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!

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Review: Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser

*Digital ARC was received from HarperCollins UK through Netgalley*

Genre: Adult Fiction
Pub. Date: Feb 2, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

It surprised me that it took me so long to write down this review when I’ve finished reading the ARC a few weeks ago and had quite interesting reaction upon finishing it.

I walked into this book thinking that it might not meet my cup of tea despite my attempt to request its ARC on the first place. But the mention of a lost baby and a girl who seems to live longer than her age pulled me to a stop… and I knew that I couldn’t skip this one.

I never considered myself as a reader who would enjoy dark and suspense read. So I was literally having a hard time reading this book at first. It didn’t help that not only this book was so intense; it also brought such disturbing topics like drugs and alcohol addiction and murders. Reading this was so out of my comfort zone but I could somehow bear it because of the characters of the aforementioned girl and baby.

Percy James was only sixteen but we could see how life had shaped her into a much older and wiser person than her years living in the world. For the nth time, Percy had to go out to find her mother who’s disappeared along with her booze addiction. It was snowing and probably going to be a bad storm soon but Percy had no other choice but to keep looking for her mom. It’s like a dead-end circle with her mom’s situation. Percy loved her mom, so deeply she could never forget the good times they used to have together when her mom was still fine. But lately things only got worse, moreover when her sister went to live her new life with their little happy family across the state, leaving Percy to take care of her alcoholic mother. Percy was a good girl; so good that she often lied to her sister that their mother was okay, that everything was as fine as a sunny weather. But it’s actually a snowstorm in Michigan; even a worse one in Percy’s household.

The first time Percy met Jenna, the baby was practically halfway to be buried by the snow blowing from the open window in Shelton Potter’s cabin. It’s like a fate. When Percy went there to find her mom (who last she checked with the neighbor, was on a drunk fight with Shelton), she found Jenna instead. The poor freezing baby seemed to alter her priority as its innocent grip brought Percy to her determination to get the baby out of the hell place. Looking at Jenna neglected in the middle of meth-house with no responsible adult to take care of her, tugged a string inside Percy’s heart. The baby was so much like her. Yet again she’s much older than Jenna when her mother had gotten to her worse condition and left her to fend for herself. Suddenly, Jenna became her priority. Even if saving Jenna meant she had the drugged-angry Shelton and his bunch of criminal friends hot on her heels. Even if saving Jenna made her fight her own beloved bad mother.

I felt so much emotion being played while reading this book. It was quite bothering that I had to see half of scenes on the book from Shelton’s perspective. Yet at the same time I was impressed by Mulhauser’s ability to write that perspective with such details. It was oddly fun and certainly dark but it was also quite heart-breaking when Shelton’s actual feeling sometimes was shown during one of his many weak moments. It surprised me that even in the end I felt a piece of my heart had gone along with Shelton’s character.

Seeing things from Percy’s perspective meanwhile was quite an experience. We could literally see her love for Jenna growing stronger. Her struggle, her hopelessness, her determination, and her faith for Jenna’s better future were all pictured in rich details for us to witness. I felt my love for Percy and Jenna grew as well. The appearance of Portis Dale as Percy’s hopeless savior just added another color to their tragically desperate yet endearing journey of escape. Portis was this skeptical figure who’s as close to a family Percy ever had in her life besides her mother and sister. I found it quite amusing how Portis kinda wanted to just leave Jenna behind because he was worried of Percy’s safety yet with Percy’s persistence (or really just stubborn) to keep Jenna, he let Percy had her way. Their banter often sounded intensely scary to others but we could hear in Portis’s harsh tone how much he cared for Percy and how much Percy needed a father figure in him. Completed with Mulhauser’s extremely detailed description of cold weather in Michigan, Sweetgirl would make you curl under your blanket in your reading couch, with heartbeat running and tears ready to flow any moment.

