The Similars Spoiler Free Review

The Similars
by Rebecca Hanover

Release Date: January 1st, 2019

Synopsis:

When six clones join Emmaline’s prestigious boarding school, she must confront the heartbreak of seeing her dead best friend’s face each day in class.

The Similars are all anyone can talk about at the elite Darkwood Academy. Who are these six clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? Who is the madman who broke the law to create them? Emma couldn't care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and all she can think about is how to get through her junior year without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi—Oliver's exact DNA replica and one of the Similars.

Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, but she keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into their clique, uncovering dark truths about the clones and her prestigious school along the way. But no one can be trusted…not even the boy she is falling for who has Oliver's face.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC for an honest review

I gave this book 4.25 stars. I really enjoyed this book but decided not to give it 4.5 stars because I figured the rest of the series would be even better so I’m leaving room for higher ratings.

This book cut off so suddenly it surprised me. I mean, usually when there is a cliffhanger there is a lead up to that, but for this book, I felt like we were in between huge action scenes and this one just sort of ended.

There is kind of a big plot twist that happens in this book, but it isn’t completely a surprise. If you’re paying attention to what is happening in the novel then you could probably guess what it is pretty easily.

This book isn’t anything partially new to me, but it did bring me back to everything I love about Young Adult. This reminded me of the feelings I had about 5 years ago when I couldn’t stop reading anything and everything YA. There was excitement, plot twists, coming of age problems, even love life drama. It was everything I love in a YA novel.

This story follows Emma, who has just lost her best friend and is returning to her boarding school for the first time since his death during the summer. Emma is raw and understandably shaken after what has happened. We follow her as she tries to make sense of everything that has happened and the incoming of her best friend’s clone.

Overall, I’m generally not a big fan of dystopian, but I feel like this one was in the near enough future that the problems were very parallel to what is happening in today's society.  The prejudices shown against the clones are similar to what is happening to people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ communities. I think this novel is really suitable for the times.

Phoenix Fire Blog Tour + Giveaway/Spoiler Free Review

Phoenix Fire
by S. D. Grimm

About Phoenix Fire: 

After spending her life in foster care, Ava has finally found home. But all it takes is a chance encounter with hot nerd Wyatt Wilcox for it to unravel.

Now, things are starting to change. First, the flashes of memories slowly creeping in. Memories of other lives, lives that Wyatt is somehow in. Then, the healing. Any cut? Gone.

But when Cade and Nick show up, claiming to be her brothers, things get even weirder. They tell her she’s a Phoenix, sent to protect the world from monsters—monsters she never knew existed. It’s a little hard to accept. Especially when they tell her she has to end the life of a Phoenix turned rogue, or Cade will die.

With Wyatt’s increasingly suspicious behavior, Ava’s determined to figure out what he’s hiding. Unless she can discover Wyatt’s secret in time and complete her Phoenix training, she’ll lose the life, love, and family she never thought she could have.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC for an honest review

I gave this book 4.25 stars. I decided to read this book on a whim. The synopsis really does not do the book justice. It’s so much more than just a book about a girl who is reunited with her brothers and has a crush. 

I thought that Ava and Wyatt’s relationship was going to be really cheesy and I kinda expected instalove. Despite my expectations going in, there was actually a build towards their relationship instead of jumping right in. We slowly got to know them and were along with them as they fell in love.  I loved how it didn’t just start at the beginning of this book, it went back even further than we thought. 

There are a lot of secrets in this novel and not all of them get revealed in this book, so if you hate unanswered questions you might want to wait for the rest of the books in the series before starting this. However, even though not all the questions are answered the novel isn’t left on a cliffhanger which we should all be thankful for, I know I am. 

The idea behind the book is so simple, yet I’ve never seen anything like it. Phoenix’s as humans. It’s something I’ve actually thought of before, but I’ve yet to see it translate onto paper before this novel. I always thought it would be a cool idea and I’m glad this author thought so too and decided to bring this captivating story to life.

