Review: This Girl

Review: This Girl

Posted by Nina L. on 12:00 AM in 5-star, Colleen Hoover, contemporary, cry-worthy, NA, realistic, review, romance,

Author: Colleen Hoover

Release date: April 30th 2013

Publisher: Atria Books 

Purchase: Amazon  

Add to your library: Goodreads

Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.

In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from hispoint of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series. (via Goodreads)

Can you ever possibly love a book more than you thought you would? I fell in love with Slammed in an instant. It's the same with Point of Retreat. That's why I was afraid that I won't feel the same with This Girl because it seemed like it's just Slammed in Will's POV. Hell, no. That's not even half of it. Sure, there were parts that were told through Will's POV. The good thing about it? It made me understand him more. Of course, love him more.

Slammed was the first novel that got me into the New Adult age group. But you know what, scratch off that age group labeling. Whether you're into NA or not, this is absolutely worth your time. It's not just a story about love. It's a story about life in all aspects. Heck, even about death. It's a story that will make you realize a lot of things.

Then there's the poem. I love Slammed because of the slams of course. And even if some of the slams here are also present in Slammed, it still made me cry. It's that awesome. I've always been a firm believer how words are so powerful but after finishing off this novel, it made me believe in that more. Have you actually thought how words are so powerful?

Don't think that I just love this novel because of the story. No, that's not just it. Colleen Hoover is such a talented writer. She's written this and her novels like she has known all along what the readers will feel. The connection I have with the characters are so strong and I'm sure to miss them.

Words aren't enough for me to describe how much I love this novel and the series as a whole. I've cried. But the happy tears.

Here are some of the best lines ever:

"I'm not staring because of the fact that she's attractive, which she is. It's that look in her eyes. The depth. I want to know what she's thinking."

"I can't remember feeling this way since . .  well, ever. It's new. It's scary. It's exciting. It's nerve-racking. It's calming. It's every single emotion I've ever felt balled up into an intense urge to grab hold of her and never let go."

"Love and have, despite their polar opposites, are both feelings that are induced by passion. I can handle that." 

See? I swear my life on this. You gotta read this novel. Well, of course start with Slammed. It won't disappoint.

And oh, that epilogue was a killer. What are you waiting for? Read. This. Now. Or. Start. With. Slammed. Now.

Continue Reading

Review: Requiem

Review: Requiem

Posted by Nina L. on 8:17 PM in 5-star, cry-worthy, Delirium series, Dystopian, favorite, Lauren Oliver, review, YA,

Author: Lauren Oliver

Release date: March 5th 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Format: Hardcover, 391 pages

Purchase: The Book Depository | Amazon

Add to your library: Goodreads

 They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.
But we are still here.
And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge. (via Goodreads)

*Spoiler-free!*

Honestly speaking, I don't know what to say about Requiem. Just that, it's the ending of a great series. So for the most part, forgive me if I won't make any sense.

Requiem story is told both by Lena's and Hana's POVs. It's funny how these girls are so opposite and yet so alike. Funnier that in Delirium, they were the girls who were so intact despite what other people say. It's just so sad as to how things turned out for them, for their friendship. But even if they grew apart, somehow they grew together separately. I felt that when their POVs have met at one point. You can feel that after everything that happened between the two of them, there is still that little hope and a tiny chance that their friendship was never broken and that somehow, it can still be saved. 

Lena together with her people were out in the Wilds and live as best as they can. There were deaths that made me cry, threat that made me shiver and of course, love that didn't make me swoon. Hahaha! I hope you get why. Of course, both Alex and Julian were there too. Seriously, there were times when I just want to throw my book because I want to slap Lena for doing what she was doing. She was so unstable when it comes to who she loves. She can't even choose for herself. But then, deep inside, she knows her choice. And I know we all do! She just can't say it because someone's going to get hurt. And despite her confusion in her romantic life, she was in no way confused in her plans. Of the resistance. After all, this wasn't just a story about love. It is a story for love.

Huh, I won't end this review without talking about Alex. What Alex did at the near end was so selfless. He obviously is the sole representation of the love that they were fighting for. Hello, there won't be Delirium if Alex didn't fall in love with Lena and vice versa. I just hope that after that last page, Alex is in such a fine place. And oh, if you get the first print edition, you'll read Alex's story there. But it's just short. Still. Must. Read.

Ugh, I forgot to mention The Book of Shhh. It was one of the many things I love about this series. I don't know but maybe because it will be a guilty pleasure to have read it when you live in a world like them. I mean, I bet every one of you would want a peek of that if we live in their world. And it's just so scary you know? But I guess it tells us a lot of more truths than the ones told in our real world. 

I'll never forget this series. Ever. From Delirium till Requiem, we have seen how their world is and it became clearer to me as to how it really is, we have seen how the characters grow for better or for worse, and of course, we have seen how the story was twisted in all places that made it even more appealing (well, to me). 

