Kira

2.5 stars is being pretty generous considering I couldn't finish it... Well, I could, I just don't want to. I'm giving it 2.5 stars because it wasn't terrible, it had some interesting things going for it, but it wasn't for me and I was mostly bored through the whole thing.

 

Clearly other people are enjoying it so don't take my word for it, but I didn't care for the reincarnation line. I thought it would have been a much better story without any modern day characters or rehashing of past lives (could have been interesting, but it wasn't).

 

She just kept dreaming to find out what happened, and then they'd hug and visit his airstream trailer for some chaste studying or to throw a stick for his dog, then he'd take her home. It was saccharine and a little cheesy and felt like puppy love and I just didn't care about any of them. Moving on.

I'm giving this five stars just for being mind numbingly entertaining and keeping me up till the wee hours. I had forgotten how much I love a good urban fantasy because I was so burnt out on weres and vamps, but this take on the Fae was really refreshing. It has a love triangle, which normally annoys me, but mcKenzie is a smarter heroine than most and she isn't jerking people around. I liked that she was strong and loyal, but not invincible and really kind of sucked at defending herself. can't wait to read the next one.... Although I do have to say, what is UP with that cover? I'm pretty sure I passed this book by several times just because of the ass on the front. glad I eventually gave it a chance.

This is the second book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, so if you're reading this review you're most likely already invested in the series and wondering whether to continue. I say yes!The writing in this installment is just as compelling, the story is mostly fast-paced and hard to put down, there are new characters to love and new enemies to fear. It picks up almost immediately where the first book left off, following Mal and Alina on their voyage across the True Sea and straight into conflict with the Darkling, who has been irrevocably changed by the battle on the Fold in which Alina left him to die. He brings with him creatures more frightening than the Volcra and it will take more power, and new friends, in order for Alina and Mal to survive.

 

My biggest complaint is that the love story took a backseat to action and intrigue in this book, and I missed it. The author managed to string me along with just enough tension to keep me going, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated with the state of Alina and Mal's relationship. Alina is now the highest ranking Grisha in the land and for several reasons cannot be connected publicly with Mal. Their moments together are brief and melancholy, and their relationship seems more doomed by the moment. Alina's power is growing and her purpose is clear, but poor Mal.... He doesn't know his place in her world anymore, and because he chose to desert the army in the first book he lost his position as a valued tracker. Mal winds up having a sort of identity crisis, and even though he loves her it may not be enough.

 

"No, Alina. You came here for Ravka.... to lead the Second Army." He tapped the sun over his heart. "I came here for you. You're my flag. You're my nation."

 

It's really hard to review second books in a trilogy before all the books have been published, because they are inevitably a little less satisfying. There will always be more questions than answers, and there will always be amped up conflict and hopelessness in order to keep readers hungering for the conclusion. Siege and Storm is no exception. I was swept away with the first half of the book, caught up in the adventure and the introduction of new and compelling characters (there's a handsome pirate, and who doesn't love that?!), but the middle of the book dragged for me. Things slowed down when Alina took over the Second Army and there was a lot of war-room talk and squabbles with the Grisha, which would have been fine except it all seemed sort of moot because of what happened at the end.

 

Overall it was an enjoyable installment in the series, and I recommend it, but it will be even better when the whole series is out and can be enjoyed without interruption. For the book by itself I give it 3.5 stars, but as a connecting piece in a bigger story, it gets 4 stars from me.

I received a copy of this book for in exchange for an honest review. One of these days I'm going to learn my lesson and stop doing read-to-reviews because I'm always the bad guy *sigh*

 

This story written from the point-of-view of Sara, a 19-year-old who is trying to earn her diploma by attending a remedial academy and making up the classes she missed her senior year of high school. She is utterly and completely obsessed with rock god Tyler Vincent and spends her free time papering her walls with his face and drawing portraits of him. Her life's goal is to win a contest that will get her a full scholarship to a college five minutes from Tyler Vincent's house.

 

Dale is a 20-year-old musician who has just started at the academy and is instantly drawn to Sara. He looks eerily like Tyler Vincent and his up-and-coming band is working their way through the rounds for MTV's Battle of the Bands. He and Sara fall hard and fast for each other but her obsession with Tyler Vincent and the secrets they're both keeping threaten everything.

