Reviews

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Emily Read…The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Now and again we feature her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too… ‘now’ is one of those days! 🙂 

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Cover Rating: 4/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars

 

‘I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day… or wondering who did the heart breaking and why.’
Charlie is a freshman. And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

 

 

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I picked up this book for what you may think is a strange reason. I was looking at a list of banned books online and it annoyed me so much that I picked one at random to read. It happened to be this one and I must say, I’m glad! I adored this book, I really did. It exceeded my expectations. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is told entirely in letters to an unknown source. There are many speculations about who the letters are to but personally I like not knowing, it adds to the point of the book. In these letters the main character documents a year or so of his life and we get to come along for the ride. Truthfully this book had me on the edge of tears a good many times.

There are not many characters that I disliked in this book because even the annoying ones had such real personalities that it was difficult to hate. The main character, Charlie, I absolutely loved. His voice was so individual and unlike any narration I have read. At the start I thought Charlie’s childish nature was a bit strange for his age but as the book went on I got my suspicions as to why he was like that. He had two close friends though I always got the impression that Charlie was more of a tagalong than a proper friend. Patrick and Sam were his best friends. I really liked them because they were so lifelike as was his sister. The author is gifted with the ability of making believable characters.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and am considering going back to that banned books list to get more recommendations and be a bit of a rebel. I would recommend this book to everyone even if they’re just reading it because it was banned like I was originally. Charlie’s world was one that I would love to visit again but as this is a standalone I will have to make do with the one book. Although there is a film coming out this year and trust me, I will be first in line to see it.

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My favorite quotes:
“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”

“…we accept the love we think we deserve.”  

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Just Finished…Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

   I really enjoyed the first book in this series when I read it earlier this year and in many ways Dreamless delivered just as well as Starcrossed did. I do like the way Angelini uses the traditional mythology: some very famous and obvious, such as Helen and Paris, the Oracle, etc. with others less common.

Certainly, I read the book quickly and found it difficult to put down (although the chapters are quite long, so that could explain it!) But I didn’t enjoy the dynamics between the characters as much as I did in the first book – I missed Helen and Lucas’s intensity and was quite put off by how their relationship developed/dwindled in Dreamless – I understand why this was necessary for the plot, but I still missed them.

There’s lots of romantic developments for other characters, which if you’ve read Starcrossed I’m sure you can guess at – they were fine, but I wasn’t overly fussed. The baddies are good though and I thought the overall plot was interesting. Angelini’s skirting around the idea of a love triangle towards the end of the book – I hope she doesn’t opt for this ‘go to’ plot device in Book 3 as it’s been done too much recently and I’ll probably switch right off.

Overall Verdict: 4* People who liked Starcrossed will enjoy this I’m sure – doesn’t suffer too badly from ‘second book syndrome’. For a mythology YA it’s one of the better series around.

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Just Finished…In Your Dreams by Amy Martin

This book is great: from the well-rounded characters, to the interesting twist-filled, but believable plot I went for this hook, line and sinker.

Told from Zip’s (Zara ‘Zip’ McKee) point of view – a heroine with a nice combination of self-depreciation, sporting ability, brains and maturity (that doesn’t seem like a 30-year-old in a 17-year-old!) – the story unfolds in traditional YA territory of high school. But the gorgeous new guy, with pale skin thankfully doesn’t turn out to be a vampire (or anything else otherworldly), but someone who suffers with narcolepsy.

The treatment of Kieran’s condition was very interesting – I’d never really thought about how people with narcolepsy deal with various situations and seeing Zip having to work these out as their relationship develops gave an added layer of interest for me and also showed a good deal of Zip’s character and outlook on life. It was nice to read about realistic characters dealing with real world issues, that can be just as problematic as dealing with being a YA in the first place! Hormones and high school are tough enough without passing out on a regular basis :)

All the key characters: Kayla, the parents, Kieran, Zip’s team mates… are all well-drawn and as you work through some of the twists and turns I think hold up well with their behaviour and motivation. I loved the dialogue and scene-setting in this book: Zip and Kieran bounce off one another so well that you could be watching them bantering away; and Zip is similar with her mother and Kayla over time. I had a few ‘awwww’ moments in their relationship – they are very cute and believable, without being cheesy. I also found that I really wanted to know what happened next – I read the book in a couple of days which is quick for me – all credit to the author, whose style of writing is engaging, fun and balances plot/drama with regular characters extremely well.

Overall: 4.5* A great debut and I was very pleased to see that this was ‘The End of Book One’ as I reached the last page – I would certainly look out for anything Amy Martin writes in the future and definitely want to hear more from the lovely Zip!

PS – Thanks to author Amy Martin for providing me a copy of this to read / review – love it from the minute I started reading it in the hairdressers! :)

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Just finished…If I Stay (Spoilers)

(by Gayle Forman)

Review by Tony Talbot

Mia is a seventeen year old girl caught in limbo when the car carrying her and her family is involved in a fatal crash. Stuck between dead and alive, she discovers she can observe her gathering relatives, and learns that all the other members of her family have died except her.

Accepting she has a choice – live or die – Mia hesitates between the two, wondering what she has to live for now her family is dead. If she dies, she won’t have the pain of losing her family for real when she wakes.

Except…she realises her family is more than the people she lives with. Her family is also anyone who cares for her, her boyfriend, her mother’s best friends, grandparents.

But it’s her boyfriend Mia feels most torn over. If she dies, she won’t have to deal with losing him to rock stardom while she moves to New York to perform at an elite music school.

Grief over losing someone is like that…making choices as to whether you want to feel again after someone close dies. Making a choice to love someone again one day, risking yourself losing them again. It’s part of defining who you are as a person: loss and coming to terms with that loss.

I liked Mia’s family and Mia. I liked the way they weren’t dysfunctional, but they weren’t perfect either; the way they argued and bickered, and still loved each other at the end of the day. I liked the tension between Mia and her boyfriend, Adam, the knowledge that love wasn’t all roses and sunshine, and it wasn’t going to be a happy ending either (though not in the sense of Mia dying). It made them all the more human to see their frailties and their flaws.

But I never got the impression that Mia was going to die voluntarily, which robbed the book of it’s most fundamental question. She seemed far too much of a fighter to give in so easily.

And for me, the book ended when Mia’s story was just starting. When she wakes and has to deal with the overwhelming grief and the reality of never having these people in your life again. The knowledge that she has to go back into her home one day and walk through the now empty rooms, empty of the people she loved, but still full of the smell and feel of them.

I don’t envy her that walk (like most people, I’ve done it more than once) but I never got to see it through her eyes and her strength. Which is a shame for such a nicely written book on such a powerful subject.

3/5

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Stephanie Read… Entice by Amber Garza

The blurb:  Mackenzie returns home from the summer with her grandma, certain that Wesley is out of her life for good. Until the nightmares resurface, and strange things start to happen. Is Wesley back?
When the danger escalates and threatens those closest to her, Mackenzie must fight to save them. Only this time the evil is more powerful, and Mackenzie is faced with an impossible decision.

My Review:

I was so excited to pick up this book!  I just couldn’t wait to see what happened next for Kenzie, her mom, and of course Isaac!  I have to say…..  I was definitely not disappointed.
We stay with Kenzie now that she’s gone back home.   She is back in all of her old surroundings and finding out that being a new Christian is increasingly lonely and difficult…  Until she starts hanging out with Tanner, the one boy in school she always had such a crush on.  He’s also newly saved and they start going to church and hanging out together all the time.
Meanwhile, Kenzie’s mom has a new boyfriend.  He’s well dressed, polite and apparently very rich;  but Kenzie just can’t seem to shake the bad feeling she gets around him.
Things start to get crazy all around her; her mom starts sleepwalking and is that Wesley she keeps hearing and seeing?
Very climactic ending.. just what is wrong with her mom?  What about her relationship with Tanner, how does it affect her love for Isaac??

Read the book!!  🙂

I gave this book 4.5 stars as well!

To see my review of the first book, Prowl, click here.

To Enter the giveaway, see my blog post!

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Just Finished…Death by Jade Varden

So The Tower, Book 2 in Jade Varden’s Deck of Lies series left us with a real cliff-hanger, so what did the third book Death deliver?

Death is a great third addition to this series of books, after the flood of revelations and lies that came out in The Tower, which got to the point of being near overwhelming, Death has a more mellow pace – it’s like that period of disquiet (I certainly can’t call it calm) that comes after a storm…or perhaps that odd come down you feel after a major adrenaline rush and reality begins to sink in. Rain/Chloe/? our protagonist is still in the thick of it, with lies, odd family connections and dirty deeds seeping out of every brick in the fancy mansion she lives in…

Rain continues her quest for the truth – but what truth that is continues to change: her hunt for her identity led to a murder, her hunt for a murderer led her to more of her own secrets… Death delivers a good dose of reflection on the previous rollercoaster of events from Books 1 and 2, whilst continuing to throw up more surprises. I really liked the development of Rain’s character in this book – her experiences are certainly changing how she operates in the vicious world she’s found herself in. The re-appearance of one of my favourite characters was also nicely dealt with – definitely some good potential there for the last book in the series Judgement.

Deck of Lies is a fantastic YA mystery series, with plenty of twists and fans of soaps like Dallas, Days of Our Lives and Sunset Beach, will love the mad hookups and random family relationship relevations. Jade’s writing is style is vivid and concise, helping you to completely immerse yourself in her stories.

