ARC Review | Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

Title: Foolish Hearts
Author: Emma Mills
Publication: December 5th 2017 by Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher
ISBN: 9781627799379

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When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year.

Smart, funny, and thoroughly, wonderfully flawed, Claudia navigates a world of intense friendships and tentative romance in Emma Mills’s Foolish Hearts, a young adult novel about expanding your horizons, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and accepting—and loving—people for who they really are.

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I received an ARC of this book from Macmillan Publishers in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

When I picked up Foolish Hearts from my shelf, I didn’t have any idea of what it’s going to be about neither do I have read any of the author’s previous works, so, I wasn’t really expecting anything from it. I honestly picked it up just to have one less book to read on my TBR pile. But after reading this book, I will be adding 2 or more Emma Mills books on my list. I am seriously on a hunt for her books right now and I believe that says a lot on how this book captured my heart.

Foolish Hearts is a captivating book about friendship, family, falling in love and a whole lot more that’s to be discovered along the way. Even with a lot aspects dealt with in this book, the execution and how the story just flowed seamlessly blew me away.

I admit, I’m not the person to ask when it comes to contemporary reads about friendship since I’m just really the type who’s more into swoon-worthy reads, but Foolish Hearts managed to get me hooked from start to finish not only because it has both, but because of everything in it.

First, AWESOME CHARACTERS.

I love Claudia! She’s genuine and flawed and all that. She speaks her mind (sometimes without thinking), a bit sarcastic, and awkward most of that time. She represents a lot of us in some level which makes her extremely relatable and likeable and I just love her to bits! There were a lot of times where I just found myself in the same situation as Claudia.

“Hi, Claudia, I like your earrings.”
“Thanks. I like your shirt,” I say, because we are all wearing the same shirt. She doesn’t smile.

#wordvomit

Anyway, Claudia wasn’t the only one that made this book have awesome characters, of course. Every character in this book has a distinct voice that identifies each of them individually. Not a lot of books that I’ve read were able to give that much detail to the other characters but Foolish Hearts not only introduces its readers to the main character or the love interest but basically to everyone and you’ll  feel like you’re getting to know each of them personally.

“Are you ready to put the ‘fun’ in Fall Fun Fest?” he says as I slap his palm.
“I can at least put the ‘trip’ in ‘Triple F.‘ ” A pause. “By being clumsy, I mean. Not by, like, sharing drugs with the group.” Three sets of eyes are on me, and I can’t stop myself from talking. “I don’t have any drugs. In case you were worried. Or, in case you were. . . somehow expecting me to have drugs. . . .“

Second is GREAT STORY-TELLING. The narration in this book is spot on. I just love it when the narration is very much transparent that the readers are not only able to read through the story but go beyond that. I honestly felt for Claudia, and Iris, and a lot of the other characters. Claudia’s monologue not only gave me a good laugh throughout this book, it was also the magnet that kept me turning page after page without realizing it.

It’s just easier to never start something than to have to see it end.

Third reason is MULTIPLE PLOT. Don’t get confused or be put off, it’s not like it’s confusing as it may seem but for a lack of better word, I just used “multiple plot”. Foolish Hearts is about Claudia and Iris’s friendship, it was also about Claudia’s cute romance with Gideon and it’s also about Claudia and Zoe and her family. It may seem like a lot of things to be in one story but it actually works, it REALLY works. Although different characters in different scenarios were involved, Ms. Mills made a way to somehow entwine each of them and make it relevant. It’s never just thrown in only to make a conflict  but it’s something that’s just waiting to happen and for me, that’s immaculate writing.

Foolish Hearts is a heart-warming book that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. This book deserves to be read and it’s definitely on top of my highly recommend list. I’m giving this book the easiest 5 stars ever.

Now back to my book hunt for Emma Mills books.

Rating:

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• Claudia – I mean, how can you not?? I literally literally wanted to be her. She’s witty, funny and amusing. She’s also downright relatable.

• Family Dynamics – I love how Claudia’s family is ever present in this book. I also love how Gideon’s family (his mom and cutest sister) exists! The relationships in this book is just incomparable.

• Gideon a.k.a. Benevolent Space Prince – One order of Gideon Prewitt over here please. He’s the perfect adorkable guy of my dreams. I’m honestly out of words but I guess you’ll just have to read the book!

• Friendship – This book showed me the value of friendship, even in the smallest of things.

