Sometimes I sit down and I want a fluffy contemporary novel that's easy to read and will surely make me feel good, even if it's a little bit ridiculouSometimes I sit down and I want a fluffy contemporary novel that's easy to read and will surely make me feel good, even if it's a little bit ridiculous and far from reality. Sometimes they make me so super duper happy and become some of my all time favorite books!! And sometimes...they don't.
Anna and the French Kiss opens up with high school senior Anna being forced to move to Paris, France and attend the American School of Paris. This is a complete TRAGEDY because despite getting the once in a lifetime experience to live in a foreign country (in arguably the most romantic city in the world, might I add), meet new people, gain insight on a new culture, not have to work, and STILL get an education in English with Americans, Anna has to move away from her BFF and her crush and at her work.
So once poor little Anna moves to SOAP (School of American in Paris) we get to see her personality, which comes out in her interactions with others. First of all, her voice comes across as super immature; she reads like a 12 year old (and she's supposed to be 17?). She is completely boy crazy, self absorbed and just...immature. This book sounded like a middle schooler's diary.
But don't worry, Anna isn't the only annoying person we find in SOAP! With only 100 total students, SOAP still manages to have every single high school cliche in the book. We have Amanda, the mean girl who speaks with italics in all her sentences! As far as I can tell, her only personality trait is being a b*tch (and the italics thing). She's not really an important part of the story though--she doesn't make Anna's life miserable or anything, only shows up every now and then for our healthy dose of girl on girl hate. We also have Dave, who seemed to be filling the role of nice guy who likes MC but she doesn't like him so she lowkey makes fun of him, but then he turns into slut shaming as*hole, so don't worry about the joking.
We also have Anna's whole gang of friends: Meredith, who is...kind of useless? Her role is lusting after St. Clair. Btw, he's hot. More on that later. Then there's the obligatory couple who are there so...so...so...? Unfortunately, I don't remember their names, or anything else about them. And...
And then we have Hottie McHottface, Ettienne St. Clair. First of all, his name MAJORLY annoyed me because 1) I don't even know how to pronounce it so I kind of read it like ettyyyriaojefklsa st claireeeeeish and 2) sometimes he was referred to as Etienne and sometimes as St. Clair and I was just like...WHICH IS IT???? His qualities include: being hot, having a British accent, being bilingual, being hot, being the crush of 99% of the SOAP girls, having daddy issues, being hot, and BEING A CHEATING AS*HOLE BOYFRIEND.
Now I'll admit. I do like fluffy contemporary romances done right--that's exactly what I was looking for when I read this one. So despite him seeming a little flat, I did appreciate his hotness (before we were beat on the head with it), Britishness, and sweetness. However, I canNOT appreciate how he treated his GIRLFRIEND, Ellie.
First of all, I'd like to point out that when we are introduced to Ellie, Anna pretty much hates her on the sole principal of her dating St. Clair. Like oh boy, she likes his guy, so his girlfriend has to be a b*tch. Luckily for Anna, she's not wrong! Ellie is a elitist, friend abandoning slut. She's everything that Anna isn't, which makes you wonder why exactly St. Clair was dating her in the first place. But anyways.
So St. Clair is emotionally and physically cheating on Ellie the whole year. Yes, he does admit this. He really likes Anna (for some reason that is beyond me), (view spoiler)[sleeps in the same bed as her, and makes out with her (hide spoiler)] while still dating Ellie. This alone is enough to make me hate St. Clair.
But what was EVEN WORSE was Anna's reaction to it!! Anna feels she has the right to be completely outraged that St. Clair goes to see Ellie when he and Ellie are dating!!! Never mind that he's emotionally cheating on Ellie, ANNA is the one who feels angry and cheated on even though she's the other girl and ELLIE isn't!!! (But I suppose it's because Ellie is a slut and a b*tch, right?)
As if that isn't enough, Anna has the nerve to be outraged at her best friend back home for dating her crush? She's basically dating a guy in a long term RELATIONSHIP but it's not okay for her friend to date the guy she ISN'T DATING and has just a CRUSH on?
