Novel Review: Crossing the Line by Simone Elkeles

Rating (Out of 5): ~2-2.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

Release Date: June 2018

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

A high-stakes story of star-crossed lovers from Simone Elkeles, the New York Times bestselling author of the Perfect Chemistry series

To escape his abusive stepdad, bad boy Ryan Hess runs from his tiny Texas border town to Mexico. But his plans to keep his head down and stay out of trouble are shattered the minute he meets the beautiful and totally out of his league Dalila Sandoval.

Dalila Sandoval shouldn’t even know someone like Ryan Hess. The daughter of one of the wealthiest lawyers in Mexico, Dalila is focused on studying and planning for her bright future. Ryan is only a distraction from her dreams, but she’s never felt more alive than when she’s by his side.

Ryan and Dalila are wrong for each other in every way. And yet they can’t resist the sparks that fly when they’re together. But their love is like a flame burning too close to the fuse.

Something is going to explode. Will their love be strong enough to survive? Or will it burn them both?

The Cover:

Meh. It's very typical romance couple. The title is really the only interesting part about it, but still nothing really catches my attention or makes me want to pick it up. Aside from expecting/wanting more intense of a romance.

Review:

I've enjoyed Elkeles' books in the past, quite a lot really. So I didn't expect this, or to feel this way about it.

I will admit that the beginning of this book reminded me a bit of All the Pretty Horses, which is a book I hated when I read it in high school. Most of the book didn't really have that feel, though, once I got into it.

I don't want to spoil how any of this happens, but I will say this book does not have a happily every after. I didn't expect it to go this way for most of the book, even really until the end when it happened. It doesn't happen often, and I really don't care for tragedies. They're not my kind of thing.

To be fair, though, I also didn't really feel much for this book. The characters were okay, but I wasn't all that into the romance, I wasn't even really feeling the chemistry. In the beginning it felt okay, but instead of getting better, the plot just seemed to drag on. They were put in a pretty impossible situation, including where some adults could have helped and instead decided to keep them out of the loop on everything. And how it all wrapped up and the big surprise bad guy (which wasn't terribly surprising) ended up seeming rather unrealistic.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just don't think it was meant to be for me. It had a lot in the way of it, it seems. And I can even, kind of, maybe, see how that ending was okay. But mostly I'm just not happy about it.

Novel Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Genre: YA Realistic

Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)

Release Date: 2014

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

The Cover:

I actually really like this cover. It's simple and not at all embarrassing. The scene is fitting for the characters and the island they live on, and I think the blurring effect works really well with how the story goes.

 

Review:

I must admit, I didn't see that coming.

I knew that a big twist was going to come, but I didn't think that would be it. Literally not until it pretty much spelled it out. And even then, I didn't want to believe it. For one, because I didn't realize this was going to be that kind of book. But for another, because it's just so awful, and unfair, and sad.

It leads up to it really well. You get to know each of the characters, and there's some mixed feelings and some really close friendships. Slowly, the tension on the island grows, and slowly you discover why. Part of Cadence's brain was filling in the pieces of what she was missing, in odd ways and odd memories and stories. Looking back, I quite enjoyed the little fantasies she created and how it evolved into the truth. And how it all adds up makes perfect sense, and the events leading up to it were realistic. I was even behind the groups decision, up until we realize how wrong it went.

Even though this is “that kind” of book, I think it handled it really well. How it wraps up in the end, how the goodbyes are handled, I thought was really sweet. It, maybe, softened the blow a little bit.

I was surprised by this book, and I did rather enjoy it. Or, more accurately, I definitely think it was worth reading.

Manga Review: Requiem of the Rose King, Volume 8, by Aya Kanno

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: VIZ Media

Release Date: May 2018

Volumes: 10+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 7. 9.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The intrigue and royal conspiracy in the Bard’s Richard III is given a dark manga twist that will appeal to aficionados of both comics and the classics.

Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, believes he is cursed, damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings? Based on an early draft of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Aya Kanno’s dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil.

Ten years after the king’s death, things have changed for Richard. His feud with his sibling has deepened, and the witch Jane tempts the new king with her mysterious charms. In this swirl of human desire, Richard reaches toward his own future and rises again in defense of the York family!

Review:

 This is a new phase for Richard. He still has big, specific plans, but no one is really aware of it. Except Anne, who he kind of blackmailed into marriage.

Nothing good is to come any more. There don't seem to be any high/happy points in this series any more.

In this volume, there's a party, poison, and lots of sneaking around. Family members sneaking around and making lots of silent moves, and a witch making waves. And it all leads to the big cliffhanger, which is really, truly awful. I don't know what has been happening to him since we last saw him, and I don't think I want to know.

It's... just... awful.

The feel of this series is dark and ominous and horrible, and I'm not sure what is going to go wrong next.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Requiem of the Rose King, Volume 7, by Aya Kanno

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: VIZ Media

Release Date: November 2017

Volumes: 10+

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 6. 8.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The intrigue and royal conspiracy in the Bard’s Richard III is given a dark manga twist that will appeal to aficionados of both comics and the classics.

Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, believes he is cursed, damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings? Based on an early draft of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Aya Kanno’s dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil.

Review:

We see the realization at the beginning of this volume, and the subsequent downfall after. It's honestly heartbreaking.

Richard is reeling from this new knowledge, and he doesn't quite know how to cope. Cecily has no issues continuing with her plan, though. The two queens continue with their determinations for battle, and it ensues. There's manipulation and secret-identities; lots of blood and potential deaths.

