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Review also posted at: http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/book-review-all-our-yesterdays/Words can not describe how excited I was to read this book! I had heard nothing but AMAZING things. I adore time travel books, and luckily this didn’t disappoint. To try and convey my excitement and feels without giving too much away! In the beginning we are introduced to Em, who is stuck in a cell. She discovers a piece of paper written by herself saying ‘You have to kill him’. From the start I knew I would enjoy the book from all the gushing I had heard from other bloggers. However, as soon as Em found that piece of paper, I was hooked. Who was him? And why does she have kill him? And why were all the previous entries on the list crossed out? SO MANY QUESTIONS!Throughout the book it changes perspective to Em from Marina. Marina lives a fairly normal life, spending time with her best friend (hopefully one day boyfriend), James. In comparison, Em’s life is at the other end of the spectrum. Stuck in a cell all day apart from when the doctor wants information from her, she only has Finn as a companion. Except he is stuck on the other side of the wall in his own cell, and Em has never seen him. To be honest, in the beginning I much preferred Marina’s storyline. It was similar to the happy contempories I know and love. Em’s life, on the other hand, was brutally depressing. Alone and tortured, she is obviously quite a fiesty but moody character. However, through the book I came to understand the reasons why her personality was so volatile, and I forgave her a bit more for her moodiness. Marina, on the other hand, becomes a bit too clingy for my liking. The best thing about this book is the range of emotions and genres. Happy but depressing, it also incorporates a lot of action that left me frantically flicking pages. Although it did get a bit confusing towards the end, and I wasn’t entirely convinced on their explanation of time travel. And THAT ENDING. My god. I think it was the right ending for the book, but my god was it emotional. A time travel book with a plethora of emotions and action, All Our Yesterdays is a thriller with a difference. It left my jaw dropping from the surprises, and my heart aching for both Em and Marina. For fans of time travel, sci fi and emotional reads. All Our Yesterdays definitely does not disappoint! 4 sofas!
Rosie Project
Review also published at http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/book-review-the-rosie-project/I must admit that the writing style does take some getting used to. At first, I dithered about putting the book aside, as it just didn’t seem to flow properly. But then I learnt that this is what makes this book SO special.Don is a person who likes things done in a particular way. He has a weekly meal menu, and adheres to his schedule completely. In order to find a partner he creates The Wife Project; a questionnaire designed to find the perfect match. Because of Don’s ‘quirkiness’, he is a hard character to like in the beginning.But then enters Rosie, fun and carefree, who messes up Don’s scheduling. This makes me smile, because I’m sure we have all experienced the frustration of having plans changed or dropped at the last minute. I know personally this infuriates me sometimes. I think this book kind of accepts that some people are different, and like things done in a certain way. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but in Rosie’s and Don’s relationship we can see that compromises can be made.Their blossoming relationship as they learn to work together in life is just adorable, and is the reason why I just could not put this book down. What is even better is that Don is so oblivious to anything (not that it makes him different from many men!) that Rosie does, it creates some real comedy moments that made me smile and laugh in places. The Rosie Project is a book that starts off a bit bizarre but turns into a gem that will make you smile. Heartwarming and funny, I didn’t want it to end. Both characters are lovable in their own way, and I was definitely rooting for them by the end. 4 sofas!
Also published at: http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/blog-tour-freshman-forty/Freshman Forty begins with the discovery of Laurel’s pregnancy. Thus the book doesn’t really feature a lot of sex or sex-based scenes. Presumably it all happened before the book starts! I didn’t really know what to expect elsewise, as all the NA I have read so far features/relies heavily on sexiness. Teenage pregnancy is something that really interests me as a fiction topic though, so this was definitely a book I was eager to read. One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was the real life issues it tackled. The risk of pregnancy in uni/college years is high, because its generally the first real freedom people get away from their parents. Naturally, mistakes happen. It was interesting to see how Laurel copes with her pregnancy amongst everything else. I would’ve liked a bit more detail, as I think the story could have been made a bit deeper. It did make me think what it would be like to be in that situation. Laurel spends a lot of time in denial, and she is pretty lonely for a lot of the book. This obviously doesn’t really make for a good story, as it lacks drama in places. However, it is very realistic compared to what girls go through every day. The feeling of being ashamed and trying to hide her bump in baggy clothes made me feel sorry for Laurel. I just didn’t felt like I knew enough about her to really care. I obviously wanted a happy ending for her, but there was never really a gripping moment.Freshman Forty is the first NA I have read that isn’t primarily sex-based. It was refreshing, but a little predictable. I adore that it tackled real life issues, and I hope this trend continues in NA. 3.5 sofas!
Also posted at http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/blog-tour-daynight/I have to say how refreshing I found this book when I began to read it. Kira is sent through a portal to another planet, called Thera, where the days and nights are swapped. As well as adjusting to this new world, she has to get to know her ‘partner’, Blake, who just happened to save her at a party back on Earth which got all her friends and her boyfriend killed. But where did Ethan disappear to, whom she met at the party just before the explosion? One of the great parts about this book is that it is told from three points of view; Kira, Blake and Ethan’s. Because of this, it really gives a rounded view of whats going on at any one time. And it was great to get an insight into the guys’ heads! Something that I found frustrating was how dumb Kira was. I was practically screaming at her for parts of the book. There was a huge buildup to the identity of the ‘second chancers’ (which I had guessed as soon as I heard the name) and after that it just gets more frustrating. Lots of things are presented as shocking or a big deal, when I had already guessed or presumed as much a lot earlier. Thus I didn’t really find anything to keep me intrigued or suspenseful. And I didn’t really get the whole ‘cleaving thing’, and why it had such an icky name! I loved the world building and thus the first half for me was really amazing. I enjoyed reading from Blake and Ethan’s perspective, but I also felt that some characters such as Bailey were wasted. And Kira was frustrating! That girl needs some common sense. 3.5 sofas from me!
Also posted at http://snugglingonthesofa.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/book-review-broken-at-love/I received Broken at Love by Lyla Payne as part of the blog tour (post coming tomorrow, Monday 22nd). I was intrigued by the ‘frat house game’ described in the synopsis. We do not have ‘frats’ here in the UK, so it is an area I know very little about. And indeed, I really enjoyed the first half of the book. Emilie is different from the other girls, so when Quinn is given a bet that he can’t seduce her, he has to pull out all the stops. In the beginning Emilie is presented as quite a strong, not afraid to be different girl. When Quinn pulls his trick to get girls into bed, Emilie doesn’t fall for it. At this point I am rooting for her, and I was really intrigued by the story and where it was going to go.Unfortunately it kinda peaked too early for me. I was expecting some epic revenge which didn’t really happen. Emilie was so un-loyal to her friends, and she kind of lost all the respect I had for her. She turned into yet another girl falling at the feet of men, and it angered me. She started out really strong, and both her and Quinn had really good background stories; you can tell that the author had put a lot of thought into them as people, as opposed to just characters in books. Parts of the main character were just frustrating though. I mean, yes players can be people too, but did she not stop to think what diseases he could be carrying? Eww. This is one of the constant problems with society; everybody knows they should be taking precautions, but unless it is shown in books, movies and tv shows, the message just isn’t going to get across. I don’t know what the frat community is really like, but this books just gave such an icky feel to society. A game where boys bet who the player can seduce? Not cool. I know this is what attracted me to the book, but the guys never really got any punishment for it, and the game probably continued. However, if you enjoy steamy romance, and girl falls for boy NA stories, then this is definitely for you. Or just read the first half, which is funny and sexy.
Best vampire novel I have read in a long time! The side characters were amazingly written. Can't wait for the next one!
