"Rules of Magic" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★★ 5 Stars

I loved this book. 

Despite not having seen or read Practical Magic, which is the sequel to Rules of Magic, I was very interested in Rules of Magic when I first saw it on NetGalley. I am an Alice Hoffman fan even though I have not read all of her works. 

The premise of Rules of Magic reeled me in and it delivered. I’ve never read a book which made me cry so much. I fell in love with the characters and their love interests and I felt their joys and pains as if they were my own. 

To date, Alice Hoffman is the only author who can pull such a level of emotion out of me. She is an amazing story-teller through and through but its her writing style that throws me into an emotional rollercoaster of a ride. 

In a nutshell, Rules of Magic was a well-written, entertaining read which in my opinion deserves 5 stars. 

Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"The First Kiss Hypothesis" Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

Nora Reid loves science and she has a hypothesis. She believes in it, she lives by it and she's determined to prove it "for each person in the world, there is exactly one other person, and at first kiss, they'll experience an immediate and intense reaction".

Nora's grandmother married her soulmate just two weeks after their earth-moving first kiss and she believes they experienced a happily ever after, once in a lifetime, storybook romance. Nora wants that. In search for her one true soul-mate, Nora hosts charity kissing booths and goes on lots of first dates.

But after 4 years of  zero-reaction kisses, Nora thinks that maybe, just maybe her hot best friend might be affecting the results and she needs to get rid of him, and fast.


Enter: Eli Costas. He is the smoking-hot best friend from next door who is determined to disprove Nora's hypothesis and make
her fall for him.
               

Here's the thing: 

First off, how did Nora not realize that Eli liked/loved her? I liked the characters. I think Nora and Eli were cute together. They shared a love for pie which they thought was the cure for everything.. What's not to love?

Although the plot was pretty much predictable, the ride was fun. What drove me mad though was Nora's determination to prove her hypothesis. It blinded her even though she had feelings for Eli. They shared a kiss years ago but there was no earth-moving reaction therefore she thinks he isn't her soul-mate.

She spent the entirety of the book (or almost the entirety) thinking of Eli in a not-so-platonic kind of way and I wanted her to just shout it at the top of her lungs "ELI I (think I) LOVE YOU!!".. But she didn't.

There was a lot of chemistry between the two, a lot of tension as well that had me fully immersed in the story and simply had me rooting for them (even though they were both pretty dumb).

It's not a Pulitzer prize winner but it was well written and fun.

It was such an easy read. If you're looking for something to transport you to a world of plush butterflies (is there such a thing?), bunnies and all things fluffy then look no further! I loved how it helped me beat my reading slump and just helped me forget reality even for a short while. I absolutely adore books that are able to help readers to forget about real-life.

"Zenn Diagram" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

This was one of those cute books with a surprisingly clear writing style and selection of words.

The protagonist stood out to me and I connected with her in a way I haven’t connected with a character in a long time. She was smart, but not to the cliché point of having no social skills. She was a Christian but also a regular teenager with emotions and made bad decisions. I love how the various themes in this book were not overly done for the sake of creating drama/gaining attention. 
The friendships featured were not perfect, some fell flat while others were exciting and intriguing. 


Allow me to expound:
Eva & Zenn: Exciting, intriguing and cute.
Eva & Charlotte: Tolerable, not too many girly squeals.
Charlotte & Josh: Flat, dull, almost too perfect. I didn’t get to experience who they were, instead I got told who they were (if that makes sense). 
Eva & Family: Real

Overall, Zenn Diagram was well-written with a solid plot and likeable characters. 


Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"The Red" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

I am not a fan of the genre, but its always good to expand your literary horizon. 

I presume erotic books are meant to transport you into another world and render you completely oblivious to the real world while you’re engaged in reading. I also believe it is written to be so far from reality that you can’t help but forget about your problems and stressors; that being said, someone who loves this genre would absolutely love this book. 

It is “action” packed and not exactly plot-driven. If you’re expecting to read a solid plot filled with rich character development then this isn’t the book. 

The Red is truly an erotic piece written for the sole purpose of transporting its reader into a salacious fantasy. 


Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"Taming the Rebel" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.5 Stars

Definitely a cute, light read which will entertain you for a few hours. Although full of teenage angst and highly emotional responses, Taming the Rebel is filled with comedy, strong friendships, delightful rapport between characters and charming intimacy. 

Digital copy received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

"How to Make Out" Book Review

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars

An awesome premise with a less than awesome delivery.

