Book Review: Fate (The Legacy #1) by G.G. Atcheson

Fate by G.G. Atcheson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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


Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

There were times when I read the blurb of a book and thought I’d enjoy it only to find out later that I didn’t quite enjoy it. It wasn’t because the book was horrible or what. In fact, I rarely hate a book in my life (I could count with my fingers just how many books I’ve read that I really hate). It was usually because I couldn’t get into the story; because the book apparently didn’t work for me or maybe wasn’t my cup of tea.

That was what happened with me and Fate.

Fate by G.G. Atcheson is a crossover of fantasy genres between paranormal and sci-fi. Please note that I’m a big fan of sci-fi books and other times I enjoyed paranormal ones as well. I was surprised that Fate blended both genres into one tale and it’s really a sad truth that it didn’t work quite well for me. Believe me when I say that I wanted so much to love this book. I even listed below everything I loved about this book and those parts actually made me enjoy reading it. We’ll get there in a bit.

Lutnalind Zhendar Xavelk didn’t know that his latest mission would bring him into a long torturous journey in some foreign planet light years away from her home planet, Xhartan. When his spaceship crashed in the woods somewhere on Earth, LX went with name Alex going around the crashed area to find out where he was exactly. Trained as navigator for million years, Alex was expected to fix the ship and find a way to survive on his own while at the same time keep an honor of his pledge to his people.

But fate brought him to meet Mellie, local inhabitant who emanated different aura from other humans he ever encountered on Earth. Unlike with humans, Alex couldn’t sense her coming near him. And that’s only the first strange things about her. While trying to figure out what kind of creature she and her friends were, Alex had to hide his true identity and play pretend as one of them. He later realized that Mellie was a vampire yet she was a sweet girl and she welcomed him warmly even though some of her friends clearly resented his existence among them.

As Alex found himself got tangled with his feeling for Mellie, he was soon followed by several other problems coming his way. With human’s wanting to capture him, Alex had to juggle running from the authorities and keeping his new friends safe. Alex realized he became emotionally too attached with his new friends and Earth and it surely wouldn’t do him any good. Moreover with human’s false judgment upon his appearance on Earth when truth was it was the reserve. With it came the risk of crossing his pledge right in front of his eyes. Now Alex was left with options whether he should care about Mellie and the planet she lived in or stay true to his oath as Lutnalind. And the stake? Would he able to come home after all?

I’m going to put two lists of what I felt about this book. One for things I liked and the other one for things I didn’t like. I’ll go with the later first.

What I didn’t like

- Maybe I shouldn’t consider this point as ‘things I didn’t like’ because it’s more like it just didn’t work for me. I said this before, I loved sci-fi so freaking much and I enjoyed paranormal story a lot sometimes but the idea of combining both genres took me by surprise. Some people might find this worked for them but I’m sorry but I personally thought it was far beyond make sense. I didn’t say this combination was bad, really. It’s just because sci-fi was already one big world, one big fantasy world. And paranormal was another big world. And they went on real different paths. Combining two very different characteristically world wasn’t an easy deal. And in this book, it was combined with human world making it three different worlds on the same plate. This was not what I felt personally about Fate. Generally speaking, if there would be any book playing with this kind of combination in the future, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t pick it up, whoever the authors might be. Still, I appreciated Ms. Atcheson to work with this newly fresh idea and bravely put it into a series. It’s a first, and it’s a big deal, and a lot of people thought this was genius, so I guess she’d succeeded.

- The character Mellie was not quite developed I must say. I couldn’t comprehend her personality. Maybe because this book was basically told in Alex’s POV and he didn’t think much of her personality than he thought of his feeling for her. Also the scenes involving her didn’t say much about her characteristics. It just consisted of her crying over Alex, her confessing her undying love for Alex, and things like that. Thus, I found her character was distant and that’s one minus point for me.

- The romance between Alex and Mellie was so instant. I felt like it lacked of chemistry. Maybe it was partly because of my issue with the crossover genre leading to my not-quite-good opinion of paranormal creature paired with extraterrestrial being. Their romance didn’t quite touch my heart, really.

What I liked

- The sci-fi parts. I loved the technical parts a lot. I loved how the author described how the spaceship worked, how the repairing occurred, I loved just everything describing Alex’s planet, its culture, and all. I loved all the details she put into this section.

- I loved character Alex who put a high loyalty on his people back in Xhartan. He also tried hard to stay true to his original peaceful personality and how he always tried to avoid killing people no matter innocent or not.

- The funny scenes! Gosh, I laughed a lot reading Alex’s confusion in speaking human’s language. It’s just too funny how he struggled with choosing the right form of contractions to use most of the time. This was a few lines where I swear I lost control of my laugh.

“Well, when you said… he’t… hmm no”, I frowned and shook my head.

That did not sound right.

“He’st…”

No, not better.

After rubbing the back of my neck, I tried one more time, “Hem’st?” 

Tell me this didn’t crack you up! He was trying to form a contraction of ‘he must’… Lololol!

- I liked that the author opted to put epilogue in this book. Most authors wouldn’t do that for the first book of a series. It somehow made the cliffhanger more bearable.

And that’s how I felt about this book. I’m thinking that maybe if this book was told in a whole different circumstance (a.k.a. under one particular genre, sci-fi maybe), I’d love this book. But it wasn’t, so this time I had to settle with 3 stars. It’s just me, though.

