eBook-a-Thon 2019 Reading Wrap Up

Hey, guys!

This past week was such a fun week of ebook-reading. I didn't really enjoy the majority of the books that I read, but it was still a pretty nice reading week. I finished 5 books and started two more. 

Fae's Captive (#1) by Lily Archer 

2.5 stars

This novella has a lot of potential to be a fantastic (but still cheesy) romance novel. There's an immense lack of depth in the characters, the plot, and the world. I wish that there had been more description, less cringe-y dialogue, and more world building. The characters just accept that things are happening, when a realistic and well thought out character would question everything. The explanation that a good fantasy novel would have is not there. The author is too focused on being mysterious and keeping things for "twists" when it's a perfect place to add some explanation. I constantly found myself annoyed with the lack of explanation. 

I can see the passion behind this story and the characters, but there needs more work, more beta readers with actual experience, and a good editor. I'd love to be this author's editor. It'd be so fun. 

ALSO the use of "creamy thighs" needs to be ERADICATED from any novel. NO. GROSS! No more of that, please.

Though this book was SO flawed and too short, I'm going to read the rest of the series. They're under 150 pages each and really fast. We will see how this goes.

Road to Winter (Fae's Captive #2) by Lily Archer

2 stars

Bite of Winter (Fae's Captive #3) by Lily Archer 

2 stars

Beyond the Mountain (Fae's Captive #4) by Lily Archer 

2 stars

As I continued to read the rest of these books, I continuously lost hope for any potential that this series would improve. 

The author over-explains, switches between modern and older vernacular, inconsistent writing, missing scenes and information, unrealistic sex scenes and emotions surrounding the scenes, and convenient plot additions.

I think I will be posting a full series review in the future. I just have a lot of thoughts and not a lot of them are positive. 

Waiting on Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey 

3 stars 

This was a fun idea for a contemporary, but I found the constant and repetitive references to the iconic rom-com movies eventually became really annoying. I also really didn’t like the main character. The side characters and love interest were the best parts of the story. The “twist” at the end of the book was really random as well. I think this story has a lot of potential but it wasn’t 5-star material for me. I’m sure that a rom-com fanatic would love this book. Overall, the book was fun and a lovely love letter to the romantic comedy movie genre. It made me laugh many times. 

I also read around 47% of On Dublin Street by Samantha Young and about 83 pages (~22%) of Again, But Better by Christine Riccio. 

Did you participate in the ebook-a-thon? What did you read and what did you think of your books?

Happy reading, guys!

Olivia

~Liv the Book Nerd~
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2018 Let Downs: Reviews and Gripes

Hey, guys!

     There are quite a few books this year that have let me down. Some of these books are well-loved by others, but I personally did not enjoy them as much as I had anticipated. All thoughts and feelings are my own. Most of these books got a personal rating of 3 stars or lower. I was originally going to write individual reviews for each of these books, but I just didn't have enough to say about these books individually, so I hope you enjoy this new reviewing format!

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard ~ reread

Page Count: 383

Published on: February 10th, 2015

Published by: Harper Teen

Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult, Romance

Source: Print

Where To Find It: Goodreads// Amazon  

My Rating: 2 stars

~~~

I first read this book when it came out in 2015 I really really enjoyed it. Here is my original review from 2015: {click here}

When I picked this back up, I was surprised how much I disliked this book. The main character, Mare Barrow, was so whiny and obnoxious. She just really annoyed me. I really did not like the Princes and I struggled just telling them apart. They had one or two things that distinguished their characters...their distinguishing characters were so similar, however, that I still do not remember who is who. 

Overall, this book was just underwhelming. The world building was semi-intriguing but the annoying and obnoxious characters really ruined that for me. After about half-way, the characters and plotline just fell flat.

I will not be continuing on with this series.

~~~

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston

Page Count: 330

Published on: October 3, 2017

Published by: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Genre(s): YA, Science Fiction, Alternate History, LGBTQIA+, Fiction

Source: Print

Where To Find It: Goodread // Amazon  

My Rating: 2.5 stars

~~~

I adore E.K. Johnston's writing and storytelling in A Thousand Nights, but this book really was not the best. I really really really do not ever want to read this again. I was just really disappointed by this story. Julia and I originally bought this book in January and we were very excited to get to it. 

I honestly hated the ending. The ending really ruined the story for me. It ended and wrapped up, literally, in three pages! I just was not a fan. It just wasn't satisfying. I thought that the resolution was unhealthy and unkind. There was absolutely no discussion. 

I did like: 
~ The world building - alternate 
~ The slow burn romance
~ The diverse cast
~ The LGBTQIA+ representation

I did not like:
~ The ending
~ The angst
~ The overall plot - it got really slow halfway through

