[This-Book-Sucks Review] Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn

Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend
by Katie Finn

Hot sun. Blue waves. New romances. Old secrets.

Gemma had her summer all planned out, but it takes a sharp turn when she gets dumped and finds herself back in the Hamptons after a five-year absence.

Being there puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friends (that is, before Gemma ruined her life). But people don't hold grudges forever. Do they?

Gemma intends on making amends, but a small case of mistaken identity causes the people she knew years ago—including Hallie and her dreamy brother, Josh—to believe she's someone else. As though the summer wasn't complicated enough already. Filled with summer sun, boys, and friendships gone sour, Katie Finn's first novel in the Broken Hearts and Revenge series sizzles and delights.

AMAZON | GOODREADS 

I really was hoping for a good read to end my summer. Thought it was light and fun and will make me miss that summer romance. NOPE. Didn't happen. It didn't hold my attention for long enough to care.

I don't even know where it went wrong. The story started out exactly how I thought it would - cute and fun, with Gemma being the best MC ever. But then she goes to spend summer with her dad and that's when she becomes a completely different person. She is way too focused on some drama that happened when she was 11 and by pretending to be someone else, she tries to fix mistakes that she made. 

I started to skim through the pages after about 60%. I think it's enough time to give a book to get better but I guess I could only wish. If only the covers weren't so pretty :(

[Book Review] Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Dark Eden
by Patrick Carman 

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night's experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

Patrick Carman's Dark Eden is a provocative exploration of fear, betrayal, memory, and— ultimately—immortality.

AMAZON | GOODREADS 

Seven Teens... One cure... No escape...

Dark Eden is a YA thriller based on psychological problems of teens. They are not your typical teenagers since they are afraid of one thing only and they have been brought to the "camp" to find the cure. One teen stands out from the rest who's POV this story is based on. While going to his therapist, he stole all the tapes from her office so he could listen to other six teens to get to know him better. 

Once they arrive at the camp, he decides to hide and not associate with any of the people. While he took liking of Marissa on the bus, he can't risk being discovered by whoever runs the "camp" because on his opinion, they might kill him. That's when he discovers a basement with cameras set up where he could watch everyone at the house. Later he finds out that the only way to be cured is to face their fears. 

I'm not even sure what to think of this book. The summary sounded so good but the way it turn out was just a little off than what the idea supposed to be. I really couldn't stand Will and with his presumptions that he was going to die there and that everyone is dead, and there's death everywhere. Once the story got into it, plot twists at the end made sense but should have been incorporated into the story a little different. I did like the website that was presented for this book and watched all of the videos that were pretty entertaining. 

http://enterdarkeden.com/

[Mini Book Review] Feed by Mira Grant

Feed

by Mira Grant

The year was 2014. 

We had cured cancer. 

We had beaten the common cold. 

But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. 

Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. 

The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

GOODREADS 

“The difference between the truth and a lie is that both of them can hurt, but only one will take the time to heal you afterward.”

What point in the book do you stop reading it and just say: "Mkayy well that was something" and move on to the next one? That's how Feed was for me. 

I'm familiar with Mira Grant's writing and can definitely say that I a big fan. With her world-building and incredible scientific theories, she's definitely on my approved list of authors. But I'm not even sure why this one didn't work for me. It might have been because it was an audiobook and I found MC very annoying or it might have been that the topic of politics does not interest me very much. 

Either way, mixing journalism with zombies was a fresh idea and I applaud Grant for this but Feed was not for me and I DNF'd it at about 52%. Maybe gonna have to try later with an actual print copy...

[Book Review] You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle

You Look Different In Real Life
by Jennifer Castle

For the rest of the world, the movies are entertainment. For Justine, they're real life.

The premise was simple: five kids, just living their lives. There'd be a new movie about them every five years, starting in kindergarten. But no one could have predicted what the cameras would capture. And no one could have predicted that Justine would be the star.

Now sixteen, Justine doesn't feel like a star anymore. In fact, when she hears the crew has gotten the green light to film Five at Sixteen, all she feels is dread. The kids who shared the same table in kindergarten have become teenagers who hardly know one another. And Justine, who was so funny and edgy in the first two movies, feels like a disappointment.

But these teens have a bond that goes deeper than what's on film. They've all shared the painful details of their lives with countless viewers. They all know how it feels to have fans as well as friends. So when this latest movie gives them the chance to reunite, Justine and her costars are going to take it. Because sometimes, the only way to see yourself is through someone else's eyes.

Smart, fresh, and frequently funny, You Look Different in Real Life is a piercing novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear.

GOODREADS 

“Everyone has a story. It's simply a question of finding it."

You Look DIfferent In Real Life was a complete let down. And it's not even a let down that I want to rant about, it just makes me feel dead inside - no emotions. I don't know if I ever was a fan of TV Shows stories but I do like watching TV Shows and thought this was going to pretty interesting. But all the characters, the setting, the conversations were boring and useless. 

