2015 Book #62 – I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges, Young Adult by rebeccabook17

Title: I’ll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Date finished: 6/20/15
Genre: Young adult – romance-ish, coming of age tale
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Pages in book: 379
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Terryville Public Library

Blurb from the cover:

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom–that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be.
What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise–a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a book at the bottom of your to-read list” check box since it wasn’t even really on my to-read list to begin with. I saw this book in a BookPage publication earlier this year and while I thought it sounded interesting, I didnt add it to my TBR list at the time since the list is already just so overwhelmingly long. I did one of those calculator things and it was going ot take me like 15 years to read all the books on my current to-read list. And since I add more books to the list every week than I read and take off the list every week, its pretty much never going to end! But when I saw it at the Terryville Public Library a couple weeks ago I was on a YA rampage (I checked out 5 new YA fiction books that day) I decided to give it a try. And boy am I glad I did because it was excellent.
The main male character of the story was a Marine who was recently injured in combat and is home on leave while he recovers. Josh has always been a bad-boy and a ladies man in Creek View and even though he returns injured from the war, the town doesn’t really expect him to be any different. And Skylar is a straight-edge girl who is set on escaping this small ho-dunk town and plans to go to San Francisco for college in the fall. But these two can’t seem to stay away from each other and over the summer what used to be a casual friendship turns into something more.
Reading this book was an important experience for me. My husband is a Marine and spent some time overseas in Afghanistan, and while thankfully he came back uninjured physically, there are a lot of mental ramifications for experiencing what soldiers have to go through in a war. There were many times during the book during Josh’s point of view when I heard the parts in my husband’s voice, and (while I’ve never experienced what they experience personally and therefore can’t say this with certainty) I think the author did an outstanding job of capturing what it feels like when a soldier all of a sudden isn’t a soldier anymore. Transitioning back into civilian life is difficult and for some impossible. This book was moving and touching and talked about some extremely relevant topics. I think it was a great book and something everyone should read.

The bottom line: I thought this was a great book, I’m not sure if it meant more to me because I’m connected to a Marine but the characters in this story really moved me. I would definitely recommend this book.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

26Apr2015

2015 Book #37 – Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Posted in #ReadingMyLibrary Reading Challenge, 2015, Book reviews, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Women's fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: Boy Meets Girl
Author: Meg Cabot
Date finished: 4/25/15
Genre: Chick-lit / Women’s fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Publication Date: January 2004
Pages in book: 383
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

Meet Kate Mackenzie. She:

works for the T.O.D. (short for Tyrannical Office Despot, also known as Amy Jenkins,Director of the Human Resources Division at the New York Journal)
is sleeping on the couch because her boyfriend of ten years refuses to commit
can’t find an affordable studio apartment anywhere in New York City
thinks things can’t get any worse.

They can. Because:

the T.O.D. is making her fire the most popular employee in the paper’s senior staff dining room
that employee is now suing Kate for wrongful termination, and
now Kate has to give a deposition in front of Mitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan’s wealthiest law families,who embraces everything Kate most despises … but also happens to have a nice smile and a killer bod.

The last thing anybody — least of all Kate Mackenzie — expects to finding a legal arbitration is love. But that’s the kind of thing that can happen when … Boy Meets Girl.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will count for the challenge I am participating in for April, the #ReadingMyLibrary reading challenge. I checked out this book from the Terryville Public Library. This book was a re-read for me, I have read all of Meg Cabot’s adult books before and have loved them all. This book is a perfect, light-hearted, entertaining read. Kate is a bleeding heart character. Her and Mitch actually turn out to be a great match since he worked as a public defender and understands the bleeding heart mentality. Mitch’s family is just hilarious too. I couldn’t stand Stuart and I couldn’t even believe he could have some of those thoughts as a sane human being.
All the characters in this book (even the villainous-like ones) are entertaining I think. I love that this novel is in the epistolary form because you get to hear pieces from almost every character’s point of view and I find that makes the story better in many ways. Overall this is a sweet story and a light, fun read.

