Review: Brilliant Cut (Diamond in the Rough #3) by Elisa Marie Hopkins

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Brilliant Cut by Elisa Marie Hopkins

*Digital copy was received from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Genre: Romance - Suspense

Pub. Date: November 15, 2016

Get a copy here!

AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY

It’s always such a bittersweet moment when you got the last book of a series in your hands. Like you’re dying to devour the book and find out how it’d turn out but you don’t want to touch it, moreover read it, because if you do and you reach the end, then the whole journey would be over. I found it really hard to pick up my Kindle and touch that cover of Brilliant Cut ARC on my shelf. It’s that kind of undeniable moment when you know deeply inside your heart that once you click on it, there’s no coming back to the feeling you had before you read it. You know that you can’t not read it but you resist because you want to prolong the journey with your favorite characters, even if it meant being stuck in the moment. I needed a couple of minute to breathe and made myself swear that I wouldn’t just devour it all recklessly ―that I would savor every pages.

Diamond in the Rough series started with an engaging first book, continued with a complicatedly heartbreaking sequel, and ended up with a brilliant conclusion of the whole series. As a debut author, Elisa really went all out with her debut series, and I’m not just saying it to sweeten my review and all. Elisa did her research, explored with the ideas, and gave her all to these books like, well, a mother to her babies. This series is what I would call the perfect definition of suspense romance. I've said this on my review of the second book, Black Diamond, and at some points I might have said it on my review of the first book. The suspense part and the romance part are pretty well-balanced in a way that won’t make you think certain part is standing out than the other.

This last installment of Diamond in the Rough series started out a little bit different than the first two books. The first page instantly brought me back to the memories of reading Robert Langdon’s adventure. The prolog had a vibe of Dan Brown in it and it made some thriller-maniac neurons inside of me come back to life. I loved it so much that Elisa put such great twist into the story, developing a whole new level of issues as she revealed practically every single mystery we’ve been dying to find the truth ever since she dropped them each for the first time.

Told from third person perspective, Brilliant Cut fast-forwarded to a few years after Black Diamond ended. Or if we’re going to talk from Sophie’s angle: after Oliver. Yes, our favorite couple went separate ways last time we saw them. And while it broke my heart to pieces, there were so many reasons why the ‘calamity’ had to take place on the first place. But it’s for good that I don’t talk about it all here.

Sophie Cavall, an ex-model, now-writer, tried to live a normal life after all the chaos happened in her life two years ago. Apparently, two years was enough for everything to change completely. Like how Sophie now had two parts of herself crawling and screaming around the apartment creating after-disaster-effect every day. And how, instead of having Oliver to keep her from being crazy, Sophie had a pediatrician who sometimes balanced out her craziness with his. It’s totally unthinkable before that there would be a day when Oliver would be just a name in her history book, but it was what had happened. But in all honesty, Sophie could very much moved to Alaska and dated a seal but Oliver would always be her personal sun that keeps her heart warm all these years and her skins tingling just by hearing his name. Some say true love is hard to forget. Some say it would be forever unforgettable. Some say it would be etched in eternity in your mind. Sophie proved them all right when she very much didn’t want them to be. What had happened between her and Oliver was too perfect, too beautiful, that it felt too painful when it’s over. But was it really over? Sophie was in the edge of a cliff of madness, by recalling and pushing the memories of Oliver every day of her life. If not because of her twin boys who needed her concern above everything, she would pretty much end up in an asylum the second Oliver walked out of their flat. And Sophie wanted to believe that she loved Adam. But could one give her heart out to someone when this other person still got a hold on that very heart? Wouldn’t it be ripped out in the process? No. Because the hold was so strong even Sophie felt herself barely living with that empty hole where her heart used to beat.

“Trying to forget you was like trying to forget my way home. I realized you can’t build homes out of people, because then you feel homesick for a place that no longer exists.” ─Chapter XI

Among the three books, Brilliant Cut had the quickest yet the most emotional plot of all. Elisa didn't play around by bringing up a lot of issues like politics, secret order, and some mind-games to bring our couple back together. It might sound too heavy for some but trust me Elisa is a pro in putting complex words together into a bedtime story without leaving the thrilling part. I seriously wanted to blurt out the whole book scene by scene but then I would be thrown away into the sea for being a spoiler brat. This book is that good that you’d feel like holding a presscon to tell the world how the story goes. I loved that nothing’s changed with either Sophie or Oliver. Sophie with her independency and Oliver with his controlled-possessiveness and sexy brain (I never even think about this phrase before meeting Oliver). I felt a lot of things at once reading this book. There was a lot of emotion in two days I finished it. Sophie’s kids got my full attention instantly. Their ‘normality’ was so Oliver, I felt like crying my eyes out that not many people could actually accept them.

There were so many ups and downs along the way, a lot of mind-blowing revelation that keeps making me question whether this was really Elisa’s first ever series. She wrote cleverly. She explored so many topics, putting a lot of exciting trivia, and the way she wrote Oliver’s character deserved rounds of standing applause. We all know how genius Oliver is. But let’s come to a realization that behind every unique and singular character, there is only one person in charge in creating them: the author, Elisa. I am starting to wonder if Elisa might be an agent or something in real life..

To put it shortly, Brilliant Cut made a fantastic conclusion to the story, thus, making the series a total excellent accomplishment. This series deserves more attention than it’s been getting until today. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND this series to everyone who happened to come across this review of mine. Elisa is a new gem in this writing world that is totally deserving of more recognition. And like a diamond, you might get a little too attached once you get to know her pieces.

