April Wrap Up

I have to say, this reading month honestly hasn’t been that great. I read a decent amount of books, but I didn’t really love anything I read. I enjoyed some, but there was nothing that I can say that I’m really attached to. I’m just gonna hope that next month will be better for reading. I've also been a bit absent on my blog and for that I'm sorry. I've been having a bit of a block after previously having such a good blogging month, so hopefully, I will be more into it this coming week.

1. Fire

I gave this book 2 stars. I finally after almost a year of trying, decided to give up on reading this at 51%. One day I might have the desire to try it again, but for now, it’s a lost cause.

2. Wild Poppy

I gave this book 3 stars. It actually took me over a year to read this one. It just didn’t hold my attention in the beginning and I felt cheated with the ending of the novel.

3. My Name is Victoria

I gave this book 4.5 stars. I don’t know what words to use to explain to you guys how I feel about this book. It wasn’t love in the way that it blew my mind and I’ll just never be the same, it was love in the way that the book had so much substance and was so well written. 

4. The Boy and His Ribbon

I gave this one 4.5 stars. I loved it but it’s kind of painful to think about so I won’t say much about it until I’ve read the second book which comes out in June.

5. Meet Cute

I gave this book 3.67 stars. This may seem like a really random rating but that’s because I took the average of all the stories in this book and then didn’t round it. This book was pretty hit or miss with me. There was nothing I absolutely hated, but there were ones that I honestly don’t even remember now. However, there were definitely a few gems in there that I would gladly read full-length novels on.

6. American Queen

I gave this book 4.5 stars. It took me till the last book to realize that this series was based on the legend of King Arthur. Just a much steamier version. I’ve pretty much got all the characters pegged except Embry. I’m not exactly sure who Embry is supposed to be, although I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to be Mordrid. Carrying on, this book follows our lead, Greer, and her love for two politicians over the span of 10 years. It was amazing, angels sang, my acne cleared up, my depression and anxiety mysteriously cured itself. 

7. American Prince

I gave this book 4 stars. While the first novel followed Greer and her relationships with both Embry and Ash, this book follows Embry and his relationships with both Greer and Ash throughout the years. It is told in a similar format as American Queen so we get the full picture. I honestly love how it was told.

8. American King

I gave this book 4 stars. Once again we follow a character throughout the years. We get all this insight about Ash that we never got to see first hand in the first two books. We get all his feelings and experiences that the other two just were not around to see. This book also had the perfect conclusion.

9. Birthday Girl

I gave this book 4 stars. A new Penelope Douglas book! I honestly was not expecting another one so soon after Hideaway. I know Hideaway came out 6 months ago, but you have to remember it took her like 2 years to release Hideaway so you can see this is pretty thrilling. This book was a lot different from what we usually see from Pen. This was a lot more of a fluffy romance than the edgy teen angst stuff she usually writes. Despite the controversial topic she chose to write about, it isn’t actually that racy.

10. Rising Silver Mist

I gave this book 4.25 stars. I feel like my expectations were a bit too high. I didn’t find this on to be as good as the second book, there were just so many frustrating things that happened. However, I still really loved it. It was like this perfect mix of The Vampire Diaries, ACOTAR, and a little bit of Paper Princess sprinkled in.

11. From the Earth to the Shadows

I gave this book 3.75 stars. I found it a lot slower than the first book. It still had a lot of action and I am glad that I read it, but it wasn’t Amanda’s greatest work.

12. Our Alternate Ending

I gave this book 4 stars. I didn’t have very strong feelings about this book, but I did find it very cute and had a lot of character. It was a bit predictable, but I wasn’t overly mad by it.

13. The Hundredth Queen

I gave this book 3 stars. I really have no feelings for this book. It wasn’t horrible, but it felt like nothing new. I won’t be reading any of the next books, but I wouldn’t discourage you from reading it if you really wanted to.

14. Bloom

I gave this book 4 stars. This book was exhilarating, but also anxiety inducing. I don’t know where this book is going to go, but I really hope what I think is going to happen doesn’t.

