Publisher: Penguin

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 […]

Review: Saint Anything

Posted May 20, 2015 / Book Reviews / 18 Comments

It wasn’t until I started filling out my rating report that I knew that this book could be considered a favorite. I got to the end of it and was completely impressed, AS USUAL, but just didn’t feel like it had a SPARK that made me say “this is hopping onto my favorites shelf.” It’s the kind of quiet YA book that I’ve been absolutely loving lately. (Read Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway as soon as its released; you’ll know exactly what I mean.) It has some really heavy themes but there’s not a lot of your typical drama that gets associated with some young adult contemporary books. It was so refreshing. Her family has issues that they need to deal with – A LOT more issues than your average family – but it was still a very subtle (maybe that’s not the right word) story that impressed me regardless. I can completely see why Dessen has said this book took her a long time to write and was particularly challenging. I’ve always thought that Sarah Dessen was the queen of contemporary because she could perfectly blend family, friendship, and romance all into a perfect story about imperfect characters. This book was no exception to that, although the romance part was definitely subdued compared to the rest – which I loved! It was built up organically through little glances at each other and moments of “what-if,” but didn’t compare to the themes of friendship and family. It had its rightful […]

Review: Just One Year

Posted March 12, 2015 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

This book was simultaneously exactly what was expected but not necessarily what I wanted. In Allyson’s story, we see her grow and develop into this person who actually has bits and pieces of Lulu in her. She takes more chances and tries to live her life by what she wants to do instead of what her parents want her to do. She becomes a better person and more true to the self she wanted to be. I was hoping that Willem’s story was also transformative (as the synopsis suggests) like Allyson’s. I really don’t think it was. The main point of Just One Year is to show what Willem was doing in the time that Allyson was searching for him throughout that following year. It was exactly what I expected – he travels around like a nomad, hooks up with girls (more on that later), and looks for her in a very half-ass way. I loved learning more about his family, which remained a mystery in the first book, and seeing what made him the way he is – a traveler seemingly without a home. It was awesome to read about the missed connections they had throughout that year. I didn’t like the fact that the two ways Allyson and Willem dealt with their heartbreak was completely different. He couldn’t stop thinking about her but still went out and reacted by sleeping with other girls. In her story, she falls into a depression and it takes quite a lot to get […]

Book Buddies Review: Just One Day

Posted February 27, 2015 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Book Buddies is a discussion-style review that takes place with one of my two buddies. (Learn more and see past reviews here) We both read the book and then have a private discussion about it. We post our discussion as a review on the last Wednesday of each month. You’ll be able to see our similar/different opinions on the overall book, characters, writing style, etc. – just like a regular review. The first half our discussion will take place right here, and the second half will be on Cristina’s blog! (Link at the bottom) What made you initially add this one to your TBR and what were you expecting from it? Did it meet your expectations? Lauren: I read If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman and was really captivated by her writing style. I liked the second book in the duology better than the first, but regardless enjoyed her style. I was honestly not THAT interested in Just One Day when I initially heard of it, but there were so many bloggers who said it was pretty life-changing. I ended up asking for it for Christmas and my dad came through. I was expecting the same beautiful writing as I’ve previously experienced from Gayle, but wasn’t sure of much else! She seems to write a lot of different kinds of stories, so it’s hard to draw parallels between all of her work. Overall this book completely exceeded any expectations I did have. I couldn’t believe how swept up I was in the […]

Holiday Review: Let It Snow

Posted December 8, 2014 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

Let It Snow is a compilation of three interconnected stories. I’ll review them each separately, then include an overall rating and my thoughts! The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson I absolutely LOVED the main character of this story, Jubilee. She was funny and adorable. The writing style was very quirky and definitely made me LOL at times. I immediately looked for other books by Maureen Johnson as I was reading this one. The story was certainly very predictable, but I didn’t care. I also LOOOVED Stuart, our main boy. He was adorable, smart, and just seemed like an all-around great guy. I would totally read this as a full-length story just to get more of these characters! The ending was adorable but it definitely left me wanting more. I think it was a good ending , but I would seriously love to see more of these two and what happens next. I can’t think of really anything I disliked about this one. It’s almost hard to review because you would have to read it yourself to really get how fun and interesting Stuart and Jubilee were. A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green Oh John Green, you never cease to amaze me. A lot of reviewers seemed somewhat disappointed by this story, so I was a little nervous, but I ended up really enjoying it. It’s been a while since I’ve read John Green (I’ve read all of his books, but last read TFIOS the year it came out. Due for […]