Book review 15 - Wait For You by Jennifer Armentrout

Pages: 332
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: February 26, 2011
Summary: 
Some things are worth waiting for.

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago--an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe--please God--make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn't need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she's building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing.

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that's just so... so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet.

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she's has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for.

My thoughts:

I am in a huge reading slump lately. I have no problems reading, but I cannot for the life of me stick with a book. So imagine my joy when I start Wait For You and I stay up till 4am reading. I absolutely loved this, adored this. I really did and I truly believed I would love love the entire thing... and then I got to the scene in the bedroom at Cam's parents house.
Now, I didn't read far enough to get to the big reveal, but it's obvious to anyone with brains that she was raped at that party. I guessed it the first time she mentioned "that party" as she calls it all the time. I have never been raped, so I cannot imagine the horror that it is, especially when everyone calls you a lying whore after and essentially acts like it didn't happen. The emotional trauma she is going through is extremely understandable.
And yet... there's this really cool thing called therapy. I know she apparently went to therapy secretly when she was in HS, but 5 years in therapy and nothing helped her? She really should have continued with it. She has all these demons in her that YES let me feel sympathetic to her, but at the same time I don't think they were justifiable reasons for the way she treated Cam. 
Which leads me to why I DNF'd this book...
that scene in the room when he saw her scar solidified every negative feeling I was having towards her that I had been ignoring. I pushed through because I liked the book and I LOVED Cam and Raphael and Ollie and Britt and Jacob and I figured they were enough to get me through, but I just couldn't do it after that scene.
He sees her scar that she tried to kill herself. I understand the shame she feels because I have the same scars but it's like she didn't know Cam. Cam spent every day of 2 months asking her out. She should have known he wasn't looking at her with anger. It really bothers me that she literally cut him out of her life because he saw her scars. Not to mention dropping a class for him? Come on girl.
While that bothered me, it isn't why I stopped reading. I stopped reading because she made the conscious decision to separate herself from him and I could have dealt with that. End of book. But no, naturally as soon as he finally was able to let go of her (not REALLY let go obviously) she got jealous and upset. She made her decision and quite frankly had no right to get jealous over Cam and Steph.
Normally, I would not TERRIBLY mind that. I might have continued on the book, pretended everything was fine and waited for the inevitable happy ending, but given how weak of a character she was, how really shitty she treated Cam, and everything else I knew would be coming with her rape and everything, I just really don't have it in me to finish this book.

I'm having a problem lately where little things that I could normally ignore are ruining books for me and I guess I'm being nitpicky but I have a lot on my TBR list and I don't want to waste time reading books I don't like, and also I mean I love JLA but it's clear to me I'm destined to love Obsidian more than anything else she ever writes.

Book review 14 - Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius

Pages: 340
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication date: May 12, 2015
Summary: 
Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.
Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.
Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?

My thoughts:

Not going to lie I knew nothing about this book before I bought it. This book was featured in a cover contest in May and I voted for it because it was the cutest cover. Then later that same day I went to the bookstore and saw the book and bought it on a whim. So glad I did because the cover is GORGEOUS and the book is SO CUTE!!

Anyone who knows me, or who has read my reviews, knows that YA contemporary isn't always my favorite. I like a few, especially the cuter romantic ones, but I have a difficult time reading some contemporary because there is no action. But for some reason this book was a total hit with me! The more I think about it, the more I realize that because in its own way, this is like a dystopian book. A girl sets out, with help, to change the fate of her city. It's such a cute idea.

I can't even begin to explain how unique this book is. In the town of Grimbaud, everyone gets a love fortune that tells them how their love life will turn out. So this town is centred around love. The main girl, Fallon, gets a love fortune with horrible news, and she's not the only one, so she decides to do something about it with them. Love runs this town, and I think it's such a cute idea. It reminds me of a Valentine's Day story, but where every day is Valentine's Day.

The world that this author has created is just so cute and fluffy. A little town where everything is like Valentine's Day all the time and everyone is happy and in love. 

