Snuggly Oranges

My Life Next Door came to my doorstep with a fair amount of hype. *eyes Judith, Cassie* So when the time came and I was eagerly looking for a contemporary romance to lift my spirits, I knew where to turn to. While the beginning was exactly what I was looking for, it quickly petered off, and at the end of the day, due to the high expectations, I was kind of let down.

As a contemporary romance, My Life Next Door delivers on the adorability factor. Sam and Jase are definitely cute together. Jase is just about everything you want in a young adult love interest: he's hot, entirely selfless, strong but caring, and just an all around "good guy". So when Sam and Jase start to fall for each other, I was so pleased. I enjoyed every single minute. ("You have to kiss me." - MELTING.) And I thought, this is all I could ask for. But! That was only about the first half of the book.

And here's the problem with me and contemporary romance: I tend to get bored when the "build up" to a relationship ends and the relationship begins. I mean, they were still cute together, but it bordered on too sappy for me. And since the relationship was not complicated at all (at that point) I started to get a bit bored. (I'm so sorry, MLND fans!) It didn't help that I developed such a violent hatred towards Sam's mother that I either wanted to kill her or chuck my e-reader across the room. I mean, I understand parental frustrations and that that was a crucial point and part of the story, but it bordered on too much for me. And I just couldn't understand that Sam could take so much crap from her mother without saying anything. (Her mother is seriously INSANE - and one of the worst parents I have ever encountered in YA.) It almost made me lose all respect for her. On the other hand, I loved reading about the family dynamics in the Garrett family, and I liked the contrast. (George was adorable.)

Though my interest had waned, at two thirds of the novel, there was a pretty massive plot twist which kept me reading. The question of loyalty between family and the one you love truly sparkled and was interesting to think about - questions of right and wrong, and so forth. But was it everything I was hoping for? No. I dunno. Halfway through the novel, MLND had lost me, and it never really won me back.

In terms of characters, Jase was so static and though I really liked him at the start, the lack of character development remained an issue with me. Sam as a character hovered between slightly liking and being completely frustrated at her inaction. Tim may have been the most interesting character of all, and I definitely had massive amount of respect for him at the end. I am perhaps most disappointed that the situation with Nan was never resolved, which I just cannot understand. And, of course, even at the end, I had a violent hatred towards Sam's mother.

Finally, the last chapter left a bunch of unanswered questions. It's of course not always necessary that the ending is clearly spelled out to a T for you in every novel, but the way My Life Next Door hinted at upcoming resolutions and changes and then did not show the follow through? It just annoyed me.

Summing Up:

I wanted to like My Life Next Door, and I did. But I set out to completely fall head over heels for it like my friends, and sadly it fell a bit flat. It may be mostly a case of too-high-expectations, but this is the truth. I loved the first half, and the Garrett family, but at a certain point, the story kind of lost me. The build up was too fast, the story and characters lacked true complexity to a certain extent... I had my fair share of annoyances, and the cuteness of the romance could not really make up for those. So this is a cute romance when you're in need of cheering up, or at the beach, or something like that.

But after Kody Keplinger, I guess I just expect a bit more from my contemporary romances. I've been spoiled by KK's original and beautifully realistic storylines, and I am intensely tired of the bitchy best friend and the absentee/horrible parents. Not to say this is bad - I still enjoyed it. It's just not the best.

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

Every once in a while, a book comes along with a synopsis and a cover which convince you, no matter what, you will love that book. You don't need to read any reviews or reactions, you just know. It doesn't happen too often. I believe the last time I had it, it was with Stormdancer. But then, along came All Our Yesterdays. I just knew it. However, with previous reads that I had high hopes for ultimately letting me down, I was still nervous about it. But that was unwarranted for All Our Yesterdays. Make no mistake, I love this book.

I'm kind of in love with the time travel concept, so that is what instantly drew me in. It's so well executed that it's hard to do it justice with this review. Time travel is a delicate concept because... how do you tackle it? How do you deal with the paradoxes? Cristin Terrill had no problem with it. She is a master storyteller and the intricate beauty of this story puts this book on my favorites list and her next books on my to-read list as well.

I think what draws me to time travel and parallel universe stories is that it all comes down to the choices we make and their implications. But what All Our Yesterdays does so well is that it uses that to create very complex characters. Let it be known now, I love me a complex villain. Seriously. You give me a book where the villain can show that certain motivations or principles are driving his actions, that there's a logic to it, that it could be perceived as "right", and I will love that book. And that book, in this case, is All Our Yesterdays. The villain is scary and creepy and wrong. But you see his development to that point as well. You see what drives him. You see that he truly believes he's doing good. You almost sympathize with him. But it's also wrong. God, I just love the complexity. It really makes you think.

The other characters, the main characters, Finn and Em, also drew me in. I not only love their personalities, with Em being fiercely loyal and determined and Finn being strong but also very funny, but I love the character development. The story alternates between Marina and Em, Marina from four years in the future, in Marina's present. What Cristin Terrill does really well is show two personalities for the two points of view that are in essence still the same person (and the narration does read as such) but where one, Em, has been weathered by time and become much more mature due to the hardships she has faced. It reads seamlessly and beautifully and is very skillfully done. As the story progresses, you gradually see how both main characters and the villain ultimately become their future selves, which means top notch character development.

As with most young adult novels, there is romance involved here. However, the story is mostly driven by action and the romance doesn't overshadow that. But the romance, guys... Finn and Em... they steal my heart. It began with her, as Marina, her younger self, calling him "the idiot". I was sold. You'll probably know I love me a love-hate relationship, and this is no exception. It was beautiful, both in the younger Marina, who gradually sees more sides of Finn and begins to dislike him less, and the older Em, who loves Finn and can count on him to support her, always. And Finn is just awesome aside from all that because of his amazing ability to always be able to lighten the mood but still be serious when necessary. I love Finn so much, guys, I should just stop now before this becomes a total gush fest. Just one thing: soul mates. Yep.

The ending was freaking intense. Though all the rest of the book is also filled with the kind of action that had me furiously turning the pages and loathing having to put the book down, the ending blew my mind. I was on the edge of my seat. I was gasping. I was crying. It was just amazing. And at the end, when you think it's all tied up one way, and it kind of makes you sad, but it works, it still twists another way and asdfjkl; I can't. This is such an intense story... It's seized my heart. I loved it. A perfect ending, which can be read as a stand alone, but still makes me extremely happy there will be a sequel.

Summing Up:

I don't often cry over books (tweeting "I'M CRYING" is seldom serious with me) but All Our Yesterdays definitely got me to shed a tear. I was completely absorbed by the characters, by the concept, by the action, by the romance... I didn't want to put the book down for a second and anxiously watched the page numbers increase, knowing there was less and less left and dreading it coming to an end. However, that ending was intense and perfect, and I can't think of a negative thing to say (because "I want moreeeee; why is it overrrrr?" doesn't count). This is one of my all-time favorite books and an extremely powerful debut by Cristin Terrill. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

GIF it to me straight!

Overall:

Me, over the course of this novel:

The last 40 pages:

To Cristin Terrill:

Recommended To:

Geek Girl is one of those books that I pick up when I'm in a certain mood. It's a light, fluffy contemporary with a certain escapism appeal. And in that sense, it's so great to read - as long as I don't start qualitatively analyzing it.

This book has a lot going for it. As a raging nerd and geek myself, I definitely connected with Harriet on many points. I think in a way that a lot of people don't understand - and while I don't collect random facts and spew them out all the time, it was definitely enjoyable to read from that point of view. Harriet is just amazingly awkward but in a very relatable and touching way. However, I must say, that toward the end of the book, her personality - the awkward exclamations of facts and the constant self-deprecation - got exhausting.

I desperately wanted her to grow, at least from the self-deprecation stuff. I mean, this girl is picked out of nowhere to be a model, swept into the modeling world, and is an instant sensation. Meanwhile, she will tell you every moment she gets that she is so ugly that it makes no sense why they picked her. I mean, a little self-doubt is understandable, particularly as a teenager. But it felt overdone here. She wouldn't entertain the notion that maybe some people thought she was pretty for a second. And not only did that kind of make me lose respect for her, it also made me believe her. At the end of the book, I was just nodding going, "Yeah, I dunno why they picked you either. I mean, gosh. Ugly."

I did, however, enjoy her budding romance with Nick. I thought they were adorable together, and though I suppose it leaned a little towards instalove, that actually didn't bother me at all. Particular the end was just.. all the adorbs! I loved it! And that will probably have me picking up the sequel anyway.

The rest of the novel was more or less middle-of-the-road stuff. It was a nice pick-me-up, and it had some nice moments, like Harriet's relationship with her stepmother, Annabeth, and her father and Annabeth's relationship. However, there were also some moments that were completely exhausting: like Wilbur, the eccentric agent who picks up Harriet and all his *headdesk*-worthy nicknames. Also, Toby, the geek who openly stalks Harriet kind of freaked me the hell out when I really thought about his behavior. At first glance he was kind of cute-nerdy, but he really stalks Harriet, and she is perfectly okay with it. That's just something I can't really comprehend.

The plot was straightforward and unsurprisingly. Exactly what you would expect from such a contemporary escapism read. I could have done with less best friend drama and stuck up model drama, but I guess if you pick this book up, you're probably someone who doesn't mind that kind of thing.

Summing Up:

What can I say? No big surprises in this book. What you see is what you get. When you have nothing else to read and really just want something light and cute to pick you up, consider Geek Girl. It's pretty fun. But don't expect to be wowed. The romance may be its biggest selling point though, and that definitely has me curious for the sequel, Model Misfit. But it's not really on the priority list.

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

The Burning Sky is one of those books with a premise and a cover that pretty much had me salivating. It sounded perfect for me. It hit all the right notes. And while I recognized many points on which the book could have been better, this was such an engaging and absorbing read that I loved it all the same.

Let's get the elephant out of the room: the romance. It is... amazing. Irresistible. Addicting. Iolanthe and Titus have a chemistry that drips off the page. It didn't take long at all for me to be head over heels for them. It was just the right kind of development for me: starting off with mild interest, turning to disdain, turning to fervently denying any affections and trying to resist... but it being inevitable and unavoidable. All around though, the slightest mention of any affection between the two main characters had my heart pounding. It was just so beautiful. And then you end up with irresistibly adorable quotes like...

Now he could work her likeness into any story of his choosing.
Now he could fight dragons for her.
And now he could kiss her again. -The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

This leads perfectly into my immense love for the main characters. Iolanthe, the elemental mage of prophecy, gets recruited to go on a quest to save the realm from the Bane, a tyrant mage of Atlantis, by the Prince, Titus. The book actually gets told from the alternating perspectives of Iolanthe and Titus. If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not typically a fan of alternating perspectives. But, here it wasn't alternating chapters - sometimes they switched multiple times in one chapter, and each switch felt necessary. Not only because you see the two characters gradually falling for each other (which is irresistible, as we have established), but also because they have such different motives and perspectives during their mission. Their voices, in that sense, were also really distinctive. Titus, the prince, is absolutely charming in every way, even though he can act like a prick - and does that as an act to the outside world. But his bravery and dedication run so deep that I absolutely love him. Iolanthe starts off completely frightened by the situation, and then starts resenting Titus (due to spoilery circumstances). Over the story though, she develops and grows in a huge way, and by the end she is so courageous and confident, that it's almost like she's a totally different person. It's character development at its very best.

The plot itself had its ups and downs. The beginning was strong, with Titus coming to rescue Iolanthe and them running to safety while being introduced to the prophecy and the two wonderful main characters. The middle, however, could have been way stronger. While I liked reading more about the characters and the budding romance, the plot had its moments where I was wondering where in the world it was going. However, the end pulled it all together again. It was fast-paced, heart stopping action that I just loved, with magic, dragons, battles, political intrigue, etc. In short, it took a while to get there, but the plot was convincing too.

So while for most of this book I was so overcome by feels that I managed to ignore any prevailing negatives, I do recognize that this book wasn't perfect. Most of my qualms (in fact, all of them) related to the world building. See, young adult high fantasy is hard to accomplish. Younger readers are less tolerant of the long exposition sections typical to high fantasy: the info-dumps that create the world. However, in high fantasy, you're creating a world from scratch, so to be thorough, those info-dumps are almost necessary. The Burning Sky did not contain those info-dump expositions, so younger readers won't be scared off. But, this means the world was a bit underdeveloped for my taste, and I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.

For instance, there are different types of magic: elemental magic, subtle magic, and mind magic. What each type entails and where the boundaries lie remains extremely vague. Also, all throughout the book I was wondering whether the people in the human world knew about the existence of magic or not - because it's never explicitly stated either way. And I was also confused about the intersection between the magic realms and the nonmage realms - are they in the same plane, are they different dimensions, or what? I couldn't figure it out, and as a bit of a world building fanatic, that did bother me. I wanted a map (especially of the capital city in the magic realm) and I just wanted clarity, especially also in some scenes where magic was used and the descriptions were so rushed and vague that I couldn't picture it that well in my imagination. But, as a reader who obsesses over world building, the fact that I managed to ignore this issue so well, due to the overwhelming and beautiful feels, means that the book doesn't suffer so much from this. It's still an absolutely wonderful read. (Here's hoping this is cleared up in the sequel!)

Summing Up:

Seriously, this is a favorite. This is a Debby Book™. This beautiful story, and especially the romance, had me flailing around on my bed, seriously stifling sobs and squeals. It struck me in the heart like Cupid's arrow. I will be rereading this so often, and the world building issue is almost negligible at this point. I just love it! I will go crazy for an ARC of the sequel, because I need that in my hands as soon as humanly possible.

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

**An electronic ARC was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for an honest review. Thank you!

I'm pretty sure we all know the quote, "We read to know we are not alone," by C.S. Lewis. That sums up what this book means to me. This book is the closest that has ever come to being a reflection of me and my life up to now. It is so relatable, and when I find books like that, I start crying. Needless to say, this book is an all-time favorite for me - one of the most special books I have ever read. However, not everyone will have that reaction to this book. So I'm going to try to point out the merits aside from how this is such a great reflection of me, and then I'll get to the validation-of-my-life-story parts after that.

Adorkable is adorable. HA. I thought I might as well get that out of the way first of all. If you're a blogger, you will have an instant connection to Jeane, because I feel like all of us are to a certain extent outsiders in our real life worlds. But at the same time, through blogging and through Twitter and such, we've found like minded people who are spread far and wide but who definitely mean something. If you've felt that discrepancy between online life and real life, between your online personality and your real life personality, between how people see you in real life and how they see you online - you need to read Adorkable, because it hits the nail on the head.

Both main characters I absolutely loved. Jeane, I already mentioned, the blogger, is eccentric and at times horribly stuck up and conceited. But at the same time, you can feel that there's much more to her than that. When she's defensive and closed off, you know there's something else to the story. I related to that part a lot, and I'll get to that later. But Jeane does send a great message about owning who you are and not apologizing for that, about finding your own voice and making it loud and clear, and about standing for something and being independent. Michael, the popular boy who "hates" her, is just a winner. He comes off as quite abrasive at first, in his ignorance, but he really quickly grows from that. He's just a truly caring, golden boy. His devotion and attentiveness to others really made me swoon. To be honest though, I swooned from his first mention.

Adorkable is told from the alternating perspectives of Jeane and Michael. Usually I don't like alternating perspectives at all, but this is probably my favorite book that's done that so far. The two personalities are extremely distinctive, and due to their circumstances (the love-hate thing) you need that look into their inner thoughts. It's hilarious when they're oblivious to each other's feelings and intentions. They also contradict themselves in their narrations every once in a while, which becomes clear when it switches perspectives again. It's a very unique writing style that is absolutely absorbing. You really get to know two fleshed out characters very well and see development on both sides, as they learn from each other. Authors, if you want to do alternating perspectives, read this book. This is how you make it convincing.

So I know you're wondering about that romance. This may be my favorite written romance ever. I'm thinking now if I have a bookish (canon) couple that tops it, and I'm not sure I do. You'll probably know I'm a huge fan of love-hate relationships, and this one hit all the right notes. The chemistry was astounding. There will be involuntary flailing and squealing - you have been warned. Sarra uses all the right tropes, like the kiss-you-to-shut-you-up thing, and seriously, that's one device that will definitely make me like your book. Then the transitions in and development of the relationship, the ups and downs, it was all very real, absorbing, and addictive. AND HOT. VERY HOT. I just loved every minute of it, and I don't know how to make that more clear. A GIF? Sure. As a matter of fact, I have the perfect one.

But let's wrap this up so it's not entirely a novel of a review. If you read my extremely long and personal post of last week and related to it or had massive feels because of it, read this book. Because we're now to the part about how this book relates to me. It's my life story. All of the feelings I poured into that post last week were also in this book, along with more things. How Jeane is as a person is extremely close to how I am - except that I'm a little less abrasive (I hope) and I don't dress quite as crazily. I won't rehash last week's post, because I'm trying to keep this short, but I've felt like an outsider all of my life, I've been shunned and looked down on by my mother, of course I am also a blogger, and I'm extremely defensive. I don't really let people close to me too easily for fear of getting hurt. I keep myself busy so that I don't have to think about complicated feelings. I avoid confrontation like it's the end of the world. So I understood a lot of Jeane's behavior that other readers might not.

Honestly though, the kicker was this scene towards the end of the book, [spoiler]where Jeane ends up alone on Christmas day and comes to the realization that she has absolutely nowhere to go, and when shit hits the fan, there's no one for her to call either.[/spoiler] If I wasn't in the car, reading this, with a colleague next to me, I would have been bawling. If I had been at home reading this, I would have just laid down on the floor and curled up into a ball. (Yeah, I do that sometimes, no judging.) Why? I've had that exact experience. I know exactly how that feels. And that all just came rushing back. I'm honestly almost in tears as I'm typing this. Experiences like that suck and hopefully most people don't know how that feels. You may not relate to it as well as I did, but know that that scene and the underlying emotions were right on the mark.

Summing Up:

I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it up. I had never heard of it, but it was at Boekenfestijn, a Dutch book fair, for, I think, 2 euros. I quickly read the back and instantly knew this was for me. As such it was the first of the 9 books I bought at Boekenfestijn that I read. I expected it to be enjoyable and that I would have a few laughs, but I never expected it to be a book that would be so dear to my heart. It's by far the best spent 2 euros of my life.

I loved everything about this book. I have an everything-I-wanted shelf on Goodreads, and this definitely has a spot on there. From the two awesome main characters, their depth, growth, witty banter, and awesome romance, to the great British humor and pop culture references, to the themes of finding your own voice and celebrating your uniqueness, to the relatable scenes that had me crying, to the perfect ending... I honestly don't have a single complaint. I mean, look at this massive review, and I still feel like I'm not doing this book justice. (I barely even talked about the plot, EEP.) asdfjkl; If it were up to me, everyone in the world would be required to read this.

Anyone who wants to have an understanding of who I am as a person needs to read this book. It covers all the pain and insecurities I had in high school and college, and it aptly had me tearing up at those parts. However, it's also an inspiration to me. An inspiration in that I need to just be me and feel confident and reassured in that. It's also a reaffirmation of the love in this blogging community, and it has motivated me to keep blogging and expanding my life here. I'm going to own the fact that I'm a blogger, and I'm never going to be ashamed of that or hide that from others. To top it all off, it's given me a lot more ideas and goals that I want to accomplish as a blogger - so look forward to that!

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

When I was invited to review Day One, I wasn't sure it would be a good idea, as it's not the kind of book I typically pick up (a.k.a. it's not young adult). However, I thought maybe it would be a good thing to try something totally different and see how it worked out for me. The plot at least sounded pretty interesting, and I've been curious about the concept of "cyberpunk" for a while. Sadly, it just didn't work for me on any level. Here are some of the reasons why:

• The plot is like a standard action movie: senseless violence and so many character deaths that after the first few shocking ones I was completely desensitized to it. It became the kind of book where there's a graphic scene of someone getting their face blown off, and I'm just sitting there like, "Yeah, sure, whatever, who's next?" When that happens, I feel completely apathetic. The book just did not strike the right emotional chords for me to be effective.
• Part of my apathy probably stems from the fact that we're rushed right into this end-of-the-world territory without actually getting to know the characters. And this is why young adult books work better for me - the characterizations are usually much more thorough and deep, and that's super important to me. I couldn't connect with Hawke at all.
• It just plain bored me. The book was so repetitious that after 65% or so, I just started skimming. The whole thing followed a pattern of the following: 1. Hawke has a flashback/dream about his family that is there to remind you that he is a family man but for the rest serves little purpose. 2. They run through the city. 3. They yell at each other about whether they trust each other or not. 4. The police/military/Jane finds them. 5. One of the sidekicks is brutally killed. 6. REPEAT.
• It seemed totally farfetched. The book starts off with clear evidence that this is very near the present day. Current events such as Occupy Wall Street, Hurricane Sandy, and the like are mentioned, placing this story in 2012-2013. However, you can't wrtie about the singularity happening in the present day - not to the extent that it happens in the book. We are nowhere near that point. It's like the present day elements were deliberately thrown in there to make us fear this possibility, but then as soon as they start getting to the bigger sci-fi bits, they leave that in the dust. The two don't add up though. They just don't.
• It felt like the plot was very disjointed and shallow. I did not understand the actions of the characters (like, oh, the whole city has shut down, but there's a sentient being targeting us that can control anything with a computer chip - hey, I know, let's go run down the subway tracks, there's no way the train could suddenly move to mow us down!) or the back story, the reason why Hawke was a target at all. As far as I could tell, he was absolutely no one special, and I didn't get why Jane would make him a target/scapegoat anyway - as soon as the police/military kill him, she still had 60% of the population left to kill. Are these spoilers? I honestly don't care right now.

Summing Up:

I didn't hate this book, but I couldn't bring myself to care for it for even a second. It was derivative, standard, repetitious, and shallow. I couldn't get into the story, I couldn't connect to the characters, and I honestly stopped even blinking at all the character deaths. That's not a good thing. This book just didn't work for me.

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

I finally read my first Neil Gaiman book - ever! And oh boy it was just as, if not more, beautiful as I expected. Stardust is brilliant. It reads just like a fairytale, and Neil Gaiman shows what a brilliant storyteller he is.

I think Neil Gaiman's talent is obvious by how easily he creates a story that appeals to all ages. Stardust honestly has something for everyone: romance, adventure, magical creatures, even some graphic battles. Also, it is a rather simple and straightforward story, but it's so meticulously worked out with beautiful details and intricacies. The story is just solid. It works, and it'll work for almost every reader. I read it with full enjoyment the whole time. It's the kind of book that can easily pull you out of a reading slump.

So I loved every bit of the adventure - not much to say there - and of course, the romance between Tristran and Yvaine worked absolutely perfectly for me. I'm such a huge fan of hate-to-love romance progressions, and this was yet another great one. Even at the end, there's some quote about more or less how being called an idiot was the best thing. That gets me every time :') Maybe the transition could have been expanded a little more to make it more gradual and memorable, but I honestly loved it anyway.

If I have to nitpick, I'll say that the beginning was quite slow, with the story starting focused on Tristran's father and mother, before his birth. Though it was more or less a prologue, it took quite some time and I hadn't seen the movie recent enough to remember where the story was going at that point. The story really picked up for me when Tristran finally set out on his adventure. Then I became addicted to turning the pages. And a second minor point would be that I wish the story was a bit longer. A lot of the adventure part and the development of the romance were just so quick... It left me wanting more! (But is that really that negative? My gut says no.)

