Source: Publisher

ARC Review: We Should Hang Out Sometime

Posted December 24, 2014 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

I definitely wanted to like this one more, but I could tell from 7% in that this wasn’t the book for me. Honestly I didn’t want to finish it even that early. I guess I’m kind of glad that I did, because I read the book in two sittings in probably a two hour combined timespan. It was a quick read and that was fine. I unfortunately also watched one of his videos before starting this book, which kind of ruined things for me. He’s the kind of YouTube person that bugs me. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. What worked I like that this was told from an awkward guy’s perspective instead of a girl’s. It’s nice to know that, contrary to popular culture, guys get as weird and self-conscious about girls as girls do about guys. We’re programmed to think that they don’t. Contrary to many other people, I actually liked the ending of this book. The realizations he did make about himself made sense to me. I kind of saw it coming, but it works. I could see how that was true. I did laugh out loud three times, so that was cool. What didn’t work A lot of this felt like he was a guy who deserved a girlfriend or dates just because. He seemed to be a nice, good guy, so he was constantly questioning why he never had a real girlfriend. It’s a typical tale of a guy thinking that no […]

ARC Review: Trial By Fire

Posted October 3, 2014 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Oh god oh god this book!! Wow. Within the first chapter, I already knew I was going to love it. I was a bit nervous heading into it because I had just finished about two or three months of reading pretty much only contemporary romance. (A lot of lighter reads for the summer, ya know?) I was itching to get my hands on something a little heavier and paranormal, so this surprise book mail was delivered at exactly the right time. Lily, a girl who (in our world) is extremely sick and allergic to everything, has a seizure at a party one Friday night. She ends up being transported to a very different world that is also located in Salem, Mass. The alternate universe piece was REALLY freaking cool. Lily’s other self, Lillian, is an evil witch who has been killing her own people for some unknown reason that is supposed to help their world. The world-building in this book was just amazing. Realistically, this book was definitely an introduction to the rest of the series in terms of setting up this alternate universe. The reader slowly learned about witches, crucibles, the Woven, the Outlanders… it was so detailed and complex! Because of all of this world-building and setting the stage for the next books in the series, there was a little less action than I expected. They spent a lot of time laying low and figuring out what to do next while Lily uncovered her abilities. It was interesting, […]

ARC Review: Aspen

Posted August 6, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Review: This book was definitely not what I was expecting. Based on the synopsis, I thought I was going to get something more paranormal. I figured Katelyn’s ghost would be talking to Aspen and trying to live her senior year vicariously through Aspen, since she wouldn’t get the chance. In reality, Katelyn’s ghost would just appear as a figment of Aspen’s imagination until she came to terms with what she’d done. What a great read this book was! I loved all of the characters, the plot moved flawlessly, and it was wrapped up in a way better than I expected. Aspen was a totally normal girl: she had weird friends and hair she hated. She made mistakes. Her mother, the pot-smoking hippie with a boyfriends coming through a revolving door, was awesome. I was totally fascinated by their mother-daughter relationship, because it was pretty much the reverse of what it would normally be. My mom would never encourage me to have sex or say things like “a little sex would put a smile back on that face” and “orgasms make you live longer too.” It was a really cool dynamic that worked in some ways and need help in others. Her friends, Kim and Cass, totally loved each other but would never admit it. I was hoping for a little more about them when the book ended, but it didn’t bother me too much. Katelyn’s former best friend, Suzy, and boyfriend, Ben, are suddenly in Aspen’s life too. One thing that […]

ARC Review: Can’t Look Away

Posted August 4, 2014 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Review: This book definitely hit me harder than expected. Based on the synopsis, I could tell I was going to possibly get misty while reading this one. My sister is about the same age as Torrey’s sister in this book, so I had a feeling I would be projecting some of the traits of their relationship onto my own with my sister. Nonetheless, I was intrigued by the topic of this book. Beauty vloggers are a newer trend and something that I watch pretty frequently on YouTube. Comments and criticism run rampant online, because it’s so much easier to talk negatively about someone through a screen instead of face to face. When Torrey’s sister dies, some followers offer words of sympathy while others blame her for the circumstances of Miranda’s death. Torrey is forced to move with her family from Colorado to Texas because they all need a fresh start, but her online fame follows her to her new school. Throughout the book, Torrey reflects on memories of Miranda and wonders “if only” about every event from that fateful day. If only she hadn’t rushed her during breakfast; if only she hadn’t forced her to come with her at all; if only, if only. The guilt she was feeling throughout the majority of the book made me so sad for her and her family. When you read a story like this, you start to reflect on your own life. I would think of my little sister and start to regret the times I […]