Cut by Patricia McCormick

Synopsis:

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside.

Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone. She won't even speak.

But Callie can only stay silent for so long...

This book has been out for awhile. I remember always seeing it on shelves when I was at various bookstores, but I never picked it up. I’m sure pretty much everyone has read this except for me, but I finally caught up to the bandwagon.

That said, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. Except, I don’t really know what exactly I was expecting. With Callie not talking for a lot of the book, I figured that something really terrible had happened to her that was going to come out later in the book. I found myself waiting and waiting, and that HUGE reveal never came. Maybe it was the way is was written and not her actions themselves that made me expect something like that.

I guess that maybe it ended like up that because it is sort of accurate for some mental health cases though. Nothing huge has to happen in order to cause a mental health episode. It could be something small, or have no external trigger at all.

That is why I am leaning more towards the way this story was written leading me to think that something super catastrophic had occurred.

Overall, though, I did enjoy the book. It was a bit different because it was separated only into 3 parts instead of multiple chapters. It is a pretty short book, so I can see why that was the case.

Im starting to think this review isn’t helpful at all, but this book just sort of threw me off. . .

3/5 stars.

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Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg

Synopsis:

Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He's won skiing prizes. He likes to write.

And, oh yeah, he's gay. He's been out since 8th grade, and he isn't teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.

So when he transfers to an all-boys' boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret -- not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn't even know that love is possible.

This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.

You know when you read a book that you enjoy so much that you just want to shove it in everyone’s face and tell them to read it? Yeah, that is how this book left me feeling when I was done reading it.

It was a very well-written book that covered a lot of different topics. It was a very good coming of age story that portrayed what some young gay men may be going through on a daily basis. Everyone has a different experience, but I think the basic concept of Rafe’s feelings and beliefs can touch many different people.

This book was fun, it made you think, and it was heartbreaking all at the same time.

It covers topics of inner-struggles, acceptance, homophobia, and misconceptions – about many different “types” of people or “labels”.

Once I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. I read it straight through and didn’t even notice I was sitting there reading for 6 hours. It is very fast-paced, and I just needed to see how it ended.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys YA novels.

5/5 Stars

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Max by James Patterson

Synopsis:

James Patterson's bestselling Maximum Ride series is back, with Max and the gang as The Protectors. Someone--or something--is decimating ships and sea life off Hawaii's coast, and Max and her flock find themselves sucked into the Navy's top-secret investigation of the catastrophe. Their objective: Rescue Max's activist mom from a wicked subterranean enemy. The hitch: They must dive deep into dark waters, where gruesome evil dwells... and for high-flying Maximum Ride, could there be anything more terrifying than being trapped in the great abyss? This soaring new adventure takes Maximum Ride and the Flock into terrifying new territory--fans, hold your breath!

Thankfully this book was better than the previous one. If it wasn’t, I don’t think I would have been able to finish the series.

That said, it still wasn’t that great and on par with the first few books in the series, but any progress is a little better I suppose.

Most of the book took place under the ocean, which was interesting, but they didn’t see a whole lot aside from mutant radioactive creatures.

We also saw some more evolving of the flock. Max and Fang became aware that they have a new ability, which was important for the storyline of this book.

Other than that, I didn’t feel like this book progressed the story as much as it could have. They spent the whole book just trying to solve one problem, and once it was solved, the book was over.

It was okay, but I felt like it was lacking something.

3/5 stars

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