Tag: Young Adult (Page 75 of 159)

BOOK REVIEW – Genesis by Bernard Beckett

July 24, 2016 / Anna

Genesis by Bernard Beckett
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free, until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea. Fourteen-year-old Anax thinks she knows her history. She'd better. She's sat facing three Examiners and her five-hour examination has just begun. The subject is close to her heart: Adam Forde, her long-dead hero.

scifiexperiment

*drinks a tenth cup of coffee*

God, being sleep-deprived is so very much like being drunk, without the laugh. I hate it. ANYWAY. Reading Genesis must have worn my few remaining energy cells out, because I have a hard time typing on my keyboard. What the hell?! I’d better go to the point. Here’s how it went :

[fast backward of the hologram]

The EXAMINER studies me carefully during an indefinite length of time. As I was warned during my training, his features don’t betray any emotion and –

Alright, this is bullshit. The Examiner is my boyfriend, is slightly frowning, looking both curious and amused.

BF : What is it?

ME, suddenly turning to face him : Whaaat?

BF : You’ve been staring into space for 15 minutes.

ME : I did?

BF : You did.

ME : That’s because I just read the most AMAZING book!

BF : Oh? What’s it about?

ME : I CANNOT SAY, (emerge from my lethargy and look frenetically at the novel page on Goodreads) I have to find it in French and then you can read it. (start whispering, for some unknown reason) I cannot say anything, you have to go blind –

BF : It’s a Thriller then?

ME, in a high pitched voice : Not reallyyyyy, more like Science-Fiction blended with Philosophy and Ethics? But then, the whole story revolves around the interview of the main character who wishes to be admitted in an Academy we know nothing about, in a world we know nothing about, and she’s being questioned about an History we know nothing about …

BF : Huh, it seems a little confusing?

ME : Yes and no, actually. Confusing does seem like a good word to describe it, because we have no idea what’s going on, but it wasn’t a problem for me whatsoever so I don’t really know? Perhaps it was just my kind of weird?

BF : You didn’t sleep though, and you still read it in one sitting, so –

ME : YES! First the writing was so addictive and the questions – the QUESTIONS – they talked to me, you know? I mean, it’s a little frightening to see how relevant they are, especially lately – but always, really – we do let politics and medias tell us that complex situations and problems can be explained by simple causes – and resolved by simple actions, without regards to decency and common sense. Look at the terrorist attacks, the increase of unemployment, the financial crisis and how politics keep looking for one group of people, one country, one system to blame, forever using fear…

BF : Wait, I thought it was science-fiction?

ME : It is, but it’s so very relatable all the same, in the fact that there are no instant answers that would explain or solve everything? That it makes you think about what it means to be a human? Honestly, if you’re not afraid of unusual reads and can cope with delaying your understanding, you’re going to LOVE this.

(clutch the book to my chest and smile in a borderline crazy way, then stare into space again)

Save

BOOK REVIEW: This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) by V.E. Schwab

July 20, 2016 / Chelsea / 4 Comments

This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)
by V.E. Schwab
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

“I read somewhere,” said Kate, “that people are made of stardust.”

He dragged his eyes from the sky. “Really?”
“Maybe that’s what you’re made of. Just like us.”
And despite everything, August smiled.

I think it’s extremely safe to say that I am absolutely obsessed with Victoria Schwab. It’s not just the characters. It’s not simply her worlds. It’s not the action and peril and ridiculously vivid scenes of utter devastation. No, it’s not just any single one of those things: It’s all of those things.

He closed his eyes, seeking peace, but as soon as the silence settled it was broken, the distant stutter of gunfire echoing against his skull as it always did-the sound invading every quiet moment.
It began with a bang.

Whether every story by this author is for you or not, one can’t argue that every single thing I mentioned above isn’t always in the stories. Even if you might have hated this story (Ooooh those mixed reviews), you have to admit that it still had all the things that make Schwab’s books as excellent as they are. You aren’t ever just simply an observer in her books-No, never an observer. You are a player. You are wholly immersed and interwoven in these characters’ minds and twisted into their intricate web of thoughts, plans, diabolical ways of being. You aren’t someone who is standing in the corner-You are fighting right alongside them.

It was a cycle of whimpers and bangs, gruesome beginnings and bloody ends.

