Review: The Cost of All Things

The Cost of All Things
Author: Maggie Lehrman
Publication Date:  May 12th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars in this thought-provoking and brilliantly written debut that is part love story, part mystery, part high-stakes drama.

What would you pay to cure your heartbreak? Banish your sadness? Transform your looks? The right spell can fix anything…. When Ari's boyfriend Win dies, she gets a spell to erase all memory of him. But spells come at a cost, and this one sets off a chain of events that reveal the hidden—and sometimes dangerous—connections between Ari, her friends, and the boyfriend she can no longer remember.

Told from four different points of view, this original and affecting novel weaves past and present in a suspenseful narrative that unveils the truth behind a terrible tragedy

My feelings are all over the place for The Cost of All Things, I wish I could say I loved it, but I didn't. I wish I could say I hated it, which I did at parts, but once it all comes together and clicks, I can't say I truly hated it either.

DNF Review: How to Win at High School (AKA: How to be a Dick in High School)

How to Win at High School How to be a Dick in High School
Author: Owen Matthews
Publication Date: March 3rd 2015
Publisher: Harper Teen
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Using Scarface as his guide to life, Adam Higgs is going from zero to high school hero.

Adam Higgs is a loser, and he’s not okay with it.

But starting as a junior in a new high school seems like exactly the right time to change things. He brainstorms with his best friend, Brian: What will it take for him to take over Nixon Collegiate?

Adam searches for the A-listers’ weak spot and strikes gold when he gets queen bee Sara Bryant to pay him for doing her physics homework. One part nerd, two parts badass, Adam ditches his legit job and turns to full-time cheating. His clients? All the Nixon Collegiate gods and goddesses.

But soon his homework business becomes a booze business, which becomes a fake ID business. Adam’s popularity soars as he unlocks high school achievements left and right, from his first kiss to his first rebound hookup. But something else is haunting him—a dark memory from his past, driving him to keep climbing. What is it? And will he go too far?

How to Win at High School’s honest portrayal of high school hierarchy is paired with an adrenaline-charged narrative and an over-the-top story line, creating a book that will appeal to guys, girls, and reluctant readers of every stripe. Adam’s rocket ride to the top of the social order and subsequent flameout is both emotionally resonant and laugh-out-loud funny

Oh, How to Win at High School, should be appropriately renamed How to Be a Dick in High School. I will keep this unusually short for my ranting reviews, unlike this book, have you seen how many pages it has?  It wouldn't have been so annoying if it had been productive and given character development, or, you know, actually gave it some, you know, what's that thing books have? Oh yeah, a story to tell. A plot. Both were rather none existent.