~Books That Iron Themselves Into our Hearts~

Books That Iron Themselves Into our Hearts

Okay, so this is a post that I've been meaning to write for a while... and I can't simply get the thought of it out of my head. I'm sitting in class in the middle of the day, and the thought of my all-time favourite books come into my head. What does this tell us? I'm a crazy, weirdo reader. And hey, I'm proud as anyone will ever be.

So what does this absurd, deep title: "Books That Iron Themselves Into our Hearts" really mean? No, we're not actually using an iron to stick books onto myself, hah.

Haha, we're going deeper than that. Think of your Goodreads shelf of books that make you smile and freak out and panic and fangirl because you know that you'll never read a book like that ever again and you'll remember it for ages. Those are books of iron, of gorgeousness. Well I guess that you get the picture, because you hadn't headed onto my blog to watch me fangirl. And these are the books that I'm talking about:

This is a snippet of some of my shelves on Goodreads—which category do you see the most books in? YEAH, THE FAVOURITES. *ROLLS EYES QUICKLY* I'm a crazy freak, and this discussion will feature books that I adored so much and those that I feel are all favourites for me. 

So, what does a favourite really mean for me?

Well for the first thing, I'll tell you that I get an abnormal feeling when reading the book. My mind goes wicked and I find myself going mental. But you know the feeling too, since you all have favourites as well. I find as my maturity gets stronger and larger, I realize what a favourite really is to me. It just can't be a book that's great for me. As I log onto Goodreads and look at some members' profiles, I see that they have read like 1000 books and only have 20 favourites. I'm sitting here with almost 300. What does this tell us about me? I was a crazy kid, but there's also so many books out there for me and that were actually made for me.

What is my all-time favourite book?

I just can't answer this. If you're truly a bookworm, I believe that you CANNOT ever answer this question. Two of my favourite ones that I've read lately are: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I just can't tell you what books are the best, because I normally don't reread them since I already have tons more to go through. But hey, everyone's different, but I do have my favourite author: John Green. *pets his books*

Book says to me in an annoying voice.

And last but not least, a favourite is something completely different than a regular read. It stays with me and I'm unable to put it down, and of course there's always imperfections, but the imperfections always stay as perfections. AND THEN I'LL BABBLE ABOUT THEM ON TWITTER AND TAG THE AUTHORS AND THANK THEM FOR THEIR MASTERPIECES. That's how my process usually goes.

What are your thoughts on favourites? What is your all-time favourite, if you have one?!

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith Review

The Geography of You and Me, by Jennifer E. Smith
Publication: April 15, 2014, by Little Brown
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Jennifer E. Smith has always been known as an author (especially to me) who truly writes fantastic contemporary romance fiction. She writes with passion, and although her stories aren't always too believable, they're always enjoyable and I can spend a nice quiet night with them. In this case, this probably was her worst book, and I didn't like it as much as I wish I had.

Traveling is always a concept that Smith features in her books. Every novel she writes takes us to another place in the world that I've always wished to be in. Wanderlust, much? Since every book I read takes me into someone else's life, I feel that I'm witnessing another story in the most unique way since this isn't your average modern-day chick-lit. This features a long-distance relationship that even the protagonists and love interests don't even believe exists, but the readers sure do and we can only hope that things will get better between them. Here, Smith takes us to New York City (where I will be in late-May, I CAN'T WAIT), London, Prague, San Francisco and Switzerland. The title definitely makes sense now, especially when I think about it at the moment.

"His eyes widened as their lips met, and the nearness of her made the world go blurry, until all at once, it wasn't; all at once, it came into focus again, and the clearest thing of all—the truest thing of all—was the girl right in front of him. And so he closed his eyes and kissed her back."

As the title goes and from the paragraph I just told you about, this book has a simple plot, and I can't argue that this aspect didn't change my opinion of the book itself. This goes on with Lucy and Owen, two people that fate seems to mistakenly bring them together, especially at the right moment. Lucy has lived in New York for most of her life, in the same apartment that overlooks on the most pleasant city views. Her dad announces that they'll be moving to Switzerland, just at the same time where she falls in love with Owen, who just has moved to the same building as her and they fall in love... in an elevator.

