Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Published by: Pan Macmillian
First Publication: 10th September 2010

Goodreads summary

Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible ... A tale of fanfiction, family, and first love

This seemed like the perfect book for a fellow fangirl, not only is the main character into reading and fanfiction she is also off to college. I thought this would have been the perfect read for me to prepare myself mentally for what I'm about to endure.

This book was a lot of hard work. I mean Cath was such a difficult character! There were specks of her personality that I could relate like wanting to stay in and read, or write a story, but other times I wanted Cath to jump in front of a bus.
Cath is really into writing her fanfiction about Simon and Baz; the characters are real to her and she wants nothing more than to write about them. I understand her obsession but it went a little bit too far I guess. I felt sorry for Cath sometimes. Her relationship with the fictional characters was rather getting out of hand and I really don't think it represented how us readers feel about certain characters.
I have no idea how her fanfiction ended. To tell you the truth I read only the first chapter in the book that Cath wrote. I had no desire to read a characters work. I wanted to, I mean it's such a great idea for Rainbow Rowell to do that! Writing a story about your own character writing a story? Perfect. However it ended up to be a disaster.

The dialog and the relationships in this book were okay. There is no other word to describe it. It was okay to read, there was no amazing chemistry between any of the characters there was nothing special about it. I did like how Cath and Levi interacted but it all seemed to incredibly childish. It was cute, but childish. I kept reading reviews of people falling in love for him, why?! He is like a puppy!

Back to Cath once again, I don't think I've come across a more needy character. I understand that her and her twin Wren did everything together even wrote some of the fanfiction together but as soon as Wren starts to have her own life Cath automatically starts to cling onto the past. It reminded me of 22 Jump Street when Schmit was clinging onto Jenko (yes I did recently rewatch the movie)  

I didn't really want to review this book. I really don't have much to say about this book, am I going to remember the story in a year? No. I had to freaking look up Levi's name because he was lost in my memory.
I am glad I read this book, it wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. It's just a book that is going to fade into the background.

Review: The Sky Is Everwhere by Jandy Nelson

The Sky Is Everywhere Jandy Nelson
Published: January 1st 2010
Publisher: Walker.

Goodreads Summary

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

The fact that I hardly remember this book truly shows how much this book meant to me... I marked it a 3 when I read it because it was a good enough book for me to reward it three whole stars but thinking about it now I think I might have over rated the book. I mean surely a book that I cannot remember neither enjoying nor hating just shows that I may have not cared one tiny bit about this novel.
I will keep this review brief and go on a hunt around my memory just to try and remember what I thought of the book while reading it. Lennie is a 17 year old bookworm and band geek who doesn't share her sisters spotlight and prefers to stay in the shadows. But once her sister dies unexpectedly she is catapulted into the main stage of her life. With no previous boy troubles Lennie now faces a love triangle with two boys. One her sisters boyfriend who is helping her deal with the grief of losing someone so close and the other a new boy with a fantastic grin who shines on her grief and manages to shine on her darkness.
I found the entire boy situation really strange. Closely after her sisters death Lennie is catapulted into boy trouble world? Especially with her dead sisters boyfriend. I'm not saying that Lennie should have been forever in despair and grief over losing her sister but I find it strange that all of a sudden her life is somewhat good. If that makes any sense to you guys. For all of you that read my reviews you will know that I love big emotional roller coasters in books when it comes to death or anything really.
So this book was a good enough read I guess. I'm not going to lie and say I enjoyed it blah blah blah when I clearly did not. The story line was not at all powerful for me to remember it.
There is one thing which I loved in this book. It was the notes that Lennie would leave on random pieces of paper. I did manage to absorb that habit of hers.
So, for anybody looking to read an okay book with an okay story line and you don't want to remember much of the book I do recommend it.

