Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Edition: Paperback, 376 pages
Published by: Simon & Shuster UK, 2nd August 2016
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 7th September 2016

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

WHOA, I was not expecting that. Once again, my emotions! 
Before I get into this review, I must tell you my naked truth: I loved this book.

Its best to go into reading this blind and don’t read the reviews because the plotline is a major spoiler, which I noticed many reviewers have revealed in their reviews, despite it being spoiler free. I had only read the summary and it didn’t tell me what subject the story was based on. I just got the impression that it’s another steamy NA romance with drama thrown here and there. Clearly, I was wrong. That’s the good thing about going into a highly rated book with super low expectations. You’re not disappointed in the end. This book is just buzzing with 4 and 5 star reviews. Colleen Hoover books are known to be either a hit or a miss. This one is a hit.

Book Review: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Edition: Paperback, 480 pages
Published by: Simon & Shuster UK, 7th May 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Family, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5 stars

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love.

This is my third Morgan Matson read and this one gave me alotta emotions. I don’t deal with emotional books very well. I was literally bawling my eyes out.

Second Chance Summer is about seventeen year old Taylor Edwards, whose family isn’t particularly close because everyone is so busy but then one day she and her family received devastating news that her dad has cancer. So her parents decide to spend one last summer together at their lake house. Taylor hasn’t been back to the lake house in the last five years. She never wanted to come back because she has bad memories and last time she was there, things did not end well.

Book Review: Never Never, Part 3 by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Edition: e-Book, 92 pages
Published by: Hoover Ink
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 2 stars
Completed: 10th August 2016

New York Times bestselling authors Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher are back with the much-anticipated final installment in the Never Never novella series.

Together, Silas Nash and Charlize Wynwood must look deeper into the past to find out who they were and who they want to be. With time ticking down, the couple are in a race to find the answers they need before they lose everything.

Can they regain what they once had? And will it restore who they once were?

Part 3 picks up from where we left off on Part 2 and I see RED because I’m rather frustrated and annoyed with the final outcome of this novella series, as expected from the negative reviews so far.

This review will contain SPOILERS. It’s hard to review this without spoiling anything. So if you haven’t yet read Part 1 and 2 yet, then maybe you should but if you don’t care, then read on. Here we go:

Book Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Edition: Paperback, 528 pages
Published by: Simon & Schuster Children’s, 3rd May 2016
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 30th July 2016

Andie had it all planned out.

When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.

Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.

And where’s the fun in that?

The Unexpected Everything centres on our main character Andie, who is the daughter of an important Congressman. Andie has everything planned out for the summer and Andie always plans to stick to a plan. Andie is a very smart and logical character. She’s independent and a straight-A student who has a pre-med internship lined up for her but everything comes crashing down when her father is involved in a political scandal. This causes her summer plans to inevitably change and finds herself walking a lot of dogs and also meeting a boy named Clark.

This is only just my second Morgan Matson read and what I like about her books is that she does a great job of balancing serious issues with fun, summer themes. It also focuses on genuine friendship and family, giving the story a more emotional impact, than just it being about a boy.

Review: Never Never, Part 2 by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Edition: E-Book, 158 pages
Published by: Hoover Ink, May 17th 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Mystery, New Adult, Novella, Romance, Suspense, Young Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 18th January 2016

“Never forget that I was your first real kiss. Never forget that you’ll be my last.
And never stop loving me between all of them.
Never stop, Charlie.
Never forget.”

Silas races against time as more truths unravel, while others twist tighter together. And now, the stakes are higher as Silas’ control slips and others begin to point fingers. Charlie is in trouble and he must be the one to bridge the chasm between their past and their present. Because somewhere between I love yous and Never Nevers and Never Agains, a truth they can’t imagine, beckons to be found.

“Where are you, Charlie?”

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I can’t go into reviewing Part 2 without revealing the major cliff hanger in the last book, so just to warn you if you haven’t read it. Part 3 was officially released on the 19th January, so now is a good time to read all the parts.

Revealing SPOILERS from Part 1:

Okay so Part 2 picks up from Part 1, which was the big twist. Charlie and Silas have basically been losing their memories every 48 hours for a week. Charlie is missing (because she’s stubborn). Silas quickly writes down all that he knows before he forgets. And so the book begins with Silas’ memory loss and we’re back to square one. The question is where is Charlie? (It’s the reason for the missing hand).

“I know that’s weird, but that’s what you love about me. You love how much I love you. Because yes. I love you way too much. More than anyone deserves to be loved. But I can’t help it. You make normal love hard. You make me psycho-love you.”