Yes, in an elevator. This actually is a fantastic concept, and I find that one incident can bring people even more closer together than spending longer, quality time together with a random person. This had a similar concept as Elana Johnson's Elevated, where two people fall in love in an elevator, but this was caused by a blackout instead, and well, things got more complicated since they barely spent time together afterwards. This was the cute part, and although I sadly don't picture this happening in reality, readers can only wish for something like this to happen, right?

Moving out is supposed to ruin relationships and the most cheesy and well-known concept here is that people never share contact afterwards. Lucy and Owen... Well they didn't make contact afterwards (barely), but they couldn't stand being without each other. At first, our dumb Lucy felt that everything and her homesickness of New York was only about the city and the fact that she lived there for all of her life, but it was more than that. And I can tell you that this book was about mending that and giving the characters hints to realize that their missing and hearts are asking for each other.

*barfs* It was cheesy. It had really gooey moments. And I think I didn't enjoy at the biggest part was because I couldn't feel for the characters and there was no emotions. I didn't feel pathos, or guilt, or pity, or happiness. I was sitting there with a monotone face, and even the best book that I've ever read (*cough* All the Bright Places) couldn't make me smile. Does that show you some clues of a not-so-good book? Absolutely.

Smith's writing always impresses me. She can honestly start the action off from the first page and I won't ever get bored. Here, I felt the same way. Yes, every book has its weak moments where you just have to roll your eyes, but I enjoyed the plot and the way things were held. It was fast-paced for a love story, since we got to read all about the protagonists' different adventures in different parts of the world. 

I guess that this book gets everyone to think. To dream. What's it truly like to be in love? Maybe I'm just really judgmental and don't see the real picture since I've never been in love, and maybe this is realistic. Am I saying that no one's ever felt this way? Absolutely not—everyone has. But I guess that in the time frame and through the characters' emotions, I just don't let it fly by me and feel that everything's okay and normal here. Do I wish that I'll experience the love that Owen and Lucy had felt? Umm.. yeah. They were cute and they were two teenagers who couldn't live without each other, and them seeing other stuff brought them closer.

Lucy was my big problem. Since I felt no emotions for her, I didn't like her character. I felt like she moped around most of the time, and didn't care for anyone except Owen. She was rude to her parents, and all she wanted was things to go her way. Couldn't she understand that things don't always flow in your direction? This was your typical whiny teenager, and even though I'm a teenager, I'll admit that I feel that she's your cheesy one. 

And guess what? The same with Owen. I didn't see him as a futuristic fictional boyfriend for me, and he wasn't even attractive in a written way at all. He did go deep, and I felt tons of pity for his character since things never went in a happy manner until he met and fell in love with Lucy. He finally got to live in the impossible that he never believed in, and Smith really shined a huge spotlight on his character.

From all of Smith's books, this took the most unattractive approach. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't amazing either. There were some nice aspects about it, like the concept and the deepness that the author took while she tried for us to understand what the characters had to deal with according to their "loss" from each other. Be aware for relationships, wanderlust from the gorgeous locations mentioned, and no emotions. Looking at the ratings, you'll find that everyone has a chance to be impressed with this in some way. Hey, I can say that I'm looking forward to her future novels! 

What is your favourite novel that has brought you to feel wanderlust?

Top Ten Tuesday #38: Top Books That Feature Characters Who Need a Friend

-Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme by Broke and Bookish

where readers share bookish lists with others.-

Top Books That Feature Characters Who Need a Friend 

This may seem like a very simple topic, but I feel like it means a lot, and these kind of situations usually happen to characters who deal with tragedies. Here are ten characters who've been lonely since the start!

1. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Hey, what's a dystopian novel with a confused protagonist without her being a loner? *sad face* Until Shay, Tally was really broken and her world of prettiness made everything worse. 5/5

2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

If you haven't read this series yet, then something is seriously wrong with you and your TBR list. *laughs* POOR ETHAN, MAN. THIS GUY HAS BEEN DREAMING OF SOME CREEPY GIRL FOR AGES AND HE'S ALL ALONE. ;_; 5/5

3. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

POOR JESS. This was like a retelling of Dracula, but much better, at least from what I believe. I remember reading this and adoring it for its sorrow that it gave me! 5/5

4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

MY FAVOURITE WEREWOLF BOOOOOOOOOOOOK! If you haven't heard before, Maggie here gives us a fabulous and mysterious female protagonist named Grace. She's always watching the woods outside of her house and wishes to be one of them. Thankfully, the books' events give her an experience that she never expects. 5/5

5. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

What can I say? Both Theodore and Violet were two lost souls, but Jennifer Niven brought them together and I just was left without words. Both trying to commit suicide by jumping off a ledge, they saved each other to the fullest extent. 5/5

6. What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

Guy meets girl—girl gets saved from the horrible things of the world, and it's absolutely unique and amazing. I'd reread this any day, I tell you. 4/5

7. In a World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Awh, Jonathan! Since this guy/protagonist spends his time in his personal alternative universe, he doesn't get many chances to make friends, or mend the friendships that he had with others when he was a kid. Kylie made that difference *winks* 4.5/5

8. Little Peach by Peggy Kern

Oh my gosh, MICHELLE. This girl had a disaster life before she went to NYC, but now it's all worse as she begins a "career" as a prostitute. *cries* She almost had NO support, people! 4/5

9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

BRUNOOOOOOOOOOO! Agh. I'm actually watching the boy right now (as I'm writing this) and the memories of his story are stuck with me. I can't forget about his sad face and the feels he gave us when he was alone in a huge barbaric war completed by the war. 3/5

10. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure... Well I really cannot go on about her because her story shattered my heart into a jillion pieces, especially in the end when we found the answers. What a legacy she created, hm?

What are the books that feature

the top characters, in your opinion?

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin Review

The Walled City, by Ryan Graudin
Publication: November 4, 2014, by Little Brown Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical, Romance
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: ½

730. That's how many days I've been trapped.18. That's how many days I have left to find a way out.
DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from someone with the power to be invisible...
JIN hides under the radar, afraid the wild street gangs will discover her biggest secret: Jin passes as a boy to stay safe. Still, every chance she gets, she searches for her lost sister...
MEI YEE has been trapped in a brothel for the past two years, dreaming of getting out while watching the girls who try fail one by one. She's about to give up, when one day she sees an unexpected face at her window...
In this innovative and adrenaline-fueled novel, they all come together in a desperate attempt to escape a lawless labyrinth before the clock runs out.

Before truly beginning, can I just say that I never even saw the true image of the book cover before I picked it up and began to read it? I've seen this book for ages and it's been on every wish-list of mine, and I saw mountains in the background. MOUNTAINS, I TELL YOU! Now this is a gorgeous cover, before I get to anything else.

The Walled City was what you've heard it was. I agree with the other Goodreads reviewers, and all of the average ratings that you see and the reviews will tell you the truth. This was a great novel, but it first started off horribly. It was slow and boring to the point where I began to wonder if I should DNF this. In the end, I saw the concept as something wonderful and I loved the idea on how the real Walled City is a real city that's found in China and people have actually lived in it. It's wonderful to read a fictional novel thats base is from a real place. Yes, this does introduce some dystopia into it, but it was mostly historical with romance and a heart-racing story.

"I was invisible a lot when I was younger. There were only three years between me and my older sister, but Mei Yee was the one people noticed. Her face was round and soft. Like a moon. Her hair hung straight, sleek as midnight."

If you're planning on reading a novel and you have it right beside your hands, then I recommend not reading the summary. I seriously didn't really pay much attention to the concept and what this story will hold before reading it, just trusting the reviewers with their high ratings and all, and I never ended up thoroughly going through it and trying to see if it'll interest me or not. Then, the huge plot twist came, and I barely saw it coming. If you don't pay attention, then authors can really whack your mind. Hah. I was such a loser, but it brought me closer to the book and at that moment, I actually began to enjoy it more and I gave up on the DNFing thoughts that circled my mind.

