Saturday, December 31, 2011

Waiting on Next Year: Part #2



"Waiting on Wednesday" is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine
Here is part 2 of the list of 2012 titles (as of now) I am anticipating very much, very very much.
All of the links go directly to the book's Goodreads.com page.



July:


August: 


December:
If you have any, comment link please!
(!!!) = REALLY cannot wait for these.

Thank-you guys! Happy New Year!






Friday, December 30, 2011

Heroine Tourney Blackout: VOTE KATNISS!





Vote Katniss in the YA Heroine Tourney and show your support by posting up buttons and banners of your favorite heroine!






Background:
Blackout background link (needs to be tiled, but it looks SO cool): http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/blackoutbackground5BW.png

Banners:
Katniss is my Heroine banner 1: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/HT_KatnissBannerBLACKOUT4.jpg
Tournament of Heroines banner: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/HT_KatnissBannerBLACKOUT2-1.jpg

Buttons:
It's On button: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/HTTRF2blackout.jpg
Tournament of Heroines button: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/strawbaeri/Blogs/TRF/HT_KatnissButtonBigBLACKOUT2-1.jpg

Voting ends tonight! VOTE HERE. Don't let the Girl on Fire Down, spread the word!

Top 5: Number 1!

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Divergent (Divergent, #1)
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Sorry for posting this so late you guys. I have not been feeling well, and this post was scheduled a long time ago, but somehow blogger failed to post it. Thanks-blogger.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So here is my number one of 2011, highly expected I know, I saw it in almost everyone's favorites list. It is a very deserving title, I enjoyed reading Divergent so much. There was enough action to keep you captivated, romance to keep you breathless, and sad moments to have you sniffling while others gave you weird looks. It was great!

If you want to read more about what I thought of Divergent click HERE to read my review! Feel free to leave a comment!

I cannot wait to see what is in store for 2012, and for May to come quicker since I cannot wait for Insurgent any longer!



Top 5: Number 2/Review

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PhotobucketThis year, I decided to do something a little bit different than last year. Since last year I did a WHOLE list of top 10 books that I read and loved. I decided that I wanted to do a countdown of the top 5 books that impacted me the most this year.


2011 has been a great year for books, some books I liked better than others.With the help of my friend, I have narrowed down my list of favorite books to five. It was a very hard thing to do, but after an hour of discussion I finally did it. These are all debut books, they came out 2011. I loved other books that weren't released 2011, but maybe I will create a separate list for that one.I will be counting down, on December 31 2011 (tomorrow), my #1 debut novel will be revealed.

Delirium (Delirium, #1)
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.


Dystopian  seem to be the genre of the year. I think you guys can guess what my number one pick will be from that. But it started with Delirium. I read this book at the beginning of the year, and I didn't get to review it for some reason, after that I just didn't get around to it, so this will be my review for Delirium.

The reason this didn't end up being my number one is that while there was enough romance, the action didn't take such a big part in the plot. Though there is action, don't get me wrong, it is at the very end-ish. I was happy with the romance, and Lauren Oliver can write with so much emotion that I was crying by the end of the book.

While dystopian books been very popular lately, I had never read anything like this. A life without love. That is unimaginable, and quite sad. The thing that I really liked is that the Lena's love interest is not mentioned in the summary so you have no idea who it is or where they meet.

Lena's love interest will be dreamy to say the least, he will be forever in my literary-boyfriends list (yes, I have one). Lena as a character is the girl next door, there is nothing I didn't like about her that she could do anything about. The way she ran away from her feeling when she finally realized she was in love was frustrating, but she was raised like that. The way she felt ashamed of her mother for being able to love her was also annoying, but being raised to believe that love was dangerous and deadly, I cannot blame her.


Delirium was an amazing first book to what I know will be an amazing series. I would recommend reading it  in 2012 if you didn't have a chance to read it in 2011.



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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Top 5: Number 3



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This year, I decided to do something a little bit different than last year. Since last year I did a WHOLE list of top 10 books that I read and loved. I decided that I wanted to do a countdown of the top 5 books that impacted me the most this year.


2011 has been a great year for books, some books I liked better than others.With the help of my friend, I have narrowed down my list of favorite books to five. It was a very hard thing to do, but after an hour of discussion I finally did it. These are all debut books, they came out 2011. I loved other books that weren't released 2011, but maybe I will create a separate list for that one.I will be counting down, on December 31 2011, my #1 debut novel will be revealed.

