Author: Chelsea (Page 66 of 111)

BOOK REVIEW: Crushed (Redemption #2) by Lauren Layne

January 30, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Crushed (Redemption #2)
by Lauren Layne
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Lauren Layne’s latest novel about the healing power of redemption tells the story of a crush gone wickedly wrong, proving that what you want isn’t always what you need.

Growing up in New York, Michael St. Claire never expected to spend his twenties wearing cowboy boots. But that was before he learned about his real father, a total stranger with a family in Cedar Grove, Texas. Once in the Lone Star State, Michael meets Kristin Bellamy, who is exquisitely refined and everything Michael always thought he wanted in a woman. The only problem is that Kristin is dating Michael’s new half brother, Devon.

Kristin’s mouthy, curvy sister Chloe has always been in love with Devon Patterson. So when Michael offers to help Chloe break up Devon and Kristin, Chloe agrees to a deal that seems too good to be true. Before long, Chloe finally gets her man, only to make a startling discovery: She no longer wants the guy she had to fight for—she wants the one who stood by her side.

After all he and Chloe have been through, Michael swears he’s damaged goods. Can Chloe convince him that love is worth the risk?

♥ Buddy read with my wonderful Star-Crossed Ladies-Anna Banana and Jen ♥
**Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

*4.5 Stars*

It’s been six months since I betrayed my best friend.
Six months since I walked away from her. No. Since she walked away from me.
But more than that…more than any of that…
It’s been six months since I’ve bothered to care.
About anything.

Let me just come clean, as I do whenever I read one of this author’s books-I am in love with this author. She is my rainy day, bad mood, giggle-fest, any mood author. So, while I am actually a very fair rater and reviewer, I still have warm feelings towards every single one of her books, even the one that I didn’t rate a 5 *gasp*. I did have things I do wish would have been different-just minor, baby things. But nothing deterred my mood once. Not. Once. There wasn’t a moment I wasn’t on cloud nine as I read this story and no page was turned without me being all fangirly. So, yeah, that’s right-I’m a Lauren Layne fan girl-DEAL WITH IT. And proceed with caution.

“Beefcake!” Again with one of those dopey, guileless smiles.
She plops down at one of the few vacant spots at the bar, and unlike the usual solo girls that daintily perch themselves on the stools, there’s no glancing around to see who’s noticed her arrival. No careful positioning to ensure her posture’s just right to show off her best side. She’s just there…and happy.
So annoying.

It’s so hard for me to say or admit to a favorite Lauren Layne series as a whole, but I am going to have to level with you guys-This is probably the series I get the most excited about. It’s the series I go out of my way to stalk netgalley for and it’s the series that I have fallen the most deeply in love with. I just connected with it on a visceral level and it touched me so deeply. Each guy and each girl holds a special place in my heart for very different reasons, but it all comes down to this: Every single person in this series is a tortured soul…..and I must say, masochist that I am, it’s the reason I think I fell so hard for the Redemption series. Ethan, the guy who’s girl cheated on him with his best friend. Stephanie, the girl who was ALSO cheated on and helped Ethan realize he didn’t need to impress anyone but the girl he wants to spend his life with. And then Olivia. The cheater. The one that broke her long time relationship with THEIR best friend. The one who went to Maine to help atone for her sins with a scarred ex marine….PAUL. Omg I LOVE PAUL. The asshole marine who didn’t think anyone could love him because of his scars and surly, asshole attitude. He brought Olivia out of her deep depression, and she him, and they became happy again-TOGETHER. And then our dear, Michael. The. Best. Friend. The one who technically lost two loves-his best friend and the girl who he had been in love with, secretly, for ten years. These are our three main characters that had problems throughout the series…but this story is about the one who royally fucked up their little trio and set them all on a path out of their comfort zones.

“You’re an idiot,” I say gruffly. It’s not what I mean to say. I don’t know what I mean to say. I just can’t stand the thought of this cheerful, good person going through what I went through.
Instead of being offended, she laughs. “Good pep talk, Beefcake.”
She laughs again, and it’s genuine and bold, and suddenly it hits me: Chloe Bellamy deserves better. She deserves better than what I got.