Read More

Review: Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally

*Digital ARC was received from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary

Pub. Date: July 5, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY

Taylor was an overachiever whose grades were as bright as her coming future. Targeting Yale as her next step, Taylor meant to add up on the supremacy her whole family has worked on for a long time. Her dad was a successful senator while both her siblings enrolled in aforementioned Ivy League school trying to catch up their father's brilliant path. Following her family's grace was all she knows her whole life. Taylor might have worked so hard to be the next valedictorian as well as the best soccer captain in her current private school, but keeping a good image of being a senator's academically-bright daughter is what challenged Taylor to be better ―not that she needed to get any better, anyway.

Taylor was just one step away from reaching all those dreams... if only she's also 'bright' enough to keep herself from playing hero on backstabbing ex-boyfriend.

Covering her less than charming ex-boyfriend for drugs possession resulted in Taylor getting kicked out of school and mentally out of her family. Not only that she tainted her clean sheet for Yale's early submission, she also put her dad’s campaign for coming election into such fatal risk. What Taylor had been working on practically all her life was blown away by a single mistake (or more like ‘unnecessary heroic act’).

It’s kind of ironic and sad, what happened to Taylor and how her family reacted to the case. It’s even sadder because things like that did happen in real life all the time. Miranda accurately portrayed Taylor’s life as a teenager with all the problems within. Her interaction with her friends, her romantic life, her life as both senator’s daughter and that one haven’t-yet-to-be-succeed kid in family which pressure was pretty high either way, and how her life was slowly crumbling down along with her belief on what was supposed to be her master plan all along. The author brought us to the front row to see how it all changed and affected Taylor with her detailed scenes. I’m sure there would be many teens out there who could pretty much relate to Taylor’s life because being a kid, moreover the last kid in the family, you would be expected to do much better than your siblings or at least do as well as them. I personally could relate with her from this angle. Sometimes it could be easy for parents to compare you with your sister or brother and though they mean well with that, it could be a sensitive issue because no one in this world wants to be compared with other people, not even their siblings. Everyone just wants to be seen as themselves, be it good or bad.

I could feel what Taylor had to go through and it sucked that her parents are such hopeless excuse. The only comfort she could get was only from her brother which is sad considering Taylor also got a sister but the said sister was really awful to her. The chemistry in Taylor’s family was almost non-existent and I was hoping that in the end it would be fixed but the author decided to let Tay made peace with her family in her own way. Like it’s not necessarily be a sweet ending where everyone asked for forgiveness from each other, but it’s simply that since Taylor had found her way in life, she could face her family with stronger backbone.

The appearance of Ezra character in the story seemed to be out of nowhere and I kind of missed the background story at first. But along with his continuous appearance, we learned what had happened in the past between him and Taylor. I grew a deep feeling of sympathy for him that soon turned into affection. I felt really bad for him and at the same time felt amazed by how compared to Taylor, Ezra was much braver to go against his family’s conservative wish. Ezra’s relationship with Taylor was pretty sweet and I like its dynamic between them.

I might not have any serious issues with this book but truthfully speaking, Defending Taylor is what I would call as a good yet barely memorable read. It’s not that it’s badly written or what. There were several scenes that fell flat that I wouldn’t mind if it was removed from the book anyway. Like those when Taylor asked for advice from the friend who less and more was in the same circumstance as her. It might be a good and a little touching even, but it was like it’s written half-heartedly that I couldn’t find the emotional connection that likely supposed to be there. Though, honestly the advice was really good!

”Your advice is to just come clean? Let my family know I’m a big ole mess and have no direction?”

… “Yeah, and the sooner the better. Then you can start figuring out what you want to do instead of worrying about what your parents will say and pretending everything is fine. Just come clean.”

Defending Taylor contained a good amount of life lessons, especially for young reader who’s in the middle of figuring things out in their life after high school. Miranda made a clear picture of teen’s life with all the problems that come along within it. Yet me being too old to be a ‘teen’ found this book simply as good read but not the one that would leave marks. But don’t let me discouraged you to pick this book up, though!

Read More

Review: Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach

*Digital ARC was received from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: May 1, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY

I had such a long complicated journey with this book during the past two weeks.

The blurb promises a story of how a barely-17 years old boy working on to be a bright student, promising drama actor, and… perfect dad, all at once. It does sound totally unlikely. Except this is Taco Keller we’re talking about. Taco―as he earned the nickname ever since forever―might be the most positive human living ever existed in the entire galaxy. And it is supposed to be a very good thing if Taco isn’t also kind of dumb at times because when those two things collided, it creates something called delusional. I don’t know how to best describe what I felt about Taco because I swear during the first half of the book I wanted so much to kick his character out of the book (when clearly he’s the main character…). I just couldn’t connect with his way of thinking. It’s not helping that the author made Taco the only narrator in the story and decided it’s okay for him to sound very immature and irrational most of the time…

Taco had this belief that partly responsible of his overly-positive attitude. His mom once said before she died, “Today is the best day of your life. So is tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next. No matter what happens, every day you have is the best day of your life.” Unlike his brother or even his father, Taco believed in this saying very much. Even when his home life was a mess, with a father (running) away to work in the Mine leaving him with only his brother whose drinking problem was as hopeless as his job to support their little family of two, Taco still believed in the good in everything. Then he fell in love with this girl named Maggie and I had to bear a few pages of Taco telling me that they kept―and I quote― ‘celebrating love’ until we reached the obvious outcome of all that: unexpected teen pregnancy. With a baby on its way, Taco officially added quite a few messed-up things on the list of his family messed-up life because instead of running away from the responsibility, he embraced his upcoming title of becoming a dad. I felt like reading a big joke of a character with a weird nickname and even weirder mind when Taco with all the train-wreck around him still believed in trying his best of doing impossible things with positive attitude because what? Every day is the best day of your life, no matter how ugly things already were. Kill me.