Halfway through the book a poem kept coming to mind when I was reading this (courtesy to goodreads for letting me update my thoughts while reading this novel)
“Death arrives among all that sound
like a shoe with no foot in it,
like a suit with no man in it,
comes and knocks,
using a ring with no stone in it,
with no finger in it,
comes and shouts with no mouth,
with no tongue, with no throat.
Nevertheless its steps can be heard and its clothing makes a hushed sound, like a tree"

Review: Bone Jack by Sara Crowe

Bone Jack by Sara Crowe
Published: April 3rd 2014
Publisher: Andersen

Goodreads Summary

Ash's dad has just returned from war, close to breakdown, far from the war hero Ash was expecting. Ash is going to be the stag boy in the annual Stag Chase. He's been waiting to tell his dad he's following in his footsteps, he'll make him proud. But Dad is stuck in a world of imaginary threats. When Ash's grieving best friend pushes him away too, his world suddenly seems lonely and threatening. So Ash retreats to the mountains, to his punishing training runs. But in the mountains dark things are stirring - the hound boys of old haunt his running steps and Ash hears the death cry of a stag boy. Ash starts to wonder how much of the sinister pagan stories about the Stag Chase are true, and what it all has to do with his friend's anger and grief. As death haunts his every step, Ash has to find a way to live again.

I wasn’t going to review this book originally as I didn’t think I had enough to say it to form a decent review. But as the book isn’t exactly popular and not many people know of its existence I feel like I should summaries my thoughts on it.

Ash’s dad returns from war broken. He isn’t leaving his room, gets scared at the slightest of sounds. Ash has been waiting to make his father proud of being the stag boy in the annual stag chase, following in his footsteps.

This book was slightly weird. I mean the fact that most of the teenagers in the town chase one chosen boy dressed in stag and hound costumes seemed ridiculous to me. Ash’s bestfriend Mark in his grieving madness tells Ash crazy things about the chase and where it really originated from.  Mark mentions that he land is sick and that “the old ways are back and things have to be put back” basically meaning that Ash will be killed when caught in the stag chase in the hopes that Bone Jack the mystical dark figure will take Ash’s life in order to bring Mark’s dad back from the dead.

Okay so I made a mess from the plot as there is quite a lot going on and my summary isn’t that great. But the book is really good. I didn’t think that Ash’s dad’s post-traumatic stress disorder would have been mentioned that much, but it was and I was rather glad. War is a horrible thing and I haven’t yet read a book that highlights the ugly bits of what it’s like to return home.

I don’t particularly like folklore and wouldn’t probably have picked up this book if it wasn’t for my friend. But I’m glad I did. It’s an interesting story with some great characters; but the book wasn’t anything special.

 

Review: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch
Date Published: 1st July 2014
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Amazon    Book Depository 

Goodreads Summary

Perfection comes at a price. As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury. Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating. But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death. For fans of Keira Cass’s Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.

 A VERY HAPPY RELEASE DATE TO PERFECTED! And a massive thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me this book for a review!

A new legislation is passed where owning a pet is taken to another level. Instead of having a fluffy puppy or a kitten to cuddle you to bed you can own a teenage girl who was bred to be perfect in all physical aspects.

The idea for this book seemed really out of the box and original. I was pleasantly surprised how the idea developed but there was nothing shocking about the plot or where it leads. There were no cliff-hangers, no surprises, nothing that would have actually made this book outstanding.

Number 8 or Ella as she’s later is named is an engineered pet, raised in a kennel to be obedient to her new master. As soon as I read this description of the main character my first thought was obviously these beautiful girls will be used as sex play toys by middle aged guys. I suspect that most of them were brought just for that. However Ella was brought to be a playmate for a bubbly little girl and her family; which doesn’t seem so bad.

“I was bred to be the perfect pet”.

“I was bred to willingly put my owner’s happiness before my own.” 

Taken out of context these two sentences seriously look like the worst starts for a porno. I mean come on! Willingly putting my owners happiness before my own. I get that they were bred to be like that and to think like this but I don’t think I would be able to do that. Not in a million years. I wouldn’t care if my “owner” was happy and none of my pets flipping do! To be fair they are cats and just care about food and where to crap but that is beside the point…

Okay now back to the book.

