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June 28, 2014

Review: Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater - A perfect standalone

Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3.5)
Title: Sinner
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher:
 Scholastic Canada
Publication date: July 1, 2014
 

Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 368
Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Indigo

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?
I loved Sinner so much. Way way more than I thought I would. I read the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy back before I even know what YA meant. So I was pretty fuzzy about the details of that trilogy and worried I would need to read recaps before starting Sinner but I can tell you that you don't even need to read the trilogy to enjoy this book. Sinner is about Cole, the rockstar turned druggie turned wolf we meet in the previous trilogy and love to hate.. but also love to love.. pretty conflicting feelings about him to be honest. However Sinner just made him a permanent love to love for me.
Sinner is set after the trilogy ends, and Cole is now on his way to Isabel, the girl he was tangled with during the trilogy. I think those two have a very.. complex and charged love hate relationship. Cole is always on the brink of losing control, of going back to his rock stardom destructive behavior and Isabel.. Isabel has been through so much crap she's become hardened, pessimistic, and wary of people and life. Putting those two together in a room.. woof.. recipe for an explosive. I love complex characters. I love love Cole's monologues and thoughts and his narration. It always feels one second too fast, his thoughts are always in a whirlwind and keeping up with him is exhilarating. That's the best way I can define my reading experience of this book. Of course it is told from both Cole and Isabel's POVs and I also liked her chapters too. 
You're not really going to read anything negative about this book because I'm pretty much obsessed with it at the moment. Sinner is more focused on the characters and their struggles than the paranormal aspect. It pretty much reads as a contemporary except for the occasional werewolf-ism. Cole is a pretty cocky but charming guy and Isabel tries to push everyone away but she's really sweet. Those two pretty much suit each other and I loved reading about them and their relationship. What's different in Sinner is that those two already knew each other, were together, but left each other. It isn't a happily ever after ending where as soon as they get together everything is perfect. This isn't a beautiful story or romance, it is fractured and can never be perfect, but who wants perfect right? I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing, she writes better and better with each book. I can't wait for Blue Lily, Lily Blue because The Raven Boys is AMAZING and I can't wait to pick up my copy of The Scorpio Races! 

June 25, 2014

Review: Toxic Heart by Theo Lawrence

Title: Toxic Heart (Mystic City #2)
Author: Theo Lawrence
Publisher:
 RandomHouse CA
Publication date: April 8th, 2014
 
Genre(s): Young Adult (Sci-Fi/Dystopia)
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368


A city in flames. A trust betrayed. A perfect love destroyed.

Has Aria lost Hunter, her one true love?

Ever since rebellion broke out in Mystic City, pitting the ruling elite against the magic-wielding mystics, Aria has barely seen her boyfriend. Not surprising, since Hunter is the leader of the mystic uprising, and he'll do whatever it takes to win freedom for his people—even if that means using Aria.

But Aria is no one's pawn. She believes she can bring the two warring sides together, save the city, and win back the Hunter she fell in love with.

Before she can play peacemaker, though, Aria will need to find the missing heart of a dead mystic. The heart gives untold powers to whoever possesses it, but finding it means seeking out a fierce enemy whose deepest desire is for Aria to be gone—forever.
 *includes spoilers if have not read Mystic City*
Toxic Heart, the sequel to Mystic City, was such an awesome read for me. Mystic City was a book that I read last year, and I remember how I never expected it to be as good as it turned out to be. Click HERE if you would like to read my review of it. As much as I was scared to pick up Toxic Heart, scared that it would disappoint as most sequels do, I was happy with the book. Toxic Heart continues on where Mystic City left off. Aria, the main protagonist, no longer lives in the Aires with her parents, but in the depths with all of the Mystics and rebels. Now that the elite and the magic-weilding mystics are on fire, Aria has no other choice but to train herself for the war that is most likely to happen sooner or later. What also worries Aria is how she never sees her boyfriend, Hunter, now that he has taken his mothers place in ruling the rebellion. (oh oh) Which as you might already assume, definitely lead to bigger problems.
Thinking about it now, I might say that the book started off a bit slow. That was also something I noticed whilst reading Mystic City. It didn't really bother me while reading it, but looking back now, the book was definitely much more exciting in the second half. There is more action, more character interactions, and just more of everything. I really loved all of the characters in this book, except for one annoying little brat who I sometimes wanted to murder. Aria really grew throughout the book, and I liked how she made her own decisions and didn't let anyone make them for her. She also really stood up for what she believed in, no matter who disagreed. (high five for kick-butt characters!) Also, a few shocking things happen in this book, so just be prepared at all times.
Overall, this book wasn't a disappointment at all. It lived up to Mystic City, and was a beautiful sequel. The plot never gets boring, and there's always something exciting to look forward to. The characters are amazing, and so is the friendships between them. I am really looking forward to the third and final book in the trilogy. With an ending like that, I really need to find out what happens next. Fans of dystopia and sci-fi should really pick this series up. 

