Novel Review: Starfall (Starflight, #2) by Melissa Landers

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Sci-fi Romance

Publisher: Hyperion

Release Date: 2017

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Starflight 1.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Princess Cassia Rose fled her home world of Eturia to escape an arranged marriage, she had no idea her sudden departure would spark a war. Now after two years hiding as a ship hand, she is finally returning to her beloved home, but not in the way she imagined. Shackled by bounty hunters, she is violently dragged back to account for her crimes. Her only solace is that the Banshee crew managed to evade capture, including Kane Arric, her best friend...with occasional benefits.

Meanwhile, Kane and the rest of the crew of the Banshee plan a desperate rescue mission. But when they arrive on Eturia, Cassia isn't exactly in need of heroics—she's claimed her birthright as Eturia's queen, but has inherited a war-torn planet simmering with rebellion. Cassia must make alliances, and Kane, the bastard son of a merchant, isn't a choice that will earn her any friends. Kane knows he will never find someone to replace Cassia—and is certain she returns his feelings—but how can he throw away his own promising future waiting on a queen?

When the outer realm is threatened by the dangerous Zhang mafia, Cassia, Kane and the rest of the Banshee crew uncover a horrifying conspiracy that endangers the entire universe. In the face of unspeakable evil, Cassia must confront her own family's complicated legacy on Eturia and decide once and for all who her real family is.

The Cover:

I really like these covers. They're pretty, and I love the colors and shiny parts. I appreciate this one shows Cassia going back to her planet, too, since now they're not running away from anything. Since the story doesn't focus overly on the romance, I like that the covers don't, either.

Review:

This book takes place quickly after the first one, only now we're following Cassia and Kane. I was intrigued by their relationship in the first book, and I'm always a sucker for childhood friend/friends to lovers stories. They're a favorite of mine, so I was actually looking forward to this one more than the first.

Similar to the first book, the romance takes a backseat compared to the action and main plot lines. For this book, it's that Cassia's home planet is looking for her. Only for her to find out that some big things have changed, and she actually needs to go back to try and settle things.

I really liked the idea behind Cassie being a runaway princess and going back to her kingdom to take her place back and make things right again. Some of it just didn't play out as well.

I think Cassia played it well, for the most part. She played it smart and did what she needed to in the moment, trusted who she thought she could and fought when needed. Cassie and Kane were actually separated for most of the book, and then there were clear conflicts, since Cassie and Kane grew up on very different sides of the kingdom. She was a princess, and he was a merchants son.

The way it played out wasn't terribly surprising—who was behind what, who was secretly and openly against her. And it was a fun story, for the most part. But certain parts went in odd directions, and some story lines got dragged out or seemed unnecessary. But I think part of that might be that this reads almost more like an adventure novel, more than a sci-fi or romance story.

All this to say, it was all right. I didn't mind it, but it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. The romance was rather subtle and not very intense, like I hoped it would be. I'll probably try another of Landers' novels at some point, but I'll have different expectations, I think.

Novel Review: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Dial (Penguin)

Release Date: 2014

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can anyone be truly herself--or truly in love--in a language that's not her own?

Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue -- the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate. So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiancé up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word -- at least not in a language Josie understands.

The Cover:

I think this cover is very cute. The font and lettering is fun, and I think it represents the book pretty well. It's very much easy to carry around, too, and doesn't focus too much on the romance, but Kate's curiosity instead.

Review:

This book has one of the most accurate titles I've seen in a while. Josie is extremely smart for her age, is already in college, but she doesn't know what love is. One day, she decides that she needs to understand it. Her sister is engaged to a guy she absolutely refuses to accept, and she can't comprehend why her sister thinks she loves him. So starts her quest to understand love.

Josie goes through a bit of a journey in this book. She starts a relationship with a previous school-dance date, whom likes her a lot, and whom she tries to love back. Then there's her young college professor, who she's convinced she feels love at first sight with. And during all of this, she's fighting with her sister, and her best friend Stu is always there.

I really enjoyed Josie's voice. She's odd, possibly a little autistic, but generally on a different level than everyone else. She can only take so much socialization, she likes things a certain way, and she looks at every interaction with people in a different way. I feel like the real romance took a long time to actually show up, as Josie was so distracted for so long and Stu was just letting her do her thing until she was ready. I also found that really sweet, though, and thought that the ending was really good. The way things wrap up with not only Stu, but also with her sister and her sisters fiance, was really nice. And I really liked her family; they're all very close, and they're always around and doing things together. It was really sweet, but also a lot of fun. The banter was great.

This book was a little slow in its pace, but Josie needed to contemplate and process everything, and she needed to take her time getting to the end. I really enjoyed the characters, though, and it was a lot of fun to read.

Novel Review: The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance; Geeky

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: 2016

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Archie and Veronica. Althena and Noth.…Graham and Roxy?

Graham met his best friend, Roxy, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.

But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.

When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be…even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.

The Cover:

I think this cover is super cute. It's definitely what attracted me to the book in the first place, but I always lean toward the geeky books. I think that the title is done really well, in that fun comic font, and that the boy on the cover just sells the image.

