I, Witness by Niki Mackay // Not My Kind of Mystery Tale

I, Witness (Madison Attallee #1), by Niki Mackay
Publication: April 19, 2018, by Orion
Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

They say I'm a murderer.
Six years ago, Kate Reynolds was found holding the body of her best friend; covered in blood, and clutching the knife that killed her.
I plead guilty.

Kate has been in prison ever since, but now her sentence is up. She is being released.
But the truth is, I didn't do it.

There's only one person who can help: Private Investigator Madison Attalee, the first officer on the scene all those years ago.
But there's someone out there who doesn't want Kate digging up the past. Someone who is willing to keep the truth buried at any cost.

My Thoughts:

I personally was not a fan of I, Witness. This was a boring, slow novel that took a lot of willpower to plow through. I found it quite predictable and uninteresting; I wasn't able to form a connection with the characters and novel to the extent that I hoped for and often do when I read mystery novels. I can't really comprehend or explain why, but this book was not my cup of tea.

I did not despise it; I found myself really liking the characters, but there was a lack of realness to them. I didn't see them as real characters who I could imagine walking in this world at this moment. You see, I probably initially imagined this book to be a psychological thriller, which is why I was intrigued with its premise, as psychological thrillers are my favourite. I put this book down about seven months ago, and have yet to write a review until now, so you can only imagine that I have a spotty memory of what the book was about and what the plot included.

I, Witness was lacking. I wish I enjoyed it more and found a reason to enjoy it. It might be a good read for you if you're the type of person who enjoys reading adult mysteries.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

Factory Girl by Josanne La Valley // Not My Kind of Read

Factory Girl, by Josanne La Valley
Publication: January 10, 2017, by Clarion Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Pages: 256
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

In order to save her family’s farm, Roshen, sixteen, must leave her rural home to work in a factory in the south of China. There she finds arduous and degrading conditions and contempt for her minority (Uyghur) background. Sustained by her bond with other Uyghur girls, Roshen is resolved to endure all to help her family and ultimately her people. A workplace survival story, this gritty, poignant account focuses on a courageous teen and illuminates the value—and cost—of freedom.

My Thoughts:

Josanne LaValley’s Factory Girl seemed like a kind of read I needed to get my hands on. I’m usually reading mysteries, thrillers or contemporary romances, so this was actually a new kind of story for me that I was quite interested in. It has a new setting — the mountains of China — that no other author has really wrote about before in the Young Adult genre, so I was quite excited to request this from the publishers. Although it originally seemed to be something I might be interested in, this was a disappointing read that is making me regret picking it up.

Factory Girl almost put me in a reading slump. I don’t think I need to say more — that’s quite negative. I decided to pick this up during the school year, and I couldn’t find myself getting into it because it is a heavy, deep read that needs time to get through. When the school year ended, I decided that I would pick this up once again and see how good it really is.

I was disappointed yet again. This book is extremely boring and I couldn’t find any emotion in the writing. LaValley is a great writer, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I felt that the premise was the main focus of the story, including the setting, but the deep messages and characters were just another aspect that needed to be written about.

“The taste of a few peas and nuts leaves a gnawing hunger in my stomach. For food. For home. For my life as it was” (32).

I kind of wish that I DNFed this because I expected that the ending would be phenomenal. But instead, it was extremely predictable and nothing special. I wanted this book to be a new favourite, a new outlook on the way contemporary stories, but I just felt that this was SO slow-paced. Agh.

In conclusion, Factory Girl featured a promising story about a girl named Roshen who is forced into slavery due to her social status. She has a life set for her, wanting to be with a man who she loves, however, everything changes when her family is unable to purchase her freedom. It’s a sad story, but something was definitely missing from this being a great story. I wish it was more interesting and unpredictable. I felt like I knew of all the answers and solutions.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is a contemporary story similar to this?

The Yearbook by Carol Masciola // Meh.

The Yearbook, by Carol Masciola
Publication: October 2, 2015, by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Historical, Time-Traveling
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Misfit teen Lola Lundy has every right to her anger and her misery. She’s failing in school, living in a group home, and social workers keep watching her like hawks, waiting for her to show signs of the horrible mental illness that cost Lola’s mother her life. Then, one night, she falls asleep in a storage room in her high school library, where she’s seen an old yearbook—from the days when the place was an upscale academy for young scholars instead of a dump. When Lola wakes, it’s to a scene that is nothing short of impossible.
Lola quickly determines that she’s gone back to the past—eighty years in the past, to be exact. The Fall Frolic dance is going full blast in the gym, and there she makes an instant connection with the brainy and provocative Peter Hemmings, class of ’24. His face is familiar, because she’s seen his senior portrait in the yearbook. By night’s end, Lola thinks she sees hope for her disastrous present: She’ll make a new future for herself in the past. But is it real? Or has the major mental illness in Lola’s family background finally claimed her? Has she slipped through a crack in time, or into a romantic hallucination she created in her own mind, wishing on the ragged pages of a yearbook from a more graceful time long ago?

