Tag: David Levithan

Review: My True Love Gave to Me Anthology

Posted December 3, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

my true love gave to meRowena’s review of My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Pena, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White.

If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.

This book felt like it had a million short stories in it but I jumped in anyway because a lot of my favorite YA authors penned stories in this one so I was all about it. I’m going to briefly review each short story and hope that this review doesn’t end up being longer than the book. 🙂

“Midnights” by Rainbow Rowell: This was my favorite story in the entire book. Oh, how I adored Noel and Mags. I loved seeing how they met and then their anniversary celebrations each year. The way that their friendship blossomed over the course of their short story was too freaking cute and I just adored this book to pieces.

Grade: 5 out of 5

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link: This story was short but I didn’t connect with Miranda at all and that she fell in love with a ghost did absolutely nothing for me. I read through the whole thing waiting for that moment when I’d connect with Miranda and the story and sadly, it never happened.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena:  This story felt like it took me a million years to read it. I didn’t connect with either Shy or Haley. I wanted to smack Shy every time he lied to Haley and then when we get to finally know about Haley, I wanted to smack her too. I wasn’t at all mad that the story ended.

Grade: 1 out of 5

Polaris is Where You’ll Find Me by Jenny Han: I haven’t read any books by Jenny Han (though I do have her latest release waiting to be read on my iPad) but I was really excited to read this one since I’ve heard a lot of good things about her books.  I’m sad to say that this book didn’t work for me at all. It was just…weird. Natalie grew up on the North Pole, having been adopted by Santa Claus? She lives amongst the elves and even has beef with one elf in particular because that elf is dating the elf she wants but can’t have? The only part that I thought was cute was the end when Flynn hands her what she wanted all along but even that wasn’t enough for me to like the entire story.

Grade: 2 out of 5

It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins: I was excited to read this story. I adore all things Stephanie Perkins and I thought she delivered a great short story. Both North and Marigold were cute characters that really came to life in such a short amount of space. I laughed, I sighed and I grinned my way through this story. It was cute.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan: I haven’t read any books by Levithan but was hoping for great things since he’s a pretty popular author of LGBT YA fiction. Unfortunately, this story dragged and the longer it went on, the more I just wanted to skip to the next story. The bitchy sister got on my nerves but I did think that it was sweet of the boyfriend to play dress up to make his boyfriend happy. I just wish that I could have connected with the characters more.

Grade: 2 out of 5

Krampsulauf by Holly Black: Another story that was just …weird to me. It’s a contemporary YA but with some fantasy elements thrown in and throughout the entire story, I kept wondering, “What the heck am I reading?” when it was finally over, I was glad to move on to the next story.

Grade: 1 out of 5

What the Hell have You Done, Sophie Roth by Gayle Forman:  This is one of the stories that I was most looking forward to reading when I first got this book for review. I love Gayle Forman and knew that she would deliver another great story. I’m so glad that I wasn’t disappointed. I thought this story was well written, cute and I loved seeing Sophie fumble her way around Russell. It was just all around cute and I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire:  This story was cute. Bad boy doing bad things and Good Girl not casting any judgments, seeing the good in him. Something that not anyone else sees. I thought they were a cute little couple. I loved seeing them work together to try to fix the problems that were all around them. I’ve never read anything by McEntire before but I’m keen to try something else.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White: This was another great addition to the book. I loved getting to know both Maria and Ben. They were a fun duo. I thought it was cute that Ben had a sixth sense for what customers and employees of the diner would want or in some cases, need. He brought life into that diner and in turn, into that town and also to Maria’s life. I loved seeing them grow closer with each passing day and I thought White did a good job of telling their story in such a short space. I enjoyed this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5  

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter: This was one of those change places with someone and see how they live, or well, close enough to that kind of story line.  I was interested enough in the story to read it but there were times when I just had to roll my eyes down the street. Still, in the end, I was glad that I read this book and would definitely read more from this author because, Ethan was a cutie pie.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Overall, there were some pretty great stories but there were also some pretty bad stories. I’m not at all mad that I read this book though because while it wasn’t perfect, the stories that I did enjoy were just fabulous.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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Review: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Posted October 2, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David LevithanReviewer: Rowena
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Dash & Lily, #1) by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 26th 2010
Pages: 260
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four-stars

“I’ve left some clues for you.If you want them, turn the page.If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

What a short read this book turned out to be and an enjoyable short read, too.

