How To Breathe Underwater

Kate is a competitive swimmer, best in the state actually, and her father is the coach pushing her to perfection. Until one day at swim practice he is caught in the arms of a swim mom, in front of everyone! Suddenly Kate and her mother are moving an hour away to restart their lives, and Kate is no longer sure who she wants to be or what she wants to do. Enter Micheal, the cute boy across the hall, and Patrice the pretty and sweet girl who welcomes her in Chem class, who also happens to be dating Micheal, something Kate finds out after developing a major crush on the boy. Then out walks Harris, Kate's best friend for nearly her whole life! Kate's entire world is turned upside down by everything, most importantly, her decision to stop swimming. And suddenly Kate, at nearly seventeen years old, has to figure out where she is going from here.

I would like to start by saying the only thing I allowed to be colored by my favor of the author (who is my baby sister) was the fact that I picked the book up in the first place. I do not traditionally read YA Romance, or really very much romance at all these days. I am also completely against first person narrative, it bothers me, I find it hard to get into, and so I avoid it, a fact I am sure I have mentioned before. It takes a lot to get me to read a book combining these too elements, but I have read some of my sister's previous, unpublished works, and I knew she was a great writer, so there was never I doubt I would pick this book up. And I in no way doubt that decision because this book was amazing!

Vicky' writing style is on point! With a unique perspective thanks to the events of her life, she was able to write characters and events that were real, heartfelt, and altogether incredible! Every moment of this book was so perfectly descriptive and emotional! The characters were believable and lovable (even for a moment the father, whom you can't help but feel a flash of pity for). Kate's moments of panic were so accurate they stung, and created an appreciation for the author's ability to craft such scenes that I want to thrust this book on so many of my fellow readers. From the start I was pulled into the narrative and dragged from page to page needing to know how it would all turn out, how Kate would handle everything being thrown at her, how things could possibly work out in the end. And I was not disappointed as I finally laid the book down only a day after picking it up.

Vicky Skinner is a truly gifted story teller! And I can't wait to see what the future holds for this talented young writer! Knowing what is coming next year, what she is working on after that, I am so incredibly excited to add her stories to my shelves and delve into more of her unique tales! Go pick up this book now and get ready to discover a new beloved author!

I Am Here! Omnibus 2

Hikage's story continues in this second volume right where the first I Am Here! book ends. So in this one we find out who Black Rabbit really is along with a new twist in Hikage's growing world. We also get to see more of Hinata and Teru outside of Hikage, like a flashback to when they first became friends.

This story is a very short one, only spanning the two books containing a total of 19 chapters. But everything I needed was in those 19 little tales! Hikage grows just enough over the course of this story to make it real and give us hope for her future, even becoming a voice of encouragement to others as Hinata and Black Rabbit did for her. And even though there was no real settling of things between Hikage and her two suitors, there was enough of a decision that it gives the reader hope for what her future is going to hold.

I really enjoyed this one! I think I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Toyama's other stories! And encouraging all my other manga lovers to pick this one up.

Bunny Drop vol. 9

Ok guys, I'll be honest, I was not happy with the ending to this story. At the end of the last volume we were handed a very weird and surprising twist to Rin and Diakichi's story that was followed up and "resolved" with this final set of chapters. I don't like the twist and I really don't like the conclusion.

Not only was the ending to this story a bit unsettling, but these final chapters had the feeling of being too convenient, like Unita had and ending they wanted, had very little time to actually plot it out properly, and so they threw together the barest of details. It was too quick, too simple, too unlike the rest of the story for me. It did nothing to help convince me that the way things ended was right.

With that said I do plan on reading the final volume, a collection of chapters "missing" over the years from Rin and Diakichi's story. I already have the volume, it's not much to read these, I might as well.

Guys, the rest of this story is so much better, and I would love for others to read it and tell me what they think of the ending. But I won't push this one on anyone since I know the disappointment this ending put on me and I don't want others to deal with that. But if you happen to read the series, please, tell me what you think!

The Demon Prince of Momochi House vol. 1

I know it has been too long since I picked up a book and finished it, I am so sorry no new reviews have been posted! Once more I pulled myself out of a reading slump via a new manga series. So here, have a look at the series I will now be hunting down!

The story is centered around Himari Momochi, an orphan recently turned 16 who has been willed a large house that belonged to her family. Only, when she gets there she discovers that squatters are already living there! One of them is Aoi, the handsome boy who accidentally broke the seal on the house before Himari could and has now been possessed with the magic to protect the house, which lies on the border between the spirit world and the real one.

One manga in, only 3 chapters, and I am kinda already hooked on both Himari and Aoi! I knew as soon as I read the description of the book that it was right up my alley with the spirit world, girl alone in the world, and a possible love story. Add to that the beautiful artwork that Aya Shouoto gives and I was instantly loving the story!

So far there are 11 books listed over on Goodreads, so I will be looking for them all at the library. Depending on the status of the story when I get to volume 11, I'll try to post again when I get there to let you know how I feel about the story after I have read more of it. If you have read it before, let me know what you thought of it!

Warrior Song

December: Re-Reading Favorites

So, this was the first romance I ever read, way back when I was a teenager. I picked it up because it was about a girl raised to be a warrior by her father at a time when girl's were not meant to be anything of the sort. Chandra is beautiful and brave and wants nothing more than to stay by her father's side and play at being a boy. I could so relate to this character! But then the men come to bid for her hand and Chandra is made to marry and watch as her whole world is turned upside down. And even though she really likes the man she is married to, Chandra strives to keep ahold of herself while being forced to give over to another's wishes.

The first time I read this book I loved it. I was completely in love with everything about it from the settings and characters to the constant life or death peril Chandra was thrown into and the love story she found herself in. This month I read it for what must have been the tenth time. And I still love it! Sure, this is an old edition so there are problems with some spelling and grammar, but with a favorite you can ignore it. And it may not be the most amazing story for everyone else, but I still love it just as much as the first time I picked it up.

So if you are looking for a story with a strong-willed female lead trying to figure out the sudden change in her life, give this one a chance. If you are looking for slightly cliche romance with an unbelievably understanding male lead, pick this one up. Or if you are looking for a quick read, something fun and fast paced, here it is! And let me know what you think of it!