Ending the Delirium series made me cry. A. Lot. That's how much I love this. I know most people didn't like the way it ended. But I do. I know, weird taste! Haha! But two people never read the same book right? I loved how Lauren Oliver wrote that ending. It was so hopeful and promising. Most authors do not do that because they always give us that concrete ending of what happened. That's a good thing. Since it's an ending of a series. But then, I love it when authors give us a chance to think and somehow make us decipher their last words. It's like, they're giving us a power to believe in what we really do and a chance for us to continue the story we love.

Continue Reading

E-ARC Review: If You Find Me

E-ARC Review: If You Find Me

Posted by Nina L. on 3:52 PM in 5-star, cry-worthy, depressing, E-ARC, favorite, galley, realistic, review, YA,

Author: Emily Murdoch

Release date: March 26, 2013

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Format: Hardcover, 256 pages

Purchase: The Book Depository | Amazon

Add to your library: Goodreads

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

   

     Doesn't that synopsis make you cringe and look at your surroundings for possible enemies? It sounds like paranoia for my part. But then that's what reading do to me. It makes me feel. Saying that this book made me feel a lot of emotions is such an understatement. I experienced a whirlwind of feelings that I can't even begin to express it in words. I always have a hard time writing a review for books that I felt and still feel after days, months or even years of reading it. You know, some stories just don't truly leave you.

    I was amazed by how vivid the words of Emily are. It just feels so real. The way she described how Carey was feeling was so honest that I absolutely felt it. I especially liked the beginning of the story. The way that she gave such an image of what Carey's life has been was so unique and real. It gave me the creeps because I can't imagine someone having that kind of life. Taken when young. Out there. In the middle of the woods. Parents absent. Caring for a younger sibling. Without the basic needs. Fighting for their lives. I've read books which are so unique and honest that I was so thankful that they are just fictional stories and not real ones. But all stories are reflections of what's happening in the real world, right? 

     Carey was not so hard to love at all. Especially because she was definitely one of the most unique and honest characters I've known. Unique in both good and maybe bad for other people. She can be very backward in all aspects because obviously, she grew up in the woods. She wasn't placed out there in the real world. She was deprived of that right everyone has. Although that fact itself didn't stop her from learning. I remember my subject last semester! Theories of Learning. Seriously, we studied on how human beings and animals learn. At first, I was like, "What? Why shall I study the process on how people and animals learn? Isn't that an inert capability that everyone has? So it depends purely on the person or the animal given specific circumstances!" But in the end, I still took the subject anyway. It actually taught me on  the things that make people learn. May it be because of a drive or a reward or a punishment. Thus Learning is not the same for everyone. And Carey is a proof for that. Despite not attending school, she was able to learn the basics and math. She learned through the books her Mother bought. She was even learning more than the average. Although it wasn't the same for her English language. But hello, her English was understandable anyway. I know I said she's honest and yet she kept a secret until then end. I wonder what will you feel and think if you learn her secret. I actually had that guess but I want to think otherwise because it was too much for her. It was too much for anyone her age or for anyone for that matter. Thing is, all of us are afraid to tell our deepest secrets because we're afraid that everyone we love and everything we have will turn their backs away from us. She was honest in a way that I felt her sincerity that she really want to tell it. I bet it took all of her courage to say her secret to her dad. All she needed was time and I guess we all do.

      Jenessa was the sole reason why Carey did what she have to do. It was her sisterly love and instincts that drove her to do it.  Because of what Carey have done, Jenessa decided to be silent since then. Of course, Jenessa won't give Carey away for what she did since she was the only one who took care of her in the middle of the woods. She knew better that it was for their own protection. It was just so amazing how she can be that serious in keeping her mouth shut. I understand how Carey's dad and his wife Melissa adore her.

       The lives that Carey and Jenessa have to adjust with were not so easy. It's like a toddler during the first day of school. There will be lots of people and you have to trust someone else outside your family. That was the difference with Carey and Jenessa. They still have to learn how to trust their own family. It wasn't that hard with Jenessa since she's just a kid. And we all know how kids can be so innocent and just so good! But with Carey, it was so hard because she was keeping something. She can't even give in to Melissa even if she was such a good Mother figure. But of course, all walls do break. When Carey started to trust people, she became friends with Pixie whom I adore and even with Ryan whom I adore more. The connection that Carey and Ryan was so surprising and shocking for me. In the end, it was so good.

      Carey's dad, Melissa and Delaney became their family. I thank St. Joseph for giving the girls such a family. Although there were struggles at first, the two of them deserve the best. Even Delaney as their stepsister.  Of course, I wouldn't forget to mention the girls' Mom here. I just wish that she is in such a good place as her daughters are.

      If You Find Me is a story I'll never forget and a story that will always make me be thankful for the life I have. This story reminds me a lot of Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. It was one of my favorites so as this. I can't say more without giving a lot. So I suggest that you go read this book! There are a lot of  twists and turns which will make your heart ache. Be ready for an emotional read! If You Find Me will surely break your heart. 

      I forgot! The fact that this book contains quotations from Winnie the Pooh and Friends made me love it even more. 

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together...there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart...I'll always be with you."

     (Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing this galley in exchange of an honest review through NetGalley.)

Continue Reading