Ella’s new family already had a pet, a pet that was given away for being “ill”. However it’s not hard to figure out what actually happened to the last pet, with the congressmen’s wife not being particularly happy with Ella being there and with how the congressman acts towards Ella.

After she is brought her world changes, she needs to learn more things and more importantly learn what it really is like to be a pet. But is this the life that Ella can live with?

I don’t think the ending and the love story is at all surprising. This book was a pleasant read but it’s not at all amazing.   

Review: Make You Mine by Macy Beckett

Make You Mine by Macy Beckett
Series: Dumont Bachelors #1
Date Published: May 6th 2014
Publisher: HeadlineEternal
Amazon Book Depository 

Goodreads Summary 

For ninety-nine years, every man in the Dumont family has remained a perpetual bachelor. Residents of Cedar Bayou, Louisiana, whisper about a voodoo hex cast upon the family, sabotaging each man’s chance at marriage. In truth, the Dumont men have their own player personalities to blame, and Marc is no exception. As captain of his family’s riverboat, he’s broken hearts up and down the Mississippi. That is, until his high school crush strolls onboard... Allie Mauvais rocks the boat when she fills in as pastry chef. She hasn’t seen Marc since senior year, when rumors flew that her great-great-grandmother was the one who cursed the Dumonts. After two weeks on the water, neither can deny the attraction that still burns between them. But to truly reach Marc’s heart, Allie must show him that the hex isn’t real, and it’ll take more than her mouthwatering sweets to prove it. Will Allie’s love be enough to finally make Marc hers?

I was very lucky to receive a copy of this from Headline for an honest review.

For 90 years the Dumont men have been afraid of commitment, always having flings and never settling down. All because of one man and one voodoo hex cast on their whole family. Until they break it.

Allie Mauvais the great-great granddaughter of the famous voodoo witch who put the curse on the Dumont men is in love with no one other than Marc who’s in fact one of the men bearing this hex.

I would have most likely hated this book with a passion if it wasn’t for the hex and the whole voodoo deal in this book. But believe me I wasn’t so thrilled about it. I was looking for a fun chick lit to read and I found it. Although the main story of this book is as original as using a pick up line to talk to girls. But I kind of wanted something  like this.

The whole girl meets boy (or in this book they already knew each other and run into each other after a few years) either girl or boy does the chase, they end up together in a night or a week of passion, break up, realise that they are made for each other and end up together forever riding into the sunset.

I did say I wanted something like this but I did hope that there was more to the story and there was. The voodoo and the hex on the men. It was interesting to say the least. But boring. And stupid. I thought it was rather stupid that a whole town believed in this! I still can’t wrap my head around how all of these people believed that the Dumont men were hexed and couldn’t commit and not because they loved their bachelors lives. At least it made the book somewhat original.

There were some things that I loved! For example the strong family bonds in this book. The relationship between Allie and her sister was amazing. It was so refreshing to read a book that’s got this strong family feel to it. Allie is a great character! She’s a strong female role that goes after what she wants and has a really big heart! But she uses the word “baby” a lot… So… She isn’t that great.

This book is a fast read and it’s really pleasant. I enjoyed myself reading this book but I didn’t love it. The ending took me about three days to finish because I couldn’t stomach it. It was just too over the top. 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Series: If I Stay #1

Release Date: May 13th 2010
Publisher: Black Swan
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads Summary 

Life can change in an instant. A cold February morning . . . a snowy road . . . and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she'll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all. Gripping, heartrending and ultimately life-affirming, If I Stay will make you appreciate all that you have, all that you've lost - and all that might be.

17 year old Mia has enough choices in her life; college, music, boyfriend. While on the way to visit Mia’s grandparents her family car is hit by another driver and all her choices are put on hold while the only one matters. Whether or not she stays.  

