Alyssa’s Reviews – The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

It felt like ages since I had read a mystery/thriller novel, so when I was sent THE STARTER WIFE by Nina Laurin from HBG Canada, I thought that this one would be the perfect one to read now! And boy, am I glad I picked up this one!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Local police have announced that they’re closing the investigation of the suspected drowning of 37-year-old painter Colleen Westcott. She disappeared on April 11, 2010, and her car was found parked near the waterfront in Cleveland two days later, but her body has never been found. The chief of police has stated that no concrete evidence of foul play has been discovered in the probe.
I close the online search window, annoyed. These articles never have enough detail. They think my husband’s first wife disappeared or they think she is dead. There’s a big difference.
My phone rings, jarring me away from my thoughts, and when I pick it up, it’s an unknown number. The only answer to my slightly breathless hello is empty static.
When the voice does finally come, it’s female, low, muffled somehow. “Where is it, Claire? What did you do with it? Tell me where it is.”
A woman. A real flesh-and-blood woman on the other end of the phone. She’s not just in my head.
A wave of panic spreads under my skin like ice water. It’s Colleen.

Everything about this book blew me away. From the writing style, to the characters and the overall suspense of this story, this one will easily be remembered as one of my favourite domestic thrillers of all time.

The writing in this novel was by far some of the best I have ever read, period. It was fantastic and truly made this book seem so thrilling. In this novel, one of the main questions during the first two-thirds of the novel is “Who is the second perspective?”, as you only know one of the main perspectives in this book at the beginning of the story. I have NEVER read a book written like this, and couldn’t get enough of it! By the 150 page mark, I thought that the second perspective was one of three different people! And let me tell you – you will never guess the second perspective reveal! It was quite honestly one of the best plot twists I have ever read in a thriller!

This book contained SO many shocking twists and reveals that I never saw coming! After nearly every chapter, there is some sort of plot twist that throws you completely off guard, and those twists will make you sit on the edge of your seat. How Nina came up with some of these ideas is beyond me!

One of the most interesting parts of this novel is that practically every main theme in this novel is a spoiler. You really can’t talk about what really happens in this book without giving anything away, but I will tell you this. The quote “Where is it, Claire? What did you do with it? Tell me where it is.” which is found in the synopsis, is actually a huge spoiler, but you won’t have any clue why until you pass the 200 page mark in this book!

By the time I reached the end of the novel, I had predicted one of the main reveals, but the final twist/reveal was super interesting and unpredictable. It was interesting because you never really end up knowing what happens, even though it is not ended openly.

This is one of those books that you need to re-read while the story is still fresh in your mind. I noticed that all of the events connect so seemlessly with eachother, but you won’t notice that at all while reading this story. I cannot emphasize how spectacular the writing and plot building was in this novel, and you won’t understand it until you read it yourself!

Overall, I absolutely loved this brilliant novel and rated it 5/5 stars! Thanks to HBG Canada for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

SCREEN QUEENS by Lori Goldstein has been on my radar since the end of last year! I had been SO excited for this book, and it was in the top spot of my most anticipated books of 2019 list! I was so grateful to find this one in my mailbox at the beginning of the year, and I was so excited to read it! But, did this book live up to my highest expectations? Keep reading this review to find out!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

The Bold Type meets The Social Network when three girls vying for prestigious summer internships through a startup incubator program uncover the truth about what it means to succeed in the male-dominated world of tech.
This summer Silicon Valley is a girls’ club.
Three thousand applicants. An acceptance rate of two percent. A dream internship for the winning team. ValleyStart is the most prestigious high school tech incubator competition in the country. Lucy Katz, Maddie Li, and Delia Meyer have secured their spots. And they’ve come to win.
Meet the Screen Queens.
Lucy Katz was born and raised in Palo Alto, so tech, well, it runs in her blood. A social butterfly and CEO in-the-making, Lucy is ready to win and party.
East Coast designer, Maddie Li left her home and small business behind for a summer at ValleyStart. Maddie thinks she’s only there to bolster her graphic design portfolio, not to make friends.
Delia Meyer taught herself how to code on a hand-me-down computer in her tiny Midwestern town. Now, it’s time for the big leagues–ValleyStart–but super shy Delia isn’t sure if she can hack it (pun intended).
When the competition kicks off, Lucy, Maddie, and Delia realize just how challenging the next five weeks will be. As if there wasn’t enough pressure already, the girls learn that they would be the only all-female team to win ever. Add in one first love, a two-faced mentor, and an ex-boyfriend turned nemesis and things get…complicated.

While this book was at the top of my most anticipated releases on 2019, I’m sad to say that it didn’t meet my expectations. The first few chapters started off very strong, but I found the majority of the book to be quite boring. Not all of the scenes were relevant to the overall flow of the story, and it didn’t solve the main problem until the very very end of the story.

The characters in this novel were just OK to me. I really loved how the three main characters all came from different cultures and backgrounds, but I would have loved to have explored that aspect of the story even more. Other than that, the characters weren’t anything special. They seemed like the basic, teenage female characters that you can find in a lot of other YA novels. I couldn’t seem to connect with the characters as much as I would have liked to, and I also felt like I didn’t get to know them enough within this 350 page book. However, they did develop and form a strong friendship throughout the story, which I enjoyed immensely.

I loved all of the tech aspects in the story. This book had a high focus on silicone valley and the tech industry in the female perspective, which I found super interesting to read about. One of my favourite scenes in the book was when they talked to famous female CEO’s, as I found their mature perspectives interesting.

The family dynamics within this book was definitely my favourite part to read about! I loved seeing the very different relationships that the three main characters had with their parents or siblings. This book truly represented several variations of teen + family interactions/relationships, which I really enjoyed reading about.

The main issue I had with this story was the writing. I found it super hard to follow most of the time, and I had a hard time visualizing a lot of the scenes. At times it was very choppy and didn’t make much sense. I also really disliked the third person writing style used in this book, as it felt like it was written in first person but then changed to third throughout the chapter. I think this book would have been way better had it been written in first person perspective with three different POVs (one for each of the main characters).

If you are looking for a book that features strong female teens trying to breakthrough the tech-industry, I recommend picking this one up! Overall, I rated it 3.25/5 stars.

Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

 

 

Alyssa’s Reviews – The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez (FC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

If you follow my blog and want to choose just one book to read based off of my reviews/recommendations, PLEASE let it be this book! THE FRIEND ZONE by Abby Jimenez may be the BEST book I read all year. I read it in just over 24 hours, and it was absolutely incredible.

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Kristen Petersen doesn’t do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don’t get her. She’s also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.
Planning her best friend’s wedding is bittersweet for Kristen–especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He’s funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he’d be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it’s harder and harder to keep him at arm’s length.
The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

As I said at the beginning of this post, this book was absolutely phenomenal. The characters, plot, and writing were just the top highlights of this book, as literally everything was great!

Kristen and Josh, the two main protagonists, were the best part of this story. They were both incredible and fully developed characters, the provided a lot of thought provoking dialogue. I have never connected to a character more than Kristen. While we do not share the same medical troubles, I still saw so much of myself in her. From her powerful but sarcastic attitude, caring more about other people than herself, and her obsessive tendencies, I couldn’t help but think of myself when I was reading from her perspective. I also obviously LOVED Josh. I think readers will become obsessed with him simply because most of us want to date someone similar to him! Their friendship (no spoilers here!) dynamic was fantastic, and I loved every part of it.

I have never felt more emotional when reading a book. After practically every chapter, I had to stop myself and take a deep breath along with a chuckle or cry! It was so easy to immerse myself into this story and feel all of the emotions for all of the characters in this novel.

