Review: The Maze Runner triology

The Maze Runner triology

by James Dashner

The Maze Runner                      The Scorch Trials                   The Death Cure

book rate: ★★★★☆       book rate: ★★★★☆        book rate: ★★★☆☆

Brief Introduction (from goodreads):

"If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human."
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
"Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade."
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
"Everything is going to change."
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
Remember. Survive. Run.

Review:

I marathoned this triology and its prequel and I'm starting to feel that maybe it was a bad idea. The prequel is excellent and so is the first book in triology. The second book is good, maybe not what I was expecting but still a good book. The Death Cure, the third and last book in this triolidy was the death of the triology for me.

The Kill Order (the prequel to this triology and which review you read here) and The Maze Runner were quick paced and action packed books that kept me on the edge trough the entire story.The characters were very good, incredinbly consistent and the plot was sometimes mind blowing. By the time I finished them I was officially in love with James Dashner for being such a realistic dystopian author. You can actually noticed my adoration for him in my The Kill Order's review!

The Schorch Trials were slightly more slow paced but plot was still interesting and the characters still gripped me.

The Death Cure was a disappointment honestly. It was so much more slow paced than I could ever expect a James Dashner's book to be... Some characters disappointed me, the plot didn't even seem like a plot, everything seemed slightly disconnected and the story looked like it was going nowhere. The ending of the book itself was good, I was satisfied with it, but the development of The Death Cure had so much more potential.

Regardless of my opinion of the third book I still think this is a series worth reading and I will not hesitate to reccommend it. Alhtough I will always be careful to give whoever I reccommend it to (including you guys) a heads-up about the third book.

Review: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

By Sarah Strohmeyer

from goodreads:

From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.

When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cut throat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

My Review:

I found this book on goodreads by chance. I honestly had no idea what it was about when I started reading it. It was exactly what I was looking for.  A fun and easy read, a perfect in-between book.

The prologue caught right away my attention. It was funny and kind of confusing but I couldn't put it down right from the beginning. What I loved the most about this book was the setting. The princes and princesses, the castles and all the characters I've been familiar with all my life. A book with Cinderela, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty will always add magic to the story no matter how simple the plot is. 

If you've read more of my reviews you know that is difficult for a book to take me by surprise. It's not hard for me to figure out what the big plot twist is. So I was surprised with this plot. I was actually not expecting to happen what happened. I'm not saying it is a mind blowing plot twist, but it was surprisingly nice and unexpected.  I loved that this book, set in a magical world, had such a cute and magical touch. Honestly, it was kind of childish, but I loved it anyway. I'm a sucker for fairy tales.

About the characters, I can't say I cared much about or what happened to them but I still liked them. Zoe was funny, kind and the best best friend in this entire world! If every one had a friend like her the world would be a better place. Ian and Jess were also good characters, although we don't get to see much of them, which I'm sorry for, I wish they were more present. 

All in all, and easy and funny read. If you're looking for something smoothing, this is ideal for you. I honestly don't recommend buying it, but if you find it on a local library or have someone lend it to you, you should give it a go!

Book Rate:

Review: The Kill Order

The Kill Order
by James Dashner

book rate: ★★★★★

Brief Introduction:

The Kill Order is The Maze Runner's triology prequel. It tells the story of Mark and his friends and the world they lived in before WICKED, the Glade and the Maze were created. A world after the sun flares.


Review:

This book blew my mind! Seriously, it exceed my expectations by far! After reading several reviews on goodreads I figured you can only feel two ways about this book, either you hate it or you love it. I'm clearly on the last group and I have no regrets people!

Now on to the book itself. The Kill Order has such good amazing perfect characters! I don't mean perfect as in don't make a single mistake, I mean perfect as in they do and they are not the typical bookish mistakes, they are real life ones. This characters struck me because they were so coherent and so very close to what people in real life are. The way their minds worked made total sense and the descriptions of their behaviours were outstanding really. And I felt just the same about the plot! This story was so strong, it had real flaws and even the conversations between characters seemed amazingly real! And I know I've said "real" a lot in the last paragraph but it's just how I feel about this book.

The Kill Order left me with my mouth wide open while reading in public more than once, and I usually contain myself when reading in such circumstances!