My Thoughts:

With so much insta-love that it hurts (well, there's only a case of it and I didn't like it) and the fact that the main idea that the plot is centred around, time-traveling, is not explained, as well as the absolute boredom I experienced, The Yearbook by Carol Masciola was not a good read that I could recommend to others. I received this book in return for a review a while ago, and the fact that the cover is extremely bland and how it pushes me away from reading it made me un-intrigued. To be perfectly honest, there were some good aspects of this whole story, like the fact that the protagonist, Lola, was exactly like I would want her to be, and how the whole story began.

I wanted to like this one, a lot. I have heard of many similar stories, except this is even COOLER. When I first read the summary, I was instantly intrigued because the protagonist time travels after seeing a yearbook in her high school library, of the class of 1924. Who wouldn't want to go back almost a hundred years back in time and get to see how life was back then? Knowing everything that occurred after that year, it's interesting to see what life was like for the many people who didn't see what was coming. But then, of course, there were dark, dumb moments that didn't work out for me. I swear, Lola spent almost a whole chapter searching for things that she obviously knew weren't around in the States during 1924, like pizza. I mean, she went searching for pizza. That was definitely a low for me.

So as I mentioned, the plot is basically very self-explanatory here. A girl takes a blast to the past, but she goes crazy. Carol Masciola does have a good idea by turning this into a story about mental illness as well, but it kind of didn't make sense as it occurred. I have no idea how this time-traveling idea came to be. Usually, even if the story is mostly contemporary or historical, we readers get to see the reasons why the time-traveling happens. Here? Nada. And it makes sense that we do get something, a little something. I usually don't really like science-fiction mixed in with a story that is supposed to be talking about something else, but it was needed in this novel, no doubt about it. That was my biggest complaint.

Lola Lundy is your teenage example of a rebellious girl. She undergoes this character development who makes her someone who doesn't care about anything to someone who does care and falls in love. I really liked that cutesy aspect added in. But there were too many plot holes, plot pieces of boringness that made me just want to rip my hair out. Except I didn't. I actually ended up finishing this book because I have definitely seen worse. I felt like the story moved like molasses, though.

I hate reading bad books. The Yearbook wasn't horrible at all, but there were points where I just wanted to stop reading and wasting my time. It was boring, and things didn't click together and make sense. You had to guess and see if you're correct the whole time while reading. Don't even get me started about Peter (although he was cute and made me squirm of joy). WHY DID LOLA HAVE TO GO HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HIM RIGHT AWAY. Guys—love at first sight doesn't have to occur in every YA book, okay? There are a few exceptions, but this wasn't one of them.

The Yearbook is a time-traveling, mystery kind of historical read (yes, I'm mixing all of the genres together here) that some will really enjoy, and some will not. I have read many better time-traveling stories, like Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You, which mixed in romance and a more scientific feel all together. If you enjoy those kinds of stories where you have to keep guessing and making these theories so you don't get confused in the midst of it, then this story is most definitely for you. Don't get me wrong, fellas—I enjoyed the characters!

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*

What is the latest time-traveling book you have read? Do you enjoy time-traveling as a subject in YA?

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry // Not For Me At All

The Love That Split the World, by Emily Henry
Publication: January 26, 2016, by Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 396
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: ½

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.
That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.
Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

My Thoughts:

DNF @ 150 pages

I usually do not have a problem with YA that includes characters who time travel. That has been done in Claudia Gray and Erica O'Rourke's work and their work is some of the best I have ever read, in all of Young Adult Fiction. WHAT HAPPENED HERE, MY FELLOW BOOKS AND REVIEWERS? I had a big problem with this book and I just did not want to keep reading after those 150 pages: strict boredom. 

Why do I, as a reader, have to force myself to read a book? For an in-depth review? To recommend/not recommend the book to other readers on Goodreads and on my blog? I do not want to waste my time reading books that are not my kind. The Love That Split the World was one of those. I fell in love with the cover ages before it was released, and I was just really excited to read it. I thought that the Grandmother concept would be different and exciting, but I just felt that Emily Henry has provided readers with a bland story. I do not know if I could pinpoint this one with another book, but I just did not enjoy it as much as I wish I had.

