Whenever I'm in a funk, I return home. This book -- and yes, I swear to the gods it's a book because it is without a doubt one of the best pieces of wWhenever I'm in a funk, I return home. This book -- and yes, I swear to the gods it's a book because it is without a doubt one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read -- is my home.
It's perfect. And I don't say that lightly <3 ...more
And I do not say that lightly. I mean, I literally have such an author-girl crush on this fantastic author that I I AM IN LOVE WITH CLAIRE LAZEBNIK. ♥
And I do not say that lightly. I mean, I literally have such an author-girl crush on this fantastic author that I read ALL THREE of her YA contemporary novels (all based on Jane Austen novels, by the way) in one day. This is not an exaggeration. My best friend will attest to the fact that I would not let him interrupt me during that period where I surrounded myself by Claire's wit for a full twenty-four hours, reading and re-reading the passages I thought were best.
(And believe me, there are A LOT of them.)
Cutesy novels have the misfortune of getting low ratings because people tend to believe that cute = without depth, and they automatically rate it lower than they would, say, a classic, even though they loved it just as much (maybe even more!) than more intense novels.
And I'm here to say that THAT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE AND UNFAIR AND NOOOOOOOOOO.
Epic Fail, based lightly off Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is everything I could want in a book and MORE. It is heart-warming, and realistic, and hilarious, and fun, and epic, and sweet, and OH MY SWEET GOODNESS, the wit! The banter! The comments from our oh-so-lovable heroine Elise in our oh-so-lovable cast -- they kill me again and again, because she's so sarcastically funny and awesome and realistic that I truly wish I could be her.
(I mean, I admire Tris and Katniss from Divergent and The Hunger Games, but would I want to be them? Maybe I'd want to have their bravery and strength, but their other attributes -- like humor and realism -- can sometimes be lacking. Elise, on the other hand? I want to be EVERYTHING she is. ♥)
And the part about cutesy novels sometimes lacking depth? SCREW THAT! This book had the perfect about of realistic self-doubt and depth, and it subtly deals with flaws in humanity, and it makes you connect with the cast throughout everything they do, AND it's just... like life, you know? Life isn't perfect -- Elise's certainly isn't -- but the way Claire LaZebnik portrays it is perfect.
You already know how much love I have for witty, hilarious, adorable, fun Elise. But then there's her relationship with her older-by-one-year sister, Juliana (who she calls Jules), and Juliana's relationship with her new super-adorable-likeable-sweet boyfriend, Chase, and Chase's relationship with his best-friend-and-son-of-famous-people, Derek, and Derek's relationship with Elise.
OH MY GOD, THE SWOONS.
The cast? (See above.)AWESOME. The inspiration? (Jane Austen)AWESOME. The storyline? (Elise's mom getting a job at a private school for rich kids that her and her sisters are forced to attend, where all sorts of epic fun happens and let's not forget the cute boys...) AWESOME. The everything? Just awesome, awesome, so incredibly AWESOME.
(You know how we all love Anna and the French Kiss because of the characters and the chemistry and the fun while also managing to be relatable and perfectly imperfect? Yeah, well that is EXACTLY this book. And all of Claire LaZebnik's books.)
I don't care what you say, these three novels are going to be part of my selective few that I'm allowed to lug two hours away into my tiny dorm room when I move to university in September. I MUST HAVE CLAIRE'S WIT WITH ME AT ALL TIMES.
And on a side note, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REMEMBER: Rate books based on how much YOU enjoy them. Justifying your feelings is good, but it is not necessary (especially if you're too busy to write a long-winded review with a million GIFs). But don't say you love a book when you don't, just because everyone else is rating it high. In retrospect, don't say you hate a book if you really secretly love it, just because your Goodreads friends are ranting about how much of a piece of sh*t it is. (If they're really your Goodreads friends, I'm sure they'll love you regardless of which side of the fence you stand on in regards to the one book he or she wants to burn in hell.) I have loved a lot of books with low ratings and have hated a lot of books with high ratings, and while I'm still trying to find my own footing, I have learned that being true to what I feel about a book is the most important thing -- even more than being influenced by what other readers say.
