Novel Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1) by Jenny Han

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance, Drama

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: 2014

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lara Jeans love life gets complicated in this New York Times bestselling lovely, lighthearted romance SLJ from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series. What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They arent love letters that anyone else wrote for her these are ones shes written. One for every boy shes ever loved-five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jeans love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

The Cover:

I think the original covers are super cute. They show the teen aspect, and even the dreamy, light personality of Lara Jean, really well. It's not too dramatic or too focused on the romance/boys. It's cute and light, and caught my interest before I picked it up. These were even the covers I wanted, not the one from the movie--plus, I love how all three of them go together, without being too similar.

 

Review:

Now that the movie is out, I've finally decided I want to read this series. I've heard a lot of good things about it, ever since it was released, but for some reason I still didn't think I'd love it. It just sounded like a cute, probably dramatic, teen series. I was actually rather surprised by it.

We meet Lara Jean, and she's sweet, a bit innocent, a dreamer with a positive outlook on life. I really enjoyed her voice from the beginning. She's optimistic and has a good imagination, and even though she lies a bit too often, she has good intentions in the beginning.

It took a while for the letters to come out, and we actually didn't get to read all of them. It wasn't as dramatic of an event as I expected, either. Not everyone at school knows about them, only the people who got them, really. It wasn't any cause for bullying or anything like I expected. It actually ended up being kind of sweet for both parties.

Aside from the romance aspect, there was also a really good family atmosphere, and very realistic sister relationships, as well. Lara Jean and her sisters fight and push at each other, but they're also there for each other when they're needed.

Now, the romance. I will admit that I much prefer Josh. It was a little conflicting, but he's such a sweetheart, and I love his and Lara Jean's relationship, even if it was hard since he dated her sister. Instead of Josh, this focused a lot more on Peter. And Peter was okay. He grew on me a bit more by the middle of the book, and I do think he had good intentions and didn't quite know what he was doing that hurt Lara Jean so much, but I think things ended how they needed to, maybe.

I really like the concept of this series. The idea that she decided to write letters, just for herself, to the guys that she loved in a way to let go of them, was done in such a positive light. She wasn't hating on them, was honest about what she liked even while trying to make herself feel better about why it wouldn't work.

That ending felt like a conclusion to one part of the story, and I'm really curious about where it goes after this. I'm hooked, and I had a hard time stopping this book, so I'm excited to read the next one.

Manga Review: Missions of Love, Volume 3, by Ema Toyama

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: April 2013

Volumes: 15+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In class, she's a sort of zoned-out girl, and he's the year one class' most perfect, good-looking guy. But the two of them have a secret, and their extraordinary "love experience" will start now!

Himuro Yukina, known as the "Absolute Zero Snow-woman" is a cold and observant girl. In addition, she is actually a popular cell phone novelist who goes by the name of Yupina. Sadly, with no other human contact than her cousin, Yukina is unable to express more romance in her novels. Kitami Shigure, your so-called "typical bishounen", who is really a womanizer, has fallen into Yukina's trap when she blackmails him, and they end up "love-acting" for the sake of their secrets.

Review:

I am enjoying this series more now, and I am determined to get caught up in it, but I’m still waiting to be enraptured in the story. I’m just not really feeling Yukina’s character, or as much of the romance as I should be.

I am enjoying the romance, and even liking the love triangle (and forming square), even if I’m not connecting quite as much as I could be. I like the potential I see in all of the characters, and I’m enjoying what I’ve gotten so far, but there just isn’t enough for me yet.

I like Akira—he seems like a sweetheart to me, if a little possessive. I like Shigure, although he’s frustrating me. Shigure and Yukina are definitely oblivious to their actual feelings, or in denial of them, which I hope doesn’t last too much longer.

We got some family background for Yukina and Akira, and I liked that; I also just like Yukina’s parents and find them absolutely adorable. I’m intrigued by the new girl, Mami, and look forward to officially getting to know her in the next book. I know that the romance is going to get heavier, or at least more physical, in later books, and I look forward to that, being the romance junkie that I am.

I’m looking forward to being completely enraptured in this series, and I feel like it’s coming—I just can’t wait to get there.

