Book-Devouring Misfit

Despite not being much of a fan of Sky and Holder's relationship or connection or whatever, I did really find myself invested with the novel. It emanates a mysterious feel in it that made me curious with the book in the first place. As we get closer to the real mystery, I really was surprised as only few of my hunches were proven corrected. Romance and cheesiness aside, the book really was unpredictable. 

I totally admire Colleen Hoover for effectively infusing tough subjects such as abuse and suicide in the novel. Props to her for that. Not only did this had a swoon-worthy romance in it - and I already admitted of not buying it much - it also tackled real andgermane issues in our society. 

Thank you, Colleen Hoover, for writing yet another amazing novel and delivering really quotable lines about life and love such as these:

“Sometimes you have to choose between a bunch of wrong choices and no right ones. You just have to choose which wrong choices feels the least wrong.”

“The events of your life are all crammed together one minute right after the other without any time lapses or blank pages or chapter breaks because no matter what happens life just keeps going and moving forward and words keep flowing and truths keep spewing whether you like it or not and life never lets you pause and just catch your fucking breath.”

“When I touch you, I’m touching you because I want to make you happy. When I kiss you, I’m kissing you because you have the most incredible mouth I’ve ever seen and you know I can’t not kiss it. And when I make love to you—I’m doing exactly that. I’m making love to you because I’m in love with you.”

My Actual Rating: 2.75 stars

First of all, I liked this book. But sadly, it just isn't my cup of tea. Some of the circumstances are way too far from happening in real life that I just read this for the sake of entertainment and no longer for my desire to live vicariously through the characters' experiences. You see, the plot sounds really good. Who wouldn't want to be exchanging e-mails with a celebrity, right? Even though, Ellie and Graham didn't know each others names in the beginning, their conversations were really worth continuing for. 

But as the story progresses, there was something that lacked. I wish this was done in the first person narrative and maybe in that way, I could've empathized more with the characters. Maybe I wouldn't have seen Graham and Ellie's struggles so trivial. 

What saved this book for me was that Graham and Ellie weren't the typical lovers who couldn't get their hands off each other. Their kind of relationship is what I would've wanted for myself, too. From those months spent emailing each other, they managed to know and talk about everything about each other. I liked that.

Flat-Out Love has got to be one of the best contemporary books I have ever read. It's got the wit, humor, relatable characters, and well-developed plot and of course the gut-wrenching romance that makes every reader be hooked with the story. 

I am utterly amazed of how good this book is. Usually, when I’m way too astounded with the brilliance of a book, I am unable to bring myself to make a review—a fitting one that would justify how great the book is. In this case, however, I urged myself to make one because this book just deserves the greatest of praises that there exist and I wouldn't let my admiration for it be unheard of.

The first chapter introduced me to a smart, snarky and funny protagonist and knowing myself to having a penchant for characters like this, was enough for me to devour the book completely. Plus, it’s got a very interesting plot and the high ratings suggest that this wouldn't be a waste of time. By interesting plot I meant, an incoming college freshman finds herself living under the roof of her mom’s college friend’s family after her rented apartment turns out to be a fraud. Surprisingly so, she finds herself involved in the not-so-normal Watkins family—quirky, as she describes it—believing that there is a secret they just wouldn’t let Julie know behind the family’s eccentricities. 

The writing— though I consider myself the opposite of an expert in this field— is amazing and very clever. I must say that the characters’ witty wordplay has got me laughing out loud so many times that both my brothers had annoyingly shot daggers at me.

As I poured myself entirely to the story, I couldn’t help loving all the characters even more. All of them were so very lovable. Yes, I admit, the Watkins household is a bit quirky. But we do know that there is a reason behind this quirkiness that Julie finds out later in the novel. Jessica Park just did an awesome job in refining the characters and gradually developing them towards the end of the story.

