Review: Under the Lights by Abbi Glines

This was such a disappointing follow up to Until Friday Night for me. I think that having just lost my father when I read Until Friday Night I may have related to the main characters in that book as they had both lost parents as well. That may be why I was able to overlook so many of the flaws that I found with this follow up. I struggled through three quarters of this book before any part of the story held my interest. I was on the verge of not finishing it more than once. Only the satisfaction of knowing I finished it anyway is making me feel the slightest bit better about the time I feel was wasted on this.

In this unfortunate follow up, we are introduced more thoroughly to Gunner Lawton and Brady Higgins who were friends to West Ashby in Until Friday Night. We discover that the two of them shared a childhood friend who had left six years ago named Willa Ames. At various points in their adolescence both boys had crushes on her, but she left when they were all eleven before anything got awkward. Now she is back and has a dark past she is trying to recover from. Gunner is also dealing with his own twisted family secrets. The two of them understand each other much in the same codependent way West and Maggie understood each other in the first book. It's like the people in this town can only form relationships based on mutual self destructive behavior and shared pain. It's all very unhealthy and disturbing. More disturbing is the way the male characters treat the female characters in these books. The football players all sleep with the same girls and just pass them around without a care for the girls' feelings. They refuse to call any of these girls their girlfriends or form actual relationships with them beyond sex. Then when the girls want more the guys all call them clingy and treat them horribly to make the point that they aren't interested in them for anything other than sex. Girls are called bitches repeatedly for wanting relationships with the guys they sleep with. At least two incidents of rape were mentioned in this book and both women were called liars and bitches for trying to ruin the good names of the men they accused. Neither was believed and both were openly ridiculed. This sends a horrible message to anyone who has ever been a victim. Behavior like this is why rape so often goes unreported and in this book it is just glossed over and made to seem perfectly acceptable for all these guys to act this way. The misogyny was overwhelming.

Another less important issue I had was that the dialogue would sometimes stray away from how the character spoke throughout the rest of the story. The guys all cursed a lot and spoke like southern teenage boys most of the time and then would suddenly say something that sounded entirely too formal and out of place in the rest of the conversation. It happened numerous times throughout and it would seem so out of character it was almost silly. This is a much smaller complaint in the scheme of downplaying rape allegations, but it still bothered me.

Overall this was such a huge letdown for me. I realize now that my view of the previous book may have been tainted by what I had just experienced and that I may have emotionally bonded with the characters because the loss of a parent was so fresh for me. I had so looked forward to this, but now having had time to heal from my own loss, this story was so overwhelmingly bad that I don't even think I will be able to bring myself to read the conclusion to these companion novels. I'm not sure I want to revisit Lawton and it's disturbing trend of unhealthy pain filled relationships and the mistreatment of all the female characters who are not the immediate love interest. I need a shower to wash this one off. I do not recommend wasting your precious reading time on this when there is so much better material out there.

Review: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Let me start by saying how much I loved this. Nicola Yoon has a wonderfully whimsical writing style. It feels real and also fanciful at the same time. You relate to the characters as though they are people you know in real life. The inner monologue of Madeline is funny and sad all at the same time. I adore the emails and IMs of Madeline and Olly. It's a great way of illustrating a very well read girl with wit and charm. Olly is a charismatic character who pulls you in from the beginning with his secret love of math covered under all his black clothes, tragic family and careless front. I like that both of our main characters are smart. They are portrayed as naïve in some ways, but in most ways they are written as very self aware and intelligent which is nice to see in a YA book. I think the best part of the story for me was that they fell in love almost virtually. Most of their interactions were online or through a window. Yet, somehow they were able to see each other better this way.

All that being said, the twist was a little predictable for me. I called it about half way through the book. I could see the subtle hints with Madeline's mother and the backstory of her father and brother. It may have been a little unsurprising, but the writing style and loveable characters more than made up for any shortcomings I found. I actually wish there was a second book so we could see how Madeline and Olly move on with their lives.

Overall, this was a wonderful book that I am so glad I finally read. I wish I hadn't waited so long. Many times there is a lot of hype around books and they don't always live up to it. That is not the case with this book. It was worth every ounce of praise and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something that will make you smile.

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins has done it again. She is my go to contemporary author when I need to smile. I read Anna and Lola quite a while ago, but thanks to the intertwining story lines I was able to get closure on both of their journeys as well. Without any spoilers there was one scene in particular that brought us full circle and brought me to tears. Stephanie has the ability to touch on the insecurities we all have and also has a wonderful talent for teaching a lesson about overcoming the obstacles that can seem overwhelming at the time. By the end of her books you feel like anything is possible.

In the final book in this companion series we are brought back to SOAP in Paris and also to New York, where both Isla and Josh live. We follow their difficult path to happiness and each other after years of pining for one another. We also get cameos from Anna and St. Clair, Lola and Cricket, and even Meredith shows up for the reunion. It's a real full circle experience even if it's been years since you read the other books. You will immediately be transported back and fall in love all over again.