The only downside I found about this book was that there's just one freaking book about this and there should be more! (Not really, that would ruin the story but I just loved the characters so much I wish I could meet them all over again...)

This is a book that will make you feel. This is a book that will make you think. Specially about things you probably never thought about before... I recommend 100%, even though you might love it or hate it, but I hope you can all fall in the first category.

Rebeca's September Wrap Up

September was a bad reading month this year, I got on a reading slump and therefore read a total of  4 books. Here they are:

On the Road
by Jack Kerouac

Still haven't finished this so I won't get into details yet. I do love the writing style though!

The Appeal of Evil
by Pembroke Sinclair

Review Here

Where She Went
by Gayle Forman

Review Here

The Kill Order
by James Dashner

Upcoming review.

Review: The Appeal of Evil by Pembroke Sinclair

The Appeal of Evil

By Pembroke Sinclair

book rate: ★★★☆☆ (3/5) 

Publisher: Booktrope Editions

Date of Publication: January 13th 2014

Genre: Young Adult; Paranormal Romace
Page Count: 210

Source: We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads:

Katie wants to invest her heart and soul in love, but she may lose both to Hell. 

Katie, a senior in high school, is torn between loving the "good" guy, her childhood friend Wes who makes promises he doesn't keep and abandons her when she needs him the most, and the "bad" guy, the new kid at school Josh who is also a real demon from Hell. Katie wants someone who pays attention to her and puts her first, but what is she willing to give up to find him?

Our Review:

This book took us both for surprise. We went into it without any expectations and it turned out to be nothing like we imagined. We had never read anything like The Appeal of Evil before.

Katie has been in love with Wes for a long time but Wes is constantly breaking her heart, making promises he can't keep. The, one day, Josh appears and gives Katie exactly what she so desperately wants: attention. However, nothing is ever as simple as it seems and soon she finds herself in a war between good and evil.

Although the plot itself was pretty simple and coherent it was lacking world building. There was a lot of potential that was left undeveloped. Maybe there will be a next book and we'll learn more about the world, about Wes, Josh and what they represent. In addiction it seemed like everything happened in the same place: her room, the hospital and the warehouse. 

Therefore what surprised us about the book was the characters. Katie is not our usual heroin. She is mean, influenceable and selfish, Wes was annoyingly good - always trying to do the right thing but never quite accomplishing it. On the other hand, Josh was the exactly opposite. He was evil. Wes and Josh are the perfect impersonation of Good VS Evil while Katie is the one in the middle. She is not good like Wes but she is not evil like Josh, yet. They are not the characters you will fall in love with but they serve their purpose perfectly. Neither these characters are likeable but that doesn't mean they aren't good characters. We believe this was Pembroke's Sinclair intention and that it was what made this book good.

One of the main problems we had was with the writing style. Kate kept asking asking herself a lot of questions, but because the book was written in 3rd person there was the impression she was talking with herself in her head in 3rd person. All of this reflections and questions slowed the pace of the book quite a bit, but not enough to out it down.

All in all, a book we recommend to everyone who is tired of the perfect, goodhearted characters and is looking for a different and refreshing read.  

Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day
By Gayle Forman

book rate: ★★★★★ (5/5)

From Goodreads:

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay.

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Review: 

Eighteen year old Allyson Healey has always been a straight A student. So, as a reward for her accomplishments in high school, her parents offer her a three week European tour as a graduation gift. What she was not expecting was to meet Willem and having her life turned upside down. When he asks Allyson to change her plans and spend a day with him in Paris, she finds herself saying yes against all odds.  

Allyson had never been a rebellious child, she was exactly the opposite, the perfect daughter, the perfect student and the perfect best friend, was always ready to help whoever needed her, even if that meant not helping herself.  Allyson was the type of girl who would never, not in a million years, go to a foreign country with a completely stranger. Willem, on the other hand, is a confident, gorgeous free-spirited actor. He’s everything Allyson is not, but, somehow, Allyson discovers a part of her she never thought existed while travelling with Willem.

You may think Just One Day is just one more love story. But one the contrary, this novel is about self-discovery, finding a part of yourself you never knew existed and fighting to keep it within you. This is a book to every boy and girl who has ever felt lost, disconnected from the world and those living on it. The strong characters combined with a beautiful writing style, Gayle Forman, was able to, not only, inspire young readers but also make them reflect about life, what you expect from it and what is expected of you. 

Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

By Gayle Forman

book rate: ★★★★★ (5/5)

series rate: ★★★★★ (5/5)

If you haven’t read the first book in the series, be aware, this review contains spoilers of book one, If I Stay.

From Goodreads:

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

Review:

I don't know how to start to express my love for this book. I've been waiting to read it for a long time, and when I finally got my hands on it I sat down and I start reading it, a few hours later I had already finished it. This book was everything I was hopping for and more.

This book is written from Adam's point of view. It has been 3 years since the accident, 3 years since Mia left Adam and never said a word. He's devastated, lonely and lost. He has the life most people want, he is a rock star, but he isn't happy. Adam was a great character, the way he described what he was feeling was so realistic I could almost feel it myself. Mia is a rising star herself, she is living her life and even after everything she went through she stayed true to herself. 

The plot was simply amazing. As the night went on we get to see Adam and Mia's relationship and I was dumbstruck how well they knew each other, how he knew exactly what she wanted and needed. 

Throughout the book, Adam has flash backs of what that happened in the past, ever since Mia got out of the hospital to how he got to where he was. When he describes some moments he used to have with Mia before the accident it was undeniable how much they loved which other. When Mia finally stepped into the picture, his feelings where so strong and overwhelming, it was obvious he was still hurting over her. It was heartbreaking, I wanted to cry for Adam, he didn't what happened to him.

Once more, Gayle Forman wrote an amazing heartbreaking story. It will keep you on the edge of tears, frustrated and most likely overwhelmed. The feelings an ever lasting presence, just like you would expect from Gayle Forman. If you liked If I Stay you don't want to miss Where She Went.

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)
By Maggie Stiefvater

book rate: ★★★☆☆ (2.5/5)
series rate: ★★★☆☆ (2.8/5)

If you haven’t read the first two book in the series, be aware, this review contains spoilers of the last two books. If you want to know more about the previous books read my full review of Shiver and Linger.

From goodreads:

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater.

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love transformed from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be hunted in one final, spectacular kill.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future will all collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Review:

I'm going to be brief about this review since my opinion doesn't vary much than my opinion of Linger.

Forever, just like Linger, is written from four points of view, Sam, Grace, Cole and Isabel. I liked Cole in this book, his chapters were my favourites. He was funny and intelligent, the one who actually had something to do, he was trying hard to find the cure. However my opinion about Grace and Sam was the same, they were pathetic and only thought about one another most of the times instead of thinking about the real problem they had in hands. Isabel kind of acted like a bitch but, luckily she came to her senses at the right moment and saved the world.

This final book had more action than Linger, but I still found the book to be slow paced. There were too many chapters were nothing was happening, it was just Sam reflecting and writing songs, or Grace thinking, or Isabel being depressed. I found my self constantly losing focus, in one minute I was on a page and the other I was already on another page and I couldn't remember what I had read. 

One more thing I didn't like was the ending, the last chapter more specifically . I'm not going to tell you what happen because I don't want to spoil you, but if you read the book, you know what I'm talking about. I'm going to read Sinner someday just to see if the question I've been asking myself is answered, and also because I liked Cole and Isabel. 

All in all, a book I'd recommend only if you like books where nothing much happens but where there is a lot of thinking and reflections about life and all kind of things. 

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After

By Stephanie Perkins

book rate: ★★★★★ (4.5/5)

from goodreads:

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last? 

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

Isla has had a crush on Josh ever since she laid eyes on him on their freshman year. She never thought she had a chance with him, but a late encounter in Manhattan changes everything. Months later, back in Paris Isla may have her dream come true. But not everything is easy. Hearts get broken, tears are shared and dreams become nightmares.

When I bought this book I had high expectations, but while I was waiting for it to be delivered I read some not so good reviews. It didn’t stop me for reading it as soon as I had it. And I’m glad I did, because I loved it! I can’t say what my favourite Stephanie Perkins’ book is; I loved all of them so much!

