Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic fiction

Rating: 4.3

Goodreads summary: click here

My thoughts:
I really liked and related to Isla on so many different levels. The first, well she's had a crush on a boy for like three years and even Googled his address. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, but totally me right there. She also likes to read and she really has no idea what she's going to do with her life and she constantly struggled with that throughout the book. I think that's the real reason I liked her.
Also, something weird that I liked about Isla was she cried. A lot of the times, characters "blink away their tears" because they don't want to look weak, but I noticed that Isla didn't really do that.
Some people say that they were frustrated with Isla because she kind of sabotaged  her own relationship with Josh. I wasn't though, because I most likely would have done the same thing.

I glance around the room, but the other girls appear to be at ease. Why doesn't he have the same effect on them that he has on me? Don’t they [see] him?

It was cool to read about Josh from a different perspective. In Anna, we're swooning and crushing on Etienne because we're seeing him the way Anna sees him and we don't really notice or care about Josh, but when reading Isla, we saw Josh through her eyes and were suddenly swooning over Josh. We also read about how Josh felt in Anna and it made me feel really bad for Josh because I had no idea what he was going through.

I think that Isla and Josh dived into their relationship pretty early in the book. I wish they would have started off as friends and then gotten into a relationship. I feel like whenever they were together all they were doing were having some hot make-out sessions. There were some weird scenes and now I'll never look at rabbits the same. That's the one thing that really bothered me about this book. I just wanted more funny and awkward conversations from them-more dialogue! Also, I wish we could have seen more of Josh and Kurt become friends.

I  did love all the setting in this book and I liked how this story brought us back to Paris because I know I sure missed it.

I LOVED when  Anna, Etienne, Lola, and Cricket appear at the end and have a little reunion along with Josh and Meredith. It was one of my favorite scenes and it made me cry. Actually, whenever I think about it I start to tear up. Like literally right now as I'm typing.

My other favorite scene happened after the little reunion, but I don't want to spoil anything, but if you read it you'll know what I'm talking about :)

When I finished, I was happy because the ending was beautiful, but sad because I didn't want it to be over. I saw a video by a booktuber that said that reading Stephanie Perkins books is like being on this high that you never want to come off of. Book heroine I think is what she called it. And oh boy is that true! I wasn't prepared for the feeling to go away yet so after I finished Isla, I re-read Anna and the French Kiss. :) 

I think the ending was done perfectly and it was so cute. Out of all three of the books, Anna and the French Kiss is still my favorite {I still can't stop myself from gushing over Anna and Etienne}!

Stephanie Perkins has easily become one of my favorite authors and I can always count on her books to help me when I'm feeling sad or to get me out of a reading slump. :)

Favorite Quote:

     

   …take a risk.

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance

Pages: 338

Rating: 3.4/5 

Goodreads summary: click here

My thoughts: I'm kinda conflicted with my thoughts on this one because a lot of people like this book and gave it like a 5 star rating on Goodreads and said this was their favorite out of all three of the companion novels. And here I am liking it, but not really liking it...
I was so excited to start this book after reading Anna and the French Kiss and I hate to say it, but I was kind of disappointed. It did make me wish I had a cute boy living next door who I could talk to, but I was expecting the same giddy feeling that I had while reading "Anna" and it didn't really happen.
It might have been because I didn't relate and connect to Lola the way I did with Anna. I did like that Lola had enough confidence in herself to wear outfits that are very over the top with sparkles and glitter and colors that pop in your face. I wish I could have that bit of Lola in me where she doesn't care how people will judge her costumes.

Now some dislikes: I was a little mad at Lola for being with her boyfriend, Max. He was a jerk, a creeper, and I did not like him at all. He seemed like one of those guys who only want to get one thing from a girl.
Now to talk about Cricket. Guys, I just felt really bad for Cricket. He was kind of like a sad little dog following Lola around and kept getting rejected. And while I did like him, I didn't find him swoon worthy or find myself gushing over him. But, that's just me.
I won't go into much detail, but there's this part at the end with Calliope and her costume that just doesn't make sense to me. It just didn't feel like it fit into the story and it really bugged me.

Something I like about Stephanie Perkins stories are the family issues. I really liked the issue in this story and how it tied up in the end.  

Now to my favorite parts of this book...

...Where her ridiculously attractive, English-accented boyfriend is perched.

                He’s the other thing I like about Anna. Wherever she goes, he follows. 

Yup, it's Anna and Etienne!! They make a few appearances in this book and it was the best thing ever. I was so happy to see how they were living their lives after graduating high school from SOAP.
They weren't just my favorite scenes because Etienne was in them {although that was a plus ;)}, but because they truly cared for Lola and gave her some pretty good advice, and they were good examples for her. I love this snippet of advice that Etienne gives Lola:

“How do you and Anna make it work? You make it seem easy.”