Summing Up:

This story was beautiful, the writing was so fluid and amazing, and it was just like a fairytale; Stardust definitely lives up to its reputation. I can easily see why so many people love it and pick it as their favorite Gaiman book. As for me, I'm so excited now to read more of his books little by little (and hey, I already read Coraline, and that review will be up next). He really is a natural storyteller and I can't wait to go on more of his adventures. And Stardust is a book I'll happily recommend to any reader.

GIF it to me straight!

Recommended To:

Coraline, perhaps Neil Gaiman's most famous work (due to the movie adaptation), is one of those books that probably everybody has to read sometime. I'll be the first to admit that the only reason this book shot up on my to-buy and to-read list was because of the appearance of the signed limited edition slip case edition on the Book Depository (which is still available btw). It finally appeared in the mail, and what a thing of beauty!

Coraline is a quick read, with its large print and beautiful and haunting illustrations. I finished it within two and a half hours, easily, and I'm not a particularly fast reader. It tells the story of Coraline, a brave and adventurous little child who moves into a new house and goes exploring. She discovers a different world, where an evil creature steals her parents and wants to steal her soul. Especially when paired with the illustrations (which are different in my 10th anniversary copy, compared to the original version), this is a book that could easily have given me nightmares as a child.

But I would probably have liked it if my parents made me read it anyway. Above all, Coraline sends a strong message about bravery and a more subtle one about familial love. Coraline is a wonderful character, and I loved reading about her. I especially liked, in this 10th anniversary edition, reading about Neil Gaiman's writing process and the development of the story in his new foreword - and his sweet updated acknowledgements at the end. I'm becoming a bigger and bigger Neil Gaiman fan! Must read more of his books soon! (And I only own one more that I haven't read! Time to order more??)

Summing Up:

Neil Gaiman is a born storyteller, and this story is fantastic in its strange and haunting world, paired with the beautiful illustrations of Chris Riddell. It's a story that I hope all children would read - perhaps not as much the ones that are easily scared, but the others certainly. I wish I had discovered this as a child, but I'm happy knowing that my own children, if I ever get that far, will not suffer the same deprivation as me.

GIF it to me straight!

This Song Will Save Your Life is a book I dearly wish I had when I was growing up. Though it has its darker moments, it's extremely true to life that way. I saw so much of myself in the story that it was quite confrontational. And in the end, it's the kind of book that makes you think and possibly resolve to change. To put it simply: this book is amazing and one I will go back to often.

This story is a must read for anyone who went through high school and felt lonely, was excluded, was bullied, had trouble making friends, and struggled with self-confidence. If you had any of these issues, you will totally relate to this book. I am one of those people, so Elise's voice was extremely authentic, heartfelt, and relatable to me. It's the kind of story that has you reflecting on your own experiences and can easily get you to shed a tear.

Elise has a lot of issues with her self-worth or, rather, lack of it. And that, for a reader like me, is not only relatable, but kind of confrontational -- in a good way. It really challenged how I think about myself. Though I recognized Elise's feelings, the way the story plays out shows beautifully how she does have people who care about her, and that she is an important and worthy person. When you're in a situation like Elise's, like I have been, it's easy to fall into that kind of myopia where you don't see that. Long story short, this book ultimately caused me to gain self-respect, or at least to look at the bigger picture. That's amazingly uplifting and inspiring.

I'll admit that sometimes I wished Elise would hurry up and get her reality check because it sucked to see her hurting so much, but the character growth is there. No worries. The self-deprecation all just felt so real and understandable that I did not mind it at all. I just loved every bit of this story: the authentic voice, the heartbreaking realism of her life in high school, the love of music, the family bonds, the bits of romance that were there, the friendships.. oh my gosh, this book just hit the nail on the head. A definite Debby Book™, and the more I think about it, the more and more I realize I love it.

But I love the overall message most of all: that when you find a massive passion, it can save your life. It's so true. And then I think about myself with this whole book blogging, book reviewing thing. I mean, finding this hobby really allowed me to come into my own, made me feel confident and comfortable with who I am. That is so important. I was always different and to a large extent an outsider, both in high school and university, but then I started this blog. Every day, my confidence grows, and I meet more like minded people who respect me for who I am. And I love that. I love how this book reflected that. ♥

As a final note, I want to give some massive praise to Leila Sales for the ending of this book with regards to the romance. Romance didn't play too big of a role in this book, because it was much more of a coming-of-age book about finding yourself. And I really respected that. There was some romance, and it ended in the best possible way that's kind of unique in young adult, and an important kind of message to send to readers. I won't spoil it, so I'm just saying that I absolutely loved it.

Summing Up:

This story is absolutely beautiful and very dear to my heart. It does what I love that contemporaries can do: it challenged how I think about myself and inspired me to do better. I highly recommend this to pretty much every reader. I'm so jealous of the people that got the promotional mix CDs from Macmillan, because I totally want to listen to all the music mentioned in this book. As a music freak, that part was also just beautiful.

And then, because I love it, I'll leave you with a quote.

Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don't know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn't you. That isn't you at all. - This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

GIF it to me straight!

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Dear Jessica Darling...... what are you? This book has left me feeling extremely conflicted.

Jessica and I did not get along at first. In fact, when I was about a third of the way through, I was totally ready to throw the book across the room and just call it a day. This girl complains about everything. Her voice, and I should mention this book is written like a diary, is extremely whiny. Were they realistic complaints? Sure. Could I relate to them, looking back on my own experiences in high school? To a certain extent. But damn, this girl just carried on complaining about everything. After her best friend moved away, she seriously just hates everything, and that gets extremely exhausting to read about.

I mean, Jessica's the kind of girl who slut shames to a certain extent, who hangs out with "friends" and then calls them "The Clueless Crew" behind their backs because she actually hates them and thinks they're completely ridiculous. Oy vey. So yeah, I considered tossing it.

But I didn't. I picked it back up on my commute on the way home and suddenly... I was into it! I was really kind of enjoying it. Nothing had changed though. I think I really just needed to get used to Jessica's voice. Other people have said this was a "laugh out loud" book because of the realism and relatability... well, I wouldn't go so far. I honestly didn't really laugh at any of her annoying complaints. But after I got used to her voice, I did see where she was coming from, and the understanding I gained of her character made the story more enjoyable.

