Almost Sweeter Than Fiction: Contemporary

Monday, 14 July 2014

Lilyan's Review: Hopeless By Colleen Hoover

By: Lilyan Jia on Monday, July 14, 2014

|Paperback, 406 pages|

[ 4/5 stars ]

SYNOPSIS:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

REVIEW:

;-; this book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

I laughed,

“Holder: "I thought Mormon's weren't allowed to have caffeine?"
Breckin: "I decided to break that rule the morning I woke up gay.”

I swooned,

“You wanted to lick my face the first time you saw me? Is that usually what you do when you’re attracted to guys?"

I shake my head. “Not your face, your dimple. And no. You’re the only guy I’ve ever had the urge to lick.”

He smiles at me confidently. “Good. Because you’re the only girl I’ve ever had the urge to love.”

I cried,

“The sky is always beautiful. Even when it's dark or rainy or cloudy, it's still beautiful to look at. It's my favourite thing because I know if I ever get lost or lonely or scared, I just have to look up and it'll be there no matter what...and I know it'll always be beautiful.”

and I wanted to punch a wall throughout this book; sometimes I did all 4 within one chapter. [sky's dad doesn't deserve a quote]

Colleen Hoover, why do you keep doing this to me?

If you asked me to tell you in one sentence what this book was about, it would be: Two people who stumble together and discover things that were left in the past, and things that were forgotten.

I flew through the entire book in one sitting. This book was seriously addicting and kept me on my toes in anticipation. But, I could tell from the first chapter Holder was introduced, that they knew each other previously. Colleen Hoover did make it pretty obvious.

My heart ached for Sky and all she went through. I hope no one in the world has to go through that, or any kind of abuse. It seriously horrifies me that people are capable of such things. But it's the harsh truth. Not everyone you meet is going to be a good person. And not all good people stay good.

Know that people change, sometimes for the better, and other times for the worse.

The book did fall a little flat though in some places. What was the point of all that sleeping around stuff? Sky let guys sneak into her bedroom window and then she kicks them out because she definitely is not a slut? It's like yo, I get that you don't have sex with random guys, but do you seriously have to remind me every chapter?

But I will look past that, because Sky and Holder are just so cute together. Their banter is hilarious, and Holder just has a way with words. [except for the "that's what she said" joke, which made me cringe] I still wouldn't say that he's one of my favourite love interests though.

With this book, I thought a lot about how looks come play in affecting the way you feel about someone.

Say Holder was this unattractive dude with yellow teeth, bad breath, and a beer belly. And he follows Sky around and has these stalkerish tendencies. Sky would obviously bolt and stay far far away. But if he does look attractive, then it's kinda mysterious and romantic?

Even if we don't realize it, we judge people all the time by their appearance.

But yeah, if you enjoy a good looking, swoon worthy guy, an interesting and minimally annoying MC, and you're cool with some pretty serious subject matter, this book is for you.

I'm looking forward to reading the second book on this series.

P.S If someone you know or yourself needs help and assistance regarding sexual abuse, please contact: www.rainn.org or call 1-800-656-HOPE.

-Lilyan (:

Friday, 27 June 2014

Lilyan's Review: Love Letters to the Dead

By: Lilyan Jia on Friday, June 27, 2014

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Published By: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Released: April 1st 2014

Hardcover: 327 pages

4/5 stars

SYNOPSIS:

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

REVIEW:

GUESS WHAT? EXAMS ARE OVERRR WOOHOOO. Which means I can finally read in peace.

Let me just take a breath.

I have mixed feelings. I'll admit, I really liked this book ;-; but honestly, a couple chapters could have been taken out and it wouldn't have made a difference, and a lot of the time I was just pissed off at laurel.

This book kind of reminded me of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, in the way that the writing style was almost kinda narrative.

The book was definitely interesting, it's also a plus that the letters were written to artists that I like ^-^

But let's get into the characters. Oh laurel. Why you gotta be such a pushover? YOU GOTTA STOP THINKING THAT YOU ARE LIKE YOUR SISTER. BECAUSE YOU GUYS AREN'T THE SAME PERSON OKAY? DO YOU GUYS SHARE THE SAME BRAIN? THE SAME EXPERIENCES? NO. You guys aren't even twins.

It's hard to believe that she's in freshman year and that she just falls in love this boy within 2 weeks. She just switches between being a kid and being philosophical and it's like: Don't be stupid, didn't you just explain why everything happens for a reason in the previous letter?

But there are good things. I really like Laurel's stories with her sister. It kinda makes me wish that my sister and I were close like that when we were kids.

My sister could never pull off: "GUESS WHAT? WE'RE FAIRESSSS."
My sister is more like: "hey hey lilyan, did you know you were adopted?"
me: *rolls eyes* "i don't believe you." "lucky (my dog) likes me more than you anyway."
So yup. Basically us.

The romance was a tad underdeveloped, but i still really liked Sky.
I could sometimes feel her grief, but other times it seemed like she was fine.
Lauren comes off as naive but she's just put into very mature situations and i don't know what to feel
The supporting characters were great, but they weren't exactly good influences.
DO YOU SEE WHY I'M SO CONFLICTED?

Conclusion: Read some of it to see if you like it, if you find Laurel incredibly boring, put the book down. Also, if you have read this, tell me what you think, because books require being talked about.

-Lilyan (: