Christmas All Year 'Round

Published: September 24th, 2013

Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold #12.5)

By: Susan Mallery

Harlequin HQN

ISBN-13:  9780373777822

Noelle Perkins just got a second chance at life, and she intends to make the most of every minute.  That's why she ditched a frustrating legal career to open her own store in Fool's Gold, California.  The Christmas Attic celebrates everything that's magical about her favorite season.  Business is booming, and as a bonus, gorgeous army doctor Gabriel Boylan has offered to help out during the holiday rush.

Gabriel's memories of Christmas past contain more sour grapes than sugar plums, thanks to a drill sergeant father who ran his home like a boot camp.  Spending the holidays with his family while he recuperates from injury sounds as appetizing as last year's eggnog.  Still, there are some enjoyable distractions in town, including sunny, sexy Noelle...and the red-hot mistletoe kisses they can't stop sharing.

Gabriel didn't think he was made for happily-ever-afters.  But when fate hands you a love as sweet and surprising as this, only a fool could refuse...

Review

       So, imma be completely honest: I just wanted a cute, slightly schmaltzy, Christmas romance.  I have never read any other books by Susan Mallery before, including the others in this series.  In other words, I started twelve and a half books into a series.  I am a dum-dum and I FULLY admit it.  But that doesn't mean I think I'm rating/reviewing this book unfairly.  It just means that I don't have the rose-colored glasses and series-fan filter that many other readers are going to have going in to it.  I can admit also, that had I read the other books in the series, I think I STILL would have been disappointed.  Her name is Noelle, she runs a store called "The Christmas Attic" and lives in a small town called Fool's Gold.  His name is Gabriel, he's an army doctor struggling with PTSD, and is just in town to visit his brother for the holidays.  Of course, the two of them meet-cute and it's instant attraction.  Unbeknownst to him, Mom and Dad are visiting too; so he does the only thing he can: offers to work at Noelle's store (she's short-handed) to get out of the house.  The attraction only grows but can the two of them work past their issues, and end up happily ever after?

       Their cheesy holiday names didn't bother me that much.  Neither did the dumb way they met each other.  It was her Mary-Sue perfectness, topped with the "loveable ditz" routine, that really got on my frickin nerves.  Her stupidity when driving on snow and ice really made me roll my eyes and scoff - then again, I'm from Michigan.  If I drove like she did, I'd be laughed out of the state.  They had no real reason to resist attraction.  The whole of their "obstacles" were forced at best and tritely unbelievable at worst.  He doesn't believe in love.  And that's pretty much the base of the whole thing.  Not to mention, his leave from the army is forced and he doesn't even want to really be there.  The whole thing of why she lost her job/quit and moved to Fool's Gold - to open a Christmas store of all things! - was so cliched, even for a romance during the holidays, that it kind of made me gag.  And his family problems were resolved way to easy.

       I think what REALLY made me mad though, was the ending.  They have known each other for six-freaking weeks!!!  I do not know anyone (at least anyone SANE) that would jump from misunderstandings, to sex, to not speaking, to marriage!  It must be luuurrrvve apparently.  The whole thing with the town "booming" and needing all those doctors, etc. just seemed so Mayberry that it had me rolling my eyes every time the Mayor or anyone else talked about how great the town was, or how they'd never expected to love it so much.  Uh-huh, okay...  Overall, not the series or writer for me.  It was just too cheesy and cutesy, and I hated the ending.  I'm sure fans of the author and people who liked the other books in the series might feel differently.  But I for sure won't be revisiting Fool's Gold.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received this book from Harlequin HQN, on NetGalley.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on September 24th, 2013.*

Anything For You

Published:  April 10th, 2014

Mayday

By: Jonathan Friesen

Speak

ISBN-13:  9780142412299

Why'd I do it?  I suppose it's the only question that really matters.

Seventeen-year-old Crow will stop at nothing to protect her younger sister -- even if it costs her her own life.  But then she's given a chance to come back and make things right.  There are a few catches, though.  First, she won't come back as herself.  And before she can set things straight, she'll have to figure out what's what -- and things aren't exactly as clear-cut as she remembered.

Review

     Crow has been protecting her younger sister Addy from any harm, ever since she can remember.  It started when their father left, and the girls' mother got involved with a seemingly nice Doctor.  Crow doesn't trust him, and it turns out to be for a good reason.  Now as teenagers, Crow is still trying to protect Addy, this time from a boy she thinks just wants to use her good-hearted sister.  This time Crow winds up in a coma, between the paths of life and death.  She's granted a walkabout, a chance to make things right in her own life.  Crow uses it as another chance to go back as someone else and protect Addy.  But can she actually change anything that's happened in the past?  And how can she stop her own bitterness and pain from devouring what's left of her soul whole?

     I liked the characters in this one.  In a way, Crow reminded me of myself.  Always trying to fix things for other people and never having a life for herself.  But during the walkabout, Crow is given a chance to look back at her life through new eyes and realize that nothing is quite as black and white as she had originally thought.  I liked that Crow got to go back and interact with her younger self.  First as a middle-school-aged girl named Shane, and then as a teenaged boy named Shane.  She's there on the pretext of protecting Addy.  But then she really starts to get a look at herself and the things that she's done, how she has nothing other than her sister.  She starts to care about younger Crow and finds herself trying to save, well, herself right along with Addy.  I liked the ending and while the idea that she couldn't stop some of the bad things from happening might piss off some people, I like that she realized that maybe Addy didn't need as much saving as her own soul did.  Kind of a beautiful concept and I liked the realizations.  The only thing that weirded me out a little was the slight Shane/Crow romance.

VERDICT:  3.5/5 Stars

*I reviewed this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published April 10th, 2014.*

Bright and Fake Things...

Expected Publication:  January 6th, 2015

All the Bright Places

By: Jennifer Niven

Knopf

ISBN-13: 9780385755887

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself.  But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom.  And when they pair up on a project to discover the "natural wonders" of their state, both Violet and Finch make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all.  And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them.  But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink.

Review

     Violet used to be a happy-go-lucky cheerleader, and all-around popular high school student, who ran a blog with her sister Eleanor.  She was involved in extracurricular activities and had the perfect boyfriend.  Then she was in a horrible car crash that took away her sister, and left her drowning in her grief.  Now, almost a year later, Eleanor is barely making it day by day.  So when the school weirdo, Finch, finds her up on the ledge of the bell tower and talks her down, Violet is kind of annoyed with him.  Finch begins inserting himself into her life, with his inability to understand the word "no" and his larger than life, quirky personality.  Partnered for a project on state "wonders," Violet begins to let her guard down and live life again.  But Finch, who is struggling with crippling depressive episodes, is sliding further down as Violet climbs her way upward.  Can they save each other, or will their story be unable to find a happy ending?

     I have superbly mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand, the portrayal of depression in the character and behaviors of Finch, was very realistic and I appreciated that the author didn't diminish his struggles and make everything get resolved magically at the end of the book.  On the other hand, Finch's quirky, variant personality was a little too "different."  It was a case of the author trying to hard to make him interesting, unpredictable and relatable.  If I want to care about a character, he doesn't need to be so unique as to almost circle around again to Gary Stu status.  Violet was the opposite.  I really thought she was extremely dull, lifeless and just all-around two dimensional.  I understand that she's still grieving her sister, but it was like she was the personification of the color gray.  I liked the writing style and the literary quotes.  Some of the one-liners were awesome.  I just feel like this book spent so much time trying way too hard to be the next big thing, that it delved into cliche territory and overreached itself.  And the ending was believable, but at the same time, contrived to make the reader emotional and tearful.  I myself was emotionless and scoffing.  Overall a decent effort and definitely points for beautiful writing.  But really nothing all that memorable or special.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is January 6th, 2015.*

Sweet as a Magnolia Blossom

Published:  August 5th, 2014
Magnolia 
By: Kristi Cook
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-13:  9781442485358

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty.  Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbeques, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage.  So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents' wishes.  They're only seventeen, for goodness' sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other!  Jemma can't stand Ryder's nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing more than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn't exist.

But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma's and Ryder's true feelings for each other as the two discover the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

Review

     Jemma Cafferty is pretty much the perfect daughter for her parents: obedient, sweet, cheerleading and straight A student.  But she's beginning to want more for her life than they do, starting with film school in far away New York City.  Ryder Marsden is the local high school's football hero, the golden boy-next-door and he used to be Jemma's childhood friend.  Their families have been tied together for generations, since the Civil War when one of her ancestors saved one of his from death.  The Caffertys and the Marsdens have been wanting to unite by marriage but there's never been an eligible boy/girl pair - until now.  Too bad Jemma and Ryder had a falling out in eighth grade, and have hated each other's guts ever since!  But with a family emergency throwing Jemma's household for a loop and sending her parents away right before a hurricane blows in, can Jemma work with Ryder to secure the house and the animals through the raging storm?  And will they finally clear up an old misunderstanding, that's been keeping them separated for far too long?

     I loved the growth and development we see on the part of both Emma and Ryder.  They start out in blinded dislike, and the storm causes them to look at each other in completely different ways.  The ways Emma is a less-than fragile southern girl, full of etiquette but also able to outshoot any man in town and with a gun that she's given a name.  Ryder is dealing with the pressure of being his parents' only child and therefore the only one to shoulder all their hopes and dreams of the future.  Basically, Ryder and Jemma are star-crossed because they are both stubborn, and so contrary that they refuse to give one another a chance, solely because of their parents' expectations.  The romance is a slow-build and it is pretty swoon-worthy!  Even though it takes time for them to come around, once they do it is HOT, HOT, HOT!!!  The family dynamics in this one are also something that is wonderful.  With the crisis going on in Jemma's family, we get to see the relationships between her, her sister, their mom and their dad, as they cope with something they have no control over.  Plus, nothing like a natural disaster to bring people together!  Overall, a sweet fluffy, contemporary YA romance that has a cute beginning, middle and a fitting ending.  I'd definitely recommend it unless you need your books to be conflict-heavy and don't like fluff!

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is August 5th, 2015.*

Selling Hell To a Bishop

Expected Publication:  September 16th, 2014

Sway

By: Kat Spears

St. Martin's Griffin

ISBN-13:  9781250051431

In Kat Spears' hilarious and often poignant debut, high school senior Jesse Alderman, or "Sway," as he's known, could sell hell to a bishop.  He also specializes in getting things people want -- term papers, a date with the prom queen, fake IDs.  He has few close friends and he never EVER lets emotions get in the way.  For Jesse, life is simply a series of business transactions.

But when Ken Foster, captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming King, and all-around jerk, and hires Jesse to help him win the heart of the angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse finds himself feeling all sorts of things.  While following Bridget and learning the intimate details of her life, he falls helplessly in love for the first time.  He also finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget's belligerent and self-pitying younger brother who has cerebral palsy.  Suddenly, Jesse is visiting old folks at a nursing home in order to run into Bridget, and offering his time to help the less fortunate, all the while developing a bond with this young man who idolizes him.  Could the tin man really have a heart after all?

Review

     So, this book turned around my reading slump in the best of ways.  I feel like there has been very little amazing contemporary romance/whatever in my reading so far this year.  I actually picked this up expecting absolutely nothing, and the description of this as yet another Cyrano De Bergerac knock-off did nothing to interest me.  I got this through the tour site I'm part of on a fleeting whim.  Boy am I ever glad that I did!  This one is told in first-person, by the main character Jesse, whose sense of humor and choice of language leave a lot to be desired.  Not to mention the less than legal activities he is most well known for among the other kids at his school - even the adults come to him asking for favors!  The overall tone and balance of emotion and humor reminded me of two of my favorite contemporary reads of last year, Cherry Money Baby and Firecracker.

     Jesse "Sway" Alderson is the go-to guy for anything you want: drugs, exam papers, favors of an indeterminate nature and whatever else you want - for a price.  So when Ken Foster, the moronic asshole captain of the football team, comes to Jesse asking for help with getting the saintly Bridget Smalley as his girlfriend, Jesse agrees to do it.  But following Bridget around and getting to know her causes Jesse to grow a conscience and fall in love.  How can he let Bridget be with Ken, knowing the whole thing is a lie?  And what effect will all the deceit, growing feelings and new friendships out of random circumstance have on the rest of his life?  Can Sway make things right, or will Jesse be stuck cleaning up the biggest mess he's ever made?

     Jesse doesn't care to censor himself.  He just says whatever pops into his head first, consequences be damned, and I truly admire that!  There are a lot of people in his life: his gothy and sarcastic best friend Joey, his distant alcoholic father, Carter from the football team, a drug dealer named Digger, truly scary supplier Skinhead Rob, and his ex-girlfriend Heather.  But he never really connects to anyone until he meets cranky Mr. Dunkleman at the old folk's home and uses him as his pretend grandfather.  Another nail in the coffin was the shine he takes to Bridget's kid brother Pete, always calling him on his shit and never treating him as disabled because of his condition.  He calls Pete retarded to his face!  The romance in this was sweet, but this book was more about self-realization than anything.  What can we do to fix things, when we realize that our entire life is built around a philosophy that could cause us to lose the one thing we actually want?  Another big part of this book is Jesse coming to terms with living again after his mother's death by way of pill overdose.  He doesn't know whether to feel everything or nothing at all.  I loved that the ending isn't wrapped in a neat little bow, with every loose thread tied up.  We never do see whether Pete and Jesse get close again after their blowout.  Or the fallout of Skinhead Rob's ultimatum.  The open-endedness was nice for a change though.  A lot more like real life!  I absolutely love this book and if you want to be an emotional yo-yo, you should just pick it up already!

Favorite Quotes:

"Why do you call him that?" Pete asked.  "Sway?"

"Because he is sway," Carter said simply.  Pete looked at me but I just shook my head and turned to stare out the plate glass window at the deserted main street.

"But what does it mean?" Pete asked.

"You never heard of sway?" Carter asked, baffled by Pete's question.  "No."

Carter shrugged.  "Sway ain't somethin' you can define.  A brother who's got sway is the man -- don't have to try to be cool, just ...is.  Jesse's as cool as the underside of my pillow.  He's so slick, he could convince you that I'm white, have you believin' it like it's gospel."  

Carter turned his attention to me as he said, "I thought you were ed-you-catin' this boy."

In the haze between consciousness and oblivion I mumbled crazy shit and started to shake with the cold.  Joey covered me with a blanket, then curled up on her narrow bed beside me and held me close as she stroked my hair.  Carter sat behind the bend in my legs and they warmed me with the heat from their bodies.

"I wanted to die," I said into my chest, my voice a grunt as I jerked with another shudder of cold.  "I want to die."

"I know," Joey said, and shushed me and kissed me on the forehead.  "I know.  But you can't die.  If you die, I'll be all alone."

"Shit," Carter said, and I felt him start to shake with quiet sobs as I drifted into the black.

Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" drifted through the air from Joey's iPod, and I remember thinking how appropriate it would be to die listening to that song.

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is September 16th, 2014.*

Letters Say It So Much Better

Published: April 15th, 2014
To All The Boys I've Loved Before (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #1)
By: Jenny Han
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13:  9781442426702

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her.  They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written.  One for every boy she's ever loved - five in all.  When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only.  

Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Review

     Lara Jean Song is living with her older sister Margot, younger sister Kitty and their widower father, working with her sisters to minimize their Dad's worries and keep the household running smoothly since their Mother's death.  But now things are changing, with Margot going away to college in a foreign country, and breaking up with her perfect, boy-next-door boyfriend, Josh.  Of course this only causes Lara Jean's long suppressed feelings to come to the surface, threatening to ruin her friendship with Josh.  Adding to the nightmare, Lara Jean's personal and for her eyes only love letters end up being mailed to the respective boys she happened to write them for.  One of the gets to Josh and she tries to shrug it off - when that doesn't work, Lara Jean enlists her semi-ex boyfriend Peter to help her make Josh forget the whole situation.  And by pretending to be her boyfriend, Peter can make the girl that dumped him jealous.  Can Lara Jean forget Josh herself though?  And what can she do when feelings she thought long since lost, for Peter, begin to get in the way as well?  Also, what about Margot?

     I feel like I was expecting Lara Jean to have a crazy showdown of all her ex-loves/boyfriends.  They would all get the letters, and come to find Lara Jean looking for answers.  That, or Lara Jean would have to go on some sort of adventure to collect the letters from the unintended recipients.  I have to say that I was REALLY disappointed.  Lara Jean basically spends a couple hours worrying about the missing hatbox full of letters (you'd think she's be more upset, with even just the hatbox itself having been from her dead Mom), then seeming blase about it when she gives up.  Then when Peter approaches her at school about the letter she "sent" him, Lara Jean is WAY too calm and collected about it!  Any normal teenager would be so humiliated to see someone reading their personal thoughts, when they were never intended to have access to them.  Even as an adult a situation like that would mortify me!  Instead of focusing on this, the letters basically disappear from the plot, and Jenny Han decides to focus on a love triangle between Lara, her sister Margo's ex-boyfriend Josh, and slightly creepy, opportunistic Peter.  

     This whole book is about Lara trying to convince Josh she is with Peter, so she doesn't give in to temptation and betray her sister by hooking up with him.  But then Lara starts to feel things for Peter too!  Overall, the characters were extremely weak, the plot was nothing like what I expected and just about the only thing I liked was the relationship between the sisters.  And even that was tainted by Lara Jean's obsession with her "true lurve" for her sister's boyfriend.  That is such a blight against the girl code it isn't even funny.  Also, the cliffhanger was such a cop-out.  This didn't need to be a series, and I feel like it only is to make more money.  Nothing was resolved and I feel like I wasted my time.  Also, I constantly wanted to slap Lara Jean across the face.  It was like reading about the antics of an annoying ten year old, instead of a teenaged girl.  So naieve and priveleged I just couldn't connect or relate at all.  So disappointed in this Jenny Han books, especially after loving "The Summer I Turned Pretty."  I definitely don't recommend this one.  It only gets as many stars as it does because of the sisters and the fact that I finished it.  I'm being generous.

VERDICT:  1.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is April 15th, 2014.*

One More Time for the Operator

Expected Publication: March 11th, 2014

Ask Again Later

By: Liz Czukas

HarperTeen

ISBN-13:  9780062272393

Despite what her name might suggest, Heart has zero interest in a complicated romance.  So when her brilliant plan to go to the prom with a group of friends is disrupted by two surprise invites, Heart knows there's only one drama-free solution: flip a coin.

Heads: The jock.  He might spend all night staring at his ex or throw up in the limo, but how bad can her brother's best friend be?

Tails: The theater geek...with a secret.  What could be better than a guy who shares all of Heart's interests -- even if he wants to share all his feelings?

Heart's simple coin flip has somehow given her the chance to live out both dates.  But where her prom ends up might be the most surprising thing of all.....

Review

     I absolutely adore anything to do with alternate realitites, two majorly different outcomes to a choice of some sort, or just anything wonky to do with the space time continuum.  I should have known better to read a book about a girl named Heart who doesn't believe in love, and has to choose between two different prom dates!  I didn't really like Heart as a main character, and felt like she was a poseur and a complete pushover.  Instead of going with her friends to the prom in their group of No Prom-a Drama (gag me at that name, ugh) she lets herself be guilt tripped and or coerced into going to the prom with a guy she doesn't really want to go with (depending on your reality).  I didn't mind Heart's friend Ryan all that much, although his secret was such a plot device that he barely existed except to cause drama between Heart and the guy who (not-so-secretly) likes her for real.  I also don't get why he told Heart his secret, because yes she accepted him and didn't tell anyone about it, but she stereotyped him at every turn and was just an inconsiderate d-bag about it.  And her brother's friend is described as a big, dumb teddy bear of a guy but spends the majority of the book drunk and ignoring Heart - when he's not kissing her against her wishes (total sexual assault, and everyone just brushes it off and justifies it - including her brother and "love" interest!).  

     Her actual love interest is a boy from her drama class named Chase, who Heart calls Schroeder (he plays the piano like the Peanuts character), who teases her by calling her other body parts instead of her name (i.e. pancreas, etc.).  He's hot and cold to the extreme, never actually coming out and telling Heart he likes her as more than a friend/frenemie.  Schroeder spends most of the book as a belligerent asshole, treating Heart like crap because he's pissed she hasn't figured out he likes her - what, is she supposed to be a mindreader or something?  How does he not notice how overall oblivious and kind of dumb Heart happens to be?  His behavior throughout the book does NOT endear him to me as a love interest.  Their relationship will NOT be a healthy one, in any way, shape or form.  Also, everytime I read Heart's full name, I was calling her Heart Heart in my head (her last name is LaCoeur - "the heart" in French)!  It was distracting, sickening in it's cutesiness and it made Heart's Mom seem like a complete and utter moron (which might have been the point, to show what a deadbeat, dumb young teen Mom she was).  Yet another stereotype.  Either than or the author was trying to be clever.  In which case, EPIC FAIL.  Overall I really disliked it, and thought it was seriously superficial development wise in character and plot.  This book was a very bad type of shallow.  I spent most of the last half skimming it rather than reading closely.  I do not recommend this unless you are obsessed with Prom and like thick-skulled protagonists.  The only reason this gets as many stars as it does is for the premise, and due to the fact that I managed to finish reading it (barely).

VERDICT:  1.5/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is March 11th, 2014.**

Wish Not, Want Not

 

Published:  March 21st, 2013

The Art of Wishing (The Art of Wishing #1)

By: Lindsey Ribar

Dial Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9780803738270

 

He can grant her wishes, but only she can save his life.

 

Margo McKenna has a plan for just about everything, from landing the lead in her high school play to getting into a good college.  So when she finds herself in possession of a genie's ring and the chance to make three wishes, she doesn't know what to do.  Why should she put her life into someone else's hands?

 

But Oliver is more than just a genie -- he's also a sophomore at Margo's high school, and he's on the run from a murderer.  As he and Margo grow closer, she discovers that it will take more than three wishes to save him.

 

A whole lot more.