We had already been introduced to Isla and Josh on Anna and the French Kiss, but we really don’t see much of them in this first book. We know Isla has a crush on Josh and, although Josh appears often, he’s either drawing or making out with his girlfriend. Josh has always intrigued me, and I was so glad to get to know him better. He’s funny, sweet and emotional. He doesn’t hide what his feeling, he’s not afraid to cry or showing vulnerability. He knows exactly what he wants in life but sometimes he tends to be a little immature, but I liked that about him. It just makes his character more realistic. On the other hand, Isla is completely lost. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, she feels like a blank canvas. She has little confidence in herself and tends to over think pretty much everything.

Once more, Stephanie Perkins creates characters that are both amazing and realistic.

The plot is adorable, the setting amazingly described, the relationship between the characters, whether it is friendship, romance or family is portrayed in a realistic and perfect way. Isla and the Happily Ever After did not disappoint! It was everything I was hoping for, and more! I wished the scene where the characters from the previous books appear were bigger, but other than that I was happy how everything turned out. I highly recommend Stephanie Perkins’ books to every contemporary fan out there. 

Review: Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2)
By Maggie Stiefvater

book rate: ★★★☆☆ (2.5/5)

If you haven’t read the first book in the series, be aware, this review contains spoilers of book one, Shiver. If you want to know more about shiver here is my full review.

From goodreads:

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

This is book is told from four different perspectives, Sam, Grace, Isabel and Cole.  Cole is one of the New Wolves Beck brought before changing to wolf. It’s still too cold for the new wolves to start shifting but Cole is already human during most days so he’s trying to figure out why and how this wolf thing really works. I can’t decide if I like Cole or not, he’s obvious not a stable person, he just wants to be a wolf and lose himself but in the end he actually snaps out a little and starts acting like a normal person. Isabel was a character that intrigued me in Shiver and I was glad we could see the story thought her eyes. I felt like she was the only one trying to hold everything together. Sam’s chapters were the worse of the book, instead of facing the problems that he has to face, he only things about two things: thinking about this cure, and telling himself that he is cured and thinking of Grace and how much he misses her. Grace’s chapters are not that good as well. I appreciated the fact that she stood up for herself and told everything she thought to her parents about them, but other than that, she only thought about Sam or how much pain she was in. This leaves us with Isabel having to take action, worrying about Grace, taking care of Cole and make Sam wake up from his daze and take action before something bad happened. If it was not from Isabel this book would have sucked!

Needless to say I didn’t like this book. I didn’t like the characters, I felt like there was no personality to them, specially Sam and Grace. Nothing happened until the very end of the book. It was boring. Although I intend on reading the next book to find out what happens I think Shiver would have served better as a stand-a-lone. I was disappointed with Linger and I hope the next book is better. 

Rebeca's August Wrap Up

I ACCOMPLISHED MY AUGUST TBR GOALS! YEYYY!

Okay, so... I managed to read all my August TBR books without digressing too much. Now that's an achievement! I read a few more books too so I guess we could say it was a good month. Sweet sweet August!

Now back to the point, here's my August wrap up post for you guys:

Last Summer
by Rebecca A. Rogers
book rate: ★☆☆☆☆

I still regret the time I spent reading Last Summer. I got absolutely nothing out of it, I found the storyline grew more and mroe incoherent throughout the book and the relationships between the characters were rather unrealistic. Would not recommend.

Full Review

Unspoken

by Sarah Rees Brennan

book rate: ★★★☆☆

Unspoken is a book I had on my tbr list for a while and therefore I quite accomplished when I finished it. The storyline itself is good, not life changing. but still good. The thing that left me the most satisfied about this book were the characters. Kami, the main character is smart, independent, fair and caring. Qualities I value a lot! Characters like Jared, Ash and Rosalind were very intriguing and characters like Rusty and Angela were very likeable and easy to relate to.

Untold
by Sarah Rees Brennan
book rate: ★★★☆☆

I found Untold very slow paced compared to Unspoken. A good book nonetheless and left me looking forward to reading Unmade, the third and final book of the Lynburn Legacy triology, which is expected to come out on the 23rd of September this year.

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

book rate: ★★★★★

We Were Liars is the type of book that will keep you on the edge through the whole story, you won't be able to put it down until you solve its mystery. And I have to say... it's quite a big mystery.

The characters are very relatable and the relationships between them are very consistent. The story takes place in the perfect location and everything about it is very gripping. There's not much to say about really except: read it. Specially if you want to keep your mind off something because this will occuppy every bit of space in your head.                                    

Full Review                                    

Clockwork Angel
by Cassandra Clare
book rate: ★★★★☆

Clockwork Angel is the first book of The Infernal Devices triology, the prequel to The Mortal Instruments collection. (If you don't know what TMI is then go to your bookstore, buy it and read it. Now!)
This book was so good! I couldn't believe Cassandra Clare's ability to create so many loveable characters. I found myself adoring them when I was just half way through the book!
The story line is gripping as well and left me in a serious need to get my hands on Clockwork Prince, the second book in TID and the next mini-reviewed book on my wrap-up.

Clockwork Prince

by Cassandra Clare

book rate: ★★★★☆

Clockwork Prince was just as good as Clockwork Angel. I fell even more in love with the characters and I couldn't possibly be more looking forward to reading the next and last book of this triology, Clockwork Princess. I trust Cassandra Clare will wrap up this story nicely as she always does.

Fangirl
by Rainbow Rowell
book rate: ★★★☆☆

Fangirl exceeded my expectations. Everythigng about this book produced some kind of emotion in me, I was always either smiling, laughing or very serious about the whole business Fangirl brings to the reader. The characters are perfect, incredibly realistic and the relationships established are so gripping, the storyline coeherent, everything about this book is so amazing!
The only reason I rated it so low (for all the awesomeness it is) is that it didn't exactly teach you anything... there was no moral of this story, no important message, and that'ssomething I value a lot about books. But besides that it's an amazing book, super entertaining. Recommend 100% if you're looking for a good time reading a book.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

by Jennifer E. Smith

book rate: ★★★☆☆

To be honest, I had high expectations about The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight which did not correspond to the reality of this book. It's a good story (not as predictable as it might seem in the beginning) and there are good characters. It's not just a story about love, it's also about acceptance and forgiveness and I found this a good change in the world of contemporary YA books I've been reading. The only downside really was the main character, I found her so uninteresting and very little coeherent... But an entertaining read, nevertheless.

Full Review                                    

Meant to Be
by Lauren Morrill
book rate: ★☆☆☆☆

Another book I regret spending time reading, Meant to Be was the typical contemporary except worse because I couldn't bring myself to believe the main characters were really in love. Besides, the main female character was probabily one of the most boring characters I've come across in a while... Would not recommend.

Full Review



Let me know what you read this month and your opinions in the comment section bellow!

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

Book rate: ★☆☆☆☆

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill was a disappointment.

I did a read-along of this book with Isabel (so we exchanged more opinions than usual) and we both completely agree at least in one point: the main character is a pain in the guts.

I will leave a very short synopsis (shorter than the usual synopsis) so you can keep up with this review in case you haven’t read the book. If you did read the book you can skip the next paragraph if you like!

Meant to Be follows an American girl named Julia who goes on a school trip to London with class mates she despises. Jason is the worst of them all and, unfortunately to Julia, she is paired with him for the next 10 days by their teacher. Instead of this being the school trip Julia expected, with lots of learning and absorbing culture, it ends up being the craziest adventure she has ever been in. Between meeting news guys and reencountering old crushes and almost being kissed more than once, the most unexpected thing happens. Julia falls for Jason. Madly.

Or at least, that’s what’s supposed to happen… and I couldn’t disagree more! But that’s the second point of this review. Firstly I would like to talk about miss Julia Pain-in-the-guts.

As I was reading Meant to Be I kept getting the feeling that Lauren had tried too hard to make Julia the high school girl with the perfect GPA, who can’t stand to break rules or have her purse any other way than carefully organized and spotless. This results in both Julia being a royal pain and an inconsistent character. Initially she can’t stand to break a single rule and then, all of a sudden, she’s stalking Jason all over London when she was supposed to be with the rest of the class (and this was a decision she made on her own, with nothing or nobody pressuring her to do it).

Now the second point of this review – the oh-heck-no-you-can’t-call-this-a-love-story. As soon as I finished Meant to Be my first thought was “She’s so not in love with Jason”. In the last few chapters she realizes she’s in love with Jason and then goes off to meet some other guy and only when she realizes she he’s not exactly her type does she look for Jason. From where I stand, love would be trying to find him as soon as I realized I had fallen for him. I was left with the impressed Julia was in and out of love (not only with Jason but with the other guys too) as she found convenient.