I don’t really think I have an opinion on this book. The book was neither great nor terrible. It was just okay.

I read that the book was heart breaking, and beautifully powerful. I guess I can see where everyone was getting that from. I mean death was involved therefore a lot of depressing emotions were stirred up. But not for me. I’m a sucker for depressing books and I was really hoping that I would be moved by this book! Unfortunately I wasn’t moved at all, there were times when I thought that I might tear up but I didn’t. It’s not because my heart is made of ice or anything like that I just didn’t find this book as moving as a lot of other people did.

The idea for it is great, it made me realise how silly some of my choices where when it came down to the big choice in Mia’s life. One day she’s planning her future and the next she’s watching her family die and her lifeless body be brought into hospital as all her loved ones wait to find out whether or not she’ll make it.

I wasn’t at all surprised what happened in the book. For me everything was clear from the beginning I just didn’t know her family was going to die. I thought that this teenage girl who is a quiet geeky girl who likes classical music will be in a car accident one day and will then need to figure out if she stays or goes. I already figured out that there will be some form of out of body experience. I was actually shocked by her family’s death however and I was sad, I mean they seemed like a great bunch and it wasn’t fair they had to die. But apart from this I pretty much knew what was going to happen. The whole love story between her and Adam, the ending of the book was predictable as crap (mostly because I know there is a second book).

The characters in this book were good. I loved Mia although I didn’t click with her much. Her brother is super cute and I wanted to squeeze him, her parents are seriously amazing. Might be the fact that I like punk rock and not classical music. I didn’t feel like I had a connection with any of these characters which was a real shame.

The book itself was a really pleasant read, the way it was laid out was great. The flash backs to when Mia was a child and remembering all the great memories was super effective. I think that’s the part that I love the most about this book.

I wish that I got to enjoy this book more and that it wasn’t just an okay book for me. I probably won’t read the sequel but I hopefully will reread it again. 

(OLD) Review: Ember by Bettie Sharpe

Ember by Bettie Sharpe
Release Date: February 24th 2011
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Charm is a curse. Love is a fire. This story is no fairytale.

Everyone loves Prince Charming. They have to—he’s cursed. Every man must respect him. Every woman must desire him. One look, and all is lost.

Ember would rather carve out a piece of her soul than be enslaved by passions not her own. She turns to the dark arts to save her heart and becomes the one woman in the kingdom able to resist the Prince’s Charm.

Poor girl. If Ember had spent less time studying magic and more time studying human nature, she might have guessed that a man who gets everything and everyone he wants will come to want the one woman he cannot have.

An original spin on a age old tale

Ember is easily one of the most unique retellings I've ever had the pleasure to read. It had it's faults but the idea behind it was so refreshingly original.

Out of all the Disney princesses out there, Cinderella is my second least favorite (Snow White will always have first place on that list) because she seemed incredibly docile and her.. prince.. was well boring. For crying out loud his name was Prince Charming. And I am just putting this out there, I didn't connect the dots between his name and Prince Charming until recently so it's still a big deal to me. I mean imagine him hanging out with other guys. "HEY MAN, CHARMING, WADDUP". I am getting ahead of myself here. Going back to what I was saying, I love the idea behind it, because what girl wouldn't, but Disney didn't pull of the tale as well as they could have. Sharpe, however, did.

She puts a very original spin on the tale, one I cannot help but love. The tale is dark, it isn't full of rainbows and flowers but instead is full of witchcraft and curses.

It would be appropriate to start off with our Prince Charming. Of course in this case that isn't actually his name. People refer to him as that because he can literally charm the pants off of anyone. Everyone falls in love with him as soon as they see him. He has the power to stop wars just by appearing in front of the enemy. And like every other guy out there (or.. that I've read about) he wants the one woman who won't have him. The one woman who can see through his facade. Before I carry on, you should know, this was a curse (or gift) given to him at birth, everyone knows the tale, they just forget about it when they set eyes on him since they are so enamored by his supposed beauty. Ember, however, sees his charm for what it is, a facade which allows the Prince to always get his way.

