My Lunatic Life

My Lunatic Life

by Sharon Sala

Tara Luna has spent her life on the move. Her parents died when she was very young and she's spent most of her life living with her somewhat erratic and definitely nomadic uncle. 

When they move, once again, she's forced to start over at a new school, once again. She knows the ropes and how to navigate most of the "new girl" issues. What she's never ready for is how her psychic abilities and her two friendly ghosts will react to the new environment.

Add in a ticked off entity in her new home and a cheerleader with a chip on her shoulder and this school may be the most difficult to Tara to fit into.

Final thoughts: Yet another one with a great concept and horrible follow-thru. While the plot didn't completely tick me off (it just felt more like the outline of a story instead of a full, well-crafted plot), the writing did. This was so all over the place. It didn't help that a 3rd person limited PoV occasionally got taken over by a line or sometimes even a whole paragraph or two told with someone else's thoughts. You don't just switch PoV in the middle of a sentence just because you can't figure out how to communicate something any other way. It's Tara's story, but 3-4 other people just have their views shoved at you from nowhere and then are basically never heard from again. It was so poorly organized and that makes me angry because this could have been something good and original. Instead, it was something to push through and get finished. 

Rating: 2/5

Pretty in Punxsutawney

Pretty in Punxsutawney

by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Andie was raised on 80's flicks. Her mother is a huge John Hughes fan so Andie's life is all Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller, and Weird Science. Because of this, Andie is a film nerd and she's determined to get her perfect first kiss after meeting a boy in a classic movie-type "meet-cute".

When Andie's parents move her to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Andie is thrust in to "big town life". Her previous school had less than 200 students total and now she's going to start her senior year of high school with hundreds of students who already know each other. Luckily, Andie's already met her true love in the form of Colton, the movie theater ticket taker with whom she's spent almost every day of the summer and on whom she's crushing... hard.

To help her prepare for her first day of senior year, Andie's mom debuts Pretty in Pink, a John Hughes classic that she's been saving for the day before Andie's last year in high school. 

What she should have shown her is Groundhog Day because it turns out that Andie's trapped in a first day nightmare. Every time she goes to sleep, she wakes to the same music from Pretty in Pink, in the same stupid pink dress, and with the same problem; she can't get free of her first day of school.

Doing a little research, Andie realizes that her only way out of the horrible loop is to get her first kiss. But is Colton really the one who can break the curse?

Final thoughts: Cotton candy book all the way. The plot is highly predictable and the characters are cookie cutter. The stereotypes are fairly strong and not very forgiving here. There are some fun moments and it has a nice idea or two, but it's not mind blowing or life changing. Fun read but forgettable.

Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!