Book Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

My Rating: ★★★★☆ (really more like 3.5 but I really liked the ending)

Genre(s): New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Plot: Tate and Miles have nothing in common-- except that they are very obviously attracted to each other. Tate is a nurse and a student and works crazy hours when she isn't in school. Miles is an airline pilot and gone for days at a time. Neither of them has time for a relationship-- but they do have time for casual sex. With two rules-- never ask about the past, never expect a future-- Tate and Miles stick to the arrangement... until they both begin falling. Tate begins to try to break down the walls Miles has built around his heart, before her heart shatters, while Miles tries desperately to keep the situation casual in order to keep his past in the past.

Pros:

• The chapters in the past paralleled the chapters in the present, even if sometimes it was only subtle.
• This book raises the question, "Is casual sex ever just casual?" and I think that's really important.
• Once Miles' past is revealed, it totally makes sense.
• Corbin is a good big brother.
• Cap is a sweetie pie.
• Miles confronted his past and that's huge.
• The sunset in the sky thing.

Cons:

• A little too much sex for my taste.
• It really bugged me that Tate agreed to the terms knowing that she had no intention of actually sticking to them.
• It also really bugged me that she kept. going. back.
• And that she kept trying to change him.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “God gives us the ugliness so we don’t take the beautiful things in life for granted.”
• “Sometimes not speaking says more than all the words in the world.” 
• “Some people they grow wiser as they grow older. Unfortunately, most people just grow older.” 
• “The smaller the house, the more a family is forced to love one another.”
• “There's nothing in the world that compares to the feel and smell of brand-new rain.” 

My Thoughts: It was... ugh. I have such conflicting feelings about this book. As a whole, it was good. Everything was resolved in the end, and it made me happy and feel-y and I think I might have cried at the very end? But all that good stuff aside, it's totally unforgivable how Tate behaved, even if it did end up in her favor in the long run. Their relationship started off as a flat out lie and with her trying to change him, and that's not cool at all. Especially when, throughout the book, she's constantly saying, "I know I should just stop." WELL THEN FRICKING STOP. smh woman you're ridiculous.

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Colleen Hoover

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Adult Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

Plot: Libby day was seven years old when she stood before a court and said that her family was murdered by her brother Ben. Now in her thirties, Libby is contacted by a group of conspiracy theorists who believe that her brother is innocent. Libby begins questioning her memory and, with the help of the socially-awkward Lyle, starts to research and retrace the steps of everyone involved that night.

Pros:

• The plot twist at the end.
• Libby is tiny-short. Go short people!
• I liked that it switched between past and present.
• Gillian Flynn's storytelling abilities are phenomenal. 
• Libby's snark is seriously the best.

Cons:

• It took a long time for the story to get going.
• I wasn't sure about Diondra and Trey.
• I really want to know what happens to Ben in the end.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “The truly frightening flaw in humanity is our capacity for cruelty - we all have it.”
• “It was surprising that you could spend hours in the middle of the night pretending things were okay, and know in thirty seconds of daylight that simply wasn't so”
• “I am not angry or sad or happy to see you. I could not give a shit. You don't even ripple.” 
• “I don’t know anyone’s name. If one of those women died, I couldn’t even say, 'Poor old Mrs. Zalinsky died.' I’d have to say, 'That mean old bitch across the street bit it.'

My Thoughts: It took me a really long time to read this book. The plot is slow until the last 1/4 of the book story, which is really hard to get through when you've got a million other books to read. But the twist at the end really made it worth waiting. I love the way Gillian writes. Like Gone Girl, this book kept me guessing until the very last page.

Links:
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Gillian Flynn

Book Review: How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young Adult Literature, Contemporary Literature, Short Stories

Plot: This book is composed of eighteen love stories. Not just romantic love, but all sorts of love. Each story is unique and brings a new string of emotions, and a crazy attachment to the characters in such a short number of pages.

Pros:

• Short stories mean more variety
• These were all so stinking cute/emotional
• I was hooked after the first story
• There are so many different kinds of love, and this book covered so many of them

Cons:

• I didn't want the stories to end!

