Monthly Archives: May 2017

Breaking

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Title: Burning

Author: Danielle Rollins

Series: Burning companion novel

Publication:  June 6th 2017 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Pages: 352

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Prep school gets a twist of supernatural suspense in this commercial YA thriller.

Charlotte has always been content in the shadow of her two best friends at the prestigious Underhill Preparatory Institute. Ariel is daring and mysterious. Devon is beautiful and brilliant. Although Charlotte never lived up to the standards of the school—or her demanding mother—her two best friends became the family she never had. When Ariel and Devon suddenly commit suicide within a month of each other, Charlotte refuses to accept it as a coincidence. But as the clues point to a dangerous secret about Underhill Prep, Charlotte is suddenly in over her head. There’s a reason the students of Underhill are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth…

Thoughts:

I don’t know what compelled me to request this book. I hated the first book, which isn’t a good start. I think it was the cover, or the synopsis, or maybe I just decided to give the companion novel the benefit of the doubt. Breaking, however, did not land high enough on my scale to either make me enjoy the book or save it from its predecessor’s fate. I didn’t like Breaking. I thought it was glamorizing suicide. I thought it was over-dramatic. But, most of all, I thought it lacked the umph necessary to pull itself from the muck.

This was basically my face when reading — enough said.

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A Court of Wings and Ruin (AKA: A Court of Pain and Feels)

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“Remember that you are a wolf. And you cannot be caged.”

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: ACOTAR #3

Publication: May 2nd 2017 by Bloomsbury Childrens Books

Pages: 699

Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads:

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

All the Feels:

It’s taken me almost a full month and two full rereads of A Court of Wings and Ruin before I could even fathom the idea of sitting down to write this. It’s always hard saying goodbye to a book series that you love, even though this one isn’t really goodbye to Prythian but only goodbye to Feyre and Rhys. This series, from ACOTAR and ACOMAF, has created a whole new feeling of home. The series has pulled me up, made me smile, made me rage. The ACOTAR series has been there through the ups and downs, through my younger brother’s football games when I was stuck for hours, and even through finals week. I was terrified to start reading A Court of Wings and Ruin. I had it preordered, and I was laying in bed May 1, just waiting. It was like Christmas morning when midnight hit – it took all my self restraint to save it for the morning. Reading it on my Kindle that Tuesday was like walking through the doors of a dream reality. I couldn’t believe it was real.

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#ReadADessen Campaign: The Moon and More

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Hey all you lovely folks! I’m so excited to be participating in the #ReadADessen countdown/campaign as one of many  #PRHPartner’s. Today’s post is going to be a short review of The Moon and More – one of her books I’ve never read before. In addition, the bottom of this post will contain a link to the huge giveaway going on as part of the count down. YOU CAN WIN A WHOLE SET OF SARAH DESSEN BOOKS!

“The truth was, there was no way everything could be the Best. Sometimes, when it came to events and people, it had to be okay to just be.”

Title: The Moon and More

Author: Sarah Dessen

Series: Standalone

Publication: June 4th 2013 by Viking Books for Young Readers

Pages: 435

Source: Publisher

Summary from Goodreads:

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo’s sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline’s mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he’s convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she’s going?

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One of Us is Lying

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I put my other hand in the air. “Bronwyn Rojas, I solemnly swear not to murder you today or at any point in the future. Deal?”

“You’re ridiculous,” she mutters, going even redder.

“It concerns me you’re avoiding a promise not to murder me.”

Title: One of Us is Lying

Author: Karen McManus

Series: Standalone

Publication: May 30th 2017 by Delacorte Press

Pages: 368

Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

A Listical of Thoughts:

  • New tagline: detention has never been so deadly. (No, seriously)

  • WHAT! I want to punch that teacher, I really, really do.
  • You know what they say about assuming guys, come on. Make an ass out of you and me, etc.
  • I quite like what I see about stereotypes not being stereotypes so far. Blondie is smart, Jock is not the jock at all, bad boy isn’t actually a jerk. Right on.

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Asking For It

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“They are all innocent until proven guilty. But not me. I am a liar until I am proven honest.”

Title: Asking For It

Author: Louise O’Neill

Series: Standalone

Publication: September 3rd 2015 by Quercus UK

Pages: 346

Source: Library

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma.

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t know why she’s in pain. But everyone else does.

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes.

My Thoughts:

I had a hard time reading this book, but not for the reasons you might be thinking. Yes, Asking For It is powerful and a much needed story, but it is far from the best book on the topic that I’ve ever read – actually, it is far from the best book I’ve ever read, period. I didn’t like it, not in the slightest. I support the deconstruction of rape culture within these pages, I support its stance and its message – but as a book? Not very high up there on my read list.

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