Overall Verdict: 4.5* If you’re not already into this series and enjoy a good contemporary YA read, then you’re missing out! I can’t wait for Judgement…

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Emily Read…Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars


Synopsis: Nora Grey can’t remember the past five month of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks – with no one knowing where she was or who she was with – she tried to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge mom’s creepy new boyfriend.But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers…and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

I have really enjoyed the Hush Hush series so far and I think this one was just as good as the rest. Silence is set five months after Crescendo. Nora was kidnapped and she doesn’t remember a thing. She doesn’t remember a month before she went missing either. Everyone is giving her the version of the past that they want her to believe. Then Nora meets a gorgeous ‘stranger’ who of course is not a stranger but Nora doesn’t know that. At times I got annoyed at the amount Nora didn’t remember. She didn’t know who kidnapped her – we did – she didn’t know who Jev was – we did. It just got very frustrating.

I found Nora annoying, as always. The way she act’s is just so… ugh. I don’t know how everyone puts up with her. She is even more irritating without memory. Patch wasn’t as awesome as I remember him and he had times when I was just wanting him to tell her everything but aparently he wanted to keep her in the dark ‘for her own good’. I hear those words in litrally every book I read and it annoys me every time. Why did you lie to me? For your own good. Why wont you let me go? For your own good! Ugh. It really gets on my nerves. I liked Scott a lot more than in the other book and he was the only one who would actually be honest with Nora so for that he gets a big thumbs up!

Overall the book was okay. Not one of my favorites but at the same time I did enjoy it. The pace was slower than I would have liked but it wasn’t too bad. I would recomend this book to people who have enjoyed the rest and like a good angel book. To be fair this series was my first GOOD angel book with the others failing miserably beside it. A good read.

My Favorite Quote: 
“He inclined his head at my dress. “What’s the occasion?”
“Homecoming,” I said, twirling. “Like?”
“Last I heard, Homecoming requires a date.”
“About that,” I hedged. “I’m sort of…going with Scott. We both figure a high-school dance is the last place Hank will be patrolling.”
Patch smiled, but it was tight. “I take that back. If Hank wants to shoot Scott, he has my blessing.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 Stars


Synopsis: Sookie Stackhouse likes living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and she likes working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte’s. But she is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).
The point is: the vampires saved her life. So when one of her bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges-and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for thing to turn deadly…

I am really beginning to regret buying most of the series in advance now. The first book was quite good but in this one the little things began to get to me. The fact that nearly every character in the book is sexist, racist, homophobic and not very clever is just one of them. It seems the only people who sound slightly intelligent are the vampires so technically it’s species-ist too. All the discrimination may be normal for that part of the world but I hate it. The co-worker of Sookie’s that is murdered is a black, gay man and automatically that causes people not to care all that much but then when Sookie, a blond white women is nearly killed in the previous book everyone is all stressed out. It is fluffy but at the same time very crude. All that aside the book does have a few redeeming qualities. It is fairly entertaining and quite short so is good for a quick read.

I do not like many of the characters. Sookie is so stereotypical; blond, ditsy, waitress, relies on her boyfriend for everything. She is literally a feminists nightmare. Her stubbornness may make her a little more of a strong character except from the fact every time the author lets her do something that involves standing on her own two feet she is then captured, attacked or something along those lines. It’s as if the author is saying that every time our heroine does something that her possessive boyfriend doesn’t want her to do she is punished one way or another. Speaking of her possessive boyfriend, Bill is a pathetic excuse for a vampire. If Sookie was a smart girl then the moment Bill referred to her as his property she would have got as far away as possible but no, she thinks he’s sweet. The only two characters I like are Sam, Sookie’s boss who is sweet and loyal but also seems a little too obsessed with Sookie, and Eric, who is a way more badass vamp than Bill and I really want to see more of. It was Eric’s scenes that kept me reading. The only funny parts of the book belonged to him and I love funny.

Overall this is an average book in an average series but has a couple of entertaining elements. I’m going to carry on the series just because I already have the other books and it would be a waste not too. I would recomend this series to someone who want’s a quick read and doesn’t mind some offensive language and downright annoying characters. This is a very popular series but at this point I am at a loss to see why.

