Review: Between the Lines

Posted June 12, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Review: Between the Lines

This was my book club’s pick for May, which was really the only reason I was motivated to read it! (And even then, I only picked it up a couple of days before the meeting… YOLO). I started a YA book club because there weren’t any near me, and this is what we agreed to read for the first meeting! We thought it would be good for those who aren’t experienced YA readers, since Jodi Picoult is a popular and recognizable adult fiction writer. Soooo, about this book. I have somewhat mixed feelings. I didn’t actively want to sit down and read it that often, but I did find myself pretty engaged as I was actually reading it. The concept itself is probably my favorite part. It’s like Toy Story for books! What happens to the characters in a book when you close it? In this case, they’re all essentially “actors” in the book and lead regular (very different) lives when the book is shut. Delilah reads this book and starts to fall for the main character, Oliver, and he finds a way to communicate with her. The two of them spend the book trying to get him out of the story so they can be together. Pretty cool, eh? Otherwise, the book felt suuuuper young to me. The writing definitely didn’t feel Picoult-esque, and that’s probably because she wrote it with her young daughter, but there were some parts that had me majorly rolling my eyes. A lot of it […]

Burn, Rewrite, or Reread

Burn, Rewrite, or Reread

I’ve seen this tag floating around and thought it looked fun! I decided to do 5 rounds with 3 books per round. You use a random number generator to pick the books off of your Goodreads “read” shelf. For each round, you compare the three books: which would you burn? which would you rewrite? and which would you reread? It’s like a bookish version of Kill, Bang, Marry 😉 Round 1 BURN | L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad | There’s nothing too bad about this book, but it’s probably my least favorite of the three, at least! I don’t remember being overly impressed with it (and that’s probably why I never got around to finishing the series. Oh well. REWRITE | Reckless (It Girl #3) by Cecily von Ziegesar | I actually really enjoyed Gossip Girl and its spin-off, It Girl. I don’t remember much about it but I do remember liking it a bit. Like most books in a long series, there was a love triangle. Maybe I’d rewrite that part? I don’t remember! I just know I’d rather keep this one around than L.A. Candy. REREAD | The Distance Between Us by Kasie West | NO-BRAINER. I absolutely loved this book and will definitely reread it at some point. Kasie West is definitely an auto-buy for me and this was the first book of hers I read. Much love. | Review  Round 2 BURN | A Rose for Melinda by Lurlene McDaniel | Another kind of easy one. […]

Review: The Disenchantments

Posted June 10, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments
Review: The Disenchantments

Sometimes books are just nothing like you hoped or expected them to be. I saw this one at the library, fell in love with the cover, and decided to give it a shot. I didn’t realize at first that Colby, from the synopsis, was a male, so that was a surprise right from the beginning. A pleasant one! The gist of the story is that Colby is travelling the West Coast with his best friend Bev and their friends Meg and Alexa. They’re in a group called The Disenchantments and are going on a mini-tour for the summer. The plan is that after the summer, Bev and Colby are going to travel Europe for a year instead of going to college. Colby’s in for a surprise when Bev informs him she isn’t going to Europe; she’s going to RISD in the fall. He has to try to manage his hurt feelings (and love for Bev) while continuing with the tour… and she refuses to tell him why she’s not going. Along the trip, they meet some interesting characters and do lots of random things. This summary is pretty much all that happened. I really like books with flawed, realistic characters. If I don’t like them that much, that’s okay with me. I don’t have to like the character to like the book. In this case, though… I didn’t like anyone. I couldn’t relate to anyone. The characters and the plot were not realistic to me; it’s like they were a […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #43: Anticipated

Posted June 9, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 17 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #43: Anticipated

Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015 Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I’m doing this list without the books that I currently have ARCs of. Obviously Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is high on my list, but that baby is currently waiting to be read in my stack of books from BEA! Without further ado, here are ten books I’m really excited for. Because I need to know what happens next…    Firewalker by Josephine Angelini | I requested this one, so I’m hoping toget my hands on it earlier. After that ending in the previous book, I’ve pretty much been dying to read this one. Get Dirty by Gretchen McNeil | Honestly I didn’t even like the first book that much, but the ending definitely kept me interested. I’m determined to find out who is behind everything. Resonance by Erica O’Rourke | I LOVED DISSONANCE SO MUCH. I had a little sneak peek back into the world through the novella that came out a few months ago, but I am dying for this book. Easily my most anticipated book this year. Because these are read-bait for me…    Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid | I haven’t read her other books (yet), but […]

Inside & Out #8: Erin from The Hardcover Lover

Posted June 8, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 5 Comments
Inside & Out #8: Erin from The Hardcover Lover

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Erin from The Hardcover Lover Twitter: @xerinxlynnx| Instagram: @xerinxlynnx | Facebook Tell me a little about yourself: I’m a twenty-five year old substitute teacher who cannot wait to get her own classroom and start teaching English/ELA. When I’m not reading, I can be found catching up on some of my favorite TV shows or watching hockey. I also like to sew and cross-stitch. I’m a huge fan of knick-knacks, and I probably buy way too many of them. I obsess over all things Disney, and I even have a small collection Disney movies, posters, and figurines. Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): I review mostly YA on The Hardcover Lover, with most of the titles being contemporary or romance. Occasionally, and more often now than when I started blogging, I review YA science fiction, dystopia, and fantasy. I also review middle grade books and a few children’s books. I also host Soundtrack Saturday, a meme about creating playlists for your favorite books. Favorite genre: Contemporary Three books you recommend most often and why: Divergent because I loved the world that Veronica Roth built. I was literally on the edge of my […]

