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+.

Review: Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss

By Stephanie Perkins

book rate: ★★★★★ (4.5/5)

from goodreads:

Can Anna find love in the City of Light?

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken —and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's waiting for?

After finishing Lola and the Boy Next Door, I missed Anna and Étienne so much I had to reread this book! Just like the first time, I found myself flying through the pages, excited to get to my favourite parts! I read this book in less than 24 hours (I regret nothing!). On the 14th, the first thing I'll do when I wake up is buying Isla and the Happily Ever After!

I think everybody who likes YA has heard about this book, but I still wanted to share my feelings about it.

The plot in this book is very like the plot in other contemporaries, girl meets boy, they fall in love, but for some reason they can't be together. We all know, when we start reading a contemporary, that the characters will, most likely, end up together in the end and live happily ever after. So, in my opinion, what really matters in contemporaries is the journey, the characters and their development.

When we start Anna and the French Kiss, Anna is crying so hard that the girl living next door hears her, she is afraid to order food and to leave campus. By the end of the book she is going to the movies and visiting Paris all by her self. 

Étienne's life has always been ruled by his father and he's to afraid of changes, but then he grows up and stands for himself. 

Once again, Stephanie Perkins creates fantastic characters. They are likeable, you can't help not loving them but they are not perfect. They make mistakes, sometimes they say things that shouldn't be said, others, they don't say enough and they may not always have the best attitude towards some events, but that's what makes them so realistic.

The amazing characters, the simple (but great) plot and the funny writing make this book wonderful and worth reading! If you're a fan of contemporaries you probably heard of Stephanie Perkins already. If you haven't, I assume you've been living in another world and if that's the case you have to pick on of her books right now!

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door
By Stephanie Perkins

book rate: ★★★★☆ (4.25/5)

from goodreads: 

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighbourhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.




Lola and the Boy Next Door is one of those cute contemporaries that grabs you right from the beginning and you can't stop reading it! 
I did enjoy this book but not as much as  Anna and the French Kiss. I was so happy to see Anna as Lola's co-worker! I felt like reading Anna and the French Kiss all over again. And I think I will, before Isla and the Happily Ever After is released.

One thing that is constantly present in contemporaries is lack of communication, however, in this book, Cricket is straightforward with Lola right from the beginning.  The main problem was that Lola was not honest with herself.

I loved the characters. All of them, except for Max (Lola's boyfriend) he was an idiot, and Lola was the only one who could not see that. She did annoy me sometimes, she could not see what was right in front of her and she was rude sometimes. But I guess that's what makes this character so realistic, she has flaws and she knows it, she tries to correct her mistakes, and eventually she is able to!

It's an enchanted forest, I'm sure of it. Amid the trees are devilish wood sprites and red mushroom caps with whit spots and faeries tempting mortals with golden fruit. (chapter thirteen)
I loved how Lola described the Muir Woods. It revels so much about her character. She has such a creative way to look at the world and it is reflected in the way she acts, dresses and describes things like the woods. She is such a unique character. I don't think I will ever forget her.

I loved this book and I'm super excited to read Isla and the Happily Ever After! If you like contemporaries you have to read this book, if you haven't already.

Oppostion (Lux #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

book rate: ★★★★★ (5/5)
series rate: ★★★★★ (5/5)

I'm not going into detail about the plot since Opposition is the last book of the series and I don’t want to spoil the other books for you. But I’ll give you a small description of the series, with no spoilers.

The Lux series follow the life of book-nerd Katy after she moved to West Virginia with her mother looking for a fresh start. Katy did get a fresh start, but it was not what she was expecting. All hell breaks loose when she discovers than her next door neighbours are aliens.

I don’t know where to begin to describe how much I love this books and what they mean to me. I was intrigued by this book when I first heard of it. I had never read paranormal-romance or a lot of different type of books before, to be honest.  And aliens?! That almost stopped me from reading Obsidian, but I'm glad it didn't because I will carry this story with me for a long time to come.