I must say, I fell hard for Mr. Asshole With A Horrible ‘Tude. I didn’t know how I’d feel about him, really, but the minute he opened his not-so-talkative mouth, I was smiling ear to ear and knew he’d be a tough one to crack. Just like I like ’em. He’s had more problems than just cheating with his best friend’s girl. When family is involved, it’s even worse. So, to say he is tortured is mild. But then this totally snarky chick starts to call him out, pull him into an area of his life he’s not accustomed to, and he starts to come out of his shell….a little. He lusts after the stick figures with perfect hair and toned bods, but he starts to connect with the sister (of his client) who is curvaceous, loud, and has untamed hair. What starts out as an agreement to help her becomes an understanding, becomes a partnership, makes them become….friends. He can’t believe, after months of seclusion and brooding, that his one true friend is this girl who won’t ever shut up and who constantly gropes and teases him.

Well, would ya look at that? I didn’t even try to cop a feel.
Progress. Definitely progress.

Lauren Layne is officially a weekend-only author. Her books are too good to destroy during a work week and I really screwed up with this one. Every time I started to get truly immersed in my reading or get to a super juicy part, I would start to get dizzy because I was forcing myself to stay up late….it hinders my reading experience and I hate that I felt that way this time-SO NEVER AGAIN WILL THIS HAPPEN. But that just proves my point on how good this was-I still got through it and loved every little bit…albeit a little bit hazily and strained because I was literally about to pass out from exhaustion.

That’ll help distract me from the real reason I asked if he wanted to go to dinner.
Because he’d looked lonely.
Or the real real reason.
Because I’m lonely, too.

Here’s another reason I love the Redemption series: It has formulas, sure, but omg they are the most FANTASTIC formulas. They all have grand gestures (and she doesn’t try to hide that every one of the stories ends with a grand gesture-she embraces it and literally says it multiple times in the story-it’s brilliant!! And so so cute) and ways to get the girl back and I absolutely ADORE that aspect. And it’s INDIVIDUAL TO THIS SERIES. She doesn’t use the same theme in any of her other stories, at least not so openly, and I LOVE going big to get the girl. I cannot believe LL kept up this theme from book one until this fantastic finale to wrap up all of these wonderful characters’ lives. It was just all so perfect.

“Um, I’ve seen the way you talk about your car. I’d be too scared to eat snacks in there.”
“Snacks?”
“It’s a three-hour drive,” she says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.
I glance back and see a cooler and a paper bag with Lay’s potato chips perched on top. I can just imagine what other junk-food monstrosities lay beneath.
“Three hours,” I repeat.
“Lots of time to get to know each other, Beefcake.”
“Nope.”
She grins and pats my leg. “Okay, no problem. How do you feel about Broadway tunes?”

And the thing is, LL doesn’t forget her roots. At one point, it literally quotes: “Yeah….She’s really lovely.”-which is an homage to book one Isn’t She Lovely.-it was said in the same dry way that Ethan said it in book one about Stephanie (The person above, coincidentally, was also talking about the firecracker, Stephanie) and it was just so funny and exactly as it should have been. It made me goon like a loser to see that idea resurface and it brought back so many wonderful memories-I fell in love with book one the minute I started it.

“Really.” My voice is sarcastic.
“Do you love her?”
If the room was quiet before, it goes downright soundless now. At least until Stephanie steps on a chip. “Shit. Damn it.” She crouches down to pick up the pieces. “Mikey, you got a vacuum?”
Olivia tries to hide a smile, and Ethan looks to the floor in exasperation. “Such a lady, this one.”
“Yeah. She’s really lovely,” Paul says, stepping out of the way when Stephanie bats at his leg to get the rest of the crumbs.

Is it weird that I not only got butterflies from the romance but also from this age-old, damaged bro-mance?? BECAUSE IT TOTALLY HAPPENED. Ethan and Michael…just omg it was too much. Odd of me, but true, nonetheless.

