Source: Gift

Review: I’ll Meet You There

Posted August 19, 2015 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments

Man, what a book. I was a bit hesitant in a general sense for this book – despite all of the hype and excitement everyone else felt for it – just because it didn’t sound like a ME book at all. It seemed like a grittier contemporary with PTSD, poverty – you name it. For some reason books involving the military don’t work for me. However, this book definitely exceeded my personal expectations and I ended up liking it a lot more than expected. I loved that the issues explored within this book really aren’t seen much in other stories. Sky and Josh are from a really poor town called Creek View, where Sky lives in a trailer park with her mom. She works at a little motel that rarely gets visitors and her mom just got let go from Taco Bell. Sky’s dad died in a drunk driving accident. Josh returned from Afghanistan and is down to only one leg. He has nightmares and flashbacks; he’s not the same person he was when he left. See? Lots of things I’m generally not used to seeing or reading about – from socioeconomic status to trailer parks to PTSD. I really liked the small town of Creek View. It reminded me of my hometown in a FEW ways. I can’t lie – my hometown was definitely more towards the upper middle class… but it was very small and everyone knew each other. The setting of the Paradise Motel was pretty amazing […]

Review: Three Day Summer

Posted August 8, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I LOVE WOODSTOCK. I love music from the 60’s and 70’s more than any other time period so I knew I was going to at least love that element of this book. I even wrote a research paper on Woodstock back in high school, because obviously it’s the best time period in history. Can we get more books set in this time? Thanks. I thought the atmosphere felt really well-done and representative of the time. I’ve seen countless Woodstock movies and read articles, so I feel like it was definitely historically accurate. I actually believed that these two characters could have been real concertgoers at Woodstock. The MUSIC was perfect. If I had a time machine……. Every time they referenced Janis Joplin or Roger Daltry or the “new guy” Santana, I squealed a little bit. And of course the biggest event of all: Jimi Hendrix. Goosebumps, dude. Cora, a nurse volunteering at the event, and Michael, a hippie concert attendee, hit it off right away. They were interesting characters that came from different backgrounds but were struggling with similar things – primarily their future. Could Cora become a doctor? And what the hell was Michael going to be when he grew up? The two of them were perfect characters to meet and explore the concert together, and again – very representative of the time. I feel like it would have been nice to get to know Michael a bit more. I think Cora was more fleshed out, including her family […]

Review: Racing Savannah

Posted July 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Maybe I gave myself a little series burnout (since this is the third book I read in a row) and I just wasn’t as excited to read it or invested in the characters. I may not like books about religion, but I apparently (not surprisingly) also don’t like books about horses. I couldn’t get myself to care much about them or the racing aspects, which did take up a lot of time within the book. It took me a little while to get into the story because for some reason it just felt different than her other books. I don’t know how to explain it. Aside from the horses, there was quite a bit of romance here. It was a forbidden love kind of story, where Savannah works for Jack’s family in the horse barn and lives in their “staff quarters” with the rest of her family. Jack is trying to prove that he can run the business successfully and needs to impress his father, so naturally there’s some conflict surrounding their relationship and keeping it hidden. Jack seemed like a decent guy but I really didn’t feel much for him or them. I wasn’t swooning or shipping them, to be honest. Maybe cowboys just don’t do it for me or something. Thinking of him tipping his cowboy hat at her just seemed cheesy instead of cute. That’s probably just me, though. My favorite part of this book was the group of friends that Savannah joins. Vanessa and Rory, in […]

Review: Things I Can’t Forget

Posted July 2, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

This was not an easy book for me to read. You’d never guess that, considering I read it all in one night. Because of Kenneally’s writing and my love for the rest of this series, I’m really tempted to bump my rating up… but I just can’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I read the book and got to see some of my favorite people again (Parker and Will, obvs). The events in this series kind of roll into each other for the rest of the books, so it’s awesome catching glimpses of people like JEREMIAH who I already know is going to be PERFECT in Breathe, Annie, Breathe. I don’t think you have to read this series in order (obviously I didn’t for the most part) but it really helps in that aspect. Anyway, again I’ll probably be divisive in my thoughts on this. It seems like most people really enjoyed this book. It was hard for me to let myself enjoy it because of the main character and her beliefs. I like to think I’m an understanding person that can respect others’ opinions, but that doesn’t mean I WANT to hear about some of them for 320 pages. I really can’t do it. I’m surprised I was able to push by some of that and eventually grow to (kind of) like Kate. Kate has always been the epitome of a good girl. She’s been kissed once, never EVER does anything bad, goes to church, and […]

