And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

DNF- 2 stars

Emily Beam’s boyfriend walked into the school library with a stolen gun. After he threatened Emily he took his own life. Emily is shipped off to Amherst, Massachusetts and discovers the life of Emily Dickinson. Emily Beam’s poems give her a connection to Emily Dickinson and her poems. I’m still not sure why I read this book. It didn’t sound like it would be a bad book and it sounded interesting enough. The ads for this book were plastered all over GR and Amazon and I had an ARC copy I was meaning to get to a finally decided to pick it up. I was really hoping to be emotionally grabbed by this story. It’s an intense plot, but it lacks in what it tried to do. This book is slightly reminiscent of Hate List in the prospect of dating someone who brings a gun to school. The plots are different because in Hate List the boyfriend was a school shooter and Emily’s boyfriend only kills himself (and I think he injured someone but I’m not sure). I struggled for a good portion of the novel debating whether to DNF or not. As I started reading today from around 32% to45% I decided that I wasn’t going to waste any more time on Emily Beam and her moping poetic prose. And We Stay is also told in third person narrative. I don’t mind third person and I’ve read a few excellent third person perspectives, but it just doesn’t work for this book.


The main character is Emily Beam. Emily is already a highly unattached person and her being narrated in third person gives off an even colder and more distant feeling. She is an incredibly annoying teenager. She calls the library the lieberry because of the incident that occurred in the library. It just seems very childish. We also find out early on in the book that Emily had been pregnant, which came completely out of left field.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 2

I’m sure that there may have been a romance, but I didn’t get to it. In all honesty I could care less if Emily was to end up with somebody because she is too detached it seems to form human relationships.


I did like K.T., Emily’s roommate. I thought she was really funny. She tried to be friends with Emily and I don’t know if they ever become friends (it seems like they will from where I left off).


Character Scale: 3

The prose was very annoying. Here’s an example:
“She leaves them in the earth, her eyes hot with tears, a new poem burning itself all the way down her feet.”
I just couldn’t trudge on anymore. I had enough. I can’t deal with thick prose, the terrible third person narrative, or a character who is as unattached to humanity as Emily Beam. She spends all her time studying or in the library or drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes or writing poems and frankly it’s the most boring simple things to ever read about. I just don’t care what Emily does to find comfort or push herself away from people. She’s been threw a traumatic experience, but I honestly can’t bring myself to care. I can’t do it. Emily’s poems were also not very great. Some of them are good, but a good bit of don’t make any sense. This book is too slow and too much nothingness. DNF and I don’t regret it.


Cover Thoughts: I love the cover. It’s gorgeous. It’s the reason I requested the book. At least one thing about this book is gorgeous.

Thank you, Netgalley and Delacorte Press for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

4 stars
Emily’s dad is a war veteran with PTSD and when he brings a dead body home after a night in the woods, he is accused for murder. Emily knows her father didn’t do it, but it seems like no one believes her. Damon Hillary was Ashlee Parker’s boyfriend and he can’t remember what happened the night Ashlee died. The games he and his friends played in the woods are not the only games he starts playing when he starts talking to Emily. I consider myself to be a huge Christopher fan. I love her book, Stolen, to bits and pieces and I think it’s one of the most poetic books I’ve ever read. Christopher had a way with words of invoking different images as well as feelings. Her words captivated me in a way that I still remember being absorbed in to this day (I read Stolen a few years ago). I was so excited to see that she was releasing a new book. A book about murders and games, no less. It sounded perfect and in some ways it was. There were times when I was reading The Killing Woods where I felt like I was trapped in a dangerous psychological game and I felt like a deer running through the woods. I was constantly coming to dead ends and beginning to question every single character’s sanity. It was like reading about characters that would be featured on the Bates Motel. I was horrified, thrilled, and captivated. Which is all great and this book was great, but I could also be easily sucked away from the book because while I could become captivated I could just as easily turn away. It was all a bit confusing and I still don’t know how I feel exactly about this book in terms of the emotions it evoked. It was a great book though. There isn’t a lot for me to complain about but something just felt incomplete.


