Past Perfect

Hello everybody! Can you believe I've only read one book this summer so far? Sad, right? I know. I've just been so busy, but here I am!
I read Past Perfect by Leila Sales, and I actually really enjoyed it!

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

Well, I read this book a little while ago so I'm really trying to jog up my memory here but, I can however remember how funny this book was. Of course I say that about almost every book I read, but that's only because they are! Chelsea is a quirky, fun, smart character who made laugh with every page turn. She made the book what it is.
I thought the book did a nice job of capturing my attention from the very first page, I couldn't put it down. Chelsea's humor and the romance in this book was just irresistible.
I did have my downsides to this book though. Towards the end, I felt like the pacing was a little slow for me. I just wanted to skim all the parts until I got to the end and found out what happened. I thought it was just dragging towards the end, unlike the beginning, which was filled with exciting events. And also, the ending was not my favorite. It felt too abrupt and sort of like a cliffhanger, I wish Sales would have elaborated more on that.
Otherwise, I found this book a very nice, summer read filled with romance, charm, and everything in between! I'd say, definitely pick it up this summer!

Pandemonium

Well, everyone, I am more than happy to say that SUMMER IS HERE!!! I have been waiting for this since day August, when school started. Now, I'm ready to read some great books and review them! First up, the book I have been obsessing and waiting for for AGES, it is...
Book: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

 Even this summary sounds super duper awesome. Pandemonium is the sequel of Delirium, if you hadn't already figured that out, and is also one of my all time favorite books. I had very, very high expectations for this book, and I am happy to say that they were met. Now, Delirium was such a beautiful and amazing book that I'd say it's hard to read a sequel that's just as good, but Pandemonium definitely pulled it off.
First of all, Lena has completely changed. In a good way. She' s gone from dependent and careful, to totally butt-kicking, outgoing, and awesome in general. She's strong and brave, and she feels like a real person. I'm a writer myself, and I don't even like my own characters, it's hard to make a character likable. But Lauren Oliver manages to oh-so-beautifully create this lovable character and make me feel as though she's my very best friend. And so I refuse to believe that Lena is fictional.
There was a flaw to this book though, I never said it was flawless. But the flaw is minor, something that is easily forgotten once you get lost in the riveting events in the book. The pace was a little slow at first. The book is divided into Then and Now chapters, and throughout the Then chapters I found myself skimming ahead because I wanted to see what happened next. But the Now chapters were so full of action that if you missed a page, you'd be totally confused at what happened. They gripped me from the very beginning and kept me holding on through the end. Now, the Then chapters did get better as the book went along, so it wasn't completely slow, just the beginning.
The plot of this book was fabulous. I found out things that made my jaw drop, and my heart was pounding during most of the book. It's not something you can just guess the ending of, you just have to keep reading and find out for yourself. I was never really bored other than the few The chapters in the beginning, the story is filled with events that will leave you wanting more. Oh and of course, Lauren Oliver decided to leave me with another cliff hanger, one that's even worse than Delirium's, and whoever though that would be possible!
And if you're wondering about Alex, I'm keeping quiet about him, you'll just have to read the book for yourself!

 

Hang in There!

I know, I know. I haven't been on in so long. I'm disappointed, too. But the truth is, I've been so super duper busy! I just stopped by to tell you guys to hang in there, because school is almost out and once summer comes around, I'm gonna be on here 24/7!
So sorry I haven't been reviewing as often as I should, there's only 27 school days left until freedom!

My Booksie Account

Hey guys! I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week, because I sure have! I'm having a great time relaxing this Spring Break, and I can't believe it's almost over. I just want more time to read and have fun. Anyways, I don't know if you guys know this about me or not, but I love to write novels, and I wrote one last year. So this year I'm starting on a new project. I'll post an excerpt of it on here, and if you guys want to read more, visit my Booksie account!
On Booksie I will post some other things I'm working on and you can read and comment and even follow me! I'd appreciate it if you guys went and visited it and left me some tips.
You can find my account under Destiny Fae, or just click here.
Here's the excerpt:

August

     Maybe it was chance. Or fate, or whatever the heck you wanna call it. Maybe it was just pure coincidence. Or maybe I’m just crazy enough to think it was anything at all. It could have been all those things, or maybe just one. But I’ll never know.

            And that’s probably the hardest part, never quite knowing what happened. All I have is the scattered pictures, tiny memories, and the still echoing thoughts of those days, swirling in my brain.

            It seems like a whole lifetime ago, maybe even longer. But the date is clearly marked on the calendar, exactly thirty one days ago. I sigh. I thought I could forget, not look back, think of everything that was ahead of me and leave everything that was behind.

            Turns out forgetting is easier said than done.

Hallowed

I have been waiting forever to review this book, because I absolutely love it. I can't believe that I have to wait a whole another year to read the next book, because I simply can't wait that long!

Book: Hallowed (Unearthly #2)
Author: Cynthia Hand
For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and  beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning. In this compelling sequel to "Unearthly," Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.
WOW. WOW WOW WOW. Wow times a million. 

I love this book so much. I don't think I can fit how much I loved this book into a tiny review. I could write a book about how much I loved this book. As you can see, I'm a little obsessed, and you should be too. 

I have been hotly anticipating Hallowed for just about a year now, and I had the greatest expectations. Well, I have to say then that my expectations were met. I'm so happy they were. I hate it when sequels don't do as good as their previous books. But don't worry, Hallowed wasn't one of those books! 

