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11/22/2017 0 Comments Shatter Me by Tahereh MafiShatter Me is amazing and unique! It’s raw, twisted and dark, yet hopeful and romantic at the same time.  There are so many things I love about this book, especially the writing style. It’s very special though, so I can understand why it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it was definitely mine! I think the writing is extraordinary. The way Tahereh Mafi uses numbers to tell and emphasize the story is so unique. The repetitions and the way she crosses over text to make us understand the underlying thoughts and doubts is almost magical.
The characters are also very complex and engaging. My heart really aches for Juliette and her situation. And even though it’s a sci-fi setting and a supernatural problem, you can really relate to it all, especially the feeling of being unwanted and scared without control over your own faith. And then the slow-burning romance with Adam. It’s so intense, with Juliette fighting her urge and desire to touch him, knowing that it might kill him. It’s so well done! And Warner. Talk about complex character! I have a strong feeling that he and Kenji will get much more focus in the following books. At least I hope so, they sure have captured my interest and I want to know so much more about them! Overall Shatter Me was a brilliant and unique read and a fabulous start of this series that I cannot wait to continue! Rating: 5 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Tahereh Mafi
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11/17/2017 0 Comments If I Was Your Girl by Meredith RussoIf I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo is a breathtakingly amazing book that I urge you to read! This book is such an important, eye-opener that it should be among required reading in school. But it’s also an amazing, powerful, heart-wrenching and beautiful story that deserves to be read on its own merits. This is a story that will stay with me forever. I loved this book to pieces and I recommend it with all my heart!  If I Was Your Girl is about Amanda Hardy, who is moving to a new school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda has a secret past; she used to be Andrew, and she has struggled growing up, being bullied, the whole gender identity issue of course and other hardship. But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can’t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past.
I loved this book! So much! It’s such a heart-breaking story. I was immediately drawn into it and read it basically cover to cover in one sitting. It’s also a very important book, that normalizes trans experiences, and opens they eyes to what the life of a girl who has undergone the medical procedures is like. What I especially liked about the book was that it was not a coming-out book, but a book about the every day life of a transgender teenager, dealing with issues like finding acceptance amongst friends, how to start dating and being intimate with a boyfriend, how to work things out with the parents. Amanda was such a lovable character. My heart really ached for her, and I so wished for her to get a happy life and be fully accepted for who she was. I liked that there were passages in the book that showed Amanda’s past, to give a feeling for the hardship and abuse she’d endured. It gave her so much depth and made me get even more attached to her. These passages were really emotional, both from Amanda’s perspective but they also gave some insights on the issue from her parents perspectives. I really loved Amanda’s mother in the book and how she handled the ‘losing-a-son-to- get-a-daughter-thing’, which was something I’d never thought about before. In the book Amanda also made some good friends. I loved the friendship, and it really gave me hope for Amanda’s life onwards. Her friends were all amazing, especially towards the very end of the book. (Except for one, but talking about that one will be a spoiler alert.) What I loved about the book was the overall positive feeling. Yes, Amanda has been through a lot of terrible things, and has struggled so hard (even trying to commit suicide) to come to terms with who she was, but when the book takes place, her life is good. Or at least starting to be good. She has become the girl she’s always been and is about to start a new chapter in her life. I think that is a really important aspect and a wonderful message to take with you from the book. Also, do not miss the author’s note at the end of the book. It really gives you an extra dimension to the book after reading it. Rating: 5 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository 11/15/2017 0 Comments Chain Reaction by Simone ElkelesI absolutely love Simone Elkeles’s slow-build romances and her bad boy characters with good hearts. Chain Reaction is the third book in the Perfect Chemistry series following the three Fuentes brothers. This time focus is on the youngest of them, Luis, who has been sheltered from the gang violence that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. But that didn’t stop him from taking risks… or falling for the wrong girl, Nikki.  Simone Elkeles hasn’t completely turned around the “bad boy – good girl” formula of the first two books to a “good boy – bad girl” story though. Instead she gives us shades of gray in both Luis and Nikki, which I really loved. Compared to the first two books though there wasn’t the usual spark in the romance, not the same tense and smoldering chemistry as I’d expected from a Simone Elkeles book. But still, it was a heart-warming and addictive story, and with so much lovely Fuentes brothers content!
