“Maybe if I tell my story, even just to myself, it will set off a spark. But where does my story even start? Where does any story sta✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“Maybe if I tell my story, even just to myself, it will set off a spark. But where does my story even start? Where does any story start? What in the past makes the present what it is? He said this. She did that. This happened. Then this took place.
Change it all to ifs and maybes and it can mean another life for everyone.”
With these opening words, Mark McAvaney sets the tone For Everything a Time - a poignant and emotional journey of life and loss, regret and happiness, love and forgiveness, acceptance and grief, and how time tests the lasting bonds of family and friendship. It is the story of two best friends, Mac and Dave, and how after one tragic accident during their final year in school, their lives were drastically changed - never to be the same again. Thirteen years later in 2003, the story alternates between their dual perspectives as they reflect on their past and the present and how they both learn to accept the hand that fate dealt them and what it will cost them to have just one chance for forgiveness.
“The living take this to heart: We are not only our past. We are also our future.”
What is this story about? It is about how when we are young we can make certain mistakes or decisions that may cost us more than what we anticipated. It is about how some actions we never stop punishing ourselves over nor is it enough for us to get over them. It is about lost chances and the aching pain of seeing if it could have ever been something else - in another life. 'What people will do for even a tiny portion of love is incredible.'...more
“We didn’t want their throne or their power or anything other than to find our place in this world that had been stolen from us for s✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“We didn’t want their throne or their power or anything other than to find our place in this world that had been stolen from us for so many years.
Why was that such a crime? Why did our very existence demand that we engage in this stupid war?”
The thing that you have to keep in mind before reading The Awakening, the first book of the Zodiac Academy, alternatively known as Supernatural Beasts and Bullies - which, imo, pretty much perfectly sums up the series' plot - that it is, a bully romantasy. There is no place for a sense of morality here - in the actions of those who have none, nor can it be expected of the reader to expect them to pay the price for their actions - for justice to be served. As uncomfortable or as unnerving as it may be to read - knowing beforehand that it is going to happen whether you like it or not - does actually help to appreciate the story more. It is why generally I avoid dark romances that are bully-themed, because I know it will be difficult for me to draw the line of what is tolerated and where it really is crossing the line. For too long this long-winded series' popularity has intrigued me, so if I steel myself not to cringe or side-eye everything that will eventually happen - it might just make for a wild ride I won't be ready to get off quite so soon. ...more
“When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was ✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.
Here in my domain, there is no one to protect.”
I never stop imagining a world with the possibility of animals being able to speak for themselves - be able to communicate with us and express their thoughts and feelings. When I look into my pets' eyes and try to understand what they're trying to say by the depths of their eyes - how they have to try so hard to only rely on the expressive way in which they want to convey something - I still think what must they think of me? What secrets - what past lives have they experienced that I know nothing of? I know it doesn't seem significant, but when a book is told solely from one gorilla's perspective, it makes me imagine what animals are thinking, how would they talk - if they could.
“Welcome to the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, Home of the One and Only Ivan.”
Inspired by the true-life rescue story, 2013 Newbery Medal recipient The One and Only Ivan is the story of a silverback gorilla, Ivan, who has resigned himself to his life of being forever trapped in a cage - kept captive at the mercy of his owner, Mack, as not only an attraction for others to stare at, but one to provide a steady stream of payment with his artwork that humans take fascination in purchasing art pieces drawn by a gorilla. It is not an ideal life, but it is his fate that he has accepted. 'Sadly, I cannot read, although I wish I could. Reading stories would make a fine way to fill my empty hours.'...more
I've wanted to give Alice Feeney a chance for awhile now, but didn't quite know which on✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“The only people with no regrets are liars.”
I've wanted to give Alice Feeney a chance for awhile now, but didn't quite know which one to start from; so I decided to do something I don't normally do and that is trust in Goodreads' rating system and select the one with the highest rating to start from. Safe to say, His and Hers wasn't entirely a bad place to begin my journey with her stories. ...more
“Love can’t be turned off simply because circumstances require it.”
After I read The Sunshine Court there was a restless buzzing unde✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“Love can’t be turned off simply because circumstances require it.”
After I read The Sunshine Court there was a restless buzzing underneath my skin; I felt unsettled to the point that I wasn't feeling inclined to continue the path on which my reading planning had be set on - yes, I do follow a schedule - I'm kinda meticulous that way. ...more
“He couldn’t go on like this, loving people and suspecting them at once. A human mind couldn’t do that without breaking.”
The thing that✰ 4 stars ✰
“He couldn’t go on like this, loving people and suspecting them at once. A human mind couldn’t do that without breaking.”
