A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery // A Truly Special and Touching Story

A Million Miles Away, by Lara Avery
Publication: July 7, 2015, by Poppy
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

When high school senior Kelsey's identical twin sister, Michelle, dies in a car crash, Kelsey is left without her other half. The only person who doesn't know about the tragedy is Michelle's boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan. But when Kelsey finally connects with Peter online, she can't bear to tell him the truth. Active duty has taken its toll, and Peter, thinking that Kelsey is Michelle, says that seeing her is the one thing keeping him alive. Caught up in the moment, Kelsey has no choice: She lets Peter believe that she is her sister.
As Kelsey keeps up the act, she crosses the line from pretend to real. Soon, Kelsey can't deny that she's falling, hard, for the one boy she shouldn't want.

My Thoughts:

A Million Miles Away was a raw, realistic, gorgeous story I will never forget about. That's the honest and wholesome truth in one sentence. After reading Lara Avery's other novel, The Memory Book, I had this urge inside of me to pick this one up as well and read it and bawl as I read it and feel like I'm connecting to the story, you know? Let's just say that this book was a gorgeous masterpiece I recommend to everyone. If you enjoy chick-lit romances, this book is for you. If you usually enjoy mysteries and thrillers, this book is for you. If you enjoy fantasy, this book is for you. This book is literally for everyone. 

This time around, Lara Avery focuses on a main character named Kelsey, who has an identical twin sister, Michelle, who tragically dies in a car crash. She is finding it extremely difficult to move on, and the worst part is the fact that Michelle's boyfriend, Peter, is in Afghanistan for the military. He doesn't know that Michelle passed away, and Kelsey doesn't want to tell him the truth... yet. So in the meantime, she pretends that she is Michelle, though as she begins to form a relationship with Peter, she realizes that she has feelings for him, too.

I love the way Lara Avery had this story progress. You see, it wasn't cheesy or generic; this was one of the most raw and emotional books I've ever read. From the beginning, we immediately form an emotional connection with the characters in the way that we briefly meet Michelle, Kelsey's twin, before she passes away. We can immediately tell that they didn't always get along; Michelle is more artistic while Kelsey focuses on popularity and cheerleading. However, when times are rough, Michelle did tend to fall to Kelsey to solve her problems. Already from the first few chapters I was able to tell that this book wasn't one of those cliché chick-lit stories with characters whose lives are perfect. It was the complete opposite of that. Both sisters had their own problems, with each other and with others, and that just made the book so much more believable. I kept imagining a girl in Kansas struggling to move on after grief has succumbed her. 

What I especially adored about this story is the fact that it was easy to understand why Kelsey pretended to be Michelle. That's where the emotions that correspond to this story come in. I loved Peter as a character, and it seemed that from the start, Kelsey loved him too for keeping her sister happy. Kelsey is a character who didn't want to disappoint others, and by interacting with Peter, she was given the chance to learn more about the person her sister really was, instead of Michelle just being Kelsey's twin. This just exemplifies the fact that each individual is different, no matter what family or group you come from.

A Million Miles Away is a memorable story that I recommend to everyone. I truly imagine this becoming a movie, and it can be compared to the stories of Nicholas Sparks, but more mature in the sense that it's not just about the romance. It's about the emotions generated in both the characters and readers that make this story so special. I feel that Lara Avery's writing is really underhyped and more people should become aware of this fantastic author.

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

What is the most emotional book you've ever read?

Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings // Hawaii Plus Romance Equals Awesomeness

Juniors, by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Publication: September 22, 2015, by G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life.
Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander. Perpetual new girl at school. Hanging in the shadow of her actress mother’s spotlight. And now: new resident of the prominent West family’s guest cottage.
Bracing herself for the embarrassment of being her classmates’ latest charity case, Lea is surprised when she starts becoming friends with Will and Whitney West instead—or in the case of gorgeous, unattainable Will, possibly even more than friends. And despite their differences, Whitney and Lea have a lot in common: both are navigating a tangled web of relationships, past disappointments and future hopes. As things heat up with Will, and her friendship with Whitney deepens, Lea has to decide how much she's willing to change in order to fit into their world.
Lea Lane has lived in between all her life. But it isn’t until her junior year that she learns how to do it on her own terms.