“Being with Anna [is] easy. She's the one.” 

As if there's another reason to love Etienne more and then he says something like that^^...I can't even!

Even though I didn't love this book, the ending was nice and cute and it did make me happy...and super excited for Isla and the Happily Ever After.

Favorite Quotes:

“It’s easy to talk about things we hate, but sometimes it’s hard to explain exactly why we like something.”

AND

“I know you aren't perfect. But it’s a persons imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

December Reads

I've been dreading December for a while now just because I will be starting college in January. And that means that there will be very little time for reading. But, I'm going to be packing up on lots of reading this month...hopefully! 

  

To get into the holiday mood, I will be reading My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins. I've been so excited to get my hands on this book! I love the cover plus, there's all those amazing authors! I also really want to read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, but if I can only get my hands on it.

Isla and the Happily Ever After:  I love Stephanie Perkins books because they're cutesy, romancey, and have funny dialogue. I'm still waiting for this book to come in the mail, but as soon as it arrives I will start it! 

   

I really want to finish The Mortal Instruments series and I only need the last three books so I think it will happen :) 

I will also be finishing off The Infernal Devices trilogy!! This trilogy has easily become my favorite trilogy of all time. 

  

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic fiction, Romance

pages:372

Rating: 5/5 

Goodreads summary: click here

My thoughts: *There is some slight swearing in this book; not too much though.  I usually ignore it, but if you don't like books like that then I wouldn't recommend this book for you.*

Anna's dad ships her to an American boarding school in Paris. This seems kind of nice right, but don't be fooled, Anna does not want to go to Paris to spend her senior year at this school, leave her best friend, leave a good looking crush on the verge of becoming something more, and she doesn't want to leave her home. While in Paris, she does manage to make a group of friends. Anna becomes best friends with the beautiful Etienne St.Clair, who all the girls at school love including one of Anna's close friends and quite possibly Anna herself. Oh yeah, and he also has a serious girlfriend which means he's off limits, well at least he should be. To top it all off, there's a couple of mean girls and a jerk of a guy...drama much? 

The drama was fascinating because it just made the characters appear so real because they are in fact still in high school and this type of stuff does tend to happen in high school. Don't worry though it's not all drama, drama, drama. It's also hilarious. I can't get over how funny the dialogue is. Here's a little snippet:

...A lot of people speak gangsta, though,” I add jokingly.

“Fo’ shiz,” he replies in his polite English accent.

I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I’m laughing, too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. “Fo’. Shiz.” He repeats it solemnly.

If that didn't get a little smile or a giggle out of you then I don't know what will. Oh, and Etienne does have an English accent {swooning} which you can totally hear when he says something and I love that Stephanie Perkins added some British slang into this book. It kind of made me think back to Harry Potter.

I loved reading Anna's voice. I loved her sarcastic attitude and her personality, it just fit so well. I love this line of hers.

 Girl Scouts didn't teach me what to do with emotionally unstable drunk boys.

By some standards, Etienne may not be your cup of tea. I didn't think I'd be into the type of guy who has a British accent, has crooked teeth, is slightly short, and absolutely beautiful. But now, Etiene has made it to my top 5 book boyfriend list.
There's something about this book that just makes me want to fall in love and after finishing this book, I found myself in desperate need for  Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After so I ordered them online and I'm desperately waiting for them to arrive.

This book made me squeal and jump in the air and I'm sure it will be the same for you and it will leave you feeling all giddy inside.

It was a fun ride with these two and the ending is just the icing on the cake.

Favorite Quote: 

Because I was right. For the two of us, home isn’t a place.

           It’s a person.

         And we’re finally home.

Currently Reading: Clockwork Angel

Hey!!! I'm am very happy to say that I have finally started The Infernal Devices trilogy!! 

I am currently reading Clockwork Angel and I'm so excited because I've heard nothing but great things from this trilogy plus there's Will Herondale ;) 

I think this illustrates my excitement about this trilogy :)

Review: Champion {***SPOILERS***}

                                         
Champion by Marie Lu
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 369
Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads summary: He is a Legend.

She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. 

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. 

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

My thoughts:I find that most people like Legend or Prodigy more than Champion, but for me, Champion was the best in this trilogy. It was more thrilling, more action packed, and had more of an emotional roller coaster type feeling. So, to sum up my feelings for the series: I liked Legend, I enjoyed Prodigy, but I loved Champion. I probably would have liked the other two books more if it wasn't for the book hangover I had. 

Let me just take a second to talk about Marie Lu's writing style. It's basically amazing, especially her descriptive ability. She describes like everything with specific detail which makes it easier for the reader to picture it in their head more perfectly and realistically. I noticed that in June's sections, the time and setting is written. I love that because it makes things more clear for me and easier for me to picture how the scene looks in my head.Another thing, there is so much action and suspense in this book, but I never felt rushed while reading. The writing just flows nice and smooth.

