Because Books!

So I absolutely adored "If I Stay" then this book happens. Now I would come up with more powerful synonyms for "adore" but right now I can't think beyond the utter perfection that is this book right here. I was blown away. Gayle Forman has my complete respect as an author right now and I'll be hunting for the rest of her books with intensity.This was a masterpiece. I fell in love with it from the first page! So this time it's told from Adam's point of view, set three years after the first one. I was already excited for this because Adam had intrigued me and I had fallen in love with him from Mia's perspective. I was not disappointed and I'm afraid I'm too in love with him.What a broken man Adam became. Forman wrote this in a way that I truly became Adam with each page, meaning each page ripped me open until I truly understood him and cared for him. I already could relate to him for his anxiety but by the end, I was living a rock star life I never experienced because of this remarkable writing. Everything about him was justified and explained and who would have thought I would feel sorry for a multi-millionaire, famous rock star? But I did. I connected with him so much I was sad when it was time for us to part(when the book ended).Mia was absent, in a way Adam was in If I Stay, for majority of this book and only present in Adam's thoughts and memories. But it worked out pretty well. I like that this book was from Adam's point of view because if it was Mia it may have been too...depressing and monotonous as we learn about how she's dealing with her grief.All the awards go to Gayle Forman for writing brilliant, lovable characters. They all had their faults but they were bearable. And going back to If I Stay, we never really met Mia's parents and little brother. But from Mia's memories, we knew and loved them. So much so that in Where She Went we grieved with Adam and we missed them too. Whenever Kat was mentioned, I teared up because I really loved her.Maybe that was also the point of two different perspectives/memories? I have read books with characters dealing with grief and I have teared up, but I never became part of it the way I did with these two books. My only complaint is I'm too lonely and alone to be reading books like these because really, now I just want my Adam to my Mia.

Absolutely adored this book. It was so beautifully written and had incredible insight.The kind that keeps you up at night thinking about it.It doesn't necessarily have a plot, it is set within twenty-fours after all, and I feel the book was too short! I wanted more. But I have nothing to complain about. I loved every single character in this book, and that is rare considering how negative I usually am. Adam, especially, has won my heart.It's a very sad book, but it had its funny, sweet and cute moments too. It's just really wonderfully written. I recommend it to anyone for a quick, short but fantastic read.