Review:

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I wanted something different from it. Which is my problem more than the books'. But, really, I just love a good childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, and that's what I wanted.

So, spoilers, there.

Graham has been in love with Roxy for forever. They've been friends for forever. And he's finally decided that he's going to romance her, and he's going to do it at comic-con. He has a few things planned out, but several of them keep falling through. And then, while it's all falling apart, so does his confession. Because it happens, only she's not really into him that way?

I will say that I loved all of the geeking, and the comic-con dressing and makings friends and the speed-dating. Graham meets a girl at comic-con, and the friendship forming there was nice. I also liked the two best friends that tagged along to the con. Roxy and Graham also have pretty cool families, though Roxy's is more strict.

I liked the book, and it was fun. All of the parts were good. I just wanted something else from the romance, is all, and I was hopeful at the beginning (because I did read the synopsis and the warning in it), but disappointed at the end. It was still good, though, and I will probably try another book of hers.

Novel Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5 (maybe even 5)

Publisher: Penguin (Dutton)

Spoilers?: Minor

Goodreads Synopsis:

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

Something Specific:

That I Love:

• Cricket (which I explain, in length, in the review)
• Cameos! (Anna and St. Clair! Also talked about in review.)
• Girl character deciding to find herself, grow into herself more, before starting another relationship.

Review:

I love this book. It was amazing and Cricket and it was just so good and I want the next one and Cricket. Cricket, you guys. Cricket.

He is the best thing, ever. Just, ever. I love him. I want him. I want my very own Cricket. Please?

Um, so, anyway…

I read Anna and the French Kiss over the summer (and finally posted the review a couple weekends ago), and loved it. Immediately after reading that book and the excerpt for this one, I wanted it. It sounded amazing and Cricket seemed more my type, and I did not want to wait, at all. I even waited longer than I wanted to buy it. But once I got it, I simply could not wait any longer. I kind of wanted to, just to prolong the amazingness that it was sure to be, but that didn’t happen. I read the book in two days without even meaning to, and it was over much faster than I wanted it to be.

I wanted to meet Lola and Cricket and find out why Lola has a problem with the Bell twins and read more about Lola and her two dads. And, trust me, my excitement was for a reason.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is about Lola, a girl who likes to dress as a different person every day, including extravagant outfits and wigs, even making some of it herself. The Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, are part of the family that live next door to her. Calliope is an ice-skater, and Cricket is an inventor. They’ve moved in and out of that house, and Lola has dreaded their return ever since the last time they left. And now they’re back. And Lola has a boyfriend.

This book was just as good as the first. Just as well written, with just as good characters. I don’t think it was particularly better, but I do like the love interest more. St. Clair was awesome, but Cricket is just nothing less than amazing.

The romance in this book was amazing. Lola is with some other guy at the beginning, who at first I didn’t mind, but later turned into quite a jerk. I was happy with how things ended there, though. And where things went after it with Cricket. Even before that, Cricket was amazing. What he does while she’s with Max is really sweet, even though Lola should have backed off a bit, and their relationship before he moved was really nice, even if a bit bittersweet.

Cricket is charming and adorable; he talks fast when he’s nervous, and he’s completely devoted to and in love with Lola, and he feels a little left out, and he’s so smart. He is just… everything I want. Which, yea, creates a bias, but I am completely okay with that. Because I love him.

And Lola at one point, realizes something about Cricket that is so awesome, and then decides to work harder for him, which is awesome. And she also decides that she wants to be fully herself before she can be with him, which is fantastic.

This book took a bit different direction than I thought it would, but it probably just made the book better for me. I was expecting it to be about Lola falling for her friends older brother, and then to have a falling out with her friend, and maybe something to happen with the boy. That is not what happened. Instead, she fell for Cricket rather early, and wasn’t very close with Calliope at all. Her relationship with Cricket was strong, and started everything, and it’s just… You just have to read it to find out, because I don’t want to spoil any more.

Lola has two dads, and while maybe we could have gotten to see more of them, they were awesome. The best dads ever. And Lola has a best friend, Lindsey, who wants to be a detective, and is a great best friend to Lola. And even Calliope, Cricket’s twin sister, is a really interesting character. Some things she does aren’t that cool, but she turns out alright.

Oh, and there are some cameos! I was expecting to see Anna and St. Clair, but I wasn’t expecting them to show up so much. Which was a very nice surprise. They are adorable and sweet and I loved seeing them together, and Lola’s conversations with them. I’m excited to see what cameos there are in the next book.

I just love everything about this book, okay? And I want the next one right now. But, of course, the next one isn’t set to come out for, I think, another year or something. Which is much too long.

Manga Review: The Stellar Six of Gingacho, Volume 2, by Yuuki Fujimoto

Rating (Out of 5): 3.5/4

Publisher: TokyoPop

Volumes: 10

Goodreads Synopsis:

Five friends who grew up together while living in a shopping arcade experience love, humor, and adventure!

 

Review:

This was about as good as the last one, if not more.

Unlike the first volume, they are all older in this one; about 15 now and in high school.

So, in the first chapter, the group takes on the problem of a newly engaged couple at the street market, who are having problems with some vandalism. When they take on 'cases' like this, as they do another one later in the volume, they aren't totally exciting to me, but they aren't bad. I'd probably enjoy some more of the characters and relationship development. It's mostly fun just seeing all of the characters interacting with each other, like they did while thinking up what to do and while staking out outside the shop.

Oh, also, there's a bit where the friends decide that they aren't going to grow apart, and they'll still be friends in twenty years. This is pointed out to them, since several people have commented that it's nice they're all still hanging out with each other, and it bothers them. This is cute, and, while realistically they probably wouldn't have been so close still, it isn't unbelievable that they still will be in twenty years. (Although, I would have liked to be able to read it...)

The second chapter focuses on Mike and Kuro's relationship. Although there was also some focus on them in the last volume, and I'd hopes to see some more of the other characters, I still enjoyed it. They're both going to the same high school (and the others are going to different ones, I believe), and several sports teams want them to join. They aren't interested in any of them, but they get pushed into doing a race with one of them, which it's then pointed out that only one of them can join the team if they lose, as it was agreed between the sports teams that one can't have both. This is obviously upsetting to them, and most of the chapter is focused on them not wanting to be separated. It's sweet and cute. (Also, Mike finds out that Kuro likes someone, and doesn't know who, and their friends won't tell her who [because, you know, duh,] and she doesn't know what to do about it. It's a little ridiculous for her not to know yet, but very believable for her character.)

The third chapter is about another family in the street market that is just opening it's shop. And the wife has hurt herself, so only the husband can work. So Mike's father (I think?) volunteers the kids to help. So Mike and Kuro are set to help out, but their friends are busy, but they end up coming to help anyway. Also, the family has a little daughter that's upset about them moving away from her friends, and who isn't making any new ones. Mike is sweet and gets her to cheer up and help out at the shop. (Also, the little girl proclaims that she's going to marry Kuro, which freaks him out, and makes Mike mad, even if she doesn't know why.)

And then there's a short story called “Stand By You”, an earlier work of Fujimoto's. It's about these two girls who are best friends, and one of them finds out that her family is from the future, and they've finally fixed their time machine, so they have to go back to the future. It wasn't amazing, but it was cute, and the two friends were sweet.

I don't believe I talked much about the art in the first volume. Well, I mostly like it. I was a bit unsure of it at first, since it's a bit messy, and looks a little like sketches, but it's easy to get into.

I'm really enjoying this series. I really like the characters, and would like to see more of them. I believe that the third volume was (just barely) released, so I'm going to try to find it, and if I can, then I'll review it. I'm also still hoping that someone picks this up, since it's really good, and only a few volumes were released before Tokyopop closed.

Manga Review: The Stellar Six of Gingacho, Volume 1, by Yuuki Fujimoto

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4

Publisher: Tokyopop

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this delightful shojo romantic comedy, childhood friends Mike, Kuro, Iba, Kyuu, Sato and Mamoru - The Stellar Six - are the children of various stores located in the Galaxy Street's shopping center. When they get together, they're invincible... but, sadly, after middle school, they fell out of touch. Now they have to get to know each other again -- and discover new feelings while rediscovering old ones!

Review:

I didn't read this when it first came out, as I didn't read any of Tokyopop's new stuff, because I was wary that they were starting so many new ones at the same time. Which I guess I should have been, since they closed not long after. But it looked interesting, and I got it after Tokyopop had closed, and just got around to reading it. For some reason, it took me a while to actually sit down and read through it, and I don't know why, because it was actually really good.

It's about a group of six friends who have always been friends that have parents who own shops on a street market. In the first chapter, they've just recently been put in different classes, and are starting to be not so close. Mike wants to break the gap forming, but she doesn't know how. And then they enter a dancing contest at the last minute to help a friend of theirs who owns a bar that got trashed by an old friend of his.

We get introduced to all the characters in the first chapter, and they're all very different, and I like them. And then the second chapter focuses on Mike and Kuro's relationship. They've always known each other, and have been the same size, and Mike is just realizing that Kuro is getting bigger than she is. She doesn't know how to feel about this, but then they get in a fight over the way he reacted to this girl's confession. They're both upset about it, and Mike doesn't really understand the feelings she's getting, but it's obvious, and pointed out by their friends, that Kuro loves her, but they don't tell her that. And then they get locked in the gym storage shed together during a storm, to which they are afraid of lightning.

The last chapter is about Granny Fuji, an old lady who owns a candy shop on the street market, who is very tricky and tough, almost mean. She's getting sick, but doesn't want to admit it, and she has this challenge to all the kids, which the six work hard at fulfilling before she leaves to go to the hospital. It's all very sweet.

The art is nice, a little rough at times, but nice nonetheless. And the story is told kind of nostalgically, as Mike remembers things and hopes for things. It's very sweet. Plus, I like all of the characters, and the story is moving along nicely. The sidestories are nice, but I am hoping that the plot between the six moves forward soon. They are all still pretty young, but I'm interested in finding out how things go romantically between them all. Of course, I would have been if more of the books were published. I believe the second volume got released, but I don't think, or remember, if any more did. I'll be getting the second, at least, if I can find it, and can really only hope that someone picks it up.