Thursday, December 25, 2014

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)

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.


Monday, December 15, 2014

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)

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.”

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

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! 


My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories  Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

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 (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)

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! 


City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4) City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)  City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6)

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. 
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)  Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3)