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: Autumn in the City of Angels (Autumn #1) by Kirby Howell

Autumn in the City of Angels by Kirby Howell

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

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


Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Apparently this book wasn’t at all as I expected it would be. Not that I’m saying this in a negative tone, but I was surprised with what I’ve found in this book. Well, I guess I didn’t read the blurb properly…

I was so damn excited when I found out that the story was set in the middle of apocalypse happening on Earth. It’s definitely my cup of tea! The story was fast-paced and even though I felt like there were some points missing in the story, I truly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the feeling the authors built throughout the story. I could really sense the feeling of fear, anxious, frustration, depressed, and even hope along with the characters on the book. It was as if I was there with them and this very thing already earned this book a special spot in my heart.

Autumn had been living her 17 years of her life in a complete comfort and happiness. Her mother was a famous actress who never forgets to check up on her every so often. As her mother’s not always home to stay with her, her father always tried to make up for the absence. And when he’s not around to keep her company, Autumn was still safely tucked in the sanctuary of home her father built for them in the top of apartment building in Marina Del Rey. Simply said, Autumn was one lucky girl. 
When the Plague attacked Los Angeles and the rest of the world, it seemed that her lucky charm once again worked for her. Autumn was one of the one percent populations who were proven to be immune. But when her parents didn’t come home at all after the long and torturous waiting, Autumn began to question whether she could call herself lucky or not.

When Autumn decided it was time to come out of the safety of her home, she discovered that new threat was lurking out there in disguise of survivor group trying to rebuild a good life. Even after such an apocalypse, there were still people wanted to take advantage of others within chaos. Autumn couldn’t believe her luck when a mysterious person came out of nowhere and saved her from being taken by the scam group. One minute she was hiding in a nook of chilled wall of abandoned building with a stranger pressed against her back holding her tight when next minute she opened her eyes to find out that she was already at home under warm blanket and all wounds bandaged. And her faceless savior was nowhere to be found, replaced by a note written in a newspaper rip saying he’ll come to get her when it’s safe. Autumn couldn’t be any happier to find that somewhere out there, there was someone who she could count on. But when he hadn’t come for months, she felt like all hope was completely vanished.

Months had passed when Autumn finally get to meet the mysterious savior. He was just like how Autumn had imagined him to be all the time. Brave, strong, talented, gentle, and now in person, he was even more beautiful and fascinating. But as she became closer to him, she noticed something that she hadn’t notice on their first encounter. There was something behind his sometimes less-expressive demeanor. But Autumn couldn’t deny that she also felt something growing inside her for the savior boy, Grey. When all secret was unraveled, Autumn realized that there was far worse thing behind the plague and as her body might be immune to the plague, her heart might not get through it this time.

First of all, there are two missing points that I would like to lay out here because as much as I enjoyed this book, I wished these points to be present in the book as well to enrich the awesomeness of this book. And after that, I would go through things that I loved about Autumn in the City of Angels.

Things I’d like to see in this book more: 
One. I like fast-paced story. But for sci-fi books, especially those that involved big deals like apocalypse or invasion or things like that, I wished to read more about it before getting into the ‘after’ part. The idea of plague was kind of new to me and I wanted to know more about how this very thing happened. It’d be more real if there was a close individual scene of plague case happened to someone.

Two. I want Grey’s background story. As an alien who used to express no emotions in daily life, and now when he met Autumn he already changed into more showing emotions, it’s quite hard to picture he had no emotions. Maybe it’s about the perspective of the story was told. This book was told in first person perspective by Autumn so it’s quite not possible to get into Grey’s background story deeper. But maybe if Grey was described having no emotions when he first met Autumn and then slowly he finally could feel emotions as he spent time with her, it maybe could help getting into Grey’s history. Thus, we could understand Alien’s history of emotion banishment.

Things I liked about this book: 

The plot, the characterizations, the idea of the story, the setting, and most of all the feeling and sensation emanated from the story; I liked them all. I liked the character Autumn. She’s too rationalist actually, but there were scenes when she experienced a breakdown from the depressing circumstance she was in making her seemed more normal. But sometimes I resented her for being too emotionally sensitive and went all heroic in the wrong time. Well, maybe it was just me because Grey was too-understanding over Autumn’s need to be a do-gooder. Love, people, what more I can say? 

“I guess I was falling for you before I even knew it.” 

(Grey; Chapter XX, Autumn in the City of Angels)

When I read Grey’s confession about his feeling toward Autumn, I was like,

“Wow, so I guess Alien could fall in love at the first sight as well?”

Because that’s exactly what happened to him. It’s kind of funny and sweet and weird… but sweet anyway. He might be absent from emotional feeling for million years but he showed his love for Autumn just the way normal human did. Oh Grey… :3

Grey was so gentle and caring and the fact that he was willing to take part in rescuing humans (even though he might have his own personal reason for this) showed that after all he had a kind heart. 

Even though the whole feeling of this book was considered suspenseful and a little depressing, I liked that the authors also slipped some funny parts into the scenes. Autumn sometimes acted silly just like most 17 years old girl did. I laughed at some comical scenes and my favorite would be the scene where Grey went all proposing style in front of Autumn only to make her understand just who he truly was…

“My name is Greyson Alexander. I came to Earth in 1803, after leaving my home planet, Andros. I want to make sure you understand that I’m a human being, just like you are.” He said the last four words slowly, emphasizing each one. “I’m just from a different star system. Physiologically, I’m exactly like any other human male from Earth. This is my body that I was born with on Andros. I didn’t steal it from anyone. I’m not a parasite that inhabits people’s bodies. My parents didn’t send me here in a little space ship when I was a baby; I didn’t travel here in a lightning bolt, and nothing is going to pop out of your stomach if you kiss me.” 
(Grey; Chapter XX, Autumn in the City of Angels)

‘..nothing is going to pop out of your stomach if you kiss me..’ LOL! 