Review: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Edition: Paperback, 406 pages
Published by: Penguin Books, 29th August 2013
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Drama, Fiction, Mystery
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 19th December 2015

My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret.

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I was given The Husband’s Secret as a birthday gift from my two friends (thank you!) which gave me the opportunity to read it. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up otherwise.

This book is set in Australia and it centres on three main characters Cecilia, Rachel and Tessa. All three women don’t really know each other but they are all connected.

Cecilia is a successful businesswoman of Tupperware, loyal wife and devoted mother. She thinks she knows her husband inside and out, or does she? One day whilst in the attic, she finds a letter from her husband that could destroy their perfect life. Tessa is shocked to hear that she was betrayed by two people she loved the most and Rachel is still dealing with the death of her daughter many years ago.

“None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It’s probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever. Just ask Pandora.”

Review: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Edition: Kindle
Published by: Hoover Ink, 7th January 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, New Adult, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Completed: 10th January 2016

Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of fourteen.

Complete strangers since this morning.

He’ll do anything to remember. She’ll do anything to forget.

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Damn that cliffhanger.

I wanted to put my hands on either side of face and say no! Like the emoji.

This is my first Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher read and wow, I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! I am really gobsmacked. I think I may be off to a good reading start this year. More thrillers, less contemporary.

I have nothing but good things to say about this book.

This is about our two main characters Charlie and Silas who have been friends ever since they’ve were young and are supposed to be in love. The story is written in alternating POVs. Both characters have lost their memory whilst they are in school and thus have no idea who they are, where they are, how they got there, where they live, who their family and friends are. In a nutshell, they are trying to find out who they are and why this is happening to them. Along with us, the reader, we are also trying to find out the mystery with them.

Review: The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne

Edition: Paperback – Borrowed
Published by: Usbourne, 1st August 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Health, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Completed: 29th October 2015

Apparently I’m boring. A nobody. But that’s all about to change. Because I am starting a project. Here. Now. For myself. And if you want to come along for the ride then you’re very welcome.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. Most of the time she hates her life, her school, her never-there parents. So she writes.

But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

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It’s been a while since I’ve read this, so I’m going to try and sum up my thoughts on it.

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is about seventeen year old Bree who wants to become an author but is rejected several times for her novel. At school, she only has one close friend, Holdo, in which they hang out and watch films. She knows that she is a good writer and doesn’t understand why she keeps getting rejected by publishers, so goes to her teacher whom she has a big crush on for advice. He tells her that her novel needs to be ‘interesting.’ As a result decides take matters in her own hands and decides to create an experiment on how to become more popular, thus the book title is the name of her blog.

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Edition: Paperback, 320 pages
Published By: Corgi Childrens, 3rd September 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 2 stars
Completed: 8th October 2015

Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in all of her seventeen years. But when Olly moves in next door, and wants to talk to Maddie, tiny holes start to appear in the protective bubble her mother has built around her. Olly writes his IM address on a piece of paper, shows it at her window, and suddenly, a door opens. But does Maddie dare to step outside her comfort zone?

Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.

Everything, Everything is a book that has been hyped for months before its September release. Everyone had read an arc of it and everyone has been praising on how amazing it was, so naturally I had this expectation that it will be good somewhat. So imagine my disappointment when I did not like it. I was quite underwhelmed to be honest.

Everything, Everything is about a teenaged girl called Madeline Whittier who has SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Natural air suffocates her and she is allergic to everything outside and has not been outside in the last seventeen years. The only people she sees is her mother, who is a doctor and her nurse Carla. But then she sees a new family moving next door, in particular an attractive boy next door called Ollie and starts to view things in her life differently. What she wants more than anything is to be alive and experience everything.

Review: Night Owls (The Anatomical Shape Of A Heart) by Jenn Bennett

Edition: Paperback, 272 pages
Published by: Simon & Shuster UK, 13th August 2015
Genre: Art, Contemporary, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 3.5 stars

Feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists.

But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

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First of all, I just need a moment to be a bit shallow and gush on how much I love this book cover. I saw it in Waterstones and I was drawn to the beautiful embossed gold typography and in the background you can see the map of San Francisco outlined in gold also! It is a very well designed cover. First thing I did was scanned it into Goodreads because I needed to know if it’s any good because a pretty cover does not necessarily mean a good book (in my experience). A lot of people seemed to like it, so I had to check it out myself and here I am!

If you are from the U.S the title for Night Owls is actually called The Anatomical Shape Of A Heart. I have no idea why. I recommend getting the UK edition.