However, I should mention that this book is not what I expected. Honestly, I expected a fluffy romantic book, and this is not that at all. There's some romance, admittedly, but it comes into play really late and just serves as a lead in for the next book, which has me doing a *headdesk* because it means that I actually really want to read the next book, because Jess and Marcus are adorableeeeeeeee and I want more of that.

What Sloppy Firsts actually is is a, more or less, literal reality show. You watch Jessica go through her daily life. And to some extent, it is boring as fuck. But then I just kept reading anyway. I don't know. There's no logic to this, seriously. I was reading at a rapid pace because it's an easy and quick read, and at the same time I was questioning myself, "Where is the plot? What is going on? Whyyyyyy?"

Summing Up:

Sloppy Firsts is a book you should only pick up if you want to reminisce about high school life - even if you hated it, or particularly if you hated it. Whatever. It's basically just a picture of average high school life. I can't say much more than that. The characters were okay. I loved Marcus, but his presence was limited, so alas. The writing was okay. The ending and the family dynamics that came into play there I actually really really loved. And I did see Jessica grow as a character at the end, so that made me look back on the book overall in a favorable way. But is it a book I would name a favorite and highly recommend to read? Not really.

But damn if I don't want to order Second Helpings soon. *sigh* I hate myself.

GIF it to me straight!

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When I saw this listed on the Book Depository, I just knew I had to buy it. It had to happen. I love the Percy Jackson series so much, so I honestly didn't care that it would be the exact same story. The illustrations would make it a whole new and wonderful experience. In a way, I was correct, but still this could have been better.

In terms of the adaptation, this graphic novel is extremely close to the original, so no worries there. If anything, it begs the question why the movie couldn't be a closer adaptation, but I think we've all established what a disappointment the movie was.

For the most part I liked the artwork, though I found it extremely odd that they still claimed that Percy was 12 years old, in 6th grade, and he honestly looks at least 18 if not older. So that's a bit of a clash there: they tried to give it a more mature comic book look, but if the characters are so young, that doesn't really work. Making them look intentionally younger, however, would maybe give it a more manga, chibi-esque look that would also exclude a lot of the potential audience. So... I understand the difficulty of the decision, but I do wonder if there wasn't some happy compromise to be found in the middle.

While I was impressed with the world building details that they still managed to include in the graphic novel, I was disappointed overall by the length and pacing of the story. I mean, this graphic novel is 128 pages. That's so freaking short. A lot of the scenes, especially battles, were shortened to one to two pages. The Lotus Hotel & Casino scene? Two or three pages. That's just sad. It was all very rushed, and I wonder why it couldn't have been expanded. Also so much of the sarcastic humor that I love about Percy was cut out. More sadness.

Summing Up:

This was a fun quick way to experience the first of the Percy Jackson series in a new format. I enjoyed it, for sure, though the artwork could maybe have been a bit better and overall it was just far too short. However, as a die hard Percy fan, I don't regret this purchase, and I'll probably pick up the next graphic novels as well. Just to have more Percy in my life. But I wouldn't recommend this as a substitute for the actual Percy Jackson books.

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How do I even start this review? I was ecstatic when Judith told me she would send me her ARC of Just One Year, because it was honestly one of my most anticipated books of this year, after I read Just One Day. I honestly thought there'd be no way in hell that I wouldn't like this book. When Judith didn't give it 5 stars, I thought she must be crazy.

I take back my unspoken thought, Judith. You're not crazy.

WHAT was this book? WHY did it go like this? HOW did Gayle Forman think this was a good idea, that this was the book we wanted?

First things first then, and it really pains me to say this, but I didn't like Willem's voice. I know. Your jaws just dropped to the floor. But just honestly. I loved him in Just One Day, he was kind of mysterious and dreamy, and though you didn't know much about him, you desperately wanted more. Well here we get it. It's Willem's point-of-view the whole way through... and it didn't work. It wasn't convincing. I'm not convinced Forman can write a believable male point-of-view, since I also didn't like Adam's voice in Where She Went. The thing is, it was total wish fulfillment bullshit. All Willem thinks and talks about the whole time is Allyson and how much he likes her, how he can't forget about her... I'm sorry, but that's not realistic. He's a guy. He's supposed to have some freaking balls. I just... It wasn't convincing. At all. I wanted substance. But he was just boring. And all the love that I had built up around him in Just One Day was swept away. *sigh*

Added to this personality that didn't really agree with me, the plot... it was so boring. This starts off the day that Willem and Allyson are separated and then covers the year until they meet again. Willem does nothing but pine for Allyson and simultaneously travels to Mexico and India. While in Just One Day, Allyson's year apart clearly showed a story of personal growth, that wasn't really the case for Willem. He didn't grow much, if at all. And it doesn't help that Mexico and India are definitely not high on the list of countries I want to visit. This didn't evoke the kind of wanderlust that Just One Day did, at least for me. But anyway, Willem's experiences in these countries honestly felt like it was just a stall tactic. It was boring. I was just passing the time until he would be reunited with Allyson.

Since this combination of blah main character and blah boring plot wasn't keeping me entertained, I was already in a rather blah mood and difficult to impress. So things that might not have bothered me otherwise started to bother me. It just seemed like this book was trying too hard. For example, Gayle throws in a bunch of Dutch words at random, to... I don't know, emphasize the fact that Willem's Dutch. And while I appreciate the effort and none of it was incorrect or anything, it felt extremely odd as a Dutch reader. Particularly when Willem meets up with his Dutch friends, guys, all in their 20s, and then Broodje suggests making a "borrelhapje". Here's a Dutch lesson: anything ending with -je is the diminutive form of the word. It's cutsey. It's not something that a group of 20 year old guys would ever seriously say. It sounded extremely awkward. And another thing that bothered me is Forman's glaring attempts to be "deep". When you're in a naggy mood, reading one of her books is a bad idea. Each chapter ends with a sentence that has like a double or deeper meaning. But it just annoyed me. I just felt it was so obvious and trying too hard. Just. No. Ugh. Cue the eyerolls.