I had one problem with the book, and not going to lie it was a big problem.. I didn't like the main girl. She was such a pretentious materialistic judgmental character. At times I found her intolerable with her better than everyone else stuck up attitude. I grew to like her, but she never seemed to grow out of that little phase and she just bothered me to be honest. Not enough to ruin the story, thank god, but enough that I was rolling my eyes at her. Her character development was there, she did grow as a character, but she never lost those qualities about her. 
Another problem I had were the very weirdly placed time jumps. Moments where she was doing something and thinking something and the next moment she would be somewhere else doing something else and there was no page break to indicate that so I was a bit confused at times.

This book reminded me of a cheesy tv movie. I don't mean that in a really bad way either. Like a really cute TV movie that everyone loves even though it's a little far fetched. You just can't help loving it because it's just so darn cute!! 

Well, I've used up my quota for the amount of times I can say cute in a review, so yeah, read this!

Book review 13 - Confess by Colleen Hoover

Pages: 306
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: March 10, 2015
Summary: 
Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

My thoughts:

There are so many words. More words than I will ever know, and yet there are none that can accurately tell you how much this book was beautiful. Colleen Hoover has overtaken Jodi Picoult and become my favourite author. It's so hard to review her books because how many times can I tell you that I love her, that her writing and characters are flawless, and that everything is perfect. She writes heartbreaking, stunningly beautiful stories that make me sad for days. I honestly have never cried as hard during a book as I cried during this one.
The concept of this book was amazing. I loved Owen's art and how he uses Confessions as inspiration. Auburn's story was so good and I just love the little twists Hoover likes to throw in the middle of all her books to make everything that much more heartbreaking. These two were such perfectly flawed and beautiful characters.
I sobbed the entire last chapter of the book I really don't know what else to tell you other than this book heart my hurt, made me feel EVERYTHING, and made me forget where I was at times. 
The book hangover on this one is really strong and I hurt. It's been a long time since I read a book in one day, let alone one sitting.
Read it. Please. Seriously though read this book.

Book review 12 - This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meghan Spooner

Pages: 390
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: December 23rd, 2014
Summary: 
Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.
Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.
Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.
Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

My thoughts:

This is no where near as good as book one was. Not even a little bit close.
I will say, the plot is much better and more interesting. The civilians vs soldiers on this really run down planet. All interesting, but the book just isn't as good.
Jubilee and Flynn in my opinion have no chemistry. I didn't see, nor will I see, the progression of their romantic storyline. Not sure really when they went from enemies to like romance partners but clearly I missed that section. Their romance got old after a while because it was always the same scene. They would want to touch one another, they would finally do it and then they would stop because it was wrong. It was also hardly developed. I don't really see their romance and I don't feel for it like I did for Tarver and Lilac's.
It was nice to see Lilac and Tarver again, even though they had a very very small and minor storyline.
That being said. I think I liked Flynn and Jubilee more than Tarver and Lilac. 

Also, in book one every chapter started with an interview between Tarver and some sort of LaRoux guy which made sense because it told us that yes eventually Lilac and Tarver would make it off that planet. But this one had the weirdest scenes at the beginning of every chapter and I had absolutely no idea what they meant or represented and I think they were mishandled and too confusing to aid in the storyline. 

They also introduced a lot of political and social problems I don't feel were really concluded at the end of the book. Sure there was an attempt at concluding things but there was a lot of easy way out moments. Like the ending with McBride was just too easy. A lot of those.

I know I complained about the book a lot. I really did like it but I just didn't feel anything nearly as strong towards it as I did to the first one and they are hard not to compare. I only hope that I like the conclusion as much as these and that I enjoy the new characters just as much as I did these. 

Book review 11 - These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meghan Spooner

Pages: 374
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: December 10, 2013
Summary: 
Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. 