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

ARC Review | Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn

Title: Wesley James Ruined My Life
Author: Jennifer Honeybourn
Publication: July 18th 2017 by Swoon Reads
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher
ISBN: 9781250123732

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Sixteen-year-old Quinn Hardwick’s having a rough summer. Her beloved grandmother has been put into a home, her dad’s gambling addiction has flared back up and now her worst enemy is back in town: Wesley James, former childhood friend—until he ruined her life, that is.

So when Wesley is hired to work with her at Tudor Tymes, a medieval England themed restaurant, the last thing Quinn’s going to do is forgive and forget. She’s determined to remove him from her life and even the score all at once—by getting him fired.

But getting rid of Wesley isn’t as easy as she’d hoped. When Quinn finds herself falling for him, she has to decide what she wants more: to get even, or to just get over it.

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I received an ARC of this book from Macmillan Publishers in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

Wesley James Ruined My Life is a contemporary paragon.  It’s cute, easy to read and fast-paced. Right from first chapters of this book, I could tell that it’s going to be an enjoyable read. I also can’t help but compare this book to some of Lauren Morrill’s books which are my contemporary go-to books! Indeed, it has the common trope we see in most YA contemps and I guess I could say that it isn’t something that I haven’t read before. But still, I managed to take delight in this quick read.

When the title said that Wesley ruined Quinn’s life, this got me thinking, what exactly did he do to Quinn? And why is she so keen on getting even with him? Turns out, Wesley, or so Quinn thinks, was responsible for her parents divorce. So what’s her big revenge? Get him fired. Okay, that appears to be a bit shallow. The story actually has a lot going on, Quinn’s dad and his gambling addiction, her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s, her dream trip to London and so on but it looks like that Quinn’s priority is getting her revenge on Wesley. With everything that’s happening in the story, it missed out on properly building up the characters. Yes, it’s a light story that you can easily pick up and read but instead of having a character to relate to, it doesn’t allow the readers to do so because we really didn’t get to know much about the characters. And one thing I noticed about this book is it reaches more on the younger readers. Either that or I’m really getting old. 😛

Although Wesley James Ruined My Life lacked in some aspects, I still enjoyed reading this, it was a fun and fluffy read, and if you’re up for a quick read, you should try this one.

Rating:

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• Fast-paced – I picked up this book while I was on a book slump and I really felt accomplished when I finished reading this book. I’m glad the story didn’t really drag, it’s simple but still enjoyable.

• Re-read worthy – I still can’t get over how quick I finished this book that I’m already thinking about re-reading it in the future. When I’m in a need of a breath of fresh contemporary air, this is definitely one of the books I’d pick up.

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

Book Review | Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Title: Words in Deep Blue
Author: Cath Crowley
Publication: June 6th 2017 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: Finished Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher
ISBN: 9781101937648

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Love lives between the lines.

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.

Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. She can’t see her future.

Henry’s future isn’t looking too promising, either. His girlfriend dumped him. The bookstore is slipping away. And his family is breaking apart.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

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I received a finished copy of this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

Books like Words in Deep Blue are the reason why I really enjoy reading contemporary YA. First, you’re only looking for some refreshing light read but then it gives something more, something with greater depth. I admit, I was only after the giddy feeling I know this book would give me based on the synopsis. I’m a total sucker for swoon but this book is more than just a cute romance, it also deals with loss, grief and what comes after.

Rachel likes Henry, her best friend. Before she moves away with her family, she confesses her feelings in a letter to Henry but he never replied. A wild guess here is that the letter never really reached Henry. But, Rachel doesn’t know that. She assumes that Henry is just ignoring the fact. But even so, Henry is crazy in love with another girl, Amy, so there’s that. Rachel comes back to town, and guess what, Henry is still crazy in love with Amy even after she dumps him. Rachel says that she doesn’t have feeling for Henry anymore. And Henry thinks that Rachel changed a lot, she’s rude and shuts everyone out especially him.

Told in alternating POVs of Henry and Rachel, we see how everything unfolds before us in 2 different voices, with some in-between stories, told by an exchange of letters. The thing I noticed about Rachel and Henry is that they both love to suffer. I don’t mean literally but you see them stuck in a situation they’re most likely to suffer but still makes decision that results to even longer suffering. In Henry’s case, it’s Amy. His love for her is blind that even if it hurts, he’s still chasing after her, she’s literally stepping over his dignity but he still see’s her as a saint or something. I really want to hit him in the head sometimes. And with Rachel, it’s her feelings for Henry (obviously) and the loss of her brother, Cal. Instead of facing the reality of his death, Rachel keeps putting it behind and doesn’t really open it up to everyone.