This is middle school status drama right here. It does fit though, since Anna reads like a middle schooler.
At the end of the day though, there were a couple of reasons I gave this 1.5 instead of 1 star. Namely: Paris. I love the descriptions of the city! And the food--food! Also, I do like how Anna is an aspiring film critic, and she runs a movie review blog similar to how I run a book review blog! And there definitely were moments of cuteness in this book :)
SOME THOUGHTS I HAD REREADING IN COLLEGE -Cath is actually pretty okay with Levi in her room I would be very mad if my roommate's boyfriend was1/11/20
SOME THOUGHTS I HAD REREADING IN COLLEGE -Cath is actually pretty okay with Levi in her room I would be very mad if my roommate's boyfriend was always in the room hello I need my own space and alone time -I didn't understand the first time I read this why it was scary for Cath to walk alone from the library to her dorm at night... I do now -How did Cath seriously get into a junior level class just because she asked? That's crazy why isn't she required to take annoying intro level freshman classes like the rest of us plebs? At college everyone is smart you go from being number one in hs to just average in college there's no way she's that special and smart -I can't believe she actually thought turning in fan fiction was original and okay. -Professor Piper is actually so nice in letting Cath have the whole spring semester to finish her fall semester class? They don't care about us that much they're just like okay you failed too bad there's thousands of other students who will take your place this is college not high school we don't baby you anymore and hold your hand. -Reagan is actually such a nice and cool roommate in that she looks out for Cath and makes them go to the dining hall together? My roommates are nice but they don't care that I'm a friendless nobody who eats alone at the dining hall they have their own lives to worry about. -How did Cath and Reagan decide to room together again so late in the year? Like the very end of the book end of the year. They're making us do next year's housing in January. -Cath's not really having friends... hits hard.
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This book was just the right amount of fluff and good feelings that I wanted, and easily brightened my day! Identical twins Cather and Wren (Catherine xD) are entering their freshman year of college, prompting their lives to change and the two sisters to grow apart. Instead of having the safety of her sister, Cath now has to navigate a new situation outside of her comfort zone, dealing with a new roommate, professor, and all the challenges that come with growing up.
Cath is definitely one of the most relatable characters I've ever read. First of all, she's a total nerd who would much rather live in a bookish world than our own, who loves reading and writing (especially fanfiction!!), and is ready to drag everyone around her into her geekishness too! She also has social anxiety, and I related with her so much. She's awkward, prefers books to parties, never knows what to do in social situations, and is basically one of the most relatable people I'ev ever read about (and since we're all here on goodreads, I'm sure a lot of you agree too haha).
The supporting characters were just as fantastic as Cath! I loved the relationship she had with her twin sister Wren, especially seeing how they could be strained as they were such different people, but at the end of the day were always there for each other! Her roommate Reagan is such a fun character too, with an amazing personality, and I love how she's so supportive of Cath!! (And willing to take a hapless little freshman under her wing haha).
The theme of family was pretty prevalent here too, and that made me super happy! I feel like family gets glossed over a lot in YA, but along with having her sister for life, Cath also has a strong connection with her dad, and her relationship with her mom is another one of the things that Cath has to deal with to grow as a person.
The relationship Cath had was just so adorable!! I was a little nervous at first that it was going to turn out to be a love triangle, but it wasn't, and that made me just SO HAPPY! And I was thrilled that Cath and her boyfriend got together more in the middle than end of the book so we got to see them together <3
I'm not entirely sure if I would classify Fangirl as Young Adult or New Adult. Based on age alone, it would be new adult since it is set in college, with an 18 year old protagonist and major characters aged 21. However, the content definitely YA appropriate (much more than ACOTAR lol), and I think high schoolers can relate Cath's college situations to their own lives easily! I really enjoyed the unique college setting (instead of HS) too, and seeing the characters a bit more independent!
