Besides reading, I do nothing but read. ;)
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I can't seem to find a book I enjoy reading these past few weeks. almost 3 weeks has passed and I still haven't read a book which made my heart pound faster and gave me a book hangover :( So help, anyone? Please? Any suggestion of books I might enjoy? :)
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Books, eBooks - it doesn't really matter. Just read ;)
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...is my "Welcome the Newbie" blogpost missing?? It's not appearing on my blogsite, even here on my dashboard. Is this a glitch??
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This book had so much potential of turning into a great book but the execution of the story kind of fell short. The twist in Grayson's issues was unique and original but the consequences, ugghh.. The storyline felt like it was all over the place and sometimes I get confused. It's not until you get halfway that the "Operation Amsterdam" was explained that is why I couldn't get into the story in the first half. If only the story was executed properly this would have received 5 stars. Sigh. So much for the very pretty cover :(
“Feelings find each other, I thought. Let one in and the others follow. At that moment it seemed that all our feelings were shimmering above us, around us, in a new and stunning constellation.”
This review might contain mild spoilers :)
I loved this book! I was kind of hesitant starting this one seeing that there are mixed reviews about this book, but after reading it, I'm glad I gave it a chance! It was not a perfect story that will cling on to you for life, but it sure is something that will make you feel a lot of things in just a span of hours. I personally think that Cricket is somehow lost. She is A product of a broken family, having parents who are divorced and living with her mom who is too miserable to function. She finds home and solace in her best friend, Jules' family until one night Jules' mom was found dead due to aneurysm. For me, Jules was a pretty crappy friend. I mean, I get it. Your mom died, but no need to be a bitch to your best friend who practically just wants to help you through your grief. Cricket is really an awesome friend despite the sleeping with your best friend's younger brother part. But hey, I totally understand, love is strange and unpredictable we never really know when it will suddenly hit us or to whom we are going to share it with. I mean if I were Cricket, I'd say screw this friendship and screw you Jules, we're done!!! But of course that's not who Cricket is. She is this true and loyal friend to Jules that every opportunity she gets to apologize to Jules she doesn't let it pass.
I just really enjoyed reading this book. Yes, there were dramas but they were believable. Nothing overdone nor shallow. And during Cricket's darkest moment, I sympathized with her. I love how I can almost feel the protagonist's pain and not get annoyed at her for being overly dramatic. And atleast Cricket doesn't hide under the rock for too long, she actually, eventually (wo)mans up and does what she has to do! This chick has grown her own pair and confidently stood up to those mean people. I admire Cricket because she is just trying to be herself— a human with flaws and imperfections but doing her best to turn what she has into her best asset and conquer her world. This was a light, fun and quick read that will surely make you laugh, tear up a little, maybe even break your heart but overall feel proud as to how much Cricket has matured all throughout her journey in Nantucket :)
It was okay... Seems to me I've been reading a lot of "just alright" books lately :))) Siiiiiigh prolly won't give a reiew for this one or if ever, I'll write a short one :D
It was okay... I liked Ren and Jesse. The ending seems rushed? But overall I like it :)
This was a disappointing book :( I mean, it's the typical New Adult romance—throw in some angst, a lot of I-like-you-but-can't-be-with-you lines, a hot guy who is always at the right place and at the right time, bam! Instant NA. I'm just tired of reading the same concept over and over again that I felt numb and indifferent towards the plot, eventually. And really, stop labeling yourselves as "just best friends" when you obviously treat each other more than just normal best friends. It's painfully annoying :( Also it has become a trend for these types of books to pull something complicated out of a simple situation. I mean really I get it, you don't want to cross the line then DON'T. Just because you're not "doing it" doesn't mean it's not crossing the line. What made this book a little less complicated was that at least, she has been straightforward about her reasons of not wanting to be his girlfriend. But for fuck's sake let us save everyone the pain and misery and just give in already!!! Not every relationship is doomed to failure. Love involves risk. They should have known that before falling in love with each other. I guess what I'm just trying to say is cut the crap with the shallow issues and give me something more. Something more believable and really impossible for them to be together. Because these are just strings of bad decisions that could have been avoided. Immensely bad choices and consequences making it hard for me to perceive it as something realistic :( I need to connect DEEPLY with the characters and their conflicting emotions making me feel every inch of their stubbornness and indecision as my own when thrown in the same situation. They don't want to cross the line but they already have PLENTY OF TIMES so really... There's no point with the whole temporary breakups. Sigh. And I just want to point out that Amanda cries A LOT.
And then about 70% in the book, we get conflict in Amanda's side. Conflict as in a problem within the family wherein the one will need the other's support. Before they went off to college Noah went through a tragedy and at this point it's Amanda's turn. So I was reading aimlessly thinking a bunch of theories that could possible go wrong and settled on a hypothesis and then when it was finally revealed, I did a double take. As in, what the fuuuuuu*k? Are you kidding me? It's not the bad WTF kind, more of a surprised one. And I'm surprised I was surprised because I thought I have everything figured out. I guess I was being a know-it-all. Teehee. Sorry. I really thought though, that the story would start to pick up and reel me in only to disappoint me. Again. I thought the story line is going to be salvaged and that I was going to get what I've been asking for but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I was truly heartbroken for Amanda. I'm not totally indifferent about her situation. Probably the wisest decision she has ever made was trying to fend off her dependency on Noah during her bone cancer The character I liked best in this book was Dalton. He's cocky but insightful and everything I was ranting about in this review, he pointed out to Amanda. So I owe him a thank you. Overall, the book was not bad. It's just.. meh. Nothing really uber special that will make it stand out from all the other cliché NA plots out there. Although you should give this a chance, this is just not my cup of tea ;) Happy Reading!
