My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga  

Publisher:  Balzer & Bray      

Publication date: February 10th 2015
My rating: 5 stars

A stunning novel about the transformative power of love, perfect for fans of Jay Asher and Laurie Halse Anderson.
Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.
There's only one problem: she's not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel's convinced she's found her solution--Roman, a teenage boy who's haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other's broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. 

Behold! The diversity in young-adult fiction! 

My Heart and Other Black Holes is perfect with its depressed, lonely characters. Aysel, a girl who's father killed the town's next big thing, wants to die. Everyone stays away from her in school, she doesn't have any friends and her family doesn't think of her as their member. She finds an add on the website for suicidal people, where another teenager(Roman)  is looking for a suicide partner.  Together the form a pact by killing themselves. 

Aysel was such a likable main character. Dealing with the destruction of her father's actions, she distanced herself from everyone. She finds comfort in her room, doing her physics homework. She's fascinated about Einstein's theory of relativity and connects it with everything happening in her life. Things start to change once she meets Roman. 

Roman's still dealing with the death of his kid sister. He blames himself and doesn't think there's anything worth living for. He's an excellent basketball player with a scholarship on the way. Most of the time, he's trying not to find Aysel not amusing which I thought was really cute. 

Both, Aysel and Roman are a perfect pair. They connected and understood each other right from the start and I loved seeing their strange relationship develop. Roman brought Aysel's long forgotten, fun side and she made him see the beauty in life. I really enjoyed their interaction. Their dialog was fresh and entertaining. It felt real which was the most important thing. 

I have no objections about the writing or the pacing. Everything felt just right, without rushing. Only there was this small thing. I kind of wished we got to see Aysel's father towards the end. I was a little bit disappointed he didn't made an appearance. 

I'm glad the cover was changed. This one is so much better. 

If you're looking for a touching story about two lost souls, you've found it! Contemporary buffs should not miss My Heart and Other Black Holes. 

Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Black Iris by Leah Raeder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Release Date: April 28th 2015


Black Iris reminds me of every Noir film I've adored.

It's brutal, vengeful and beautiful. It's a battle zone, sanctuary and something close to home for many.
High on imagery and emotion, you're put into situations that are basically montages of obvious elements that point to an obvious conclusion, but the beauty of it all is that space of interpretation, where the book you're reading becomes the book you're loving.

The narrator is as unreliable as she states and not. She's mysterious and also, not. She's got this darkness in her which is incomprehensible until she opens up all her cards, methodically and that's good because it made the book highly engrossing and quite frankly, addictive.
It begs to be held and read.
The seduction is paramount both above and behind the covers. The seduction of destruction is something which only some writers get right, because if handled incorrectly, it might as well piss readers off. But Leah Raeder clearly knows what she's doing. I've always been a huge fan of her descriptive writing style, but adding the tang of queer romance and vulnerability of vengeance was in my eyes, a homerun.

Yes it deals with matters of sexuality and sexual identity, but it wasn't treated like it was something sensitive...it just was.
Plus, it was sexy as hell. (Remember, Noir.)

If you thought a forbidden romance between a teacher and his student was risky? Try dealing with this you all.

Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Never Never by Colleen Hoover, Tarryn Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Release Date: January 7, 2015


Right, so this book.

Going into this book, I was well acquainted to a lot of things:

1)I knew what was going to happen because I'd already asked my friend about it and she 'ranted' that the book consisted of not more than a hundred and twenty pages and was basically the first part of a series.
So I bought the kindle edition and not an actual paperbook, so that I don't have to be super pissed about finding a fucking cliffhanger after 100 pages of introduction. *pats self on the back.*

2)I knew that there were mixed reviews and mostly, negative.

3)It was a Tarryn Fisher and Colleen Hoover book. Both authors are great in there own sphere with their own lengths of strengths and limitations, but I've always believed that too many cooks spoil the broth. So obviously, I was almost dreading the worst.

After, I was done reading the book, I felt two things:

1)WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?
Duude. That end was all kinds of epic. It was something like looking over a hole because you're curious about its death and hurtling down it because you lost your balance. It's crazy because you can't do anything about it,as much as you'd like something to come and save you from turning into nothing but a puddle of blood, flesh and bones.
I don't mind the cliffhanger all that much, except that it got me really excited for the next part. I mean I guess I would have been pissed off if I had read it earlier and had to wait for long.
It's perfect because right now, I just want to know what happens next, but also don't want to because I need the data to settle down.

2)PRIDE.
Because I'm such a smart cookie. *pats kindle*

AND IS IT JUST ME OR DOES THIS NOT TELL YOU THAT WHAT YOU'LL READ NEXT WILL ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY SLAY YOU?

                                                                                                                         

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Publisher:  Knopf     

Publication date: January 6th 2015
My rating: 5 stars

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

I made a promise to myself about reading more books I find interesting because, you see, I'm an impulsive reader and tend to change my mind in a second. Usually, those 'interesting' books end up destroying me completely which might be the reason why I avoid them in the first place. 

When I first started reading All the Bright Places I was expecting to have my heart broken but at the same time I kept thinking things surely wouldn't go there. I won't reveal the ending because that would just be mean. Read it and find our for yourself. Will it make you cry or smile? 

As someone who's been dealing with depression and bipolar disorder as well as ADHD I could see so much of myself in Finch. He's the side of me I try to hide from my family and friends. In fact, no one in my life doesn't know any of this about me, only the friends I met here, on Goodreads. Finch is impulsive, a true fighter, sensitive, fun and a bit strange. His energy is simply contagious and it made me want to be his friend.  

Violet on the other hand is his total opposite. She after losing her sister in a car accident she retreats into herself, breaks up with her boyfriend and stops hanging around her friends. In a way I thought Violet and Finch were a perfect pair. Like fire and ice. 

Elle Fanning was cast as Violet and you don't even know how much sense that makes. It's like Violet is Elle. Can't wait to see who's going to play Finch. 

I loved the fact this book addresses so many problems teens these days deal with-suicidal thoughts, bullying, abuse, eating disorders... I could list so many reasons why you should read but I feel like the most important one would be- read it because of yourself. Read it because you need to be aware of the hidden world around you. 

This book is more than a book. It sends a message to everyone and to quote the author, her it is 

If you think something is wrong, speak up.

You are not alone.

It is not your fault.

Help is out there.