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I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson: Review

I'll Give You the SunTitle: I'll Give You The Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Publisher: Dial 
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world. (Goodreads summary.)

This book has been so hard for me to review, I read it almost three weeks ago and haven't been able to review it since. It's a book that left me quite confused about how I felt about it. I found it very tough to get into, struggled with it at times and couldn't really connect to the characters. But I did enjoy it overall, I just wasn't in love with it. The book itself confused me, the story, the characters and just everything. It makes writing a review really difficult to me, which is probably why it's so short.

The writing in this was a lot to get used to, so were the characters. I had read Jandy Nelson's debut The Sky is Everywhere back when it first came out, and I loved it. I definitely recognised Nelson's unique writing style and I did enjoy it, but it was harder to deal with in this. I have a feeling the actual book may contain pictures or drawings, but the eARC doesn't have them. I just get that impression, that might actually add a lot more to the story - like the pictures did in The Sky is Everywhere.

My Weekly Book Haul: 30/08/2014

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Friday Finds is something that was started over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week. All book covers and their summary come from back of book or Goodreads.


This week has been pretty good, considering the bad news about work last week. I won a few giveaways, which has amazed me because I have gone from never winning even one to winning 6 in one month. Excited for the prizes to arrive, and the two books the boyfriend has gifted me with. Come on postman, hurry up! I have had adorable times with my cute kitten. I have done a ton of extra time and gotten excited for when I get paid for it all. I have read very little, but feel like I have read a ton. I feel relaxed all of a sudden, in a time when I should feel panicked, stressed and about to have a nervous breakdown. Maybe this is my nervous breakdown, who knows? I am enjoying!

Five Friday Favourites: Favourite Book To Movie Adaptations


Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject is posted and everyone is welcome to join in. You can find out more about Five Friday Favourites and the future subjects here.



Favourite Book To Movie Adaptations

This weeks Five Friday Favourites is actually up to you! The wonderful Amanda is giving us the chance to pick our own topic. Hooray! Clearly I will have a million ideas and not be able to contain them all, will struggle for hours to pick between them, until finally I cave and choose one. Nope. I wish. It is only thanks to the fact I watched The Book Thief two days ago that I even have a topic this week. And that's favourite book to movie adaptations. Wooop! Combining two of my greatest loves: books and films! 


The Book Thief

This is kind of cheating, I watched it as if it were just a film and not an adaptation. I only watched this two days ago and it astounded me. I loved it, every second of it. I didn't have one issue with it, nothing to pick apart. Was it an amazing adaptation? Who knows. I didn't reread before watching so didn't pick apart every little thing they did or didn't do. But they definitely took a beautiful, heartbreaking book and made a beautiful, heartbreaking movie. WATCH IT! (One small issue: The horribly photoshop job on the poster.)


Films for Thoughts on Thursday: The Book Thief


This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.


This weeks movie review will be for:


The Book Thief


Confession: I didn't reread the book before watching the movie. This is important because you need to realise that this is a review of the film, not a review looking at the film as an adaptation. I have a terrible memory, so whilst I remember the fact that I absolutely loved the book, I actually don't remember much of the book itself. Without rereading the book before seeing the movie, I won't remember all the little details or the things that change. I did this on purpose, I am fed up of picking apart movies just because they changed something or left something out. This was a film that I just wanted to be able to enjoy it for what it was, I didn't want to pick it apart. I am so beyond happy that I didn't reread before seeing the film, I worry it may have spoiled it a little. I just watched one of the most stunning, beautiful, heart-breaking, uplifting and moving films that I have ever seen. I don't even care if they made a lot of changes or didn't, it was a brilliant movie and I loved it.

'One small fact. You are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever. Sorry to be such a spoiler. My advise is, when the time comes, don't panic. It doesn't seem to help.'

The Jewel by Amy Ewing: Review

The Jewel (The Lone City, #1)Title: The Jewel
Author: Amy Ewing
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for. (Goodreads summary.)


Cover verdict.
The cover for The Jewel is a large part of the reason I was so drawn to it, the cover is gorgeous. Then I read the blurb and it peaks my interest and I knew I just had to read this book. Unfortunately, the inside didn't turn out to be anywhere near as amazing as the cover. I think The Jewel is the perfect example of a book that has such wonderful potential, but it's just not executed well. It left me feeling really disappointed and upset, this is a book that really could have been something great.

