Book Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

May 21, 2014May 20, 20141 Comment

Genre:

Young Adult, ask Romance

Pages:

342

Part of a Series?:

Release Date:

May 6th, what is ed 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, page Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking. A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

My Review:

The first time I had ever heard about this book was just about a month ago, while attending the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Emery Lord was on panel with Stephanie Perkins and she was absolutely adorable. She made me laugh, talked about Sarah Dessen and had a really cute shirt on (don’t ask me how I remember that). She talked about her book and I immediately went home to add it to be “To Be Read” list. I kept seeing it at the bookstores, calling out my name and finally, I caved into the pressure and bought it.

And I am so incredibly glad that I did.

Emery Lord is absolutely fantastic at creating a super fun and addicting story. From the very first moment that I met Reagan, I knew that I’d want to be her best friend, even though she sounds like it would also be incredibly hard to be her best friend as well. She’s fun and full of life but also kind of wild and troublesome. Even though she’s kind of a messy character, I loved her from the very first moment that I met her and I was rooting for her the whole way, even though there were moments that I wanted to shake her so hard.

Plus, she’s best friends with a celebrity and this world of traveling in this epic tour bus and going to all these concerts where her best friend is headlining and listening to famous musicians make music…it sounds like worlds away from anything I’ve ever done and that’s another reason that I got hooked so fast. It was addicting and compelling and so easy to get through. I went through this book so fast, dreaming of living on a tour bus and watching someone I love rock out on stage every night and being the subject of a super cool song like “Open Road Summer.”

Oh, and thank you, Emery Lord, for introducing me to Matt Finch. Because, you know, I have a ridiculous weakness to musicians and what I really need in my life is yet another book boyfriend. Not. In all honesty though, Emery writes a beautiful boy character reminiscent of Dexter, Owen, Wes and all the other great boys of the Dessen novels. Any boy that can remind me of those boys is perfect in my book. Doesn’t every girl want a boy to write a song about her? Or two? Or three? ;)

All in all, I was so glad that I discovered Emery at the Festival of Books and that I convinced myself to buy the book. Its a great summer read. I can see myself reading this, curled up on a great summer day, reading about two best friends on an epic road trip, finding love and breaking hearts. Its fun and has a great love story, something that I’ve really been looking for lately. I recommend it highly and I honestly can’t wait to see what else Emery comes up with in the future!

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Ink is Thicker than Water by Amy Spalding

May 11, 2014May 8, 2014Leave a comment

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

For Kellie Brooks, decease family has always been a tough word to define. Combine her hippie mom and tattooist stepdad, clinic her adopted overachieving sister, health her younger half brother, and her tough-love dad, and average Kellie’s the one stuck in the middle, overlooked and impermanent. When Kellie’s sister finally meets her birth mother and her best friend starts hanging with a cooler crowd, the feeling only grows stronger.

But then she reconnects with Oliver, the sweet and sensitive college guy she had a near hookup with last year. Oliver is intense and attractive, and she’s sure he’s totally out of her league. But as she discovers that maybe intensity isn’t always a good thing, it’s yet another relationship she feels is spiraling out of her control.

It’ll take a new role on the school newspaper and a new job at her mom’s tattoo shop for Kellie to realize that defining herself both outside and within her family is what can finally allow her to feel permanent, just like a tattoo.

My Review:

I’m just going to say one thing to start off: I absolutely love the way Amy Spalding writes her novels. Maybe because she has a similar voice to me and I’m completely biased and all of that fun stuff. But I do. I absolutely love the way she writes. She writes casual, she tells, she doesn’t show and this is how I write. I love that it feels like I’m reading a journal from my best friend. Its wonderful.

That being said, this story was incredibly fun and awesome to read. Its a family story. I love family stories. I have five brothers and sisters and I love them all so I absolutely family stories. This definitely is that. While there is the love story between Kellie and Oliver, the story really centers on the family. I love that Amy really knew the dynamics of a family, no matter how the family is broken down. I think that’s beautiful. So much of the story felt so incredibly familiar to me. While I have never had a sibling that was adopted or found their birth mother, I definitely have had siblings pull away, discover their own path, that sort of thing, so I felt so close to Kellie. When Sara starts to pull away, and feel close to her birth mother, and Kellie starts to miss her…that hurt my heart. It felt so incredibly familiar to me.