Listen, I liked the fact that our protagonist, Natalie, is Native-American. This provides diversity and it goes so well with what the book is supposed to offer. Supposed to. It was supposed to offer readers a chance and glimpse at what it is like to be at the point of your life where you do not know what is coming next. I am not there yet, so I couldn't relate. Aimee @ The Social Potato's review just summed my feelings perfectly. IT WAS TRYING TOO HARD TO BE NATURAL, INTERESTING. I just did not feel the contemporary, you know? I could not even point whether this is contemporary, fantasy, romance or something in between. I just gave up.

Possibly, if I had been in a different mood, I would have finished this. When my mind began to be distracted by other things (because of how boring this was), I decided that I wanted to move on to my next read. To be completely honest, I do not even remember what this was all about. It is just a girl who is trying to save some guy that an imaginary "Grandmother" told her to save. That's weird, if you ask me.

I have realized that I made a good decision with books (for once, in my life): I DNFed a book that disappointed me. Perhaps it will not disappoint you; there are many positive reviews out there, anyway. Emily Henry writes a little weirdly, if you ask me, but there is a lot of potential for this to be praised with its diversity and interesting heroine. The romance? I do not recall anything special about it. And trust me, I am a romance lover. The Love That Split the World really did split me apart.

What is the last book you DNFed? What was wrong with it? What are some NEW books that feature diversity?

Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett // The Horror Story That Went a Little Wrong

Blood and Salt (Blood and Salt #1), by Kim Liggett
Publication: September 22, 2015, by G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Horror, Paranormal
Pages: 341
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic horror.
“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”
These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.
Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.
As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.

My Thoughts:

Do you like horror stories that actually aren't so "scary" but come with that eerie mood? Do you like corn and cornfields? Do you like pretty covers? Do you like "a spinoff on Romeo and Juliet?" Hey, then welcome to my lovely review. Kim Liggett's Blood and Salt did not honestly impress me. Instead, this was simply a boring trihard horror story that I have been waiting to devour ever since it was announced that it would be at BEA 2015 in NYC. I actually did not get a chance to get it at BEA, and instead received a copy from the Canadian imprint of G.P. Putnam's Sons. This seriously was a bittersweet, salty story that was more on the bad side of things. I am all in for the horror, and for the endless amount of shaking under my sheets at night. This book was seriously not in my taste or liking, for that matter.

I would just call this a strange story. There is nothing goosebump-y about it or that makes me feel scared. But, there's a but. Kim Liggett introduces readers to two characters, brother and sister, who are solemnly independent and try to tackle their adventure, the spiritual commune one where they try to find their mother. We readers are struck with hallucinations, confusion about specific characters and messed up situations that can only happen in a book. What more can we possibly ask for? A LOT MORE, let me tell you.

The only things/characteristics that actually impressed me were Ash and Rhys, her brother. THESE CHARACTERS ARE KICK-BUTT AND PERFECT. Woo. I was not impressed by anything else, honestly. You call this a Romeo and Juliet romance? You call this scary? If you do, that's great. Fabulous. You need a medal. Seriously. I continuously rolled my eyes while reading this. The fact that the beginning portion was featured in my favourite city was the only good part of this all. 

Romance? Is that what you bloggers call real, juicy romance? Hell no. No. Dane and Ash seemed to have this unhealthy, insta-love-ish relationship that began from first sight. At most times, I was completely confused with Dane's character. He had this weirdo side of him that MADE ME WANT TO PUNCH HIM. What kind of girl would accept a guy's rudeness from first sight? Ash had the power and ability to say "fuck off" to this loser, and I really WANTED HER TO. The romance did not do any justice for me, even though in the end... well I cannot spoil that for you. Let us just say that it was a little heartbreaking for us on the other end. A teensy bit. Minority. 






Blood and Salt certainly was not the worst book I have ever read, but it obviously was not the best. IT TOOK ME A CRAZY LONG TIME TO FINISH, but I guess that school kind of interfered with that fact, too. Play some creepy ballet music in your ears as you read this, and you could seriously maybe enjoy the corn factors. Speaking of which, I would really like some peaches and cream corn for dinner tonight. I'll get back to you all on that factor.

*A big thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this novel for review!*

Okay. People. Are there any other R&J retellings out there? Tell me that there are. I love Romeo and Juliet!

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff // I Guess I Could Only Read Contemporary Middle-Grade?