With Michael, it’s a little bit different. He’s a project invite, yes.
But he’s also the first of my projects that feels a little bit like…a friend.
Not that I’d ever tell him that. The guy’s about 84 percent scowl, and I think words like friendship would up that percentage to 90-something.

I did want a little more from the ending-that’s the only reason I took .5 away. I just wanted it to be a bigger deal than it was…but that wouldn’t have fit Michael and Chloe’s style, so ugh, anyway. And I also think this stems from me loving Broken (book two) so much. I couldn’t let it go, it was perfect and amazing and I was an utter addict for Broken.…And I’d even venture to say I loved Isn’t She Lovely about as highly as Broken, if not a little less-I dunno, it’s a beautiful Lauren Layne blur-but that doesn’t make this book any less great. I loved and obsessed over the moment I could get back to this story and I adored our brooding, mercurial Michael-I’d never discount my love for this book and this amazing series. But I did want to draw attention to the fact that the prior two were absolute favorites-maybe because they were my first two by this author and they hold a special place in my heart.

“Fine what?” He asks
“I mean fine, I’ll stick my tongue in Scott’s mouth and play with his hair while I let him pet my boob.”
I start to walk away, but Michael’s laugh stops me. Both because it’s a rare noise, and because I’m not sure what the funny part was.
“Chloe, I don’t know how you do it, but you just managed to take the sexy out of the idea of making out.”

So, wow, this is way too long…..but still not long enough. It’s so rare I enjoy a NA book this much. It just is. So when I pick up a book I know I’ll love, I guess I feel the need to express how much others could love it, as well. I won’t even get started on all the other books she’s written and the wonderful, successful, HOT AS SIN male leads that have me wishing I could make them real every day, but just know, she creates some of the most addicting characters ever. I am still tangled in all of their webs….I have been from the beginning. But this series holds a place deep in my heart, and I will likely re-read all three books over and over again until I have them all memorized. It’s a series about three best friends who found their way back to one another….it’s so poetic. And I wouldn’t have ended it any other way.

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers) & iBooks (click on titles) *Each book can be read as a standalone, but best enjoyed in order.*
Isn't She Lovely Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Broken Reviews: Chelsea	Crushed Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna

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EEEEP!!! I GOT THE ARC!!! WILL BE READING NEXT WEEK-NO MORE WAITING!!!! ♥ ♥

Aaaahhhhh…I need this…badly.

Can I have it?? Pleeassee?? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

BOOK REVIEW: Firefight (Reckoners #2)

January 28, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Firefight (Reckoners #2)
by Brandon Sanderson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
From the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author of Words of Radiance coauthor of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson presents the second book in the Reckoners series: Firefight, the sequel to the #1 bestseller Steelheart.

They told David it was impossible--that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet, Steelheart--invincible, immortal, unconquerable--is dead. And he died by David's hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life more simple. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And there's no one in Newcago who can give him the answers he needs.

Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David's willing to risk it. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David's heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic--Firefight. And he's willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

This time, when she’d pointed it at me, she’d flicked the safety on. If that wasn’t true love, I don’t know what was.

Oh sparks, that was good. Like….exceeding my expectations good. Second books in a series sometimes fall flat-no, scratch that-they almost always fall flat. It’s hard to make that huge connection between the first book we all fell in love with and then make it flow seamlessly to the big bang of a conclusion in book three. Or…well, er, I can’t confirm if this is a trilogy. A little help, guys? Anyway, my point, which I was getting to, is that it’s hard to make every little book live up to our massive expectations, especially a second book. I must say, though, that I am in love with this series, and getting a second look into the inner workings of David’s mind only made me love him more, and I can’t see how anyone didn’t fall for his quirkiness in this one.

She gave me a kind of apologetic grimace and shrugged.
“Well, trust me,” I said. “I’m more intense than I look. I’m intense like a lion is orange.”
“So, like…medium intense? Since a lion is kind of a tannish color?”

