Believarexic by J.J. Johnson

Series: N/A, Standalone

Publication date: October 1, 2015
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Format: eArc
Source: The publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 464

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In 1988, when she was fifteen, JJ Johnson was hospitalized for treatment of bulimarexia, a combination of bulimia and anorexia. During her ten-week stay, JJ had to eat everything on her tray, and took classes like "Assertiveness Training," "Depression Management," and "Body Image Workshop." She gained weight, but her path toward health was a constant struggle. In her heart, JJ knew-she knew-that she would be a happy, healthy adult one day.

But how? Instead of a clear path, there was a black abyss. She needed a guide, a mentor, someone who knew her inside and out.

So, one morning, just before weigh-in, JJ closed her eyes and made a deal with herself:

I promise myself that when I'm grown up, and happy, I will come back here, to these months. Healthy me will guide bulimarexic me through this.

This book is that promise, kept.

This is an autobiographical novel, the events are true but some things a simplified and changed a bit to create a better story. 

I picked up Believarexic on a whim and I was debating whether or not I should keep reading in the beginning. I almost marked it as DNF (did not finish) but the story captured me and I'm glad I kept on reading!

In November 1988 Jennifer is hospitalized for an eating disorder and in late January 1989 she's released. Believarexic is about Jennifer conquering this eating disorder and her journey towards being a healthy and happy teenager.
I loved this story! I admire Jennifer for seeking out help, for reaching out and saying she isn't well. She has kept her true feelings hidden for so long and to finally tell the truth must be quite hard - she's so brave! Seeing Jennifer starting to live, seeing her start to eat, laugh, make friends and basically be a normal teenager was so nice. Even though it's quite a tough subject I smiled and laughed throughout most of the novel!

The friendships are probably one of my favorite parts of the entire story, seeing Jennifer open up and start to laugh was such a wonderful thing! She started to trust people, she stopped throwing tantrums and the absolute best part is, that she actually wanted to get better. Jennifer did everything she could to work the program and conquer the monster inside her, as she calls her eating disorder. We were talking about the friendships: Even though I really liked Monica and Bronwyn, my favorite is definitely Sophia! She's the best friend Jennifer could ever ask for, and their first night together had me in tears and put a big smile on my face at the same time!

The nurses I actually found quite realistic. There's some you like, some you don't like and then some who fades into the background. I absolutely loved Chuck though, her secondary nurse and big brother-figure. I loved seeing their interactions and how he helped her get better and realize she didn't have to be perfect all the time. His conversations helped her a lot and I wish there were more Chucks in the world! Everybody needs someone like him in their life!

Can you believe there's no love interest in this book? There's no flirting, no kissing and no relationships except for friendships! It's so refreshing to read a great book without it having any romance what so ever. You can really focus on Jennifer and her journey without having a guy/girl disrupting everything. Way to go!

After trying to read Paper Weight by Meg Haston and having to put that one down because of the anger and denial, and not the eating disorder aspect, and then picking up another book about eating disorders shortly afterwards was quite a gamble. I've struggled with quite a lot in my life so far and I, thankfully, conquered my eating disorder! Even though reading books with these subjects is hard, it makes me happy and proud that it's in my past - Believarexic definitely had an uplifting feel to it and it was so nice to read opposed to Paper Weight where I just felt like crying. So, out of those to I recommend Believarexic. 
I still think Believarexic can trigger some people, but for me it mainly gave me strength to keep on going and live my life as I do now opposed to some years ago. It gave me hope and I really hope it can do the same for others!

So, even though Believarexic is about a girl with an eating disorder is full of hope, it's uplifting and it made me smile! I really enjoyed reading Jennifer's story and I'm glad I kept on reading instead of giving up!
I've given Believarexic 4 berries, I almost gave it 5 but since I was so close to putting it down in the beginning I figured 4 was more accurate!

Taking Leaps and Finding Ghosts by Janet DeLee

Series: N/A, Standalone

Publication date: May 1, 2015
Publisher: CreateSpace, Self-published
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Women's Fiction
Format: Paperback
Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 253

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Baby boomer Ginny Lawther firmly believes it's never too late to leap into the unknown realm of possibilities - but she also knows it's tough to keep hope alive by yourself.