The main female character is Emily. I can’t decide if I like Emily or not. The more I’ve thought about her, the more I dislike her. Sometimes she was an enjoyable character to read about and she has a great back story and I got to know Emily, but I never felt like I fully knew her. There are some characters that it just seems like their soul is being bared for the reader to see, but Emily always felt closed off slightly distant. She was there in presence, but not much in personality.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 7.5

The main male character is Damon. Sometimes I liked Damon and sometimes I didn’t. He’s nothing but a big raging monster truck. He could be quite scary and I feared about his obvious mental instability. I personally think he’s a lot crazier than Christopher made him out to be. There were times when he was boarding on psychopathic tendencies. These tendencies were just brushed aside after a while and ignored until they would randomly pop up again. Damon was a ticking time bomb and he almost exploded several times.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 3

The Villain- I did kind of see that coming. I wasn’t all that surprised, but at the same time I loved the motive. Accidental asphyxiation. Oh, boy!  It was something new and I liked it.


Villain Scale: 8

I don’t really have much to say about the other characters because they were all there but then they weren’t. I did like Joe or is it Joey. I think it’s probably Joey. He had potential, but he was just swept under the rug.


Character Scale: 7

I was very put off by the Game at first, but as the book progressed I started to like the direction it took. I think maybe what I was missing from The Killing Woods were characters. I adore Gemma and especially, Ty in Stolen and I think that the fact that the characters didn’t make me feel what I felt for some of the writer’s other brilliant characters made this book less captivating. I still really enjoyed The Killing Woods. It’s a great angsty, psychological read and I recommend it. Just don’t go into hoping for characters like Ty and Gemma because you won’t get them.



Cover Thoughts: I really like the cover. There’s something about it that is just spooky and it’s very eye-catching.

I received this book from Goodreads Firstreads.

Deeper by Robin York

Deeper by Robin York

Part 1 of Caroline & West's story

3.25 stars
Caroline Piasecki had a bright future ahead of her until pictures of her and her ex-boyfriend in sordid acts popped up all over the internet. Now she’s trying to clear her name and get rid of the pictures, but it doesn’t look like any progress is being made. West Leavitt lived across the hall from Caroline her freshman year at Putnam and she’s stayed away from the resident weed dealer. But when West defends Caroline from Nate she starts a not-friendship with him by spending nights at the bakery. As they grow closer, Caroline faces more than exposed pictures and complicated feelings and West world starts to come crashing down. I haven’t read a whole lot of New Adult and it seems that the New Adult I do love was originally categorized as something different, like YA or adult. With NA I either love the book to pieces (The Devil's Metal,The Piper's Son, and All Over You), enjoy it, but had qualms with it (Lick,Bully, and The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden), or absolutely loathe the book or just feel a neutral dislike for it (Beautiful Addictions,The Secret of Ella and Micha, andThe Edge of Never). It probably seems frivolous to list these books I’ve read I think it’s necessary to show how I can judge this book and where it falls into a category. Here’s the thing about Deeper it falls into a category completely out of what my usual NA experiences are. Deeper belongs in a category of sometimes I really liked it and others I loathed the stupidity that crawled out of the book. Boy, there was a lot of stupid in this book. Some of the lines were ridiculous. I did enjoy this book sometimes, but I also had problems with it.


Like most books I come across since joining GR this is a book that I discovered and wanted to read this book immediately after the review. That review really prompted me to want to try something new. Deeper sounded like an intense story about a girl coming to terms with her experience of revenge porn and falling in love with a guy that could help her find her way. In some ways it was that story or it had the possibility of morphing into it, but then something would happen and it would become a pointless story of the push-away romance game. This book, sadly, didn’t focus on what was important, Caroline was important and she should’ve had more time to grow and her growth did happen a bit, but it was rushed. Her growth randomly sprouted out during an intense argument with her father and while I really enjoyed this new Caroline it was quickly squashed by “Oh, btw, Daddy I need you to bust my new boyfriend out of jail. And yes he’s the one that you didn’t want to me be around, but I love him and couldn’t stay away.” Caroline transitions from acting strong to acting like a lost dog who can’t find their own.


I feel like I need to address the message behind Deeper before going on to character analysis and this throws off my usual review format, but some books are meant to have different reviews from others. Revenge porn became a huge thing in my town recently. I mean what else do you expect from Southerners with a snow day for half the week. I must add that the kids I interact with on a daily basis are known for stooping to levels of hate and “exposing” people does happen every now and then, but during the snow week it hit an all time high. I really think that this book tried to touch on the subject. In passing it did a well job, but as a whole this book could’ve done so much more.


