Hello! Long time no talk (post? blog? whatever). As the title of this post suggests, I have been seriously wishing that there were more hours in a day. I mean, I would even settle for just needing less sleep so I had more time to get things done. This past month has been INSANE. While I continue to work two jobs, my boyfriend just started a brand new job himself. And on top of that, we’re moving! Now that Derek and I are both working downtown, our commute from the suburbs to the city just didn’t make sense and was really starting to wear on us. So, we gave our landlord our notice and made the big decision to move downtown(ish). Unfortunately, the closer you get to the city, the apartments get a little bit spendier, which is why we are going from a two bedroom to a one bedroom. Funny enough, the most frequently asked question I’ve got since sharing this news with friends is, “So where is Malia going to sleep??”. (One of my bff’s who is from Alaska and currently taking up residence in Australia) This was also the first question that came to mind for me when we signed our new lease. And don’t worry girl, I got you. The closet is just long enough to fit a person and some blankets. Also, the bathtub is also always an option.
So, with D and working full time and packing up our current place, there really has not been a lot of time leftover for me to blog, which I feel bad about. I promise I’m not a quitter! With that said, I have actually found time to do some reading this past month so I thought I would share with you all my recent reads!
The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot– This book is the fourth installment in the companion series “Boy” and also the most recent. I first got my hand on this series when I was in middle school (aka way too young to be reading these books) from my older cousins. This series is actually one of the first series I read that is written in a multimedia format; it’s told through email strands, letters and text messages. Each book in the series features a new cast of characters, so you really don’t need to read them in any particular order. Prior to The Boy is Back, the third book was published 13 years ago, so I was very pleasantly surprised to discover this recent release. I definitely wouldn’t say that this was my favorite book ever, but I did enjoy it. It tells the story of a small town boy turned famous professional golfer who is forced to return home for the first time in ten years after his aging parents are arrested for attempting to pay for their meal at a local restaurant with a postage stamp. And with his return, he has to confront is past in the form of his high school sweetheart who he hasn’t seen or spoken to in the ten years he has been away. This book is hilarious, sweet and a quick read that I recommend. 4/5 stars
Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger– Let me first start out by saying I did enjoy this book, it wasn’t my favorite, but it was a fun read. This story follows fan girl and twitter enthusiast Tessa Hart and teen heartthrob pop star Eric Thorn in alternating view points. Tessa is OBSESSED with Eric, tweeting to him and about him to pass the time, as she is an agoraphobic unable to leave her room. Eric is totally over the entire fame scene and a recent incident in the industry has him terrified of his fans. In a weird twist of events, eric and Tessa end up forming an online friendship via twitter DMs. The only thing is that Tessa doesn’t know she’s been talking with Eric, as he has been communicating through a fake profile under a different name. What happens throughout the book is a twisty nightmare that sheds light on the inner workings of what it’s like to be a “fangirl” and also what it’s like to be the subject of said fangirling.
Much of this book was quite confusing and very jumpy, which made it hard for me to follow along and stay connected to the story. I also had a hard time connecting to the characters as I know nothing about what it’s like to be a “fangirl”. But, if you’re looking for an entertaining YA thriller that has an emphasis on pop culture, I would definitely suggest this book. 2.75/5 stars *Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book. Find it on shelves June 2017*
By Your Side by Kasie West– I think that this book takes the cake for being my favorite that I have read this past month. I mentioned Kasie West as one of my favorite contemporary authors in my last post, so if you want to hear me gush about my love for her writing, you can read that here. This is West’s latest release and also my favorite of all of her books. The story opens with our protagonist Autumn being accidentally left at the public library by her friends, only to find herself locked in for the long weekend. Autumn soon discovers that she is not alone in the library and she is forced to spend her “sentence” with resident bad boy, Dax. Autumn and Dax are both apprehensive with each other at first, but they slowly warm up to each other once they realize that they are each other’s only source of entertainment and companionship for the weekend. The first half of the book focuses on building Dax and Autumn’s relationship inside the library, and the latter half of the book is all about what happens “after”. One thing that I did not expect, as it is not mentioned in the synopsis (don’t worry, its not a spoiler, you can keep reading), is the fact that Autumn suffers from a crippling anxiety disorder, and a large portion of this book focuses on the message that it’s okay to not be okay. And that it’s also okay to let others know you are not okay, which I think is a great message to spread, especially to a YA audience. My only critique of this book is the fact that getting locked in a library for an entire weekend with no access to working phones or computers to signal help is beyond unrealistic. There are definitely safety precautions that are in place in a vast majority of public buildings that would not allow for this to happen. But hey, I guess there is an exception to every rule so you shouldn’t let this minor detail stop you from reading this absolutely amazing story. And isn’t the point of reading to escape reality, anyways? 5/5 stars
A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas– For the past year or so, I have been hearing absolutely amazing things about this book by the queen of fantasy writing, Sarah J. Maas. I am not usually one to reach for the fantasy genre, and I’m fairly certain the last one I read was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. But after hearing so many positive reviews about this loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I decided to give it a shot. First off, let me just say that when I mentioned it was a loose retelling, I really mean like shoes that are four sizes too big loose. The similarities stop between the Disney classic and ACOTAR stop about 25% in. Honestly, I almost gave up on this book. About 100 pages in, I put it down and read a couple other books. It wasn’t that I didn’t find the story intriguing, because I did, I just have not read fantasy in such a long time, it took a bit to get past my mental roadblocks that were telling me how insanely unrealistic this world was. About a month or so after I had first put it down, I picked it back up, and oh man am I glad I did! I found that the reason the first part was slow was because Maas had to do a lot of world development in order for the audience to understand the rest of the story. It’s like with televison shows, the pilot is usually not the best episode because it mainly focuses on setting up the rest of the series. Once I got past the world building, I FLEW through this book and was not able to put it down until I finished. I am so so happy that this is a series and I have heard that the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury, is even better than the first. 4/5 stars (subtracted a star for the slow start)
Simply Samantha B. 