Maybe I'm being unfair by reviewing this book because technically I didn't finish it. I got to 120 pages then I skimmed it until I reached the end.So, spoilers and a long rant ahead!The first few pages of this book were alright. I thought I would like it and I got into it fast. Up until Dee thew up in a bathroom and met the "love of her life" then I realised she was stupid and dumb and not worth my time. And she just got worse.So Dee is vomiting in the bathroom when a hand touches her hair and "helps her". She already knows that it's not her only friend, but does she scream or react strongly? Nah. She's cool with it. And yes, you guessed it, the knight in shining amour is Luke! The blurb didn't try to hide anything so now we know of course that they will fall in love even though he's supposed to kill her and you know the rest of the YA fantasy plot.I'm skeptical of insta-love to begin with, but usually I can bear it, but this? I'm sorry, I had a hard time adjusting to the fact that Luke was lurking outside the girls' bathroom and we're supposed to not mind.So after this, Luke's personality, or lack of, kicks in and I begin to hate him. Maybe I'm a closet feminist or maybe I just realise how unhealthy YA fantasy relationships have a tendency to be. Why are these young girls so weak and suffering from existential ennui until some guy comes into their life, then suddenly they realise how great and powerful and beautiful they are. You don't need some guy, who most of the time is borderline abusive and controlling and condescending to help you realise your worth. Just because this immortal, gorgeous boy pays attention to you, it doesn't mean you should reciprocate, especially if he is a creep.So Dee, you're letting this stranger isolate you? Clearly Dee is brain dead because there are no alarm bells going off in her head.Then we get the whole Dee/Luke singing together and it's cheesy and unrealistic. Why? Because Dee is supposedly shy but apparently that is forgotten when a boy comes into her life and "brings her out of her shell". So Dee's shyness miraculously disappears when Luke is introduced.And from there you get the generic "i can't stop thinking about him" pages and then Luke just turns up outside of her house and she's cool with it because did I mention he's HOT? Yup, because remember, in YA Fantasy, be a complete psycho, creepy, stalker, murderer but as long as you're hot, you get the girl.AND two days later, they're in love.James is the token best friend who actually has the personality the protagonist and love interest lack, but of course he has to be in love with this dull Mary Sue and get hurt because she likes her men a thousand years old and murderous. That's Luke's deal. He is a murderer and Dee knows this. She gets "pissed off" because "ugh Luke you're so cute why do you have to have this little dent to your perfection, just give me a few minutes to recover then take me home ok". That's how it is. She doesn't run from him or fear her life. No. She just reacts oddly calm. Dee is strangely accepting of faeries and murderers and her telekinesis. It's so unrealistic it makes me mad. Nothing matters to her except for Luke and that is wrong and unhealthy.The plot is just what you would expect. Anything not relevant to the Dee/Luke love story doesn't get explored. Dee's best friend is in an accident and she cares so much! Until she realises Luke is in trouble too then the poor guy is ignored. It doesn't matter that James has been with her throughout her life because she isn't in love with him, so she can treat him like dirt.So you know there's angst, sexual tension, more angst, more descriptions of each other's smells until the anti-climatic ending. There is so much wrong with this book but maybe if I was 13 years old I would find it great.

Let me start off by saying like most people, I really enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why. It remains one of my favourite books because of how deep and meaningful I found it. So naturally, I had to check out other Jay Asher books and wow, what a let down!My main issue with this book is that it was very shallow. The characters were vapid and the premise of the story, although a very good one, was ruined by being given to the two most immature and depthless protagonists. Emma and Josh ruined a great opportunity to really shape their future and other people's by only obsessing over how hot their future partners were. I know there are some teenagers who probably only care about this, but really Jay Asher? After writing a book that kept me awake for days thinking about the little things we do in life and how they affect us, you're going to write about a girl who's main concern is that she doesn't marry the athletic, popular guy she barely knows? Emma was just really dumb and her friends were just as bad as her. The side characters left no impression on me because they lacked substance. Josh was just as bland and hollow as a character. When he finds out his brother is gay, he cares so much that he has an internal crisis when the word gay is brought up then suddenly, he doesn't care. Because duh.. He gets to marry the hottest girl in school!What bothered me about Emma is how she gets excused for being such a bad person. She is a terrible friend and daughter but still gets showered with love. She doesn't suffer for being so self-absorbed. Plot holes or rather undeveloped ideas. There's an elephant in the room we're supposed to ignore here. And it is: why on earth does Emma's computer have access to the future. Of course, it doesn't get resolved because it's not important. What is important is that GOD DAMMIT EMMA'S FUTURE HUSBAND WENT TO HIS FAVOURITE RESTAURANT NOT EMMA'S!!!I expected an epilogue showing us 15 years later so we find out if the best friend does get pregnant or not. I also wanted to know what Josh said to Sydney and why did no one even bother to think about Tyson because he was quite promising, although typical.Nice try here, authors. It was a good idea, but maybe give this to characters who want to find out about important changes (hell if i found out Pluto wasn't a planet any more, I would research it and want to know why) instead of their goddamn relationship statuses.I could rant some more about the characters etc etc but I've covered the basics, maybe.I recommend this book to people who like books with no deeper meaning other than "get out of the friendzone because you can definitely do it!".

