It's Kind of a Funny Story

By: Ned Vizzini

Genre: Teen Fiction

Stars: 3 out of 5

Craig Gilner is in high school and already constantly thinks about his future. He studied vigorously to get into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School which will put him in the right direction for his future. But at his new school he comes to the realization that he isn’t that bright compared to everyone else and he might not have the future he mapped out for himself. Craig becomes stressed with this new understanding and develops depression. Overwhelmed, Craig almost tries to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and he gets checked into a mental hospital. There, Craig meets an assortment of people who help him come to terms with his anxiety and finds an outlet to de-stress.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

By: Ransom Riggs

Genre: Teen Fantasy & Adventure

Stars: 4 out of 5

Sixteen-year-old Jacob has always heard strange stories from his grandfather about peculiar children and the monsters. Always thinking they were just tall tales, he never would have guessed that anything his grandfather could be true; until he saw what murdered his grandfather. Trying to deal with this tragedy, his father takes Jacob to the remote island off the coast of Wales where his grandfather grew up and his eccentric stories take place. As Jacob begins to explore the island, he comes across the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It becomes clear to Jacob that the stories aren’t just stories, and the children may impossibly still be alive.

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer

By: Jonathan L. Howard

Genre: Fiction

Stars: 4 out of 5

Johannes Cabal made a deal with the devil, years ago, to sell his soul in exchange for learning the laws of necromancy. Growing bored and frustrated with his occult studies, he wants to make another deal with the devil; Johannes wants his soul back. In order for Johannes to attain his soul once again, he must get not one but one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned to hell forever. He is given one calendar year and a traveling nightmare carnival to acquire the number of souls he needs. Enlisting the help of his brother Horst, a magnetic vampire and a motley crew raised from the dead, Johannes must complete this task before the end of the year – or it will be his last.

Something Borrowed

By: Emily Giffin

Genre: Fiction

Stars: 3 out of 5

Rachel and Darcy have been best friends since grade school. Darcy is the one that always shines and gets everything while Rachel is the sidekick lurking in her shadow. Years later, Rachel is an attorney at a Manhattan law firm and the maid of honor in Darcy’s wedding. But on Rachel’s thirtieth birthday, she drunkenly confesses her love for Darcy’s fiancé and he returns her feelings. As the wedding draws near, Rachel must make a choice between love and loyalty. Should she do the right thing and stop sleeping with her best friend’s fiancé or should she be true to herself and her heart?

Graveminder

By: Melissa Marr
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Stars: 2 out of 5

Rebekkah Barrow’s grandmother Maylene has just been murdered. There is no one to mind the dead and now Bek must return to the town is dreads going back to. Soon she discovers why her grandmother did all of her odd traditions to mind the dead; if the dead are not minded then they come back to feed off of food, drink and stories of the living. And it turns out that Claysville has a connection with a lawless world of the dead and an enigmatic ruler in which a Graveminder and an Undertaker – a man of the town who protects the Graveminder – work for. Now some dead are walking among them and it is up to Bek and her adolescent lover Bryon, to set things right.

Shine

By: Lauren Myracle
Genre: Teen Fiction
Stars: 4 out of 5

Cat’s best guy friend just became a victim of an awful hate crime. When the sheriff of her small southern town isn’t coming up with any leads and is ready to pin it on out of town college boys, sixteen-year-old Cat decides to figure out who could do such a tragic hate crime to her former friend. As Cat digs deeper and deeper into the mystery behind this crime and the town’s secrets, someone starts to threaten her. Will Cat figure out who did this to Paul or will she become the victim of a crime herself?

Wings

By: Aprilynne Pike
Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance
Stars: 4 out of 5

Laurel was happy with her life, with the normalcy of it all. Switching from being home schooled to public school is a lot easier than she expected and friends came effortlessly. Nothing was changing except for one thing; the most beautiful flower blossomed – right out of her back! Laurel is both mesmerized and scared of her wings but why does she have them? Who is she? With the help of her friend, she finds out that Laurel is a fairy and she may be in trouble. What will happen when a troll is after Laurel and the gateway her farm protects?

This book was a “Free Friday” book on my nook. Some of the free books are great finds but others are you either take it or leave it. This book is one of the formers. I had heard great things about this novel from some coworkers and I like the teen paranormal romance. It was a quick read with an intriguing love triangle and angle on faeries. Faeries have special abilities depending on the season they wore born in and women bloom flowers once a year. In Pike’s world there are faeries and trolls and a whole lot of romantic drama. This is the first in the Laurel Series. I have not read the others but this one is a definite read for those of you who love teen reads.