May Wrap Up

May Wrap Up

Books I Reviewed:

Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Books I Read But Didn't Review:

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover - I liked this one. It was my first Colleen Hoover book and I definitely plan on reading more. 

Black Iris by Leah Reader - I really liked this one a lot! It was so different and like a complete mind game. I definitely recommend picking it up!

Event Recap:

BEA 2015

New Releases: 5/31/15 - 6/6/15

New Releases: 5/31/15 - 6/6/15

June 2:

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

Joyride by Anna Banks

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Like It Never Happened by Emily Adrian

Powerless by Terra Lynn Childs

BEA 2015

BEA 2015

This was my fourth year attending BEA and it was another really successful year. I loved seeing so many bloggers and authors again as well as meeting new ones. The showfloor was organized a bit differently than it has been in the past, but I think it helped space things out a lot better. I especially loved the way that Penguin Random House ran their in booth signings. They were really well organized.   

I only attended for a few hours on Thursday, but I did get to meet Margo Rabb and Kirsten Hubbard. Both authors were so kind and I was especially excited to meet Kirsten Hubbard because Wanderlove is one of my top favorite books. On Thursday I also stopped over at the Litograph booth where they were giving out temporary tattoos with quotes from a book. After you chose a random tattoo out of a bowl, they would photograph it and post it to the wall in order of the story. I got one from The Tell Tale Heart. They had so many cool posters and you can order literary temporary tattoos online. I definitely plan on ordering some things from their site.  

 

(Rainbow Rowell signing Fangirl and Margaret Stohl signing Black Widow)

I attended all day on Friday and I started off my morning by meeting Margaret Stohl. She was signing Black Widow, which is my most anticipated book of the year. I already started to read it while I was in lines throughout the day and I am loving it so far! I also met Colleen Hoover, Abbi Glines, Marieke Nijkamp, Nicola Yoon, Dahlia Adler, and Maggie Lehrman. Then I ended my day at Jennifer Niven's signing for All the Bright Places.

(Jennifer Niven signing All the Bright Places)

Overall it was another great year! Thank you to all of the amazing publishers and authors. I especially want to thank Harper Collins, Disney, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Scholastic, Abrams, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Macmillan, Harlequin, Simon Schuster, and Sourcebooks.

(If you would like to see pictures of the books I picked up you can find them on my Instagram or on my Twitter (@thereadinggeek))

(Gloria Steinham signing)

Waiting on Wednesday #207: Light of Day

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Light of Day
By: Allison van Diepen
Release Date: November 24, 2015

Like any other Saturday night, Gabby Perez and her best friend, Maria, are out dancing. But this isn’t just another night. When a mysterious stranger warns Gabby their drinks have been drugged, she hurries Maria home. Sure enough, the next day, Maria can’t remember a thing. Gabby’s shaken by their close call. And she’s not going to stay quiet about it. She opens up the airwaves on her radio show and discovers an even worse truth: the guy who drugged them was going to force them into prostitution. Then Gabby’s friend Bree never makes it home from a party, and Gabby fears the worst. Gabby reaches out to the guy who saved her, the gorgeous stranger she knows only as X. As they dive into the seedy underworld of Miami, searching for Bree, they can’t ignore their undeniable attraction. Until Gabby discovers the truth about who X really is and the danger that surrounds him. Can their love survive the light of day? (Goodreads)

New Releases: 5/24/15 - 5/30/15

New Releases: 5/24/15 - 5/30/15

May 26:

The Cage by Megan Shepherd

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Waiting on Wednesday #206: Da Vinci's Tiger

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Da Vinci's Tiger
By: Laura Malone Elliott
Release Date: November 10, 2015

Young, beautiful, and witty, Ginevra de’ Benci longs to take part in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence. But as the daughter of a wealthy family in a society dictated by men, she is trapped in an arranged marriage, expected to limit her creativity to domestic duties. Her poetry reveals her deepest feelings, and she aches to share her work, to meet painters and sculptors mentored by the famed Lorenzo de Medici, and to find love. When the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, arrives in Florence, he introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers—a world of thought and conversation she has yearned for. She is instantly attracted to the handsome newcomer, who admires her mind as well as her beauty. Yet Ginevra remains conflicted about his attentions. Choosing her as his Platonic muse, Bembo commissions a portrait by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them—one Ginevra can only begin to understand. In a rich and enthralling world of exquisite art, elaborate feasts, and exhilarating jousts, she faces many temptations to discover her voice, artistic companionship, and a love that defies categorization. In the end, she and Leonardo are caught up in a dangerous and deadly battle between powerful families. (Goodreads)

New Releases: 5/17/15 - 5/23/15

New Releases: 5/17/15 - 5/23/15

May 19:

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Waiting on Wednesday #205: The Lies About Truth

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.


