The Kissing Booth.

I think that by now we have safely established that I love YA books. No, I am not a YA but I am the parent of 2 YA and not only do I love the genre but it’s always good to be in the loop of what your kid may be reading, not that I have ever vetoed a book they wanted to read, but many have opened the door to important conversations. So it should come to no surprise, no anyone, that I recently finished this book. It took me longer than it should have to finish it, and that is why we are here.

   I watched the Netflix movie of The Kissing Booth shortly after it released in 2018 & it was exactly what I expected, a cute YA movie with a little drama & a happy ending, so when I saw that the Kindle book was on sale last December, I simply couldn’t not get it, despite the fact that at that time, I hadn’t rad a book in months. Yes. I am still rambling about that. I figured I would get to it eventually & I would love it, after all the book is always better than the movie, no?

No. Not this time.

I can’t even begin to tell you what it was that didn’t work for me, it just didn’t work for me. I found that the Elle & Lee from the movie were less popular but a lot more likable than those from the book, and so was Noah, for that matter. It was like the book didn’t have quite enough drama & everyone was just too popular, too perfect, too trusting & too forgiving, including the parents. I also found that movie Elle had more of a backbone & had a lot more self-confidence than her book version. The movie’s storyline with her mom was also better, in my opinion.

As always, I don’t want anyone to think that my personal thoughts & feelings on the book are meant to discourage anyone from reading it. I would never dream of it & I don’t believe in that. Books are meant to be read & authors put a great deal of blood, sweat, tears & probably a lot of sleepless nights into their work, and there is always something for everyone. This will just be one of those books that having read it once, I will never revisit, but will sit on my Amazon account in case my daughter ever decides to pick it up herself. The movie, I will continue to watch & I am actually watching as I write this, comparing & contrasting properly while organizing my thoughts.

Overall, I gave this book ★★★☆☆, which isn’t great, but it’s not horrible either.

Til next time!

Love,

-N.

The Selection. The Spin-Off.

Ok, so technically, this is not a spin-off, its the last 2 books of The Selection Series, but as it does not follow the same main characters as the first three books, I have chosen to refer to it as a spin-off.

First things first, I did not go into The Heir expecting to like it, & at first, I will fully admit that I struggled with the characters & the storyline.

First, Eadlyn came off as such a self-important spoiled brat, that I just couldn’t believe that Maxon & America had somehow raised that child. Second, there was Josie, as I don’t want to spoil a thing for anyone reading this who has not read the series, I won’t disclose too much about who Josie is, what I will say is not only did she too come off as brat with her head in the clouds, I struggled to believe that anyone would raise their child in a palace & allow them to invade the Princess’ privacy like some sort of bratty little sister, which she was not. I also struggled to believe that Josie’s parents would be the type to not teach her boundaries & respect. Seconds, I struggled a bit with the predictability of the first book, but then, it was part of The Selection series, so really, it was to be expected that some things would be a given and therefore predictable.

However, as the story progressed, by this point end of book 4, beginning of book 5, The Crown, which thanks to a very inconvenient power outage in the middle of the night, took me less than 1 day to read, I found myself liking Eadlyn more, as she grew as a person. I also found myself really caring for the characters involved in this side of the story, grateful that I still got more than enough America & Maxon, as well as the new character & cheering for my favorite potential husband for her, much like I had with done in books 1-3 with America, and while I will say that I fully expected the ending to go one way, while simultaneously hoping it would go another, I loved how it ended. I always love a good plot twist, even if some people would probably not think of it as a plot twist, anything that keeps things away from the predictable, I tend to enjoy, even though in the past some plot twists have annoyed me beyond words, I still enjoy them.

Overall, I give The Selection Series a solid ★★★★☆ & recommend it to anyone interested in romance with a side of dystopian.

Well, I have more unemployed days ahead of me & plenty of books to keep me stress-free & distracted so,

Til next time!

-N

The Selection Series.

