Mini Book Reviews: Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature; Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials; and Empress of the World

For the Once Upon a Readathon I read quite a few books that mostly just felt mediocre to me.  I still feel compelled to write up reviews for them so I decided to do mini reviews.  It's been nearly a week and so the memories of the books are starting to fade so I won't go into much detail. 

Description:

Your best friend hates you. The guy you liked hates you. Your entire group of friends hates you.All because you did the right thing.Welcome to life for Mena, whose year is starting off in the worst way possible. She's been kicked out of her church group and no one will talk to her—not even her own parents. No one except for Casey, her supersmart lab partner in science class, who's pretty funny for the most brilliant guy on earth.And when Ms. Shepherd begins the unit on evolution, school becomes more dramatic than Mena could ever imagine . . . and her own life is about to evolve in some amazing and unexpected ways.

This was my favorite read of all the books I'm reviewing today.  I actually really liked this one.  It pulled me in immediately and I felt the full range of emotions I like to feel from a book.  I felt furious because of the ridiculousness of her parents and her church and the way they all treated her, and all because she did the right thing.    I felt the romance between her and the geeky kid and totally loved how it all played out.    This is the second book I've read recently where religion was important in the story.  Not for it, or against it, but more to believing what you believe and not following everyone elses beliefs.  To opening your mind to more.  I can see how some (those who definitely do not believe in evolution) would have a hard time with it though.  So it's definitely not a book for everyone.  

It was funny, full of amazing characters and was impossible to put down.

Description:

Looking for a new beginning after a terrible mean girl past, Charlie Healey realizes there's no escaping high school drama.
Charlie Healey thinks Harmony Falls is the beginning of a whole new life. Middle school was brutal. But high school is Charlie's big chance to start over and stay out of drama, except that on her first day she runs into Will, her ex-best friend, who had moved away. Now a varsity athlete and hotter than Charlie remembered, Will hangs with the crowd running the school. But Charlie doesn't understand their power until an innocent delivery guy falls victim to a near-deadly hazing prank.
Torn between doing what's right and her secret feelings for Will, Charlie must decide whether to turn in her very best friend or live with the guilt of knowing what he did.
Rosalind Wiseman's first novel for young adults is a fresh, funny, and juicy read about friendship, betrayal, and how far some will go to be accepted.

I had a bit of a hard time with the first half of this one.  It's still a fast read, it was just a bit boring or something.   But eventually I got into the story and it turned out being okay.  The second half was actually quite good.  The author did a good job in describing some mean girls and their behavior (oh man, so easy to picture!) and it definitely got me riled.  The romance and how things eventually played out was quite predictable but it was nice watching the MC, Charlie, grow up and find herself.

Description:

Nicola Lancaster is spending eight weeks at the Siegel Institute Summer Program for Gifted Youth, a hothouse of smart, articulate, intense teenagers. She soon falls in with Katrina (Manic Computer Chick), Isaac (Nice-Guy-Despite-Himself), Kevin (Inarticulate Composer) . . . and Battle. Battle Hall Davies is a beautiful blonde dancer, and everything Nic isn't. The two become friends-and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you're attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?

I loved the idea for this book.  The whole story line was fantastic.  I love the idea of a girl going to a sort of smart person summer school camp and finding a girl she's attracted to when she didn't even know she liked girls (that way).  And I liked Nic quite a lot.  She seemed like a realistic teenage girl.  

Some things I didn't like is there was maybe a bit too much banter and talking going on right off from the get go.  I wouldn't think that's something I wouldn't like, but I grew a bit tired of it because the story just felt like it wasn't going anywhere.  I also got a bit irritated cause things would cut off right when it was getting good.  Like right at a kiss without telling us their reactions.  Then we learn more through her journal entries.  I feel like we got to see more through those journal entries then anything else.  

Overall it was a decent read and definitely worth the couple hours I took to read it.

This book qualifies for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge.