Tag Archives: psychology

After the Moment, by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Posted on August 22, 2009 by Thistle

As anyone who has grown up surrounded by romance novels could tell you, they all end on moments that are certain and right. But this book is not about that moment. It’s about what came after. Maia is a trainwreck. … Continue reading →

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After, by Amy Efaw

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Thistle

Warning: gushing, incoherent review coming up… When a baby is found barely alive in a garbage can outside an apartment complex, the last person anyone would expect is model student, soccer star, straight-laced Devon Davenport. No one – not even … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Thistle

Pretty much everyone knows the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and if you don’t know, it’d be better if I don’t give any details at all, so I’m not going to talk about the plot at all. I … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Thistle

Melinda has become selectively mute. Because she called the cops on the end-of-summer party right before her freshman year, no one wants anything to do with her. Her old friends abandon her, and it becomes impossible to make new friends. … Continue reading →

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Wild Roses, by Deb Caletti

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Thistle

This book is brilliant. Utterly, completely brilliant. It’s heart-wrenching, beautiful, and far transcends the boundaries of young adult. This is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Reading it overwhelmed me and threatened to break me into little … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, by Gabrielle Zevin

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Thistle

When Naomi wakes up from her bad fall down the stairs of her high school, she can’t remember the last four years of her life. She doesn’t know about her parents’ divorce, her father’s recent engagement, her mother’s remarriage, or … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged | 1 Comment

13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

Posted on May 13, 2009 by Thistle

Clay Jensen comes home to find a package waiting for him with seven cassette tapes inside. Immediately, he starts playing the first, and regrets it. The tapes are from Hannah Baker, Clay’s longtime crush, a girl who killed herself two … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged | 5 Comments

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Thistle

This book is a fictionalized autobiography (along the same lines as The Bell Jar) of Greenberg’s years in a mental hospital as a teen. Greenberg’s character is called Deborah Blau, and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. In those days (late 50s), … Continue reading →

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Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Thistle

Note: When I wrote this review, I didn’t think I was giving away any spoilers, but I’ve been told since then that my summary gives away the big secret of the book. The “big secret” was something I caught from … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Tethered, by Amy MacKinnon

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Thistle

I’m on the fence about this one. I finished it yesterday, and have been pondering it all day. I even re-skimmed it, trying to figure out my thoughts. I’m not sure still if I like it. The book is part … Continue reading →

Posted in 2008, Adult, Prose | Tagged , | Leave a comment