The writing in this novel was fantastic! It was super fast paced, while also being able to create a slow and steady romance. The writing never felt choppy or odd, and the writing styled stayed the exact same throughout the entirety of the novel. Every chapter was relevant to the flow of the story, which made me highly anticipate each section.

As I said before, this story felt so incredibly real. There was a strong focus on women’s health throughout this novel, which wasn’t something I’ve ever read before. This book didn’t skip over real life issues, which made it so much different than other adult romance/contemporary stories. It also helped contribute to why I felt so emotional while reading the story.

Overall, I absolutely love love LOVED this novel, and rated it 5/5 stars. Thanks to Hachette Book Group Canada for the finished copy!

It’s crazy to think that as of right now, my top two books of 2019 were both debut novels, written by debut authors. It is so cool to see that there is so much to look forward to in the world of books over the next several years!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Do love survival stories set in jungles featuring an array of high school students? Then boy oh boy, do I have a book for you!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Survival. It’s a concept these high school students never had to consider–until their plane crashes in a remote rainforest with no adults left alive. With many of them falling prey to threats from both the jungle and man, they soon realize that danger comes in many sinister forms.
Tom Calloway didn’t want to go on a field trip to Costa Rica, but circumstances had him ending up sitting in the back of the plane–which was the only part that was intact after the crash in the remote South American wilderness. Tom and a small group of his classmates are fortunate to be alive, but their luck quickly runs out when some of them fall prey to the unfamiliar threats of the jungle–animals, reptiles, insects, and even the unforgiving heat. Every decision they make could mean life or death.
As the days go by and the survivors’ desperation grows, things get even more perilous. Not everyone can cope with the trauma of seeing their friends die, and a struggle for leadership soon pits them against each other. And when they come across evidence of other people in the middle of the rainforest, does that mean they’re safe–or has their survival come to an even more vicious end?

This book was really interesting, but unfortunately I didn’t love it.

The beginning of the book started off really strong. I LOVED the prologue, and truly don’t think I’ve ever read a better one! The first 50 pages were also excellent and written very well. However, it slowly went downhill from there. By the end of the book, I thought that it started to drag on. This book could definitely have been cut by at least 100 pages. At least 100 pages of the book were them walking through the jungle and discussing there food/drink supply, and how they all hated Joel, their “leader”. The ending was also super anti-climactic and really sudden. It felt very forced, which I obviously did not enjoy.

Within the first 50 or so pages, a conspiracy theory is brought up regarding why their plane crashed. I would have loved to have dived deeper into the theory, as I thought it was super interesting. And while it makes sense that no questions/theories were ever solved, I would have had such a better time reading about this if the theory was discussed more.

The characters in this book were quite good, but by the end I found them annoying and their dialogue very, very, VERY repetitive. I swear they said the same five things 100+ times throughout the book!

Overall, I didn’t love this story, and rated it 2.5/5 stars. However, if you enjoy survival stories, I would definitely give this one a try!

Thanks to Hachette Book Group for sending the ARC my way!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Do you ever read a book over the span of a few days and literally love every second of it?! This was my experience with AMELIA WESTLAKE WAS NEVER HERE by Erin Gough! This book released in early April 2018 in the UK, and was released in North America just a few weeks ago.

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Two very different girls, and one giant hoax that could change – or ruin – everything.
Harriet Price has the perfect life: she’s a prefect at Rosemead Grammar, she lives in a mansion, and her gorgeous girlfriend is a future prime minister. So when she risks it all by creating a hoax to expose the school’s many problems – with help from notorious bad-girl Will Everheart, no less – Harriet tells herself it’s because she’s seeking justice. And definitely not because she finds Will oddly fascinating.
But as Will and Harriet’s campaign heats up, it gets harder for them to remain sworn enemies – and to avoid being caught. As tensions burn throughout the school, how far will they go to keep their mission – and their feelings for each other – a secret?

