Category: Reviews

April Book Buddies Review: These Broken Stars

Posted May 1, 2015 in Book Buddies Reviews, Reviews / 3 Comments
April Book Buddies Review: These Broken Stars

Cristina & Lauren Read: Book Buddies is a discussion style review I participate in every other month with my friend Lauren who runs the blog Bookmarklit. We choose a themed book for the month, read it, and the have a discussion where we both discuss themes and aspects that really stood out to us.Book Buddy Reviews are posted during the last week of the month.You can see our review in a Q&A format with half posted here, and half on Lauren’s blog! *This discussion contains some spoilers. 1) The premise of These Broken Stars relies on an often overused romance […]


Just One Night by Gayle Forman | Mini Review

Posted April 27, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments
Just One Night by Gayle Forman | Mini Review

“The truth and its opposite are flip sides of the same coin.” I’m so glad I was able to read this series when it was completed, because if not the wait for finding out how Willem and Allyson’s story concluded would have been excruciating. This novella is short and sweet, and finally gives life to that agonizing ending of both Just One Day and Just One Year when Allyson and Willem are finally reunited again. The narrative is told through a third person perspective, which is a little jarring since the previous books were narrated by either Allyson or Willem. […]


Princess on the Brink (#8) by Meg Cabot- Reread Mini Review

Posted April 24, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments
Princess on the Brink (#8) by Meg Cabot- Reread Mini Review

*This review will contain spoilers. This is the installment in The Princess Diaries where all of the long standing tensions and plot points really implode. While a lot of readers may see this as a tragic ending to a lot of long-standing features of the series, I found it really refreshing. Sure, Mia’s neurosis is in full force in this book, and she acts pretty immature about certain things, but I actually think beneath Mia’s obsessing she has some really valid points. Mia is faced with the earth-shattering proposition at the beginning of the installment of being in a long-term […]


The Princess Diaries Reread: Volumes 6-7

Posted April 22, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments
The Princess Diaries Reread: Volumes 6-7

This is the second installment in my Princess Diaries Re-Read self-challenge in order to prepare for The Royal Wedding, which comes out in June! In this post I’ll be bundling my reviews for books 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, and 7.75 Princess in Training (6): This book kicks off Mia’s sophomore year, and centers around another one of Lily’s insane plots she drags Mia into (nominating her to be class president against her will…for Lily’s own benefit of course). While I actually liked the presidency plot because it was nice to see Mia grow into herself more and become more confident […]


The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne- My New Favorite Contemporary Novel

Posted April 14, 2015 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 16 Comments
The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne- My New Favorite Contemporary Novel

  “It’s amazing how much one person can change the world, even if they don’t know they’re doing it.” This is the BEST contemporary YA novel I’ve read so far in 2015! I don’t say this lightly. I requested this book on a whim from my library when I saw this novel was being compared to The Princess Diaries (and you all know what a weakness I have for Meg Cabot). The novel follows a teenage girl, Kate, who finds out her absentee dad is a senator, specifically a senator who is running for president. Kate is thrust into the […]


Awakening by Shannon Duffy- ARC Review

Posted April 7, 2015 in ARCs, Reviews / 8 Comments
Awakening by Shannon Duffy- ARC Review

This book invaded my dreams. Not only is this book about dreams (and nightmares) as a method of controlling society, but the night after I read it some of the terrorscape scenes made their way into my dreams. It was thrilling and scary at the same time, but when I woke up I knew this book had successfully held my attention! Awakening presents a unique premise for a dystopian, using technology connected to each citizen’s nervous system to make it impossible for them to sleep without government controlled machines that provide “pleasant” dreams (and subliminal messaging) and using nightmares as […]


Just One Year by Gayle Forman- Review

Posted April 6, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 11 Comments
Just One Year by Gayle Forman- Review

  “Bravery was doing something dangerous without thinking. Courage was walking into danger, knowing full well the risks.” I knew going in that this wasn’t a “sequel.” And you should too. It’s not a spoiler, but a fact, and it will save you a LOT of frustration if you know that the synopsis is extremely misleading-it does not in fact “pick up” where Just One Day ended, rather it tells the story of the year Allyson spent in Just One Day from Willem’s perspective. Once you’ve accepted that you’re not going to get much in terms of closure, you can […]


Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas | A Review of Redemption

Posted March 25, 2015 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 20 Comments
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas | A Review of Redemption

  “Then Celaena and the King of Adarlan smiled at each other, and it was the most terrifying thing Dorian had ever seen.” I’ll admit, I was a skeptic. Going in, I was NOT expecting this to be a five star, or even a four star read. I was really underwhelmed by Throne of Glass, and I felt like a total outlier because of it. Everyone raved about the series, so when I was at the bookstore the other day looking for a new paperback, I decided to give the series another shot. And I am SO glad I did, […]


The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski | Review

Posted March 19, 2015 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 27 Comments
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski | Review

  “People in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.” How did I not read this book sooner? Sure I’d heard about it enough. I just went about my business, thinking this was nothing more than the usual and currently popular fantasy/dystopian YA love story. I am so delighted to have been proven wrong. I loved everything about this book, from the plot to the characters to the beautiful writing to the Greco-Roman inspired society. I don’t think I’ve been so passionate about a book since I finished Trial By Fire in January. The Winner’s Curse is the book […]


Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins | Review

Posted March 13, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 13 Comments
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins | Review

  “There are some people in life that you can’t get over.” Companion series are my new favorite thing. I love the idea of being able to have distinct, separate stories set within the same universe, and being able to see glimpses of characters from other books in them. It’s like getting to wave to a friend you haven’t seen in a while but miss terribly. Lola and the Boy Next Door is the second installment in Stephanie Perkin’s Anna and the French Kiss companion series, and it did indeed have the unique charm of introducing me to new memorable […]