Get Happy by Mary Amato

Get Happy

Author: Mary Amato

Genre:Contemporary, Romance, Music, Coming-of-Age

Goodreads Blurb:In this poignant, realistic, contemporary YA by a state master list star, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman, a young songwriter builds a substitute family with her friends in place of the broken family she grew up with.

A hip high school girl who loves music, writes songs, and is desperate for a ukelele, learns to her shock that her father did not abandon her years ago and has been trying to keep in touch. She begins to investigate him, only to discover that he has a new life with a new family, including the perfect stepdaughter, a girl who Minerva despises.

Publisher/ing: October 28, 2014 EgmontUSA

Rating: 5/5

Review: 

This book filled me with a certain indescribable euphoria that I can't honestly describe in English words.

The main character, Minerva, captured my heart from the beginning with her quirky personality and her desire for her own ukulele. 

I mean, instead of waiting to learn the ukulele on a real uku, she built her own. 

I love her devotion to her friend and her passion for music and life. 

This book had a lot of different themes to it, that makes it the perfect coming-of-age novel. Minerva has a passion for music, that forms her goal to buy the uku, but at the same time, she has issues with jealousy, self esteem, the search for her father and the conflict surrounding that. 

I thought all aspects of this book were very precious and carefully written. The end of this book especially was so heart-breaking, but at the same time happy. The way she stood in front of her father and called him out for abandoning her family. How she called her mother out on lying and being hypocritical. I believe the ability to stand up to your parents if what they are doing/saying is wrong is an important trait that teenagers must have. 

The quirky characters, excellent representation of teenagers, and the thick plot and multiple conflicts morphed this book into an excellent coming-of-age novel about a girl with a love for music. 

Future News:
This book will come out late fall, and after that, I do not know what she has planned after that. 

#scandal by Sarah Ockler

#scandal

*ARC obtained from Edelweiss 

Author: Sarah Ockler

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery

Goodreads Blurb: Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.

By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation. 

Lucy’s been battling undead masses online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.

Published/ing: June 17th, 2014 Simon Pulse

Rating: 4.5/5

Review:

I related to Lucy Vacarro, the main character, on a personal level. 

She is a kick ass girl, prepared for the zombie apocalypse, has nerdy, quirky side, and doesn't like going to large social events. 

Through the entire book, there was reference after reference about The Walking Dead, one of my favorite apocalypse shows, Veronica Mars, my favorite detective show featuring the beloved Princess of Arendale Kristen Bell, and a lot more. 

When I first picked up this book, I was bit wary of the title and the beginning. I didn't get too into the whole intertwining of Facebook and hash-tags and all that. I didn't believe that belonged in a book. Low and behold, Sarah Ockler infused it with her contemporary writing like a champ. 

One of best ways to know that a character is developed well, is whether or not you got attached to them. Lucy, from the beginning, really connected with me. I began to understand her problem and want to help figure out who ruined the last few weeks of her high school experience. 

That was also a large reason I enjoyed the book: the mystery. It was straight out of an episode of Veronica Mars. I liked how, with the drama and the investigation to find out who socially murdered Lucy, that Lucy found who her true friends were, and that she had more friends and allies than she originally thought. 

The romance side of this book was a tad bit underdeveloped in my opinion, but because it wasn't to major of a point in the plot itself, I overlooked. 

I also wished that the setting was used a bit more, and at least more developed. That's the only reason the book wasn't a perfect five. 

On the other hand though, the characters were amazing and memorable. The plot line was thick and captivating. The writing was accurate and quirky. 

I also thought that the theme of cyber bullying was an excellent thing to include. This book really showed how human relationships and interaction are being directly affected by social networking it bad ways (although it can be for good also [not to be an (e)VIL]) 

This was my first ever Sarah Ockler book, and by the looks of it, I will be getting into more of her stuff soon if it is as good as this one. 

Future News:

#scandal will be on shelves next week!