"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.

"Rules of Rebellion" Blog Tour & Review

About The Rules of Rebellion:

1. Skinny dip (her idea)
2. Prank someone (his idea)
3. Stargaze (her idea)
4. Kiss someone (his idea)

Leo Zimmerman has had a crush on his curvy best friend Kylie Jenkins since forever, so When he discovers the girl with a flair for baking has a newfound plan to rebel against her overbearing parents, he’s determined to be the one to help her carry it out. Who better than a self-proclaimed rebel like himself to show her the ropes of letting loose?

Sure, taking her to her first high school party, helping her sneak out of the house, or watching a sunset together isn’t exactly a hardship, but much harder is masking his feelings the more time they spend together. And when he suggests adding “kiss a boy” to Kylie’s plan and she accepts…suddenly all his dreams seem to be coming true.

But Leo’s got a secret that could change everything between them, and it’s only a matter of time before it comes to the surface.

Buylinks: https://entangledpublishing.com/the-rules-of-rebellion.html

Excerpt from The Rules of Rebellion:

Her dimples popped into place, her smile so bright it about knocked me senseless. She bounced a bit on her tiptoes, and for one hopeful second I thought she’d maybe hug me. Unfortunately, she reined in her enthusiasm.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she said. “I’ve got to run. My sister is probably pacing in front of my car by now. See you later.”

She scurried off, and I was disappointed the conversation had ended so quickly. I didn’t mind watching her walk away, though. I loved how the girl filled out a pair of jeans. She had more bounce in her step than most of the cheerleaders. Kylie was just plain…perky. She always seemed to be happy and smiling. I’d suspected Kylie was one of those rare people who was always fun to be around. Spending time with her these past few months had proven I wasn’t wrong.

She finally rounded the corner, slipping from my view. As I twisted back around, something crinkled beneath my foot. On the floor, directly where we’d been talking, was a pink slip of paper. It looked suspiciously similar to the one that had been sticking out of Kylie’s notebook earlier today.

I swiped it off the floor as I cast another glance down the hallway. It was too late to call after her. I’d have to give it back to her later. I reflexively glanced at the page, assuming it was a recipe, but wanting to be sure it wasn’t something important. Something she might need immediately.

Senior Checklist.

I glanced down the hallway again, confirming that she was out of sight and that she hadn’t realized she dropped the paper and was coming back. The hallway was clearing out, most of us anxious to get out of here at the end of the day.

With no sign of Kylie, I leaned against my locker and glanced at the sheet in my hand again. I was expecting to see items like Choose date and time for graduation party. Or Tour college campus.

I did not expect to see the items that were actually listed.

Senior Checklist

1.       Skinny dip (sort of)

2.      Sneak out (but don’t get caught)

3.      Prank someone (nothing destructive)

4.      Go to a party (no drinking)

5.      Kiss a boy (finally!)

6.      Watch a sunset (so romantic)

If I’d had any idea her list was going to be so private, I wouldn’t have read it. But once I’d seen it, I couldn’t exactly un-see it.

So I read it again. 

About Amity Hope: 

Amity lives in beautiful northern Minnesota with her two sons, two cats and their Rottweiler.
She has a degree in elementary education and worked in that field for ten years before deciding to self-publish.
Her first self-published novel, Twisted, was listed by Amazon as a Top 100 Kids & Teens Kindle Book of 2012. It hit Amazon's Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance Best Sellers List in several countries. Truths and Dares held the #1 position on Amazon's Best Sellers in Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance eBooks in the UK.
If she's not writing or spending time with her boys, she's most likely reading.

 Author Links:

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmityHopeAuthor

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amity-Hope-Author-Page-134913686647605/

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amityhopeauthor/

Author Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amityhope/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6428483.Amity_Hope

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

This was a really short, fun read with a likable main character. 

The rules of rebellion is one of those go-to, quick-read books to instantly put a smile on your face. 

The writing style was clear which I loved about it!

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

"Adam & Evie" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars 

Digital copy received in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

 Adam & Evie was one of that cute, high-school, I-have-a-crush-on-my-best-friend kind of feel-good book.

Evie Chase is the quiet, nerdy but cute girl who is in love with her best friend Adam Fields. The mean girl (because let’s face it, there’s always a mean girl) humiliates Evie in front of the entire student body. Evie not only loses what little confidence she holds dear, but she loses trust in her best friend and ultimately the friendship ends.

