Complicated

The love story in The Opposite of Always is complicated.  Aren't all love stories?  Isn't life complicated?  It is.  And this was a complicated and beautiful story.  It just seemed a wee bit too long for me, but I still would highly recommend it.  Faith and life and death and time travel and Groundhog Day and love all rolled into one. 

Author I Very Much Enjoy!

Rachel Hawkins is an author I have really, really enjoyed.  I loved Hex Hall so much and was disappointed when there weren't more, but then came Rebel Belle and I didn't love, love, love it like Hex Hall.  And now I feel like I need to go back and try again with it!
Journey's End is a middle grade, tween deal whereas the others were YA.  I really liked this a lot, even though it was set far away, in Scotland.  I do think that this might be a series!  There is a lot of magic in here, but also a lot of realism, so it's that Magical Realism thing!  Friendship and loss of friends and fitting in and all of that.  But a lot of magic, too.

Didn't HAVE to Read It, But....

Last year I read Found and really, really enjoyed it.  I had tried to read Sent a few times and just couldn't get into it at all.  I was so determined to get through it, though, I finally bought the audio.  It was just super confusing for me.  Way too much sci-fi and life in the 1400s in England really isn't my cup of tea, so I wasn't much interested in the story, either.  Turns out that this is the story of the Princes in the Tower, which I didn't know anything about until I read this book, so I guess I learned something after all.  Will I continue the series.  Not sure.  I won't pay for it though.

The Last Trip to Willow Falls

Wendy Mass takes us back to Willow Falls one last time and it is great visit!  Told from the POV of Amanda, featured in 11 Birthdays, The Last Present answers the questions we've had for years now.  As the books have gone on, I have enjoyed each more more than the last.  Great series, sorry to see it end! 

Woodstock

I've never read a book by Jordan Sonnenblick, but have heard nothing but raves about his stuff.  I was pretty excited to see Are You Experienced? on netgalley.com and thankful to get an eARC of it.  This was one really different and fun ride.  Being too young to have experienced the 60s, this time in U.S. history has always intrigued me.  I do have a friend who was at Woodstock and it was neat to talk to her about this book and find that her memories of it were pretty much online with what Sonnenblick has recreated here.  But this isn't an historical fiction piece, it's a time-travel deal. Even though  it is fantasy, time-travel, it reads very realistically and the characters are extremely likable.  It's a pretty long book, but I read it quickly because it kept my interest throughout.  I can't wait to get a copy and I know I'll be able to recommend it to many folks of all ages.

Time Passages

The Time Between Us is a time-travel story of a different sort.  And I highly recommend it for those looking for a good love story with the twist of sci-fi or whatever time travel is.  Anna is in present day Illinois and Bennett is from 1996, San Francisco, but somehow Bennett can go back and forth in time and they meet.  But they can't stay together, or can they?  And when they realize that if they play with time, they play with the lives of others, it calls into question the ethics of what they are doing.  Great book.  
Terrible song, by the way.