Monday, July 6, 2015

Jennifer L Armentrout's ELB Giveaway!!!

Check out miss JLA's giveaway celebrating the anticipated release of her book Every Last Breath.


JLA is one of my most favorite authors. The giveaway includes wonderful stuff like some signed books of her own, a couple Julie Kagawa books, a Kiera Cass book, along with some awesome swag! What makes it great? The giveaway is international! So if you're a JLA fan, I suggest you enter it!



- Christina 

Thursday, July 2, 2015


Easy by Tammara Webber

5/5 stars


I absolutely loved this book. The quality of the relationship, the characters, the well-done background. WOW Webber outdid herself. Please know that there is attempted rape scenes and rape on another character, in case anyone needs a trigger warning.

What I do love so much, though, is that the concept of rape is in no way glorified [as like some books]. It's put into a real perspective, along with the fact that it not ever being the victim's fault. I also like how Webber added a self-defense class and actual moves to use. Plus, Webber put rape and abuse hotlines and websites in the back of her book. Wow, do I love her for that.

The character of Lucas made me so happy. His background and past was obviously what made him who he was, which is hard to do well for a character. There was a lot to Lucas's character and wasn't overdone or seemingly cliche. It makes me want my own Lucas.

Along with the story itself, the romance is A+. It's realistic, not seeming childish, and didn't have aspects in it that couldn't happen in real life. It gives a reader an amazing example of how a relationship should be: between two people, not one. 

To me, Jacqueline wasn't whiny. She was intelligent an a go-getter. She made her own path and made sure she was safe instead of relying on other people for safety. Of course, she was babyish after her break-up with Kennedy, but the way Webber wrote her fall-out after it, it wasn't overdone or unrealistic. She was sad, but dealt with it and got past it instead of whining through the whole book about it. Kennedy wasn't for her, so she didn't pine after him. 

All-in-all, I loved this book a lot and wouldn't mind reading another one of Webber's books. 

Friday, June 12, 2015

Take a Chance by Abbi Glines

1/5 stars


This is probably one of the few books that I'll give such a low rating. I really just couldn't get into it at all and so it took me much longer than usual and necessary to finish. It may have been that I didn't read Glines' other books with the same characters, but still, any book that's a first in a separate series should make sense.

I don't think there was enough detail to the characters, even the main ones. They were kind of just there. Harlow was probably the most detailed out of any of them. There wasn't any "glue", per se, to any of the characters. They were all like a bowl of loose crumbs.

There wasn't much of a solid plot either. Just, "Oh, I love him/her, I'm falling too hard, oops we had sex I'm in love." No build up to passion, it just appeared out of nowhere. When something new happened, it didn't seem to have anything behind it, so I was just thinking, "Oh. Okay." It didn't pull me in much at all. Seriously, the synopsis is more interesting than the story.

I won't be reading on to book two. I can already tell you what happens. Harlow has a hard time re-trusting Grant, Grant still loves her even through her health problems, they have sex and make up, and live happily ever after.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015


The After Series by Anna Todd

I had my ups and downs with this book, but I really loved it in the end. I didn't bother looking at the fanfiction of this on WattPad, but I heard that the grammar is bad, so either that rumor is untrue or the editor had a lot of work to do. Anyway, After is well-written and has a small place in my heart.

I'm doing a review on the series as a whole, as it seems to be a better decision than leaving my reviews of it at just the first book or bombarding you all with four reviews of an entire series.

Can I say that these are probably a guilty pleasure read of mine. There's a lot of smut and I would never recommend this series to anyone under seventeen [eighteen, more likely]. Smut aside, it is so well-written and the character development is phenomenal. Tessa of book one would not recognize Tessa of book four. Same goes for Hardin [I feel like book one Hardin with laugh his behind off at Hardin of book four]. It's difficult for a writer to create good character development; changing your initial character to fit what they go through in the story, 

In the beginning, Tessa's mind was clouded by her mother's choices for her. She was modest and young-minded. Meeting Hardin Scott was a huge steamroller to Tessa's life. Their relationship went from play to toxic just in one book. No doubt that there was an aspect of verbal/mental abuse between Hardin and Tessa. If anyone misses that, they need to wipe the dirt from their metaphorical glasses [that is, unless you do wear glasses, then I do mean your own glasses]. 

Hardin was dysfunctional to say the least. He was rude and nasty and so caught up in his own troubles that he didn't bother to stick his head out and look at the world and its people around him. Of course, it's difficult growing up with an alcoholic parent whose decisions then affected their family's lives negatively. Especially when you grow up to find out that that father became sober and well-off with a new family. 

But Hardin destroyed himself in the long run. He partied too hard, drank too much, and lied to everyone who passed by. Even the one who was most important to him, way before he knew she was that. He didn't care about anyone but himself. I think deep inside he knew it, but Hardin just didn't care anymore. 

He hurt Tessa, lied to her face and expected complete forgiveness when she found out. Now, this is a non-spoiler review, so I won't say what happened, but let me just tell you... [insert dramatic pause here where I don't continue and wag my finger at you]. But this climax to the story is one where you will either think, "She's stupid to forgiving him for that," during book two, or you'll understand why Tessa let him back into her life but didn't completely forgive him. Especially with Hardin's horrible attitude towards her.

The story just gets better with every book. It's a great book because it evokes emotion within you, whether or not you like it and whether or not it's actually a "great" book [short version of something my college English Composition II professor said that's stuck with me]. The last book broke my heart a little bit, but by the last few pages, those tears were sewn back. I love the end to After and it makes my heart swell and leaves that tiny smile on my face, you know the one that shows that you love how it ended but are so sad that it has. 

