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Friday, April 3, 2015

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Book Review)

Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)Lola and the Boy Next Door
Stephanie Perkins
Published July 9th 2013 by Speak (first published September 28th 2011)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door






Review:
First of all, I am SO glad that they changed the covers on these books (I included the original cover at the bottom of this review). The girl on the original cover is something similar to how I imagined Lola, but the guy doesn't remind me of Cricket at all!
Second, I didn't like Anna and the French Kiss. At all. I had some major issues with the main characters and the plot in general, but thankfully I didn't completely write off the possibility of continuing the series. I actually ended up leaving it to my blog readers, and Lola and the Boy Next Door won by popular vote.

The Characters:
Lola was an awesome main character. I loved how unique she was and how she wasn't afraid to wear her own designs as eccentric as they were. But at the same time, Lola felt completely real.  She had problems, she had insecurities, and she made some bad decisions.
At one point in this book I was actually screaming in my head at Lola because of something one of the characters said to Lola's best friend, (and if you have read the book you probably remember the scene) I WAS FURIOUS WITH THAT PERSON THAT WAS SAYING THOSE THINGS!
And Cricket? Who knew that I would like a character named CRICKET so much. I have absolutely no idea how Stephanie Perkins came up with that name, but honestly it worked with the novel. Cricket Bell and Lola have a long backstory that involved Lola at one point getting emotionally hurt by him. So when he pops back into her life, of course she doesn't immediately trust him. <b>he had to earn her trust</b>. I loved it! I loved watching Cricket and Lola fix their broken relationship and turn it into something beautiful.
I loved how unique and quirky all the characters were. From Lola to Cricket and down to the minor characters they were all completely unique people!

The Plot:
The plot in this one didn't stand out to me as much as the characters. I liked how Calliope was a figure skater (I would love to read a book about her!) The romance between the different characters all felt real and it went at a believable pace. And I could not put this one down (although I had to at some points.)

From beginning to end, Lola and the Boy Next Door captivated me with its unique characters and its fun plot. You don't need to read Anna and the French Kiss to read this one, and I still would not recommend Anna and the French Kiss. But I am really glad that I decided to give Lola and the Boy Next Door a try and I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a cute contemporary read.


Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Bookish Pet Peeves

Bookish Pet Peeves. That point in the book where I groan and go "really?"
 

Abbreviations used in a characters mind or speech that is NOT a text message.
I never use abbreviations in my speech, and I actually rarely use them in text messages, so when a character is using abbreviations and I have to stop reading the book to go look them up. IT BUGS ME BIG TIME! Last one I had to do this with was TGIF (Thank God It's Friday). The abbreviation was on page 3 of the book I was reading, and having to stop at page 3 to look something up does not make a happy reading experience for me.
 
 
Characters names that I cannot pronounce.
This bugs me to no end! I cannot stand reading a book and having no clue at all how to pronounce the names, which usually ends with me coming up with a ridiculous nickname to use just so I can read the book without going crazy.
This excludes books that have those handy dandy pronunciation guides at the front or back of the book such as the Throne of Glass series.
 
 
"Genre Changers" that come at the end of a long series.
One series in particular did this to me recently, and it was awful. I spent 875 pages of the first two books thinking that it was one way, just to have the authors decide in the third book that they would COMPLETELY change the GENRE of the book.
I don't mind if there is a genre changer at the end of the first book in a series, but if the change waits until the last book it ruins the entire series for me.
 
 
 
 
 
So, those are a few of my pet peeves when reading. Do any of these particularly bug you? What are your pet peeves?

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Books I Need NOW (April/May/June) Edition

Top Books I Need NOW (April/May/June) Edition

 
In order of expected publication date.
 
 
Every Last Promise
 
 
 

Every Last Promise
Kristin Halbrook
Expected publication: April 21st 2015 by HarperTeen
 
Kayla saw something at the party that she wasn't supposed to. But she hasn't told anyone. No one knows the real story about what happened that night—about why Kayla was driving the car that ran into a ditch after the party, about what she saw in the hours leading up to the accident, and about the promise she made to her friend Bean before she left for the summer.

Now Kayla's coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she might be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane, #1)Lois Lane Fallout
Gwenda Bond
Expected publication: May 1st 2015 by Switch Press

 
Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy.  
 
 
The Fill-In BoyfriendThe Fill-In Boyfriend
Kasie West
Expected publication: May 5th 2015 by HarperTeen

 
When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.
 
 
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J Maas
Expected publication: May 5th 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's

 
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

 
 
Lion Heart (Scarlet, #3)Lion Heart (Scarlet #3)
A. C. Gaughen
Expected publication: May 19th 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens


Imprisoned by Prince John for months, Scarlet finds herself a long way from Nottinghamshire. After a daring escape from the Prince's clutches, she learns that King Richard’s life is in jeopardy, and Eleanor of Aquitaine demands a service Scarlet can’t refuse: spy for her and help bring Richard home safe. But fate—and her heart—won’t allow her to stay away from Nottinghamshire for long, and together, Scarlet and Rob must stop Prince John from going through with his dark plans for England. They can not rest until he’s stopped, but will their love be enough to save them once and for all?
 







Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road, #1)
Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)
Katie McGarry
Expected publication: May 26th 2015 by Harlequin Teen


Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.

No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.
  


 
Every Last WordEvery Last Word
Tamara Ireland Stone
Expected publication: June 16th 2015 by Disney-Hyperion

 
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to the Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.
 
 
 
Get Dirty (Don't Get Mad, #2)Get Dirty (Don't Get Mad #2)
Gretchen McNeil
Expected publication: June 16th 2015 by Balzer & Bray

 
The members of Don’t Get Mad aren’t just mad anymore . . . they’re afraid. And with Margot in a coma and Bree stuck in juvie, it’s up to Olivia and Kitty to try to catch their deadly tormentor. But just as the girls are about to go on the offensive, Ed the Head reveals a shocking secret that turns all their theories upside down. The killer could be anyone, and this time he—or she—is out for more than just revenge.

The girls desperately try to discover the killer’s identity as their personal lives are falling apart: Donté is pulling away from Kitty and seems to be hiding a secret of his own, Bree is under house arrest, and Olivia’s mother is on an emotional downward spiral. The killer is closing in, the threats are becoming more personal, and when the police refuse to listen, the girls have no choice but to confront their anonymous friend . . . or die trying.
 
 
 

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday - A Court of Thorns and Roses


 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is-

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

Expected publication: May 5th 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's
 
 
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
 
 

March Reading Wrap Up

March Reading Wrap-Up

This month was a pretty good reading month for me! I surpassed my goal of reading 10-15 books, and I read 4/5 books that I had on my specific March TBR!

 

Favorite New-To-Me Book(s) I Read In March:

Lion Heart was amazing! Loved every single page! Check for a full review closer to the May 19th release date!
Lion Heart (Scarlet, #3)
 
 

Complete List of New-To-Me Books I Read This Month:

Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross Burn for Burn by Jenny Han

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows Fire with Fire by Jenny Han Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Who Done It? by Jon Scieszka I Was Here by Gayle Forman Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt

The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

 

List of Re-Reads I Read This Month:

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë Heist Society by Ally Carter The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Dare You To by Katie McGarry
(The Penguin classic is Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte)


Novellas Read:

None this month!

Currently Reading:

I haven't finished a book in about 4 days, but I have started 3 books!
Crash Into You and Scarlet are re-reads, with The Start Of Me and You being one of my most anticipated!
Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)The Start of Me and You
 
Reading In 2015:
 
January: 30 Books. 1 Novella.
February: 17 Books. 1 Novella.
March: 21 Books.

2015 Reading Goal: 70/150 Books Completed.
 

Monday, March 30, 2015

Ten Books I Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List

Ten Books I Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List

 
 
(Sequel Novella to This Is What Happy Looks Like)
Happy Again 
 
A 2012 release that I noticed on another Top Ten Tuesday list a few weeks ago that sounded really good!
 
What Happens Next
 
 
Couldn't believe when the cover was finally released that I didn't have this one on my TBR yet!
CANNOT WAIT!!!
Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4)
 
A new release from January that sounded good!
Vendetta (Blood for Blood, #1)
 
5. Play On
I've seen a few great reviews for this one, it doesn't release until mid April, but it is definitely something I am going to read!
Play On
 
 
 
A collection of short stories from authors such as Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jennifer E Smith, and more!
 No cover yet, but this is gonna be ammmmmaaaazzziiiiinnnnnggggg!!!
 
 
Upcoming November release from Richelle Mead!!!
Soundless
 
 
This one again has no cover (yet), but it is inspired by the tale of BLACKBEARD!!! It has an expected publication date of 2016, and is a debut from Nicole Castroman.
 
 
An upcoming September release that is a retelling of Aladdin!
Cover is not revealed yet.
 
 
An upcoming October release that is about a spy in World War I!
Velvet Undercover
 
 
 
 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Stacking the Shelves (19)


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

It has been literally about a year since my last Stacking the Shelves, so, I decided to post one today!

For Review Via Netgalley:
 
Hold Me Like a Breath (Once Upon a Crime Family, #1)Lion Heart (Scarlet, #3)
 
I already finished both of these, and I LOVED Lion Heart!
Watch for my reviews of both of these, they will be posted closer to their May release dates!
Thank-you Bloomsbury!
 
For Review Via Edelweiss:
 
Lying Out Loud
 
I am currently reading this one, and it is really good!
Thank-you Scholastic!
 
Won:
 
I got this AWESOME Divergent/Insurgent prize pack this week!
It included a Divergent DVD, a T-Shirt (not pictured), and 4 posters!
I couldn't get good pictures of the posters because they are so HUGE! But here are the link to the original giveaway post.
 
Thank-you Swoony Boys Podcast and Lionsgate!
 
This Week:
I posted a poll on Which Series I Should Start/Continue, if you could take a minute to go and vote for which will be my next read in the next month or so I would REALLY appreciate it!
(At the moment Graceling is winning, so if you are a huge Stephanie Perkins fan, (as I know most YA readers are) you might want to go vote)
I  posted my review of The Winners Curse, which I really enjoyed!
Finally I posted a review of Bloodlines which was a great book, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as Rose's series.
 
What are you reading? What did you add to your shelves this week? Have you read any of these? Leave me a link below and I would love to visit!