Maybe Someday Review

Maybe Someday

Colleen Hoover

March 2014

3/5

Quotes:

“Sometimes in life, we need a few bad days in order to keep the good ones in perspective.”  

“We try so hard to hide everything we're really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most.”  

Liked!
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“To me, lyrics are harder to write when you have to invent the feelings behind them. That's when lyrics take a lot of thought, when they aren't genuine.”  

"People try to bottle up their emotions, as if it's somehow wrong to have natural reactions to life.”  

I've read a lot of Colleen Hoover novels lately. I love her writing style, it really involves you in the characters and you truly become invested in them. As you probably already know if you've read my previous reviews, I'm obsessed with music. I'm not a musician, but I love just listening to a wide variety of genres. What I loved most about this book was how music was such a major part of the story. I've read several books that have included song lyrics, but this one took it a step further by providing actual songs you can listen to while reading. If you enjoy music, this book might be worth a read for you also. 

Sydney is a twenty-two year old college student who is fairly satisfied with her life. She has a nice job, safe boyfriend she loves, and a best friend who is also her roommate. Everything comes crumbling down when she finds out that said boyfriend has been cheating on her with her said best friend/roommate. At the same time, she also loses her job. She then seeks safety in the mysterious boy that lives next door who plays the guitar out on his balcony. Sydney begins writing lyrics to go with his music, and Ridge allows her to stay with him and his roommates. Sydney and Ridge are supposed to have no future as a couple, but will the music connect the duo anyways? 

I had some issues with Sydney, especially her attitudes towards other women. She obviously is still not over what her best friend did, but that's not an excuse for her to judge others. When she gets to Ridge's apartment, she meets a girl in a Hooters shirt and immediately makes assumptions about her. Yes, the girl (who turns out to be one of her new roommates) is rude to Sydney and makes her own judgments, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. Ridge was really sweet and I loved how passionate he is about music. It really surprised me when we first discover that Ridge is deaf. I felt like that added a unique and refreshing take on the musician thing. However, I wanted to shake Ridge more than once for how he shuts Sydney out. He ultimately redeems himself in the end, but I still wasn't a fan of some of his actions. 

The romance between Sydney and Ridge is more than a little bit complicated and I had serious doubts about it throughout the book. Ridge has a girlfriend of five years, and for the larger part of the book, he is dead set on his feelings for her instead of what he feels for Sydney. You also can probably already tell that I hate love triangles, so why did I bother with this one at all? I wanted to give it a chance because I like Colleen Hoover and the plot being about music drew me in. I'd also read reviews saying that the love triangle didn't really feel like a true love triangle. Meaning, there was never really him making a huge choice about one girl over the other. I still had bad feelings about it in general, but I did see the chemistry between Sydney and Ridge. It just would've been a better love story if the girlfriend was out of the picture completely. I will say that I absolutely loved how Ridge and Sydney were able to communicate with one another. 

The story had both its positives and negatives about it. Maybe Someday is a book that I'll remember partly because I can't get the songs from it out of my head. I also enjoyed several of the supporting characters and felt like they added something more to the story. In the end, this may not be a good choice for those of you that hate love triangles. But I'm mostly glad that I gave this one a read. 

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour Review

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Morgan Matson

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

May 2010

4/5

Quotes:

“The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren't looking for it. Columbus and America. Pinzon, who stumbled on Brazil while looking for the West Indies. Stanley happening on Victoria Falls. And you. Amy Curry, when I was least expecting her."

“Tomorrow will be better.”
“But what if it’s not?” I asked.
“Then you say it again tomorrow. Because it might be. You never know, right? At some point, tomorrow will be better.”  

“Saying good-bye is basically an invitation not to see a person again. It's making it okay for that to be the last conversation you have. So if you don't say it--if you leave the conversation open--it means you'll have to see them again."

“I think there are lots of things still to be discovered. You just have to be paying attention.” 

“You've got to have pride in your home. You are where you're from. Otherwise, you're always going to be lost.”    

Goodreads description:

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

I've recently read one of Morgan Matson's other books, Since You've Been Gone and I loved it. So the bar was set pretty high going into this one. It's safe to say that this book was everything I hoped for and even much more than that. This author has definitely made me a huge fan of her work, although I've still yet to read Second Chance Summer but that's on my TBR list after liking these ones so much. This was a great read about friendships, relationships, grief, forgiveness, and letting go. I really enjoyed Amy & Roger's Epic Detour and recommend it if you're looking for a fun and sweet read.