Now moving on to something most of us do every day: texting. NO REGULAR TEENAGER SIGNS EVERY SINGLE TEXT MESSAGE THEY SEND NOW-A-DAYS. NONE! Throughout the book we are presented with all the Julia’s and Jason’s texts and every single one of them was signed. I know this is just a detail but it bothered me a lot as I moved through the book… But the worst part really was that each chapter begins with a text message sent or received by Julia (and sometimes Jason, I’m guessing, although you can’t really tell). As little problematic as this may seem, it becomes very confusing once the story develops and I found myself in constant need to go back and reread every text message at the beginning of each chapter… something I considered a slightly annoying and boring thing to have to do.

I can’t, however, finish this review without mentioning a few things I found very positive. Phoebe, Julia’s best friend (she couldn’t make it to the trip so that’s why I didn’t mention her in the synopsis, but Julia exchanges a few texts messages with her throughout the book), is an amazing character. She’s described as someone more relaxed than Julia and that was one of the things that encouraged me to continue reading Meant to Be.

I would also like to add that, in my opinion, each character had the amount of time in the spotlight they deserved. With this I mean the reader didn’t get unnecessary and unimportant information about the secondary characters. That was definitely a positive side to the mess I found myself in while reading Julia’s thoughts.

All in all, I think anyone can find better contemporary YA books to read… Would not recommend.

Please take into account that this review is simply based in my opinion while reading the book and you’re free to disagree and leave your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to discuss it with you guys!

Review: Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Maybe Someday
By Colleen Hoover

from goodreads:

At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She's in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her; and she's forced to decide what her next move should be.

Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there's something about Sydney that Ridge can't ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

It’s her birthday, Sydney find out her boyfriend is cheating on her with her roommate, she loses her job and is now homeless. She’s lost and heartbroken, she definitely is not expecting Ridge to offer her shelter, after all, they had only known each other for two weeks. The inevitable happens and they start developing feelings for each other. But Ridge has a girlfriend, Maggie, who he loves very, very much.

I was hesitant to pick up this book. 

I’ve heard amazing things about Colleen Hoover but I’ve been so disappointed with New Adult lately, I haven’t found a book I actually liked in a long time. I was utterly surprised to have enjoyed this book as much as I did. I read it in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down and ended up staying awake until 5 a.m. so I could finish it.

The plot itself was something I was not expecting. This is not a cutesy contemporary, there’s so much hurt, self-doubting and confusion that I’m having trouble putting it into words. It portraits heartache and love in such a way that I could feel it like it was me in that situation. I was so emerged in this story that I was hurting alongside the characters.

Both Sydney and Ridge are confused. They don’t know how to deal with the feelings they have for one another. Ridge is loyal to his girlfriend and feels guilty for developing feelings for Sydney. Sydney doesn’t want to be a Tori, she doesn’t want to hurt other people like Tory hurt her. They soon find themselves trapped in this bubble of love, confusion, guilt and desire, and this is what makes these characters so real. Sometimes in books the characters have it all figured out, there’s no doubt or confusion. They know exactly what they want, who they want and what they need. Yet, that’s not how it works in real life. In reality we are all like Sydney and Ridge trying to make sense of something nobody really understands.

I am making this book sound really depressing. And although it does have its depressing moments, there are also fun ones. Ridge’s roommates are always playing pranks at one another and making stupid jokes. I loved Sydney and Warren’s (Ridge’s best friend and roommate) relationship. Warren was such a reliable and strong character. He was always there when things went wrong, supporting whoever needs him.

The only reason I gave it 4/5 stars and not 5 was because of some of the cheesy moments. I’m not a cheesy person, and there are some moments that are too cheesy for me. I could never find certain moments that are presented romantic.

This heartbreaking novel will definitely tear up your heart, make you cry and laugh and take you into an emotional journey you will never forget. I recommend this book to everyone who likes contemporary. Although it is considered new adult, there’s not as much mature content as the NA books I’ve read so far and I think it is appropriate to anyone who is 16+.