So she posts an open invitation to her Ideal Life Club in the local newspaper and is thrilled when she hears from four intriguing strangers who are also interested in pursuing their own dreams. But what begins as a seemingly straightforward self-actualization journey quickly turns into a puzzling, somewhat harrowing, adventure when the Ideal Lifers keep encountering ghosts along the way.

Hair-rising, hilarious, inspiring, and always surprising, Taking Leaps and Finding Ghosts follows the visionary quintet as they struggle to maintain their resolve, support one another, and solve the mystery behind these strange specters before they detail the group's efforts.

But can their hopes and dreams possibly survive all the unexpected challenges they will face?

Even though this book is about older people it reminds me of The Jane Austen Book Club, each of the characters have a life outside of the club which we'll learn about and they form a bond you can only wish for. I really enjoyed the relationships in this book and I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of the characters!

Our main, main character, Ginny starts an Ideal Life Club to help herself and others pursue their dreams. Taking Leaps and Finding Ghosts is about the 5 people in this Ideal Life Club and how they pursue their dreams with the help of each other. As the summary say; it's hair-rising, hilarious, inspiring and always surprising. It holds every emotion and it was a delight to read.

Characters

Taking Leaps and Finding Ghosts centers around 5 characters; Ginny, Lydia, Hilda, Jerry and Lee.

• Ginny is an author, she's 58 and she's the initiator of the Ideal Life Club, as she calls it. Her dream is to buy the perfect cottage
• Lydia is in her thirties, she's married, has a kid and she wants to publish her very own cookbook!
• Hilda loves crafts and her dream is to use all her time crafting and selling these crafts
• Jerry is a younger man, I belive, and his dream is to become a professional musician
• Lastly we have Lee, he's in his fifties, divorced and he owns a construction company. He's had to deal with weird occurrences and his dream, or rather goal, is to get rid of these occurrences.

I think the characters are quite well developed, I would have liked to see some more of Lydia outside of the club since I love that she loves food and cooking! 

I had not expected them all to be so old, but as it turns out, I have no problem with it. I couldn't really relate to any of the characters, but in this case it doesn't matter as much since I liked them all! 

The Story

Even if the Ideal Life Club is what draws our 5 main characters together they each have a life of their own and it's an aspect I really enjoyed! 

Seeing how they actually tried to reach their goal or dream was so inspiring! Even though the Ideal Life Club chapters is my favorite I definitely loved seeing how their life was outside of group! 

This book holds so many different stories and different characters and oddly enough it's so easy to follow!
This story is definitely a character-driven story, so you'll find yourself at quite a loss if you don't like any of the characters. Though, I can't image anyone not liking any of the characters, even the least!

Even though the ghost part of the story is part of the title, Lee's life and maybe more of our character's lives it's actually not that big a part of the bigger picture. I can promise you that it's not creepy at all!

My thanks

I want to thank Janet DeLee for giving me the opportunity to read this book! It came at a time in my life where I didn't know I needed it and I'm grateful. Taking Leaps and Finding Ghosts helped me realize that even if my life doesn't turn out according to plan, it's never to late to pursue my dreams and it's definitely cured me of some of my fear for my future. 

Birdy by Jess Vallance

Series: Standalone

Publication date: July 2, 2015
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Genres: YA, Thriller
Format: Review copy
Source: The publisher in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 262

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Frances Bird has been a loner for so long that she’s given up on ever finding real friendship. But then she’s asked to show a new girl around school, and she begins to think her luck could finally be changing.

 Eccentric, talkative and just a little bit posh, Alberta is not at all how Frances imagined a best friend could be. But the two girls click immediately, and it’s not long before they are inseparable. Frances could not be happier.

 As the weeks go on, Frances finds out more about her new best friend – her past, her secrets, her plans for the future – and she starts to examine their friendship more closely.

 Is it, perhaps, just too good to be true?

The story in Birdy is told from Francis Bird aka Birdy's point of view, she is our narrator and our main character. Francis is not just telling the story or writing it, she is literally telling us, readers, the story. She says 'you' a bunch of times in the story and I enjoyed that, it's a bit terrifying as well though. 

Birdy is about Francis, the outsider. One day her teacher asks her to take care of Alberta Fitzroy-Black, the new girl, and Francis reluctantly says yes. Francis and 'Bert' slowly become friends and suddenly they're inseperable. 