This book was EVERYTHING I love in YA contemporary novels! It featured two fierce female characters, an all girls private school setting, and some amazing turning points.

Will and Harriet are two of my new favourite YA characters. I felt an attachment with them right from the beginning of the novel, and I could see elements from each of them in myself. They both had two very distinct voices, but meshed together seamlessly. The interactions they had with each other and their own friends were both hilarious and emotional at times.

Books about high-school teenagers set in private schools are some of my favourite books to read. They always consist of a lot of drama and angst, and this one featured all of that and more! I appreciated the ratio of events that took place at school, with both the teachers and their friends, as well as the events that took place outside of school and with their own families. Usually I find something in a book that I would have liked to read about more, but I couldn’t find anything in this book that I would have enjoyed reading more about!

This book was set in Australia, which is where the author is from as well. I don’t think I have ever read a book set in Australia, and I loved reading common phrases that are well known there but not in North America!

This book talks about a lot of important and deep messages. Both of the protagonists in this novel are queer, and a few of their friends are people of colour. This novel also consists a deep discussion about sexual assault, and what exactly defines it. I found these discussions fascinating, and I enjoyed hearing many sides of the topic.

Perhaps one of my favourite parts of this books is something that is not actually included in the book, but rather the ending acknowledgements. Erin Gough shares with readers that while it says “Amelia Westlake Was Never Here”, it turns out that Amelia Westlake was here! She was a hoax that Erin and two of her friends came up with in their final year in high school! Isn’t that so cool?!

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and rated it 5/5 stars! Thanks to HBG Canada for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Birthday by Meredith Russo (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

May 27 (the day this is being posted) is my birthday!!! Since I had an ARC of BIRTHDAY by Meredith Russo, I thought it would be great to post my full review of it on my real birthday! Thanks to Raincoast Books for sending me the ARC (and thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes!)!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Boyhood meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this unconventional love story about two teens bonded for life when they are born on the same day at the same time by award-winning author Meredith Russo!
Two kids, Morgan and Eric, are bonded for life after being born on the same day at the same time. We meet them once a year on their shared birthday as they grow and change: as Eric figures out who he is and how he fits into the world, and as Morgan makes the difficult choice to live as her true self. Over the years, they will drift apart, come together, fight, make up, and break up—and ultimately, realize how inextricably they are a part of each other.

WOW! This book was so much deeper and more intense than I ever expected it to be. It brought up so many important messages, and things that are (unfortunatley) very relevant to society today. I usually prefer books that span over a long time period, rather than slice of life stories, so I knew I would enjoy this one right from the gecko!

I loved the story/plot in this book. I have never read a book written in the perspective of somebody yearning to transition into the opposite sex. Obviously I have read about transgender characters, but I have never read from a main perspective of someone who is hoping to transition. It was so crazy (and so sad) to see how many ups and downs the character went through throughout the novel. It was really easy to immerse myself in both perspectives (this is a dual POV story), and I felt a lot of emotion for both characters throughout the story.

One of my favourite aspects of the story was reading birthday letters that Morgan’s mom had left for Morgan to read after she passed away from cancer. They were so emotional, and somehow related to different aspects of Morgan’s life that were taking place at the time of reading the letter. And while we never got to meet Morgan’s mom, I felt like I understand their relationship and how much they loved each other.

This book was a really fast read. It’s less than 300 pages, and the font was quite big. The writing style is also very quick and effortless, and it made the story very easy to read. I found that at some points the writing was a bit choppy, and that got better as the book progressed.

Even though the ending made me cry, I still thought that it was a bit rushed. I would have loved to have read more about the last birthday that is featured in the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and rated it 4.25/5 stars! Thanks again to Raincoast Books for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small {BLOG TOUR}

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

From the ages of 4 until 14, I used to dance very frequently at a local dance studio. One of my favourite things in the entire world (to this very day!) is dancing, and I have been working at a dance day-camp over the past two summers! When I first heard about BRIGHT BURNING STARS, a book featuring two best friends who meet at a Ballet Academy in Paris and take us through their lives in their last year at the academy, I couldn’t resist the urge to read it. Thanks to Algonquin Young Readers for selecting me to participate in the Blog Tour!