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk, by Liesl Shurtliff
Publication: April 14, 2015, by Knopf BFYR
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating: ½

Jack has always been told that giants are not real. But if that’s the case, how do you explain the huge, foot shaped pond in the yard, or the occurrence of strange and sudden storms in which the earth quakes and dirt rains from the sky? When his father is carried away in such a storm, Jack gives chase in the only logical way: by trading the family cow for some magic beans that will give him access to a land beyond the clouds. He arrives to find that the giants themselves have giant-sized troubles. With the help of an overachieving little sister, a magic goose and a chatty cook (who is not interested in grinding human bones into bread, thank you very much!) Jack sets out to save his dad and save the day.

My Thoughts:

I used to be an avid middle grade fiction reader. That is what actually led me to discover the genre of young adult fiction and have me blogging. In fact, I am sure that I still have a few middle grade books on my Goodreads shelves, which is weird. Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk is not true. It is also not a great middle grade novel, in my opinion. But at the same time, it could be enjoyable for many, and depending on the whack of middle grade you usually read, you could seriously enjoy it.

I am not the craziest person about retellings. An author must perfect the retelling and make it nice for every reader, even for those who have heard the story hundreds of times. I kind of know the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" inside and out, and I would not even call this book a retelling of it, except for the fact that it uses the same name (Jack) and the same beginning. After that, Jack and his sister? go on an adventure together to save the ones they love. Yes, this is a fairytale, and impossibilities are possible, but COME ON.

This book was okay, it was certainly not the most irritating read out there. Jack's perspective is found throughout the story, and readers just head in a simplistic, one-way direction where we read the slow paced story for what seems like forever. The book is based simply upon fear, survival, and giants, if that makes some kind of sense. For people (and kids!) who enjoy that base of familiarity of children's stories that feature confident, bright protagonists who could be the age of the children who are reading this, this is perfect. Every reader is bound to find something in Jack that could have them relate to everything. 

The world building is actually extraordinary. The descriptions of the giants, the storm that started it all, the world above the clouds... I was mesmerized. It turned out to be difficult to let this book and its characters go for that reason. It is a fresh story, something that could give readers of other contemporary, perhaps, a change in scenery, just as if one were to head out of the fantasy genre and into romance, per se. 

It's not that this was not well written. I am a teenager, and because of my stubborn, selfish self (we all are, in some way!) this is not the kind of book for me. Others could enjoy it, I am in no way gearing people away from reading this. Shurtliff did manage to shock me in the end where I did produce some tears somewhere inside of me. The character relationships were part of it—that is the only thing I could spoil.

Jack is a good brother. In this case, a boy is doing something great for his family and is defying the stereotypes, being there for his sister and not pushing her away because they have no relationship. My heart is smiling. I promise.

Depending on your usual take on middle grade fiction, this could go either way for a reader. All in all, Jack was a cute story that boosted my energy, gave me smiles and left a message and moral, as most fairytales do. In this case, it was a story that could make a little kid and adult dream about the endless possibilities that our world has and how we could defy the impossibilities. I found myself bored here and there, but the pacing changes for all. I will not openly recommend it, though.

*A finished copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!*

Do you like retellings when they are very similar to the original fable? Would you prefer a completely different interpretation?

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle // Dystopian Doesn't Really Mix With This

The Hallowed Ones (The Hallowed Ones #1), by Laura Bickle
Publication: September 25, 2012, by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy, Amish
Pages: 311
Format: Paperback
Source: Gifted
Rating: ½

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

My Thoughts:

You know those books that you just want to finish because it has been on your shelves forever and you honestly do not know why you wanted it in the first place? The Hallowed Ones is one of those books and it gave me a bad impression from the start. I have always been interested in books about Amish people, but this author, Laura Bickle, took on that strand in a whole contrasting twist. This time around, it's a series with the plot based on dystopian, fantasy and mystery elements all mixed in together. Yes, there are vampires and weird mythological creatures that we only expect to read in a Twilight-like story. This novel certainly was a disappointment, but I expected just the same.

It's nice to hear about different Amish traditions and routines, depending on the author's perspective, because we all know that they must have put tons of research and thought in to make this the right, truthful perspective on what it is like to be struck with this many expectations on you, to do the right thing. 

"I couldn't wrap my mind around falling in love with someone from afar. I was accustomed to seeing Elijah every day, felt affection out of sheer force of familiarity, force of habit. For me, that was love. Tangible. Love was what was in front of me, not a distant fantasy." (122)

The writing of Bickle is beautiful, but the pacing just was not for me. When I read this, there was no such enjoyment coming out of it. I read the novel like it was painful (honestly, haha) and I just felt like it was written for the story and the pace was not paid attention to at all. I found myself completely bored out of my mind for points and I had a big issue with the concept: vampires and the main character, Katie's perspective on everything that was happening to her. Vampires were not an abnormality, they were part of Katie's life and she just adored everything that was happening to her like it was completely normal. How is this story able to be believable, somehow, if everything that the main character thinks is positive? We see a transition of Katie becoming someone who does not care about anything, to someone who is confused by more simple concepts, like love, when it is practically shoved in her face.

The Hallowed Ones is about your average fantasy-paranormal tale where a character is trying to find themselves. Nothing more, really. It's supposed to be a "horrific thriller" where I didn't experience any thrill whatsoever. There are witches, vampires, and hints of some kind of apocalypse where you cannot trust anyone. And of course, there are hints of romance, as you witnessed in the snippet I handed you above. Katie's annoying, Alex is annoying, and together, they could be classified as one annoying couple in a whole.

And apparently, there's a good sequel out there. And I have no plans to get it whatsoever. This book was not for me—I did not enjoy it, really. It's slow, more uninteresting than captivating, and I really enjoy books that are different than these. 

The Hallowed Ones could go either way for those interested. It might not be the best possible book in the world to read, but it may also be very well written. I didn't enjoy the pacing, plot and characters, but this was not the best book at all. In fact, I feel like it is a mix between good and bad, but more on the bad side. I would not waste your time on this one, especially if you trust my opinion, heh.

What do you think of books that are mixed with two completely eerie concepts? Do you like books about Amish people?

Teardrop by Lauren Kate // I've Outgrown This

Teardrop (Teardrop #1), by Lauren Kate
Publication: October 22, 2013, by Delacorte Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 441
Format: Hardcover
Source: Gifted
Rating: ½

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?

My Thoughts:

I'M OVER BOOKS LIKE THIS, PERIOD. As you might've heard before, I am a total hater of paranormal books. It's the freaking worst genre. I've read tons of books in the past and I just can't stand to read about some forbidden romance where someone has some "cool" power to save the world. This isn't about superheroes either, people. It's just about a seventeen-year-old who goes through modern contemporary issues, like loss, and with that "extra-special" power of crying and flooding the world. Can this get even cheesier? I need something to help me forget about this. *jokes*

Lauren Kate delivers a novel, the start to a series that's completely not for me. It's not that I've read something like it, either. I just suspected that I'd enjoy it because... it was written by her, an author whose books I have loved in the past. I wonder if I gave Fallen a chance again, what would've happened this time around. It certainly would've been humouring, that's for sure.

Teardrop is boring, pointless and senseless. I don't see anything special about it, except for the beginning portion of the novel, perhaps. The writing is weak, the characterization and relationship-making is weak, and the romance is downright suspicious. The whole freaking novel is suspicious, for that matter. Some authors aren't meant to be writing about the same kind of concept over and over again after they had once succeeded. And first we should talk about how this was 'trying to be interesting.'

Look at the names, for goodness' sake. Eureka? Ander? Having to read about a girl who tried so hard to be different, though also trying to show that she was ordinary at the same time. It's like she complained about her being ordinary, but then didn't want to draw attention to herself. *shrugs* I was barely into this book, which somehow left me questioning why hadn't I DNFed it. I'm too much of a good person. 

SO I HAD HIGH HOPES. I was ready to adore it, make a special place on my bookshelf of read books for it, kiss the cover an endless amount of times. I can only dream about that. The story was weak, not really formed to a great "paranormal way" and it's like the concept of teardrops had come out of nowhere, only relating to the fact that Eureka was trying to get over her mother's death. That's just about it. The beginning started off well and strong, not really getting into the main storyline until Eureka met Ander, a weird stalkerish figure who thought that he actually "loves" her.

Love? Is that the author's definition of love? Watching a mysterious girl from afar, knowing everything about her and ready to take a quiz on her, her being okay with it all? That's completely downright outrageous. There was no connection, no nothing except weirdness and a strange context. I don't even feel like analyzing the story and trying to see what the characters actually represented because they were as plain as water, without any fizz or pizzaz.  

If this hadn't been written by Lauren Kate or had a great, stellar cover, I don't think that I would've picked it up. When I look back, I probably wouldn't have remembered anything about this bland story except for the fact that it was boring. The names? Nope. Thank goodness I read the summary again, because you would've been reading a review written by a confused woman, just saying. Teardrop isn't a book that's too raved about, so I'd go into it with a harsh tone, only expecting the worst possible route out of it. Good luck, because you should always remember that there are books in the world that are much worse than that one. *laughs* At least there were a few pros. 

Are you into paranormal-romance? I find that the whole Twilight and Vampire Diaries fandom kind of took the goodness out of it. I hope I don't have anything in the genre on my shelves now!