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

Book Review: World After by Susan Ee

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Goddamn, goddamn, goddamn. 
I knew starting this series would be deadly. I just didn't know how deadly until I finished this one and found out that there's another one that doesn't  come out til May. MAY. Someone just stab me with a fork because that'll be less painful than waiting until it comes out.
God, this book is amazing.
I just don't really have a lot to say about it except "AHHHHHHHHHH" and "READ IT". Seriously.
I just love all the characters and the complexity that each of them have. It makes the story a lot stronger, more believable and definitely more enjoyable.
I also really like how this isn't your typical dystopian/apocalyptic series. It's not like some corrupt government that rules all and only one girl can save the whole world (AKA AMERICA). It's just about a girl who wants her sister back. And who also has an extremely attractive angel man to help her. 
Ugh, I swear, if I don't get some big romance scene in the next one, I'll be upset. But I'll live because that's not the whole point of it, but come on. It's been brewing for some time. Give them some happiness. PLEASE. 
This book reminded me why I love reading.

Read: January 2015
My Rating: 5 stars / 5 stars (obviously)

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

The official print edition of the internet phenomenon. Already over 8,000 five star reader reviews. (And counting.)

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. 

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. 

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back..

This is one of the books that was in my line of sight multiple times but I never actually read it (or when I tried to I didn't like it and stopped) [Granted, it's sort of slow in the beginning but just wait. It's totally worth it].

This is one of the books that make me want to strangle past me into reading this sooner.

This book is amazing.

Like A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Why? 

Badass, snarky heroine.

Equally snarky and pain in the ass fallen angel.

And of course, the end of the world.

This book is unlike any I've ever read. I've read fallen angel books and I've read dystopian books. Never those together. This could've potentially been really bad, but it was executed perfectly. Who ever thought that angels could be bad and basically destroy the earth?

And add in some sci-fi elements? Oh yeah, I was sold. (Not elaborating on that because well, spoilers.)

Now there's some romance? I say "romance?" because, well, nothing really happens in that department but you know it will eventually. Lucky for me, it's my favorite trope. Yes, it's the always fun, "I hate you, but I love you." So good. 

THE ENDING. UGH. It was glorious. By glorious, I mean heartbreaking and cliff-hanger-y that makes me want to pick up the next book right now because I might just explode. All that angst that is just waiting will be so much fun to read... that is if you like that kind of thing. Which, luckily, I do. 

I can't gush about this more. Actually I can but I think I'm good for now.

It is a 10/10 would recommend. Absolutely.

Read: January 19, 2015

My Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.At any cost.Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

I didn't know what to make of this book. I don't typically read any books that deal with the military, mainly because they don't come into my wheelhouse very often. But I gave it a shot.
I almost didn't finish this because, while written very well, I just didn't care. 
That sounds bad, but I just didn't care about the characters and what was going to happen to them.
Plus, the whole "secret society" plot is a very slow plot. I don't think it actually picked up the pace until halfway through. So that was kind of annoying to know that was going to happen and was the cause of all her troubles but she doesn't realize it until late in the story. 
It was like yelling at Dora when she asks, "Do you see the bridge to the jungle?" YES DORA, IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU! JUST TURN AROUND!!
But I do give props for the author making me hate the boys. It takes good writing in order to really hate characters. Man oh man, do I hate those boys. (The mean, sexist bastards, that is.)
Now the romance. 
Being a hopeless romantic, I love a good romance and don't mind a subplot of romance in an action book. 
In this book, however, I thought it was kind of unnecessary. It seemed too much of that "Insta-Love" (Instant Love). It was like one moment she's "Oh, my drill sergeant is kind of hot", and it's like cool okay, and then she's like, "He makes me feel things I shouldn't about him. This is wrong." Where did that come from?? You guys have barely talked and you guys are already in love? How?? I just didn't like how quick it was. I do admit some of the moments were pretty sweet and it was nice to read those instead of the nasty stuff that happens. But again, I don't think it was needed this early in the story. (It's going to be a series or something). I don't know. 
It's not a bad read. I just didn't really love it. *shrug*

Read: January 18, 2015
My Rating: 3 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.
But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just… disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try… unless they could lead back to her best friend.
Apple Picking at Night? Okay, easy enough.
Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not?
Kiss a Stranger? Wait… what?
Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?
Go Skinny Dipping? Um… 

Oh boy. This book, you guys.
Because of this book I've decided that I like everything that Morgan Matson writes. (She wrote Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and Second Chance Summer, which I highly recommend.) This is my favorite of hers right now.
I was wary about this when I first picked it up because I thought it was going to turn out a lot different than it did. The way it did turn out is freaking amazing. I love this book. Its focus on Emily and Sloane's friendship is such a wonderful story and it seems so real. I can relate to the problems and actions that both girls went through in their friendship. I think a lot of people can relate to them (not just girls, even if it is girl-centric. There is a good dynamic between two guy characters as well that I think a lot of guys go through at one point or another.)
I loved the element of Emily going through this whole journey thinking that she loved Sloane more than Sloane loved Emily. (Is that a spoiler? I don't think so... it's fairly obvious from the beginning.) I think a lot of friendships have this idea that one of them have more love than the other. (Which is a LIE. People love and show love in different ways.) This just made the whole story that much more real.
Emily's growth as a person/character was fantastic. You see her change from who she was "Pre-Sloane" and how "After Sloane" Emily isn't much different. It's just a great, great story of growth and true friendship with all the rainbows and puppy kisses that come with books like this. (Not a bad thing, by the way. I'm just a sarcastic little poop-head who loves romance while being the most cynical person you've ever met.)
AND THE COVER. God, bury me with this book so they can have a great book and think I was a queen because only queens have things this beautiful. 
10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND.

Read: January 9, 2015
My Rating; 5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

There it is in all it's beautiful cover glory. 
I'll be honest- I wanted to read it partly because of the cover.
Then I read the blurb. I was sold.
But then I started reading it. I was scared in the beginning because it was looking like I wasn't going to like it. Mainly due to the unnecessary love triangle they put in there for dramatic effect or something. (Well, after reading the entire thing, I kind of get why it's in there, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!) 
It turns out fairly good. Not like "OMG I LOVE IT!!!! EVERYONE READ THIS RIGHT NOW!!", but close-ish. 
The take on parallel universes was fresh and new. It flowed well and made sense throughout the novel which is sometimes hard to accomplish with a topic like parallel universes. 
The twists were kind of predictable but then again that was probably on purpose. They were really good twists. Really setting it up for the rest of the series. I'm looking forward to those.
Now the protagonist. I don't know if I like her or not. She had moments where I'm like, "Yeah you go, you badass lady!" and others I literally smacked myself in the face because of some dumb choice she made. So, she's a pretty believable teenage protagonist. Also don't like her name, but maybe that's just me. 
Paul, the love interest man candy dude bro. Meh. 
The ending is what saved it. I was about to just shrug away the book as something I just read, but the ending swooped in with all its twists and reveals and made me consider it as an almost favorite. It ends with the perfect set up for the next books and makes it seem really interesting. I know I'm going to be surprised in what happens at the end. I eagerly await the next one. 

Read: January 19, 2015
My Rating: 4 stars / 5 stars