Not a single moment did I find myself itching for the book to end already. I savored every moment, every part of the story. There was a lot of emotion involved that would rip your hearts out, every fiber of your being, as if you were also a character in the book. That's how connected I was—how strong the pull of the book is—and it rarely happens to me, to be so deeply attached to a book.


For a self-published author, Jessica Park has sure got a unique knack in writing a very well-flowed plot, humor-filled dialogues and supplying a surprisingly set of interesting characters that will surely mark a place in your heart for a lifetime! This surely wouldn't be a waste of time. 

You must not miss it for the world!

First of all, a caveat: Some of you may not love this book or even like it but I absolutely adored it. I am writing this review with my mind assured that my rating on this book is solely based on how it has impacted me. I am not known for being such a literary snob who examines every detail of a book from the writing to the characters to the blah and blah. In fact, I mostly rate books higher than they deserve just because I was so immersed in them. And this is one of those books. It isn't perfect. I mean, God! The main character here has got to be the most annoyingly fickle-minded character I have come across with. But still, I found myself - though I really didn't want to - empathizing with her. 

Goodness, there's just so much that I loved about this book and I think it will take a while before I can finally figure my thoughts out on whether this book is another new favorite of mine. 

Full review in a bit. (If I don't get lazy. And if I get my thoughts together. Hopefully!) 


P.S. HERE I AM AGAIN NOT FINISHING WHAT I STARTED. I REALLY HOPE I'LL BE ABLE TO GET BACK ON THIS. !!!

One buys more bookshelves. And then a bigger house. (Speaking from personal experience, that is.)

It's been almost a month since I've updated my account. Will post reviews later! :)

So why 2.5 stars, huh? Well, the story was cute especially Chloe and Will's relationship. The characters were awesome, too, you'd think they're perfect. I just thought that the book's way too long and it actually took me more than six hours finishing it. There were some parts that I just thought the book would still go on fine even without them. Like the first quarter part of the book. Those parts were okay but it wouldn't hurt if those weren't included either. 

So that's just it. All in all, it was a fun read.

Here's the thing about Matched: the plot's very predictable and bleak – no suspense, no I'm-on-the-edge-of-my-seat moment; in other words, boring.

It started out pretty well for me but then as I made progress, I found myself skimming the pages, no longer bothering if I missed some important details or not because as I said earlier, it's predictable. Nothing worth piquing my interest. Well maybe, except of course, for the poetry. I'd give credits to Ally Condie for using some poetry here and also for her writing style. It was smooth and unique in a way I can't explain. It made me give this book a 1.5 rating instead of a one.

But still, Matched and I are absolutely incompatible. We are not a match and yes, pun intended. This is just sad. I love dystopian books but this one just didn't get to me. I'd still find some time to read the rest of the trilogy, though. Yes, I am that considerate.

I tremendously loved Flatt-Out Matt. It was really nice to finally be inside Matt's head, hear and feel his thoughts, and be able to know more of him. 

I think it was great that Jessica Park also brought us to know the real Finn – even though it was just a slight glimpse of him. The prequel with Finn's part and Matt's old life was just very touching. I empathized with him even more. 

The ending – if not perfect – at least, it felt real. I wanted to know more of what will happen between Julie and Matt's relationship more than just knowing that they gave theirselves to each other. But then, being the horny teenager that I am (Yes, I admit. You admit it too.), the ending was tolerable. Love is more than just sex, is what I want to point out. But this is not my work, this is Jessica Park's – the woman whose work is now one of my favorite contemporary books ever! 

Go forth and read Flat-Out Love now. You must not miss it for the world.

I liked the book's cover. Hell, enticing covers are one of the reasons why I decide to read a certain book. In Shatter Me's case, the description wasn't really an enough reason for me to want to read the book. But then I saw the positive reviews of my Goodreads friends so I decided to give it a try.


