A Trio of Mini Reviews

Thanks to a fantastically laid back weekend, I got three books finished! All of them amazing and all of them very different. So I thought I'd write up a few mini reviews, because if I don't, I don't know that I'll ever get them reviewed individually. First up was Neal Shusterman's Full Tilt. I read Unwind by Shusterman last year and it was completely riveting. He had sort of fallen off of my radar until I heard recently that there is a SEQUEL to Unwind coming out in the not so distant future. Fantastic news!! So it made me want to read something by him again. Full Tilt is truly a thrill of a ride. It's about a young boy and his younger brother who have both had their own traumatic experiences. Blake, our main character, has lived through a horrible bus accident as a child that has haunted him repeatedly throughout his life. It's made him a person who doesn't take risks and is constantly trying to save others. One of those people is Quinn, his little brother. Quinn's whole face is filled with piercings and he has a very "fuck off" attitude to the world. He feels like he's never accepted where ever he is. One night at a local carnival, Blake gets an invitation to an invite only carnival. His brother disappears shortly after that and he knows that his brother has gone to the carnival. So Blake follows after, not knowing what he's in for. What he finds is an other worldly carnival with a set of rules. Complete 7 rides before dawn, or you don't ever leave. The rides are truly terrifying and force Blake to face his own fears so that he may live...unlike many of the other riders. Like I said...this one was thrilling. Not as good as Unwind, but still one hell of an adventurous read. One of those where you just can't turning the pages! Next up is Anya's Ghost, a graphic novel by Vera Brosgol. OMG this book was so GOOD!!! Anya is a young Russian immigrant who's currently in high school. She hates her life and hates her heritage. She'll do anything to escape it and lose the "Russian girl" facade. She's worked on getting rid of her accent, dresses like the kids around her, and does whatever she can to fit in. And there's a boy she really likes too. One day, Anya literally falls in a hole and there discovers a ghost. A piece of the ghost's skeleton comes along with her when she's finally rescued and they quickly become frenemies. Part of her loves this new ghost who can help her cheat on tests and get the boy she's in love with while another part of her just finds the ghost annoying. She's soon to find just HOW annoying this ghost can get! Another one that I couldn't put down. I read it straight through and I would love to hear more about Anya's life. And finally, I read Promises by Marie Sexton. Ignore the cheesy cover please, because I absolutely loved loved loved this book!! Obviously, from the cover, this is a gay romance. So part of me was expecting very stereotypical scenarios with tons of cheesy sex scenes. But it SO surpassed my expectations. Really! Jared has lived in the town of Coda, Colorado for years as one of the only openly gay men. And he's fine with it...he's learned to live with the talk that goes around town and has accepted that he'll probably always be alone. Until Matt comes in town. Jared hopes that Matt is gay as he forms a quick interest in him it seems, but he soon finds out that Matt does indeed date women. Though he keeps throwing out these little hints that there MAY be some interest there. Matt starts to find that his feelings for Jared are growing deeper and deeper though...something he's never experienced before. There's a LOT more to this book than that, but that's the basis. And it was just so damn good!! Yes, there IS some cheesy sex and it is quite explicit, just to warn you, but at the same time it's quite sweet. I don't know what it is about this book but I really loved it to pieces...It was a comfortable book if that makes sense. I felt safe in the author's hands and I'm thrilled to learn that this is the first in a series of semi-related books. I've already downloaded the second book, A to Z and will likely start it tonight! So that's what I read this weekend! How about you? Read anything good lately?