Ember falls victim his charm as a young girl of 19 but her dying mother gives her a charm that will lessen the effects of the Prince's dreadful curse. Ember was a damn strong female lead. I have to give her that. But she could also be incredibly dense. It took her a damn long time to realize what was going on between her and Raid. I admired her spirit but I was bothered by how she couldn't pick up on such an obvious fact. I admired how she wasn't willing to just let the curse take over, she wanted to save herself and she'd do anything to achieve that.

The most interesting spin on this book was the step-mother and sisters. They are whores. But the 4 of them got along pretty well. It was the relationship between these 4 women that shined out to me. I'll admit that one of the things I DON'T like about Cinderella's tale was the step family. They treat her horribly in the original tale and I cannot quite understand how her father never saw through that. Luckily, we were spared from that nonsense. It was a relief to see how the 4 of them would do anything for one another. Their relationship was beautiful.

The romance was surprisingly good as well. This isn't a book, it's more like a novella. That usually doesn't leave room for a romance to develop and things just seem.. 'insta'. That wasn't the case here. It went from attraction, which lead to a relationship, which in turn led to love. I am still a little shaky on the why/how/when of 'Raid's' feelings but the romance itself was decent.

The plot. Yeah that needed some working. It was good but there were something things that were a little iffy. The story was too short, it could have easily been fleshed out and delivered on a lot of promises. There were some plot holes as well which could have been filled and it could have been as creepy as it promised to be.

The ending didn't work for me. I wanted something else but it'll do. It wasn't horrible, it was just not what I wanted.

Needless to say this is a great addition to all those wonderful retellings out there. With it's great prose and original spin it is definitely worth reading.

ARC Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
Release Date: March 18th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you? When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission. Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

First thoughts after I finished this book? Finally! This book was dragging for so long I was losing my patience with it.

Alice and Harvey have been friends since they were children but going to high school they drifted apart with different social statuses, not really talking to each other until Alice is diagnosed with leukaemia. For a year and a half, Harvey has been there by her side during the good and the bad days falling more and more in love with her as her life clock begins to run out. But Alice goes into remission; becoming the miracle patient who will live. Now that she gets to live her, relationship with Harvey ends.

See this annoys me! The fact that she could only love Harvey while she was dying and knew she wouldn’t be with him forever. How stupid is that? I get the fact that she might be scared of commitment but that doesn’t mean you have to break his poor heart after he finds out the love of his life, the only girl he has ever loved will live but doesn’t want to be with him. Ugh. Not only this but Alice is a complete bitch to everyone but yet she gets this amazing guy to fall for her, and she does get what’s coming to her. 

“I knew how to die. It was the living that scared me.”

I loved how the book was arranged. The “Now” and “Then”. Alice was completely different while she was going through chemo and was dying. Later on she turned into a shallow girl who decided she was too good for Harvey and didn’t want him anymore which I guess was how she was before her diagnosis. I guess it was good to see both sides of her but I was hoping this book was going to be about how she realises she gets a second chance at life and decides to change her life around and become a better person.

“That girl in the case was dead. And that girl in the case was me”

I think I liked Alice about 10 percent of the book and that was at the very start and while she was taking her revenge on her ex-boyfriend Luke and the girl he was cheating with. Harvey is a sweet naïve guy and I couldn’t decide whether or not I liked him. At times he was the sweetest guy that was caring for a girl that was slowly dying and at other times he was a total fool for letting her walk all over him!

This book wasn’t anything I expected. I was hoping this would make me cry, or laugh or even feel something but there was nothing. This book was below ordinary. It was annoying. Even the very end annoyed me. I hate cliff hangers!