The characters go through a whole lot in this book and it’s done in such a way I haven’t read before. The development is spot on, character and plot wise. I love the originality of having the Letter Library where people can leave messages in between the pages of a book. The side story of George, Henry’s sister, exchanging letters with a certain “Pytheas” is so endearing I wish they have they’re own book. But I guess their exchange would have been enough, I mean it was enough, it made me feel genuine emotions.

In totality, this book is more than just a love story it’s about the many things that makes a love story. Friends who would do anything for you, family that may be falling apart but are always there for you. And words.

“Words matter, in fact. They’re not pointless, as you’ve suggested. If they were pointless, then they couldn’t start revolutions and they wouldn’t change history. If they were just words, we wouldn’t write songs or listen to them. We wouldn’t beg to be read to as kids. If they were just words, then stories wouldn’t have been around since before we could write. We wouldn’t have learned to write. If they were just words, people wouldn’t fall in love because of them, feel bad because of them, ache because of them, and stop aching because of them.”

Rating:

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• Diverse characters – With strong voices too! I love George, Martin, Lola, Cal… They seriously should have their own story. Although they were side characters, their

• Quotes from the book and quotes the book quotes from other books – This story involves a lot of books, a huge part of the plot does. And it’s a total gem for book lovers! It mentions a lot of literary works and how it has been a part of someone’s life. I also liked the some quotes from the book.

“We are the books we read and the things we love.”

“The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.”  ―Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“The past is with me; the present is here. The future is unmapped and changeable. Ours for the imagining: spreading out before us. Sunlight filled, deep blue, and the darkness.”

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

ARC Review | The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun Is Also A Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Publication: November 1st 2016 by Delacorte Press
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher
ISBN: 9780553496680

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Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

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I received an ARC of this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

After having read Everything, Everything, I since have had a mental note that any book written by Nicola Yoon is one to anticipate. There’s no need to tell that I have high expectations for The Sun Is Also A Star because I definitely do. And now that I’ve finally read it, I don’t know how to begin with sharing how blown away I am with this incredible and one of a kind story.

The Sun Is Also A Star follows Natasha and Daniel and their love story set in a whole day around New York City. Natasha is bound to get deported back to Jamaica after she and her family are discovered to be undocumented immigrants, she’s desperate to stop the deportation and she has less than a day to make it happen. Meanwhile, Daniel has an admission interview with Yale, which he thinks is the beginning of the end of his future. Daniel doesn’t want to become a doctor, he doesn’t even want to go to Yale, so he spends his remaining hours before the interview to do whatever he feels like doing. Their paths cross, and the rest is up to fate to do its thing.

First of all, I just love stories of fate and destiny. I love that it’s something out of our control but still leads us to the moment that’s meant to be. Natasha is a non-believer of these things. She claims she’s a realist and doesn’t believe that things happen for a reason.

Things don’t happen for a reason. They just happen.

For a story that has a lot to do with fate, having a character like Natasha and Daniel made everything more interesting. While Natasha doesn’t believe in fate, Daniel is a romantic. (His Koi No Yokan thing? Ah… SWOOOON! Did I mention he’s Korean? MORE SWOON!) You can only imagine what’s gonna happen next or how the characters will react to the the events in this book. The character development is very natural and not forced that I sometimes forget that everything that’s going on is in a span of a single day. How is that even possible? Don’t doubt fate. Or the author.

Ms. Nicola has a distinct writing style that you can easily identify. It has the effect that will make you guarantee that you are reading a book written by her. The short chapters and the unconventional storytelling are definitely her niche. She just makes it work in every book she writes. I can’t think of a different way Natasha and Daniel’s story be told.

Speaking of the narrative, the book wasn’t only in Natasha or Daniel’s POV, there were a lot of different perspectives coming from people or things they encounter, and what’s great about it is that we get to see what lead them to that exact moment, how their choices and actions affected other people’s fate and just how everything works together and are bound to happen.

Maybe he wasn’t meant to meet Natasha today. Maybe it was random chance after all.
But.
Once they met, the rest of it, the love between them, was inevitable.

The ending just proved how fate worked in Natasha and Daniel’s lives. It’s such a touching moment that I just keep reading it over and over. It’s a beautiful story and the ending was just perfect. Absoultely, incredibly, the best epilogue I’ve read.