As with all second books, there are things for me to spoil from book one, so if you haven’t read the first and plan on doing so, proceed with caution. The Reckoners have taken out the high epic, Steelheart, and David’s thirst for revenge has been satisfied. But after achieving your greatest goal….then what?? Are you empty? Hollow? Do you have a direction to go now that you’ve invested your whole life into one thing that has finally been achieved?

The answer was beginning to settle on me like a dinosaur upon its nest. My life wasn’t just about one city, or one Epic, anymore. It was about a war. It was about finding a way to stop the Epics.
Permanently.

And see, this is why I am in love with David. He is literally just soooo…..optimistic. He may have avenged his father’s death, but he isn’t bloodthirsty for more. He doesn’t NEED to continue ridding the world of evil epics…he just does it now because he is part of the Reckoners and, of course, it helps to make the world a better place. But he is starting to doubt his whole life’s passion-what if, and this is a HUGE if, what if not all epics are bad? What if his father’s belief is finally coming to life? What if there are finally some good epics who can help stop those who are corrupt?

In the bank nearly eleven years ago, I’d cowered in fear when my father fought. He’d died.
Better to drown. I gathered up all of the emotions I felt at looking into the depths-the terror, the foreboding, the primal panic-and held them in hand. Then crushed them.

At the end of book one, the huge twist was that Megan was Firefight. Crazy. Amazing. SO unexpected. And so….not what he has been taught and learned through years of research. She had infiltrated the Reckoners, the very people designed to kill PEOPLE LIKE HER, and she hadn’t made a move on them. See, when she doesn’t use her powers, she doesn’t feel that itch to kill, to make people around her suffer, and it makes her seem like she could almost be normal-and I feel like this was such a large theme in this book-fighting to be the best you can be.

I knelt in the inferno of hell itself, the world dying around me, and knew I had failed.

Prof, as we learned at the end of book one, as well, is also an epic. He RARELY uses his powers because it takes him to a dark place and he becomes the evil he seeks to rid the world of. So, when David pleads that Megan, who has fled, is changing and not using her powers, Prof isn’t having it. After all, he’s an epic so only he knows what it’s like to have the darkness creep in and consume your soul. See the problem? One is hopeful, optimistic, believing there are still good epics in the world, while one ACTUALLY IS AN EPIC and thinks he knows the inevitability of being cursed by Calamity.

I settled down, sitting on the bed beside her. The tension in her voice, that look in her eyes. “Is it working?” I asked. “Do you feel like murdering people indiscriminately?”
“I always feel like murdering you. If only just a little.”

But by far my favorite thing about this series is, and I think Kat is FINALLY ON BOARD (toot toot), the relationSHIP between Megan and David. I was a mess. I was excited. I was girly and giggly and smiley as all get out…all because I adore them. I love seeing how David would defend her NO MATTER WHAT, even when the most horrific things are being said, even when everyone would turn on him in a second because of it, and even when he doubts her motives. GOD I fell so hard for him in this book. As if I needed another reason to love a series like this: Peril, action, friendship, missions, peril, love….Jesus I’m about to combust over here. But, through it all, here it is in a nutshell and why I FELL EVEN HARDER for them, Megan is completely and utterly into David. Oh yeah. It’s happened. She is officially a David fanboy, just like me-no matter how much she fights it.

She cocked her head. “Did you just invite me on a date…to spy on a deadly Epic planning to destroy the city?”
“Well, I don’t have a lot of experience with dating, but I’ve always heard you’re supposed to pick something you know the girl will enjoy…”
She smiled. “Well, let’s get to it then.”

So, to save you all more David-ness, I’ll say one last thing to wrap up my swirling emotions of fangirling-He’s like that person that is always smiling. The one you want to punch because literally nothing gets them down (okay, maybe I’M a bit evil). His happiness is infectious and his metaphors are adorable-he is always trying to do something more, and I think that’s why I love him-he literally NEVER gives up. That is all.