The last thing I did yesterday before I went to sleep, was to finish book 3 in The Selection series by Kiera Cass. This is a series, which follows the order of The Selection, The Elite & The One, that I had stumbled upon a million times while book shopping and had never once had the slightest interest in reading until someone, an admin from the group, suggested the series and since my local library had them available through Overdrive, I figured what could it hurt to at least try?

I actually enjoyed this series, it kept me interested enough that I read the first 3 books, and while I kept thinking that at some point it would be less The Bachelor and more The Hunger Games or even Divergent, but it stayed pretty true to its Bachelor inspired roots. In some ways, you could say this book was a bit on the predictable side, but not so much that you got bored with the story. Yes, Prince Maxon was a tad bit perfect & America ever the rebel, but isn’t that what we want out of stories anyways? Strong females, who aren’t afraid to be outspoken & stand up for what they believe & picture perfect males who are everything we will never find in real life?  We read for the fantasy & the possibility of it all because life has plenty of stress & disappointment on its own.

And speaking of disappointments, I was looking into book 4 in the series, The Heir and was a bit disappointed to see that it sort of goes into a different direction that, from the info at least, has nothing to do with Maxon & America, at least not directly. This series also has a 5th book by the name of The Crown & a few novella’s that I won’t be reading because I am just not a fan of novella’s and short stories, have yet to read 1 that I feel has anything important to add to the story. Anyway, enough rambling,  I have borrowed book 4 and might get to it after I read other books, especially since I made a trip to the library Friday & picked up Kasie West’s newest book, Moment of Truth.

Til next time,

-N

Twisted.

For me, 2019 will always be remembered as the year of the never-ending rut. Yes, I got some reading done, not as much as I would’ve liked or even as many books as I typically get through. Mostly I pushed through some, totally gave up on others & got to watch more movies & shows than I have ever wanted to watch. I could feel my brain cells dying. 😞
It was not my year, and 2020 started in much the same way. I made it to March thinking I would never read again. Yes, dramatic, I know. I was getting desperate, to be honest. Reading has always been therapeutic for me, a way to disconnect, unwind & relax. It even helps me sleep better at night.

And then a few weeks ago, I came across this picture that I had saved a few months back because the covers got my attention when someone posted them on the Bookworms Anonymous group where I am a moderator, and when I looked them up they sounded interesting & best of all, they were part of the Kindle Unlimited program on Amazon, and that is how I got out of my rut.

Twisted by Emily Rose is book 1 in her series, a new adult/college age romance story, which is not typically my genre, but turned out to be exactly what I needed, a fun, easy read with relatable & likable characters. For those who have problems with sexual content, this book may not be for you. If you need every book you read to be some kind of literary masterpiece, this book is not for you. If you are, however, looking for a fun, easy read that has an interesting plotline & relatable character, this book just may be what you are looking for.
I wish I could tell y’all more about what to look forward to & what to expect in the pages of Twisted, but I feel like I can’t do that without giving too much away. I will say this, as book 2 centers around 2 other characters, I have not gotten to it yet, but I totally plan to. It’s just that in an effort to avoid another rut, I am trying not to spend too much time on a series/genre. Call me overly cautious but I just can’t go on any longer being reading deprived.

If you have read this book, leave me a comment and tell me what your thoughts were!

Til next time!

-N

Finally getting back into the swing of things.

Yes, I know. I’m late to this party & I’ll make no excuses for it, let’s just say that I have not been in the greatest of headspaces for months now and so here I am, 3 months into 2020 finally being able to not just write this quick hello, but also actually read a book. YaY!
I’m so excited to be able to say I am finally reading again, these last 2 weeks I have managed to read a few books, especially with this spring break week, being off from work & not leaving the house much since hubby has had to work. I’ll talk more about those I’ve read in my next entry, or book specific entries, haven’t really decided what to do with those reviews just yet. My head isn’t 100% back yet. 😂

I hope everyone’s 2020 has been on its best behavior. Mine has had some ups & downs and interesting twists & turns, and while the ride has, more often than not, been bumpy, we are excited to see what the future holds & telling you all about it.