~~~

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Page Count: 324

Published on: August 5, 2014

Published by: Atria Books

Genre(s): Romance, New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Print

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon  

My Rating: 2.5 stars

~~~

Okay. I went on a CoHo reading binge this summer and I was really hoping for more when it came to this book. So many people absolutely adore this book, but I was just disappointed. 

Here are my basic thoughts that I had provided on Goodreads:

• lacked a solid plot line • kinda annoying female MC- she never stood up for herself EVER • the main dude had so much emotional depth •last 5 chapters made the book • really great sexy scenes -CONSENT WAS THERE! HALLELUJAH • I LOVE CAP • potential to have a great dude friend group • too focused on the romantic relationship. Needed more of a focus on friendship and family and anything other than the romantic relationship.

~~~

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Page Count: 352

Published on: January 28, 2014

Published by: Balzer + Bray

Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Romance, Retellings, Fairy Tale Retelling, Mythology

Source: Print

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon  

My Rating: 2.5 stars

~~~

This book was just a hot mess. There were too many confusing elements to this story that did not mesh well together. I was really interested in diving into a story that meshed the stories of Beauty and the Beast and the Hades/Persephone myth. I just really did not like how this book was executed. The transitions throughout were very choppy and the story just did not flow well. The character relationships were very sketchy and I honestly barely remember how the story even ended. Overall, I was just disappointed. 

~~~

Black Bird at the Gallows by Meg Kassel

Page Count: 309

Published on: September 5, 2017

Published by: Entangled Teen

Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Romance, Paranormal

Source: Print - via #booksfortrade

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon  

My Rating: 2.5 stars

~~~

I was quite excited to read this series when I first acquired this book via Twitter. I was originally sent the sequel by the publisher, but I wanted to read the first book before diving into Keeper of the Bees. Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy this book. The plot was a bit of a letdown and the characters just really bore me. When the story came to the climax, I literally wanted to throw my book. I was just so mad at the main character. I was just super irritated. I don't think I will continue on with the series. I just didn't like the writing style, the paranormal aspects, or the characters. 

This book and its sequel are in my pile of unhauled books if that tells you anything...


~~~

I hope you liked this reviewing method! I've gotten really behind on reviewing this year, but I personally enjoyed reviewing in little groups. I think I will continue on with this method to get through the monumental amount of reviews that I need to write.

Happy reading, guys!

Olivia
~Liv the Book Nerd~
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2018 Poetry Novel Reviews {#1-3}

Hey, guys!

2018 seems to be the year of graphic novels, but I've definitely read way more poetry collections and novels than last year. I've discovered a couple of new favorite poets and I've also come to terms with disliking different forms of poetry. Lots of revelations -- all the time. Anyway, here are three poetry novels and collections that I've read so far this year. I originally had four, but I realized I had DNF’d it. Three doesn’t seem like a lot, but compared to the last couple years, I’ve read a lot of poetry! 

Algedonic by R.H. Sin

Page Count: 128
Published on: December 12, 2017
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genres: Poetry
Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Bestselling poet r.h. Sin, author of the Whiskey, Words, & a Shovel series, presents a poetry collection that illuminates the transformative power of emotional pain.

Algedonic is an aesthetic outlook on pain and pleasure. Complex emotions simplified into poetic interludes as only r.h. Sin can express. With his trademark of giving simplicity to some of the hardest of emotions, Sin reminds us all that there are often two sides to an emotional story and sometimes the pain transforms into something beautiful, something less problematic and maybe something that reignites a feeling of pleasure.

~~~

My best friend, Maddie, lent me her copy of this book at the beginning of the year. I absolutely fell in love with R.H. Sin's writing style and the overall theme in this poetry book. His poems are so beautifully written and I can't wait to read more of his work. Maddie and I actually convinced my mom to read Algedonic and she just hardcore related to this book. I'm so glad that she could find poetry to connect to and I'm so excited that I got bond over Sin's poetry with her. 