Favorite Quotes: 

• “I think one of the highest compliments you can give a person is that when you are talking to him, you are not thinking about the fact that you are talking to him. That is, your thoughts and words all exist on a single, engaged level. You are being yourself because you aren't bothering to think about who you should be. It is like when you talk in a dream.” 
• “We always loved to say 'If I'd had a Monday-morning class, I never would have met you'. Or 'If you'd been reading something else, none of this would have happened'. We didn't believe in fate, but we believed in serendipity. We felt very lucky.” 
• “Must interests be interesting? That is, must they be interesting to someone other than yourself?” 
• “She wasn't pretty, but there were moments when I found her beautiful.”

My Thoughts: So, so, so cute. I love short stories, but I kept wanting these stories to keep going. After the first story, I turned the page expecting a new chapter, and actually said, "NO!" out loud in front of people at work. The different types and expressions of love made this book complete, and it made me happy, weepy, etc., just the way it was meant to. I haven't been able to get into any of Levithan's other books, but this one is so great.

Links:
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David Levithan

Book Review: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Adult Literature, Contemporary Literature

Plot: Richard Walker has just died, and his estranged family returns to his home to clean out the years of hoarding he's left behind. However, the family does not realize that they're not alone-- the house is very much alive and aware of their presence. Alice and Sandra, who live within the walls and the floorboards and every other inch of the house, watch as the family copes with Richard's death each in their own way, and unveil secrets within the family and between themselves, as their worlds collide.

Pros:

• A "ghost story" told from the point of view of the house, rather than stereotypical ghosts, is just really cool and clever.
• Everyone copes with loss in a different way, and every single character in this book is an example of just that.
• The character arcs are amazing.
• I like that the stories went between past and present and all tied up in the end.

Cons:

• It was kind of slow to start.

Favorite Quotes: 

• "Parents teach you a lot of things, but the most important thing they teach you is this: how people will fuck you up in the future. If they're any good, they teach you to get used to it.” 
• “She’s like a person looking through the wrong end of a telescope, complaining that everything looks small.” 
• “People, Caroline thought, were like houses. They could open their doors. Your could walk through their rooms and touch the objects hidden in their corners. But something--the structure, the wiring, the invisible mechanism that kept the whole thing standing--remained invisible, suggested only by the fact of its existing at all.” 
• “For the shortest time, shorter than the shortest second's breath, you get to stand up to infinity. But eventually, and always, infinity wins.” 

My Thoughts: This is such a unique book. I really enjoyed it after the first few, slower chapters. The perspective was great, and it really got me thinking about life in general, and time as we know it versus time as it actually is. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, but it's definitely up there on the creepy scale. Such a great book. I hope Lauren Oliver writes more adult fiction in the future.

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
B&N
Book Depository
Lauren Oliver

Book Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz [SPOILERS AT THE END]

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Literature

Plot: Aristotle, an angry teenage boy who's kind of an outcast, meets Dante, a smart boy who hates shoes and looks at the universe with different eyes. As the boys spend more and more time together of the summer and then suddenly spend time apart, Ari and Dante learn that their friendship is bigger than they had originally imagined, and that together, they can start to discover the secrets of the universe-- and themselves.

Pros:

• This book was adorable. Like seriously so many feels.
• It's kind of nice to read YA from a boy's point of view instead of a girl's.
• Ari and Dante were so different, and that's what made them such great friends.
• As time went on, their characters grew in such a great way.
• So many great quotes!

Cons:

• I wish that Ari and Dante could have had more contact when they were apart. But I get that.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “Words were different when they lived inside of you.” 
• “I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand.” 
• “I had a rule that it was better to be bored by yourself than to be bored with someone else. I pretty much lived by that rule. Maybe that's why I didn't have any friends.” 
• “Words could be like food - they felt like something in your mouth. They tasted like something.” 

My Thoughts: [SPOILERS] So I already said that this book was adorable, but I'll say it again-- this book was adorable. I really loved Ari and Dante's characters, and the whole time [spoilers] I was rooting for them to get together, and I was so glad that it happened. I really like the cultural differences in the book, and the cute little quirks that each character had. Seriously, such a great book. If you haven't read it, READ IT NOW.

