The Fine Art of Truth or Dare

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare follows Ella, a scholarship student at a fancy private school where she is spending her senior year doing a research project on an artist whose life she is obsessed with.  When a fellow art student and popular kid Alex tutors her in French she is unable to believe that he is really attracted to her.

I liked large portions of this book but there were a few plot points that bugged me.  The art portion of the plot however I didn't like and I found myself skipping and skimming the sections regarding her research and obsession with the artist.  I loved the romance and Ella's struggles with her body image.  The characters were fantastic from Ella's friends and family and even her teachers.

Appropriateness:  This is a great romance that older teens will enjoy.  There is no sex but there is some nudity (in a scene regarding a scar of Ella's) and kissing.  I would recommend this book to readers 13+

Red Heart Tattoo

Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel tells the story of several students that are involved in a school bombing.  The book focuses mostly on Roth a boy with a troubled past who rushes in to save victims of the bombing and Morgan the class president whom he saves and whom is blinded in the bombing.  The students must figure out how to heal and move on after the horrible tragedy.

While I enjoyed this book and was very interested in how everything would work out I also found myself frustrated by the format.  The story follows several different characters, bouncing from one to another without headings to tell the reader who they are following.  However, aside from this it was a very good story with realistic and diverse characters dealing with everyday problems and pressures in addition to tragedy.

Appropriateness:  This is a tough book that puts teens in tough situations.  The teens are in their last year of high school and act their age.  The book follows one of the teens that orchestrates the bombing and other teens deal with the pressure to have sex, teen pregnancy and minor law breaking.  There is some heavy petting but no actual sex.  I would recommend this book to teens 14+

Review Copy provided by netgalley

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo follows Ravka a girl who lives in a fantasy world that has echos of ancient Russia.  Ravka is in the Army working as a mapmaker when her best friend is attacked which releases a dormant power that she didn't know she had.  She finds out that she's a Grisha one of a group of magic makers and her power is one that can save her country from the darkness that has enveloped it's borders.  She's whisked away to the palace to learn to control her powers and finds it's more than she's imagined.

I really liked this book.  The setting was rich and the mythology fully formed.  I found myself really interested in learning about Ravka's world and really pushing for her to take control of her powers and herself.  While she made some bad decisions she didn't have the stupidity issues that a lot of female characters do in YA.  The love triangle really worked.  My only problem was that I wished that I had a glossary with explanations of all the specialized terms and titles that the author used through the book that I couldn't keep up with (and this may have been added in the final version, I had an advanced copy).  I finished the book quickly and am excited to read the next chapter in the series.

Appropriateness:  There is a bit of questionable romance in the book with the main character developing a relationship with a guy who is much (centuries?) older than she is.  The relationship read to me as super creepy and the other side of the love triangle is a boy who is age appropriate.  There is no other adult content.  The characters ages are not clear but they appear to be young adults and the story would appeal to readers 13+

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine

Don't You Wish

Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire begins with Annie unhappy with her life.  She's unpopular, her father is a horder whose inventions never work and poor.  While shopping her mother finds a picture of her ex-boyfriends wonderful mansion and comments that it could have been hers.  The next day Annie wakes up in a new bed in a new house and a whole new life with her Mom but a different Dad.  Ayla's life is completly different, she is rich and popular and spoiled.  Will Ayla get back to her old life?  Does she want to?

I really liked this book.  Annie is put in that place that everyone wonders.  Who would I be if my life was different?  Annie is faced with a huge amount of peer pressure as she is placed into a life that she never imagined and wasn't prepared for.  What is she to do with a father that expects her to sell out her mother, with a boyfriend who pressures her for sex and with friends who expect her to drink,shoplift do drugs and treat unpopular people horribly?  I loved watching Annie deal with these pressures and decide for herself what was right and what is worth taking a risk for and what is worth giving up.

Appropriateness:  This book contains a lot of adult content but it's dealt with in a way that makes it appropriate for even young teens as Annie faces the pressure to have sex, do drugs (hard drugs), bully and shoplift in very admirable ways.  Annie does drink a couple times because of the peer pressure but she makes sure not to drink very much and does not get drunk.  I would recommend this book to teens 13+ and would encourage parents of young teens to use the peer pressure lessons as a learning tool.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter is the fifth book in the Gallagher Girls Series.  This series follows Cammie Morgan who goes to a school that trains teenage girls to be spies.  Cammie wakes up at a convent with a huge chunk of her memory missing.  She remembers leaving school but does not remember anything after that.  Cammie returns to her school and her friends who are furious at her for leaving and tries to fit in while also trying to find out what happened when she was gone.

I loved this book.  The author has done a wonderful job with this series which started out light and fun and has gotten darker and more mature through the series.  I sped through the book, reading it quickly and can't wait for the next book to come out.

Appropriateness:  While this book is more mature than some of the first in the series it is still completely appropriate for the middle school aged reader.  There's a bit more violence than in earlier books but the romance is still light and flirty.  I would recommend this series to readers 11+

The Little Woods

The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman follows Cally who is new at St Bede's academy, the place where Cally's sister went missing years before.  Cally finds out when she moves into her room that the girl whose bed she is sleeping in disappeared earlier in the year.   Callie makes her way through the politics of private school dealing with friends, romance while trying to figure out the mystery of the missing girls.

I didn't expect much when I started the book but I've always been a fan of boarding school books so I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised.  I found myself engrossed and entertained even thinking about the mystery when I put the book down.  Cally was an interesting character, a quirky girl on the outskirts of the social scene.  This is a fun and creepy book that older teens will enjoy.

Appropriateness:  This book is full of adult content.  There are a lot of drunken parties and there is a lot of pot smoking and talk of other drugs, casual sex (with a condom), cheating and a teacher/student relationship.  Our main character for the most part stays away from the alcohol and drugs, making excuses to not drink and drinking small amounts so others don't know she's not drinking.  I would recommend this book to readers 16+ and use the book as a starting point for a discussion on peer pressure.

Review copy provided by netgalley