The Lies About Truth 
By: Courtney C. Stevens
Release Date: November 3, 2015

Sadie Kingston, is a girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can’t move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent’s brother, Max. As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she's unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him — even if Max is able to look at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and subsequent events comes to light, Sadie has to decide if she can embrace the future or if she'll always be trapped in the past. (Goodreads)

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

The Fill-In Boyfriend
By: Kasie West
Released: May 5, 2015
Source: Purchased
Purchase the Book: Amazon

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley. The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship. (Goodreads)

The Fill-In Boyfriend has taken the number one spot as my favorite contemporary story of the year. I loved Kasie West's previous contemporary books so I have been counting down the days until The Fill-In Boyfriend was released. 

The Fill-In Boyfriend is the story of Gia who is dumped by her boyfriend in the parking lot at prom. She enlists the help of a guy who is waiting for his sister to pretend to be her boyfriend. In return, Gia will owe her fake boyfriend a favor. 

Gia was a really well developed character. She learns a lot about herself through the course of this book. She isn't perfect, but she acknowledges her mistakes. West did a great job with portraying that phase of trying to figure out the type of person you want to be. Gia is growing up and her perspective on the world is shifting. She realizes that maybe the person she has been needs to change and that her family isn't as perfect as she always thought. West realistically depicted how people can grow apart too. I also loved the side characters just as much as I loved Gia. They were each very well developed.    

The plot was fun, cute, and dramatic. I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. I just became so quickly invested in the lives of these characters. I love West's writing because I really think she does a great job at capturing the teen voice and the types of things that they deal with on a daily basis. I found myself writing down so many quotes.

Overall I loved The Fill-In Boyfriend! I especially loved that the theme of this story was growing up. This has definitely become my favorite Kasie West book. I can't recommend picking up this book enough!

My Rating:

New Releases: 5/10/15 - 5/16/15

New Releases: 5/10/15 - 5/16/15

May 12:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Vanished by E.E. Cooper 

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius

Waiting on Wednesday #204: Cut Both Ways

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.




Cut Both Ways
By: Carrie Mesrobian
Release Date: September 1, 2015

Will Caynes never has been good with girls. At seventeen, he’s still waiting for his first kiss. He’s certainly not expecting it to happen in a drunken make-out session with his best friend, Angus. But it does and now Will’s conflicted—he knows he likes girls, but he didn’t exactly hate kissing a guy. Then Will meets Brandy, a cute and easy-to-talk-to sophomore. He’s totally into her too—which proves, for sure, that he’s not gay. So why does he keep hooking up with Angus on the sly? Will knows he can’t keep seeing both of them, but besides his new job in a diner, being with Brandy and Angus are the best parts of his whole messed-up life. His divorced parents just complicate everything. His father, after many half-baked business ventures and endless house renovations, has started drinking again. And his mom is no help—unless loading him up with a bunch of stuff he doesn’t need plus sticking him with his twin half-sisters counts as parenting. He’s been bouncing between both of them for years, and neither one feels like home. Deciding who to love, who to choose, where to live. Whichever way Will goes, someone will get hurt. Himself, probably the most. (Goodreads)

Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook

Every Last Promise
By: Kristin Halbrook
Released: April 21, 2015
Source: Publisher
Purchase the Book: Amazon
*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Kayla saw something at the party that she wasn't supposed to. But she hasn't told anyone. No one knows the real story about what happened that night—about why Kayla was driving the car that ran into a ditch after the party, about what she saw in the hours leading up to the accident, and about the promise she made to her friend Bean before she left for the summer. Now Kayla's coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she might be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about. (Goodreads)

I liked Every Last Promise. It was a very realistic story about not knowing whether or not to speak up.

Every Last Promise is the story of Kayla who saw something at a party before she drove a car into the ditch. She still hasn't told anyone about what she saw or why she was in that car in the first place.

Kayla is a realistic and well developed character. She loves her friends and the town she has grown up in. She just wants things to be like they were before the night of the car accident. She always had this plan to stay in her town, but things are different now and she has to decide whether or not to do the right thing. Kayla isn't always a very likable character, but I'm not one to mind an unlikable character all that much though. In this case it really makes you take a step back and think about what the bigger picture regarding the decisions she makes. 

I liked that the plot alternated between the present and the past. It helped move the story along and slowly revealed everything that happened the night of the accident. It also developed Kayla's love for her town. I just still feel like I wanted a bit more from this story though. I would have liked for some aspects of the story to have been slowed down and given the chance to develop more. I especially would have liked to see the side characters developed further because her friends all blurred together for me.

Overall I liked Every Last Promise. This book definitely made me question a lot. It was a realistic story about deciding between doing the right thing or staying quiet. 

My Rating:
 

New Releases: 5/3/15 - 5/9/15

New Releases: 5/3/15 - 5/9/15

May 5:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

The Heir by Kiera Cass

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen 

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn

Until the Beginning by Amy Plum