My Thoughts:

WE FINALLY HAVE A BOOK TAKEN PLACE IN HAWAII, THE LAND OF MY DREAMS. Kaui Hart Hemmings created a lovely Gossip Girl-esque story that I will never forget about because it's different than everything else. I just visited three Hawaiian islands this past March, and found that the state is my favourite place in the world. I felt so spiritually and emotionally connected to the beauty and stress-free life that it holds, and I was so happy to see that I recognized so many of the references Hemmings made in her writing to Oahu. The beaches, hikes, streets - I knew them all and it just made my day and year. I cannot admit that this was the best book I read this year (because then, I would have given this a 5 star rating), however, it was definitely an enjoyable one that I cannot recommend enough.

Juniors is about an angsty teenager who moves across the world to a place that has no meaning to her. I mean, I wouldn't have been complaining if I were in Lea's place, moving to the gorgeous island of Oahu, however, she was. Her mom is an aspiring actress, and her newest project requires her to move to Hawaii to film. Lea ends up going to a preppy boarding school where she feels excluded since she's the "new, weird girl" often described in novels/chick-lit films. Lea ends up becoming friends with Will and Whitney West, the siblings whose house Lea and her mother are staying in. 

And I guess you can kind of imagine what comes next. Boy meets girl, one (or both) of them plays hard-to-get, and they fall in love. BOOM. But, somehow, this book turns out lovely and different than others. I started to fall in love with this instantly as the Hawaii setting came along. I also really started to like Lea's character from the beginning as she had some kind of toughness in her - it really made her stand out as a character and female protagonist. It was also interesting how she was the one who made her own decisions in terms of her relationships. Yeah, there was kind of a love triangle, but at least Lea initiated it and realized what her feelings were telling her.

Yay to it all. This was so great. Read it, drink some pineapple juice while you're at it, and enjoy.

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

Are there any other books that take place in Hawaii?

The Wrong Man by Kate White // An Enticing Thriller

The Wrong Man, by Kate White
Publication: June 16, 2015, by Harper Paperbacks
Genre: Adult Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

She wanted to be more daring, but one small risk is about to cost her everything—maybe even her life.
Bold and adventurous in her work as owner of one of Manhattan's boutique interior design firms, Kit Finn couldn't be tamer in her personal life. While on vacation in the Florida Keys, Kit resolves to do something risky for once. When she literally bumps into a charming stranger at her hotel, she decides to make good on her promise and act on her attraction. But back in New York, when Kit arrives at his luxury apartment ready to pick up where they left off in the Keys, she doesn't recognize the man standing on the other side of the door. Was this a cruel joke or part of something truly sinister? Kit soon realizes that she's been thrown into a treacherous plot, which is both deeper and deadlier than she could have ever imagined. Now the only way to protect herself, her business, and the people she loves is to find out the true identity of the man who has turned her life upside down.
Adrenaline-charged and filled with harrowing twists at every turn, The Wrong Man will keep readers riveted until the final page.

My Thoughts:

The Wrong Man by Kate White is a read that everyone should pick up - even those of you who are not the biggest fans of psychological thrillers. It's a thriller whose concept and ideas will never leave my mind because it was just. SO. MIND. BLOWING. This novel has been sitting on my shelves forever, but I have only recently picked it up, deciding to give it a whirl because I am tired of the same old boring contemporaries that fly into my hands. Kate White masterfully created characters and a mystery that was beautifully written. I was intrigued for the whole duration, and I really enjoyed reading this as a whole.

The only thing I would like to complain about is the romance. Ew. I am not normally used to a big romance popping up in a psychological thriller, and I was surprised to see that one was stemmed, because I really didn't see it coming. Sure, the beginning featured a romance that stirred the mystery, but more things progressed, and I was just so confused. That made me enjoy the book less. I just didn't feel so intrigued or feel that the book was "real" when romance popped up into the protagonist's life. Kit (the main character) was amazing and a bad-butt, but the romance kind of weakened her. I felt that she relied too much on love and all the chances she didn't take, which distracted her from the real story, with the fact that she's basically stuck in the middle of a murder, identity-theft, stalking mystery.