The bottom line: This was a re-read for me. I would definitely recommend.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

7Mar2015

2015 Book #18 – The Marriage Charm by Linda Lael Miller

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Bookish Bingo: Jan-March 2015, Brides of Bliss County, Contemporary romance, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: The Marriage Charm
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Date finished: 3/7/15
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: HQN Books
Publication Date: January 27, 2015
Pages in book: 297
Stand alone or series: #2 in Brides of Bliss County series

Blurb from the cover:

The women of Bliss County have a pact—to find husbands. The right husbands.
One already has: Hadleigh Stevens, who married rancher Tripp Galloway a few months ago. Now Melody Nolan thinks it’s her turn. Melody has recently found success as a jewelry designer, and her work is the focus of her life. She’s not exactly unhappy, but she wants more. She’s always been attracted to Spence Hogan, the local chief of police, but she’s convinced that Spence, a notorious charmer, isn’t what you’d call husband material.
Spence is a good cop who isn’t scared of anything—except love. And he’s done everything he can to preserve his reputation as a womanizer—a reputation that keeps marriage-minded women, including Melody, at bay. And yet…there’s something about Melody he can’t forget. Something his heart can’t ignore.

My rating: 2.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will count towards my “Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Pretty Dress Cover” square. When I saw this book at the store one of my first thoughts was “what a pretty wedding dress that is” so I thought it would fit into this category appropriately for bingo. So this book tells the story of the second girl in a group of three friends. And I can already see that the three girlfriends who have been best friends since they were children are going to magically fall in love with a group of three guy friends. I always find it interest how neat and tidy these things end up sometimes. So Melody and Spencer have a history I guess, she asked him to marry her after one hot and heavy summer when she was 20 and he said no because he didn’t want to ruin her life so then they didn’t talk for 7 years until their best friends got married. Seems realistic right?
So then the wedding throws them in each other’s paths again and then all of a sudden they are running into each other everywhere, even though they’ve managed to pretty much avoid each other for the past seven years. And then they fall in love and stuff. Honestly I was a little disappointed with this one. The conversations all felt unnatural and forced. The plot seemed unrealistic to me. I mean there was like a mystery/suspense aspect thrown in there with the robberies but I felt like it wasn’t really serious through the whole book and why would a master antique thief running an antiquities ring in multiple states care about some small town police chief? Seriously? And why didn’t we get to find out what kind of charm Melody would make for the three girls’ bracelets based on her engagement? THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SERIES! I got to the end and I was like, what about the charm? The book is even CALLED the Marriage CHARM and we don’t get to find out what kind of charm she designates for herself.

The bottom line: I’m fairly neutral on this one. It was a cute story but not too interesting. Don’t think I’d recommend it but also wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it.

Link to author website
Link to Amazon

5Feb2015

2015 Book #10 – Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Posted in Book reviews, Bookish Bingo: Jan-March 2015, Reading Challenges, Young Adult by rebeccabook17

First of all, I’d like to announce that today is the one year anniversary of the RebeccaBookReview blog! Thank you to all of my readers and followers. The past year has been full of exciting twists and turns, and I am looking forward to growing even more with my blog in the coming year.

Title: Dare Me
Author: Megan Abbott
Date finished: 2/5/15
Genre: Weird thriller? Maybe YA?
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: July 31, 2012
Pages in book: 290
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy’s best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they’re seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls — until the young new coach arrives.
Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach’s golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as “top girl” — both with the team and with Addy herself.
Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death — and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain.
The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as “total authority and an almost desperate intensity,” provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.

My rating: 2.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will count towards my “Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Forgotten Friday” square. The Forgotten Friday category is from the Bookish Bingo site, they read books that were published over a year ago that they never got around to reading. You can see their post on the book here.
Honestly, this book was weird. I read through the posting on the Bookish Bingo site and I have to agree with Lyn when she said “F*** this book.” I felt like I was lost through the whole book, the story line was scattered and the plot twists didn’t really make any sense and nothing was connected. Around halfway through the story I did become interested in the outcome. There were parts of the book that made me like the overall story, in kind of a train wreck sort of way. You know, you know you shouldn’t look and that what’s going on shouldn’t be “interesting” but you can’t seem to look away. The relationships in this book (all of them) were extremely screwed up and unhealthy. There was not one healthy relationship in the entire book. How awful is that. Addy and Beth’s relationship (though way more screwed up) did remind me a tiny bit of Rachel and Darcy’s relationship from Something Borrowed.
I did find certain pieces of this book interesting. Like how the girls in the cheerleading squad became almost like women warriors. The book was dark and kind of scary and scrapes at you in a way. Beth should probably be under some kind of psych evaluation.
If you’re interested, the Reading Guide for this book can be found here. Reading these questions made me like the book a little more because I could see more where the author was trying to go with the story line of the book.

The bottom line: I don’t think I would recommend this book. I was riveted by the middle but overall I can’t in good conscience say I liked the book. It might make a good book for a book club accompanied with the reading guide though.

Author website: http://www.meganabbott.com/
Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dare-Me-Novel-Megan-Abbott/dp/0316097772/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1423177442&sr=8-1

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