I just wrote a very long review of this book and Goodreads didn't save it. I'm trying to act like this doesn't bother me, but wow I'm dying inside.But anyway, now a very short version of my review:This book was lacking because Gemma and Ty didn't play their roles as well as they should have. I found it hard to sympathise with Ty because his sad stories were badly explored. To me he's the sick, disgusting stalker and kidnapper from the beginning to the end. Gemma's affections towards Ty were unrealistic. Maybe I don't understand Stockholm Syndrome, but I thought a month wasn't enough for her to suddenly fall in love with him despite his actions.The long paragraphs dedicated to the sandy desert and plants were a waste of the good time that could have been spent making this story darker and the characters more present. I didn't connect with Gemma or care about her actually, because she was anonymous and a shadow throughout the entire book. I liked her better when she had thoughts of harming herself or escaping. So when those stopped, I felt nothing towards her.Overall, not even close to what I had hoped it would be.

Oh my God. What a breathtaking, spectacular book this is! This is my first David Levithan book (excluding Will Grayson, will grayson) and I am so impressed I will be reading all his other books definitely. So this is also my first book written in verse and I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to connect with it. Not only that, but also it was written about 20 different students! I thought it would be impossible to keep up, but that wasn't the case. The stories all intercepted well with each other and each story made such an impact on me. Mostly because they were not cheesy and the characters went against all the stereotypes you know.I liked the poetry/prose style used and maybe I was reading too much into it, but I was finding deeper meanings in each verse. This is one book I know I will re-read whenever I'm feeling lost or sad. This book is the one I would recommend to someone when I finally find love (hey, this book really does make you want to find your one and only!). I feel like I learned a lot from this book and I would explain what I mean but I think everyone has to find out on their own.

Wow! What a great read!So this book may be an easy read but it is far from mediocre. I liked the writing and idea of the story. I liked the plot twists and the pacing. Now this book is a great example of pacing done well! It gripped me tight and I just couldn't put it down. I wanted to know more and more and fast! The characters... Whilst Lila's obsession with Alex was quite unnerving, I somehow found myself tolerating it mostly because I ended up falling in love with Alex too. The sexual tension between them was overwhelming but very hot ;)I liked the minor characters that were introduced towards the end of the book and I am definitely going to be checking the second one out to find out more about them. I guess all the characters were pretty badass and likable. The reason I wouldn't give this book a 5/5 is because of Lila's attitude towards Rachel and well other females when it comes to Alex. I don't appreciate girls who see every other girl as a threat. Not to mention that Lila kept giving me the worst secondhand embarrassment.

*Spoilers*I once told myself that I wouldn't review a book if I had read it on my attempt to get out of a reading slump because I would most likely find the book...boring. But I'm sure if I was at the prime of my reading, I would still dislike this book.What hurts me the most about this series is how much potential it had. Tally was a promising protagonist when I read the Uglies. Even though I didn't particularly like Pretties as much, she was still bearable.THEN Specials happened. Firstly, look Scott Westerfeld, I find that having Tally's brain hacked in every book lazy writing because it really is just getting out of developing her as a character. But what do I know? Tally's whining was too much for me to handle. I found myself skipping full pages because I couldn't care less about her "icy-making" thoughts. Although so much has happened, we're back to the problem we had in Uglies; Tally's obsession with outer appearance. I was hoping that she would have some epiphany that would make her wake up from her special head and realise that beauty really doesn't matter but no, she never actually did. The plot... Was there even a plot? I really don't understand the point of anything that happened in this book. I thought the ending was again, very lazy. There were no plot twists. Everything that happened was predictable and very contrived. I skimmed the last pages because I really didn't care. Of course now that Zane had been killed off, the only character I liked by the way, Tally would run off with David. Because she just wants someone who will treat her like a special flake. BUT WHY. David was absent for the majority of this series and he just comes back because you know Tally needs a boy in her life right? And Shay? What is up with her cattiness. I get it, it's over David but wow, get over it already.Argh. I'm ending this review now before I go on a long rant.