This story, like Every. Single. Other. Book of Schwab’s, was so masterfully executed that you didn’t need something to be happening on every single page-Because, let me tell ya, every single page was building up and thickening the plot into something you can’t even comprehend yet. To say I knew what was going to happen would be a lie. I picked this book up without the faintest idea of where this story was going to go, or even, really, what this story was about! Isn’t that the best thing about our favorite authors, though? You don’t need a plot….you just need to know the book even exists.

“You’re not your father.”
Kate tensed imperceptibly at that, then managed to draw her mouth into a small, cruel smile. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course,” said Rachel.
Kate leaned in and brought her lips to the girl’s ear. “I’m much worse.”

And that’s the case here. I remembered vaguely that it was about monsters….but what’s so funny is that I thought it meant monstrous humans when, in fact, it truly meant monsters. So, you see, I went in kind of blind here. And I wasn’t even sure this was going to work for me, if I’m being honest. I really liked our two main characters, Kate and August (my Auggyyyyyyy), but I wasn’t sure the story was going to be enough for me.

Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and steal your soul.

I’m not particularly picky when it comes to stories (cough okay okay I’m a little picky about my books…), they just have to have action and romance and characters I can love and maybe some peril and…?? Okay. Moving on. This didn’t have romance. And it certainly didn’t have a ton of action at the beginning-That I can remember, anyway. So I was a bit nervous. I had no clue what this story was going to offer me.

Someone pulls a trigger, sets off a bomb, drives a bus full of tourists off a bridge, and what’s left in the wake isn’t just shell casings, wreckage, bodies. There’s something else. Something bad. An aftermath. A recoil. A reaction to all that anger and pain and death.

But then something amazing began to happen….August began to become, I don’t know, more human. Let me explain-I LOVED both he and Kate right from the start-I had no doubts that I was going to like these guys-My problem stemmed from where their lives and stories were going. I’ve never been one to love a beginning that isn’t epic when I’m not sure about a story and have heard mixed things about what I’m ultimately reading towards. So when I began to get deeper into August’s mind and see how sad and lonely and unsure of his existence he was…I began to, ahem, feel some things.

Suddenly normal felt so far away. It was a cruel trick of the universe, thought August, that he felt human only after doing something monstrous. Which made him wonder if that brief glimpse of humanity was really just an illusion, an echo of the life he’d taken. An impostor sensation.

Now, okay, hey now-I am NOT an easy sell. I’M NOT. Yes, I love boys most in books and, yes, I care more about them than any other character in existence, but that’s in ROMANCE. Romantic fantasy, sci-fi, WHATEVER. These ~~obsessive~~ feelings stem from the guy pining for the girl AND all the standard wounded boy traits. So no-I am NOT an easy sell…especially when there isn’t any romance to speak of.

August didn’t want to be a monster-one day he just simply came to be in the middle of a disaster and that’s where his life began. This bothers him every single day and causes him grief he can barely stand-he just wants to play his violin and finish a song…and he doesn’t want to pull the souls of anyone to do so.

“I am not a…”
But his throat closed up. The words got stuck.
I am not a monster, that’s what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t found a way to make it true.

August has a gift, though it’s the mark of him being a monster and why people are terrified of him, and he uses it (after being trained by his family that brought him in) to get rid of the corrupt in the city. But then there are those times when the hunger becomes too much, when he aches to be more human and not the monster everyone says he is. He waits and fights it and he drags out each day without consuming a soul…desperately hoping this time he’ll be able to fight that internal hunger. But, after days of struggling, the pull becomes too much…and then he goes dark. And when he goes dark…no one is safe.

You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay.

So you see, I got addicted. *shrugs* sue me. For every mark that got etched upon his skin, signaling that he hadn’t fallen in that many days, my interest grew to an insurmountable typhoon of feels, controlling my every waking thought. So simple, yet so deeply interesting. And I think the best part is that I wasn’t expecting to like August so much. If I’m being real, I guess I just figured it would be another excellent book with a couple of great characters. I never truly thought that I would fall so hard for him or Kate. And, on top of loving these guys so much, the story, again, so simple, just takes you on a journey that you know isn’t the end-it’s only the beginning.

