Book Review: Free To Fall by Lauren Miller

This is the same author that wrote Parallel. I didn't like this one as much, but still really enjoyed it. I didn't like it as much because it messed me up. Not like the other one where I just didn't fully grasp how the science behind it worked until the end. No, this was a whole "wtf why are they doing that, why am I reading this, why". When you read it you'll understand. It was very 1984 in the concept. Scary about how the things that are supposed to protect/entertain us can be turned against us very quickly. (Everyone panic! The world is ending because of cell phones and social media!!!!!)

Since it did mess with my brain and made me question any app I ever get again, that means it was written very well. Only books that are written well can make you believe the things they are telling you and mess with your brain like that. 

It's a little predictable however. If you've read enough young adult novels (not saying they're all the same, but there is a trend) to figure out what will most likely happen once you read the blurb. I did read it for those exact reasons, though. The execution wasn't as polished as I was hoping for. It was just too fast for me. Girl meets boy, boy challenges girl's thinking, girl realizes that maybe things aren't always what they seem, happily ever after, etc, etc. Yeah. I'm totally okay with that. There was just one part that ruined it. Love interest does something wrong and the narrator is so quick to forgive him. No! Make him work for it and prove that he'll never do it again. Preferably when one of you is dying- that means more angst and I enjoy angst a lot. Sigh. Girls, make your love interest prove to you that they won't mess up again, don't just believe them right away because you "love" them after three days. Maybe that's just me. I don't know.

The ending was pretty good- a little cheesy, but good. It could've laid off the whole "phones and social media will kill you" morale, but it had some good points in there. If she writes another book, I'll probably read it because I like her style of writing. I hope she continues with the sci-fi genre. Who knows.

Read: August 2015
My Rating: 4.5 stars / 5 stars

The Book Aesthetic

Ladies and gentlemen, I have found the perfect aesthetic for all us book lovers. Meet The Book Craft. They're wonderful ladies who take the even more wonderful pictures and great reviews. They are also writers!! I highly suggest you check them out. I've been obsessed. 

☁️ White books ☁️

🔮👌🏾 These books make me miss New York desperately

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius

Here's their instagram, too! 

Book Review: The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne

Kate Quinn’s mom died last year, leaving Kate parentless and reeling. So when the unexpected shows up in her living room, Kate must confront another reality she never thought possible—or thought of at all. Kate does have a father. He’s a powerful politician. And he’s running for U.S. President. Suddenly, Kate’s moving in with a family she never knew she had, joining a campaign in support of a man she hardly knows, and falling for a rebellious boy who may not have the purest motives. This is Kate’s new life. But who is Kate? When what she truly believes flies in the face of the campaign’s talking points, she must decide. Does she turn to the family she barely knows, the boy she knows but doesn’t necessarily trust, or face a third, even scarier option?
Set against a backdrop of politics, family, and first love, this is a story of personal responsibility, complicated romance, and trying to discover who you are even as everyone tells you who you should be.

I've been looking all over for this. Seriously. It was worth the wait, though.

To be honest, I was apprehensive when I actually started reading it. I read how the narrator finds out her dad is a politician who's running for president. As a Republican. Isn't that enough to strike fear into your heart? (I kid, I have no hate for any politic affiliation.) My apprehension was coming from the story line of her basically "converting" to something different despite her initial resistance. Or that it would completely demonize that whole party. That's just dumb. No matter how much one may disagree with their standings. 

Thankfully, this was not either at all. 

It was just a story about a girl who finds herself emerged into a new world of politics and what that means. Party affiliation was just details. It also forced her to face what she truly believed in. It was also weird/interesting to read around this time because my background noise for a majority of this book was the candidates for the 2016 election. It's freakishly similar. Also unnecessary 400+ days away from the actual election but whatever. 'Merica.

There was also an element of drama and suspense throughout the novel. Either internally within the narrator or externally with her beliefs vs. those of her father's. It was a different take about politics because it was all behind the scenes. We got to see the moments that lead up to the rallies and interviews. How much was staged and how much was actually real. How true these situations are, I don't know. The narrator handled these situations like a badass. She was a great protagonist to be put in this setting. She kept things under control and only really let go when it was too much. I could really relate to her reactions despite never being in any situation close to what she was going through. 

Now, the romance was okay. It was basically used as a metaphor for the narrator "following her heart". I get that and can appreciate it, but I wish it had developed more. Also more swoons. Or at least moments of connection instead of a montage of phone calls. The end made up for it a little. It was really cute. 

If you don't mind politics and moments that make you want to possibly poison some fictional characters, then give this book a read! It's really good. 

Read: August 2015

My Rating: 5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.
Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.
Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life. 
When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . . .

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids has been on my radar for awhile now for multiple reasons. Namely because of; diversity, interracial couple and the Pacific Northwest. 

Oh, and mermaids. Sort of. 

If you're looking for a story about actual mermaids, this isn't that. I think it was sort of like a modern re-telling of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Either that or just an homage to it. The narrator can't speak, can't sing and her voice was stolen by the sea. She also meets a handsome sailor. So in those details, yes, it's similar to the Disney movie we all know and love.

But that's about where the similarities end. First off, we have a WOC (woman of color) as the narrator. Yay! The book is constantly bringing up parts of her culture without making it stereotypical, like it's "cool" or trying really hard to say that she's different. There was no "I'm [insert culture] so I do [insert thing] because I'm [insert culture]". None of that. It was just the character being herself and it was wonderful. 

The author did a great job with her culture as well as her disability. It was interesting to read from her perspective because while I'm used to constantly hearing the narrator's thoughts, I wasn't used to them not being able to share them easily. It was also interesting to see how others react to her disability. There was a wide range of them and it represented the characters well. It was also a great character development for her to lose her voice only to find it again. You'll see when you read it.