Lola and the Boy Next Door
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.




 I loved this book, it was such a great and fun contemporary, of course I expected nothing less from Stephanie Perkins! Both Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door are perfection, I cannot wait for Isla and the Happily Ever After (add it to your TBR list if you haven't already!).

With her quirky characters and hilarious dialogue, I think Stephanie Perkins is an amazing writer,  and I am sorry for not starting Anna earlier. I am so waiting for Isla, whenever it may be, I will be in line first thing to buy a copy.



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Waiting on Next Year: Part #1

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"Waiting on Wednesday" is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Here are some of the 2012 titles I am anticipating very much, very very much.


January:

February:

March:
HUNGER GAMES MOVIE MARCH 23 (Not a book, but I just had to!)

April:

May:

June:


This is only part one of my  2012 most anticipated list, some dates might not be set in stone, and some dates might be wrong. I apologize for that.

I hope this helps add on to your 2012 list!

(!!!) Books I wish I had right NOW.



Top 5: Number 4

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This year, I decided to do something a little bit different than last year. Since last year I did a WHOLE list of top 10 books that I read and loved. I decided that I wanted to do a countdown of the top 5 books that impacted me the most this year.


Photobucket2011 has been a great year for books, some books I liked better than others.With the help of my friend, I have narrowed down my list of favorite books to five. It was a very hard thing to do, but after an hour of discussion I finally did it. These are all debut books, they came out 2011. I loved other books that weren't released 2011, but maybe I will create a separate list for that one.I will be counting down, on December 31 2011, my #1 debut novel will  be revealed.


In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


This book, oh, this book, I just simply loved it. I recently had a dream that I had in my hands the ARC of Hallowed, the second book of the series, and one of my most anticipated books of 2012. Seriously, a dream, that is how much I loved this book.

If you love the paranormal, this one if for you. If you think angels are not your thing, think again.If you love hot cowboys, this book is for you.

For a full review of Unearthly visit my review HERE.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Top 5: Number 5

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This year, I decided to do something a little bit different than last year. Since last year I did a WHOLE list of top 10 books that I read and loved. I decided that I wanted to do a countdown of the top 5 books that impacted me the most this year. These are MY top 5 books that I have read in 2011, I hope you enjoy!

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2011 has been a great year for books, some books I liked better than others.With the help of my friend, I have narrowed down my list of favorite books to five. It was a very hard thing to do, but after an hour of discussion I finally did it. These are all debut books, they came out 2011. I loved other books that weren't released 2011, but maybe I will create a separate list for that one.I will be counting down, on December 31 2011, my #1 debut novel will  be revealed.




*Jill MacSweeny just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends--everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she's somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.
Mandy Kalinowski understands what it's like to grow up unwanted--to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she's sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It's harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?
As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy--or as difficult--as it seems.
Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr delivers a heart-wrenching story, told from dual perspectives, about the many roads that can lead us home.



I loved this book! So so much, it was one of those books that really impacted me, I could really connect with the characters. Sara Zarr is such a talented writer, I am definitely looking forward to her books in the future, and I will be reading those that have already been released.

For a more thorough opinion of How to Save a Life, scan/read my review HERE.


If you haven't read this book and you love contemporary, this book should be on your 2012 TBR list.


Friday, December 23, 2011

VOTE KATNISS!

Vote for:

Okay I don't normally do this, but Katniss is my favorite female character, Peeta being my favorite male character. She deserves to win this! She is kick ass, she is an amazing character.
I would love it if she won. So, those of you who love Katniss, please go vote for her. Not because there is a prize if she wins or anything, but because she is a great character who deserves recognition!




Join the fun!
PLEASE Vote for her HERE

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Follow Friday



  1. RULES To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules: (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read} (Required)
  2. Follow our Featured Bloggers Put your Blog  and URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts. 
  3. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you. 
  4. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. 
  5. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI” If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. 
  6. Spread the Love…and the followers If you’re new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog! 

Today's Question:

Q: If you had to spend eternity inside the pages of a book which book would you choose and why?
 Tough one. I would love to spend eternity in a wonderful place, but that would be just plain boring. So I would love to spend my eternity inside the pages of The Hunger Games. Meeting Katniss, Haymitch, and Gale would be amazing! Also Peeta, my #1 book crush, would be there and I would totally want to bake some bread with him amongst other things. I would not like to be a tribute in THG, but I am curious about how life would be there after Mockingjay happens. In other words, I would spend my eternity in the HG world AFTER Mockingjay, where thing are not so bad anymore.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Shatter Me

Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi
Release Date: Novermber 15, 2011
Publisher: Harper/Harper Collins
Source: Birthday Gift
Age Rec.: I would recommend this book to older young adults (15 and up maybe) because it has some mild language and some steamy kissing scenes.