Amy is a likable and relatable main character. I personally related to her since she was involved in theatre and that was something I always loved growing up. While this is obviously something that not every person out there is going to relate to, it just caused me to have more of an investment in the character, if that makes any sense. What can I even say about Roger? He's on the nerdy side, but he's also beyond sweet and charming. I found his love for history and specifically explorers to be extremely endearing. He also made the best road trip mixes of them all. Seriously, one of the huge highlights of the book for me was getting to read Roger's latest mix which was mostly relevant to the state they were visiting or something on the topic of road trips. Both of the pair's personalities balanced one another out, and I loved them as they got to know one another better on their big road trip.

As a couple, they really worked for me. They didn't know hardly anything about each other when the trip first began, but gradually they formed a friendship that slowly but surely developed. Part of me wished that Amy would have been more aware of Roger's feelings for her when us as a reader began to notice his attraction and protectiveness over her. However, the other part of me knows that the relationship moved at a more realistic pace the way that Matson wrote it. Anyway, the relationship between them was just so real and rather swoon worthy.

The reason why I didn't give this book five stars is very picky of me. I just kind of wish there was more character and plot development. Not everything was resolved between Amy and her mom. The ending was cute but I was hoping for more of a conclusion to officially wrap everything up. Needless to say, I loved the music choices made by Matson, all the characters, the road trip plot, and so much more. It was just the kind of book I needed to read after all of these heavier angst filled books I've been reading lately.

The One Thing Review

The One Thing

Marci Lyn Curtis

Disney-Hyperion

September 8, 2015

3/5

I can't tell you how badly I wanted to LOVE this book. Even now looking at Goodreads, I see so many perfect ratings and such positive reviews. On one hand, I do agree with a lot of what is being said, but I can't completely push aside the issues that I had with the book either. I think it could have used a lot of more character growth and plot development, among other things. The big reason for reading this is that the characters are all larger than life and spilling with personality. I really enjoyed that part of it, particularly Ben and Maggie (more about them later) but in the end that just wasn't enough to make me forget the questionable sides of the book.

Maggie Sanders lost her ability to see six months ago due to a nasty illness. Her life has totally changed since then. She no longer can play soccer, a sport that she loved, and she’s also lost all of her friends. On top of all that, she's forced to meet with her new probation officer because of a prank that her school didn't think was so funny. She’s spent the majority of her time listening to her new favorite band. A strange thing happens to Maggie when she meets a ten-year-old boy named Ben who she can actually see and she can also see things around him. She strikes up a genuine friendship with the boy and then happens to discover that his older brother is the lead singer of her favorite band. What follows is an adventure as Maggie discovers the one thing that is her “thing.” This is something that Ben brings up to her and he means the one thing that you love and that makes you happier than anything else. This is an interesting concept that comes up repeatedly in the book.

As I mentioned earlier, Maggie is the total highlight of the book for me. She’s filled with a hilarious amount of sass and sarcasm. She doesn't take crap from anyone and I just love that. She’s just a likable narrator and she’ll have you laughing out loud more than once while you read this story. I also really loved Ben, the ten-year-old that Maggie can see. This kid is seriously mature for his age and I love all the random and awesome topics that he brings up to Maggie. It’s hard to describe it here, but take my word for it that there are plenty of humorous moments from him. To balance the humor out, of course there are more than your fair share of sad and heartbreaking moments as well. Ben's brother Mason, who plays an important role in the book, was a complicated character for me. He automatically is suspicious of Maggie for wanting to hangout with his little brother. He thinks that she is faking her blindness because she's a major fangirl of his band. (The first time he meets her she's wearing his band's T-Shirt) I just felt like Mason was a jerk for no reason and that (spoiler alert) the relationship between Mason and Maggie didn't develop enough. They hardly talk in the book yet we are expect to believe the romance between them? That's just not realistic to me personally.

I’m not going to launch into serious details, but another huge problem I had with the book was the reason behind why Maggie can see Ben. I just feel like it could have been handled in a more realistic way. I mean, obviously every scenario involving this brief moment of being able to see is going to involve fiction, but I just had a hard time understanding it. Anyway, this is still a book filled with beautiful and memorable characters with a fairly unique and important story that young adult contemporary fans will likely love.

Waiting On Wednesday: Save Me, Kurt Cobain

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking The Spine. It basically is where you share upcoming releases that your anxious about or books that are on your TBR list that you haven't gotten around to yet.

Save Me, Kurt Cobain

Jenny Manzer

Release date: March 8th, 2016

Delacorte Press

Goodreads Description:

"What if you discovered that Kurt Cobain was not only alive, but might be your real father? This nuanced and bittersweet YA debut will keep you guessing until the end.

Nico Cavan has been adrift since her mother vanished when she was four—maternal abandonment isn’t exactly something you can just get over. Staying invisible at school is how she copes—that and listening to alt music and summoning spirits on the Ouija board with her best friend and coconspirator in sarcasm, Obe. But when a chance discovery opens a window onto her mom’s wild past, it sparks an idea in her brain that takes hold and won’t let go. On a
ferry departing Seattle, Nico encounters a slight blond guy with piercing blue eyes wearing a hooded jacket. Something in her heart tells her that this feeling she has might actually be the truth, so she follows him to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest. When she is stranded there by a winter storm, fear and darkness collide, and the only one who can save Nico might just be herself."

I'm excited about this one for a number of reasons! First and foremost, I absolutely love Kurt Cobain. Nirvana is one of my all time favorite bands. I just think it's weird in the best way that this Young Adult fiction book is mentioning him. Another reason why I'm excited is because I read an early review on Goodreads from author Laurie Flynn (I'm also looking forward to her debut coming out next year but I'll save that for another week) that was beyond beautiful. She wrote, "Music has a lot of powers. It soothes and it incites, motivates and empowers, empathizes and hurts, sometimes makes us feel that we’re less alone. For fans, music can be a companion, a friend, an escape. But does music have the power to save someone? That’s one of the themes in Jenny Manzer’s riveting debut, SAVE ME, KURT COBAIN."

So I can't wait for this book to come out next year!

The Emoji Book Tag

Thank you to Jane from Greenish Bookshelf for tagging me in this! I'm really excited to do this tag.

The seven booktubers who created this tag:
Liz from lizlovesliterature
Jenny from Jellafy
Sanaa from InkBonesBooks
Dylan from dylanbooks
Max from WellDoneBooks
Vilde from vforvilde
Scott from Scott Place 

1. Cry-laughing emoji – A book/character that makes you cry of laughter.

You've got to love Junie B. Jones. I've read a lot of books, but none of the characters have ever been as quirky and hysterical as this little girl. She's never afraid to tell you like it is. And I'm particularly fond of the early books where she was in kindergarten and first grade. But no matter how old she gets in the books, she always keeps that sassy personality.

2. Heart-shaped-eyes emoji – My favourite character.

Anna Oliphant from Anna and the French Kiss is definitely one of my favorite characters. She's so relatable and filled with angst. She also always manages to make me laugh the entire book.
3. Crazy-tongue-out emoji – A kind of crazy and sassy character.

My girl Jordan Woods from Catching Jordan. She is the quarterback of her high school football team and she manages to get all those boys whipped into shape. She's a natural born leader and she doesn't take any crap from anybody. She's one incredible character if you ask me.
4. Little pink hearts – Favourite romance.

Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games. They take care of each other. And Katniss is protective of Peeta in a way that she's never been protective over anyone before. I love them together, they are certainly one of my all time favorite couples.
5. Smiley face emoji – A book/series that makes you happy.

The Princess Diaries series makes me extremely happy to say the least. I just love Mia, she's sassy and relatable. I just love being able to watch her grow up and become wiser and more mature as the books go on.

I tag AJ @ Read All The Things
Lucy @ The Reading Date
Soudha @ Of Stacks and Cups
And anyone else who wants to do this!

Top Finished Series I Have Yet to Finish

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week, the theme is ten finished series that I have yet to finish. This is a difficult but good topic and I'm happy to do it!

1. Under The Never Sky



I've only read the first book in this series so far, but I'm working on the others now!

