Lucky in Love by Kasie West // I Can't Get Enough of This!

Lucky in Love, by Kasie West
Publication: July 25, 2017, by Scholastic
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 337
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—
She wins!
In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.
Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?

My Thoughts:

I AM IN LOVE. Kasie West keeps making me so obsessed with her books each time around, and Lucky in Love was no different. This was an unbelievable story with the most interesting premise and plot ever. I now feel inclined to buy lottery tickets with hesitance, because West has showed that there are downsides to every single decision we make in our lives, whether we like it or not. It was interesting to read about a teenage protagonist who becomes 'lucky' and wins a lot of money without expecting it, and seeing that we must be careful for what we wish for. In essence, the author attempted to showcase that it is best to be careful for what we wish for. I seriously cannot enough of this entire story; it was written beautifully and with a lovely set of characters and romance.

GAH. The romance between Seth and Maddie was such a dream. Why? Because I'm a sucker for romance and, more specifically, lovely relationships that I will never forget about. The pacing of the story was especially memorable, in the way that this was not instalove; Maddie and Seth previously knew each other. I cannot even tell you the number of times I freaked out whilst reading; this is a story to make readers feel all good and gooey inside.

Lucky in Love was entertaining and everything I could've asked for in a contemporary-romance. I am psyched to see what else Kasie West has in store for readers in the future.

Are there any other YA books about lotteries?

Whenever I'm With You by Lydia Sharp // Completely Disappointed.

Whenever I'm With You, by Lydia Sharp
Publication: January 3, 2017, by Scholastic Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Rating: 

After Gabi’s parents’ divorce, she moves from California to Alaska with her dad. At first, it feels like banishment—until she meets Kai. He welcomes her into his life, sharing his family, his friends, and his warmth. But as winter approaches, Kai pulls away for seemingly no reason at all. He's quiet, withdrawn. Then one day, he disappears.
Kai’s twin brother, Hunter, believes Kai is retracing their missing father’s steps in the wilderness north of Anchorage. There’s a blizzard on the way, and Kai is alone out there. Gabi's frustration over his emotional distance quickly turns to serious concern. This is the boy who saved her from the dark. She can't lose him to it.
So Gabi and Hunter agree to head out together on a wild journey north—a trip that will challenge them physically and emotionally, as they try to convince the boy they love to return home.

My Thoughts:

Whenever I'm With You seemed like a great, quick read that would surely impress me, as I predicted that it would be similar to the style of Kasie West. However, this was a true disappointment. I did not enjoy it. When reading the summary on the back of the book's cover, I expected this to be a unique, unpredictable read as it takes place in Alaska. ALASKA. A setting we've all never read about. I found this to be super boring as it included stubborn, confusing characters whose story began before we even started reading. That's the worst part of this all; we barely had a chance to see the characters develop. In the meantime, I also became extremely bored with this novel and couldn't stand to continue reading; I wanted to move on. 

Ultimately, I spent my time flipping through pages, skimming through the paragraphs and trying to make sense of what was happening in the story. I couldn't catch up with anything. I just did not enjoy this story.

Whenever I'm With You by Lydia Sharp was a disappointing story that would've been better if the romance was more prevalent. It otherwise felt like a boring story with no purpose. Additionally, it was cheesy and featured no depth.

What was the most recent disappointing read you've read?

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky // Hilarious But Real

Kill the Boy Band, by Goldy Moldavsky
Publication: February 23, 2016, by Point
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

Just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That’s why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying.
We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him—his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets.
We were not planning on what happened next.
We swear.
From thrilling new talent Goldy Moldavsky comes a pitch-black, hilarious take on fandom and the badass girls who have the power to make—or break—the people we call “celebrities.”

My Thoughts:

This is literally the funniest book that you will ever read. With all of the fandoms, bands and fangirls out there today, and how "Tumblr" or hipster these things have become, more hipster than wearing pink or wearing lip gloss, this is the best book for the modern age. When I grabbed a copy at BookExpo America last year, I knew that I would be in for a good, entertaining read. I was definitely correct. This is such a hilarious, though honestly real book that I could imagine seeing on the news right now. A group of fangirls running after a hot boy band in New York City? That's absolutely hilarious, and I would buy this book for every single teenage girl in the world. This is a mystery, absolutely, but from the start, it was very not-serious and everything was like a joke... until it wasn't. Goldy Moldavsky intelligently uses a boy band to create a mystery with a group of girls who each have their own adorable personality and who just form this book perfectly. I loved each of the personalities and their HUGE obsessions with this hot band based on One Direction called The Ruperts. 

So there was this slight transition as us readers kept reading. We began reading a kind of fan-fiction like thing where we expected all characters to be merrily happy with their lives and all BFFs forever. We see that a lot on Wattpad and it could get really annoying. GUYS. AND THEN THE MURDER MYSTERY COMES TO LIFE. How? I do not know, Moldavsky just implanted it together and my life just became complete. I finished this in a sitting and I loved the plot, characters and every bit of this. I couldn't take it seriously at times, but when I did, this was simply fabulous.

Kill the Boy Band makes us think that the characters are psycho-maniacs who are so obsessed with this band. That's true. And the best thing is that I could honestly relate to this book. Would you care to listen to the bands/singers I was a crazy fan of back in the day? Let's begin! *says too cheerfully* Taylor Swift, One Direction, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus... Guys, it was serious. I wanted to go to all of these artists' concerts, and I frankly remember my first arch of sadness when I wasn't able to get tickets to One Direction's Up All Night tour. Ah, good times, good times. I FREAKED OUT. I loved those guys to death and I can totally relate to their situation, though don't think I would ever turn this to some murder investigation.

It just made my day, you know? There is no books like this in the world, and there will never be. We have a groovy (that word just makes me feel so old) set of teenage girls us our entertainers, quite diverse if you ask me, and a protagonist whose name we never even really discover. Sloane is a cover, just letting you know. Using something that's so in, creating a thriller-like thing out of it, with comedic moments and drama that Gossip Girl would definitely approve, everyone needs to purchase this dark story.

I guess the only romance you would be able to imagine is one between one of the girls and one of the members of the band, if they ever found/met them after staying in the same NYC hotel as them. Yeah, the chicks did find the guys, but they held them hostage (at least, one of them) and one gets murdered and stuffed into a suitcase, leaving the girls having to deal with the situation. It's utter chaos. There is no real romance. Our heroine does try to make something happen, but it's a hallucination, sadly and happily. I would barf if it did occur because come on, when in the world would a singer date a fan? FANGIRLS, PLEASE DON'T ARGUE WITH ME. You all know this is true. *giggles*

I loved the fact that this was so fast-paced. One minute we're laughing out loud, being so shocked that this book exists in the YA section of our bookstores, and the next, we're biting our nails, wondering who the murderer could be. Because obviously, it could be any of the girls in the room at the time. We are seriously stunned in the end when things come together. The girls could seriously be the end of this band, which makes us readers rethink our stalker-like actions with bands. I don't think we would want to break One Direction up, would we? (Although I'm feeling that they may be over already. Heh). 

Kill the Boy Band is lovely. Absolutely memorable and such a treasured ARC in my collection. If I would have to create a movie out of a book that I have recently read, I would certainly pick this. Don't mind me, but I now feel to go out into NYC and seek my favourite bands and celebrities. BRANDON URIE, PANIC! AT THE DISCO, I WANT TO STROLL THE STREETS WITH YOU! (Not in a creepy way or anything).

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

Have you ever read a book about bands like this? What is the best fanfiction you have read?