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
Honestly guys. The wit. The banter. The adorableness. I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN. Just know that Claire LaZebnik is LOOOOOVEEEEEE. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE <3
Honestly guys. The wit. The banter. The adorableness. I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN. Just know that Claire LaZebnik is officially one of my fave authors! <3333333333333333333...more
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
Oh. My. WOW! I didn't even have this book on my radar until Krista lured me in with a very eye-catching shirtless GIF, and boy am I gRating: 4.5 stars
Oh. My. WOW! I didn't even have this book on my radar until Krista lured me in with a very eye-catching shirtless GIF, and boy am I glad that she did! This story just blew me away in every means possible, just like the undiscovered gem that it is. (When it definitely deserves to be WELL KNOWN EVERYWHERE!) I am not exaggerating at all when I say that it is without a doubt one of the best NA debuts I've read during my very excessive NA binge.
And that's saying something.
After reading a plethora of dark-dark-dark books, I needed something to lighten my spirits -- which this book did (because the romance is epically awesome <3), but that doesn't mean that it's without its demons. No sirree. Because Amber's past is so awful and heart-wrenching that the feels scream off the charts. Everything that has happened to her... Personally, I don't know if I would've been able to survive it. But she does, despite the remnants of her PTSD which continues to haunt her college life which she desperately wants to enjoy in peace.
As a character, Amber has my complete devotion. Never does she act frustrating or horror-movie-smack-down-worthy or even as awful as she's warranted to be. She's sweet, and she's funny, and she's athletic, and she's fun -- and her relationship with a very sexy Marcus is worth every face-splitting grin I couldn't stop! She hires him to be her tutor-slash-bodyguard, of sorts, but they are both so connected that you know there's no way they can just stay friends... *wink wink nudge nudge*
All in all? Strip away your reservations and prepare to emerge yourself in another sweet, sexy, amazing romance that still manages to bring tons of originality to the table in a genre I thought was starting to get redundant! Tell Me When is anything but predictable.... except maybe for the happy-sexy-swoon moments that we would riot for anyways ;) <3
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
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
My lack of access to the real world has been replaced completely by books, and it can’t be healthy
***FIVE MILLION BAJILLION KAJILLION STARS***
My lack of access to the real world has been replaced completely by books, and it can’t be healthy to live in a land of happily ever afters.
(That is Sky. See why I love her?)
This has probably been the most difficult year of my life. So much has been going on, and there are times when it's so damn hard to see the other side -- a side where things get better and the worst thing I have to worry about is which university I'm going to, how I'll connect with my friends, and how to keep that crush I'm crushing on. I needed something but couldn't find it.
Until this.
With Hopeless, Colleen Hoover has -- in a way -- saved me.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I anchored my life on this book and its equally amazing companion (Losing Hope) during the past year of my life. It has been my saving grace, my heart, and my favourite book of all time. I can't even begin to tell you... but I'm going to damn try. ♥
Hopeless kicks off when our heroine, Sky Davis -- a snarky homeschooled girl who loves to run and loves to read -- goes to public school for the first time. Needless to say, it doesn't go well since her best and only friend, Six (who is also her neighbor whose window is directly opposite hers), is known as the school slut... and Sky's reputation has not remained clean either, despite her refusal to participate. Sky has more of a reason to hate public school than the majority of us...
Then she meets Dean Holder.
If you think that this is going to be your classic new adult book where a good girl meets a bad boy and fixes him -- or whatever -- then you couldn't be more wrong. Because Sky is far from a perfect girl, and Holder is about as far from a bad boy as I can express. He may be badass and moody and rumoured to have been to juvie, but his heart is the purest form of gold there is. And his affection for Sky? His support? His sly-sly teasing and heart-damn-melting and sweet-hot words?
I laugh and rush to him, throwing my arms around his neck. "You’re the best, most understanding boyfriend in the whole wide world."
He sighs and returns my hug. "No, I’m not," he says, pressing his lips to the side of my head. "I’m the most whipped boyfriend in the whole wide world."
