Anna and the French Kiss by: Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss

Edition: Paperback

Pages: 372

Published: December 2nd, 2010

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile 

Purchase: Amazon | Bookdepository

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming,beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?


My Thoughts:
Why have I waited so long to read this?!?! That is what I keep asking myself because I actually liked it. For so long there was so much hype about Anna and the French and it's companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door that I just wasn't convinced that I would like this book. I had so many preconceived thoughts and that is what kept me from giving this book a chance. And it doesn't help that I've had this book on my shelf for soooo long. I can say now that I am so happy that I gave it a fair shot because I just love it, and absolutely love the characters.
Stephanie Perkins definitely adds a twist to a romance story because most books make it seem like when two characters see each other for the first time they instantly fall in love and then everything clicks into place happily ever after. Life doesn't work that way though, and that is one of the things that made this book awesome. And then St. Clair!! I thought he was perfect even though he has flaws (which are realistic, compared to the incredibly cute guy that has the perfect abs, hair, etc.) and it just made me like him even more although he really annoyed me at times. Actually St. Clair and Anna gave me a huge headache over and over again. That's what happens though when two people belong together but they have too many hang ups to actually get together. Regardless of my rambling, I am so excited to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. I also like Stephanie Perkins writing style which makes it easier to get into the book. One thing I can say though is that the cover (I have the old covers not the new ones) does this book no justice, and that may have been another thing that put me off from reading this book sooner than I did. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone read it if you haven't!

Favorite Quotes:

• "Where have you been all my life?" I ask the beautiful panini. "How is it possible I've never had a sandwich like this before?" He takes a large bite. "Mmmph grmpha mrpha," he says, smiling. Which I'm assuming translates to something like, "Because American food is crap."
• "St. Clair coughs and shifts again. His leg brushes against mine. It stays there. I'm paralyzed. I should move it; it feels too unnatural. How can he not notice his leg is touching my leg?"
• "Rashmi iss me," Josh said into my phone. "Mer? Put Rashmi on. Iss emergency." "It's not an emergency!" I yelled. "They're just drunk."
• "Because I was right. For the two of us, home isn't a place. It's a person. And we're finally home."

Final Verdict: 4 Stars

If I Stay by: Gayle Forman

If I Stay (book 1)

Edition: E-book

Pages: 201

Published: April 2nd, 2009

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Purchase: Amazon | Bookdepository

Goodreads Synopsis: 
Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

My Thoughts:
I have been meaning to read this book for quite sometime now, and finally found the time to read it. Also after hearing so much hype for the movie that is coming out I decided that I want to be in the loop as well. Before reading this, I had no clue what this book was about. The only thing that I had heard was that this was such a heartbreaking story!
I have to say that I am not as in love with this book like most people are. The story is very unique, especially with the events that took place early on in the book, but after that hardly anything happened. With that type of beginning I excepted way more jaw dropping events to happen (which they did...Kind of) but I wasn't really impressed. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book enough to want to go on and read the second book, Where She Went, but this just isn't a favorite of mine since I feel that the majority of this book was filler.

Cons:
I literally only had one con while reading this book and that was the flipping back and forth from the present and the past. I found it to be confusing at times and boring. When the storyline picked up I found myself not caring to read the past events (I did read them though) because I just wanted to get on with the story.

Overall, I think this is an interesting read that everyone should at least try. Plus it's such a quick read that it will hardly take much of your time. As far as the movie is concerned, I will see it because I am curious as to how they are going to portray Mia since the majority of the book was a lot of "internal reflecting" on her life.

Favorite Quote: "Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you. Does that make any sense?"

Final Verdict: 3 Stars

The Gunslinger by: Stephen King

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower 1)

Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 231
Published: June 10th, 1982 (1st published)
Publisher: Plume

Purchase: Amazon | Bookdepository

Goodreads Synopsis: Book I

In The Gunslinger (originally published in 1982), King introduces his most enigmatic hero, Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting, solitary figure at first, on a mysterious quest through a desolate world that eerily mirrors our own. Pursuing the man in black, an evil being who can bring the dead back to life, Roland is a good man who seems to leave nothing but death in his wake.