Opposition was the perfect way to end this series. I went with high expectations to this book, and it didn't disappoint me.  Throughout the book, there are a lot of references to things that happen in Obsidian, how it all started, what the characters had to go through and how much everything had changed.  This filled me with such a strong sense of nostalgia that I was constantly on the verge of tears. Just like the other four books, this final book was action packed, most times I felt like my heart would jump out of my chest and my hands wouldn't stop shaking, but even when everything was going wrong, I was still able to laugh. Jennifer L. Armentrout knows when it’s okay to make a joke or when it’s time to be serious and that is something I appreciate. The jokes were appropriate and they didn't sound fake, and the same applies to the serious and heart breaking moments.

Katy is one of my favourite characters ever. She is strong, lovable, a book worm just like us and the reason I created this blog. Katy, Daemon, Dee, Dawson, Beth, Archer, Luc, Adam, and even Ash and Andrew (all the characters really) will always have a special place in my heart.

This series is full of typical book lover’s comments and it is always able to put a smile on my face. Love, romance, friendship, family and action are an everlasting presence. I will definitely reread this series in the future especially since Obsidian is my go-to happy book for when I'm feeling sad. Needless to say I highly recommend this series. 

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

book rate: ★★★★☆

Emily and Sloane have been best friends for two years. They talked all the time about everything and nothing at all. Emily had always been shy and introverted, but that was before Sloane became her friend. Suddenly she had somebody to hand out with, to go to parties with and to help her talking to strangers, something that has always been difficult for Emily. However, in the beginning of the summer Sloane disappears leaving a list for Emily with ridiculous tasks she would never do, not even in a million years. But what if doing them is the only way to find Sloane? She doesn't think she can accomplish that, but then, unexpectedly, Frank Porter comes into her life and together they try to cross off that random list. 

This book got my full attention as soon as it started. I could relate with Emily, maybe because I used to have a friend like she had Sloane, who also disappeared from my life out of nowhere, or because I used to be as shy as she is in the beginning of the book. 

I loved how Emily developed and grew up through the book. She proved to be brave by standing up to her fears, something most of us couldn't do. I also loved all the characters, specially her young brother, he is so funny and different from most 10 year old boys. The plot is also creative, entertaining and addictive.
I had so much fun reading this book. I found my self laughing out loud in so many parts. I couldn't put this book down, and I kept reading until it was super late!

This is a book about friendship, love, finding yourself, coming our of your shell and overcoming your biggest fears. I highly recommend it to everyone who is, not only, a fan of contemporaries, but to who had a bad moment in her/his life and thought it couldn't be overcome. 

After reading Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and Since You've Been Gone, I can officially say I'm a fan of Morgan Matson, and I intend to read more of her books soon.  

Charade by Nyrae Dawn

book rate: ★★★☆☆

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne has the perfect life. A hot boyfriend, great clothes and a smile always on her face. That's exactly what she wants people to think. However, on the inside she is broken.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted to go to college, but when her mother is dying and that's her only wish, he has no choice but make it come true. 

After Cheyenne walks in on her boyfriend with another girl, her pride is wounded. So in a desperate attempt to keep her reputation intact she asks Colt to pretend to her boyfriend. 

Rapidly, their charade is replaced by another and another, until they realise they may not me playing a game any more.  

I've been reading a lot of New Adult books lately, and I thought this would turn out to be just like the others. However, I was slightly surprised. 

Both main characters develop throughout the book, they grow up and manage to face life instead of hiding in the shadow of their games, and their pasts. The plot it self is not a cliché like we usually come across in some new adult contemporaries. It is, indeed, an emotional read for those who are soft hearted and share tears easily.

I didn't cry though. But I enjoyed this book, it was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up. 

I would recommend this book to all people who are looking for a light and emotional read. 

The Summer Series by Jenny Han

      ★★★★☆ (3.75/5)                                           ★★★★☆ (4/5)                                                ★★★★☆ (4/5)

series rate: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

To fifteen year old Belly, there's nothing she anticipates more than the beginning of summer. Ever since she was born she has spent her summer in a beach house in Cousins. The beach house doesn't belong to her, but to her mother's best friend, Susannah. Susannah has two children, Conrad and Jeremiah. And of course that's what she loves the most about her summers. Belly measures her life in summers. This is the summer she turned pretty, the summer the boys finally stopped looking at her like she was still a kid. But this summer things are different, Conrad doesn't act like himself, her brother Steven only spends a few weeks there, even her mother and Susannah are acting differently. 