My Favorite Quote:
“You’ve reached Fantasia, where the undead live again every night, for bar hours, press one. To make a party reservation, press two. To talk to alive person or a dead vampire, press three. Or, if you were intending to leave a humorous prank message on our answering machine, know this: we will find you.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars


Synopsis: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war.When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever…

Alright I think I can safely say that Cassandra Clare is one of the most amazing authors ever to have walked this Earth – and no I’m not exaggerating. Every one of her books is sheer perfection. Okay I didn’t love the last one all that much but I think that has more to do with the fact I was in a slump than anything else. My only problem is with the synopsis “the stakes are higher than ever”, the saying is so overused. Someone has to be original one day and just say “the stakes are as high as they’re going to get” or “the stakes are as high as in the previous book”. I suppose they’re not as catchy. City Of Fallen Angels I think was so much better than City Of Glass. It is set after the events of the war and everything is slowly going back to normalcy. Until a chain of murders begin to arouse suspicion and Jace begins to separate himself from Clary for no reason. Simon is also having problems of his own, I mean having two girlfriends can be SO annoying sometimes.

Clary isn’t a particularly exciting character but I don’t hate her. She’s normal, which I like even if she can be irritating at times. Jace, I do love him but his self-loathing complex is getting on my nerves. He doesn’t believe he deserves anything including Clary even when he can be with her. I liked Jace originally because he was funny and totally arrogant but he seems to have lost it. I started off hating Simon. He seeing two girls at the same time! But later he did grow on me and about time too! I loved Alec and Magnus as normal though they weren’t in the book all that much. Alec showed his jealous side too which seemed strangely sweet to me. I was very disappointed we didn’t see much of those two; I just love them both.

Overall Cassandra Clare hasn’t tarnished her flawless reputation with this book. It was fast paced and left me yearning for the next book. As always I recommend this book for everyone who has the ability to read. You’d be mad not to try it. The City Of Bones movie is coming out soon so I hope more people will read these books in anticipation for it. I am excited for it but I think they’ve made some questionable casting choices. My hope is that they will grow on me during the film but at the present time I’m not really glad about any of them.

My Favorite Quotes:
“You’re just worried they’ll hire a male instructor and he’ll be hotter than you.”Jace’s eyebrows went up. 
“Hotter than me?”
“It could happen,” Clary said, “You know, theoretically.”
“Theoretically the planet could suddenly crack in half, leaving me on one side and you on the other, forever and tragically parted, but I’m not worried about that either. Some things,” Jace said, with his customary crooked smile, “are just too unlikely to dwell upon.”

“So what was that all about?”
“I think,” Jace said, “that she asked if she could touch my mango.”
“She said that?”
Jace shrugged. “Yeah, then she gave me her number.”

“Hey,” said Jace. who was sitting on an overturned speaker, looking at his cellphone, “do you want to see a photo of Alec and Magnus in Berlin?”
“Not really,” said Simon.
“Magnus is wearing lederhosen.”
“And yet, still no.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…The Fairytale Keeper by Andrea Cefalo

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3.5/5   Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Snow White was a pet name her mother had given her, but her mother’s dead now. Adelaide hates that name anyway. A rampant fever claimed Adelaide’s mother just like a thousand others in Cologne where the people die without Last Rites and the dead are dumped in a large pit outside of the city walls. Adelaide’s father is determined to obtain a funeral for his wife, but that requires bribing the parish priest, Father Soren. When Soren commits an unforgivable atrocity, he pushes Adelaide to her breaking point, but if she seeks justice against the cruel priest, she risks sacrificing everything: her father, her friends, her first love, and maybe even her life.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. To be fair I was slightly hesitant about starting this book because I’ve never read a fairy tale retelling before but I was pleasantly surprised. The book centers on Adelaide aka Snow White after her mothers death. She is refused a funeral for her mother and after that they begin to see all of the flaws that the church has. And there are many. Back when this is set the church was a big part of life so you can see how this would be a problem. Throughout the book there was sections from well know fairy tales and then the chapter afterwards would have some kind of connection to that story. This aspect I found especially interesting. The writing in this book was old fashioned but it was meant to be so it suited perfectly.

The main character Adelaide, I found to be quite annoying at times but in no way as annoying as a lot of other heroines. She won’t be on my top ten anytime soon. I did like some things about her though. She was brave and didn’t need a guy there to hold her hand all the time. I loved her best friend Ivo. He was really sweet! I loved how Adelaide and him made such a great team and he tried to look after her. One person I didn’t like was her father. He just seemed to hopeless to me.

I really did enjoy this book even though apart from her appearance I don’t know what the connection to Snow White was. Maybe we will find out in later books. As a whole this book was a good, quick read that I finished in one sitting. I would recommend this book to fairytale and historical fiction lovers. I would give this book 3.5/5 Stars and look forward to the second one in the series. Thanks to the author for letting me read it before it’s release.

My Favorite Quote
“Snow White is a name I do not enjoy.  It is a term of endearment from my mother, but a phrase of torment used by the artisan and merchant children who mock me for my fair skin and black hair.  I would never tell mother for it would hurt her to know, and while I have no love for the name, Snow White, I do have love for the way she speaks it.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/