Tag: Young Adult (Page 57 of 159)

BOOK REVIEW – The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

BOOK REVIEW – The Distance Between Us by Kasie WestThe Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Money can't buy a good first impression.

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers learned early that the rich are not to be trusted. And after years of studying them from behind the cash register of her mom's porcelain-doll shop, she has seen nothing to prove otherwise. Enter Xander Spence—he's tall, handsome, and oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and the fact that he seems to be one of the first people who actually gets her, she's smart enough to know his interest won't last. Because if there's one thing she's learned from her mother's warnings, it's that the rich have a short attention span. But just when Xander's loyalty and attentiveness are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn't a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she'd ever realized. With so many obstacles standing in their way, can she close the distance between them?

Review:

The Distance Between Us was such a cute story, yet I struggled with quite a few things.  So here are some of my thoughts……..

An adorable story-line –

He laughs a little. “You live above a porcelain-doll store; your best friend lives in a cemetery. You’ve pretty much grown up surrounded by creepy things. Is there anything you’re afraid of?”
You.

Carmen and Xander both wanted to figure out what they were going to be when they’re older, since they’re both slated to take over their family’s businesses.  They created these career days that I loved.  And those moments always led to scenes where my emotions were the strongest.  But even before that I loved watching their tentative friendship form.  It was such a cute story, and it was so easy to devour.

A girl I wasn’t the hugest fan of –

Before him, I thought I knew if a guy was flirting with me. But he says things so subtly, so smoothly, that it’s hard to tell if it’s purposeful or if he’s just playing along with my jokes.

So confession time, I’m awful at getting sarcastic humor at times.  My whole family laughed at me, during our weekly Sunday dinner last weekend, because I didn’t catch my Aunt being sarcastic.  Multiple times in her texts.  So my sporadic ineptitude towards sarcasm may have played a huge role in why I never clicked or connected with Caymen.  You see, Caymen’s like the queen of sarcasm and dry humor all rolled into one person.  I tried again and again to connect and get her humor, yet I continually failed at it. It was so frustrating.

A boy that I was obsessed about –

He lowers the visor in front of me and flips open the mirror. “You still have paint on your face.” He runs a finger down my cheek, tracing the paint line. My breath catches for a moment when his finger seems to linger a second longer than necessary.

Xander MADE this book for me.  He was thoughtful, caring, and compassionate towards Caymen.  He was also persistent, charming and I loved how he initiated the friendship between the two of them.  And that he kept coming around and helped the friendship grow.  He was such a good guy, and it was impossible to not fall hard for him.

Lack of communication –

I didn’t want my mom to have bad feelings toward him. Somehow the guy had managed to climb out of the box full of people I had already labeled off-limits with a permanent marker and he’d become different. And now, much to my irritation, I feel some form of loyalty to Xander Spence.
I had to change this immediately.

So the two main conflicts in this book stemmed from lack of communication.  And it wasn’t like the people involved in the lack of communication weren’t around one another countless times.  They didn’t have missed opportunities to ask questions.  It was just never done, and the questions were never asked.  Unfortunately that can be a book pet peeve of mine depending upon how it’s handled, and I struggled with how both of the situations were handled.

A HFN that didn’t sit well with me –

This is the second book I’ve read by this author where that last page didn’t leave me feeling all smiley and happy.  Sometimes I struggle with HFN (Happily For Nows) because there’s still so much up in the air.  And in this case there were still sooooo many things that needed to be worked out, figured out or I just wanted to know what happened.  I wish there were a few more chapters explaining what happened so that way some of the outstanding issues would be resolved.

So now I’m left wondering if maybe this author and I aren’t that great of a fit after all?  Oh my gosh, I just don’t know.  I loved On the Fence, but The Fill-In Boyfriend had one of those HFN endings where I needed more.  I still have PS I Like You sitting on my shelf and Pivot Point sitting in my Kindle, so I guess I’ll find out if this author truly isn’t a good fit for me after reading those two books.  Here’s hoping if you pick this up you’ll enjoy it much more than I did!

