"Thin White Line" by J.A. Templeton

"Don't ever let anyone determine who you should be. You're the only one who can do that."
-J.A. Templeton, Thin White Line

The last time I wrote about a book by J.A. Templeton, it was a young adult novel. Although it was written for a younger audience, I still loved The MacKinnon Series! (See my review HERE). Thin White Line, however, is an adult novel, so I do not suggest this book for younger audiences because there is very mature content.

I was completely stoked when I heard that she released a new novel. After reading her other books, It was impressive to see how she brought a completely different feel to this new book. Granted, she was writing for a different audience, but she did an excellent job of making that transition.

Kenzie was halfway through her junior year of high school when she had to move states because her parents were getting divorced. Her father was having an affair. With a girl about 20 years younger than him. What a creep. Anyway, Kenzie's mother wanted to move to the same town and work with Kenzie's aunt, so her whole life was about to change.

Brooke, Kenzie's cousin, was basically forced to befriend Kenzie and show her around the high school. Even though it seemed forced at the beginning, Kenzie and Brooke became best friends, just like they were when they were younger. Brooke is in a band, and BOY were her band mates ATTRACTIVE! Muscles, tattoos, great hair, and the smiles to melt any girl's heart. Oh, yeah, Kenzie was going to like hanging out with Brooke.

The only problem with hanging out with quite possibly the two hottest guys she's ever met, they both seem to be fighting for her attention. Ryder, her age, has first period with her, and gets to her first. She immediately is attracted to him, but Brooke warns her that he is basically a hit and run type of guy. Then, there's Deklan, older, Ryder's best friend (and basically his brother) is also in the band and just as attractive (if not more so) than Ryder. Oh, goodness! If only all of us girls had this problem, right?

The first time Kenzie goes to a band practice, she follows her cousin and her friends into a separate room. Brooke pulls out a small block and begins to chop it up. WHAT?? Is this seriously happening? Kenzie knows what drugs do to a person's body, and she wants no part in that. Then, Ryder walks in, waiting for his turn. They hand a line of coke to Kenzie, and wait for her response. Does she snort it, or walk away? Is this what she has to do for Ryder to accept her and for Brooke to include her with her friends? Her entire life here may be determined by that thin white line.

Read Thin White Line to see what Kenzie decides, and to see which guy she chooses! I couldn't put this one down! I read the entire book in a day! Again, I don't suggest this book to readers under 16. It's a very mature book.

In no way does Templeton encourage the use of drugs. This book shows the dangers and terror that drugs can bring, and I believe that she wrote it so that her readers will stay away from drugs. The things that happen within the pages of this book can easily happen to anyone, and I think that is the point that Templeton is trying to get across. Temptation for drugs and alcohol is way more intense than teachers at school make it sound when they tell you to "just say no." It's not always that simple, but it's always the right choice to turn it away.

Thin White Line can be an eye opener to all high school and college students about the realities of drug and alcohol use. No, that is not the entire plot of the story, there is a love triangle, friendships built and broken, grief over the divorce, and there is a great deal of humor, as well! Templeton wrote an extraordinary story with an incredible message behind it all! Don't stop at reading Thin White Line, make sure you read her other books, as well! THIN WHITE LINE IS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR KINDLE FOR .99 CENTS ON AMAZON.COM!!

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"Hopeless" by Colleen Hoover

"Not everyone gets a happily ever after. Life is real and sometimes its ugly and you just have to learn to cope."
- Colleen Hoover, Hopeless

Okay, so I've fallen in love with Colleen Hoover because of the Slammed series, so when I discovered Hopeless, I jumped on it. So, sorry for the lack of variety, but I WILL be reading and writing about her again soon. I know my readers must love her, too! So, that's okay!

Hoover doesn't write the typical predictable love stories. That's what I love the most. In Hopeless, Sky finally talks her adopted mother into letting her attend public school for her senior year. She figured it couldn't be as bad as her books make it sound. Well, it turns out that, for the most part, her books were right. Everyone already created a reputation for Sky before she even got there. Luckily, she found a friend the first day that would help her through school, since her best friend was across the world in a foreign exchange program.