What I mean by that is, I feel like this book didn’t cover weeks or months…just days. And maybe I’m off a little on that (it’s been a bit since I finished) but my point remains the same: This may not have had a million things happen, but it set up a story that can go so many different directions I don’t even know what to expect. I guess I’m just a little leery boasting that soooomuchhappenedomgsogood and then one of my friends who trusts me finishes and is like…that’s it???? I take my recommendations seriously, and I take boasting authors and their work even more seriously…so when I push that an author’s work is forever perfect-that’s saying something.

I love, above everything else, the utter destruction or falling apart of the male lead. Sick as it sounds-Yes, I’m aware that I sound like a very sick individual right now…you are all judging me. And you are right to do so….I really am just that sick of a creature because I LOVE TORTURED MALE LEADS SORRY NOT SORRY-male leads who are perfect just don’t do it for me. They used to years ago, but now I crave something a little more destructive and messy. And, sad as it is (brilliant, sorry I think it’s fucking brilliant), Schwab creates the best of the best when it comes to intricately layered males with imperfections. So when August…well…when things start to crumble…I loved this story even more.

“Kate,” he said with a sob. “I can’t keep going toward the edge-don’t let me fall.” His breath hitched. “I can’t I can’t do it again I can’t go dark again I’m holding on to every little piece and if I let go I can’t get them back I don’t want to disappear-“

And Kate. I don’t know that she was anything special, but for some reason I adored her. I loved her tenacity. I loved her fierceness. I loved how vicious and epic and cruel and calculated and how savage she was. I LOVED HER. And, even more than that, I loved them together. Two lost souls who find each other, protect each other, take care of each other….I just, my heart. My heart aches for them. I love them apart…but even more so when they’re partners.

“That pendant may protect you from the monsters, but it won’t protect you from me.”

The writing, which I shouldn’t even have to mention again since everyone knows I adore this author, is superb. It makes me feel as if I am outside my body looking in, floating above my it, euphoric, giddy, restless, wanting to SCREAM ABOUT IT FROM A MOUNTAIN. From the minute I open up a book by her, I am entranced as if Kaa the snake is singing me a deadly lullaby. I am a loyal fan. Addicted for life. A slave to her writing….and there is literally nothing by her I wouldn’t read.

So, as you can see, I really think I could keep going. I could talk about the world and the darkness and the curfews and the monsters and the other monsters and the medals and their journey and their friendship and their banter (always with the banter, good old Schwab)….but I can’t make this a million miles long. I won’t. It’s too special of a book and I’m starting to just repeat myself and that’s just stupid. So…I’ll leave you with this: This book is unlike anything by her you’ve read before, so don’t go in expecting what you know to be the norm. She went outside the box. She created a dark world with dark ends and gruesome ways to die. She made you wonder what’s to come. She made you cringe when you met someone new or wondered who to trust. She made you question everything. She made monsters scary. She made monsters real….And I am so in love with her for it.

***************

Ahhh okay, guys. I do NOT know how she does it. I really don’t. I really liked this book-I DID. But when you can take a book that I’m reading while camping (shoot me, really) and turn it into something I ache for, cherish, crave…that’s the mark of a true author.

And of course, of course, it’s one of my most favorite authors ever-VICTORIA SCHWAB. Seriously-guys, she creates these boys that literally ALWAYS take my breath away. I didn’t understand the importance of that until about a year or two ago (been reading my whole life) and now it’s a mark of only the best, for me. And, hello, Schwab creates boys that are unforgettable, heart-breaking, broken….and I just can never get enough of this author-Or the boys she creates.

Once again, mind blown by probably one of my top three favorite authors of all time. I love you Victoria, maker of strong female leads that aren’t annoying as fuck and boys that make me want to weep and hug them for the rest of their lives, I really do.

RTC. Most definitely.

View all my reviews

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY – The Killer in Me by Margot Harrison

July 18, 2016 / Anna

The Killer in Me Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Hasn't he lived long enough? Why not? I could take him like a thief in the night.

This is how the Thief thinks. He serves death, the vacuum, the unknown. He’s always waiting. Always there.

Seventeen-year-old Nina Barrows knows all about the Thief. She’s intimately familiar with his hunting methods: how he stalks and kills at random, how he disposes of his victims’ bodies in an abandoned mine in the deepest, most desolate part of a desert.

Now, for the first time, Nina has the chance to do something about the serial killer that no one else knows exists. With the help of her former best friend, Warren, she tracks the Thief two thousand miles, to his home turf—the deserts of New Mexico.