I blamed the absence of responsible adult was the main cause of Taco character became somehow ‘uncontrollable’. Because as much as I disliked him, Taco was the most genuine character I ever knew. I suspected that Taco had been raised by his mother’s overflowed love. Seeing how her first son grew into an angry boy, she tried to shower Taco with so much love so he could grow into a loving boy. He did though, but before Taco got a chance to step into a real world with real problems his mother had died first. Taco had his lesson on how to act positive anytime but no one left to teach him how to act rational at times.

The things were just getting messier each page and I almost gave up finishing the book. But then again, I’m all against DNFing books. Nothing personal, but I think it seems unfair to stop reading certain books because of some (or most) part pissed you off causing you to judge the whole story negatively without bothering to finish it to prove it yourself.

‘In retrospect, I believe I was overthinking. This overthinking caused larger crisis.’ ―chapter XI

I literally cheered inside when I read the line above. I was like, ‘God, finally this boy has a connection working on his brain cell’. But it’s not until a character named Nussbaum came out that thing starts looking up.
I started to enjoy Geoff’s humor through Taco. Maybe it’s partly because I finally got it why Taco adopted such unbearably uncommon character like that.

‘Never let anyone tell you your butt is not important. Your butt is very, very important to general motility’ ―chapter XVII

I laughed a lot at that silly yet serious statement of Taco!

I also kind of loved it when Taco worked real hard on his impossible dreams. I even ached witnessing how selfless he was.

“So you want to get a job and work here and go to school and be a musical munchkin and be a dad?”
“Yes,” I said. ―chapter XXII

Yes, Taco was dumb, so dumb even but all he knows is how to do the right thing. Even if it was irrational thing to do. Even if it hurt him.

‘How can your muscles feel sad? They can. That’s why I laid so still after Mom died. Because even though I couldn’t cry, my muscles were so sad, they didn’t want to move. Liquid sadness had pooled in them.’ ―chapter XXVII

I started to feel real bad for Taco. I was so mad at his sorry father and his drunken brother and literally everyone who only knows how to tell him to stop his gut rather than explaining why he should stop in the first place.

“I know I can be a dumb kid. But I’m growing up,” I said. ―chapter XXXII

I liked how Geoff wrapped the story up. I liked that in the end it was Taco himself who came to the final decision on how to fix all his messes. I really didn’t expect for this book to make me cry, yet it did. I was teary-eyed and my heart felt like it was broken into pieces reading the letters Taco wrote to Maggie and their kid. His sincere was crystal clear there; you just want to cry no matter how much you said you hate Taco before.

Anything You Want and me clearly had a rough start but we eventually became buddies in the end. I practically had to put my Kindle down several times during the first half of the book because I barely tolerated Taco’s behavior. I’m glad I didn’t give up halfway or else, I might not be able to write down this review.

Just so you know, this barely is a romance piece. More like a story of how a clueless young boy tries to figure out his life –which is a total bundle of mess- when there’s no one to turn to yet there’s people who depends on you. Hopefully there’s more people who’s on board with me to finish this book till the end because trust me, when you’re patient enough you’ll find out what a gem this book actually is.

‘In the end, maybe that is what a best day looks like? Making hard decisions so that the people you love are okay?’ ―chapter XXXI

 

Read More

Review: Did I Mention I Need You (DIMILY #2) by Estelle Maskame

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Did I Mention I Need You? by Estelle Maskame



*Digital ARC was received from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: April 1, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY

Also Read: 'Did I Mention I Love You?' Review

When book one didn’t quite satisfy me, book two somehow managed to steal a bit of my attention. I had so many issues with DIMILY and I was highly hoping on DIMINY to fix it for me. Well, it did but unfortunately not much.
It’s kind of a relief that the current situation didn’t include much of the group of reckless teenagers back in California. I also liked that DIMINY focused more on Tyler and Eden even if I personally thought that the beginning of the book was a bit rushed. Book two started with Eden choosing to spend her summer in New York based on Tyler’s invitation. Pardon me but I already smelled ‘wrong’ and ‘cheat’ here. Just like how Eden’s choice irritated me during the ending of book one, I still couldn’t accept her action in book two. It just got worse when Eden went to New York to see Tyler again after one long year, I just couldn’t see what she was actually up to with all of her doings. Dating Dean, yet not even once she forgot memories with Tyler. Dating Dean, yet she chose to stay with Tyler on summer which clearly was a straight way to make a fatal mistake. I felt like I was seeing a girl with a serious problem of playing with others’ hearts. While I admit that moments with Tyler was sometimes sweet, I couldn’t overlook that what they’ve been doing in New York was far from acceptable. It’s not helping that the author seemed to really enjoy writing about Tyler and Eden’s forbidden moments than dwelling with factors that might make readers to really understand where they come from. In book 1 Estelle succeeded in making me ‘get’ their situation. There were layers of shared pain and insecurities between them before. But it all seemed to be forgotten in this continuation of the story. Seeing Eden and Tyler now and before was like seeing two different couples. Before, I saw them as two people who helplessly fall for wrong people; and it was actually quite sad for me. Now, I saw them as two people who shared no more than meaningless fling in the past, who then was met again and couldn’t ignore the sexual tension surrounding them.
It might sound ironic but I started to enjoy it a bit when people from their past coming to a not-so-ideal reunion in New York. How it became the start of a big revelation. And how everyone reacted to it. I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen.
The ending was another cliffhanger which I warmly welcomed because I sensed a more mature story to come next. Again, I was hoping for more ideal parental role in this series. Because after all the case of falling-for-your-stepbrother couldn’t just be a teens’ problem which could be solved by the teens themselves. It’s a crucial problem which indeed needs the role of much older and experienced people to meet the best way to solve it.

I’m really counting on to the last book of the series to present a real story of this forbidden love.

Read More

Review: Any Other Girl by Rebecca Phillips

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Any Other Girl by Rebecca Phillips



*Digital ARC was received from Kensington Publishing through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: January 26, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY


I read this sometime back in January and honestly it took me almost two weeks to finish it because partly I was so busy that I kept putting it off. And partly, maybe it’s because I didn’t really find any part of the book that made me want to sit down for hours, ignoring the world and keep reading non-stop till the last page.

Any Other Girl told a story of a girl who’s raised in a family a little different than others. It’s not that Kat doesn’t have such happy family because she did; it’s just that instead of having mom and dad, Kat was gifted with two dads and that’s okay for her. More than okay actually because her dads were both amazing, caring, and clearly dream parents. What’s not okay was how some people tended to judge her as a maladjusted girl just because Kat loved to play soccer and happened to be raised by men. This was a quite fresh theme for me and I was eager to find out how the issue would be resolved. Unfortunately this part that I thought was the main issue of the book was apparently not the main issue. People’s judgment of gay parents was apparently just a layer of background story of Kat’s personality while the rest of the story would mostly focused on Kat’s personal problem with her best friends and the boys.

I tried to understand where Kat’s coming from, why she’s so flirty and doesn’t even think the side-effect of her acts, and maybe at some point I think I did get it. I even felt sorry for her especially during that apology-scene with her bestfriend. But it’s her ignorant that I couldn’t quite tolerate. Kat did realize that she’s flirty, or at least that’s what I got from her narration, yet just because she didn’t have any hidden meaning besides casual flirts, she thought it was okay to do so to any boys―bestfriend’s boyfriend no exception. It’s a little selfish for her I think to ask people to understand her actions all the time. Also, when there’s an explanation telling the reason Kat loved to flirt and being the center of attention among the crowd was because she wanted to show that she was also like any other girl who’s raised in general family. I sensed a little of unfairness judgment here for teen girls. Does every girl love to flirt that much that you should be all flirty and attention-seeker to be considered as a ‘normal’ girl? I really don’t think so. But it might just be my opinion or I might misinterpret what the author actually meant so feel free to correct me.

I actually did enjoy some parts of the story. Like how I loved the side of Kat who could ask for an apology so sincerely, like how she apologized not because she wished for the forgiveness, it’s because she wanted the peace of letting the other knows that they could label her anything when she’s really not and that’s okay because she somehow was the one who plays the wrong move at first. I loved her friendship with her best friend slash cousin. I loved how sweet the romance scene could be. Also I loved how Rebecca summed up the story in the end that life goes changing every minute and that’s fine because after all what’s not? That you might got into a fight with your best friend and it changes your friendship that it’s impossible to go back to the ‘before’ state but at least you go forward to the ‘after’ state with new perspectives, new level of maturity, and new ways to solve any upcoming bumps together. It’s just too unfortunate that the story was actually very simple, with an even simpler ending and issues-solving, yet it’s all those dramas that stretched the story out to be that long.

The plot of the story might not what I would remember for a long time but the moral lessons I got from this book would definitely be something that I would keep in mind. There’s these words Rebecca wrote about family that was so beautifully true that I really loved.

‘Like any other family, we fought and scratched and drew blood and then kept on loving each other in spite of it all. The bonds we shared were strong yet elastic, like ligaments connecting bone―easy to injure and difficult to heal, but ultimately resilient.’

This is one of those books that you might enjoy to read in a lazy Sunday afternoon when you don’t feel like heavy-thinking or getting your emotion so worked up. It’s not really a bad book because Rebecca’s writing is good and even a bit poetic. But considering the whole factors, I’ll sum it up to an okay.

Read More

Review: The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski



*Digital ARC was received from Entangled: Crush through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: January 11, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

First Impression

Truthfully I was thrilled with the main idea of the story. A girl came up with a grand scheme to make the boy next door (which also her best-friend) see her in different light through the power of social media account. The blurb clearly screamed funny and light-hearted journey of love between longtime best-friends and I happened to crave some light and cutesy romance as my first read of the year. Well, it was funny… at some parts, but the whole story? Unfortunately, not so much. 

Synopsis

Emma and Eli had been best friends ever since she came to the neighborhood ten years ago. What started as simple gesture of help had grown into a tight friendship of two. Emma and Eli were practically inseparable and everyone knew that. What everyone didn’t know, though, behind all those casual hang-outs in pizza parlor and those innocent movie-times spent on Sunday night, there’s some unspoken feeling whirling around them. Emma had felt it for Eli since that first encounter on the curb and the feeling only grew stronger over time. But how exactly could a girl admit of having a special feeling for her very own best friend? For all she knew it was most certainly one-sided thing. Admitting it to Eli would just ruin everything between them, and she was sure as hell wouldn’t want that. Until Emma had it enough. 

Ten years of hiding her feeling behind the curtain, she was now ready to let it out for Eli to see. Well, a part of it, to be exact. And that, too, would be done virtually instead of through reality. With the help from a fake facebook account and some little genuine touch of Emma within all the words being sent, Eli would get a repeat of getting to know ‘Emma’ again from the start, complete with all her true feeling in clear display. Hopefully in this the ‘new’ package, Eli would finally feel something for ‘Emma’. Something he probably hadn’t felt for the real her in the past ten years. 

Yet this time, Emma might be the one who need to reveal the truth behind the other’s curtain.

Hazy Roller Coaster Ride

I’m not saying that this book is horrible or such. In fact, The Girlfriend Request has quite an idea of a teen love story with that entire shenanigan the girl is up to. That part itself succeeded in luring me into reading this book. Basically I liked the idea of scheme in this book. I once read a YA with quite similar plot and enjoyed it a lot. So it was a little disappointing that despite all my giddiness in the beginning, I found this book all wrong in the end. I mean, it felt like it didn’t quite hit the right button. Like when you ride a roller coaster, all excited when the cars slowly riding up to reach the peak hidden behind the mist; then when you slice through it, turned out the peak merely three meters high. The only thing that redeems your disappointment is at least the scenery around is beautiful enough to enjoy. 

It started with a scene where Emma was about to start her seemingly brilliant plotting to get the boy next door fall for her. I’m not gonna lie but first chapter just had me all giddier to turn the next pages quickly. Then I reached chapter four and it practically went downhill from there. 

Characters: Half Relatable – Half Unbearable

Emma is actually pretty relatable at first. Her feeling of crushing someone, a best friend, the confusion, the shyness, the insecurity, the ache of falling deeply for someone we thought we don’t have a chance with; I think most people would easily relate with her in this. But then when something in the plotting altered and she had to come up with a second plan to keep it going, I objected how her feeling could shift easily back and forth like that. She became somehow indecisive and it all, for me, was for no solid reason.

Eli, in the other side, is the best friend any girl would dream of having. Caring, charming, protective, and understanding. What I found lacking about him is the way his emotions were described here. His was a bit too explosive for a boy. Also the shifting of his feeling (this is the part that I mentioned above about things started go downhill from chapter four onward) for Emma was out of nowhere and lacked of background story. Don’t get me wrong, but I was beyond happy that Eli feels the same way to Emma (it’s not a spoiler anyway, it’s on the blurb). I adored them so much when they’re together, whatever the type of their relationship was at the time. Their moments were just so cute and made me smile despite all the unnecessary drama flying around the book. But I would like to see how things actually going on between them before each character even had monologues about liking each other as more than a friend. Not just simply a change that happen within one chapter, few pages apart. 

The Writing: Plus-Minus

There was this scene when Emma hit the point of frustration about her own feeling for Eli that the tears just fell randomly when her mom asked her about it; she kind of threw the hair brush she’d been using when the curl in her hair couldn’t be tamed. I loved that the scene was so real I couldn’t help feeling a little ache for her out of sympathy. My only issue about the writing lies in the way the author often slipped too much unnecessary scenes that didn’t really hold any significant importance to the main point. Too many descriptions that could’ve been cut out. And I haven’t even mentioned the dramaS (yes, capital S in the back). Too many dramas and none of them were essential enough to build the plot. The whole plot of the story is actually pretty simple: Emma and Eli, best-friends who fall for each other secretly; Emma wanted more so she made a plan to get Eli falls for her (though, he already had); Eli seemed to fall for ‘fake’ Emma, when in actuality he fell for ‘real’ Emma too; Emma got sad Eli liked the ‘fake’ her, she came up with another idea to push Eli’s true feeling out―she fake-dated another guy; Eli got jealous; Eli forgave Emma; Eli and Emma got together after admitting each other’s feelings. It might only be 216 pages but it felt like 12382703430498 pages long for me, thanks to all the miscommunication dramas being slipped here and there that made it sooooo long and boring for some parts. 

Final Thought(s)

I’m really really really sad that I ended up disliking this book, especially when I was so damn excited to read it in the first place. As I said before, The Girlfriend Request isn’t a horrible read that you couldn’t even finish. There were some parts that actually pretty funny and sweet. And many more parts that had potential to be explored more. The idea of creating a fake facebook account, for one, could be something that would emanate a climax that oh-so-shocking when it was revealed. Eli’s discovery of Emma’s plotting could be something that oh-so-funny. The problem of this book is, despite its so many potential here and there, the story delivery just didn’t present it right. Simply put, it’s like an actually funny joke but it comes out not that funny because of the weak punch lines.

Read More

Book Review: Five Seven Five (The Boy with Words #1) by C.E. Wilson

Five Seven Five (The Boy with Words #1) by C.E. Wilson
Rating: /5

*I received digital copy of this book from the author in exchange of an honest review*

Genre: YA (Fantasy)
Pub. Date: November 18th, 2015

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY
(click title to add on GR!)

Synopsis

Five Seven Five brought us to meet White Frost, a barely nineteen years old girl who lives in a world where colors is limited. She knew white, as in white hair of hers and her cousin’s, Shade. She knew pink, as in pink curtain that divides inside her room to the quarter hallway outside. She knew blue, as in blue curtain on male quarters. But most of all it’s almost always gray and black that she’d seen all her life. Gray-black wall, gray-black ceiling, gray-black road, all practically created a dull gray black world. It’s not helping that the President seemed intent in spreading fearful speeches about the world outside theirs, making everyone to lead a dire life among the boring colors around them. White was no exception.

Only the Chosen Ones got chances to see The Unknown. They would go once a month to collect supplies for the people and had been told to swear an oath not to reveal what they’d seen in The Unknown to the un-chosen. Lucky for White, Shade was one of them that she would often get ‘illegal’ papers of words―which both satisfied and mostly only deepened her hunger of knowledge―from the Unknown; unlucky for White that she had to bear the risk of losing the only family she had every time Shade’s off to one of their trips to the world beyond red Zone Eleven.

But White was tired of theoretical knowledge. Sure the words were amazing, mysteriously so. And Shade had risked so much to collect them all under tight scrutiny of President’s minions. Yet White realized that there should be more to all these, more to the words, more to what scriptures said about the Creators that everyone was oh-so-afraid so much, more to a bunch of ‘terror’ speeches President Copper delivered every single time. She knew Shade knew about the words and the Unknown―being a Chosen One forbid him to tell her anything. So what a girl like White should do in this complicated circumstance? Trying to escape? Go against all the rules she’d listened to all her life?

White’s age might make her not eligible yet to be the Chosen One, but her passion obviously surpassed the other factors. And that’s exactly what the girl would do: chase after her passion even if it would kill her in the end.

A New(-to-me) Fantasy Plot

Well, I originally wanted to just insert Goodreads synopsis here but I would want to give a further insight about the book to others. To be honest, though, the blurb didn’t quite intrigue me at first but strangely the cover did. I am just so tired of pictures of swords or girls in heroic costumes on the cover of fantasy books that this simple cover of Five Seven Five gave me a hope of finding a ‘different’ kind of fantasy plot. It did.

I could not really grasp the story from the beginning since my thought was still trapped among stories of dystopian world. Even the first two chapters reminded me of Red Rising that I had to brave myself to meet yet another full-action dystopian (really, it’s just me who’s not into fantasy books so much, though). But keep reading I did. Then the first twist came which made me feels like I had met the intriguing point. When the scene eventually took place in the Unknown, that’s exactly when I was hooked. I was surprised that this book brought a new-to-me concept of fantasy plot here. I’ve never read this kind before and it surprised me that I actually enjoyed it a lot.

Intriguing Writing

Overall, the writing style is both good and intriguing. I loved the simple poems inserted here and there within the pages. But most importantly I loved how the author seemed to give very little clues from the start that I really could not predict what coming before the (first) mystery was unraveled. I loved how she chose her choice of words carefully, misleading the readers to guess an entirely different plot throughout the way only to be proved wrong in the end.

The Characters

The way she described other characters through their movements or words delineates them very well when the book itself was told in first perspective heroine, White. I could feel the emotions expected in every scene. White herself is not an easily-loved heroine. I, myself, thought sometimes her trait was more annoying than curious. Or maybe it was just a problem with how the dialogues went on between her and other characters, because every time she was arguing with Shade or her friends, Pebble, Pepper or Salt (I know, weird names indeed) she would be so demanding and the convos would always end in frustration. It frustrated me too. But there were also parts when I felt bad for her as well. Shade, in the other hand, was pretty likeable. In fact, he’s my most favorite characters in the book. His protectiveness towards White was really sweet. In a very short introduction of him, I could already feel so much about his character.

There would also be a character named Kestrel who’d bring with him all the important twists in this book. I still could not decide where my personal opinion about him stands, except that he’s kind. But there’s a tiny part of me that wishing so much of him and White to get along tight... *hiding* when there’s another boy that I particularly wanted White to be with as well. *cue (impossible) love-triangle*  

Slightly Comical Dystopian
Despite a little sense of dystopia in the beginning; Five Seven Five actually has a quite light tone. I even laughed so much at some point, such as when White started to ‘think’ about her feeling for Kestrel and when clueless White decided to make a ladybug her pet (goodness…) or asked for Kes to pluck a cloud for her (oh God…).

Mild-Cliffhanger Ending

As the first book of two installment of The Boy with Words series, you could expect a mild cliffhanger in the end. I, myself, was super curious about the continuation of the story! There were still so much unanswered questions and unresolved issues. In fact, this book one is only the beginning that I could bet that the ‘actual’ twists would take place on the next book. But of course you should read this book first to get a full back story.

Final Thought(s)

With an intriguing plot, Five Seven Five delivers a story of deception, undiscovered world, and a girl whose hunger for knowledge both baring all hidden truth and trapping her in between a glimpse of untold conspiracy. Readers who enjoy fantasy books would definitely find this one fit to their tastes. Well, even me who not really into fantasy, enjoyed this a lot!

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

Read More

Book Review: The Best Goodbye (Rosemary Beach #13) by Abbi Glines

The Best Goodbye by Abbi Glines
Rating: /5

Genre: NA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: December 3rd, 2015

Get a copy here!

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Read also: Review of When You're Back (Rosemary Beach #12)!