As usual, Cynthia Hand manages to deliver a spectacularly beautiful and charming book that fills up every aspect of a good read (Scratch that, an AMAZING READ). Clara was and still is one of my favorite main characters. She's insanely smart and always manages to make me smile, she's pretty much hilarious. That's one of my favorite things about Cynthia Hand's books, they are hilarious. Like make you crack up out loud in a quiet room hilarious. I adore those kinds of books. 

Oh and of course, there's another character I need to talk about. TUCKER. Tucker Avery, the most amazing, awesome, adorable, main character you will ever read about. Tucker was just as great in this book as the previous, and not to mention he was HOT! Sorry I sort of have a thing for cowboys. The only thing that nagged me was that we didn't get to know him as well as we did in the previous book, we didn't get to read as much about him. Instead we learned about a different character, who's name is not to be mentioned. But still, Tucker was amazing

Hallowed had a great plot line, one that made you think one thing but then a whole another thing happened. It was filled with great twists. I loved the depth of each one of the characters, it made you feel what they're feeling and actually care about them. I loved that. It made the book feel very real. 

One of the best parts of this book was the beautiful writing, the oh so beautiful writing. Not only in describing but just the tone and the things said. I actually cried a lot in this book because of that. Cynthia Hand manages to touch your heart with this book all the while keeping you intrigued and laughing along, and crying along too I guess. The pace of the book was just perfect, it was equally balanced and I felt as though everything in the book had a reason and it wasn't just the author blabbing on. Everything in this book was just great, and the ending was killer, I don't know if I can make it until next year. Overall, Hallowed exceeded Unearthly and I LOVED it. It was amazing!!! So if you're hesitating to read this book, I say, don't! Go read it now because you are missing out on a truly, truly amazing book!

 

 

Anna and the French Kiss

Hello fellow readers, I feel really bad for leaving you guys for so long! But the weekend is here, (and almost over, I might add) and I found myself some spare time to do some reviews. I've just been really busy with school and stuff, but now I'm here! I read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins a while back and I LOVED it. Here's the review:

Book: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?
I had been wanting to read this book for a long time, but I didn't think it'd be anything special. But let me just say, this book was special. It turned out to be an amazing, funny, beautiful read. The story grasped me from the very beginning, Anna's charm and humor made me never want to put the book down. And of course, St. Clair was amazing too. He was hilarious and such a nice guy. Plus, he felt real and not just another perfect fictional guy who tried too hard. He was just St. Clair, and he was amazing. The story's pacing was just right, I thought. I was never bored in the book, in fact I was so intrigued that I stayed up late on a school night. That says something right there. I know I've said this a lot, but seriously, this book is hilarious. Stephanie Perkins managed to make me laugh at every second in the book. But aside from the comedy, this book had a great plot line. And even though it seems like a boring story, it's not. It takes a great author to turn something that seems boring to something extraordinary. And Stephanie Perkins did just that. She made me fall in love with the book.
This might be a short review, but don't focus on that, just go and read the book!

Pandemonium is HERE!!! (And Other Things)

WOW. I can't believe the day is finally here!!! Delirium #2, the book I have been waiting for for over a year now is finally here!!!!!!!! GO AND BUY IT. NOW! I'm so excited, but unfortunately I have to wait because the bookstore here in town doesn't have it. :(. Sad right? Anyways, two other great books are coming out soon. They are Hex Hall #3 (Spell Bound), and Gallagher Girls #5, I'm so excited! This is a great month for great new releases.
Oh and by the way, The Lying Game #3 came out last week, I'm excited for that one too!

New Release:

Coming Out on March 13th:

Came out Last Week:

Never Have I Ever

Oh my gosh, I am so so so glad that finals are over! And now we have a 4 day weekend, which gives me plenty of time to read tons of good books. I just realized this is going to be my first post of 2012, wow! Ok, so I read Never Have I Ever a little while ago and finally had time to get in a review. I really really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait for the next one. This is the second in The Lying Game series by Sara Shepard.

Sara Shepard, the author of the Pretty Little Liars novels, has followed up those top-selling fictions with an even more artfully knotted series. At its center is a murdered narrator whose long-lost identical twin sister Emma is serving as a stand-in detective to find the killer. In the second episode of their hunt, the pair discovers new clues, but they know that as they search for the killer, he or she is watching their every move, waiting for the right moment to end it all. 
So there's another short summary from Goodreads, but this time it's ok because anything else will give away this book. This book was a lot more suspenseful than the last and a lot more things were resolved in this one, which I liked a lot. There were just some parts of the book that were super suspenseful where I was gripping my seat to find out what came next. I think that really made it interesting for me. And also, we got to find out a little more about Sutton herself and we find some new secrets about some Lying Game pranks. It was much more fast paced also. I love how relationships really developed in this book, like between Sutton's parents and Emma and also Laurel, too. It made the characters feel more real and alive. This book was unexpected also, I would have never seen the ending coming even if it was staring me right in the face. I think this book was very well thought out and it made me be just as amazed as I was in Pretty Little Liars. This turned out to be a short review, but overall I really adored this book and could not set it down. It just grasped me from the very beginning. Fans of Pretty Little Liars should definitely pick this series up. 

* * * * *

4.5 Stars