What books did you guys enjoy reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

Feel free to add me on social media! And you can follow my blog in the sidebar to be notified when I post!
Follow @Bookballistic0 Follow

Mini Reviews

I have a few reviews that I never posted on my blog because they were either too short or I didn't think they were good enough to dedicate an entire blog post to them on their own. So I decided to stick all of those subpar reviews together to maybe make one okay blog post.

Love Between Enemies
Molly E. Lee

Release Date: January 8th, 2018

Synopsis:

Zoey Handler is ready to put an end to her decade-long rivalry with Gordon Meyers. They’ve traded top spot between valedictorian and salutatorian for years, but all that’s over now. Right? But after a crazy graduation speech prank gets out of hand, suddenly their rivalry turns into all-out war. Time to make peace with a little friendly payback.

Step one? Make him believe they’re now friends.

Step two? Show him the time of his life at an epic graduation party.

Step three? Don’t fall for his tricks.

Step four? Absolutely, positively, do not kiss him again.

So what if he’s cute? (Okay, hot.) So what if he’s charming? (Heaven help her, tempting.) So what if he apologizes? (That has to be fake.) She knows the real Gordon. And no matter how much her heart begs her to stop, there’s no turning back.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains one epic party, complete with every high-schoolers-gone-bad shenanigan, and two rivals who discover maybe they could be something much more…if only they’d stop fighting long enough to notice it

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley

I gave this book 2 stars. Not my favorite book, it actually annoyed me quite a bit. Also pretty cheesy at times. I didn't hate the book with a burning passion, but I'd rather never see this book again.

As I’ve said before, having likable main characters, or at least ones you respect, is very important in novels. As for this particular novel, I only liked Gordon. Zoey was immature, spoiled, and just plain annoying. Gordon did something to mildly embarrass her because he thought she did something awful to him and her solution was to destroy his entire future. Good job Zoey, you’re a fucking bitch.

I liked Gordon. Although he was a bit misguided in the beginning, he realized he had done something wrong and wanted to make it up to Zoey. Gordon is also a bit too forgiving in my opinion, but he’s noble and can’t hold a grudge.

I was pretty annoyed throughout the book because of Zoey, but I kept reading mostly because I wanted to see if she could somehow redeem herself. Spoiler alert, she didn’t. She did some nice things, but I don’t think she really grew as a character.She admits that she feels bad about everything she did because she loves him, but what if she hadn’t loved Gordon? Would she have felt okay with just ruining another person's life? 

Plot-wise it wasn’t my favorite. It mostly takes place at a high school party with all these characters that I don’t know too well. So if you do plan on reading this book I would suggest reading the first book in the series first. I didn’t feel anything for a lot of these characters because I didn’t know them too well.

Wingless 

by Faith Nichola

Release Date: March 18th, 2017

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old June Mason is the bullied ugly duckling living in her school’s basement until kidnapped into his world of dreadlocks, wings, and lust. He, is the seven-foot-tall killer, ordered to guard her. Struck by his staggering beauty, his sapphire eyes and skin, black as ash, June desperately wants to return to her world to bear more practical torment, but as she learns more about his feelings for her, will she be able to return without him? 

Guard Me unfolds over multiple volumes approx.30,000 words each.

My Thoughts:

I received a copy for an honest review

I gave this book 3 stars. Not my favorite but has a lot of potential to be a lot better in future novels in the series.

Wingless was short but a bit difficult to get into. I felt our protagonist felt more like 13 or 14 than 17. I was actually confused there for a bit because I forgot she was 17 and was wondering how on earth it could possibly be an NA novel.

I did however like that it felt different. The style of the story felt very innocent considering it’s NA. It was a really quick read, wasn’t that long, therefore, I could get past a lot fo the problematic things quickly. 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the protagonist, but I can see that changing as I continue on in the series. I would like to get to know more about her and see how she handles different situations. I really want to see some character development with her.