The Sun Is Also A Star is a definite must-read. For lovers of swoon-worthy reads like me, this is not to be missed. For those who aren’t, maybe you’ll have a change of heart, just like Natasha? 🙂

Rating:

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• Natasha & Daniel – Of course, these 2! I love Natasha and Daniel and they will have a special place in my heart for being the most adorable characters ever. Anyway, I noticed how the characters names are somewhat a representation of Nicola and David??? Also, they’re Jamaican American and Korean American respectively and I’m not doubting that this was inspired by the story of how they met, and the rest is an adorable book called The Sun Is Also A Star. 🙂

• The cover – Unlike some covers that are aesthetically pleasing, this one has a different reason why I like love it. TSIAAS’s cover is some sort of a representation of what the whole book is telling us. I couldn’t find the best words to explain it but the good thing is Nicola already did, in her letter for her readers, she said, “We are-all of us-connected. The threads weave through and around us all. It’s only for us to see them.” I don’t know why but it spoke to me more than what it is, a book cover. I really appreciate the fact that even that single detail is telling a story. Don’t even get me started with the effort put into making it, just go check out the cover making video!

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

Most Anticipated Reads | September 2016

HOHOHO! Merry Chirstmas! It’s September already and most Fall ’16 books I’ve been waiting to read is getting closer to it’s release day!!! Also, I missed posting my August MAR. Yikes! But anyway, check out these upcoming titles to read this month!

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Like a River Glorious (The Gold Seer Trilogy #2) by Rae Carson
Publication: September 27th 2016 by Greenwillow

After a harrowing journey across the country, Leah Westfall and her friends have finally arrived in California and are ready to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Lee has a special advantage over the other new arrivals in California—she has the ability to sense gold, a secret known only by her handsome best friend Jefferson and her murdering uncle Hiram.

Lee and her friends have the chance to be the most prosperous settlers in California, but Hiram hasn’t given up trying to control Lee and her power. Sabotage and kidnapping are the least of what he’ll do to make sure Lee is his own. His mine is the deepest and darkest in the territory, and there Lee learns the full extent of her magical gift, the worst of her uncle, and the true strength of her friendships. To save everyone, she vows to destroy her uncle and the empire he is building—even at the cost of her own freedom.

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Going Geek by Charlotte Huang
Publication: September 13th 2016 by Delacorte Press

A girl forced out of her comfort zone finds that being true to herself is the best way to live her life, in this second novel from the author of For the Record.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Skylar Hoffman’s senior year at her preppy East Coast boarding school should have been perfect:

Amazing boyfriend
The coolest friends
The most desirable dorm

But it’s far from it. To her dismay, Skylar’s not going to rule senior year because she’s stuck in Abbot House, a tiny dorm known for, well, nothing. Living with a group of strangers everyone thinks is lame is bad enough. Worse is that Skylar wasn’t exactly truthful about how she spent summer break in Los Angeles—and her little white lie is causing her once rock-solid romance to crumble fast. And when it turns out that Skylar’s best friend is the one responsible for having her booted from Lincoln? It’s an all-out war.

Stepping out of her comfort zone never felt so scary—or necessary. But everything is different now. Including, maybe, Skylar herself . . .

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The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Publication: September 20th 2016 by Katherine Tegen Books

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

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The Possibility of Somewhere by Julia Day
Publication: September 6th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Together is somewhere they long to be.

Ash Gupta has a life full of possibility. His senior year is going exactly as he’s always wanted– he’s admired by his peers, enjoying his classes and getting the kind of grades that his wealthy, immigrant parents expect. There’s only one obstacle in Ash’s path: Eden Moore—the senior most likely to become class valedictorian. How could this unpopular, sharp-tongued girl from the wrong side of the tracks stand in his way?

All Eden’s ever wanted was a way out. Her perfect GPA should be enough to guarantee her a free ride to college — and an exit from her trailer-park existence for good. The last thing she needs is a bitter rivalry with Ash, who wants a prized scholarship for his own selfish reasons. Or so she thinks. . . When Eden ends up working with Ash on a class project, she discovers that the two have more in common than either of them could have imagined. They’re both in pursuit of a dream — one that feels within reach thanks to their new connection. But what does the future hold for two passionate souls from totally different worlds?

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The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker by Kat Spears
Publication: September 13th 2016 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Luke Grayson’s life might as well be over when he’s forced to go live in rural Tennessee with his Baptist pastor father. His reputation as a troublemaker has followed him there, and as an outsider, Luke is automatically under suspicion by everyone from the principal at his new school to the local police chief. His social life is no better. The new kid in town is an easy target for Grant Parker, the local golden boy with a violent streak who has the entire community of Ashland under his thumb.