If you haven't read Stephanie's books before, I highly recommend that you do. She has the amazing ability to create quirky, loveable, and flawed characters as well as weave them all together in complex and realistic relationships and friendships that aren't always perfect, but are perfectly messy. It's rare to find a contemporary that leaves you feeling so satisfied, let alone three fantastic books that are sure to leave you with a smile on your face. I, for one, am glad to have completed the journey at last.

Review: Dream On by Kerstin Gier

Since my review of Dream a Little Dream, which is the first book in this trilogy, I have realized that my issue with the sometimes choppy writing may be because this book is translated from German. Some of the finer points may be getting lost in translation? Despite that, I enjoyed this book much more than the first. There are points in the story where I am waiting for something big to happen or where there is the possibility of an epic cliffhanger at the end of a chapter and then...nothing. It never goes to that next level that I feel it could go. The story stays very tame and the next chapter always picks up right where the last stopped. Sometimes it jumps ahead or does a flashback an then back to the present again without letting you know and it can be a little jarring. Overall, my main issue is still the writing style.

The story, however, is a great concept. I love the idea of the dream corridor and the doors. At some points it really delves into the possibilities like dreams within dreams and gets to that deeper level, but then it pulls back again. I also wish that we could explore the possibility of a relationship with Liv and Grayson. There are so many hints throughout that there is an underlying attraction there, but nothing ever happens. It's sprinkled throughout the story, hinting at something there, but then neither of them ever entertains those feelings. Even the Secrecy blog seems to think that there might be something there. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a slow burn and in the end we will finally get to see them realize how they feel or if it's all just a tease.

I am definitely entertained enough with the story to continue with the last book in the series. It's a fun concept and seems to have gone a bit further with this installment than the first book. My hope is that the Kerstin will continue to go deeper and really explore all the possibilities of where this world can go. She also has so many relationship possibilities with this cast of characters and I hope she explores some of that as well. This is my first time reading Kerstin's books and I do enjoy them and would recommend them to someone looking for a quick and easy read. If you're into complicated plotlines and more complex characters then this may not be the one for you. I hold out hopes for the last book.

Review: Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

In this fun story we follow Liv Silver who has just moved to London with her nomadic family. Once she arrives however, she quickly realizes that her mother seems to have plans to finally settle down. Liv and her little sister, Mia, are thrust into an insta-family and move into their mother's boyfriend's house with his teenage children, Grayson and Florence. Liv soon realizes that she is eerily familiar with Grayson and his friends Henry, Arthur, and Jasper, but can't figure out why. They are the golden boys of the school and she soon finds that they are in her dreams, but that they also seem to remember what happened in her dreams. Liv loves a good puzzle so she will stop at nothing to solve the mystery.

I had some problems with the story at points where it seemed to be a bit disjointed. In one scene an object would be in someone's hand and then in the next paragraph they were reaching for the same object that was just in their hand. Some of the dialogue as well sometimes didn't make sense. It could be because they spoke in a very British way, but it seemed like if you took out Liv's inner monologue and just read the words spoken out loud, the conversations seemed a bit incomplete. Don't get me wrong, the story is fun and I am definitely about to pick up the second book as soon as I post this. It may just be that it took me some time to settle into the writing style because I did have fewer issues the further into the book I got. It took me about a hundred pages to really get into the story and stop seeing the little things that didn't necessarily make sense.

Overall I rated this one three stars because the story is fun and I definitely want to see where it goes in the next book, but there were some small issues with the writing. I would say this is worth your time because it is entertaining and a very fast read.

Review: Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Well, I have to say this one surprised me. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. The story follows our main character, Bonnie Baker (aka: Chloe Baker) and her brother Benny, as they attempt to have somewhat normal lives after having been on a reality TV show since birth. After a traumatic event on season thirteen of their show (when they were thirteen years old), the show was cancelled. They have lived out of the spotlight for the last four years and have almost relaxed into semi-normal lives. Suddenly, their lives are once again turned upside down when their mother decides to put the family back on TV without warning.

The storyline very much reminds me of Jon and Kate plus Eight, where the mother is fame crazed and can't live without the cameras, the father never wanted so many kids and eventually cheats and leaves, and the kids all have issues from having every moment of their lives filmed. There are some surprisingly touching scenes throughout that really hit you emotionally. We watch the kids deal with depression, anxiety, over sexualization, homophobia, developmental delay, etc. all in front of the cameras. Luckily, they realize as time goes on that they have true friends outside the chaos of  their home life. They have a future that is whatever they choose to make it and, despite the false bubble they live in, they have found something real after all.

This was a really fast read and it packed an unexpected emotional punch. The anxiety, sadness, and anger were palpable. However, so were the joy, love, and hope. I had this one sitting on my shelf forever and randomly picked it up. I am so glad I finally did. Don't wait like I did. I would recommend this one if you are in the mood for romance, friendship, and the love of family that can never be broken.