Publisher: Penguin

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 […]

Review: The Fourth Wish

Posted November 12, 2014 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

*Do not read this review if you haven’t read book one, The Art of Wishing! I don’t recommend that you even read the synopsis for the second book until you’ve read the first book. I was so excited to see how Margo would deal with becoming a genie. My favorite part of the second book was just that: learning how it works and seeing all of the different kinds of magic she could do now. The book jumped right into the middle of the action and confused me because it didn’t pick up right where the previous book left off. Well, it didn’t seem that way at least. Regardless, you soon learn what happened and again, you get the slow release of information about the world. I absolutely LOVED the gender stuff in this book. As you can imagine, genies can shapeshift into exactly what their current master would want to see in a friend, partner, etc. That means that they can switch genders in order to make wishes happen for each person. It was awesome to read about that flexibility and (basically) complete acceptance from both Margo and Oliver on that end. It was handled in a great way because the characters were open about it and had the attitude that it was the person beneath the gender that was important. So healthy and awesome to read! This book kind of reminded me of the Shadowlands series by Kate Brian (really just the ending of the third book). Without […]

Review: The Art of Wishing

Posted November 10, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I was intrigued by this book when I saw the premise. It was a really unique and compelling take on genies. I loved learning about what being a genie entails and how it can be a lot different than the mainstream interpretations of what genies do. (I’m kind of making it sound like genies are real now… maybe I’m convinced.) The writing style in this book was really fast-paced and enjoyable. It was very easy to read, which is what I was in the mood for! I’ve noticed this a lot in some of the books I’ve read lately: I like the slow release of information. It was over halfway through the book when I finally felt like I fully knew what it was like to be a genie and how Oliver’s life worked. I like jumping right into the middle of the action then learning more about the backstory as the book goes on. I loved that this felt much more like a contemporary romance with some fantasy mixed in. The main characters grow closer and develop a relationship despite the fact that Oliver is a genie. It just felt like I was reading a cute romance story and OH YA he’s a genie too I guess. The paranormal/fantasy aspects were really cool and I loved when they were mixed in, too. Oliver is so cute. I love him. That’s all. The concept behind the book overall was really interesting. As I said before, I just couldn’t stop reading […]

Review: Big Little Lies

Posted October 10, 2014 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I generally don’t read adult books because I relate better to young adult books. (By the way, you can expect a discussion post on this exact topic within the next few weeks!) This book was certainly a perfect example of that. The main characters in this book are all parents of kids in kindergarten, who were dealing with domestic abuse, ex-spouses, being a single parent, and schoolyard politics. It was difficult for me to completely relate to the characters but I did find it pretty interesting. Frankly books with such a grim outlook on adulthood are not normally fun for me. At least with young adult books dealing with heavier topics I can be happy I’m through with that point in my life. I’m not married yet, I don’t have kids, and I certainly don’t want to think about the potential of divorce or domestic abuse in my life! REGARDLESS, this book was overall an enjoyable read for me. The story follows Madeline, Jane, and Celeste as they deal with all of the aforementioned issues. The book is written in chapters from each of their perspectives with little police interviews intermixed (more on the writing style later). The book begins with the understanding that a parent dies at the school’s upcoming trivia night, and then backtracks through the months leading up to the trivia night. The story itself was surprisingly funny, considering it dealt with some pretty heavy issues. I loved each of the characters, flaws and all. Liane Moriarty’s […]

200 Word Review: That Summer

Posted September 24, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I don’t want to say I was disappointed, because that seems a bit harsh, but it definitely didn’t exceed my expectations. Why? The characters – ALL of them – were so selfish. I get that there was (kind of?) a reason for it in terms of the book’s moral, but I just found myself SO sick of their shit. Nothing. Happened. At. All. The book took place over the course of a month or two and literally Haven worked, ran into her sister’s ex, complained about her life, and spent time with her friend. Oh, and there was a random supermodel show that pretty much added nothing to the plot. I’m okay with the fact that this book was only about family issues, but it was just missing the spark of something else. ANYTHING to get some more action. The moral/message of the book was pretty clear and I liked the way it ended. The narrator had the most childish voice. I get that the MC was 15, but holy shit it felt like a 12 year old. Overall, I did like the book. It didn’t blow me away and it certainly isn’t one of Dessen’s best, but I can’t say I regret listening to it.

Review: Five Summers

Posted September 10, 2014 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

I liked this book enough but it didn’t blow me away. The general idea is that these four girls (Emma, Skylar, Jo, and Maddie) all attended four years of summer camp together when they were younger. They’e grown apart over the years and hope to reconnect over their reunion weekend. The book makes you wish you had friends like that or an experience at a summer camp. I never had that and I wish more than anything that I did. I think the ending was drawn-out a little bit; the last 80% of the book could have easily been consolidated into a chapter or two. The ending was extremely predictable and I can safely say all of my theories about their secrets or how things would play out came true. I think all of the girls tended to blend together a little too much. I don’t mean that they were super similar to each other; I just mean that they were characterized at a very superficial level. They all had different problems and stereotypical “personalities” but all sounded the same. There was the tomboy, the girl who’s hiding something, the party girl, and the innocent/shy girl. Otherwise, they were not characterized beyond that stereotype. Emma seemed to be the main character. She was pretty innocent, shy, and still a virgin. She was harboring a longtime crush on Adam, who could be sleazy but also seemed to be “different” around her. I didn’t really buy it. I didn’t understand at ALL what […]

200 Word Review: Audrey, Wait!

Posted September 2, 2014 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Review: In the simplest terms: this book made me smile and I enjoyed it. I wasn’t ever REALLY itching to read it though. Lately, the books I’ve been reading have been addicting and I would try to carve out as much time as possible to read. This one wasn’t exactly the same way and it took me too long to read. Things I liked: It was really cute. I liked the general plot and the way it progressed. There were a few LOL moments. The characters were fun and EXTREMELY well developed. Things I didn’t like: The humor felt forced at times. I wanted to roll my eyes at some of the jokes/conversations. While there were a lot of things that happened, it also kind of felt like nothing was really happening… if that makes sense. The description of the book lists something that doesn’t happen until literally one of the last chapters. I kept waiting for it the entire book and it almost felt like the description had a spoiler for the “big event” at the end. Overall, the book didn’t WOW me but it also didn’t exactly disappoint me. I liked it and am glad I read it.