Review: 13 To Life

Rating: ☺☺☺☺

Amazon link

Author link

Synopsis: Something strange is stalking the small town of Junction…

When junior Jess Gillmansen gets called out of class by Guidance, she can only presume it’s for one of two reasons. Either they’ve finally figured out who wrote the scathing anti-jock editorial in the school newspaper or they’re hosting yet another intervention for her about her mom. Although far from expecting it, she’s relieved to discover Guidance just wants her to show a new student around—but he comes with issues of his own including a police escort.

The newest member of Junction High, Pietr Rusakova has secrets to hide--secrets that will bring big trouble to the small town of Junction—secrets including dramatic changes he’s undergoing that will surely end his life early.

Review:

I'd spotted this all over the blogosphere for a while, and I knew I had to pick it up. Took me a while, I'll admit, but I finally got around to it! And I can honestly say that I enjoyed every page!

From page one you are instantly sucked into Jess's rather complicated life. She's a nice, likable protagonist, and so often she'd say something so absurdly funny that made me burst out laughing. I got several strange odd, WTF? stares while running errands with my mom. :) Also, you know Pietr? The love interest? Yeah, HOT.

The writing was probably my favorite aspect of 13 To Life. I know that one pet peeve of mine is when authors over explain details I'm just not that interested in. Though Shannon Delany's writing IS descriptive, it was the kind that you could read for hours and hours without wanting to stop which everyone appreciates!

The goods way outnumber the bad, but there were definitely a couple things that bothered me. Like I mentioned earlier, Jess was extremely likable. Admittedly she has a bit of an attitude, (which was the funny part!) but her intentions were always kind. However, there is a difference between being nice and too nice, which Jess did cross. I don't want to spoil it for you, but you'll understand what I mean as you read it. Pietr was great most of the time, but there were several pages where I seriously wanted to bruise his pretty face. And lastly, the plot did confuse me as the story progressed, but maybe that's just me.

Overall, though, this book was so much fun! It's definitely a title spending a few hours on (few hours which will pass by FAST!). Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Love, Hannah

Cover/title: ☺☺1/2

I'm not the biggest fan of the cover. The fact that they only used one color really makes the cover pop, but the actual image... eh, it's okay. And the title? Honestly, I don't get how it pertains to the book. But that could totally just mean that I'm way too dense in the head, so don't call me out for it. ;)