Fangirl- Review

Now, we all know that Rainbow Rowell is a goddess among most YA readers. But, she can also be one of strong dislike among certain readers. I have read her other book Eleanor & Park and adored it. I didn't see all the problems that others did and thought her writing was hilarious and heartfelt. Then I come along to this book. I don't know what I expected to be perfectly honest with you. I guess I just wanted another good Rainbow Rowell book. I didn't get that. Sorry people. Don't hurt me.

THIS BOOK WAS SO BORING. I mean extremely boring. I just expected a lot more than what was given. I didn't see any character growth, plot twist, lesson learned, or anything else. Instead I got a girl obsessed with two book characters, mental illness talk kind of inappropriately placed, and insufferable characters. I'll go slightly in depth with each of these.

Maybe it's because I've never been a super fan girl who wrote fan-fiction about my favorite characters or went above and beyond with books after the series ended, but I did not connect with this aspect of the book at all. In fact, I kind of wondered why a college student was still focusing on fan-fiction instead of more grown up things. I mean she wouldn't do anything except write her fan fiction and it kind of got old (I don't blame Wren for getting annoyed). I do think the fan-fiction part of it is something you personally have to connect with. Though may I just add that Simon Snow is definitely Harry Potter in our world. Read it. You'll agree. Maybe.

The mental illness was just really weird. Cather's dad struggled with bipolar disorder and had a meltdown in the middle of the book. It was just oddly placed and poorly handled. Then they decide to make jokes about it like it was nothing. I know the author probably didn't mean to do it that way but I thought it was a little offensive. Sometimes, things make no sense in books. I also wondered if it was meant to add something more to the book. It didn't. That whole scene was super bland.

The character's sucked. Goodness, I couldn't stand Cather or her twin sister Wren. Cather was like an  annoying kid who refused to be independent and needed their parent for EVERYTHING. I mean everything. Should she have even really been at college? Probably not. She cried more times than I could keep track of. She needed her sister to hold her hand, and I don't blame her sister for leaving and wanting her own space. And then when the mom comes back into the picture, what a disaster. Seriously. A. Disaster. Wren was the typical college freshmen: a party girl. She was pretty cruel most of the time. All the other character's were unmemorable or just had a horrible personality (Nick).

As you all can see, not my type of book. Maybe I should leave the one fond memory Rainbow Rowell and I share and leave it at that before I start shuddering every time I hear or see her name. It's been fun Rainbow, but it's time to go our separate ways.

2 stars.

All the Bright Places- Review

*trigger warning: this book and review deals with  themes such as suicide, depression, and other mental illnesses. Suicide is never the answer. If you need help, please talk to someone you trust. I want you here. Someone else wants you here*

I'm not going to sugar coat this book at all. It's a little rough towards the end. You really see what it's like to deal with some of the mental illnesses in Finch's case. I loved the book to a point, but I thought other things may have been over exaggerated or put into a negative light or didn't really get the idea across.

As I said above, this book deals with suicide and bipolar disorder. Finch suffers from these. And through this journey he has opportunities to get help which he always declines because he refuses to be called a label. Due to this, adults seem to be put into this negative light. Finch's parents are abusive and never there, and Embryo (I forgot his real name) comes off much ruder and like Finch is a bother. I don't agree with this outlook on the grownups except the father. Adults only try to help when someone is feeling that way but I think it got warped. I might get argument for this, but I also felt mental illnesses were romanticized in this book. In the way Finch acted through the book, I felt he enjoyed it. Which bothers me because it's nothing like that. Any mental illness is absolute hell.

Other than those few things, I love the book. I loved the characters. I thought Violet was interesting, especially once she got out of her shell and stopped caring what her ex friends thought about her. Finch's relationship with her was beautiful. It was two people who had been through so much and felt so broken but came together and became whole. I loved their wanderings through the book. Everything was just adorable.

This is a tough read to a point. You will have to be careful because of some of the content but overall it's a great read. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Six of Crows- Review

I've been struggling with how to start this review, so I apologize if this isn't a cohesive review. This is the newest book by Leigh Bardugo. Well, actually it came out last year but it's newest until the 2nd book in this series comes out. It's based in the same world as The Grisha Trilogy but it gives a completely different look on life for the people without the special Grisha power.

This book doesn't disappoint at all. In fact, I think it's 100% better than her last series (I still love her last series). There isn't anything that isn't beautifully executed in this book. Especially with the 6 different perspectives. Now I know, normally people would cringe away from that. But its all third person, which I think might help, and they all tie together seamlessly. There's also twist and turns that you wouldn't be able to guess. I really can't say much more. I think this is a book you need to go out and read for yourself. It left me speechless with anything intelligent to say. I think it would be okay to read this book without reading the first series because they have two different focuses. Give it a try.

5 stars.

No Review

I will not be doing a review for Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I feel my reviews for the most part have a more negative connotation than I would like. I'm a little more tough when it comes to books and I don't like to just say I like a book just because it's popular and the masses seem to enjoy it. That being said, all I will say is I didn't like the book due to quite a few reasons. I want to post more positive reviews praising books instead of just putting them down. I will have a review up soon of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo which I am currently reading. It's quite enjoyable. Have a good day everyone!