June 23, 2014

Mini Reviews: Landline by Rainbow Rowell and The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor

Landline

Landline by Rainbow Rowell 
Raincoast
July 8, 2014
4/5 stars
Source: Publisher (eARC)
Goodreads Amazon | B&N | Indigo

I picked up Landline very early on, maybe April? because I needed a book I knew I was going to love and I know Rainbow Rowell's writing and books always succeed in doing that. Bottom line, I loved Landline. It was very unique and totally addicting and I found the plot very fascinating. It had my brain going on overdrive trying to understand it all and I loved how it literally bent time in a why that makes you go in a loop. You'll understand me when you read the book. I thought the main protagonist, Georgie to be very interesting. I especially loved how she got to meet her now husband, Neal. It wasn't the explosive kind of love we usually get in books. It was very realistic but sweet. Fast forward to now, with two kids, a full time job, and a husband who's now a stay at home dad, the tension between them is high. Mainly because Georgie has no time for her family, it gets really bad when she has to flake on spending christmas week with them. Neal decides to go ahead with the plans and takes their two daughters to his family's home. This is when the story starts. One day Georgie's phone's battery dies and she takes her mom's home phone (after she decides to sleep over) and calls his home number. But who ends up picking up is Neal from the past. There is one thing that really bugged me and it is that Georgie wasn't able to get in touch with 'current' Neal through out the whole novel. How does that even make sense? she calls but either her daughters pick up or his mom. She tells them to ask Neal to call back, they agree.. but he never does. Also, he's always unavailable or outside when she calls. I grew really agitated and frustrated the more this happened. Another thing is how long it took for Georgie to figure out that there's something very weird with her old yellow phone. I know from the beginning this phone magic is going to happen.. why prolong it? still.. I really really enjoyed this novel. Those issues I had with it don't compare to how fantastic the writing was as well as the progression of the novel and the idea itself. While I don't love Landline as much as Eleanor & Park and even Fangirl, I still highly enjoyed it and I'm very excited to read Attachments, which is her other adult contemporary novel, her only book of hers. 

Also, check a clip of the audiobook of Landline, which is available by Macmillan Audio!   


The Things You Kiss Goodbye

The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor
Harper Collins
June 24, 2014
4/5 stars
Source: Edelweiss
Goodreads Amazon | B&N | Indigo

This book was definitely unexpected. I thought it was a light hearted read but then I was given some warning that it isn't.. still, I didn't expected it to be this heavy laden with such issues. One of these issues is physical abuse.. basically an abusive relationship. The main protagonist's family is very very strict, as in her dad doesn't allow her to even stay after school unless it is mandatory. No hanging out friends, making spontaneous plans, or even owning a phone. Then she meets a boy.. and somehow by some miracle her dad approves of him. He's sweet, shy, adorable, and just perfect. I even gave her my approval. However once summer ends.. he changes. He becomes more popular in school because of his Jock status and that's when we start seeing how much he changed.. how much crueler and a bad boyfriend cliche he's become. I felt so sorry for Bettina and didn't understand why she kept on making up excuses for the way he treats her. For God's sake, he crushes her fingers once! slams the locker door on her head.. ugh.. I was repulsed by him.. I wanted to smash HIS head agains a locker door.. but Bettina is so innocent and scared that her dad might find out and then the I told you sos would emerge and he'll become even stricter. However she finds a haven for herself at Cowboy's garage. He's much older but so sweet and thoughtful and caring. I loved him. I loved the time Bettina spent with him. However then comes the tragedy and I literally cried buckets of tears. This book really broke me. Even though I was so frustrated with it at times and I wasn't fully engaged with the writing, I forgave it all because of that twist. That heart wrenching twist that definitely got my attention. Don't expect a bow tie ending.. you'll be disappointed.. but expect a realistic ending. YA books don't sugar coat life.. and this book proves this. 


