Book Reviews!

Writing-

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:56:59 -0400

I’m writing a young adult book and was wondering if anyone wants to read the first chapter and let me know what they think? It’s a work in progress, but I’d love some feedback. Message me if you’re interested!

The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith.

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:33:00 -0400

Quick Bio: I was intrigued by this book because of it’s cover, and by it’s long title that seemed overly complicated. This is the story of Hadley, who’s father is getting remarried only a short while after leaving her and her mother. She’s never met his bride to be because her future step mother and father live in London, and she lives in Connecticut. She is traveling to the wedding and misses her plane by four minutes. She meets a boy named Oliver, and there is an instant connection. The story progresses and in a 24 hour time period you find out all about what happens after the two board the plane, and what happens once they land in London.

My Rating: 6/10

My Thoughts: I found the concept of this book intriguing because of the time constraints the characters would be facing. I thought that multiple themes in the book like her connection with Oliver and family problems would make it interesting because so many things would be happening at once. I loved Hadley and Oliver’s relationship from the first encounter. Something that initially I liked was the 24 hour time period, but while reading I started to dislike this, because I wanted to read more about Oliver and Hadley. I normally like books that discuss marital problems or split families, but I was much more interested in the Oliver / Hadley aspect, that every time the other half of the story was being explored, I was annoyed, and I only wanted to read more about Oliver and Hadley. I loved Hadley, I found her to be a very interesting protagonist, and Oliver was equally charming. Maybe there will be a sequel because I felt like it was an abrupt ending, and I wanted to know more about what happened between the two.

Would I recommend this book? Maybe. I know there are a lot of people who love books with multiple themes at once, I just found this too distracting for such a short time period the book takes place during.

*****IF YOU WANT THE BOOK SPOILED******

So basically Hadley has a huge fight with her Mom because her Mom is making her go to her Dad’s wedding in London. I get not wanting to see your dad get re-married, but it’s London! You wouldn’t have to ask me twice to take a trip I didn’t have to pay for over there! So Hadley says a lot of annoyingly angsty mean things to her Mom before going to the airport. Then she misses her flight by 4 minutes. So she sits down and meets Oliver and then all of a sudden they’re friends, she clearly never learned stranger danger. But Oliver charmed Hadley and admittedly me as well into trusting him and spending time with him. Then they board the plane and SURPRISE they’re seated in the same row with one seat separating them. The cute little old lady sees they’re love connection and switches with Oliver so they can sit together. So they spend the 7 hour plane ride falling in ~~LOVE~~ essentially. They talk about how he goes to Yale and family and how they’re both going to weddings. Then there’s an almost kiss by some bathrooms, romantic. They get off the plane and are separated because Hadley is American and has to go through customs and he doesn’t. Okay can I just say I didn’t understand this part? Because even though Oliver is a citizen of the UK he was just in America too! Shouldn’t he have to go through customs too? I don’t travel much, so that might just be me being dumb. Moving on. So then Oliver fights through crowds of people and they kiss. And then they never see each other again THE END. Well, no. I wish the book ended there because the second half annoyed me. So basically she makes it to her Dad’s wedding 8 minutes late and the marriage happens. She starts to hate her stepmother to be less and less and then she overhears her stepmom say she’s pregnant. She gets upset by this news and hates this woman again. She also overhears some people saying they have to leave the wedding because they have a funeral at 2 in Paddington. She gets confused and then remembers Oliver said he was going to a church at 2 in Paddington. She makes the brilliant assumption that there’s only one church in Paddington and realizes she just assumed Oliver was going to a wedding and he’s really at a funeral. She also doesn’t stop to think there’s multiple churches in Paddington, and she’s just like “Hey Dad I’m leaving LOL BYE.” Uh… ok. She just leaves the wedding even though she’s in the bridal party and travels to Paddington. It is a funeral and it’s for Oliver’s Dad. So they see each other and she starts bossing him around telling him to forgive his Dad ect ect. Then he’s gets understandably mad because she’s annoyingly bossy and assumes things about people she’s known for like 7 hours. She goes back to the hotel where the reception is being held and tells her Dad everything about her day and Oliver. Then there’s this big sentimental moment and she forgives her Dad for cheating on her mom, moving to London, never coming home, and divorcing her Mom after like a 20 minute conversation… right. So then the reception happens and she goes outside for air and Oliver is there. All is forgiven and he realizes she’s right about forgiving his Dad. They kiss and go inside and dance to a slow song. And then it ends. No mention of if they stay together when they go back to Connecticut, no mention of anything. Oh by the way her stepmom isn’t pregnant she was just wishing she would get pregnant ASAP… oh okay. THE END.