BOOK REVIEW – Ninja Girl by Cookie O’Gorman

BOOK REVIEW – Ninja Girl by Cookie O’GormanNinja Girl by Cookie O'Gorman
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Snow-Soon Lee kicks ass--literally. She teaches at her family-owned martial arts gym, The Academy, and cares more about training to be the next Bruce Lee than hooking up. In fact, Snow's never even been kissed. But when Girls Night rolls around, Snow decides to prove to her friends (and herself) that she's not just some boring tomboy. Impulsively, she kisses a hot stranger and even manages to escape his two security guards.

One stolen kiss…

Ash Stryker's senior year sucks. His politician father pulled him out of Chariot High, separating him from his championship-winning soccer team. Now he's stuck at a prissy private school with no friends, no team and no chance of being scouted. On top of that, thanks to the death threats his dad's received, Ash has a security tail aka professional babysitters. When the mystery girl from the movies shows up at his school, rappelling from the rafters, Ash knows one thing: he won't let her get away again.

One interesting job proposition…

After a seemingly random attack, Ash's mother surprises everyone. She hires Snow to be Ash's personal bodyguard until after the election. But can Snow's kick-ass skills hold up against the rising threats to Ash's family? More importantly, can Ash convince his ninja girl to screw ethics and kiss him again?

Opposites attract in this YA romance where a smooth talker meets his match in the tough girl who (literally) sweeps him off his feet. Moral of the story:

Sometimes even bad boys need a bodyguard.

Review:

Ninja Girl was the most adorable story ever.  Seriously, I can’t get over how cute it was!  I picked this book up because I fell madly in love with Adorkable, this author’s first release.  And now I’ve fallen just as hard for her second release, Ninja Girl.  So if you adore ya romance that makes you smile, laugh and leaves you feeling oh so happy, then I highly recommend Ninja Girl!  And Adorkable too, if you haven’t read that one yet.

“Alright, alright,” I shrugged. “You caught me. I’m here for you.”
“Me?” she said in surprise. God, she was cute when she was confused. “Why?”
I couldn’t resist. Leaning in close, my gaze locked on her, I plucked the eyelash from her cheek and blew it off my finger, loving the way her eyes widened. “I just wanted to see you, ninja girl. That so hard to believe?”

Now you have to know, I had already fallen for Ash Stryker in Adorkable.  So I was over the moon happy to hear that he was going to get his own book!  But things have changed since Adorkable ended.  Ash had to move to a new school.  And this one didn’t have a soccer team, soccer’s his passion in life fyi.  As if that wasn’t enough, his father had been receiving threats to get him to drop out of the Senate race.  So security guards had been hired to protect them.  And down the road, Snow would be one of them.

Turning, I said, “Listen, I’m sorry, okay? What happened at the movies was a mistake.”
“So, you’re saying you accidentally jumped into my lap and your lips just fell onto mine? Sounds like the best mistake ever.”

Snow-Swoon Lee met Ash for the first time at the movie theater, when he was with two of his security guards.  The other girls at the theater were making fun of her for being clueless about boys.  Snow knew she was inexperienced, but she wanted to show them she wasn’t as clueless as they thought she was.  So Snow literally dropped in, stole a kiss from Ash, and escaped from his security guards.  It was so fierce and brave, I loved it!  Her confidence over what she could physically do was amazing and made me so proud of her.  It was so easy to like Snow right away.

He looked up suddenly. “I think it’s a great idea.”
“You do?” I asked. “Good Lord, why?”
In answer, he simply shook his head. “Anything that involves you guarding my body can’t be all bad now, can it?”

From that one interaction, leads to more.  And after an attack, Snow got hired to guard and protect Ash at school.  And thanks to getting to alternate between the two of them, we got to hear how much Ash was interested in Snow.  He was determined to kiss her again, but with Snow taking her job seriously it wasn’t going to be easy.   So I kept wondering how Ash was going to get Snow to cave.