As always, this review is spoiler free!

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Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.
But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other. (Synopsis provided by Algonquin Young Readers.)

This book was so different than what I expected. While the initial synopsis seems eery, this book actually turned out to be very dark. It delved into a lot of deep topics, which in hindsight, should have been expected from reading the previews.

One of the most interesting things about this story was the two main characters, Marine and Kate, two best friends that formed a close bond throughout their early days at the Paris Opera Ballet School. While they seemed similar in the beginning, they developed into two very different young women. The timing of the chaos in their lives parallels, however they deal with their issues very differently. It was almost like they were written by two different authors!

Throughout the novel, one of my favourite features was the frequent incorporation of common french phrases and words. I haven’t been in a french class in quite a while, so it was fun for me to try and remember what these phrases meant and how they related to the events that the two characters were in. But if you don’t speak or know any French, don’t fret! There are english definitions provided for you after most of the phrases/words.

As I wrote previously, this book was much darker than I assumed it would be. There are a lot of triggering themes in this novel, including an eating disorder, mental illness, emotionally abusive friendships and relationships, discussions about suicide, abortion, and more. While I don’t want to spoil anything for you, I will say that if this book is a realistic fictional way of describing things that go on in real life ballet academies, I am so glad that I never went into one. Not only are the ballerinas constantly battling with each other to be on top of the rankings, they are also dealing with internal and social problems that occur outside of dance. It is scary to think that these things might happen regularly.

Besides the darker themes, there is a lot of cliche teenage drama. SO much drama. Including relationships, jealousy, and appearance. Personally, I could have done without a lot of it, but I understand why so much of it was left in the book.

I would have loved to have read more about their lives inside dance studios, and more about their daily schedules, routines, and course-loads, as they are not discussed majorly at all within this story. I would have also enjoyed to see more diverse characters in the novel, as I assumed that all of them were white and heterosexual.

The writing in this novel was another thing that I enjoyed a lot. I found the pacing quite irregular and inconsistent, which brought a long many unexpected twists. However, the writing style may not be for everyone.

Overall, I found this book very captivating and interesting, and I rated it 3.5/5 stars.

Now it’s time for a little Q&A!

Angela Small credit _Becky Thurner Braddock

Q: How did you write BRIGHT BURNING STARS? All at once or did you outline the story?
A: I wrote it all at once but multiple times! I’m trying to learn how to outline. Man, is it hard. My brain goes to the creative before the analytical.

Q: What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters? Which of your characters do you most identify with, and why?
A: I think that the most surprising aspect of character building is that it took me years to understand and relate to Kate. I had to spend a long time with her before she finally clicked on the page.I identify with Marine because M and I both believe that any artistic success comes not from talent but from sweat and grit.

Q: What gave you the idea for BRIGHT BURNING STARS?
A: I wrote a short story titled The Art of Jealousy and then I knew I wanted to write a larger piece.

Q: Do you have a favourite scene, quote, or moment from BRIGHT BURNING STARS?
A: I love the scene where Marine dances to Biggie Smalls and there is a Luc scene I adore but I don’t want to give it away.

Q: If you could tell your younger writing self-anything, what would it be?
A: I would tell her never to forget about the magic of process and to always trust her instincts.

Q: What is on your current TBR pile?
A: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robbin Brown, Wilder Girls by Rory Power, How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox, Heroine by Mindy McGinnis. I’m a sucker for books. I LOVE to read.

Q: Do you write to music? If so, what artist were you listening to while writing BRIGHT BURNING STARS?
A: I usually don’t, but as I was trying to figure Kate out I listened to Unsteady by X Ambassadors and I put on classical piano pieces, literal ballet music, while I worked on studio scenes for atmosphere and rhythm purposes.

