Publisher: Swoon Reads


Thursday, May 17, 2018

Lackluster Poolside Read: Airports, Exes and Other Things I’m Over by Shani Petroff

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

Lackluster Poolside Read: Airports, Exes and Other Things I’m Over by Shani PetroffAirports, Exes and Other Things I'm Over by Shani Petroff
Published by Swoon Reads on May 15th, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Swoon Reads
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two-stars

A bad storm, two canceled flights, stuck in an airport with a hot stranger and the guy who broke her heart... what could go wrong?

After Sari caught her boyfriend Zev cheating on her, their romantic Florida vacation was ruined. She can't get back to NYC soon enough. Unfortunately, mother nature may have different plans. A huge storm is brewing in the Northeast, and flights all over the country are getting canceled—including Sari's. She winds up stuck at the airport for hours. With Zev!

When another stranded passenger (a hot NYU guy) suggests a connecting flight to Boston, Sari jumps at the chance. But when her mom freaks out about her traveling alone, she has no choice—she has to include Zev, and somehow survive being trapped with the guy who broke her heart!

I love a good travel story. I specifically love a good travel story involving airports and things going horribly wrong. Partially because I travel relatively often and because I have a couple of bad travel stories in my own pocket. I don’t think this is really a trend in YA though and it NEEDS TO BE. Jessica Brody’s The Chaos of Standing Still was basically everything I wanted in such a story and I was hoping Airports, Exes and Other Things I am Over would deliver on a similar scale. It didn’t.

The book feels like it’s missing something honestly. It starts with Sari walking in on her boyfriend and his ex kissing. She runs away, doesn’t talk to him and spends an entire week and a half brooding over him while not giving him a chance to explain. I mean, again, I firmly believe that no one is owed a chance to explain in such a situation but I also felt that within the context of the plot, it was to obvious that there was more to the story. Sari also started the book extremely confident in their relationship and trusted Zev completely. If she had truly trusted him in the first place, she would have at least given him the chance to explain instead of running away and avoiding him altogether on a trip they had planned to take together.

Also, like. The book’s story arc felt like it could have been better?? The book starts with her going to Florida to hang with her grandma, she spends the week there and about 25% of the book there. During this time, we meet the ‘other’ guy, her grandma and spend not much time with either of this characters to be honest. It just felt like words? Anyway, then drama strikes on the return trip. It would have been MUCH more satisfying, I think, if the travel issues had taken up the first part of the book and allowed us actual time getting to know the stranger boy from NYU and her ex. It is a truth universally acknowledged YOU BOND WITH PEOPLE OVER BAD TRAVEL EXPERIENCES.

A minor thing I also wanted to point out was that there was an instance where a character was described as ‘Asian’ and clearly the author meant “Chinese.” Honestly, I am over people using Asian to describe characters when they clearly are thinking East-Asian. Let me remind everyone again that the Asian identity is not a monolith and accompasses an INCREDIBLY large group of people. SO. Just do the bare fucking minimum and assign the character you want to describe as Asian an actual ethnic identity because Asian ain’t one.

Having said all this, I don’t think Airports, Exes and Other Things I Am Over is inherently a bad book and I didn’t regret having read it. It was entertaining and enjoyable even if Sari made it INCREDIBLY frustrating. Sari’s relationship with her best friend was probably the best thing about this book though and I really enjoyed how consistently Trina was part of this trip even though she wasn’t actually on it.

Overall though, the book was lackluster and had nothing special going for it. I’d recommend reading it as a poolside read to flip through real quick but not if you’re looking for a substantial summer read.

two-stars

2 Hot Espressos

Complex and Feel-Good: Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Posted by on 01/24/2018 • 9 Comments

Let’s Talk About Love surprised me. I went in expecting good vibes and it still blew my expectations out of the water. It is NOT a perfect book, I am nitpicky and its hard for books to be perfect for me, but Let’s Talk About Love is damn well a fantastic read that is worth your time.

Do you love a feel-good romance that will sweep you off your feet? Do you love reading about friendships that have true-to-life complexity? Do you love some angst (the good kind)? Let’s Talk About Love is an ode to not just romantic love but all kinds of love, it explores the complexities of all kinds of relationships and it’s just a GOOD BOOK.

So why am I a nit picky bastard? Well because…

Book Aesthetic: Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourne

Posted by on 07/05/2017 • 3 Comments

If you’re expecting this book to change your life, you’re probably going to be disappointed but it IS a perfectly, enjoyable summer book and not everything we read needs to revolutionize our lives. I, for one, have been too tired and too overheated lately to read books that will change my life so Wesley James Ruined My Life was the perfect read for me.

Is Quinn Hardwick stubborn as fuck and will you want to shake some sense into her? For SURE but the book also has so many feel-good vibes and part of the fun is when she does realize she is in the wrong. Quinn is stubborn and holds grudges for all the wrong reasons but we can all be stubborn sometimes and I for one am still angry…

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Posted by on 07/27/2016 • 8 Comments

Review in a Tweet A little more elaboration…

I sometimes struggled with Been Here All Along because the writing style was a little clunky but overall, it was so adorable and gave me so many warm, mushy, feels. I love the two main characters and I love the ways in which they come together. Plus bffs to lovers is one of my fav tropes so YAY!

Song I associate with the book: You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.

I mean the title of the book is a reference to the song and the book is basically the music video in book format. Also all of T. Swift’s old songs would go perfectly with this book if anyone needed a playlist to listen to while reading.

Continue Reading »

Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Posted by on 08/08/2014 • 24 Comments

Awww! What a cute and sweet read. A Little Something Different is exactly that – a romance story that is different from any I’ve read before, and one that leaves you with a silly smile on your face. The perfect rainy-day read, that’s for sure!

In short, this is a love story about two people who keep misreading each other. One is extremely shy, the other is quiet and reluctant, not realizing they’re both into each other. What makes this book unique, though, is the way it’s told. We don’t go into this story with the perspective of our main characters, but rather everyone around them, even including a squirrel and a bench who, unsurprisingly, talks a lot about butts. The number of perspectives is at a whopping 14, rotating…