It started off so well...
The story started off really strong for me, I was drawn in by the world and could not stop reading. I was fascinated by the idea of the Lone City, that's essentially an island surrounded by nothing but sea. The sea would have destroyed it years ago, if not for the wall that has been built to protect it. The City is divided into 5 circles, each inside it's own wall - the Marsh, the Farm, the Smoke, the Bank and the Jewel. The Jewel is where the royalty live, unable to bear their own children they require surrogates. The whole idea of the surrogates was interesting, it's something I have seen before in other dystopians, quite a lot in fact, but this did put it's own twist on things. The surrogates are all able to perform three Auguries, it's basically three magical abilities that allow them to affect shape, colour and growth. The better they are at these, the more popular and sought after they are at the auction. Basically, there was a lot going on and I was intrigued, hooked and excited to find answers to a ton of questions that I already had.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish. Each week they host a different top ten topic.

This weeks topic is:

Books I Really Want To Read But Don't Own Yet


This, surprisingly, is a hard one for me. Mainly because I have a huge book buying problem and own most of the books I want. I also work in a library, so whatever I don't buy I can just borrow.


 Throne of Glass #4, #5, & #6

Yes, they don't have release dates, titles, covers or event a blurb. BUT I NEED THEM! Ask me what books I really want to read and these are top of my list! How am I supposed to wait for these?!? I have titled them myself, after what they will inevitably do to me. It's going to be painful, amazing, horrifying and gut-wrenching and I can't wait. 


Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2) Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3)
Lola and Isla by Stephanie Perkins

I read Anna and the French Kiss so long ago now, but I remember really loving it. The original cover for it had really put me off, I just wasn't sold on it. But I gave it a try and ended up loving it. I have wanted to read Lola for so long now, but still haven't got to it. Now will Isla out, I definitely need to hurry up and make sure I get to these soon. 

Mid-Year Book Freak Out


I'm already gone past the half-year mark, but I have been wanting to do this survey for a while now. It's by Ely and Chami over on A Book So Fathomless, who created it in celebration of their two year blogoversary. So let's get started!



1. Best book you've read so far in 2014?

Pick one, just one...


You just need to ask Amanda at Book Badger about my FFF posts, I am a dirty little cheat. There is no way I could stick to 1. I've actually had an exceptionally good reading year, I have had some god awful reads, but I have had fifteen 5/5 rated books this year. So that makes it very difficult to narrow it down. But I will try:

We Were Liars The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass, #0.1-0.5) Dangerous Girls

When looking through all of my reads, these are the three that really stick out for me. The Assassin's Blade, which is technically a book of novellas, just blew my mind. It definitely showed just what an author can be capable of doing in novellas. We Were Liars just blew me away, it's such a beautifully written book and I have wanted to pick it up and reread it ever since I put it down. And Dangerous Girls is just incredible, it's a book that it's almost impossible to put down. It keeps you guessing right up until the final page, highly recommend it.


Magnolia by Kristi Cook: Review

MagnoliaTitle: Magnolia
Author: Kristi Cook
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.
Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.
But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over. (Goodreads summary.)

This review is going to be quite short because I don't really have that much to comment on about the book. It was such a quick read that it seemed it was over just as I'd begun it. Trust me, that isn't a bad thing, I just couldn't put it down and it was ridiculously easy to get lost in this cute story. I downloaded this one months and months ago now, the cover grabbed my attention and the synopsis sounded interesting so I was keen to give it a go. I was kinda worried that it would just end up being really disappointing, so excited to say that it wasn't.

This is basically the reverse Romeo and Juliet story, which I, rather stupidly, didn't even realise until it's pointed out to you at the very beginning. The chapters are even titled with Act I Scene I and so on, which I really liked. Instead of having two people from warring families falling in love, we have two people from two families that couldn't be closer, who hate each other despite the fact their parents would love nothing more than to see them together.

I seem to be quite the sucker for the characters that seemingly hate each other, but then end up wanting to rip each others clothes off. It's a storyline we all know so well, and we all know that it's rarely ever hate, it's just pent up sexual tension. I thought that worked well in this story, although you do kind of laugh a little at Jemma's complete blindness to Ryder's true feelings.