But the man she meets there seems nothing like the brutal sociopath with whom she’s had a disturbing connection her whole life. To anyone else, Dylan Shadwell is exactly what he appears to be: a young veteran committed to his girlfriend and her young daughter. As Nina spends more time with him, she begins to doubt the truth she once held as certain: Dylan Shadwell is the Thief. She even starts to wonder . . . what if there is no Thief?

Follow the The Killer In Me by Margot Harrison Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

I was raised in the wilds of New York by lovely, nonviolent parents who somehow never managed to prevent me from staying up late to read scary books. I now work at an alt-weekly newspaper in Vermont, where my favorite part of the job is, of course, reviewing scary books and movies. The Killer in Me is my first novel.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK REVIEW: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

July 15, 2016 / Chelsea / 4 Comments

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
What if the person you were falling for was a total mystery?

While Lily is spacing out in Chemistry one day, she picks up her pencil and scribbles a line from one of her favorite songs on the desk. The next day, someone else has written back to her on the desk! Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she's flustered -- and kind of feels like she's falling for him. She and her best friend set out to unravel the identity of the letter writer -- but when the truth is revealed, the guy is the LAST person Lily could have ever imagined it to be. Now that Lily knows the truth, can she untangle her feelings and gather the courage to listen to her heart?

From beloved author Kasie West (The Distance Between Us) comes an utterly charming story about mixed messages, missed connections, and the magic of good old-fashioned secret admirer notes.

“So you think I’m hot?”
“Doesn’t every girl?”
It surprised me when his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. I wasn’t sure why that embarrassed him in any way. I was positive he already knew it. He ran one hand through his hair. Then he said, almost too quiet for me to hear, “You’re not every girl.”

I find it just so strange that I had never read a Kasie West novel until late last summer. Seriously-It’s so hard to find YA contemporary authors that make such a large range of people happy, that continue to produce cute, funny, witty, and memorable stories, and that do it well. I had personally never heard of her, and then one of my best friends is like…are you kidding? Do you live under a rock?? READ HER NOW! So I picked up The Distance Between Us (Still my favorite Kasie West yet) and fell HARD. Who could resist Xander? Who I ask? WHO?

If only there was a way to transport letters faster, through some sort of electronic device that codes messages and sends them through the air. But that’s just crazy talk.

So here I am almost one year later, eagerly awaiting her next release. As soon as I ran out of her books (it was very quick lol) I was desperate for more. I can’t say she’s my absolute favorite author-that would be a lie-but what I can say is that she is an author I have come to admire and that I always look forward to reading. For instance, the minute this book was announced, I immediately had it on my TBR and let all of my friends know. And you can just tell how obsessed and loyal all her fans are. It’s so crazy! And the thing is…I truly truly had never heard of her.

But now I have, and what I’ve read is nothing but impressive. So here we are, sitting and anticipating her next release-A cute little story about two students who both feel like they are missing something in their lives…and seem to find and express themselves through the words of their favorite bands. What was meant to be just a release one day in chemistry for Lily becomes an instant connection between two people who are desperate for someone to hear them. It begins as a game, a playful flirtation that happens by chance in a boring chemistry class. But, as the days go by, it blossoms into something they look forward to and think about every single night long after the lights have gone out….and turns into something far deeper than they ever thought possible.

I was both equally in love with this book and disappointed by it. And I know that sounds so crazy, what with my extremely high rating, but I am so torn on this one. On the one hand, I’ve seen this done before-and it was done WAY better. I’m sorry, I adore Kasie West, but that other novel is one of my favorites of all time and it had way more, I don’t know, heart. I’m not saying this wasn’t done well…but on the pen pal aspect, I felt myself strangely detached-and it wasn’t until I was done that I realized I wanted that same intensity I felt from my favorite and this didn’t get one tenth as deep as that. So, this aspect was an extreme let down for me-And I wasn’t even trying to compare.

Words brought us together though they almost kept us apart.
You trusted me with your secrets and then you stole my heart.

And I’m sorry to be focusing on the negatives first, but I’d rather be salty and then sweet-I find it leaves a better taste in my mouth to end on a happy, high note. I had two other problems and one bothered me more than the other, if I’m being honest. I was a tad bored in the middle because the pen pal trope got a little bit stale, in my opinion. That’s a small part of my disappointment. But, no, my largest peeve, and I’m sad to say this, was the main character.

