Jennikinz

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.5/5 Title: Textrovert Author: Lindsey Summers Series: Stand-alone book Published: May 2nd, 2017 Pages: 235 pages Genre: Contemporary romance, high school Review:  This book is hilarious. I loved it. I could relate to Keeley a bit. For example, I usually find myself able to express myself through text better than face-to-face. But, I expected Keeley to be more afraid to talk rather than just choosing not to talk, like having social anxiety.  Aside from Keeley’s personality, I think all high school students can relate to some part of the story, especially since Keeley is a high school senior dealing with college apps and boys. This book really highlights the struggles of high school seniors like grades, dating, friends, driving, procrastination, etc.  The texts, corny jokes, and teasing between Keeley and Talon really give you laugh. AND THE PEEPS. OMG I never would have thought Peeps could add such a nice touch to the story. I a...

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Title: Red Queen Author: Victoria Aveyard Series: Red Queen #1 Followed By: Glass Sword Published: February 10th, 2015 Pages: 383 pages Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia YA Review:  This book is so good I'm probably going to fangirl about it for months. The story and the telling (of storytelling, ha, get it?) are impeccable. This book draws you in right from the beginning. It’s filled with action that gets you excited and your adrenaline going. Mare is a caring but somewhat badass girl whose life turns upside-down with the discovery of her new power. There are betrayals that leave your eyes wide and jaw dropped. And, best of all, it’s realistic (not counting the superpowers or blood color the characters have). Characters die, they lie, they betray, they lose hope, they learn, they fail. Mare isn’t always lucky and she doesn't always have the power to be successful at everything she does. When books make the main character so powerful that nothing...

Oatmeal cookies with a twist! Instead of adding all raisins like in traditional oatmeal raisin cookies, I replaced half with goji berries. Goji berries have many health benefits. Some even call it a superfood. They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, iron, zinc, and antioxidants. They can boost your immune system, protect you from the flu, help you lose weight, maintain blood sugar, and protect your eyes and skin. Compared to raisins, goji berries have less calories and lower sugar content (1/4 cup raisins has 120 calories, while 1/4 cup goji berries has 90 calories). If you want to read more about the health benefits of goji berries, I recommend this website . But, enough about goji berries. These cookies taste just like a regular oatmeal raisin cookie. The goji berries have a subtle sweet taste the pair nicely with the cookie. It's chewy, soft perfection. Oatmeal Raisin Goji Berry Cookie This recipe makes 12-18 medium-sized cookies and takes about 30-4...

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Title: Until I Die Author: Amy Plum Series: Revenants #2 Followed By: If I Should Die Published: May 8th, 2012 Pages: 353 pages Genre: Paranormal Romance, Supernatural, YA Review:  Introducing action and suspense! This sequel to an already amazing series is phenomenal. If you haven’t read my review for the first book you should go read it cause the sequel basically has similar elements, except with more action and suspense. There’s also a betrayal that you might be able to guess early on, but it’s impossible to be 100% sure it is that character, which makes the revelation somewhat shocking and not entirely believable. And, lemme just say, I officially hate this certain character who betrays, grrr. Kate is also less of a damsel in distress. She learns to fight in this book and she takes matters into her own hands. There is a bit of tension between Kate and Vincent due to secrets they hide from each other, but they are still very romantic ...

I wanted to share a school project that I worked on in my junior year of high school. It was for an advanced biology course (my favorite class of all time, btw). The goal was to write a 5000 — 7500 word research paper (well, more like a review paper) on a topic of our choice. I chose to write on the chemotherapy resistance of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers of all time. The story behind my choice is quite personal. But the basic gist is that two of my family members currently have pancreatic cancer, and it's devastating to know they might only have a few months or years left with me. I wanted to learn more about why this disease is so hard to treat and why the 5-year survival rate is only 7%. As you guys know, cancer is extremely hard to cure. They have lots of ways to hide from our immune system and resist therapy. It's super complicated and I spent almost half a year compiling, writing, and editing what I learned into a paper, and I want to share this so t...

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5   Title: Die for Me Author: Amy Plum Series: Revenants #1 Followed By: Until I Die Published: May 10th, 2011 Pages: 341 pages Genre: Paranormal Romance, Supernatural, YA Review: This book is honestly written very, very nicely. The overall story is quite simple about a human girl’s paranormal romance with a revenant or undead guy. But, the way the story is described and the flow of the story is so well done this book deserves 5 stars. I felt the strongest emotions I have ever felt while reading a book, especially a book based on a girl who isn’t a superhero and who isn’t perfect. Instead, she's just like you and me. She goes to high school, she goes on dates, she reads, she parties, she does everything normal people do. The only paranormal part is the undead guy and his “family” of other undead guys, as well as the bad undead guys who fight the good undead guys (ha, too many ‘undead guys’ in this sentence).  The emotions I felt weren’t ...

*WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS* Review: Before I Fall is a hidden gem. It leads you through a series of thoughts and emotions. It gets you thinking about life lessons and about what’s most important in life. It’s a captivating, inspiring, and suspenseful novel that you won’t be able to put down.  In the beginning, Sam and her friends were all very typical high school popular girls who made fun of less popular people and always thought of themselves as better than everyone else. They drink and ditch class and smoke, it just makes me cringe and frustrated at the way they act. I myself was never one of those popular girls in high school, I was always shy and always did the right things and always followed the rules. The end of chapter one asks whether what Sam did was really worse than what I do. My original answer is yes, definitely, she acts a lot worse than I do and dying is what she deserves, maybe she can learn a lesson from her actions. But, by the end, Sam's c...

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5 Review: The storyline of this book is very unique. I loved it, even better than the first book. It’s captivating and mysterious. The puzzle that Orion left for Amy to solve combined with the new murder mystery Amy and Elder have to solve is perfection. It’s funny at times, and the reveal of the murderer and the secrets that Amy and Elder reveal are heart-stoppingly shocking. The ending leaves you on a huge cliffhanger that is killing me right now cause I WANNA KNOW WHAT’S ON CENTAURI-EARTH!! And, I can’t get a hold of the book right now, so I have to wait a few days before I get to find out… humph. One thing I didn’t like was that the two perspective narration is still confusing at times. And, the two main characters, Amy and Elder, have very similar personalities, which makes the two point of views that much more confusing. I would have liked it better if Amy and Elder had more unique personalities. They do have differing views on, say for example Orio...

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.5/5  (I know, only 3 stars are filled. If you guys know how to type a half star, I'd love to hear how.) Review:   The overall story of this book is very, very interesting. It’s captivating and exciting and suspenseful, especially towards the end of the book. These murder mysteries are always so fun as you try to solve the case with the characters. I give this book 3.5 stars because the beginning was quite confusing to me. It talks about the levels and types of people in Godspeed when I had no idea what/where those levels are, which levels are higher than others, what each of the levels is used for, who/what the people are/do, etc. But, by the middle of the book, I got a better picture of how the ship is structured and a better sense of the types of people on the ship, and by then, the story escalates so much and gets really really exciting. Also, I found it annoying how Elder can take one look at someone and think “I just want to protect her.”...

*WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS* Review: The Forever Song is so good, I could literally read the entire book in one day if I didn’t have homework. It's a captivating, exhilarating, and heart-stopping book that you will have trouble putting down. When Sarren died, I was the happiest person in the world, but Kanin’s death was a different story -- I was devastated but also heartfelt. Zeke and Allie are the best … together. Jackal is still one of my favorites as he jokes around and is annoying, but he stuck around with Allie suggesting he has a soft heart … sometimes, even though he denies it. The ending was very satisfying, but I do wish there was an epilogue or a novella since this series is just so good!  This book was once again filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming. I have to say that after reading this series, I have an entirely different view on vampires, which is a good thing. Overall, I would say this is one of my favorite series. Throughou...

Hey guys (and gals)! So you know how everyone loves Pokemon, either from playing Pokemon when they were young or from the augmented reality game Pokemon Go? And who can resist all the little Pokemon characters?? (guess what my favorite character is). I've always loved Pokemon, and I've always wanted a pinata at my birthday parties, but they were always too expensive (and I didn't have very many friends). Well, problem solved (except for my lack of friends)! You can make a diy Pokeball pinata with just a few materials for under $5. It's super simple, though it does take some time to make since you have to let the pieces dry overnight. It took me about 5 days to make, but I loved the way it turned out. I actually still have my pinata as decoration in my room since I haven't had a party yet... Also, I know most pinatas are filled with candy, but a really cool idea would be to put a stuffed Pokemon in the pinata. That way, when the pinata breaks open, a Pokemo...

 *WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS* Review: The Eternity Cure is SO GOOD and very well written ! There are twists and turns that I never saw coming. My least favorite characters are Sarren (obviously) and Stick. Stick is just overly annoying, like seriously, just get over it Stick…it’s pathetic. Sarren is the villain in this story and he’s insane. My favorite character is Zeke, since he’s so sweet and brave and protective (the fictional boyfriend, haha), though I also really like Jackal because his personality is so unique and he constantly jokes around, but he's also serious and clever like the trick he played on Sarren and Allie -- making Sarren and Allie believe Jackal was helping Sar ren ( a strategy I thought about while I was reading the book, and when Jackal played the trick, I was like "YES! YES! FINALLY A SMART CHARACTER!"). Overall, I love this book, maybe even more than the first. It made me ride a rollercoaster of emotions, from eagerness to h...