 

Review

 

     This is a book dealing with a normal teenage girl who gets the dream that everyone fantasizes about at least once or twice in life - a genie who is going to grant her three wishes!  Of course, everything had consequences, even things that seem perfect in theory.  So when Margo McKenna starts to know Oliver, her genie, for himself and not just his powers, it's not especially surprising that all Hell breaks loose.  Oh yeah, and there's a murderous madman after Oliver.  A fellow genie who wants to get rid of every other genie.  So there's that!  I really went into this one liking the way it kicked off.  A heroine who knows what she wants - to have a career in music.  She's got some family problems and is kind of awkward, so she isn't a Mary Sue (which I am eternally grateful for as a reader who detests them).  But Margo's entire life changes when she finds out that Vicki, the girl who gets the role of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd instead of her, used magic to get people to like her and be in the musical!  This seriously pisses off Margo.  I totally understood that reaction.

     But once Margo comes upon Oliver's genie ring in the girl's bathroom and becomes his new 'master' things started to devolve.  I thought that the gradual development of a friendship between Oliver and Margo was very sweet.  She's feeling ignored by her Mom now that her parents have re-married, after so many years of it just being the two of them.  He's never had someone really take the time to get to know him.  Plus, Margo is taking her time and being extremely careful about her wishes.  She doesn't want to make any serious mistakes the way that Vicki did when she wished that more people would like her.  I understood the slow build and I liked the reality of Oliver's old mentor genie being a dangerous threat, who wanted to kill Oliver.  The dark edge to the book was interesting and fresh.  The focus on Margo's relationships with her Mom, best friend Naomi and her new one with Oliver made things stay interesting.

     Once the romance started to take over though, I lost interest.  It wasn't quite insta-love, but it wasn't too far off when you figure that Margo and Oliver had known each other less than an entire week!  So when things start to go down with the aforementioned villain, it felt like everyone else completely disappeared from the book and Oliver was the only one left - especially in Margo's view of things.  She basically tanks her future music career, her part in the musical, her friendship with Naomi AND her relationship with her Mom, just to save Oliver.  And as I saw mentioned in someone else's review, she could have just wished for him to become mortal instead of becoming a genie herself!!!  Not to mention the whole thing with her Mom struck me as vaguely weird, especially how jealous and resentful she was of her Dad.  She didn't even try talking to her Mom about things and hated that they got back together because it took her out of all the decision making processes.  I don't know about you, but it was kind a "duh" moment!  I thought Margo was kind of stupid honestly to expect her Mom to still treat her like another adult in charge of things once she remarried (never should have in the first place, honestly speaking).  The romance derailed the interesting part of it for me, which was the magic and the resolution of the parental/musical issues.  A cute book, but overall not what I was expecting from the synopsis.  I probably won't be reading the next one, cause I don't really care what happens next. 

 

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

 



**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**



You've Got Mail

Expected Publication:  December 24th, 2013

Roomies

By: Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13:  9780316217491

It's time to meet your new roomie.

When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge.  That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.

As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex.  With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by the change, it suddenly seems the only people that Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives...and each other.  Even though they've never met.

Review

     Elizabeth (called EB by her friends) is really excited to finally be leaving for college in just a couple short months.  So when she gets her roommate assignment, EB shoots of an e-mail to figure out who's bringing what.  Lauren on the other hand is less than thrilled with having a roommate, as she had originally requested a single.  Coming from a home with five younger brothers and sisters, all Lauren wants is to go to Berkeley and get some peace, quiet and freedom.  When EB contacts her Lauren is busy working, being babysitter to her siblings and trying to keep her friendships afloat even though she doesn't have time to be involved with all the technology her friends use as a lifeline - especially her best friend Zoe.  At first the girls get off on the wrong foot, but when they really start responding to each other both EB and Lauren come to rely on one another as sounding boards - and friends.  With complicated guy and family situations can EB and Lauren make the right decisions and manage to become the people they need to be?

     I really enjoyed reading this book!  I went into it expecting it to be a pretty good read, but braced for disappointment.  It takes a really great writer to work with a partner and not come up with a mediocre book.  It's all about the flow and style of the narrative being smooth, while still having distinctive characters, etc. so that not everything sounds exactly the same.  EB is an only child who lives with her Mom, after her Dad walked out on them when she was five.  Turns out he was gay and didn't want to pretend anymore.  Not that her Mom is perfect either, having affairs with married men and always being gone from the apartment.  Everything is changing with E.B.'s friends too, who are all staying close by for college.  She breaks up with her boyfriend who is pressuring her for sex, only to find herself attracted to a landscaping client's son.  Lauren is the opposite, trying to figure out her romantic feelings for her co-worker Keyon, searching Goodwill for antiques they can flip, babysitting her five siblings and working for money she's going to need at college.  I could appreciate EB's inability to admit how she felt, her mixed feelings towards her Mom (who she loves, even if she is distant and doing the morally wrong thing more often than not).  I identified with Lauren's struggle to separate her identity from her place in the family.  Both girls were written extremely real.

     That old saying that it's easier to talk to a stranger is really well demonstrated in this book.  Neither girl really knows how to connect at first, but they can't talk about their problems with anyone else.  So they unload on each other.  But both of them are conflicted about becoming friends that way, before they've ever even met each other.  They still kind of resent each other as well, for being so involved.  EB even retaliates when Lauren looks up her estranged Dad's art gallery in San Francisco and finds out something hurtful.  Lauren decides to tell EB anyway and the anger gets focused on her instead.  The romantic relationship between Lauren and Keyon was very 'first love' in it's hesitation and shy newness.  It was nice to have such an innocent relationship in a YA book.  I did like EB's relationship with Mark, but it felt really whirlwind and insta-love to me.  Yes, his character was awesome.  But I felt like the "I love you" mentality was way unrealistic.  Overall, this is a book about friendships (old and new), family, romance and learning how to balance them all while dealing with the change of growing up.  I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it, whether you're already a fan of Zarr or Altebrando, or both even.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is December 24th, 2013.*

You Ain't Got No Alibi

 

Published:  July 29th, 2013

Friday Night Alibi

By: Cassie Mae

Flirt

ISBN-13:  9780345548818

 

 

Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing.

