Book Review: Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover [SPOILERS]

My Rating: ★★★★★

Genre(s): New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Plot: When Sydney learns that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend/roommate, her seemingly great life is shattered. Homeless with no where else to go, Sydney is offered the spare bedroom in the apartment across the way from hers, where she is forced into close quarters with Ridge, her musically talented, attractive neighbor. Connected by something neither of them can ignore, their musical collaboration turns into something much more complicated, leaving them both confused and wanting more than just music to happen between them.

Pros:

• Ridge is Deaf and I totally did not see that coming.
• This book game me all the feels. All of them.
• The sex scenes weren't graphic.
• I've said it before and I'll say it again-- I'm a sucker or multiple points of view.
• Relationships are complicated. The relationships in this book are complicated. It's just so real.
• She learns ASL for him awwww.
• He spoke for her!
• She doesn't go back to her dickwad boyfriend.
• This book comes with its own soundtrack. How fricking cool is that?

Cons:

• Poor Maggie. But at the same time, not poor Maggie.
• I didn't want it to end, and it ended.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “You should take note that simply because a girl makes your dick hard, that doesn't mean you have to go shove it inside her.” 
• “Sometimes in life, we need a few bad days in order to keep the good ones in perspective.”
• “A life of mediocrity is a waste of a life.”
• “Nothing in my life has ever felt so good yet hurt so achingly bad.” 
• “Kisses like his should come with a warning label. They can't be good for the heart.”
• “Truths are written, never said... Lines are drawn, but then they fade.” 

My Thoughts: I loved this book. So much. I think I read it in about 12 hours (that's really fast for me), and the second I finished reading it, I picked up the sequel and read that too! It was so great and the characters were so perfect. I couldn't decide who I was rooting for, and in the end I was so glad that Maggie found out and was able to let Ridge go-- and that Ridge was able to let himself go. I liked that their connection was deeper than music, and I  loved that the book came with its own soundtrack. Seriously. The best book I've read in a really long time. There is so much that I can say about this book, but UGH it's just so amazing.

Links:
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Colleen Hoover

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

My Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: As if the Quidditch World Cup being invaded by Death Eaters wasn't enough, Hogwarts hosts a dangerous, magical tournament, and fourth-year Harry's name is chosen. Thrust into this dangerous tradition, bound by a magical contract, Harry is isolated. His peers resent him and his best friend abandons him. But something even more dangerous is happening-- Lord Voldemort is regaining his strength. Follow Harry through his fourth year as his magical skills, friendships, and bravery are all tested.

Pros:
(There really are too many to list but I will try)

• This is really the book where the characters grew with the audience, and the story went from lightheartedly scary to legitimately life-threatening, and it really showed that JKR wasn't afraid to up her game and get a little dark
• Two words: Cedric Diggory
• Romione
• Stamps.
• It had everything. Like there was so much content in this book: the World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, the graveyard scene. But even though there was so much to the story, it wasn't excessive. It flows well and it keeps the reader turning pages.
• The fact that Hermione is bullied really shows in this book, between Malfoy and Snape, and that's just so important to her character.
• The Quidditch World Cup. 
• Basically all of the book. 
• So many other things but I can't even list them all

Cons:

• Cedric died.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” 
• “Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.” 
• “Percy wouldn't notice a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing one of Dobby's hats.” 
• “Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?” 
• "Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.
• It won't let me copy and paste the entire book here...

My Thoughts:  This is something like the tenth time I've read this book. At least that many. I've always really loved this one, and it's tied with Half-Blood Prince for my favorite in the series. It's just so great. As I said above, there's so much content in this book, and it's an adventure from start to finish. I always get that magical, happy feeling of Christmas break and my childhood and happiness when I read a Potter book, and this is no exception, even with the heavier, darker things that happen in the story. I love all things Potter, and I'm so glad that these books are a part of my life.

Links:
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Our Queen

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver [SPOILERS]

My Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Plot: For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night. [click the link above to continue reading]

My Thoughts: [Contains Spoilers, I Think?] I knew Sam was going to die in the end. I knew that. So why did the end of the book affect me like it did? Every time Sam woke up to start February 12 all over again, I was relieved. This time she will live, I thought to myself. When she did live, I was thrilled. She didn't deserve to die. I didn't want her to die. She put all of this effort into fixing things, which meant that she couldn't die. Right? Wrong. She was just making things right, setting things the way they really needed to be, before she died. And that hit me like a brick wall. All throughout the book, she kept saying "You never know when it's your last day" or something along those lines, and although she got to redo her last day seven times, no one is really that lucky. No one gets a second chance to make things right before the end. That really made me think hard about my life and how it impacts those lives around me.

I felt myself relating with all of the characters in this book in some way or another. The characters were so incredibly relateable that I felt like they could have been my friends or my classmates. That really made this book so real to me. I couldn't put it down.

I'm glad that I read this book. I wasn't going to because I read a bad (spoiler free) review on it when I bought the book. But I am so glad I read it anyway. I really was a great book, and I will definitely be adding it to my list of go-to recommendations.

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn [SPOILERS]

My Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Plot: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? [click the link above to read more]

My Thoughts: [WARNING: Contains Spoilers!] This book was a trip. I wrote predictions along the way: Amy's parents did it... Nick did it... Amy ran away. I had no idea that my final prediction was the correct one. When I finished the first act of the book, I actually had to go back and reread a few pages because it just didn't make sense that she would disappear on her own. As I got to know Amy-- Real Amy, not Diary Amy-- I was sickly fascinated by the fact that someone could be that twisted. Once I found out that Amy was alive and very much okay, I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know why she ran, and I wanted to know how Nick was going to react when she inevitability came home. I honestly thought Nick was going to kill her because everyone already thought he did anyway. I was totally blindsided by the ending. I cannot imagine having to live with someone that insane for the rest of my life, and Nick is totally trapped with Amy forever. That is just crazy. 

I really, really enjoyed this book, and I cannot wait to see the movie when it comes out. I might even (dare I say it?) watch it in theaters. The book was that good. If you haven't read Gone Girl, you should read it. Now!

This book was recommended to me by Fatma over at the3gryffindors.tumblr.com

Review: Gossamer by Lois Lowry

My Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Plot: Littlest One is a tiny creature slowly learning her job of giving dreams to humans. Each night she and her teacher, Thin Elderly, visit an old woman’s home where she softly touches beloved objects, gathering happy memories, and drops of old scents and sounds. Littlest One pieces these bits together and presents them to her sleeping human in the form of pleasant dreams. But the dreaded Sinisteeds, dark fearsome creatures that plague their victims with nightmares, are always at work against the dreamgivers. When the old woman takes in John, an angry foster child with a troubled past, the Sinisteeds go after him with their horrifying nightmares. Can Littlest One, and her touch light as gossamer, protect John’s heart and soul from the nightmare of his dark past?

My Thoughts: As always, Lowry tells the story of the triumph of good over evil in her own unique way. This book was an easy read, as it is a children's book, but the tenderness of the old woman and the emotions of the boy and his mother are very real. This is also an interesting theory about where our dreams come from, and why we dream of the most random of things sometimes. Great, easy read!

Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Plot: Susie Salmon is raped and murdered, and when she goes to Heaven, she sees how her loved ones (and her murderer) cope with her death, while coming to terms with her own fate.

My Thoughts: This book was phenomenal. I like that it wasn't your usual murder-mystery point of view, and I thought it was interesting how you could feel the passage of time through the narration. At first it was slow, with every detail, and then it got faster and skipped days and months and then years, kind of like what happens when someone dies and you grieve them. I spent weeks reading this because because I didn't want it to end. This book was so good.