This book had substance. I find that some YA urban fantasy books can get caught up in a romance or something and the plot is none existent and you pretty much spend the whole book wondering how their tricky relationship is going to work. This novel doesn’t rely heavily on the romance. It also deals with family and betrayal and badassery. 

The world itself is so cool. I haven’t seen a lot of phoenixes in stories. The only time I can actually remember a phoenix being in a story was Fawkes from Harry Potter and we don’t really know much about him. I loved how flushed out the phoenixes are. We get so much information on how their cycles work and their magic. It’s fascinating. 

Overall, I highly suggest giving this one a read. It’s exciting, has that hint of romance, and most importantly has an abundance of magic.

Buylinks: https://entangledpublishing.com/phoenix-fire.html 

About S.D. Grimm: 

S. D. Grimm’s first love in writing is young adult fantasy and science fiction, which is to be expected from someone who looks up to heroes like Captain America and Wonder Woman, has been sorted into Gryffindor, and identifies as rebel scum. Her patronus is a red Voltron lion, her spirit animal is Toothless, and her favorite meal is second breakfast. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one large-sized dog.You can learn more about her upcoming novels at www.sdgrimm.com

Author Links: 

Author Website: www.sdgrimm.com

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Author Street Team/Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/678821245839416/ 

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Excerpt from Phoenix Fire: 

He shrugged. “I should have expected Danny to warn you about me.”

“It’s not like you made a habit out of beating people up, right?” I offered a smile.

The way his gaze locked onto mine, suddenly easier to read, though the moonlight was blocked by branches here, made me think he might be staring deep into a memory, too. 

“Wyatt?”

He sucked in a breath. “Right. I don’t go around hurting people.”

“No. You let them pick on you.” I released his hands. 

His small laugh seemed to drip bitterness. “Well, I can’t exactly fight back—I’d be in so much trouble if I were to have another…incident—and they know it.”

That ignited a fireball in my stomach. That’s why they picked on him? “How can people be so cruel?” I pointed my flashlight on the path ahead. “Can I show you something?”

“Of course.”

Within a few minutes, we’d arrived to my favorite place on the run. I stepped through the thinning dune grass and out onto a sandy cliff of the top of a dune. From here we could see over Lake Michigan. But the sun had already set, leaving nothing but darkness in front of us. Here, at night, the best view was looking up. 

I sat down and motioned to the stars. “I looked up Andromeda after you came over.”

“Yeah?” His voice carried the hint of awe and surprise mingled together. 

“But I don’t know which constellation it is.”

He sat beside me and leaned close enough that his shoulder brushed against mine. “There.” His fingers traced an outline of stars. “It’s been said that she’s a beautiful princess.”

“I read that, too.” I chuckled. “But like all princesses, she got into trouble.”

He laughed. “Yes. She got herself captured.”

I made my voice mock-dreamy. “But her handsome prince—what was his name? Perseus!—saved her. I can only imagine they lived happily ever after.”

He didn’t respond, so I tore my eyes away from the night sky and found Wyatt already looking at me. 

“Thank you,” he said, turning his attention back to the sky as a breeze off the lake muffled his quiet words. “For not making me feel like a monster for what I did.”

I wanted to touch him again, but I refrained. “You’re hardly a monster, Wyatt.”

Something in his soft smile made my heart beat faster.

Promise Me Spoiler Free Review

Promise Me

by Kelly Walker

Release Date: January 23rd, 2018

Synopsis:

Self-professed Harry Potter addict and math genius River Jacobsen can count on one hand the people who matter in her life. Really, it’s just Dean, the boy who loves her despite her odd habit of counting everything around her when she needs to quiet her mind. When Dean promises her forever she never imagines it will be a lie. 

After Marine hacker Ian Maclean is mistakenly declared dead by the US government, he’s happy to correct them the moment he escapes captivity. He wants nothing more than to get home to the wife he left behind. Discovering she’s been cheating on him since the moment he deployed wasn’t in the plan. Devastated, he walks away from everything, even his name. 

With the futures they were counting on destroyed, Ian and River find themselves starting over. Ian reminds River of things she’d much rather forget, but pushing him away is harder than she expected. Ian wants a second chance at happily ever after, but the more he gets to know River, the more he worries she isn’t trying to figure out how to live again, she’s figuring out how to die. 

My Thoughts:

I received a copy from Netgalley

I gave this book 4 stars. Holy crap this book had an amazing plot. I didn’t want to stop reading once I really got into it. 

I have to admit I felt a bit cheated near the end. There was a confrontation I was so looking forward to, but it ended up being very anticlimactic and we never really got to see it happen. I really wish the author had included it.

I also wish that I had been warned that this contained characters from the authors Chadwell Hearts series. I was a bit confused about some of the characters like I was supposed to know all about them already but didn’t. I would have appreciated at least a warning so I could have read those other books first. In a way, it sort of spoiled a lot of what happened in that series, so if you haven’t read that series yet and you plan to, then read them before this one.

I loved River. I could relate to River. River spends a lot of time crying and reading Harry Potter. The only thing unrelatable about her is that she likes Professor Snape and is good at math. 

As a love interest, Ian is a good guy, but I wasn’t particularly wowed by him. I really enjoyed his plotline, but again, his personality wasn’t enough for me to forget about every other book boyfriend. I also can’t get behind his nickname being Ghost. It just doesn’t fit with his appearance or personality. I just don’t see it.

I’m glad that the author didn’t stick with the trope of the dead husband/boyfriend secretly being horrible and the protagonist finds out about it after they die. I hate that trope and I’m glad this wasn’t the case in this book.

If you love NA romances then I would 100% recommend this one to you. It has every mark of a good NA novel.

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One Spoiler Free Review

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One
by Amanda Lovelace

Release Date: March 6th, 2018

Synopsis:

The witch: supernaturally powerful, inscrutably independent, and now—indestructible. These moving, relatable poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories. Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley

I gave this book 5 stars. I loved this book as much as I loved the first one. It was full of empowerment towards all women. Full of clever metaphors that made everything 10 times better.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews where readers give this author shit for the way she chose to write her poetry, saying it isn’t real poetry because of how she had her line spacing and the way she chose to present it on paper. I think that’s utter bullshit. There is this thing called a Poetic License meaning you can express these emotions and stories in any way you would like. There are no rules to poetry and the fact that so many people are saying it isn’t real poetry tells me that they know nothing about poetry. Now that I’ve said my piece on that, let’s get to the actual contents of this book.

I felt incredibly empowered after reading this, I don’t care what people say about this, but this book made me feel so powerful. It kind of reminds me of that book from Friends that the girls read and got all empowered as women. 

I love the use of metaphor in this book. It’s like I’m reading a fantasy that also applies to real life. I’ve always wanted to be a witch.

To read this novel, you don’t have to read The Princess Saves Herself in This One, but I would highly recommend you doing so. It’s a great lead into this one.

This poetry collection does cover a something very controversial- the Trump Presidency. I personally don’t like Trump or anything he’s been doing, he scares me. His followers scare me. I feel like it was important for the author to broach current events in her poetry, I’m glad she did it. It gave substance to what she was trying to say. 

This book is for the feminists out there. Would highly recommend this one.

Olympian Challenger Spoiler Free Review

Olympian Challenger
by Astrid Arditi

Release Date: July 3rd, 2018

Synopsis:

A hero’s tournament. A defiant contender. Does one girl have the courage to take on Mount Olympus?

Hope’s world doesn’t have room for heroes. She barely has time for schoolwork, swim team, and taking care of her ailing mother. But when she’s invited to a mysterious tournament, the all-powerful hosts won’t take no for an answer.

Transported to Mount Olympus, Hope comes face to face with her new trainers—the pantheon of Greek gods. While other contenders train hard to gain a fighting edge, Hope searches for a way out. Instead, she finds a gorgeous shadow god who may just convince her to stay…

As each round unfolds, the ultimate prize draws closer—the granting of her heart’s deepest desire. If she survives the final challenge, her mother’s cure would be within reach…but only if Hope can ignore the tournament’s dark purpose.

Olympian Challenger is the first book in a bold YA urban fantasy trilogy. If you like Greek mythology, forbidden romance, and feats of courage, then you’ll love Astrid Arditi’s heroic coming-of-age tale.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 4 stars. I had a blast reading this book. I was having a bit of a hard time reading some of the ARCs I had, but reading this one gave me the push I needed.

The thing about books like this is that I really love them for the whole competition theme. My only issue is that by the end when everyone else has been eliminated, it just feels so lonely. There is a reason I loved the Hunger Games and my favorite show when I was younger was Total Drama Island, but with all of these the same issue arose: It just isn’t fun anymore when there is a single person left.

The characters were a home run. They were well rounded, dynamic personalities and I wanted them all to be happy. I want only good things for them and hopefully, we will see that in the next book.

I’m a sucker for anything with mythology in it and I am happy to say that I was pretty satisfied with the knowledge the author had of Greek Mythology. There have been a few books I’ve read in the past which were pretty much 95% fabrication of the mythology. I mean it definitely wasn’t the most accurate, but it did have a healthy incorporation of fact.

Overall, I’m excited to get to the next book. This was an amazing start to the series and I want to see some happy things and some exciting things happening in the next book. Fingers crossed.

Tamsin Spoiler Free Review

Tamsin
by Abigail Strom

Synopsis:

It’s junior year at Hart University, and theater major Tamsin Shay knows exactly what she’ll be doing: focusing on acting. She also knows what she won’t be doing: 

Guys. 

Daniel Bowman knows what he’ll be doing, too. Football, engineering classes, volunteer work with his church. One thing he won’t be doing: 

Girls. 

When they find themselves in a class together, the arguments begin. He’s conservative; she’s liberal. He’s traditional; she’s not. The only thing they share is their determination not to give into sexual attraction. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

My Thoughts:

I received this book through Netgalley

I gave this book 3.5 stars. It was gritty, down to earth and wasn’t a typical NA romance and I enjoyed it.

Tamsin was an incredibly quick read. Mostly because I read it while sitting in a doctors office without wifi for 3 hours. Despite the terrible circumstances, I did really like this book.

I think it did a good job of showing both sides of the story, but I did find it to be a bit biased. It seemed like the author set out to write it as this huge Liberal vs. Conservative love story, but I don’t think Daniel was that conservative. I was expecting more arguments and drama. There was a bit of both of those, but not quite as much as I would expect. I thought it would be more provoking and gritty with passion on both ends, but I felt like Daniel just wasn’t as conservative as Tamsin was Liberal. Maybe I’m reading to much into this as it is a NA romance, but I kind of wanted more.

Daniel was such a sweetheart honestly. He was willing to look at things in a different way and never slutshamed Tamsin like a lot of men fictional and real would have done. Daniel was conservative but not a shitty person and I liked how the author made that known. 

Tamsin was a great lead character. She wasn’t ashamed of her past. She decided that wasn’t who she wanted to be anymore and made those changes in her lifestyle, but she never once regretted those things she did in the past because it made her who she is and she was proud of that. Tamsin is the type of character we all need to be.

