Posts Categorized: Review

Monday, July 28, 2014

Review: Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

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

Review: Let’s Get Lost by Adi AlsaidLet's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
Published by Harlequin Teen on July 29th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Harlequin Teen
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four-stars

Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

When you want a book to escape reality for a few hours, Let’s Get Lost is what I would hand you. A road trip, intriguing characters, wild adventures, and, of course, a healthy dose of romance – this is the perfect beach read!

I’ve read a few road trip books and this one is just as much fun, yet different in many ways. We follow Leila’s trip to Alaska, but we follow it through others’ eyes – the story is told using the point-of-views of the people she gets to meet during her trip. I found this very unique and it allowed us to get to know Leila through different perspectives. We start with Hudson who quickly becomes the love interest. I can see why some have different reactions towards him, he can be frustrating especially at the end of his POV, but he came off as a realistic teenage boy who’s afraid of going after what he wants. While some might consider this romance insta-love, they had so much chemistry that I could legitimately feel their connection. His part also made me instantly click with Leila and her boldness. I knew then that she was a character I would really like. Then we move on to Bree who, coupled with Leila’s boldness, puts them in trouble, but not without first having a blast. The third character, Elliot, takes the hopeless romantic out of Leila when they try to get him his girl. And finally, Sonia – though I felt the least connected with – brought us on a fun adventure across the border.

While meeting all those people, we also get the hint that Leila’s story is not as simple as she makes it seem. There’s darkness and sadness hidden behind her carefree persona, and when we finally do get to see her POV, we learn of the tragic past she’s trying to heal from by going on this trip. It’s emotional and gives the journey that much more meaning. We also meet more characters that help her along in those final chapters that are just as colourful, adding even more heart and personality to this story. Because we only get to see Leila’s perspective at the end, I do feel as if her character was… not exactly underdeveloped, I will say kept at arm’s length. For this reason, I don’t think I was as emotionally invested as it was intended, but I still felt she was genuine, and her voice, compelling.

Though it may seem this book has emotional depth – and it does – it remains a lighthearted read regardless. It’s well balanced with enough humour, joy, and just plain recklessness to keep it fun; the emotional stuff gives it substance without weighing it down. The ending is maybe a bit too perfect, and definitely predictable, but those who love HEA endings will appreciate it.

Entertaining and full of adventures, Let’s Get Lost will make you laugh and smile and want to take a trip across the country yourself. This is the perfect beach read; the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon read; the perfect get-out-of-a-reading-slump read!

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Review: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Posted by on 07/25/2014 • 13 Comments

Even with the great premise and creepy as heck scenes throughout, I can’t say I liked this one much, unfortunately. Though this is all due to the writing, and if you’re a fan of it you will have a much better experience with this book than I.

The writing is one that, although may work for some, I could never get used to. The narrative voices (plural because I “think” there were more than 1, but I’m not 100% sure…) are in 3rd person which is always harder for me to connect with regardless, but in this case even more so because of this particular all-knowing perspective the author adopts. Then when you add in the fact that the perspective changes – often abruptly without a chapter change or even…

Review: Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner

Review: Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner

Posted by on 07/24/2014 • 10 Comments

What an interesting book this was to read for someone who has an online presence. Granted, my online presence is nothing compared to the thousands upon thousands of fans beauty vlogger Torrey Grey had in this book, but I do put myself out there for the public just as she did in the novel. Can’t Look Away was a pitch perfect contemporary that features a lot of honesty, a sweet romance and just enough heartbreak to really pull at your heartstrings.

We meet Torrey Grey right after her family moves from Colorado to Texas. They decide to make the move shortly after Torrey’s younger sister, Miranda, is hit and killed by a drunk driver. From the very first pages of this book I knew that it was going to be…

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

Posted by on 07/22/2014 • 13 Comments

The Fever ended up being quite the interesting read, especially psychologically speaking. It’s both a puzzling mystery as well as a look into the rashness of teenage girls burning with jealousy.

What I noticed almost immediately was the writing style, to which I can’t say I’m exactly a fan. Megan tells this story with the help of three family members who are each given a perspective in the story. We switch back and forth from father, son, and daughter in a very spastic manner, each perspective lasting from a mere paragraph to no more than a couple of pages. While, in a way, I enjoyed the style in which it told the story with quick back-and-forth glimpses from several point-of-views, constantly being pulled in all directions made me feel very…

Review: Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais

Review: Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais

Posted by on 07/21/2014 • 15 Comments

I don’t even really know where to start with this book. While reading it all I could think was “this reading is somehow intoxicating but this story is really one of the worst I have ever read.” So, I guess you can take that for what it is.

From the first page I was a fan of the writing, it was strong, pretty and sucked me in as fast as could be. I enjoyed Sphinx’s (yes, her mother named her Sphinx) voice even though I didn’t really come to like her for who she was. The pace of the story was also really fast, stuff kept happening, people kept moving, emotions kept rising and that really kept me engrossed in the story. It was a trainwreck really, you know you…

Review: Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

Review: Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke

Posted by on 07/18/2014 • 19 Comments

Incredibly well thought-out with fascinating world building, Dissonance is a really good sci-fi with a heavy dose of romance.

Delancy is a Walker, she has a genetic ability to manipulate matter and visit alternate worlds created by the choices people make. Walkers monitor and fix anomalies that affect the key world. I was wary of this premise at first, it’s something that could have been a huge flop if the world building was lacking, fortunately it’s anything but. It’s clear that a ton of research – not to mention creativity – went into crafting the world inside Dissonance. It has an impressive amount of detail, it’s ambitious, and, more as a warning: it’s also hard to grasp. Kinda like the Tempest series by Julie Cross; it’s a series I…

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Posted by on 07/17/2014 • 13 Comments

From the get-go this was a very intriguing read. We’ve got a girl who’s experiencing regular black outs where she finds herself at a completely different place with no recollection of the hours she’s just lost. What’s even weirder is how no one around her seem to comment on these disappearances. This is absolutely my kind of read. I love books that play with your mind and baffles you with bizarre, inexplicable happenings. The one thing with books like these though, is that it all comes down to the ending. This is where the book lost its flair for me. I was hoping for a deeper meaning, or at least a point to it all.

I was instantly compelled by Molly’s voice and character. Not only is she mysterious…

Review: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Review: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Posted by on 07/16/2014 • 18 Comments

This was a book that I really wanted in my life. When I read the blurb and saw the issues that it dealt with I thought it would be one that I would definitely love. In the end I can’t say that I was overly impressed with it. While it did deal with some pretty heavy issues, the writing left much to be desired and the split POV didn’t work on multiple levels.

On the surface this sounds like the type of story that I would generally love. Grace is outcast at her school after a party that she goes to where she gets raped by the all-star lacrosse player at her school, Zac. Zac says it wasn’t rape and Grace says that yes it was because she was unconscious….