But things go topsy-turvy when a freak accident removes Grant from the top of the social pyramid, replacing him with Luke. This fish out of water has suddenly gone from social outcast to hero in a matter of twenty-four hours. For the students who have lived in fear of Grant all their lives, this is a welcome change. But Luke’s new found fame comes with a price. Nobody knows the truth about what really happened to Grant Parker except for Luke, and the longer he keeps living the lie, the more like Grant Parker he becomes.

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As I Descended by Robin Talley
Publication: September 6th 2016 by HarperTeen

Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them.

Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey.

Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word.

But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily.

Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school.

But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line.

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I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil
Publication: September 13th 2016 by Balzer + Bray

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She’s starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.

So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically-guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it’s time to use The Formula for herself. She’ll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win her boyfriend back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.

Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity, and fix everything she’s messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

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Share your September TBR in the comments!
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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

ARC Review | What’s A Girl Gotta Do? by Holly Bourne

Title: What’s A Girl Gotta Do? (The Spinster Club #3)
Author: Holly Bourne
Publication: August 1st 2016 by Usborne Publishing
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher
ISBN: 9781474915021

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HOW TO START A FEMINIST REVOLUTION:

1. Call out anything that is unfair on one gender

2. Don’t call out the same thing twice (so you can sleep and breathe)

3. Always try to keep it funny

4. Don’t let anything slide. Even when you start to break…

Lottie’s determined to change the world with her #Vagilante vlog. Shame the trolls have other ideas…

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I received an ARC of this book from Usborne in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

What’s a girl gotta say? Well, for starters, I’ve only read the 2nd book in the series prior to reading What’s A Girl Gotta Do? and so I’m not typically familiar with how the Spinster Club started.. Although it can be read as a standalone, I think it’s best to read Am I Normal Yet? and How Hard Can Love Be? first not just for continuity’s sake but also for character familiarity. With the being said, I have mixed feelings with this one.

The series introduced 3 girls going through different personal battles. Evie in Am I Normal Yet? struggled with OCD. In How Hard Can Love Be?, Amber dealt with her mother’s abandonment. This time, the spotlight is on Lottie. Lottie and her fight against sexism.

Lottie came to me as a strong, even aggressive, character. Her personality did affect mostly how things turned out in the story. When she was sexually assaulted on the way to college, an idea came to her to start a project where she calls out every sexist things she sees. It’s a great idea to raise awareness about gender equality but I’m not really fan of the execution. I guess it’s the cultural difference though. In my perspective, Lottie took a lot of “sexist?” things WAY TOO FAR. And way angsty which made connecting with her a lot harder. I could be a character in this book though, one of the lookers, maybe. Or someone who’s curious about FemSoc but never really joins? But not the trolls. Definitely not the trolls.

The pacing was a tiny bit low for me and I don’t really know which part is the climax because almost the entire book is just Lottie pointing out sexist things, arguing with her parents, arguing-flirting with Will, worrying-but-not-really about her Cambridge interview. The writing style is a different story. It’s very straight-forward and strong. It’s uncomplicated, realistic and coherent for young readers.

Anyway, speaking of Will… the romance was bleh! I mean, Will is really attractive but and all that, even if he’s some kind of whatever, there was no chemistry between him and Lottie. Sexual tension? LOL. Lottie no. I remember reading a part where *THIS IS A SPOILER.* Highlight with cursor to view >> Lottie and Will were arguing about how Lottie called out a waiter for handing the bill to Will instead of her even if she’s not the one paying. She called him a pr*ck, he called her a b*tch. Then they’re kissing.*END OF SPOILER* Was that supposed to be romantic? Was that for real. My eyebrows literally furrowed in confusion and I just cringed. HAHA.

However, I did like how real the level of friendship in this book is. Evie and Amber are always there for Lottie. There are times where they argue but like a true friend, they always have each others back. There’s also Megan’s storyline which I think was really interesting. I really appreciate her character and her bravery.

To be fair, What’s A Girl Gotta Do? is an eye-opening read. It raises awareness especially on things that’s going on around us that we don’t even realize are sexist. Or even the things we already know are unfair to one gender but we decide to accept it the way it is just because.

Rating:

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• Evie, Amber and Lottie’s friendship – #bffgoals

• Covergasm – I just love all the covers of the books in the series and What’s A Girl Gotta Do?’s cover is not an exception. I love how it’s coordinated with the story.