All the Wrong Chords Spoiler Free Review

All the Wrong Chords
by  Christine Hurley Deriso

Release Date: December 12th, 2017

Synopsis:

Scarlett Stiles is desperate for a change of scenery after her older brother, Liam, dies of a drug overdose. But spending the summer with her grandfather wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Luckily, Scarlett finds something to keep her busy--a local rock band looking for a guitarist. Even though playing guitar has been hard since Liam died, Scarlett can't pass on an opportunity like this, and she can't take her eyes off the band's hot lead singer either. Is real happiness just around the corner? Or will she always be haunted by her brother's death?

My Thoughts:

I received a copy through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 2.5 stars. The first half of the book was really hard for me to get through. I felt no connection to the protagonist and the story felt pretty dry to me. The ending picked it back up a lot but still doesn’t deserve 3 stars. 

The love triangle felt so forced. First, we were introduced to Zach who right off the bat seems pretty cool and we can definitely see him getting with our protagonist. Then all of a sudden Scarlett meets Declan, Zach’s friend, and there are absolutely no sparks or anything to suggest that he and Scarlett should get together. Scarlett doesn’t even seem to be into him all that much until after their meeting when she tells her sister she’s in love. Their entire exchange was just her thinking about how guys always hit on her sister. 

This love triangle was the trigger for me finding the protagonist unbearably annoying. She just got mad at her sister for such stupid things that were not her fault and just overall being a spoiled brat. I don’t respect her as a character much less like her. As anyone who reads books, you know how important liking, or at least respecting, the protagonist is. Without that liking or respect, the story behind it isn’t going to be very good for you no matter how good the plot actually is.

I also felt that the protagonist was incredibly oblivious or just naive. She just goes along with whatever she is told. She gets blown off and she thinks to herself “of, it was just a misunderstanding” and then goes on to believe even more lies. The girl needs to get a clue. She also overreacts. There is a secret she finds out near the end that I won’t talk about because of spoilers, and she just gets so upset that no one told her. I mean I do understand her getting upset about it, but she started bringing up completely irrelevant things to express to these people how much they have wronged her. It was irritating that these people were obviously sorry for not telling her and she just reacted like they were plotting against her or something. 

Overall, not my favorite. I’m also glad I started this book months ago because it took me a while to read. I might suggest this if you don’t mind love triangles or even like them.

Scion of the Fox Spoiler Free Review

Scion of the Fox
by S. M. Beiko

Synopsis:

As the winter ice begins to thaw, the fury of a demon builds — all because one girl couldn’t stay dead . . .

Roan Harken considers herself a typical high school student — dead parents, an infected eyeball, and living in the house of her estranged, currently comatose grandmother (well, maybe not sotypical) — but she’s uncovering the depth of the secrets her family left behind. Saved from the grasp of Death itself by a powerful fox spirit named Sil, Roan must harness mysterious ancient power . . . and quickly. A snake-monster called Zabor lies in wait in the bed of the frozen Assiniboine River, hungry for the sacrifice of spirit-blood in exchange for keeping the flood waters at bay. Thrust onto an ancient battlefield, Roan soon realizes that to maintain the balance of the world, she will have to sacrifice more than her life in order to take her place as Scion of the Fox.

American Gods meets Princess Mononoke in this powerful first installment of a trilogy sure to capture readers’ imaginations everywhere.

My Thoughts:

I would like to thank the author and publisher for sending me a physical final copy after my difficulty reading the eARC.

I gave this book 4 stars. Scion of the Fox was unexpected. after trying to read the eARC and having an impossible time doing so, I didn’t have very high hopes for the rest of it. However, the author completely turned that around. I loved this book. It was full of complex characters and the thickest of plots, and a relationship that I’m not sure will ever even happen, but I’m really excited for.

I was kind of stupid and I read someone else’s review before finishing this book. I know, that’s the number 1 no-no for book reviewing, but I was looking for something specific (I didn’t find it), but I am happy to report that I didn’t actually agree with this other review of the book. That review was a bit negative, especially about the ending of the book. I, however, think it ended on a good note. It was left a bit open-ended because this is going to be a series and the epilogue was there to get you even more excited for the next book in the series. 