(Even when some things that they write seem A MILLION times more in depth and epic than what my seventeen-year-old mind can form. LOL.)
Just food for thought. And more: I really loved this book :)
I do not write reviews anymore. But this had to be written.
LOVE. Love love love love love love love! My favourite by K.A. Tucker by far! I think it's safe to say that she gets better with every book, and I'm sLOVE. Love love love love love love love! My favourite by K.A. Tucker by far! I think it's safe to say that she gets better with every book, and I'm so proud to know that she's Canadian! :)
I'm literally going to the bookstore to get myself a physical copy to go with my e-copy. SO GOOD. Cain and Charlie, as well as all the other characters -- familiar and not -- I just love them all!
Can't wait until I can get my hands on Ben's story!!!!! <3...more
This book was heartbreaking. Heart-wrenching. Completely and totally tear-jerking. But it was also so beautiful and mind-blowingly powerful that its pThis book was heartbreaking. Heart-wrenching. Completely and totally tear-jerking. But it was also so beautiful and mind-blowingly powerful that its place on my favourites shelf was secured immediately. ♥...more
This was so much fun! I love Bliss Edwards. She's awkward. She's hilarious. She's so adorably childish. She's amusing. She's quite the drama queen. ShThis was so much fun! I love Bliss Edwards. She's awkward. She's hilarious. She's so adorably childish. She's amusing. She's quite the drama queen. She's sweet. She's ridiculous. And she's totally endearing.
She's me.
Except she gets an amazing British boy named Garrick and I get high school boys who still insist on pulling my hair. How does that work? ...more
It's almost two in the morning and I AM BAWLING MY EYES OUT. Going into this book, I knew it was going to play with my tear ducts because of the summaIt's almost two in the morning and I AM BAWLING MY EYES OUT. Going into this book, I knew it was going to play with my tear ducts because of the summary and reviews, but I didn't expect to love the characters and the story and the everything SO DAMN MUCH.
Ohmygoodness. I can't even find words. I thought it was going to be just another contemporary story with a sad twist, but I was SO SO SO wrong, because I ended up falling HEAD. OVER. HEELS. The characters were so fun and fleshed out, and the chemistry between everyone had me grinning like an idiot. I swear I couldn't stop giggling like a school-girl for the first eighty percent of this book and I was constantly stunned by how real, how fun, how natural and amazing and adorable and cute and sweet and super-sexy that Lacey Weatherford made this!
Chase... Oh my swoon, I didn't expect him to be SO HILARIOUS. His wit, his snark, his attitude, and his cockiness, coupled with all his dorky-cute traits that he used to woo Nikki, made him one of my favourite book boy characters ever! I know I'm a sucker for bad boys, and maybe Chase was misunderstood by his family and his classmates to be one at first, but the banter and wit was so natural, and his quirky, swoon-worthy grins practically leaped off the page. I didn't blame Nikki for succumbing to his charms. Despite first impressions, he was never a jerk. He was just... everything you could ever want in a REAL boy.
And what he had with Nikki was everything you could ever want in a REAL relationship. Not in a book one where the characters are both so messed up but find love anyways despite going through so much shit together. No, Nikki and Chase together are the most perfect combination of sweet and swoon-worthy, and I swear I died a little every time they grinned at each other because I was fangirling so hard.
YES, if you know anything about this book, you know that tragedy strikes. You know that people cry. (I sure as hell did!) But even if you're not a glutton for punishment like I am (because I love reading tragic books, as long as they're in English and not in the prose of Shakespeare, god forbid), YOU SHOULD STILL READ THIS BOOK. It's quirky-perfect like Anna and the French Kiss. It's mad-adorable like the Gallagher Girls series. It's hilarious-snarky like Pivot Point's genius. It's incredibly touching like Gayle Forman's If I Stay. And it's honestly as much of a MUST as reading The Hunger Games. So many messages, so many great characters, so many quirky lines and hilarious date ideas that I'm sure people will be trying to replicate them in real life all over the place.
Honestly? It's just PERFECT. Exactly what I needed. Exactly what EVERYONE needs to read.
