Thursday, January 25, 2018

Favorite Books of 2017 | End of Year Series


Here is a list of my favorite books, this was really hard to narrow down!  But I read so exceptionally great books in 2017!!

 

The book follows three woman, Caroline, Kasia and Herta.  Caroline is a New York socialite, Kasia is a Polish teenage and Herta is a German doctor.  The book is taken place from the beginning of World War II until well after WWII.  The three woman start off living very different lives and as the book progresses the book brings their lives together in very different ways.  Kasia ends up in a Nazi concentration camp only for women and Herta ends up working their as a doctor.  

WOW WOW WOW, what a remarkable story, I absolutely loved it!! Although there are some parts of the book, that are difficult to read, but they must be told so we know what went on and happened in the concentration camps. I learned more about what happened in concentration camps, through this book. I really enjoyed reading about the three separate women and what they went through before, during and after WWII.  I feel like this is a book that will stick with you for a very long time!  I highly recommend picking this book up, a very touching and moving book!!



Ruth is a African American labor and deliver nurse and she is helping with the deliver of an infant.  When the infant is born she does a regular checkup on the baby.  The dad Turk is a white supremacist, he tells Ruth's boss that he doesn't want people like her, meaning an African American to be touching his baby.  So Ruth is now, not allowed to care for this infant.  The next day while she is the only nurse in the nursery the infant goes into cardiac distress.  So Ruth has to make a quick decision, if she is going to break the rules and give CPR to the infant or ignore it.  Ruth decides she is going to give CPR to the infant. The infant does not make it and Turk sues Ruth because he thinks she purposely killed the baby. 

I absolutely loved this book, Jodi Picoult never lets me down. This book however, deals with a really tough topic. I feel like this book really makes you think about the racism issues that are still happening today. This book was heart wrenching, I felt for Ruth, she was stuck in one sticky situation, damned if you do and damned if you don't. There were parts in this book that made me so angry and other parts where I was "hell yeah you go girl, you stand up for your right"! Highly, recommend!!



These two books are AMAZING!!  I highly recommend this series!!!  These books are a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with a unique twist.  Feyre takes care of her family, she hunts so her family has food on the table to eat.  When Feyre kills a wolf, a huge beast/wolf//creature comes for revenge for the kill. Feyre agrees to go with this creature and live in the dreaded faerie lands with no chance of every going home and seeing her family again.  I loved the faerie aspect of these books!!  And the romance in these books is freaking epic!!!  I am seriously trash for these books!!  I can't get enough!!  

 


This book is about Audrey who loves forensic science.  However, this book is taken place in the late 1800's and girls were not suppose to be into science.  She sneaks away to her uncle's laboratory to learn about forensic science.  Her uncle is involved with the Jack the Ripper case and she helps out on the case.  She's smart and snarky and stands up for what she wants and believes in, even if society deems it improper.  I loved the mystery of this book!!  I had no idea who the murderer was at all and when it was revealed I still can't believe who it was!  If you love a good mystery, definitely pick this one up.  


Lucy and Ruth live in a very small town.  One night when their dad was drunk and pushed their mom, she had enough and packed up her and the kids and moved to the city.  There Lucy gets mixed up in gangs.  Lucy knows she needs out, so then she convinces her mom to move again.  They then move again and this time Lucy gets mixed up with drugs.

I absolutely loved this book! The writing was amazing and the story was phenomenal. How could you not love Lucy, Ruth and their mom. I was rooting for Lucy the whole time, to get her shit together. Lucy went through some hard hard times and she went to the low of all lows with drugs, but she seemed to pull it together. I think having her almost die and then having her sister there helped her through it. Even though Lucy and Ruth weren't super close sisters, they still deep down loved each other. I really felt bad for their mom, Lucy was soo mean to her. Then that ending, how heartbreaking!! 

When I realized after I read this book that it was inspired by a true story, I loved this story even more. I'm so glad Jessica wrote this book to let teens know what drugs and gangs can do to you and your family!  I highly recommend this book!! 


This book is about three siblings who are all fostered by different families and one of them goes and seeks out her brother and sister for the first time.  They each have different struggles that they are going through.  I loved the aspect of family and what it means to be a family.  I loved all three characters Maya, Grace and Joaquin.  I think Joaquin's story broke my heart the most.  This book is very character driven and I loved that!!  This book is just absolutely beautiful, raw, and emotional.  Highly, highly recommend!!  

 
Ellie and her friends are involved in a improv group at their school.  One night while they were performing she meets Jason and they instantly have a connection.  After their improv performance Jason and his friends invite Ellie and her friends to a party the next night.  While at the party Ellie and Jason hit it off and are about to kiss when she slips and falls off the deck.  She is immediately rushed to the hospital, shes finds out she didn't break her leg but finds out she has a tumor in her femur.  She later finds out she was a rare type of bone cancer. 

Wow, this book was soo touching and beautiful! I laughed and cried through this book and it takes a lot for me to tear up and cry in a book. Ellie is a strong girl, when she found out she had cancer she took a day and cried it out and moved on from it and excepted it. I think the best part of her journey through it all was her support system, her mom and friends were everything! Her dad later on jumped on board, but it took him awhile to understand that Ellie needed him. Ellie and Jason's relationship was perfect, the right about a romance and the perfect amount of love. There relationship was beautiful, Jason went through the same thing with his mom and he knew exactly how to support Ellie. He was there from day one and never wanted to leave her side. 

What made me cry even more was when I read the author notes at the end and read that the author also had the same kind of cancer. I think it was beautiful that she took what she had and wrote it out on paper into a very touching story.  Highly recommend!!
Have you read any of these books?  What are your thoughts?  Let me know in the comments!








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