The Wrong Man starts off sweet - I cannot deny that. Kit is an interior designer from New York City who is off vacationing in Islamorada, Florida, where she meets a mysterious man and has an one-night stand with him. Back in NYC, she discovers that the man who she met lied about his identity. And before she knows it, she gets thrown into a mystery involving murder, a car crash and identity theft, all in the midst of her also becoming some sort of victim. She even begins to feel as if she's being watched.

This would be a fabulous movie, let's just say that. Kate White should definitely think of becoming a screenwriter because she would rock at creating Gone Girl-like films. I can't get enough of these suspense-driven stories. You never know what's going to happen until you reach the end. And that's why I was hooked throughout. I did find that it was a little predictable, but I was hooked because I wasn't sure if my predictions were correct. They actually were.







Now: the plot was so fast-paced and my heart was racing like crazy. I think I read this in two sittings because I was THAT hooked. GO GRAB THIS INSTANTLY. I don't think I'll ever read something like this again. And that just sounds depressing.

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

What is your most anticipated book of the remainder of 2017?

Love and Profanity by Nick Healy // I Wish I Could Have Rethought My Choice to Read This

Love and Profanity, by Nick Healy
Publication: March 1, 2015, by Switch Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 232
Format: Hardcover
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Here are forty short, brilliant, and unforgettable true stories from writers famous and on-the-rise. Here is the intensity of daily life. Here are transformative moments arising from the mundane. Here are strange and surprising tales that tap into universal truths. Here are teenagers in full splendor and horror. Here they are, bursting with love and profanity.

My Thoughts: 

Love and Profanity first caught my attention when I saw its cover. NOT THE ONE WITH THE TONGUE AND THE TONGUE RING. That one is really nasty. But this one, the one with the red and the heart on it. I came into this preferring an anthology that is about sweet love and first love, and how couples do not have it great twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I was looking forward to be reading (really) short stories by authors who I have never heard about prior to. Switch Press, I must say, this was not a good book, nor a good anthology. It's the worst anthology I have ever read, compared to the others that have come into my life. Love and Profanity has a little to do with love, but nothing to do with profanity. I mean, to describe it, I would love to use profanity in the meantime, but none of it was found here. The title doesn't make sense at all, to begin with.

These stories were actually really, really short. I could definitely have written some stories that were better than a few that were here. Some of them were so stupid that I had to skip it or else my mind was going to explode. People—there was one about a guy who would poo to his pants and a girl saw him do it. I was reading this at school and I had my friend read that one. She couldn't believe the book that I was reading. *laughs out loud* And then there were the few good ones that actually left an impact on me, like the ones about tests or the one about the girl living in Florida and has issues with her father. But honestly? This book is not the guide to adolescence or however you prefer to call it. I couldn't relate to hardly any of the stories and they're just not me. This is a completion of weird stories.

It's a quick read, when you think about it. I like reading anthologies because the plot keeps changing. I cannot review this novel on its plot because there are so many stories, and like always, some are better or worse than others. Some were relatable, most were not. I didn't like the way that love was portrayed here, but I guess that some teenagers see it the way it was written. (Back to the poop story) 

I should have DNFed this, you know? It was a waste for me because I didn't take no happiness out of this book at all. No enjoyment, whatsoever. 

Love and Profanity is a quick, short read, but at the same time, it took me a while longer because I hadn't felt like finishing it. You're better off without it, but there are a few stories that were brilliant. I must look into the books of those particular authors.

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

What is a recent anthology that you have read? Do you like anthologies?

My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak // I LOVE CONTEMPORARY SO MUCH.