When we start this series Belly is only fifteen, and she was one of the most annoying girls there is! Always making childish decisions, trying to get attention from Conrad, trying to make him jealous. But when I look back at the time when I was fifteen, I guess I acted pretty much like Belly did in the first book. When I was almost finished with the first book, I didn't want to keep reading, but something really unexpected happened in the last chapter and I had to pick up the second book.

In the second book Belly is a completely different person. She stopped being that annoying litte kid she was in the first one. You can see how much she changes in that winter. Not only her but also all the characters. Something bad happens that creates a distance between them all. This book is a sad book actually, I had tears in my eyes throughout the entire book. 

When we get to the last book, the first book Belly is fully grown up. Even thought she is no longer a kid, she is still so stubborn, I felt like yelling at her, she wouldn't listen to what everybody was saying, even thought they were right! Fortunately, she comes to her senses, and everything works out. 

However, Belly was not the character that I liked the most. I felt intrigued by Conrad as soon as I first read about him. With his every action you can feel how lost he feels, he spends his days alone in his room, he stars drinking and smoking. He builds a wall so big around him it takes him more than two years to finally come to his senses, stop running away every time he can't cope with his feelings and actually tell people what he really thinks and what he is feeling. In the first two books Conrad is a giant ass! He keeps playing with Belly's feelings, he's always hurting her. But there are times when he opens himself a little bit and you can tell how much he cares for her. So when we get to the last book and there are some chapters written in his point of view, you understand that, with his actions he only meant to protect Belly from himself.

About Jeremiah, there's not a lot of things I can say about him. I didn't really like him in any of the books. I feel like he was the only one who changed for the worst. I think he was selfish, putting his happiness in front of everyone else's, including Belly and Conrad. 

What I loved the most about this series was not the plot or the love story. It was the character development, and how Jenny Han was able to work out the love triangle in a way that I had never came across before, how every character was faulty and made mistakes. I hate it when the characters in some book seem to perfect, like they'd never screw things up.

All in all, this is a good and easy read, a bit sad sometimes, but definitely worth to give it a try, specially if you are a young adult or teenager.

Sweet Home by Tillie Cole

book rate: 1/5

I know this is a terrible rate but there's no way this book scores higher in my opinion! There's a lot of things I want to say about this book and I hope this makes sense.

Lonely and nerdy twenty year old Molly Juliet Shakespeare moves to Alabama for her masters degree. There she encounters super star quarter back Romeo Prince. Both of them had a difficult and sad childhood, and of course this reflects in their personality.

The way I see it, all characters were, not only, weakly developed but they also annoyed the hell out of me. I don't think there is one normal character in this book, except for Ally, Romeo's sweet and normal cousin. Cass is ridiculous, she is always talking like she is a walking bag of hormones, ("What's up, bitches? Are we headin' to this jig or what? I wanna see what prime beef is on offer. Mama's taco needs a good ol' fillin'.") you have no idea how much that annoys me. There there's their goth friend, whose name I don't remember, she is in her senior year and her dream is to be a cheerleader so the three of them join a sorority (what?! what's the point?! is your last year). Let's talk about Romeo's parents, I get that they were supposed to be evil, but seriously?! They were worst then Cinderela's step-mother, and that's saying a lot! Moving on to our main characters, Romeo is officially the worst male character I have ever come across. He has no self control over him-self, he's always picking up a fight,  also he uses the word ''fuck'' in every sentence he says, you have no idea how much I hated that. I get that he had a bad childhood and all that, but it doesn't mean he can beat the crap out of every guy that crosses his path just because he's mad. About Molly, I really don't know what to say about her, I feel like she didn't have a personality at all, her actions were all about Rome, i hate that!

“He fucks me like he hates me. . .”  isn't this everything a girl wants to feel from her boyfriend? The writer tried very hard to make Romeo a dominant alpha male, but she failed. Their sex life is based on him giving orders and Molly all turned on doing everything he says. This is absolutely ridiculous and sad. Maybe it's because I don't like to be ordered around by anyone on any situation, that I see Molly as such a pathetic girl. 

