should get to pick them." 

I love Nastya and Josh's relationship. Love how they're inevitably pull to each other from the beginning, and how little by little she infiltrates in every aspect of his life, until there's domesticity between them. I LOVE how he become the first person she talks too after such a long time silent and feel the specialness in him. Love how even though he didn't understood her a bit, he left her come back every single time. 

So, at one side we had Josh, who since he was a kid started to be left alone little by little by all the members in his family, until he's the only one. We see the loneliness and the acceptance and resignation in him. And we see the strength in persuing his passion (carpentry) despite everything else. 
Then we had Nastya, his Sunshine , who has a secret buried deep, with which she has been struggling for a very long time. She hated herself, and hated everything, and was full of anger and resentment. We find out about it little by little, taking hint until she showed us 'the event'. I had to stop reading, cause I started to hiperventilate and my stomach twisted. It was such a sad and heartbreaking scene. We understand the way she is, and how she lost the most important thing in her life: her passion, the thing she was excellent at. 

Drew was a surprise. In the beginning, you can't help thinking he's the typical winner, big grin, high school jerk. But he's so much more than that: he's a true friend, and an incredible smart guy, with a good heart under his false appearance. I love how much she loved Nastya as his family and how he always knew and encouraged what happened between Josh and her. 
Clay was amazing as well. He didn't missed a beat, completely awake with everything and everyone, with a talented gift and an unique soul.

I know that at the end she didn't have complete closure, but it was ok. She found how did it to her, and I was glad that she didn't forgive or forget. She wasn't supposed to. When there's so much grief involved, you can never completely let it go, cause it has become part of you. It's how you decide to act with it, that really matters. And even though, her first dream was taken away from her, she had the strength to found and not letting go her new one. 

This book is a must read. I recommend it to everyone and hope to read more about Katja Millay 's books in the future.