Tag: YA

NA Romance, Reviews

Book Review: Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

Veronica Porras (TTB)

pushing-the-limitsGoodreads Summary:

So wrong for each other… and yet so right.No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can PUSH THE LIMITS and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her HOW TO LOVE AGAIN.

What I liked:

Oh Boy, there is a lot I liked in this book! I liked that we had both Echo’s and Noah’s point of view. I also liked the way the background of the characters was presented in the book because it did not bore me. It didn’t feel like I was being given background information. What I mean by that is that sometimes in some books when the author is giving background information, it seems to drag on forever and I start getting impatient. Also, the pace of the novel was perfect. It wasn’t too slow or too fast. I also enjoyed that the characters in the book were relatable and I was able to empathize.

What I disliked:

The writing could have been a little better. It wasn’t bad, but some sentences felt awkward to me. I wish we would have known a little more about Echo’s mother and Beth. I know this will make me sound nit-picky but I didn’t like the font they used for Noah.

Overall:

I really liked this book. It got me out of the reading funk I was in. I had just finished Clockwork Prince and couldn’t seem to read anything else after that. I guess I was in a book hangover type of situation. Pushing The Limits wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t a light book either. As the tumblr book community would say, This book wasn’t too hard on the feels. I encourage you guys to read this book. You won’t regret it. 🙂

Rating: 4/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Editor Letter

May (A sort of hiatus)

Veronica Porras (TTB)

Hello everyone!

I am in the last two weeks of school, then a week of finals, and at the end of that week, I graduate! It’s crunch time for me so I have canceled Book Blast from the Past and Book Spotlight for this month. I will continue to do my normal reviews (If I can find time to read and do all of my final papers and assignments) and I will definitely continue to do the Top Ten Tuesday meme because I need some fun and consistency in this blog. The blog will return to normal in the month of June.

Happy Reading!

Special Review, YA Paranormal

Special Review: A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Veronica Porras (TTB)

A-Corner-of-White

I was provided with a copy of this book by NetGalley & Scholastic. Thank you very much for approving my request.

Goodreads Summary:

The first in a rousing, funny, genre-busting trilogy from bestseller Jaclyn Moriarty!

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).

Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot’s dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.

As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds — through an accidental gap that hasn’t appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called “color storms;” a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the “Butterfly Child,” whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses.

Review:

I am going to start off with a food analogy to explain how this book was for me. It was like a big juicy delicious looking steak without the seasoning. It was missing something. I liked the idea of the book. I loved how Moriarty build the world in the book but I wasn’t swept away by the story. This had so much potential for being great. I really wish I wasn’t giving it a bad review. This book did not move me and the characters, especially Belle and Jack didn’t move me. Kala didn’t add much to the story either. The only character I liked was Elliot. I felt nothing special for Madeline.

Overall, this book could have been better. Part of the reason why this book did not move me was the writing. It was strange and it took me a while to get used to it.

Sidenote: I love the cover art for this book. It’s so beautiful. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book

Veronica Porras (TTB)

toptentuesday-1Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is about…impulse buys and I guess it was time the world knew what made me say, “Take my money!” (Oh Tumblr Memes…). Thank you The Broke and The Bookish for creating such fun meme’s, even if it does mean that the world will find out about my bad impulsive buying habits.

This week I will not be doing Top Ten but Top Five instead. (I’m currently writing two big term papers. That is my excuse.)

TOP FIVE TOPICS THAT INSTANTLY MAKE ME BUY/PICK UP A BOOK

1. Spies

I’ve secretly wanted to be a spy all my life but I lack the skills and um physical fitness needed for that type of job.

2. Thief/Con Artist

I love a good con. This explains my continuing support of the Heist Society Series by Ally Carter and the USA Network TV show, White Collar.

3. Boarding School

I’ve always lived at home and when it was time to go to college, I picked a university that was an hour and a half away from home. I guess I’ve always wanted to move thousands of miles away and see how that is. The only way I can experience that is through books.

4. Setting: Europe

I think Ana and the French Kiss and 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I love those two books. Now I want to go to Europe.

5. Dystopian (Ex: Divergent, The Hunger Games, or The Selection)

I get these moments when all I want to read is dystopian books. I’ve been a fan of dystopian books since I was in middle school. My favorite dystopian novel then was “The Bar Code Tattoo”. I kind of want to re-read now since it has been almost a decade since I last read it.

 

What are some topics that dissolve your strong will and make you resort to impulsive buying? Come on now… We all have at least one. 😉

Reviews, ya contemporary

Short Book Review: Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald

Veronica Porras (TTB)
Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald
Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald

Goodreads Summary:

Take an administrative snafu, a bad breakup, and “The Hot-Tub Incident,” and you’ve got two thoroughly unprepared sophomores on a semester abroad. For American party girl Tasha, an escape to Oxford may be a chance to ditch her fame as a tabloid temptress, but wading Uggs-deep in feminist theory is not her idea of a break. Meanwhile, the British half of the exchange, studious Emily, nurses an aching heart amid the bikinis and beer pong of U.C. Santa Barbara. With an anthropologist’s eye for detail and a true ear for teen-speak, Abby McDonald crafts a funny, fast-paced, poignant look at survival, sisterhood, and the surprising ways we discover our true selves.

Review:

Folks, this is what I call good Realist Young Adult Contemporary Fiction. Phew… that was a long title but I want you to know what this book is all about. The first novel I read by Abby McDonald was Getting Over Garrett Delaney and it is one of my favorite novels to date. I’m pretty sure most of you know that by now. I believe this book was the first book she wrote for YA (Don’t quote me on that, I haven’t researched all of her completed works yet) and it was almost as Good as GOGD. This book was a little slow and almost a bit blah in the first one hundred pages, but after that, I remembered why Abby McDonald has become one of my favorite authors of this time. I’m a little tired of books that are too hard on my emotions and this book did connect me emotionally to the story but it did not rip me to shreds. Thank you Abby McDonald for taking care of my feelings.

This is a must read for everyone. Well, if you like YA or realist books that is. 🙂

Caution: This book is marked as Age 14 and up. It does not contain mature content but people openly talk about having sex in the book but they never describe sex at all. Just a warning to parents.

Rating: 4/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Reviews, YA Dystopian

Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

Veronica Porras (TTB)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Goodreads:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth’s much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

What I liked:

I liked that Insurgent had the same feeling of dread, excitement, and heart pounding adrenaline that Divergent had. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole entire time. The ending was… perfect. Veronica Roth is the only author I approve of using that type of torturous cliffhanger on me.

What I disliked:

I don’t really have anything negative to say about the book except that I kept thinking, “Dear women let me breath!!” At the same time, it is also why I like it. I am a very complicated person when it comes to this series. It also seemed that Insurgent lacked the ‘love’ part of the story. What redeemed the lack of love in the book was the ending, when Four did what he did (if you read this book already, you know what he did) and believed Tris. The understanding and loyalty between these two just gets to me. They may just be one of my favorite pairings at the moment.

Overall:

Insurgent was phenomenal. I loved every second of it and I can only hope Allegiant is going to be as good as the first two books in the trilogy.

Rating: 5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Random

Mash: Book Blog Edition

Veronica Porras (TTB)

Jesse the Reader started the MASH: Book Edition Tag on Youtube and I’m bringing it over to the written format!

I played MASH many times when I was young (well I am still young but I am in my twenties, not in my tweens anymore) and this made me reminisce to a time where things were simpler and all of our life decisions were made by this simple little game.

All of the names, places, etc., must exist only in Book World’s. The categories I will be using I took from PolandBananasBooks and her list is longer than Jesse’s.

Categories are:

  • Future Husband
  • Best friend
  • Where will I live?
  • Mode of Transportation
  • Job

Here I go!

MASH

Future Husband:

  1. Tobias
  2. Will Herondale
  3. Adrian Ivashkov
  4. Eddie Castile
  5. Jem
  6. Hale

Best Friend:

  1. Elizabeth Sutton
  2. Rose Hathaway
  3. Ana
  4. Rebecca Baxter
  5. Kat Bishop
  6. Tessa Grey

Where Will I live?