God. They meet by chance and connect by coincidences and have a connection that surpasses anything I've ever read in ANY book in my entire life. The HUGE-ass plot twist thrown in made my heart nearly explode in my chest because it was so sudden, so fierce, and connects everything (both in the book and with me) in a way that totally blew me away. Sky and Holder are so imperfect yet so perfect at the same time, and they are my new forever-favourites as both individuals and a couple.
Not only that, but Colleen's writing? Holy haystacks, she's a miracle worker with a language I thought I loved before but never knew could be so perfect! Her sentences flow and her emotions are palpable and her descriptions are never, ever boring but they also never, ever feel too undescriptive like I find a lot of books being now. I guess some authors are trying to appeal to more to new/fast readers who don't want too difficult language, but I REALLY hope they take a page book and follow this piece of advice:
Readers are smarter than people give them credit for.
Long, boring descriptions may be a bore to read -- but really, it doesn't matter how long a paragraph is as long as its written right. The words need each need to carry a factor that connects with the reader in some way. It's so hard to describe, but it's like how the kind of paint can severely affect how much people pay attention to a work of art. Because that's what Hopeless is: a work of art.
(With a really, really hot guy in it.)
To sum up my ramblings: When I was reading Hopeless, I was Sky and I was Holder and I was there and I felt everything they were feeling and I broke when they did and I never wanted imperfection more than I ever have before this. This and the sequel (OH GOOD LORD, it was told from Holder's POV!!!) made me realize things; feel things; understand things. Please, please, please oh please give this a chance! I promise you won't regret it... or if you by some mysterious fluke do, then I give you permission to come attack me. Because it won't happen. ;) ♥
"The moment my lips touch yours, it will be your first kiss. Because if you've never felt anything when someone's kissed you, then no one's ever really kissed you. Not the way I plan on kissing you." -Dean Holder
BUY or BORROW?: Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Please see above. Like, anywhere above. I actually have two copies of this book: One to look perfect and beautiful on my shelf, and another to carry everywhere with me when I'm looking for inspiration. :)
(I'm getting pickier with buying books under budget but THIS is a million times worth it.)
I liked this book much more than the first because Livie isn't anywhere near as awful as Kacey, but in tRating: 3.5 stars, maybe 4, still wavering...
I liked this book much more than the first because Livie isn't anywhere near as awful as Kacey, but in true NA fashion, a lot of the drama that happens is very soap opera-ish. HOWEVER. KA Tucker has amazing writing and I really did like Asher when he stopped being such a cheating ass, so I think I may just round it up to 4 stars :)
RATING: cannot be rated (but in case you wondering, it surpasses 5 stars)
I want to cry. I want to punch somebody. I want to kick in a wall, and screamRATING: cannot be rated (but in case you wondering, it surpasses 5 stars)
I want to cry. I want to punch somebody. I want to kick in a wall, and scream, and sob, and push and shove until the words change because this ending was so, so, so suffocating and so, so, so cruel... yet at the same time, it is also -- in it's divergent way -- so, so, so PERFECT.
The first book, Divergent, blew the whole bookish world away. Insurgent admittedly fell into the middle-book trap, but it was still a one-night read. But this breathtaking final installment is one of the few books where, as soon as I finished (like, three minutes ago), I physically NEEDED to rant out my thoughts. Do I know what to say? Hell no. Am I going to say it anyways? Hell yes.
We're back in Tris's dystopian world -- except instead of being limited to just Chicago and its five factions, we get to explore the rest of the world, too. I don't think I ever really grasped before how unaware Tris and all her friends were about life outside their city. Because when they go outside the fence, they are clueless... and yet they are still brave. They face rebel groups, and fights, and circumstances where the only choice is to pull the trigger. They trip, and fall, and are pushed forward from behind.
And yet they still stand. Strong. And it doesn't feel fake, as if Veronica Roth made them that way. It feels like that's the way they are -- to her and to us -- and she's just documenting the facts.
Without a doubt, Tris is one of the most beautiful, brave, and worship-worthy heroines I know. She is up there with Katniss Everdeen, Rose Hathaway, and Sky Davis for me. Not because she is only an unconventional girl with a pretty face who somehow manages to have everything work out perfectly for her (because holy crap does Tris DEFINITELY not have that luck), but because she defines the faction she chose even though she's no longer part of it anymore. Bravery should be her middle name, as cheesy as that sounds!