2. Sloppy Firsts: Jessica Darling Series



I've heard a lot of really great things about the Jessica Darling series so I'm not sure why I haven't managed to pick this one up yet? I can't believe the first book has been out since 2001!

3. Weetzie Bat Series



It's probably even worse that I somehow managed to miss this one. But in my defense, it was released before I was even born so I just completely missed out on it.

4. Harry Potter



I have only read the first four books so I feel like I have to read the other books at some point. I just got hopelessly stuck on the fifth book and gave up completely. But one day I do plan on checking out the whole series again.

5. Perfect Chemistry



I read the first book but I plan on reading the others in the series also. It's a fascinating concept and I loved this book way more than I first expected.

6. Cinder



The first book immediately drew me in but I'm sort of holding back on reading the others. Also, I know this one has more books coming out (or at least one) so I'm definitely cheating here, but I felt like it needed to be thrown in there anyway because it's a huge one on my list!

7. Delirium



Not sure how I missed out on this one. I actually haven't read anything by Lauren Oliver even though I know she's a huge Young Adult author. I don't know, I guess I've just always figured that her books aren't my thing, but I can't help but consider giving them a try and see what happens.

Okay so I'm going to fall a little short on getting ten on this list because I'm way too tired. This was way more difficult than I expected it would be! I mean, the most difficult part of it was trying to remember series that I want to read that are actually completed. Most of the ones that I'm interested in are more recent and still coming out with new books. Anyways, I look forward to seeing what everyone else could up with for this list!

Under The Never Sky Review

Under The Never Sky

Veronica Rossi

Harper Collins

January 2012

4/5

Quotes:

“People are more than emotions. People have thoughts and reasons for doing things.”  

“She looked up. “A world of nevers under a never sky.”
She fit in well then, he thought. A girl who never shut up.”  

"People can be cruelest to those they love."

"If there was no fear, how could there be comfort? Or courage?"

“It's hard to follow a person's logic if you don't know how they feel.”

Goodreads Description:

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland--known as The Death Shop--are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild--a savage--and her only hope of staying alive. A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile--everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

I've heard many great things about this trilogy but I wasn't sure if I would like it. The only dystopian YA I've read is The Hunger Games and Divergent. This one actually came out before the first Divergent book, but still, I wasn't sure if I could handle the heavy and complex subject matter. I've been reading a lot of YA contemporary books lately that have been much lighter, so this was a pretty huge jump from that. However, reading this has given me the chance to fully understand what all the hype has been about.  

This book has a rather complicated plot that honestly is difficult to explain. There's a lot to this dystopian world and many different tribes. Each tribe has many different strengths and abilities that can be hard to summarize in just a paragraph or so. It's worth picking up the book for yourself if you've somehow missed this book and haven't read it yet. It's not a light book and it might take you awhile to read it so you can take everything in about the characters, tribes, and other important details.

Aria was a strong female character with a good head on her shoulders. She's constantly fighting for what she believes in and is as resourceful as possible when it comes to staying alive. Although Perry helps save her life and keep her safe, it never seemed as if Aria was a damsel in distress who needed protecting. Perry and Aria needed each other and I loved both of their personalities as individuals. I also loved Roar, who is Perry's best friend and he is in love with his missing sister that he's trying to find. I was fascinated by Roar's love for Liv and I'm glad that they have a short book of their own so we can learn more about them as a couple. Even though we didn't get to see all that much of him, I found Talon to be an adorable character. He's Perry's nephew and I loved the protection and obvious love he had for the little boy. Cinder was also a fascinating character. Even though he also wasn't in it very much, his role was extremely important. It takes awhile to warm up to him but in the end he's actually a pretty great character.

I was a huge fan of the relationship between Perry and Aria. Most of the appeal comes from the fact that it was far from being insta love. The two actually disliked each other in the beginning but slowly grew to like one another. I loved getting to watch them grow together as they figure out how to stay alive as they fight to find the two people each of them care about. There's not much to say about this couple that hasn't already been said so I'm just not even going to bother.

This was a brilliantly clever and creative book from start to finish. It had a deep and tremendously complicated plot that was beyond difficult to fully uncover, and many questions were left unanswered that will learn more about in the next two books. However, this was definitely a fascinating read and I'm glad I finally decided to read it.