Considering this is a romance, I feel that it is still a bit unclear who the romantic interest is supposed to be. It’s most likely Akili, but I feel like our attention was brought to several different characters abruptly several times so I can’t be too sure about this.

Overall, I so want to see where this goes and what the author will do with this.

Heartborn

by Terry Maggert

Release Date: September 1st, 2016

Synopsis:

Her guardian angel was pushed.

Keiron was never meant to be anything other than a hero. Born high above in a place of war and deception, he is Heartborn, a being of purity and goodness in a place where violence and deceit are just around every corner.

His disappearance will spark a war he cannot see, for Keiron has pierced the light of days to save a girl he has never met, for reasons he cannot understand. Livvy Foster is seventeen, brave, and broken. With half a heart, she bears the scars of a lifetime of pain and little hope of survival.

Until Keiron arrives.

In the middle of a brewing war and Livvy’s failing heart, Keiron will risk everything for Livvy, because a Heartborn’s life can only end in one way: Sacrifice.

Fall with Livvy and Keiron as they seek the truth about her heart, and his power, and what it means to love someone who will give their very life to save you.

My Thoughts:

I received a copy through Netgalley

I was a bit frustrated with Heartborn. It read pretty well, I genuinely enjoyed the authors writing style, but I didn’t really enjoy the second half of the book. I thought everything was going in one direction and then it went into another. It didn’t help that I was reading several books while I was also reading this one so I kept taking breaks because it was engaging me as much as those others. In all honesty, this book was a lot like a filler book to me, much like a lot of other fantasies I’ve already read. I don’t think I would recommend for you to spend time reading this one unless you want a more basic fantasy to fill the time.

This is Not a Love Letter

by Kim Purcell

Release Date: January 30th, 2018

Synopsis:

One week. That's all Jessie said. A one-week break to get some perspective before graduation, before she and her boyfriend, Chris, would have to make all the big, scary decisions about their future--decisions they had been fighting about for weeks.

Then, Chris vanishes. The police think he's run away, but Jessie doesn't believe it. Chris is popular and good-looking, about to head off to college on a full-ride baseball scholarship. And he disappeared while going for a run along the river--the same place where some boys from the rival high school beat him up just three weeks ago. Chris is one of the only black kids in a depressed paper mill town, and Jessie is terrified of what might have happened.

As the police are spurred to reluctant action, Jessie speaks up about the harassment Chris kept quiet about and the danger he could be in. But there are people in Jessie's town who don't like the story she tells, who are infuriated by the idea that a boy like Chris would be a target of violence. They smear Chris’s character and Jessie begins receiving frightening threats.

Every Friday since they started dating, Chris has written Jessie a love letter. Now Jessie is writing Chris a letter of her own to tell him everything that’s happening while he’s gone. As Jessie searches for answers, she must face her fears, her guilt, and a past more complicated than she would like to admit

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley

I gave this book 4 stars. It was a rush and had it’s ups and downs. Very exhilarating. 

I felt a little disappointed with the ending of this book. I was so engaged for three fourths and then we got to the end and I was just sad. This is not a happy ending book and I didn’t feel like much was really resolved. It just goes on long enough to make us cry. 

This book definitely delivered with the mystery element. There were so many different angles to consider, each equally probable. I think the author did an amazing job of that. Finding out what really happened was a bit of a downer, but I don’t think the book was long enough to go with the other option.

I liked that there was talk about how damaging racism is. I’ve noticed that a lot of YA won’t touch the subject unless that’s the entire plot line. It’s a controversial topic but it must be talked about.

I obviously share a first name with the protagonist and to me that was important. I was constantly holding her up to very high standards. You see, I haven’t liked any of the protagonists named Jessie that I’ve read about in the past because I hold them to the highest standards. I need to be able to relate to them and generally like them. I assume that’s how it is with anyone who shares a name with a protagonist. I am happy to say she lived up to my standards. She is Jessie approved.

Overall, although I was unimpressed by the ending, I would definitely suggest giving this one a read.