Bunch of Mini Reviews 6: You Guessed It, More Library Books

This edition of library books mini reviews features two books I read ages ago and have since read the next book in the series as well as a holiday book. It's a diverse post with something for everyone!

Dare You To - Katie McGarry (synopsis)

I originally wanted to read this series because I had heard the male main character in book two was a baseball player. Why? Because my boyfriend is also a ball player and I find that there aren't nearly enough baseball playing characters in books these days. Then, I read the first book in the series (I have to go in order!), Pushing the Limits, and was sucked in. I wanted to love the second as much as I loved the first but I didn't quite have all the feels like I had before.
I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't love Dare You To as much as the first. I wonder if my issue was with how supremely messed up Beth was. Her home life is brutal. I can't even imagine how awful it'd be to live her life. Or Ryan's life, for that matter. His family is picture perfect on the outside but there are some serious issues there, behind closed doors. His father was a hard character to like and get a read on. I like that the story was realistic, portraying all kinds of lifestyles (sadly, kids like Beth exist) but I had to wonder: how real is too real? The characters in this series are seriously screwed up. Drugs and abuse feature prominently and I, at 26, found it hard to read. That being said, I was a really sheltered teen. I'm a small town girl and I was so naive when I was young. Would I have fully understood this book if I had read it at 16? Doubtful. (I thought the same thing in my review of Sarah Dessen's Dreamland.) This isn't a "teens are too young to read about tough subjects" kind of rant. Trust me, teens should read whatever they want. They can handle it, though they might not get it. I just wonder if maybe some of the tough subjects are taking things too far and aren't explained well enough. Both Beth and Echo, from Pushing the Limits, are so completely faithful to their moms even though each mother is destroying their daughter. I don't think either book showed the girls really getting the help they needed since they were both too closed off. Nitpicky? Maybe. But it was something that stuck with me that I just couldn't shake.
In a way, I like that McGarry held back some information - why Ryan's brother isn't around, what's in Beth's mom's apartment, etc. - but it drove me a little crazy waiting to find out what these "big secrets" were.
I really did like getting to know Beth more. In Pushing the Limits she was such a standoffish character that I wondered how on earth I would enjoy her story. Even though I had issues, I did like reading about her. It was heartbreaking to read about her life and watch as her uncle, Ryan, and Lacy tried to get through to her.
Dare You To is a tough read but it's a good one. I really liked reading about Ryan and Beth's relationship and seeing her realize she can rely on people to help her. I'd still recommend that people read book two before three (Crash Into You which I loved - full review here) because it will help you understand how Beth and Isaiah's relationship ends up.

Star Crossed - Jennifer Echols (synopsis)

When I came across Echols' Stargazer series one night while poking around NetGalley, I got really excited. The first reason was because I read some of her YA books when I was younger and loved them (particularly the Boy Next Door series). The other reason was because this series was all about characters who work in PR. I love reading about people in PR. I think it's because it's something I'd like to do but I don't think I am actually cut out to be a publicist. I don't have the right personality. So, after finding the series, I requested book two and went to my library the next day to pick up the first book. I read the majority of this book on a recent train ride into Toronto and I was hooked. I was so into it that I actually wished the ride was longer and was afraid I'd miss my stop on my way home. So. Good.
I liked that the story didn't focus too much on the romance. It was just part of the larger work/personal storyline. There was also a surprisingly dark part of the overall story. I think that also helped this book from being too fluffy or romance heavy. I already knew I was completely invested in the story and the characters but I realized to what extent when I had to walk through an almost empty parking lot at midnight and I was worried the bad guy from the book was going to come after me!
The sneak peek into the lives of the stars was entertaining. Wendy and Daniel's clients, Lorelei and Colton respectively, seemed like your typical twenty one year old stars and they were crazy without being too over the top. As a reader we got to experience some of the glitz and glamour of Vegas and that was fun.
Finally, a final note about the romance between Daniel and Wendy. I knew it was going to happen but it was not at all predictable. Echols threw in enough twists to keep me on my toes. Also, a word of caution for those who don't like sex in their books, this book is steamy! Whew! There aren't many of those scenes (3 or 4 at most) but they're explicit enough that some people might not like it. And your teenage daughter who has read Echols' other works should not be reading it! :)
I loved reading Star Crossed and I cannot wait to dive into book two, Playing Dirty. It will feature Wendy's friend and colleague, Sarah. I'm interested to see how that one works out!
Update: I wrote this well before I read Playing Dirty and you can read my full review of book two here.