Links:
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Amazon
B&N
Book Depository
Benjamin Alire Saenz

Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young Adult

Plot: Hadley is having a bad day. She is on her way to England, where her dad is marrying a woman she's never met; then she misses her flight. Just when it looks like things will never look up, she meets Oliver, a British boy who happens to be on her flight. They bond during the flight, but are separated as they enter the airport. Will Hadley and Oliver find each other? Is it meant to be?

Pros:

• It was an easy read. And not in an "I'm so glad I was able to read this book quickly, because it sucked" way. It was just so quirky and interesting that I wanted to keep reading so I could find out what happened when Hadley and Oliver got off the plane.
• Even though their relationship progressed very quickly, I loved the chemistry between Hadley and Oliver.
• Parent-daughter relationships of any kind are important.
• Hadley was a bookworm.

Cons:

• I found a typo.
• I feel like the book dwelt too much in the past (which ok it makes sense but there were just so many flashbacks).

Favorite Quotes:

• “Love is the strangest, most illogical thing in the world.”
• “There's a formula for how long it takes to get over someone, that it's half as long as the time you've been together.” 
• “Hadley didn't know it was possible to miss someone who's only a few feet away, but there it is.” 

My Thoughts: This was a great book. I started it about a zillion years ago (ok, last year), back when I was still ok with downloading books illegally. When I came to my senses and started supporting the industry I plan to join, I deleted all of my illegal books off of my computer, and this book sat on my "currently reading" on Goodreads for a long time. But when I picked it up the other day from the library, it was like I'd never put it down. It was that easy to get back into, and that easy to reconnect with the characters. I actually cared for these characters, and that's a big deal. The end was great and made me really happy. I'm looking forward to reading more Jennifer E. Smith (Jennifer Smith? Not sure which is actually "proper") books soon!

Links:
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Jennifer E. Smith

Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young adult; Dystopian

Plot: Growing up in a world where love is a curable disease, Lena has only known that 1) she never wants to get the disease and 2) the disease kills people. She will be safe as soon as she is old enough and has the procedure that will alter her way of thinking, and prevent her from catching this deadly sickness. However, she soon learns that the things she's been raised to believe aren't quite what they seem, and that she can't entirely trust those around her-- those who have kept her "safe" for her entire life.

Pros: 

• The way love was described as a disease was well thought-out and actually made it sound like a real sickness that should be prevented; gives a whole new meaning to the term "lovesick"
• Lena's a runner; I don't know why (because I'm not a runner myself), but I like characters who run
• It focused on an issue that could have a huge impact on the world that isn't war/hunger/AIDs; it was nice to have a different perspective
• Lena's family; I love families
• Teenage rebellion was totally believable in this book and that's nice because it's normally so overdone
• Little bits and pieces of actual history were used to write their laws and guidelines and that huge because our history is what makes and shapes us
• It was interesting. Like the plot, the concept, and the characters all held my attention.

Cons:

• On page 171 in the hardcover version of the book, it says something like "I was more then a decade away" instead of "more than" and it was seriously like a brick wall was built and I couldn't turn the page for like a half hour and I'm not even joking
• It sort of dragged in the beginning
• The ending hurt me [no spoilers here]
• It freaks me out to think that towns and districts could someday become quarantined like that

Favorite Quotes:

• “I’ve always hated being looked at.” 
• "The one good thing about being kind of shy is that nobody bugs you when you want to be left alone."
• “It’s so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it’s taking forever to come. Then it happens and it’s over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed.” 
• “Pretend to be calm and happy when really I’m freaking out. It’s one of the skills you perfect as you get older.” 

My Thoughts: This was a good book. The beginning kind of dragged, just barely, but enough for me to second-guess my decision to read it. The ending was a little bit shocking, but it is what it is. I'm interested to see where the next book takes Lena, and I hope that she finds the answers to the questions she has: both new and lingering.Overall, it was pretty good.

Links:
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Book Depository
Lauren Oliver