My Life Next Door - Review

   This was the first ever book I have ever read by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I read it in less than a day. My Life Next Door was an amazing book in my opinion, but let's get to the review shall we?
  Jase and Samantha. They come from polar opposite backgrounds. Jase comes from a large family, five siblings, his family owns a business, he's an animal lover, football player, and such a hard worker and comes from a less wealthy background. Samantha comes from a small family, one sister, Tracey, only being raised by her mother who became involved with politics since she was young, she has two jobs, used to be on the swim team, she has observed Jase's family for years, long before they had met (they're neighbors), she comes from a more wealthy family. I love how they talk through things and how they talk to one another about things they both like. Star gazing, fixing things, swimming, animals, anything and everything. I love the way Samantha and Jase fell in love with each other; so unexpected from one another. When Samantha first meets Jase's sibling's she's first overwhelmed and loves them immediately. She falls in love with more than just Jase, she falls in love with his whole family and that's something I like the most about her. She made herself at home with his family even though his family is so different than hers. I overall have no complaints about this book and I absolutely love love love this book so much. I highly recommend this book. I rate this book five out of five stars.

The Siren by Kiera Cass Review

I'm going to jump right into this review because this book left me feeling so torn with so many things that had happened in the book. First, let me just add that Kiera Cass is an amazing author and her writing captivates me every time, and this book was no different. It took me less than two days to finish this book and I was hoping it would leave me feeling satisfied and excited to read more books but it kind of kept me in my reading slump (I've been in one since Passenger).

Here's what I adored about the book: the setting and the way Cass personified the ocean. I love swimming and I love all water and seeing the ocean come to life in this novel was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed every bit of interaction any of the girls had with it. The setting also was beautiful. I had such a vivid image in my mind of where the girls were living at a given time and what they were seeing during their singings. I also loved Akinli. It was so nice to see just an average boy who was just nice. Not playing games with her or trying to choose between her and another girl. A nice boy. These things made the book extremely enjoyable. But there was such a major thing that made me not like the book, which is why I still feel so torn about it.

I couldn't stand the main character. I almost wish this book was told in 3rd person rather than her point of view. Something about her just turned me off to a huge part of the story. I didn't like her "sisters" (not her actual sisters) either. They annoyed me a little less than her, though. Kahlen, which is the main character's name, felt too whiny. I realize the things that the Ocean was putting her through was life changing but a good portion of the book is just with her down and longing for things that she knew she couldn't have. Her sisters didn't really have a lot of substance to really get a feel on how their personalities were other then that they were party girls. Pacing was another aspect of this to be lacking. In the beginning things happen, very periodically through the middle things happen, and at the end a whole lot of things happen. So through the middle, you may be left kind of bored.

This a book that you really have to read and get a feel for it. I'm going to rate this book 3 stars due to some of the good weighing out the bad.

Kindle vs. Book

Ah, it's the age old dispute between book lovers everywhere. A lot of people enjoy their kindles, but I know so many more people who cherish their books and take great pride in their bookshelves. So like most people have already done, I decided to do a e-book vs. physical book as the title states and give my overall opinion on what I feel are the pros and cons of a physical book and an electronic one.

Book pros

• It's something that you can physically hold in your hands. You can feel the weight of the book and turn the pages. Not just flip your finger or the side of the device and go on to the next page.
• They don't have a battery for you to charge.
• You tend to remember more from reading something out of a physical book than reading something on the internet. Yes, it has been scientifically proven. Then again so has a lot of things that they end up unproving. Who knows?
• They look beautiful on a shelf.
• If the internet was to crash right this second, at least we'd still have physical books.

Kindle Pros

• It's a lightweight device. When you're reading a 720 page book (ie. Lady Midnight) and it's heavy to hold, with the kindle you're not carrying the big book. Some people do enjoy that though..
• All of your library is in one place. That's right. Some people hate owning books. Isn't that preposterous? They'd rather have it all on one little device and that is where the kindle comes in handy.
• Some e-books are cheaper than physical books. Now, I'm not saying all the time because I've noticed that that is not the case 100% of the time, but for the majority of the time, unless you bargain shop your books, they're going to be more expensive than the e-books.
• Most public libraries get the e-book version of a new book long before they get the physical version. I've noticed this for my library that they get the e-book version of a new release way longer than they get the hard copy. I know there's more to the reasoning behind this though so this probably shouldn't be a pro or a con but I thought it was a good point.
• They get ruined less easily than books. If you spill yogurt or pie on your book, the pages might get all weird and the page will be messy and words will be covered in pie and yogurt left over. With a kindle you don't have that problem. You can also bring it into the bathtub. Sort of. Just don't drop it.

There is no right or wrong reason as to which type of reading material you like better, I just thought it'd be fun to kind of do my own reasons as to why I like each one. I personally use my kindle a lot because my library is amazing and have so many of the books I want to read and because I don't have money. Ya know..I should get on that.