Reread Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Posted June 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
Reread Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I don’t remember if we preordered this one or if I went to the store and bought it. I can’t imagine that I waited to read it for any reason, so I have a feeling it was delivered on release day. I really can’t believe I was 13 when I first read this. I vividly remember sitting around the pool or on our back porch reading this during the summer vacation. UGH OBVIOUSLY I REMEMBER THE ENDING OF THIS. The first very very very sad death in the series. Ugh. Stop reading here if for some reason you haven’t read the series: I was so heartbroken when Sirius died. Harry finally had a family, and maybe even a chance to live with him (because finally the Ministry believed them about Voldemort’s return)… and it got plucked away. You cruel woman, JK Rowling. Otherwise I truthfully didn’t remember that much about this book, except for hating Umbridge and everything she did to the school. My answer stands: because HARRY POTTER! I didn’t think I was mentally ready to reread about Sirius though, so that wasn’t fun. This book is honestly the one that I wasn’t looking forward to rereading as much. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loooove the creation of the Order and Dumbledore’s Army – but everything else (Umbridge, Sirius, etc.) depresses me. It’s hard to read a book with such a vicious antagonist (sometimes I think I hate her more than Voldemort). It goes without saying that I […]

Five on Fridays #15

Posted June 5, 2015 / Five on Fridays, Weekly Memes / 4 Comments
Five on Fridays #15

Five on Friday displays the the top five things that have been on my mind this week! It could be book-related, but it may be music, movies, TV, personal life, food, etc. It’s been quite a few months since I’ve done one of these! It’s funny because the past two months have been incredibly busy for me; I would actually have A LOT to share… if I had taken the time to write them! Without further ado, here’s a big ol’ Five on Friday update! As you probably saw in my recent end-of-month wrap-up, May was kind of intense. I usually have a very nonexistant social life because Chris and I tend to be homebodies, but we were so freaking busy in May. We had birthday parties, a jam-packed Mother’s Day, trips to Providence and Boston, a Lego event, a graduation… Yeah, it was crazy. We didn’t get a lot of time to ourselves on the weekends, that’s for sure. It was nice to mix it up a little but it would have been better to have some free time intermixed. I loved being a bit more social (which I’ll get to in my final point down there) and getting to meet bloggers at BEA (which is in my fourth point). I guess this is here just to be like, yeah, this month was insane. Yeah it’s no secret that I’m damn antsy for football. As I’ve said, its my only hobby aside from reading. We’ve been watching the NFL Top […]

ARC Review: Even When You Lie to Me

Posted June 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
ARC Review: Even When You Lie to Me

If you’re looking for a compelling novel that “explores sexuality – and its boundaries – in a way that’s both searingly honest and sympathetic,” you should probably go elsewhere. That was part of the blurb on the ARC, but I noticed the word “sexuality” was replaced with “relationships” on the Goodreads synopsis. I can see why it was changed, because that word would make a lot more sense. This was a tough one. It was compulsively readable – and really, I couldn’t stop – but at the same time… boring? Not sure how that’s possible, but it just was. I kept racing to see what was going to happen (more like see WHEN things were finally going to happen) but ended up disappointed by the end. This is a classic case of expectations (and a synopsis) leading to disappointment. I expected that this would be a romantic, sexual, forbidden love kind of story. It really was just about COMPLETELY self-loathing and self-conscious girl flirting with and pining over her English teacher. Things eventually get to the point you’re expecting, but it takes foreeeeever and happens way too late in the book to impact me. The main character, Charlie, is totally shy and complains about how ugly she is. This is, of course, off-set by the fact that her best friend, Lila, is the complete opposite. She’s confident, loud, and attractive. Because of course. They had a really weird dynamic; I don’t even know how to explain it. There was so much insecurity […]

Review: P.S. I Still Love You

Posted June 3, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments
Review: P.S. I Still Love You

It’s kind of impossible to review this book. I think my review of its predecessor involved a lot of flailing, since it was easily in my top 2 favorite books last year. I definitely am leaning towards the same type of review… I’ve been staring at this blank screen for a while. I sincerely loved this. It completely met (and probably exceeded) my expectations. There was a LOT of pressure for this book to be spectacular! Everyone and their mother needed to know what happened next with Lara Jean and Peter. Seeing that the next book’s synopsis mentioned a love triangle definitely got some people upset. BUT WE LOVE PETER, WHAT R U DOING LARA JEAN?!?! I admit I was one of those people. But honestly, this book was so sweet and real. I don’t mind love triangles if they feel believable and realistic. I had been in similar situations when I was her age. Love triangles happen when you’re a teenager – they really do. I looooved John and I loooooooved Peter (yes, Peter gets a few more O’s for obvious reasons), so I felt like I was struggling along with Lara Jean. The whole book was just adorable. I’m not sure how else to describe it. As usual, Kitty was my favorite. I love everything about her. After reading a lot of reviews on the first book, many people complained that Lara Jean seemed a bit too young. This didn’t bother me as much in the first book […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #42: Movies & TV

Posted June 2, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 10 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #42: Movies & TV

Ten Books I’d Love to See as Movies or TV Shows Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I’m sure I’m not the only person that would love to see Lara Jean, her family, and those adorable boys on the big screen. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han would be so freaking cute as movies. It would also give some well-deserved main character screen time to Asian American actresses! Even though I wasn’t a fan of When by Victoria Laurie, I could see it being a pretty interesting movie! There would definitely be a few things I would change, but the overall concept is too cool to pass up. I’m really bad at “dream cast” types of posts, so  I can’t really begin to think of who I would want in this movie, but I’m sure there are plenty of options. This wasn’t a blockbuster book so I doubt it would gain movie attention, but again the premise is really awesome. I could totally see it on the big screen. I loooooved Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway. So much. There have been quite a few contemporary YA books-turned-movies, like The Fault in Our Stars and the upcoming All the Bright […]