June 20, 2014

Chick Lit Review: Then and Always by Dani Atkins

Then and Always
Title: Then and Always 

Author: Dani Atkins
Publisher: Penguin Canada 
Publication date: May 20, 2014
Genre(s): Chick Lit 
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC 
Pages: 320
Rachel Wiltshire has everything she’s ever wanted: a close group of friends, a handsome boyfriend, and acceptance to the journalism program at a top-choice college. But one fateful evening, tragedy tears her world apart. Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to celebrate her best friend’s wedding. Still coping with grief, she can’t stop thinking about the bright future she almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes to find that her life has completely changed. Now she has her dream job as a writer and a stylish apartment, but the people she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together what really happened, and not even she can predict the astonishing truth.
I got into Then and Always thinking this will be a cute chick lit.. yea the synopsis hints at some sadness but I am used to chick lits being fluffy but oh boy, this is anything but fluff. There was a lot of crying.. just a heads up. Then and Always was very emotional and confusing in terms of how the book and story was told. I'll get more into the details below but overall it was a good book and the ending is the most memorable and emotional part of the book for me. 
The story begins with Rachel, along with her boyfriend and a couple of her friends going to eat dinner one last time together before they all start heading off to their first year of college and following their paths. That night, something tragic happens that Rachel can't get back from. It literally had me taking a break because of the crying. I needed to breathe in and out and learn to relax so I can get back to reading. When I do, It is forwarded a couple of years later, Rachel still suffering from the aftermath of that one tragic night, however she goes back to her hometown for the first time since that night but again, this girl is unlucky, she has an accident (i'm being vague, it isn't car related) and ends up in the hospital. But.. wait for it, in the next chapter, it is Rachel living her life as if that tragic night never happened.. and she's also going back to her hometown but something happens that, again, makes her end up in the hospital.. this is when these two parallel timelines merge.. Rachel wakes up and she's the Rachel of the world where the tragic night happens.. but she wakes up in the world where the tragic night didn't happen. Did I lose anyone? I know I lost myself halfway through this paragraph and had to consult my copy! 
So yes, book starts there, and the story continues.. I kept praying that maybe the world with the tragic night was a nightmare all along, or there are some supernatural elements in this book that allows her to choose her world, but alas, that is not it. It is much more complicated, much more heartbreaking, much more infuriating. I hate not knowing, I also found myself skimming through paragraphs because I felt there are a ton of unnecessary tiny plot lines that I couldn't care less about and the glaring plot line, the one I need the answer to is hidden from view. I liked Rachel, I especially liked her dad as well as her best friend, though I wished we got more of her. I can't say I wasn't frustrated with Rachel, especially in the end.. I was crying and just silently yelling at her for making this decision (yes i'm being secretive).. basically, pick it up if you want a unique chick lit, one that isn't all about fluff. It is short and bittersweet. I will definitely check out more books by Dani Atkins in the future. 

June 19, 2014

Juhina's Top 6 Series to Start and Finish in 2014

Last year I managed to finish around 14 series. Mind you, not all are ones I started in 2013, but still, I was able to complete all these series. This time, I am determined to start and finish five series that I never picked up because they weren't review books (I call my pre-2014 blogging years my dark years because all I did was review books, which are awesome, but still, I never read any of the books from my bookshelf and now.. I have over 200 that I haven't read). I'm actually so much better this year. I make it a point to read at least one or two books per month that aren't review books and I've been successful, partly because my requesting has dropped by at least half. 

