The Institute

The Institute
author: Kayla Howarth
published: January 7th 2015
pages: 280
my rating: 2 out of 5 stars


Living in constant fear. Always looking over your shoulder. The source of your fear? The Institute.

Allira Daniels will do anything to keep her Defective brother safe from the Institute. They claim to protect Defectives, but it’s human nature to fear the unknown. Defectives are dangerous, they possess abilities that no human should be able to. To Allira and the rest of her family, the Institute seems more like a prison than the safe-haven they promote themselves to be. Protecting Shilah from that fate is their number one priority.

When Allira stumbles across a car crash involving two of her school classmates, she ignores all of her father’s warnings of laying low and not drawing attention to herself. By doing so, she may have just caught the eye of the Institute. She’s not Defective, but what seventeen-year-old girl has the ability to pull two teenage boys away from a fiery rubble and walk away without a scratch? It would definitely be seen as suspicious.

Allira and her family need to make decisions. Do they stay, or do they flee again? Will they be coming for her? Will her whole family come under investigation? Will they discover Shilah and his ability to predict the future?

Are you Defective? The Institute is coming for you. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
published: June 18th 2013
pages: 178
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

"I'm going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one in the whole wide world."

If I Stay

If I Stay
author: Gayle Forman
published: April 2nd 2009
pages: 201
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.


If I Stay is an incredible heartbreaking book (and movie) but still somehow peaceful and almost happy. I absolutely loved it! It's truly unique, amazing and just plain beautiful.

The One

The One
author: Kiera Cass
published: May 6th 2014
pages: 323
my rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars


The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants. 




This is probably my favorite book in this series. While the first book was mostly just a fluffy and entertaining romance book and the second not that much different but with a bit more action, this book felt way more serious and it didn't concentrate on the actual selection as much as the previous books.

Night Film

Night Film
author: Marisha Pessl
published: August 20th 2013
pages: 602
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars














Everybody has a Cordova story. Cult horror director Stanislas Cordova hasn't been seen in public since 1977. To his fans he is an enigma. To journalist Scott McGrath he is the enemy. To Ashley he was a father.

On a damp October night the body of young, beautiful Ashley Cordova is found in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Her suicide appears to be the latest tragedy to hit a severely cursed dynasty.

For McGrath, another death connected to the legendary director seems more than a coincidence. Driven by revenge, curiosity and a need for the truth, he finds himself pulled into a hypnotic, disorientating world, where almost everyone seems afraid.

The last time McGrath got close to exposing Cordova, he lost his marriage and his career. This time he could lose his grip on reality.

ONCE WE FACE OUR DEEPEST FEARS, WHAT LIES ON THE OTHER SIDE?


This may be one of my favorite books I've read this year. As a regular YA reader starting this book was a bit haunting since it has 600 pages and I wasn't used to the narrative in the beginning. I did end up reading this for a whole week which is way to long in my opinion but it was worth it for sure.

I've been nominated for The Liebster Award!

I have been nominated for the Liebster Award by World of a Bibliophile. Thank you so much for nominating me, your awesome! If you haven't yet, definitely check out her blog and give it a follow. Until yesterday, I hadn't heard of this award but I'm excited to do it.

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words
author: Katie Alender
published: September 30th 2014
pages: 320
my rating: 3.5 stars














Willa is freaking out. It seems like she's seeing things. Like a dead body in her swimming pool. Frantic messages on her walls. A reflection that is not her own. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to send her a message.

Meanwhile, a killer is stalking Los Angeles -- a killer who reenacts famous movie murder scenes. Could Willa's strange visions have to do with these unsolved murders? Or is she going crazy? And who can she confide in? There's Marnie, her new friend who may not be totally trustworthy. And there's Reed, who's ridiculously handsome and seems to get Willa. There's also Wyatt, who's super smart but unhealthily obsessed with the Hollywood Killer.

All Willa knows is, she has to confront the possible-ghost in her house, or she just might lose her mind . . . or her life.

This book reminded me a lot of "Marie Antoniette, Serial Killer" also by Katie Alender but I liked this one a bit more. Both are mainly entertaining and not that creepy if you ask me. "Famous Last Words" was more mysterious though and didn't focus on the social life of the character as much as "Marie Antoniette, Serial Killer" which made it much more thrilling.

Dark Places

Dark Places
author: Gillian Flynn
published: May 5th 2009
pages: 349
my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars














Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

Wow, this book was amazing. I've never read a book by Gillian Flynn before but everyone seems to be obsessed with them so I had pretty high expectations. Let me just say those expectations were definitely met.

Top 10 books to read this summer

So since summer is finally among us I thought I would recommend the top 10 books for the summer as well as the top 10 books I want to read this summer.
Personally, I don't usually pay that much attention to the season when I'm reading (I remember I read "When Santa fell to Earth" on the way to the beach once:)) but I thought about it recently and came up with some books I think are more fitting for summer than others.
From what I saw most people think of contemporary books as more "summery" but because I don't read that much contemporary, there are mostly other genres on this list. For some I have an explanation to why they are on this list and for others it just kind of felt right. Also there isn't a real order here so the first book isn't necessary my favorite. Anyway on to the actual list.