Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix: I really wanted to like this book because I love Cinderella stories, and the thought of exploring Cinderella’s not-so-happily ever after really intrigued me. I just had a hard time caring about Ella. I found her self-absorption kind of astonishing as I did her lack of foresight/thinking. She got better by the book’s end, but I found the tale a bit too simplistic for the pretty heavy themes it was dealing with. If the relationships had been more developed, I would have liked it more.

Source: own it

Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors: I do enjoy Suzanne Selfors’ work, and this book was a nice, breezy read. I enjoyed the romance, and I enjoyed Cupid’s tale. What I really wanted, though, was to see more of Alice’s relationship with her neighbor Realm. Oh, and I really, really loved the emphasis on the surrogate family. Great characters.

Source: Library

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot: I liked learning more about Tania and Jordan. Also, this is one of Cabot’s books that deal with a pretty heavy issue (domestic violence), and I tend to like her books with darker themes. She handles the issues well without being preachy and while imparting some pretty good wisdom. All in all great bus read. Too bad I never remembered I was reading it when I was off the bus.

Source: Library

The Alfred G. Graebner Memorial High School Handbook of Rules and Regulations by Ellen Conford: More Ellen Conford! And why not? She is amazing. This novel is more interrelated short stories following one character and all related to how she experiences her high school. Lots of fun stuff, especially because it’s so reflective of the time it was published (1976). Great characters, of course. Lots of humor, too.

Source: Library

The Enchanted Truth by Kym Petrie: I’m not really sure how to talk about this book. It was a fast read with an interesting, though underdeveloped, premise/theme. Also: wow, was it super preachy. Kind of hard to enjoy it with all the preaching going on.

Source: Netgalley