It appears that York has won, but not happily. It's rough. And then, when Richard goes to see Henry, it's apparent that Cecily has gotten to him first.

This is honestly heartbreaking, and the worst moment I've read so far. It's awful, and I don't want to imagine what happens next. It can't be good.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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

Publisher: Penguin (Dutton Juvenile)

Spoilers: Very, very minor, and vague.

Amazon Synopsis:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Review:

So, I'm feeling a little unsure about this book. And so I'm not totally sure what to say about it. I feel like I kind of don't think it was amazing, but it was amazing. And there is no reason for me to not think it was amazing. Maybe it was just so much, and I'm overwhelmed and very unsure or something. Also, I feel a little biased and pressured, and like I should only say amazing things about it. But I also don't feel like there's really anything not amazing about it in the first place. And I don't really know what rating to give it. I feel like, maybe, it doesn't really deserve a 4.5, and yet it also deserves nothing less?

I'm just all kinds of conflicted. (And, I promise, I'm not going to spoil anything big in this besides general plot. So, Spoiler Free!)

Anyway: Hazel. Ahh, Hazel Grace. First of all, I want to say how well John did at creating a real girl. Especially because, as a (you know, mostly) normal teenage(-ish) girl, I related to her in a lot of ways. She's a bit cynical, and not all that sure of herself, and she says 'um' quite a bit and ends a lot of what she says in a question. And I love how she thinks about boys, and just living in general. And she's smart, and in college even though she's sixteen (with a completely understandable and logical reason), and she's honest (at least to herself). She's a teenager, even if she does have cancer.

And, ohhh, Augustus Waters. (Also, I want to mention that I love the names John Green came up with. They are brilliant.) I don't even... But I do, I do know what to say about him. He is simply amazing. He wants to mean something, and he's fun, and he likes Hazel and doesn't see why she shouldn't know this. He's just... full of swoon. He is all swoon. There is so much swoon with him that I don't even know what to tell you besides that you have to read it to fully understand the amazing-ness that is him and Hazel, when they are together and not. And I like that the drama wasn't pumped up very much or anything. Even when they have problems (that would usually cause a big scene or something), it isn't too tense, it's not dramatic. It just is what it is.

And I wasn't expecting what... happened to him, to happen to him. Especially not before her. The situation was different from what I'd expected when I started the book, and I'm glad. It turned out different, in a  very good way. Well, not very, but, you know...

Also, you guys. I'd read several reviews and seen lots of people talking about it, and how it was full of all these emotions. And, since I'm not the type of person that cries at things, I was like, 'yea, okay', but my interest was piqued. And you guys, they were all kind of right. A lot of the book is just fun and more fun, and there are a ton of cute moments between Hazel Grace and Augustus. It's much more funny than I thought it would be, like with moments of the them just joking around, which I really enjoyed. And, yea, there are several moments in the book where Hazel is by herself and thinking about things, and I enjoyed them, but I didn't think they were overwhelmingly upsetting or anything. But then. But then, you guys. A scene came up. And I was completely caught off guard.

I knew it was coming; it was obvious that it was coming. And even when it started, I was like 'aww, sad', but then, and I think I might have just put myself in Hazel's mind and imagined it for myself, but then I thought 'oh, there are tears in my eyes'. I'm not even kidding. This book brought me so close to crying, closer than anything I've read before. And it was amazing. Sad, but amazing.

And then there's Isaac. He's one of their friends, who goes blind. But him and Augustus play violent video games together, and then him and Hazel play vocal video games, and he has a moment of denial and hard realization that's a bit sad (and honest, and I genuinely enjoyed it), and he's just generally awesome.

We didn't see too much of anyone else's parents (although what we did see was usually pretty humorous or sad) besides Hazel's, who we saw often. She's close to both of them, and they were pretty awesome. Her dad, in particular, was so sweet, and very sensitive (and cried often). And she jokes around easily with her mom; for instance, when they take a trip with Augustus. Near the end, they got a bit pushy, but otherwise were pretty cool.

Also, the subject matter. It made me a little wary, but it didn't put me off from reading it or anything, because I was much too excited for that. And I haven't even read much about people with cancer, or many novels with sick people. But he did it really well. It was (I'm assuming this, because I haven't, nor have I ever been around someone who has, experienced this,) realistic. And I'm pretty sure he knew what he was talking about, as there were several technical words and stuff thrown around, and I know that he did a lot of research (not that that he couldn't have been making it all up, though). He wasn't afraid of showing the ugly parts of it. It seemed very honest, with the way everyone reacted to it, and thought about living and dying, and how they're all treated because they're sick, like with the Perks and Support Group. (And I liked the, “depression is a side effect of dying” thing, in particular. There were several parts of the book that made me think, “That's a nice/interesting way of looking at things”. There are just so many little things that matter so much in this book.)

And whole thing with Van Houten and An Imperial Affliction. That's just... hm. (Kind of messy? And a bit sad?) There's the big similarities. With the endings, for example. And it is a bit frustrating, but I get it. So, fine. Fine.
The book has John Green's general way of writing. It's his style. He's a bit subtle and honest and a little dark; just him. This book included text messages and letters and little things like that. They added more character to the story, more personality to the characters. I liked it.

It was good. It was amazing. It wasn't amazing. It was all of the things and not, all at the same time. But aside from all that, I really enjoyed it, maybe even loved it, and I would suggest it.

Edit 8/16/12: Now, a while after reading it, I've kind of changed my mind on a few things. I'm not conflicted about how I feel. This book was all of the things, but it's definitely amazing, awesome; one of my favorite books now, one that I would recommend to just about anyone.