Review: The Moon & More by Sarah Dessen

Book: The Moon & More

Author: Sarah Dessen

Published Date: June 4th, 2013

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Genre: NA/Contemporary/Romace

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

This summer is a time for transitions for Emaline and her family. While she prepares to head off to college,other members of her family are experiencing changes of their own. Emaline has been with her boyfriend Luke for as long as she can remember.He is perfect in every way but now Emaline is starting to wonder if perfect is really what she needs. Enter Theo the mysterious stranger.

Theo is everything that Luke is not. Theo is ambitious and he goes for what he wants,every day believing that this day or this experience will be the best ever.He thinks that Emaline is much to smart for the small town of Colby.

Emaline's mostly absent father agrees with Theo. He believes that Emaline can do much better than Colby but he is not willing or able to actually help her get there. Emaline can't deny that she is interested in this future that both Theo and her father see for her.She loves her family and her small town and she's reluctant to break out of her comfort zone.

Emaline wants to have it all but how can she balance where she came from,from where she's going?

Disclaimer: I purchased this book from Amazon

Review:

I know most people are going to focus their reviews on the love triangle aspect of the book but not me. I am going to focus this review on Emaline's family,most specifically her relationship with her mostly absent father as I related to that one so much. 

Like Emaline, I don't have much of a relationship with my father. Actually the interaction I have with him is SO much less than what Emaline has with her father.Like Emaline though I do have a relationship with my half siblings. Not much of one but this book inspired me to make more of an effort.

"No you're my father.I have a dad and right now Benji needs his. Not a lecture.Not fixing because he is not broken. Just your attention and your patience and your time.Just you." 
                                 -Emaline

Benji was a cute kid and I'm not at all convinced that he didn't steal the show so to speak in certain parts of the book.I really didn't like Emaline's father.Especially towards the end.I began to see just how selfish he was and I hurt so badly for Benji. I wish we had gotten to see more of Emaline's stepmother Leah. I have a feeling I would have really liked her.

Now Emaline's nuclear family was great. I loved her grandmother, mom,stepfather and sisters Margo & Amber. They all seemed like a typical family.Close enough to drive each other crazy,but also allowing for autonomy.I can't blame Emaline for not really minding that her father wasn't around much.She had a wonderful & supportive family.

Daisy was so sweet and such an awesome friend. I wish I had a friend just like her. I liked her relationship with Morris. I know it seemed like he was a lazy ass and maybe he was,but he made one hell of an effort for Daisy which made me smile.

Oh Ivy,throughout most of the book I kept saying that she was a very high strung woman and just needed to chill for a bit. But by the end of it,I loved her.Yes she was a hard-ass but once I really got to know the character I didn't mind one iota.She actually grew to be one of my favorite characters in the whole book.

Okay I guess now I have to talk about the two guys. Initially I felt that Luke was too vanilla for Emaline and that Theo was more of a raspberry sorbet type. I liked Theo more for Emaline through a good chunk of it but then I started to realize that he was doing his best to try to change Emaline which drove me bananas. Yes coaxing someone out of their comfort zone could be helpful but he was really pushy.The fact that every day could be the "Best Day Ever" started to really irk me. No day is perfect and there is no such thing as having every day be the best thing ever.

I ended up loving Luke by the end of it. He was sweet and kind and most importantly he cared for Emaline in a way that I don't think Theo ever did.He didn't try to change Emaline and he also didn't push for a reconciliation by the end.

"My point is, I don't want anymore weirdness between us. Which means honestly not having anything between us.At least not now. All right?" -Luke

There were a few points in the book where it seemed to drag and that really is the reason I've giving this book 4 stars.If there hadn't been any dragging parts,then I would be giving this book the full five stars. As it is,I need to go read some more of Sarah Dessen's work.

Review: Portrait of a Crossroads by Kelly Rand

Book: Portrait of a Crossroads

Author: Kelly Rand

Published Date: May 18th, 2013

Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Genre: LGBT/Romance/Short Story

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon

Synopsis: 

Since the day Annette found her father's body at the bottom of the stairs she has been going through the motions in life.She remembers the days where she had ambition but she just can't remember what they were. Her brothers are no help as they have never had any sort of ambition.

