Between the Lines Series by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Between the Lines perfectly captured the reasons behind my love of reading. I swear, the main character was me :P So I thought it would be appropriate to start this review a little differently, with a bunch of quotes that I absolutely loved.

My favourite passage came from the ending of Off the Page (the second novel). Here's a shortened version of it;

 “Everyone has a story. You might think it’s not worth telling, but then again, it’s a story no one has ever heard. What you do, what you say, how you carry the plot, just might leave a mark on someone. ..[Stories] help you escape, and they give you the chance to do things you never imagined you would or could…They are dreams for those who are still awake…Stories are all around us, caught in the throats of the strangers you walk past and scrawled on the pages of locked diaries..You’d best get going. Your reader is eagerly awaiting the next chapter”

Now for a bunch of other amazing and very inspiring quotes;

“I’d much rather pretend I’m somewhere else, and any time I open the pages of a book, that happens.” 

"When you have so many people, each one inevitably fascinating, why would you limit yourself to only those like you?...Instead of feeling as if I'm being judged by someone different from me, I learn from them."

“We could all be lucky. We could all be what we want to be, instead of who someone else told us to be.” 

“The act of reading is a partnership. The author builds a house, but the reader makes it a home.” 

“Well, you have to find that rare someone for whom you’re not putting on a show. Someone who shines a spotlight in your direction—not because you’re who they need you to be, or who they want you to be…just because you’re you.” 

“When she wanted to escape her life, she read books” 

 “At that moment, Oliver realized that home is not a place, but rather, the people who love you.” 

“How do you know that you are not part of a book? That someone's not reading your story right now?” 

Click to read more, for the real review...

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney

“…Well, you can’t have it both ways. You wanted a father, so you’ve got one.”

Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney follows the story of a Gold Coast elite high school girl, Macey Pentecost.  She is being visited by ghosts who need help to ‘move on’.  Although she doesn’t understand anything of the supernatural, she thinks she has it under control. That is, until she is visited by the ghost of ‘Nick’, who stubbornly refuses to admit he is dead.  He tries to warn Macey of danger, but even he doesn’t know what the danger is.  It all becomes more complicated as her father comes home with a surprise, Macey gets threats messages from a stalker and she starts developing feelings for Nick’s cousin.

Yesterday, my laptop stopped working and I took it as a ‘sign’ that I shouldn’t be doing homework :P I must say I am happy that my computer is crazy because I then found Almost Dead. The same day I finished it. It’s light, it’s cute and it’s romantic. Definitely different to the recent books I had been reading, and I was very glad to just relax for a bit. While it is very easy to read, it still has a very interesting plot. I was just a bit disappointed when I found out who the stalker was. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t think we had enough mentions of the stalker. I had to quickly read back to remind myself who this person was. At least it was a surprise.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

" Voices and faces aren't manifestations of good or bad. " - Fairest

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is set in the fictional Kingdom of Ayortha. In Ayortha a person is judged on their appearance and their voice, it is considered normal for one to just break into a song in the middle of conversations. The main girl, Ava, has a beautiful voice however she is not so lucky with her looks. Ava always feels embarrassed and is very harsh on herself, all she longs for is to be beautiful. When she gets the opportunity to travel to the castle the Queen grows fond of her however but for the wrong reasons. The Queen quickly learns of Ava's secret ability and uses it for her own benefit. Ava also finds out the Queen's secrets and she too uses it for her own good. Both will learn that with any action, potion and spells comes great consequences. 

I read this book in under 3 hours. The plot was simple and the language was very easy and simple. By this description I do not mean to say the book was bad or even boring but I am stating these facts so that you can decide if you would like to read the book. I personally like reading these books when I don't want to spend too much of my time reading or when I want a cheesy, cute book just to pass my time.

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

"In Venice, a secret is indeed more powerful than a sword. " - Cross My Heart

Cross my Heart by Sasha Gould is set during the Italian Renaissance. Laura della Scala, the protagonist, is sent to the convent at the age of 10. When her sister dies her father calls her back home to marry her sister's fiancée. Laura despises whom she is to marry, he is completely disgusting. However, all her father cares about is wealth and power. Laura finds out about someone who can help her; they call themselves the Segreta, a secret society of women all they ask is a secret. At the start they seem to help but soon she realises that it may not have been all good. She thinks they link up to the murder of her sister. 

This book will have a similar review to a recent book review I wrote about Ever . It is a very quick read with a short plot. There was quite a lot of mystery but I wouldn't say it was a complex novel. At the end things got quite gruesome but overall I found the story very cute and romantic.