Tag: YA Contemporary

Reviews

Save the Date Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Save the Date Review

81Ilto+efPLThis was good!

This book follows the story of Charlie Grant a 17 year old girl in the middle of a transitional period of her life. Her 4 siblings have all grown up and moved away and she is about to graduate and go off to college, she doesn’t know which one yet. For the first time in what feels like forever all of family are back in their home for their sister Linnie’s wedding.

This was a cute, fun very quick easy read for me and it was very engaging. I like the fact that the storyline happens over the course of just three days. It goes into the minute details of everyday life that sometimes gets overlooked in regular novels, but I actually really enjoyed it!

The book started off pretty simple in concept but as the plot progressed it started to get more convoluted and complicated. There was a lot happening behind the scenes in this family that from just face value you would never know.

I thought Charlie was very naïve and kind of refused to see the bad side of any of her family. I like that we see her kind of grow and come to accept that change is definitely going to be inevitable and she realized that maybe her family aren’t all that they are perceived from Grant Central Station. I’m definitely glad that Charlie could see how badly her family treated Brooke as well. She mentions it various times throughout the story that it was fine that they were leaving her out and not including her or disregarding her feelings. I also thought she was a little too judgmental about the whole situation with Mark. She really didn’t take his feelings into consideration at all and I thought she was pretty dismissive overall about him which when we found out about the actual situation I thought his actions were quite justified, just maybe not to the extent that he took it. 

I definitely enjoyed my reading experience and as the book progressed it delved a lot deeper into a lot of familial drama but overall it was a little too predictable and didn’t really blow me away at the end of the book. 

⭐️3/5 Entertaining, family drama!

Reviews

Pride Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Pride Review

35068632Pride is retelling of the classic tale Pride and Prejudice but with a modern twist. Zuri Benitez is a proud resident of her neighbourhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn. She has lived there her entire life and knows everyone on her block, but one day a new very wealthy family moves across the street and now it seems like change is inevitable.

Zuri kind of got on my nerves a little at the start of the book. She was a little too judgemental for my liking. She was just so passionate in her dislike for the Darcy’s that I almost found her to be a little juvenile and immature. She didn’t really come across as being seventeen in my eyes. However, as the plot progressed we did see her evolve as she grew closer to Darius and learnt more about his family and why we did see her let go of her preconceptions.

Darius at the start as well was a little too standoffish for my liking. He was almost too unlikeable for me to warm to him towards the end of the book when he did open up more and explain his situation. I get that the author wanted to stay true to the original concept but I feel the introductions happened too fast and they hated each other too quickly that it almost didn’t make sense to me.

Towards the end of the book I did come around and enjoyed the plot and how it progressed. I like that we see Zuri’s neighbourhood start to get gentrified and how she realises this throughout the course of the book and what her feelings are towards this. She really has to come around to the fact that change really is inevitable and there isn’t anything that you can do about it.  

It was a very fast paced book; I did eventually enjoy all the characters and their arcs. Zuri’s younger sisters especially were very entertaining and brought a source of amusement and light-heartedness to the novel. If the start of the book was a little more lengthened and had time to really establish the characters and why they didn’t like each other I may have been able to really engage with the story a lot more.  

⭐️3.5/5 Good book, just didn’t do enough for me personally.

Reviews

Always and Forever Lara Jean Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Always and Forever Lara Jean Review

9781534406674Ok Kavinsky has finally won me over.

I’m not going to go too in depth with this review as it is the concluding novel to a series, but I did have some feels after completing this book.

Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky have been dating now for nearly a year and their lives have settled into this cute little bubble of happiness. However, the future looms over them with some difficult choices that they are eventually going to have to make.

I thought Jenny Han perfectly captured the mood. The real life realities and decisions that Lara Jean and Peter have to make could definitely relate to a lot of people. You could feel the emotion and the hesitation and doubt start to creep into their lives and it didn’t feel contrived in any way.

I was very proud of Peter in this book. I started to see a more three-dimensional side to him and I like that he showed different, more genuine feelings. I think in the first two books he felt a little too good to be true and I couldn’t really imagine their kind of relationship in real life. But the miscommunication and the misconceptions was heartfelt and true and it was really endearing. He didn’t give up on Lara Jean and the fact that he wants to fight for their relationship solidified his position in my eyes.