I thought I was over YA -- moving onto NA as I near my twelfth grade graduation -- but I was wrong. I'm back in love with the teen years.
And so I'm bawling my eyes out at two in the morning, and I don't regret a damn thing. :)
WOW. Oh my gosh! I didn't think I would love this one because I hated the movie Lost (I'm squeamish and I thought it was incredibly boring), but this WOW. Oh my gosh! I didn't think I would love this one because I hated the movie Lost (I'm squeamish and I thought it was incredibly boring), but this book was just... W-O-W. I loved it. Faved it. Thought it was totally realistic and amazing and incredibly sexy and emotional. And I am SO dying for the next one!!! :)...more
OH MY SWEET GOODNESS. This was just... so beautiful. Perfect. Painful to read, yet a true not-true love story.
Let me get this straigRating: 4.5 stars
OH MY SWEET GOODNESS. This was just... so beautiful. Perfect. Painful to read, yet a true not-true love story.
Let me get this straight first: Cheating is my hard line. With my boyfriends, I make it clear it's the one thing I won't stand for. If they want someone else, break it off first. If it's a single mistake, that's different. If they want an open relationship, that's different too, although I don't know many girls who would agree to that. I'd rather you be up front about no commitment than lie to me any day at all, no matter how much it hurts.
HOWEVER. The way that Willow Aster writes her story -- first when Ian and Sparrow meet again years after he broke her heart, then traveling back in time to explore the way they fell in love -- it was sort of perfect. The character development is flawless; the prose beatific; the love so bloody true. You can feel everything through Sparrow's heart, and you root for them even when they don't know to root for themselves.
I don't know if I can write a full review for this. I just finished it this morning, after all, and I'm still kind of reeling. But I can without a doubt say that this is one of the only stories that includes some sort of cheating where I truly believe the characters are meant to be together. Ian is just... I LOVE HIM. (I love even more how he calls her Little Bird!) And Sparrow is one of my favourite NA characters from start to finish! And her best friend Tessa -- she's totally me! Love love love them all (except Laila, of course).
This is just what I needed to fall back into reading. :)...more
One of these days, I think I'm going to go to hell for reading these kinds of "too mature" books. But honestly, I don't really care because they are sOne of these days, I think I'm going to go to hell for reading these kinds of "too mature" books. But honestly, I don't really care because they are so amazingly addictive and good!!
I have to admit that I had stopped reading this after the first meeting between Brooke and Remy because I thought it was just going to be another one of those books; one of those predictable NA stories that somehow act like crack and add boys to my list of swoon, but nothing really NEW, you know? But then I was plagued with the many great reviews from friends and prompts to re-start... and so I did. (Because I'm a sucker for Goodreads peer pressure.)
And I finished it in one sitting.
Real reminded me a lot of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire because, like Travis "Mad Dog" Maddox, Remington "Riptide" Tate is a hardcore fighter who can probably kick anyone's sorry muscular ass! They're both sexy and possessive and have major anger issues; they both develop a friendship with the main character first -- in this case, former Olympic hopeful Brooke Dumas -- even though everyone else can sense the intense sexual tension between them. And both Remy and Travis love with their whole hearts, and despite all their flaws, you can't help but completely love and adore and swoon for their complete devotion.
*possible spoiler ahead*
But the difference is that Remy had a reason for all his anger and all his rage and possessiveness and mood swings and intensity... and as much as I don't want to spoil it (STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T KNOW ALREADY), I can't help but want to mention it.
CLICK BELOW FOR CONTINUATION.
(view spoiler)[Remy suffers from bipolar disorder. He has his highs and he has his lows and when his anger hits, it's violent and crazy and uncontrollable -- and sometimes, during moments where his eyes change from blue to black (a common occurrence for those with bipolar disorder), he can't remember what he does. So he's scared for what he may do to Brooke when he can't remember. He even refuses to sleep with her before he tells her the truth about himself, no matter how much they both want it, because he doesn't want to drag her into his mess without knowing everything it entails! How can you not have immense respect and love and adoration for her when he does stuff like that????