Book Buddies Review: The Program

Posted May 27, 2015 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 2 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 Kaitlin’s blog! (Link at the bottom) View Kaitlin’s part of the discussion here. Some spoilers ahead! A lot of dystopia books seem to offer some kind of warning or moral about today’s society. Do you think this society, with The Program and the suicide epidemic, could happen in our world? Kaitlin: This is a question I tend to ask often about the society when reading a dystopian book. Honestly, yes I do think that this could be a possible outcome of our society in the future. Suicide and depression is what I believe to be a national issue that is in our society. People killing themselves due to bullying, mistakes, a mental disorder, etc. There are things like therapy but does that seriously help? Obviously, therapy and other things won’t prevent all suicide, With technology advancing more and more, the pills people took during the Program could be invented. It really intrigues me as well because in this book, it seems that the people that are causing depression […]

Review: Only Everything

Posted March 16, 2015 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I really love the whole set-up of and idea behind this series. Eros, who chooses the human name of True, is Cupid up on Mount Olympus. She falls in love with Orion, who is a god-turned-mortal. Zeus finds out and gets pretty pissed, so he sends her down to earth without her powers and with a mission: she’s supposed to pair up three couples before she can come back home and hopefully save Orion. This is a trilogy, so she pairs up one couple per book. I was initially annoyed that the book had three points of view, but I think it ends up working. Because True has to pair up a couple, it does hear what’s going on in all three people’s heads. All three characters were equally important to moving the plot forward and had their own sets of issues. The three characters had distinct voices and experiences, so it was definitely easy to keep them straight. Katrina’s father died in an accident (which she hasn’t fully come to terms with yet), she has a horrible boyfriend, and her mother doesn’t pay her any attention. Charlie is trying to make friends at school because he’s moved around so much and does everything to try to please his father. True obviously has her own issues because of Orion, getting used to life on earth, and not having her powers to help her make matches. It was funny to see True getting used to life on earth; she didn’t understand basic common […]

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 […]

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 […]

Review: The DUFF

Posted February 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

OH MAN. This makes the second book by Kody Keplinger that I read in basically one sitting over the course of one day. I kept trying to put it down and go to sleep but I just couldn’t. Her stories just grab me in a way that makes me want to keep reading and reading until I reach the end. It’s basically a contemporary romance with the addiction level of a mystery/thriller. I had this book on my radar for a while, even before I heard there was going to be a movie. My dad got it for me for Christmas and I’ve been anxious to get started ever since. The Read The Duff Read-a-long motivated me to get my butt in gear after finishing up a few review books. BUT I DIGRESS. I seriously loved this book. I’m not surprised. It has everything I generally enjoy reading in a YA romance book: the banter, love-hate relationship, realistic main character, perfect writing and pacing, great friendships, family relationship building… the list goes on. I’ve found both books I’ve read by Keplinger to include all of these elements, which is why she is my queen. She just has an addicting writing style and compulsively readable storylines. Bianca is given the name “Duff” by the school’s playboy, Wesley. When he comes up to her and calls her that, she throws her Coke in his face. He wants to use her to get close to her friends. The nickname sticks with her for a long […]

Review: Gone Girl

Posted August 1, 2014 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

Review: Holy shit you guys. Holy shit. I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book. Finally, after the urging of two of my friends, who demanded I read it immediately, I decided to pick up one of the books that’s been sitting on my shelf since Christmas. I can’t even believe how addicting, twisty, and just fucking insane that this book was. Each chapter made me gasp or whisper “holy shit” to myself. That’s barely an exaggeration; I feel like something crazy happened every effing chapter. This book will have you convinced that someone killed her (primarily Nick) and then the next chapter you don’t know what to believe. The first sentence/paragraph/entire chapter of Part 2 absolutely blew my mind. I try not to bother my boyfriend with an entire plot summary of every book I read, but every once in a while I feel the need to update him constantly about what’s happening and interrupt his video game. This was one of those books. I’m so glad one of the friends who forced me to read this book is in the same office as me because I would just yell out to her all day long. Jesus. I feel like my head is still spinning but I need to get this review out now before I forget all of the crazy emotions I feel. Anyways, the characters in this book were fucking crazy. Amy’s diary entries and Nick’s daily activities/thoughts really blew my mind. When […]