ANYWAYS, back to the point! Six series, all have been completed or are about to finish. Of course if I end up disliking the first book then it is fair game to drop the whole series but I doubt that would happen because I've chosen those after some careful deliberation. *inhale* here we go






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June 17, 2014

Review: #Scandal by Sarah Ockler

#scandal
Title: #Scandal
Author: Sarah Ockler
Publisher:
 Simon & Schuster 
Publication date: June 17, 2014
 
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 368
Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.

By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation.

Lucy’s been battling undead masses online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.

There’s just one snag—Cole. Turns out Lucy’s not the only one who’s been harboring unrequited love...
This book was so unexpected, I loved it so much! more than I thought I would. As soon as I read the synopsis I knew this book is for me. However I haven't loved Sarah Ockler's last two books (The Book of Broken Hearts and Bittersweet) that much. I did love Twenty Boy Summer which is why I was waiting for that magic to appear again, and I'm glad I picked #Scandal up because it did finally make a reappearance. 
In #Scandal, the main protagonist, Lucy ends up going as the substitute date for Cole, her best friend's boyfriend, as a favor to her. Lucy doesnt want to because a. she'd rather be playing online and killing zombies with her virtual friends and b. she's had a crush on Cole ever since he moved to their town and feels uncomfortable doing this. Still, Lucy could never say no to her best friend and ended up going. This is when the book starts, at prom. Lucy tries to stay away from Cole but somehow Cole always sticks by her.. I thought that was absolutely adorable and totally showed me that Cole actually might like Lucy.. of course I completely condemn cheating in my books but the way this was presented (and more info you get later on in the book) had my heart softening towards the two. It's more complicated than just a kiss and initially while I thought those two obviously should end up together I was a bit peeved at the cheating aspect.. because even if it was a kiss and it was brief.. still.. cheating is a no no for me. So basically, trust me when I say that it isn't what it looks like. 
Ok now that the cryptic talk is over, I can start making sense. So next day Lucy finds out that someone uploaded all the discretions of her classmates at the after prom party, including her kiss with Cole, on her Facebook page.. lo and behold.. turns out her phone is missing. Of course being set in high school and, no offense, most high schoolers being immature, no one listened to Lucy when she said she didn't upload the photos and why the hell would she sabotage her friendship to do that? Since no one believes her and her best friend isn't talking to her anymore, she sets off trying to find out who screwed her over. 
So discussing the plot and characters, I loved all the characters. I loved Lucy, even though she is flawed, she really felt guilty about the kiss and didn't make up any excuse about it.. I also love her best friend.. she didn't turn into the mean girl and tried to ruin Lucy's life.. she was surprisingly very mature and civil about it.. my heart hurt for her. Then there's Cole.. I initially thought he would turn into a douche but he was so sweet and caring and brought up the whole issue of why should the girl always get the blame (people started slut shaming her) when he was an equal participant in the kiss. What's worse is that all the slut shaming came from the girls.. and again, Lucy's best friend brought up the topic of how would these girls feel if that was their sisters getting slut shamed and ridiculed? I just felt that on top of all the fluff, many issues of our current society regarding women and inequality were made aware of. There's also e(VIL) who are a group of high schoolers that think technology is a way the government is controlling them and shouldn't be used.. they're the ones that don't have phones.. don't use the internet, or have Facebooks.. and that believe technology is evil. I initially thought they were so weird and random.. but when I got to know them.. I just loved them.. especially when I found out that one of them is actually a hacker! like what? how does that even make sense? haha. 
As for the mystery, I personally had an initial hunch that was buried but later it turned out to be just that.. so I was surprised by who did it. But this book isn't really about the mystery.. it is more about the character growth and the friends and how different people can become friends and live harmoniously together. It is about people who make mistakes but try to make up for them.. about people that are wronged but try to forgive. It is about being honest and not making excuses for yourself or others.. it is truly about being human as well as the best person you can be. So overall I think #Scandal was a very fun and hilarious read but it also conveyed some important messages for our current society.