“You know, you’re kind of arrogant,” I said.
“And you’re kind of beautiful.” Ash smiled and nodded to the bar while I tried to recover. Who said things like that?

Thankfully Ash was beyond cocky and confident.  He knew exactly what he wanted, and that was Snow.  And Ash wasn’t afraid to let it be known.  So his attempts at even just talking with Snow had me cracking up while also sighing at the same time.  Ash was seductive while also being hilarious without even trying. And I quickly got caught up in his spell!  Granted he made mistakes at times, but I loved that he wasn’t perfect.  It made me love him and his faults that much more.

Min sighed. “Snow-Soon Lee, I love you and your violent ways. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”
I hadn’t known how much I needed to hear those words until she said them. “Love you, too, Min.”

Besides Snow and Ash there were so many other wonderful things in the pages.  Such as previous characters, since we got to see Sally and Becks *jumps up and down*.  Also I adored the side characters.  Snow’s best friends Min-Hee and Bae Bae had so much depth.  And if that wasn’t enough, I was shocked to find that I had sweaty palms during some moments.  Wheeeeee that was fun!

Ash Stryker was dangerous, I decided. The small jolts in my stomach could easily turn into a wildfire. I’d have to lock down my shields if I didn’t want to get burned.

So yes I definitely recommend Ninja Girl, plus Adorkable if you haven’t read that yet!  Or if you’ve read Adorkable and loved Ash then there’s a good chance that you’ll fall madly in love with this book too!  Cookie O’Gorman has officially gone onto my favorite authors list, and I can’t wait to read all of her future releases!

P.S. I’m going to throw out a huge random guess that the next book is about Sadie.  Fingers crossed.

BOOK REVIEW: The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz

BOOK REVIEW: The Midnight Dance by Nikki KatzThe Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

When the music stops, the dance begins.

Seventeen-year-old Penny is a lead dancer at the Grande Teatro, a finishing school where she and eleven other young women are training to become the finest ballerinas in Italy. Tucked deep into the woods, the school is overseen by the mysterious and handsome young Master who keeps the girls ensconced in the estate – and in the only life Penny has never known.

But when flashes of memories, memories of a life very different from the one she thinks she’s been leading, start to appear, Penny begins to question the Grand Teatro and the motivations of the Master. With a kind and attractive kitchen boy, Cricket, at her side, Penny vows to escape the confines of her school and the strict rules that dictate every step she takes. But at every turn, the Master finds a way to stop her, and Penny must find a way to escape the school and uncover the secrets of her past before it’s too late.

I’m… not quite sure how to feel. On one hand, the writing was absolutely lovely, but I think the story was a bit of a miss for me personally, though that might be due to personal preferences! But let me say this first- this would make an incredible film! Can someone please make this into a movie? Thanksssss.

Penny is one of many dancers held up in the Master’s estate. At the beginning, she starts to realize her memories are off kilter and something is very wrong. Despite being drawn to the (very handsome) Master (the owner of the estate), Penny discovers he’s doing something to manipulate all the girls. (Sounds cool right?)

I was super into the first few chapters. The plot takes no time to dive you in deep, and I was totally into the whole Master concept. So much in fact, that I think it set my hopes too high for the end. I was expecting some majorly cool plot twists and while there were a few small ones, nothing really caught me off guard. So that’s probably my fault-my expectation levels with the whole mystery thing were sky high, so I was sad when there were no big surprises. I DID like the few small ones though. I also felt like there were quite a few loop holes, but it could be that I missed some important details.

The concept was strong, but the characterization fell a bit flat for me. The focus was much more on the present circumstances and mystery vs the character’s pasts or personalities, so I had a difficult time connecting to anyone, especially at the beginning. I get it, everything was supposed to be a mystery, but since the mystery aspect didn’t have many surprises, I just had a hard time with it.