One complaint I have is that this book felt really long. It was close to 500 pages, which is like a tome for contemporary, and it felt a bit like it dragged at times. One thing that contributed to the length that was kind of annoying were the numerous excerpts from Simon Snow, Carry On, and other fanfictions. I've already read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and while I liked it enough, it felt pretty repetitive reading those excerpts. Furthermore, they didn't really relate to Fangirl, and can be easily skipped (which I did sometimes...or skimmed), especially since we know it's basically a rip of of Harry x Malfoy. I really loved the fangirlish moments and how devoted Cath was to her fandom, but these just felt unnecessary!
Overall, I really loved Fangirl and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary, likes books, or is a fan of ANYTHING really! The ending (the whole book, really), made me just SO HAPPY!
I have no idea how many times I've read this. Probably a dozen or more. Never gets old <3 <3I have no idea how many times I've read this. Probably a dozen or more. Never gets old <3 <3...more
It says read two times because I've only just joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and didn't track all the times I read it before. More like read 1000000000 times. (OkayIt says read two times because I've only just joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and didn't track all the times I read it before. More like read 1000000000 times. (Okay probably not quite that many, but close).
Tbh, I don't think I need to say anything about how incredibly amazing and perfect this book is. Don't we all know? There were so many things that I forgot about since last reading, and so many things the movies left out (been re watching all those for the 100000th time too haha) and this just made me so happy and feel like a kid again. HP will always be my love <3
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Favorite Quotes and Moments -Dumbledore has a a scar above his left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. Ahahaha the most prominent scar I have is this ovular blob from burning myself taking cookies out of the oven why can't I have such a useful scar. -"They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall. Want to come practice?" --Dudley "No thanks. The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it--it might be sick." --Harry -The only things untouched/not broken in Dudley's second bedroom are books. Even if he wasn't horrible to Harry and just a horrible person, this alone would be enough to make the bookish community hate him haha. -In the Leaky Cauldron: "Harry shook hands again and again--Doris Crockford kept coming back for more." Well Doris would literally be me if I met Harry, except I would probably scream in between shaking hands. -Fred and George: "Are you... he is... aren't you... Harry Potter?" "Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am." Oh him ahaha this shouldn't be so funny. -Harry to Malfoy on the train: "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." OOH BURN -THE HOGWARTS SCHOOL SONG! Why was it cut from the movies I love it. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts... "Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasly twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march." Of course they were! -First words to Harry: "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" "Asphodel is a type of lily and means ‘remembered beyond the tomb� or ‘my regrets follow you to the grave� while wormwood is often associated with regret or bitterness" Source: Pottermore Ahhhhhh I'm not crying you are :( -Harry getting Neville's Remembrall yesss you go Harry!! -"Harry groped for the doorknob--between Filch and death, he'd take Filch." Are you sure because I might take death haha. -When Malfoy tried to get Harry in trouble for having a broom and then Flitwick is like "oh yes, McGonagall told me." take THAT!! -"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." -Lee Jordan's obvious favoritism to Gryffindor over Slytheryn in the first Quidditch match. -"You haven't got a letter on yours...I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid--we know we're called Gred and Forge." -How "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" spelled backwards is "I show not your face but your hearts desire." Wow I feel so smart (not that I figured it out by myself haha). -Harry seeing his family in the mirror aww -Hagrid giving Norbert a teddy bear for the journey away and Norbert probably ripping its head off. -"Mars is bright tonight." x3 -Ron sacrificing himself in the chess game -Hermione solving Snape's potions riddle!!! Why are the potions not in the movie that's literally the reason she got 50 points. Also in the movie Hagrid says Snape is one of the teachers guarding the stone but he isn't so it literally doesn't make sense yeah I'm a little salty -Quirrell not being able to touch Harry!! -Hagrid giving the book of photos of Lily and James to Harry--I'm not crying, you are!! -"They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..."...more
One touch of Juliette is enough to torture someone, crush them, kill them. She’s always been alone in the world, isolated for her “gift.� But not anymOne touch of Juliette is enough to torture someone, crush them, kill them. She’s always been alone in the world, isolated for her “gift.� But not anymore—now she has allies who she needs more than ever in the broken world.