I know, I know-I almost NEVER dislike the main girl, but for some reason I have been increasingly pickier with my female leads. Lily was…I liked Lily at first, ya know? But then I saw how judgmental she was…ON PURPOSE. She wasn’t simply just a snarky teenager, she made herself be that way. And I didn’t realize until the final page just how deeply her attitude had affected me. I adored how much she loved her family-it’s what my friend and I loved most about her. But then I saw how she reacted to said pen pal…it wasn’t enough that this person was a kindred spirit. It wasn’t enough that this person was miserable on the inside. It didn’t matter. All she saw was what she wanted to see, and even when said person proved they broke the mold of her pretentious expectations, she still pushed, fought, and clawed to keep things where it kept her comfortable. So she wanted to pigeonhole someone… but was indignant when she thought that others were doing the same to her. This really just…grr. This did NOT please me.

And I told my friend this…That I just couldn’t get past her bias. And my friend Anna said-‘Yeah, I get that. But teenagers are like that. They can be judgmental. I’m used to it.’ And it really bothered me long after-Was I being too harsh? And I finally decided…no, no I wasn’t. I love books where the heroines are unreasonable- I just couldn’t get past this one for whatever reason. She bothered me, plain and simple…and it was probably the largest reason I couldn’t fall head over heels for this story.

But enough of that. I have so many positive things to say about this. Like, how about the fact that after 50-60% I Could. Not. Put. This. Down. It became everything I’ve expected of a Kasie West novel and made me so badly wish that I’d had that connection from the very beginning. Imagine it like this:

Part one: Cute introduction where the plot is set into play and we get to know all our quirky characters

Part two: Pen pal plot drags a little, I begin to lose a little interest in Lily’s attitude and story

Part three: TOTAL transformation where the plot finally expands and we truly connect to the pen pal and our main character (well…you know what I mean). This part was 100% a 5. Things ACTUALLY happen and it feels like an actual story with a flow and a final destination.

And let me be clear-Had this whole story been like that last 40%, this would have been my absolute favorite Kasie West book (Probably). I just…I can’t explain how a complete lack of connection, focus, and butterflies turned into IMMEDIATE butterflies that are so forceful and so out of nowhere that I couldn’t breathe. I’m not kidding. It’s like…okay, it’s like the Beast roller coaster at King’s Island (LOVE LOVE LOVE)-It’s a great coaster okay, but then you get to the final third of the coaster and there are all these wooden tunnels that make you go underground-ish and they are pitch black and you feel as if you are going 1000 times faster and, on the first turn into the first tunnel, your head whips to left so fast you can’t handle it-but you love it and it takes you completely by surprise as you laugh and scream and hold onto your partner for dear life. And, by the end, you have the biggest smile on your face and can’t contain the good feels and your extreme excitement. It was just like that. Literally-Feels out of nowhere.

And I know I haven’t mentioned my main man WHO I AM OBSESSED WITH…but I don’t think I can because it’s a spoiler…is it, though? Is it not obvious? Okay, anyway, I can’t say his name, and I can’t really say much about him or it will make it even more obvious, and I can’t particularly claim he’s above Xander (maybe right below?), but just know that I absolutely loved him. He was an extremely kind, caring, and butterfly-inducing cutie. Misunderstood, if you will. But stop me now, I’m sure I’ve said too much. Whatever, sorry, it’s just so damn hard for me not to say his name and gush and cry like a fangirl professing her love and ah I am just a goner. But, alas, I guess you’ll have to meet him for yourself, unfortunately.

So, anyway, it may seem like I was mostly down on this book…but that’s not the case. I just wanted people to understand why this isn’t a 5 when I’ve rated her others that way. So many stories win me over in the end (a million jump into my mind) and become a forever favorite and a five star. But when I struggled to love this story from the beginning and found that it paled in comparison to my lovelies, The Fill-In Boyfriend and The Distance Between Us, I can’t objectively and fairly give a five for this story. I finished, was smiling so big it’s unreal, proclaimed my love of it to my friend, and said I had to give it a five…but then I slept on it and realized that it didn’t feel right to give it that rating, that it wasn’t a forever favorite, and it it had too many issues I couldn’t get over. So, I decided to rate highly…because the amount of giddiness and happiness I felt for the final third of the story can’t be overlooked-but it didn’t surpass her other novels and needed to be rated thusly. This rating, while a little disheartening to me for KW, feels right and truly says what I want it to say: While this book had it’s issues, it was fun, addicting, butterfly-inducing, and brought the largest smile to my face. P.S. is a good time, if not a little forgettable, and it will take you away from reality and make you feel better about yourself. It will make you happier, if only for the length of the novel. And, really, what else can you ask for?