I'm conflicted whether to give this book 4 stars or 3 stars but for now I'm rating it 3. I mean... I liked it. Or maybe I thought I like it because of the stellar reviews this book has been receiving from my Goodreads friends. There's just this one part in the story which could have thrown the plot in a different direction. The doctor is smart right? After reading the scene where James asked for future Em and Finn to bring younger James to him..., I can't engage in the story anymore. They could have avoided the whole debacle had that scene didn't happen. But really what threw me off was that how could the doctor risk it??? He knows that his life is in their hands as much as their lives are in his, so why not end it already? Why go through something that obviously will get him killed? Ugggggh. Can someone please make sense of the doctor's decision because maybe I just missed something. Really disappointed. :( This would have been a great story though had the doctor made a smarter decision and made the conflict more believable instead of too convenient for the characters. At first it annoyed me why can't she just kill him but towards the end, I understood. But really, the doctor's stupid decision keeps on nagging me, I can't move on.
There was a time when people valued honor and loyalty—when serving a ruler wasn’t about obedience and fear. Do you think another court like that could ever rise again?
For me the book started off with a boom but then gently flow through with the plot slowly, building up the intensity here and there. The were parts at first that bored me, just a teeny tiny bit, but still kept me interested enough to hang on to the mystery about to be revealed. And those romanic moments between Celaena and Chaol are not to be missed!!! They are the best couple ever they make me blush and giggle like a lovesick teenager. Funniest scene ever which is kind of a spoiler so you may want to skip this one if you don't want to be spoiled:
He lifted himself again, peering into her eyes. “I don’t want you to think I’m agreeing to keep it secret because I’m ashamed in any way.” “Who said anything about shame?” She gestured down to her naked body, even though it was covered with the blanket. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not strutting about, boasting to everyone. I certainly would be if I’d tumbled me.”
Siggggh. But what is true love without its obstacles? Of course it won't be easy between the Captain of the guards and the King's Champion. Of course sacrifices and bad judgments are warranted in their situation. Everything has to be complicated because what is great love without those things, right?
“How many times can a heart be broken before it is beyond mend? How many times can I wish to not be alive? How can one human being cause such a crack in my existence? I alternate between periods of numbness and inconceivable pain all in the span of — an hour? An hour feels like a day, a day feels like a week. I want to live, and then I want to die. I want to cry, and then I want to scream.
I want, I want, I want…
Olivia.”
I. LOVE. IT. To bits and pieces, with every fiber of its flaw and perfection. This may have just become my favorite series. EVER. You know how the first book in a series captures you only to be disappointed with the sequel and the rest of the books in the series? Yeah, I get that. A lot. Or how deflating it feels when the emotions you've felt when reading the first book don't elicit or even revive those feelings you've felt back then? Sucks, no? Those are far from happening regarding this series. With all the complications and heartaches Caleb and Olivia put each other through, they just can't seem to shake each other off. Their love clings underneath their skin it took them 10 freaking years to let go of their baggage and finally relent on what they are feeling and just... be with each other. I'm glad I've went through every single drama from The Opportunist to Dirty Red and up until Thief. Because their being together won't feel this fucking good without the rejection, lies, deceit, turn downs, reunions and finally revival of old, undying flame. I'm not even going to talk about every single bomb that was dropped in this book. You have to figure it out yourself. Just one major spoiler. They end up having their happy ending FINALLY. They are jaded, yes, broken even. But I say they are better. And I think their time to be together has finally come. All of their bitter pasts led them to finally accept who they deserve.
“My voice trails off because there is no such thing as a clean slate. I know that now. You just embrace your dirty slate and build over it. ”
“I knew. You couldn’t get rid of the past. You couldn’t ignore it, or bury it, or throw it over the balcony. You just had to learn to live beside it. It had to peacefully co-exist with your present. If I could figure out how to do that, I could be okay.”
And the writing.. My God, don't even start with me about the writing!!!! It's beautiful and crazy good my heart is breaking piece by piece on every page! I want to cry and laugh and giggle and sob all at the same time. I want to be happy for them but know that it's going to get ugly eventually but that overall what kept me strong despite the unending breakups was the hope that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
This book answers everything! Every single question we have in books one and two is answered here. We also get Caleb's POV regarding their past. Half of the book or just a third, I think is a retelling of how they met and fall in love in college. And I swear it's like reading The Opportunist again and getting my heart broken for the second time!!! Their personality and story don't get old. Always get me, shooting aiming straight through my heart. This is a wonderful wonderful closure to the series. I could not even say more but thank you to Tarryn Fisher who has blessed us with a crazy love story!!!! The drama did not even irritate me. It is so not your typical contemporary romance where we get cliché dramas that just make you want to bang your head on the table and wonder when the authors stopped being creative and original.
“When we stand up, I stop a few feet away from the trashcan with my coffee cup in my hand.
“Olivia?”
“Yeah?”
“If I make this shot, will you go out with me?” I hold my cup like it’s a basketball and look from her to the trashcan.
“Yeah,” she says, smiling. “Yeah, I will.”
I make the shot.”
If you want to have a good heartbreak and feel rewarded afterwards—Read. This. Series. Now. It won't disappoint, promise :) and Caleb, honey I FUCKING LOVE YOU. Cheers to every man out there who knows how to fight for the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I salute you ;) I've never wanted a couple's happy ending as much as I wanted it for Caleb and Olivia because I swear they deserve it and there's nothing left for them to feel but happiness and satisfaction :)
“We are gonna be okay. That’s what happens when two people are meant. You just work it out until you are okay.”
