Publisher: Random House

ARC Review: Call Me, Maybe

Posted January 23, 2016 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

What worked I liked the premise of the story, even though it felt a bit contrived. They meet each other because they accidently switch phones at the airport and are stuck with the wrong phone for a few days. They start chatting and eventually it turns into a relationship when they both return home to Chicago. There was some solid banter between those two! I loved their relationship; it felt really natural for most of the book. It developed a bit too quickly (especially at the end), but I did like how quickly they ~physically~ got together. It was real! Plenty of people do that sooner rather than later, and I appreciated that truth. I looooved the book blogging and romance reader elements. Honestly, that was probably my favorite part. She felt a lot of the things that we all feel on a regular basis. I could relate to almost all of her blogging-related feelings and issues. Everything below that I didn’t like about the book is all in hindsight. I really enjoyed it while I was reading – for the most part – and it was super addicting. What didn’t work It was alllll smooth sailing until a bunch of angst and miscommunication piled up at the end. Seriously, the pacing was quite off. Before all of the miscommunication at the end, she would irritate me by asking him so many personal questions and not really answering any in return. He was an open book for her to prod at, […]

ARC Review: Illuminae

Posted October 14, 2015 / Book Reviews / 9 Comments

I feel weird calling myself a black sheep about a book I still gave four stars, but it seems like I definitely am. Everyone else who read this (especially the early reviews back when I read it in July) was literally blown away by how epic it was. Don’t get me wrong – it’s REALLY GOOD. Intense and interesting and crazy and unique. But for some reason it just didn’t have that same WOW factor that everyone else saw. Kady and Ezra broke up right before the book started, when their planet was invaded and they were taken onto different space shuttles. Honestly I’m still a little unclear about what happened and why, but it was crazy and bad I guess. It’s actually impossible to explain much about the plot of this though because (a) not much really happens, if you think about it, and (b) the major plot points are super spoilery. I REALLY LIKED THIS A LOT, I PROMISE. Like I said, there was just a bit of wow factor missing for me. I loved the drawings and the format: so many interesting things to read and look at. It made it pretty fast-paced and intriguing. You really never knew what the next page’s format was going to be. It’s totally unique and adds a lot to the story. I loved following the different chat conversations and official documents towards the beginning, and the format towards the end got fucking intense. I can’t even really pinpoint what parts […]

ARC Review: Everything, Everything

Posted September 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 15 Comments

I totally, totally loved this. Is it bad that I spent the entire time thinking about Bubble Boy though? I’m just glad the main character of this book was a little less (okay, a LOT less) weird than Bubble Boy. Otherwise, a looot of the elements were the same… I absolutely looove books that have emails and images and IM conversations… anything that has that sort of element is going to be a-okay in my book. This was so fast and easy to read, because of the aforementioned elements and the incredibly short chapters. Love me some short chapters. Aside from all that fun stuff, the writing was kind of gorgeous. “You can’t predict the future. It turns out that you can’t predict the past either. Time moves in both directions – forward and backward – and what happens here and now changes them both.” The story follows Madeline, a girl with SCID – it basically means she has to live in a bubble-type environment (her completely sterile house) so she doesn’t get sick and die quickly. Her mother and her nurse are the only people who see her… until she meets the new neighbor, Olly. Sigh. So cute. The two of them start talking right away and eventually the nurse sneaks him into the house. Their relationship was adorable and heartbreaking, because you wonder if/how it’ll ever work. I loved her nurse, Carla, because she was so supportive of Madeline in everything she did. Even more so than her […]

ARC Review: Even When You Lie to Me

Posted June 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

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: The One That Got Away

Posted May 28, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I’ve started to get really picky about how and when I buy books. I’ve been focusing on buying books that I’ve already read and loved, because I don’t like the idea of owning a book and not loving it. I don’t often buy books unless I think for sure that I’m going to love it or if its in a series I’ve been reading and I want all of them. ANYWAYS, this book had been teasing me at Target for a couple of different trips and I couldn’t resist picking up a copy. I’m obsessed with the cover, it had some great reviews, and it just seemed like a book I’d love. I’m so, so glad I bought a copy. The first line of this book immediately told me I’d love it: “Every woman has one. That name you Google at two o’clock in the morning. That intoxicating connection that somehow never solidified into anything real; that particular memory you still visit every now and then, for that guaranteed hit of pure, sugar-packed dopamine. It’s that story that starts with ‘There was this one time’ and ends, reluctantly, with ‘but I guess…’” I loved Sarina’s voice right away. I could tell that she was going to be funny and unique, and that she would make me love this book no matter what happened. Unlike some readers, I really wasn’t nervous about the relationship in the book. I don’t mind books where there’s cheating or falling in love with someone else […]

Review: All the Bright Places

Posted May 14, 2015 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments

Oh lord. How am I ever going to get through this review without crying? That’s the only thing I can think of right now. Usually I write my reviews less than 24 hours after finishing the book, but I just couldn’t do it that quickly for this one. I’m still barely ready to talk about it without tearing up. Not too much happened in the vast majority of the book, to be honest. I felt like it was slow but engrossing at the same time somehow. I couldn’t stop reading because I was desperate to see where the story went and what was going to happen with my little babies Violet and Finch. They were extremely interesting characters. Violet lost her sister in an accident and was trying to move on and leave for college, while Finch was always consumed by thoughts of death and how he might kill himself. It was really heavy most of the time, but they were pretty adorable as their relationship grew and time went on. Finch was kind of an enigma throughout the book. He had some mental health issues and it wasn’t totally clear what he was going through. I also felt SO BAD for Violet because she went through SO MUCH and she didn’t deserve it. I don’t know how to say it except that this book completely broke me. I was literally Tobias (below) for the last fifty pages straight. I couldn’t read through my tears and my boyfriend kept bringing me […]

The Jessica Darling Series Binge-Read

Posted May 8, 2015 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

I somehow missed the memo when I was younger to read the Jessica Darling series. I’m not sure why, because the synopsis sounds like something my young self would have been very excited to read. When I saw the whole series at my library, I randomly decided to get to it. I’ve been seriously lagging behind in my Series-A-Month challenge, so I thought these quick reads would be an awesome long one to get to. Instead of individually reviewing all five of these really old books, I figured I’d share my thoughts here on the series as a whole! THE GIST | Jessica essentially has an existential crisis when her best friend, Hope, moves away. She spends most of the book complaining and missing her. She’s left with “The Clueless Crew,” or three girls that she barely likes but continues to be friends with for some reason. She mostly just sits with them at lunch and doesn’t do much of anything else. I couldn’t stop reading this book and was pretty curious about where it was going to go, especially because not much happened plot-wise for a while. It took me a little too long to realize this was literally a diary. THE GOOD | MARCUS FLUTIE. I love him. I shipped it so hard for some reason. The end of the book made me incredibly anxious for the next one and I was pretty pissed that the library I finished the book in didn’t have the series. I had to […]

Review: Station Eleven

Posted April 22, 2015 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

I’m very glad that I reduced my Goodreads challenge as I was reading this one, because I certainly ended up taking my time with it. It’s one of those books, for me, where it takes me a lot of effort to actually pick it up and start reading. I was never really in the mood for it, but it was completely engrossing and interesting once I did pick it up. I had a similar experience with To Kill A Mockingbird, and I ended up loving that one by the time I finished. It’s just one of things where the book is kind of hard compared to what you usually read so you want to take your time with it. At least that’s how my experience was! I probably won’t be able to say too much on this one because it’s really quite hard to explain what this book is about and how I feel about it. I was convinced I was going to be the black sheep and almost DNF’ed it a few times, but those feelings passed once I really got going. I absolutely love books where the stories are all intertwining and the characters don’t really know it. In this case, the story spans over time (pre- and post-apocalypse) and covers numerous characters. The cast of characters was so interesting to me because the book was narrated from a third person omniscient point of view. You could get into anyone’s head and the chapters and sections of the book alternated around […]

ARC Review: When Joss Met Matt

Posted February 23, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Alright I am a big new adult fan lately, but this one definitely lends itself more towards the young adult side. Don’t get too excited about lots of graphic sexytimes, because it’s not gonna happen. This one is purely classified as new adult because of the age range. Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you how freakin cute this book was. I love Liz Czukas (here writing as Ellie Cahill) so I requested this one immediately when I saw it. It’s been sitting on my Kindle since October and I finally decided to dive in. I’m so glad I did because February is my big lame Valentines Day contemporary binge month, and this one fit right in. I absolutely loved the way this story was put together. It alternates between present day and some of their experiences during college. You essentially get to travel back in time throughout the various times they’ve called each other for some sorbet sex. It’s a bit unorthodox, though, to learn about all of their other relationships while you’re just kind of anxiously waiting for them to get together. It works for a lot of reasons, but mostly because you get to see how wrong everyone else is for them. It would have been cool to see Matt’s perspective throughout the book, but it definitely would have involved too much switching around (between people and timeframes). I found myself wishing it was from Matt’s POV a lot of the time because […]

Review: Meant To Be

Posted February 16, 2015 / Book Reviews / 9 Comments

I’m truly not sure how this book ever managed to slip past my radar. Morgan, my amazing Broke & Bookish Secret Santa, gifted this one to me with the recommendation that it was one of her favorites. It wasn’t on my wishlist but she had a feeling I’d like it. AND THIS, people, is why recs are the best. I knew from the literal first paragraph that this was going to be a “me” book. There are certain things in life that just suck. Pouring a big bowl of Lucky Charms before realizing the milk is expired, the word ‘moist,’ falling face-first into the salad bar in front of the entire lacrosse team… Now I will be honest, books with characters who are overly clumsy usually kind of annoy me. Like really, you couldn’t come up with anything better to describe this girl? You’re just gonna have her fall into things all the time? Well, in this book it just worked. It was a part of her charm, but Julia was characterized so much MORE than just being a klutz. She was a book nerd, super smart, funny, snarky… everything I want in a character. I actually saw a lot of myself in her. I want to roll my eyes, but I’m pretty soon they’re going to get stuck in the back of my head, and penis puns are really not worth my permanent facial damage. Let’s talk about the romance though. *happy sigh* I will read hate-to-love romances until the […]