“We need to talk,” she said. “And you were ignoring me.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you. Things have just been very busy.”
“Busy looking at women’s backsides.”
“I wasn’t…Wait.” It hit me and I smiled. “You sound jealous!”
“Don’t be a buffoon.”
“No,” I said. “You were jealous.” I found I couldn’t stop grinning.
Megan seemed confused. “Normally, that’s not something people smile about.”
“It means you care,” I said.
“Oh please.”
Time to say something suave. Something romantic. My brain, which had been working a few steps behind all day, finally came to my rescue. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’d rather ogle you any day.”
Wait.

I can’t say I love Brandon Sanderson yet, because I feel like a newbie who has only just begun to stick her toes in the water of experimentation, but I feel like he and I are about to become the best of friends. I ADORE this series. I ADORE the characters. I ADORE the situations he puts them through….I think I just wanted a little more. I wanted him to push the envelope on a couple things and he pulled back at the last second and that’s why I deducted half a star. The action was almost as perfect as the first, but didn’t quite get there, for me. So, while the romance was PERFECT in this one, I wanted him to rock out on the action…and it just was missing a little something. I cannot believe I have to wait until 2016…SPRING 2016…it might kill me. But maybe I’ll start filling my time with a little more Sanderson. Sounds like a plan to me.

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Buddy read with Kat!!!

BOOK REVIEW: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

January 21, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

This remarkable debut is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Francesca Lia Block. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

“The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”

AAAAAAH! My first review since…like…ever!!! I have MISSED REVIEWING!! Well, I’m finally back and I am so glad I chose this book to revive me in the reading world. It was just light enough, just angsty enough, just just just what I needed. I needed a shock to my system. It’s like this totally angsty book brought me back to life, a tad. Not to say I didn’t have a wonderful honeymoon and all that jazz, but…well….books. I missed them. They are like my right arm. I cannot function without them. So…to say I am sooooooo happy to be reading and FINALLY not stressed about planning anything (holidays, bday, wedding, honeymoon, OH MY)…is an understatement.

Later, as he plays and plays, as all the fog burns away, I think, he’s right. That’s exactly it-I am crazy sad, and somewhere deep inside, all I want is to fly.

This book…it was super weird. And I was kinda mad when everyone kept saying that in reviews. I was thinking-nah, people are just super judgmental (Anna-I SWEAR I’m not pointing at you-I love you too much…*side smirk emoji*). But, it really was just super odd. From the sex-crazed mourning main character, to the mourning boyfriend, to the type of writing-It made for a super interesting plot. I don’t think I particularly disliked anything. I just think certain things made me feel a little weird.

Grief is a house where no one can protect you
where the younger sister
will grow older than the older one
where the doors
no longer let you in
or out

For instance, a lot of times, and at first I didn’t mind because it was one character speaking like this, characters left out words at the beginning of the sentence. They would leave out “I” or “It” or something that added extra emphasis on what they were speaking about, and being a perfectionist….by about 50% I was tired of EVERYONE talking in such a manner. I thought it was cool for a couple people, but when they ALL started to, it lost it’s poetic emphasis.

There were once two sisters who shared the same room,
the same clothes,
the same thoughts at the same moment.
These two sisters did not have a mother
but they had each other.
The older sister walked ahead of the younger
so the younger one always knew where to go.

Hmmm what else?? OOOH the big ol’ elephant in the room-If, and I do mean IF, I were to pass for some reason, I can assure you that my amazing sister and my especially (and sometimes asshole-ish) amazing HUSBAND wouldn’t hook up. Here are the reasons I know this to be true: A) It’s icky. B) I have the most loyal sister and he was the most loyal boyfriend for 8 years. C) It’s icky. Not that this doesn’t happen in real life but….It wouldn’t happen. Even in the past 8 years, I know for a fact my was-a-boyfriend wouldn’t have crossed that line. I hope I will NEVER know that grief-EVER-but I just don’t see myself immediately falling for the boyfriend of my deceased sister. I guess this is why it is labeled fiction. I might never know the answers to these horrific and complex questions. All I know is-If there was a boy (not the deceased sister’s boyfriend (yes this is a love triangle)) with a smile that was saved just for me and he made my heart burst with beautiful and hopeful emotion…I’d be hanging on to him with my very being.