The Gift - Cecelia Ahern (synopsis)

The Gift is a book I’ve been meaning to read for awhile. It was released in 2008 and it’s always been on my radar because I love Ahern but I just never got around to picking it up. I was at the library a few weeks ago and they had their Christmas books all out on display (one of my favourite things) and there, sitting on the shelf, was The Gift. I couldn’t leave without it so I took it home with me. This is a novel that really makes you think. It makes you consider the true meaning of Christmas and of life. It’s heavy but it’s good.

Like a lot of Ahern’s work, there is a magical element to this story. When businessman Lou meets homeless man Gabriel, or Gabe as his friends call him, we know that there’s something more going on – even if Lou doesn’t. 

I also liked how Ahern told the story. The book opens with a teenage boy throwing a turkey through the window of a family home and then we move to the police station (since, obviously, tossing frozen fowl into houses is frowned upon). This is when we realize that there’s going to be more to this story than just a turkey, two police officers, and a business man. Sergeant Raphael O’Reilly is essentially narrating the story for us as well Turkey Boy. Every few chapters the story goes back to the holding cell, O’Reilly, and Turkey Boy and we get more insight into what really happened that day. This may sound like it could be frustrating but it all worked together really well.

I desperately wanted Lou to figure out how badly he was screwing up his life. We could see it, his family could see it, mysterious homeless man Gabe could see it…but he couldn’t. And, of course, if you can’t see your problem you aren’t going to fix it. I hoped for a different ending but deep down I knew I wouldn’t get it. And that was ok because then this story wouldn’t have had the impact that it did.

The Gift isn’t your typical Christmas book. It’s not really full of holiday cheer but it does make you think about how you spend your time, especially around the holidays. Are you rushing around like Lou trying to get a million things done at once? Or are you pausing to enjoy the season with your family and friends. Cecelia Ahern’s novel makes you think twice about what you’re doing with your life and I really liked that.

Review: Crash Into You

I read Katie McGarry's first novel, Pushing the Limits, and first in the series by the same name, back in early fall (review here) and I was hooked. Then, a few weeks later, I read the second book Dare You To - the book that made me want to try out this series. I was a little disappointed in it but I didn't dislike it. So where does book #3, Crash into You, fall in the spectrum? I adored it. It had all the feels and I couldn't put it down.

Here's the synopsis:

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

As I mentioned, the second book in the series didn't thrill me. I have no idea why. This meant that I was a little hesitant going into reading Crash Into You. I didn't need to worry because I felt all the same things that I did when I read the first book. Could it be that I had high expectations when I read book #2 but not when I read #1 or #3? Perhaps. Or could it be that I'd rather read about the bad boy/good girl relationships than the bad girl/good boy one? Also possible. Whatever the reason, I ended up loving this book.

Just before I started reading it (perhaps the afternoon of) I saw a tweet from someone who said that Rachel was their favourite of McGarry's heroines. I think I have to agree. There was just something about her that made me love her and want to hang out with her as the big sister she never had. She was sweet but intensely shy and had a spark that only seemed to come out when she was around her car or Isaiah. Speaking of Isaiah, I didn't think I'd like his story as I was only lukewarm about him in the first two books. I also wasn't sure how he would be able to get over Beth. He totally won me over in this book and I found myself rooting for him to succeed - both with Rachel and in life.

As in the first two books, Crash Into You has some crazy intense stuff going on. Rachel's hiding a lot from her family and Isaiah is hiding a lot from, well, everyone. They end up getting into some serious trouble and I was honestly terrified for them - especially Rachel. Isaiah explained the danger they were in but he glossed over some of the worst repercussions. I wanted things to work out perfectly for them but, of course, McGarry toyed with me and I was so worried that things would never work out. Like I said, this book gave me all the feels - stress, anger, love, sadness. You name it, I felt it. And it was awesome.

Crash Into You was a "I want to stay up all night and finish this" kind of book for me. I could not put it down and I finished it in basically two sittings because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the characters I had grown so fond of. I'm really excited that there will be more books in this series and that Katie McGarry's next book will be about Rachel's brother, West. (Goodreads tells me it's called Take Me On and it'll be released in May.) If you want a good, emotional YA read, I definitely recommend picking this book up!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Bunch of Mini Reviews 5: Yet Another Library Edition

Yes, folks, it's another round of mini reviews featuring books I got from my library! This edition includes two YA books that are part of a series (but not the same series...very different ones, in fact) and an adult novel I've been meaning to read for years.