 

Here's what I liked about the book:

Wowzahs! I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I pre-ordered it on a whim, something I never do, and started in late last night as soon as it was on my Kindle. Such a fun read! It tackled an intriguing subject (waking up in Vegas married to a stranger with his name tattooed on your ass) and actually made me suspend disbelief and happily come along for the ride.

 

I've read a few really bad rock star books lately, but this one was actually way better than expected. The characters were believable, the pacing was great, and even though it was a relatively shorter book (about 3500 on my kindle) it didn't feel rushed and the story had a really good arc with a satisfying ending. I loved that Evelyn felt like a normal girl, without the drama and baggage that so many NA heroines have, and she didn't spend half the book thinking one thing and then doing another. Her reactions felt surprisingly natural. I also liked that there wasn't much emphasis on her physical appearance (I didn't even know she was blonde until 3/4 through the book). It was kind of refreshing. I think my favorite character in the book was actually David's best friend, Mal, and I'm reeeeeaaallllly hoping the next book will be about him, because he's hilarious and hot, which does it for me.

 

Actually, my biggest complaint is that the cover and title have absolutely nothing to do with the story. Lick?? I don't know where that came from. There was no overt licking in this book. Topless cuddling? Yes. There was that-- but no licking. 

 

I would actually classify this as a fun beach read. Or maybe a cotton candy read. Fun, fluffy, sweet and satisfying. I totally enjoyed it.

This book was the third Judith McNaught I've read and it's going to be my last. Her books are riddled with unreasonable misunderstandings and the same plot devices with minor tweaks. I enjoyed the book and the characters and was totally engaged in the story until about halfway through, so I can understand some of the high ratings, but then WHAMMO! The book became a train wreck. When the hero suddenly chooses to believe a silly lie about his fiance (from a known gossip who hates her) and then to "punish" her practically rapes her and then lets her go, I was miffed. Later in the story when they work it out and are happily married and she is expecting a baby, he does it again! What husband on Earth, let alone a loving one, would "discover" something from his wife's past and be so mad about it he just decides not to be married to her anymore (without talking to her about it) and head to the city looking for a mistress? I thought that was just totally ridiculous and ruined an otherwise nicely told story. I understand that there has to be a cliffhanger in the story at some point, but I'm not a fan of ridiculous misunderstandings and emotionally abusive men.

I guess I'm the only one who just didn't get what all the fuss was about. I bought and *tried* to read this book because of all the five-star reviews and I was sorely disappointed. I hung in there until about page 400 and then just started skimming to find out what happens in the end. I didn't care for the writing style. It was choppy and cursory in parts and I felt like she was just skimming over major opportunities to develop the characters and deepen the story. After 400 pages I honestly just didn't care who Fancy wound up with because she didn't mean anything to me at all. The characters were flat, except for Hart, and I couldn't figure out which direction the author wanted to take. It felt like she couldn't decide so she had the rich daughter of a plantation owner raised by a black man, they join the circus, she learns magic from a gypsy, gets two brothers to fall in love with her, becomes a famous actress in New York then opens a saloon back in Colorado, marries the wrong man, strikes it rich in a mine, is pursued/stalked by a jealous ex, struggles with the quandry of being a working mother.... this story was just all OVER the place. The only part that remotely moved me was in the middle of the book when a child died. Otherwise this book, for me, was a big waste of time. I don't understand where all the other reviews came from. Never in a million years would I group this in the same hemisphere as Gone with the Wind.

3.5 starsSo, my first reaction after finishing this book was that I enjoyed it way more than I expected to. I got it as a kindle freebie a little while ago and didn't even remembered what it was about, but last night I decided to try just the first chapter and it sucked. me. in.I got about three hours of sleep last night because I just couldn't find a good place to stop. This was a one-day "my eyeballs now hurt" kind of read and a fun palate cleanser after the slew of craptastic NA books I've read lately. This was a high-school book, so not quite NA, but it was more mature and I liked that. The pacing was great, the dialogue was well-done and believable, there were few plot twists I didn't see coming, and it kept me flipping pages quickly because I was dying to know how the author was going to sort out this awful tension between Jared and Tatum and actually convince me to like the douche.... which surprisingly she did. Although I will say that I still don't fully understand or forgive the reasons for Jared's behavior in the beginning. No matter the trauma, I don't believe that someone would just flip off his feelings for his very best friend like that and treat her so horrifically for years. So even though my brain was telling me I should have a problem with the general premise of Bully, I was enjoying myself too much to care. This was a fun read with just the right balance of angst and romance. It didn't make me roll my eyes at two-dimensional characters, sigh in frustration over the cheesy dialogue, or throw something when a main character made an idiotic decision as a plot device. I wouldn't use this as a model for life choices or anything, but come on, that's not why we're drawn to these books anyways. Thank you, Penelope Douglas, I totally enjoyed this first effort from you and I will read your next book.