The Master totally had ‘Darkling’ vibes, and I LOVED that bit, but he kinda disappointed me in the end. It was cool that we saw bits of his story in the past but it didn’t feel like strong enough motivation for him to become who he was. I’m SUPER particular about my villains though, so I doubt anyone else will feel the same.

Now I know that all sounds a bit negative, but trust me, those are all personal opinions that I doubt others will share. This book had MANY redeeming qualities. For instance, the setting was SO COOL and the writing (which I mentioned earlier) was absolutely lovely. While the mystery aspect was a bit of a let down for me personally, the story was still really cool and I really enjoyed several bits. I would definitely read another book by Nikki because she’s an extremely talented author.

So all in all, If you’re in the mood for a mystery/semi-thriller with hints of romance, check out this book!

BOOK REVIEW – The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1) by Roshani Chokshi

BOOK REVIEW – The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1) by Roshani ChokshiThe Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1)
by Roshani Chokshi
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire...

But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself.

Review:

The words that spilled from the pages was breathtaking. The story that took place was beautifully enchanting. Yet every time I put the book down, I never felt the urge to pick it back up again. And I never once caught myself thinking about the story or the characters outside of reading. Which isn’t normal for me, at all. So I was left feeling torn towards The Star-Touched Queen. Since I’m stuck in the middle, here are some of my scattered thoughts about this uniquely, beautiful book –

✮ Fabulous world building –

I could glimpse the moon folding herself into crescents and half-smiles. When I looked up, I could imagine an existence as  vast as the sky. Just as infinite. Just as unknown.

The world building was fascinating, and I loved learning everything I could about Indian folklore. They were both richly described, and I felt as though I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to learn more. Those two elements were my favorite things about this book!

✮ I loved how fate and choices was a strong theme –

I pushed myself off the wall. I knew all the rumors, and I didn’t care to hear them again. Their words crawled over my skin. I wanted to shake off the insults, the laughter, the shadows. But all of it clung to me, thick as smoke, pushing out the blood from my veins until I pulsed with hate.

In the beginning, we learn that one’s fate and love revolves around horoscopes. And it’s taken as the literal truth. Which was awful for Maya, our main character, because her horoscope was viewed as horrific and tragic. It caused prejudice towards her, and others who had a less than desirable horoscope. But as the story progressed, we saw how not only fate but choices too played an integral part in the story and Maya’s life. It was fun watching everything unfold.

✮ Ambiguous scenes –


I see only night and smoke, dreams and glass, embers and wings. And I would not have you any other way.

There were moments where not everything was explained. And while those moments were filled with beautiful words, I was left with nothing to grip onto. I’d end the scene confused and left wondering what in the world just transpired?! Each time I tried to shrug it off and keep going. Which is a littler harder than it sounds, because I’m one who would prefer to have a solid understanding with what’s taking place in a scene. So I did struggle with this aspect.

✮ Not connected to the romance –

“My star-touched queen,” he said softly, as if he was remembering something from long ago. “I would break the world to give you what you want.”

I never connected to the romance. I liked Maya and Amar separately, but when they were together I never felt much emotion. I would get a small smile from time to time, but I definitely didn’t get that butterfly inducing, wishing they would just get together already feelings. I think part of the reason I didn’t connect with them was that I was always left wishing that I had more of a backstory. Yet that never happened.

So I’ve decided that I do need to try another book by this author. I have a feeling that will push me into the love or pass category for her future releases. But if you’re thinking about picking this one up, I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something unique and beautifully crafted!

BOOK REVIEW – Thunderstruck by Brenda Drake

BOOK REVIEW – Thunderstruck by Brenda DrakeThunderstruck by Brenda Drake
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Stevie Moon is famous...at least to the subscribers on her comic review vlog. At school, she’s as plain as the gray painted walls in the cafeteria. So when Blake, the hot new guy at school, shows an interest in her, she knows trouble when she sees it. Been there. And never doing it again.