• A Novella – …And a Happy New Year? is coming in November! Can’t wait!!

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

ARC Review | True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan

Title: True Letters from a Fictional Life
Author: Kenneth Logan
Publication: June 7th 2016 by HarperTeen
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780062380258

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If you asked anyone in his small Vermont town, they’d tell you the facts: James Liddell, star athlete, decent student and sort-of boyfriend to cute, peppy Theresa, is a happy, funny, carefree guy.

But whenever James sits down at his desk to write, he tells a different story. As he fills his drawers with letters to the people in his world–letters he never intends to send–he spills the truth: he’s trying hard, but he just isn’t into Theresa. It’s a boy who lingers in his thoughts.

He feels trapped by his parents, his teammates, and the lies they’ve helped him tell, and he has no idea how to escape. Is he destined to live a life of fiction?

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I received a digital review copy of this book from HarperCollins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

“If you ain’t scared standing up for what’s right, then you ain’t standing up for much.”
– Not Mark Twain

True Letters from a Fictional Life is about James Lidell, a closeted jock who is having a difficult time with coming out to his family, friends and his sort of girlfriend, Teresa. All his life, James believed he is straight but not until he started to like boys. Coming out isn’t easy especially for James who prefers to keep his thoughts to himself. Aside from his “secret identity”, he never really voices out his opinion about most things but instead, he writes them down through letters he never intends to send to whom they’re addressed to.

And of course, it goes out in the world anyway because life is ironic.

James is a reliable narrator. I love the transparency of his voice through his thoughts and his letters. He might not be as “transparent” when it comes to certain things and to certain people, but everything behind the facade is made clear the readers, making this book such an enjoyable and engaging read.

The pacing was quick and never boring, every part was kept interesting and that’s with the help of such a diverse set of characters. I love how not everything was about James. There were also the struggles of the minor characters that affects the whole plot and how it reflects through James’s letters.

True Letters of a Fictional Life is a great read. It deals with different issues. Aside from it being a coming out story, it also deals with stereotyping, bullying, friendship, family relationships and more.

P.S. I’m hating myself for writing such a short review for this book and that I haven’t gone through a lot of things so I’ll just have to give you reasons to read this book:

1.) James is a sweetheart.
2.) Awesome friends = awesome characters
3.) Engaging writing style.
4.) It’s something you haven’t read before.
5.) If you’re still not convinced, that’s the best reason to pick up this book.

Rating:

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• Quotes

“It’s only out of tune if you accept someone else’s definition of what’s in tune.”

I’ve always wanted to wake up one day in a world where I liked the right people, and they liked me in return. I worry it’ll never happen.

“I’ve always been told that I’m straight. And that’s the story I was trying to make happen. I didn’t come up with the lie. It wasn’t mine. They handed the lie to me, and I tried like hell to make it work for a while.”

• Overflowing emotions – The wave of emotions that surged through me while I was reading this book is just too much to handle.

• James – I ADORE this guy right here! He’s such an authentic male narrator that YA books need more of. His voice and his wit, his compassion and fears… everything about him is too damn real.

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Book description and cover image from Goodreads

Most Anticipated Reads | July 2016

I am waaaayyyyyy behind with everything in the blogosphere and the book community. *sobs* But even though it’s half way through the month already, it’s still worth sharing my most anticipated reads for July!

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Signs of You by Emily France
Publication: July 19th 2016 by Soho Teen

Since sixteen-year-old Riley Strout lost her mother two years ago, her saving grace has been her quirky little family in the grief support group she joined as a freshman. Jay, Kate, and Noah understand her pain; each lost a loved one, and they’ve stuck together in spite of their differences, united by tragedies only they understand.

When Riley thinks she spots her mother shopping in a grocery store, she fears she is suffering some sort of post-traumatic stress. Then Jay and Kate report similar experiences. Only Noah hasn’t had some kind of vision, which is perhaps why he’s become so skeptical and distant.

When Noah disappears, Riley fears she’s lost another loved one. As they frantically search for him, she, Kate, and Jay are drawn into the mystery surrounding a relic that belonged to Jay’s dead father and contains clues about the afterlife. Riley finds herself wrestling with her feelings for both Noah and Jay—which have become clear only in Noah’s absence. If Riley is to help those she loves, and herself, she must set things right with the one she’s lost.

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Cruel Heart Broken by Emma Haughton
Publication: July 1st 2016 by Usborne

Laurie is a good girl – so everyone thinks. But seven months ago she did something that she can’t undo and it’s tearing her apart.