In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.

Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black., and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.

 

Review

 

     Kelli Pinkins is the stereotypical good girl and in a town full of rich, uptight, religious families it pays off to be good.  At least for Kelli, who has started her own 'alibi' business to help out her classmates and make cash for college.  In exchange for a set fee, Kelli gives an alibi packet that the person memorizes and keeps them from losing their trust funds, etc.  But when she meets Chase Maroney at the bowling alley bar one night when she's supposed to be home as someone's alibi, things come crashing down.  He's completely different from anyone she knows, obnoxious and is suddenly everywhere that Kelli is!  But the more she gets to know Chase, the more she realizes that he's not what she thought he was.  Chase is something more important and could be worth diving into a relationship for.  Kelli would have to give up her alibi business to have a real chance and make Chase her boyfriend.  Can she do it, or will Kelli stick with her safety net instead of taking a risk?

     I was interested to read this, mostly because it sounded a lot different than the normal angsty fare that New Adult has offered up so far to me as a reader.  It was about a girl who hires her services as an alibi for chrissakes!  But with that said, Kelli had some major issues with her parents and Chase had some with his family as well.  The romance between the two of them started off in a way that reminded me of twelve year olds harassing each other with rude comments and juvenile pranks/actions.  He calls her 'Stinky' and she tricks him into a full body wax after he causes her to lose her hair in a gum incident.  They are constantly antagonizing each other and it didn't really make me swoon or want them together.  Mostly I started to feel annoyed.  Kelli as a narrator was kind of condescending and I feel like she used her alibi business as a way to feel like she was so much better than everyone else.  She wasn't your average girl, but I feel like the whole inexperienced, good girl trope is used in every New Adult book under the Sun (unless she happens to be the complete and extreme opposite of good).

     I was okay with the majority of this book, but I knew pretty much everything that was going to happen before it actually did.  There were some cute scenes, especially when Chase takes care of Kelli when she's sick and their bonding over oranges.  For the most part I can take or leave this novel though.  I didn't love any of the characters and they tended to get on my nerves.  I did appreciate the author not resorting to sex scenes to carry the plot and it was a fun, fluffy read.  I think that as long as you can deal with the major immaturity of both the leads, this is a good beach read/time waster.  Not something I would really recommend all that effusively though.

 

VERDICT:  2.75/5  Stars

 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published on July 29th, 2013.*



Cherry, Everything Is Alright

Expected Publication:  September 10th, 2013

Cherry Money Baby

By: John M. Cusick

Candlewick Press

ISBN-13:  9780763655570

Hollywood glitz collides with workingclass aspirations in this satirical tale of an impulsive starlet and a sharp-witted small-town teen.

Cherry Kerrigan loves her simple life, her family’s tiny trailer, even working at Burrito Barn. Forget college — she’s marrying her sweetheart from next door. But here comes Ardelia Deen, a glamorous starlet who sweeps Cherry into a world of fast cars and penthouse parties. Now Cherry’s small-town life just seems so . . . small. When Ardelia drops a bomb of an offer — one involving a baby — Cherry knows her life will change forever, no matter what she decides. John M. Cusick focuses his signature wit on Hollywood royalty and the wide-eyed dreams of Small Town, U.S.A. in a novel about discovering who you are . . . and changing your mind.

Review

     Cherry Kerrigan is just a small-town girl, working in a burrito place and living in a trailer park with her Dad and little Brother.  In love with the boy next door, Cherry is loving her life just the way it is.  She doesn't even really see the appeal in leaving for the great world outside the town lines.  When Lucas, her sweetheart, asks her to marry him life is just that much sweeter.  But when Cherry saves movie star Ardelia Deen (who is in town shooting her latest movie) by giving her the Heimlich, things starts to change.  All of the sudden Cherry is on T.V. and being watched by all of America, made out as stupid trailer trash who doesn't know anything at all.  Hanging out with Ardelia begins to make Cherry wonder what she really wants in life and if staying behind while her best friend goes to college is really good enough after all.  Agreeing to help Ardelia find a surrogate to carry a baby for her, Cherry's life is consumed by her new friends, causing the gap to grow between herself and her old life.  Can she find a place to belong or will she be stuck between Hollywood, high society and the trailer park?  

     Oh my goodness!  This book was not at all what I was expecting, but that's in the best way possible.  Cherry Kerrigan is smart, but she's a sarcastic bitch who doesn't try hard enough in school.  She doesn't want to go away to college and is proud of her life just the way it is.  I love Cherry so much.  Even when she's being a pain in the neck she's still really likeable, or at the very least really funny.  The fact that Cusick avoids caricaturizing her as stupid trailer trash really endears him to me as a writer.  The romantic relationship between her and Lucas is wonderful, with a true connection between them.  Also, the depiction of an interracial relationship (Lucas is black, Cherry is white) in a small, hick town was touched upon with an episode that takes place on the street when a cop asks Cherry if Lucas is bothering her.  Cherry of course, basically tells the cop to go f*** himself and calls him Barney Fife.  But it's not the main focus of their romance which is truly awesome.  The biggest focus is on the trust between them and how it  transforms from absolute to tenuous throughout the book.  But the love is still overflowing between them and I love the graffiti art of Lucas that connects them on an even deeper level.