All quotes have been taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change

ARC Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer
Release Date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Edelweiss
Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them—something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily's and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship—which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous—makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

The Secrets of Lily Graves can easily be summed up as addicting. Can I pack my bags and go now? Drat. I have to say more? But I don’t know what to sayyyyy because really, while The Secrets of Lily Graves was fun, it wasn’t anything special. It was a quick read and I finished it in around 2 hours and the ending confused me a little but other than that, I never really thought about it as soon as I put it down.

The author makes use of common tropes but she does it in a way that doesn’t grate on you, so while there are the popular mean girls and there the girls who are bullied by these ‘mean girls’ they also see each other as humans. When Erin dies, the main character is shocked; this person wasn’t nice to her, at all, but a young life was lost and Lily understands the significance of that.

Lily as a character was really fun. She is original, she likes weird things and she is proud of it. She doesn’t want to be normal and it doesn’t matter how much crap people give her, she aien’t gonna change. Hell she dressed up as a normal human being for Halloween because that’s the scariest thing she can think of. I mean doesn’t that make you like her already?

The love interest, Matt is definitely one of the better love interests I've come across. The author takes the jock trope and puts a spin on it. He’s a jock, he probably isn’t all that smart, but he isn’t a complete bully. When one of his friends was bullying a girl for her weight, he started making fun of his friend in a friendly manner to take the attention off of the girl. This also happened before Lily registered on his radar so he gets the brownie point. He isn’t an asshole either! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? He doesn’t pull the passive aggressive shit. He does have depth to him but it doesn’t turn him into a character you pity but instead one you cannot help but like because it makes him more human than his status as a jock does.

I love her family too. They are an odd bunch with her mom being over protective, her aunt being really cool and her grandma just being silly. They don’t play a major role when it comes to the actual happenings but I like that the author attempted at making them seem somewhat normal seeing that they live in a funeral home (which by the way is kind of awesome).

The romance is adorable. It’s almost non-existent but that’s because there is a mystery to solve. These two are not a case of insta-attraction or even opposites attract. They became friends over the course of the summer when Matt asked her to tutor him for a history re-take because he failed the first time around. When Erin is found dead, he is the number one suspect and Lily doesn’t doubt him for a second because she knows him well enough to know he wouldn’t kill her. He hardly had the guts to break up with her, why would he kill her? So over the course of the book, little by little, they become even closer. Don’t go into this book looking for a lot of romance, go into this book expecting a nicely developed romance that is adorable.

The plot is where things get interesting. You have a bunch of amateur sleuths trying to figure out the truth behind how Erin was murdered. The primary suspects are Matt and Lily because everyone assumes they were an ‘item’ and so one of them might have ‘offed’ Erin so the two could be together. Lily, who aspires to join the family business, knows that only a professional could have done it because of the accuracy of the cuts on her wrists. The problem is that no one is telling the whole truth, everyone is hiding something and it’s up to Lily to figure out who murdered her since the police is too busy looking in the wrong direction. Slowly, Lily starts unravelling the mystery.

It’s the twist at the end that kind of throws you off; it’s not so much as unpredictable as it is just… awkward. The author puts hints throughout the whole book so it doesn’t come out of nowhere but at the same time, I am not completely sure how I feel about it. Even after thinking it through I am not sure whether I am annoyed or whether it makes sense. I’ll figure it out one day when my mind wanders to this book again.

All in all, if you’re looking for a quick comfort read, grab this and devour it like I did. It’s fun, it’s got good characters, no slut shamming and the romance was cute. The mystery was pretty fun too and really, what else can you want from a comfort read?

ARC Review: The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian

The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian
Series: Chaos Theory #1
Publisher: InterMix Books
Release Date: March 18th 2014
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Evalyn Ibarra never expected to be an accused killer and experimental prison test subject. A year ago, she was a normal college student. Now she’s been sentenced to a month in the compass room—an advanced prison obstacle course designed by the government to execute justice.

If she survives, the world will know she’s innocent.

