Steph Reads: 'The Guardian' by Nicholas Sparks

   I was looking for a good book to read while on my cruise a couple weeks ago and stumbled across this Nicholas Sparks novel at my local thrift shop.  I had never read a Nicholas Sparks book before but thought this would be exactly the type of fluffy read I would enjoy while getting some sun in Mexico, so I made the $0.50 splurge!
   This book follows young widow Julie who receives the gift of a Great Dane from her late husband and the promise that he will always watch over her. Julie decides she is ready to date again and that decision comes with some serious complications: a romance with a best friend, new love, and a crazed stalker.
   This book was Nicholas Sparks' first attempt at a thriller, branching away from his normal romance novels (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One... to name just a few!) and I certainly found this to be a page turner. This book had realistic characters who I could connect with and a plot line that made me at times feel just as helpless as our protagonist, Julie.  Overall I really enjoyed this suspenseful novel and was even emotionally invested enough to well up a little at the end (shhhhh don't tell anyone!).

What's your favorite Nicholas Sparks novel??

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Steph Reads: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

In Someday, Someday, Maybe, Lauren Graham takes us back to the 90's where instead of cell phones and laptops, fax machines and pagers ruled. We follow the story of Franny Banks, an aspiring actress who has given herself a time limit on her success in New York City. Either she succeeds or she has to move away and give up her dream. Franny has only 6 months left when we first meet her as we follow her through auditions, callbacks, embarrassments, successes, and romance. Armed with her precious FiloFax (which has handwritten pages included in the novel so we can keep track of her busy (and sometimes not so busy) schedule), we watch Franny as she not only grows in acting skills but also in reflection and understanding what's really important.

I found this book to be such a fun read. Graham created a character who is incredibly likable and relatable regardless of if you understand her theater aspirations or not. I found myself consistently rooting for Franny and was really invested in this character's success! I also of course enjoyed the New York aspect to this novel which was my main decision for choosing it. I've been loving being able to understand the NYC vibe the authors try so hard to capture in all these novels I've been reading set in the city. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quirky female lead. Think Lizzie McGuire plus Princess Diaries plus Friends!

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
Uninvited by Sophie Jordan
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Steph Reads: Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

**sigh**
      I think I'm officially done with the young adult, dystopian genre. The novel, 'Uninvited,' had such an exciting premise, however I was left wanting more when the book was finished, and not just because this book unexpectedly turned out to be the first novel of a series (what's with everything having to be a series nowadays???).
      'Uninvited' is about a society in the future that has identified a 'kill gene.' Carriers of this gene are murderers and it isn't so much if they kill, its more a matter of when. This book takes place in a time when genetic testing is mandatory to test for this gene and carriers are ostracized to keep society safe.
The book follows the main character, Davy, who has everything going for her until she finds out she is a carrier of the kill gene. No spoilers in this book review, though I will say the book took many unexpected (sometimes chilling) turns and I certainly identified with and felt for Davy. The novel explores the complexities of labels and assumptions as well as the nature versus nurture argument. Are carriers of the kill gene going to kill because its in their DNA, or are they going to kill because of how they are treated after being labeled a killer?
      This book gave me plenty of questions to think about and definitely had some more mature subject material in it than some other young adult books I've read, however it still just doesn't quite go there for me.  This is why I think I'm done reading young adult books. The subject matter of these stories is great, but since they're written for a younger audience, rather than my mind racing after I put the book down, I just kind of go 'huh,' and then have no problem moving on. I could see myself in high school LOVING this story, and thus I recommend it to anyone under 18. Otherwise I think my time is better served with some more mature reads.

xxSJ

Check out my other Steph Reads posts!
Splintered by AG Howard
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler