Source: Borrowed

Mini ARC Reviews: The Adjustment, Secrets of a Reluctant Princess, and At First Blush

Posted April 10, 2017 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Like I did last week, I’m rounding up three ARC reviews for today! Sooo many March and April titles to catch up on… good lord! There’s a bit of a mixed bag, enjoyment-wise. Some of them were really great while others were… not so great. I hope you enjoy these slightly smaller reviews 😉 S H O R T & S W E E T A R C R E V I E W S Honestly guys, I have no idea how Suzanne Young does it. She is totally the master for crafting an incredibly interesting series, where each book is just as good (sometimes better) than the last. I really can’t fathom it. I’m not ready to leave the world of THE PROGRAM yet and thank god there’s one more book! This story happens after the Program has come and “gone” from the world. (I recommend reading these in published order instead of chronological order because it keeps the suspense going!) There’s a new thing called the Adjustment, which allows for someone’s memories to be essentially implanted in another person. Tatum and her boyfriend Wes end up giving it a try. He comes back from the Program and doesn’t remember how much they loved each other before, so they start working with the Adjustment because he starts to get feelings for her again. Of course, there are plenty of problems and mysteries to work through. These books are a wild ride. I have to say that I did […]

ARC Review: Fireworks

Posted April 7, 2017 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

Initial Excitement 99 DAYS is one of my favorite books, so I was eagerly anticipating the next story by Cotugno. (I still haven’t read HOW TO LOVE because pregnancies/babies in YA books isn’t my jam, but I will read it this year I hope!) I was such a huge fan of boy and girl bands back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, so this book was pushed up my TBR even further. I was ready to feel nostalgic and bask in the popstar goodness. Quick Summary Dana and Olivia are lifelong friends who suddenly earn the chance to be famous popstars. Olivia had been training for this her whole life by singing, starring in plays, and taking lessons. Dana, on the other hand, just went along to keep Olivia company for the audition in Orlando. She ends up being forced to audition and somehow makes it into the band. The girls hit rough patches in their friendship, find love, and try to get used to a new lifestyle. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels I was jazzed up about reading a “historical” book set in the 1990’s. I grew up during that time and haven’t really read any books set during it (aside from books written during that period!). I have to admit that I totally wish there were more 90’s feels. I appreciated the references to music of that time period (Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, TLC, etc.) but it really didn’t FEEL like it was set during a different period. I think this […]

ARC Review: Alex, Approximately

Posted March 27, 2017 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

Initial Excitement I was WAY too excited about this book and the amazing Nick sent it to me to enjoy early. I absolutely loved Bennett’s YA contemporary debut and had been eagerly waiting for her sophomore novel for a long time. I just knew I was going to love it based on the premise, early reviews, and my love for banter/hate-to-love romance. So many of the best ingredients for a Lauren book. Quick Summary Bailey has been talking to “Alex” on a film site for a while, going by the username “Mink.” He lives in the same town as her father, oddly enough, and he’s been asking her to come visit for a film festival that summer. Little does he know, Bailey has just moved in with her father and is waiting to make sure Alex isn’t some crazed serial killer before they decide to meet up. She’s quickly distracted by Porter, a hot and rude-but-funny coworker at the coolest museum ever, and new friend/coworker, Grace. Her and Alex’s conversations taper off as she gets closer to Porter. Little does SHE know, Porter is actually Alex. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Oh man SO MANY THINGS. First of all, the story. I love the idea of them knowing each other without realizing who it is. It created so much fun tension for the reader and I kept wondering when they were going to figure it out. It did get a bit frustrating toward the end, but I loved watching them get to […]

Review Roundup | PS I Like You, The Forgetting, Kiss Cam, and Reunion

Posted March 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 6 Comments

Before the regularly scheduled programming… Happy International Women’s Day! In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 backlist books I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I think you’re aware of the fact that I tend to hoard my favorite authors’ books so I always have at least one to read when I REALLY need it. Kasie West is one of those authors. Sometimes I just need to read her words because I know she won’t let me down. For PS I LIKE YOU, my sister had been hounding me to read it and lent me her copy. I went ahead and got the audiobook from Hoopla to crank it out and MAN do I love Kasie West still. I read it just as BY YOUR SIDE was coming out and I was borrowing LUCKY IN LOVE from a friend. So, it was safe to read this one finally ? The story was cute, albeit incredibly predictable. I don’t mind the formulaic nature of many YA books because it’s comforting to get that HEA at the end. I knew who the secret pen pal was literally within the first chapter or two of the book and the rest of the story was equally predictable from there. I know my romance tolerance is lower than usual, so I tried to not let it sway my opinion of this fluffy book by a favorite author. There was […]

Review: Sometimes We Tell The Truth

Posted January 19, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement I’ve been yelling about this book for a while. The Canterbury Tales is one of my all-time favorite classics. I love the book’s setup, how each character told a story that was some kind of lesson about what was currently happening at the time. I was hoping that this book would be a close retelling and use many of the same elements in each individual story. Andi let me borrow her copy because she’s the best, and I didn’t waste much time before starting! Quick Summary As I mentioned, this is a YA retelling and modernization of The Canterbury Tales. The teacher on the bus decides to make the kids tell fictional stories and whoever tells the best one gets an A in his class. Each student was pretty quick-thinking, which impressed me. I would have stood there like a moron with no story at all. I was curious to see how closely the book would relate. Would the setup be the same, but not the individual stories? Or would the author modernize each individual story from the Tales and spread them around to the kids? Well, from what I could tell, it was the latter… and I loved that! The first few stories were obvious, direct correlations to the originals. Even the in-between segues, prologues, and interruptions were the same. After finishing the book and reading the Afterword, the author explained all of the tales and how each kid correlated to them. I wish I flipped to the back to see the […]

ARC Review: The Sun is Also a Star

Posted October 24, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Initial Excitement Any book involving fate or destiny in some capacity will immediately make it onto my TBR. Of course, any book by Nicola Yoon was also going to make it onto my TBR right away as well. I loved her debut so incredibly much and remember blazing through it in one afternoon. She became an auto-read author after just one book. So, needless to say, I had high hopes and expectations for this book… and it didn’t let me down! Summary in a Second Natasha’s family is on the verge of being deported back to Jamaica. Daniel is headed to a Yale admissions interview because his Korean parents are forcing him down that particular path. The two meet by chance (or perhaps by fate) and spend a whirlwind day together in New York City. The story has countless instances where destiny brought them together; if certain things didn’t happen or happened a few minutes later, their paths never would have crossed. This is something I’m always interested in, but the concept usually is found in my favorite parallel life/universe books instead of straight contemporary stories. Storytelling & Setting The story alternates between Natasha, Daniel, and other people and concepts they come across. I loved reading random chapters here and there from other people involved, like the lawyer or their parents. There were even some chapters that were just about certain things, like African American hair care or scientific concepts. It all just worked together so seamlessly. I’ll be so sad if […]

ARC Review: Gemina

Posted October 10, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Initial Excitement Unlike most people, I wasn’t utterly blown away by ILLUMINAE. I definitely REALLY enjoyed it and gave it four stars, but it wasn’t perfect like it was for so many other people. I was pretty excited for GEMINA when I saw some early reviews roll in and the lovely Wendy let me borrow her copy. Summary in a Second This book is a companion to ILLUMINAE and seems to take place right after the events of the first book. There are different main characters, which was sad at first but got much better. GEMINA follows Hanna, the attractive daughter of the ship’s captain, and Nik, a criminal from a criminal family doing criminal things a lot of the time. Their ship (Hypatia) is the next victim of BeiTech’s siege of all the ships and space things I don’t know how to describe. Storytelling & Setting Like ILLUMINAE, this book is told through various documents, files, IM chats, radio transmissions, and video camera footage (transcribed). Because I read an ARC, there were some final drawings and pictures missing from the book but it didn’t make much of a difference for the actual story itself. The space setting is really fun because it pulls me right out of my comfort zone. I don’t do a lot of sci-fi because I get confused, and honestly this series is no exception, but I just enjoy these more because of the format. The actual plot for this book was incredibly engaging. It featured […]

ARC Review: Cherry

Posted September 22, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Initial Excitement I was sooooo excited for this book when I saw the premise. American Pie for girls? RIGHT up my alley. Of course the lovely Andi let me borrow her copy and I embarked on it pretty quickly. I love stories with sex-positive themes, and this book was literally nothing but sex-positivity throughout. The entire theme of the book! Summary in a Second Four best friends – Layla, Emma, Zoe, and Alex – form a sex pact to lose their virginities by the time they graduate high school. They’ve got less than 200 days to do it and the book counts down with each chapter. The girls have different relationship statuses at the time and their stories unfold in very different ways. I loved seeing the various types of relationships, situations, and feelings regarding losing your virginity. Storytelling & Setting The story was told from each girl’s perspective but in 3rd person. It was hard to really get close to them even though we were kind of in their head a little bit? In any case, I liked getting all of their perspectives because they each had different approaches to losing their virginity. Each had a completely different experience as they all started losing it too. The story was pretty much 80% about sex and the other 20% was them talking about their friendship and moving on after graduation. I would definitely say romance/relationships weren’t even at the forefront necessarily. I loved that because each girl had a different experience, there […]

Reviews: Love Like Crazy and Hollywood is Like High School with Money

Posted December 20, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

I saw this book pop up on Amazon when I wasn’t sure what to read and decided to use the Prime eBook borrowing feature. I didn’t look at the Goodreads page or ratings or anything – I just jumped in and started the book. I’ve been wanting to challenge myself to do more of that kind of thing. I follow GR and my fellow bloggers a bit too much sometimes. Did my little risk pay off? Not really. I’ve never read a book with such inconsistent dialogue. One minute, I’m rolling my eyes at the cheesiness. The next, I’m swooning or laughing or smiling to myself. I don’t know how it’s possible. It’s like half of the book is trying too hard to be John green, and the other half is perfect at being itself. I was able to handle it for most of the book, but towards the end it really started to wear on me. One of the biggest things that bugged me was the instalove. I don’t use that term as often as some, but this was instalove in the purest form. They knew each other for about a day or two when Eppie was thinking she wanted to spend forever with Lincoln. Like, that’s a bit quick for me. The cheese factor started too early as a result of that. Things like “every inch of you is artwork” don’t make me swoon; they make me roll my eyes. When her friend Sam starts seeing Dan, Lincoln’s friend […]

Review: The Isle of the Lost

Posted December 9, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

It feels kind of stupid to point out that this book feels very young, considering it skews towards Middle Grade. Goodreads does list both YA and MG as categories for it though. Be that as it may, this book feels very young. I borrowed the book from my 13 year old sister, so that should give you a solid indication of the best audience (she loved it). I couldn’t resist borrowing it from her though, because hello? Disney villains! The premise of this story is just so appealing to Disney lovers. It sat on my shelf for a number of months before I was compelled to read it. I started with the physical copy from her but realized it didn’t really hold my attention in that format. I got the audio from Scribd and decided to truck along, using both formats (until Winter was released and I switched to just audio). Speaking of the audio, the narrator was the worst. Sofia Carson is an actor in the Descendants movie (which is essentially the “second book” in this series, I guess). She narrated the book as if she was over-acting in a Disney movie. So. Yeah. Not fun. The plot was pretty slow as far as pacing is concerned. Most of the action was at the end, and even then… it was anticlimactic. It read like a prequel novella and not a story that was needed on its own. I did like it OVERALL even though I have more complaints than […]