Usually, when I'm reading a book from dual POV I find myself caring more for one character than the other and being intersted in one side than the other {if that makes sense}.This never happened with Champion though. I was equally interested in both Day and June's point of views and never got tired of them. I think Day and June are amazing characters and I love them sooo much!

So, if you forgot where we left off,in Prodigy,we find out Day has a tumor and therefore is going to die, which drives him to push away June, who decides to take Andens offer of Princeps-Elect. Now, 8 months later, Day is basically famous and taking care of his brother Eden while June is working as a Princeps-Elect for  the young and handsome Elector of the Republic, Anden.


Now lets talk about the characters...they're amazing. I've never felt so involved in characters' lives than in this trilogy. And not just Day and June's lives, but also the other characters.
There's Eden, who I love because he is so brave for a small age and he cares for the Republic even after being experimented on by them. Then we have Tess. I love Tess. She did get a little on the jealous side in Prodigy, but I get where she was coming from and I don't blame her. And her back story made me very, very sad. Oh, and there's Pascao, I like him just cause he brings some humor.Then there's Anden. I really like Anden and I couldn't find it in me to dislike him. He's handsome, polite, poised, not like his father, etc. He doesn't have anyone else in his life ever since his father died and it broke my heart that he really can't express his grief. I know his father was evil, but this quote made me happy. 

"My son," the late Elector answers without hesitation. His expression never softens, but the edges of his voice shift slightly. "My son will always be everything to me, because someday he will be everything to the Republic." He pauses for a second to smile at the reporter..."My son...reminds me." 

Then we have Thomas. I couldn't help myself from sympathizing for him. It was heartbreaking to hear the details of how he killed Metias even though he was in love with him and I just felt bad for him. Then when he died, I just felt kind of sad. 

One of my favorite parts of this book was when June and Anden made the trip to Antartica. That place sounded so interesting and fascinating because their technology is really advanced.I mean the people have levels and get points for things like watering a plant. It kind of reminds me of a video game, but I'm not sure I would want to live there...just visit like June did. 

 Now, the ending. I cried. I never cry in books...like ever. I just get teary eyed, but the tears never leave the eyes. In this one it was tears running down the cheeks crying. 
Most people don't like the ending. For me, it wasn't horrible, but I think there needed to be a couple more pages added in order for me to have more closure. 

Review: Alienated

                                      

Alienated by Melissa Landers
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Pages: 344
Rating: 4 stars
Goodreads Summary: Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. 

My thoughts: First of all, I love the cover. I think it depicts the worlds so accurately and it's just so beautiful! 

So going into this book,  I didn't know too much about it. Honestly, the only reason I decided to read it was because it had aliens in it and I was in a post-alien depression {which I'm still kind of in} after finishing the Lux series .  So, if you’ve ever read Obsidian from the Lux series, I thought this book was going to be similar to that in terms of Cara and Aelyx hating each other like Daemon and Katy. But, it wasn’t like that...

At the beginning, we think the purpose of the exchange program is for humans and L’eihrs to have a better understanding of each other. We later find out that the real purpose of the exchange program is to see if the two races can work together in order to form a colony where humans and L’eihrs coexist. So, in the beginning, Aelyx and the other exchange students don’t want the alliance to work, so they come up with a plan to sabotage the alliance and then stuff happens.

One of my favorite things about this book was the character development. I love when I'm reading a book and I can actually see that character changing. By the end, both Cara and Aelyx will do anything to protect each other, which brings me to my next point...

I liked Cara’s and Aelyx’s slow sizzling romance and how they interacted with each other. They did get to know each other and stuff, which was nice, but it seemed way too fast fall in love. It did get quite cheesy, but hey sometimes I need cheesy quotes in my life.

This book has some pretty hilarious dialogue that caused me to chuckle a couple times and it was most likely something that Aelyx said, like this:

But Eric was probably most attracted to your waist-to-hip ratio...Hips of that width are likely to pass live offspring without complications.

I’m excited to see what comes of this series and to learn more about the planet of L’eihr, I'm sure we'll get more of that in the next book, Invaded {set to release on Feb.3, 2015}. I was a bit worried for a love triangle in the next book, but Melissa Landers says that there will be no love triangle, so that makes me very happy.

Review: Fangirl

                                          
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 433
Rating: 4 stars
Goodreads summary: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My thoughts: Oh, Fangirl, how I adore thee. I don’t know how to put my love for this book into words because it was so touching for me. I don’t read much contemporary novels, I’ve actually so far only read like two. But reading this book made me realize I need to be reading some more contemporary’s especially some by Rainbow Rowell. Trust me, I already added Attachments and Eleanor & Park to my TBR list.

