Posts Categorized: Review

Thursday, June 02, 2016

Review: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake

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I received this book for free from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring BlakeSuffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on May 3rd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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three-half-stars

“Just let it go.”

That’s what everyone keeps telling Hadley St. Clair after she learns that her father cheated on her mother. But Hadley doesn’t want to let it go. She wants to be angry and she wants everyone in her life—her dad most of all—to leave her alone.

Sam Bennett and his family have had their share of drama too. Still reeling from a move to a new town and his parents’ recent divorce, Sam is hoping that he can coast through senior year and then move on to hassle-free, parent-free life in college. He isn’t looking for a relationship…that is, until he sees Hadley for the first time.

Hadley and Sam’s connection is undeniable, but Sam has a secret that could ruin everything. Should he follow his heart or tell the truth? (less)

I read this book a while ago, but have been totally slacking on actually writing reviews. I’m sure that you all have noticed. I am going to try to do my best with this since I get hazy on details if I wait to long. I really did like the characters, and I thought they had good chemistry. I haven’t been reading a whole lot lately, but I have been really into contemporary novels and this one was one I did enjoy.

Hadley is a bit of a rough character. Her father cheated on her mom, but they are still together, but it’s not really a happy place. Her mother tries to make her father as annoyed an uncomfortable as possible, and he tries to act like it’s all okay. No one wants to ruffle feathers. Hadley is stuck in the middle of this odd thing going on. She doesn’t know how to forgive her father, but more than that, she isn’t sure of herself. If her parents went through this, she might end up hurt in the future too. She’s a smart and lovely girl, but she’s got a lot of crap to deal with.

Sam was great, but a bit thick in the head to be honest. He has good intentions though. He lives with his mom and sister. His father has moved to Boston after he found out that his wife cheated on him. Sam is very protective of his sister and it’s really sweet. He ends up having to do a project with Hadley, and they end up starting to like each other. The thing is, he knows something that she doesn’t and he doesn’t want her to find out. He really does like her, but doesn’t want to get too close and complicate things.

Besides Sam and Hadley starting to totally fall for each other, I really liked the friendship that Hadley formed with his sister. I thought it was sweet. Hadley’s best friend was pretty awesome too. I wish I could remember her name. This book wasn’t super emotional and didn’t give me all the feels, but it kept me interested and I really wanted for Hadley and Sam to figure their shit out and just be with each other. It was enough to keep my attention, which considering that I was in a major reading slump, is a pretty good thing. I wish I remembered more about the book, but it was good and I thought that it was set at a good pace. I did feel like I knew the characters well and really just wanted the best for everyone. I promise, by reviews will be better going forward. I don’t usually wait this long after reading a book to write a review.

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang

Posted by on 05/24/2016 • 1 Comment

Things to know about Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang

1. It’s for a much younger audience. I didn’t realize this at first but while I was reading it, it become clear that I was not the intended audience of Secret Coders. This didn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the graphic novel, it just meant that it took me longer to get involved in the novel.

2. It isn’t just about coding and computer science-y stuff. If that isn’t your thing, don’t worry. It isn’t my thing either but I definitely enjoyed Secret Coders. There is a mystery element that makes itself known towards the end of the novel and that is what tied the knot for me. I want more Secret Coders because I needs to know the answers.

3. The illustrations are AMAZING. They…

Legend: The Graphic Novel Series adapted by Leigh Dragoon, illustrated by Kaari

Posted by on 05/08/2016 • 1 Comment

Having loved the first two books in the Legend series (I still haven’t read Champion!), I was so excited to dive into these graphic novel adaptations and see how the story would translate over into a new medium.

Day and June are fantastic characters whether they are in a novel or graphic novel. I love them as individuals and I love them as a couple. Although, admittedly, I am kind of upset my favorite bathroom scene did not find its way into the graphic novel (SO MUCH SWOON IN THAT SCENE.)

The action scenes also translate very well into the graphic novel format and I love the ways in which the world building comes to life through the beautiful illustrations. It allowed me to experience the dystopic world Marie Lu…

Blog Tour: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas – Review

Posted by on 04/22/2016 • 3 Comments

This was one of those rare books that actually stumped me until almost the very end. I am usually very good at figuring out a mystery and what is really going on, but this one kept me second guessing myself the whole time. It was fantastic and held my attention the whole time. The characters were great, and the emotional impact was spot on. It was a bit slow moving at times, especially to start, but it really helped build things up. One of the major things I noticed (and loved) was that there was no romance thrown in. It wasn’t necessary and it would have taken away from the story.

Tessa has had a very rough childhood. Her father is in jail, and her sister and mom have abandoned…

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

Posted by on 04/20/2016 • 1 Comment

When I found out that Mariko Tamaki had a book coming out, I was so excited!  I was curious to see how Tamaki’s storytelling style would differ from This One Summer and it helped that the book had a stunning cover.

Montgomery Sole’s voice is truly unique and stands out. She is angsty like many young adults (in YA novels and in real life) but her way of dealing with her angst is usually not dealing with it at all which explains the title and her need to be ‘saved.’ Montgomery Sole also spends a surprising amount of time searching conspiracy theories and buying rocks we know won’t actually do anything. That’s okay though because Montgomery Sole is a precious child that needs to be protected from the world. All of this…

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood

Posted by on 03/30/2016 • 5 Comments

I don’t usually read anthologies and I find it even harder to review them because there are so many stories and so many different feelings about the stories.

But, A Tyranny of Petticoats did say it was about badass girls and who doesn’t want to read stories about badass girls? If you don’t you have come to the wrong place so toodooloo. It was nice knowing you.

So, I read the stories. I didn’t love all of them yet here I am, reviewing the anthology as a whole. The thing is, whether or not I loved every single story is beside the point. What makes this anthology special is the diversity in it. I think historical fiction has a tendency to privilege white voices over other voices just because that is…

Review: Night Speed by Chris Howard

Posted by on 03/18/2016 • 7 Comments

A Young Adult book with high-intensity action, drugs, and catching villains in the metropolitan city in the US of A. That sounds like a pretty good premise, don’t you think? Reminds me of all those superhero books we all adore, except this one has young teenagers taking drugs to give them superstrength/speed/and whatever super-what-have-you. Reading this book a few weeks ago, it actually was pretty enjoyable…

…until it didn’t.

Here’s the thing: this book had potential. The first seventy percent was such an amazing ride. Here we are, introduced to a main character who is supposedly the best runner in her department. Her job as a teenage tool of the government? To use the Tetra (which is the drug, if the cliché drug name itself wasn’t self-explanatory enough) to catch people…

Review: Nightstruck by Jenna Black

Posted by on 03/17/2016 • 4 Comments

This book was creepy and dark and very enjoyable for the most part. I did feel like there was a whole lot of waiting going on and things weren’t really moving forward, but there was always plenty going on. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense. What I mean is there is all sorts of creepy, crazy things happening even when the story didn’t seem to be moving forward that fast. I did feel like I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but since this is a start to a series I am assuming that we we get more information in the next ones. I think that it is a great start to a series and am interested to continue with it and see where things go….