Portraits of Celina by Sue Whiting

“… but it seemed that the troubles of the past had strangely brought us a little closer together…”

Portraits of Celina by Sue Whiting tells the story of a broken family who move into an abandoned haunted house. The house had belonged to past members of their family, and had been the site where Celina, Bayley’s second cousin, had died. Bayley shares a striking resemblance to Celina. When Bayley starts to have visions of Celina’s old life, she thinks she is going crazy. Celina seeks revenge and Bayley must be the one to avenge her.

I am absolutely mesmerized by this book. It was so interesting and it had both cute teen romance and brooding mysteries. Full of plot twists, I could not put the book down. The result? Two hours later, and a finished book to write about. It is listed as part of the Premier’s Reading Challenge for years 7-9. But I think it may be interesting to even older grades.

Everyday by David Levithan

“Every day I am someone else. I am myself-I know I am myself-but I am also someone else. It has always been like this.” 

Imagine waking up in a different body every day. A different room, a different family, a different life. Sounds crazy, right? This is the life of A (not from Pretty Little Liars!).  

Just from reading the blurb, I had high expectations. It's an interesting idea, and I was curious to see where the author took it. There are so many possibilities, and it had me asking so many questions. What is the reason for A waking up in a different body every day? What happens if A stays up past midnight? Can he/she stay in a body for more than a day? What happens to the person whose body he/she's in? 

Eve (the Eve Trilogy) by Anna Carey

“A relationship between two people can be judged by the list of things unspoken between them.”  - Eve

Eve by Anna Carey is the first in the Eve Trilogy. The story is set in 2032, in the New America after a plague (and its vaccine that was meant to help) killed most of the world's population. The U.S.A is now ruled by a King. Girls and boys are completely separated into schools. Eve, the protagonist, is graduating from school and hopes to become a great painter. One day before graduation one of her colleagues shares her plans and knowledge with Eve. It seems that the King nor the teachers are telling the truth. Everything she believed in is a lie. Eve escapes all of this and meets Caleb. They fall in love but with them being fugitives she must choose between safety and love. 

This book is AMAZING!! I don't really know exactly where this books achieves this success or how Anna Carey did it but I just found I was completely absorbed by the book and the characters. I read non stop and finished it in less than a day. I would burst out at random moments screaming for Eve or Caleb, I was nearly crying at the end when Caleb was leaving. This is seriously such a cute, sweet book for all the dreamers and thinkers out there.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" - Romeo and Juliet 2.2
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is one of the most well known plays (so I'll keep the summary short). Two adolescents from rival families fall in love. Their love is forbidden so they  get married undercover. Romeo, albeit trying to keep the peace, ends up killing Juliet's cousin and gets banished from Verona. The friar helps Juliet to reunite with Romeo. He gives Juliet a potion that will make her seem dead, then  after her funeral she will wake up and they will be able to elope. The plan goes wrong when the messenger is detained in one of the cities because of fear of spreading the plague and Romeo arrives where Juliet lies and kills himself. Juliet wakes up and and seeing Romeo kills herself. 

First of all I apologize at the beginning if I end up just calling Romeo and Juliet a novel instead of a play, it is quite a habit I need to get out of; it is hard since I'm used a play being what I watch and a novel is what I read. This review could easily be one of the longest I write because of the in depth study I did in class on the play. There are so many themes and ideas explored in the play. It isn't just about love but also about hate and how it achieves nothing, it is about people leading lives through emotions instead of reason, adolescent rebellion, the law judging and restoring peace and so much more. Shakespeare's language is also highly regarded, throughout most of his play he uses the iambic pentameter, poetry and uses rhyme to highlight importance of the dialogue. It would be easy to write  pages on the topics I just mentioned however this is what everyone will study in school or read on the internet and I'm taking a different spin on this review