Review: Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian

Will Caynes never has been good with girls. At seventeen, he’s still waiting for his first kiss. He’s certainly not expecting it to happen in a drunken make-out session with his best friend, Angus. But it does and now Will’s conflicted—he knows he likes girls, but he didn’t exactly hate kissing a guy.

Then Will meets Brandy, a cute and easy-to-talk-to sophomore. He’s totally into her too—which proves, for sure, that he’s not gay. So why does he keep hooking up with Angus on the sly?

Will knows he can’t keep seeing both of them, but besides his new job in a diner, being with Brandy and Angus are the best parts of his whole messed-up life. His divorced parents just complicate everything. His father, after many half-baked business ventures and endless house renovations, has started drinking again. And his mom is no help—unless loading him up with a bunch of stuff he doesn’t need plus sticking him with his twin half-sisters counts as parenting. He’s been bouncing between both of them for years, and neither one feels like home.

Deciding who to love, who to choose, where to live. Whichever way Will goes, someone will get hurt. Himself, probably the most.

I got about a third into this book before I realised it wasn't working for me and I would have to give up. I tried reading it last summer, but I was in a reading rut. I tried again earlier this week but me and this book still didn't click - maybe the stream of thought writing style didn't click - Will didn't seem like a person to me, he seemed like a robot who was thinking what he thought a teenage boy was meant to think like. 

Honestly, books like this are touchy. There are probably a lot of readers who will appreciate what Mesrobian was trying to do. I am not one of those readers, I think there are books that tackle the sexuality issue this book was meant to to tackle, the other books do it better.

Overall Rating: DNF

Book released 1st September by HarperCollins

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Taming of The Drew by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Cass McKay has been called stubborn, temperamental, difficult, and that word that rhymes with “witch” more times than she cares to count. But that’s all about to pay off. She has finally landed the role she was born to play—Kate, in The Taming of the Shrew—in the summer apprentice program of a renowned Shakespeare theater company in the forests of Vermont.

But Cass can barely lace up her corset before her troubles begin. Her leading man, Drew, is a complete troll, and he’s going to ruin Cass’s summer. Even worse, Cass’s bunkmate Amy has somehow fallen head over heels for Drew. Cass can’t let Amy throw herself at a total jerk, so she comes up with a genius plan to give Drew the personality makeover he so desperately needs: they’ll tame Drew just as Petruchio tames Kate! But as Shakespeare’s classic plays out offstage, Cass finds it harder and harder to resist falling for Drew herself.

Drew and Cass are quite possibly one of the cutest couples in YA this year, seriously, this was a super-adorable read made so much better because of the two main characters. From their fun first meeting to the last page, this was an entertaining and smooth love story that developed in a believable pace with brilliant supporting characters that help everything fall into place.

This has happened a few times recently - where what looks like a super-cute read lacking substance blows me away. It happened with Holding Court a few weeks ago and The Taming of the Drew was another. The references to pop-culture and Shakespeare make this the perfect read to any teenager or the slightly older readers. Cass and Drew.... just amazing. I love them.

Nobody can deny that Strohm is a highly talented writer as well - she wrote brilliant characters and dialogue that fits with the age group perfectly. There was some drama in there, and characters like Taylor who made the whole thing a little bit better. It was just a combination of many things that made this book stand out to me. Like many contemp reads it probably won't stick in my mind for years and years, but this is still very deserving of an four star rating.

Book released 5th April 2016 by Sky Pony Press

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

This was such a cute little book that warmed me up on a cold winter night. The Italian setting was just so beautiful - it was warm and beautiful and vivid in my brain throughout this book. I so enjoyed the descriptions of the beautiful Tuscany buildings and the food, I could just imagine it in my brain.

I think what really grabbed me in this book was the light-hearted writing style, it kept me giggling and it kept me happy and it kept me reading. The romance was cute as well, I loved Ren, the Italian, english speaking lothario (is lothario Italian or strictly Spanish... was he even a lothario as he was a sweet guy..? I don't even know if this is an apt description). There was another guy, Thomas, I felt that was a little unnecessary though, in the end Thomas was just used and a plot device. Not necessary.