As a girl who is familiar with her fair share of mental disorders (through friends, family, and more), my sympathy for Remy was through the roof. My admiration for how he handled things, knowing how hard it must've been for him, was exponential. My heart broke for him over and over and over again.
I feel like a lot of authors are including mental disorders in their novels now, and I totally respect that. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't, and I kind of feel hurt about how it's handled so lightly. But here, Katy Evans handles it amazingly, and for that, I am so glad. And I fell in love. Can you blame me? (hide spoiler)]
SO. That tidbit aside -- which I promise is a good tidbit, for those of you who chose not to click that admittedly tempting spoiler button -- Real is an amazing contribution to the NA Appaloosa. It's both sexy and sweet, intense and amazing, original and beautiful and crazy and fantastic.
There's just so much to love! I love how Brooke and Remy don't automatically jump into each other's pants even though it's clear they're perfect for each other (but I promise that that doesn't dissuade the amount of sexy times between them). I love how both Brooke and Remy are athletes, so they have something that connects them deeply. I love how Remy understands Brooke's hurt for not being able to compete anymore due to her injury. I love everything about them together!
All in all? If you like NA, then you should DEFINITELY give this one a shot! I'm so happy that I did! :) ...more
This one is definitely my favourite out of all Samantha Young's books! I have to admit that I judged Jo just like everyone else did whenHELLO 5 STARS!
This one is definitely my favourite out of all Samantha Young's books! I have to admit that I judged Jo just like everyone else did when we first met her in On Dublin Street because I had no idea of her situation, and also just like everyone else, I was WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Jo is my favourite kind of heroine: intelligent, sexy, witty, selfless, and so damn brave. She never fell for those easy cliche cop-outs that many contemporary romance MCs follow to add extra insecurity. Sure, she hurt like everyone else, but she also FELT. She was REAL. Her relationship and protectiveness of her younger brother, Cole (such an adorable kid! <3), was so BLOODY AMAZING. Even when things went wrong, she didn't revert back into herself because she witnessed how it screwed up her friends and she reached out to them, which literally made me tear up for her!
And her and Cam debuted high on my list of favourite couples. And considering how 99.9% of all books I read have at least some sort of romance in it? Yup, you can imagine how amazing their chemistry much be to earn that high of praise! I love how Cam first acts around her -- treating her lowly like the gold-digger everyone thinks she is -- and how surprised and mollified and embarrassed and sorry he is when he realizes, along with the rest of us, that Jo is probably the best person there is. (Maybe next to Ellie, but Ellie is just obviously sweet to anyone.) Their relationship develops with their characters and it's honestly the most beautiful thing to watch. :)
Reading such amazing romances like this probably do nothing good for my real-life expectations. But oh well. I'm too invested in this fictional, interconnected, Scotland-based world to leave! <3
Liv and Nate's book is next -- and it's a best-friend-turned-lovers kind of tale! I can't wait! ...more
Normally I round my GR ratings down with half stars (because the more I read, the more picky I seem to be with my books and Rating: 4.5 shining stars!
Normally I round my GR ratings down with half stars (because the more I read, the more picky I seem to be with my books and giving them a full FIVE), but I just had to round up for this one. Because it was FUN and SEXY and HOT and COMPLETELY ORIGINAL and SWOON-WORTHY and ADORABLE and I FREAKING LOVE REESE & MASON!
(And yes, all those caps were completely necessary.)
Mason -- sexy, snarky, and seriously superhumanly spectacular -- is a gigolo and everyone knows it. To support his scatterbrained mother and special needs sister, he sleeps with wealthy older women and takes the self-punishment (as well as the result of being degraded by most women because of it) ten fold. He isn't looking for redemption, and no one is looking to give it to him.
Until Reese.
Price of a Kiss just blew me away with how much I loved it! Not only was Reese the most amazing voice ever (quirky yet conventional, innocent but worldy, reserved yet outgoing, candid yet guarded, trendy but also practical, and childlike while still managing to be mature... like Mason says, "a perfect contradiction"), but everything she is and does, as well as every quick bantering of teases and flirtations she has with Mason, make her a girl I would seriously make my new best friend! She is fun and witty and amazing with Mason's little sister; she knows how to make people smile; she is relatable in every sense as well as being the girl you aspire to be; and she shows compassion without being cheesy or even remotely annoying.