Following Mase and Reese’ story on the previous two books on Rosemary Beach series, come Captain’s own story as book #13 on the series. Captain was first introduced on Forever Too Far (it is Rush-Blaire’s book #3) and we got to know about him a little bit more during When You’re Back. I was a little indifferent to him before since his appearance every time emanated this darkling aura that I could not comprehend. I am used to sweet, flirty, and playful heroes in this series. So Captain was a new color that I didn’t think I was ready to add to the circle of lovely boys of Rosemary Beach. This book proved different, though.

Synopsis
River Joshua Kipling changed his name into Captain the year his world turned upside down. Losing the love of his life led him to not only a crushed dream but just entirely crushed everything. When given a choice to continue his life in some eerily dangerous way, Captain grabbed the chance without much consideration. Besides, what would make a better way to get over his past fatal failure than paying it off through some late odd redemption? Captain sought after peace but apparently the path he took only eases an ounce of his everlasting burden; it even stole the last remaining piece of heart he had that to love again was simply no longer possible.
Opening a new restaurant should be the way to leave the dark road behind, but Captain knew it won’t be long before he took off from Rosemary Beach and find the real peace he had never found for years in his own way. His plan eventually met a bump when Rose Henderson came to town to be one of the new servers in his restaurant. Surely Rose was pretty but nothing about her should make any differences to Captain than any other girls, should it? Yet her laugh did. As well as that big determination vibrating from her petite body. It got Captain to abandon his own rule to fall for someone new. But the more he looked through her glasses; he could practically see that behind the gleam of determination there was also a mix of fear, desperation, and hopeful shining off her eyes. Rose hid something; that was for sure. About what, that’s what Captain had to figure out on the limited days he got in town. Captain knew the mystery he was about to unravel would alter his plan, but altered or not, he would never expect to bump with the very thing he tried to forget all those dark years.

I haven’t picked up NA for weeks so I’m really excited to start it again with Abbi Glines’ book. When it came to NA, I could always count on her to get the list all checked. Hidden mystery, fiercely possessive hero, lovable heroine, tear-jerking episodes, melt-my-heart-to-pieces romance, and heartwarming ending; all would be easily found in her books. The Best Goodbye was no different.

Characters
Captain’s character came out strong. With a basic knowledge of his hard personality from previous encounter, I found Captain’s narration intriguing when he unraveled the reason he’d lost his heart years ago. He did it by revealing bit by bit information instead of giving away the whole story for us to deal and that’s absolutely an intriguing point the readers couldn’t resist but clinging tightly on. His possessiveness towards what belongs to his only underlined the fierce trait Captain had within. That’s why I thought that the insecurity he was described of having sometimes didn’t quite fit his persona. But still, Captain made a swoonworthy hero, especially that he didn’t have much unnecessary man-drama like Rush or Mase except for his insecurity. Rose’s tough personality made a perfect highlight in Captain’s domineering aura. I liked that Abbi opted for strong heroine this time. After Reese’s insecure-turn-fighter character, it’s great to meet Rose and her bravery. I liked her from the start, and I liked her even more whenever she showed her selfless and devoted side again and again.

Simple Plot, Perfect Delivery
Some flashback scenes of the past were slipped to strengthen the feeling during particular present scenes. I found myself holding back my tears every time I read that part and had to eventually give up at some point. With a basically simple plot, Abbi made a great job hiding what should be hidden and pulled the readers on the edge of their seats wondering what had actually happened on the past. She didn’t necessarily save the mystery to be unraveled on one mind-blowing revelation scene yet when the truth did came out, I could still find myself aching and even crying. The scene was written very well that all the emotions were captured and the moment got me drowning into the sorrow along with the characters.

My Issue(s) 
The story went on in fast pace and though I liked it like that, I thought the second half of the book was a bit rushed. There was scene that even if not essentially affected the main story, was obviously omitted. It was done roughly that I couldn’t help but noticing it anyway. I knew it’s not necessary in some ways but still, it bothered me a little that I noticed it.

Final Thought(s) 
The ending was perfect! Each character had agreed to come clean and started again on clean slate. I loved the message they delivered through the epilogue: that there would always be bumps coming our way but when you had already set your eyes on your favorite kind of ending, there would be nothing to stop you. Not your pain; it couldn’t define you. Not your mistake; it couldn’t dictate you. The Best Goodbye gives a good romance with enough twists for them who want a read to swoon and cry over.

Next on the Series
There was a promise of the future for the long run that I really wished to see. And also a glimpse of what coming on Rosemary Beach next. God I couldn’t believe it but I actually am excited to read Nan’s story. Maybe it’s because the fact that Abbi would pair her with Major (who I found really charming) or the fact that Abbi could always turn someone hateful worth loving in the end. It could be both.

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

Read More

(Netgalley) ARC Review: Did I Mention I Love You (DIMILY #1) by Estelle Maskame

Did I Mention I Love You? by Estelle Maskame
Rating: /5

*I received digital ARC of this book from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: December 1st, 2015

Get a copy here!

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

‘We sneered at one another since the day I arrived, fighting to try to find each other’s weaknesses. Mine is my insecurity. Tyler’s is the truth. And beneath it all lies attraction.’ 

(Chapter XVIII)

For sixteen years old Eden, spending summer in LA could be/could not be something great. The great thing she could finally taste a tourist-like summer in the City of Angels; away from drama back in Portland. The not-so great thing that she had to put up eight weeks with her sorry father and the rest of her ‘step’ family members. What she didn’t predict was for her to gain three stepbrothers in which one of them was practically a walking trouble. Tyler Bruce made it clear that he hated life as much as he hated himself to be in it. The only things he took interest in were no other than being reckless―booze-weed-coke kind of reckless. And not to forgot, being angry all the time. Eden wanted so much to avoid Tyler at all costs but it’s impossible since a). they live in the same house; b). their rooms were just right next to each other’s; c). they hang-out in the same circle. Eden’s new-found ‘friends’ happened to be Tyler’s as well so they practically went to the same parties every time. Eden wasn’t exactly a party girl but if it meant getting the best out of the summer (which also meant away from awkwardness and irritating dad at home) she had no choice but to tag along.
That also meant watching Tyler destruct himself with zero concern from his so-called friends.

‘He’s pretending, just an actor playing a role. I need to know what happens backstage, after the show ends and the curtains come down. Who’s left?’ 

(Chapter XVIII)

When Eden discovered the darker side of Tyler, she determined to get him out of his madness. Especially when she knew that it was just a façade to hide the broken soul inside. But Tyler hated her and what an insecure girl could probably do to save a messed-up boy like him?

‘You’re not supposed to figure me out. No one is.’ 

(Chapter XXVII)

Trust. That’s what Eden wanted to get from Tyler: to get him to trust her.
But as Eden tried hard to break the wall around Tyler, while occasionally helping each other from their parent’s wrath and exchanging irritating banter, the nature of their relationship started to shift into a whole different level. The thing is when someone frustrated you so much; it meant they got a special place in your heart that it’s easier for the feeling to do a one-eighty. And Eden and Tyler, of all people, should be wary to the idea before it’s too late.

‘Because Tyler might have told me his secrets, but now he has a new one.’

(Chapter XXVII)

The first few chapters went awfully slow and filled with LOTS of partying, drinking, and even some of getting high scenes without any particular plot-progress. In fact, it’s like those scenes were playing on repeat throughout the book which bothered me since this book is supposed to be a YA. I understand the need of the author to portray just Tyler’s terrible habit but I think there’s another way to describe it. Including one or two scenes of it was okay and the narration could be prolonged with scenes that implied the bad situation rather than explicitly showing it.

The recklessness of almost every teenager in this book was another thing that made me feel uneasy. It’s like these kids didn’t have any other spectacular idea to spend summer than partying, drinking-to-oblivion, and getting on police’s bad side. Seriously, not every teenager that reckless and I wished this book showed it here which… didn’t. The only person who would eventually keep these kids in line was either their sober friends or the police which showed how this book lacked a lot of parental role. The parents only existed to get furious to the kids in the end of the day (or the morning after) and grounded them and didn’t exactly do anything to stop their unbelievable behavior. This is really unfortunate since not all of the characters were bad ones, like Eden’s friend Rachael and Dean.

Now, talking about irony… Eden had been going on and on with her assumption/speech about Tyler’s crisis was due to his inability to socialize in positive way. Yet, somewhere on second half of the book, Eden acted exactly like how she assumed Tyler was doing: to get herself in trouble so she won’t be discarded from the circle. Just when I think I might like the heroine for saving the hero, here she recklessly got herself drunk just because someone said she couldn’t.

With an intriguing title, beautiful cover, and promising blurb, I was so eager to find out what Did I Mention I Love You hides beneath the package. Forbidden (incestuous kind) love story wasn’t exactly my favorite topic but since I found a book that handled the issue very well (Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma|read review) I kind of intrigued to see whether this book did the same good job. And I personally think that the author brought out this topic with quite ‘acceptable’ background story―NOT that I say I accept the kind of behavior, it’s just that I get why it happened in this book. Tyler had spent the last four years trying to figure out the way to cope with his terrible childhood memories. Unfortunately for him, it landed him to the dark path where he chose to drown in pseudo-happiness of booze and drugs. Talking about it was difficult; especially when no one seemed really know how to get him to talk. It’s not that until Eden came to the picture that Tyler felt he finally got someone who sincerely wanted to figure him out. This is what I called with ‘acceptable’ background story.
But…
the problem lies on the development of their romance which executed quite vaguely. The shifting of their feelings was unsmooth especially on Tyler side. One minute he would get so angry at Eden, then he would easily spilled his frustration out to her, and next one he would be so nosy about Eden’s personal life only to drag her to a stoner party eventually. I don’t know about you but Tyler’s on and off mood toward Eden could easily be interpreted with unstable emotion which blurred the actual purpose of indicating his actual feeling about her. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked their moments (the ones when they’re not fighting or Tyler getting drunk) when I could clearly see that despite everything, they’re just two people helplessly fell for someone wrong.

Meanwhile there were parts that I wished could be addressed more deeply. Eden’s relationship with her mom for one seemed like the healthiest kid-parent relationship in this book and I want to see more of this on the next book. I don’t even want to talk about her dad because he’s totally a bad news of a parent, for now, so I hope for some ‘fixing’ later on.
Despite everything, I enjoyed the author’s writing style as it made me easier to get through all those issues I mentioned above. I started to enjoy this book more, though, on the second half of the book which was when the story actually took its pace.

I might have a lot of issues with this book, yet Did I Mention I Love You and the rest of the series seemed to promise me a poignant romance with a good writing style, which for a romance-sucker like me would be hard to ignore. I just love the idea that someone messed-up could be saved eventually when they find the right person who truly care for them. Did I Mention I Love You gave me that but since their romance was far more complicated than good-girl-saving-bad-boy cliché, I need a really good closure to wrap it up. Book one didn’t exactly give me that so I wished there would be a better answer on the next two books.

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

Read More