Review: Ever by Jessa Russo

Title: Ever 
Series: Ever, #1
Author: Jessa Russo 
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Release Date: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 295
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read from September 28 to October 1, 2012
My rating:

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Ever’s love life has been on hold for the past two years. She’s secretly in love with her best friend Frankie, and he’s completely oblivious. Of course, it doesn't help that he’s dead, and waking up to his ghost every day has made moving on nearly impossible. Frustrated and desperate for something real, Ever finds herself falling for her hot new neighbor Toby. His relaxed confidence is irresistible, and not just Ever knows it. But falling for Toby comes with a price that throws Ever’s life into a whirlwind of chaos and drama. More than hearts are on the line, and more than Ever will suffer.
Some girls lose their hearts to love.
Some girls lose their minds.
Ever Van Ruysdael could lose her soul.

Seven-hundred and thirty days since the only guy I've ever loved died in my arms, followed me home from the hospital, and never left my house again.

Prior to the beginning of the book, Ever and her best friend and crush Frankie has got into a car accident that ended up killing Frankie but not her. Ever came home that night with Frankie's ghost, and his ghost has been around in her house ever since. Frankie's ghost is not only visible to Ever, but also to her father, mother, and best friend Jessie--they all can interact with him. Ever is still pretty much in love with Frankie until a new family moves into Frankie's old house. When she meets Toby, things start to change. 

Now, the book blurb sounds really appealing, don't you think? I read the blurb and was interested, because it sounds dark and dramatic. But the book itself doesn't quite measure up. It's not that I'm disappointed, because disappointment would suggest that I have an expectation that isn't met. I didn't have any expectation. I finished this book annoyed and irritated. I didn't like this at all and couldn't see anything good in it, to say the least. 

I hated that the pages are filled with nothing going on. Dates, make-out sessions, lying, blushing, sneaking, etc. All these don't quite contribute to anything! Not even the plot! I didn't even like any of the characters. Ever seems to me a very annoying person. The fact that her father's death doesn't bother her enough to talk about it or be sad about it bothers me to no end. After his death, she cries a bit and goes right back to being obsessed with boys. Are you kidding me? The best friend Jessie is a flat character whose only function is as Ever's personal cheerleader. And Toby, oh Toby, can you be any more cheesy? Sent on a job and falls in love with that job. Jeez. 

In the end, I don't even know what this book is really about. Ghosts? No, not really, since the only ghost we see in the story is Frankie, and not that much attention is paid to him. Which leads to another disturbing question: why is he there at all? I mean, what's the significance? What's the point? You know, the whole ghost thing never fits seamlessly into the story. It always made me feel like it's out-of-nowhere and awkward. The whole book reads like a contemporary book, but then the ghost shows up and goes all "What's wrong, Doll?" or "dollface" or whatever, and then it's just weird. The ghost thing is displaced and everything else is very poorly done. 

The most frustrating part of this book is when, near the end, something else ENTIRELY is introduced into the story that changed the book's direction. There has been no foreshadowing or anything, so this thing coming into play is just very forced and contrived. Like the idea just occurred to the author and she thought it would be fun to put it in the book, and then she did, and never went back to edit the whole book to make room or drop hints for this thing. You know what I mean? It's just bad. So throughout the course of  book, the story kept changing genre directions, and it's more than annoying. Contemporary? Paranormal? Fantasy? WHAT? And then before I could answer, it abruptly ended, which totally caught me off guard. Excuse me? Is this supposed to make me feel like I'm hanging off a cliff and dying to read the next book or something? If so, I'm sorry to say that it unfortunately backfires. 

Although this book sounded like something I might enjoy, it was the opposite. There's nothing about it that I enjoyed. The writing is mediocre; the plot is... wait, what is the plot?; the characters are weak and flat. I'm not glad I read it. If anything, I'm glad I got it over with and wish to have nothing to do with it ever ever ever again. Take that, Ever.


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher for review.

Review: The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Scheinmel

Title: The Stone Girl
Author: Alyssa B. Scheinmel
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: eBook
Pages: 224
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read from August 18 to 21, 2012
My rating:

Summary: Sethie Weiss is hungry, a mean, angry kind of hunger that feels like a piece of glass in her belly. She’s managed to get down to 111 pounds and knows that with a little more hard work—a few more meals skipped, a few more snacks vomited away—she can force the number on the scale even lower. She will work on her body the same way she worked to get her perfect grades, to finish her college applications early, to get her first kiss from Shaw, the boy she loves, the boy who isn’t quite her boyfriend. Sethie will not allow herself one slip, not one bad day, not one break in concentration. Her body is there for her to work on when everything and everyone else—her best friend, her schoolwork, and Shaw—are gone.

She feels like a creature out of a fairy tale: a girl who discovers that her bones are really made out of stone, that her skin is really as thin as glass, that her hair is brittle as straw, that her tears have dried up so that she cries only salt. Maybe that's why it doesn't hurt when she presses hard enough to begin bleeding: it doesn't hurt, because she's not real anymore.

This is one of those novels I think I might like but end up not liking. I've never read any books that involve eating disorders of any kind before, so I thought this could be a new experience. But it is an understatement to say that I am disappointed.

I didn't like this book. Because of the 3rd person point of view, I couldn't get into the story to begin with.  I found it hard to read and it didn't help that it really kind of bored me. But there are other things that endlessly disturb me, like the narrator's thoughts.

The narrator, Sethie Weiss, starts out an anorexic and then becomes a bulimic as the story goes on. Being extremely thin is her idea of beautiful. What really makes me uncomfortable is the fact that she glorifies her eating disorder like she really believes it. Realistic? I don't know. But definitely uncomfortable. She says she loves lying down on the floor and feeling her hipbones pressed against the hard floor, because it's telling her that there's no fat there. This girl is seriously obsessed. There are a lot of scenes where I had to turn my eyes away and scrunch up my face because I was really terrified. Especially the scene where she wants to "cut the fat right out" and "scrape out the fat" with her nails.  So what does she do? She scratches her right knee, the place where she makes her scab flick off, and then she leans closer and sucks. Yes, DIY liposuction! Only she doesn't suck out the fat. What comes out is blood, which according to her, is "disappointing." If you want to her if she swallows the blood, no, she doesn't, because "for all she knows, blood might have calories."

This book makes me want to cry big time.

It might be because I couldn't relate to the main character, not having had an eating disorder and all. However I, like most girls, have felt ugly because of my fat. Sure, I used to hate myself and be depressed because of it, but I got over it. The thing is, I don't ever remember having ideas as ridiculous as Sethie's. I don't sleep with a knife under my pillow or mattress. And I sure don't play with it, let alone using it to trace my skin and thinking about cutting it to let out the fat. Which is precisely what Sethie does, among other things like throwing up and starving herself. Like I said, it disturbs me a lot.

Except for disgust, I hardly felt anything reading this book. I didn't find Sethie sympathetic, and I definitely didn't like her. There's no character development whatsoever. It's kind of ironic that, being a realistic young adult novel, there are a few unrealistic aspects. Sethie is supposedly very smart, but she also uses drugs, and lets herself be used for sex. And in the end, she miraculously wakes up. No, it doesn't work for me. If someone has been so stubborn about her behaviors, she doesn't just get up and change herself like that.

After everything I've said, as you might have guessed, I have to give it just one star. The subject matters may sound interesting, but trust me, that's really all there is to it. Unless you want to spend your time reading the wrong book and experience disturbing issues, there are other books for you. I'm definitely not going to recommend this book for anyone.


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.
I received a digital copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review.

Review: Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

Title: Temptation
Author: Karen Ann Hopkins
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Pages: 383
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository

Read from June 21 - 28, 2012 

My rating:  

Summary: Your heart misleads you. That’s what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other’s arms. It should be Rose & Noah forever, easy. But it won’t be. Because he’s Amish. And I’m not.

First of all, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous book cover! I fell in love immediately with this book just by looking at it. But of course, looks can be deceiving, and that what looks pretty on the outside just might be rotten on the inside. Like this book, for instance.

Temptation is a story about Rose and Noah, two love birds who can't be together. After  her mother died, Rose and her family move from the city to a farming community called Meadowview. There she meets her new neighbors, Noah Miller and his family. At first sight they fall madly in love. It should be simple, right? Boy loves Girl and Girl loves Boy, they should be together! But they can't, because Noah is Amish, and he's supposed to find an Amish girl and marry her. He's not supposed to fall in love with an "English" girl. Their families and lifestyles keep them apart, but all these differences can't stop them from trying to find ways to be with each other.

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for hopeless love that just can't be but happens anyway. This book should be my thing, shouldn't it? Yeah, I thought so too, but sadly, I ended up hating this book, which is something I totally did not expect.

I have spent many days trying to think about what I liked about this book, but nothing came up. I really did try. All that I could think about was how I had to push myself to go on with this book, how I always wanted to put it down as soon as I picked it up, and this story annoyed me.

So what are my problems? Well, the characters! Of course! They ruined everything for me. Since this story is narrated in both Rose's and Noah's points of view, we readers get to know their every thought. Rose sees Noah as a totally drop-dead gorgeous hottie whom she can't take her eyes off. But Noah really comes across to me as a selfish being. He's manipulating in that he comes up with ways and ideas to make Rose do what he wants. Like suggesting pregnancy so that their parents might make the marriage happen. And threatening her that their relationship will be over if she doesn't become Amish. Please. The ideas totally disgusted me. Rose is 16, she can't be thinking of getting married, let alone getting knocked up just so she can be with him! And Rose, poor girl. She's so senseless. There are times when she sticks up for herself and gets angry at Noah's hurtful words, which is good, but she eventually lets him have his way. Just a kiss and then she forgets everything, including the fact that she has a whole life ahead of her, too. Oh, did I tell you how manipulative Noah is? Yeah. That boy gets what he wants, and she gives it to him. I couldn't stand either of them. I hated both characters as much as it is possible to hate a fictional character. 


The plot of this story sounds really good. It's a kind of plot I usually fall for and love. But this one? Not at all. The idea of "love" in this book seems kind of ridiculous. To me, it's not so much "love" as "lust". They see each other for the first time, they check each other out, and then THEY FALL IN LOVE. Right. It wouldn't sound that incredulous in other context, but in this one, with both shallow, conceited characters, it feels wrong. When she says she loves him, or he her, I just wanted to barf. The fact that this relationship moves too fast annoyed me too. What's the hurry? And no, it's not romantic. I can tell I found absolutely nothing romantic about this book. Everything they do either seems selfish or is a means to another end.

The ending is totally disappointing for me. I kind of expected Rose to wake up and know what a mess she's in, and do the right thing, but of course she has to go and piss me off again. The incident near the end of the story, the one that changes things, would have seemed romantic for some readers. You know, how do I live without you kind of romantic. But for me, it shows nothing more than that Rose is too lost in the haze of fear and the freshness of the incident to make a decision that will be best for her.

Am I planning to read the second book? Maybe. The excerpt of the first chapter of book two, which is included in this book, already tells me that there'll be lots of problems coming. All I want to know is how far Rose will go to do the right thing. But really, I don't care anymore. It'd be great if someone just tells me how it ends, because I really don't want to waste my time getting pissed off at them anymore. Totally not worth it.


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.
I received a digital copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review.

Review: Turquoise - A Love Story by Ayshe Talay-Ongan

Title: Turquoise - A Love Story
Author: Ayshe Talay-Ongan
Genre: Romance
Release date: January 31, 2012
Publisher: Sid Harta Publishers
Format: eBook
Pages: 456
Source: JKS Communications
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read from June 14 - 18, 2012

My rating:  

Summary: Set against transcendent love, unrelenting hatred and loyalties to friends and family, Turquoise is the story of an enduring and passionate love affair between Yasmin and Renan, which spans two decades, two marriages and three continents. Yasmin and her Armenian classmate Ani were oblivious to ethnic differences during their school years in Istanbul. Years later they run into each other, and Ani introduces Renan, her husband, to Yasmin. At that moment under the blazing autumn skies, as Yasmin locks eyes with Renan, she knows that she has come upon her destiny. But political tensions in their land soon force Renan, her secret love, and his family to immigrate to Sydney. A few years on, Yasmin's diplomat father is appointed as the Turkish Consul General to Los Angeles where the family faces a devastating tragedy that will impact their lives in ways unfathomable. She is now forced to make a choice between passion that defines her and reason that guides her. When so much is stacked against Yasmin and Renan, how can love possibly triumph? 

Let me begin by just saying I did not like this book. I honestly don't know why I was interested in it, because reading the provided summary just now, I realized that it's not the kind of book that I would normally read. I have no one to blame but myself for this part. Lessen learned. Always make sure the book is something you really want to read before committing yourself to it.

In this review I'm going to be brutally honest. There are a lot of things I didn't like about this book, and sadly, none I liked. While this book neither enraged me nor bored me, reading it was a bad experience for me, and I didn't think the book was even well-written, so I had to give this book a lonely one star. It simply isn't my kind of book.

First of all the problems I had with Turquoise is this: the narration. I didn't like the way the book is narrated in the present tense when it really sounds more like a recount of the past. I found that maybe the past tense might be more fitting. This annoyed me a little bit.

The biggest problem is the undeniable fact that I didn't like the story. It touches on Turkish politics, which is always a sensitive subject. I normally don't enjoy books involving politics to begin with. It also didn't help that I have no background information about Turkish politics. It just failed to interest me. The love story isn't even interesting. Love at first sight? Alright. Constant obsession? Understandable. But that love is requited? I didn't buy it. And all these fusses about marriage and love affair? They exhausted me. This book did.

There was also a problem with the characters. Honestly, I didn't like any of the characters. I can't even try to tell you about them or even the main characters because I really had no idea what they're like. I didn't know them. Plus, there are simply too many characters to keep up with. I finished the book not remembering anyone but a few main characters. The other characters are just names without faces, who come in here and there to keep the story going, coming to visit, only to disappear and come back almost a hundred pages later or something like that. The way the author tells us about them doesn't make them at all memorable. They're flat and lifeless. And there are just too many characters. Much more than I find necessary in a novel. 

