#18 Annie on my mind

Annie On My Mind By Nancy Garden

I cannot believe this book was published in 1992, i was 2 years old then and to be quite honest not much LGBT YA books have emerged since then, dont get me wrong there are many and ive read most but none are as intricate, beautifully written and as heart wrenching as this one is. 

The story follows Liza and Annie to young 17 yr olds who fall in love. They are not only believable as characters but they are real and you are with them all the way. The setting is New York, one girl goes to a rough public school whilst the other goes to a conservative private school but this isnt a story about class in the usual sense that we focus on the rougher school and how this has its affects on a teen lesbian and her relationship, rather its the other way round how a conservative public school can cast judgement and inflict pain and judgement onto this relationship.

Throughout you get to see snippets from a letter Liza is writing to Annie but you never know the full story around the letter until later in the story. i enjoyed the way things unfolded and thought it was very gripping, i didnt want to put it down and i was very sad to finish it. That ending was also perfect.

This book keeps my faith in YA alive, ive constantly worried that im growing out of the genre but this little gem reminded me that there are still a few undiscovered treasures. I highly recommend this one. 

#17 Heist Society

Heist Society By Ally Carter

This isnt my usual taste in books but its been on my TBR on goodreads from the firth few months of having an account which was about 5 or 6 years ago now! Ive been slowly trying to work my way through that TBR list but i was a teenager when i added most of those books and my tastes have changed dramatically since then.

This book was a remarkably fast read for me, almost all in one sitting and i havent achieved that in a while. The story follows Kat, a young teen whose family are involved in worldwide heists, mainly of famous paintings. Kat tries to start a new life at boarding school but that all comes to a halt when she is framed by an old friend and fellow crook Hale and shortly there after she is kicked out and she goes back to rejoin her criminal family. 

When a powerful mafia type guy has a painting stolen Kat's dad a notorious thief is the first in the firing line of suspects. Kat vows to help him by finding out who stole the painting and getting it back. 

This story is insanely fast paced but not as action packed as you would suspect, the character development is lacking but maybe im expecting too much from a teen novel? I remeber read Ally Carter's other series 'The Gallagher Girls' i believe and it was much of the same, i was a lot younger then and remember enjoying them quite a lot. 

I did enjoy this but wont be continuing on with the next book as the story isnt what im normally into and it lacked in plot and development.

I gave this 3 star as it was so fast paced and i read it in almost one sitting, that was the main thing i liked about it.