And her and Tobias/Four? I DIED. I mean, half of this book is TOLD FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE. I actually had no clue about that when I started, so just imagine how much squealing the poor bystanders were assaulted with when I started reading! And trust me, for all of his faults and his fan-freaking-tastic interactions with our favourite heroine, Tobias is not as perfect as we thought he was. He's damaged goods. He's broken. He's troubled in a place that seems impossible to fix. And somehow those imperfections make him MORE perfect.
(For those of you romantics out there? YES, there are scenes. Scenes where you swoon. But I promise they will be much cuter if you READ THE DAMN BOOK.)
AND HEAR THIS OUT: Before, when I thought of Divergent and Insurgent, I remember thinking that the writing was mediocre. First person present tense may be my flavor at the moment, but the simplicity of Roth's style never truly stood out for me, except for the fact that it was so easy to get lost in. Now, I'm literally eating my words and saving all of those GAZILLION quotables that I found while reading. Tris's dystopian world is so different from ours, and yet Veronica Roth wrote this book in terms of love and life and pain and forgiveness and strength and selfishness that we can easily relate to.
Veronica? You proved me wrong, and you proved yourself. A million times over.
Maybe I'm still in that after-book rush where all I can do was think about how much I loved it and how many hours I wasted on it but wouldn't spend any other way. Maybe this is simply the truth. (As you can probably tell, I haven't been very coherent LOL.) I'm still practically bawling my eyes out (because OH MY GOSH I CAN'T EVEN SAY HOW MUCH THE REALISM KILLED ME AND STILL KILLS ME WHEN I THINK OF IT), but I just wanted to say that this book is a MUST. This series is a MUST. And quite frankly, VERONICA ROTH is a must.
That is all. For now. ♥
(P.S. Prepare for random edits & updates as I absorb and remember all the specifics and annoy all my Goodreads friend with my comments LOL!)
For those of you who have already finished the book...
***SERIOUSLY. Don't read ahead if you haven't finished already or I... will tell Tobias on you!!!***
OH MY SWEET MERCIFUL GOODNESS, DID THAT ENDING NOT JUST KILL YOU????? I cried like a freaking baby when Tris sacrificed herself for Caleb -- the whole concept of her forgiveness made my heart ache -- and I couldn't push away my tears fast enough to read straight through Tobias's reaction. When he found out, my heart broke for him. When he saw her body, I collapsed with him. And when he almost did that thing, with that serum... I cried even more. Because for this to break his strength so much that he was in that much pain...
GOD. Veronica is evil, and yet she is perfection. To be honest, I don't think I can think of a better, more effective ending than Tris dying because it proved that she was exactly the person everyone believed she was, even though she didn't truly believe it herself. Selfless. Brave. Smart.
I don't think I'll be able to sleep cleanly tonight. (hide spoiler)]
(Thanks so much to my librarian for handing me this copy before it even hit the shelves!!)...more
Rating: 3.5 stars... maybe 4? Definitely better than the first though!!! This series is just so original and outstanding and magical and beautiful.
BuRating: 3.5 stars... maybe 4? Definitely better than the first though!!! This series is just so original and outstanding and magical and beautiful.
But I have to admit that even though A.G. Howard has beautiful prose, I find myself skimming A LOT of the descriptions of Wonderland's little trinkets and what the characters are wearing. Alyssa's colourful and eccentric style is totally hot and something I love, but sometimes I just find that the over-descriptions take over the pace, you know? Like, I love being able to get a picture of every little detail in my mind...but at the same time, I don't. If that makes sense.
Other than that though? I LOVE MORPHEUS!! ♥ I've always been on his team over Jeb (who is honestly waaaaaaay too ridiculously jerky and inconsiderate), and this installment has solidified that pledge ten-fold! I seriously am hoping Alyssa comes to her senses and decides to choose the future as Wonderland's queen and his forever. *swoooooooon*
Perhaps I will write a full review one day; perhaps not. However, I will DEFINITELY be waiting anxiously for the next installment to satisfy my curiosity and Morpheus cravings -- especially after that ending! :O...more