My Thoughts:
The Gunslinger is the first installment in The Dark Tower series by: Stephen King.  This story follows Roland a gunslinger (the last one actually) who is on a journey to find "the man in black". While on this journey Roland runs into a few people, including a child name Jake who accompanies Roland for a good portion of his journey until he meets his fate, so to speak. While reading this book you also get a glimpse of Roland's childhood and the world that he lived in, which is much different from the world that Jake once lived in.

What I gathered from this is that this is a post-apocalyptic book with hints of magic in it, and every character has experienced very different lives but can't seem to remember much from their past lives due to something "the dark man" has done. This book was quiet hard for me to follow compared to another Stephen King book that I had read. Events kind of skipped around and certain things were implyed but never really explained so I found myself struggling to understand certain portions of this book. Also some of the lingo that was used was older so that could be a reason as to why I was confused while reading this book.

Overall, I thought this was an ok book, I might feel differently if I re-read this sometime down the road. I will be continuing on with this series though because I have heard that some of Stephen Kings books connect back to the Dark Tower series. My favorite character is Jake hands down!!

Final Verdict: 3 Stars

The Maze Runner by: James Dashner

The Maze Runner #1

Edition: E-book

Pages: 374

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Published: October 6th, 2009

Purchase: Amazon | Bookdepository

Goodreads Synopsis: "If you ain't scared, you ain't human." 

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out--and no one's ever made it through alive.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.


My Thoughts: I decided to re-read The Maze Runner because I wanted to finish the series, which I started so long ago. The first time I read this was in 2012, so I basically forgot 90 percent of the events that took place in this book.  Looking back on my review from when I first read this book, my opinion has defintely changed.  Before I gave this 5 stars and was completely head over heels about this book because I had never read anything like it. This is the time when I was just getting back into reading again.  Now, after reading so many dystopian books I can say that this is not one of my favorites, like it had been before.  This book is still good and pretty entertaining for the pure fact that I don't know any YA novels that puts kids in a maze and expects them to solve certain "puzzles" in order to gain their life back, even when that means killing several of them.  To be honest, I found the majority of this book to be boring, even when some jaw-dropping incidents were happening.  I think this was because I was annoyed with most of the characters and certain things that I will leave unsaid just seemed to fall into place way to conveniently.  The main character Thomas annoyed me most of the time because of how he acted through this book. Some times he would be completely brave on the most riskiest (and sometimes deadliest) tasks, and then on small things (like stepping up to a bully) he would act so afraid which I didn't understand.  Overall I think that this book is good enough to give it a shot and see how each individual feels about it (some will be blown away and some will not).  I am still interested enough to continue on with the series, especially after reading the epilogue because it seems like these teens may not be as lucky as they thought they were.

Side Note: I did love how the author painted a very descriptive picture of the grievers.  They sound completely horrible and I am so glad that I don't have to come in contact with those things.

Favorite characters: Chuck, Thomas, Teresa, Newt, and Minho

Final Verdict: 3.5 Stars

Bout of Books 11

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I am so excited to be participating in another Bout of Books read-a-thon!! The last one that I participated in I set pretty strict goals and accomplished quite a lot, but this time around I will be taking a more relaxed approach. So, below are my goals that I wish to achieve for Bout of Books 11.

Goals:

• Read at least 100 pages a day (last read-a-thon I went for over 200 pgs a day)
• Document progress throughout the week
• Finish 2 books from my tbr list

My Tbr:

• If I stay by: Gayle Foreman (201 pages)
• Beautiful Darkness by: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (503 pages)
• Across the Universe by: Beth Revis  (398 pages)
• Spirit Bound by: Richelle Mead (489 pages)

So I have a few different choices to choose from during this read-a-thon so hopefully I can read at least 2. Keep an eye out for my daily updates!!!

Updates:

Summer/Fall Reads 2014

In an attempt to reduce my large Tbr pile, I will be compiling a list of books that I want to read in the next few weeks/months. Most of the books that I will put on this list will be those that I have had for a while. So with that being said I hope to get at least 15 books knocked off of my Tbr shelf. Here is the list of books that I will be reading:

Summer/Fall Reads:

 1. Allegiant by: Veronica Roth
 2. Unravel Me by: Tahereh Mafi
 3. Beautiful Darkness by: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
 4. The Final Empire by: Brandon Sanderson
 5. Spirit Bound by: Richelle Mead
 6. Last Sacrifice by: Richelle Mead
 7. Anna and the French Kiss by: Stephanie Perkins
 8. Partials by: Dan Wells
 9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by: Lani Taylor
10. Cinder by: Marrissa Meyer
11. Desperation by: Stephen King
12. Clockwork Princess by: Cassandra Clare
13. Fever by: Lauren Destafano
14. The Grimm Legacy by: Polly Shulman
15. Across the Universe by: Beth Revis

*You can check out all of my unread books (minus my e-books) under the Unread Books tab at the top of my blog.

On Vacation From Sanity by: Elizabeth Ross Yurich

On Vacation From Sanity

Edition: E-book

Pages: 327

Published: May 20th, 2014

Publisher: Grid Media

Purchase: Amazon | BarnesandNoble

Goodreads Synopsis: What do you do when your world is turned upside down and you're forced to recreate your life?

Life is perfect for sixteen-year-old Jenna Webb. She lives with her rock-star dad in New York City, she has a perky, fun, beautiful best friend, and a super-model, sort-of stepmother. An artist, writer, bass player, Jenna has her life planned to precision—well, until her dad is killed instantly by a New York City cab driver.

With every aspect of her life turned upside down, Jenna is forced to recreate a life in Los Angeles with her Mom, stepfather, and his two daughters—a life she did not want. Travel along on the journey that includes rock and roll, the Buddha, crazy friends, a creepy stalker, unexpected romance, and a downward spiral into a world Jenna never imagined, but needed in order to find herself.
My Thoughts:
* I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
From the time I first started reading this book, I knew that I was going to like the main character Jenna.  In the beginning of this book Jenna is faced with drastic changes after her father Sean dies and has to move all the way to L.A. from her comfortable home in New York.  I found this book to be very enjoyable and lighthearted at times, so I think it would be a great summer read.
The style of this book is written quiet differently than most of the books that I have read before because the events that took place seem to skip around a bit, so I found myself confused on a few sections. Once I got use to the writing style I can truly say I really liked it and enjoyed the characters. The things that I loved about this book is how everyone was so close and went out of their way to help others. I felt like the whole concept of this book being surrounded by music was a great idea, especially since Jenna's dad was in a band.  I also thought that James was incredibly charming but found myself to heavily dislike him in the middle of the book, just to start liking him all over again towards the end. And I can't forget Gavin because he has to be my favorite character in this whole book for the simple fact that he was always willing to help others, stayed positive, and was always so nice to Jenna even if James wasn't. For the character that I hated the most, which shouldn't be a shock is Will. I knew something was up with him as soon as he was introduced in the book. At the same time I am really glad for his character because he added a very interesting twist to this whole story.

Cons:
One of the things that I had a problem with while reading this book is how at first everything seemed to just click into place for Jenna and that no matter what happened to her she was extremely nice (not in all instances but most), so it would've been nice if she had a little edge to her.  The second thing that I felt was odd was how Ryan, Jenna's step-dad, yelled at her after finding out where she spends most of her time and then her mom just assumes the worst. I guess I could see why they behaved that way but to me it just felt over the top considering how mellow Ryan is. Lastly, I felt like in the first half of the book the characters lacked emotion, so when I read what they thought I didn't really believe it, but most of that went away in the last half of the book.

I am actually going to keep my review as is, as to not spoil the book for anyone.  I feel like so much goes on in this book that it's best to not know anything and to just take it all in on your own. I do have to say though, that Jenna is an outstanding character because she is hit with so much negativity I don't know how she keeps going everyday! So, I will recommend this book to anyone that wants a light book to read and likes contemporary style books.

Final Verdict: 4 Stars