Roan was a character that I needed a bit of getting used to, but once that was all said and done with I grew to love her as a character. She wasn’t annoying or overly rude. She had no sense of entitlement or whiny at all. I genuinely liked her as a character. Reading the first chapter snippet of the second book at the end of this book, it doesn’t seem like she’ll be in it, or she may come in later. It really isn’t clear as of yet, but I really hope she is in the next one because I don’t think I’m done with her quite yet.

I like the dynamic going on between Roan and Eli. They spent most of the book hating each other and fighting, not just in the “I like you so I’m going to pick on you” kind of way, I mean the “I’m going to actively try to murder you” kind of way. They have something going on and I am here for it. I could see something possibly happening. Possibly. I would really like it if it did.

What I loved was that it was set in Canada. I find that most books are set in the U.S. and reference a lot of things only Americans are very familiar with such as historical events that are smaller than full-blown wars. It was nice to actually understand what was being referenced for once, such as Red River. Not enough books are set in Canada and usually if they are they take place in Toronto or just Ontario in general. It’s a bit annoying, so this book was very refreshing.

The Becoming of Noah Shaw Spoiler Free Review

The Becoming of Noah Shaw
by Michelle Hodkin

Release Date: November 7th, 2017

Synopsis:

In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

My Thoughts:

I received this ARC through Netgalley

I gave this book 5 stars. I really loved how well this book was written, the characters weren't weird and different than they were in the original trilogy and it was well paced.

This book was a ticking time bomb. We know from the synopsis that Noah and Mara are going to have the main conflict in this book. Going into this book I was very nervous as I love Noah and Mara together. They are perfect together. It’s even harder seeing Noah grow to distrust Mara as he loves her so much. They love each other so much and that’s part of the problem, they are willing to do anything to protect each other. 

The fact that our former protagonist of the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is now our antagonist. This is a unique position as this rarely happens. We see this character that we grew to love and fear and we’re seeing this side of her that we don’t really want to see. She is turning into something unrecognizable. 

It was interesting to see everything from Noah’s perspective, he seems like an open book, but he really is good at answering questions with questions, you can’t really know Noah. Noah is actually pretty noble. Pun intended. When we first met him in the first Mara Dyer book he seems like a sleazy playboy, now he can see that he isn’t what we thought he was. He’s a really good person who wants to do the right thing.

Noah and Mara’s banter was the same as it always was, even when they were in tough situations, they were stressed, they still had their easy banter going on. I loved this the ease between them, even though they might not have completely trusted each other, they could still talk to each other.

I hope that in the end Noah and Mara will find their way back to each other because I would love nothing more than to see them work it all out. I know this may not be the case because of the whole “You will love him to ruins” thing, but I still have hope for them.

Also, more of a sidenote, you should 100% read the Mara Dyer trilogy before reading or else it won’t make a lot of sense. There are a lot of references to things that happen in that first trilogy that is detrimental to this story.

The First Kiss Hypothesis Spoiler Free Review

The First Kiss Hypothesis
by Christina Mandelski

Release Date: November 6th, 2017

Synopsis:

Nora Reid believes scientific laws control everything, even love. With her grandparents’ epic first kiss story cemented in her brain, Nora develops a hypothesis she’s determined to prove: for each person in the world, there is exactly one other person, and at first kiss, they’ll experience an immediate and intense reaction. 

But after four years of zero-reaction kisses, she comes up with a new theory: maybe that pesky crush on her stunningly hot best friend Eli Costas is skewing her results.

She needs to get rid of him, and fast.

Eli Costas is an injury-prone lacrosse star with a problem—the one chance he had at winning over the girl next door resulted in the most epically sucktastic first kiss ever. And now she’s…trying to get rid of him? Hell no. It’s time to disprove her theory and show her exactly what she’s missing. 

Game. On.