About the setting, Ms. Authors did a great job describing it. I could easily picture it in my head how messed up the whole town was, how eerie the situation all around. And the sci-fi parts where Grey described Alien’s superpower were neat and easily understood. It’s kind of technical but not too technical… if you know what I mean…

Now about the ending. It’s kind of cruel. A bit. 

Well, I’m never really a fan of cliffhanger and especially of those being put in the end of a series book and more especially those in books that I truly enjoyed. But oh well, that’s where the charm of series book lies: to make readers as frustrated as possible in the end of each book except the last one ;)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: Making Faces by Amy Harmon

Making Faces by Amy Harmon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Let me begin this review by saying that…

Amy Harmon is exactly the kind of author that I’ve been searching my whole life.

She is, really. I fell in love with Ms. Harmon’s writing for the first time through A Different Blue. That book is perfection and I know everything she writes will be too. That’s why I didn’t even hesitate to pick up another book from her this time.

Making Faces is the kind of book that will make you think about a lot of thing once you finish it. It is a story about seeing behind the cover, realizing one’s worth is not the one valued by the appearance, acceptance of both bitter and good luck, and especially finding beauty among the ugly.

No one said Fern Taylor was ugly but she was sure she wasn’t pretty either. Fern was not the girl who easily got noticed at school by her look; most people easily overlooked her on the street; and no boys really dreamed about her. And she was fine with all that. She got lovely parents who called her ‘miracle child’, a cousin who’s been her bff ever since they were not even born yet, books and a little gift in writing department. But was it enough for her?

‘If dark chocolate could sing it would sound like Ambrose Young’

(Fern; Chapter I, Making Faces)

No, it wasn’t. After all, Fern was a girl and sooner or later she’d notice a boy around her. She did actually. Saw him for the first time ten years ago, later realized that was when she’d fallen for him. For the first time in her life, Fern wished to be noticed for once by a boy.

Ambrose Young was the boy you call ‘beautiful meet gorgeous wrapped up in perfection’. Despite having incomplete family ―thanks to her model-obsessed mother― he grew up smoothly in comfort of his step-father who loved him as much as his own. Ambrose was loved everywhere he goes. At school boys looked up to him and girls wanted to hook up with him. Ambrose was notable wrestle both at school and in their small town. He started at young age and slowly built up his little career which later led him to a chance of full-ride scholarship to Penn State. People would say Ambrose had perfect look and perfect future so logically he would have no worries left, right?

‘Everybody who is somebody becomes nobody the moment they fail’

(Ambrose; Chapter III, Making Faces)

Except he made a decision to leave the town which led him to an unending regret all his life the day he realized there was actually a hidden diamond just near him.

When God bent ones’ plan, people usually left confuse, worry, and scared about how to start over and where to go from. Ambrose shouldered regret as big as Fuji Mountain when he himself had to pick up the pieces of his remaining life back in his hometown. He found himself directionless, worry about what people reaction about his new look, and scared to face the blame he was sure was addressed to him for the town’s losses. And then he met Fern again. When everything had changed, Fern was the one who remained the same. Fern remained simple, lovely, insecure but sneaky, and above all, she remained beautiful inside out. Ambrose had not courage to continue where they left off last time. No, not in the state he was in now. But of course Fern had a mind of her own and she acted her way. Fern made him believe a lot of thing. That regret was just a little piece of evil that would drag one down to the dark corner if we let it be. That everything had a reason to happen. That miracle did exist if you believed so.

“Maybe everyone represents a piece of the puzzle. We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe miracles that we see are just the tip of iceberg. And maybe we just don’t recognize the blessings that come as a result of terrible things.” 

(Fern; Chapter XIX, Making Faces)

And most important, both Fern and Ambrose had learned together that the most beautiful thing could be hidden behind the ugly.

“You are still beautiful.”

“I think that statement is more a reflection of your beauty than mine.” 

(Chapter XXII, Making Faces)

Oh my God, Making Faces made me feel a thousand kind of feeling all at once.

I smiled, I laughed, I grinned every 10 seconds, I cried and wept every 20 others. Well, not necessary in that order but you know what I mean. It was just so many messages the author delivered at once through the words on the book and I loved it! I loved to read something that could entertain and educate me at the same time. I loved to read a book that I could wave in front of people and said, “Here, folks, is the simplest way to learn about life”. Making Faces is that kind of book. Well, every book of Amy Harmon is that kind of book! This is only my second book of her but I can already say that she writes by heart and that means you get meaningful books in your hand.

Each character she creates has strong characteristics. Fern, Ambrose, and Bailey. Three of them play major roles on the book. From Fern, we learn that sometimes the most beautiful thing is the one that hiding a lot. From Ambrose, we get to learn that life sometimes brings the worst to our plate but it’s all up to us whether to eat it up or throw it away. From Bailey, oh my, Bailey might be a side character but he made me cry as much as Ambrose did. Bailey teaches us that what’s in the outside doesn’t always mirror what’s in the inside. He also gives away one wise saying regarding people’s bad habit of being too self-centered whenever things go too wrong in their life.

“Because terrible things happen to everyone, Brosey. We’re all just so caught up in our own crap that we don’t see the shit everyone else is wading through.”

(Bailey; Chapter XXIII, Making Faces)

Last, let me leave this beautiful line from Fern’s father that I love so much…

‘… sometimes a beautiful face is false advertising too, and too many of us don’t take the time to look beneath the lid’

(Fern’s dad; Chapter XII, Making Faces)

Trust me, you will want to read this book :)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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ARC Review: The Guardians (Gargoyles Den #1) by Lisa Barry

The Guardians by Lisa Barry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*I received a digital ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.*

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | 

Wow!