Initially I was drawn to this book because of its title “How to make out”. I was instantly intrigued and wanted to know what this book could possibly be about. At first I had no intention of reading it; I simply wanted to get an idea of the plot, but after reading the summary, it sounded like a fun and witty, quick-read. I love the idea of neighbours falling for each other – 'Drive me Crazy' featuring Melissa Joan Hart, 'Its a Boy Girl Thing', Love and Basketball etc. and I wanted to love this one.

I didn’t expect a deep plot with riveting characters and profound, complex emotional connections but I did expect an entertaining delivery. What I got was a shallow, petulant character – Renley – who is pretty much useless in all aspects of life except in long division and ogling the few male “friends” she has in her life.

Her relationships are quite superficial, which is a sad thing for a teenage girl growing up. The only consolation I found in this was that this was purely a work of fiction, and this Renley and her situation does not exist in real life.

Her relationship with her father is pretty non-existent, almost as much as her relationship with her mother. Her father is simply a person in her life who provides her with food and shelter – basic necessities of life, and in return she is insolent.

Her mother, living in New York with her new family, does not have the audacity to contact her daughter, to make sure she is okay or to find out if this easily-influenced teenage girl is growing up into a respectable woman. Not once in the book did she reach out to ask her if she needs a mother figure to give advice on the many social issues that teenagers face these days. I was very disappointment in that aspect of the book -a mother who abandons her daughter and ignores said daughter even though she constantly reaches out to her to just hear her voice or to simply receive a message in return.

Her relationship with April, her best friend, felt like a filler. From my perspective, her role in the story was to fill the time when Renley was not thinking/being with Drew or Seth. Not once did their relationship feel real, and this was further proven when later on in the book Renley forgave Drew much quicker and easily for doing something far more hurtful to her than April did.

Her relationship with Drew was the highlight of the book. He was supportive and was a shoulder to cry on but he was a bit too persistent in his attempts at getting Renley and as a result it came off as annoying. Renley, however, loved the attention she got from Drew.

Her relationship with Seth? Purely lust. Nothing more, nothing less.

I think this book is best suited for the younger audiences, not adults who like reading YA now and then.

"Tattoo Thief (Tattoo Thief Book 1)" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

Let’s get one thing straight, this book has absolutely nothing to do with the stealing of tattoos, because c’mon, that would be torture to the highest degree; however, the thought of someone carving out tattoos from a person’s body does make for a compelling premise of  a future novel. Hint Hint.

So, Tattoo Thief – music, romance, second chances, real estate, drugs, insta-love/infatuation and a judgmental pseudo-psychologist is what we get.

Beryl, our protagonist, is a small town girl of Eugene, Oregon, living a small town life working at a coffee shop and three days a week at a brewpub. She gets the opportunity to become a house sitter for the ultra-rich in the big apple.

Her new-found job places her in the home of rock star Gavin Slater – lead vocalist of Tattoo Thief (yup, it’s a band). His place is trashed, his dog abandoned and Beryl makes it her duty to get to the bottom of this – why he left his place in such a mess, why he disappeared in such a hurry and what part did he play in the death of his muse?

I gave it 4 stars because it was well-written and there was an actual plot, the romance did not overpower the plot at all.

The plot started out great – a small town girl getting a job opportunity in the big city, getting to house-sit for a super-rich, hot, rock star. I loved that about the book, I even loved that she had the opportunity to fall in love with the guy. I found that to be a dream come true fantasy. Ugh, what I would give to be in her shoes.

However, the romance between Beryl and Gavin blossomed prematurely and because of that it felt like they didn’t have much in common except for their loneliness. It would have been more plausible if the author chose to keep them as friends, which is what they were more suited to be based on their conversations.

Beryl was also pretty judgemental toward Gavin. There’s a difference between telling the truth like it is and plain out being judgemental, especially when it’s someone you’ve just met. Like hold up chick, this is my life, not yours; you don’t know what went on so shush. But no, Gavin didn’t tell her that, just wishful thinking on my part.

She also did this creepy thing where she wore his ex-girlfriend’s clothes; the same clothes he told her to throw out. Believe me, I understand that the wardrobe must have been expensive, but don’t go wearing it when you’re going on a date with him. I mean c’mon! Be more considerate toward the poor guy, he’s going to be distraught in memory lane when he sees his dead girlfriend’s outfits on the new girl that he’s dating. That was just wrong and inconsiderate of her. Tsk tsk tsk, any human would know that Beryl.

So there it is – a well-written book with a plot, even though some parts were pretty ridiculous. It doesn’t fall in the erotic genre by the way. 

"A Week of Mondays" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4.5 Stars

For anyone who has ever had a horrible week and wishes that they could have a do-over.

This was such a cute, laugh-out-loud, and hilarious, YA book.

Ellison Sparks is having a horrible Monday and it doesn’t get much better as the day progresses. At the end of this awful day she makes a wish she never thought would come true. So, when she wakes up the next morning to find that it’s still Monday, and no, there are no cameras following her so it couldn’t possibly be a prank, she sets out to change the course of that dreadful Monday and to make things right.

What I loved about this book was Ellison’s character development. She matured in such a short period of time. Well yes, she had an entire week of going through the same day over and over and over again so she was bound to get it right; but she matured in such a realistic way. From trying her best to please others, to almost giving up, then finally just being herself and making decisions in her best interest.

I might be a bit biased with my review; I just might be, seeing as how I was going through a rough week and wishing I could just start all over. So when I chose this book I felt connected to the main character instantly. The writing style also helped of course! It was clear, concise and no unnecessary similes about a person’s eyes. 

"The Summer That Melted Everything" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★★ 5 Stars

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I strongly recommend.

Let it be known by all who read this review and by all wondering if they should read this book that I tried to write a review which would do justice to this masterpiece.

The Summer That Melted Everything was just that- a dark, emotionally-charged masterpiece, as beautifully written as it was beautifully heart-breaking. 

It is the summer of 1984 and an invitation by Autopsy Bliss, posted in the local newspaper, has been extended to the devil. 

“Dear Mr. Devil, Sir Satan, Lord Lucifer, and all other crosses you bear,

I cordially invite you to Breathed, Ohio. Land of hills and hay bales, of sinners and forgivers.

May you come in peace.

With great faith,

Autopsy Bliss”.

The one who answers this invitation is a thirteen year old boy, dressed in dirty, threadbare overalls, accompanied by a raging heat; he is far from the menacing devil that one would expect. Fielding Bliss, the son of Autopsy Bliss, takes him home to his family and introduces him as The Devil. The sheriff believes him to be a runaway from a nearby town and begins his investigation to prove that this is simply a missing person’s case; but when strange things start happening in the small town of Breathed, Ohio, the community believes that the devil, disguised as a thirteen year old boy, truly walks among them. 

Fear, rage and the unbearable heat consume the town’s people and slowly melt away their common sense so much so that Sal is the blame of every mishap that summer and becomes a target.

The writing is of lyrical prose, exquisitely poetic, reminding me of the works of Alice Hoffman with a touch of magic realism in the metaphors used. This is one of those books that almost every line is a memorable quote; it is thought-provoking and is to be savoured because it has such deep meaning. I had to control my highlighting lest I end up highlighting the entire book.

“Gone was the perfect temperature. The breeze. All replaced by an almost violent heat that turned your bones into volcanoes, your blood into the lava that yelled their eruptions.”

“You can tell a lot about a man by what he does with a snake… A snake that could harm you, you don’t have much choice to kill. You wouldn’t be able to leave a cobra in your sock drawer. But a snake that is no threat will greatly define the man who decides to kill it anyways.”

The characters were so strong in their personalities. Each had their unique, necessary stories which would push the plot forward. The Bliss family had an intense, unconditional love for each other that I have not seen in any other book - the love between a husband and wife, especially the one between the two brothers – Grant and Fielding – left me wanting to experience more of their shared loved.

I felt an instant connection to each of the members of the Bliss family, including Sal.

“And I smiled, as in love with my older brother as any young boy would be”

I felt anger when the characters I cared about felt anger; I felt their joy, hope, love. And I cried when they cried, I even cried when there were no sad parts; I simply cried because the writing was just too beautiful to not appreciate, and the only way to truly show appreciation was to shed a tear.

Everyone spoke so philosophical, and while it bothered me for a while that they all spoke the same, my appreciation for the writing style and love for the overall plot and characters overshadowed it. 

I've never liked TFIOS, I still don't, but I hate it a little less because this book reminded me of one quote, "That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt". 

That's what I kept thinking throughout this book - this pain in the book demands to be felt. Hell, the book demands to be felt. I don't know if anyone can read this and not feel that consuming pain and heartache. 

I didn't want the book to end. I had 1 minute left and I let that minute drag out. I took a water break, bathroom break and then I came back. I almost didn't read the last 2 pages, because if I didn't read it, somehow that meant it didn’t have an ending.  

I certainly didn't want it to have an end because how am I supposed to move on from it? How am I supposed to pick up another book without seeing all its flaws because it isn’t nearly as well-written and memorable as this one?

This book will surely be remembered for the rest of this year and I will recommend it to all my reading friends like my life depended on it. I can’t wait to read it again.

"A Dark Billionaire Romance #1-6" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4 Stars Thanks to the author for sending me the full series free of charge. I really do appreciate it. Before I go into my review I just want to say, objectively, this was a good book. Buy the book, support the author. My review is a bit odd. How can I give it 4 stars, say it's a good book that you should pick up, but not be in love with it? Well, it all comes down to preference; and I'm a very picky romance reader. 1. Romance. 2. Billionaires. 3. Lavish lifestyle. 4. BDSM? What's not to love?! I'm not a fan of romance, never will be. Not a fan of Billionaires either, nor the lavish lifestyle. Absolutely no comments on the fourth. BUT, I am a fan of Aubrey Dark since I first read Mine & His. I respect her writing. This is not a review of her previous work but I feel it necessary to comment on how I was initially intrigued by her dark spin on romance and how I ended up wanting to read THIS series. Three reasons: Her writing style - clear, concise, far from pretentious, one or two typos. Her imagination - she has a dark mind, almost as much as mine, except mine is devoid of romance and would include much more torture. Her research skills - she writes like she is an expert on the profession of all her male protagonists. I liked this one, not as much as I liked the one featuring Rein (or was it Rien) but this was a good book. I can see the appeal. As I said, her writing style in her previous works was superb and that style was carried over to this series. There was a plot to keep readers intrigued. Enough romance scenes to satiate the erotic genre fans. There was a scene featuring a character from one of her earlier books which made me speed-read then left me wanting more. Do you see? More than a year has passed since I read His & Mine and that one character has somehow always found a way to sneakily cross my mind. That's how much I enjoyed that book and in addition to the previously mentioned reasons, I wanted to read this series so that I could somehow recreate and forge a new connection to another character of hers. It didn't happen but not because of any negatives on the part of the author, but it's because I can only stomach certain types of romance. And those romance books need to be a lot dark with just a bearable hint of anticipated romance. I don't mean Fifty Shades of Grey dark or Stonehart dark (Uncovering you series). Those aren't dark in my books, those are merely mild BDSM bullshit. I mean dark dark, the real kind where the professional is in his element, has a scalpel peeling off the face of some bad guy while the girl is in the other room panicking but aroused (you know the book I'm talking about! Damn it!!). Again, this was a good book. It really is. Go read it if you get a thrill out of the erotic genre. Support the author, buy her books

"Faithful" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★★ 5 Stars Thanks to the publisher – Simon & Schuster - and Netgalley for making this title available in exchange for an honest review. This review is my opinion and has not been influenced by anyone. This is a story of loss, regret, guilt, love and finding one’s self after straying so far away for far too long. Shelby Richmond is an ordinary high school girl until a tragedy changes her fate in the blink of an eye. Her best friend’s future plans are drastically changed while Shelby walks away with immense loss and guilt. I was hooked from about 2 pages in. The character development was highly noticeable and gradual without being forced. The whole story was well written, with each character having a unique voice and personality. In just under 300 pages, Alice Hoffman executed a solid plot with sufficient background and explored complex emotions, experiences and connections. I felt an instant connection to Shelby. I felt her loss, her guilt, the pain she went through, her desire to just blend in and to be forgotten. Alice Hoffman novels usually have the ability to evoke profound emotional responses from her readers and this book is no exception. She captures human emotion and tragedy like no other author. Her writing style has the typical, flawless Alice Hoffman touch of clear prose and magical realism. I found myself wondering how Alice Hoffman is able to express the inner thoughts of humans so well, so freely and make you feel such deep emotions for characters. She is also one of the few authors who can make you fall hopelessly in love with the relationship between characters then tear them apart and leave you heartbroken but not for long because you end up truly understanding and accepting that these two weren’t meant for each other. Her stories all feel like fairy tales without the classic, predictable happy ending, but still you’re left satisfied and content with the ending. It’s amazing how she does that

"Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)" Book Review

My Rating ★★★☆☆ While this was a “fun” read, I didn’t enjoy it and I didn’t connect with the characters. I do think this had so much potential to be one of those AWWW books that a girl just has to love. I feel cheated; I feel like a kid who just left the candy store empty-handed. I was genuinely looking forward to reading this a few days ago despite my incessant rantings (soliloquy of course) about not being a fan of YA anymore (to be fair, I was never a real fan of YA, I simply happened to enjoy a select few YA books that I’ve come across in the past).  Phoebe, our protagonist, is virtually socially inept. She’s the classic knitting book-nerd who has a new book boyfriend almost every week but has failed to snatch a real life boy. She goes through her high-school free periods with her nose buried in a book and barely has time for anything else.  At the beginning of the book, Phoebe is actually crushing on a different guy who resembles the hot guy in the book that she is currently reading. Her friend Em has planted this idea into Phoebe’s head that Dev – the tall, dark, gorgeous, band geek – has a crush on her and that she should make her move. It’s only after Em mentioned Dev as a potential that Phoebe starts paying attention to him. But, being that she’s socially inept and has a lack of real life experience with dating she turns to her books as a guide. She attempts to channel the flirtatious female characters as a way to win Dev.  I mean come on! What’s not to love about this premise - the promise of a light, fun, happily-ever-after modern day fairy tale? Even the book cover is gorgeous and inviting.  She loves books. I love books. It was the perfect fit.  Phoebe has read countless romance/YA/Paranormal books; enough for her to easily take notice of Dev’s feelings for her yet she is unsure? Come on Feebs, you’re smarter than that. I know you are. Her obsession with this Golden book really made me like this one less. It really did. How obsessed can one person be with anything? I should’ve known she would be obsessed with a particular book, much like Hazel and Augustus Gloop in The Fault in Our Stars – The Imperial Affliction. She goes on and on about her love for the book and the characters (especially the swoon-worthy Aeden). My utmost wish at this point is to not have to read the word “swoon-worthy” during the next few months.  I also did not enjoy having to read snippets of another book; I cringed every time I had to. There was once I actually turned off my kindle when I got to the part where I had to read yet another scene out of Golden. I resumed reading the day after.  So there you go, I did not like Phoebe.  I did not like Em. She had an obsession too – French kissing German-style and breaking up/getting back together with her foreign exchange boyfriend.  I kept picturing Dev as Michael Persad (that gorgeous, Vine, Indian-descent guy) just to connect with him and get through, suffice it to say – that didn’t really help. Dev was just so plain. There was nothing which stood out about him or nothing that made me think “Yes! No wonder Pheobe likes him”.  Grace was probably the only character who seemed like she had her head on straight. Almost every scene she had in the book she gave some really wise, mature advice. Go Grace!  The writing style was confusing at times, but only a few times throughout the book in particular scenes.  The way the two main characters fell for each other would be more appreciated by the younger audience I think. Or maybe I’m just really not in YA.  Hey, quick question, do readers actually remember the names and stories of characters they’ve read? Because I seem to forget about names shortly after I read a book. And sometimes a month or two later I completely forget the plot of a book

"Life, Love and Death: Short Stories" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4 Stars An anthology comprised of romantic, horror, futuristic, fantasy, paranormal short stories. I tried not to go into this book having expectations, but it’s hard to achieve that, nonetheless I went in with an open mind. Surprisingly I really enjoyed this. The writing style was clear, very concise and easy to follow. I tend to enjoy and follow the plot of a story more when the writing is clear – less time is spent trying to decipher code, pretentious writing. The use of pronouns rather than names in the first story (as well as 2 others) confused me a tad bit. I had to reread to try to figure out the sex of the characters. I’ve never really liked stories which follow this pattern though, so it isn’t necessarily a negative thing about the book, it’s simply not a preference of mine. A few stories were more memorable than others and at times I found myself rushing to the end to read the climax. And yes, the climax for these stories was actually at the end. How odd but exciting. I also found myself wishing the stories were longer, much longer in some cases. They were way too short *sad face*. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I love her dark mind. A few stories had me wondering how she came up with the ideas. The darker stories were definitely more gripping and spoke directly to my dark soul e.g Clay Soldiers. I think this one was by far my favourite since it was creepy. The final story “Revolution Imminent” sounds like something that would be a fast-paced, action packed sci-fi thriller movie. I look forward to reading any future titles that are along the horror genre, once the writing style remains simple and unpretentious.