I said this would be a quick hello & so before I go I just want to sat that given the current state of things, I want to leave by wishing you all health & prosperity. I realize that right now we are facing an unknown with the current virus, that many of us are worried and trying to make the best decisions we can, day in & day out, so spend more time home, read as many great stories as you can possibly manage & when you step out into the world, remember to be cautious, not just for you, but for those with compromised immune systems who may or may not be able to catch & survive this thing. And may God see us all through this latest debacle. 💕

Til next time!
-N

No Regret Here!

Hello, my fellow bookworms! It seems as though I am making progress with my reading. YaY!

I recently requested Regretting You by Colleen Hoover from Netgalley at the suggestion of my fellow Bookworms Anonymous admins, and while I will be the first to tell you that I am NOT a fan of romance, I have to say that I really enjoyed this book.
This was not my first book by Colleen, I had read Verity back in December [I can’t for the life of me think of why I didn’t write a review, I can only assume it fell through the holiday cracks] and I enjoyed it. Verity was definitely different and twisted in a way that I really can’t behind to explain, which is also not my type, not in this sense anyway because I’m a giant coward, but the writing was done in such a talented way and the twist & turns you kept on coming and the best way I can explain Verity is say it’s the type you should probably walk away from, but you cant and I couldn’t put it down. Every time I told someone about Verity they informed me that it was not her usual style and they would suggest I read just about anything else by her, so when my admins were all excited about having been approved for this book, I figured why not? What better way to read something that is more of her usual style, new and of course, free in exchange for an honest review. I put the request in, never expecting to be approved as I have not been active with ARCs lately on account of the months-long reading slump. As soon as I finished book 3 in the Three Dark Crown series [reviews to come] I went ahead and started this [Saturday night] and all adulting responsibilities went out the window.

Regretting You starts with 17 yr old Morgan, out with her boyfriend, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend who also happens to be her boyfriend’s best friend and proceeds to take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride that I personally did not see coming. Every time I thought I had this book figured out, it went the opposite direction. I laughed, I cried, I wanted more at the end. I was not ready to walk away from the characters I spent 3 days getting to know, love and hate.

Regretting You releases this December the 10th. I suggest you don’t miss out!
Thank you Colleen & Netgalley for this fantastic read!

Til next time!

Love,

-N

Kasie West does it again.

I am not a rabid fan. Of any author. I am probably one of the most level headed & open-minded people out there, I like what I like and I don’t waste time with what I don’t.

With that said, I really loved this book.

I will not sit here and say that I have loved every single book that Kasie West has ever written, but I also won’t say that I haven’t really loved most of them, because I have. I don’t know what it is about this particular author’s books, but I love them, I realize I am mid 30’s & she writes YA, but her characters and worlds tend to be so relatable, so real & thank God this book did not disappoint!
This book has been on my Amazon wishlist [and still is, sadly] since I found out it was coming out, and then because it’s easier to not look at the things you want to buy when you are currently unemployed, I sort of forgot about it, until I started seeing some posts, and I confirmed my suspicions, everyone was reading her latest book & I was still waiting for my first paycheck to come in… and I hadn’t read in MONTHS!
And I knew, I just KNEW that if I could get my hands on that book, I would be able to read it, and to make a long story short, local library + overdrive = a happy Namie.

I really don’t know what it is about Sophie, Micah & the rest of the character that I loved & enjoyed. Maybe it was how light & yet oddly profound the story could be at times, maybe it was being able to relate to the teenage anger of a parent that left & the growth that comes from having honest & supportive friends, maybe it was the funny bickering that took part sometimes or just the fact that my soul was desperate for a good book to lose myself in because it helps me relax. Whatever it was, this book really helped me fight my way out of that slump I’ve been in, where I’ve had to force myself to TRY to read. With Kasie’s latest, I just sort of found myself missing the characters while at work, and disconnecting from all things early so that I could read more & find out what happens next.