Locked up with nine notorious and potentially psychotic criminals, Evalyn must fight the prison and dismantle her past to stay alive. But the system prized for accuracy appears to be killing at random.

She doesn’t plan on making friends.

She doesn’t plan on falling in love, either.

“We die if we’re supposed to die, right?”

While The Wicked We Have Done is not the most original book out there, it certainly was a highly entertaining read; until it took a turn which I couldn’t accept, a turn I STILL cannot accept. It enraged me with how easily it could waive something like ‘that’ off. I just couldn’t.

Comparisons to the Hunger Games will be unavoidable because of the whole survival aspect and how they always found food randomly.  Comparisons to the other dystopian book will also be made due to the whole stimulation aspect but in spite of all these similarities, The Wicked We Have Done does manage to stand out because of the way it presents these ideas. It puts a psychological spin on them and adds the throws in a bit of crime. Because how can what is happening to them be wrong when some of them are in fact evil criminals who ruthlessly harmed other people and took great pleasure in it? The Wicked We Have Done brings up the age old question of the ethicality of death penalty and a hand full of other questions about who the victims are and whether a crime can be justified.

The book opens with a touching scene between the main character, her mother and her brother. They are having their final farewell before she goes to the Compass Room where she will most assuredly die. The chances of survival are extremely low but the main character comforts her mother and younger brother instead and puts on a brave face while the first breaks apart and the latter buys her story (because he is 5). 

Evalyn was a great character (until that one thing which I will get back to later). She was full of guilt and self-doubt yet she also managed to be a leader for all these other criminals. She doesn’t fall apart but instead tried to keep the group together to the best of her ability. She supported everyone, cared about everyone and made good decisions. Yes some were rash but in the end, she was a wonderful leader.

All the other characters fall into the category of well-developed characters. The author gives all of them a sort of depth that I usually find lacking in all other books in the New-Adult category. The author doesn’t just focus on the love interest, Casey. She develops all the characters in the supporting cast and she develops them WELL. And when I say supporting cast, I mean even the characters we encounter in the female lead’s flash backs.

The relationships that  emerged between these characters (except the romance) are wonderful and sweet. It’s just heartwarming to see them all get together and let go of their differences and just survive together. They have each other’s backs. They laugh together. They comfort each other and they help each other face their fears.

The romance was one of the things that bothered me in this book. It definitely had potential. It started off slowly. I was so sure I’d finally found a slow-burn romance that seems to be almost completely absent from New-Adult but then they declared their ‘I love you’s’ in a time span of two weeks. We’re talking about the same people whose first kiss was not a result of attraction but was meant as a way of comforting each other. Given the circumstances, it’s highly probable that bonds will be forge but ‘I love you’s’ declared when the female lead claimed to have been in love with her childhood sweetheart who she was together with for 5 years?? Yeah, not so much.

“..this place is patiently waiting to peel back the layers of your skin and claw out your insides.”

The world building, as I mentioned earlier, was not particularly original, but it worked. The Compass Room was a wonderful idea. It wasn’t built to torture children. It was built to distinguish the morally corrupt from those who weren’t so because while some of these youngsters have committed horrid crimes, for a good number of them, it’s a one-time thing. And so The Compass Room gives them the opportunity to show their innocence. What I also found interesting was that this book wasn’t like a typical dystopia, hell I am not sure it can even be classified as one because I don’t find the government to be at fault here. Yes glitches occurred and shit went down but the intentions were not evil. And the people in this society have a voice. People are allowed to protest, LOTS of people DID in fact protest against the idea of The Compass Room because they didn't find it to be morally correct to put young kids through something so difficult. 

