Tag: romance

Series Review: Night School by C. J. Daugherty

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https://heartfullofbooks.com/2016/09/16/series-review-night-school-by-c-j-daugherty/

Night School, Legacy, Fracture, Resistance, and Endgame by C.J. Daugherty
Published by: Atom | Genre: Mystery, Romance | Format: Paperback | ★★.5

I have an individual review for the first book in this series, and if you’ve read that, you’ll know that I struggled to get through it. HOWEVER, I decided to continue reading for a few reasons:

  1. To support a UKYA author!
  2. To support my library (since I sources all 5 books from local libraries!)
  3. Because the author admitted her mistake in letting main character Ally get rescued by boys in the first book and said it got better in a Feminism in YA panel I attended earlier in the year.
  4. I believed there was a good story to tell underneath some of the sillier elements.

In the end I’m pleased that I gave this series a second chance, because much to my relief it did get better. Night School even turned into something I would recommend to fans of Ally Carter and Jennifer Lynne Barnes. It has it’s issues, and I think some of the general concept for the series is confused and completely unrealistic, but taken with a pinch of salt it’s pretty fun.

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Series Review: The Chocolate Box Girls by Cathy Cassidy

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Cherry Crush, Marshmallow Skye, Summer’s Dream, Coco Caramel, Sweet Honey, Fortune Cookie
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Romance | Published by: Puffin
Pages: 272, 304, 288, 304, 304, 288 | Format: Hardback | Rating: ★★★★

The Chocolate Box series is one of my favourite middle grade series. I remember when Cherry Crush was being teased on Cathy Cassidy’s website and getting so excited at the idea that she was going to be writing a series about sisters! I also remember in 2010 (when I was 12-13) thinking, ‘oh my goodness, I’m going to be 18 by the time I finish this series!’ (Though I was 19 in the end because she added a half-brother to the mix which bumped the series up to six.) I stopped reading when Summer’s Dream came out…I’m not entirely sure why… but it felt like finally the right time to complete my Cathy Cassidy reading experience! I’m so glad I did, because it’s chocolatey and beautiful.

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Review: On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

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25744542On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher
Genre: Magical Realism, Romance
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 345
Format: Hardback
Rating: ★★★
More: All I Know Now

Since I heard about this book becoming a thing, I’ve been slightly nervously awaiting it’s arrival. As the blurb and cover was revealed, the hype started to build. Books that concern the afterlife are one of my favourite things. Take Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin for example. On the Other Side had a lot to live up to. BUT, while reading, I ended up being on either side of the argument for why this book is good…or not so. Where did I finally end up? Let’s see… Continue reading “Review: On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher” →

Review: Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

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28671039Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 400
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★
More: All The Bright Places
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Holding Up The Universe was definitely a book I was tentative to read. After really not liking All The Bright Places and seeing the kind of horrific first blurb this book had on Goodreads, it felt like a bad choice of reading material. BUT, second chances are always deserved and Netgalley did a much better job of summarising the plot without any negative connotations. So, let’s talk about it!

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Review: Broken Hearts & Revenge Series by Katie Finn

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Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Thing to Mend, Revenge, Ice Cream and Other Thing Best Served Cold and Hearts Fingers and Other Things to Cross by Katie Finn
Genre: Contemporary, Summer, Romance, Revenge
Published by: Square Fish
Pages: 342, 400, 320 respectively
Rating: ★★.5
More by Katie Finn: Top 8 | What’s Your Status? | Unfriended

The Broken Hearts & Revenge trilogy follows Gemma, who used to be best friends with Hallie until she spread a rumour that destroyed Hallie’s mother Karen’s career and her dad’s chance at happiness. After five years she returns to the Hamptons, where Hallie lives, and uses a fake identity to try and rebuild their friendship, because grudges can’t last forever, right?

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Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

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18295852The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Headline
Pages: 337
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
More: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight | Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between

I almost always only give Jennifer E. Smith’s books 2 stars, and yet they’re fun and quick to read that never stops me from picking up her next book. The Geography of You and Me was no different! It’s about a girl and boy who get trapped in an elevator together and fall in love pretty much instantly. Nothing about this story was particularly surprising but that’s what I’ve come to expect from these sugary sweet contemporaries.

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Review: Cherry by Lindsey Rosin

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30168148Cherry by Lindsey Rosin
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 288
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Note: We received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. 

This is the story of four friends who decide that before they graduate high school they MUST lose their virginity. They call it ‘The Sex Pact’. The premise in general – the whole we need to have sex by a deadline thing – was the main issue we had with this book. But there are so many pros that make this a real must-read for teenage girls who don’t want to feel ashamed for enjoying sex or don’t feel comfortable talking about sexual content with their own friends. It’s going to give you a dialogue to help understand how you might be feeling about sex, and that in itself is a wonderful thing.

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Review: The Program by Suzanne Young

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11366397The Program by Suzanne Young
Genre: Dystopian, Sci-fi, Romance
Published by: Simon Pulse
Pages: 403
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★
Series: The Treatment (#2)

I started to read this book because I’d recently finished the currently available 2 seasons of iZombie on Netflix. I LOVE iZombie, it’s just incredible and I couldn’t recommend it enough. After all the medical sci-fi, I decided it was finally time to read The Program which has been on my TBR for ages. In short, it definitely reminds me of YA from 2013. It’s a little too romance heavy and insta-love is a real issue. I was really intrigued by the first 50 or so pages, but after procrastinating from continuing for almost two months (due to BTAT2016 and university reading) I was losing hope. I finished it…eventually, though! Here are my thoughts:

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Review: The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book by E. Lockhart

Published on by Heart Full Of Books1 Comment
https://heartfullofbooks.com/2016/07/25/review-the-boyfriend-list-and-the-boy-book-by-e-lockhart/

The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book by E.
Lockhart
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 256 | 224
Format: e-book
Ratings: ★★
Note: We received these books from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I’ve been seeing this series floating around Goodreads with a ceramic frog on the cover, and since then, I’ve been intrigued. After writing about such strange teenagers in We Were Liars, I wanted to see how E. Lockhart portrayed an average teenage girl.

The answer?

Extremely stereotypically.  Continue reading “Review: The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book by E. Lockhart” →

Review: The Next Together by Lauren James

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23266378The Next Together by Lauren James
Genre: Time Travel, Romance
Published by: Walker Books
Pages: 356
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★.5

We read The Next Together in preparation for a signing and panel Lauren James was doing alongside Alice Oseman, author of Radio Silence, and absolutely loved it! Described as a ‘reincarnation romance’, this book is sweet, action packed and always has a hint of mystery surrounding it that encourages you to keep turning the pages at the speed of light. So, without further ado, here are all the things we loved about The Next Together and why it should be the next book on your TBR list!  Continue reading “Review: The Next Together by Lauren James” →