The ending...

I couldn't imagine a bigger disappointment.

Summing Up:

I've honestly tried, tried so hard to think of something to name that I liked in this book. But I'm coming up completely blank. Honestly. It may not be entirely bad, but right now, my massive disappointment is overshadowing everything. I mean, I named Just One Day one of my all-time favorite books. And now I'm going to try to forget about this book and just pretend JOD was a standalone. This book added nothing. I would take back reading it if I could. That is honestly how I feel right now.

And I'm questioning whether I get along with Gayle Forman's writing after all. I've read the Just One Day and If I Stay duologies, and of those four books I've only liked Just One Day. I'm thinking that was the exception to the rule. And I'm aware this makes me a total black sheep, but you know what? I don't care. Though I do wonder why it just won't work for me.

GIF it to me straight!

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The Promise of Amazing promised amazing things. ZING. I had to get that out of the way. I just had to. Now that we've gotten the title pun in here, let's see... did it deliver on its promise? Tragically, no. But I won't say that this book was completely terrible either. I mean, it has a pretty cover. Look at that! Ain't it purty?

If one enters this book in the right mood, it can be quite enjoyable. Let me clarify what I mean. When I started reading The Promise of Amazing, I was desperately in need of some winter-themed fluff. And this book takes place in the winter. And the plot is very much romance-centric. So it was a comfortable kind of read, and it read quite quickly. It was easily digestible, and that was something I was desperately in need of.

I quite enjoyed the romance between Wren and Grayson! I definitely felt some of the chemistry between them, if only because Robin Constantine sure knows how to write kissing scenes. A lot of bloggers have been calling it instalove, and yeah, I see where they're coming from. But I do feel like the instalove was mostly onesided, and surprisingly not on the girl's side. No, Wren was much more hesitant about trusting Grayson and letting him get closer to her. I could actually follow her logic and really enjoyed her narrations. I did feel a connection to her, because a lot of her worries, not just about the romance, but about college and the future, mirrored my own in high school. I definitely thought she was a realistic main character.

But Grayson... oh man did I want to shoot that guy sometimes. The instalove is 90% from his side. Within two brief meetings with Wren, the first of which entirely consists of him puking on her shoes, he starts saying things like, "There was a genuineness about Wren that made me feel like I didn't have to put up a front. Like she really saw me." *barfs* And then, "The way we met, at this point in my life, had to mean something. I needed to see her again."

Thank you, Draco. This is utter wish fulfillment bullshit. Show me a teenage guy who thinks like this and I'll show you a flying pig. It doesn't help either that in spite of these random interjections of instalove, Grayson still revels in being somewhat of a womanizer and obsesses over physical attraction. Sure, Wren has her moments of instalove, but they are much subtler, where she talks about feeling a magnetic pull to Grayson. That, to some extent, I can believe. But the bullshit Grayson's spouting? NO THANK YOU. TL;DR: I wish this whole book would be written from Wren's perspective, because I'm sure I'd like it at least twice as much.

What I also dislike is that the author tried to make some sort of plot aside from the romance, hinging on Grayson's background, where he was friends with the wrong people who encouraged him to run a business of selling term papers and participate in other hijinks. But this book was begging to be all about the romance, and thus this side plot was just half-assed. At the end, its resolution was met with a shrug. I couldn't bring myself to care for it for a second. It was just there to get in the way of the smooching - which, again, I quite enjoyed - and probably kept this book from being as amazing as it could have been. 100% fluff is not totally a bad thing. It's quite what I expected from this book, to be honest. But trying to pull off being more than fluff, when you're really not? That just ends badly.

Summing Up:

It wasn't a completely terrible read, but The Promise of Amazing definitely didn't live up to its title. (I can't stop using this pun. Sorry not sorry. It's just too easy. To be honest, picking a title like that is just dangerous, because it begs to be made fun of.) While I liked the kissy scenes, I definitely wanted to stab Grayson. It was an odd reading experience, where I tried to ignore the instalove declarations that annoyed me, kind of like me reading with one eye shut, trying to block out the bad and concentrate only on the good. So while I still managed to enjoy it to some extent, it's not an experience I'd care to repeat, nor one that I'd actively recommend to other people.

GIF it to me straight!

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Here we go, issue 328597 in "The Chronicles of Debby, the Heartless Bitch". As much as I hoped that I would fall in love with Looking for Alaska like almost everyone else and be reduced to a sobbing mess as I was practically promised I would be... it just didn't work out. Grief stories are officially not for me.

I should say up front that I've already read The Fault in Our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, and thus, I am familiar with his writing style and devices he typically uses. And that's issue number one. His characters are all extremely similar. We have the intelligent and witty main character, the manic pixie dream girl love interest, and the sidekick best friend who has moments of quirkiness and vulgarity. Admittedly, The Fault in Our Stars is rather different and unique, but I've heard that Paper Towns has this same pattern too. To sum it up: I just wasn't impressed with the characters in Looking for Alaska, I didn't connect to them, and I couldn't bring myself to actively care for them either.

Particularly the main character, Miles, I just didn't give a rat's ass about. He had instalove feelings for Alaska and meanwhile pretty much stomped all over the feelings of Lara, who liked him for some totally inexplicable reason. But perhaps the most memorable scene in this whole freaking book to me - showing that this book seriously didn't work for me - is this brutally awkward blowjob scene. Lara wants to give Miles a blowjob (after they're dating exactly one day), then she sticks his dick in her mouth and freezes. "Now what?" she asks. She asks if she should bite. Miles doesn't know either - no, due to the heat of the moment, all memories of porn have been swept away. So they go and ask Alaska. She laughs and explains it to them. And then they go and do it.

Words cannot describe the very many issues I have with this scene. It just plain made me feel extremely uncomfortable and.... No. Just no. NO.

But John Green's strength is in his writing style, and that is obvious. The man definitely has a way with words, and his prose is beautifully fluid. While this didn't have quite as many quotable quotes as The Fault in Our Stars, it wasn't hard to just revel in the prose.

