And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley (Thanks, Delacorte!)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: January 28, 2014

"In And We Stay, Jenny Hubbard treats tragedy and new beginnings with a skilled, delicate hand.  Her otherworldly verse and prose form a flowing monument to all the great storytellers of the past." --John Corey Whaley, author of the Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris award winner, Where Things Come Back

When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

She had almost laughed at how absurd it all was, how water made mud of the ground. How hearts made mud of the world.

And We Stay is one of those books that's hard to explain - there was a lot of emotion and a lot of tragedy, but it's really hard to say why it hit me the way it did. I'm usually not a huge fan of poetry, but I really enjoyed Emily's. It flowed very well, and even the normal writing of And We Stay was beautiful and poetic.

But let's talk about Emily herself. I didn't really connect with her, but this is a different case than usual. It's not that she's flat. The reason that I couldn't connect with her was very simple - she doesn't connect with herself. She's so lost in her grief and even her solitude that it just kills her personality. And let me tell you, it's hard to read about someone who's dying inside. But she regains a little of her life throughout the book, and that's what's so great about it. You get to see her journey from one moment in her life to the next. And it's interesting.

As I said before, the writing was gorgeous, and it made it all that much easier for the past and the future to intertwine seamlessly throughout And We Stay. I never felt jarred or anything like that, which is very rare for me.

The biggest thing that And We Stay communicates is an overwhelming sadness - and honestly, sometimes it's great to be sad. I liked being sad for this book, and figuring out the mysteries of how and why that it left behind.

All in all, And We Stay is a good read. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for a sad, heartfelt read.

The same sky that once held her dreams has stolen her story. And the stars will know just how to tell it: night after night, over and over.

The boy I loved had the veins of the ancient. He was eighteen, but also a hundred and eighty, Biblical and stubborn as stone lodged in the earth.

Two Roads by L.M. Augustine

Two Roads by L.M. Augustine
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: August 26, 2013

The only person poetry-loving Cali Monroe hates more than herself is Logan Waters, the geeky kid who lives in the dorm building next to hers.

Ever since Cali's parents told her she would amount to nothing, she has felt entirely inadequate. Friendless and alone, she takes on the mean girl role in hopes it will make her feel better--and Logan serves as the perfect target. He infuriates her with his obnoxiously long lashes, his all too perfect dimpled smile, and his complete lack of personality outside of his intelligence. It doesn't hurt that he's part of the reason her brother is dead, either. So Cali hates him, and he returns the favor. Thus, their prank-filled, insult-driven rivalry is born, and torturing Logan quickly becomes the highlight of her life.

But when Cali's parents set them up on a blind date, she begins to realize Logan might not be as boring as she always thought. He shares her love of poetry, takes a sadistic pleasure in making fun of crepes, and he makes her blush when he calls her smile pretty.

And hey, maybe those long lashes of his aren't that obnoxious after all…

Free.
For once
I am free
It really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I liked Two Roads. I like the author, I like angsty premises... so in the end, what's not to like about it? My answer to this question is a little complicated, I guess. Because I liked it, I really did. And I don't know what's keeping me from giving it four stars. So maybe, just listen to my words instead of my rating - four stars is still really good!

The main character, Cali, was really complicated. Most of the time, I really wasn't sure whether I liked her or hated her. She just brought out a lot for me to think about - sometimes, it seemed like she was undeniably cruel; but other times it was like she was stamping down the soul inside of her. Because she has a lot more feelings than she would like. She projects this image, the image of a cold ice queen, but really I don't think she's all that bad. She's just dealing with her problems in the only way that she knows how to, and that was one of the things that finally endeared her to me. I realized that she was flawed, and she made mistakes - just like the rest of us.

And Logan? He was his own brand of interesting. Because, well, unlike Cali, he took a completely different route to try and get over his grief. While she got mad, he tried to be happy. And it was actually kind of nice - I was rooting for them from the very beginning. I thought that maybe, just maybe they could have a chance at happiness.

But lets not talk about that - let's talk about how mean these two were to each other! I'm not ridiculously soft-hearted or anything (as you all know, I can't cry at books) but the pranks that they pulled... I would have cried over some of them. Because I don't really understand how the pranks helped. They honestly just made me sad, which is maybe why I liked this book so much - because Logan and Cali overcame so many issues together.

One of my notes says "I don't even have words for how much I love this", and I really don't. It's been about two weeks since I've read this book - and I still don't completely know how I feel about it. All I know is that Two Roads is good. Like the kind of good that you call your friends about good. It's happy and sad and romantic and poetic and it's one of the best New Adult books that I've read so far.

All in all, Two Roads is a book that you need words to describe - not ratings. There's nothing about this book that doesn't hit you where it hurts, but that's all part of it's charm.