The thing that I find admirable about KJC's writing style is how she adds a flair to her historical fiction that lights a certain spark to the story and characters that makes it such a highly entertaining, if not appealing one. It is not only how well written it is - it is how the characters are well-rounded and the story so well-developed that you find yourself engrossed in the plot - following along the events as they unfold and seeing the characters interact as the pace steadily moves towards its conclusion. ...more
“It’s funny how you can forget everything except people loving you. Maybe that’s why humans find it so hard getting over love affairs.
It✰ 4 stars ✰
“It’s funny how you can forget everything except people loving you. Maybe that’s why humans find it so hard getting over love affairs.
It’s not the pain they’re getting over, it’s the love.” A bit of advice. Don't give up on reading Jellicoe Road once you've started it and you find it a bit confusing. Trust me. I was a bit lost, too - and I rarely am. But, it was rough and odd and I felt unsure what was going to happen.
But, trust in Marchetta's writing. Trust that as confused and lost seventeen-year-old Taylor Markham feels when Hannah, the woman that raised her suddenly if not abruptly leaves during the midst of an all out war that is about to wage on the turf of their Jellicoe School between the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney, you will get the answers to the story about five kids who have a chance encounter on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago - a meeting that would forever change their lives and would tie their fate to her own future, as well. ...more
“The myth is that if the sleeping giants are awakened, they will take revenge on all of✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“Why are they called sleeping giants, then?”
“The myth is that if the sleeping giants are awakened, they will take revenge on all of us.”
“What for?” “Those crimes, my friend, are no longer remembered.”
All Amanda Defresne ever wanted to learn was a little bit more information about the suspicious disappearance of her brother, Dennis Owen - who at the age of 9, is presumed dead when he leapt into the plundering waves off Eagle Cove, Oregon coast - his body never discovered with only a small memorial stone erected in his memory. With only scant details provided to her by Birchwood, the now abandoned foster care facility for disturbed and unwanted children where he grew up in - 'a center no one seems to want to talk about' - she enlists the aid of Larry Palmer in her investigation, a much older retired police officer and widower, who seems to carry his own unsettled grievances with the town and his heart. And as the two start to dig deeper into what really happened to Dennis, 'lost in the sea but not from our hearts', a whole web of hidden truths of crimes and misconduct slowly starts to surface that has Amanda questioning how far she is willing to go to unearth the secrets that the town is so determined to keep buried and forgotten. ...more
When thirty-year old hair stylist, Oliver, and thirty-four year delivery truck driver, Sebastia✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“We are who we are, and that’s okay.”
When thirty-year old hair stylist, Oliver, and thirty-four year delivery truck driver, Sebastian's paths literally stumble into one another, they're both at that stage where they know who they are in their lives, yet don't know who they want to be with for the rest of their lives. But, what they do know is the instant and irresistible pull they feel for each other. 'We were so different, yet the same. When I looked into his eyes I saw a loneliness there that I’d so often seen in my own.'...more
“I drifted off to sleep, sometime before Mam came home, and as I did, I thought one word. War.
At last I understood what I was fightin✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“I drifted off to sleep, sometime before Mam came home, and as I did, I thought one word. War.
At last I understood what I was fighting, and why. And Mam had no idea how strong a fighter I’d become. ”
Before World War II broke out in London, ten-year-old Ada was waging a war of her own against the hands of her cruel and abusive mother, simply because she was born with a clubfoot. Hurling insults at her, physically assaulting her, and forcing her to stay locked up in their apartment without any interaction with the outside, confining her to her meager and bleak surroundings - leading people to believe that she is a simpleton and not a cripple - 'you can’t leave. You never will. You’re stuck here, right here in this room, bombs or no.'...more
“The boy’s polished black Oxfords were neatly tied, his trousers ironed and tidily hemmed. I turned away, but Ernie couldn’t stop sta✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“The boy’s polished black Oxfords were neatly tied, his trousers ironed and tidily hemmed. I turned away, but Ernie couldn’t stop staring.
Maybe the boy would adjust, I thought, even bounce back.
No. He would never bounce back.”
Set during the mid-1980s Glastonbury, it is the story of two thirteen-year-old best friends - Arthur Barnes, an avid reader and Ernie Castlefrank, animal lover and mathematics whiz. Despite their different personalities and interests, they share a deep bond of being the neighborhood outcasts due to their rebellious antics and their wayward family lifestyles, but still the most heartiest of companions. But, even with their level of trust, there is one binding secret they have in common that neither of them is able to admit aloud - '...which made it seem like nothing terrible had actually happened. Better that than to divulge what had been asked of us, or to worry about what was next'; of how they both have been one of the altar boys favored by the local Catholic priest, Father Ziperto aka The Zipper. Too afraid to acknowledge the role they fulfill in the locked vestry of the chapel as a Monday Rent Boy. Their path of pain unfolds in three respective parts, where Susan Doherty portrays how these two young boys struggled with what has happened to them, while trying to make their lives worthwhile, till the point that it is but a stain that can no longer be avoided. ...more
“You saw me without seeing me. You touched me without touching me. If something good comes after this, I’ll see you there.”