Saving June - Hannah Harrington.

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:30:00 -0400

Quick Bio: Saving June grabbed my interest as soon as I read the description. Harper Scott’s older sister June kills herself right before her high school graduation. She leaves behind her younger sister, her mother, and other less important family members wondering why she went to such drastic measures, without leaving a note to explain why. June had always dreamed of moving to California, so Harper decides to steal June’s ashes and run away to California with her best friend Laney and a friend of June’s, Jake. The trio makes numerous stops on the way and meets a lot of interesting people on the way to California.

My Rating: 3/10

My Thoughts: I really, REALLY wanted to love this book. I was very intrigued that June didn’t leave a note, and I was curious to know her reasons. I found the main character to be seriously annoying. I tried to feel sorry for her because of her loss, but she was just so obnoxious. There were times in the story that it really dragged, and parts I seriously rolled my eyes. The ending was not to my liking at all. Between Jake’s secret and Laney’s big surprise, I felt like the author was trying to add in a shock value to make the reader enjoy the book more. I will admit I did cry a little bit towards the end, I won’t spoil what made this happen, but if you do choose to read it, you’ll probably know when. All in all, I think I had very high expectations, and I was not really impressed.

Would I recommend this book? No. If you do want to read it I’d say you should be 15+, because there are a lot of mature themes like drugs, drinking, suicide, sex, violence, ect.

*****If you want the book spoiled*****

SPOILERS: The trio steals the ashes and heads to California. Laney (the best friend) randomly falls in love with this weed smoking boy saving himself for marriage and then finds out she’s pregnant towards the end of the book. She wants an abortion and one day she just loses the baby… HOW REALISTIC. Jake and Harper have this love hate relationship and finally have sex after what seems like years of reading about their sexual tension. She loses her virginity to him, and then they both act like freaks and start hating each other again. Then in California the trio throws the ashes into the ocean. And then Harper throws the vase into the ocean after, which in my opinion is stupid and also littering. I was really hoping Jake would have called her family to California and they all would throw the ashes together, but that would just make too much sense I guess. Then they go back to some random friend’s house that I didn’t care about and SURPRISE. Jake had accidentally taken June’s notebook and had her suicide note all along. Instead of giving it to her throughout the book when she repeatedly wondered why there was no note, he just didn’t say anything. Obviously Harper is furious and hates him and she and Laney fly home without him. Harper refuses to read the letter even though THE WHOLE BOOK is about her wanting to know why June killed herself. Her Mom doesn’t kill her for stealing her sister’s ashes and throwing them into an ocean without permission…. which I found all sorts of ridiculous. My parents would seriously have murdered me. Then Harper FINALLY reads the letter and June did it because she was sad all the time. I was really hoping for some reason that no one would see coming like she was pregnant or failed out of school or SOMETHING. But it was because she was sad and couldn’t stop being depressed. I did cry a little at this part because suicide is just so depressing. Then Harper goes to see Jake, shocker. She’s still really mad but then they just start making out. And then it ends… so yeah. Not the worst book I’ve read, but certainly not the best.

Sad times!

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:27:00 -0400

Pretty mad at myself because I logged out of my normal tumblr, and can’t remember my log in email! So I had to make this new account :( I’m just going to copy and paste my previous reviews on here and then I’ll start writing new ones! Lots of love, xoxo!