Charlie used to be her best friend. He’s done something he regrets too…and now someone has died.

Two impulsive decisions. Two toxic secrets. Too many hearts broken. Partly inspired by a true story, this is a heart-wrenching novel about impulsive mistakes, and their devastating consequences.

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The Killer in Me by Margot Harrison
Published July 12th 2016 by Disney-Hyperion

Seventeen-year-old Nina Barrows knows all about the Thief. She’s intimately familiar with his hunting methods: how he stalks and kills at random, how he disposes of his victims’ bodies in an abandoned mine in the deepest, most desolate part of a desert.

Now, for the first time, Nina has the chance to do something about the serial killer that no one else knows exists. With the help of her former best friend, Warren, she tracks the Thief two thousand miles, to his home turf—the deserts of New Mexico.

But the man she meets there seems nothing like the brutal sociopath with whom she’s had a disturbing connection her whole life. To anyone else, Dylan Shadwell is exactly what he appears to be: a young veteran committed to his girlfriend and her young daughter. As Nina spends more time with him, she begins to doubt the truth she once held as certain: Dylan Shadwell is the Thief. She even starts to wonder . . . what if there is no Thief?

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What the Dead Want by Norah Olson
Publication: July 26th 2016 by Katherine Tegen Books

16 -year-old Gretchen takes photographs to understand the world around her, a passion her mother Mona fostered and encouraged when she was still around. Since her mom disappeared years ago, Gretchen and her dad have lived on their own in New York City, haunted by Mona’s absence.

When Gretchen’s great aunt Esther calls unexpectedly to tell her that she has inherited the pre-Civil War mansion on her mother’s side of the family in upstate New York, Gretchen understands nothing except that her aunt needs her help. But what she finds there is beyond her imagination. The house is crumbling apart, filled with stacks of papers and journals from decades, even centuries past, and it’s crawling with rodents. It’s also full of secrets and a legacy of racism and violence so reprehensible that the ghosts of the past are exacting revenge on the living.

Somehow the mystery of Mona’s disappearance and the atrocities that happened on the land during the Civil War are inextricably intertwined, and it’s up to Gretchen to figure out how…before even more lives are lost.

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P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
Publication: July 26th 2016 by Point

What if the person you were falling for was a total mystery?

While Lily is spacing out in Chemistry one day, she picks up her pencil and scribbles a line from one of her favorite songs on the desk. The next day, someone else has written back to her on the desk! Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she’s flustered — and kind of feels like she’s falling for him. She and her best friend set out to unravel the identity of the letter writer — but when the truth is revealed, the guy is the LAST person Lily could have ever imagined it to be. Now that Lily knows the truth, can she untangle her feelings and gather the courage to listen to her heart?

From beloved author Kasie West (The Distance Between Us) comes an utterly charming story about mixed messages, missed connections, and the magic of good old-fashioned secret admirer notes.

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The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno
Published July 5th 2016 by HarperCollins

A charming and imaginative new novel about getting lost before you can be found.

LOST:
Frannie and Louis met in an online support group when they were both younger. They have never met face-to-face. They don’t even know each other’s real names. All they know is that they both have a mysterious tendency to lose things. Well, not lose them, exactly. Things just seem to…disappear.

FOUND:
They each receive news in the mail that sets them off on a road trip to Austin, Texas, looking for answers—and each other. Along the way, each one begins to find, as if by magic, important things the other has lost. And by the time they finally meet in person, they realize that the things you lose might be things you weren’t meant to have at all, and that you never know what you might find if you just take a chance.

The Lost & Found is a bighearted novel about connections (missed and found), family (the kind you’re born with and the kind you make for yourself), and unexpected journeys (on the road, and of the heart), from an author who Publishers Weekly called “a fierce new presence.”

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany
Publication: July 31st 2016 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, is the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. It will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on 30th July 2016

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.

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Share your July TBR in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by!

Cover images link out to respective Goodreads page.
Click and add them to your shelves.

Book description and cover image from Goodreads

Blog Tour | Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach [Review + Giveaway]

Title: Anything You Want
Author: Geoff Herbach
Publication: May 3rd 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire
Format: Advance Reading Copy
Source: Provided by the publisher via NetGalley
ISBN: 9781402291449

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Expect a bundle of joy—er, trouble—in this hilarious, heartwarming story from the award-winning author of Stupid Fast Geoff Herbach.