My Weekly Book Haul: 23/08/2014

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Friday Finds is something that was started over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week. All book covers and their summary come from back of book or Goodreads.


My week has been eventful, and that's putting it mildly. I am still recovering from being sick, which is never any fun. And we're very short staffed at the minute, so that means doing lots of extra time. Good for money but not good for your stress levels and health. By the end of August, I will have worked all my usual days and every single one of my days off except 1. The pay better be worth it at the end of it.


On the positive side of things, I won two giveaways. Two giveaways I never expected to win, one a Goodreads First Reads one. And the second was a twitter giveaway. But, after receiving the books, I realised that both books weren't the first in each series, like I originally thought. Have tracked down other books in the respective series and plan to read them all. I also got an finished copy of Heir of Fire for review from Bloomsbury and squealed with joy.


Five Friday Favourites: Fav Books I've Read Between April & August


Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject is posted and everyone is welcome to join in. You can find out more about Five Friday Favourites and the future subjects here.




Yay! I am beyond happy for this topic because it gives me chance to share some love for some of my favourite reads of the year. I have read a lot of brilliant books this year, some especially brilliant ones between April and August, so I am very excited to share them with you.


The Throne of Glass Series

I am cheating and including all 3 books that are out and the novellas. These are AMAZING! I have become absolutely obsessed. Maas is evil, she abuses all of my feels and yet I love her for it and keep coming back for me. This series has a kick-ass heroine, a swoon-worthy romance and it definitely destroys your feels over and over again. I absolutely adore this series and just can't get enough of it, I need the next book. You can read my reviews for Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire and The Assassin's Blade

Films for Thoughts on Thursday: ARCs


This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.


I am a very naughty blogger, I don't have a movie to review this week. It's not that I haven't watched any, I have watched quite a few this week. The main issue is that I kind of just watched a ton of Robin Williams movies, and I wasn't compelled to review them. I adore his films, but I wasn't in the mood to watch them for the means of reviewing them. I just wanted to sit back and enjoy them.

I did buy Captain America: The Winter Soldier on DVD and rewatched that. But I have already reviewed it. So you'll have to wait till next week for another movie review. Feel free to link up any of your own films reviews though. 







I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so its nice to finally be able to get to them. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday and Okay, Let's Read's  Thursday Thoughts, picking between them or doing both topics each week.


Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs)

Have you ever received an ARC? Did you request it or did they reach out to you? What advice regarding ARCs would you give to bloggers/reviewers who are just starting out? Do you have a preference between physical ARCs and eARCs? Do you have a specific plan or technique you go by in order to stay organised when it comes to reading and reviewing ARCs?


After I download yet another eARC.
They mean eARCs as well as physical ones. I have received both, but have only very recently begun requesting and receiving physical ARCs. I use both Netgalley and Edelweiss to get my eARCs and think they are so easy to use and have amazing selections. I also think they are a very easy way to get ARCs. I have a lot of great luck with those, I usually get accepted for any book I request and I also have auto-approval for all my favourite publishers on Edelweiss. Auto-approval is both a blessing and a curse. If you can just instantly download the book then it's very temping to do so, without even considering whether you really want to read it or not. So that is my first piece of advice, make sure it's a book that you're actually going to take the time to read. Don't just request as many books as you can because if you get accepted for them all then you have a ton of books waiting to be read. I am very guilty of doing this, so I have been trying to get better. I have been downloading and requesting a lot less ARCs on both sites.


But, if you want to see what my outstanding eARCs look like... here's my rather embarrassing shelf on Goodreads.

Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini: Review

Trial by Fire (The Worldwalker Trilogy, #1)Title: Trial by Fire (The World Waker Trilogy #1)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.
This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted...which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class Lily wishes she could just disappear.
Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem - one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruellest of all the Crucibles is Lillian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.
Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.
But how can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy? (Goodreads sumary.)


Trial by Fire (The Worldwalker Trilogy, #1)
US cover
When I finally received my copy.
Trial by Fire first caught my eye when I saw the US cover, before I even realised who wrote it or had read the blurb. It's such an eye-catching design and it works well to show you what the story is about. I was intrigued already, and then I saw that it was the new book in a planned trilogy and it was written by Josephine Angelini. That was the moment that I knew that I just had to read it. Her Goddess series is really great and I find her books so easy to read. I no longer wanted to read this book, I needed to read this book. Thankfully Macmillan are amazing and were willing to let me review the book, and I can't even begin to thank them.