So, going in to this I had no idea it was a thriller, I thought it was a basic contemporary about friendship but the ending definitely changed that! I wish I'd known it was a thriller beforehand, because I'd probably not reacted as I did when I read the ending but there's nothing I can do about that know. I have a feeling that I would've enjoyed it more if I'd known it was a thriller going into it.  So bear that in mind when reading my review. 

Francis is an outsider, even though she isn't that different or stands out she's an outsider because she doesn't have any friends and she have never tried to make any. Being an outsider she is ignored by almost everyone and I kind of feel sad for her. In the beginning she was a bit boring and it felt like she wanted to be alone all the time since she didn't try to make any friends but that definitely changed when she met Alberta. I loved seeing her flourish and show her true colours with Alberta, it was so nice to see and I loved that side of her!

Francis lives with her grandparents, she didn't have the best childhood since her mother committed suicide when Francis was only a couple of years old and then her grandparents took her in. Life with her grandparents isn't easy, her grandfather has alzheimers or something similar and they have to take care of him and her grandmother isn't exactly that loving - it feels like life in general was against her. Even money wise; they're not broke but their quite poor and Francis definitely feels that when she befriends rich Alberta.
The thing I like the best about Francis is the fact that she's a reader! It's not an important part of the story but it definitely made me happy. 

I don't really know what to think about Alberta; she's the new girl, she's rich and she has a weird past - for lack of a better word. She doesn't come clean about her past to Francis before they've been friends for quite a while and I don't want to spoil you since it definitely made me like her less, but it definitely surprised me and I think it's quite a weird or rather different character trait. 

I really liked that she brought out a new side of Francis but there is definitely things I don't like about her! I hate when people lie, I hate when people leave you behind and I definitely don't like when they don't treat people nicely! 

I loved the friendship aspect of the story, it's such a vital element and I feel like some books don't acknowledge that fact, I love that the love aspect is almost non-existent and I really enjoyed the story in general - until the ending. 

This is a regular book about friendship until the last 50 pages or so and I think it was those pages which brought the rating down. I absolutely loved the first couple of chapters, I loved getting the basic plotline told from the narrator in the beginning and get a profile of the main character / narrator and then being plunged into the story but it went downhill from there! The first couple of chapters where probably my favorite thing about the entire book! 

I ended up giving Birdy 2 stars since I was quite disappointed but, as I previously mentioned, that probably has something to do with me going into this thinking it was a contemporary but I did enjoy it nonetheless!

How to be Bad by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle & Sarah Mlynowski

Series: N/A, Standalone

Publication date: June 4, 2015
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Genres: YA, Contemporary
Format: Review copy
Source: The publisher in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 321

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When you've had enough of being good, sometimes you've got to be a little bad . . .

Jesse, Vicks and Mel could not be more different.

Jesse is as thoughtful as she is uptight, and keeping a secret she knows will change her life forever.

Vicks is a wild-child, seemingly o so confident, but also anxious about her absent boyfriend.

Mel is the new girl in town - the rich kid, needing to get over some of her fears and find some friends.

But Jesse, Vicks and Mel have one thing in common: they're so desperate to get the heck out of Niceville and discover their true badass selves. One 'borrowed' car later and it's time to hit the road
Let the bad times roll...

This is the perfect summer book! Even though I don't normally read books about road trips - I know some really enjoy them - I really liked this one. It seems like the ideal 'setting' of a summery contemporary; wind in the hair, adventures and friendship, maybe even a little love.

How to be Bad is told from alternating voices, of Jesse, Mel and Vicks. Jesse is very religious, Mel is quite shy and Vicks is practically the badass. I don't know who my favorite of the three is but I know that I liked Jesse the least. I understand why she's quite a 'tight bottom' but she's still my least favourite. I love that Mel is the rich kid but she's the shyest of them all, I love how insecure Vicks actually is at heart and I love how independent these girls actually are.
Even though Mel is the outsider in the beginning, believe me I felt so sorry for her, she becomes so important to Jesse and Vicks and I love how their friendship, which isn't a friendship in the beginning, becomes so deep. It's so lovely!

Mel, Jesse and Vicks are so incredibly different and I definitely love that, they're also quite complex characters. Take Mel for example; even though she's the rich kid she's shy, she's jewish and she's actually from Canada. Vicks is so carefree, she's so committed to Brady, her boyfriend, and she loves food - not just eating it but making it too. Jesse, well, when it comes down to it she reminds me of Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, she keeps saying 'that kills me, she kills me, it kills me' and so on, just like Holden! Jesse also have this love for trains which I find quite random.
All of the girls have problems but they find a way to get through it with the help of each other - I love that!

