Consequences by Jennifer L. Armentrout // A Weaker Take on Daemon and Katy's Relationship

Consequences (Opal and Origin), by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publication: June 3, 2014, by Entangled Teen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Aliens
Pages: 800
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Rating: ½

Opal:
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different…and I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Origin:
Daemon will do anything to get Katy back. After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?

My Thoughts:

Consequences is truly an interesting mix of two different novels that show a great character development that I wouldn't change for the world. JLA has seriously done it again, though I definitely think that the first two novels in this Lux series were better than these two. Maybe it's because I've moved on with the genre of aliens and all of that, or maybe it is because I outgrew the fun and games that Daemon and Katy produced and how unrealistic this series actually is. Although, although, although, there was a ton of action that is memorable and hot. 

From my whole experience of reading Opal and Origin, I can't even commemorate what I thought of each, but I knew that Opal was definitely better. Katy got more annoying, more reliant on Daemon and his family, and things basically turned upside down by Origin. I'm not a big fan of this series anymore as things came out to be, and I wish that I still loved it as much as I did about a year ago when the first books came out.

"It always felt good typing up a review on a book I enjoyed and I went all out, finding bizarre pictures to emphasize the wow factor. I preferred ones with cute kittens and llamas. And Dean Winchester. Hitting 'publish post' cracked a smile. One down, three more to go." (38)

The books are pretty slow-paced, as they're both about 400 pages each and don't have a lot happening in them. I got bored easily, finding myself rolling my eyes and wondering if there will be some kind of plot twist. The writing got less descriptive, more bland and wishy-washy. I just expected a big piece of intrigue to fly at me and make me want to read the last book in the series and discover what will happen to Katy and Daemon.

Daemon and Katy's relationship should have been stronger than ever, I must say. I expected an intense relationship, but this was more about the outside story where Daemon's brother and sister have their own issues. Daemon, although I love him, did go a little nuts when the whole Vegas, desperation fiasco happened, but I kind of expected more, you know?

"I want to spend every second, every minute, every hour with you. [...] I want a year's worth of seconds and minutes with you. I want a decade's worth of hours, so many that I can't add them up." (695)

What am I thinking now after it's all over? I'm wondering if I seriously love Daemon as much as I did before. This is a powerful, passionate story about love and action, but nothing much more. It's definitely not a story that I'll be thinking about for years and years, but it is something that did make me smile here and there.

Consequences was an interesting bundle of two stories that people were obsessed so strongly that the fan club is real. Daemon's hot, Katy's annoying, and although the stories are pretty slow, they are enjoyable. If you are a die-hard fan of everything JLA has ever written, then these books will totally be for you. Eh.

Do you like bundles of books? Do you enjoy JLA's writing?

Waiting on Wednesday #19: Ask Me How I Got Here

Ask Me How I Got Here, by Christine Heppermann
Publication: May 3, 2016, by Greenwillow
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Addie has always known what she was running toward. In cross-country, in life, in love. Until she and her boyfriend—her sensitive, good-guy boyfriend—are careless one night and she ends up pregnant. Addie makes the difficult choice to have an abortion. And after that—even though she knows it was the right decision for her—nothing is the same anymore. She doesn’t want anyone besides her parents and her boyfriend to know what happened; she doesn’t want to run cross-country; she can’t bring herself to be excited about anything. Until she reconnects with Juliana, a former teammate who’s going through her own dark places. Once again, Christine Heppermann writes with an unflinching honesty and a deep sensitivity about the complexities of being a teenager, being a woman. Her free-verse poems are moving, provocative, and often full of wry humor and a sharp wit. Like Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, Christine Heppermann is a voice to turn to for the truth of difficult subjects. Ask Me How I Got Here is a literary exploration of sexuality, religion, and self-discovery.

I LOVE THIS COVER. From the moment I saw this book, I knew that it would be fabulous so I read the summary and fell in love. HarperTeen just keeps creating more and more beautiful covers! Agh.

What are you anticipating the most this week?

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong // Scary in a Realistic Way

The Masked Truth, by Kelley Armstrong
Publication: October 13, 2015, by Doubleday Canada
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.
Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.
The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.
The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.
Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

My Thoughts:

I had to pick this up because I have never read a book that deals with a hostage. This is the most wonderful kickass book that I've read in ages, even though I'm not a Kelley Armstrong fan as many are. I've tried reading her high fantasy/urban fantasy stories that are mixed with paranormal and they are just not for me. The Masked Truth is a newer take on a wonderful story that I just cannot get out of my head. This is going to haunt you for ages and ages to come. It's utter brilliance, to be quite honest. I don't know if you'll ever turn back from reading horror/thriller stories like this one.

