99 Days

Goodreads Summary
 Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.

My Thoughts on the Book
I'd heard about this a few months ago when I was looking up 2015 releases and thought it sounded like a really good, emotional contemporary. If you're going to read contemporary than you might as well go all out and read a heart breaker. This was completely on point.

Molly completely messed up. She did the one thing that no girl should ever do...she got between two brothers. To make matters worse these were guys that she basically grew up with. She not only messed up her relationship, but also ruined two (if you don't count their mom and sister) very important friendships. Throughout the entire book I felt bad for her though. I think that if this book had been from one of the guy's perspectives I would have hated on her too, but we could see just how much this situation was eating at her. Ok I'm gonna give too much away...carrying on.

I was team Gabe. He was the older, more mysterious brother so there was that. Plus he was the Pacey of the story. By that I mean that he came second. I believe it was Johnny Depp who had a theory that you love the second love the most or the thing with them never would have happened. Here it is,“if you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn't have fallen for the second”.     I just really agree with that statement.

The characters were great, the plot kept my attention, and the writing was solid. The only thing I didn't like was that there was only one guy on the inside covers. This book is clearly about both brothers, but there was only one guy...I digress.

1/2

Oh the book! The book in this book makes the situation SO much worse!! 

Just go out and get this book. I think you'll really enjoy it.  

Fall with Me (Wait for You #4)

Goodreads Summary 

Eleven months ago, bartender and weird-shirt-wearing extraordinaire Roxy and Officer Reece Anders had a one night stand. Well, kind of. She’s been in love with him since she was fifteen, and he wishes that night they shared never happened. She’s sworn him off forever, but the past and future collide, forcing her to rely on the one man who broke her heart not once, but twice.

Her best friend since birth has been in a long-term care facility since he became a victim of a hate crime years ago, and the person who put him in there is out of prison and wanting to make amends with him and Roxy. She’s not sure she has room for forgiveness in her and when she begins to receive frightening messages and is on the receiving end of escalating violence, she thinks she knows who is to blame. The man who already destroyed one life already.

But Reece isn’t convinced. The threats are too personal, and even if Roxy doesn’t believe him, he’s not willing to let anyone hurt her. Including himself. He’s already messed up more than once when it comes to Roxy and he’s not going to let history repeat itself.

My Thoughts
Yet another book to this amazing series. Jennifer L. Armentrout has quickly become one of my favourite authors and when I find out that she is putting out a new book (especially when it's in the new adult category) I buy it asap.  She never fails me. 

Roxy is the artist/bartender that we met in Stay With Me (Jax and Calla's story). She is a sassy little thing that had something going on with a local cop, but we weren't sure what. Well it turns out that they have feelings for each other and eleven months ago almost slept together. Reece however doesn't know that they didn't. This of course leads to some interesting situations. When you add in the fact that strange things keep happening in her apartment you get a recipe for an amazing read. 

This series is great because with each new book we learn more about the minor characters and the world becomes even more dynamic. In September we will get Nick (bartender at Mona's) and Steph's (Teresa's former roommate) story in Forever With You and I could not be more excited. 

I'll Meet You There

Goodreads Summary 
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

 Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

My Thoughts
I absolutely loved this book!!

I love the characters in this book. Sky is a sweetheart with a difficult home situation. Josh is a marine who comes home injured and struggles with his new self. Dylan is a young mom who is probably my favourite character. She just doesn't give a damn about what people think and I adored that. However, I was not a fan of Chris. All he talks about is going away to school. There were numerous times when I just wanted to slap him.

I appreciate that Josh and Sky's relationship developed slowly. They were acquaintances before they were friends and then that blossomed into a relationship. Even when they both knew they had feelings for the other they didn't immediately get together. They both had a few issues to work out and needed to make sure they were ok with themselves before they became a couple. No insta-love here. 

If you like a good contemporary book than check this one out!

Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)

Goodreads Summary

 Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and best friend Bee has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can return her focus to the important things in life: school, canoodling with David, her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie, and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or connect her to David for life.

My Thoughts
Oh yeah I found this out in the wild early...like late March early so I decided to read it asap.

I hate this book cover. Compared to Rebel Belle's this looks tacky and really not pretty. I wish this cover was simple like the Rebel Belle, one but alas it isn't.

This didn't exactly go in the direction I thought it was going after the first book, but I didn't really mind. Harper, David, Ryan, and Bee are all back for the action and just trying to keep each other safe about six months after cotillion. Some relationships develop and some break apart making their bond a little awkward given their supernatural roles. What do you expect? They're teenagers with no adult role models for this kind of thing.

I missed some of the wit that was in the first book. I didn't find this one as funny, but some of the situations they got themselves into were rather entertaining. Baton twirling, frat parties, ugly unitards...that kind of thing. 

The ending didn't feel finished to me. I am hoping there will be a book #3 to help with the ending of this one, but there doesn't seem to be plans for that as of now.

