A Review of The Year I Turned Sixteen

For sisters, four birthdays, and four unforgettable years.

Rose dreams of becoming a singer, but when her obligations as the oldest sister start to hold her back, she faces an impossible decision.

Sick of being the "good" sister, Daisy is drawn to a boy with a more dangerous edge and pulls away from the people who care about her most. 

Laurel must deal with the loss of someone close, but a new love in the wake of tragedy might be just what she needs.

Wither her sisters all figuring out their futures, Lily feels lost, and for the first time she must figure out who she is all on her own. 

With more than cupcakes and candles on their minds, each of the Walker sisters is in for a sweet sixteen that will change everything.

Above is the description that is on the back of The Year I Turned Sixteen by Diane Schwemm. 

This book reminded me of the way Karen Kingsbury writes her books in a very low key kind of way.  The reason I say this is because Karen Kingsbury writes in a style where she goes from one person's perspective to another in which you are always getting to hear all sides of the story no matter what is going on.  In this book however, you get 4 different perspectives but they all come from the year that the sister turns sixteen and what kind of hardships come that year, what good things come and of course, the relationships that are made. 

For the plot line, I feel like it got repetitive and predictable.  I could tell where each story was gonna lead me.  I never really felt surprised.  I felt like I had read this story 3 times before by the time I got to the fourth part.  The only separating factor between the stories is that something slightly new may occur and also their personalities were all different.  They all had different interests obviously because they are all different people, but the story lines stayed the same I thought.  They all ended up falling for "the guy" who was the cutest, most popular guy around.  They all ended up growing out of that relationship because they had to change so much to be a part of it, and then they would find the one that they really liked that had been a sincere friend throughout the rest of their story. 

Now, after saying all of this, you might be thinking, we finally have one that didn't make the 4 out of 5 stars cut!  And you're right...  This one I say gets a 3 out of 5.  I feel like this story was written better than what I could've ever done, but I feel like I could've come up with this storyline all by myself and then wrote the story and had someone proofread it and fix all the mistakes I had in it. Don't get me wrong, this book probably wouldn't have been as long if I had written it because I'm really not a great writer at all, but I feel like this is the kind of story you always read too.  But, still, I would still suggest this for a few people.  People who ,like me, are turning sixteen soon or are sixteen, or maybe even if you are younger than sixteen it may be a fun read.  But if you're older, I feel like you could definitely find something better to try out and read. 

Thanks for reading this review everyone!  Like I said, not particularly sure how much I liked this book, but it actually did keep me intrigued no matter how repetitive it got, if that does say anything at all.  I hope this review was helpful to you all and I hope you all continue to keep reading.

Until the next review,

-Aly 

A Review of The Twilight Saga: The Complete Film Archive

The Twilight Saga: The Complete Film Archive offers a fresh look at the adored films based on Stephenie Meyer's beloved book series.  Discover newly revealed secrets from the set through stories from the actors themselves --- including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and the rest of the glittering cast.  Go inside the phenomenon with removable script pages, reproductions of screening passes, VIP invitations, and set pieces, as well as other collectibles that make this deluxe volume a must-have for every fan.  Through new interviews with the stars and filmmakers, as well as unpublished images, the entire saga unfolds in rich detail: the beginning groundswell of Twilight mania, the frenzy for New Moon, the dramatic action of Eclipse, and the transformative conclusion of both Breaking Dawn films.  The love story between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen quickly became a global obsession, and this lushly illustrated volume captures the evolution like never before.

Above is the description placed on the back of this ginormous book by Robert Abele.

This book is filled with tons of information about the Twilight Saga.  I am a twihard.  I came late onto the scene by like 4 years...  but still, I LOVE twilight.  So, when I saw this book, I immediately put it on my Christmas Wish List and I'm so happy I got it!  Definitely one of the coolest books I've seen that has the "extras" in it.  In it, there is some really cool things including one of the invitations to Bella and Edwards wedding and "signed" posters in the very back of the book.  The only thing is, the posters that are signed, were ones where they printed the signatures onto the poster.  But, I still freaked out when I saw it regardless. 

So, the reason I said I was a twihard originally was this.  This had so much information in it that I didn't even know and I've watched what seems like almost every interview about this out there, watched all the "B" camera footage that are out on the Internet, and have seen all the movies and this was by far the coolest thing out of all of them.  Minus the books.  Those will always be better in my perspective.

Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars just because I know that there is obviously better books out there than this.  I also say, that if you like twilight even a smidgen that you should read this.  If you hate twilight, please just turn the other way in the store and don't even pick it up.  Your hate will be fueled for the next decade and I don't like reading negative comments only on Twilight.  But still, this was a fantastic read, it was really cool to see some more behind the scenes I hadn't seen before, and yeah.  I just really, really, really liked this book.  Haha.  You can tell I'm more passionate about twilight considering all of my other reviews can't you?  Anyway, that's my review.  Now for the "personal touch."  Haha.

So, I really enjoyed this book obviously and I hope you do too.  Also, please don't hate this whole page because I have 1 Twilight review.  I promise that is all I'm going to do considering I haven't read the actual books in so so so long.  But, there are some cool reviews on here I think so far so please go check them out!  Hopefully you will like them a lot. 