AND TOGETHER? Oh my... *swoons* It's been a while since I felt chemistry simmer and boil and freaking EXPLODE the way it does between Reese and Mason! They are hot. The sexual tension is excitingly flammable. But it's their quick-witted interactions and grin-worthy interactions that make me one of my FAVOURITE COUPLES OF ALL TIME.
I don't even know where to start on the plotline. But is it smexy perfect? Um, YES TIMES A MILLION! <3
The only reason this isn't a full five stars (and even then, I still think it's worth a million, as much of a contradiction that is) is because of the little tidbit of awkward over-description in the beginning. But that is the ONLY flaw, and I mean that with every fibre of my being! (Seriously. AMAZING. WOW.)
With fantastic characters, fiery chemistry, and a storyline that is not only original but will have your heart more invested with every word, Price of a Kiss will make you swoon, gasp, cry, and ache with the intense love you'll feel for it! (Speaking from experience here...)
I didn't think I'd enjoy reading about gigolos so much, but damn, Linda Kage... You caught me. :')...more
OH. MY. GOODNESS WOWIE ZOWIE WOW. ♥ NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SERIES EVER??? And why Becca & Krista Ritchie are two of my favouriOH. MY. GOODNESS WOWIE ZOWIE WOW. ♥ NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS MY FAVOURITE SERIES EVER??? And why Becca & Krista Ritchie are two of my favourite authors of all time?? This came out yesterday and I read it all night and just finished it this morning and can't stop thinking about it still and loved it SO DAMN MUCH -- and I seriously, honestly, truly don't know how I could possibly love these characters more than I already did.
But it happened.
I love them. I love this story. I love their interactions, their personalities, their bantering, and their imperfections that make them so perfect.
Lily and Lo. Rose and Connor. And now, DAISY AND RYKE. Oh my goodness, I honestly just can't even express how real and amazing and [insert a million positive if not contradictory terms that not even thesaurus.com can provide me with right now] this series is!!!
You think that Ryke defines the term "likable asshole"? Well, this series defines the phrase "perfectly imperfect andperfect." (Yes, I just said that.) Everything about it, from the writing to the story to the characters to the twists and events and world... PERFECT. They go through shit, and they swear a lot, and they make mistakes, and they're dealt the worst fucking cards -- but they're so perfect. I love them. Love them, love them, love them.
And Daisy, without a doubt, is the most like me.
Please excuse me while I gather my thoughts enough to write a proper review. Because even though I'm not blogging anymore and I'm so crazy-busy with life and school and health and work, this book definitely deserves it :') ♥...more
It's official. Krista and Becca Ritchie are crazy GENIUSES. I'm addicted to everything about this cast of characters, the story, the banter, the snarkIt's official. Krista and Becca Ritchie are crazy GENIUSES. I'm addicted to everything about this cast of characters, the story, the banter, the snark, the writing, the originality, the sex, and I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT TO READ MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ♥
This book literally came out today and I downloaded it as soon as I woke up, reading it as I wandered the halls at school, thankfully only avoiding running into posts by my friends (except the one time when they thought it would be funny). And I just finished. And I'm still processing it's degree of awesome.
REVIEW TO COME SOON. In like, one day probably because I can't WAIT to gush about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) ...more
Books like these are the ones that make me curse the fact that self-published books don't get as much hype.
Because books like these -- and really, I'Books like these are the ones that make me curse the fact that self-published books don't get as much hype.
Because books like these -- and really, I'm a little hesitant to classify this as a category since I'm 99.999% certain that my addiction for this series will never be repeated to this astronomical extent -- are so amazing, so addictive, so intense and emotion-inducing and powerful and awesome awesome AWESOME that they deserve to be listed on a million favourites, just like all those overly-hyped books like Twilight and The Hunger Games!
