English Course Review Round-Up: Part 3

One of my programs in university is English and consequently, we do a lot of reading!  This semester, I read 8 fiction novels for a class and I'm doing a series of mini reviews to recap my thoughts!  This is the third such installment out of four.  You can view part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE.

R&R Review Wednesday: The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

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Stand alone to date

Goodreads Blurb:

"A dazzling debut novel—at once a charming romance and a moving coming-of-age story—about what happens when a fourteen-year old boy pretends to seduce a girl to steal a copy of Playboy but then discovers she is his computer-loving soulmate.

Billy Marvin’s first love was a computer. Then he met Mary Zelinsky.

Do you remember your first love?

The Impossible Fortress begins with a magazine…The year is 1987 and Playboy has just published scandalous photographs of Vanna White, from the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune. For three teenage boys—Billy, Alf, and Clark—who are desperately uneducated in the ways of women, the magazine is somewhat of a Holy Grail: priceless beyond measure and impossible to attain. So, they hatch a plan to steal it.

The heist will be fraught with peril: a locked building, intrepid police officers, rusty fire escapes, leaps across rooftops, electronic alarm systems, and a hyperactive Shih Tzu named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Failed attempt after failed attempt leads them to a genius master plan—they’ll swipe the security code to Zelinsky’s convenience store by seducing the owner’s daughter, Mary Zelinsky. It becomes Billy’s mission to befriend her and get the information by any means necessary. But Mary isn’t your average teenage girl. She’s a computer loving, expert coder, already strides ahead of Billy in ability, with a wry sense of humor and a hidden, big heart. But what starts as a game to win Mary’s affection leaves Billy with a gut-wrenching choice: deceive the girl who may well be his first love or break a promise to his best friends.

At its heart, The Impossible Fortress is a tender exploration of young love, true friends, and the confusing realities of male adolescence—with a dash of old school computer programming.

Bonus content: Play the "The Impossible Fortress" video game at http://www.jasonrekulak.com/game/"

R&R Review and Interview Friday: Romance Is For Other People by Lee Wolf

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Stand-alone to date

Goodreads Blurb:

"Lydia: “You must be sure you have a shot. But you don’t. Romance is for other people.”
Jeremy: “Do you actually think I believe that?”


Chris Howard is content with being “Best Friends Forever” with Lydia Jamison, but Lydia secretly wants to go out with him. Meanwhile, Chris’ older cousin Jeremy and Amanda have a tumultuous love-hate relationship. After a recent fight with Amanda, Jeremy starts pursuing Lydia and refuses to leave her alone.


Lydia is at first disgusted, because Jeremy has been a pest to both her and Chris in the past. Chris doesn't believe that Jeremy has a chance with Lydia, and does nothing about it. But as Jeremy refuses to give up his pursuit….


Romance is for Other People is a unique novel told from first person from the point of view of two main characters: Chris and Lydia and their experiences with first love and first heartbreak."

Summer Review Train: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

To celebrate the start of summer, I'm participating in a review train!  I'm super excited because this is the first review train I've ever been in and it's such a cool idea :)  I love the graphic that our host, Brittany from Space Between the Spines, made!  There are plenty of people after me (the fun is just beginning!) and you can check out the whole schedule HERE.  I'll also put a link at the bottom of this post to the next person in the train to make it super easy for you guys to follow along!  I'm the third stop on the train so if you haven't seen the first two that Genni at Read, Set, Read! (The Unexpected Everything)  and Lauren at Always Me (Future Shock)  posted, hop on over to their blogs!  Let's get started!

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Goodreads Blurb:

"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 terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along."

Review Friday: Queen of Someday by Sherry D. Ficklin

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Goodreads Blurb:

"ONE GIRL WILL BRING AN EMPIRE TO ITS KNEES...

Before she can become the greatest empress in history, fifteen-year-old Sophie will have to survive her social-climbing mother’s quest to put her on the throne of Russia—at any cost.