I look into his sorrowless eyes and a door in my heart blows open.
And when we kiss, I see that on the other side of that door is the sky.

And this is where the fabulous, adorable, and talented Joe comes in. I loved his personality! He was so sweet and charming and wow was he in love with Lennie. He fell for her so quick and gave her his undying attention from the start. His mile long lashes would bat at her and her libido would go crazy. He was optimistic and always blushing when caught off guard when people called him out on his feelings-to say it was adorable would be underselling it. In fact, I don’t quite know how to sell Joe. I think I’m underselling him, hmmm…*Squinty-eyed emoji*….let’s leave it here-While there was a lot that made me skeptical in the beginning, Joe made this book addictive the minute he started coming around-It’s that simple. I really liked, almost loved, this story because of Joe’s adorable love/crush on Lennie.

He shakes his head like it doesn’t matter, and then to my surprise he doesn’t kiss me but wraps his arms around me instead. For a moment, in his arms, with my mind so close to his heart, I listen to the wind pick up and think it just might lift us off our feet and take us with it.

Like I said, there was a lot going on with this book-a lot that I still don’t quite understand-but it really was a great book for me to start out with. It was cute, funny, sad, witty, addicting….weird (just like me)….so it worked. I am so happy I finally read this-I had it picked out probably 5 years ago, maybe longer-I can’t remember, and never ended up buying it at the store. So, after all these years, I finally read it. And I think I have to admit something-I’m glad I ~~forgot~~ waited this long….I don’t think I was as developed as a reader back then. Sure, I read a ton, but my preferences were narrow-minded and a lot of the same type of book on repeat. So, in essence, back then I probably would have hated it, whereas now I can appreciate the complexity of the story. I believe everything happens for a reason…and I am so happy I finally got to this book. ♥

BOOK REVIEW: Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson

January 5, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Steelheart (Reckoners #1)
by Brandon Sanderson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.

And I will see him bleed again.

This book was EPIC. Eh? Eeeeh? See what I did there? lol

Yeah, okay. I wasn’t going to say anything AT ALL, but I can’t do that-lack of time be damned.

I LOVED this book. Not only because it was the perfect escape from reality that I needed, but because I am completely and utterly obsessed with superheroes. The idea of them, the sacrifices they make in their lives, and, cliche as it is, the damsels in distress they are always trying to save. You name it, I love it. But, in this case, it’s not about superheroes. It’s about normal people given superhuman abilities…that they choose to do evil with. Oh, MAN did this blurb hook me. When I saw my good friend reading this on here, I did what any sane person would do-I stalked her up and down until she finished to see what she ultimately thought. Her word is like law, you know.

I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics. None of them protect us. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So, to say I was excited to start this was an understatement. I don’t read many books like this, so I can’t actually say whether it was up to par with other fantasy type novels or even his other works….And I certainly can’t say that it will be everything you’ve ever imagined and more. I only know what I enjoy and what I like….and I LOVED this one. I loved the characters and their mission. I loved the world this author created. I loved our main character, David, like crazy-I don’t think he was completely developed, for my taste, but he cracked me up at every turn and he always brought a smile to my face, especially his metaphors-they got worse and worse! In fact, they were terrible! But that’s part of the charm of this novel. It’s imperfect perfectness.

I could imagine shooting through the streets on one of these. They looked so dangerous, like alligators. Really fast alligators wearing black. Ninja alligators.
I decided not to use that one on Megan.