I looked at the stats on this book today and realized I am one of 3, count them three, people who have given this book one star. Out of like, a bazillion. So I should probably at least try to explain myself. This isn't a bad book, in the sense that the characters didn't make me feel murderous or apalled and they didn't do anything so outlandish that it just went beyond belief. The writing wasn't terrible. It was just your run-of-the-mill "cute working-class boy meets rich snobby virgin who jerks his chain for most of the book because of her family drama and co-dependency but he loves her anyways because she's so darn cute." Only more stupid. So stupid I lost my mind at about 52% and skimmed the last half, basically putting it in the DNF category. This status update I left while reading it pretty much sums up my feelings in a nutshell:"So he made her a sculpture, she burst into tears and ran away. He took her on a nice date, and then made the mistake of asking her for a second date. She stormed off and slammed the door in his face. Two days later: I want you to be my girl. And her response? Ok I'm yours!!! I am so confused."I don't know why I had such a strong aversion to this book. Maybe I had PMS. Or maybe I just felt like someone was playing a joke on me. The insane amount of five-star reviews had me expecting something really epic, but it was just shy of mediocre. It actually caused me to un-friend someone who gave it an intensely gushing five stars, because clearly we have way different expectations from our reads and that is just an insult to five-star books everywhere.

There are books that you turn the last page on and you never think about them twice. Then there are books that you finish and you turn back to the first page and just start reading again, reliving the best moments of the story. I honestly didn't think How To Kill a Rock Star would fit into that category for me. In fact, my last status update from it declared I never wanted to read it again because it had wrecked me and I was a little angry about it. This is actually the book that made me begin searching out friends on Goodreads because I felt so alone while reading it and just wanted someone to understand.It took me a long time to let my feelings marinate and figure out what my true reaction to this story was. Initially I rated it four stars because I was still flummoxed over the crazy turn the story took in the middle. I withheld a star just out of spite. But any book that can take me through a gamut of emotions like this one did--using plot devices that are normally huge deal-breakers for me-- and still have me walk away singing its praises and feeling thankful to have read it, deserves its five freaking stars. Well played, book, well played. The characters in this book are unforgettable and real and I love them. I wanted to slap Eliza some of them because they made me absolutely effin crazy, but I still love them. Paul Hudson is not sex-on-a-stick. He isn't ripped and handsome and rich. He's kind of pale and skinny, with imperfect features and a great sense of humor, and he begrudgingly works at the GAP. He lives and breathes his music, struggling to find the balance between pursuing his dream and selling out to attain it. He true-blue loves Eliza, and he is the shit. ...trying to describe how I felt watching her dance around and sing would be like trying to build a skyscraper with my bare hands. It made me want to marry her. Made me want to buy her a magic airplane and fly her away to a place where nothing bad could ever happen. Made me want to pour rubber cement all over my chest and then lay down on top of her so that we'd be stuck together, and so it would hurt like hell if we ever tried to tear ourselves apart. ~ PaulI kind of hated Eliza at one point in this story. She pulled some major drama in order to "save" Paul, which is really the most selfish kind of martyrdom. But even at her lowest point, I still empathized and rooted for her. I was never pulled out of the story by any of her behavior; if anything I was drawn in more fully because I had to know what freaking happened next. And after it was all said and done, Eliza has become one of the more-beloved female characters from any book I've read. After licking his neck, I wanted to dive into his throat and slide down his esophagus and swim around inside his hands while he strummed. Or maybe I just wanted to rest my head on his shoulder, close my eyes, and listen to him sing.This book has ruined me for other rock star/music industry books. They all seem chintzy in comparison, like following a tour guide who glanced at Google Maps versus one who grew up down the street and knows all the locals. Tiffanie DeBartolo is able to offer what feels like an authentic-- if a tad outrageous-- look at the journey of a struggling musician getting his big break because she knows of what she speaks. She has actually worked in the music industry. I only know that because I tracked her down on Twitter after I read this book like some sort of weird stalker fangirl, which I guess says a lot about how much this book affected me. That is how she could write this book, and especially Paul, with such realism: his vision for his music and the struggle between writing truth and writing what sells, and Eliza, who is so very passionate about music but has no musical talent herself. Tiffanie De Bartolo can write it because she understands this world, and that, my friends, is what you need from the author of a book about a rock star. You need a tour guide who knows more about the world than you do.Tiffanie writes beautifully fleshed-out yet flawed characters with A+ dialogue and she doesn't immediately rescue them from the consequences of their own mistakes, even when I desperately wanted her to. She is brave.She is also kind of an enigma, who just swooped in out of nowhere and wrote this book that rocked my world, and then she disappeared again. She isn't frantically writing more books. She didn't leave the story unfinished in order to sell a bazillion sequels. She just told her story and then moved on, leaving me feeling forlorn and yet incredibly grateful that she shared it. I tend to think she is a lot like Paul. Baring her soul and putting it out there regardless of whether it ever goes mainstream, even if only a small portion of the populace ever appreciates what she has created. You didn't even have to hear the whole song, just a few lines, and you got the chills and that swirly, happy-sad feeling in your gut, didn't you?" ... "That's the difference between the real stuff and the crap. I know which one you are and you know which one I am."

