Prep School Confidential - Kara Taylor

“Being brave isn’t the same as not being scared, though, it means going through with something even if it totally terrifies you.”

Summary: When Anne accidentally burns down part of the auditorium at her school, she is sent to a boarding school near Boston. But in her first week there, her roommate is found dead. What happened to Isabella? Anne is on the search to find out.

So I had a lot of fun reading this book but I didn't love it as much as some people seemed to. I liked it though. Boarding schools are my favorite setting in a book so that made the book really fun. Plus I am obsessed with the cover! I love the whole prep school thing! The book is definitely a mix between Kate Brian's Private series and the movie Cry Wolf with a touch of Gossip Girl. The good thing is, I love all three of those things! I really really liked Anne from the start but then she got too focused on boys and she would constantly be thinking about them at times when she really shouldn't have been. And she really annoyed me when she basically started accusing everyone of murder! This was the first time in a book like this where I didn't try to play along and guess who the killer was and that was mostly because Anne's accusations were so ridiculous that I just felt like I couldn't throw in any guesses. I was surprised at who the killer was though! My main issue with the book was the ending. I personally think the book would've been a lot stronger and have more of that wow factor, if the final chapter (chapter 52) just didn't exist at all. What did I love most about the book? Brent. I picture him in my head and he's just so cute with his prep school uniform :) Normally, I would probably go with someone like Anthony but nope, Team Brent all the way!

Rating: 7.5/10

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Wild Awake - Hilary T. Smith

"People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is a postcard glimpse of a floodlit statue or a skyline."

Summary: All Kiki has ever known was what her parents told her. That her sister Sukey died in a horrible accident. When her parents go on vacation, Kiki receives a phone call that sends her on a crazy journey to find out what really happened to her sister.

(*Contains slight spoilers*) I really, really, REALLY did not like this book. I felt crazed and I was really going crazy while reading it. Researching this book, I keep seeing that it explores love but all I got from it was that Kiki is crazy. Right off the bat I find out she's a pot smoker which I hate. And then she goes on this crazy hunt in a terrible part of town to learn more about her sister. It's dangerous and the people she meets are homeless drunks. She meets Skunk and he has something wrong mentally, too. The book mentions depression but it has to be something more then that. I think it's bipolar disorder or something because she is so manic and Skunk is so paranoid. And Kiki's thoughts just drove me insane. This book reminded me of the movie Black Swan because Natalie Portman went crazy because of her mother pushing her in ballet and Kiki was being pushed to practice piano 24/7. There was one point where Kiki took like 10 ibuprofen and a whole bunch of sleeping pills and no one did anything and she kept taking more and I just really wanted to scream. I could probably say more but I'll end it by saying that this book just really wasn't for me.

Rating: 0/10

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