In a Nutshell Reviews

In a Nutshell Reviews are my version of mini-reviews, because sometimes, you just want the highlights.

Victoria in My Head
Janelle Milanes
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Victoria Cruz inhabits two worlds: In one, she is a rock star, thrashing the stage with her husky voice and purple-streaked hair. In the other, currently serving as her reality, Victoria is a shy teenager with overprotective Cuban parents, who sleepwalks through her life at the prestigious Evanston Academy. Unable to overcome the whole paralyzing-stage-fright thing, Victoria settles for living inside her fantasies, where nothing can go wrong and everything is set to her expertly crafted music playlists.

But after a chance encounter with an unattainably gorgeous boy named Strand, whose band seeks a lead singer, Victoria is tempted to turn her fevered daydreams into reality. To do that, she must confront her insecurities and break away from the treadmill that is her life. Suddenly, Victoria is faced with the choice of staying on the path she’s always known and straying off-course to find love, adventure, and danger.

From debut author Janelle Milanes comes a hilarious and heartfelt tale of the spectacular things that can happen when you go after what you really want.

• Pro: Victoria was a great character. I feel like there was some part of her everyone could related to, whether it be having overprotective parents, being part of the race for a space in the Ivy League, feeling unattractive, thinking your sort of boring, or trying to please your everyone in your life.
• Pro: I love the wonderful group of friends Milanes assembled for Victoria. The suave and charming Strand, the fierce and riot grrlish Krina, and the loyal and super focused Annie, all of them encouraged and supported Victoria throughout this story. 
• Pro: Their band is named for my favorite Pixies song. How cool is that?
• Pro: Lots of witty and amusing banter, and I often laughed during Victoria's inner monologues. 
• Pro: Strand! I was so happy that Milanes made him three dimensional, because my first impression of him was not too favorable, but as more and more of his layers were revealed, I became president of his fan club. 
• Con: Victoria was really insecure and sometimes it got on my nerves, but not too often. 
• Pro: It was really nice to see Victoria's family play such a big role in this story. They were not the perfect family, but they cared for each other deeply, and we shared a lot of important moments with them in this book. 
• Pro: So many awesome musical references, and the playlists were awesome too. 
• Pro: We got a grand gesture! I love grand gestures, and this one was pretty darn sweet. 
• Pro: Although there is romance in this book, this is not a romance. This is a story of self discovery and figuring out how to be the person you want to be. 

Overall: A fun and heartwarming story of Victoria trying to figure out who she is and how she can become the Victoria in her head.

Just One of the Boys
Leah Rooper, Kate Rooper
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Entangled: Crush
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Alice Bell has one goal: to play for the elite junior hockey team the Chicago Falcons. But when she’s passed over at tryouts for being a girl, she’ll do anything to make her dream a reality…even disguising herself as her twin brother. With her amazing skills on the ice, Alice is sure she’ll fit in easily. That is, until she starts falling for one of her teammates…

Hayden Tremblay, star of the Falcons, can’t keep himself out of the penalty box. Constantly living in the shadow of his older brother, Hayden’s losing his passion for hockey. But when he gets shown up on the ice by the Falcons’ new rookie, Hayden’s determined to teach the kid a thing or two. Little does he guess that “Al’s” surprises on the ice are just the beginning...

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush title proves that wonderful things can happen when you’re brave enough to go after your dream. Dream hockey player, that is! Warning--a few locker room scenes are included...

• Pro: A lot of She's the Man hijinks, and I loved it. 
• Pro: This was fun and fluffy and exactly what I wanted when I was reading it. 
• Pro: The friendship between Al and Hayden was one I really adored. It went from hate to a full blown bromance. 
• Pro: Christmas in Canada! The holidays with the Tremblay family was a special treat. 
• Con: Alice's boyfriend was just a horrible human being, and I did not like him very much. 
• Pro: Kevin, Hayden's big brother, was trying really hard to be there for Hayden, and there were some beautiful moments we were lucky enough to share with them. 
• Con: The characters were pretty self centered with a lot of flaws BUT
• Pro: The characters experienced a lot of growth over the course of the book. 
• Pro: Hayden was quite wounded, but he had such a big heart under it all, and there were times when he was bearing his soul that got me a little misty. 
• Pro: Madison was a fantastic friend and support system for Alice, and I also found her quite fun and amusing. She definitely added to the story in a good way. 
• Pro: There was actually hockey in this book. Seriously, they spend time on the ice and everything. 

Overall: An adorable and sweet romance packed with lots of laughs, where the hero and the heroine found themselves and each other.

Protected
Claire Zorn
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Rating:  4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her. I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days old.

Hannah's world is in pieces and she doesn't need the school counsellor to tell her she has deep-seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn't have problems?

Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn't afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?

In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl's struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.

• Pro: So. Many. Feels. I knew this would be emotional, but it was more than I expected. 
• Pro: The story structure employed by Zorn was well used. The places where she chose to flip between the past and the present were wisely selected, and added to the over all tension and mystery in the story. 
• Con: Katie was a huge disappointment. There were so many times she could have redeemed herself, but didn't. I was disappointed in Charlotte too, but I think I was supposed to feel this way about both these characters. 
• Pro: I really felt like Zorn dug deep into the strained relationship between Katie and Hannah. It was raw and honest, and although Hannah had reasons to be angry at Katie, deep down, she loved her, and I appreciated that Zorn let us see those parts too. 
• Pro: Anne was a rockstar of a therapists. I loved her candor and approach and I was so happy fate brought her and Hannah together. 
• Pro: I related to Hannah on so many levels. My sister was popular and I was bullied, and I know she considered me a burden. 
• Pro: Josh was a wonderful little muffin of a boy. Hannah was a tough customer, but he kept coming back and trying to scale her walls, however he treaded lightly, knowing when to push and when to recede. 
• Pro: The banter between Josh and Hannah was fantastic. With each interaction, I hoped for them to have more and more time on page together. 
• Con:  This was a solid 4.5 star read for me, until the ending.  I  could have used a little more there. Zorn was so gracious, and gave me so many gifts towards the end of the book, but the very end was just ok.
• Pro: This book takes place in a non-US setting (Australia). I liked all the little local bits Zorn fed to me, and enjoyed learning more about the Blue Mountains. 
• Pro: Mrs. Van was a little powerhouse. I love that she spoke her mind and shared her story with Hannah. She was a positive force for this family, and I was so happy she was around to help push them through their funk. 

Overall: Simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, this was a beautiful story of healing, moving forward, and finding the strength inside oneself to accomplish those things. 

**I would like to thank the publishers for the advanced copies of these book.

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