Thank you for reading my review of BRIGHT BURNING STARS by A.K. Small! Thanks again to Algonquin Young Readers for including me in your blog tour! BRIGHT BURNING STARS officially hits shelves on May 21, and I recommend that you pick up a copy if you enjoy books focusing on dance and the dark struggles of competition and pressure.

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I don’t usually post reviews for books that I purchase/books that are not ARCs. That being said, I REALLY want to document these thoughts and put them into a formal review post, since this book may or may not be my MOST FAVOURITE BOOK OF THE YEAR…!!!!!!!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

A big-hearted romantic comedy in which First Son Alex falls in love with Prince Henry of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

WOW. This book is literally my new favourite book in the entire world. While I LOVE my mystery/thriller novels, I cannot think of a better book that I have read so far this year.

My biggest guilty pleasure is American politics. I love watching CNN and MSNBC with my Dad practically every day and learning about all of the new developments that are going on within the United States of America. When I heard that this novel had a big focus on American politics since Alex is the First Son of the United States (his MOM is the first female president ever!), I knew that I needed to read it! There was a PERFECT mix of politics/policy and romance, and I loved every second of it.

Alex and Henry are my new favourite OTP (one true pairing)! They are the best couple in any book that I have ever read, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop gushing about them. I also LOVED all of the other characters, including June, Nora, Pez, Bea, Rafael, and the list goes on and on! All of the characters were so well developed and had great distinct personalities.

The overall character representation of this novel is truly brilliant! A lot of the characters in this book have a wide-range of sexual orientations and backgrounds, which I really appreciated reading!

One of my favourite things about this book was the writing. It was very easy to understand, but it also had included many deep messages. It was only after I finished the novel that I found out that this is Casey McQuiston’s DEBUT novel, and quite frankly, I was SHOCKED! She has definitely secured her spot on my very short list of auto-buy authors!

Last night, when I finished the book, my phone was at 1%, but I managed to put together a mini review on Goodreads, and I want to leave you with it…

THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL OF THE BLOODY BRILLIANT STARS IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. I FINISHED THIS 400-PAGE BEAUTY IN ABOUT 40 HOURS, AND IF THAT DOESN’T EXPLAIN ENOUGH I DON’T KNOW WHAT WILL. READ. THIS. NOW!!!!!

Good Night Book Owls!

P.S. I am running a giveaway on my Instagram of STAR-CROSSED by Minnie Darke, and you can enter it here!

Alyssa’s Reviews – The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (eARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I have been LOVING contemporary/romance books lately, and when I first heard about this book I practically squealed! This book has honestly one of the best synopsis’ I have ever heard, so to say that I had high expectations was an understatement (especially after hearing other people rave about Christina Lauren’s previous books)! Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an eARC!

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Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Amy, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.
Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.

This book contained basically every trope that I love in contemporary/romance books all wrapped up in one book! I absolutely adored this novel, and enjoyed it even more than I expected to! Since this one was provided to me as an eARC and I normally read eBooks extremely quickly, I actually read this one all in one day even though it is over 400 pages!

I loved all of the characters in this novel! I felt so emotionally attached to all of them, and cared so deeply about all of the things that were happening to them. I literally cried three separate times over the last 15% of the book, which definitely shows you how much I enjoyed reading about these characters! Olive and Ethan are two of my new favourite bookish characters, and I absolutely fell in love with their relationship. One of my favourite things to read about in all novels – no matter what genre they fall into – is having a great family dynamic. I love reading about large families with a lot of either love or hatred towards each other, and the family in this book was all full of love! This trope was actually very unexpected (as it doesn’t say anything about a large family) in the synopsis, but I thought it added a lot of love into the story. Additionally, Olive and Ami’s parents’ relationship was hilarious to read about!

