Book Review: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?
Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.
The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans.

It's been a long time since I read Sarah Dessen's books. Last time I tried and ended up not liking it. I didn't actually finish it either. Oops.

The last one I ended up loving was probably Along for the Ride. So it's been a while.

This wasn't bad. Not terribly great, but not bad. 

I liked Sydney (the narrator), I could relate to her and could understand how she felt about all the stuff in her life. I liked Layla (narrator's best friend) and her huge french fry obsession. Fries are serious business. Their friendship felt real and was good for both of them. I felt like their friendship should've had a better focus than Sydney's love life.

Her love life was a slow, slow burn. I'm all for that because I hate the whole "I just met you, and this is crazy but I love you" thing. But, damn, it was like they got together because they each smiled at each other. There was no other basis for a romantic relationship than continuing doing what they always had done but with the occasional kiss. There was no chemistry between them. It was like the were put together for the sake of a romantic plot.

Ugh. There were no swoons; hell, there were no purely romantic moments between them. I don't understand. I digress.

Now, there was the whole Creeper McCreep. You know from the moment he's introduced and Sydney's reaction to him that something bad will happen. I kept waiting for her to say something or for him to do something but it doesn't. It doesn't happen until like the last few pages. (Spoiler?) What the heck? Why hint at something that big only to have a quick thing happen as like a sidenote? I'm not trying to diminish the severity of situations like that, but it felt like it was being pushed to the side as a plot point. That kind of stuff is not a plot point and should be treating carefully and with respect to the victims of those situations. 

I don't know. This book just didn't do it for me. There was no pulse in the story. It was flat. Like it was a really long checklist of everything that could possibly happen to a teenage girl. 

Maybe it was just me but it just kind of fell flat for me. Which is sad because I like Sarah Dessen. She's not a bad writer. But this was a bit of a snoozer.

Whether I read her next book is undecided. I might just wait until the library has it. Maybe. 

Read: May 2015

My Rating: 3 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Angelburn by L. A. Weatherly

They're out for your soul.
And they don't have heaven in mind...
Willow knows she's different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people's dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. 
But the assassin, Alex, does. Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems; least of all good and evil.

Not going to lie, I was kind of expecting this to be similar to Angelfall. If anything I was hoping for it because then I'd have something to tie me over while I wait for the next one to come out.
Unfortunately, it wasn't like that at all. Which would've been fine if it had had a better story.
I called what was going to happen from the start. No book should do that. If anything you should have crumbs hinting but not large cookie size crumbs.
The huge reveal that she's what she is (spoilers?) didn't have me gasping in the slightest.
Then there's the angels. I was thinking people with wings and maybe some special powers. Nope, I got actual angels. With halos and gowns. Yeah. They have a human form that's more beautiful than regular humans, of course. They feed on people in some weird mind meld and diseases are the side effect of that? Okay, pushing it a little but okay.
Then there's the love story. I was hoping for some of that hate that would turn into love. It did but the hate lasted 0.5 seconds if it started at all. The male protagonist is taken away by her beauty, especially how "she doesn't even know she has it", and is supposed to hate her. Yeah, OK. So I let that slide since this is how these tropes work. Nope, a few pages later they're already admitting they don't actually hate each other. No! You're supposed to save that until one of them is close to dying! Come on! A few pages after that, they're saying they love each other. WHAT. No, I'm sorry but you guys dont love each other. You guys only met three days ago. I get that you've spent a lot of time together but come on. Not that much!
Ugh. Sorry but no. I thought that was cute when I was 11 and watched every Disney princess movie, but the audience reading this is a little older and know a little better. Show some respect.
I didn't particularly enjoy this but I mean at least I tried?

Read: March 2015
My Rating: 2 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning! 
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 Finch and Violet 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. 
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

I know, I know, I fell for the trick. The trick that if you label something with "The Fault in Our Stars & Eleanor and Park" it'll be good. I'm sorry I was curious about this so I bought it. 
Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. 
It just every contemporary work done for a young adult audience that deals with hard topics. I've read at least three of the same kind of books in the last year. 
That probably sounds harsh, but it's true. It wasn't a new look on depression and suicide. It was the same one with slightly different characters. 
The thing that bothered me the most about this book was that I was spoon fed. I was told I was supposed to be sad because the characters were sad. That the reason why they were pretending to be happy was to cover up the fact that they weren't. That they fell in love because someone finally understood how it felt to be that low. 
No, do not tell me this. A story should show the sadness and let the characters build the connection to the reader. Then the reader can understand the true sadness behind it. It's like I know they're depressed but having them say it every single page? They wouldn't, they'd show it in their actions. They'd show it in how they talk. They'd show it in how the viewed the world. 
I know it's not just me who felt the same about this book. Please, do not tell us what to feel. Give us a story we can read over and over again, where we find new reasons to cry because what we found. 
Because of this, the ending didn't have a big impact as it should've had. Also really obvious. I wanted to scream at Violet because I knew exactly where Finch was, but did she listen? Nooo. 
Obviously this is just my opinion, so take this however you want. 

Read: February 2015
My Rating: 3 stars / 5 stars

(A.N. It's going to be a movie?? Are you kidding me? Really? Ugh.)

Book Review: Existence by Abbi Glines

***DISCLAIMER: DID NOT ACTUALLY FINISH THIS BOOK BUT FEEL THE NEED TO RANT ABOUT IT ANYWAYS. READ WITH CAUTION.***


What happens when you're stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course.

Pagan Moore doesn't cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him.

Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn't let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he's dead.

Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn't realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all.

He is Death and he's about to break all the rules.

I was really, really looking forward to this book. It has everything I love in a paranormal romance despite being told a thousand different times with slight variations. 
Unfortunately this did not meet any of my expectations.
I stopped reading a 161 paged book because it was intolerable. 
I don't want to offend or to just label this as "bad", I want everyone to understand why I think so.
It actually started off really well; interesting protagonist, nice story, good writing- a nice start. 
Then enter the apparent "love interest". He's an asshole. Plain and simple. No, "well, he's actually really nice once there's nobody around", just straight-up asshole. 
Then there's his name. His name is Dank. DANK. WTF kind of name is that? I'm sorry, but come on? You're seriously wanting me to believe this girl is falling in love with an 80's surfer's lingo for something cool? I'm sorry, but that ain't happening. 
Enter love triangle. I hate love triangles on principle: they're dumb and very, very unnecessary. This one was extremely so. She ends up dating a really, really sweet guy but fantasizes about Dank. WHY? He literally has done nothing to get to know you or show any kindness. Why is that attractive? I don't know. He literally GROWLS at her boyfriend when he kisses her. Girl, you do not want that. Stick with normal boy. 
Then there were some little bits of her narration I just couldn't stand. I just couldn't. I knew how this would all end and I was very uninterested in the journey of how they get there. 
Maybe one day I'll finish it and find out that I'm wrong. But for right now, I'm going to leave it where it is and try to forget it. 
Okay, so maybe this was a little harsh, but come on. The people who read these books want a good story AND a good romance, I do not want a half-assed one that was copied from countless other better written ones where the main love interest is actually nice.
Note to all authors: being sarcastic and cold is NOT the same as being an asshole. 
Also: having a reason for being an asshole does NOT excuse being an asshole. 
This has been a PSA, thank you.

Read(ish): January 2015
My rating: 2 stars /  5 stars