Disclaimer: This book contains a stunningly hot lacrosse player who isn’t above playing dirty to win over the stubborn girl-next-door of his dreams.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC for an Honest review

I gave this book 2.5 stars. There were some parts of this book that I did really like, but it was just overshadowed by the things I didn’t like.

I was really enjoying this book up until Eli started acting like he had some right to Nora. Just because he was her friend and did nice things for her and even though she really liked him, she didn’t know what she as doing so she didn’t show him. And him being an asshole, thought that just because he loved her and tried to show her that, she should just fall into his arms and then got pissed off when she didn’t. Eli is a jerk and I couldn’t get on board with those two getting together.

This book has a lot of the classic contemporary elements that I love, but it’s outweighed by things I didn’t really like at all. Such as one of Nora’s friendships that had a lot of problems, but then we never get to a solution. It’s like the author just gave it up in order to focus on the romance element of the book. 

There is a huge family element implemented in the story too and that is the part I loved the most. These characters are so connected to their families and no matter what they want to stand by them. I especially love Eli’s relationship with his little brother, Ari. Ari was probably my favorite character. He was just a kid but he seemed to have everything figure out because to him it was just that simple. 

Overall, this book just wasn’t for me. I found some things just too problematic for me to find enjoyable. If it sounds interesting to you, you should go for it, but I can’t say that I give it my stamp of approval.

Offsetting Penalties Spoiler Free Review

Offsetting Penalties
by Ally Mathews

Release Date: November 6th, 2017

Synopsis:

Isabelle Oster has dreamed of being a prima ballerina her entire life, so when the only male dancer backs out of the fall production, she’s devastated. Without a partner, she has no hope of earning a spot with the prestigious Ballet Americana company. Until hot jock Garret practicing stretches in one of the studios gives Izzy an idea, and she whips out her phone. But does she really want this badly enough to resort to blackmail?

All-state tight end Garret Mitchell will do anything to get a college football scholarship. Even taking ballet, which surprisingly isn’t so bad, because it means he gets to be up close and personal with the gorgeous Goth girl Izzy while learning moves to increase his flexibility. But Izzy needs him to perform with her for the Ballet Americana spot, and he draws the line at getting on stage. Especially wearing tights.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a bit of blackmail, a lot of sarcasm, and an ending guaranteed to melt your heart.

My Thoughts:

***I received this book through Netgalley for an honest review***

I gave this book 3.5 stars. I liked the book, it was short and sweet.

This book was surprisingly short, I was at work and took my fifteen-minute break and I was reading this during that break and I somehow read about 15% of the book in that time alone. It helped that it was a real page-turner, I wanted to keep reading, but man that was fast. 

Because of how short it was I feel like there was a lot of things plot-wise that were left open-ended. A lot of things the reader wonders about aren’t ever resolved. It’s something that often bothers me about contemporary novels. I know contemporaries are supposed to be more realistic so something won’t get resolved, but in some of these books, such as this one, they lead you to believe that something will be done to fix them and when it doesn’t happen during the duration of the book its kind of annoying.

The climax of the story was kind of predictable, but I didn’t actually predict it so I guess it succeeded in being a good climax. At the same time, I also felt that the climax was resolved a bit too easily. The person that was causing the problem in the first place gave in despite being so against going in in the first place which felt like a cop-out. 

Despite the few things that bothered me, the characters were incredibly relatable and good hearted, you couldn’t hate them. The atmosphere of the book was cheerful, it never made me want to cry or thrown things. It was a nice read, good for contemporary lovers.

I Hate Everyone But You Spoiler Free Review

I Hate Everyone But You
by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin

Synopsis:

Dear Best Friend,

I can already tell that I will hate everyone but you.

Sincerely,

Ava Helmer

(that brunette who won’t leave you alone)

We're still in the same room, you weirdo.

Stop crying.