Fast forward to 3 years, and Evie & the rest of the Chase family are living it up in LA. Evie is a famous pop star and older sister is an actress. But now Evie has to return to her hometown where she will face Adam once again, as well as the mean girl who took Adam from her. The only twist is – Evie is returning in disguise to finish up her senior year at Roosevelt High.

I am always, and I truly mean ALWAYS fascinated when famous people (albeit movie characters) take on a disguise to mask their true identity and no one figures out who they really are - Batman, Superman, Supergirl.

Come on! You couldn’t possibly be that dumb/oblivious right?

Overall, it was a good book. It was not an original plot, but find me an original plot in this day and age out of the millions/billions of published books.

I found the book having way too much drama at times as well as unnecessary teenage angst.

Pretty early on in the book Evie’s identity was revealed and I appreciated that. We got to know the real Evie, more or less. It felt like the book was plot-driven with a lot of fillers, rather than being character driven, which is not necessarily a bad thing, its just that I didn’t get to really know the characters.

There wasn’t much of a character arc for Evie & Adam; however, one particular character displayed some noticeable character development toward the end.

I would recommend this to teenagers who fall within the 13-16 year old range.

"Little Monsters" Book Review

My Rating:  ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

It’s the cover. Something about that darn cover reeled me in; I can’t put my finger on it because it’s such a simple piece of art! But reeled me in it did and I am glad that (sometimes) I judge a book by its cover.

Kacey is the new girl who has recently moved to Broken Falls – to a charming life with her father’s family; one that has proven to be much different from the one she had led up to that point. 

Broken Falls is the kind of town where everyone is nice and welcoming. To her surprise, Kacey is inducted into a petite circle of two – meet Bailey and Jude.
The duo makes Kacey feel included in everything that they do – sneaking out at night, parties etc. however, Kacey is left out of one of the biggest parties of the year, causing her to feel completely left out. She wants answers, she wants to know why they are all so suddenly acting strangely distant toward her but Kacey will never be able to ask Bailey why because Bailey doesn’t return home that night. 

Awesome premise. Equally awesome delivery.

Little Monsters was a deliciously, mystery-laden book you can’t help but love because of the page-turner plot. The plot and execution was inherently satisfying due to its puzzle feel. I wouldn’t refer to this little gem as compelling, but it was sure gripping! 

I could feel the near-splitting tension, the back and forth speculation of whether Kacey played a part in the disappearance of Bailey. Whether Bailey was truly missing or just seeking attention. Whether Andrew was the killer. Whether Whether Whether.

No matter how many conclusions I came to, I did not arrive at the conclusion that the author presented. I did not foresee the twist until the author began the big reveal. 

And THAT, is what I love about books – the unpredictability, the guessing, the rollercoaster ride, the complexity of twists to the point where you give up guessing. 
I found myself speed reading to get to the end of many scenes; I haven’t speed-read in a while! 

A note those out there: Be careful who you call your friends.

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

"Restart" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4Stars


Really exciting premise which delivered! The writing style was clear and crisp with a perfect selection of words and metaphors. The choice of alternating views was the best approach and the author was able to tell this story in detail with distinctive character voices and personalities.
I loved how the book preaches that someone can really change, albeit the main character had to get amnesia to actually change, but still, I loved the lesson and some of the themes. What I did not like, and that’s something I never like, is bullying. I do not condone bullying, I do not like to read books or watch movies in which humans are so wicked and unfair. No matter what goes on in your life, there is NO excuse for bullying.

"The Ship" Book Review

My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 1 Star

Despite being of the post-apocalyptic genre, which is my favorite, I did not finish reading The Ship. I ended at 24% but I could have/would have stopped at about 10% when I realized that I did not fancy the writing style; however, I wanted to finish it, I tried to, but failed.

The book starts off by giving us a glimpse of the present post-apocalyptic world that the narrator, a 16 year old girl, lives in.

The world building was a bit confusing and quite dull; there wasn't much that held my attention. I didn't like that words were thrown in that had no accompanying explanations e.g. Screens, ravens, Dove. The words were integrated into the body of the passages and I guess we're supposed to figure out what they mean by their usage, but as a reader, I like explanations especially when the story is of the dystopian or post-apocalyptic genre since their technology tend to be/may be vastly different from what I currently know.

