Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Catching Jordan
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary YA
Release Date: December 1, 2011
Source: Copy from personal library

Synopsis:



What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there’s a new guy in town who threatens her starting position… suddenly she’s hoping he’ll see her as more than just a teammate.

Why I read this book: I had been seeing reviews for it all over the place and I’m a sucker for a heroine who breaks gender roles.

What I liked about this book: I liked Jordan a lot. She’s a strong confident football player when she’s on the field but once she’s off the field she’s just a girl who’s dealing with teenage girl stuff. I could easily connect with her. I’m one of those girls who’s more confident being “one of the guys” than I am being “one of the girls.” The host of secondary characters…I especially loved Sam Henry. I also really liked all the humor and trash talk that took place between Jordan and her teammates. The writing style I connected with too. It just sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. I also really liked the ending, good triumphs over “evil.”

What I didn’t like about this book: Ty. For me personally, he came off as a nice guy in the beginning but once got what he wanted he turned into UBER-prick. He drove a pretty serious wedge between Jordan and Henry too. Henry could see and Jordan just didn’t want to. I also didn’t care for the overall feel of Jordan and Ty’s relationship. Another detracting point was Jordan’s dad and NFL quarterback who just doesn’t understand his daughter. Everyone has dreams but I fel that Jordan’s dad spent a considerable amount of time trying to squelch Jordan’s.

Overall Impression: Overall, I’m pretty happy with this book. I will definately be checking out Stealing Parker when it comes out. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with a strong heroine character who doesn’t take any crap from anyone.

Rating: C+

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Book Stats:
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Format Reviewed: Paperback
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Series: N/A
Source: Personal purchase

Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?
At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:
As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.
When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Why I read this book?: I saw the cover for this book while cruising Goodreads and thought that the idea for the book was very interesting. I was out last week at our local re-sale bookstore and found a copy that I purchased.

What I liked?: I really liked Elise and her sister Juliana. They have a really close relationship and not even boys can come between them. I also really liked that Elise had a pretty great sense of humor. I’ve been reading a lot of YA books lately that seem to have a considerable amount of Insta-Love in them…That was not the case in this book between Elise and Derek. Elise actually thought that Derek was a jerk for awhile even. Juliana and Chase started out as friends and their relationship grew from there but I wouldn’t call that Insta-Love either. I think the best part of this book was that we all have “crazy” family members, you’ll have to read the book to find out what I mean.

What I disliked?: Webster Grant! What a prick! I also thought that there was a fair amount of superficialness and stereotyping in the book as well.

Overall Impression: This was a quick fun read that I enjoyed a lot.

Rating: C