After the first day, Sky needed to do some grocery shopping. While at the store, she saw a guy that instantly got her heart racing and her stomach turning. What?! She never got this way over guys. Never once had she ever had any feelings to a guy. She always just felt numb around them. She wasn't sure why this guy did this to her, but it made her nervous. Trying to leave as fast as she could, he approached her in the parking lot. Still terrified, she turned to talk to him anyway. He asked for her name because she looked familiar to him, but she knew she had never met him. Soon enough they parted ways.

Shortly after her trip to the grocery store, she went out for her run. Typically, she runs in the morning, but she didn't today because it was the first day of school. During her run, she saw the guy from the store. He was running, too. Shirtless. If she wasn't getting faint from the heat before, she definitely was now!

He ended up in her first period class the next day. She just counld't get away from this guy! Sky really didn't know if she wanted to get away from him though. They end up being running partners, and she started to really like Holder. Well, Dean Holder, but everyone calls him Holder. They hit it off so well. They talk like they've never been strangers. Holder acts like he has Sky figured out so well, but she needs to figure him out..

Think you know how this story goes? Think again! Just when you think the story is going to go the way you imagine, Hoover takes you for a loop. Go ahead: think of the best twist that could possibly be in this story. You lost, Hoover has you beat, and she will shock you! Read Hopeless to see just how this story spins and why it is hopeless.

Make sure to share your thoughts, favorite part, favorite quotes, or anything in a comment at the bottom of the post!

After you fall in love with Sky and Holder in Hopeless, make sure you stay on the lookout for Losing Hope! It is the follow-up book for Hopeless. It will be Holder's story instead of Sky's.

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"The Pianist" by Władysław Szpilman

“And now I was lonelier, I supposed, than anyone else in the world. Even Defoe's creation, Robinson Crusoe, the prototype of the ideal solitary, could hope to meet another human being. Crusoe cheered himself by thinking that such a thing could happen any day, and it kept him going. But if any of the people now around me came near I would need to run for it and hide in mortal terror. I had to be alone, entirely alone, if I wanted to live.”
-Władysław Szpilman, The Pianist

I've studied The Holocaust every year in history class since middle school. I even studied it a little in my college history courses. I've read and watched The Diary of Anne Frank. I've seen documentaries about it. It's one of those things that just seems like history. It pains me to learn about it because of how brutal and horrible it was and how many people were murdered. But like so many other things, it just seems like an event in history, and that's it. Because I was never truly affected by it, it doesn't sink in.

Now, don't get me wrong: I believe that it happened. The Holocaust, in fact, was a real occurrence. I'm not one of those people that somehow deny that it ever happened. Oh no, I know of its harsh reality. Reading The Pianist gave me an inside view to what happened during that time. Similar to Zeitoun, The Pianist told the journey of a survivor; however, this book was written by the survivor, not an outside source.

Władysław Szpilman told his story of what he personally went through during The Holocaust. When I started the book, I expected to read about a Jew that had been captured and put into a concentration camp. I expected to read about the different torturous things that he suffered. This book is actually about a Jew that was constantly in hiding and on the run. There were many encounters that just mentioning that he played the piano saved his life. Incredible.

At first he was with his family. Eventually his family was taken to a concentration camp, but Szpilman escaped. Over time he hid in numerous places. Some people graciously let him in, but after a while, no one would take him, so he had to hide anywhere he could find. At times he would almost starve to death, but he always found food just in time.

His story is devastating, but I learned so much. The things he witnessed and survived: unfathomable. There is also a movie! More people know about the movie, and here I am, being such a bookworm, I didn't even know about the movie until I started reading the book.

 

The ending is what I really didn't expect. I would have never expected him to have been saved the way he was. Maybe in a fiction book, but not in reality. I would tell you, but I don't want to spoil it for you!

Overall, it was not the best book to just sit down and read. The writing did not just keep pulling me to reading it, but that is simply because I'm a fiction fan, and this was factual. It was still a good read, and very informative. Upon finishing the book, I'm extremely glad that I read it.

Find out how Władysław Szpilman survived the Holocaust in The Pianist.

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