I saw there were some really great reviews on goodreads already but this book just didn't hold my interest.

I applaud the readers who were able to finish the book, especially those who grew to love the book.

Digital copy received from Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

"Sarah" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.5 Stars

What a creepy little book!

I'll start with what I liked about Sarah - the creep factor. I applaud the author's imagination and ability to gross me out. This is not an easy task to do especially since I watch lots of gore films and have read many horror books in the past. I cringed more than once during certain scenes. Sadly, those were the only redeeming qualities of the book.

The main character was pretty naive throughout the book, even at the very end. The peripheral characters were irresponsible and naive as well causing me to think that they did not fully understand the severity of the situation.

The main romantic relationship featured was rushed and it felt forced.

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

"See You in the Cosmos, Carl Sagan" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4 stars

Such an original plot and choice of delivery in terms of the writing. I laughed out loud a few times, chuckled quite a bit and even shed a tear once or twice. If a book can bring all this out of me then I usually consider my time well spent!

I recommend this book to anyone looking for an uncomplicated, easy read that is something quite different from the usual books out there.

One issue I had with the book was that Alex was naïve and seemed more like a six year old but three in responsibility years.

A digital copy was received via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

"The Upside of Unrequited" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.5 Stars

Such a quirky, cute cover right?

Now, I know a lot of people reading this book have read the author’s popular title “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” and have grown to love the author and her ability to create strong, lovable, diverse, YA characters who tackle personal issues in a socially influenced, modern world. Suffice it to say, this is the first book I have read by the author and I am glad that I have nothing to compare it you. In a way, I am truly unbiased.

My first impressions of this book lay in the premise, which seemed like it would be a fun read filled with character relationships that even I would be envious of. While the relationship between the four main girls who were childhood friends was annoying (too girly and it made me think that I am getting way too old for this genre) I quite enjoyed the relationship between the twins. There was an authenticity to them drifting apart and feeling less important to each other when a significant other enters the picture. It is something I have felt before and the realness of the situation caused the emotions expressed by the characters to feel raw and pure.

The love interests in the story fell a tad bit flat, bordering on no chemistry between characters. Some characters seemed promiscuous to me.

I did not enjoy the parents’ way of speaking to their kids. To me, there were too many profanities used in the presence of the kids. At one point I was irked when the parents got angry when the kids responded with profanity, because, how can you raise kids using this language then expect them to respond differently. Their constant use of profanity felt like they were trying to give off the vibe of “hey, we’re the cool, different, hip parents”. It just felt like there was a lack of respect for the kids. Of course someone else reading the book will disagree with me and that’s okay.

One last thing that I’m not even sure is worth mentioning but I will anyway, is that I didn’t feel a connection at all to Molly. As a bigger girl, I love reading about other pleasantly plump girls falling in love and navigating through life just being their awesome selves. The lack of connection could have been because of the fact that I did not know Molly’s actual size. Maybe it was mentioned in the first few pages and I just hadn’t realized. She mentioned Modcloth, which is a store I love and it’s known for selling plus size clothing and she did mention insecurities but then again she could have been a size 10 who thinks of herself as fat. There was an incident where a classmate told her that she was pretty for a bigger girl but maybe this person was so accustomed to size 0 girls that anyone a tad bit bigger gets called fat. I just didn’t know her size and I would have liked to.

I didn’t love this book, but I also didn’t hate it.

I’ll have a hard time recommending this book since I don’t think the younger audience (high school teens between the ages of 13-16 should read it; and the older audience (like me) may have issues with the details of the book (profanities, highly sexually active kids etc.) 

A digital copy was received via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

"Letters to the Lost" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.5 Stars

LETTERS TO THE LOST, despite being full of teenage angst and impulsive kids, was actually a pretty entertaining yet emotional read.

Juliet writes letters to her photojournalist mom who has passed away. She leaves these letters at her mom’s gravestone as a way of communicating with her, but when Declan, the troubled boy doing community service answers one of her letters, a relationship is formed.

Both characters have lost someone they loved dearly and that’s what brings them together in the first place; however, they do not know the true identity of each other so they find solace in anonymity which allows them to truly speak freely.