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry (synopsis)

I hadn't heard much about this first book in the series but when the second, Dare You To, was released I realized every YA blogger was talking about it. Once I heard book #2 had a baseball player as the love interest, I put a reserve in at my library for book #1, Pushing the Limits.
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this book. In fact, I actually thought that it was a New Adult book when I had first heard about the series. Nope, YA. The characters are still in high school. Once I realized that, I prepared myself for some overly angsty...er...angst. Happily, it didn't come. Sure, the situations Echo and Noah are in are extremely dramatic, and I'd hope not many teens would have to deal with those kinds of issues, but McGarry does a good job of making it realistic and relatable.
As many bloggers like to say, this book had all the feelings. Really. I was constantly feeling up and down and sideways because I was so invested in these characters. Echo and Noah were real people to me. They were just kids. Kids who had been dealt an incredibly shitty hand in life but were just trying to make it work while also dealing with the normal agonies of high school.
I really liked Pushing the Limits. At times the situations are so hard to take but I think that's what makes it so great. Author Katie McGarry doesn't shy away from issues. She presents them head on because she knows her readers can handle it. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Dare You To, which has Noah's friend Beth as the heroine and the aforementioned baseball player as the hero. I must say that I'm not sure how I feel about this because I wasn't too crazy about Beth and it seemed like her romance was already set up at the end of Pushing the Limits. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long for the next book to become available for me at the library!

Austenland - Shannon Hale (synopsis)

This novel has been out since 2007 and I've probably been meaning to read it since it was released. Most of you know that I'm an Austen fan so it's probably surprising that I haven't read it. It's partly due to the fact that I couldn't buy it in store. Seriously. Chapters just didn't carry it. I thought about buying it when I was in the States last year and at a Barnes and Noble but I decided to pass on it. I could have ordered it when I made other online orders but I just never did. I decided to finally request it from the library because there's going to be a movie and I didn't want anything spoiled for me. Unfortunately, I accidentally found out who is playing Jane, the main character, so I wasn't able to form my own picture of her in my head. Oh well!
I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this one simply because I had been waiting eons to read it. Happily, I ended up really liking it. It was a quick read (it was a much smaller book than I expected!) but an enjoyable one. My favourite part about it was that it was funny - a clever funny, just like Austen's novels. I found myself laughing out loud at numerous parts. Example A:

"I wasn't aware until this precise and awkward moment that when startled in a strange place, my instincts would have me pretend to be a ninja."

Example B:

"It's not something you tell your single best friend. It's like rubbing your nose in the poop of my happiness."

Sorry, no page numbers as I just tweeted the lines and didn't make a proper note. Just rereading those lines make me giggle again.
All in all, I liked reading Austenland. Shannon Hale didn't blow my mind with her story but it was clever and cute and had great Austen-esque touches. Plus, it had probably the best dedication ever:

What's not to love about that? Now I can watch the trailer, read the news about the movie, and check out the sequel, Midnight in Austenland. Fun!

Insurgent - Veronica Roth (synopsis)

I couldn't wait to dive into book two of this series. I rushed to the library as soon as I found out it was in but I had to put off reading it until I had finished some others - so hard to do! I had heard that the second book wasn't as good as Divergent but I still really enjoyed it.
It's very much a war book - lots of death and dealing with the aftermath (emotionally and physically). Tris is still reeling from what she had to do at the end of the first book and I don't blame her one bit. There were so many heart wrenching moments that I think were well written.
There were a few occasions when Tris' age was brought up. Sometimes she's referred to as a child, sometimes an adult (reminder: she's sixteen). I don't know if it was intentional but I'm glad it was part of the story because it helps the reader remember that she's a young girl having to deal with issues she shouldn't have to (which builds from the above point).
This review was a lot harder to write than I thought! I think it's because I don't want to give anything away and it's one of those cases where I just loved it so I don't know what to say!
There are still many questions that need to be answered as Insurgent was left on a bit of a cliffhanger. I had planned my reading of this series so I wouldn't have to wait too long for the third and final book, Allegiant, to be released but I'm already wishing the days would move faster! The book will be published on October 22 (a month yesterday!!) and I am second in line for my library...and I just checked and there will be two copies. I'll still have to wait for the book to be processed but at least I'll get it!

Happy reading :)