-Lmao, my absolute favorite line of the whole book >.<

I dunno. I’m one of those chicks that LOVES the idea of fantasy….but I just can only scratch the surface, it seems. I am so busy all the time and the idea of world-building and world-building on top of strategizing and strategizing when I get home from work isn’t exactly what I want…but these are the types of books that give me exactly what I seek most: hardcore fight scenes, light love interest, hopefully a perilistic ending with declarations of love as one of main characters is on the brink of death in the face of evil and….yup. I know this is the genre I need to break into, but I just love the YA aspect so much I think that holds me back in the more advanced fantasy type books.

I looked up the cavernous shaft. It resembled an enormous throat, stretching upward…one we needed to get up…which made us…
Bad analogy. Very bad. Regardless, there was a twisting feeling in my gut.

So basically…my point is this: I love this shit. I even really like the male POV. I don’t get enough of that, I don’t think. I don’t have much time to write many reviews this month, that’s just the way it goes. But, I couldn’t leave for my wedding/honeymoon without saying SOMETHING. It physically bothers me not to! So, I said a little bit of my piece (two weeks after finishing) and now I’ll post a couple quotes. Eh, it’s not what I wanted for this book, or any book to follow during my review drought, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

BOOK REVIEW: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

December 29, 2014 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
What would you change?

Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend, James, since they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it... at least, not as the girl she once was. Em and Marina are in a race against time that only one of them can win.

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice.

I hated this. No, wait, I loved this. No, no-I hated it….Right? Still, even after having finished a day and a half ago, I still don’t know what I think of this book. It played with my heart on the deepest emotional level possible…and, for once, I don’t know if that was a good thing.
Dealing with matters of the heart are messy. There is no way to make rational decisions when your heart is split down the middle-I believe that with my whole soul. And, believe it or not, I’m not even talking about a love triangle. This is a good old-fashioned torture of the heart, a total mind-fuck…and I’m not sure I handled it all that well.

When I picked up this book, I thought I was starting a run of the mill dystopian/sci-fi fantasy novel. Honest to God, I might have rethought my decision to start this had I known how it would rip my heart into shreds. I keep telling my friends all the events of the book and we all came to the same type of stuttery, open-mouthed, grappling for words conclusion-Even after countless reviews and a neurotic fetish with making sure it fit all my criteria (I do this for every book I’m about to read, lest I make bad decisions), I still wasn’t prepared for what this book was truly about. If you simply read the blurb, you see it’s about two different couples in two different times, so to speak. You realize it’s all about time travel and deciding what you would change if you could: Are you really fixing something if you go back in time and alter the past? But what that damn dirty blurb doesn’t tell you is this-This book is far deeper than even it’s author lets on. This book has such raw, magnetic moments that you can’t help but to be manipulated by each individual character and each individual motivation. This book is so multi-layered that you won’t know what side you’re on, who you’re rooting for, or who you should be rooting for. The simple truth is this: there is no good or evil, it is simply what your present self knows the future to be. It’s what you’re willing to do, what you’re willing to sacrifice to make the world a better place-even if it destroys you to have to do so. Continue reading

BOOK REVIEW: Crushed (Redemption #2) by Lauren Layne

Synopsis:

It’s been six months since I betrayed my best friend. Six months since I walked away from her. No. Since she walked away from me. But more than that…more than any of that… It’s been six months since I’ve bothered to care. About anything.

Well, would ya look at that? I didn’t even try to cop a feel. Progress. Definitely progress.

That’ll help distract me from the real reason I asked if he wanted to go to dinner. Because he’d looked lonely. Or the real real reason. Because I’m lonely, too.

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BOOK REVIEW: Firefight (Reckoners #2)

Synopsis:

This time, when she’d pointed it at me, she’d flicked the safety on. If that wasn’t true love, I don’t know what was.

She gave me a kind of apologetic grimace and shrugged. “Well, trust me,” I said. “I’m more intense than I look. I’m intense like a lion is orange.” “So, like…medium intense? Since a lion is kind of a tannish color?”

The answer was beginning to settle on me like a dinosaur upon its nest. My life wasn’t just about one city, or one Epic, anymore. It was about a war. It was about finding a way to stop the Epics. Permanently.

