en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 19:16:22 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadingNotesCollectionPlaceholder4332094 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 19:16:22 -0700 Review321709771 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:51:27 -0700 /review/show/321709771 Christina gave 3 stars to Wraith (Wraith, #1) by Angel Lawson
bookshelves: paranormal-supernatural, has-a-companion-book-duologies, own-on-nook-kindle, 2012-publication
Rounded up from a 3.5 rating because I really loved Connor and Evan.

This review was also posted here at The Book Hookup:

Let me start this review by saying that despite what the description stated, when I picked up Wraith, I thought I was reading a ghost story; i.e., a book that would spook me out of my mind and have me cuddling up next to my husband after I was finished. The story that I actually got was something completely unexpected and more heartbreaking than scary.

The Low-Down: Jane is considered a social outcast by her peers, mainly because of a very public fight between her and her best friend, Evan. Normally fighting between besties wouldn’t label you a social pariah, but Jane is the only person who can see and hear him. You see, Evan is dead, a ghost trapped between this world and the next, and for some unknown reason, there’s a strong connection that wires him directly to Jane.

After many months of blending in and shying away from the spotlight, Jane has managed a certain level of anonymity amongst her classmates and has kept her ghostly interactions to a minimum in front of witnesses. However, that all quickly changes when the rumored bad boy returns to school. More shocking than his good looks is the fact that he tells Jane he can see Evan, too, and that, in his experience, ghosts usually want more than just companionship. If this is true, then everything Jane thought she knew is about to turn upside down. Could this juvenile delinquent, Connor, really be trying to help her out or is just using her social vulnerability to get underneath her skin?

Author Ego-booster: The author definitely captures the spirit and temperament of the everyday teenager. Often times in young adult, I find that characters come off as snotty, pretentious adults trapped in a child’s body with teenage hormones thrown in for good measure. Each of Lawson’s characters had a voice unique to them and characteristics and flaws that made them believable. The best way to make me fall in love with your book is to make me fall in love with your characters, and to to do that, they have to feel real.

I really adored Connor and Evan. Connor was a little rough around the edges in the beginning, a bit confrontational. Slowly though, he showed more depth and vulnerability, and his annoyingly persistent efforts to get Jane to befriend him made me quite fond of his charm. As far as Evan goes, you couldn’t have asked for a better friend, even if he is invisible. He was loyal and protective, made Jane laugh and smile when she thought it was impossible, and filled the lonely void in her life. I’d be lying if I didn’t say these two influenced my shelf rating just a tiny amount.

Drawbacks: Yes, Jane has a distinct voice, but it was often her anger toward Connor that I found a little frustrating. At times her hostility seemed a tad irrational, but in the end I was able to write it off because of Jane’s trust issues.

Another small (Seriously, it’s tiny.) hangup that I had with Wraith was a few noticeable editing issues. There was the occasional missing and/or misplaced word and a few punctuation errors, but even major publications with serious-business editors have these, so it wasn’t anything I couldn’t look over.

Special Notes: ***Possibly Spoilerish*** I went into this story mostly blind, not having read any reviews and without any expectations to where this book was headed. In the description, Lawson alludes to Evan’s tragic death and the danger his family remains in, but I guess I’m just not very good at putting two and two together. So, if you have trouble dealing with domestic violence, be warned that there is some in this story. It’s nothing overly graphic, but having been subjected to that type of violence in my childhood, it struck a very personal note for me.

Verdict: Angel Lawson’s debut novel was a good, quick read. She wrote a refreshing take on ghosts and the people they “haunt.� By the end, which was left relatively open, I still wanted more time with Jane and Connor. If she chooses to write more from them, the chances are high that I’ll want to read it. ]]> Review456138491 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:50:09 -0700 /review/show/456138491 Christina gave 3 stars to FanGirl! (Paperback) by Angel Lawson
My original review for this title can be found on The Book Hookup.

