Contemporary(ish) Mini-Rambles (Megan)

Every Day by David Levithan
From Goodreads: Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Every Day is technically my first David Levithan book! I've read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, but this is the first book I've read that he wrote solo. I also read this with the book club that Rachel and I started with our friend Katherine at school. 

Every Day was AMAZING and so unique! I've never read anything else like it. When I was reading this book I got super emotional because I couldn't help but feel for A and Rhiannon. The way that A lives means that there is no real way for them to be together and watching them try to navigate the differences between the two of them was heartbreaking. The ending of this was so bittersweet and sticks with you. 

If you haven't already, I HIGHLY recommend reading Every Day! It's the kind of book that will stay with you long after you finish and will make you think about love in a whole different way.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

From Goodreads: Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.
Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?
Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?
Sarah Dessen's devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

So if you follow this blog at all, it's not secret that Rachel is the biggest Sarah Dessen fan on planet earth. She's been begging me to read all of her books immediately for longer than I can remember, but I haven't managed to get through all of them yet. So even though I've read several of her books, The Moon and More was my first Sarah Dessen book set in Colby. 

I'll start by saying how much I loved Colby. The small town beach atmosphere made me want to pack everything and move to this fictional town. It reminded me of my trips to Cape Cod every summer and the setting made me want to go live at the beach. 

Emaline was also one of my favorite main characters that I've ever read about. She was so realistic and she's the kind of main character that I feel like I would be best friends with if we met in real life. I understood all of the decisions that she made and didn't get frustrated with her throughout the book. 

I loved experiencing the summer that changed Emaline's life with her and I can't wait to read the rest of the Sarah Dessen books set in Colby! 


Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry 
From Goodreads: No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with freaky scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.
But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.
Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

When Rachel first started begging me to read Pushing the Limits she promised that it was a lot more than the sexytimes promised by the cover. As usual, she was 100% right! I was completely surprised by how much I loved this book and the characters. Noah Hutchins added himself to the long list of YA boys that I wish were real and the relationship between him and Echo was beautiful. They have both dealt with so many heartbreaking things in their lives and I was surprised by how emotionally invested I got in their relationship. This book both broke my heart, laugh out loud, and squeal with happiness. I will definitely be giving the companion books a try to see if they are as good as Pushing the Limits was! 

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

From Goodreads: Just One Day. Just One Year. Just One Read.

Before you find out how their story ends, remember how it began....
When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .
The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

When I first picked up Just One Year, I wasn't sure where it would start. Would it pick up at the end of Just One Day? Or would it backtrack for a few chapters and then pick up at the end of Just One Day? The answer is no and no. The book starts just after Willem disappears and wakes up in the hospital and continues on from there up until the end. This provided quite a bit of frustration because Willem and Allyson came THISCLOSE to finding each other several times and through a series of misunderstandings, bad luck, and chance they missed each other. Still, I really loved getting to learn more about Willem as he searched for Allyson in this book. Plus, the ending was TOTALLY WORTH IT. Gayle Forman has done it again and totally proved why she is one of my all time favorite authors. I am already eagerly awaiting her next book so I can devour it and fall in love with Gayle Forman's writing all over again!