Two of my favourite tropes in novels are fake dating and hate to love relationships. This novel included both of them, and Christina Lauren wrote them so well! While Olive and Ethan had quite a toxic relationship at the beginning of the novel, they (very) slowly started seeing the light in each other (no spoilers here, though!). Overall, their relationship was written so well and with so much passion.

Since most of the novel takes place during the honeymoon, the setting of Hawaii was exceptional and so beautiful to read. Hawaii is on my “dream vacations” bucket list and I hope to get there one day! In the mean time, I love reading books that are set in Hawaii, and this one featured so many amazing places (from tropical beaches to a paintball facility!).

The plot of this story was so unique and quirky! I enjoyed every second of it, and thought that it was super creative. I also enjoyed the comments about the theme of “luck”, and whether or not luck is a true thing, or if it all depends on peoples’ perspective and outlooks on life. Every single person I have talked to about this book brings up that they think it sounds like a great rom-com movie, and I hope one day this book is made into a movie since I think it would be fantastic!

As I said before, the writing in this novel was so charming and fantastic! I loved reading from Olive’s perspective, since she was written with great wit and humour. The writing was very descriptive, but also concise. All of the events that took place in the story were all relevant and necessary to advance the flow of the main plot, which I always think is so important in all books.

Overall, I loved every second of this novel and gave it 5/5 stars! Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an eARC!

This book is scheduled to be released TOMORROW, so make sure you pick it up in your local bookstore!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – Testimony From Your Perfect Girl by Kaui Hart Hemmings (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

About two weeks ago, I received a lovely package of three Spring ARCs, and Testimony From Your Perfect Girl was among them! I have been intrigued by this one for a while, especially since she wrote The Descendants (a popular book that I have heard great things about). Since this one was only 250 pages, I actually ended up reading it in one day!

 

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Annie Tripp has everything she needs–Italian sweaters, vintage chandelier earrings, and elite ice skating lessons–but all that changes when her father is accused of scamming hundreds of people out of their investments. Annie knows her dad wasn’t at fault, but she and her brother are exiled to their estranged aunt and uncle’s house in a run-down part of Breckenridge–until the trial blows over.
Life with her new family isn’t quite up to Annie’s usual standard of living, but surprisingly, pretending to be someone else offers a freedom she’s never known. As Annie starts to make real friends for the first time, she realizes she has more in common with her aunt and uncle than she ever wanted to know. As the family’s lies begin to crumble and truths demand consequences, Annie must decide which secrets need to see the light of day . . . and which are worth keeping.

Unfortunately, this book is definitely not one of my new favourites.

Before I start this review, I want to preface that this book should be identified as New Adult, rather than Young Adult. There are a lot of mature events that go on in this novel, which may not be suitable for pre-teen and/or young-teen readers.

Now that you have been warned, let’s cut to the chase. This book basically entered around a minor sex scene that takes place around page 130. This scene set up a lot of the crazy things that happen to Annie, the protagonist, as this leads to her becoming more comfortable with her Aunt and Uncle due to the dialogue that results from that event. While I am not exactly a prude, I still think that that scene was so weird and extremely cringe-worthy.

I also really didn’t like any of the characters. I appreciated Annie’s aunt and uncle, as I found them very real and down-to-earth. However, I never found myself rooting for Annie or Jay (Annie’s brother). I didn’t really care about what happened to them, and was more so reading to see how the story would conclude overall. Obviously, I hated Annie and Jay’s parents, but actually ended up hating their Mother more than their Father (even though their father was the reason they were put in such a mess).

The only thing that I really enjoyed about the book was the setting. I loved the wintery scenes that took place, and all of the scenes that took place in their Uncle’s restaurant. While I am not one that loves snow, I loved when Annie was exploring the snowy conditions of the city, and thought that the world building was pretty good.

I also LOVED the epilogue! It was honestly my favourite scene in the entire book.

Overall, I gave this book 2.25/5 stars. Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

Good Night Book Owls!