My Life With the Walter Boys, by Ali Novak
Publication: March 1, 2014, by Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: ½

My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.
Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...
Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.
Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.
Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)
Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

My Thoughts:

At the time when I read this, which was, actually, a few weeks ago, I kind of was bored with everything I was reading. Who knows? If Ali Novak's debut Wattpad-turned-published contemporary romance about a girl who lost everything, and then had everything, including a new family after moving into the Walter household hadn't come into my life, I would've went into a reading slump, and my Goodreads challenge would have been even more at stake. It already is, in case you were wondering. I'm like, 60 books behind schedule. Anyways, I must say that My Life With the Walter Boys is absolute literary brilliance. For anyone seeking a new, never-been-done-before kind of story that has every bit of gushing, squealing and ship-creating in it, I would strongly recommend reading this. It changed the way I look at contemporary-romance and how others look at the genre. Many tend to stay away from it because some books become cheesy and predictable, and although this was really, really predictable (I know some of you really dislike that), I loved it. So much that I want to go and read everything that Ali Novak has written. After I grabbed a copy of this at BEA last year, I discovered that Ali is also the author of another book Sourcebooks was amazing to hand out: The Heartbreakers. My younger sister read it and adored it, so I am very excited for it, too.

My Life With the Walter Boys is one of those books that you imagine becoming a TV show slash sitcom. I would love to watch it if that ever became something. It's so real, normal though significant at the same time. I loved our protagonist, Jackie Howard, who reminded me a little too much of myself, being obsessed with school and a total perfectionist. I loved the romance, even the love triangle that formed. This was an exception to all of the bookish things I once said I hated. For some reason, this seems like the book I would dislike, in the end. Somehow, it was the opposite. 

The only thing I have to complain about is the predictability. But that's what occurs when a teenage girl writes a book about romance and releases it on Wattpad. That's the only way that predictability occurs. Only with romance. I knew that the ending would occur the way it did, and there was nothing that was a shocker for me. But thankfully, I liked the characters too much to have to dislike this book even more. 

Jackie, like the title states, is in a house with the Walters. There's eleven guys. GUYS. (I would go nuts) She has just lost everything, including her parents and her sister, in a car crash that she was supposed to be in, if she hadn't caught the flu. She lost her NYC luxurious life, her friends, and has to move to the other side of the country—Colorado, because her uncle cannot take custody of her. Instead, her mom's old best friend and her family are Jackie's new home. Of course, she hates all of them at first, blaming them on her horrible life, but as she forms a connection with the older boys, like Alex and Cole, romance sparks. Duh.

Each of the Walter boys (and Parker, of course, who is the only girl in the family, excluding their mother) had their own personality—that was interesting. It's so interesting to ponder about how an author must conquer twelve different personalities (that's without Jackie) into a single novel. Twelve different characters who have different hobbies, opinions, appearances... this is crazy. Ali Novak did it wonderfully. We have our popular, player boy who Jackie finds herself attracted to, Cole, who has a twin, and then there's Alex, who is the computer-freak and Jackie also finds him attractive. It kind of was instalove between her and Cole, but that's okay. It didn't bother me. Yet again, here I am talking about how INSTALOVE DOESN'T BOTHER ME. Am I hearing myself correctly? I think I am, though.

It was extremely easy to relate to Jackie. Although I thankfully had not gone through what she had, I loved her as a character. She goes through a swift character transition, from good to bad, doing many things that in the past, she would never believe that she would do. Some may think that this is a a cheesy kind of thing to add into contemporary romance, but honestly, it happens to many people. Sometimes, being too good is boring. *twiddles eyebrows* I promise, I don't have anything bad in store.

My Life With the Walter Boys is just such a fun, summer read. Purchase it, bring it to the beach, pool, or even couch with you and just devour it. Ali Novak writes with a very fast pace that keeps us readers addicted, and unable to put it down and take a breath until it's all over. When it was over, I swear, I felt such an attraction to the Walter family that I felt like I, myself, had lost everything.

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

The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman // What a Twist!

The Cost of All Things, by Maggie Lehrman
Publication: May 12, 2015, by Balzer and Bray
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars in this thought-provoking and brilliantly written debut that is part love story, part mystery, part high-stakes drama.
What would you pay to cure your heartbreak? Banish your sadness? Transform your looks? The right spell can fix anything…. When Ari's boyfriend Win dies, she gets a spell to erase all memory of him. But spells come at a cost, and this one sets off a chain of events that reveal the hidden—and sometimes dangerous—connections between Ari, her friends, and the boyfriend she can no longer remember.
Told from four different points of view, this original and affecting novel weaves past and present in a suspenseful narrative that unveils the truth behind a terrible tragedy.