Kelley Armstrong begins this story with a whirl. Riley, the main character's life is practically going through bad and horrible things as the story goes on, and it all begins with her losing her dad. Afterwards, she witnesses the murder of the parents of the girl she's babysitting, and this definitely scars her for life. Now, she's off for a therapy get-to-know-each-other conference thing at this dorm for a weekend, and she's part of a hostage. A gun before her head, crazy men doing killing sprees, basically. How is she supposed to get out when there are no cell phones, and no way out for an entire weekend where anything can happen in a split second?

"Hell is being the girl who did nothing, who has to live with that guilt. Worse, having to live as a hero, listen to people tell me how brave I was and how I saved that little girl, and all I want to do is shake them and say, "I hid under the freaking bed!" (7)

It's rare to read a book about guilt, because the main character or one of the characters had to have done something remarkable but them feeling bad about it constantly because things could have gone around differently. This was a perfect example of it, where a character dealt with PTSD for a while, and then things get even worse when she's tricked and a hostage happens... and she kind of falls in love.

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say it but... I don't support the romance that Armstrong creates in this novel. Max and Riley are horrible together, and I never liked him anyway. Once the plot twist comes and the intrigue is clear, you need to brace yourself for anger and a horrified expression on your face because you will be really mad. This tells you that you cannot trust anyone, even a guy who may seem like the best person in the world at the moment. *shrugs* Their romance was unhealthy, weird, and the problem was that they barely knew each other before they said that they felt like they knew each other for ages. They were barely attracted to each other, and it was more like they were attracted to the ideas of each other. Ugh, this is just so simply weird and absurd that I cannot take it anymore.

This was the best Armstrong book I've ever read, and I'm so glad to say it. The plot was formed perfectly, with a few minor issues that I will not even bother mentioning here. The writing flowed together perfectly, and I couldn't stop thinking about it all even after I finished the story and let Riley's story go.

"Right as rain, old chap. You'll be right as rain. Just as soon as we get these meds sorted. Well, except for the side effects and the fact that you can never stop taking the medications and that at any point they might lose their effectiveness and you won't know it because it'll seem normal to you. Crazy is your normal, Max. Live with it. Or don't. Your choice. Your choice." (123)

Max's character was annoying. Yes, I felt bad for him, but at the same time, he is the one who ruined everything and didn't know how to control himself. And Riley? She was definitely kick-butt and a great impression of a female protagonist in a novel. Woo.

The Masked Truth totally makes sense right now. The title is just one of the most perfect names for what the book really was about through the end. It doesn't matter what your favourite book genre is, you'll love Kelley's newest novel that really shines in the YA world. It was super realistic, and I can just imagine this story popping up on the news, minus the love story that didn't go so well for me, but I honestly don't know if it was supposed to by the end. This is what I call success.

What is the maximum number of times you would give an author a chance when reading their books? I've given Armstrong around 4 now and I am finally impressed!

Diamonds Are Forever by Michelle Madow // I'm So Sad to See This Amazing Series Go

Diamonds Are Forever (The Secret Diamond Sisters #3), by Michelle Madow
Publication: October 27, 2015, by Harlequin Teen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Rating: 

It's cold outside, but the drama is hot!

The Diamond sisters jet to the mountains for spring break, and Savannah's flirt-mance with an international pop star heats up as her pursuit of stardom succeeds. But is this romance meant to be, or has the right guy been in front of her all along? Meanwhile, Courtney takes the next step with her secret boyfriend—and future stepbrother—and as their parents' wedding approaches, the pressure's on to reveal their relationship.

Peyton's figuring out a plan for her future, but she still feels guilty about getting her former bodyguard fired and wonders if she can get over him in the arms of someone else. But the biggest bombshell will change everything once again, because Madison's ready to tell the huge secret she's uncovered. And with the boy who betrayed her but who could be the love of her life fighting for his own life, she might need the Diamond sisters more than ever.

My Thoughts:

Minor SPOILERS from the previous novels are present, I'm warning you. I'm so sad to see this series go because it... it just hurt me fully. As always, I was captivated and I couldn't stop thinking about the beauty of this story even after it was all over, which is the real power that Michelle Madow's writing does. I'm in love with this book, honestly, and this whole series. It's so, so sad to see Savannah, Madison, Peyton and Courtney all go off into their world of drama, rivalry and dreams being followed without me actually being there to monitor and keep all of the little cute moments stuck in my heart, y'know? Diamonds Are Forever really signifies the fact that the Diamond sisters will be stuck with us forever. They are a gorgeous group of characters, that's for sure.