~~~

The Sun & Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

Page Count: 256
Published on: October 3, 2017
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Nonfiction
Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom 

~~~

My friend group and I have been passing this book around all year and I honestly was really disappointed by this poetry book. I just don't think that Rupi Kaur's style vibes with me. I don't enjoy how she formats her poems and I don't particularly like how she formats the different "themes". I felt like most of her sections weren't cohesive and some of the poems just didn't fit in their section. I don't think I'll be reading more of Kaur's work. I might listen to her poetry, but i definitely do not enjoy reading it. 

~~~

A Good Cry by Nikki Giovanni

Page Count: 128
Published on: October 24, 2017
Published by: William Morrow
Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Cultural, African American, Autobiography, Memoir
Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

My Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

One of America’s most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her.

The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She’s been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness.

As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents’ marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou’s death in 2014.

~~~

This was one of the first books that I read this year. My favorite professor is actually friends with Nikki Giovanni. I think that it is so freaking cool. I really enjoyed Giovanni's work, but I felt like it the right poetry for me. I found quite a few poems that I absolutely adored, but I wasn't completely wow'd by the whole book. 

What is your favorite poetry novel? Comment down below!

Happy reading!

Olivia

~Liv the Book Nerd~

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{Review} Laura & Emma by Kate Greathead

Page Count: 280

Published on: March 13, 2018

Published by: Simon Schuster

Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Chick Lit
Source: Paperback ARC - provided by publisher

Age Rating: YA-Adult

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

A tender, witty debut novel about a single mother raising her daughter among the upper crust of New York City society in the late twentieth century from a nine-time Moth StorySLAM champion.

Laura hails from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, born into old money, drifting aimlessly into her early thirties. One weekend in 1981 she meets Jefferson. The two sleep together. He vanishes. And Laura realizes she’s pregnant.

Enter: Emma.

Despite her progressive values, Laura raises Emma by herself in the same blue-blood world of private schools and summer homes she grew up in, buoyed by a host of indelible characters, including her eccentric mother, who informs her society friends and Emma herself that she was fathered by a Swedish sperm donor; her brother, whose childhood stutter reappears in the presence of their forbidding father; an exceptionally kind male pediatrician; and her overbearing best friend, whose life has followed the Park Avenue script in every way except for childbearing. Meanwhile, the apple falls far from the tree with Emma, who begins to question her environment in a way her mother never could.

Told in vignettes that mine the profound from the mundane, with meditations on everything from sex and death to insomnia and the catharsis of crying on the subway, a textured portrait emerges of a woman struggling to understand herself, her daughter, and the changing landscape of New York City in the eighties and nineties.

~~~

Hey, guys!

This book was sent to me by Simon & Schuster for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions, and feelings are my own. 

      I read this book a couple weeks ago in the midst of midterms madness and my crazy school schedule. This book follows a single mother as she raises her daughter among the upper tier New York elite throughout the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. This book was pitched to me as something similar to the show Gilmore Girls. Of course, I was intrigued. I love stories that center on family and parental relationships. However, as you can see from my low rating, I wasn't too impressed with how this book turned out. 

      Overall, this book was fairly entertaining. I really enjoyed the vignette format that the story was told in, but I really didn't enjoy the overall story as much as I would have hoped. I think that the story and the overall premise was fairly entertaining and if I had had the time to read this book when I wasn't swamped, I would have read the book in a day or even in one sitting. The vignette format made it a very quick read and I really liked the format overall. The characters, however, were not that great. 

      Though the premise of these characters stories were really intriguing I feel like all of the characters lack substance. I didn't connect to any of the characters, I had a hard time empathizing with them, and I just feel like they were blah characters. I wanted to like them, I kept reading because I was hoping to like them...but I just don't. They were boring and hard to love. The relationships in this book were just so forced and I never felt like Laura had a genuine relationship with anyone she encountered...even with her daughter. She tried, but I never felt like she really tried. 

     Not only do I feel like the characters lack substance, I feel like there was nothing resolved in this book. I usually like a good family-drama novel, but this one just was so unsatifying. The endig just lacked everything, there were no satisfactory character or relationship arks, the conflicts that had been building between the family members were never resolved, and I ended up just not liking Emma or Laura. I'm all for an open, artsy ending, but this book was just not my cup of tea. I did not like it. 

      I've probably ranted enough. I don't think that this book is something that I'll read again. It's not my type of book (although I wish it was). I think the main reason that I still read YA is because I've never really related to adult characters. As a 20-year-old who grew up with fantastical fantasy stories and character-driven YA books, I find it harder to connect to more adult protagonists. Laura was just not my girl. If you love adult novels with family angst and drama then you might like this. 


Happy reading, guys!
Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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