My Thoughts:

I finally took the time to read this pretty. The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman is a book I have been wanting to read since getting it autographed at BEA last year, and I never expected it to head in this kind of direction. What a twist! I would definitely call this a part love story, part mystery, and I love the themes that Lehrman presented out to us readers. Mixed with different perspectives, that of our protagonist, Ari, her boyfriend who passed away, Win and their friends, Markos and Kay, who are all affected by the same thing in different ways, this is the perfect summer read that heads in a different direction than what we initially suspect will occur. Now I am suspecting that everyone around me is a hekamist, which, in this setting of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they exist, and each character undergoes some kind of spell.

The Cost of All Things makes you want to rethink every single action you perform. You wake up, you have to rethink that. You take a step, you have to rethink that. It's so interesting how Maggie Lehrman mixes in different themes, such as death and grief, into multiple perspectives that all revolve in this plot. There's a lot of magical realism and fantasy here, too, but as I just mentioned the word "realism," it feels real. Sometimes, contemporary + magic do not flow together well, but in this case, I couldn't have asked for a better combination. A big motif here is being careful for what you wish for. 

I read this two weeks ago, and I am still in awe. This was just a great story that is captivating, intriguing, and I found myself unable to stop reading once I began. I actually read this while on a road trip, and it went really well for the seven hours that I was stuck in a car, driving through the middle of nowhere I like to call Canada. While reading, I felt like I just wanted to transport to the summer town of Cape Cod and be friends with all of the characters. This was a summer read, but I honestly feel like anyone could pick it up at any time of the year to just jump into that summer mood and feel.

"We swayed back and forth. Dancing. In the dark and wet, the two of us together. It's my favorite memory of Ari out of a thousand memories. It's the one I keep on hand, the talisman. That was the girl I loved" (34).

The main character here is Ari, who just lost her boyfriend, Win, in a freak accident that she cannot even describe or believe. She heads to a hekamist to forget about all that happened, to forget Win. She is warned to not take the spell if having already been affected by another in the past, and she has, in the past, been affected by a memory spell already: to forget about the death of her parents. We learn about Win's side of the story, the side of the story of his best friend, Markos, who is undergoing his own personal demons, and the perspective of Ari's best friend, Kay. Each have taken a spell (kind of) to forget or change something in their lives. The most prominent thing, though, is the death of Win, and how each character chooses to move on.

The main issue I had here was that I was unable to sympathize, emphasize or relate to any of the characters. Yes, they are teenagers as I am, but the fact that this was a novel based on some aspects of fantasy seemed to stir these characters away from seeming normal to readers who are learning about them. I would have liked that more down-to-earth feel, you know? I did like each of the characters, all in all, it's just that the realism did not affect their actions or words. 

I can just squeal about the cover of this all day long, and how much I loved the romance of this novel. It wasn't heavy, of course, because at the time where these characters are speaking, Win is already dead and it's the aftermath of all events, but Ari and Win seem to go back in time frequently and speak of events that they had with each other. It's heart-warming, knowing that there are two fictional characters who have had such a connection. Ari and Win seemed to intertwine in a way that many fictional couples don't get a chance to... even in a trilogy. I would not be able to state that their relationship was fast-paced, because it was over—agh, I'm just simply out of words.

This is a book that many would enjoy because it is so original and brilliant. I just would want everyone to give it a go and see how fantasy could mix with a real story so well.

The Cost of All Things contains so many themes that makes our emotions fall in a waterfall. I laughed, cheered, and felt my heart drop when the worst things occurred. The characters aren't relatable, but for me in this case, I paid attention to the fact that the book wasn't boring at all. I am seriously looking forward to more Maggie Lehrman, more poetic, lyrical writing and more good books like this. I know so many people who would need a book like this in their life. Three cheers for twisty, suspenseful mysteries that make you smile!

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

What are some books that are contemporary mixed with fantasy (YA, please!)? What is the latest book with a twist you have read?