  1. Gallagher Academy
  2. Uncle Eddie’s (from Heist Society)
  3. Divergent World
  4. London (TID)
  5. Paris, France (Anna and the French Kiss)
  6. Delirium World

Mode of Transportation

  1. Public Transportation
  2. Carriage
  3. A Classic Mustang
  4. Jet/Airplane
  5. Flying
  6. My own two feet

Job

  1. Government Spy
  2. A Con
  3. A school professor
  4. Police Officer (Delirium)
  5. Author
  6. In charge of Dauntless Initiation (Divergent World)

I got the number six, now let’s eliminate some choices!

Results:

  • Future Husband: Adrian Ivashkov
  • Best Friend: Ana 
  • Place: Uncle Eddie’s
  • Transportation: Carriage
  • Job: Author
  • And I will live in a Mansion.

Well, this was fun and it makes no sense.

“I will marry Adrian and we will live at Uncle Eddie’s in NYC even though we have a Mansion, unless Uncle Eddie stole the Mansion which means his new place is a mansion. My best friend will be Ana. I will move around town in a Carriage and I will work as an author.”

Totally makes sense right?

Here is a picture of my “great penmanship” where I played MASH.

My MASH: Book Edition on paper.
My MASH: Book Edition on paper.

I messed up the first time so I had to re-do everything again. That’s why my writing is no longer coherent. Oops.

Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Tuesday REWIND: Top Ten Books I Loved But Never Wrote A Review For

Veronica Porras (TTB)

toptentuesday-1

 

I haven’t been doing the Top Ten Tuesday posts for that long so I went back to the Top Ten Tuesday Archives of The Broke and The Bookish, who are hosting this lovely Tuesday meme, and I found a Top Ten I would have liked to do. At first, I thought it was going to be easy but then I noticed I’ve done a review on almost every book I’ve read this year. This Top Ten Tuesday ended up being much harder than I originally thought. Without further blabbering from my part, here is my Top Ten list for this week!

Top Ten Books I Loved But Never Wrote A Review For:

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

2. The Selection by Kiera Cass

3. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

4. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

4. The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler

5. The Daughters (the whole series) by Joanna Philip

6. Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

7. The Liar Society by Lisa Roecker

8. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

9. Love Story by Jennifer Echols

10. Vampire Academy (the whole series) by Richelle Mead

 

 

Which books would you like to review if you had the chance?

Book Blast from the Past

Book Blast from the Past Review: That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Veronica Porras (TTB)
That Summer by Sarah Dessen
That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Originally Published: 1996

Copy Read: Reprinted 2012 edition

Publisher: Speak (An Imprint of Penguin Group USA)

Goodreads Summary:

For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She’s nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister—the always perfect Ashley—is planning a wedding of her own. Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were. Then an old boyfriend of Ashley’s reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

What I liked:

There is something about Sarah Dessen’s writing that I can’t get enough of. It seems to be personal and impersonal at the same time. Haven’s journey throughout the book had a nice pace to it. It did not feel rushed but it also wasn’t slow either. There was a nice balance with flashbacks to the summer where everything was perfect and to the present where everything was in chaos. This book showed a teenage girl’s journey of growing up and seeing that the world isn’t just black and white, and not everything we see is as it seems.

What I disliked:

The ending wasn’t enough for me. I wished I could have seen more resolution in Haven’s life but knowing Sarah Dessen and her style of writing and structure, the ending I got was as much as I would get.

Overall:

That Summer is your typical Sarah Dessen novel. I enjoyed it and it wasn’t as sad as I thought it might me and that was good because I don’t think I could have handled sad. If you guys want to know what Sarah Dessen is all about, read her debut novel. It is not her best work but it is what started it all.

Rating: 5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it.

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it (A fun read).

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Editor Letter, To-Read

April Book Blast from the Past Preview

Veronica Porras (TTB)
That Summer by Sarah Dessen
That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I will be doing Book Blast from the Past on That Summer by Sarah Dessen. If you guys want to know what it is about here is the Goodreads Summary:

For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She’s nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister—the always perfect Ashley—is planning a wedding of her own. Haven wishes things could just go back to the way they were. Then an old boyfriend of Ashley’s reenters the picture, and through him, Haven sees the past for what it really was, and comes to grips with the future.

Happy Reading!