Unravel Me picks up right where Shatter Me left off, with Juliette in Omega Point learning to harness her gift among other gifted people—though none quite so powerful as she. She’s been broken by her life, and has to face the harsh reality that nobody is going to wait around for her to mope and cry alone. The world is changing, a rebellion is rising to give way to a war, and she has to be prepared.
There is a love triangle in this book. There’s Adam, the first boy who ever really saw and loved Juliette. He cares about her and wants to keep her safe at all costs; he’s the boy who helped bring her to Omega Point in the first place. Then there’s Warner, the cruel, ruthless leader who pushed Juliette to torture a helpless child and has shot a man without a second thought. But here, we start to get deeper insight on who he really is beneath his cruel exterior, and how his merciless father has pushed him to become himself.
We also get insight on why both Adam and Warner can touch Juliette, and the differences between them. Personally, I felt that they both had their good and bad qualities, and this book has really conflicted me on which side I am! This book was full of romance—it felt even more romancy than its predecessor, and I often felt like the greater issue of the war was pushed to the background in favor of Juliette moping about her love life. It actually felt a lot like a paranormal romance to me—only with superpowers instead of vampires!
Honestly, the reason I didn't completely love this book was Juliette herself. She felt really whiny. All she did was talk about herself and her problems, and while they were certainly numerous, the other characters were suffering just as much as she was. It felt like all she cared about was the state of her love life, and she pushed that to the front of her priorities over the safety of the entire rebellion.
Her writing style, however, did get better. This book was still written journal style like the first book, but there are far fewer cross outs, and I thought that there were fewer metaphors, making it easier to understand. Mafi’s flowery writing style didn’t bother me very much, not as much as some other people, but it was nice to not have it so over the top.
We get introduced to a lot more characters in this book than the previous. Kenji is my favorite by far. He’s playful and jesting on the surface, very full of himself and always flirting, but underneath he’s fiercely loyal to Omega Point, and always has his priorities straight. I also still love Adam’s little brother James—he’s just so cute!
In the end, I enjoyed this book and the world that Mafi has crafted. I enjoyed this book less than the previous book, mostly due to Juliette. She seems to really mature towards the ending though, so I have high hopes for her performance in the third book, Ignite Me! The ending of the book was really intense; it was probably my favorite part, and the stakes are definitely higher than they were before. I can’t wait to read the next book!
Living a world where the rich do little to help the starving poor in the dead of winter, and people live in fear of cruel faeries living right over thLiving a world where the rich do little to help the starving poor in the dead of winter, and people live in fear of cruel faeries living right over the wall in Prythian, Feyre has spent her entire life hating the fey. Naturally, she never expected to find herself living at the mercy of the aforementioned faeries in their lands.
The story opens with Feyre (Fey-ruh), a badass 19 year old who must hunt to keep her useless father and superficial sisters alive. When she sees a deer pursued by a wolf in the woods, she kills both, only to learn that the wolf was actually a faerie. As punishment, she must come to live in the Spring Court of Prythian with Tamlin, a high fey.
I absolutely loved the world building in this story. The seven different faerie courts are explained, as well as how they all fit into Prythian and the south where the mortals live. There are several different species of faeries described, and they all have unique abilities. As someone who loves faerie lore, I loved this story, and felt that Mass really did justice to traditional legends (can't touch iron, can't lie, very tricky, etc), while still adding her own unique touches to differentiate this book.
I enjoyed the supporting characters and felt that they were very well developed. First, there's Feyre's apathetic family, easy to hate in the beginning. But Mass soon shows that all is not as simple as it seems, and familial bonds run deep. Then there's Lucian, Tamlin's friend and a member of the Spring Court. He seems to resent Feyre at first, but it's clear that he is more than just a cruel faery--I loved him by the end!
The story is very heavily based on romance. There are sex scenes that definitely show ACOTAR is targeted towards older teens, but they are not too explicit. I think that given the reputation faeries have as being dark and trickery, they were not unexpected in this book and fit the overall tone. And I absolutely love Tamlin! I ship him and Feyre so hard!
I did, however, sense a love triangle forming, and I'm really annoyed by that. I don't understand why so many YA authors feel the need to include them; they usually leave me feeling unsatisfied. For that, I'm taking off .5 stars from my review.