**ARC provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review**

*********************

Alright guys…I’m guna be frank. My favorite thing about this book?? AGHHHHH MY BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY….he winssssss. Okay. Phew. Glad I got that out of the way. The boy was everything. He was the pitter-patter in my heart. The butterflies in my belly. He was the smile on my face and the driving force behind my high rating for this book.

Because, frankly? This wasn’t my favorite Kasie West novel. And I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until this morning:

Spoiler alert?

I hated the MC.

Sorry not sorry.

RTC.

View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW: How to Disappear by

July 13, 2016 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads
DNF

Synopsis:
This electric cross-country thriller follows the game of cat and mouse between a girl on the run from a murder she witnessed—or committed?—and the boy who’s sent to kill her.

Nicolette Holland is the girl everyone likes. Up for adventure. Loyal to a fault. And she’s pretty sure she can get away with anything...until a young woman is brutally murdered in the woods near Nicolette’s house. Which is why she has to disappear.

Jack Manx has always been the stand-up guy with the killer last name. But straight A’s and athletic trophies can’t make people forget that his father was a hit man and his brother is doing time for armed assault. Just when Jack is about to graduate from his Las Vegas high school and head east for college, his brother pulls him into the family business with inescapable instructions: find this ruthless Nicolette Holland and get rid of her. Or else Jack and everyone he loves will pay the price.

As Nicolette and Jack race to outsmart each other, tensions—and attractions—run high. Told in alternating voices, this tightly plotted mystery and tense love story challenges our assumptions about right and wrong, guilt and innocence, truth and lies.

DNF

Ahhhh that dreaded DNF….I honestly can’t think of the last book I didn’t finish. Even on the worst of books I try not to quit in the middle-But sometimes you just can’t help it. I mean…think about it. What’s worse? Cutting your losses when you seem to not connect in any way or forcing yourself to read through every. Single. Page?

I had the highest of expectations for this story when I received the ARC and a blog tour invite-this premise, as mentioned below in some of my comments, is actually a very hard story to tackle. So, of course, when one is presented in front of you that seems like it COULD be absolutely amazing, you take the chance. Well…after this one I think I’ll just trust my instincts.

This really isn’t the worst ARC I’ve ever gotten by any stretch of the imagination, but it was boring enough that I finally just lost any interest in trying-I have like…..NO time to read or review anymore, so when I have the time, I refuse to waste it on a story that seems like it was barely looked over or edited. Chapters that were sometimes a half page long (or so it seemed) made it impossible to connect with any one character, and then when you did get an extra page or two for the chapter, the writing was so stilted that you almost felt as if you were a dog, tilting your head this way and that with a confused, furrowed brow.

At one point I was all the way through a page (before I was even skimming) and was like…what even happened? I already had forgotten. I can’t say this book wouldn’t be better had I been in the mood and perhaps forced myself to really try to connect with what was being said, but in this stage of my reading life, knowing what I love and like to read, should I really have to force myself to get through chapters that are already short to begin with?

As for the rest of my problems, why even bother? I can’t even tell you what percent I got to, but I know it wasn’t worthy of a normally18 paragraph Chelsea review. So, instead, I will just list my dislikes and let you decide if these, too, are your turn offs:

-Short, choppy writing
-No flow…whatsoever
-Tiny chapters
-Vapid female lead
-Lack of a build-up
-Lack of a good background
-stupid convos
-INSTA-LOVE
-Fuck knows what else I missed skimming

Even now I can’t diss the main male lead who was partly to blame. I have issues guys…I really do.

But maybe the real issue here is that I didn’t give this author or this story long enough-I feel bad, honestly, but when you just don’t connect with a book, you just don’t connect. It already has some wonderful ratings, so perhaps it’s just me. Maybe give it a chance and see what you think….I just couldn’t be bothered.

View all my reviews