Browsing Tag

contemporary

Book Review

REVIEW: Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first book, although I really did enjoy it when I read it back in January. The contemporary kick that I was in then actually inspired my blog name. I was a little apprehensive to start the sequel, but I’m so glad I did and can’t believe I left it so long to pick this one up because it was so much better than Confessions of an Angry Girl.

Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend was fast paced and jam packed with drama, humour and some amazing characters. It starts a little bit later from where the first book ended and there’s action from the first few sentences.

Rose has really matured since the first book and she goes on such a journey in this one. I just wanted to applaud her throughout because it felt like she was finally taking control of her life. I can really sympathise with her because it seemed like she was thrown all of these obstacles but she overcame them really easily. I love character progression so much and Rose grew so much during Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend. She’s very admirable!

All the secondary characters were present and I found that I loved them even more the second time around. Especially Angelo. I really love him…Regina was back with her usual bitchiness but we also see her develop and her back story is revealed. I actually felt pretty sorry for her in the end. Tracy, Rose’s best friend, also comes into this novel as bright and vibrant as she was in the first, but this time she’s redeveloped herself and shed her old skin. She also has a brilliant idea that I really loved but won’t write here because the awesomeness will probably blow up the computer page…

There was a lot of swooning in the form of Jamie Forta who is just *sigh* I love his character and we get to see so much of him, it seems, in this novel. I can see why Regina and Rose are STILL having issues over him! He’s not the typical guy that you see in some YA novels with no substance, but instead has his own history and traits.

The plot carries on from the first novel but more problems crop up and more plotlines are brought in. The plot doesn’t drag on at all and I couldn’t put this book down. I raced through it in a morning and wanted more afterward. I need the third novel NOW! *whines*

I LOVED Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend and can’t wait until the next book. This really surprised me and I’m going to be recommending this a lot now.

Book Review

DNF REVIEW: The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

It really does pain me to write this review because I was so hopeful that this book would be something special and sweet. Sadly, I was very disappointed and I couldn’t finish the book. For that reason, my review will only reflect the 33% of the book that I did read.

The Infinite Moment of Us is about a girl called Wren whose life is commanded by her parents. Tell her to jump off a cliff, and she’ll go do it. Wren was so infuriating and I just wanted to shake her so much and tell her to grow a pair. She did everything to please her parents and it was like her life revolved around theirs and vice versa. To be fair, I can see why she was so scared by them because when one thing happens in the book they end up saying they’re disappointed in her and tell her she’s throwing her life away. For people who are supposedly looking out for their daughter’s welfare, they sure are pushing her away.

Charlie is the male protagonist and was even more pathetic than Wren. He declared his love for her when they’d only had a few encounters and weren’t even going out. Yes, there were parts of his life that made me feel sorry for him, but compared to a lot of other people in similar situations, he was extremely lucky. He had a loving home and people who cared about him.

The romance in this book was hinted at from the first chapter which led on to something that felt like insta-love. The note at the start of the book hints at a slow romance that carefully builds up but we have Wren and Charlie practically agreeing to marry each other not even halfway through the book. None of it felt real and this is one of the things that disappointed me the most because a great romance was promised.

The plot felt unrealistic, the dialogue felt forced and I was left pulling my hair out on numerous occasions. I felt like huge chunks of writing were put in just for the sake of it and I must have annotated five billion times that things weren’t even necessary.

The cover is so gorgeous and I’d definitely buy this if I saw this in a bookshop. Sadly, this is one of the only things that I liked about the book and I wish the book reflected the cover more.

The Infinite Moment of Us was such a cringy and frustrating novel. I doubt I’ll be reading anything else by this author in the future. It’s really saddened me that I didn’t like it.

Book Review

REVIEW: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was the perfect concoction of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Before I Die, with a male protagonist, of course.Although I haven’t read The Silver Linings Playbook, I expected great things from the same author, and I was not let down at all.

It’s Leonard Peacock’s eighteenth birthday and the day he is going to say goodbye, for he has decided that today will be his last day on Earth. After killing his former best friend, he will take his own life. His mother, who he calls Linda to annoy her, who spends most of her time in New York with her French boyfriend, won’t care. His father, who has moved to somewhere in Venezuela and practically dropped off the face of the planet, won’t care.

Leonard has four packages: one for his Bogart- obsessed neighbour; another for his Holocaust teacher; one for a violin virtuoso; and one for a pastor’s daughter.

Leonard, for all of his odd characteristics, was a very likable character and one that I just wanted to send big hugs to. He’d never received any love from his parental figures and so was searching for something that he had never had. I loved his relationship with Walt. It was so natural and I relished the scenes when they were interacting. Walt really cared about him, and it was really sweet to see.

Written with footnotes at the bottom was a really good idea and fitted in really well with the narration and themes of the book. It’s something that really makes the book stand out and a really strong reason to pick up this book. If you like something a bit different, then Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the book for you.

I loved the future scenes. I’d happily read a whole book that featured this world, because it was so carefully thought out and crafted. It really added a nice touch to the book, and this is the sort of thing that bumps up my rating.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the kind of book that I devour. I love hard hitting and raw novels and this really was one of them. It’s impossible to say that this book was a light read, but if it was it wouldn’t be the same. I loved this novel because of its nature and I think this is something that other people will love, too.

I didn’t think I’d like Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock as much as I did and I’ll definitely be reading something else by Quick now.

Book Review UKYA Uncategorized

Review- Tapas and Tears by Chris Higgins

I really enjoyed this book. I had started to read this a few months ago but, having a few books on the go at the same time, never really got past the first chapter. This time though, I was determined to finish it and went in with an open mind. Once you get in to it, you really start to enjoy it, as I found. I couldn’t put it down!
The characters in it are well thought out, and the book is written in Jaime’s point of view. You see her go from, as her mother calls her, Wilma Worryguts, to bold and brash Tira, which actually means ‘Shoot’ in Spanish. I really love it when you see a character develop, and this is certainly what we see.
The plot is really good. It has a bit of everything: drama, arguments and, also, romance. The romance in this book, however, is not the typical one you see in most books. The character of Pablo is planned carefully. Chris Higgins allows you to fall in love with him, but also allows you to feel what Jaime and Concha feel for him as well.
I really love the cover on this book. It’s quite simple but I think I like it more than the other, much older, covers on Chris Higgins’ books. The others were quite girly, having sparkles on them, and I think this takes interest away from boys, who might also enjoy these books.
On the whole I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested. It is quite an easy read and doesn’t need a lot of thought.