The relationship between Declan and Juliet far surpassed the relationship between their anonymous personas. I say this because from the start, through their letters, they had pain in common which brought them close pretty quickly; however, in person, they did not get along at first and had nothing really in common, it made it that much harder for them to form a connection, which they ultimately did. And I saw that as more meaningful.

It frustrated me that they misinterpreted each other so much and that they were both judgemental toward each other but I did not remove stars for that because this was simply a reflection of true human behaviour. It annoyed me that they would impulsively say hurtful things to each other and get angry so quickly but this is what happens in real.

It was a great read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Digital Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

"The Impossible Fortress" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★★★ 5 Stars      

Let me just start by saying I LOVED THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE.

This was such a cute, coming-of-age, refreshing and stunningly written love story that I had the pleasure and honor of reading. 

Billy Marvin loves computers more than anything in the world, that is until he meets Mary Zelinsky who equally (if not more) shares a love of computers in this 1987 coming-of-age beauty. 

Billy and his friends are shocked and intrigued when Playboy releases their latest issue featuring the beautiful Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune. The boys are eager to feast their eyes upon her pictures but to do so they conjure up a risky plan to secretly get their hands on a copy for each. Everyone gets to play a part in the heist (which isn't stealing) - Billy's task is to seduce Mary Zelinsky, the daughter of the store's owner and to get access to the security code. 
What starts off as the Vanna White mission turns into so much more for young Billy Marvin. 

I loved how well written the book was. Yes, there were a few errors here and there but overall the writing style was so clear with strong, vivid descriptions. The main characters felt well-rounded even though we didn't have a whopping history on them. 

This was an adventure-filled, fun read that I absolutely adore.

A digital copy was received via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.                                        

"The Ghost Files (The Ghost FIles #1)" Book Review

My Rating ★★★★☆ 4 Stars

What a pleasant surprise!

I’ve had this book sitting in my kindle library for the past year collecting cyber dust.

I loved(ish) the tone of the narrator.

The plot was even better – a girl seeing dead people and is helping to solve a string of deaths of which her foster sister is a victim.

I really liked the book! I only knocked off 1 star because of the relationship between the main character and a certain secondary character of the law.

I won’t go into details here. No sirree. Find out for yourself J  

"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.

"Cured (Stung #2)" Book Review

My Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3 Stars

I was hoping this one would be better, and in a way it was. I kinda wish I knew beforehand that I'd be reading from Jacqui's POV. I was really confused when reading the first few pages, trying to figure out who these characters were. As for the plot itself, it was fairly simply, everything worked out happily ever after. Why is Jonah being treated like a Hodor? Like he's the muscles behind the whole operation with no feelings? He got hurt a lot in this book, more than I dare to count, and it's being justified by the fact that he heals quickly. I hated this. Do the women in this book not use their brain and try to see who is there before attacking? Book 1: Fiona shot Bowen before making sure who was approaching. Book 2: Jack stabs Kevin before using her head and seeing who is there. Yes, I get that he practically jumped on her in the dark so she had no idea that he wasn't a real threat at first, but my God! Stop and think before attacking. Same happened in the prison, she attacks Jonah before seeing who is really there. And I think she almost attacked Kevin a second time Oh well. I'm happy this doesn't have a third part. It felt like a very shallow book which had potential but didn't deliver. I still did not get to see what living on the inside of the wall is like, what their rebuilding looks like. So much potential.

"Stung (Stung #1)" Book Review

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars

I can't figure out why exactly I disliked this book. I'm a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre but this one just didn't do it for me. 

The main character - Fiona - was a bit weak. Not knowing what was going on with the world she woke up to was understandable. 

I guess I wanted to see her on her own for a while, surviving and toughening up, but this book did not deliver that. I didn't even get a glimpse of life inside the wall, to see how they're rebuilding society.

From the moment she woke up there were other humans around. She was "rescued" by an infected, then shortly after taken into a camp where she was protected by a guard who happens to have been her neighbor before the world went to shit. For the remainder of the book is she always being rescued and not fending for herself (which is what I really enjoy in a post apocalyptic book. I like reading about their survival skills, how they strategize on supply runs, how they out maneuver the enemy etc.). I'll read the second book only because I want to see where the love interest takes us and what life inside the wall is like.

UPDATE: 
On second thought I'm not that interested in Book 2. Won't be reading it.

Ugh fine. I'll read it just so I won't feel guilty.