I did, however, have trouble connecting to the story. Not only were the character's John's standard mix, and thus, in my mind, boring, but being a fan of the Vlogbrothers on YouTube meant that I could see John in everything. In hobbies and interests he wound into the story. In references mentioned in his videos. The curse of knowledge surely had its effect on me. I kept getting drawn out of the story because of all these connections, and I can't help but wish I knew nothing about John so that this wouldn't have bothered me.

Now we come to the plot. It's hard to talk about it without spoiling things but... I thought it was rather obvious what was going to happen. There was a lot of foreshadowing that I picked up on, and instead of it being subtle and beautiful, because I wasn't too connected to the characters or engrossed in the story, as an outsider looking in, I clearly saw the traces of the author's plotting, setting up the domino pieces in exactly the right layout to let it all fall down. So, when it happened, I didn't even blink. The shock factor had been eliminated due to the foreshadowing.

Summing Up:

Like most grief stories, your liking of Looking for Alaska will hinge on your ability to connect with the characters and feel empathy for their situation. None of this happened for me. I'm sure you may want to yell at me, that I missed the point of this book or whatever, but no, I get it. I get why people like it. But it just isn't my thing. And it likely never will be. Arguably, I would have been more impressed if I read this a couple years ago, but now, with my reading experience... nope.

GIF it to me straight!

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By the title alone, I knew that Smart Girls Get What They Want, hereafter referred to as Smart Girls, because I can't be bothered, would be a great book for me. I was the uber nerdy girl in high school, and I'm proud of that, to an extent. But I do wish that us smart girls would get some more credit. Studying isn't all we do.

Right away, what I love about Smart Girls, is the main character, Gigi. Obviously, I could relate to her in a big way. But I really loved her narrations and the sarcastic humor and snark that shines through. Honestly, within the first chapter I was giggling aloud. This is a laugh out loud funny book, make no mistake. But I just loved her, and she grew on me more and more as I continued reading the story.

What I also loved immensely was her friendship with Bea and Neerja. Are you tired of the bitchy best friend in YA? Read this book. Seriously. This trio is absolutely amazing. They truly love each other and make sacrifices for each other. Honestly. Gigi gives up a date because then one of her friends would be alone. When one of them gets hurt, the other two come running. They constantly have each other's backs.

The plot, I feel, is pretty much the perfect mix of coming-of-age and romance. Gigi struggles with finding a balance between being the smart girl, top of her class, and actually being remembered by her classmates. She pushes herself to get out there more and find ways to make her voice heard. I, of course, could relate to that a lot. It's really refreshing to see a smart character who struggles with introversion put herself out there. It's inspiring.

And the romance.... it is slow-burning but absolute perfection. Words can't describe how much I love Mike and the idea of the misconceptions and prejudice that first impede their relationship. But there's so much more to him than meets the eye. You just grow to love him more and more as the book goes on and that last chapter.... I was squealing and giggling and flailing.... loud noises were being emitted, so I'm glad I was home alone. Fluffy goodness, honestly. I just loved it. And a special shout out to the last line of the book. Instead of getting all sappy, it's totally unrelated to the romance and instead ends on a snarky note. Guys, I loved that so much, I can't even right now.

Summing Up:

This was such an enjoyable, cute read, so thank you forever to Christina for sending it to me. I absolutely adored it. It's the perfect light and fluffy read to get you out of a reading slump. Expect to laugh and squeal out loud, and just revel in the adorableness and the snark. Is it the most memorable book? Ultimately, probably no. But its mission was fluff and giggles, and it definitely succeeded.

GIF it to me straight!

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When I first heard of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, a title that is far too long to keep writing full out and which I thus fondly dub "the first Fairyland book", I instantly thought I had to have it. The title was too quirky to pass up, it had illustrations, and good reviews from friends. And certainly it was a most enjoyable read.

What you'll immediately be struck with in reading this book is the beautiful writing and imaginative storytelling. Particularly for middle grade, this is a rather rare find. But right off the bat I could imagine that in 50 years or so, this series would be regarded as a modern classic. It certainly has a fairy tale-like quality. If you're after beautiful prose, definitely consider this short but sweet book. However, the writing can be quite dense as well. I was expecting this to be a quick and easy read - the kind where you can almost just turn your brain off and put on the cruise control. But it wasn't really like that. The beautiful writing did take some effort and brain power to digest. That doesn't take away from its beauty though.

Fans of Alice in Wonderland would absolutely feel right at home in this story. The type of world is rather similar, with every creature you can imagine and a few you would never think off. As our protagonist, September, explores this world, she encounters lots of quirky characters and has wonderful adventures. The level of detail and originality was quite surprising but of course in the best possible way. Again, not necessarily something I expected from a middle grade novel.

The illustrations were also a wonderful addition to this cute little story. Each chapter has an illustration at the beginning, the style of which I just love, and the chapter titles are also adorable. They tend to spoil the events of the chapter, but also increase your interest and excitement to read what happens next.

But. Of course, there is a but. Though I admit that the writing was beautiful and the world was original and exciting, I wasn't as charmed with this book as I expected to be. This is partly due to how slowly it read, as I was hoping for a quick read at the time. But also, I didn't feel a strong connection to September. I missed her personality. While I loved the Wyverary, her dragon-like companion, and many of the other characters, including the Green Wind, September was extremely bland. In a movie, I'd picture her like Bella Swan, sadly, with one facial expression. I felt no warmth from her. And I would have expected a 12 year old to be way more impressed and fascinated by the amazing world she fell into. But she was just like, "Okay, sure," to everything and hopped from one adventure to the next. I wish her character had more depth, because that's really what ultimately kept me from connecting to this book.

Summing Up:

I definitely enjoyed this read and think that it will be massively successful for a long time to come. Catherynne M. Vealente's writing is definitely beautiful and deserves a ton of praise, and the world that she created is absolutely enthralling. However, I did have trouble connecting to the book, and it wasn't as "quick and easy" a read as I expected. But for fun adventures and beautiful prose, I will definitely be continuing with the series.

GIF to me straight!

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