This book features a wicked plot where there are three sets of protagonists: Dai, Jin and Mei Yee, and you guessed it—they'll all end up knowing each other and forming some kind of relationship by the end of the book. They're all trying to hide a secret, or are trying to run away from something that's fixating their lives, where Dai has been homeless and wants to traffic drugs for kingpins in the city. He hasn't had any contact with his dad for years, and until he meets Jin, his life has been a wreck. Jin is a girl who's reenacting herself as a boy to make things safer for her, and she's trying to find her younger sister who's gone to a brothel and is living there, and Mei Yee is that sister. 

In dystopian novels, everyone always has something in their life that they need to run away from. These characters already are living in the worst possible conditions of the city where everyone's either rich or homeless, and it's all about the wealth that one has. The concept that I kept on seeing was survival and friendship, since Dai and Jin wouldn't be anywhere without each other and readers probably would be able to picture them both dead on the side of the road and robbed by a drug lord in a few days. They trusted each other, but not enough until the end of the book where Jin revealed her secret, and sh-- really got real.

"Everyone in the Walled City has secrets. I might want the truth, but I need my sister more. I can't risk losing my only way into Longwai's brothel. Not over this."

From all of the three protagonists, I felt connected to Jin's the most. There was so much pathos and guilt in her situation, and I just wanted to shed some tears for her. From the looks of it, Graudin made it look like Jin cared so much for her sister, but her sister instead was a snob who made it into the brothel on her own fault and she's just stupid. But of course, whoever is older usually knows best, and they'll always go running after the younger ones, helping them even if they don't feel like they need it. Jin was afraid with her own situation as pretending to be a boy, and she needed a friend of Dai.

I started off reading with high expectations, of course. What can you possibly expect when all you see are 5 star reviews on Goodreads? It took me a whole day of reading to get through this, a few different sittings, and I finally got through it. Again, the beginning was horrible, and the only way that one can possibly get through this is with complete and utter patience. If you don't have any of that, then I'm afraid that you're going to be completely lost with this story.

After that, things got really good. If we just take the first 120 pages out of the book, the rest is a definite 5 star rating in plot and pacing. I finished this very quickly afterwards, and found myself captivated. Thank goodness I didn't put this down earlier or I surely would've missed out on quite a lot of plot and wonderful characters. Now as I'm looking through the author's other novels, I'm not sure if I'll go for them, especially All That Glows, but I can tell you that I'll always keep an eye out for her other novels as this really impressed me and left a great remark on me that I'll always keep with me when thinking about a book based on a true story.

"It's because I'm a girl. But they don't know this. No one here does. To be a girl in the city—without a roof or family—is a sentence. An automatic ticket to one of the many brothels that line the street."

Another tiny complaint that is stuck on to me and I admit I'll have to tell everyone here is the world-building. Yes, I'm absolutely in love with the world and the concept of the Walled City itself, but I actually didn't find out much about it until I googled it afterwards. The characters hadn't really given us the best mental picture that is possible, and I probably would've enjoyed this book much more if I knew where this was taking place beforehand and that this was a true-ish story going on here. Huh.

Ryan Graudin has delivered a fantastic novel with heart-racing moments and absolute shocks and plot twists that will leave readers breathless until they have a good night's sleep. When you wake up, you'll feel that the Walled City itself is right outside your window, and you'll want to go explore the unknown world with the wild characters of Dai, Jin, and Mei Yee. Adding some light romance and great action in the end, I can tell you that this was one of the best historical-reads that I've gone through for a while. Have patience for the beginning and research your stuff, and you'll really enjoy this to the fullest extent possible.

If a sibling or friend is taken away and you have to head into a wicked city that's known to be the most dangerous, would you go in and try to find them? Because I know I would. *winks*

Stacking the Shelves #38: April 26

This Week's Headlines:

HEEYYYY! *throws a party* Now as I'm writing this, I'm telling you that I'm the most tired and drained out person ever. I just made an electric car for science, and it ruined my whole weekend because I didn't get to read at all today... AND IT'S THE WEEKEND! Now we all know what I'll be doing after writing this post and during all of tomorrow haha. It's working pretty well, and I'm not that into physics so things took a while to be made perfect. But it's all good now. 

How are you all? Other than today's drainage, I'm awesome. THE BEA SCHEDULE OF AUTOGRAPHING IS FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY OUT! I've been checking Twitter frantically for the past few days, and there's been no sign until Friday came and made my day. As of today, I REPEAT THAT THERE'S ONLY ONE MONTH LEFT UNTIL I LEAVE FOR THE TIME OF MY LIFE! I can't wait to meet you guys there!

And yesterday I found a great deal for business cards on VistaPrint, where I also designed my cards (which look amazing), and I'm ordering them today! $8.99 for a pack of 250? THAT'S AMAZING. I'm so excited, guys!

My Book Haul:

The Clouded Sky by Megan Crewe: I was ecstatic when I found out that I've won an autographed finished copy of this beauty from the amazing author herself! I still have to read the first one, but I'm sure that I'll be obsessed, just as I was with The Way I Fall. Thanks so much, Megan!

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesel Shurtliff: I'm not usually into middle-grade, but I ADORE fairy-tale retellings and the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, so I'd love to hear what really happened.

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger: I'm participating in a blog tour for this beauty, and I absolutely adore the cover! Diversity? Diversity.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen: IT'S MY FIRST PENGUIN ARC OMGOMGOMGOMG! AND... IT'S BY THE AMAZING SARAH DESSEN WHOSE BOOKS MAKE MY HEART SKIP A BEAT! AGGGGGGHHH! I feel so grateful to read this before it's released!

The Fearless by Emma Pass: WOOOOOOT! I haven't read Acid by Pass, but I'm truly looking for new dystopias, and am really curious to see what this will hold. Yay!

*Thank you SO much to Random House USA and Penguin Teen Canada for these beauties!*

Posts You May Have Missed:

• Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu Review
• Angelfall by Susan Ee Review
• How I Review Books
• Little Peach by Peggy Kern Review
• Top Ten Tuesday #37: Top Favourite Contemporary Authors
• This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner Review

How was your week? Any new worthy reads that 

you've got?

Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Life by Committee, by Corey Ann Haydu
Publication: May 13, 2014, by Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Source: Gifted
Rating: 

Some secrets are too good to keep. 
Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat. 
Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.
Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe. 
Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.
But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

Whoa, who would've thought or believed that taking mutual advice for your problems or to get your secrets fixed out and leave you happy be so chaotic and messed-up? I guess that's the theme that Corey Ann Haydu has provided us with while reading, where the things that you may have to do to help yourself may only stay in your heart.

The funny thing was, I barely knew what this book was about when I decided to pick it up. This has been sitting in my bookshelf for a few months since Christmas, and I just went for it since I was looking for a cute chick-lit that will leave all of the cuteness in my head and I'll be thinking about it for a few nights. Little did I know that the author has written the much-raved about OCD Love Story. That book is known to be one of the most brilliant contemporary-romances that we've seen for a few years, and I have to say that this wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. 

A slut? That's exactly what Tabitha's classmates and supposed-friends call her. Once she gets hot and changes her group of friends, everyone seems to see her as a boy-hogging, kissing, huge-boobs freak. Umm... what? And one of the worst things that she sees about herself is that she likes a guy with a girlfriend... who may seem to like her as well. Tab sees that she's in love with Joe, and spending nights unable to stop talking with him in text messages. She can't help herself, and she feels like this personal secret of hers will eventually be bursted, so she signs up for Life by Committee, an internet chat forum where you tell a secret and the people on it will give you an assignment, or else your secret will go out.

What happens when you go too far and listen to those around you too much? Sh-- will go over the place, I tell you. I don't know this for myself as things have never went so far and out of hand, but Tabitha has really showed this to me. I just can't believe how things got ruined for her because of some crush, and people had peer-pressured her to do things that she normally wouldn't have. Then, people eventually saw her doing these crazy stuff and her reputation got ruined, again.

"What I meant was: everything changes after tonight, and I'm not sure I'm ready. What I meant was: this was the last perfect moment before I do more terrifying things."