Until the next review,

-Aly



A Review of Solo:A Memoir of Hope

Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete.  She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at what she does: protecting the goal of the U.S. women's soccer team.  Her outsized talent has led her to the pinnacle of her sport -- the Olympics and the World Cup -- and made her into an international celebrity who is just as likely to appear on ABC's Dancing with the Stars as she is on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, and Vogue.  But her journey--which began in Richland, Washington, here she was raised by her strong-willed mother on the scorched earth of defunct nuclear testing sites--is similarly haunted by the fallout of her family history.  Her father, a philanderer and con man, was convicted of embezzlement when Solo was an infant.  She lost touch with him as he drifted out of prison and into homelessness.  By the time they reunited, years later, in the parking lot of a grocery store, she was an All-American goalkeeper at the University of Washington and already a budding prospect for the U.S. national team.  He was living in the woods.

Despite harboring serious doubts even about the provenance of her father's last name (and her own), Solo embraces him as fiercely as she pursues her dreams of being a world-class soccer player.  When those drams are threatened by her standing with-in the national team, as when she was famously benched in the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup after four shutouts and spoke her piece publicly, we see a woman of uncompromising independence and hard-won perseverance navigate the petty backlash against her.  For the first time, she tells her version of that controversial episode, and offers with it a full understanding of her hard-scrabble life.

Moving, sometimes shocking, Solo is a portrait of an athlete finding redemption.  this is the Hope Solo whom few have ever glimpsed.

Above is the description in the book Solo: A Memoir of Hope.  And like all the other books I read, this book was pretty amazing!  I loved hearing her story even if it swore more than what I wished it had.  Obviously, it helped make the story.  Also, I may be a little biased on this story because I'm a huge fan of Hope Solo and wish to be like her in goal. 

 

 

The whole story talks about from beginning to present, Hope Solo's life now on display for everyone to read.  She tells of her hardships in her life and how she has gotten over most of them. She talks about her family, how messed up her life was (and sort of still is) and how she has become who she is today.  Honestly, I loved hearing her story and how she didn't try and sugarcoat anything.  She just went ahead and wrote her story out. 

 

 

Overall, the book gets a 4 out of 5 stars just like every other book I read it seems like.  But, I loved reading this book.  I finished it in less than 24 hours and there was never a dull moment.  I would recommend this book for anybody who either wants to read a story about some famous chic (and that's if you really don't follow sports if you would call her some famous chic) or if you are an athlete who looks up to her.  Of course, if you are younger, I would make sure to read the younger version just because I know there is some stuff in this book that your parents probably don't want you reading about. 

 

 

I hope that you all enjoyed reading this review about Solo.  I hope that it helped you find another book to read and hopefully you will love it just as much as I did. 

 

Until the next review,

 

-Aly

A Review of Coming Home

A story of faith and a forever kind of love...

The Baxters make plans to come together for a summer lakeside reunion in celebration of John Baxter's seventieth birthday.  But before the big day, the unthinkable happens.  As the Baxter Family rallies together, memories come to light in the grief-stricken hours of waiting and praying, memories that bring healing and hope during a time when darkness may otherwise have had the final word.

In a season that changes all of them, the brilliance of family love overshadows the valley of heartache.  Along the way, secrets are revealed, and the truth about the Baxter Family history is finally made known.  Ultimately, in this portrait of family love, the Baxters cling to each other and to God's promise of forever.

This stand-alone novel will serve as either a grand introduction or a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter Family.

Above is the description of the book found in the back of the paperback copy of Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury.

Coming home, as stated at the end of the description, is a beautiful conclusion in the saga of the Baxter family for me.  I absolutely loved this book.  It made me cry, a lot.  It also made me smile and made me feel content (sort of) by the end of the book.  (I say sort of because I still wish that I could read more of the Baxter family series.)

Coming home is the "sequel" to quite a few series that have the Baxter family as the main characters of this book.  The series' before this, if you are wondering, are the Redemption Series, the Firstborn Series, the Sunrise Series, the Bailey Flanigan series, and the Above the Line series.  I have read all of these series minus the Above the Line series so far and I highly recommend all of them.  :)

Now, for the actual book.  Coming home starts at the beginning of the summer focusing a chapter each on all of the siblings of the Baxter family who are planning a surprise party for their dad's seventieth birthday party.  Ashley, Kari, and Brooke all live in Bloomington, Indiana and are the three main sisters planning the party.  Erin, Luke, and Dayne all live out of town and all were going to surprise their father by coming in for his birthday.  On the day of his birthday party, every sibling was their with their family except for one.  This one sibling was stuck in traffic and was hoping to get to Ashley's house (where the party would be held) within minutes.  When all of a sudden, they are rear-ended and rushed to the hospital.  The story then follows the family through the trials of keeping their faith even when so much turmoil could come into their lives.

I overall loved this book.  I felt like I was one of the characters and going through all of this with them.  The only difference is, I don't know where my faith would be after all of this stuff had happened to me.  I would probably be in one of the darkest holes in my life.  Which is why I'm glad I hadn't been faced with this predicament myself.  I also give this book a 4 out of 5 stars and strongly encourage everyone read this book. It was amazing.  I know you guys would love it too.  Well, that is at least my hope. 

Thanks for reading my review of Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury.  I really hope that this helped you find maybe another book to read.   Please leave me any comments of books you want me to read and review.  Or any suggestions for how I can make these reviews better.  Thanks. 

Until the next review,

-Aly