Star-crossed - Rachael Wing

Before you judge a book from the cover, read this review and it might (I said might though) change your view. JUST wait there, right there.

I have read this book countless of times. I'm serious. And guess what. This was written by when she was 14, published when she was 16. She would now be...19 but still. A 14-year-old. That's pretty cool and we're talking some good stuff - despite the cover. This was first found a couple of years ago under some books. I thought it sounded good so I read it. And again...and again...and now AGAIN!

When Jen lands the main role of Juliet in her school production of Romeo and Juliet, she is thrilled. Especially as beating one of the most popular people and her best gay friend, Reuben playing Mercutio, another main part. Until you find out who Romeo is.
The boy you and your family hate with a passion because of feud going on since their fathers were 18. Jen will do anything to get embarrasse him and beat him, there's no way you're going to be like Juliet and fall for him....is there?

This book has such a simply storyline and well written that I just love it. It's also written very differently using 'You' or the Second Tense (I think) which makes it so interesting and just different.
It could be classed as a short story but I think although it is short, it is a book. The scenes and characters are great and so well written. I loved Reuben, her best friend. You just kind of have to love him, he is so funny and lovely.
Even though I have amazing friends and I love them to pieces, I would love a kind of 'gay' or 'boy' best friend. I mean, a guy that you can just kind of talk about anything with and don't have to keep checking if you look okay or are going red. I've told a couple of people my little 'wish' and those that I asked did agree.
This book, even though the cover isn't particularly amazing, is such a sweet, innocent (kind of), interesting story with a modern day Romeo and Juliet tale. And it shows that not every love story means sex and snogging their faces off straight away. I mean I don't mind it in books but still, some authors do get a little over the top on the descriptions of whats happening :S
This story is also so relatable to people my age, teens, because Jen faces so many teen issues.
I would suggest anyone that loves to write or loves Shakespeare and a bit of romance to read this one. It is truly a sweet story and with the 'You', I was able to imagine it happening to myself, probably why I love it so much.
I give it a 4.5 out of 5

Author's Website: http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/zone/authors_r-wing_biog.htm

Rachael Wing has also released a book called Love Struck which looks at A Midsummer's Night Dream. I am SO looking out for that one :)

Infinity - Sarah Dessen

Yes. Sarah Dessen is BACK. With a vengance.
I heard about this a couple of months ago and I saw it in Waterstones, thinking about adding it to my current Sarah Dessen collection of books on my bookshelf. While relishing in how much I love this woman, I turned it over to find it was £3.99 for 94 pages. Then, opening it to inspect whether it was worth it, I realised that Infinity is actually only 33 pages long, which I read in one sitting, the rest are extracts from her other full length novels, Just Listen and That Summer.
Anyway, pronoucing it a bit of a rip-off, you can imagine my happiness when I saw it in the library when I went to get The Resistance. Without even looking at the blurb, I picked it up and rushed to the counter.

First Sentence: Lately I don't dream about Anthony. I dream about the roundabout

This SHORT story is all about making choices as a 16 year old teenager. The girl in Infinity has just passed her driving test and new on the road. There are two things in her life that she has to make choices about soon. 1. Her boyfriend, Anthony, wants to have sex with her but somethng it making her push him away, making their relationship suffer. 2. The roundabout. The roundabout in her town, is a massive chaotic roundabout that's left her mother avoiding it completely. Will she go around it or like everything else, take the shortcut out of it?

Even though it was petty 33 pages long, this book somehow was good. It doesn't particularly have the potenical to be a full-length novel but Sarah Dessen still somehow established the characters and the scene in those 33 pages. The only person in the whole story who was given a name was Anthony. I don't know particularly why Sarah Dessen did this - maybe to show that he's not the unique character, that he's just an ordinary boy that every girl will meet once in a while - thank god, it hasn't happened to me yet.
The girl in Infinity is never named which adds a bit of intrigue. The idea of the roundabout it great, it reminded me of a few around here that are sometimes chaos and how I watch my mother's concentration as she somehow gets around the mass of cars going in the same direction. It's incredible - and definitely makes me fear becoming a driver in 2 years time. That itself is just weird.

This is a very short story about growing up and basically being a teenager.
I give it 3.5/5

Author's Website: http://www.sarahdessen.com/

Just Listen - Sarah Dessen

First Sentence: I taped it back in April, before anything had happened, and promptly forgot about it. A few weeks ago, it had started running again and, suddenly, I was everywhere.

Just Listen is another book by the 'amazing' Sarah Dessen (SD). Annabel Greene is one of these girls that have it all - model looks, confidence, a social life (I'm sure we've all come across one). Or so it seems. After the night at a party where everything changes, Annabel can't bear to remember or tell about the night and the things that happened before like her sister's eating disorder and her grandmother's death. Until he meets Owen - a guy who always tells the truth, has Anger Managerment and who is also obsessed with music. Soon, a close bond forms. But can he help her forget her past and help her face her fears - telling the truth.

This isn't one of SD's best novels for me but still it is good and definately worth a read. Yes, it's quite girly in the sense that there's love and that sort of stuff but not as much as in some of her other novels. This is about music and telling the truth. I must admit a couple of times, I did feel a little bit guilty for some of the white lies I've told. Apart from that, it is well written including some descriptions of the type of people you see in every school (the bitchy popular girl, the girl who seems to have it all) which made me relate to it much more. Like all SD novels, you will 'Read her once and fall in love.'

I give her 5 out of 5
Author's Website: www.sarahdessen.com/