The main female character is Caroline. I’ve already touched a bit on Caroline’s personality above and her constant flip-flop of feelings happens a lot. She can go from normal to hearing the voices of men her head calling her names. She also has terrible references to pop culture such as this one that immediately make me think she is a Mary Sue.
“I guess I’d rather be Bella Swan hanging out at the Cullen place than, you know, school Bella- all pissy and defensive, clomping around Forks High, convinced everyone hates her.”
Why would you want to ever be defenseless Bella Swan? In what world is she a good character to want to be? I know you’ve experienced something traumatizing, but wanting to Bella Swan isn’t a good thing. Don’t mope around, Caroline. Don’t be Bella, be Caroline. Caroline is also known for being pretentious. She’ll go from saying something that sounds like every other teen in America to saying, “Who even says cool?” I don’t know Caroline. Maybe I say cool because sometimes there’s no better word to describe it. I honestly don’t get why she thinks she’s better than everyone sometimes because just cause someone says cool, it doesn’t mean they aren’t any less educated. Caroline is also an over-analyzer and she over thinks everything West says to her about his feelings even when what he says is so blatantly obvious.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 5

The main male character is West. West seemed great at first and he was a sex magnet, but then as the book went on I liked him less and less. He curses a lot in unnecessary places that don’t need curse words to prove points. That isn’t cool. I don’t mind cursing in the slightest because I’m no saint in the cursing department, but saying the f-word to say to prove stupid points just seems stupid. And that’s the thing about West he does stupid things like this, but he isn’t stupid in the slightest. He has a lot of street smarts and he doesn’t seem to be an idiot when it comes to learning new things whether it’s school or work wise and that’s why I don’t get why York went to great lengths to contradict him as a person. He is also extremely possessive. To the point where he’s borderline obsessed and I think he is.
“I treated her like she belonged to me, even though I wouldn’t have her and I wouldn’t let her have me, either.”
How does that sound stable? It doesn’t because sometimes West went a little bit psycho in his obsession and started to ramble about how he possesses Caroline. Sometimes the alpha male can be hot, but sometimes it can also be scary. West went from being hot to scary in zero to sixty. West also falls into the very infamous NA trope of he-man. He beats up people several times and while his actions do have a consequence, which is very unlikely in most NAs, he is still a violent man with serious anger issues. West is also known for saying the same thing over and over again about want to be deep inside Caroline. All the time. It was sweet at first, but it got annoying fast.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 5

The Villain- I really liked how the question of who sent the pictures hung the air. It was obvious who it was but still I was hoping maybe something would change.


Villain Scale: 5

I did like Caroline and West’s friends, Bridget and Krish as well as Quinn. They were funny and added comedic relief to the sullen tone that surrounds Caroline and West through most the novel. I do look forward and hope to see more of them in Harder. I also really like West’s devotion to his younger sister, Frankie. He really cares about her and his love for her is strong.


Character Scale: 6

I wasn't completely impressed with Deeper, but I wasn't majorly disappointed either. As I’ve said before this book has a lot of faults and a lot of things that drove me bananas, but it does have a lot of good things. Like the ending. I do love happy ones, but I also love (view spoiler)I do look forward to Harder because I think it has potential to offer an interesting story. A lot of NA has unnecessary sequels, but I really like the fact that this one does have room for a sequel and it is necessary in some ways.


Cover Thoughts: This book has a beautiful cover and it’s absolutely breathtaking. It’s such a pleasing color scheme and the model and pose just seems to say a lot about the book. It’s one of my favorite covers recently and I just absolutely adore it.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House- Bantam for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mini Reviews: Free Four, My Soul to Lose, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Hello all! I'm incredibly behind on reviews and these are three short stories that were on my to-review list. Since they are short stories I decided to write reviews for them and put them all in one post!




Free Four by Veronica Roth

1.5 in the Divergent trilogy

4 stars

In Free Four, Roth accounts chapter 13 from Tobias’s point of view. If you don’t know what chapter 13 is because it’s been a while since you read Divergent or haven’t read Divergent, it’s the knife throwing scene.


I personally think that Four is an interesting character and I loved him in Divergent. He was swoon worthy and his relationship with Tris was built up in a beautiful way. I actually really like reading Tobias’s POV. I think his character has a lot of depth and could’ve uncovered a lot of secrets behind Dauntless. I wouldn’t have minded for the trilogy to be in alternating POVs between Tris and Four, but Allegiant will hopefully prove to be all that is promised.


Cover Thoughts: Big Dauntless symbol. Eh. It doesn’t spark anything in me. The contents are better than the cover.


 


 My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent, narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Prequel to the Soul Screamers series

3.5 stars

Kaylee Cavanaugh was supposed to just have a normal day shopping at the mall, but a panic attack took over and she couldn’t stop screaming. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a psych hospital. As she tries to convince everyone she is fine, another patient seems to be curious about who she is. My first audiobook! I would say it was a success. I didn’t love My Soul to Lose but I really enjoyed it. The narrator could be annoying at times, but she could make the story interesting when it came down to whether I was able to concentrate on the story. I did have a few problems with the narrator’s voice and how she portrayed the characters. Sometimes I liked the voices she made, but her Kaylee voice annoyed me greatly at times. Which is obviously not a good thing considering the fact that Kaylee is the MC. I did enjoy the storyline and I was a fan of the first Soul Screamers book. I really liked seeing how Vincent portrayed Kaylee’s first experience as a banshiede.


Another qualm I had was with the other patient who was revealed to have an ability at the end. I liked this ability quite a bit and she proved to be an interesting character that showed potential to be in the series in the future or even have her own. I was sad that her reveal was so rushed and it left me feeling confused and I had to rewind the audiobook a bit. I’m quite pleased with my first delve into the audiobook world and I’m happy it wasn’t terrible like I was afraid it would be.


Cover Thoughts: It’s simple, but I don’t like that snot color green at all. 


 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, Narrated by Ben Stiller
3 stars

Walter Mitty always has his head in the clouds. Sometimes as a Navy pilot other times a surgeon, and my personal favorite a man accused of a crime. I really liked the portrayal of daydreaming and how everyone wants to escape from reality. Ben Stiller did an excellent job of narration. I’ll be honest I probably would’ve never read this short story or would’ve seen the movie, but after listening to the audiobook I’m quite curious about the movie. I don’t really have a lot to say about Walter Mitty because the story is very short, but it’s free and it’s definitely an audiobook worth listening to.


Cover Thoughts: It’s such an awkward cover, but I see what the movie covers were trying to capture. 

Have you read any of these short stories? What did you think about them? Are you excited for the Divergent movie, which is only a month from release!? Are you planning or have seen The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? Thoughts on the movie? 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a book review of a book I loved?



The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

4.5 stars
I’m not really sure how to describe TSaBSoAL. It’s a unique book that has several plots and main focuses, but I’ll do my best. The book opens up with a prologue about Ava Lavender and she recounts her story from the very beginning, when her grandmother and her family came to America from France. The Roux family is met with constant tragedy. While these tragedies were quirky, they were also heartbreaking and left a toll on Emilienne and she falls in love three different times all of them ending horribly. She gives birth to Viviane on Pinnacle Lane with her husband who she professed to never love. Viviane falls in love with her childhood friend and is only met with heartbreak. She ends up pregnant with Ava and Henry. Her children are peculiar. Ava was born with wings and Henry was born silent (or so they thought). There are ghosts, more tragedies, friendships, new loves, family bonds, and crazy psychos obsessed with angels. This book was absolutely stunning and it was a great way to end my reading in 2013. While it’s been a while since I finished this book, I can one hundred percent say that this story will stick with you. Certain bits and pieces linger in my mind. The simple stuff mostly was what made this story beautiful and what seemed to be pointless had more meaning than I thought. This book is not something I usually read but Karen’s review of it had my interest piqued and I was so happy when I was approved for this on Netgalley.


The main female characters are Emilienne, Viviane, and Ava. Ava is the main focal point of the story since this is her telling stories within a story, but I didn’t think she was the backbone that held this story. Instead of one character holding this story together the women of the Roux/ Lavender did. Emilienne was a character who came off as cold sometimes but she had every right to be with all the heartache she experienced. Viviane was my least favorite because she was too lovesick and she didn’t see the man that was right in front of her face. I really dislike characters like that because it was just selfish of her to be that way. I liked Ava because she was so different, but her naivety killed me at one point. I mean why she was so trusting is understandable because she’s been sheltered her whole life, but I mean seriously? Who thinks let me go into my neighbor’s house, which I haven’t seen in a long time, with a creepy nephew there and just let him lure me in? I know it’s raining outside, but your house was closer.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: Emilienne- 8 Viviane- 7 Ava- 8

The main male characters are, I’m not really sure, but I’ll just list some. I guess you could say Gabe was one of the stronger male characters. He lived with the Lavenders and was in love with Viviane. I really loved his story because it broke my heart and I really liked his character. Henry would be another because he warned the family constantly of Ava being in danger with subtle hints with stories about bloody wings. I adored Henry’s character. He was odd, but absolutely adorable.


Swoon Worthy Scale: No swoon just adorable fondness :)

The Villain- Sorrow. What a sick and twisted villain. I loved it!


Villain Scale: 9

There were so many characters. I want to list them all, but I don’t want to give away the beauty of the characters and what they bring to the story. The simplest of characters such as a neighbor could bring beauty and wonder into this story.


Character Scale: 10

Read this book! It’s a beautiful tale. It’s slow, but everything has meaning. It is character developed and it’s the main focal point, but it is done so well. The ending was beautiful and perfect in every way. Some discoveries are within one’s self and Ava’s discovery of strength was beautiful. There is something of everything sprinkled about TSaBSoAL.



Cover Thoughts: How can you not love that cover? Just look at the colors and how beautiful it is. I’ll probably buy a copy because I love the cover and design and plus this book was so good.

Thank you Netgalley and Candlewick for a copy of this amazing book in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your book boyfriend is keeping you company!:D 

Vampire Academy Movie Review!

My book review for Vampire Academy.

Vampire Academy is my all-time favorite book series. I can't imagine my life without having discovered a great series. I was so thrilled when I heard there was going to be a VA movie. Of course, I was also a little nervous. The trailers never made me doubt how great the movie could be, but I was nervous. I'm so happy to say that I loved the movie! It was brilliantly done. It was funny, action packed, and Dimitri was so fine! I was impressed with all the characters and the actors who played them did a phenomenal role. The opening was very cheesy and not the best part, but once you get to them trying to leave the apartment it is nothing but fun from there. I love the movie and I'm so thrilled with how it ended and was done. I liked the additions  they made. The only cut out that bothered me was that Karp wasn't as prominent in the movie as the book, but I loved it nonetheless. Please go support VA and see it in theatres! I really want to Frostbite come to life and at the moment that seems unlikely. Don't miss up the opportunity to see Dimitri almost naked!

Beautiful Addictions by Season Vining

Beautiful Addictions by Season Vining

2.5 stars

Josie Banks has a past. One she can’t remember. But the past that she can remember is one she wished that she didn’t. Josie was found unconscious with no memory and has since been shuffled to foster homes. Now as an adult, Josie is always looking for a way to forget and drugs and sex are the thing she does best. Tristan is haunted by his love for a girl who left him when he was young. When Josie shows up in the bar he works at she looks like McKenzi and turns out she is. But fate won’t let them being together so easy. With a hit man on the search for Josie and Tristan’s past coming back to haunt him, someone will get hurt. Have you ever wished that your favorite soap opera was a book? Well this could be the closest thing to your dream coming true! The thing that stands out about Beautiful Addictions is that it is a soap opera in a book. You have your drugged up heroine with a past, a sexy brainy bartender with a past, a social worker who feels guilty about her decisions that lead up to the heroine with the past, a hit man with a lot of conflicted feeling, a gang leader who wants both the hero and heroine dead, and a hot neighbor who is jealous of hero and heroine and is tired of being a drug dealer/ “business” man. I’ll be honest this book isn’t all that great. In fact it lacks in everything except and overabundance of melodrama. The drama in this book is suffocating and so unnecessary. There are also countless POVs of almost every character that comes into contact with a character. It’s ridiculous. Did I hate Beautiful Addictions? No. Did I like it? No. The only word that comes to my feelings about this book is meh. This book wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever stumbled upon either.


The main female character is Josie. I don’t like Josie very much. That’s a given though. She is a very hard character to like and even to sympathize with. She’s cold and distant and BORING. I appreciate the author trying to write a new kind of character, but Josie didn’t work out as being a new kind of character that could make me feel for her and like her.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3

The main male character is Tristan. Tristan isn’t so bad. In fact I kind of like him sometimes. He, like Josie, is a hard character to like and I honestly didn’t care for their relationship in the least. At least he’s hot and has tattoos, right?


Swoon Worthy Scale: 5

The Villain- I don’t even know what to call the villain because he had two different names in his POV. What is this? You know what the villain was one of my favorite characters. A hit man done right. I felt truly sorry for him in the end because of what happened to… his lover. The leader of the gang wasn’t all that scary and his POVs were so unnecessary.


Villain Scale: 7

Alex was my favorite character in this book. I would’ve preferred this book to be about him because he was so much more interesting. Monica was also a great character and of course good characters get crap endings in this story because only asses get to be happy. Yes, I’m looking at you Josie and Tristan.


Character Scale: 8

I thought of a word to describe this whole book: unnecessary. It fits this book perfectly. I’m pretty disappointed by Beautiful Addictions. I was expecting so much more and it just all fell flat.


Cover Thoughts: I actually like the cover. Of course, I have weak spot for tattoos.