In the bank nearly eleven years ago, I’d cowered in fear when my father fought. He’d died. Better to drown. I gathered up all of the emotions I felt at looking into the depths-the terror, the foreboding, the primal panic-and held them in hand. Then crushed them.

I knelt in the inferno of hell itself, the world dying around me, and knew I had failed.

I settled down, sitting on the bed beside her. The tension in her voice, that look in her eyes. “Is it working?” I asked. “Do you feel like murdering people indiscriminately?” “I always feel like murdering you. If only just a little.”

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BOOK REVIEW: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Synopsis:

“The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”

Later, as he plays and plays, as all the fog burns away, I think, he’s right. That’s exactly it-I am crazy sad, and somewhere deep inside, all I want is to fly.

Grief is a house where no one can protect you where the younger sister will grow older than the older one where the doors no longer let you in or out

There were once two sisters who shared the same room, the same clothes, the same thoughts at the same moment. These two sisters did not have a mother but they had each other. The older sister walked ahead of the younger so the younger one always knew where to go.

I look into his sorrowless eyes and a door in my heart blows open. And when we kiss, I see that on the other side of that door is the sky.

He shakes his head like it doesn’t matter, and then to my surprise he doesn’t kiss me but wraps his arms around me instead. For a moment, in his arms, with my mind so close to his heart, I listen to the wind pick up and think it just might lift us off our feet and take us with it.

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BOOK REVIEW: Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis:

I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.

And I will see him bleed again.

I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics. None of them protect us. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I could imagine shooting through the streets on one of these. They looked so dangerous, like alligators. Really fast alligators wearing black. Ninja alligators. I decided not to use that one on Megan.

I looked up the cavernous shaft. It resembled an enormous throat, stretching upward…one we needed to get up…which made us… Bad analogy. Very bad. Regardless, there was a twisting feeling in my gut.

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BOOK REVIEW: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Synopsis:

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It’s been six months since I betrayed my best friend.
Six months since I walked away from her. No. Since she walked away from me.
But more than that…more than any of that…
It’s been six months since I’ve bothered to care.
About anything.

Well, would ya look at that? I didn’t even try to cop a feel.
Progress. Definitely progress.

That’ll help distract me from the real reason I asked if he wanted to go to dinner.
Because he’d looked lonely.
Or the real real reason.
Because I’m lonely, too.

She gave me a kind of apologetic grimace and shrugged.
“Well, trust me,” I said. “I’m more intense than I look. I’m intense like a lion is orange.”
“So, like…medium intense? Since a lion is kind of a tannish color?”

The answer was beginning to settle on me like a dinosaur upon its nest. My life wasn’t just about one city, or one Epic, anymore. It was about a war. It was about finding a way to stop the Epics.
Permanently.

In the bank nearly eleven years ago, I’d cowered in fear when my father fought. He’d died.
Better to drown. I gathered up all of the emotions I felt at looking into the depths-the terror, the foreboding, the primal panic-and held them in hand. Then crushed them.

I settled down, sitting on the bed beside her. The tension in her voice, that look in her eyes. “Is it working?” I asked. “Do you feel like murdering people indiscriminately?”
“I always feel like murdering you. If only just a little.”

Grief is a house where no one can protect you
where the younger sister
will grow older than the older one
where the doors
no longer let you in
or out

There were once two sisters who shared the same room,
the same clothes,
the same thoughts at the same moment.
These two sisters did not have a mother
but they had each other.
The older sister walked ahead of the younger
so the younger one always knew where to go.

I look into his sorrowless eyes and a door in my heart blows open.
And when we kiss, I see that on the other side of that door is the sky.

I could imagine shooting through the streets on one of these. They looked so dangerous, like alligators. Really fast alligators wearing black. Ninja alligators.
I decided not to use that one on Megan.

I looked up the cavernous shaft. It resembled an enormous throat, stretching upward…one we needed to get up…which made us…
Bad analogy. Very bad. Regardless, there was a twisting feeling in my gut.