Novel Review: The Rising (Darkness Rising, #3) by Kelley Armstrong

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Genre: YA Supernatural/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: HarperCollins/Teen

Publish Date: April 2nd, 2013

Spoilers?: Minor/Vague.

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

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis (may contain spoilers!):

Things are getting desperate for Maya and her friends. Hunted by the powerful St. Clouds and now a rival Cabal as well, they're quickly running out of places to hide. And with the whole world thinking they died in a helicopter crash, it's not like they can just go to the authorities for help.

All they have is the name and number of someone who might be able to give them a few answers. Answers to why they're so valuable, and why their supernatural powers are getting more and more out of control.

But Maya is unprepared for the truths that await her. And now, like it or not, she'll have to face down some demons from her past if she ever hopes to move on with her life. Because Maya can't keep running forever.

Old secrets are revealed and unexpected characters make a surprising return in this stunning conclusion to Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Darkness Rising trilogy.

Something Specific:

Quotes!:

• "I'm not sure which was more condescending--calling us kids or thinking we'd respond better if they humored our delusions of maturity." (Maya's thought when a guy calls them children, then amends it to young adults.) (Hardback, pg. 184) I knew exactly how she felt just there, and I'm sure a lot of other teenagers do, too.
• "If it was love, why was it so complicated? Shouldn't I just be able to turn to one, and say, 'It's you. I want you.'" (I ommited a tiny bit of one line to avoid spoilers, just so you know.) (Hardback, pg. 386-387) I just liked her sentiment on it, honestly.

What Will I Miss?:

• I'm going to miss all of the characters, both from this series and the previous one. All of their relationships, particularly the ones with the parents.
• I'm going to miss the romance between the main characters.
• I'm going to miss the twists, even if some of them were expected--pretty much what Armstrong did with the series, while I wait for whatever she releases next. 

 

Review:

This was a very satisfying ending to this series, even more satisfying than I thought it would be.

Some things happened in this book that I wasn’t expecting, some of which I definitely should have thought about but hadn’t. Pretty much all of which were good. The characters from Armstrong's first YA series, Darkest Powers, showed up, although they showed up later than I thought/hoped they would. Either way, it was very nice to see them again. And it was nice to see how all of the characters acted around each other.

The ending for all of the subjects, the agreement that they all decided on, was something that I wasn’t really expecting, but something that I’m very happy about. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I thought that it worked really well, and fit very well for all of them.

The romance also took a turn that I wasn’t expecting. Usually it’s very obvious from the beginning where the romance is going, who the main love interest is, but for me it wasn’t here. And I really liked how it ended. It fits better, makes more sense, and is generally just very nice. From the first book, it looked like it was going to be one person, in the second book I was a little conflicted although still sure it was going toward one person, and then somewhere in this book, I was starting to think that maybe I was wrong. And I was. But it turned out even better than I was expecting, and I’m really happy with how that happened.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m just really happy with how things turned out. For all of the characters, for the romance, for the parents. For everyone.

I want to gush a bit about what happened, but I’ve decided not to spoil anything, so I’m just going to have to stop there.

Now that this series is over, though, and this book had a pretty definite, non-cliffhanger ending, I’m really wondering what Armstrong has planned next. I hope she’s working on something else YA, or at least planning to, sometime soon. Whatever it is, though, I’m sure to pick it up. Until then, I’m probably going to have to catch up on her Women of the Otherworld series, seeing as how I’ve only read two of the books, and there are a lot more than that out.

The Cover:

I'm not a very big fan of the covers for this series. They're just not very exciting, or eye-catching to me. And they all look much too similar, as are the titles, in that's it's very easy to get confused as to which book is which in the series. Embarrassing Factor isn't very high, though, I don't think. 

Novel Review: Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3) by Patricia Briggs

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Supernatural (Light-Romance)

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Publisher: Penguin (Ace)

Spoilers?: Minor.

Buy it here: Amazon.

Goodreads Synopsis:

I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...

Something Specific:

 Quotes:

• "If there was one thing I'd learned over the past few interesting months, it was that when things started to get dangerous, it was important to have people who knew as much as you did. That way, when I stupidly got myself killed--someone would have  starting place to look for my murderer." (Paperback, pg. 141) I liked this thought. It's something Mercy has followed since, I think, the beginning of the series, and it's something that more characters should do.
• "...but he was one of those 'everything in its place and a place for everything' kind of people." (Paperback, pg. 109) I just liked the sound of that.
• "'You need to choose,' he told me intently. 'Adam or Samuel or neither. But you can't keep them dangling.'" (Paperback, pg. 4) I liked that he mentioned the choice of neither, because that thought is often left out. It's not really mentioned later, and it's obviously not a choice for her, because we all know who she really wants, but the thought is usually not even brought up, let alone chosen. 