I don't know... this book was seriously lacking something sweet and real. Yes, I did love Tabitha's character as a protagonist, but I don't know if in reality, her actions would go as far and people would be that manipulative. If I read this book a year ago before I have advanced into high school, I think I would've believed Tab's story even more and the rating would've been higher. Now that I'm in this situation, I see that things do go far, but people aren't that manipulative. These days, teenagers just care about themselves (and a little far too much) and will gossip, but won't go and say things to your face. But hey, we're still naïve, just like Tab was. *snickers*

I actually expected this book to be about some school-newspaper columnist who gives advice. Thank goodness it wasn't, or else I probably would've DNFed this out of the complete utterly grossness of cheesiness. After Tabby's dumb actions, she probably could stand up for herself and give good advice to others in school that need it, but I don't feel like going far and begin to try to think about a sequel in the works, since I surely won't give it a chance. 

"At the end of September, a little over one month ago, Joe told me he liked my new haircut and he'd never noticed how blue my eyes were until that very day. He told me Sasha wasn't as fun as me. He told me he'd had a dream about me."

Man, how naïve was that, my friends! I did like Tabitha as a character, don't get me wrong. It's just that the writing seemed to portray a role that us teenagers are going to go full-out and be as reckless and wild as possible. Guilt and sorrow was what people should've been feeling for Tabby, but the author made her seem like was the biggest and outrageously stupid loser in her school when there wasn't anything really clear to me that she did something wrong. Yeah, she was sneaking around with Joe, who's dating Sasha, but it's not like Tabby's in a relationship. It was stupid-Joe's fault, and if he knew it was wrong, he would've broken it up between them sooner. He simply didn't know what he was doing, and I felt that the author wanted to make something good happen between them, some kind of drama, but it didn't work out to be spectacular.

So, the main characters here were: Tabby, Elise, Joe, Devon, Cate, Paul and Sasha. The author had to put a love triangle in, right? Right. There was Tabby and Joe, and Tabby and Devon, although it was a little eerie that they just realized their love for each other in the end and didn't even have a somewhat kind of connection beforehand since all that Tabby could do was daydream about Joe and his cute dreamy personality. I, for myself, didn't see anything special about him, but I guess it was because I didn't like him from the start and there were no googly eyes involved whatsoever.

The only relationship that I seemed to approve on was that of Tab and Elise. The fact that Elise was her only friend really put happiness in my heart, and I felt that Elise was always there for her, but Tab was the one who pushed her away when the stupid LBC came into her life and overtook it. When LBC started, readers can tell that that's all that Tab can think about, and her actions are all given by the people who are on that committee. It destroyed her, her reputation (not that she should care anyways because she's awesome), her love life... and more importantly, her family. The people made her have a hateful relationship with her young parents who are soon going to have another child. Adding to that, Tab got jealous that no attention would be given to her. Poor people. 

Life by Committee really could have been better, especially by looking at my reactions of previous chick-lit books that I have read lately. I couldn't connect to the setting and characters as the whole concept and situation seemed unrealistic at times (especially by looking at my experience as a teenager) when it really should be realer and different. The writing did keep me going and I liked the plot and the pacing that it took. Overall, this is a quick novel that's perfect for your first day of summer (or spring) break and you just want to experience a new bookish situation where a girl doesn't listen to herself but goes for the negative influences to decide which step her future will lead her in.

Angelfall by Susan Ee Review

Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days #1), by Susan Ee
Publication: May 23, 2013, by Hodder and Stoughton
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian, Romance, Paranormal
Pages: 326
Format: Paperback
Source: Gifted
Rating: 

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. 
Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. 
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

Hype, especially looking at it these days is such a big thing. I find that I always get so excited to read a book that everyone's raving about and I won't stop being so anxious until I actually go for it. And actually, Angelfall really showed me that hype isn't always correct and every book isn't for everyone.

Dystopians and science-fictions can be so mainstream and overly used all the time. The same concepts can be found all over the place, no matter what letter of the alphabet you begin to search the book under. For once, an author has given us a new experience that I haven't been in before. The uniqueness and diversity that I saw throughout this novel was stupendous, and I definitely wouldn't give away my experience for anything else, though there were some weaknesses. Angels in an apocalypse who are destroying the world? That's pretty awesome, and it's not like the end of the world is happening in one short day—it goes longer than that, and it's just something that's taking some time to progress and become new.

Okay, I admit that I wasn't ready for a big catastrophic boom where everything went out of hand, to be honest. Ee's pacing was slow, but I can tell you that it worked for this novel, and it all began when the apocalypse of angels (not zombies, thank goodness) has hit the Earth and all that there's left are sore survivors and killers... some who are even transforming into a pure cannibal. Everyone sees that it's best and the most productive to work and run away at night where the gangs have a lesser chance to beat people up. Penryn is a hard-working girl who's always there for her mother and sister, and she knows that she's have to find them when her sister is taken away by the angels... right into the sky. Little does she know that she will fall in love.

Fall in loooooveeeee with Raffeeeeeeeeeee.... I can't even tell you that that's some kind of spoiler because we all saw that coming, why can we even go on with this review any longer if you're against this? Yeah, they were adorable *makes googly eyes* but um, I hadn't fell for the predictability. I then kept questioning if this is a novel that is made for those who hadn't ever given a book like this a chance before. And hey, we have angels with wicked names and like Gabriel. Every 'angelic' novel has to base its concept and form out of the real religious allegorical stuff, I tell you.

"I have the absurd impulse to apologize. What, exactly, am I sorry for? That his people have attacked our world and destroyed it? That they are so brutal as to cut off the wings of one of their own and leave him to be torn apart by the native savages? If we are such savages, it is only because they have made us so. So I am not sorry, I remind myself."

If you look at the three quotes in total that I have pulled out of this story, you'll surely see that they're all found out in the first half of the novel. And that first half was the good half. I probably would've given it a 4 star rating if the rest of the book remained the same way, but then it got worse as the pacing went on and the plot kept on going. What I thought would happen and would progress went the opposite, but I wasn't impressed at all.

The ending sucked, the rescue of Paige that we all saw coming sucked, and the writing didn't seem to interest me at all. This all happened in the second half of the novel, and throughout it all, I felt like I was walking around, slumped and destroyed by the aftermath of it all, just like someone who is certainly not a morning person. This wasn't my cup of tea, I must proclaim.

For the happiness of this book, I must say that these were a bunch of good characters. Ee created a strong protagonist, who was kick-ass and wasn't afraid to speak her word and fight evil, especially as this series is even about Penryn and the end of her days, and I just loved her fighting and the love she had for her sister and her mother. Yeah, her mother was a little crazy as she saw things with the devil that Penryn hadn't, but she was hilarious and I liked the humour Ee added in to it all, and you can absolutely tell that she's a witty person, probably even in reality. I wish that I saw more happiness in her writing, or this would've been a better situation for the bunch of us here.

"There's no denying that this is the real deal, though. Men with wings. Angels of the Apocalypse. Supernatural beings who've pulverized the modern world and killed millions, maybe even billions, of people. And here's one of the horrors, right in front of me."

One of the most fantastic (and sexiest) things about this book was the chemistry between Pen and Raffe. They both were so adorable, and I loved how quickly they played hard-to-get although they both were in love with each other from the moment when Penryn saved him from the evil that his own world has brought to him. AND MAN, THAT CLUB SEEN THOUGH WHERE HE TOLD THE OTHER GROSS CHICK TO LEAVE—that was something special, and Susan Ee just knows how to get it completely right.

Thinking about the aftermath of this dystopia, I can tell you that it was written in a well form, but I missed some of the important stuff as it wasn't clear to me. I can't tell what else was missing, but the plot was a big disaster in the end. Yes, we've definitely got a great world-setting, concept and characters, but I can tell you that this surely isn't one of my favourites, or even close to one of the good dystopians I've ever read. The hype that everyone sees is clear, but this book really wasn't for me compared as it was for others. You'll absolutely enjoy this either way, but the action is what everyone'll go for, just make sure you remember who is who!

What's one of the best angel books you've read?