G

So begins a series of texts and emails sent between two best friends, Ava and Gen, as they head off to their first semesters of college on opposite sides of the country. From first loves to weird roommates, heartbreak, self-discovery, coming out and mental health, the two best friends will document every moment to each other. But as each changes and grows into her new life, will their friendship be able to survive the distance?

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 4 stars. If you’ve ever had a really close best friend that you shared everything with and had an incredibly strong bond with then this book will resonate with you. The entire novel is witty and clever, you'll never be bored.

Most of the time I hate books written in this format, where you only get the story through two characters texting or emailing each other because I usually feel like I’m missing a lot of the story. That problem wasn’t present here as I felt because these two characters were so close they would tell each other a lot so I could get a feel for them as characters and the people around them.

It was well written and something I couldn’t seem to put down. It was also super realistic, there wasn’t really a moment in this book where I thought to myself “yeah right, like that could actually happen”.

While the story is about the lives of these characters and how they are trying to get through their early adulthood okay, it’s first and foremost about the friendship between these two characters and it’s beautiful.

What I found most relatable was that these people who went in and out of the protagonists’ lives were all people I know. We’ve probably all met the people that are being written in this book. 

Overall, amazing contemporary about friendship and life. Would highly recommend this to those who love a good YA contemporary.

The Girl Who Saved Ghosts Spoiler Free Review

The Girl Who Saved Ghosts
by K. C. Tansley

Release Date: October 17th, 2017

Synopsis:

She tried to ignore them. Now she might risk everything to save them. 

After a summer spent in a haunted castle—a summer in which she traveled through time to solve a murder mystery—Kat is looking forward to a totally normal senior year at McTernan Academy. Then the ghost of a little girl appears and begs Kat for help, and more unquiet apparitions follow. All of them are terrified by the Dark One, and it soon becomes clear that that this evil force wants Kat dead. 

Searching for help, Kat leaves school for the ancestral home she’s only just discovered. Her friend Evan, whose family is joined to her own by an arcane history, accompanies her. With the assistance of her eccentric great aunts and a loyal family ghost, Kat soon learns that she and Evan can only fix the present by traveling into the past. 

As Kat and Evan make their way through nineteenth-century Vienna, the Dark One stalks them, and Kat must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save a ghost.

My Thoughts:

***I received this ARC through Netgalley for an honest review***

I gave this book 4 stars. This sequel was way better than the first book to say the least. I was 100% invested by the end that I really just want to sit down and binge the rest of the series that has yet to be written. 

Kat is what I would call a perfect character. She is the perfect amount of flawed, relatable, and compassionate. She’s a character that maybe I don’t love with all my heart, but I can’t think of a single reason to dislike her. She’s a solid character that I don’t mind reading about at all.

Evan has done such a one eighty from when we first met him. He went from the man who was making Kat miserable for no apparent reason to making sure that everything was always going okay for her and that protecting her when she needed it the most.

What I find most grounding about this series in general is the fact that they don’t always win. In most YA novels the protagonist somehow manage to always come out on top, nothing bad ever really sticks to them. In this series, Kat can’t fix everything with the snap of her fingers. She wants so badly to help them and she does to a point, but she can’t fix things 100% and sometimes those small bits and pieces that remained broken are really heartbreaking.

If you’ve read the first book already you can probably sense the slow burning romance coming on. It hasn’t happened yet but the sense is getting a lot stronger, there are many hints and I’m curious to see how it’s going to happen.

I’m happy to report that we also finally get to know what their ages are! I was so confused about how old the characters were in the first book and I’ve finally figured it out. The group of friends are in this special boarding school, their seniors so 17 or 18 years old; Evan is in fact 20 years old doing that teacher assistant thing. I don’t know if it’s for school or if it’s an internship of some sort, it becomes more clear while still remaining pretty vague. 

Overall, read it. It’s got something new to add to the YA world. It’s more than just an action packed teen romance, it’s got a whole bunch of titillating subplots mixed in along with intriguing characters.