I really enjoyed this book because the concept behind the whole book of dares thing was just too cute for words.  This book made it onto my radar because Ames read and liked it.  I can almost always tell that I’m going to like a book that Ames has liked because I haven’t disliked a book that she’s recommended me.

This book follows young Dash and Lily as they get to know each other through a red notebook with clues to their next adventures.  They get to know each other through these clues and they grow closer over their Christmas holidays spent without their parents.  Dash found Lily’s red notebook at the Strand bookstore in NYC and followed the clues set forth in the book and the back and forth between the two of them began.  The way that these two “meet” was too cute for words.  I loved the clues, I loved the notebook and I loved seeing these two come together because really, they were too adorable for words.

Dash is loner type of guy who’s been through a tough custody battle between his parent so he’s a lot wiser than his young years and he’s tricks his parents into leaving him alone for the Christmas holiday.  Lily is kind of the opposite as Dash where she loves Christmas and is not happy that her parents took their 25 year anniversary trip over the Christmas holiday.

The two of them made quite the pair and I really thought that Cohn and Levithan wrote a great story with two characters that I came to love over the course of the book.  I’m really looking forward to reading more by these two (I haven’t read Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist but I will now).  This book was enjoyable but as much as I enjoyed it, I wanted more to the ending.  The way that it ended, I hope that there’s another story to follow.  I’m totally crossing my fingers for another book featuring these two.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories by either author or really, to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA.  This book doesn’t disappoint.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Mira Ink. This book was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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Book cover and blurb credit: http://goodreads.com

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four-stars


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Review: Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Posted August 3, 2010 by Ames in Reviews | 6 Comments

Naomi and Ely are best friends. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi, but prefers to be in love with boys. So they create their “No Kiss List” of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. And this works fine – until Bruce. Bruce is Naomi’s boyfriend, so there’s no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce even though he is boring. The result: a rift of universal proportions and the potential end of “Naomi and Ely: the institution.” Can these best friends come back together again?

I wanted to read this one because it was written by the same people who wrote Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. I didn’t read that book, but I watched and loved that movie.

Naomi and Ely are bff. Big time. They live across the hall from each other, they grew up together, and even the fact that Naomi’s dad slept with Ely’s mom didn’t break up their friendship. But when Ely kisses Naomi’s boyfriend Bruce, Naomi has to face the fact that Naomi doesn’t love her that way and she blows up at him. Feeling guilty and not really understanding why Naomi freaked out, Ely gets mad too – and so epic meltdown begins. Naomi creates a list of rules, locations where they cannot be in the same space at the same time. The building tenants are divided in their loyalties and more than a few people are happy about the split (namely guys who love Naomi).

This book was fun! It’s told from a few different perspectives. Naomi and Ely’s of course. Then there’s Gabriel, the hot new doorman (who was #2 on the no kiss list), Bruce the First and Bruce the Second. Bruce the Second is the one Ely kissed. Bruce the First is in love with Naomi and was super jealous of Ely. Then there’s Robin and Robin. Robin guy and Robin girl. All these people have their perspective on what’s going on between Naomi and Ely.

I loved how this book was about love between friends. Yeah we get Naomi and Ely falling for other people romantically, but at the core of this book, was the love you have for your friends. And no one knows you better than your best friend, no one knows your more vulnerable weak spots. No one can hurt you more.

I liked this one. I wanted to be everyone’s friend. And all the cool stuff about New York – you feel like you’re right there with these guys. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List gets a B from me.

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Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com


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