Now, as I am finishing this rambling post about the joys of Kasie & her books, I am headed for the library to borrow yet another one of her books that recently released & I have not read yet. No overdrive to my rescue this time, sadly. I have to be a functioning adult, and get up and go… Wish me luck!

Til next time!

Love,

-N

2019

Hello fellow bookworms!
I hope all of you had a fabulous holidays, and this new year has been good to you so far.

I had very quiet holiday, which I love, just me and the family on the couch with movies and gifts and food. Im not a huge fan of big gatherings or even loudness.
As for 2019, it really has been very good to me so far. I started my reading year strong, I had 8 read books before the 3rd week of January. Of course, that has drastically slowed down, as I started a job for my local elementary school as a bilingual 3rd grade aid. I mostly run around the school doing things for the teachers to help them teach and prepare lessons for the week. I never thought I would ever have a job I really enjoyed but apparently, I was wrong. I am looking forward to my body getting used to all the running around and the stairs climbing so that I can get back to my reading, as it is, after 7 hrs at work, all I can do is come home to eat and sleep. Ive been on a permanent state of exhaustion for weeks now.

I would love to hear more about the books you have been reading. I can’t wait to get rested enough to be able to read more books again. I really want to be able to pass this year’s goal of 50 books, and I really want all of those books to be new books this year, no re-reads. I am also wanting to discover new authors. So far, this year, I have discovered Alenxandra Christo, Kim Savage, Christine Hurley Deriso & Renee Ahdieh by doing nothing more than just going though my library’s shelves.

Anyway, this was just a quick post to let you all know that I am alive and well and have not forgotten to update my blog or read a book or two. Have just been a tad busy these days, is all.
Enjoy your long weekend [for those of you who have one too] and I hope to share more with you all soon!

Til next time!

Love,

-N

Things You Save in a Fire

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for my honest review, which, needless to say, is nothing short of a rave review.

I first discovered Katherine Center last year when through The Girlfriend & St. Martin’s Press, I received a copy of her book in the mail. I loved the story. You can find that review here.

Things You Save in a Fire, had me laughing and crying, and then upset when someone interrupted my crying. It’s such a wonderful story about love, forgiveness and the power of healing from the things that try to break us as we go through life. Cassie was such a relatable character for me, as I had my own set of issues with my parents growing up, my father to be more specific, and I could understand her anger and how through the years, that resentment becomes your safety blanket, that wall that keeps people out, it really does become your prison while you believe, it’s here to keep you safe. It’s not.

Katherine does such a wonderful job of giving us characters to relate to and love, she gives us such a realistic and yet wonderful world to take part it, and then she takes us through an entire emotional roller coaster. I knew I would love this book. I knew because with some authors one book is all you need to know that you are always going to love their work. How to Walk Away was that book for me, and that little cross over that happened here between the 2 books, had me giddy as can be. Silly, I know.

I look forward to reading more from Mrs. Center, past and future work. I want to make it a point to read all of her books, as I feel like at least these 2 have come with valuable life lessons. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary American fiction, or anyone who loves a great story.

Til next time!

-N

My Goodreads year in review.

Happy New Year bookworms!

I hope that 2019 brings you all whatever 2018 failed to give you and that’s as much of a NY wish you’ll get from me because I feel like the New Years don’t do much for anymore really. Some years are worse than others, that’s just life.

So anyways, I wanted to share the results of my reading challenge as well as my year in review, both from Goodreads. I probably should’ve done a link just like everyone else but as I dont know how long those last, and I wanted something more permanent for me to look at in the future, I decided to go that route!

Anyways, this was meant to be short, sweet and to the point as I’m currently reading book 2 in the ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas and I really want to get back to the story to know what is happening. I have soooo many questions!

Hope you’re all happy with your reading this year and that you read many more books in 2019!

😘