Being a PNW native myself, I was curious to see how the author would represent this rainy wasteland I call home. She did a great job. While the setting was mainly just a backdrop for the story, she captured the essence of it remarkably well. It was nice to see the narrator view it as cold and rainy until she came to realize the ancient power and wisdom it has. If you've been to the PNW, especially the Oregon coast, you'd understand.

Also, I loved the incorporation of the mermaid myth. Atargatis being the first mermaid and the town she lives in being named after her. Unfortunately, the town doesn't actually exist. (Another fictional let down. Why couldn't have Forks not existed instead?) Anyways, mermaids. It was so cool. I don't know what else to say besides read it. Seriously. It's worth it. Also it has a pretty cover. 

Read: August 2015
My Rating: 5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny? 
Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.

I always get excited when a book with diversity gets good reviews from other people. It's always great to have more books with diversity. 

I think this is a very important story for all types of people need to hear today. The story features a young girl of Pakistani heritage that ends up in an arranged marriage by her family during a "vacation". Of course, in some cases, these marriages go over smoothly and they end up very happy with each other. Other girls aren't so lucky and end up in dangerous situations. This was one of the unlucky ones.

It was difficult to read at times, because the narrator had no idea what was really going on, but as a reader you quickly realize how dire her situation becomes. While she had to face some incredibly heart-breaking things at such a young age, she handled it with as much strength as anyone could. The scariest part of this whole thing was when she began to expect her fate. She stopped fighting because she realized how useless and fetal it was. That was scary and as a reader you want to keep cheering her on. 

With such a real topic in today's society, the author handled everything very well. It was never forced down our throats that we were supposed to feel sad, that we should hate her culture or religion and it was written incredibly well. She described everything so eloquently and with vivid detail in few words so that not one page was unimportant. This book is pretty short, only around 200 pages. Which, if I'm being honest, was good because I didn't know how much more I could've taken. 

While it was a hard book to read, it's still a good one to do so. It's good to have these books with all types of diversity and allows one to understand this culture better. If you've read any of Khaled Hosseini's books, this will be very similar. #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Read: July 2015
My Rating: 4 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.
Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal. 
Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

Fair warning to all who are thinking about this: the story is about a girl who has schizophrenia. While it is not a story about the mental illness, it is still an important part of the story. 

If you are one who is well-versed in the genre that is Young Adult, then you are probably aware of the fact that there are a lot of book dedicated to all types of mental illness. Some are good and handle the illness as it should; with understanding and respect of it without making it to be any more or less than what it is. Others have been known to romanticize these illnesses and use them as an easy way to get popularity by tackling "hard issues". 

I praise all the higher beings out there that this one was not like the latter group at all. 

By the time the 10th page rolled around, I was in love with this book. I was laughing out loud because of how witty and genuinely funny the jokes were. The jokes were about how the protagonist, who is schizophrenic, sees things that aren't always there. It wasn't the demeaning bullying kind of joke where it made fun of it, it was just accepting of that fact and making observations in her situation. She does this throughout the book. 

Since she is the narrator of the story, she's obviously unreliable. She has auditory and visual hallucinations. I knew really soon into the novel that not everything I was seeing through her eyes were real. Which was exciting and also really interesting to know it but get so absorbed that you quickly forget. There are some obvious ones to the reader and maybe some not so obvious. 

It was just really great as a reader, to read from the perspective of a mental ill person without constantly thinking that they have this illness. After a while I just got used to her seeing red squirrels and men in suits on the school's roof. It was a part of her character as much as being good at math or living in San Diego is for other characters.

Then there was the romance. Yes, there is a romance in this book. Thankfully, her love interest does not find her "quirky" or whatever because of her illness. He just loves her for who she is and wants to be with her. He was more than able to handle the stuff in both their lives. He's a good boy.

There's also a mystery aspect. Which sounds weird since we have an unreliable narrator, but we have one anyways. It makes the story even more gripping for me. It was like playing Nancy Drew, only that some of the clues might not be real. I guessed the big plot twist like three pages before she did, so I'm really glad by that. I hate guessing correctly early on. Still confused about the scoreboard. Like, wtf. You'll understand when you read it. 

I can't wait to own this bad boy. The cover is wonderful and the story is even more so. SOON.

Read: July 2015
My Rating: 5 stars / 5 stars

Book Review: Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.
After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all. 
Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

I read this because I loved the premise. A girls falls in love with her late boyfriend's heart  recipient. A little corny and sounds more like a Hallmark movie than a young adult novel. Okay, it was basically what you would expect, but still really good. It's just so cool to think about how love can transcend death and pieces of you can actually be connected to others after you're gone. 

This book was good, quick and nicely written. I wish the main characters had better personalities though. That sounds a little mean, but they were so... plain. Like their personalities weren't ever really brought out for me. I know they both had issues that held them back from being 100% comfortable, but we should get glimpses of what they are truly like. I think some quick-wit humor could've put this book into a whole other level. This could be mainly just a personal preference and I am the type of person who allows a heavy situation to remain that way for a while, but then I need a reprieve. Usually in the form of humor. Just think of all the puns they could've made. Yes, I know I'm a terrible human.

It just felt too heavy throughout the entire book. I know it's a sad topic, but that's not what it was about. It was about finding love after a loss, and all the problems that go along with it. It only felt light or not as heavy at the end. Having a few lighthearted moments (ehhhh see what I did there?) would've been nice. I don't think it should have been. I wanted a roller coaster of emotions. Maybe it's just me. 

Despite all this, I did enjoy it and would recommend to anyone who doesn't mind the topic for a good quick read. The cover is also pretty as well. 

Read: July 2015

My Rating: 3.5 stars / 5 stars