At first, the premise felt a bit strange and contrived. Feyre kills a faerie, a trusted friend and member of the Spring Court, and as "punishment" she gets to live out her days in extreme luxury and splendor, eating off of literal gold plates with the friends of the faerie she killed? However, that is all part of the mysteriousness of the book, a signal that all is not as simple as it seems, and I was satisfied that it was explained/resolved later in the book.
Finally, I loved how ACOTAR is a Beauty and the Beast retelling! I'm a huge fan of retellings, and I loved this one! The similarities were fairly subtle, but if you're familiar with the original you should be able to catch them.
The ending was completely original and amazing! I completely did not anticipate how it was going to end, but I was very satisfied. I can't wait to read the sequel!
A strange boy comes into a child's window in the middle of the night, kidnapping the children, taking them from their parents. He keeps a ragtag band A strange boy comes into a child's window in the middle of the night, kidnapping the children, taking them from their parents. He keeps a ragtag band of little boys in the middle of a wild island, leading them to fight with grown men pirates who have real guns. He keeps a girl to be his "mother," hoping that she forgets her own mother and stays kidnapped forever. Such is the story of Peter Pan, and I'm sure I'm not the only person to have ever thought it was a little... creepy. And in the final installment in Colleen Oakes's AMAZING Wendy Darling Series, Peter is more than just a little creepy--he's a cruel, malicious villain who could take everything if Wendy can't defeat him.
I had high high hopes coming into this book, and I was not let down. The Wendy Darling series is, in my opinion, the most underrated YA series ever. It dives deep into the heart of Neverland, developing into an amazingly complex, well written, developed fantasy series and retelling.
This book, like the rest of the series, was very fast paced. Despite being less than 300 pages (even shorter than ACOFAS and apparently nothing happens in that one lol), Oakes develops a fantastic story filled with plenty of plots, reveals, romance, action and all around amazingness!
I think the characters were my favorite part of this book. The characters here were all very well rounded and fleshed out--honestly, there were so many characters that I just kept changing my opinion on because they contained so much more than I'd originally thought!
Wendy is a very strong character, who is willing to push herself to do crazy hard things--physically and mentally--to protect the people she cares about--and people of Neverland who she doesn't even know! Hook is still one of my favorite characters, and I just adore how he is so much more caring than he seems on the surface and is almost like a father figure to Wendy! I just wish that he was in this book more! To be honest, Booth was a bit more boring here than I remembered him, and maybe seemed the least interesting of the characters, but I still found myself delighted with his sweetness. Peter was an absolutely FANTASTIC villain--I hated him, I hated him SO MUCH, but yet... There are so many layers to him, especially tied in with the Shadow, and the ending absolutely tore me apart! (view spoiler)[The entire book I was so down so rooting for his death and then when it happened...I was so sad! (hide spoiler)] And hands down, my favorite character was John, who redeemed himself SO MUCH, evolving my thoughts on him and making me question everything!
The romance was maybe one of the weaker parts of this book for me since I found Booth to be a bit boring. I think this might be partially since it's been over a year since I read book one, where we last saw him. Still, I would be lying to say that I didn't swoon a bit over him! And I absolutely loved how he motivated Wendy, and the struggles she went through for him!
The plot about destroying the Shadow was insane! It was so intense and high stakes that I was terrified the whole way through! I was always kept guessing, and ended up loving the way the adventure and the end result worked out!
The ending of the book was incredible! Three books have been building to the final showdown against Peter, and it was so worth it! Oakes did a great job of writing the way fights--air fights!--worked out! And I loved how all the characters seemed to play a role into it.
I'm definitely still recovering from the bittersweet ending though. There were a lot of things that happened that I'm ultimately happy about and worked out...but that doesn't mean my heart was spared!! Overall this was an INCREDIBLE read! I think all Peter Pan retellings have been spoiled for me now because how can I ever see Peter as good again????
5 stars
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5/20/18
SO. GOOD. OMG. I'm dying that ENDING ahhh WENDY my DARLING!!!!
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