This comes out today!!

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Goodreads Summary
Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

My Thoughts
I bought this book on a whim from BookOutlet (aka my place to buy the best kind of crack for cheap lol) and then saw Katytastic's "Favorite Stand Alone" video where she said that she loved this book. She suggested reading it even if you didn't love vampire books. I was all in after that.

This book was so different than the books I usually read. I've never really read a vampire book before (Twilight doesn't count for many reasons) and wasn't sure if I would like this. I worried it would just be another pretty book on my shelf that I didn't love, but I was wrong. Holly Black created a world that so perfectly collided today's society and vampires. She understood that people would fear them and many would be so enamored with that they would want to be them. She understood that there would be both sides to the coin and many perspectives in between.

Then she gives us characters like Tana who is so easy to connect with and yet...not. She is a typical high school girl, but she also enjoyed toying with her ex. She seemed to enjoy watching him suffer. An experience with a vampire at a young age changed her and made her darker; it made her interesting. Along the way she meets some interesting characters including Gavriel. He's an old vampire that often speaks in riddle and she wants desperately to be able to trust him. Basically I loved him.

This book was dark, funny and beautiful. If you're a fan of young adult fiction than give this book a try. Plus it's a stand alone which seems rare in the young adult world these days.

1/2

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

Goodreads Summary 

A gripping memoir and medical suspense story about a young New York Post reporter’s struggle with a rare and terrifying disease, opening a new window into the fascinating world of brain science.

One day, Susannah Cahalan woke up in a strange hospital room, strapped to her bed, under guard, and unable to move or speak. Her medical records—from a month-long hospital stay of which she had no memory—showed psychosis, violence, and dangerous instability. Yet, only weeks earlier she had been a healthy, ambitious twenty-four year old, six months into her first serious relationship and a sparkling career as a cub reporter.

Susannah’s astonishing memoir chronicles the swift path of her illness and the lucky, last-minute intervention led by one of the few doctors capable of saving her life. As weeks ticked by and Susannah moved inexplicably from violence to catatonia, $1 million worth of blood tests and brain scans revealed nothing. The exhausted doctors were ready to commit her to the psychiatric ward, in effect condemning her to a lifetime of institutions, or death, until Dr. Souhel Najjar—nicknamed Dr. House—joined her team. He asked Susannah to draw one simple sketch, which became key to diagnosing her with a newly discovered autoimmune disease in which her body was attacking her brain, an illness now thought to be the cause of “demonic possessions” throughout history.

With sharp reporting drawn from hospital records, scientific research, and interviews with doctors and family, Brain on Fire is a crackling mystery and an unflinching, gripping personal story that marks the debut of an extraordinary writer.

My Thoughts
I wanted to read more nonfiction this year and stumbled upon this book on Goodreads. I decided to go with the audiobook because I was in a book funk and honestly I didn't feel like reading. There is a lot of medical jargon and I think actually reading it would have slowed me down. 

This book was a terrifying look into mental health. You saw this intelligent woman go through a spiral with so many twists and turns that you feared she would never be free of it. She had so many symptoms that reminded me of so many different potential diagnoses that I feared what would come next. My psychology degree came in helpful because I understood about the different parts of the brain as well as some of the disorders discussed. At times I felt like I knew what was wrong and the next second I had no idea.

I loved that she talked about her relationship with her family and boyfriend and how that changed throughout her illness.  I think the emotional aspect really let you see what her illness was doing to her. Her illness transformed everything about her and her loved ones were put through the ringer in the process. 

The only aspect of the book that I did not enjoy was after her diagnosis. I enjoyed hearing about her recovery, but she goes into statistics about other people and it got a little boring. I just feel like there was too much after her diagnosis for me. It just dragged on a little. I still thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. 

 

How (Not) to Fall in Love

Goodreads Summary
Seventeen-year-old Darcy Covington never had to worry about money or where her next shopping spree was coming from. Even her dog ate gourmet. Then one day, Darcy’s car is repossessed from the parking lot of her elite private school. As her father’s business hit the skids, Dad didn’t just skip town, he bailed on his family.

 
Fortunately, Darcy’s uncle owns a thrift shop where she can hide out from the world. There’s also Lucas, the wickedly hot fix-it guy she can’t stop crushing on, even if she’s not sure they’ll ever get out of the friend zone.

But it’s here among the colorful characters of her uncle’s world that Darcy begins to see something more in herself...if she has the courage to follow it.

My Thoughts on the Book 
This book was just generic for me. Girl is rich and then poor. She meets a guy and finds the strength to persevere. It wasn't that original or mind blowing. Maybe I feel this way because I couldn't connect with the characters or because the plot felt played out. I'm not sure. Maybe I just wasn't interested because Darcy is still in high school; I honestly don't know. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't amazing either. Judge it for yourself. 


  1/2