Everybody, this is Cather: 

“In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can’t google.) Like, where does the line start? What food can you take? Where are you supposed to stand then where are you supposed to sit? Where do you go when you’re done, why is everyone watching you? …Bah.”

“I’m scared of everything. And I’m crazy. Like maybe you think I’m a little crazy, but I only ever let people see the tip of my crazy iceberg. Underneath this veneer of slightly crazy and socially inept, I’m a complete disaster.”

“I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more that I care about someone, the more sure I am they’re going to get tired of me and take off.”

She sounds so...real. Don't you think? I have never related so much to a main character in a book than I did with Cath. She was just fantastic. It was so weirdly cool how I found a lot of myself in Cath.

I loved watching her grow throughout this book and see how she formed relationships with new people. Going into this book, I thought she was going to lose interest of her fan fiction world and delve into her college life, but she didn't. It was nice to see her still have her friends, fall in love, find herself, and still be in her world of Simon Snow.

Oh, and that scene when they’re at the release of the last Simon Snow book, and Cath and Wren are holding each other and crying...

Cath freed an arm to wrap around her sister. “I can’t believe it’s really over,” she whispered.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Cath,"  Wren laughed hoarsely. "It's never over...It's Simon."

 ...yeah that sure made my eyes tear up a bit.

And we can't forget about Levi, who is funny, has great hair, is always smiling, and knows the right things to say:

“Cather, Wren…” Levi looked like he’d just now discovered sliced bread. “Catherine.”

 “You’re not the ugly one…You’re just the Clark Kent.”

I found myself not really caring to read the fan fiction. I did read some of it, but for the most part I just kind of skimmed them or didn't even bother reading them, the same goes for the Simon Snow excerpts. They were a nice touch, but just not for me.

Something that confused me was the mentioning of Harry Potter because I thought Simon Snow was the Harry Potter of that world and when it got mentioned, I was just thrown off a bit.
I would have given this book a 5 star rating, but the profanity did bother me a bit. There's not a lot of it, but when there is, it seems pointless {at least to me}. 

This story had me laughing from the start {like literally the first two pages}, it had me feeling anxious, it had me mad at a few points, it had me all giddy, and by the end it just had me happy.
I definitely recommend this book!
Favorite Quote:

“Ready or not, here I come. Here I come, ready or not.”

Review: These Broken Stars

              

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 374
Rating: 4.5 stars
Goodreads summary: It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the wonderful cover. Okay, now that that's done...

These Broken Stars is the first novel in the Starbound trilogy. This story is told from dual point of view from the two characters- Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen. 

Lilic is a girl who comes from a very rich and powerful family while Tarver is a famous, but poor war hero and they meet on board the Icarus. When the Icarus suddenly crashes into the nearest planet, with the possibilities of no survivors except for Lilac and Tarver, they need to find a way to send a help signal in order to be rescued. Sending a help signal is not as easy as it sounds, though. Lilac and Tarver need to find a way to get along and survive through an unknown and mysterious planet .

I was easily fascinated by this universe and weird planet and found myself wanting to know more and more about it. The "whispers" got me a little spooked out, the twists made me tear up a bit and made me go on a rant through my house, and the ending just left me feeling happy. 

I think Lilac is such a strong female character and I enjoyed seeing her go through some major character development as the story progressed. I liked how she made it a priority for her to at least get Tarver back home to his family, it really shows how selfless she is. I also liked discovering the beautiful nature on this new planet through Lilac's eyes, since she's used to living in a controlled environment where everything is fake. 

On another note, the romance between these two is just perfect. They're both attracted to each other, but their love for each other occurs when they both open up who they truly are. It did get a teeny bit cheesy for me after they had sex, but it was bearable. And who can forget Tarver's way with words like: 

“There are purple half circles underneath her eyes, and she’s sweaty, beat up, and utterly exhausted.

      She’s never looked so beautiful.” 

AND

“She’s not looking at me and seeing a guy brought up on the wrong type of planet. She’s not seeing a soldier, or a war hero, or an uncultured lout who doesn’t understand how hard this is for her, or an idiot who knows nothing about the right kind of anything.

      She just sees me.” 

and who can forget this one

“Her smile is like the sun coming out.” 

Other things I liked were the scenes in between each chapter where Tarver was being interrogated. It added a little humor and mystery to the story. 

{This isn't much of a big deal, but I was bothered by the font of the book. Just thought I would throw that out there, haha.}

I can't wait for the next book, This Shattered World, which is set to release December 23, 2014. So go put it on your Christmas list, people! 

It was brought to my attention that the next book brings us the story of new characters, which makes me a little sad just because I want more of Lilac and Tarver, but I have also heard they still make an appearance. There is also a short story that connects these two novels and if you're interested in that it's called, This Night So Dark. 

Happy Reading! :)

 
 

                                                            

Hey!

Book reviews coming soon...check back soon!!! 

:)