Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I'm sitting here at exactly 12.14am at night typing up this review and I'm still reeling from that book. Seriously.
When I first began Fangirl, I was very doubtful. I was so sure that it was going to be one of those icky, cliche teen love stories that I would hate instantly but instead I found myself falling in love with the book as I turned each page.

How to start? One of the biggest reasons I love Fangirl is because it's not just about how a girl falls in love with a boy as she struggles through colleges and goes through her ups and downs; it's about the love between a family, relationships, about growing up, about how sometimes you have to go through the tough bits and grit your teeth just to make it out.The book develops the relationship between each and every person so beautifully, and it's honest and realistic, and frankly, just what I was looking for. I loved how the relationship between the twins wasn't just all sunshine and rainbows, and the anger and resentment between Cath and Laura. The story has so much more meaning than you would think a book titled Fangirl would have! The plot of the story, while very simple, really drew me in.

Another thing I loved about the book: the characters. Each character was well and fully developed, not to mention realistic and relatable, and I felt like a personally knew each and every character inside out by the end of the book. Not one character was redundant, boring or flat - every character had it's own unique style, it's own unique characteristics that made it stick in your head. The only minor problem I had with the book was that it was too focused on the developing of the characters- I feel like for a good first half of the book, it was all about describing the characters! I mean, taking so long to describe the characters in such depth draws you much deeper into the book, it's just that it took up too much of the story. I swear at one point of the book, when Levi and Cath were together, I started to tear up because it was just goddamn beautiful. The plot may not have been so solid but the relationship between the characters was just perfect. It was honest, realistic and hit all the spots for me.

My favourite character would probably Levi. I absolutely freaking adored him. He's the cutest, sweetest and most charming boy and if he was real I'd grab him right away.

“I miss you."
"That's stupid," she said. "I saw you this morning."
"It's not the time," Levi said, and she could hear that he was smiling." It's the distance.” 

Levi's pretty much the epitome of a perfect boyfriend in my book. 

In conclusion, while Fangirl may not have a perfect plot, it certainly makes up in the way that it was written, and the way the characters were developed. I loved every bit of it and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a coming-of-age/romance-ish novel!

Review: The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak

The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak 

Book 1 of The Heartbreakers Chronicle 

Release Date: August 4th by Sourcebooks Fire 

"When I met Oliver Perry, I had no clue he was the lead singer for The Heartbreakers. And he had no idea that I was the only girl in the world who hated his music."

Stella will do anything for her sick sister, Cara—even stand in line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD...for four hours. She's totally winning best birthday gift this year. At least she met a cute boy with soft brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes while getting her caffeine fix. Too bad she'll never see him again.

Except, Stella's life has suddenly turned into a cheesy love song. Because Starbucks Boy is Oliver Perry – lead singer for the Heartbreakers. And even after she calls his music crap, Oliver still gives Stella his phone number. And whispers quotes from her favorite Disney movie in her ear. OMG, what is her life?

But how can Stella even think about being with Oliver — dating and laughing and pulling pranks with the band — when her sister could be dying of cancer?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first impression of the book: it's a really sweet, light and fun book to read with a great romance and basically the perfect summer read. The Heartbreakers is about this girl called Stella, who has a sister called Cara who has cancer, and for Cara's birthday she and their twin brother Drew decide to go to this signing for a band called The Heartbreakers to get a signed copy of their CD. On the way to get the CD signed, they stop by a Starbucks and Stella bumps into this handsome guy, who she later finds out is Oliver Perry, the main singer of the band and they end up staying at the same hotel that night and from there the story unfolds.

The sweetest thing about this book was that it was very centered around the themes of family and friendship. Stella's sister Cara is very sick and Stella can't bring herself to leave her sister so she decides to defer college for the time being, and passes off a lot of opportunities to do thing she loves to spend time with her sister. And throughout you can really see the consistent bond between Stella and Cara, and the love they have for each other with is lovely.

Another thing I liked about this book: Stella is the perfect main character. She's sassy, funny with a quirky sense of humour and very witty, yet has a soft side for Cara and is super caring and protective. and can fend for herself just fine. She's very likable unlike the common whiny, helpless, I-need-to-be-saved female main characters you see in books now a days, and it's really refreshing.

I also really enjoyed the interactions between Stella, the members of The Heartbreakers, her sister and her brother. Everyone got along well and it was fun to read about the way the speak to each other, their relationships and all. Each character was developed thoroughly and it really shows in the book each time an individual character showed up.

I'd definitely recommend this book to you if you enjoy fun, light reads especially since this book has little touches of quirky humour here and there that really make you giggle! It's one of those very pleasant, sweet and lovely romance stories perfect for a lazy summer day!

Review: 99 Days by Katie Cotugno

99 Days by Katie Cotugno


Synopsis:
Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I highly recommend this book if

a) You are into brother-brother love triangles

b) You enjoy characters that never, ever, ever learn from mistakes and repeat them over and over again without remorse.

I DNF’d this book at around 50% because I just couldn’t take it anymore. 99 Days is about a girl named Molly, who slept with her ex-boyfriend Patrick’s brother Gabe very shortly after they broke up (within a day of their breaking up if I remember correctly) and she tells her mother about it, who then goes on to publish a book about it, humiliating Molly and making everyone hate her. So then she moves on to go to boarding school for senior year, without telling her friends or anything. The book starts off when Molly returns, only to find that everyone in the town hates her, even her best friend (no surprise!) and the only exception to this is Gabe, her ex-boyfriend's brother. 

Gabe is the only one that doesn't hate her, and as we find out later in the book, has had a crush on her for the longest time! And let's not forget he's the one that slept with Molly very shortly after she broke up with his brother. But I'll leave that for now and move on. 

Let’s talk about Molly. She is by far, the most stupendously irritating character I’ve ever read about and if I ever met her in real life, the first thing I’d do is give her 3 tight slaps across the face. Despite the fact that I had a lot of sympathy for her during the first half of the book and even empathised with her, come the second half and I came so close to wanting to reach in and give her a good shake! So she comes back to town to find that everyone hates her, and in the beginning I feel sympathy for her, I really do. But as the story goes on, I found myself wanting to slam my head against the wall repeatedly and slap her as hard as I could? Why the sudden change? Let me explain it. 

So she cheated on Patrick, the boy she has known since forever. It's not something small, but it happens. And when something like this happens, the norm tends to be you apologize, feel remorse, learn from the mistake to improve yourself. But this doesn't happen at all in the book! Molly acknowledges she cheated on Patrick, she takes the consequences yet not once do we see that she feels remorse!  But then I told myself, it's okay, just look past it. 

And I did until I came to the next part that made me put down the book. After getting together with Gabe and having the perfect boyfriend (Loving, caring, with absolute adoration) she goes and freaking cheats on Gabe with Patrick! I mean, are you kidding me? Do you never learn from your mistakes woman? The main character is selfish, self-centred and utterly weak and helpless! 

This book turned out to be very dissapointing, which is sad because it could have been a really good book had it not been for the repeated cheating! I know that cheating is part of the book, but you can only go so far before it gets irritating. I'd give this book a 2.5 stars out of 5.