Okay so here we go. This is where the proper review begins - well not really proper because at this moment I am still unable to think of anything coherent. And that is because this book is SO GOOD - really, really good. I am even out of any more adjectives to describe how good this book is. (Okay so maybe the word good is becoming a bit redundant now, but whatever.) This was just one of those books that you cannot put down because you wanted so badly to find out what happens next. I kept resisting the urge of flipping the next page just to find out what will happen. 

As for the characters, I loved how at first Juliet was a person who feels miserable, wanting to have a home and thinks she's a monster. But as the book progressed, she somehow finally began to feel and see the human in her. And how did it happen? Well because of Adam, of course! He sees and unleashes the good in her. Hm, I looove Adam. Though I admit, Juliette bugs the hell out of me. Because of her, this book ends up in my 'annoying characters' shelf.

There's also this tiny, itsy bitsy part of me that likes Warner. That egotistical, war-craving maniac? And I'm feeling a bit of love for him? I know right?! How is that even possible??? I should not like him but I somehow do (a little). 

I may have loved this book a lot - and Adam, Kenji, and James too ( I THINK THEY'RE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS. IDK.)- however, I still didn't give this book a full five-star rating. And that was because of the overly dramatic metaphors and repetitive words and phrases that I think Mafi intended for giving a more emotional and expressive feel for the situation but I didn't think they helped much at all. Some actually annoyed the hell out of me. But it was okay, they were still tolerable. I somehow even managed not to notice them anymore when I was already in the middle of the book where the scenes got more intense. 

As for the ending, I was quite satisfied with it though I still wanted more, which only makes me more stoked for the sequel. 

Oh man, this book is just.. I don't know, I can't really elaborate further but it sure had its moments. The Reece Malcolm List is heartwarming and full of emotions and even though it had its flaws, wow did it sure hit me and made my heart hurt. (I admit, I may have shed a tear or two.)

The book isn't perfect and there were some shortcomings but the book really did leave me sated so that's why it gets a 4.5

A great and satisfying summer read for all you guys out there. :)

I don't know why but I've always loved reading books that deal with pregnancy, so when I got to read about the premise of this book, I immediately picked it up. It's short that I thought I could just finish it in one sitting and it sounds like a fun read. It was indeed fun but unfortunately, I failed to finish it in less than six hours, which is the maximum number of hours it takes for me to finish a book. My eyes just grew heavy last night that I had to wake up very early this morning just to finish this. Yep. I liked this book that much that I didn't bother be sleep deprived just to be able to finish this.

The Proposition has almost everything a quintessential NA book has: cliched plot and stereotyped characters. Even so, I genuinely still loved this one. 

First of all, I know for a fact that this plot has been overdone in almost every books and movies out there. Even as for the characters, I bet Emma and Aidan are no way more unique than those in the other films and books. They were as stereotyped as they can get but there's something different about them that make them stand out. 

The book didn't really revolve around a much bigger issue than Emma wanting to have a baby and Aidan agreeing to being the father only if by conceiving it naturally. Througout the book, we see how the characters evolve as a more developed person. So what I saw was that the book mainly focused on character development and it wasn't until the last pages did we find out that something bad was gonna happen. Even though it lacked in the scenarios and events department, I liked how it was done. We saw how Emma changed from being a hurt woman from her past to an amazing woman with becoming a mother as her only dream. Aidan, too, showed great improvement from being the reputable manwhore to being a guy who was willing to have something more. Sounds cliched? Ugh, I know. Really, I swear 98.99% the book is. But if you trust me and read it, you'd find out that there's more to it that I can no longer explain in this review that made me enjoy this book so much. It was really surprisingly good for an already overdone and predictable book.

I was about to give in to the small voice inside my head telling me to just give this a four-star rating already. But then, though I really liked the book, I didn't get hooked to it until I was about 20% percent through it. And it certainly wouldn't be fair to all those books that I've rated four stars which had got me gushing just from the very first page.

Okay, so Amplified.. 

