Ashleigh's Bookshelf

Dahlia's Backstage Pass Ethan Cobalt Dahlia has her entire life planned. In a few weeks, she and her on-again/off-again boyfriend will go to college. She will become a nurse, he a doctor. Together, they'll volunteer for Doctors Without Borders and see the world. Most importantly, she'll be able to leave the trailer park she calls home. But when an old friend calls out of the blue, Dahlia realizes she can't turn down his offer to work with his band. Suddenly, her world is turned upside-down and she must question everything from her career goals to her relationship. I enjoyed this story, although I did spend much of the book wondering if Dahlia stepped out of one manipulative relationship just to enter another one. I think this was ultimately because I didn't really get to know the character very well. I would have liked to have seen him developed a little more. I also would have liked to know Finn better as well. I saw some potentia...

(Not) In This Lifetime by Rebecca Ouellette When Charlie's van pulls in front of the worst night club in town, he knows that means his career as a rock star has ended. But, he doesn't mind. That was his father's dream, not his. He never expected a the place to end up in flames or for it to result in him seeing another side of his father. And he really never expected for the fire to cause him to start jumping through time, reliving the life of a brother he never knew. Can Charlie change the past for the better? Or does history truly repeat itself? Although I enjoyed this story very much, I don't really have much to say about it. I was captivated by Charlie's inner turmoil as he began to question the life he always knew, as well as delve into a past that wasn't his. I did find myself confused trying to keep the characters straight, especially as Charlie began switching between time periods more rapidly. There was also an occasional slip i...

Crisis at Comicon Irene Vartanoff As a female artist in the male-dominated world of comics, Chloe is looking forward to Comicon. However, when the evil Mistress Miraculous threatens to ruin the event, Chloe must use her secret superpowers to save the convention. This book starts very strong. The prologue was extremely engaging and I liked the time skip from the prologue to the first chapter. Roland would hate me saying this, but I could almost picture the movie with the voiceover explaining what happened in the prologue and then saying "Let's back up a few days so I can explain how we got here." The prologue flows fairly nicely into the first chapter, although there is a little too much information given and too much narrative. Instead of telling me what happened months earlier, I would have preferred to have another flash back to see it happening. By the end of the first chapter, I was interested in the story and wanted to see what would happen...

The Tribulations of August Barton by Jennifer LeBlanc Augie Barton's first day of college isn't going so great. His step-father is divorcing his mother, his roommate thinks he's a nerd, and he inadvertently ends up showing up at a dorm party with his grandmother, a former prostitute who has run away from her nursing home. As he navigates his first semester at college, Augie must learn how to cope with his ever-mounting anxiety in order to have a shot at his dream girl. The fact that this book was divided into parts instead of chapters was a little off-putting and it took me a while to really get into the story. However, by the end of September, I was intrigued by Augie and wanted to know what happened to him. And I absolutely loved Grandma Gertie. By the end of the book, I felt there were a few stories I wanted to know more about. Without giving too much away, it felt like Grandma Gertie and Mom had a secret they were keeping from Augie that is never...

I Don't Date Superheroes   by S.D. Rogue To the world Hana is an army medic. Not even her closest friends and coworkers realize that she treats superheroes for the Enhanced Humans Agency. One night, after a long day at work, a patient breaks into her apartment seeking help. After nearly being killed by the people following him, Hana joins his quest for safety. Unsure of what is happening or whom to trust, Hana must figure out why someone is kidnapping superheroes without forgetting her mantra: do NOT fall for a superhero. One of my biggest problems with this story was the editing. There were many places with excessive dialogue tags, repetitive words, and shifts in tenses or point of view. There were also misused or missing words. I found these editing errors distracting and it was difficult to get through the first chapter. Once I was able to overlook these issues, I found I liked the story. There was a decent plot, a decent subplot, and strong backstories. However, it all moved a...

Is This Me?   by Tricia Copeland Amanda cannot wait for the first day of college, where she is immediately introduced to her friend's fraternity. By the end of orientation, she is spending more time at the frat house than at the dorm, especially two seniors. All her friends think something is going on, but she keeps insisting their just friends. After a series of mishaps, Anna finds herself lying to her friends about her health and her feelings and must find true self again. By the end of chapter one, most of the key players had been introduced, although I must admit I was a little confused with the large cast of characters. However, the light prose made it easy to follow Amanda's exploits as well as her roller coaster of emotions regarding a certain frat boy. As the book went on, I found myself rooting for Amanda to be with one specific frat boy and was disappointed when it didn't work out. Overall, I found the characters very relatable and the story engaging. I am lookin...