Diamonds Are Forever immediately follows where the sequel left us off at. Oliver is still in the hospital, getting over his horrible injuries and Madison is freaking out. This time around, we're again introduced into her perspective and get to hear how she reacts with the news about her and the Diamond Sisters. And each of the sisters are dealing with their own issues, and things are deepening. Courtney is thinking about Britney and her decisions for the future with Brett, while Peyton is struggling to not think about college, since she isn't thinking about going into that field. And Savannah? Her YouTube singing career is hitting the charts, with lots of hate associated as well.

The romance and struggles of deciding what to do in life is real. Love and all of those issues that teenagers have to deal with are found here, and it literally teared me apart. Savannah was with Damien/Perry, Courtney and Brett, Peyton and Jackson. They were all pretty cute, and the romances that once were set together were formed again, whether we liked them or not, but I do kind of wish that there weren't so many of these flings happening for the sake of realism. Hmmph. But my favourite ship is the Brett/Courtney clan. At least I could relate to them the most and their ways of looking at high school.

As always, with Michelle's writing, you'll find that it'll be so easy to fall in love with the characters. There's something in every Diamond sister or side character that you'll be able to relate to and adore. AND THE FEELS ARE REAL.

There just isn't something that you cannot enjoy and want to devour about this book. If you loved the first one, Madow's storytelling will just enchant you for the third time again.

Diamonds Are Forever is beautiful and engaging. The ending was just amazing and perfect, slowly getting readers afraid for what is yet to come because there's no more. I wish I could read a hundred of these books about all of these characters and not get bored at all. This is something remarkable and fabulous, and I hope that you go for this, because no regrets will arise.

Giveaway:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YjA1MGVmMjkwYTE2NWQzYWI3ODNiODExNGJiNGU0OjE0Mg==/?

What do you think of final books in trilogies? Do you get sad when they're your favourite books in the world?

Stacking the Shelves #54: November 8

-Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews where we bloggers
share our weekly hauls and new additions!-

This Week's Headlines:

I've finally destressified, if that's a word that makes sense. I had this mega-huge History test on Friday, which literally took out so many of my brain cells and I was left the most exhausted person on the planet. Yesterday, I got to relax and read, which was a first in a long time! 

I'm really excited to showcase this week's haul because I feel like I'm the luckiest person alive. 4 books from publishers? This is a first and I'm very, very thankful and grateful because I know how hard it is to get them. I love Sourcebooks, St. Martin's Griffin and Merit Press to the moon and back! *barfs because that is the most cliché phrase one can use* This week doesn't look too bad for me, as I only have a quiz on Wednesday and that's just about it. Let me cross my fingers because something can come up at any moment!

How was your week? Anything exciting? Any new additions?

My Book Haul:

I love this cover! I wanted to take a photo with all of my school yearbooks,
but meh.

The Yearbook by Carol Masciola: Wooo! I really have enjoyed Merit Press's historical fiction novels, and this seems like it'll be another charm for me! Except... this deals with time travel which is fifteen times better than your old average historical fiction story. 

AGH I WANTED THESE STORIES FROM THE START.

Did I Mention I Love You? by Estelle Maskame: This seems like one of those books that'll just be about drama, which is awesome at some points of time. This cover is utter fabulousness. Eee!

The Sister Pact by Stacie Ramey: Aww, sisterhood and friendship! This sounds like a beautiful story and I can't wait to jump into Ramey's world of fiction!

Tell the Story to its End by Simon P. Clark: Horror stories are my guilty pleasures. And why am I guilty? Because I sometimes get scared to death but I adore them anyway. 

*A huge-huge thank you to Sourcebooks, Merit Press and St. Martin's Griffin! You all are amazing!*

Posts You May Have Missed:

• Waiting on Wednesday #18: My Lady Jane
• ARC Review: Catacomb by Madeleine Roux // The Most Magnificent Ending
• Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone // A Rich and Enlightening Look at OCD

How are you? What are your latest additions?

 

Waiting on Wednesday #18: My Lady Jane

My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
Publication: June 7, 2016, by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, History, Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 512
Format: Hardcover

For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey.
Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.

I need this book in my life. Historical, fantasy, retelling books are just a BIG part of my life and this is written by some of the best YA authors out there who have basically written about it all: fantasy, romance and angels. Although, this one has nothing to do with angels. Princess Bride? This sounds like the coolest thing ever and I need 2016 to come quicker! WHY MUST THE COVERS BE AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!?

What are you anticipating the most this week?

