In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren

This week, I got:

(all pictures link to summary on Goodreads)

• The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell/Celia Thomson 

• White Cat by Holly Black

• Divergent by Veronica Roth (e-book)

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Perfect by Ellen Hopkins (ARC)

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. -via Goodreads

The Review

Contains slight spoilers, the big ones have been hidden

Where do I start? 

Well, first off. I've seen places like The Nest. They're gross. People high out of their minds, grinding (*shutters*), and plenty of alcohol. My friends try to drag me there and I'm like nuh uh, I ain't going in that dump. So, yes, I applaud Bianca for refusing to take part in that madness. And from then on, I could relate to her fairly well. 

Until the meaningless sex with a boy she hates. Then I slowly pulled my pompoms down and stopped rooting for her. Why sex? Get involved in a damn sport. Work on your cardio. I'm not a religious person, really. I just don't see how having sex with a guy for a distraction from your life is something that's okay? I thought it was kind of weird that she was completely fine with being naked in front of him with all of her insecurities, it just didn't seem like something she would do. At that point, I was rethinking her whole character. And it never caught up with her. She never really felt horrible about it. I thought it was really disgusting, considering the fact that he slept with any girl that was willing. I mean, he slept with someone he considered a DUFF, right? 

Okay, now, the whole DUFF thing. I get it! This novel was not created to tell you about avoiding your problems in life by having casual sex with people you hate. Everyone feels like the DUFF sometimes, even the pretty girls that you think have it all. And love yourself no matter your faults. The message was good. I liked it. Keplinger did it in a fun way, too. Designated Ugly Fat Friend, I mean, c'mon, that's funny. 

Then there's [highlight for spoiler->]the divorce. I would be pretty pissed id my mom or dad sent divorce papers in the mail like that. In fact, I would refuse to talk to them until they faced the other one like an adult.  And when her dad, oh, her undeveloped dad, starts drinking and has his tirade, I was thinking, great, more reason to have more sex with good 'ol Wes *facepalm*. But then immediately after, her dad realizes his mistakes and jumps back into AA meetings. This was totally unrealistic. In most cases, alcoholics need outside help and encouragement to stop drinking. Her dad really wasn't getting any help from Bianca, seeing that every time she had a problem she would run the opposite direction to Wesley. It was just odd. 

I didn't like Toby. He radiated blandness. Good guys always have to be the boring ones, it kills me. It also kills me to say this, I was rooting for Wesley. Oh my. I can't believe I just wrote that... I loathe guys like him. They walk around with this self assurance that makes me want to slap them silly. But he did go through a good change. It wasn't entirely believable, okay, it wasn't really believable at all, but this is a love story, you're prepared for these kind of things going in. 

Over all, a fun read. I also question the morals of every single person in this high school that are willing to do it on a moment's notice. Had a good message with the whole DUFF thing. So it balanced out.

3/5 stars

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

Noah’s happier than I’ve seen him in months. So I’d be an awful brother to get in the way of that. It’s not like I have some relationship with Melinda. It was just a kiss. Am I going to ruin Noah’s happiness because of a kiss? 

Across four sun-kissed, drama-drenched summers at his family’s beach house, Chase is falling in love, falling in lust, and trying to keep his life from falling apart. But some girls are addictive.... 

Not your typical beach read. -via Goodreads

The Review

I'll start off by saying that Hannah is one of my favorite authors right now. I've only read Gone, Gone, Gone and Invincible Summer but I loved them. They both touched my heart and gave me a lot to think about. I'm excited to get Break soon, and read Zombie Tag!

Back to Invincible Summer. I adored the characters. We only got to see them for the summers but I felt like they showed their true selves when they came "home" to the beach house. It was kind of hard for me to relate to Chase because I'm an only child and he has a really strong bond with his older brother, Noah. So at first it was a little hard to get into the story, but once I did, I was completely absorbed in the family drama of the McGills. Once the strain between his parents was thrown into the mix, I could relate and it made me upset when [highlight for spoiler ->] their parents did get divorced. They were ripping the kids apart when they were so attached to one another. But, it reminded me, things like this can't be controlled. It also scared the s$%# outta me, too considering how my parents are at times.

Ah, then there's Chase's struggle with growing up. I can't express how awesome this was: 

    "Camus-boy, you're always going to be the same you, just older. It's not like there's a moment when you wake up and go, Shit, I'm grown-up, I don't feel like myself anymore."

    I don't tell him, but this is the scariest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Being grown-up should feel like a big transition. It can't be something that, despite my best efforts, I've been drifting closer and closer to every summer. It needs to be a shock. I need to know what point to stop holding on. And that moment will suck, and probably every moment after that will suck, but at least I'll know that everything that came before really was valid. I really was young and innocent. I wasn't fooling myself. 

Every person on Earth must have had these thoughts at one point or another, I'm not even exaggerating. I still haven't had the revelation that, yes, I'm going to feel like the same person when I'm all "grown-up". I'm scared, scared as Chase. And I want to remember my innocence, too.

The beach descriptions, they reminded me of all the times my family came down and we stayed in a hotel on the beach. Everything was so perfect, I felt like I was there again. It made me want to jump in the car and pay the ocean a visit. 


This book is not predictable. It adds a whole new level to real. We don't know how people are going to take things. We can't group all boys into one bunch! Each character was unique and authentic. Chase isn't your typical teenager, so what? What is a typical teenage boy? One who blows off his responsibilities, doesn't have any feelings, and can't have a heart to heart with their siblings? I read a few reviews touching on the fact that he doesn't act "normal". What??? He's an individual. All male characters can't be the same. I loved him for not being that typical teenage boy. 


In conclusion, I'd like to say that Invincible Summer is not your typical read. There's so many places this book goes. It's profound. Be prepared with some tissues and this is not a light, fluffy read you're going to blow through, don't be fooled by the cover. 

4/5 stars