My thoughts:

Well holy crap. 100/5 stars for this book. I am in awe at how good it was. 
I don't read blurbs anymore. I am most definitely a "judge a book by its cover and title" type of person and since this book has a gorgeous cover and title I knew I had to read it. 
The plot follows Tarver and Lilac who are stranded somewhere after their space ship thing crashes. I will admit, survival stories where characters are stranded have never interested me but this book was so amazing I think my entire outlook on that is changed. The pacing isn't too slow and it's not too fast. It didn't feel like anything dragged, which is amazing considering there was room for it, and nothing was rushed. 
This book has literally 2 main characters and only 1 secondary character. There are a few MINOR characters but they are minor. That being said, you spend the book with 2 characters the entire time. They are both so loveable. Lilac's character development is STUNNING!!! It's so perfect and it's paced so well, and the best thing is that it is  acknowledged. Tarver was my favourite though. I cared for his well being so much. There are several times in this book when my heart ached for him because I want him to be happy. I want both of them to be happy. 
On the topic of happiness, a book where the romance wasn't forced!! It was such a well written romance. It was paced well, it didn't take over any of the plot, it was cute and fluffy and really fit in well to the book. 
This book was incredibly beautiful. I am still in awe at how beautiful this book was. The writing was elegant and flowed well, nothing too extreme or overdone, simple but effective. The narrative was realistic and felt like everything could have been real.

I truly recommend this to everyone and anyone that enjoys any genre. It's got sci-fi. fantasy, possibly dystopian, and was even a pretty decent romantic book.

Book review 8 - Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Pages: 471
Publisher: Graphia
Publication date: October 1, 2008
Summary: 
Deadly Grace
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight--she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graces as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...

My thoughts:

*4.5 books*

I really enjoyed this book. I attempted to listen to the audiobook but I wasn’t enjoying the audiobook narrator voices so when I found Graceling for 1$ at a used book store I knew it was destined to be. 

This book has everything I love. Nothing complicated. A strong female lead. Amazing secondary characters. A really interesting world and really interesting “powers” called Graces. The world was plain and nothing too unusual but very good. I love love the idea of Gracelings. I love that it’s not something everyone has, and I love how complex they are. Katsa’s grace was so amazing. I love how it began as something terrifying and dangerous and turned into something beautiful. Learning about the many different graces was nice, but I would have loved to learn about even more of them.

Now characters: I loved Katsa. I actually at the beginning found her a touch unlikable but that went away. Her sarcasm and her humour were everything I like in people and I love her interactions with Po. They were both such strong characters, as was Bitterblue. It’s clear that Cashore is not interested in weak useless characters and I love that. Everyone had a place, a purpose and a point.

I’m just going to give an entire section here for Po though. What can I say about Po. What a precious little child. Willing to get beat up constantly just to fight Katsa. So protective of Katsa and Bitterblue. Protective of Katsa but also realizes that he will never be able to protect Katsa better than she protects herself. He teases her in such a loving way, but he’s just so loving in general. Like with the horses. He constantly cares about their wellbeing because he knows that Katsa is rough on them and he just sometimes reminds her to care for her horse because not everything is as tough as her. He is gentle in all the ways that she is rough and they are the perfect match because they compliment each other where the other lacks. And essentially their entire relationship can be summed up in:

Po: Katsa no
Katsa: KATSA YES!!

My reasons for a 4.5 rating, instead of a 5 star, are two fold. It was the plot and the ending.

I really did enjoy the plot. But there were some definite slow moments. A lot of kind of mountain travelling that doesn’t really further the plot a lot. Same with their very long stay in the cabin and their boat journey. So while I did like it. I found it lacking and a bit slow. Also, the fact that this is a companion series rather than a trilogy is a bit disappointing because I feel like there wasn’t much that happened and I don’t feel ready to be finished with Katsa and Po.

Another little thing is the book is so clearly about killing that one king but in the end that scene was also a little underwhelming.

My problem with the end, to me, seems quite obvious. It’s just not enough and it’s not an ending. Again, it feels like a story that continues to another book because it was such an open ending. There was no character development for Katsa. She had the oppurtunity to grow after taking care of Bitterblue and maybe see that she could be a mother and a wife. The fact that Po and Katsa kind of ended the book apart with no intention of ever being married really disappointed me. I don’t see the purpose of including a romance plot when you leave it like that at the end. I am sure in Bitterblue we might get an update about them but I am really really underwhelmed with the ending.

I will say that the Po thing at the end really made me sad for him.

Overall, I really adored this book. I’m going to read Bitterblue soon and then read Fire after that. I am looking forward to really seeing if there is any sort of Po/Katsa development that will make this less of a disappointment to me.