Review: 

I really enjoy this series. I like every book, always want to start the next one immediately after finishing each book.

This book… this one was a bit of a surprise, in how bad the contents were to the characters. Something very dark and horrible happened in this book.

I don’t want to spoil it, but it was bad, and rather unexpected. I like Mercy, and I feel really bad for her, and am really interested in finding out what’s going to happen to her next. How badly this is going to scar her in the long term. It definitely scarred her in the short term.

While I do understand how horrible what happened was, and I do understand how badly it affected Mercy and the people around her, I feel like the actual events didn’t affect me, as the reader, as much as they could have. And I think part of that is because of how little description there was of the actual events. I think Mercy was trying not to pay too much attention to it, and she was trying to distance herself from it, but I think it distanced the reader and the effect on me because of it. Also, later on, when she was trying to hide and was listening to the conversations the people around her were having, it just didn’t seem like I was inside her head and feeling the pain she was feeling, but instead that I was getting an overhead view of it all. And I just… I wanted to feel more emotion than that.

Even saying that, I did really like this book, and I was interested in what was happening to her, and really want to read the next book.

Aside from the big event, some stuff did happen between Mercy and her two boys. Things between her and Sam come to a conclusion, which I was a little surprised by but did like, and so things with her and Adam are able to fully start. I liked the moments between her and him in this book, and am looking forward to seeing what develops between them in the next book. As well as seeing her and his daughter, Jesse, get closer. Also, how the other wolves will react around her, if they react differently.

There was also some fae business, and a problem with her friend/fellow mechanic Zee, and a problem with Jesse, and we got some insight into who Ben is, some of it entwined with the Big Problem, which was interesting, but wasn't as big of a problem or as attention getting as the Big Problem.

I’m just generally looking forward to the next book.

Novel Review: Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1) by Patricia Briggs

              Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Penguin (Ace)

Spoilers?: No/Very Minor.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.

Available on Amazon.

Review:

I have had this book on my shelf for way too long, and I even started it a while ago and then paused it. Finally, though, I decided to actually read it, and really quite enjoyed it. I was even a bit surprised by how much.

Moon Called is the first in the series, and it’s about Mercedes Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter who lives next door to a werewolf alpha, works with a gremlin, works for vampires (as well as humans), and is involved with many other supernatural creatures.

Mercedes, a.k.a. Mercy, is a mechanic, and she knows what she’s doing. Having mostly grown up with werewolves, she knows how to handle them well, when to push and when not to. She knows when to ask questions, and how to deal with creatures, and even when she should back off and concede. She doesn’t seem to just barge into things without actually thinking about it, while still having a spark inside her, which I very much like. She also dislikes when women are put down, are thought of as less, because of their gender, which I also liked about her. And she’s humorous; fun to be inside the head of.

I just really liked her, and look forward to getting to know her even better in the next books.

In this book, we not only get to know the other characters in Mercy’s life, but her past. She goes back home and sees her kind-of-adopted-father, we get some information about her mother, and an old flame comes into the picture. Quite a bit happened in this book, what with her past relations and her new ones having problems.

I really liked the plot movement, the characters, the interactions between them all. I was surprised by this, and very glad, as it caused me to get through this book rather quickly (although longer than I wanted to, as I really just wanted to finish the book, but I had all this homework that took precedence, as well as sleep that I needed to do…).

Now, the romance. For some reason (perhaps because of the other books I have read in this genre), I was expecting a lot more romance. There was very little, though. We’re set up with two guys, both very good and interesting, but nothing actual physical happened (aside from a tiny bit of kissing), nor did much talking about it happen. There was a lot more action-based stuff happening that Mercy needed to focus on, which she knew, and she did.

And it says quite a bit that there was almost no romance in the majority of the book, and yet I still really liked it.

I hope to read the next one really soon, because this was a really good start, and I hope it only gets better from here.