This book was definitely beyond my expectation! I read the blurb feeling intrigued by the character’s ability to see color and read mood of everyone. What I didn’t expect was this book would contain such complex story with a lot of strange creatures involved. The Guardians filled with so many mysteries and secrets that were slowly unraveled along the way. I enjoyed discovering each of these revelations so much! I loved the feeling of had to ‘think’ while reading and pulled on the red threads among certain scenes to get the answer of questions I had in my mind.

Contrary to people’s wish to be able to read everyone’s true intentions, Sloane Jacobs thought it was the most stupid wish she’d ever heard of. Not because she thought those people were being ridiculous for wishing that. It was more because she knew exactly what it felt like. Sloane read aura like some ads on billboard: clear and real. Not aura like what witch did, but she could actually see hue of color surrounding them that reflected all their true intentions and just what mood they were on. It was not at all cool or awesome. If any, it totally drove her crazy for years. She felt like she knew too much, especially when one’s intention was a bad one. Sloane wished she was born just normal but she wasn’t and the only way she knew to deal with it was to be a loner and introvert all her life.

Liam McDougall was a Guardian. No, not the one who stood protecting a palace. The Guardian protected particular family line and worked together with another special creature including Aspies. When Sloane met Liam, she felt something on him pulling her close. One of them was him being one of the Grays. The type she couldn’t read the color meaning and the mood but strangely gave her the feeling of comfort and being safe. The better part was he was able to put something on the blank space Sloane couldn’t fill in ever since she was a kid. She was not crazy. She was someone. Someone special who’s apparently was not the only one in the world. Sloane was an Aspie. 

After the revelation, everything moved so fast. Sloane soon found herself to be the one who could help Liam and the guardianship to find the suddenly-missing guardians. Along the way, she discovered a lot of surprising facts including revelations from her childhood life, secrets from her present life, that world of fantasy did exist around her, and also that Sloane might not have to be without company all her life after all.

I had to say that I was a bit disappointed when I found the story was told in third person’s perspective. Well, I was not really a fan of this kind of POV. But the more I read the more I realized the reason Ms. Barry wrote it this way. The story had a wide scope and contained different setting which hold the same level of importance. Third person POV made it possible to cover it all without losing the connection between each chapter.

I’d love to say that this book had a rich plot. It was also built very well structurally. It followed particular progression and had a smooth transition between from one scene to the next ones. The Guardians also presented a lot of twists which made its readers wanted to rush to turn the pages to find out what’d happen next. Also this book contained so many mysteries on it. Some was answered along the way or near the end. But some was left unanswered making me a bit of frustrated (ranging from about what actually started Doctor J’s obsessive intention to make people ‘normal’, continuation of the missing Guardians, what ‘rogue’ exactly meant, to Sloane’s childhood experience…I could make a longer list but it would just make me more frustrated in the end). Hell, I wish I could find the missing puzzles on the sequel.

I loved every protagonist character on the book. The Guardians were described very capable. Liam might be a bit like ‘player’ but I loved it whenever he was near Sloane. He might just deny his own feeling as much as he liked but he couldn’t lie to his instinctive move to always protect Sloane. I liked Sloane. She was one confused girl with an insecure feeling covering her soul but she was also strong and dealt her issue very well in her own way. I really really wish to see them having a really good end. The cliffhanger seriously got me pulling on my hair in frustration…

I almost had no complaints regarding the story except that I wish all my left-hanging questions would be answered on the next book. I loved the message that Ms. Barry slipped about the negative side of psychiatry on the story. I read a lot of book that involved psychiatric scene, how the main character despised the pill usually given to them when they came to the shrink in hope to get someone to talk to instead. But this might be the first time I read a book that actually pay more attention at the negative act of easily giving away drug instead of actually doing personal approach to fix the client’s issue. The message in the end of the book made me see this issue in a whole different angle.

My only problem of the book laid on the editing part, though. I found so many sentences lacked of punctuation marks making it sometimes difficult to absorb the information in one reading. I had to reread the said sentences to finally get it. It might be a small issue but it was seriously annoying when happened repeatedly.

I’ll settle with 4 stars for now. Hopefully the next book would be free of punctuation error and also we could see the HEA soon!

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Get a copy here!

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

The first time I laid my eyes on These Broken Stars' cover, I was instantly in love with it. Scratch that. I AM SO FREAKING CRAZY IN LOVE WITH IT. The cover was so darn beautiful and intriguing and amazing and made me want to wear it as a top every day...

I then dived in the book with a hope to find some amazing story inside. Um, I gotta be honest; I seriously don't know what to feel about this book. This book falls into sci-fi category and God knows how much my love for sci-fi grew even stronger since my last encounter with amazing sci-fi trilogy months ago. That trilogy was the picture perfect of what kind of sci-fi I'd no doubt love with all my heart (i.e. strong sci-fi with good mixed amounts of everything). But this book lacked of parts where sci-fi usually focused on. What does it even mean? Come read more below ;)

Lilac Laroux was always famous. The beautiful, breathtaking, untouchable Miss Laroux. She was the only heiress to the LaRoux Industries empire. Not only she was known as the richest girl in the galaxy, Lilac was also known as the most off-limit girl ever existed. Her father made sure everyone see the fact. It left Lilac with a personal guard and an overprotective friend to accompany her everywhere. That way, a lot of guys knew better than made a move to her. 

Tarver Merendsen was just recently being famous. The war hero, best soldier, precise in every action Major Merendsen. His heroic acts during the war earned him Medal of Honor that brought his image from lowborn boy to respectable hero. But still some people didn't bother to point his background out for others to see. After all, he was just a teacher's son who made it all the way to the top by working hard under the help of scholarship. 

The first time they met, they made a little effort to pretend that everything was normal between them. Tarver saw her the first time as a girl covered in gracefulness who had a tolerant heart. Lilac saw him the first time as a man of action who wore confidences fitly on his sleeves. Little did they know that Tarver knew nothing about Lilac's true self at the time. And for a brief time there, Lilac was happy to be able to interact with someone who saw her for who she was, not for whose kid she was; knowing it was a very wrong thing to do.

The second time they met, Lilac finally did one thing that she was supposed to do from the beginning: to steer clear of Major Merendsen. But something died a little inside her when she did that common act she used to perform every time someone showed interests for her. Because he was unlike any other guys she'd ever known. Because he was so sincere it reflected in his eyes. Because she felt very comfortable around him. Because she knew what her father could do to someone like him. Because... she cared for him. 

But it was funny how everything could happen in a span of a day. One minute she disdained him with a quite hurtful words, the next one she found herself huddling together with him on the same survival pod to save their lives from the accident happened with Icarus, the ship they were on at the moment. From there on ward, they took turns saving each other's life after their pod crashed into a nowhere planet that hid mystery on its every corner. When they finally learned heart-slicing truth of their landing on strange planet, they were faced with countless hurdles and unexpected turn of events to survive there physically and how to keep their insanities intact. When they thought what they went through was already bad, they met worse things, and even the worst hadn't all come out. On that strange planet where Tarver and Lilac learned a lot of things: loss, survival, loyalty, trust, love, betrayal, sacrifices, and most important, nothing was ever as it seemed.

For the truth, this book didn’t strike me as intriguing on the first chapter. I didn’t read the blurb at all so I wasn’t sure of what I’d expect from the book anyway. On chapter two I officially disliked Lilac. From chapter three onward, I took turns disliking Lilac and Tarver until their survival pod crashed into nowhere planet. They were attracted to each other since the beginning; it’s obvious. But one rejection led them into childish words fights every time they’re having conversations. Well, yes it’s quite mean on Lilac’s part but if only Tarver was gentle enough in reacting to that… Somewhere in the middle of their journey to reach the shipwreck though, when their first twist of their stay at the strange planet happened, I started to like them. They started to respond rationally to each other as the only survivors on some never land. Then somewhere around 50%, I was truly in awe with Lilac. It’s amazing how the authors did the characterization with such progress; that Ms. Kaufman and Ms. Spooner could make hard-to-like characters to slowly become lovable by making use of the situations to help shaping their characteristics.

These Broken Stars didn’t actually have a fresh plot but it had a real interesting way of telling. Mystery and suspenseful were the keywords for These Broken Stars. I must admit that when it came to the thrilling part, it was freaking intense and the authors did an awesome job building the suspenseful feeling. They successfully made me shiver in the middle of the night all alone in my dimly lit bedroom with the only light was from my e-reader (yes, I know, I had a real bad reading habit). I had a hard time keeping control over my mind to wreck somewhere in the middle of the book. The tension was built very well and I found myself gasping for air of reality to hit my breathless lungs that was drained by mind-boggling fantasy. So where did my complaint about the lacking lie?

It lied on the place setting.

So, their unexpected journey began with a sci-fi-y Titanic famous scene (read: wrecked ship and all) which still took place on space. After it crashed into a strange mysterious planet somehow I felt that the place setting wasn’t quite concerned the authors any longer. They went on and on exploring the mystery and thrilling parts while they simply put description of the planet as simple as it could be. I was expecting more mind-blowing place setting than just forest, plain, and mountain. This is a sci-fi after all where extraterrestrial things happened in some mind-boggling places outside the Earth. I wanted more description of outer space and foreign planets vividly. It’s sad that even the planet they lived in were not even described at all even though Lilac mentioned once in the beginning; something about brightest light called Corinth. I wanted to know more of these parts. It would actually complete the point of great sci-fi read for me.

My other complaint (this is even worse, I guess) was the ending.

Dearest God. Why such mind-boggling story should ended up like that???

It was so abrupt and left too much unanswered questions in the back of my mind. I actually thought the second book would be the continuation of Lilac and Tarver’s future where things would be completely resolved. But no, people, the second book was a whole different story and there would be NO perfect wrap-up whatsoever for Lilac and Tarver’s story (I haven’t read the book but this is what I get from its blurb). It seriously made me want to cry in frustration. This book should’ve ended in much better ending, seriously. Oh why…

I wanted so damn bad to give this book five stars. I even agreed to come to terms with my complaint about lack of place setting. But I couldn’t come to terms with the ending. So, after contemplating about the rating of These Broken Stars real hard…

Oh hell, 4.5 stars just earned!

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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[Throwback] Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

I feel like sharing some of my old reviews here today!
So I take some of those of my best favorite books from Goodreads and post it up here. You might find this review a bit awkward because this came from that days when I first started reviewing. But I do some 'polishing' so I guess it looks less like crap now... ;)

Fangirl is a young adult read by Rainbow Rowell. The story is about an insecure girl named Cath who's just entered a university life. She has a twin sister, Wren, who went to the same uni but apparently wanted to go separate ways once they're out of their home. But Cath always be the girl who never wanted any changes in her life. She wants things to stay the same just as how they were back then in Omaha. She wants to live in the same dorm room with Wren, she wants her and Wren to still write fanfiction together about Simon Snow, to fangirling over the popular magicians every single day, to support and take care of each other when they're away from their dad. She wants to meet no people in campus. She wants to stay in her comfort zone and wants noone to ever intrude. But campus is the opposite of everything she wants. And so are Wren. She is all about a freshman year: exploring, trying new things, networking, drinking... partying. Cath feel like staying on cocoon because nobody really talk about Simon Snow except when they say, 'Oh yeah, I remembered watching the movie when I was a kid'. Noone read (or even write) fanfictions like her.

And to her nightmare, she got 'that' roommate a girl never dream of, Reagan. And along with Reagan, there's a boy named Levi who constantly hanging out in their dorm room, like every single day. Cath thinks she has to spend all her first year of university dodging intruder and building up the wall around her comfort zone. But the intruders keep coming around and she never get a chance to finish building up the wall.

Levi is like the bright side of Cath. He loves people, like really love meeting them, smiling at them, befriending with all of them. When he meets Cath, it's like meeting a girl who's been living in the other side of his world and he couldn't help but attracted by her everything.

Cath thinks Levi is wasting his life going around flashing smile at strangers. She thinks Levi is taking on easy of his life like there's nothing wrong ever happened. 
But behind the smiling Levi, there's just a normal boy who can be nervous and hurt. And Cath happened to be the reason for him feeling that way.

“If you smile at everyone,” she said, “how am I supposed to feel when you smile at me?”

“How do you feel when I smile at you?” he asked—and then he did smile at her, just a little.

Not like myself, Cath thought.

“Like an idiot,” she said softly. “And like I never want it to stop.”

“I’d give you the moon right now,” she said.

Levi’s eyes flashed happily, and he hitched up an eyebrow. “Yeah, but would you slay it for me?”

“You’re beautiful,”

“That’s you.”

“Don’t argue with me. You’re beautiful.”

I personally really liked this book because it tells so much about a fangirl's life. I, myself, is a fangirl and I do write fanfiction. So I know what I feel about fanfiction, obsession over idols, know what it feels when there's really noone to talk to about it in real life except your sister. (Oh believe me, I am just like Cath in this). I love how the author put a non-fangirl's perspective about fanfiction. So I know where to stand in this. And I really love it that she create the character of Levi who's so understanding and sincere about all this thing that other people would call 'weird' instead of 'cute'. (Makes me want to have one like him...). Reading this book is like reading my whole habits written on a book.

But there's one thing off for me. I couldnt get those pieces of Simon Snow's story either from the books or the fanfictions. I couldn't wrap my mind around them and I felt like skipping them all the time but held myself because the sake of Cath and Levi's convo in between. I don't know why the author should put the Simon Snow's pieces of story on the book, maybe somebody could explain...

Well despite the thing I mentioned above, I love this book generally. I like the topic about fangirl and I like every characters in this book. I was hoping more about the ending (More about clear glimpse about Levi and Cath's future after Levi graduated and more about Laura, but it's okay, I definitely agree that Cath and Wren better off without her), but I'm satisfied enough because in the end things were put in the right places.

I would like to recommend this book for all fangirls out there. And yes, four stars for this book! :)

P.S. And there's sooo many lines that I love from this book! •^^•

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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[Throwback] Book Review: Stinger (A Sign of Love Series) by Mia Sheridan

Stinger by Mia Sheridan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | 

I feel like sharing some of my old reviews here today!

So I take some of those of my best favorite books from Goodreads and post it up here. You might find this review a bit awkward because this came from that days when I first started reviewing. But I do some 'polishing' so I guess it looks less like crap now... ;)

“Sometimes, you don’t even realize anything is wrong until someone comes along and changes you, and makes you want more.”

-Carson Stinger-

Another lovely book from Ms. Mia! \o/~~

Finally after putting this book on postpone for weeks, I picked this up from to-read list. Well, mostly because Kyland, the fifth book from A Sign of Love series, is coming soon in the end of this month and Lord, I cannot wait!!!!

I first read Becoming Calder (followed by Finding Eden), Archer’s Voice then Leo. I didn’t continue to Stinger that time because I found that Leo did not quite catch my breath the way the previous two books did. I went around another series and ended up forgetting Stinger on my shelf. Now that I read it, I feel like scratching the ground underneath for leaving Stinger unread for weeks…

Stinger began quite hardcore for me. The background of the hero as straight male performer kind of froze me for a sec there. I was like ―uh, this is our hero today? Um, okay, uh, I... uh, I can work with that. I think. Then I kept going anyway because of the contrast background between Carson Stinger, the hero, and Grace Hamilton, the heroine. It was really intriguing and unique.

Is that possible that two days could make one’s life completely changed?
Is that possible for someone to change one’s way to see the life they’ve been leading on all their life completely over a brief time such a weekend?

Is that possible for two people with two very different worlds to take the same path that will lead them to the same destiny?

The answers are all yes. Or at least that’s what happened when a law student Grace Hamilton met ‘hot’ star Carson Stinger in a lobby hotel on Las Vegas one fine weekend. Grace was there for a law student conference; that was the very same day of Carson to attend Adult Entertainment Expo in the same hotel. It might be fate. It might be bad luck. For Grace to meet such cocky and full-of-himself Carson. Grace had enough with him after such stupid lobby and café run-ins they had. But another coincident meeting on the elevator changed everything as being forced to stay together in a stuck lift made them know each other more and apparently had showed their true colors. As they learned each other’s bit pieces of life, some weird offering was laid on the table for them to take. Or not. It was casual offer to spend weekend together. Just casual like what usually happened between two strangers in City of Sin. Well, it should’ve been no harms done. But what if that weekend has turned into anything but casual for them? When those two days they spent together became such a turning point for… everything?

Stinger was based on the history of sign Scorpio. The story was divided into three parts: Scorpion, eagle, and dove, which represents a different stage of Scorpio’s transformation. Just like each phase has different meaning; the plot of the story followed the history of this stage of transformation as well.

Scorpios, above all others, have the ability to transform selfish poison into universal love

I didn’t know about it before, though, so this is like a good trivia for me! What I love from A Sign of Love series by Mia Sheridan is the fact that she made a really great story as the analogy of the signs. Every part was written very carefully and very well-built. I just could imagine what kind of research Ms Mia had done to make such awesome series.

Just like Becoming Calder and Archer’s Voice, Stinger totally hooked my heart. Yes, I was a bit indifferent of the fact that Carson here was a ‘hot’ star. But well, this is Mia Sheridan we talked about. She really has the ability to bring the loves out of things that consider not people’s cup of teas or beyond one’s could imagine becoming the main attraction of a romance book. The very different background of Carson and Grace is what actually the main point of the story. I could never imagine that this combination would work… and beautifully even. The more pages I read, the more I know that Carson, of all people, deserves to be loved unconditionally by someone kind as Grace. I just… wow, this story contained a lot of baggage. It was not just a romance, hell, Mia’s ability to write romance is unquestionable, and as usual the romance was damn strong, the chemistry between the main characters successfully made me biting my nails in jealousy. Just how rich this story of life lessons. It taught us that no matter what kind of past we had, it would never be something that people could judge us with. The past is not what shapes us now. But how we handle the past does. I learned a lot from this story.

As always, Mia’s book made me sobbing all night long. Just how she described things in such angle to makes us see from different point of view toward certain things. This book kind of changed my way of seeing people with crude jobs. I never really thought that even ‘hot’ stars have their own insights of life that we could learn from ―not that I see their opinion useless before, I was just never really pay any attention of them. Or at least that’s what Mia tried to show us here. It might gain some eyebrow raisings from people, but I must say that I’m really proud of Carson’s character. Oh just wait until you read the story all by yourself.

I guess not much that I could say about this book, except the fact that this definitely goes to my ever-after-book shelf along with Calder and Archer’s books. Go read this book and prove my review! :)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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Book Review: A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY (CD Audio)

I’ve been eyeing this book for a long while but never made a move to put it on any of my monthly reading lists. I don’t know why, though. Maybe because the first time I saw the cover, it gave away something like heavy and rather dark impression (Which was rather silly now that I think about it…). I’ve been in the mood for some joyful reads lately and I knew somehow that A Different Blue wouldn’t give me that without torturing my soul first. But this time I decided to challenge myself because lots of people said this book was really amazing and I wanted to find out why.

Beautiful didn’t even cover what I thought about this book. It’s definitely not a romance. It’s so much more than that. It mainly told a story about life, about people with their bitter pasts and how each way they dealt with it, changed the life afterward. It’s about overlooking your past no matter how bad they were and stop labeling yourself with anything because doing that only meant limiting yourself from life’s offer of possible constant-changes.

“You all have a story. It’s been written up to this point, to this very second. And I want to know that story. I want to know your history. I want you to know it.”

(Chapter I, A Different Blue)

Blue Echohawk didn’t know anything about her past except of the fact that she was clearly a very unwanted kid. What was it called of two-year-old kid abandoned in someone’s truck with only a blue blanket as the company if not ‘unwanted’? Blue knew very little of anything that should have been one’s basic identity. No information about her real parents’ whereabouts or even just simply their names. She wasn’t sure her own age. She didn’t even know whether Blue Echohawk was her real name. Unlike other kids who could recite very well who they really were, Blue had no idea what to say when being questioned about all those things. It was as if she only had blank pages for all those years she’d had in the past. As if the name of Blue Echohawk never made it to the book of history of people.

“What if what you believe about yourself or about your life is simply a myth that is holding you back?”

(Chapter II, A Different Blue)

Raised by a drifter who was kind enough to put her under his wings but was not good enough to stay as a permanent citizen in certain town, she ended up entering school late. 19 years-old (Or maybe it was 20 years-old?) Blue was just a senior in high school. This fact itself already made people absentmindedly giving her side glances everywhere she goes. A girl with too much number on her shoulder, who preferred boys’ companies than girls’, who loved to wear too much make-up and tight jeans. That was more than enough for Blue to earn the worst title a girl could ever have in high school. Or at least that’s what they believed about her. Blue had no intention to defend herself to all the names they called her. After all, it would be a stupid lie if she said she didn’t believe in what they said. If Blue said she wasn’t all that, it would be like believing a myth.

“Now I want you to take one moment from your life. A moment where the dye was cast, where you crossed your metaphorical Rubicon and you couldn’t go back. […] For better or worse, how did it affect the direction of your story?”

(Chapter III, A Different Blue)

Since the day she was left parentless, Blue had been living with a drifter named Jimmy Echohawk. Even though he was such a quiet man, for the first time in her life Blue felt contained. Jimmy had succeeded in being a replacement for her absentee parents; teaching her how to live; helping her to find a reason to keep alive. If Blue was a compass, Jimmy was definitely the north. But one day everything had changed. Even though ‘alone’ wasn’t a new word to Blue, this time it shredded her life into confetti. Because this time, she knew exactly that who she’d lost was the one who she needed the most.

“What beliefs keep you moving forward? What beliefs define you?”

(Chapter VI, A Different Blue)

Losing the only hope she got, Blue had changed into a different person. A different Blue. Gone now the north where her needle was supposed to go in the end every time. Blue was no more that little blackbird Jimmy had raised and taught to live in the bright side. She was the blue bird with dazzling beauty in the surface ―that always made her the center of attention― yet dull in the inside.

“Things are rarely what they seem. What is the truth beneath the surface, beneath the apparent facts?”

(Chapter VII, A Different Blue)

It was easier to let people define you when they obviously had no intention to listen to your words. Blue was defined as trouble, a mess, a trash, an unimportant thing by her classmates. She acted like one too just to keep them at a distance. Just so they couldn’t find the truth beneath the surface. The lonely, scared, insecure girl she was.

“If you predict your future based on your past, what does your future look like?”

(Chapter XII, A Different Blue)

When people called her trouble, they put a label on her. When she believed that she was something, she put a label on herself. Those labels soon would fill every space available in her face, making it difficult for people to see the truth in her eyes and difficult for her to see what future offered more for her life. Labels were just going to be a bunch of things that people forced her to be and things that she wanted to be. Blue Echohawk’s life might be just a myriad of miserable moments. But just because her life earned that label, should her future mirror it too?

Oh goodness… I have a lot to say about this book I don’t even know where to start!

This story is brilliant! Every word was written very beautifully with deep meaning in each spell. I loved how the plot flowed naturally, how Ms. Harmon told the story of Blue in the reference of school lecture of History. It was very neat and created quite strong chemistry among each event. Blue had a strong character. She was marred by unfortunate childhood in which she was abandoned at a very young age. Growing up she lost herself to public judgments that cruelly labeled her with negative names. She learned to ignore them and numb herself from feeling the real pain inside. And then she met Darcy Wilson (Mr. Darcy!!), her History teacher who later being the first person who was willing to learn about the truth beneath the bunch of labels. Through his lessons, Wilson led Blue to take gradual steps to rewrite the history of her life.

“[…] we all feel like nobody. We all feel like we are on the outside, looking in. we all feel scattered. But I think it’s that self-awareness that actually makes us somebody. And you are definitely somebody, Blue. You may not be a work of art, but you are definitely a piece of work.”

(Chapter V, A Different Blue)

When things got harder, that’s when she decided to put a halt to all her bad behaviors. Blue experienced her redemption one evening the moment she heard the melody of Wilson’s violin in the dark hallway of school. This was such an emotional scene that got me crying my first tears for A Different Blue. And then when she thought everything’s going to be alright after the redemption, her hope was once again tested. I loved seeing Wilson’s consistency in keeping Blue stay in the redemption path. He constantly reminded her to take a careful step in her life in order not to gain any regret in the end.

“Some moments you don’t get back, Blue. You don’t want to spend a lifetime wondering about those moments you didn’t seize, about the things you should have done but were too scared to do.”

(Chapter XIII, A Different Blue)

He showed Blue that nothing was impossible to do especially when you’re about to write your first word on a new sheet of your life. He introduced Blue to options and possibilities available around her. He let her grow her belief and hope again. I cried a lot reading this book. Somehow my wariness of gaining a heavy feeling while reading this book ceased away. I found myself totally focusing on Blue’s life struggles. She’s a really really strong girl. I was constantly mesmerized by the way she took every decision. It wasn’t all sweet and rainbows. There was hard decision, hurtful, sacrificial, where she found herself constantly feeling wary whether it was good or a bad one. She was amazing. Despite the unfortunate past she had, Blue managed to stop the repeating dark cycle on her phase. There was something in her heart that remained good, still. There was one scene (besides the redemption scene) that has left a really deep mark in my heart. It began from the end of chapter 20 until the end of chapter 21. Though I was sure I couldn’t stop crying all the way until the next 2 chapters…

The way Ms. Harmon built the story, putting each detail in line, created a very well-plotted tale. How she opted for a slow pace for one thing and a steady one for the other thing, how she created every character with such a realistic personalities and always managed to lead the readers to see their bright sides… it’s all perfect in a way it changed my way of seeing life. It’s been a while since I found a book that made me feel this way. Blue Echohawk had something that I’m sure everyone could relate to with things in their life. Not necessary the bitter past or the certain problem she struggled to deal with. It was something in the way life had touched her, given her a taste of losing, failing, and standing on the edge of a cliff again and again. And we got to learn how she dealt with all of that in an unwavering way because nothing’s impossible in life as long as we believe it is. Oh and I just loved what Ms. Harmon did with the side characters. There was this side character named Manny that even though he appeared only in a few scenes, that very scenes actually meant so deep.

Wilson was really a true gentleman until the end. It’s just so damn beautiful how their relationship built-up slowly innocently in a very mature way (okay this is confusing…). I meant because it was not commanded by lust, it’s purely built up from sincere feelings of both parties and they both understood each other deeply.

“Blue. Whatever we learn will only make me love you more. You’re right. I know too much. And because I do, there isn’t anything anyone can say that will make me doubt you or the way I feel about you.”

(Chapter XXVII, A Different Blue)

Wilson was a funny guy and very mature too. And oh mother father, just how many men still have a personality like him nowadays? Who’s so damn patient, who doesn’t put physical attraction as top priority in their relationship? I swear I’ve fallen in love with Wilson the moment he said this…

“Someday… you will want me because you love me, not because you’re lost, not because you’re desperate, not because you’re afraid. And that’s the goal.”

(Chapter XXVIII, A Different Blue)

The ending was an HEA in a realistic way (you know, the not-everything-ended-up-happily-ever-after-but-some-did-and-it-was-fine-anyway kind of HEA). I loved this, though!

This was my first time reading Ms. Harmon’s book and I definitely would rush to get every book of hers after this. Dude, just how glad I am that I decided to pick this book to wrap my March reading list up :)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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