Summary*:

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The
Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. Juliette has to make a choice:  
Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.
Within minutes of picking up Shatter Me and reading the first page, the realization that Tehereh Mafi's writing will not be like any other writing you have ever encountered will be lodged into your mind and will stay there until the last word of the last page. Simply put, the writing was beautiful, I wanted to marry the writing.

While Shatter Me's writing was hypnotic, it sometimes bordered on too much. Too much symbolism and too much metaphors.

Such as:
"perfect shade of cobalt, blue like a blossoming bruise, clear and deep and decided"
I caught myself inwardly rolling my eyes and cringing at the overdone purple prose. It was not in every page I read but I just feel like the flowery writing could have been taken down a notch. Now, that is my opinion. I am sticking to it.

The writing I could live with, it was quite enjoyable most of the time. It was the Juliette I could have lived without. The Juliette, the main character who I am going to refer to as "the Juliette" from now on for no apparent reason,  was not a character I was particularly fond of. While the Juliette stated off good at the beginning, eventually I didn't feel as connected to her as I would have liked, she came off as too weak and defenseless. While she had a power that she could not control, she could have used it to her defense. Don't get me wrong, sometimes she defended herself and did some things right. But most of the time she depended on Adam, her love interest, for support. He was the one who accepted her, she didn't seem so accepting of herself until he came up.

We come to another good point, her relationship with Adam, which was very quick paced and took up a lot of space in the plot in the story. They had liked each other for a long time, but not talked, and to go from that to love in such a sort amount of time, I just didn't buy into it. Also, bear with me, I am trying not to spoil anything for you guys as I go through this.

The story was original and exciting, but I wanted to read more about The Reestablishment, the origin of it, what exactly happened to the people and the resources. Less of the Juliette more of the evil government that is now ruling the earth (or the US?). I am guessing and hoping some of it will be explained in book #2, and I am excited to read more about it. I was sort of left with a lot of questions that I would like answered in the future.

 The crossing out method in the story was very different and original, though it left me sort of confused.She is writing her experiences (most likely) and were the thing she was crossing out things she didn't want to say or needed to say? Needless to say the crossing out method didn't do much for me.

Weirder yet, was the relationship that the Juliette had with the antagonist of the story. Something about him drew her in, but I don't know exactly what. I mean he was a pretty attractive dude, but he was murderous. As evil as Warner is, the author did a very good job at developing him, and he was actually a character I became fond of. Which is rare, liking the villain, how character is portrayed. There was a couple of characters I became fond of, but the two main characters were not it.

In the end, the story did pick up a bit, and I loved the twist at the end of the Juliette's journey. I cannot complain much about the ending. So if you are losing hope for this book, don't give up so easily, I really liked the ending and I really wish I had liked Shatter Me as much as some my fellow blogger did. And if you really did love it and think I am crazy, then great for you! How I felt about the Juliette is not going to stop me from reading more of Tehereh Mafi's work, she is a brilliant writer, and I cannot wait to read more from her!

Cover Love?

I really liked the concept of the cover because after you read Shatter Me it makes complete sense why they put the girl in a fancy dress. Love the shiny-ness to it. The facial expression of the girl is sort of weird.

Butterflies?

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

IMM (it's been a while)


Hi everyone, its IMM* time! Finally after many sleepless nights and work over the weekends, I am delighted to announce my official two week holiday almost-homework-free break! I am so excited to be back, with no more weekly papers due and endless physics packets to figure out. I feel like I have neglected this poor little blog so much, and I have not been posting as much as I would like so here is a IMM* probably from all these weeks that I have been gone. I didn't get much thank goodness, but now I am ready to get back on the blogging/reading horse!

Here we go:


For Review:

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
Havoc by Jeff Sampson
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
How to Save A Life (Not Pictured) by Sara Zarr (review)

Bought:

 Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi
Ordinary Beauty by Laura Wiess
Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
How It Ends (not pictured) by Laura Wiess (review)

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

*Hosted by The Story Siren

Monday, December 5, 2011

Great Contemporary!


