Month: March 2018

Book Review: This Love by Dani Atkins

Title: This Love
Author: Dani Atkins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Date: March 23rd, 2017
Pages: 466
Format: Paperback
Source: from Publisher for a review

Review:

If you’re looking for a damsel in distress story done right, look no further!

This Love is the story about Sophie Winter who finds herself in a hard situation in which she can’t cope without someone’s help.

The story starts with drama. Sophie’s flat is on fire and she’s trying to get out before the fire swallows her too.
She managed to save her little cat Fred by letting him go out of the window (I really loved that cat, it was my mission the whole time to know that Fred is save), but for her it is a bit harder to get out.
That’s where Ben, our knight in shining armor plays his part.
He gives her directions what to do to get out of that flat alive.

Ben’s kindness doesn’t stop right there. Oh, no! He helps her find her cat Fred, and even (because of some circumstances) offers her the place to stay.

I know stories about ladies who need to be saved are not in fashion anymore, but as I already stated, This Love is done right. Sophie didn’t want to find herself in the role she played, but her entire home burned and she was in a really bad situation. She had no choice but to accept other people’s help.

At first I really liked Ben. He is that type of character women all over the world dream about. He has a good heart, always knows what to say and is kind, plus he looks really, really hot.
He is way too perfect to be real, and that is where my adoration for him fall back. 
I wished he had at least one flaw (actually, in my had I started plotting a story in which he was really a psychopath with great acting skills).

The writing style is really good. Dani Atkins pulls you in with her voice and makes you forget about the rest of the world. I was thinking about the book even when I was not reading.
It is written in third person.

This Love is a perfect title for this novel because you can feel and see the love in so many shapes through the story.
It is no wonder that it received RNA award in category “Romantic Novel of the year”.

I enjoyed reading This Love, and I feel like I gained a lot as a reader from this book, but it is my duty to mention that this story also reminded me of two very popular novels: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and Ten Tiny Breaths by K. A. Tucker.
I’m not saying it is a reap off of those two novels by any mean, I’m just saying it has some of the same elements as those two.

Overall, This Love is a perfect book for romance lovers and for those who want to read a good book about damsel in distress.

Book Review: Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira

Title: Bookishly Ever After
Series: Ever After (#1)
Author: Isabel Bandeira
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Date: January 19th, 2016
Pages: 378
Format: eARC
Source: from Publisher for a review

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably a YA novel with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary.

But when Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her, she turns to her favorite books for advice. Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart. But if her plan fails, can she go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?

Review:

First of all, let me praise this cover! It’s one of the most beautiful book covers I have seen lately, and what’s even better, it’s sequel’s cover is even more beautiful.

And now when we got all that beauty out of the way (sorry, I just woke up and I can’t think of any better phrase to express myself), let’s focus on what’s really important: the story itself.

If you already read the book, you might ask me: “What story?”. Yes, I know what you mean, because that’s what I asked myself more then few times while reading.
And the answer is: this one, at first fun, one dimensional story that dragged and dragged even though nothing important really happened, and made me lose my interest after the fist half of the book.
Honestly, it felt like I was reading a 700 pages long book, not a 378 pages one.

As I already said, the story is one dimensional. We follow Phoebe and her friends, read about their conversations which lack of significance, and there is no subplots.
It was like waiting for Godot in a shape of plot.
Guess what? Godot never came, or maybe he came after I fell asleep.

To be fair, I liked Phoebe. I enjoyed reading her comparing her life with life of her favorite characters, and how she asked herself what would her favorite characters do in certain situations.
I only wish that her favorite characters and books weren’t non-existent. I have never heard of those books or characters, and I feel like if familiar books and characters were part of the story, readers would enjoy this book more.

This book started really good, it got me in and I was having fun reading about Phoebe and her high-school drama, but somewhere on the way, I lost my interest and to be honest, I just skimmed the second half of the novel.
I found myself realizing that I didn’t care anymore, and if I wasn’t given this book for a review, I would probably DNF it.

However, I want to stress out that some of my goodreads friends really enjoyed this story, so if you were thinking about giving this book a chance, please do.
Maybe you will end up really enjoying it.

I usually love ya contemporary, but I guess this book just wasn’t for me.