What really kept me absorbed was the mystery behind Lina's mother. I loved reading about her exploration of Tuscany and seeing Lina follow it - as well as that, the mystery behind X and Lina's father and all of that was also exciting to read.

At times, I felt that Love & Gelato was a little inconsistent and over-dramatic, but for the most part it was what it was - a nice little read to get you through a cold night,

Book released 3rd May by Simon Pulse

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the senoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill.

Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.

I have been gagging for this book since I first heard about it. When I was accepted for an ARC I was ecstatic and I am so happy right now to be writing this review, because it was such a brilliant book.

This book was not at all what I accepted, I was expecting something creepy and dark and this was actually not that - it was atmospheric,  but not in the way that I was expecting. that sort of speculative world where magic exists but our main character is incredulous as he learns about it was brilliant. I loved Lucas as a narrator - he was an authentic male and his reactions and thoughts were so realistic. I loved it.

Isabel was also a brilliant character - she was an enigma but she was also exactly what you saw. She was a beautiful character and I loved  reading about her through Lucas's thoughts. The two of them were amazing main characters, there was a hint of romance and feeling but the story was much more about the magic and the mystery. I so enjoyed it.

I'm not sure why this book didn't blow me away because it hard all of the things that should make it perfect, but something just didn't 100% click. Still, I really enjoyed it, it was brilliant.

Book released 12th April 2016 by Algonquin. 

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke

There was no sign of a struggle, they whisper to each other. She took her phone but left her laptop behind.
Apparently, she'd met someone online, they write to each other in class, phones buzzing.
She ran away. She was taken.

The first time Aiden Kendrick hears about Lizzie Summersall's disappearance is when the police appear at his front door. He and Lizzie used to be friends; they aren't anymore. And when Aiden finds out that Lizzie had been talking to strangers on Facebook; that the police think she went to meet one of them, he begins to wonder how well he ever really knew her, and Aiden doesn't know it yet, but with Lizzie's disappearance his life is about to take a twisted and desperate turn.

Follow Me Back had an amazing premise which I thought I would really enjoy. unfortunately, whilst the story is there, inconsistencies and lack of good pacing made this a bit of a flat read for me. I made it to the end, but I had to motivate myself to get even that far.

The book starts off well. Aiden finds out Lizzie, an old friend/girlfriend/something in between,  has gone missing. He begins to investigate into the disappearance as many secrets and rumours come to light. That was a great start, but around 15% in I started to lost interest and it barely peaked through the rest of the book. Running parallel to the story of Lizzie's disappearance is the story of how Lizzie and Aiden met, became close and then fell apart. It could be interesting, but the writing made it feel much slower than it actually was.

As well as that, I read an eBook review copy - I'm not sure if it was the final eBook version as the formatting was wonky on my kindle. That won't affect my review, but it did affect my enjoyment of the book.

There are quite a few twists at the end. Twists that should have made the book shocking and psychological but instead brought out a lot of inconsistencies in a certain character's behaviours earlier in the book. It seemed like a twist added on in the end and to me, showed a lack in forward planning.

Overall, Follow Me Back was disappointing for me. I wanted psychological mystery, suspense and secrets. Instead I got something that seemed together for some kids idea of an episode of Without a Trace.

Book released 4th February by Hot key Books

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz & Kat Helgeson

The story follows the unlikely friendship of two young women forged via fan fiction and message boards, and is told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts.

Gena (short for Genevieve) and Finn (short for Stephanie) have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her posh boarding school for college; down-to-earth Finn is a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in the big city. Gena’s romantic life is a series of reluctant one-night-stands; Finn is making a go of it with long-term boyfriend Charlie. But they share a passion for Up Below, a buddy cop TV show with a cult fan following. Gena is a darling of the fangirl scene, keeping a popular blog and writing fan fiction. Finn’s online life is a secret, even from Charlie. The pair spark an unlikely online friendship that deepens quickly (so quickly it scares them both), and as their individual “real” lives begin to fall apart, they increasingly seek shelter online, and with each other.