Then she meets Sadie. Sadie has everything that Annette is missing.She's a newly single, tattooed artist.Something about her wakes Annette up. Whether its the way she captures people on the canvass or simply the kindness she shows Annette,Annette doesn't know.

When Annette begins doing odd jobs for Sadie such as cleaning brushes and spending lazy days together in conversation,things slowly develop from a burgeoning friendship into something more. This also allows Annette to realize her own ambitions once again.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

This book was an easy read, albeit sometimes tedious. The beginning was quite slow and too much time was spent on the friendship and not enough time on the romance that developed from that.I think I would have liked this book much better if things weren't so cramped together. The end felt rushed and that drove me bananas.

Another issue I had was that I didn't understand what attracted Sadie to Annette. It was shown why Annette was attracted to Sadie but not the other way around. I worried that for Sadie,this was a rebound relationship as she had just become single again after an extended relationship with another woman.

I was hoping that we'd get a little glimpse into when Annette realized she was interested in women as it was clear that this was a new thing for her. I worried that Annette was just tired of being single and was simply settling for whoever wanted her. I do not believe in settling so this bugged me quite a bit.

This really should get 2 stars but I'm bumping it up because the sex scene was easily the best part of the book.It was everything a reader would want from a sex scene. It was hot and totally believable unlike certain other sex scenes that have made me want to rip my hair out.So this short story gets 3 stars. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

Review: Frigid (Frigid #1) by J. Lynn

Book: Frigid (Frigid #1)

Author: J. Lynn (aka JLA)

Published: July 15th, 2013 (e-book) November 5th 2013 (paperback)

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary

Genre: NA/Romance

Series: Book 1

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: 

21 year old Sydney has been in love with Kyler for as long as she can remember. They've been best friends since their playground days.If you looked up the word manwhore in the dictionary, Kyler's picture would be right there. He never stays with the same girl for very long. Sydney doesn't want to risk their friendship by telling him her true feelings for him.

Now they are stuck together in a ski lodge while a major storm whirls around outside.There is nothing stopping them. Can their friendship survive these feelings. And can they survive at all as a stalker creeps closer and closer to them.

Disclaimer: Bought this book off of Amazon.

Review:

 Oh boy,where to start with this one. The first half of the book was awesome and I loved it but as I kept reading I got more and more irritated with both Kyler and Sydney.Once I finished the book and allowed myself time to think about it,I began to realize exactly how aggravating this book was.

Kyler seemed to think that Sydney was a poor helpless little girl who couldn't take care of herself and the screwy part was that she was characterized in that way. That enraged me so much. I mean where are the confident women who don't need a man to rescue them? The idea of having a man "rescue" a woman makes me gag. 

Sydney kept saying that she loved him but she never said why she loved him. I certainly didn't understand it. I wish we had been told what Sydney loved about him because I sure was not buying the "She loves him just because" crap. You don't just love a person because. There's got to be a solid reason to love someone (many reasons actually) and we the readers don't know what & why Sydney loved him.

The manwhore thing? Really if he was in love with her like he claimed to be,he would not have been whoring around. Yes I understand that men have needs but good god he cannot keep having meaningless one night stands and also freaking out that Sydney is simply talking to another guy. Double standard much?

Holy moly if Kyler called her baby one more time I was going to barf all of my coffee up. Especially since he was calling her baby even before they got together. Um I have good male friends but I would never let them call me baby. Heck I never let my ex boyfriend call me baby.Seriously Sydney has a name. Why were the cutesy pet names necessary?

Honestly towards the end I started skimming. The confrontation with the masked guys was really boring and pointless. I was waiting for Kyler to rush in and save her (gag) but thank goodness that wasn't what happened. Of course I wanted Sydney to rescue herself so to speak but that wasn't what happened either.

Oh my goodness the ending was predictable and corny and it made me ill. After all of that they are still together and I still don't know what it is that attracted them to each other. 

This book is getting 2 stars.The plot had so many holes in it that a truck could have driven through and neither main character was all that likeable. Maybe someone else will like this book but this was definitely not one I enjoyed.

Stacking the Shelves #6

Hello again,everyone! This week was definitely a week that Netgalley was very kind to me.It was also a week that the mailman didn't hate me (yay for that) This feature is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Stop by and link up your own STS posts. Remember,hard copies and e-books both count in your weekly book haul.

Here are the goodies I got this week.

Bought

-

Received for Review

Silent Echo: A Siren's Tale (e-galley from Netgalley)

Until Death (e-galley from Netgalley)

Sideshow of Merit (e-galley from Netgalley)

Poor Little Dead Girls (e-galley from Netgalley)

Alternate Currents (Hard copy from the author)

Won

-

Gift

-

Let me know what was in your mailbox this week. I am very curious about what bookish goodies everyone got this week. Also let me know if you have heard of any of the titles that I got.

Review: Shadow & Bone (The Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo

Book: Shadow & Bone (The Grisha Trilogy)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publish Date: May 7th,2013

Published By: Square Fish

Genre: YA/Fantasy

Series: Book 1 in the trilogy

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: 

Alina Starkov is an orphan from the Border Wars and the one thing that keeps her from unrelenting loneliness is her friend and fellow refugee Mal. They are then drafted into the army of their war-torn homeland.Their convoy is attacked and suddenly Alina calls upon a power that she had no idea she possessed.

Alina is then whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a Grisha. The Grisha are the magical elite,led by the mysterious Darkling. He believes that she has the power to save their world from further desolation.

Alina isn't used to living in luxury.Nor is she used to be being anyone's favorite.She's not used to having to navigate things on her own,without reliable Mal. As the threat to the kingdom grows,Alina discovers a secret that threatens to turn everything upside down.Only her past can save her and only she can save the world.

Disclaimer: I purchased this book.

Review: Oh holy wow. This book was absolutely insane in the BEST way possible. I adored this book from the very first word to the very last word. I soaked up this book like a sponge soaks up water.I tweeted the author after reading the prologue and all I said was that I was totally hooked already. That feeling did not go away at ALL while I read it.

Veronica Roth, bestselling author of Divergent said that this book is "Unlike anything I've ever read" and I have to totally agree with her.I was trying to think of something that I could compare it to but anything I could come up with just didn't come close.

I wish I could say something good about Mal but since he was only in it a little bit in the beginning and then towards the end,I really can't Hopefully Siege and Storm will give me a better picture of him. Oh I loved Alina. She was definitely a complex character and I think in a book like this,having a complex character is absolutely essential.

I wish we had seen even more of Genya. I loved her so much and she seemed to be a decent person who the Queen and definitely the King used and abused for their own amusement. I loved how she attempted to help Alina with many things.

Of course we have to get to the Darkling. I know that many MANY people hated him but I will not be getting on that bandwagon. I loved the Darkling. He had this air of mystery about him. Not much was known about him and by the end you didn't know who was telling the truth either Baghara or the Darkling. Maybe my opinion will change in the second book,but for now I loved the Darkling.

The world itself made me think of Russia as did Alina's & Mal's names. I have never been to Russia but this book and the world within these pages struck me was Russian.That made me super excited as I have always wanted to visit Russia or at the very least study Russian.

The pace of this book was quick but not in a bad way. I was never bored while I read the book and I am so excited to read Siege and Storm as soon as humanly possible. So this book gets five stars from me and I can only hope that Siege and Storm is as good if not better than this book. Readers,comment on this post if you've read this book. Let me know what you thought of it.

Friday Musings #7

This week I decided to focus on my top five favorite quotes in books.I have a lot so for me it was really hard to narrow it down to 5 but I did the best I could. So here are my top five favorite book quotes.

#1

"After all this time?" Albus Dumbledore

"Always" Severus Snape

-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-

Yes I am well aware that it's two quotes but I couldn't do one without the other. I won't spoil anything about this quote but I will tell you that is smack dab in the middle of one of the most emotional chapters in the Harry Potter series.

#2

"Albus Severus,you were named for two headmasters at Hogwarts.One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew." Harry Potter
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-

This quote was yet again another extremely emotional quote for me and probably for many other people as well.Six years later I still get choked up when reading this part.