I would like to think this book was targeted towards a younger audience because it's the type of book I would have enjoyed when I was twelve.This book was very predictable and the writing poor. The characters were badly written and I found them vapid. I did not care about anything that happened to them at all. There was a lot of pointless details that were added into the story and I found myself skimming the pages just so I can confirm what I already knew was going to happen.

*SPOILERS*Sigh.Double sigh.Still sighing.Lately I have been really unlucky with my book choices and it's starting to get to me.Anyway.What a disappointment!After reading Forgotten I was so pumped for this book. The blurb was intriguing and the cover so captivating, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into my second Cat Patrick book.And boy, I should have waited!My problems with this book:- Daisy What a stupid, obsessive, self-absorbed Mary Sue. Half of the time I wanted to slap her dead. I'm tired of rolling my eyes at the dumb things protagonists do, really. So because the majority of the time she was just whining and taking up time, I'll highlight moments when I could not handle her anymore: telling Matt about Revive(ARE YOU DUMB YOU HARDLY EVEN KNOW THIS GUY AND HIS SISTER IS DYING AND YOU SHOW HIM A DRUG THAT BRINGS PEOPLE TO LIFE... EXCEPT IT CAN'T HELP HIS SISTER. JUST ARE YOU SERIOUS?) and the e-mail she sends Matt after the death of Audrey(EXCUSE ME, DAISY. DID YOU JUST SAY YOU HAVE NEVER MISSED ANYONE AS MUCH AS YOU MISS MATT BECAUSE HE ISN'T TALKING TO YOU BECAUSE HIS SISTER WHO WAS YOUR BEST FRIEND JUST DIED BUT WAIT WEREN'T YOU JUST TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU MISS AUDREY ARE YOU STUPID?). Let's just say where Matt was concerned, Daisy was nothing but a lovestruck idiot and I hate lovestruck idiots.- Matt Matt was about as interesting as drying paint. I'm tired of authors assuming that because a character is good looking and swoon-worthy, they don't need substance and personality. Because they do. Am I impressed by Matt's heroism? No. Why? Because Daisy is an idiot.- Matt/Daisy I didn't ship this. Because it was obvious and Daisy was annoying. I didn't feel the chemistry that I was meant to. All I got was Daisy drooling about Matt's ear hair or something. 3/4 of the time Matt was telling Daisy off for being an idiot, pissed off at her for being an idiot and ignoring her because he knows he doesn't need this idiot in his life but apparently he does.- Pacing/Writing I will never ever like a book with long descriptions of what a certain room looks like. It takes up too much from the pacing and we, as readers, gain nothing from it. Because we don't care. This story is 3/4 filled with Daisy's obsession with Matt, bedroom descriptions and other useless things. The only character who could have held my interest was killed off. The climax of the story was shoved in the remaining 30 pages so everything was quick, quick, resolved. No suspense, no tension, no mystery.- Plot holes How did the Revive drug come about? How does it actually work? Why was God interested in Daisy when she's as dull as brick? If these agents are so great, are you telling me they couldn't do a little research on God and had to have it done for them by a teenage brat? If God is then labelled as a murderous psychopath, are we meant to ignore that his Revive drug is supposedly a scientific breakthrough? So overall? This book had potential but sadly, it lost it.

Fugging. Fug. Fugger. Motherfugger.Basically the number one reason I knew I would not like this book. I wanted to take a shot whenever that damn word came up so maybe I would have been so wasted it would cease to bother me.This is definitely my least favourite book by John Green. My least favourite book by anyone. I struggled to get into it, I struggled to finish it. I was rolling my eyes so often my eye sockets actually ache. I'm giving it two stars because I'm generous and I have a soft spot for John Green because this would otherwise be a 0.5 stars.When I read a book , I like to understand and care about the characters and this was not the case with An Abundance of Katherines. Colin was whiny and annoying. Hassan was supposed to be the token fat/unattractive/geeky guy to the oh-so-interesting protagonist and he was supposed to be funny or something but he was not funny at all. Because self-deprecating, fat humour is only funny until it's not and penis jokes get old really fast.Everything about this book was boring. The characters were boring. The constant use of foreign language eventually got annoying. The footnotes on each page annoyed me because they pulled me out of the story, which I was already struggling to like. Unlike other John Green books, there was no great adventure that ends with the protagonist having some sort of philosophical epiphany. There was no actual road trip. Their stay at wherever they were (I forgot) had no influence to Colin or Hassan other than the end, which I saw coming just 15 "fugs" later.If this book had been written from the perspective of TOC maybe it would have been better. I got annoyed by Colin and his random sprouts of uninteresting information. Jesus.This book just didn't do it for me.