 

ARC Review: Catacomb by Madeleine Roux // The Most Magnificent Ending

Catacomb (Asylum #3), by Madeleine Roux
Publication: September 1, 2015, by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Horror, Mystery
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: ½

Sometimes the past is better off buried.
Senior year is finally over. After all they’ve been through, Dan, Abby, and Jordan are excited to take one last road trip together, and they’re just not going to think about what will happen when the summer ends. But on their way to visit Jordan’s uncle in New Orleans, the three friends notice that they are apparently being followed.. And Dan starts receiving phone messages from someone he didn’t expect to hear from again—someone who died last Halloween.
As the strange occurrences escalate, Dan is forced to accept that everything that has happened to him in the past year may not be a coincidence, but fate—a fate that ties Dan to a group called the Bone Artists, who have a sinister connection with a notorious killer from the past. Now, Dan’s only hope is that he will make it out of his senior trip alive.
In this finale to the New York Times bestselling Asylum series, found photographs help tell the story of three teens who exist on the line between past and present, genius and insanity.

My Thoughts:

So Halloween just passed by around the corner and I must say: I'm always in for a spooky read. Catacomb and the rest of Madeleine Roux's Asylum trilogy is thrilling, exciting and freaking scary. But at the same time, this last novel may be a surprise for you, since I even had not expected it to be even released or come up with, but it also may be your favourite book of the year, depending on what is your favourite kind of ending.

Catacomb starts off pretty rough. I'll get to that, but let me just explain how much I adore the cover. The covers of this series just keep getting more and more prettier until I cannot take it anymore. The books are seriously glorious and beautiful, and I just can't get the story out of my head now that it's over. I'm reminding you for the fiftieth time: this is a lot like Ransom Riggs's writing. I think that I just had a total deja vu moment because I felt like I said this before. I must have mentioned it in the review of the sequel. Anyways, it's a more contemporary take on Riggs's time-traveling tale, but it is also one that is racing. 

Looking at the plot of this book, it is more messy than any of the other books in the series. It's boring, weird and a little insane as horror books are, but it also is interesting at the same time. This is the main characters' journey and road trip—Dan, Abby and Jordan's, at least. And of course, a new mystery comes out of nowhere and this time, they're stuck in it and one of them may be guilty of murder all of the sudden.

"Dan had never watched someone fall like that—slow at first but then all at once, picking up speed and barreling to the ground so fast there was almost no time to blink between fall and impact." (ARC, page 317)

So this turned out to be more knockoff than I expected. This book wasn't needed—that was my problem. It was slow, and didn't really have to do with anything about the asylum. It's like Roux moved on a few years later and just came up with a new story that deals with murderers this time, and not ghosts, which is what I came here for. The murder storyline was not my favourite out of the three, that's for sure, and the rest of the series was better than this one. It's like the books got worse and worse as I kept reading on through the trilogy. I guess it's just a pretty novel to have in my collection with the other two. *winks*

Madeleine Roux is a spectacular author, don't get me wrong. Her words are very descriptive, perfect for the genre and style of this novel, and I was pretty addicted to reading this book at times. But it also had its on and off moments where I rolled my eyes—I can't lie about that. And the romance could have honestly gone somewhere. I feel like sighing because Dan kept thinking about Abby but it's like the author didn't have time or enough pages to fit something about them increasing and falling in love.

Catacomb is wonderful. I'm happy that the ending has come because this series would have seriously become dragging. But anyway, it was interesting enough and the photos just made the experience ten times better. This is a powerful story.

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

What do you think of horror story trilogies? Would you read a story all the way through?

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone // A Rich and Enlightening Look at OCD

Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone
Publication: June 16, 2015, by Disney-Hyperion
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Illness, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

My Thoughts:

I love books that deal with subjects that have some kind of mental illness-theme in it. OCD is something I've never read about before, that's for sure. I used to think that I might share some aspects of it, but after reading about Sam's experience with it and how she found love and began to see herself as more crazier than she thought she was, I am nowhere near that. I seriously praise Tamara Ireland Stone for writing about a story that is so true and realistic that I just imagine Samantha in real life, maybe being in my school or living in my community. It's interesting, relevant and realistic, leaving you wondering about what life will actually bring to you. 

Every Last Word makes sense. It's not a fantasy or paranormal story with ghosts as readers may initially think from when they were introduced to Caroline's character. It's a contemporary story that is more real than anything else. It features love, poetry and love for things that can help teenage girls like myself forget about everything else for a while. Did you ever wonder what it's like to be a teenager in modern day 2015? This book will give you the answer, more real than anything else. 