I loved the musicality that was incorporated in it. It gave me the ambience like I was also part of the band. I admit that I got quite a bit confounded with the musical terms used but this just truly shows that Tara Kelly really knows her music well. And she bestowed that knowledge she has for music to the book's characters. Her characters really are true musicians. They not only passionately LOVE music, they confidently KNOW music. 

I can't say the same with the lyrics though. The lyrics were totally corny and cringe-worthy and I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for Kelly. I guess this just proves that Kelly won't be rocking poetry any time soon. 

I'm glad that there will be a sequel. There were so many issues that were left unsolved and undealt with that I knew right after I finished this book that there will be one. So I didn't really feel that dissatisfied with the ending. I'm contented with how it ended but not contented enough to not wish for a sequel. 

"Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?” 

“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked."

I've been aware of this book for a long time already but as a not-so-fan of the supernatural fiction, I tried real hard to steer clear from it. Judging by the cover of the book and its summary, I thought this was just another Twilight series – a story in which a girl is only supposed to be normal until she has been pulled out into the supernatural world and had her whole life changed from that moment. Not to mention the love triangle existing between the lead girl, her best friend and the  super hot guy in she will only end up being with the latter. Basing from that, I thought these kind of stories are way too cliché already.

But still, after watching the latest trailer of the City of Bones' movie adaptation, I thought I’d give it a try. To my surprise, I did enjoy the book.  It is not a full-on love story but is more on kicking some supernatural ass. Cassie Clare gave the ideal mixture for this book to be perfect. It's got romance, humour and some butt-kicking action. I couldn't find any single flaw with the characters especially Jace Wayland (Some may find him a dickhead. And yes, he kind of is). He has got the sass, wit and angst – the characteristics that every girl – or me – would fall for. (Though maybe not his being douchebag at most times. Nobody wants a douchebag boyfriend.) I think I just found another fictional boyfriend, all thanks to Cassandra. 

The ending of the book was not much of a shocker though but it has surely got me all hooked up with finishing the rest of the series before the movie adaptation comes out this August.

First Comes Love is the book that you can never pass up. It will sweep you off your feet and ignite those dormant butterflies in your stomach. Now, as the cynic that I am, I do find it hard to believe that I actually said that, but yep I just did. Usually, this kind of story would've earned interminable insults from me for being too far-fetched but with First Comes Love, it was just different. Maybe it was the author's writing, the plot development, the characterization or maybe just everything about it. This book has simply enraptured me just from its very first pages and I couldn't put it down no matter how heavy my eyelids already were. I swear almost half of my copy of this book has been highlighted!!!! 

Though the story was about a boy and a girl who fell in love, I wouldn't consider this as purely romance. The relationship between Gray and Dylan started out as acquaintanceship with Gray seemingly reluctant at first with the the quirkiness Dylan shows. Gray has built walls around himself after his twin sister died but then he meets Dylan, the girl who reminds him of the sister he lost. And being with her reminds him of who he was before - happy, spirited and full of life. Dylan was the very last person Gray thought he'd be interested in. But Dylan was just so vibrant and altruistic and carefree that it got impossible for him to spend a day without her.

The only flaw I did see was the fact that somehow, a person like Dylan can never be real. First, she's a wanderer, a vagabond. Is it just really easy for her parents to let their 17-year old daughter hop from one place to the next? Don't they care for their daughter at all? Second, how it was very easy for Dylan to just leave Gray for her desire to see the world and discover herself. She says that if they are really meant to be together, then fate will bring them back together again. But can't Dylan see? It was fate that brought them together in the first place. It's already brought them together. Why still test fate when it has already done it's job? I do believe in fate but I just don't really see what Dylan did happening in real life. Why let go of someone when it's already in front you? Maybe she's just really different, is all. Which brings us back again as to how Dylan can't be real.

So you see, the only reason I didn't fully give this a five-star rating was because of Dylan but all in all, this was still a great read.