Lily and Lo are my OTP. ♥ (Read the rest of the series and you'll understand why that one word is especially italicized!) I'm a sucker for non-HEAs ((view spoiler)[like Allegiant and The Iron Queen and etcetera (hide spoiler)]), but I have never wanted a couple to have a Happily Ever After as much I want these characters to. I adore them with body and soul, and I ship them so hard I swear I beam like a freaking starburst whenever someone mentions them to me. Honest. It'd be embarrassing how much I love them -- as separate characters, but especially together -- if I didn't feel absolutely no shame in shoving this series at anyone with eyes.
I've literally read and re-read this series so many times since I discovered it a month ago. The writing is PERFECT. No grammatical errors, perfect characterization, great descriptions, NO boring parts, and a perfect voice that shines above all that monotonous shtuff I keep finding in books. Parts that make you swoon; parts that make your The whole entire cast is unique, each with their individual personalities that will literally have you wishing you were born into their world.
(I love Rose and Connor and Ryke and Daisy just as much as I'm obsessed with Lily and Lo! ♥)
You'd expect Lily Calloway to be a confident, sexy, and maybe even crude sort of girl since she's a sex addict, but her narrative is so funny and adorable and perfectly relatable! Lily is the sweetest, most orthodox character I've ever read about. Her reactions make me laugh out loud because her vice is something vixen and yet she's anything but. She blushes at every innuendo, has the dirtiest yet purest mind, and possesses an innocence that makes you want to wrap her in a million blankets and kiss her on the forehead and hide her from the whole wide dirty world... except Loren Hale, of course. Him you want to shove her at.
Loren Hale is... *fans self* Lily's best friend. An alcoholic. A guy with an attitude as sharp as his cheekbones, who can tear anyone to shreds in seconds if you cross him, and who is quite possibly the best and worst possible person for Lily. They've been inseparable since they were children and have pretended to be in a fake relationship together to hide their addictions from their families, but you can tell their feelings are real -- even when they refuse to acknowledge it themselves. Their chemistry is smothering, their love so original and pure above their shameful secrets. Above everything else, they only know they love each other and I love their acts of friendship just as much as I love their acts of love. ♥
Following their relationship hurts sometimes because you can see how much they hurt -- knowing they love each other SO FREAKING MUCH, seeing it and feeling it, but being consumed by their addictions -- but it's worth everything and, I promise.
Not only that, but I love the originality of their surroundings. Lily and Lo are both born with trust funds, heirs to two incredibly powerful Fortune 500 companies, which is partially how they were stuck together: Their crazy-powerful fathers are best friends. They have money, are expected at appearances and conferences, and have a net worth of billions of dollars. It may seem like a small significance, but it's just one more thing on the list of millions that make this series original and one of my favourites! (I'm tired of the regular cliche NA BS!)
This review has probably made no sense whatsoever (even though I've been dying to write it since I finished the book) because I can't seem to form a coherent thought beyond gushing whenever I think of this series, but it can basically be summed up by this: This is my favourite series ever. I have never loved a cast this big so wholly and completely before; I have never been so obsessed with checking updates as often as possible just to get another taste of Lily and Lo and Rose and Connor and Daisy and Ryke and the world they encompass.
And this addiction is something I definitely want to share. :) ...more
HOLY FUDGECAKES. This is officially my favourite Katie McGarry book to date, even more than I liked Pushing the Limits!!!! I'm so in love with Isaiah HOLY FUDGECAKES. This is officially my favourite Katie McGarry book to date, even more than I liked Pushing the Limits!!!! I'm so in love with Isaiah & Rachel, and even more in love with their relationship together. Their mutual love of cars plus their so-different dynamic of personalities are so so so PERFECT. ❤️
Review to come soon! And I mean it this time because I really, really want to gush about this one LOL! ;) ...more
HOLY CRAP. I found Poison Princess at a used book store and bought it on a whim -- and somehow I got so addicted that I immediately bought this sequelHOLY CRAP. I found Poison Princess at a used book store and bought it on a whim -- and somehow I got so addicted that I immediately bought this sequel and read then both before I could even tell Goodreads I was reading them!!!!
This series is so absolutely AMAZING! I can't believe it took me so long to get on the bandwagon.... But now I'm dying to read the next one!!