Publisher: Penguin

Tom Haverford Giffy Review: Modern Romance

Posted January 21, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I am a huge Aziz Ansari fan and knew I would happily read one of his books, regardless of the topic, if he ever wrote one. I loved Tom in Parks and Rec and his stand-up was always so funny and so real. It doesn’t hurt that he actively calls himself a feminist and makes fun of dudes for being so shitty. I mean, he’s perfect and that’s all there is to it. The topic of modern romance is an interesting one because clearly things have changed a lot, even within the past 5-10 years. I was intrigued to see what kind of conclusions he would come to. Sociology is one of my favorite subjects (and one of my minors in college!) so I knew that even if this book was more nonfiction-like than humor, I would be happy with it. That ended up being the case! I have to admit, I was warned by some early reviews that the book had a lot of numbers and wasn’t really traditionally funny. I was hoping for some humor throughout (which I got) but expected more of a research-oriented book. Somehow he managed to bring both of those aspects together in a perfect combination. “When you hear a Flo Rida song at first you’re like, ‘What is this, Flo Rida? It’s the same thing you’ve always done. I’m not listening to this song.’ And then you keep hearing it and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, Flo Rida. You’ve done it again! This […]

Review: I’ll Give You the Sun

Posted December 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Why do I read stories I know I’m not going to like?????? I was pretty damn adamant that I wasn’t going to read this book (evidence 1 and 2). I heard somewhere that the writing style was metaphor-filled like We Were Liars, which I totally loathed. I was right. It was similar and heavy-handed and frustrating. I feel stupid when I read books like that because I can’t tell if the person is being literal or if it’s a metaphor. Anyways, because this book was very middle-of-the-road for me, I’ll break into my usual YES and NO lists… What I Liked In general, I was a fan of the two separate timelines. I thought it was interesting to read about Noah at 13 while reading about Jude at 16, because you wonder how things progress in those 2-3 years. I started putting puzzle pieces together early on and saw some click into place depending on whose chapters I was reading. The storyline was pretty interesting. I was curious to see how it all ended up, especially because it seemed like the twins ended up switching personalities in those few years. I wanted to know what happened to cause that. I thought the ending was sweet. I actually started to think, “did I really hate this book as much as I thought?” when I read the ending. It was enough to leave me with a generally positive feeling about the book, instead of the low score I was planning. What I Didn’t Like […]

Review: The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly

Posted October 22, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Usually the longer it takes for me to finish a book, the less I’m going to like it. I know that this usually has nothing to do with how good the book is. I happened to be away on vacation while reading this one and just didn’t have enough time to read. When I did sit down to read it, I felt oddly detached from the story as I kept reading. From the beginning, this book was going to be iffy for me. It’s really out of my comfort zone but I wanted to give it a try with my book club. Cults have always interested me, but religion in generally really does not at all. I don’t think this book was too in-your-face about religion, which was nice, but it was still explored quite a bit. It makes sense given Minnow’s history and lack of education about a lot of things. I started out really intrigued by the story, mostly because of the writing style. I loved how the chapters slowly revealed more from her past, while mixing in with present-day in juvie. (I have to say though, I couldn’t stop thinking of Orange is the New Black.) The plot was really interesting and I was certainly wondering what the fuck happened back at the Kevinian camp. There was a good amount of suspense, again because of the writing style, but I still felt too detached from all of it. I liked Minnow as a character – I think she […]

Review: The Boy Most Likely To

Posted October 16, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I AM SAD AND DISAPPOINTED. I don’t know how else to start this review. 🙁 In the first book, I didn’t really like Tim at all. He grew on me, for sure, but not enough to make me say “hey I’d love to read a book about him.” Regardless, when I saw this one on Scribd, I thought it’d be a perfect audiobook to start. I was pretty interested at the beginning and Tim continued to grow on me even more. And then the TWIST happened (which happens so early in the book that it feels weird to call it a spoiler?) and everything went downhill. Don’t worry, I’ll be spoiler-free for a while. In the most general terms I can say, I didn’t MIND this turn of events. It’s not what I was expecting when I set out to read this book, but it also wasn’t surprising. I knew exactly what was going to happen when certain things started happening. Sorry for the vagueness, but go with it. Regardless, I don’t think this particular element of the story (which turned into pretty much the entire plot) bothered me like it may have bothered others. I didn’t care about Tim much so it didn’t upset me that this was happening to him. I was intrigued but slowly that interest waned. I had a big feeling of what was going to happen by the end of the book, so it all felt pointless to me. There were some pretty big glaring holes that […]

Review: My Life Next Door

Posted September 23, 2015 / Book Reviews / 9 Comments

Okay obviously the first thing I need to mention is CONNECTICUT! I love when books are set in my state; I can definitely get a better feel for the setting and environment. Of course, the made-up town in this book is clearly down by the shore (an area I am definitely not from), so it barely feels like Connecticut. My part of the state features a lot of farms and smelly cows. This book was definitely hyped up, but – thank god – met my expectations! I really loved Jase, and he’s the reason this book was so fantastic. Sam was an okay character, but a little flat. I know that she’s had a pretty sheltered life and Jase helped her get out of of her comfort zone a bit, but I just wasn’t totally on board with her. Regardless, I shipped them as a couple very hard. I liked how sex was kind of an important part of the book. Any YA book that talks about it or actually does it is okay in my book. It’s real! It’s a part of teenagers’ lives. There were a few things that bugged me. I mean, clearly Tim had a problem with drinking and some drugs, but AS USUAL the portrayal of weed-smoking in a YA book bothered me. It’s something that I think authors don’t usually get right. This was no exception. Tim was a huge dickhead in the beginning but seriously shaped up throughout the book. At first, I […]