This is not a story I would have chosen if I'd known what it was really about, but I was lured in by the endless 5-star reviews and the fact that my library had it on Playaway. I picked it up on a whim. And from the first few minutes, I couldn't turn it off. Listened to all seven+ hours in one day. Kate Rudd didn't just read this book. She performed the entire beautiful thing like a one-woman play and I believed every single voice and knew who was speaking without being told and the life she breathed into the dialogue was better than I could have done in my head, which never happens in audiobooks. She was, in short, unforgettably amazing and as far as audiobooks go, I would consider this a "must listen." This is the only book that has ever made me laugh out loud in earnest, to the point where people asked me what was so damn funny, while simultaneously crying. Towards the end, I couldn't even bear to listen with anyone else in the room, because it was too personal, so I hid in my room and let the tears roll. I don't know why I've been avoiding John Green. Maybe because he was a man writing YA fiction? I'm clearly judgmental because I didn't believe a man could capture the real heart of a story like this, told from a female teenage narrator's perspective. And I was wrooooooooooong. Hazel Grace was not a character, she was a real person, and I met her and I loved her and I loved Augustus Waters and I loved their parents who were the first parents in any YA book I have ever freaking read who were real parents. Parents with feelings who loved their kids and were there without being overbearing or smothery or cliche. And guess what? There was opportunity for Augustus and Hazel to be together without either of their parents having a job that kept them out of the house 24 hours a day. It was miraculous. This story is not a feel-good. It made me do the ugly cry, which I typically avoid because life is too short to go out of your way to feel heartbroken for imaginary people, but as Augustus' mom said on that plaque, "Without pain we would never know joy" There are so many bright spots of laughter and joy in this story, and they are worth the ugly cry. This isn't just a favorite from 2013, it's going on my all-time favorite shelf. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.

Huh. This is a weak 3-star for me. More like 2.5, which is a shame because I do like Jennifer armentrout and I liked the characters. But I'm confused as to why writing an "adult" luxen book had to mean a series of sex scenes strung together with brief respites of dialogue and fight sequences. I just found it kind of boring and there was no relationship buildup like with the Obsidian series. I just read this while waiting for Origin to come out, and now I wish JA would have used the time she spent writing this to just pump out Origin sooner.

