Thursday, August 13, 2015

Review: Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet by Leisa Rayven

                                     Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Audible                          Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Audible       


 
Click Goodreads buttons to read summary.

For the past six months I've been absent from my blog. I was actually kind of tired of forcing myself to write reviews. By the end, I only wrote reviews for books that made a big impression on me. Maybe you have noticed that lately not many books have left a mark. But Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet made me want to go on here and write something that would make YOU want to read them. 
 
I wasn't supposed to love these books. Before I finished book one, I was so sure this was going to be the same old story, which is me starting a book and not finishing it. Fortunately this wasn't the case.The reason why I thought I was going to dislike them was because the first one (and some parts of the second book) have some of the things I dislike in books. 

Naive heroine. Check
Too possessive hero. Check
Things kind of take a little too long to happen. Check
Hot cold relationship. Che... ehhh... I have a hate/love relationship with this one so...

And even though I dislike these things Leisa Rayven make them work by making her characters real and when characters feel real the reader can't help but care about them. No matter their flaws. 
 
I'm not going to lie, it wasn't all perfect.  I thought about giving up halfway through the first book. I didn't want to give up on another book, but sometimes Cassie would make my eyes roll so bad it hurt and I wanted to hurt Ethan too many times to count. But then the writing kept me from abandoning it. I related to the characters even if they weren't perfect. Sometimes the book got so intense I had to put it down for a little bit to calm myself down. I was feeling too much. All those feelings were thanks to Leisa Rayven's awesome writing powers. She's talented. #truestory. I think I highlighted half of the book because dammit, some of the things she wrote were so beautiful it made me want to cry happy tears.

Speaking of tears, I cried. When I say I cried, I mean I ugly cried. It was towards the end of Broken Juliet. I wasn't expecting to feel what Cassie and Ethan were feeling, but I did feel it.


 That part of the book felt like I was both of them at the same time, and I was experiencing double the heartbreak. While I sob myself to sleep, I was thinking what an idiot I was because I was crying about fictional characters. Then I was happy because I haven't felt this much for a book in a long time. 

The interesting part about these books is in the way they are written. The plot line goes back and forth in Ethan's and Cassie's relationship. We start with the present day. In the present, Cassie is this kickass actress that chain smokes, I instantly liked her. You can tell that something happened to make her this tough. Then you get Ethan, I thought he was going to be a total jerk but he seemed ok. So I was confused as to why Cassie treated him the way she did. What did he do to make Cassie hate him so much? Then the books go back to the beginning of how they met. You'll meet two totally different characters. And you get to understand what happened. The books go back and forth just enough to make you understand who these two characters were and why they are the way they are. And their transformations through the books are mesmerizing.

I read Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet back to back. It was emotionally exhausting but at the end it was so very rewarding. 



Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory: Review




When Henry Tudor picks up the crown of England from the mud of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry the princess of the enemy house—Elizabeth of York—to unify a country divided by war for nearly two decades.

But his bride is still in love with his slain enemy, Richard III—and her mother and half of England dream of a missing heir, sent into the unknown by the White Queen. While the new monarchy can win power, it cannot win hearts in an England that plots for the triumphant return of the House of York.

Henry’s greatest fear is that somewhere a prince is waiting to invade and reclaim the throne. When a young man who would be king leads his army and invades England, Elizabeth has to choose between the new husband she is coming to love and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother: the rose of York come home at last.

History is very repetitive. I've learned that after watching many TV shows and reading The White Princess. If it's not a boy proclaiming to be a lost Prince, it's someone trying to steal the crown from the current King. It's a never ending battle. I also learned that I wouldn't have survived long in the 1400s. I have this feeling that I would've gotten my head sliced off for telling the king to piss off.

I decided to read the white princess after binge watching the white queen. I adored it and because I heard that they were planning to do a second season based on the white princess I just couldn't help myself. I was very impressed! The book is very easy to read and after getting used to the character's names (because everybody has the same names!) I was golden. I also love books that inspire me to learn. This book is one of them. I couldn't help myself from googling the characters and what happened to them. I watched documentaries based on some of the characters in the book!!! Can't you tell I enjoyed myself while reading this book? I had a blast!

Something disappointing about the white princess is the fact that women didn't have much say in anything. I hated the fact that Elizabeth had to walk on eggshells around Henry. It just pissed me off! But that's the way things were back then. I'm just happy to be born when and where I was born. I also wish Elizabeth had a little bit of a backbone. She was blind when it came to her mother plotting against the king. Her mother told her that she was never going to give up. But every time that the king accused her mom she would be all "my mother? NEVER!" It got old pretty quickly. Another thing that disappointed me a little was that I was expecting more romance than what I got. But even with these minor things I truly enjoyed myself, and I'm definitely reading more books from this author.


Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion



An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

It has been two months since my last review! To be honest, I couldn't get into anything. I read more than ten books halfway through, and I couldn't make myself finish them, it sucked so bad. But I found the book that took me out of that horrible reading slump! The Rosie Project was what I needed to get me back to reading. 

Don was a great main character. I found his way of thinking refreshing. He reminded me of Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" but to me Don was more likable and relatable. I seriously couldn't get enough of him. I found him fascinating, and I grew to care for him. I understood his way of doing things. I didn't want him to change for anybody, well, it's probably not healthy to schedule every minute of your life, but those weird things it's what made him unique. 

I do have to say that I was bit frustrated with Rosie and Don. I wanted them to be open about their feelings sooner in the book. I know I'm contradicting myself here because that would've meant Don being someone that he wasn't. I still enjoyed the whole process of them getting to know each other and Don trying new things along the way. 

The Rosie Project is a light and fast paced read. If you are going through a reading slump, I recommend you pick this one up. 


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