#3
"I wish it wasn't true, but it is. No matter how many times you break my heart, you're still my girl, for as long as you want to be." Paul
-314-

This quote speaks to me for a million different reasons. Paul and Alma's on again off again relationship reminds me so much of my on again off again relationship with a guy.I could see my on again off again guy saying these exact words to me so reading it in a book is very emotional.

#4

"President Snow used to...sell me...my body, that is...I wasn't the only one.If a victor is considered desirable,the president gives them as a reward or allows people to buy them for an exorbitant amount of money.If you refuse,he kills someone you love. So you do it." Finnick Odair

-The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-

This was a significant point in the book. Up until this time,Katniss saw him as a "pretty boy" who was in love with a mad girl from his district. Up until now,she never realized that Finnick was multi-layered and a much more complicated person. As a reader,things fell into place for me. Finnick's actions of bedding many women made sense to me. He was simply trying to keep Annie safe.

#5
"No you're my father.I have a dad and right now Benji needs his. Not a lecture.Not fixing because he is not broken. Just your attention and your patience and your time.Just you." Emaline

-The Moon & More-

This was another one that struck me on a personal level. Emaline does not have a great relationship with her father but she is pushing him to be a better father to her half brother than he ever was to her. That was gutsy of her. She was also super protective of her ten year old brother.She didn't want her brother to have the same lousy relationship with their dad, that she had.

Review: The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Book: The Silver Star

Author: Jeanette Walls

Publish Date: June 11th, 2013

Published By: Scribner

Genre: Memoir

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

The Holladay girls "Bean" and Liz have a very eccentric mother and when she leaves them alone for the umpteenth time,the girls aren't concerned. When a police car turns up outside the house two months later,Liz & Ben decide to head to Virginia where their uncle Tinsley lives.

Ben,who has never known her father,learns more about him in the next few weeks and months than she ever knew before.Both girls also learn why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Against the wishes of Uncle Tinsley,they begin working to earn some spending money. They begin babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox and his wife.Jerry Maddox bullies his mill workers and abuses his wife and yet no one is brave enough to stand up to him.

That all changes when something happens to Liz while she is in the car with Jerry Maddox. The formerly talkative Liz is now,quiet and withdrawn. It takes Bean's courage and the family's agreement to make sure that Jerry Maddox never abuses his power again.

Disclaimer: I got this book from Jennifer of ARCycling 

Review: 

Memoirs can be either really good or really bad.They are never in between.I love memoirs because they are often so raw and bring out so many feelings. This one was no different.Initially it started out really slow and I was a little worried that I would hate the book. Once they got to Virginia and I got to meet more of their mother, Charlotte's family,it picked up quickly.

I would write a novel on Jerry Maddox and his wife. I have no patience for a woman who doesn't stand up for herself. I would NEVER allow anyone to treat me the way Jerry Maddox treated his wife Doris. Of course I'm aware that getting away from an abusive situation is not always easy and sometimes it can be more dangerous to leave. That said,Doris was a fool to stand by her husband knowing the kind of man he was.Especially as it came out that Liz was not the first girl he had tried something with.

Bean was such a courageous kid.I absolutely adored her. She struck me as the type who would be very resilient no matter what her circumstances were.She wasn't quite as outspoken as her sister was. Liz was definitely a smart young lady and Jerry Maddox definitely damaged her. She was still smart but the light sort of went out of her eyes.

Their mother was totally eccentric.I am not a doctor but I wondered if she had some sort of mental illness. Please don't flame me for this but the eccentricities really spoke to me and made me wonder if she was mentally all there or if the loss of Bean's father many years ago had changed her somehow.

My favorite part was after the incident between Liz & Jerry Maddox. From that point on,the town seemed to come together to make sure that justice was served for what Jerry Maddox had put Liz through. I only wish that part had come just a little sooner as Jerry Maddox had given me the heebie jeebies from the beginning. 

This book is getting 4 stars from me. It was a great read that I honestly wished had been a little longer. The end seemed rushed,even unfinished to me. I would definitely recommend it to all of my readers.