Reread Review: Keeping the Moon

Posted September 21, 2015 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Some summer many years ago, I think. I remember bringing a few Dessen books to Maine with me throughout the summer and I’m pretty sure this was one of them. This is the book I remembered the most details about out of all of her books, actually. I remembered the main character working at the Last Chance Cafe and how much I loved Colby, NC. This is the first Dessen book I read that is set in Colby, so it kind of held a special place in my heart. I pretty much forgot all of the other details though. Dessen reread 2015! I was thinking of what audiobook I should start next and decided on this one because I finally tracked it down. I just kept remembering the one book with the restaurant setting and was determined to get to it next. After reading the synopsis again and not seeing a hint of romance, I was kind of excited to see how a book with friendship as the main focus would be. I’ve read plenty of books with friendship as a strong theme, but I feel like it’s usually coupled with family issues and/or romance. This one seemed to be straight up friendship feels.Ah, this was so good. I’m surprised to see that most people don’t count this as a favorite or even like it that much. Colie was an interesting character and I totally forgot about all of the bullying she dealt with. I absolutely loved the friendship storyline in this […]

Reread Review: What Happened to Goodbye

Posted August 12, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

I read this book for the first time, I think, during the summer of 2012. It may have been a few years earlier, to be honest. I’ve been iffy about which of her books I’ve actually read – there are so many and they all sound similar (even though they aren’t) when I read the synopsis again – but I knew I did read this one back in the day. Honestly, not much. The mini town model is the one thing I remembered the most from this book. The restaurant itself also seemed familiar. For some reason, the Dessen books that take place in restaurants always stick in my mind the most. I’m so glad I revisited this one, especially because I barely remembered anything from the first time I read it. I’m so terrible with remembering book details; rereading is ideal for someone like me. I remember loving the restaurant, the model, the characters, and the whole plot, actually. I also had a vague idea of how the book ended.When Cristina mentioned that she was rereading this one soon, I knew I had to hop on board. I’ve been aiming to read more Sarah Dessen this summer (somewhat failing, I guess) and this was a perfect one to add to the mix. I will say, I miss Colby (as a setting) and hope to get into some of those books by her during the duration of the summer. There was a glimpse at Colby in this book, which was nice, but I need […]

Novella Reviews: Harmonic, Happy Again, Secrets and Lies, and Just One Night

Posted July 24, 2015 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

I’m usually not a huge novella fan, but I really enjoyed all four of these! I figured I would share some very brief thoughts on each novella, so you can judge if they’re worth the time. THIS WAS SO GOOD. I absolutely loved reading from Del’s sister’s point of view for this 100 page novella. It was nice because it felt really like a mini book, instead of just a few pages. Addison’s story picks up right where the previous book left off and gives us a little taste of what’s been happening recently. I suspect that some of the issues from this book will continue into the next one, so I highly recommend reading this. Beyond that, I looooved Addie’s relationship with Laurel. Yay, for LGBTQ! This was a perfect thing to hold me over until Resonance‘s release. (At the time of writing this, it hasn’t come out yet.. but at the time of this is posting.. YAY IT’S HERE) Honestly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first book. When I saw this novella was coming out, I was actually pretty excited! I actually ended up liking the novella even more than the original story. It was a super cute, quick read. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re looking to know what happened next with the characters. I shipped them way more the second time around. I definitely wish I took a few notes on this one before deciding to write my review much, much later! Oh well. This […]

Musical Memories ft. Just Listen

Posted June 16, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

When Cristina and I discussed our new mini feature, Book Buddies Ask, we decided to start with the Sarah Dessen novels we both planned on reading or rereading this summer. Our first question debuted over on my review of Saint Anything (and hers!). I decided to reread Just Listen when she told me she was on the blog tour, but am still working my way through it. This post was inspired by the strong musical elements of the novel, as well as some general thoughts about it. “A song can take you instantly back to a moment, a place, or even a person. No matter what else has changed in you or the world, that one song stays the same, just like that moment.” When I read Hannah’s post last week about memories tied to music, I thought it would be a great way to discuss Just Listen. I started spiraling through Spotify and making my own memories-related playlist. I listened to it all day at work and reflected so much on different memories in my life. I don’t think I got much work done, but what else is new. Like her, I don’t really consider myself to be a crazy music person. There are actually plenty of days where I don’t listen to music at all, thanks to my addiction to audiobooks. I will say that there will always be songs that make me crank up the volume when I catch them on the radio. (Namely, most classic rock songs.) Check […]

Review: The Disenchantments

Posted June 10, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

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 […]