Source: Purchased

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke | Review

Posted February 23, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 8 Comments
Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke | Review

“She inserts herself into the life that I’m barely living in the first place.” -32 There’s nothing that I love more in books than a good fairytale retelling, so when I came across Damsel Distressed I was so excited to read one that added a twist to the normal conventions. Damsel Distressed is not only a contemporary retelling of Cinderella, but it inverts the typical tropes of the story and has the ugly step-sister archetype as the protagonist, with “Cinderella” as the evil stepsister to invade Imogen’s life. I adored reading such a creative way to retell a tired-a-true fairytale, […]


The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel- Review

Posted February 18, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 8 Comments
The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel- Review

  “Even if it won’t do any good, I will fight. I don’t know if that makes me weak or strong.” -pg 30 From the minute I saw the cover of The Book of Ivy, I was hooked. The premise seemed like an interesting twist on dystopian, and I was expecting an assassin-y, butt kicking heroine and a slow-burn yet inevitable romance that would have me drowning in delicious tension. After all, with a plot that includes the sons of the winning side of society to marry the daughters of the losers for the sake of “peace,” deep-rooted tensions and […]


Splintered by A.G. Howard- Review

Posted January 26, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 10 Comments
Splintered by A.G. Howard- Review

  “Sometimes a flame must level a forest to ash before new growth can begin.” First and foremost, Splintered has a beautiful and evocative cover. Combined with the fact that I love fairy tale retellings, and it was inevitable that I would add this novel to my collection. Now I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve never been the biggest Alice in Wonderland aficionado, but I love the imagery and know that it’s popular enough to have inspired dozens upon dozens of retellings in the past few years. I went into Splintered hoping it would be a quality retelling amidst […]


Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell- Review

Posted January 22, 2015 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 25 Comments
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell- Review

  “…you look like a protagonist…You look like the person who wins in the end.” Eleanor & Park was the last Rainbow Rowell book I had left to read. I had devoured and loved all of her other novels, yet Eleanor & Park was the most hyped of her works, and with hype always comes the potential for disappointment. I decided to take the plunge and read it after picking up a signed and special edition copy as well as seeing it featured as the January 2015 book of the month at She Reads A Lot. I was 110% not […]


Flailing Everywhere Over Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini- A Raving Review

Posted January 19, 2015 in Books, Five Star Reads, Reviews / 15 Comments
Flailing Everywhere Over Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini- A Raving Review

  “A crucible’s craving is her mechanic’s mandate.” I usually write very calm, analytical reviews. In fact, I pride myself on it. I like being able to look back on my reviews and have a clear and coherent message as to my thoughts on a book. However, much of that I fear is going to go out the window with this review because I cannot stop flailing over how much I loved this book. It’s only the second book I’ve picked up so far in 2015 but it’s already become my first five star read of the year! Reading this […]


The One by Kiera Cass- Review

Posted January 12, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 16 Comments
The One by Kiera Cass- Review

  “Mistakes mean it’s real.” I have a very conflicted relationship with The Selection Series. I love the concept of mixing society’s obsession with reality tv, especially that focuses on relationships, with a dystopian, futuristic, post World War 4 America. I think the caste division is so interesting. I liked the idea of the ruler of Illéa marrying one of the people as a show of support to the country. Yet at the same time there’s something about these books that prevents me from really losing myself in them, at sometimes grow bored with them toward the middle. I feel […]


10 Lessons in Decorum and Dystopian from The Selection by Kiera Cass

Posted January 5, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 17 Comments
10 Lessons in Decorum and Dystopian from The Selection by Kiera Cass

Having a copy of The One waiting for me on my bookshelf and it having been over two years since I read The Selection, I decided a re-read of the first book in the series was in order. I bring you my unorthodox re-read review of Kiera Cass’ The Selection in list format, detailing the top ten lessons this reality-show-dystopian-hybrid conveys. 1) Pay your debt, lest you be taken over by wealthier countries. This was an aspect of the book I really found interesting, perhaps because the fate of America (now known as Illéa in this series) isn’t too unbelievable… […]


Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas- Review

Posted November 14, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 21 Comments
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas- Review

This may be more of a rant than a review. Not necessarily a bad one, but definitely an impassioned one. Because Throne of Glass and I have perhaps the most love-hate relationship I’ve had with a book all year. So there were some high expectations I had for this going in, based on the plethora of rave reviews I’ve read: A) A kick-butt, take-no-prisoners, no-holds-barred, assassin protagonist B) A well done love triangle C) A creative fantasy world with good world-building I can say after finishing the novel that b & c were pretty well accomplished, but part of me […]


Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Review Proving I am Probably the Last Person on the Planet to Read This Book

Posted October 7, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 18 Comments
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Review Proving I am Probably the Last Person on the Planet to Read This Book

“How many times can our emotions be tied to someone else’s – be pulled and stretched and twisted – before they snap? Before they can never be mended again?” Anna and the French Kiss was a book that I’ve been hearing about in the YA contemporary genre for years. It sounded fluffy, and the cover was so cute yet so cheesy, that I never felt motivated enough to add it to my pile when book buying. Recently the series received a cover-redesign which is absolutely gorgeous, and this coupled with the rave reviews of Isla and the Happily Ever after […]


Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson- Review

Posted July 19, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson- Review

If Sarah Dessen is the Queen of the Contemporary Summer YA Novel, the Matson is hard at work becoming her successor. This is the second novel by Matson I’ve read and her ability to create an immersive summer experience for her characters seems to be her trademark. I read this on the beach while I was at Aulani, and it was the perfect beach read- a light surface story with heavier feelings cloaked beneath the surface. The plot of Second Chance Summer is two-pronged: Taylor’s dad is terminally ill and her family is spending the summer bonding and coming to […]