Tag: YA romance

The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia | Review

Posted November 7, 2016 in Reviews / 1 Comment

Technically, you owe my grandmother. She says people can learn everything they need to learn from life from a good telenovella. -pg 171 Oh gosh. For some reason I went into this book thinking I was going to 100% love it because of diversity! Hype! Pretty Cover! Beautiful Creatures! Sadly, The Lovely Reckless was, while still overall an OK read, a bit of a letdown in a lot of areas. This is what I get, once again, for impulse buying books off of Amazon (I’ve been burned before recently). The Good: Undercover cops: I thought the plotline with Frankie’s father […]

Third Time’s the Charm

Posted July 8, 2016 in Reviews / 14 Comments

“Phones are distracting. The internet is distracting.The way he looked at you? He wasn’t distracted. He was consumed.” By the time I read Anna and the French Kiss, I was pretty much the last book blogger I knew to start Stephanie Perkin’s adorable companion series, and at that time everyone was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Isla. Over the past two years I’ve slowly made my way through the series, savoring each book yet being disappointed that I hadn’t quite found that magic that everyone else seems to see in them. I love the lush settings, the captivating characters, but […]

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West | Mini Review

Posted January 4, 2016 in Reviews / 10 Comments

I picked up my first Kasie West books in the hopes that it would add some levity to my reading schedule. I was in the middle of slogging through Illuminae (which is very good, but also very depressing) and needed something easy and fun to read- you know, something I could read in the bathtub or while waiting for an appointment. While The Fill-In Boyfriend definitely was fun, fluffy, and quick, I felt like I missed the rave-worthy aspects that I’ve heard so much about regarding West’s writing. The best and worst thing about this novel was the character development. […]

Just One Year by Gayle Forman- Review

Posted April 6, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 11 Comments

“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 […]

I Will Go Down With My Ship: Second Edition

Posted March 27, 2015 in I Will Go Down With My Ship / 25 Comments

I originally launched this feature around Valentine’s Day but it was so much fun that I decided to continue on with it every so often to highlight new ships that I’ve developed! While many of my most desperate ships may not sail, they will, as always, live on in MY heart. Celaena & Chaol from The Throne of Glass Series So I’ve ONLY read through Crown of Midnight so far BUT Celaena and Chaol made me SO HAPPY. I loved that I got to see some romance so early in the series, and it seemed so authentic and something about […]

I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios | Review

Posted March 9, 2015 in Books, Reviews / 7 Comments

“…as if my sorrows and joys had conspired to birth me.” I’ve seen a lot of readers project that 2015 was going to bring a shift in trends toward the popularity of grittier contemporaries, and I’ll Meet You There definitely proves such predictions. This book was darker than I anticipated, following the lives of two teenagers from a dead end town in central California, one a former marine who’s landed back where he started, the other a budding artist with every ounce of determination focused on getting out of the desolate area. This book is not just an extremely […]

I Will Go Down With My Ship: My Favorite Fictional Couples

Posted February 13, 2015 in Fun Stuff / 25 Comments

In honor of Valentine’s day this week, I decided a post dedicated to my favorite YA couples was in order! Sadly, many of my most desperate ships did not sail, but they are alive in well in MY heart (and in the glorious world of fanfiction). Blair & Nate from Gossip Girl Can we just pretend that the last four seasons of the show never happened? Because I have been a Nair shipper since the veryyyy beginning, and this whole Chuck and Blair storyline was SO improbable to me (and had NO validation in the books- the epilogue book doesn’t […]

Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike When It Comes To Romance In Fiction

Posted February 9, 2015 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 39 Comments

As usual, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is inspired by Valentine’s Day, and focuses on tropes you either like or dislike when it comes to reading a romance. I’ve decided to split my list to include five of both topics! Things I Like When It Comes to Romance In Books 1) Witty Banter. Nothing pulls me in more than a couple who can verbally spar with one another, as well as have an intelligent conversation. Sometimes it needs to be about more than just the swoons. 2) The […]

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

“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 […]

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith- Review

Posted September 8, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 6 Comments

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith My rating: 3.5/5 Stars Publisher: Poppy (2013) Length: 407 pgs Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction Format: Paperback, purchased from Scholastic Book Warehouse Sale Goodreads Synopsis: When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O’Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. Then Graham finds out that Ellie’s Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. […]