The story doesn't take too long to get into the action, in fact it feels like we get to it almost straight away. We get a little introduction to Lily Proctor and her life in Salem, she's struggling with allergies and she's fallen for her best friend Tristan. An embarrassing incident at a party leaves her wanting to disappear, but she never expects to suddenly appear in a different Salem to her own. A Salem that is ruled by powerful women called Crucibles, a Salem where giant monsters are a constant threat to it's people. This all happens very quickly, it's quite jarring but it works with the story. We spend enough time with Lily at the start to get to know her character a bit before jumping into the action, but it leaves you with a lot to discover.

Series - Is The Final Destination What Matters Most?



This question has been bugging me for the longest time now. When it comes to a series, is it the final destination or the journey to get there that really matters? Now, what I mean is whether the end of a series matters more than everything that precedes it. Does the ending make or break the series? If a series has been nothing but phenomenal up until the final book, do you then disregard the rest of the series because you weren't satisfied with the conclusion. What's finally got me to write up this post isn't even a book series, it was a couple of lengthy discussions I have had recently about Dexter. 

Dexter proved to me that the ending of a series, whether it be a book, TV show or movie series, can actually make or break it. It can ruin or redeem everything that came before it. A disappointing ending can leave you so disheartened that you just feel bad that you ever made it that far. Or there's the final seasons, book or movie that seems to redeem that series. It blows you away, it connects up things that might not have made sense and it makes you so glad you made it to the end. Then there are those endings that are just mediocre, they weren't bad but they weren't amazing either. 

Are endings the most important thing? You don't want to read a series whose only decent book is the final one. You equally don't want to read a series where the only decent book is the first one. But an ending is still crucial, the ending has to be satisfying otherwise why has the reader bothered to follow the series. In my opinion a series ender either has to be either amazing, good or just okay for it to work. If it's really bad and disappointing then it does ruin the series for me.

Summer Surge: Challenges

The Summer Surge Read-A-Thon is being run over at Book Badger. It's got interviews with other bloggers, readalongs, challenges and giveaways.


I am going to attempt to do more than one challenge in this, seeing as I am really behind!




Spine Poetry

I found this one so unbelievably diffifcult. Stacie gave me a ton of inspiration, but it's still taken me forever to even attempt it. And even then, I have probably done it wrong, haha!

It's an ugly love,
You're a cruel beauty.
I'm so far from you.



Character Personality


Pick 5 characters from books you have read in 2014 that each reflect an area of your personality. WOW! This one was ridiculously hard for me, but I think I have it covered.


Caymen Meyers from The Distance Between Us

I loved this character, and I saw a lot of myself in her too. Mainly her ridiculously sarcastic and dry sense of humour. I loved her banter with Xander and their brilliant back and forth. Her humour was so similar, if not identical, to my own that I could not get enough of it. She was so easy to relate to, I definitely saw a lot of myself in her.

Charlie Reynolds from On The Fence

Apparently Kasie West knows how to write characters that I see myself in. Charlie was a tomboy, I was definitely  huge tomboy when I was a child and very much so in my early teen years. I loved watching Charlie discover make-up and dresses and skirts, I went through the exact same thing. I was also completely useless at it, and still am. She also preferred the company of guys and had more guy friends, which is true for me as well.

Celaena Sardothian from The Throne of Glass series

That's right people, I am a hardcore, dangerous assassin. I kid, I kid. Or do I? So, I might have the upper body strength of a two year old, but I definitely saw some of myself in Celaena. Mostly her love of sweets and reading. And her temper! Don't mess with me when I am angry, I might be capable of turning into an assassin then.


She's really shy and terrible about telling people how she really feels - so me. She's not even able to admit any of her crushes out loud, just pens all her feelings into letters that she never sends. 

Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series

I'm totally going to be the Lord Voldemort of the library world. After my hideous, awful and unbelievably stressful day at work yesterday, I can totally relate to all his anger towards large amounts of the human population and wanting to destroy them all. Stupid people who ruin my day... watch out, I'm coming for you!