I also felt so close to Kellie because of her differences between herself and her siblings. As much as your parents tell you again and again and again, that they love you equally, sometimes it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like a parent approves of one child more than the other. That’s the way Kellie feels with Sara and her father. Its the way I felt when I was younger and my brother got all of the attention. He was the sports star, and sports have always been SO huge in my family, and I was the geeky girl, with very little friends and my nose stuck in a book, and my fingers on the keyboard as I wrote. My brother was always the star, even though he is younger, and when he moved out and my whole family went into a frenzy, it was rough for awhile, so this part of the story felt so familiar to me.

Lastly, without spoiling the book, because I work so hard to not do that, I felt a connection with the relationship between Kellie and Oliver because it felt so real. I feel like so many relationships in books tend to be glamorized and that sort of thing but this one felt real, every bit of it and I think that’s why I enjoyed reading about it so much. It felt like a relationship that any one of us could have, and so it felt familiar and relatable and you sort of enjoy going on those roller coaster of emotions with Kellie.

In conclusion (I feel like I’m writing a really bad high school essay now…), I really love this book. I love the way Amy writes, I love that I feel like I’m curled up in bed, reading a note from my best friend and I love that she has a really good way of capturing emotions and feelings. She captures friendship and family and love so well and it all felt incredibly familiar which made for a very quick and a very fun read.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

May 8, 2014May 7, 2014Leave a comment

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

“Hi, malady I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

My Review:

I honestly am beginning to think that Rainbow Rowell can do no wrong. She amazed me with Eleanor and Park and absolutely blew my mind with Fangirl and she made me fall in love over and over and over again with Attachments.

I made a resolution this year (part of my ten bookish resolutions) that I would try to read more adult books. Well, here it goes world: an adult book. Okay, its a little bit cheating because its by an author whose YA books I adore but whatever, it totally counts.

I was really excited to read Attachments because it kind of reminded me of Meg Cabot’s Boy series (The Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, Every Boy’s Got One) because those books are written all in email, instant messaging, journals, etc. I love those books so I was happy to dive into this book.

And I LOVE IT. I love this book so much. I love the balance of characters. Beth and Jennifer are only seen through their email interactions. We get nothing else from them except for their emails, and yet, we really get to know them. You get such a good view of their characters, their personalities and their lives just from their emails and I give mad props to Rainbow for accomplishing that. That is no easy feat.

Then we get Lincoln’s point of view, which is normal third person (past? I can’t remember), and, not only do we get his life and his story, but we get our impressions of Jennifer and Beth through him as well. It is a story of three characters told through emails and the narrative of one character and it works so beautifully. Lincoln is an incredible character, real and honest, and I can’t help falling in love with him, and falling in love with Beth with him.

What I really love, and what I’m probably missing out on by reading all YA all the time, is the very real adult issues going on in this book, the sort of issues that I’m starting to go through as an adult: the pressure to get married, the pressure to have kids, the pressure to find a ‘real’ job, the pressure to move out on your own, that sort of thing. I felt like I had something in common with all the characters, and it felt so real to me. I will continue to love YA as my baby but I must admit it felt so good to read about characters closer to my age, going through the sorts of things that I am going through now. It felt very real to me.

Attachments is a beautiful story of growing up, growing up as an adult, and finding love in the strangest of places. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, and it made my heart flutter with the cute love story. You’ll definitely enjoy this book and I so highly recommend it.

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

May 7, 2014May 7, 2014Leave a comment

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads Summary:

Harper Price, and peerless Southern belle, order was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, information pills Harper’s destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can’t get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she’s charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper’s least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him–and discovers that David’s own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y’all beg for more.

My Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book except that I knew I really wanted to read it. Rachel Hawkins was both at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and WonderCon and I kept spotting the cover, and people kept reading it, and I knew I had to get my hands on it. I bought it just a few days ago, and ripped through it. I am still not sure what I expected from this book but I it wasn’t what I was handed. What I was given from this book was much more and I absolutely loved it.

Harper Price seems like one of those characters that you’re not sure you’re going to love or you’re going to hate. When I first started reading the book, I felt myself rolling my eyes and I thought, this is not going to happen. But as soon as Harper gains her Paladin powers and shoves her heel the neck of an adversary, I knew that I wanted to be her best friend.

The thing that really gets me about this novel is that it brings together the theme of a contemporary novel mixed in with the fantasy elements. Its not too heavy on each side, and its a perfect balance. We have Harper trying to balance out her boyfriend, her friends, her social life and her new life as Paladin, protecting David. It makes for an amazing, compelling and absolutely addicting story.