Finally I want to point out that I didn't like they way this book was written. The dialogues are all written in what looks like Southern accent, why does every single character speaks in the same way?! It's just dreadful! Also I found the descriptions poor and not clear, most of the times I had a hard time picturing what was happening in my head. 

All in all, I didn't like this book. Maybe you will like it. There are of course people who did, unfortunately I was not one of them.

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

book rate: ★★☆☆☆

French Lessons tells us about one day in the life of three french teachers and their respective students for the day in the magical city of Paris.

In the first story we meet Nico and his student Josie, an american woman spending a vacation in Paris to recover from the death of her secret lover. She arrived in Paris as a numb mess and Nico thinks he can fix her by falling in love with her while showing her the city of love.

The second story is about the playboy and also french teacher Phillippe and Riley, a depressed american woman currently living in Paris with her never-present-husband and their two kids. They get involved romantically and they have to sort it out in order to not ruin their lives, if they already aren't.

The main characters in third and last story are the beautiful teacher Chantal and Jeremy, the husband of a famous american movie star currently shooting some scenes in Paris. Jeremy believes he might be in love with Chantal and throughout their last day of lessons he is left in charge of finding out his true feelings for either his long-time-wife or his oh-so-young-and-beautiful-french-teacher.

In the end o the day they all have a decision to make and they will have to live with whatever decision they make.

I found it particularly hard to connect with this book mainly because the characters were so much older than me and I just couldn't relate to any of their lite stories.

I do believe this is a wonderfully written book, although a bit negative, and I might even be able to enjoy it more when I'm older. I found Chantal a particularly interesting character but besides her I thought the remaining characters were slightly flat and even primitive in their approaches.

In my honest opinion I believe this is a book for someone with a lot of life experience in order to be able to relate with the storyline.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

book rate: ★★★☆☆

As soon as I picked up this book I found the plot quite interesting and different from what I am used to read. It really raised my expectations which might have been the reason I was so disappointed by the end of the book. From my point of view Melissa could have worked the storyline in a lot more interesting way and developed the characters a lot more just as well.

(THE REST OF THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The weird love triangle (if it can be called so) beetween Aislinn, Keenan and Seth really bothered me a lot. In my opinion there were a lot of mixed feelings in there and the relationships beetween some characters were not clear. But then again this line of thought might have been influenced by me shipping seth and donia instead of seth and aislinn.

Everything else about the book was satisfying and I do considere it a good book. My main problem when i finished it really was just "Where does Keenan stand then?".

But all this might be solved in the sequel so I will not judge it very harshly and I might even pick up the second book to see how the story turns out because, as I said before, the plot is pretty solid and creative.

All in all, a good book for those who seek a light and creative read.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (book discussion)

book rate: 4/5

Ever since Grace was attacked by wolves and miraculously survived she has been obsessed with them, especially a yellow-eyed wolf who has never stop watching her since that day.

When she meets a boy, Sam, with the same yellow eyes, she recognises him right away. They soon realise they can’t live without each other, but winter is coming and Sam has to fight the cold in order to stay human, or he may lose Grace, forever.

Overall, I really liked this book, I enjoyed reading it very much. The love story is so cute, and the background story is so imaginative and different.

Since this is the firs book, I didn’t feel very connected with the main characters, I liked them, but I didn’t love them, but I do believe I’ll come to like them more as I read the next books. In this one the characters were so focused on each other and the coming of winter that they didn’t show everything about their personality. I’m particularly looking forward to see how Isabel’s character will develop. In the begging of the book I thought “well, this is going to be the bitch of the story, and we have the same name, brilliant”, but in the end we start seeing glimpses of a better person, which I find intriguing. 

However, what I liked the most were the werewolves. There are no full moons or silver or the usual things we see. I’m not going to go on full detail about it, since it will spoil you. But even if you’re not a fan of werewolves, like me, you should definitely pick up this series anyway since this werewolves are different.

This is a great story, and and even better love story. If you are into fiction and YA romance you should read this book!