Don't Even Think About It

Title: Don't Even Think About It
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Rating: 3.75 stars
Pages: 336
We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

I received this book as an early copy on Net Galley, and went in not expecting to like it very much. However, I found it funny and light and it helped me get through a rough patch that I've been in for a while now. Still, this book was kind of hard to rate, because there were some plot holes as well as unanswered questions that I will not go into to keep this review free of spoilers.
But I found myself laughing and connecting with some of the characters, mostly Olivia, and was concerned about what would happen to them with their powers and their relationship with the other kids that were changed by the flu shot. Mackenzie was probably the one that I had the most trouble caring for, but in the end I did start to. I like how with these powers, they used them in realistic teenager ways and had the most normal reactions they could be expected to have. I also really liked the ending and while I think that it is a standalone I am hoping for another book just to see what happens and where their lives go from where the book left off.
Overall, I suggest that you check this book out if you have the chance.

Dare You To

Author: Katie McGarry
# of Pages: 456
Format: E-book
Rating: 5/5 stars!
If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

When I picked this book up on my tablet, I must admit that I was wary. I love contemporary, but sometimes the author makes me want to gag with the insta-love and such things. However, I was quickly sucked into the story before I knew what was happening.
I loved the idea that Beth was the one with the dark past instead of Ryan. When it is done well, (like for example, the third book in this series) I don't mind. But especially with the paranormal books I have been reading recently, I get tired of the mysterious boy that is an ass to the girl but she falls in love with him instantly anyway. However, I didn't find myself getting annoyed with Beth, both because we got to see from her point of view and that she was trying and her life was crappier than most of the self-obsessed teenage boys, and secondly I related to her, not in the way that something that awful happened to me, but I connected with her snark and sarcasm, really making me laugh with other people in the room with me.
In the beginning of the book, I was annoyed with Ryan, but only for like, a chapter and a half, redeeming himself plenty throughout the story. The thing that annoyed me was that he was taking phone numbers because of a bet. I liked how snaky Beth was back to him, and how he was so confused and determined after.
Once I got further into the story, I found myself getting angrier and pissed at Beth's family that had allowed her to be hurt so badly and the damage they themselves inflicted. Ryan was a great support system, and I love him for that. He tried not to push her, and you could tell that he cared for her. Didn't hurt that he seemed good looking too :)
I cannot obsess how much I loved this book, besides the fact that a read it in a couple of hours. Now, I am a pretty fast reader, but I think this book is over 400 pages if I am correct, so that is almost double than the time it would usually take me to finish a book like this.
So please, check it out!! It is so worth it, I promise.