     The family issues were so realistic that it was amazing to me when I was reading it.  Not just for Cherry, but for Ardelia too.  Ardelia's close friendship, practically sisterhood with her friend Spanner was antagonistic but loving.  The scene closer to the end of the book when Ardelia humiliates her in front of some wealthy, 'important' guests was hard to read if simply for the fact of how easy it is to take a friend's love for granted.  The relationship between Cherry and her Dad, a struggling auto-mechanic who wants more for his kids, was full of warmth, discipline and I love that he was a major presence in her life (even though he was constantly working and not always able to be there).  There was a huge contrast between that and the pronounced lack of a Mom in her life.  When the whole surrogate selection plot pops up, Ardelia and Cherry's insecurities and gaps in parental education become painful to witness.

     Life in the fast lane with partying, movie stars and drugs is something that starts to get a hold on Cherry at times.  But just when you think she's starting to lose herself, she does something that totally brings her back to herself.  As the book goes along, especially after Cherry gets high and almost cheats on Lucas and a tragedy befalls her family (pretty much financially ruining them), she has to make some pretty hard decisions about how to make things right.  I don't agree with other reviewers that the direction of the last portion of this book turned cliche.  Yes, if it were any other book I might say it did.  But with the amount of sheer emotion packed into every moment and confrontation, it was anything but cliched to me as a reader.  To me the ending was perfect and the friendship between Ardelia and Cherry throughout this book was a high point for me.  It was about the journey of figuring out who you are when the world proves to be scarier and bigger than you ever imagined.  Movie star or girl in a trailer park, life kicks you in the ass either way.  I highly recommend this book to fans of Where the Heart Is, who also like a book with some sharp (funny) edges to go along with the warm and fuzzy emotions.

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley and as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is September 10th, 2013.*

I'd Dive For You

Published:  July 1st, 2013
Lick (Stage Dive # 1)
By: Kylie Scott
Momentum
ISBN-13:  9781743342374

Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is for certain, being married to rock and roll’s favourite son is sure to be a wild ride.

Review

      I read the synopsis of this book and my initial thoughts were this:  Hot rock star.  Vegas marriage.  Sign ME THE HELL UP FOR THAT! :)  At the same time I was kind of wary.  Right now with the classification being so new and inviting a lot of play from unknown/self-pubbed authors, New Adult invites a lot of mediocre crap along with the good.  I've been lucky enough to mostly read good stuff, but I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  This wasn't that time, actually quite the opposite.  Evelyn 'Evie' Thomas is pretty kick-ass, as far as main characters go.  She's just an average girl who prefers country music over rock 'n roll, is wound way too tight from parental expectations and wants to get laid.  So she goes wit her best friend Lauren to Vegas and wakes up the next morning next to a strange man, with tattoos and piercings.  Turns out they got married the night before and she doesn't remember a thing.  Evie also got herself a tramp stamp of his name - 'David.'  Oh and he just happens to be a famous rock star.  Agreeing to get an annulment as soon as possible, David and Evie go their separate ways but when she is descended on by the paparazzi she joins him in California until they can be done for good.  In close quarters and getting to know each other, their feelings begin to change in ways they never imagined.  Can they give marriage to each other a real shot, or will it be just a mistake that they erase from their histories?  

     The romance between David and Evie was NOT insta-love, but it wasn't that slow of a build either.  I think the best thing about it was how normal they make each other.  She never treated him like some God incarnate because of his rock star status and he makes her question what she really wants to do with her life - follow her parents' dreams or find her own.  Also, Evie and David are physical opposites with her being a bit of a big girl who is strictly vanilla and him being a rock 'n roll wild child.  We do get to see the background stories of both (more of Evie's than his though) and how life has made them what they are now.  The supporting characters weren't super fleshed out, but they weren't cardboard cutouts either.  Later in the series I'm definitely hoping for more of Mal, who cracked me up but obviously has a huge heart.  Of course there is off the charts chemistry and when they finally do have sex it is hotter than a jalapeno pepper people!!!  There was a misunderstanding/obstacle as per usual in a romance novel, with the main characters torturing themselves and acting lovesick.  The angst is short-lived though and things were resolved to my satisfaction.  But I am excited to see what happens in the second book in the series, whether or not Kylie focuses on Evie and David again, or gives facetime to one of his bandmates (maybe his brother which would for sure be interesting).  On a small note, Lauren was super hilarious and the romance between her and Evie's brother made me laugh.  Drew away from the main tension in a good way.  Overall, a good book for anyone who enjoys rock star romances, has a good sense of humor and would like to dive into the New Adult genre with a good read.  But beware, there is a good amount of mature content, not recommended for those under 17 unless they can handle it.  The characters in this book are in their 20s for a reason! :)

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published on July 1st, 2013.*

Too Broken For Understanding

Expected Publication:  August 27th, 2013 (First Published: June 1st, 2012)

Broken
By: Elizabeth Pulford, & Angus Gomes (Illustrations)
Running Press Kids
ISBN-13:  9780762450046

Zara has one immediate and urgent goal, and it is to find her brother, Jem. She faces a few complications, though, not the least of which is searching for him in her subconscious while she is in a coma.
Zara’s coma has pulled her into the world of Jem’s favorite comic-book hero. But no matter how quickly Zara literally draws her own escape, she is taunted deeper into the fantastical darkness by the comic’s villain, Morven. All the while she is caught between the present with visits from friends and family in the hospital and the past by flashbacks of a traumatic event long ago forgotten.
The search for her brother may help Zara see the light, but in order to find him, she must face her innermost secrets first. In a multi-layered tale that intertwines comic-book/graphic novel elements with first-person narration, Elizabeth Pulford explores the dimensions of hope, love, loyalty, denial, and truth.