To be fair, ✰ 4 stars ✰
“You saw me without seeing me. You touched me without touching me. If something good comes after this, I’ll see you there.”
To be fair, I had completely forgotten how much of the plot had already been revealed in Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet's blurb; but I am so glad that I did. ...more
It was The Incident that drove a heavy wedge between best friends since forever Luke and Hal - that turned a friendsh✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“Love is love.”
It was The Incident that drove a heavy wedge between best friends since forever Luke and Hal - that turned a friendship that was something pure and good to something twisted and complicated. And three years later since, twenty-nine-year old Luke had hoped that his unrequited affections for his best friend would have faded away, hopeful that 'maybe, one day, he’ll even be able to get over the terrible, crushing, insurmountable love he’s always borne for his best friend.'...more
“He backed away and my eyes snapped open, but his expression was so gentle… and I think I lost what little of my heart I hadn’t already ✰ 4 stars ✰
“He backed away and my eyes snapped open, but his expression was so gentle… and I think I lost what little of my heart I hadn’t already given to him.”
How easy is it for one ill-timed mistake for two best friends to be torn apart. One ill-advised decision that causes two best friends to lose a piece of each other. One wrong move that changes the lives of two best friends. 'Looking back now, I can only be filled with the what-if’s'. Breathtakingly heartbreaking and painstakingly raw - Let's Hear It for the Boy is a deeply moving short story that literally packs a punch to the heart. ...more
“I, more than anyone, understand secrets. I understand how one person, one whisper of truth, can crumble empires, destroy lives, reveal ✰ 4 stars ✰
“I, more than anyone, understand secrets. I understand how one person, one whisper of truth, can crumble empires, destroy lives, reveal monsters.
There was a day that I was a monster.”
When thirty-two-year old successful romance novelist, Helena finds out that she's been diagnosed with cancer and with only three months to live, she knows it's a race against the clock to make the most of the time she has left. Brushing aside the one manuscript that her literary agent, Kate, expects for her to complete, she knows in her heart that there is one untold story that she has yet to tell - a secret she has kept buried for nearly four years. 'The words are easy. What’s difficult is the ability to breathe life into them.' And who better to be The Ghostwriter to what will be her greatest achievement yet than her arch-enemy and fierce rival in the business, Marka Vantlay, someone she firmly believes will be the best fit to capture all her scattered thoughts and compose them into words, without the need of an outline and still meet that impossible deadline.
A good thriller to me is one that keeps me turning the pages - that doesn't falter in the pacing, that has gripped my attention with solid writing and a slew of interesting characters that has me eager to reach the finish line - curious to know how the events will all pan out. And if the ending is something that shocks me in a surprising manner that doesn't leave me disgruntled or disappointed - feeling a sense of satisfaction with the end result - then I definitely feel like a satisfied reader. ...more
“There’s a true fluidity about all those images in my life—it sometimes seems refreshing, other times so caustic it chokes me. Everyt✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“There’s a true fluidity about all those images in my life—it sometimes seems refreshing, other times so caustic it chokes me. Everything in my young life dealt with the power of pictures and their effect on memory.”
Probably one of the hardest books I've ever had to read, rate, and review. Read - because I could only watch helplessly as the story of Wolf-Boy unraveled before me. Rate - because despite what I may have given it, I don't ignore what will be upsetting for those who will read it, but I can't deny the experience of what it felt like while reading it. Review - because as it happens when it comes time to write about books that leave such a visceral impression on me, it becomes difficult for me to put my thoughts into real words. ...more
Hauntingly poetic and beautifully at✰ 3.75 stars ✰
“This isn’t a ghost story. This is a love story.
It’s the story of how I fell in love with you.”
Hauntingly poetic and beautifully atmospheric is how A Frost of Cares invites its readers into what has the basis of a ghost story, but is undoubtedly one of a love story. A love story of two broken people who end up in what technically is a haunted house, but emerge with a love stronger than the searching hands that just wanted to be found. For when military historian, Luke Alcott and the war veteran, Jay are assigned to overview Eelmoor Hall, both with their own respective reasons for being there, they weren't expecting to find more than just a ghost that haunted it, but leave with a love stronger than their broken pieces and a bond tighter than the forces that threaten to keep their hearts apart. ...more