Not only did an excess of characters prevent me from enjoying the book, but also the constant switching of places. It seems the characters in this book are always going from somewhere to another. From this house to that, this city to that, this country to that. They move all the time and I found this very confusing. I didn't know where they are most of the time, and at one point, I decided I didn't care anymore. 

And the length. My God, the length! 456 pages is no joke. I think I wouldn't have picked it up had I known it is this long. (Lesson learned!) I had been reading this book thoroughly and attentively until I was around 64% of the book, then I just lost my patient and skimmed all the way through until the end. I have to say I saw the "resolution" coming. Waiting for your partner to screw up (when you've been secretly misbehaving all the time) and using it as an excuse to end your marriage and then flee. As if your misconducts have been justified. Classic. 

To sum it all up: I didn't like this book. I wish I hadn't read it at all. It's not for me.


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.

A digital copy of this book was provided by JKS Communications for review and blog tour.

Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Title: The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
Genre: Classics
Release Date: May 1, 1993
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Paperback
Pages: 167
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository

Read from September 30 to October 2, 2011

My rating: 

Summary: Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

The moment I finished this book I almost cried of frustration. I was so seriously disappointed by how awful the book is that I had to sit down and shut my eyes and control my in- and exhalation. My rage was only burning hotter; the book was my fuel. I know, the summary sounds interesting, and I'd been told a lot of times that The Alchemist is excellent this, amazing that. But now that I read it, I wish I hadn't.

The story is simple enough. A boy becomes a shepherd for the sake of wandering. Then he meets a man who believes himself to be a king, is told that he will find his great treasure near the Pyramids in Egypt, and off he goes. I have to point out that it is not really a tale of following your dreams, because dreams don't really play any part in this novel. What plays a great role, in fact, are omens. Omens here, there, omens everywhere! (How do you know that something is an omen anyway? It could be coincidences? I don't know..) Everyone he meets on the road seems to know what the boy is up to. They all know about his dreams (again-- not really. More like his "goals" or "aspirations") and where he's going. (What the? It doesn't even make sense!) Then he travels to the Oasis and his eyes fall upon a girl and WHAM! TRUE LOVE! (SERIOUSLY???) He meets an alchemist and they both hit the road to search for his treasure. Along the way they get caught and Santiago is to "turn himself into the wind". Days drag on and on, and he still hasn't figured out how. (I knew it!) And then the day comes where he has to prove himself, and he talks to the wind", making a miracle happen. What's more, he even talks to the sun! In the Language of The World! (WHAT????) He understands the Soul of The World too! Isn't that very touching? Then he go off to the Pyramids only to find out by "dreaming" that his treasure is somewhere else! Cool! *sighs*

I'm going to try and be reasonable and tell you why this book failed me.

1) The writing style is not good. The story is told in simple sentences. I personally have nothing against that, but the way it's written just doesn't get to me. It looks as if it's meant to resemble the style of fables, but it is nothing compared to that. However, this could be something that gets lost in translation. Maybe the writing style--word and sentence structure and whatnot--is beautiful when it's Portuguese. Although that may be true, it just doesn't work when it's English, that's for sure.

2) Coelho kept calling Santiago "the boy". The boy............... The boy...................... The boy....................... The boy............................ All. The. Time. I mean, he has a name, okay? There were times when I'd only read "the boy" that I almost forgot what his name actually is!

3) The messages and story aren't deep and philosophical as portrayed. Sure, A Fable About Following Your Dream sounds cool. But no, this story isn't really about following dreams. It isn't about a certain idea of philosophy, either. It's more about reading omens, and pursuing Personal Legends, and talking in the Language of The World, or reaching through to The Soul of The World. All of which are as deep as..... Gah! I don't know. "...when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" would have been an inspiring quote, had it any supporting facts or evidences (not the omens, please), otherwise it would just be a cheesy line attempting to be deep but failing, and yes, that's precisely what I think it is. When something touches your inmost heart and makes you feel something special, that is deep, that is profound. When something makes you irritable and your brows furrow in extreme annoyance, that is definitely not deep. Are we clear here, Coelho? 

Extremely annoyed, yes, that's what this book did to me. Everything about it bothered me so much that I had a hard time trying to finish it. Good thing it was thin. I can't believe the hype, really. My friends told me it's so great, but I find it totally awful. It's the first book I've ever rated 1 star. It's just awful.

By the way, I have been told by a friend who loves this book that the reason I dislike it is because I am not a Christian believer. Maybe that's partly why.. However, there are other problems with this book that still would make it displeasing for me, weren't I an atheist.

I hereby insist: this book is awful. It wasn't for me. I'm sorry I'm so harsh on it. I just hated it so much.


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.