Story is mostly about five classmates that have been participating in documentary about their lives. "Five At Six", "Five At Eleven", and now - "Five At Sixteen". Previous two films always had some sort of events going on whether it was parents leaving their children, physical illness, or anything that would keep the crowd interesting. 

But I was bored. And I would like to blame it all on Justine. I don't even know why they kept her as the main character in all of the films and thoughout the book. It was tiring to be in her head, listening to her monotone thoughts. Just stop. The only person that kept me going throughout this whole book was Kiera. & yes I am imagining her as Katherine Pierce:

She was a brat and might have always been kind of rude but I loved it. The only reason why I'm going to keep going with this author is because the next book is "Playing Kiera" which will only be based on her character from this story. Other than that - I give up :'( 

[Book Review] Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Strands of Bronze and Gold

by Jane Nickerson 

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world. Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

 GOODREADS

What was supposed to be an amazing and extravagant retelling of Bluebeard turned out to be a dull comparison even to a simple, average Fiction book.

When an author decides to do a retelling of any tale, there needs to be some sort of criteria that makes it exciting, breathtaking, and memorizing. The only thing that was exciting about this book was the ending (with about 5 pages of chasing and stabbing)..

Monsieur Bernard de Cressac (a.k.a. Bluebeard) was a creepy and pedophile-ish Frenchman who gave me the shivers so thumps up on that. I couldn’t find him charming at any point of the book but I’m not sure if it was the writing or the bad accent of narrator. Either way if this story would be intriguing, the reader should have been able to fall in love with him at least for a moment to break their hearts later. But that didn’t happen.

Jane Nickerson’s writing is elegant but dull and if this was more of a historian fiction – might have worked. But once the story takes turn to be a retelling – it captures different kind of audience and in this case the right material just wasn’t delivered right.

[Book Review] Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Teardrop

by Lauren Kate

Never, ever cry... 

Seventeen-year-old Eureka won't let anyone close enough to feel her pain. After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning. 

She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean. And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea. 

Suddenly her mother's death and Ander's appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don't make sense. 

Can everything you love be washed away?

 GOODREADS

Sooooo... that was interesting I guess. Still don't understand why this book got so much buzz but at least somebody out there in marketing does their job *thumbs up*

But I'm still sad that I wasted one whole credit in Audible on this. I don't know if I'm the only one who treasures my credits but if I get a book, I expect it to be awesome sauce no matter what. I seriously feel like Gollum and just wanna say: "my preeeeeeeeecious" when I click that confirm button with the book added.

I guess the 13 hours that my brain had to process Teardropwasn't as bad because it gave me some background noise while I was working away. Of course, I might have tuned out some extremely boring parts (ahem - like Eureka being an irritating brat for the thousandth time - ahem) but still got the story.

I do have to say that the ending definitely made that one more star because of turns of events that followed the story. Yes, I still very disliked Eureka's characters and just wanted her to shut up so I can hear everyone else talk, but managed to finished the book.

The only thing that I really liked about Teardrop is mythology side of it. It wasn't anything special but I always loved the story of Atlantis and wanted to hear more about it. Loved the side characters as well. Pretty much everyone except Eureka lol

The necklaces that was sent with ARC's copies were definitely creative and probably scored some bonus points with the reviewers. Awwwww we're such suckers for pretty things! I DEMAND PRETTY NECKLACE WITH ARC COPY SO I CAN GIVE MORE STARS FOR YOUR BOOK!! haha. Kidding. Totally not a sell out *wink*

[Book Review] Deeper by Blue Ashcroft

Deeper
Blue Ashcroft

Rain Wilson isn’t ever going to love again.

It’s a promise she made the day her boyfriend died in a water park accident, one she still blames herself for. Now she’s a senior lifeguard in a new town with a new pool and she’s just going to keep her head down and everyone safe.

Until a mysterious guy follows her into the waves at the pre-season bonfire and kisses her senseless. It’s just one mistake, and Rain is determined to put it behind her, until the dark haired, blue eyed hottie turns out to be her new co-supervisor Knight Mcallister.

Knight is hot, tatted, and carrying baggage of his own. He’s not happy about having Rain for a co-supervisor, and he’s even less happy about his attraction to her.

But between lifeguard drama, hot underwater kisses, and a growing attraction between them that can’t be stopped, Knight and Rain are being pulled deeper into their pasts, and realizing that sometimes too much broken can make a relationship impossible.

Then again sometimes it’s the broken parts of us that fit together best.

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Deeper is an emotional story about two people with past that try to work at a relationship with many problems that come their way. With sad and sweet story, this book could have had more potential but unfortunately didn’t live up to it.

After the death of her boyfriend, Rain Wilson does not want to love again. She does not want to feel the pain and guilt wash over her every day. And when she sees Knight at her new job location, she knows it’s wrong. She is all about the rules but maybe breaking the rules might not be so bad after all. But she doesn’t realize that Knight has a past of his own and even with all the drama that is going on around them, she might be more invested into this than she expected.

Knight is not happy about another supervisor joining him in the summer. This is his pool and he spent too much time working on it. But he sees Rain, he cannot pull his eyes from her and the similarity of his ex girlfriend is unbearable. But she is not Camille, she will not get sexually abused, and she will not die. Not if he can’t stop it and protect her this summer even if she doesn’t want him to.

”I should have known from the moment my eyes found her at the bonfire, and it felt like a part of me was waking up after a long nightmare. And then I followed her into the water, like she was a siren”.

I really had mixed feelings about this book. It was interesting to learn about the lifeguard’s life and how they do things but the whole sexual abuse thing was a little over the top. It was like the whole water park was an attraction for the rapists and families did not go here.

It was…. Just sad. I did not see any twists, no surprising moments and nothing to blow away my mind. I would assume that with such a tragic story line, there would be something that would trigger my feelings but I had no connection with this whatsoever. The writing was beautiful but it didn’t have the spark that would my absolute favorite and memorable.

☆☆

[Book Review] Chasing Beautiful by Pamela Ann

Chasing Beautiful

Pamela Ann

What would you do if you had two hot men fight over you?

An orphan at the age of seven, there was one thing that Sienna Richards didn't do easily--give her heart. She made that mistake once by trusting and giving her heart to her childhood best friend and ex-boyfriend, Kyle Matthews. When Sienna left for London to study, she was taken aback when Kyle told her that he's been seeing someone else.

Hurt and betrayed, Sienna decided to fly back to LA to confront him. The whole idea of "closure" was definitely a bad idea. She immediately left, deflated and aggrieved. Back in London, Sienna was surprised when her very good friend, the magnetic Blake Knightly, seemed to be determined to have her. Blake was relentless but will not settle until he gets ALL of Sienna.

Women clamored to be the handsome aristocratic Blake. Who could possibly resist a compelling man that drew such power and commanded attention by simply just breathing?

When Sienna was about to give in, fate stepped in and muddled her mind and heart once again. Kyle moves to London to be close to her. If Sienna thought her life was in shambles before, she should think again.

Overall Score: 2 Stars

Chasing Beautiful is the first book in Chasing Series which starts off a story about Sienna, a beautiful Californian 20 year old girl who moved to London for college. While being still heartbroken from her past relationship with her childhood best friend Kyle, she engages in a new relationship with her recent friend Brake who she cannot stop thinking about. After Kyle moves to London for work while trying to get her back, she is torn between him and Brake.

I don’t want you for your body… when you’re mine, I want your all. Your body, your soul, your mind. I will consume you – I’ll be your world and in return, I’ll worship the ground you walk on…

This story was an okay read that I'm not really crazy about. There were many sex scenes that I really liked and didn’t seem too tacky and the passion and heat of the moment made the pages turn. The only problem that I have with some of the scenes is that the writing was very confusing. One moment you have Sienna saying some pretty big words and then the next she’ll blurt out something completely ghetto and out of the content. For example, she would say: “Your skills are extraordinary – incomparable” and few paragraphs later: “Yes, it will be hella crazy.” I also did not really find her character to be likeable. I get the whole family tragedy situation and not being able to trust people but for me it was really annoying to read her thoughts. She repeated herself ALOT (well... the author repeated herself ALOT) and it was a constant switch between it's-all-about-me and hot-guys-all-over-me-but-I'm-still-worthless-piece-of-shit act. And she handles situations terrible! When she finds out that Blake was in arranged engagement, she starts crying, has a panic attack in front of everyone and what does she do next? She packs her shit and gets on the plane with her ex-boyfriend! The same ex-boyfriend that broke her heart but she can't stop drooling over him.-facepalm-

So overall, between hot sex scenes and terrible characters, it was an okay read. I wouldn't even give it one star if the author didn't put some steamy action in there. Blah. Just writing this review made my personal rating stop from 3 to 2 stars. -.-

[Book Review] Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Overall Rating: 2 stars

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

THOUGHTS: Sooooooooo... I don’t even know what to make out of this book. I think that the reason why my rating turned out to be so low is because of all the hype that’s been going on forever since the book came out. When I first started reading it, I was so excited because if 123,820 people rated this as 5 stars, it should be good. Right, am I right???? nothing in this life is fair But as I went along the book, I was simply bored. I think that all of the people that talked about it just made the book seem better then what it really was which lifted my expectations. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but the Divergent that I read should at least come with a cup of very expensive coffee for me to actually enjoy it.