As the son of the god Thor, Blake Foster's been given an important mission—to recover the Norse god Heimdall’s sacred and powerful horn before someone uses it to herald in the destruction of the entire universe. But while Blake is great in a fight, the battlefield that is a high school’s social scene is another matter.

Blake knows his only choice is to team up with the adorable Stevie, but she's not willing to give him even the time of day. He'll need to woo the girl and find the horn if he hopes to win this war. Who better to tackle Stevie's defenses than the demi-god of thunder?

Review:

Thunderstruck was such a cute story.  It revolved around Norse Mythology and the pages were filled with friendship, drama, first love and some mystery.  I quickly read it in two sittings and I found myself smiling a lot.  While it had a younger vibe and a few adorable yet cheesy moments, I enjoyed Thunderstruck and it’s characters!

He wanted to get lost in her. Forget he was from another world. A world where she could never go. A world he no longer wanted to return to without her.

Blake, the son of Thor, was my favorite out of all of the characters.  He was to recover a horn, and bring it back home.  But Blake found himself distracted by Stevie, a girl who goes to the same school as him.  And while I thought the son of a god would be charming and charismatic, it didn’t always work out that way lol.  He was soooooooo out of his element on Earth.   He was awkward at times, used too proper of English, and he didn’t understand slang (the Netflix comment was my fave rofl!). There were moments that I was laughing yet also cringing for him.  But thankfully Stevie was able to see past all of that, just like I was able to.

He just didn’t seem like he belonged on this planet, which was a weird thing to think, but it kept playing in her head.
Really, Stevie. You’re not living in a comic.

Stevie was an adorable girl who had a vlog and loved cosplay.  And I assumed her and Blake would easily end up together, that’s not exactly how it went down.  It all became convoluted when Blake wasn’t sure who had the horn.  And because of that, he ended up hanging around another girl a lot.  Her name was Grace, and I was not a fan.  So a love triangle formed.  And there was definitely a lot of drama.  I’m one of those that loves drama (I use to watch soaps back in the day), so I was a happy girl.

Kyle was leaning against his passenger side door. “Now, wasn’t that sweet? Kill a troll, hack up its body and dump it in the bay, then kiss a cute girl. All in one night.”
“What do you want, now?” Blake rounded the hood to the driver’s side. “Don’t you have someone else you can bother?”

Another character that helped cause a lot of drama was Kyle.  He was Blake’s brother and in the beginning I wasn’t too sure where his loyalty resided.  I kept getting annoyed at myself because Kyle came across as someone who I shouldn’t necessarily like.  Yet I did.  He was the annoying brother who would never go away.  Heaven help me for liking him lol.

“Why me?” Her words were as silent as a feather falling from a dove. When she looked back up the moonlight touched her face, her cheeks flushed and her dark eyes glistened with tears held back. And he didn’t care that he told her his feelings, because they made her look like that— beautiful.

Now underneath it all, was Norse Mythology.  And maybe this is more my issue than anyone else’s, but I’m clueless about Norse Mythology.  So when a character’s name would appear, I didn’t understand who they were.  It’d say if they were related, but I would have loved to have a little bit of a backstory on who was who.  Thankfully I was reading on my kindle, so I would highlight the name and read more about them on the Wikipedia pop-up box.  But I do wish some of that info was within the actual story so I’d know who we were meeting or who they were dressing up as.

This time he turned his back. Because he would do anything to save her, even betray her.

The creatures, characters, mystery, and action made this book such a quick, fun read!  I was completely entertained, and the story went by too fast.  I’m always bummed when I devour a story too quickly.  Ohhh one more thing before I go, while it’s a YA book, I felt like it would be a great step for those ready to leave MG and step into YA.  

PS This is SO random but Trevon (Stevie’s best friend’s boyfriend) reminded me so much of Murray, Dionne’s boyfriend, from Clueless for some reason.  So I was always smiling when he was gracing the pages.

*ARC kindly provided by Entangled:Crave via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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