I loved this book. I finished it in a quick nip of time and I can't stop thinking about it until this very day. It's wild, unique and pretty damn sexy at times. Sam and AJ are adorable and no, I don't care that it was instalove-d and that they had a happy ending. Of course they did. But are we really expecting some kind of unpredictability where a plot twist will kill readers and make them have trust issues? I didn't expect or want that at all. Yes, this is a pretty positive look at OCD and Sam's perspective of it all, but I don't think that a dark, moody look at it would've provided any kind of better rating.

Sam has had a tough life, yes. She was diagnosed with OCD at the age of eleven, and she realized that her life with her friends basically ruined her positivity, or the lack of. She does everything in threes, and feels that if she doesn't, something bad will happen. She was popular, in a group of stupid girls who only cared about themselves and which guy they'll kiss next. They treated Sam like she was nobody, caring about what other people think. And Sam kept this secret. She let them treat her like trash and let them make assumptions. That's what us girls do. It's horrible, actually.

I love books where girls are having a tough time in life and love basically saves them. If poetry and AJ hadn't come to Sam at this moment, then I imagine her going into straight depression and not knowing what to do with herself. She'd think things are real when they aren't (I'm hinting you at something here), and I imagine Sam doing what I would do. It's physically difficult to gain this kind of connection with a character and a reader, but that's exactly what happened in my case.

Tamara Ireland Stone is a majestic, easy-going writer. Her novel is very hipster, and in the way of poetry being Sam's saviour. I totally understand that. I could go on and on about how writing and literature could help a person out, but I guess that you understand that since I continue to ramble on and on about books everyday of my life. *inhales sharply* This story is so relatable, even if you're not dealing with any mental health issues. Every single reader could find something to enjoy and obsess over.

Sam finds a friend named Caroline, who loves the same kind of movies that she does and has dealt with depression in the past. The thing is, she relies on this girl too much. And Tamara then handed me a plot twist that made me internally scream and rip all of my hair out of anger. I could not believe it. I cannot even state if that was a good thing to have been added into this story, or a bad. But the clues did add up, and AJ's reaction didn't seem like the best for Sam's situation.

YES. This one was perfect and I can't stop thinking about the ending and how this made me feel. Every Last Word is interesting, special and life changing, just like how some of my most favourite books in the world make me feel. If you're looking for a book that will add that extra spark into your life and make you happy since I promise that it's stuck with a happy ending, then this is it. Since I own one of Tamara's other novels, you'll see me heading to that one soon because I need more, pronto.

Have you read any books about OCD before? Any ones in YA? What do you think of stories based on true events?

Stacking the Shelves #53: November 1

-Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews
where bloggers share their latest additions to their shelves!-

This Week's Headlines:

Happy belated Halloween, to those who celebrate!

This year I really didn't get to celebrate much, but it's all good, I'm in the autumn-fall spirit anyways! I bet that today, everyone is already in the Christmas mood as stores will not be thinking about costumes and candy, but about ornaments and nutcrackers instead! Sorry to mention it if you don't feel in that mood at all.

It's been a pretty great week for me. I went to the Science Centre on a field trip on Monday, and although I'm not a big fan of those kinds of excursions, I had a pleasant time. This week will uphold many tests (at least three of them that I know of today) and they're pretty big ones, since midterm report cards are coming in the week after. Wait until you see the haul I have to show you all below! 

How are you? How was your week? Anything exciting happening? What are your newest additions?

My Book Haul:

Yes, I took this with a camera! I've been meaning to take my bookish photos with one,
and now I have gotten the chance!

Before I get going here, I'd like to thank the amazing team at Raincoast Books for providing me with these FOUR! I am the happiest girl in the world and practically cried when I opened the box.

Young Widows Club by Alexandra Coutts: HOLY MOLY MACARONI! You cannot understand how long I've been aching for this book. It basically yells out my name. I'm totally looking for the themes of loss, grief and romance, all packed into one, the way I like it.

The Last Place on Earth by Carol Snow: ASDFGHIKL! This has the prettiest cover ever and it makes up my life, trust me. Disappearances and romance? Emmy and Oliver hit me so hard and I know this one will, too!

Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern: Like them all, I found out about this one a while back and I now own it, which is the weirdest thing to say because I never expected that I would until ages after its release in a few weeks! THANK YOU, RAINCOAST!

Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend: Friendship and a powerful read? YES PLEASE. I heard about this one when I went to the Raincoast event a while ago, and I'm so excited to read it!

Posts You May Have Missed:

• Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos // A Defining Story With Some Issues
• The Three by Sarah Lotz // Lacking Something Big
• The Survival Guide to Bullying and Road Rash Mini-Reviews

What are your newest additions and how are you?