So today is another huge day for book releases, and I was lucky enough to read a bunch of them early (SIX, you guys. SIX), so we’re doing another one of these again.

Your Own Worst Enemy, by Gordon Jack         
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Length: 439 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating:   

Mini Review: This one was okay for me. It’s very character-driven, and I didn’t love most of the characters. I did really like the plot, reading about a student election in the midst of all this crazy actual election bullshit and the truly insane administration in place right now that really gets to me. There were a lot of funny parts, and each character did have shining moments, but as a whole, it didn’t quite live up to expectations for me (it’s also the only one this week that didn’t work for me, so get ready). That said, it’s a quick read, there’s good diversity rep, and if you enjoyed movies like Reese Witherspoon’s Election, this might be a good pick for you!

“This year, each candidate may have to sink to a new low to win an election that could change the course of…very little.”

 

How She Died, How I Lived, by Mary Crockett
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

                                    Release Date: November 13, 2018
Length: 416 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating:  

 

Mini Review: This quiet little book is a truly chilling story about the cost of just being a girl. It’s a book about survivor’s guilt, about being the one who wasn’t harmed, but would have been if she’d only answered a text that night. There’s so much emotion packed in here. Watching Charlie try to process his anger and grief, his need for justice to be served and how much that consumes him, is hard. But it’s just as hard watching our unnamed main character process her fear and guilt, her struggle to heal, and her confusion over how to forgive. All in all, it’s the YA feminist anthem in sheep’s clothing I had no idea I needed, and I loved it. This one is a must-read.

“I’m also sick of being thankful that some horrible thing miraculously didn’t happen to me.”

[on any guy you might make eye contact with] “It’s a fine line, I realize. You want them to go away, but not to get so pissed they wait for you in the parking lot with their shotgun or pocketknives or a random screwdriver.”

 

This Splintered Silence, by Kayla Olson
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating:    .5

 

Mini Review: This one is billed as a cross between Illuminae and One of Us Is Lying, and honestly, that’s pretty perfect. It’s a smart thriller about six teenagers who are left in charge after all the adult die off, trying to figure out how to run things, how to be in charge, and WTF to do when people start dying around them again. I was super compelled to keep reading, to figure out what was happening, and why, and who was doing it. There was also the added pressure of everything happening off-ship, all of which was super time-sensitive and OMG STRESS!!! Don’t skip this one, it’s super intense and so good.

“I feel like I’m walking on glass, carrying armfuls of glass, in a glass world that’s tipped off its axis.”

 

Four Three Two One, by Courtney Stevens
Goodreads ¦ Amazon¦ Barnes & Noble
Series?: No
Publisher: HarperTeen

                                    Release Date: November 13, 2018
Length: 389 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating:   .5

 

Mini Review: This books is just beautiful. I love Courtney Stevens, and her ability to combine sadness and trauma with humor and stunning writing really shines here. I was rooting for all of the characters, even the ones I thought were totally unredeemable. There’s SO much going on in this one, and I love love loved it. It’s a story about survival and the aftermath of a trauma, but also about how that trauma affects everyone differently, and how people can need totally different things to help them heal. And it’s really hard when what you need is something only another survivor can give you. Or can’t give you, in the case of Go and Chan. Part of what Go needs is to just sit in her grief, and Chan just can’t do that with her. It’s a hard part of their relationship that we get to witness. But you guys, there is SO MUCH MORE to this book. I haven’t even mentioned “Pinch Me” Rudy who made me swoon every time he was on the page. Please read this one. It’s so good.

“‘So how can you face one fear and not the other?’
‘Oh, that’s cute. You want fear to be rational.'”

“Your role will always be…the role you tell yourself. So please, dear God, tell yourself a better story.”

At the end of last week, I also reviewed two more that are out today:

The Lying Woods, by Ashley Elston & The Reckoning of Noah Shaw, by Michelle Hodkin, both of which were 5-star reads for me, DO NOT MISS THESE ONES GUYS THEY WERE AMAZING ALSO.

TL;DR-there are too many good books out today, and I’m sorry guys but you need to read all of them. I apologize in advance to your TBR.