Imperial Court holds dangers like nothing Sophie has ever faced before. In the heart of St. Petersburg, surviving means navigating the political, romantic, and religious demands of the bitter Empress Elizabeth and her handsome, but sadistic nephew, Peter. Determined to save her impoverished family—and herself—Sophie vows to do whatever is necessary to thrive in her new surroundings. But an attempt on her life and an unexpected attraction threatens to derail her plans.

Alone in a new and dangerous world, learning who to trust and who to charm may mean the difference between becoming queen and being sent home in shame to marry her lecherous uncle. With traitors and murderers lurking around every corner, her very life hangs in the balance. Betrothed to one man but falling in love with another, Sophie will need to decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in order to become the empress she is destined to be.

In a battle for the soul of a nation, will love or destiny reign supreme?"

Review Sunday: A World Away by Nancy Grossman

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Goodreads Blurb:

"A summer of firsts

Sixteen-year-old Eliza Miller has never made a phone call, never tried on a pair of jeans, never sat in a darkened theater waiting for a movie to start. She’s never even talked to someone her age who isn’t Amish, like her.

A summer of good-byes

When she leaves her close-knit family to spend the summer as a nanny in suburban Chicago, a part of her can’t wait to leave behind everything she knows. She can’t imagine the secrets she will uncover, the friends she will make, the surprises and temptations of a way of life so different from her own.

A summer of impossible choice

Every minute Eliza spends with her new friend Josh feels as good as listening to music for the first time, and she wonders whether there might be a place for her in his world. But as summer wanes, she misses the people she has left behind, and the plain life she once took for granted. Eliza will have to decide for herself where she belongs. Whichever choice she makes, she knows she will lose someone she loves."

R&R Review and Interview Friday: The Truth About Drew by Krista Noorman

Amazon(there is a Kindle Countdown deal going on until the 17th!  Get it on Kindle for only $0.99)  Goodreads  Book Depository  Barnes and Noble

Goodreads Blurb:

"At fourteen, Claire Thomas leads the average life of a teenage girl, living in the shadow of her popular older brother, maneuvering her way through family, friendships, and first love. But her childhood best friend, Drew, is not your average teenage boy. In fact, he's downright unusual. Sometimes he disappears, almost before her eyes. He speaks in clichés, quotes and Bible verses, and is always writing in his worn leather notebook.

Drew seems to have the inside track to all things spiritual, but Claire lives in a family that does not go to church, with a mother who hates God. It seems Drew is trying to tell her something important, but she isn't sure what that is. After years of wondering why she is the only person to ever see or speak to him, thinking maybe he isn't real and it's all in her head, she is determined to discover The Truth About Drew."

R&R Interview and Review Monday: Days of Throbbing Gristle by Kevin Cole

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Goodreads Blurb:

"Does Heaven know you're miserable now?

It’s 1987. Sam Henry Hay, a 17-year-old exchange student from Sheffield, hops into Texas, USA, with one burning ambition: Manipulate his gullible host parents into funding his university, and leave his dead-end life in Yorkshire behind.

But is Sam manipulating America or America manipulating Sam? The clever lad schmoozes his way into many a bed and purse, yet can’t get rid of anyone. He executes careful plans, only to watch them disastrously fall apart. Worst of all, this once proud nihilist watches in horror as he reveals a conscience, in a world growing ever darker around him.

Days of Throbbing Gristle is not your typical teenage tale. It’s a razor-slashing journey through a time and place that really was as bad as you’ve heard. For some, high school is the best time in their lives. For others, it’s a miracle they make it to the other side."

Mini Review Thursday: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

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Goodreads Blurb:

"Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes? 

Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything is a lyrical, witty, and heart-wrenching novel about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings."

Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty

You just gotta love Jessica Darling. She believes she sees through everything when really, she sees next to nothing. Her whole world revolves around high school whether she means it to or not. But what I really liked about this book was that she realized that in the end and started making her own choices. Somewhat. I don't have much to say other than that. I mean, I'm mostly reading this series for something light when my day was anything but. This series has been a successful distraction thus far and hopefully, that trend will continue.