Follow That Title

I had to pick one word from the list that Amanda listed and find a book I read in the last 12 months with that title. I then had to find another book with at least one of the words from the first title in it, and have at least one word different.

Dangerous Girls
Dangerous Boys
To All The Boys I've Loved Before
The Truth About Alice
All The Truth That's In Me
Where You'll Find Me

I think I might have even done this one wrong, but it's now 1:00 and it's taken me forever just to get that done. Fingers crossed!



I have read and loved both of Abigail's books, Dangerous Girls & Dangerous Boys. To celebrate the release of Dangerous Boys, I am giving 1 winner the chance to win paperback copies of both Dangerous Boys and Dangerous Girls. It's open internationally, as long as Book Depository ships to you!







Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read
Boomerang by Noelle August: 4/5 Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Guardians of the Galaxy 7/10 Review
Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas: 4.5/5 Review & Giveaway
Five Friday Favourites: Favourite Films
My Weekly Book Haul: 16/08/2014
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover: 4.5/5 Review


Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover: Review

Ugly LoveTitle: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn't think it's love at first sight. They wouldn't even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn't want love, she doesn't have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.
Never ask about the past. 
Don't expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can't handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated. 
Promises get broken. 

Rules get shattered.

Love gets ugly. (Goodreads summary.)


Colleen Hoover's books have never disappointed me, I have enjoyed every one that I have read. But, earlier this year, I read Maybe Someday and it was just such an amazing reading experience, one of the greatest ones I have ever had. It came with it's own soundtrack, the characters were brilliant and the story worked so well. When I saw she had another book coming out this year I got very excited, I knew I had to buy it. At the same time I was worried that it might disappoint me, after having such a brilliant reading experience with Maybe Someday. I'd also seen her comments about the fact this one would be much more sex-filled than her other books. I was intrigued by the idea that it would contain a lot more sex than her other books, something that's always taken a back seat in her other books. Ugly Love is the story of two people who agree to have a no strings attached relationship, it's just friends with benefits. So you already know what you're getting in for there.

Tate Collins is on the hunt for a new job when she moves in with her brother. On the way into her brother's flat, she finds a drunk guy slumped against his front door. Rightfully alarmed she rings her brother to ask his advice, only to realise the guy is her new neighbour and her brother wants her to help him inside. This is how Tate first meets Miles Archer, a pilot who has ten too many issues. They share an attraction to each other, but Miles is determined that he does not and will not get into a relationship with Tate. He doesn't do love. Tate agrees to a no strings attached, just sex relationship with him. But it's never as easy as it sounds, especially when Miles demands that she never ask about his past and she never expects a future.

All you need to do is watch Friends with Benefits or No Strings Attached and they will basically tell you the rule of the friends with benefits situation. It never works. Maybe it might in real life, but in fiction and in movies it never works. Feelings get involved and the stories all end up the same. I knew what the end result of Ugly Love would be, I didn't need to read it for that because I was so sure of what the outcome would be. I was more interested in the journey it would take to get there.

I have to say that when I reached the end of Ugly Love I knew I wanted to give it at least a 4.5/5. It was a brilliant book, I was as engrossed as I always am with Colleen's books. But, I had quite a few issues with the book and so I was really happy that my overall feelings for it were ridiculously positive! I want to start my review by mentioning the few issues that I had, that way I can end the review with all of the positives.

The Bad


My main issue with the book, and I think quite a few others had the same problem, was Miles' POV. I absolutely hated it. I'm really sorry, but I just could barely deal with his chapters. Now Tate's chapters are set in the present, so we see her relationship with Miles develop through her eyes. But Miles chapters are all from 6 years previous, they slowly begin to unveil what happened to him to make him so determined to never fall in love. His chapters show how the first time he fell in love, with a girl called Rachel. Now, I really thought I'd love his chapters because you really are just dying to know what happened to him. But his chapters are just set out and written in such a way that I honestly couldn't stand them.

It's set out like the slam poems from Slammed, but what he's saying is not poetry. Maybe he thinks he sounds like a poet, but he just comes across as a bit of a freak and it's rather uncomfortable to read. I shall give you some quotes so you can understand my pain.

'My skin feels better with her touching it. My hair feels better with her hands in it. My mouth feels better with her tongue inside it.'