I loved the continuity seeing the brothers a few years down the track; Alex and Brittany with little Paco, and Carlos and Kiara, and how Carlos still manages to screw things up… And the epilogue was pure Fuentes brothers candy! I’m so happy for that, so all in all I will rate this book 4 stars, thank to these aspects, whereas it as a standalone would have gotten a star less. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Simone Elkeles 11/13/2017 0 Comments The Smoke Thieves by Sally GreenThis is the first book in a new series that takes place in a fantasy world that resembles Game of Thrones quite a bit, with fights for power, wars between kingdoms and a magic twist with demons and the hunting for demon smoke. The story is told from five different POVs; Princess Catherine, royal guard Ambrose, servant March, thirteen-year-old demon hunter Tash and thief and royal bastard Edyon.  Five POVs might seem a little too much, but I really loved all of these different POVs and how they made the story more dynamic and interesting. I especially loved Princess Catherine’s character and how she adapted to living in a world of female oppression without losing her fierceness and self-confidence. And the romance with the honorable and gorgeous Ambrose was so sweet. My favorite though was demon hunter Tash; she was such a badass, strong and shining character that it was impossible not to fall in love with her completely! I didn’t connect that much with March and Edyon, but I think that might come as the series evolves.
I must confess though, that I had hoped for something similar to Sally Green’s previous the Half Bad series as to writing style and sense of rawness, but The Smoke Thieves is more of a traditional fantasy. There was a lot of action going on and the writing, the characters and the plot were truly enjoyable, but it was nowhere near the uniqueness of Half Bad. But a solid 4-star adventure, and I will definitely continue the series! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository 11/10/2017 0 Comments Life and Death by Stephenie MeyerLife and Death is a ten years anniversary edition of Twilight where Bella and Edward are replaced by Beau and Edyth instead. Being an old Twihard fan, of course I had to get it! But it was quite a disappointment, sadly…  I liked Stephenie’s idea of a gender swap and a retake of the story, but it turned out to be... just meh. Boring, frankly. I hoped that there would be some re-writing of the most problematic parts, or some new additions to the story, but it was the exact same story as in Twilight, but with all the characters as the opposite gender (except Bella’s parents). Just in itself, this gender swap didn’t add anything really new to the story. Also, since all the genders were different, the names changed too and quite honestly, I didn’t know who was who most of the time. (And why change the gender of everyone except for Charlie and Renee? Would a female chief of police and a male carefree Renee really have been too unrealistic? Compared to vampires...?)
I can’t help thinking that it would have been so much more interesting and refreshing if it had been turned into a LGBT story instead, like between Beau and Edward, or between Bella and Edyth… What I really loved about the book though was the foreword and afterword, you could really feel how much fun Stephenie had when writing it! For that, and for the nostalgia I give it three stars. Rating: 3 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Stephenie Meyer Of Fire and Stars is a cute YA fantasy about a princess falling in love with her fiance’s sister.  This debut by Audrey Coulthurst was one of the first lesbian romances I’ve read in a YA fantasy. I loved that the society described in the book was so open to women in general. There were women in positions of leadership and in the army, and it also seemed like there wasn’t any taboo in the relationship itself. The obstacles against it were more the circumstances, that Denna was already engaged to the Prince, not because it was two women falling in love. It was also good that Denna and Thandi (the Prince she was betrothed to) never had any romantic feelings for each other. It was not about Denna falling in love twice, or a love triangle, but about being torn between the duties enforced upon you and the wish to make your own decisions and be with your one true love.
I am really happy about this kind of diversity in YA Fantasy books and wish for there to be more of it in the future. But there were a few things that disappointed me, unfortunately. The fantasy world and the characters could have been more developed, and it would have helped a lot with a better background (why was magic forbidden and why was there an alliance between two of the kingdoms that needed to be sealed by a marriage?). But overall it was a sweet and enjoyable read, with a fresh and different plot for a YA fantasy. Rating: 3 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Audrey Coulthurst |
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