In the end, I had to give in with my emotion as I put aside my Kindle and hid my tears for the world to see. The tears were mixed of happy ones and sad ones but I’d like it to be a happy one because I knew that what the author decided to write in the end was for the best for all. God, even now when I re-read that last chapter I am tearing up again like a newborn baby I am. The author did write such beautifully heartwarming (with little heartbreaking-spice) ending to such a heavy read. It felt like Mulhauser did not just close the curtain after the show but also wipe the stage and cleaned the aisle from the tissues being left behind by people. It was a very neat ending; near perfect even.

I would like to recommend this book to just everyone who loves to read. Even me who prefers to read sweet, light reads than the heavy ones, Sweetgirl just made an exception for me.

‘I’m the one who found her,…. But I’m not the same person I was before. I am different now because of Jenna and Portis Dale and I believe we all tried to save each other in that storm and that mostly we did.’ ―chapter XXIII

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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

 

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Review: My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

My Kind of Crazy by Robin Reul

*Digital ARC was received from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary)
Pub. Date: April 5, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON| BOOK DEPOSITORY

This is the book that I’ve been looking for my whole life. Hell, I think it’s the strongest candidate of the best book I’ve read in 2016! It has this perfectly balanced combination of happy, sad, and crazy things all at once. The plot is very well-written, well-built, well-… everything! I couldn’t even explain just how happy I am that I am given the opportunity to read the ARC of this book. One thing I am disappointed at myself is the fact that I put this book on hold until a few days ago.

It didn’t take me long to engross myself into the story with unusually captivating opening. Hank Kirby, a 16 years old nerdy teen just found a supposedly-brilliant idea of asking a popular girl to prom from internet: lit prom-spelled sparklers on her lawn. And he did. Except, the plan went up in flames in seconds. Literally. With Amanda’s lawn on fire and his promposal in memory, Hank chose to run for his life as his instinct told him to. He thought he was saved that night, but surely his lucky charm was not that bright. Hank earned himself a witness when he accidentally left an evident in the place of accident. A witness who could very well ruin his life with one tell but instead, she asked for something so different. Something not much girl wanted from a guy like him: to be a friend and maybe more.

Peyton Breedlove is always that one unique girl who’s both intriguing and creepy at the same time. Or so people thought. The truth is Peyton had her own share of bad histories that had shaped herself into who she was now. Pyromaniac isn’t exactly a favorite kind of personality to most people, especially to those who don’t get where she came from. But seeing―or more accurately―witnessing Hank set her neighbor’s lawn on fire was like finding a long lost other-half. That night, Peyton knew that Hank would be the one who would understand her like no others. Except, he might not be in board with her one-sided feeling. Because after all what he did that night was to impress another girl. A normal girl who gets her things together, whose family life is perfect, and surely who doesn’t play with matches as an escape. A girl who’s not her.

“Everybody needs somebody who gets their kind of crazy, right?” ―chapter XVIII

But what is normal exactly? Hank really thought that Peyton had a serious baggage that he was sure don’t want to get involved with. Everything about her screamed enigma. Strangeness. You name it. But spending a day without seeing Peyton around felt so much like staring on a puzzle board with a piece missing. It might be just one piece, yet you can’t stop glancing at the empty space. You can’t overlook it once you notice it. And for Hank, if normal means pursuing a popular girl like most guys at school, he much preferred stepping outside the line. Peyton might love to do a lot of crazy things unlike others, but sometimes people only need to be understood rather than being judged for their actions. Peyton was no exception. And Hank might be the one who did understand her… if only there were not so much things she hid behind the curtain.

‘Everyone is hiding something though. There’s the story we tell ourselves and the story we tell everyone else’ ―chapter VII

I had soooo much fun reading this. Every emotion all mixed into one, I finished the book in one sitting. It’s been a while since I feel this so much ‘hooked’. With me being busy and all, it was so hard to be engrossed so deeply into a book nowadays. And this book came to me and broke the spell.