And its so funny! That, I think, was my favorite part of the entire novel. I love the fantasy of it, and the mythology that you learn as Harper delves into this Paladin thing but I love that Rachel Hawkins keeps the realness of the book. Its fantasy, but its approachable fantasy. Its fantasy lite, for those who want to read fantasy but get overwhelmed by the world building and that sort of thing. Harper is kicking butt and dealing with Mages and Oracles and such things like that, but she is doing it while trying to keep her boyfriend and dropping for dresses for Cotillion. Its hilarious. Harper is absolutely hilarious and she has little quips that would just make me burst out laughing. I loved that while she would be beating someone up, she would also having you smiling and laughing. It makes for a really fun book.

Plus, in the end, I ended up with a new fictional crush in David…he strangely reminds me of my boyfriend and you can never go wrong with that.

This book is a DEFINITE must-read.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

TMI Read-A-Thon: Favorite City of Bones Quotes!

April 25, 2014April 24, 2014Leave a comment

Hello everyone! I am currently hosting a TMI Read-a-Thon, cure re-reading all the books of the Mortal Instruments series in anticipation of the release of City of Heavenly Fire. You can join in by clicking this link.

Every Friday, try for the next couple weeks, I’ll be posting my favorite quotes from each Mortal Instruments Book!

As this is my first week, of course, these are all my favorite quotes from City of Bones.

Enjoy! And make sure to share yours in the comments!

Book of the Week-The Last Forever

April 10, 2014Leave a comment

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Genre:

Young Adult, view Contemporary, dosage Romance

Part of a Series?:

Age Recommendation:

13+

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which.

Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home.

Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t help but feel even more lost.

Enter Henry Lark. He understands the relationships that matter. And more importantly, he understands her. A secret stands between them, but Tessa’s willing to do anything to bring them together—because Henry may just be her one chance at forever.

My Review:

Deb Caletti is an author that I’ve been reading for quite a few years now, and eagerly anticipate each and every release of hers. This book was no different. I was also determined to finish it quickly because she will be attending the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend and I am so excited to finally meet her! It’s going to be fantastic.

The thing that always impresses me about Deb Caletti’s books is that you would think after 9 YA books (and one adult books), things would start to get repetitive. Predictable. But that isn’t actually what happens. She surprises me every single time I read a book. I read the synopsis and wondered for a moment if I was going to be able to predict the ending or if I might get bored by it.

And I wasn’t at all. Deb Caletti has a way of telling such a familiar, deep story no matter what book it is. She’s such a beautiful writer. She has the ability to write an incredibly well written novel while also making it sound like we are in the mind of a typical teenager. We go through all the feelings that Tessa is going through, while Deb paints a beautiful picture of the story, and that’s what I love about this book. It somehow manages to keep those things that we come to know from capital-L literature and makes it a young adult story with that recognizable young adult voice.

What really got me about this book is that it seems like it would be a romance story, and while there is definitely a part of that, for me, it was a story about family, and the strange ways that you lose it and find it. The way a loss can change you and how to deal with that kind of loss. I seem to be reading a lot of books about loss and grief lately and it amazes me to see the similarities and differences in which a person deals with grief and I think that’s the beauty of it. Tessa is searching for her mother in something, and she holds her mother close in a little plant named Pix that her mother has left behind for her.

The story of Pix and the fight for the plant’s survival is a huge part of why I couldn’t stop reading. Tessa is obsessed with this plant, but its gaining her friends, its opening up a relationship with her grandmother, and its giving her purpose after the loss of her mother. She is able to find her mother in that plant and both hold onto the memories of her mother while also moving on into a new chapter of her life.

The relationship between Tessa and Henry in the book is unexpected and interesting to read about and I loved watching it from beginning to end, unsure of where it would end up. They both learn so much from each other, and its unlike most relationships that we see in a YA novel and I love that. I love seeing a unique take on romance, and friendship and family.

The Last Word

You can never go wrong with a Deb Caletti book. She has 9 of them out there, and I honestly don’t think any of them are a bad place to start. The Secret Life of Prince Charming and The Nature of Jade are my two favorites but this is another winning novel from Deb Caletti. She captures a beautiful story of handling grief and moving on, and find purpose. I can’t wait to meet her this Sunday and tell her how much I loved this book!

* * * * * * * *

What A Nerd Girl Says

Nerd Life is Just So Much Better Than Regular Life

Tag: romance

Book Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

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Pages:

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Release Date:

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GoodReads Summary:

My Review:

Rating:

Book Review: Ink is Thicker than Water by Amy Spalding

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My Review:

Rating:

Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

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My Review:

Rating:

Book Review: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

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GoodReads Summary:

My Review:

Rating:

TMI Read-A-Thon: Favorite City of Bones Quotes!

Book of the Week-The Last Forever

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

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Part of a Series?:

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Plot Summary:

My Review:

The Last Word