Wow!I actually really loved this book. I didn't expect to at first. I thought it would be very cheesy and predictable but it really wasn't! The pacing was great and around 3/4 of the book, it was so intense and gripping I was furiously flipping through the pages just to find out what would happen. The writing flowed and the dialogue was well constructed and this is my first Cat Patrick book, but it sure won't be my last!I enjoyed London as the protagonist here. She wasn't perfect, there were moments I rolled my eyes at her and her thoughts, but she was great. She was mature and caring, not to mention a great friend. Her relationship with Jaime proved that. For someone with her condition, she was not whiny and angsty. She accepted that she was the way she was. I found myself sypmathising with her despite the fact that she didn't actually spend any time feeling sorry for herself. I sympathised with her because she was a good character.Luke! I fell in love with him, over and over again. It has been a while since I fell in love with a fictional character. He reminded me of the guys Sarah Dessen writes about. His love does not completely blind him and I always love that. He could still show his annoyance towards London and that makes him even more real because he accepts this girl the way she is. It couldn't have been easy loving London, but he did. He didn't try to take advantage of her either.It was a pleasant, easy read. Really enjoyed it!

*SPOILERS*What a massive letdown. The cover is intriguing, the blurb is interesting the book? Not so much.I loved Before I Die, it's one of my favourite books. So I was expecting this one to be great, if not at least good and tolerable. It wasn't. I actually didn't finish this book. I stopped at 200 pages after a tedious read. The reason I stopped is because I frankly did not care about any of the characters. I didn't care what happened to them at all. Mikey and Ellie were annoying and their "love" was rushed, unbelievable, so contrived and generic. The dialogue between them was so cheesy and honestly, it made me uncomfortable.Mikey is supposed to be dealing with some anger and raw emotions over his sister, so tell me why he quickly proclaims his love for this sixteen year old girl who is the sister of the guy who is causing her sister pain? For an eighteen year old, he sure is a immature. His feelings for Ellie are just impossible. And he is really, intensely boring. His desire for revenge made him interesting for a while, if he had bashed Tom's brains out, maybe he would have had character, otherwise, he is just so bland. I thought taking care of his family would make him grow up faster but he has the mindset of a 16 year old when it comes to Ellie.I HATED the way he thought and treated other girls too. Maybe he got better, but I don't care enough to want to find out.Ellie. I didn't mind Ellie at first. That was until Mikey and that school fight. I was appalled at the nasty things she said and I don't care who started the fight. Her behaviour afterwards with hiking her skirt up and sauntering off to meet some guy she didn't even know? That was just really dumb and by that point, I was already at the verge of flushing the book down the toilet. She is immature, pathetic, conniving and downright ridiculous. I hate her. I don't even care to know if she knows more about what happened with her brother or not. Can I point out that I personally know someone who got raped and around the time I found out, I was really cautious and even now I still am? It affected me that much. Here, Ellie, you're involved in this case and you're frolicking with some guy you don't even know. I'm done with you.The rest of the characters didn't matter to me. This book really was too boring and annoying to finish. Maybe if it was in the perspective of Holly I would have liked it. But no, it wasn't. It was a narrative through two ridiculous teenagers.

