"I spent my life folded between the pages of books." -Tahereh Mafi

Some of my reviews are normal non-spoilery reviews. But some of reviews contain lots and lots of spoilers to help you (and me!) remember what happened when the next book in the series finally comes out. Both review types are clearly marked.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Charlie, Presumed Dead by Anne Heltzel

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 1/5 stars

DNF @ 40%

There is not one likable character in this book. I almost started to like Aubrey and then she ruined it.

Both Aubrey and Lena were dating Charlie, which they find out at his funeral. But Lena doesn't think he's actually dead so they team up to try to find him. Charlie is awful. I could not understand why either girl liked him. Lena admits that she always thought he was cheating on her. Even beyond the cheating, Charlie is just weird. He's constantly reinventing himself. For example, the Charlie that's with one girl doesn't like olives, but the one that's with the other love them. What is this? Is this supposed to be quirky and cute? Because it's not. It's just fucking weird.

Lena's annoying - she's the stereotypical rich girl. No depth whatsoever. And just when I think Aubrey might be tolerable, no - she spent most of her relationship with Charlie cheating with his friend. WTF?

So I guess I'll never know if Charlie is actually alive or not since I abandoned this book. But I am totally okay with that. Some things are not worth knowing.

Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roat

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 3/5 stars

The worst thing about this book is Ivy's friends. I am so tired of YA heroines that are "friends" with the popular mean girls but who secretly hate them. It just makes me hate the MC. I have never had a friend that I hated - seriously, what's the point? Is this something that actually happens?

Ivy spends most of the book terrified that her "friends" will find out that her family is *gasp* poor. Oh the horror! She does grow throughout the book to realize that living in Lakeside isn't all that awful and that there are worse things than not being rich. 

Besides the awful friendships, this book was mostly enjoyable. Nothing really remarkable, but a solidly enjoyable YA contemporary. There's a bit of a love triangle, but it's not too drawn out.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Pines by Blake Crouch

This review is spoiler free!!

My rating: 4/5 stars

What the fuck? This book was crazy! In a good way though. There were so many times while reading this book that I just said whaaaaat?  Remember the first season of Lost? How every episode there was something insane and wonderfully confusing that happened and it was so awesome? That's this book.

I feel like it's impossible to properly review this book without giving away any spoilers and I don't want to do that because guessing what the fuck is happening is the best part. And the end doesn't disappoint. I saw something similar happening but it was still surprising. So without giving anything away, I'll just say that you should definitely read this. 

Since I finished the book I also watched the first 2 episodes. The show is similar and yet very different. A lot of the parts of the book are in there, but in a different order. And the show moves a lot faster than the book. But if you've been watching the show, you should definitely pick up this book!