Rules of Civility has been floating on the periphery of my reading list for a while now, over a year. I even checked it out from the library once and then returned it without ever reading it. I'm not sure why, perhaps the synopsis just didn't grab me or I wasn't in the mood for something heavy. And then I stumbled across it in audio version and thought I'd give it a go. It had me tearing up in the first 15 minutes and I quickly shut it off, not in the mood to be sad.But a few days later I decided to give it one more go, and never shut it off. For about 11 straight hours I listened to the magical, yes magical, voice of Rebecca Lowman bring this story to life. In the same way that listening to [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1360206420s/11870085.jpg|16827462] made that story unforgettable, listening to Rules of Civility is the only way to experience it. Rebecca's voice is so easy to listen to and she reads the parts perfectly, putting inflection exactly where it should be and never overdoing it. With a male author who so exquisitely portrays the thoughts of a 25-year-old woman in the 1930's, and a female narrator who does male voices in a believable and likeable way, Rules of Civility has become one of my favorite audiobooks of 2013 thus far.It's hard to really sum up what this story is about. It's mostly about Kathryn Kontent and the most pivotal year of her life, 1938, and the people that shaped and changed her future. It's about New York in the 1930's, a time and place I knew nothing about but now feel intimately acquainted with. It's not a romance, but it is a love story. A love story between friends, between a girl and Manhattan, between Kathryn and the men who taught her things about herself. The imagery that Amor Towles invokes is simply breathtaking, and Kathryn Kontent is a character you will fall in love with.I tend to be a bit of an impatient reader and will skim if things get too wordy, which is why I'm so glad I listened to this story instead because not a word should be missed. They are the brushstrokes that combine to make such a beautiful whole, and by listening I was unable to do anything but savor each one. It wasn't suspenseful or overly exciting, and yet I found myself laying in my bed in the middle of the night, listening in the dark, because I just wanted to know what would happen next. I listened until 3 a.m. and ended with a smile on my face.

Gah!!! I keep promising myself not to start anymore series until every book is out, because cliffhangers kill me. This one killed me dead, but it was worth it. I absolutely loved the evolution of Allyson and what she learned about herself. I'm not typically a fan of coming-of-age but this story sucked me in and I read it in a day, heart thumping for her and what she would do. So beautiful, and the use of Shakespeare was so well done I could cry. If you haven't read this book yet, you absolutely must, but wait until October so you can read the next one immediately. Good Lord, I wish I would have done it that way.

I've read this whole series this week, and though I obviously was sucked in and had to know what happened, the enjoyment factor plummeted dramatically the more twisted Tilly and Heller's relationship became. It is such an unhealthy almost abusive relationship I don't even get excited for them to interact anymore. I don't know how to hide spoilers from the goodreads app so I won't say much more, but the way some of the characters behaved in this book were just bizarre. Tilly did things I would have sworn she had too much self-respect and compassion to do, which made me sick, and Hellers character has become this automated anamatron who has none of the redeeming qualities from the first couple books. I believe another reviewer called him a male prostitute, which is very apt, and who wants the man she's in love with shagging anything that moves if it will help his business? I shut my emotions off from Heller somewhere in the second book, probably after he made Hilly deliver those pictures to her brother, so it doesn't affect me personally, but it sure as hell should affect Tilly more. It's just gross. And unhealthy. and she had this one shining moment when she could have walked out with her self respect and really taught him a lesson, and it lasted like two hours. Did I already say its an unhealthy relationship? Unless I read the reviews for the next book and find out Tilly moved out of the warehouse, got her head on straight, made Heller wear a condom or at least get screened for stds (seriously, hundreds and hundred of women he's slept with! So gross) and ideally dumped his ass, I just won't care. She could wind up with any number of guys from the books (can Meile please come back to life?) and i would be happy, but the way she behaved with Will and the way she lets heller treat her makes me think she deserves what she gets.

I've read this whole series this week, and though I obviously was sucked in and had to know what happened, the enjoyment factor plummeted dramatically the more twisted Tilly and Heller's relationship became. It is such an unhealthy almost abusive relationship I don't even get excited for them to interact anymore. I don't know how to hide spoilers from the goodreads app so I won't say much more, but the way some of the characters behaved in this book were just bizarre. Tilly did things I would have sworn she had too much self-respect and compassion to do, which made me sick, and Hellers character has become this automated anamatron who has none of the redeeming qualities from the first couple books. I believe another reviewer called him a male prostitute, which is very apt, and who wants the man she's in love with shagging anything that moves if it will help his business? I shut my emotions off from Heller somewhere in the second book, probably after he made Hilly deliver those pictures to her brother, so it doesn't affect me personally, but it sure as hell should affect Tilly more. It's just gross. And unhealthy. and she had this one shining moment when she could have walked out with her self respect and really taught him a lesson, and it lasted like two hours. Did I already say its an unhealthy relationship? Unless I read the reviews for the next book and find out Tilly moved out of the warehouse, got her head on straight, made Heller wear a condom or at least get screened for stds (seriously, hundreds and hundred of women he's slept with! So gross) and ideally dumped his ass, I just won't care. She could wind up with any number of guys from the books (can Meile please come back to life?) and i would be happy, but the way she behaved with Will and the way she lets heller treat her makes me think she deserves what she gets.