I love that Lara Jean distracts herself with baking and scrapbooking, she is such a unique female protagonist and I like that she isn’t cookie cutter (lol). She maintains her identity throughout her relationship with Peter and she is doesn’t try to conform in any way.

Everything came together so wonderfully. I was honestly soo entertained; I didn’t know what was going to happen next. There were some very real familial issues being dealt with throughout the story in both Peter and Lara Jean’s lives that added a layer of complexity to the plot. I really enjoyed this series, Lara Jean especially grew a lot and became a lot less naïve and a lot more forthright, which I loved.

⭐️4/5 stars I really liked it!

Reviews

P.S. I Still Love You Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on P.S. I Still Love You Review

220px-P_S__I_Still_Love_You_coverA step up for Lara Jean in this book!

The second instalment in this series picks up almost immediately after To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ends off. It’s the start of the New Year and Lara Jean is feeling hopeful that she gets back together with Peter and they have a proper relationship. However, a video of their time in the hot tub makes the rounds on social media and Lara Jean is struggling to cope in the limelight.

I think this book has a pretty up to date social commentary on the world at present. I can definitely picture something like this happening in real life and I feel like Jenny Han captured the situation pretty well.

I feel like Lara Jean has evolved well in this book. It’s very subtle but I appreciate how much stronger and outspoken she has become. She really handed the situation of her ‘tape’ well and did not bow to the ridicule she was facing at school. I like how forthright she was in her relationship with Peter, even though he was keeping secrets I feel like she expressed herself well and tried to maintain communication.

Peter I am still a bit in two minds about. I like how well he treats Lara Jean and how special he makes her feel, however, I did kind of think he was a little naïve in terms of Genevieve and how much time he spent with her. He was a little too thoughtless and blasé about their friendship and he came off as a little tactless.

I liked the introduction of John Ambrose; I thought he added a much-needed spark to the storyline. I did think even though they had a history together his feelings for Lara Jean was a little insta-lovey for me. I found myself shrugging that off though because I thought he was a good rival for Peter and kept him on his toes. Especially since they used to be best friends.

This book was highly entertaining; it was a really fast paced, quick, easy read. Heartwarming is really the word that comes to mind. I enjoyed the storyline and I think it built up to what will hopefully be an eventful conclusion in the next book!

⭐️4/5 stars Cute, cringey and heartfelt!

Reviews

To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review

item_xl_8917056_9117895I liked it, I didn’t love it….

This book follows the story of Lara Jean, she is a quiet, shy girl who wrote a letter for each of the guys that she had crush on. Unfortunately somehow the letters got mailed and she now has to face the consequences.

For the first half of the book Lara Jean kind of got on my nerves. She read a little younger than what I was expecting to be quite honest and she was a little too naïve for my liking. She kind of grew on me the second half of the story though, when obstacles started propping up and she was finding herself in the middle of various problems she has never had to deal with before I thought she worked her way out of things well and stood her ground.

I loved Chris. I thought her character contrasted with Lara Jean perfectly. The fact that they has so much in common back in middle school yet Chris evolved and rebelled and they somehow still remained friends was a nice element to the plot. I liked the fact that she wasn’t always around all the time but she still made an appearance at crucial moments in the plot to have Lara Jean’s back, which made me really like her. She is unaffected by what people think of her and she is true to herself which I think are pretty decent characteristics.

Peter and Josh I haven’t quite made up my mind yet between the two. I like the separate relationships they share with Lara Jean and how the counteract. I like that we see so many different sides to the two characters and I felt they differed enough from each other to be distinguishable. I just don’t have a distinct favourite of the two though, they both had there cute and obnoxious moments so I’m not convinced on either just yet.

I love the relationship that Lara Jean has with her family though. I thought they were very supportive and open with one another. Her father in particular I really liked! I thought he was present in her life without being too overbearing and really wants her to experience high school, which I found super endearing.

It was a cute, light, fluffy contemporary with just the right amount of conflict and cringe to keep me entertained.

⭐️3.75 I just need Lara Jean to be a little bit more self-assertive!