Riders of the Apocalypse Series

Riders of the Apocalypse by Jackie Kessler
I read this series awhile ago and just reread it. I forgot how  much I enjoyed it. The story is about issues that teenagers face each day but with a twist. It is fast paced, edgy and brutally honest.

Each book and there are 4 in total deals with some tough subjects, here comes the twist, Death decides to make each one of the main characters one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. In the first book, Hunger, 17 year old Lisabeth is Famine. She suffers from anorexia and is given a scale and  rides out to dish out her own idea of justice.The second book, Rage, 16 year old Missy cuts herself to relieve all the rage she feels inside, so Death makes her War. She is armed with a sword and payback is on her mind. The third book, Loss, it is Pestilence. Billy is 15 years old and is his school's punching bad. He is bullied by everyone, armed with a bow Billy gets to exact his vengeance. In the fourth and final book, Breath, Death becomes so depressed that he is thinking about suicide. The other riders must help him find his way, if they don't the world will end.

                                                                         
                              This is only one of the books. They will all leave you breathless.
                                                                         

All These Things I've Done

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
This is a story of choices; the right one is not always the easy one. The year is 2083 and 16 year old Anya's dad is the head of Balanchine Mafia. He deals in the illegal sale of chocolate and coffee. After her parents are killed Anya is sent to live with her 80 year old grandmother. She is determined to keep her brother and sister out of the life they grew up in but fate it seems has other ideas. She is falsely accused of trying to kill her ex-boyfriend and the people she is running away from may be the only ones who can save her.

I loved this book. The idea that the two things I just gotta have are illegal intrigued me. Anya is strong but conflicted and at times might seem a little to good but that doesn't keep you from caring about her and hoping she chooses the right path.

Smashed

Smashed by Lisa Luedeke
Katie is about to enter her senior year in high school and life is looking pretty good. She already has a full scholarship to college but she also has a dark secret. If she tells anyone it will turn her life and plans upside down, that is, if it doesn't destroy her first.

Smashed is a cautionary tale about teenage drinking and the consequences. It reminded me of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Told by Katie you feel her pain and just want to give her a hug and let her know she is not alone.
 

Ask the Passengers

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
Astrid is a high school junior who keeps everyone's secrets but has no one to keep hers. She decides to tell them to the people in the planes flying overhead. Everyday she sends them her secrets and her love hoping they can use them more than she does. Unity is a small Pennsylvania town and you know the expression, "Small towns equal small minds" well it is true in this case. Astrid's secret gets out and it almost destroys her and her family.

This is a story of strength, tolerance and acceptance. You feel Astrid's pain and you just want someone to listen. This is a beautiful story and I really liked it.

Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Set in Omaha, it follows the doomed love story of Eleanor and Park. It reminded me of a modern day Romeo and Juliet if it were 1986.

Eleanor is the new kid in town. She is poor and  just doesn't fit into her new school. Her home life is tragic to say the least. She lives with her step dad, Richie, who is  a tyrant and abusive. Eleanor's mom just sits back and takes it. Park's life is completely the opposite of Eleanor. He has a loving and supportive family but it is not perfect. Park is half Korean in an all-white school and that comes with its own problems. From the moment they meet Eleanor and Park have a connection, even if they don't know it, the readers do.

Cracked

Cracked by K.M. Walton
Victor is tormented and bullied by Bull and the only way out, or at least as far as Victor is concerned, is to take a bottle of sleeping pills. This lands him in a psychiatric hospital. But Bull has his own problems; he lives with an alcoholic mother and a grandfather who uses him as his own personal punching bag. Bull has had enough of his grandfather's abuse and decides to put an end to it and his grandfather. Both Bull and Victor end up at the same hospital where they are forced to work through their issues.

I really liked this book. You feel for both characters. Victor you feel for from the start and you begin to realize Bull is a true victim of his surroundings. There is no happy ending but there is hope and that is why I liked this book.

My Friend Dahmer: A Graphic Novel

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
This book it totally out of my comfort zone but when I saw it I just had to read it. 

Jeffery Dahmer a serial killer who killed 17 young men before he was caught, had a friend and this is his story.