**NOTE:** I received an e-ARC of this title from the author, but that did not influence her review in any way.

Ruby Miller is your average girl. She has a family that supports her, a best friend who shares her interests- which just happens to be focused around a comic series with zombies, and even an ex-boyfriend that turns out to be a jerk and cheated on her with the queen b*tch of the performing art high school they all attend. With graduation fast approaching, Ruby anticipates a summer filled with her babysitting job, preparing for college, and geeking out with her best friend, Iris, on their website dedicated to their beloved Zocopalyse. But before the school year comes to a close, Iris and Ruby gain “celebrity� school status when the fan-made video they shot goes viral, quickly gaining them notoriety among the other fangirls/fanboys and even gets them noticed by Zocopalypse.com itself. Fast-forward past graduation� where Zocopalypse creator and former East Lake School of Art & Design attendee, Gabe Foster, speaks, thus leading to major fangirl moments� and you find the two besties at FantasyCon, every nerd’s (I use that term lovingly.) paradise. What follows next is a chain of events that eventually lands Ruby portraying Alexandra, the female lead in the new miniseries based on the comics. Living the life of every fangirl’s dream, Ruby steps out of the shadows and into the limelight, where she plays opposite Hollywood’s It Guy. Though with crazy shooting hours, paparazzi, and fake romances, she soon finds out that living the life of an actress is not at all what she had expected it to be.

Angel Lawson wrote a book that centers around a protagonist that every girl can relate to on some level. At some point in our life, we have all had that celebrity crush, fangirled in private or in person, and felt the uncertainty of where life goes once you leave the comfort of that high school bubble and enter “the real world.� Ruby, as well as the other characters, all appeared in print as authentic people with personality quirks and flaws, and I was able to quickly connect with the realness in all of them. Interlaced with humor and snark, I laughed out loud more times than I can count and found that pages moved far too quick with the easy dialogue and steady pace. With peeks behind the scenes of Hollywood and the dirtier side to publicity on full display, the story pulls you along on tale of Ruby going from being the girl that just wants to please people to standing up for herself and her credibility as an actress.

I also have to comment on the formatting of the story. I can’t imagine the extra work that went into adding the comic-style images at the beginning of every chapter, the blog comments, tweets, cliffnotes, text messages, and the comic excerpts that appeared throughout the story. It was something different that added a fun dynamic to the story and made me feel like I was a part of the experience, too. (I will say in my copy, the cliffnotes appeared several pages later and I had a hard time remembering what it pertained to in the first place. However, this issue could have been resolved in the finished product.)

� In short, this book was the perfect light read at the perfect time. It made me giggle and had my inner fangirl bouncy-clapping all over the place. If you’re ever in-between books and need something quick and humorous, this is a good read. ]]> Review7521618334 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 15:34:38 -0700 /review/show/7521618334 Christina gave 4 stars to Shadow Heart (Cursed Legacies, #2) by Morgan B. Lee
Actual rating of 4.5 stars! ]]> ReadStatus9359854166 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 15:34:14 -0700 /review/show/7524003731 Christina is currently reading Twisted Soul by Morgan B. Lee
]]> Review7521618334 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 15:33:30 -0700 /review/show/7521618334 Christina gave 4 stars to Shadow Heart (Cursed Legacies, #2) by Morgan B. Lee
Actual rating of 4.5 stars! ]]> Review7514488636 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 04:46:26 -0700 /review/show/7514488636 Christina gave 4 stars to Blood Oath (Cursed Legacies, #1) by Morgan B. Lee
Actual rating of 4.5 stars! ]]> Review7471377008 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 04:45:31 -0700 /review/show/7471377008 Christina gave 4 stars to A Seduction Of Death (Umbra Hunters, #4) by B.M. Clemton
]]> Review7514488636 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 02:56:20 -0700 /review/show/7514488636 Christina gave 4 stars to Blood Oath (Cursed Legacies, #1) by Morgan B. Lee
Actual rating of 4.5 stars! ]]> Review7471377008 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 01:06:47 -0700 /review/show/7471377008 Christina gave 4 stars to A Seduction Of Death (Umbra Hunters, #4) by B.M. Clemton
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