"If I Stay" - Gayle Forman

Ratings:

Violence: 0/5
Drug Abuse: 0/5
Nudity: 2/5
Language: 3/5
Sexual Content: 5/5

Nudity: Related to the sexual content and her chest is shown when her clothes are being ripped by the paramedics nothing wild thankfully.
Language: Towards the end of the book the swear words increase but it isn't overly used rather I believe it serves it's purpose well.
Sexual Content: Intercourse does occur you have to skip two pages towards the end so that you are not scarred for life.

Summary

     Death can upon us at any moment and Mia was not expecting Death to make a change in her life. With no memory of the accident she pieces together the people and their conversations to find the things she lost and needs.

     She is in a state of ghost form watching her body being wheeled away from the accident and the surgeries her body goes through. The most heart wrenching is the family that comes to visit her as they talk to her unconscious body about their love for her, what is going on and if they think she should keep fighting to stay with them here on Earth.

Review

     I love this book minus the two unneeded pages with intercourse I enjoyed the entirety of it. I was worried this would be depressing because it talks about death and normally they are. Yes you will tear up and want to cry because it hurts what Mia has and will go through.

     The power of love and family is what buoy's this book up above the rest. It is raw and has left a mark on my imagination about death and unconscious people. What is it that we are willing to endure for love? How will we face life when we feel like it is ripping us away from those we need the most at that time?

     I read this in a day. It's a short read but I hope you have to sit there for a moment to let it sink in and not slip from your mind so quickly as I did. It's an emotional roller coaster but I enjoyed every moment. This is for ages 14 and up with skipping those two pages for sure. I will be adding this to my library hopefully. :D If I Stay. (click hotline to purchase from Amazon) I also was not aware until recently they were making a movie out of it. Sadly, I've heard bad reviews.

     I am also grateful for the gospel I belong to because I know that death like birth is a way of passage to the next part of our existence and that families are bound together forever in the temple.

By: J Feistner

"Oathbreaker: Assassin's Apprentice" - SR Vaught & JB Redmond

Ratings

Violence: 3/5
Drug Abuse:0/5
Language: 0/5
Nudity: 1/5
Sexual Content: 0/5

Violence: There is a lot of death's and battles with animals and soldiers.
Nudity: Aron accidentally runs to Dari naked and quickly covers himself and returns to his dorms mortified.

Summary

     Aron was dreading the Harvest time afraid that they would take him or one of his siblings to Stone's where they train assassins. It was shameful for be a part of that group and his family was a hard working respectable family on the Watchline.

     Little did he know that he would have to work side by side with the Stone Masters that kidnapped him from his family as creatures and people pose a threat along their journey to the Stone Truine. Across the land a prince is mocked and jeered at by his people. However his family is slowly poisoned to death one by one. As he watches his closest sister pass to the other side he is pushed from the top of the tower and he break's every bone in his body but still lives.

Review

     I liked this story. I wouldn't say it's the absolute BEST story I've read but I think for it's audience it did well. I would say this is for ages 10-14 just because of the simple vocabulary. There are more characters that come along the way besides the prince and Aron but there is a lot of action and getting to know the characters.

     I looked forward to reading this and of course I might check out the sequel. There isn't any swear words which I really liked or anything romantic besides crushes. Click the hot link if you are interested in buying it Oathbreaker. It's only 1 cent in paperback! :D

By: J Feistner

"Above" - Isla Morley

Ratings

Violence: 3/5

Drug Abuse: 0/5

Nudity: 0/5

Language: 0/5

Sexual Content: 5/5

Violence: She attempts and sometimes wounds Dobbs and herself. Children are killed.

Sexual Content: She is raped repeatedly. 

Summary

     Blythe was kidnapped at the city festival by a survivalist who locked her away in a silo at Eudora, Kansas. In the beginning she tries every method possible to fight and find her way out hoping for freedom and counting on others to find her. However as the silence encloses around her below ground she realizes that no one is coming and that she wants to live. Her kidnapper tries to convince her that the world is coming to an end and that he is doing her a favor since they will emerge just as Adam and Eve after the world has been changed. 

     At times she wants to give up when the loneliness engulfs her but nothing prepares her for raising a child in a confined space. Desiring the happiest moments for her child she adopts the kidnapper's story that the world has been destroyed and that it's no longer safe to be outside. An event years later grant Blythe the choice of denying all her son knows as the truth or sticking to her story and survival. 

Review

     This story is dark and hard to read. Not that it's boring or anything but Blythe doesn't seem like a real teenager to me and it goes through some gross stuff. I kept imagining her as older rather than sixteen. Her personal thoughts and behavior just didn't fit well with the age in my book. The story is interesting but it really flopped halfway through when they finally get above ground. 

     Also, at times she tries to paint her kidnapper as not such a bad guy but he was a slime ball! I didn't really care for it because I didn't finish it. Don't ask me to because I'm not going to. The first half was intriguing but when they get above ground it just died. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Like I said it is dark because she is raped repeatedly, attempts suicide and children die. 

By: J Feistner