So, I really loved this book. It was hilarious and the characters were well written. I sympathised with both Wills. I loved them and really cared about them. I wanted nothing but the best for them. The way this book is written in two perspectives adds to the pacing of the story which makes it hard to put down. It really is a gripping book and congratulations to John Green and David Levithan for that.The other characters were also well written, of course. I like Jane and even though there isn't much of gideon, I like him too.But to be honest, the main reason I couldn't give this book a 4.5/5 or 5/5 is simply because of Tiny freaking Cooper. I have never disliked a character in a book as much as I dislike him. His personality aggravated me and no amount of explanation for his behaviour can change that. He is a fickle, annoying, conceited, narcissistic jerk. He is a terrible friend. I understand that the message was eventually that everyone has the bad side and we should accept them and love them but no freaking way. If a friend of mine acted the way he did, I wouldn't love him. No. I would leave him. I fear that the main reason Will stuck around is because he is needy and felt he couldn't find someone who would treat him like a human being not just a rag doll; picked up and put down whenever it suited the owner. We're supposed to sympathise with Tiny when he confesses his insecurities to will. But you know what? Those insecurities are pretty darn common but not everyone acts like such an asshole like he does. YES so what Will is weak or however Tiny sees him, you have no right to treat him like that. This is contradictory to his play because he then portrays Will as someone who is quite strong and sensible whereas he previously stated he was weak and pitiful. I am just raging, stark mad. I don't know about how other gay characters are portrayed in other books because this is honestly the first book I've read with the main characters as gay. But are you really serious about Tiny asking for some dude's number in the audience in front of everyone? He isn't cute. He seems desperate and cheap and it's a shame that the authors didn't do something about that aspect of his outlandish personality. I never want to come across a character like him ever again. Ever.Because I swear the last pages of this book made me really want to throw it out the window. My other problem was Maura. I disliked her. Period. I didn't sympathise with her, not ever. She just annoyed me from the second she was introduced and that plot twist made me wish she had been written out of the book. What she did was despicable and like I said about Tiny, her reasons are irrelevant.Maybe I'm feeling particularly pessimistic tonight. Maybe these two characters aren't as bad as I said they are. But honestly, there is nothing I appreciate about Tiny.AFTER that rant, I really did enjoy this book. It was humorous and light yet had a lot of depth to it and the characters are intriguing enough to not want to put the book down.

So, second book in a trilogy. The middle book. So it can be excused for not being as good as the first one and most likely the last one will have more than this one.I liked Pretties. That's all I can really say. It wasn't amazing and it wasn't bland either. I honestly don't know how to review this book...So, Shay. I expected something like that from her. I never really liked her. I like Zane. He's interesting. This book just didn't leave much of an impression on me.I'm only reading the next one to find out what happens to a certain character.

Firstly, the blurb is misleading. You might think this is your average YA paranormal love story about forbidden love, but it's not. Not at all.This book is undoubtedly the start of an incredible series. Although the end was disappointing and a tedious read, I still believe in The Raven Boys. The narrative is flawless and complex. It's told from different perspectives. The characterisation in this book is incredible. You really get to know and understand these characters. I honestly applaud Maggie Stiefvater for fully developing her characters. The start right to 3/4 of the book is gripping and fast paced. I couldn't put it down. The conversations between the characters is fun, witty and relevant to the story. I fell in love with the Raven boys. They're not your typical hot swoon-worthy boys you get in YA books. They actually have personality for one. They're flawed and unpredictable and troubled but they're still strong and admirable. As this is just an opening to a world of magic and mystery I can forgive Stiefvater for the sudden slow pace and lazy ending. But honestly the end of this book sucked. The relationships in this book are really intriguing and I look forward to see what happens next. But if you're looking for a angsty teen sexual frustration I want you but can't have you type of book, this isn't it. Blue is...sensible. So I'm eager to see how her relationships with the boys will develop and if they'll change her.