'My new favourite flavour is Rachel.
My new favourite thing is Rachel.
I want Rachel for my birthday. I want Rachel for Christmas. I want Rachel for graduation.
Rachel, Rachel, Rachel'


Eurgh, please stop talking about Rachel. It's creepy. He also basically falls head over heels in love with her from the very minute he sets eyes on her. He declares she's going to have his babies and everything. It's just really off-putting to read, it made his character very unattractive to me. Pair that with the fact he's now really  emotionally distant and, frankly, a dick to Tate most of the time, and it's really hard to like the guy. 

My other issue was how big of a deal is made over the fact that two people, who's parents start dating, are also dating. They have to hide it from their parents and everything, because they'd be really angry otherwise. Why? In the Hoover discussion groups, I've seen a ton of people commenting on how the relationship was creepy, weird, uncomfortable and everything else. One person even, stupidly, brought up the word incest. They're not related. They didn't grow up together. It's not weird. It's not creepy. It's 100% not incest and I don't see what the big deal is.


I also struggled with the idea that Miles hadn't so much as kissed another human being in six years. Who has that kind of restraint? When I read that, I laughed. I didn't even care about what big reveal was to come, it just didn't seem believable to me. Even after the reveal it doesn't seem very believable. As you can see, my main issue with the book was Miles. He was a bit of a mega douche at times. I also have to comment on the fact that at one point Miles says something about not wanting to quit her and I was all really, what is this, Brokeback Mountain?

The Good


But... There are lots of buts, so please don't be put off by all all that comes above it. You could even have just skipped that part in order to get to the good bit. I have to beg you all not to be put off by my issues. I am still giving this book a 4.5/5. I am just a horribly honest person and can't write a gushy review for the book when I had obvious problems with it, instead I must share them all with you. I have a problem, I know.

There are so many positives with the book. The first is the fact that, like all her books, I could not put this one down. I just had to keep on reading and reading, until I was done. I even ignored my adorable kitten for hours, and that is unheard of. Hoover's books just have this addictive quality, I can't quite put my finger on what it is. The dialogue just feels real and easy, like the characters and it all just flows. But once you start, you're done for because you're unable to stop. She is able to make you laugh, cry, feel utter despair and all the happy feels within a small number of pages.

Tate was a plus for me. I thought I would find her annoying, I assumed this before I even started the book. But I actually really liked her character, because she was an idiot but she was well aware of the fact. From the very beginning she's acutely aware of the fact that she won't be able to do just sex, no feelings. She's aware of it, she's aware she's an idiot for agreeing to it, but she does it anyway. I liked her because she was knew she was making a mistake, and she completely owns it. But she also owns the fact that she's attracted to Miles and is willing to take whatever she can get from him.

The sex. I am not a huge fan of my books having large amounts of sex scenes in them, probably why I read a lot of young adult. I was a little apprehensive that I wouldn't like all the sex in this, but I should have trusted Hoover. She knows how to write sex scenes, they don't come off all sounding the exact same. They're also a lot more realistic than most of the sex scenes I have come across in New Adult. I also appreciated how most of them contained a lot of humour, I much prefer the playful, funny sex scenes. And it doesn't go all Fifty Shades on us, which is a bonus. I didn't get sick of the sex scenes at all, Colleen Hoover did a brilliant job.


4.5/5 Butterflies

I just adore Colleen Hoover and her books, her books are filled with as much humour as she exhibits in all her social media posts. She writes funny characters, most of them are just far too easy to relate to. She writes the kind of books that are just impossible to read, they are books you want to get through in one sitting. She handles sex so well in her books, I didn't get sick of the sex scenes in this book, which is something that usually happens in a book that has a lot of them. This is a book that I know has made a ton of people cry, but I was immune. Much like TFIOS, it seems like everyone else sobbed like a baby and I was there, being all emotionless. So I'd probably warn you to come prepared with tissues. And I'd also urge you to get through the Miles chapters. They're annoying as hell but they are vital to the story, you need to understand Miles's past to understand who he is in the present day. I always feel like I could recommend Hoover's books to most people. They're great if your a fan of new adult, great if your a fan of romance or the perfect way to introduce yourself to the NA genre. Hoover has definitely earned a spot on my auto-buy list, I'm already eyeing up her next two books on Goodreads. Bring on 2015!