The plot revolves around a group of misfits trying to survive and finding a way to beat the system to save themselves. We are also trying to unravel the mystery of what exactly it was that what went down that landed Evalyn in jail. This was the biggest drawback of the novel. THIS was what screwed the book over. For starters, the author spent too much time dancing around what happened offering us hints instead of just telling us. When we learned what went down, it was heartbreaking but I also think the author was trying to make us see Evalyn as an innocent party which is something I wholeheartedly disagree with. She is not innocent. She may have been a victim but you most definitely cannot label her as innocent. She was definitely guilty and she deserves to do time in jail. Some things cannot be justified in my book, no matter what. Some of the crimes the other characters committed were justified but I cannot write off what she did and I absolutely hate how it was waived off as an act of love. 

If you’re looking for a book that deals more with the whole criminal aspect, read Criminal. It does an excellent job of it and takes crime seriously unlike this book.

That issue was a total buzzkill when it came to this book. It flushed all of my enjoyment down the toilet and replaced said joy with rage. I was angry. I was pissed. But I couldn’t completely dismiss this book. The first 80% was enjoyable. The book (until that point) was a page turner. I was on the edge of my seat, crossing my fingers for all my favorite characters and was thoroughly enjoying the book.

In the end, I would still recommend this to people because it’s something new in the New Adult category, something I haven’t seen before and it really gives me hope for New Adult. That someday I will read a New Adult that makes it to my list of all-time favorites. Until then, I shall patiently wait for that day (and read another book in the mean time).

Note that all quotes have been taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change. 

Review: The Garnet Dagger by Andrea R. Cooper

Title: The Garnet Dagger
Author: Andrea R. Cooper
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Pub date: March 25th 2013
Buy: Amazon 

Forbidden to cross the Elvin barrier into human lands, Brock cannot sate his curiosity. Cursed by a vampyre bite that forces him to feed on the life-essence of others, he is unable to touch another without taking their life. Chained by prophesy, he must find a witch, pierce her heart, and draw her blood for his cure. Celeste must escape the monks who have held her prisoner for years. Her magic has been kept dormant by her captors. An ancient powerful Warloc craves her powers. If he succeeds in devouring her magic, she and the world will die. When Brock falls in love with Celeste before realizing her demise is his cure, will love triumph over his desire to be healed? Will he risk everything to save her from a Warloc, an oath breaker, who also wants her dead?

A massive thank you to Andrea R. Cooper for letting me read this book for my honest review.

So the story follows Brock who is an Elvin living in a land amongst trees who always had a liking to human culture and sneaking away to watch humans and their behaviour. Until one day, a vampyre puts a curse on him turning him into a Vaer. (Still with me) Right so poor old Brock’s marriage to Liana is put on hold after he kisses her and accidentally steals her life essence. Oops.  He is then banished from his land to follow the quest set out by the ancient prophecies of killing a witch in order to get rid of his stealing essences habit. Easy peasy right. Not really.

After being captured by Father Morgan, he finds a witch with healing powers that helps him escape and will not leave him alone. But is she the witch from the prophecy? If so, why does he lust over her? Can he kill her to fulfil the prophecy and save his family?

Quite proud of the detailed description of the book I must say so.

So the book is a paranormal romance filled with mystery and confusion all around.  The writing I need to point out is very grabbing. The language alone is great, the book is set in the mythical olden days where innkeepers had to bring your bath to you and then carry water up to you so I did not expect to really know what was going on half the time. Ms Cooper has done a great job telling the story from a male point of view and making sure that everything was easy to understand.

The idea behind the book is intriguing. However it is not the best book; it’s also not the worst book. 

This little book has a story that fits only certain types of readers and it is an average book. There is nothing extraordinary about the book.  There are good and bad points about the story line, the characters and even the writing along the book.

I love the fact that Ms Cooper let the relationship between Brock and Celeste grow naturally over the months it’s not something authors really pay attention to. But I hate the fact that when Brock does steal the essence from people it’s not explained very well how it feels, what it’s like, ect. There is just a little description on something that I believe should matter a lot.

The book is a good enough read. It’s not something I would have picked up for myself exactly but I’m glad I got the chance to read the book. It’s just an ordinary book about some not ordinary characters and a story line about a quest.