During my busy time at school, during all of those long bus rides, and few but wonderful homework-free days, I have been reading some pretty good books that make any pitiful grades in Physics not as bad anymore. So I decided I want to share with you my opinions on two contemporary books that I think will make your day too!

#1

how it ends Laura Weiss
Published: August 4, 2009
Publisher: MTV Books 
Source:Used Bookstore
Age Rec: There is some sexual content and language so watch out for that. I would recommend it to teens 15 or 16 and older.

Summary:

All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him -- but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her.
Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.

I was a little reluctant to read this book, I admit. But after I read the first few pages, I was hooked, every chance I got, I read this book. My edition was a tiny paperback so it was pretty easy to sneak it in class.

The point of view of the story alternates from Hanna, a teenager, and Helen, a mature woman with a lot of wisdom. Being inside Helen's head was very intriguing and mysterious, I loved Helen. The author did such a good job at bringing this character to life. But I was more anxious to read from Hanna's point of view, since she is in my age range, and they were two interesting guys in the equation.

But she frustrated me at some point, she only cared about boys, which is completely normal for a teenage girl, but this was kind of to the extreme. She was too flirtatious , but she still manged to be such a likeable character that at the end I just didn't mind anymore. Her choices were poor, but she eventually learned from them, which is a nice thing to read from a book, changes in the main character (for the better) are always welcome.

The plot was brilliant, I don't want to get much into it, or I am afraid to spoil it for you guys so I will just leave you at that. I really liked how everything went together and the ending was a little bit too strong, but I think for this specific novel it could have not ended better.

The differences and similarities between these two incredible women, was amazing to witness.Their relationship is enviable. The love story within this book will bring you to tears. There will be some tearing up at some point, have the kleenex handy.

#2

how to save a life by Sara Zarr
Publish Date: October 18, 2011
Publisher: Little Brown for Young Readers
 publisher, thank-you!
Age rec: I would recommend it to teens 14 and up, or any contemporary reader. There are so curse words, but nothing major. One non-descriptive love scene.

Summary:

Jill MacSweeney just wants everything to go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends--everyone who wants to support her. You can't lose one family member and simply replace him with a new one, and when her mom decides to adopt a baby, that's exactly what it feels like she's trying to do. And that's decidedly not normal. With her world crumbling around her, can Jill come to embrace a new member of the family? Mandy Kalinowski knows what it's like to grow up unwanted--to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, she knows she wants a better life for her baby. But can giving up a child be as easy as it seems? And will she ever be able to find someone to care for her, too? Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr delivers a heart-wrenching story, told from dual perspectives, about what it means to be a family and the many roads we can take to become one.Like her previous works, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE showcases this minimalist style beautifully, but it also weaves in layers emotion and detail so delicately — almost imperceptibly — that by the last page, the characters will so thoroughly invade your heart that you’ll feel like you’d been through it yourselves, right along with Jill and Mandy.


If you are not a fan of contemporary, which c'mon, then this book alone will completely change your mind. Sara Zarr has a way with words, honestly.

Apparently, I don't really have a way with words, therefore I cannot put into words how good this book is! Unless the word is "fidfhiadubfaigfb", which is not really a word but it is pretty accurate on how I feel about this book.

The plot itself is very original, nothing like any contemporary book I have ever read. Author Sarah Ockler says in her own review of How to Save a Life, "Like her previous works, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE showcases this minimalist style beautifully, but it also weaves in layers emotion and detail so delicately — almost imperceptibly — that by the last page, the characters will so thoroughly invade your heart that you’ll feel like you’d been through it yourselves, right along with Jill and Mandy."

A lot of important issues are part of this book; how everyone grieves differently, how some relationships are not meant to be, and how sometimes things don't happen as expected.

Both of the characters, Jill and Mandy, tell their story in their own point of view, alternating in each chapter. I would think that without this, the story of one of them would have been lost. They both have incredible stories to tell, it is hard to chose which point of view I liked best.

But as always, there is one character I connect with the most. Jill was this character.  She is so stubborn and strong, she is very afraid to show her true emotions.  I could relate to her. She is one of those characters that will stay with me even after I finished the last page of the book.

 Mandy was a naive, very strong, young girl, she is pregnant without anyone to turn to and she is faced with many hard decisions. She relives her horrible past and tries to make past it, tries to make a future for her baby and herself.

While I fell in love with these two characters, I fell in love with all the love characters  surrounding Jill and Mandy. I am sure you will too.

From strangers to friends to family, the story of how these girls came together to save a life was a very incredible thing to witness.






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