Now, before you anti-Afters get all huffy at me for enjoying a book with an aspect of verbal/mental abuse, let me clarify something. I know the pain of a verbal/mental abusive relationship. Not with a boyfriend, but with a father. I know how hard it is to love a person so wholly, no matter how nasty they can be to you. The want, the need, to keep a relationship with that person throughout the terrible things they can say and the rude way they can act, to you and anyone else. It's not easy. I think that's one big reason why I loved this series so much, because I understood that want for a better relationship, whether it be between lovers or between father and child. I loved the idea that people can change for the better so they can keep that person[s] they love to dearly.

I do understand how highly unlikely such a change in a person is. My own father still hasn't changed his ways, even after me trying my hardest to fix him. I really hope readers of this series don't get the idea that someone with such a nasty attitude and abuse problem can change so dramatically, because in all real light, it probably won't actually happen outside of fiction. But we all love to dream of possibilities. 

Honestly, I'm still not a fan of the fact that the story of After is not much more than a One Direction fanfiction, especially since I'm one, not a fan of One Direction the band, and two, I don't like the idea of fanfiction based on real people [though I'm all for fanfiction on fictional people]. But I'm so glad that I looked past that and continued the books. I did more than once consider quitting reading them for that fact alone, but I stuck through it and I'm happy about it. 

Please don't compare After to Fifty Shades, I implore you. They may both be aspects of abusive relationships, but After has so much more sexual consent [all consent, really]. The aspect of abuse in After is addressed and acknowledged, not ignored. Just had to put that out there.

All in all, I give five-stars to After and really hope more people give it a chance past the first book.


















Thursday, April 30, 2015


After by Anna Todd


This is such a great book. 

Despite the fact that it's a published One Direction fanfiction with names changed. But let's ignore that for now.

After is well written and engaging. Anna Todd did so well with character development and plotline. I didn't want to put this book down! I can see why it got published. Todd is living proof that young authors shouldn't be judged by their age but by their talent. It's sometimes a leap to write a long book [500+ pages!] because a writer can get carried away in the story and end up having to scavenge for plot, but Todd did so well with putting just as much story into After as needed. 

And jeez, she had to end on a cliffhanger? Of course. 

Now to the mildly controversial side of it.

There are people saying that the relationship between Hardin and Tessa is a [verbally] abusive one. I won't lie, I can definitely see where people get that from. The yelling, the insulting, the withholding of information, et cetera. I will always hold that idea to heart in these books, and I'm not saying it's okay, but since I personally have never been in or known someone in an abusive dating relationship, I continue to read the After books. The relationship on the abusive turn is not anywhere near as bad at Fifty Shades or Twilight. There is no attempting to brainwash Tessa into staying in the relationship, Hardin never hits her, and always makes sure Tessa is okay with something sexual before doing it.

Lastly, the fanfiction aspect of this. I was looking online for fanworks, maybe fanart, of After when I came across the fact that these books are literally just Anna Todd's One Direction boy band fanfiction with the names changed [for legal reasons, I'm sure]. Now, I cringed at finding this fact out; I am not a fan of the band, nor am I a fan of fanfictions that are of real people. But, I loved the book so I continued to read it because it was so well written. I'm okay with looking over this little fact. It's not like it's the first fanfiction-gone-published book series. 

All in all I really loved this book and am ready to go on to book two [I convinced my dad to purchase it, along with two other books, for me since I'm virtually broke]. 

There is a lot of mature material in this book, so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under the age of 17, but if you are 16 1/2 and think you're ready, then go for it. 

Now, I'm off to attempt to murder a fly that has been annoying me for the past few hours.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015


Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard


This is a newly published YA book but is already very popular. I've heard good and bad things about it, but mainly good. It was on my to-read list before it even released and I picked it up soon after it was. The average rating on GoodReads is currently 4.15 stars. I gave it 4.

This was very well written, but that's no surprise from someone who went to college for screenwriting. I like the idea of the story, it's original; status depending on the color of your blood. 

Silver-blood = Royal/noble, has super powers.

Red-blood = Lowly/peasant, powerless.

I really like the main protagonist, Mare Barrow. She's real in personality, and doesn't let royal status alter herself or her idea on the world. Her relationships are built, not instant. She keeps to her own ways, even when it seems impossible to do so. She's strong and finds out how to get through difficult situations.

As you may have heard, there is a twist at the end. Some people expect it, some don't. I kind of did, but more towards the end.

I really did like it, and the end makes leaves you begging for more. You really feel for the characters and want to hug them and bake them cookies.



The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey


This book is fantastic!

Just absolutely fantastic! The beginning was a bit slow, but once the story really picked up, I was sucked into the world of The 5th Wave. The writing is very well done and you can really see the world around you with how Yancey describes it. I really enjoyed how he created the stages of the apocalypse and how they went about. The world he writes is a rainbow of wonderful [aside from the, you know, apocalyptic death]. 

 The characters are great and are also well written; they are honestly kids trying to be strong is a dystopian world. The characters aren't snore-worthy, too-teenagery people; they honestly make sense.  

The romance isn't insta-love.  Personally, I would have liked a little more growing in Cassie and Evan's relationship before love came about, but like I said, it isn't insta-love like a lot of YA books, so I won't complain. 

Definitely a worthwhile read if you like aliens and dystopian apocalypses. There just aren't enough alien books in the world. I just cannot wait to read what happens next.