As somebody who has been involved in quite a few fandoms in my time, a few of them very deeply (my obsession for books being one of them, but I was also a part of a kpop fandom a few years ago - I wrote fanfiction and made some deep friends and when life got in the way I felt so depressed that I grew out of the fandom), I can totally get involved in books like Gena/Finn. That's why I couldn't not request this book when I saw it on Edelweiss. I was expecting something cute and lighthearted, what I actually got was something so. much. more. 

This book was more ridiculous, more dramatic, more odd. Written in a series of emails, texts, blog posts, fanfictions and other such mediums, this was a quick and fun book. It never gets too involved but it does get deep. Gena has some mental health issues that she is struggling to get through, and a past that she wants to put behind her. Finn is stuck in a relationship which doesn't feel like it's moving anywhere. The two meet and forge an instant online connection which, over time, becomes something much more complicated and unbreakable. I did feel at times that Gena and Finn sometimes sounded so similar that I got confused about who was who - who was in school, who was in college? Who was with Charlie etc. This was a problem through the first half of the book, until a big event happens and their lives become drastically different.

I did feel like the book had a certain not too deep, not too shallow feeling up until said big event then after that it takes a much more serious tone. it threw me off guard and made me feel like the book itself felt rather fragmented.

Another issue that I had was that there are suggestions of a romance between Gena and Finn. This in itself isn't a problem - don't worry, I'm not homophobic - the problem is that nothing comes of it. Why even put it in there if it amounts to nothing - I get that Finn is in a rut in her life and Gena is someone new, I'm in a long term relationship and I know sometimes that it feels wrong to settle down so young, but Charlie is a great guy and the whole Charlie, Finn and Gena dynamic totally threw me off. It confused me.

Overall, Gena/Finn was a fun read, but parts of it totally threw me off and I felt like it was something totally different to anything. It doesn't fit into the hardhitting contemps, but neither does it fit into the cute contemps like Fangirl etc. I wouldn't know where to put Gena/Finn.

Book released 5th April 2016 by Chronicle Books

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review

Review: Holding Court by K.C. Held

Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity knows exactly what's in store at her new job at castle-turned-dinner-theater Tudor Times. Some extra cash, wearing a fancy-pants dress, and plenty of time to secretly drool over the ever-so-tasty--and completely unavailable--Grayson Chandler. Except that it's not quite what she imagined.

For one, the costume Jules has to wear is awful. Then there's the dead body she finds that just kind of...well, disappears. Oh, and there's the small issue of Jules and her episodes of what her best friend calls "Psychic Tourette's Syndrome"--spontaneous and uncontrollable outbursts of seemingly absurd prophecies.

The only bright side? This whole dead body thing seems to have gotten Grayson's attention. Except that the more Jules investigates, the more she discovers that Grayson's interest might not be as courtly as she thought. In fact, it's starting to look suspicious...

I knew from the very second that I saw Holding Court's blurb that I would absolutely love it. I was totally right, Holding Court is super-cute, super-fun and then there is the whole murder mystery plot which made this book a little bit more than I was expecting.

I loved Jules from the start. she's funny, witty and she's strong-willed as well, despite the fact that she's quite often a laughing stock due to her psychic tourettes, I just really enjoyed her and the whole 'psychic' aspect really made this book.

There was a cute little romance as well, between Jules and Grayson, and somewhat of a love triangle too but it isn't one of those really annoying ones. I loved the interactions between Jules and Grayson, and Jules and her family... and just Jules in general. The dialogue was so well written that it always seemed to flow.

There's also some high tension, white knuckle scenes in this book. Scenes which I wasn't expecting but really worked.

When I started Holding Court I was expecting a cute romance book, what I got was a cute romance with a darker murder-mystery, a brilliant cast of characters and brilliant writing. it probably won't stay with me for that long, but it is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone.

Book released 1st March 2016 by Entangled Teen

Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review