Even though the love-bit in this book is great. It's cute, fluffy and definitely swoon-worthy, it wasn't really necessary. I'm usually all for love, but it just took something away from the story..

As I mentioned earlier, the road trip-thing is not usually my kind of thing, but apparently it is when it comes to this book. I love the idea with this road trip, Vicks has somewhere to get to, Jesse has something to get away from, and Mel just wants to be with them. It's quite perfect actually.

Even though I loved the characters and the road trip something was missing.. Or maybe the love-bit brought it down.

Dark Days by Kate Ormand

Series: N/A, Standalone

Publication date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: Sky Pony Press 

Genres: YA Sci-fi, Dystopia

Format: eARC

Source: Edelweiss

Pages: 256

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The future world has been divided into sectors--each the same as the other. Surrounded by thick steel fences, there is no way in and no way out. Yet a cyborg army penetrates each sector, picking off its citizens one by one, until no one is left. Behind the sectors' thick walls, the citizens wait to die. Few will be chosen to survive what's coming; the rest will be left behind to suffer. A new world has been created, and its rulers are incredibly selective on who will become a citizen. They want only those with important roles in society to help create a more perfect future. 



Sixteen-year-old Sia lives in one of the sectors as part of a family that is far too ordinary to be picked to live. According to the digital clock that towers high above her sector, she has only fifteen days to live. Sia has seen the reports and knows a horrific death is in store for her, but she is determined to make the most of her final days. Sia refuses to mourn her short life, instead promising herself that she'll stay strong, despite being suffocated by her depressed mother and her frightened best friend. Just when Sia feels more alone than ever, she meets Mace, a mysterious boy. There is something that draws Sia to him, despite his dangerousness, and together, they join a group of rebels and embark on an epic journey to destroy the new world and its machines, and to put an end to the slaughter of innocent people.

I have seen this title a couple of times now, and I never really knew what it was about - but I kept coming back to it because I really liked the cover. Then I read the summary, and it lured me in! When you read the first line, you think it's going to be like The Hunger Games, then there is the fences.. And it's still a bit Hunger Games-esque. And then comes the twist: CYBORGS! I love that twist! 

I also loved that Sia, our main character, know she has 15 days left. It made the book fly by, and that is on one hand great and on the other not so great. I started to feel a bit "meh" once the "and then she meets Mace..." popped up in the summary. I hate when everything is about the boy! I read dystopia because of the worlds, not because of the "boy meets girl" or "girl meets boy" factor - I have my contemporaries for that!

But let's get on with the actual review:

It starts out very quickly, she has known that she's going to die for 6 days when the book starts out, and now she only has 15 days left. I love how she makes a realistic bucket list, instead of things like save the world or things along those lines. 

Sia is a character we can sympathize with. Everybody reacts differently once they get a death sentence, Sia is one of those that just want to live her life to the end and make the most of it (hence the bucket list). While her mother gets depressed and won't leave the couch and barely speaks to Sia or Sia's father. Her father is just absent, Sia barely sees him and they barely even talk. So in her final days, Sia is basically alone - who would want to be alone at a time like that?

When it comes to the world I am sad to say that it wasn't explained that much in the book. I really wanted some background information as to WHY the world was divided into those sectors and more information about the New World. I know that the sectors are very secluded and rely on the New World for everything - but that's basically it. I would've loved to get more info about the sector also, we don't really know that much about how it look like either. We are told that the houses are identical and that even the furniture is identical in each house. 

I am happy to say that this book did not include a love triangle! She stuck to Mace and I like Sia for that, I also liked how she didn't just invite him in to her house or started falling for him immediately *Cough* Twilight *Cough*. It took a couple of days, and I will accept that since they are going to die! 

I know this is a 250 page book, but everything just happened way too quickly, I understand that Sia looks at the world differently and that the time goes a bit faster because she is near the end of her days, but I still felt like it was too fast-paced. 

I love that this for once is a standalone dystopia! You don't come across those that often!

With all that said, I liked the hurriedness of the book a little bit, but it was still way too fast. I liked Sia - that name is actually really beautiful - but I would still love to know more about the world. I gave this book 3 hearts because it was missing some information about the world, but the main character was great!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think? If not, are you planning to?