Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Title/Author: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Publication Date: September 5, 2011

Publisher: Poppy

Source: Public library

Rating: 4/5 footballs


I have heard so many good things about this book! I've heard about how hilarious it is, how clever it is, how everybody needs to read it, etc. I'll be honest, I have to agree. Overall, the book reminded me of Mean Girls, in the way that everybody was so clique-y and like cats with their claws out. This book also had a great message!

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling... (from Goodreads)

That's right. Today we're going to talk about sex. GOTCHA! I'm just kidding but come on, a sex strike! So good! I don't know about you guys, but I've never read any book similar to this. The idea, even though it is a retelling of a classic Greek play, is so original and just priceless. I love it! And the best part about this whole thing was that it wasn't actually mainly about sex, even though sex was the thing that the book rotated around.

One thing I really loved about this book is that it wasn't predictable for me. There were some parts that I already knew what was going to happen, but the rest were a surprise, which is rare. Not to sound braggy, but I can usually guess the endings to books. In this case, I guessed the ending, but not a whole lot of the in between.

I finished this book in a day. I literally finished it so quickly I didn't have time to update anything saying that I was reading it. I barely have time to breath recently, so that is a huge feat for me! And it should also be very telling of how fabulous this book was.

The messages were so sweet, and certainly ones that everybody, especially girls, need to read about. There are lots of funny bits, and most of them were caused by the character of Chloe. I even liked Lissa, the main character (although I kept picturing Lissa from the Vampire Academy series). There were some ridiculous bits at the very beginning, and it had a slightly rough start, but once you got into it, you couldn't stop.

All in all, this was a wonderful book! Read it, review it, suggest it to your friends. It's already a big hit, but spread the word and it might get bigger!

Happy Reading,
Liz!

Review: Raven by Allison Van Diepen

Title/Author: Raven, Allison Van Diepen

Publication Date: February 10 2009

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Source: My library

Rating: 2/5 Souls

To tell you the truth, I never would have picked up or even looked at this book if it was regular priced. The title turns me off. Looking at the picture right now is making me grimace. But this book was on the bargain shelf at Chapters for 4 dollars, and I pick up every book on that shelf looking for deals. 

Zin dances with fire in every step, speaks in a honey-sweet voice, and sees with eyes that can peer into your soul. Nicole's friendship with him is the only thing that saves her from the boredom of school and the turmoil of her family life. It's no wonder she is madly in love with him. But she can't understand why he keeps her at a distance, even though she can feel his soul reaching out for hers. Zin is like no man Nicole has ever met, and he carries with him a very old secret. When Nicole uncovers the truth, her love may be the only thing that can save him from it.

The summary was ok, which means it didn't have me putting it back on the shelf with disgust and rolling my eyes while walking away. So for 4 dollars, I bought it.

To tell you more truth, this book annoyed me in more ways then it made me go 'wow'. To start off, the main character, Nic, whose point of view the book was in, irritated me. I can't even place my finger on why she irritated me, she just did. But Zin, I liked Zin. But I always fall for the guy you can't have. Zin was that guy that you want to get to know, but he's shrouded in mystery, which just draws you in more. All the other characters you didn't get to know really well except for Carlo's. I found him really creepy and thought that he was a murderer the whole book.

Now the plot was ok, it wasn't really memorable in any way. And half way during the book I felt like I was reading bits and pieces of Twilight (I love twilight) which to me made it even less unique then it was turning out not to be (does that even make sense?) I got bored after 6 chapters in and had to force myself to read the rest. To put it bluntly, in my eyes nothing remotely interesting happened until the last 4 or 5 chapters of Raven. But even then it was like 'who didn't see this coming?'. 

I didn't like this book because I couldn't relate to it. Which means I couldn't connect with the characters, which then means i don't feel anything while reading it. All great/awesome/amazing/super mind-blowing books make you feel emotions, like they are from your real life. This book didn't do it for me. I only gave Raven a 2/5 because I'm hopelessly romantic. Yes this book was not up to my par but I still enjoyed the romance. Some what... I would not encourage you to buy it. If you MUST read it though, borrow it.

Because I was so bored thoughts were constantly flowing through my mind. Here are some of my favourites:

- When the hell did zombies enter this book?

- Am I reading Twilight??

- What do ravens have to do with this book? (And just to point it out, ravens have almost nothing to do with the plot, it really kind of annoys me that the book is named Raven)

- Slap him!!

- What would happen if the girl from the exorcist came out of the room?

- Kim Possible!?! No way!!

Like always, if you hated Raven or loved it don't me afraid to email me. Actually, email me about anything, I have an opinion on everything. I hope you enjoyed this review because I didn't enjoy reading the book.

-Meg ;)

P.S. My light is turning off and on by itself and my door just slammed shut by itself and I'm still thinking about the Exorcist... Not a good a good combination...