Taco’s mom always said, “Today is the best day of your life, and tomorrow will be even better.” That was hard to believe the day she died of cancer and when Taco’s dad had to move up north for work, but he sure did believe it when Maggie Corrigan agreed to go with him to junior prom. Taco loves Maggie- even more than the tacos that earned him his nickname. And she loves him right back.

Except all that love? It gets Maggie pregnant. Everyone else may be freaking out, but Taco can’t wait to have a real family again. He just has to figure out what it means to be a dad and how to pass calculus. And then there’s getting Maggie’s parents to like him. Because it would be so much easier for them to be together if he didn’t have to climb the side of the Corrigans’ house to see her…

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I received a digital review copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley for my participation in this blog tour. By no means have my review been affected and/or influenced.

Anything You Want is nothing like some other books I’ve read before that deals with teenage pregnancy/parenthood. The proof of it’s rarity lies on the MC.

Never have I encountered such a character like Taco. His name already says says a lot. Well, not literally… but his personality is full of “character”. The first thing I noticed about this book is the way the story is being narrated. It clearly reflects Taco’s personality; naive, unique and optimistic. Seriously, the narration is just bursting with personality and I love it. I’ve had enough of the brooding YA male narrators and that makes Taco a breath of fresh air.

In terms of the plot, I wasn’t expecting anything at all when I picked up this book and that’s why I’m surprised with the depth and message it tries to get across the readers. Anything You Want is not a light contemporary YA. It deals with serious issues like teenage pregnancy, abandonment, depression and a lot more. There were parts where I felt exhausted reading what Taco is experiencing because it’s almost like a cycle of problems that seems to never end but that made me feel more for his character. His journey is truly inspiring. Overall, I really recommend Anything You Want to every YA reader out there.

Today is the best day of your life. So is tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next. No matter what happens, every day you have is the best day of your life.

Rating:

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I am the author of the YA title, Stupid Fast (June 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire). I also wrote The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, a Novel from Three Rivers Press. When I’m not writing books, I’m writing for Radio Happy Hour or developing ridiculous musical bits.

When I’m not writing, I’m teaching writing at Minnesota State, Mankato, which means I write a lot of comments about writing on student writing.

Writing a lot of writing and reading about writing and writing on reading.

www.geoffherback.com
Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Giveaway!
Win (1) of (4) copies of ANYTHING YOU WANT by Geoff Herbach
Open Internationally.

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Follow the Tour!

This blog post is part of the Anything You Want Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club.
Click the tour banner for the complete tour schedule.

Thanks for stopping by!
❤

ARC April | Recap & Wrap-Up

At the beginning of this month, I announced that I will be joining Read.Sleep.Repeat‘s event, ARC April.

ARC April is an event where the goal is to read all (if possible) your ARCs for the month. On my initial post, I pledged that I’ll be reading 9 of my ARCs for the month. I wasn’t really able to post a weekly progress of how I’m catching up but that’s because I’ve decided to just do a single post to wrap everything up. So… how many books did I actually read?
(See my initial ARC April post here)

ARCs I’ve actually read…

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to achieve my ambitious goal of reading 9 books but 5 isn’t so bad, right? Just don’t compare it to others who’ve gone double digits. LOL. Anyway, I was also able to review all of them as well! So, win-win!

Here are some excerpt from my reviews of the following books (click respective links for full review):

• Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

The writing is simple and straightforward, making it even more engaging than it already is and it’s one of the many reasons why I enjoyed this book. There’s something magnetic about it. The storyline is my kind of contemporary – real and fulfilling.

 

• Dreamology by Lucy Keating

The story wasn’t that long, it had brief chapters with amusing titles but, the pacing made it feel like I was reading a 700-page book. The story was going a little slow where I got to the point that I don’t even know where the whole story was going.

 

• Down With The Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

The story telling was good and easy to follow but the actual story just got really weird and messy halfway through which made me confused in some parts. I didn’t understand some them but I think the problem was on my end. I guess it’s one attribute you can’t take away from the story because it’s supposed to be weird and messy and, it works.

 

• Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

The storyline, the continuity and how things are interconnected like a perfectly woven tapestry in this book is one of the things that I find laudable about Suffer Love. I didn’t mind the amount of coincidences long as it brings our two characters together.

 

• The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

My thoughts about this book are conflicting. Let’s say The Star-Touched Queen‘s theme is not fitting for my taste BUT the story is my own fantasy realized into a book.

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So, that’s it! Did you join ARC April too? How did your month go? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you!
❤