My Kind of Crazy is what I’d call a neat read. It has a clear plot, uniquely-made characters, enough issues to be pulled up as leading points, perfect ending, all wrapped up in a very casual yet captivating writing told from a boy’s POV. Robin did a stellar job voicing a teen, slightly nerdy, boy through Hank Kirby. I liked that little natural touch when Hank’s mind was all over the place and unfocused sometimes because that’s how guy’s mind exactly is. And I super loved that the romance was built slowly yet it felt like a very romantic journey every time with them.

And God… Peyton! She’s my best favorite character through and through! I swear, I already fell for her since the first time she was introduced into the story. I loved her bluntness, her ignorance, her unselfish bit, her cheerful and innocent beauty. Simply put, I loved everything about her.

What’s better is how much I laughed reading this book. Robin’s writing is exactly what I needed in this phase of my life when reading is such a luxury for me and she made my moment worth it with such brilliant piece. I’m seriously craving for more Robin’s writing in the future.

I recommend this book to those who’s in need of funny, special, and sweet read to enjoy in such a short time. It’s a quick read and I have no doubt you’ll want a re-run once you reach the last page.

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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.

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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.

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Review: You Were Here by Cori McCarthy

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

You Were Here by Cori McCarthy



*Digital ARC was received from Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley*

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

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Having a quite long break from reading in the past two months, I didn’t really have any particular expectation from the book that I picked up as my comeback. All I wanted was just picking up a book and taking my mind away to an exciting mental journey I hadn’t had lately. Thus I dove into You Were Here without reading any reviews about it, nor its blurb.

Starting out, the story was presented for the first time through Jaycee’s perspective. I was instantly drawn to her character fast because of the way Cori described Jaycee’s wrecked emotion so painfully beautiful. I felt like I was ‘forced’ to feel along with her and strangely I didn’t even mind it. Even before knowing the complete story of the tragedy, I could feel that it would be something unusually tragic looking from the way Jaycee’s grief seemed so intense. I liked that Cori didn’t withhold the truth for too long and how casually the source of grief was thrown into the first chapter. It broke my heart yet I sensed that Cori didn’t want her readers to drowning in sorrow that fast in the first chapter with the way she played the supposedly depressing character into such person who’s half sarcastic-half peculiar yet oddly amusing that I really enjoyed Jaycee’s voice here.

When the whole pack finally came out, the story just got even better. Not only because of the fact that the book was told from everyone’s (which means all five main characters) perspectives, but also because all of them got their own eccentricities that made me fall in love with all of them in different ways.

Like Jaycee whose sarcasm was over the top when really it was just a mask to cover the broken soul within. How she seemed like a reckless wild teen when she’s really just a lonely girl with no direction to go. Her anger, grief, disappointment, loss feeling all mixed up leading her to the only way she knows how to cope it with: retracing her brother’s steps. Then there’s Natalie, an ex-best friend who complemented Jaycee in such a way no one could. They apparently shared a rough past that seemingly would forever damage their relationship and they couldn’t even stand each other’s present in the same room but their circumstance told us just how reality really is. No relationship in this world, be it between best-friends or lovers, that never hit the bumps. It could be just a little misunderstood but it could also be so bad that people would even grow apart for years before coming back as one. I liked that Jaycee and Natalie could go on and on bantering for hours yet they couldn’t stop caring for each other. I liked that they could call each other an ‘ex-best friend’ yet they still remembered every little details from the good ol’ days and reminisced it together when the memories came rushing out in the middle of them exchanging insults. I loved that Jaycee was so ignorant and Natalie was so uptight and they didn’t need to change themselves in order to befriend each other. And I could go on and on with all these fascinating things about them but I couldn’t ignore the fact that there were also these other three characters that as interesting as the girls.

Zach, Bishop, and Mik were the boys who completed this misfit group of five. Following Jaycee’s morbid adventure was Natalie who was accompanied (half-heartedly) by her boyfriend, Zach, and (fully) by their friend, Bishop. Zach, a teenager with a drinking problem and too much baggage on his plate, was actually a lovely person if you just give him a chance. I didn’t know why but just like how Jaycee’s character pulled something in my heart, his also made me feel want to hug him tight and get mad at him for hurting himself. And there’s Bishop whose words of graffiti were so deeply moving. I liked how he could be so introvert around people sometimes yet he seemed to always be there when his friends needed him.

And Mik…

I loved loved loved Mik! Mikivikious was a character that’s so unique and absolutely mesmerizing. I could count just how many times he talked in the entire book but I swear every time he did, he took my breath away that I fell head over heels again and again for him. I don’t want to reveal much about him except for this saying Jaycee said about him that, well, summed up a little part of him…

“He was still the boy who’d rather bite himself than reveal too much.”

Also I found the dynamic of the relationship between these five teens were so naturally amazing. I loved that nobody’s perfect in this group, I even loved it more that everyone was flawed in the past, and together they embarked on this estrange journey and came out learning the best lesson of how to live a real life.

“What do I know about anything―other than how fast the world can break and how very long it takes to put all the pieces back together.”

Reading this book really played with emotions, while the story is actually about a grief of losing someone you love Cori tried to tell us that sad things were not always depressing if you just tilt your angle toward it a bit. I loved how real the scenes were, the characters, all those places they’ve been in…

I really really enjoyed reading this book. With an insanely good writing, great details, unique characterizations, and oh, those amazing graphic illustrations I almost forgot to mention, You Were Here made an awesome comeback read for me. I recommend those who love John Green’s Looking for Alaska to pick this book up and find yourself addicted with these awesome characters.

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Review: In Place of Never by Julie Anne Lindsey

Book and ARC reviews are posted under this feature!

In Place of Never by Julie Anne Lindsey

*Digital ARC was received from publisher through Netgalley*

Genre: YA (Contemporary, thriller)
Pub. Date: February 2, 2016

Get a copy here!
AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

After 3 years of curling up in pain and grief, Mercy was now ready to come out of her shell and find the answer behind the mystery of her sister's death. Mercy was sure that Faith didn't commit a suicide, despite what the town rumor said about it. Whatever hidden behind the curtain had been stayed too long while her family grieving over the losses of two family members in a row. Now less than a month before she's off to college, before she left her dad and Pru behind to deal with the rest of the physical memories, Mercy was determined to reveal all the truth. Still there were people who looked at her one-sidedly due to her dark way of dealing with grief in the past three years. But nothing could stop her now, especially not now when she got full support from a kind stranger whose family might or might not be related to Faith's death. Cross Lovell and his eccentric group sounded so much like trouble for the town, what with constant accidents that seemed to follow them closely - Faith's case included. Pastor Porter sure didn't want Mercy and her lil sister Pru to have anything to do with them. But sometimes appearance didn't exactly show what's on the inside. Sadness, darkness, or madness that was reflected from ones' outer look would not always show that they actually felt that way.

Since everyone has stories and all people could do is just to guess and not to judge.

It's the first book that I pick after three weeks of no-reading. I was honestly expecting a lighter story to start anew but it's on my January TBR list and I had promised to finish up my Jan TBR before creating one for February so... Yeah. But it's pretty intriguing and the thrill was over the top! Due to my preference of lighter story in the beginning, I started this book with less excitement than I was supposed to. The book started strong with detailed descriptions on how Porter's family went on with their life after the miserable losses. From chapter one only we already got a clear picture on how each of the Porter dealt with the grief. The dad chose to focus more on being a pastor with all his church activities. Pru, the little sister, tried to act nonchalant while trying hard to get everything back to normal in their broken family, whatever the 'normal' means. Mercy herself was shown withdrawn at first until she heard the news of the Lovell group coming back to town; that's when she felt like her determination to reveal the mystery finally got its first direction.

The description of each tension and character's expressions were done very well. Despite my lack of excitement toward the heavy plot, somehow I found this story quite interesting with a very well-played thriller and all. I liked the way the author made the readers keep guessing which culprit behind the case all throughout the story. Ms. Lindsey gave so many clues here and there but never directly pointed out to certain person to be suspected. I was constantly blown away by little revelations that I gave up guessing in the end and decided to just go with the flow.

The only slightly minus point from me was how slow the pace seemed to go on from the second half. The story initially started with a determination of Mercy to find the truth behind Faith's death. Yet somehow in that point things got a little tangled up with Mercy's attraction toward Cross and I personally felt like the progress to unravel the mystery went stagnant there. I really didn't mind their romance because I honestly thought theirs were a perfect un-insta one, unlike most romance in YA books. But a few misplaced romance scenes in this book seemed to overwrite the real issue, causing the ending to be rushed and a little out of nowhere.

I bet Cross character is a lovely one. He's like a warm chocolate covered inside a bottle of vodka. Instead of finding the burning liquor, you'd find warmness instead within him. I liked that he's really honest and never judge people for what they'd done. He's really wise, really. I super loved his one saying to Mercy about their circumstances:

“I’m not broken, not yet. Neither are you. We’re just a little dinged up . Slightly damaged.”

I wished to learn more about him because I don't think he's got enough part in the book due to so many complex issues happening. Here I got something to make you feel gooey inside about Cross, his confession of love for Mercy:

“ I would want you if you were bald.” He dropped a kiss on my temple. “Twice my weight.” He kissed my throat. “Had hairy legs.” One long finger hooked in the waistband of my shorts. “Talked like a trucker.” He kissed my lips. “I fell hard for this.” He laid a palm over my heart. His soulful eyes burned with emotion. “The rest is icing.”

(Awww the rest is icing he said...)

The epilogue wrapped everything up well. I noticed one interesting line there about how Mercy character was described to be a religious person than we thought she was the entire time. Her refusal to belief in such thing as curse and believing in talisman showed her strong faith to God and I personally liked that about her.

In Place of Never is a unique and intriguing title. Inside, you'd find a gripping story on how a family dealt with loss and eventually found closure about it. There's also an issue about how unbiased judgment still going strong among us and how damaging it done to those who's directly impacted by it. Lindsey brought the issue up but luckily she also wrote it in different angle to show that sometimes it's all what's on our mind that matters really, not what's on people's mind.

In 24 chapters, Mercy Porter would take us to a journey of how to come to terms with a broken past with the help of faith and a little love.

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Blog Tour: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald | Review + Sweepstakes Campaign + Giveaway!

Let's Say It's a... Book Event! is a feature where I publish book-related events under. Find everything from blog tours, book spotlights to cover reveals here!

• Title: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
• Author: Katarina Bivald
• Genre: Fiction; Contemporary
• Pub. Date: January 19, 2016 by Sourcebooks Landmark

SYNOPSIS

Once you let a book into your life, the most unexpected things can happen...
Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy's funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don't understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that's almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory. All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town. Reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is a warm, witty book about friendship, stories, and love.

AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY | ADD TO GOODREADS

MY REVIEW

Honestly speaking, I was worried of not enjoying this book ‘cause it’s been a while since I picked up a fiction (could it be Sparks’ The Best of Me which I read last August?). As much as I love contemporary books, I always find myself picking up YA a lot more than fiction or chick-lit ones. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend proved me wrong. If any, this book made a ‘fiction-enjoyer’ side of me blooming again after hiding somewhere for months.

Story line

Book-lover Sara Lindqvist couldn’t be any happier when Amy, her elderly pen-pal, invited her to come to her hometown in Iowa, United States. Broken Wheel was the name of the town Amy had been telling Sara again and again through the letters they’ve been exchanging with from the past two years. Amy’s story made it sound so much like a dream-town for Sara, especially since she hadn’t ever gone out of her hometown of Haninge, Sweden all her life. Befriending three people and an unlimited number of books had always been enough before. But Amy had introduced her to a place across the sea for Sara to escape for a while. And to enjoy it with fellow book-lover? It would be one big step for Sara to come out of her comfort zone and lead a life like any other woman her age do: visit new places, meet new people. Of course, with a company of her long life best-friend, books.

Sara could already imagine how the trip would be: meeting Amy, reading and book-talking with her day and night, meeting everyone in town whose story she already knew from Amy’s letters, walking along Jimmie Coogan street or just doing any other things that Amy promised Sara could do in a quiet and peaceful small town of Broken Wheel.

What Sara didn’t expect was to find a literally broken and dying town with its population had just finished a funeral ceremony of an old lady. No one to visit any longer and practically nothing in town to see, Sara had to bury all the dreams she had in mind about her so-called vacation. But apparently without Amy or any tourist-y spot, Broken Wheel still managed to make Sara keeping her vacation schedule on. In fact, she even wanted to stay longer than her visa let her to.

Book Friendship

Told in third person omniscient POV, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend portrayed every corner of Broken Wheel vastly from various angles. Sara might be the center of the story (a.k.a. the heroine) but Bivald made the others’ story as important as hers. This is because The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is simply a story of how a dying small town starts a friendship with books. Sara represented ‘the books’ while some residents play the role of the town.

Right People, Wrong Place

Each person living in the said town had their own share of sorrows from different past tragedies. There were loss, injustice rights, negative judgment, self-insecurity, bad business, unexpected turn of events, and even unhappy marriage, all contributed to Broken Wheel’s constant dreary aura. Some left the town and never came back, resulting in a lot of empty spaces there, both physically and mentally. Those who stay were barely hanging on with their life. When Sara came, I found it endearing how everyone was curious and excited of the potential tourist. Sara quickly became the town’s shared guest rather than just Amy’s. Turned out Broken Wheel was nothing like its outward appearance. People there might not all have a good life, but they make a good small society together. They had a high tolerance for each other, strong loyalty, and offered most excellent hospitality to newcomer albeit their gloomy streets. Sara’s existence among them only emphasized their hidden charms with the way they eagerly treated her so good.

Bookworm + Sweet Heroine = ♥

Sara, who never really felt such acceptance from others before quickly fell in love with Broken Wheel and its people. Yet as much as she enjoyed their sweet friendliness: complete free of facilities and necessities, Sara couldn’t let these people continue pampering her throughout her stay. Knowing the history of Broken Wheel and people who’d been living in it through Amy’s letters, Sara knew exactly how to repay the town back. Book was definitely the answer and since Amy had lots of them: a bookstore it was. What started as a form of payback―which earned plenty raised eyebrows from the people―eventually became the center that held the town together. Skepticism toward the bookstore slowly shifted into feelings of proud, oddly needing, and even some sense of belonging―just like how Sara felt about the Broken Wheel in return. Sara’s the main character that I’m sure all readers, especially hardcore book lover, could easily relate with. I found myself keep comparing my reading-habits with hers from page to page and got quite a lot similarity between us. I could even relate with her social life, being a book-lover and all. Her determined self and her love of books succeeded in giving the town what they truly needed but never figured out what. Sara’s creativity is also something that attracted me to her character. Her idea of unconventional yet striking shelf title was definitely amazing! If only we have a bookshop assistant like her in our town…

Let’s Move... to Broken Wheel!

I could not not talk about the people of Broken Wheel here. First impression about them I got from the scene of Sara’s arrival might not show anything engaging. But throughout the story, the delineation started to take shape as each resident made an appearance one after another and the story took turns focusing on them. I am personally drawn to George’s character, a fifty-something ex-alcoholic who nursed a deep longing to meet his daughter for years. His loyalness to Sara was really touching. Besides him, the other characters like Caroline, Jen, Grace, Andy, John, and Tom each has different personalities which made their small group even more interesting. The quirkiness of certain characters, the rigidness, the skeptical, and the overtly-worry habit created such unique combination that amusing and heartwarming at the same time. And the best part? These people loved plotting so much! There was this scene when a neighbor town looked condescendingly toward Broken Wheel’s new bookstore and Andy, being an enthusiast he is, plotted a scheme to defend the bookstore which already became part of their town. The plan was simple (rather a disaster, actually, and goodness! I couldn’t stop laughing those entire two chapters…) yet the purpose behind it was really deep. Reading about these people makes me feel like packing up my bags and moving in to Broken Wheel. And this is the feeling that I’m sure would not be solely mine.

Book about Books

I’ve never really read book about books before. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend managed to give me quite an excellent first experience in this. There was a lot of discussion about books ranging from classic to nowadays favorites. I also deeply enjoyed so many agreeable book-related opinions presented here. I love how the author threaded every scene with books, enriching the ‘book-about-books’ quality within, such as when she connected certain moments with analogies to the storyline from some popular books. The way Bivald wrote every part about books gave a clear impression of how much she loved books. There was a paragraph telling sixteen years old Sara broken down on the amount of classics books in the library she visited, worrying she could not read all of them even if she dedicates all her life just for reading. It strangely left me with a really warm feeling. Putting aside the other elements of the book, the scene of young Sara itself already successfully showed that it’s possible for someone to fall so deeply in love with books. It’s kind of beautiful and I, as an avid reader, found it quite magical.

Amy: A Pleasant (nonexistent) Character

Not having a physical appearance within the story didn’t lessen Amy’s role. Bivald built Amy’s character through series of letters she sent to Sara and spread the letters to each fitting chapters making it as if Amy was still there, among the other characters. Amy’s wisdom and passion that was captured on the letters indirectly became the bridge that connects people of Broken Wheel and Sara. And even without ‘meeting’ Amy in person, the readers still got a clear picture of what kind of character she is: an old lady who once, too, made a mistake in life yet found a warm solace through books and good companies.

Final Thought(s)

Despite its predictable ending (and cliché closing words), I felt like finding a warm closure in the end of the book. Some chapters were titled by score marks between ‘books’ and ‘life’ as to present Sara’s preference of books over life. The epilogue terminated the final result in which Bivald showed that both books and life, albeit their different ways, give a similar kind of comfort if being put in good balance. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend might be a book dedicated to books, but the author didn’t forget to slip an essential message that life and all the realities in it could be as good as book. Sara, though she’d been working among books for years, got to learn this important lesson in a town whose people hardly ever touch a book before. It’s kind of ironic yet aptly realistic and even brilliance to put it that way.

To the readers who in need of a good reminder of why they fall in love with books, Katarina Bivald’s The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend provides a pleasant answer in 400 pages of endearing journey of Sara, Broken Wheel town, and books that connect them.

SWEEPSTAKES CAMPAIGN

Independent publisher Sourcebooks announces the “Readers, Recommend Your Bookstore” campaign, which will give grant money to three nominated bookstores. The “Readers, Recommend Your Bookstore Campaign” is inspired by the phenomenal support booksellers have given The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, which was selected as the #1 Indie Next Great Read for January 2016. 

Anyone can nominate their favorite bookstore at:

Readers, Recommend Your Bookstore Sweepstakes

Sourcebooks will award the winning bookstore with a $3,000 prize; two additional bookstores will each receive a $637 prize (the population of Bivald's fictional Broken Wheel, Iowa). In addition to bookstores receiving prizes, weekly giveaways for those who nominate will be held throughout the campaign. Voting began January 4, and runs until February 19, when the winning bookstores will be announced!

GIVEAWAY!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katarina Bivald grew up working part-time in a bookshop. Today she lives in Alta, Sweden, with her sister and as many bookshelves as she can squeeze in. She has still not decided whether she prefers books or people. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is her first novel.

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