Review

     Zara is looking for her brother Jem, because she's lost him to his favorite comic book hero.  But unknown to herself, Zara's brother is dead and she's in a coma from the motorcycle accident that killed him.  Sorting through the traumatic events of her childhood and the recent mistakes of her life, Zara must wade through everything to get to the truth.  But inside the world of comics there are villains, who always do everything they can to stop the 'good guys' from winning.  Can her family and friends drawn her back into the land of the living, where she'll be forced to face the truth?  Or will Zara choose to keep looking for her brother and leave the land of the living for good?

     This book sounded a bit like an Australian version of If I Stay, only with a darker edge.  Even though I normally steer clear of Aussie YA lit because I just never seem to connect to it that well.  But being who I am, I dove right into it regardless of my initial misgivings.  I felt that this was a great premise, but it suffered from extremely poor execution.  The combination of the childhood kidnapping and it's total disconnect from the main plot about the accident that leaves Zara comatose was really confusing.  I felt like the author was trying to link the two, but they had NOTHING to do with each other so it made zero sense and was distracting.  The idea of Jem being lost in a comic book world was an interesting segue into illustration and allowed for a platform for Zara to work out her issues.  But it was jarring going back and forth between the fictional exploits in the comic world (mixed with her memories/subconscious), and the visits of her friends and family as they try to bring her out of the coma.  

     And I agree with another reviewer that I've seen who said they were frustrated with Zara's mission to find her brother.  It's not like we didn't know what happened to him since the beginning of the book and it makes her 'quest' seem that much more childish and annoying.  Also, the entire book is in flashbacks/one way dialogue.  It makes it kind of hard to build any real semblances of relationships between Zara and the other characters based on the present and not past events/interactions.  Overall, I felt like something was missing from the story that was crucial to me becoming invested in it.  I spent the majority skimming through disinterestedly.  This was not the book for me, but I'm sure there is someone out there who will love it.  I just wouldn't recommend it personally unless you feel some kind of unflagging desire to read it.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

**I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is August 27th, 2013.**

Can I Have a Shaman Panda?

Expected Publication:  July 11th, 2013
The Theory of Everything
By: Kari Luna
Philomel
ISBN-13:  9780399256264

Sophie Sophia is obsessed with music from the late eighties. She also has an eccentric physicist father who sometimes vanishes for days and sees things other people don’t see. But when he disappears for good and Sophie’s mom moves them from Brooklyn, New York, to Havencrest, Illinois, for a fresh start, things take a turn for the weird. Sophie starts seeing things, like marching band pandas, just like her dad.

Guided by Walt, her shaman panda, and her new (human) friend named Finny, Sophie is determined to find her father and figure out her visions, once and for all. So she travels back to where it began—New York City and NYU’s physics department. As she discovers more about her dad’s research on M-theory and her father himself, Sophie opens her eyes to the world’s infinite possibilities—and her heart to love.

Review

 

     Sophie Sophia sees some pretty wonderful things: shaman pandas in marching bands, lunch ladies singing 'Rock 'n Roll High School' complete with dance moves and famous rockers that give advice.  But these things don't exist in quite the same time/place as Sophie, so sometimes they cause her to do stuff that makes other people think she's crazy (like crowd-diving onto the popular girls at her new schools).  These are the kinds of things Sophie's scientist Dad used to do and the reason that she and her Mom left him, moving away from his episodes.  Now her Mom is getting scared that Sophie might have inherited a mental illness from her Dad.  When she is guided by her shaman panda Walt to seek out her Dad in New York, to try and get some answers, things might never be the same again.  With her friend Finny along for the ride and her Dad's book to give her some clues Sophie just might transform her own life, even if she can't save her Dad from himself.

     This whole book is built on a premise of whether or not the episodes are mental illness or Sophie and her Dad are slipping into alternate universes.  It's a really intriguing concept for a YA novel to try to navigate, especially when there isn't any other paranormal/sci-fi aspect involved and it's just straight contemporary fiction!  Sophie is an interesting girl, with unique fashion sense, a love of mix-tapes (anything analog, nothing digital with the Walkman to back it up!), and how-to lists for every event in life you could imagine.  But I feel like I spent the whole book thinking about how cool she was and not really connecting to her until the ending.  It's like when you meet up with some hipsters in a coffee shop and think they're interesting, but have no clue who they really are as a person.  I did like that she was only fourteen and did act her age for the most part with the romance including a cute boy and a first kiss, instead of the prevalent epidemic of 'virginity loss' making an appearance as in many YA contemps.

     I liked the souvenirs as proof that Sophie really wasn't imagining the episodes, but at the same time they were things so generic that it still left you wondering as a reader.  One of my favorite things about this book was Sophie's relationship with her best friend Finny, who is one of the first people she meets in her new town.  He is understanding, has an awesome sense of style, loves the same stuff as Sophie and goes with her on the quest to find her Dad.  Not to mention he helps her fix things with her cute, almost-boyfriend Drew after an episode almost ruins them.  I want a Finny of my own!  But the best thing for me in this book was shaman panda Walt.  He is wise, hilarious, a great musician and truly wants to guide Sophie the best way possible.  Plus hugging a panda after having an existential discussion with them just makes me want to find a portal into this book so I can do it too.  I did feel like it overreached sometimes, and it definitely wasn't a perfect read.  I felt too disconnected at the end to say that I truly loved it.  Plus Sophie's still unresolved situation with her Dad at the end and her disappointing 'choice' in regards to the inter-universe travelling was disappointing.  It was like when you ditch your imaginary friend because you're too old for them! :(  All in all though, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to people really longing for something different, that don't mind baby-hipster main characters.  Oh and props to Luna for the reference to Noah and the Whale! :)

 

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

 

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is July 11th, 2013.*