Friday, April 29, 2016

After You

After You (Me Before You, #2)After You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure what to think when I heard there was a follow up of Me Before You.
After all, I didn't want a world without Will Traynor.

So we see where Louisa is after Will is gone - where life has taken her - if her life has turned into the adventure Will wanted for her.
& we see it definitely hasn't.

Louisa is still stuck in life & working in a bar in an airport. She starts a counseling group & then meets a young teen who changes everything in her life, as well as a motorcycle ambulance worker, Sam.

It was nice to be back with Louisa - who always feels like her life is a little out of control. & while I didn't mind the story, it was a little stretched for me in parts.
& personally, Louisa's family got on my nerves the first book so to have them be such a big part of this 2nd book, it is what made me give it 3 stars.
I did love seeing the progress Louisa was making in moving on in life & the ending is not what I expected - all in all, I didn't mind the book at all. & totally see us coming back to Louisa again in the future for another book. (Can we just keep her griping sister & odd parts out of it please?)

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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

We were liars

We Were LiarsWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have to say, I am proud of myself on this one. I figured out the ending of this book where I'm usually in left field trying to figure out a 'mystery'...

The story Cadence, Johnny, Mirren & Gat ... Gat, Mirren, Johnny & Cadence... the Liars.

The family dynamics reminded me of the Kennedy's. This picture perfect family that vacations together on an island every summer. These kids, cousins, along with Gat, coming together every summer & growing up together, seeing how the family truly is.

We find out pretty early in the story that something has happened to Cadence - she's hit her head in the water, found with no clothes on & has no memory of what has happened that summer. The summer that left her with debilatating migraines that make her nearly unable to function.

So she's anxious to get back to the beach again to get with her Liars & find out the truth, which no one wants to talk about.... hence, the mystery of the story.

The things I did like about it: the quick chapters. *It made me fly through the book. *I also loved the little 'fairy tale' stories that Cady wrote throughout the book. Some of them were really powerful illustrations. *I figured out the ending. That's a pride thing here I guess. *Gat - just because I love a guy that doesnt in, but still fits in.

The things I DIDNT like about it: * the ending. yeah, I figured it out, but it just wasn't summed up great for me. It was just sort of strange. I dont know - it just didn't really give me the emotions I thought it would. I like the book, but I thought it could have been better in how it was all summed up. * Some of the wording from Cadence. Like she talked about her dad leaving her & her mom & used words like "... then he shot me through the heart on the lawn. I lay there bleeding over the flowers"... I literally thought he shot her. But this is the sort of dramatic writing she used to describe most things in life. The bleeding from wrists. The sinking & drowning. I would get confused what was real & what wasn't. Probably the point of it all... but it just confused me a lot.

I wouldn't say this is a DONT READ book - I actually liked it (gave a "its OK" rating) & it kept me intrigued to find out what happened that summer... but its not something I think you gotta pick up today.

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Monday, April 11, 2016

Landline

LandlineLandline by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What would you do if you found an old phone that connected you to the person you loved ... from so many years ago.

Georgie chose to put her career above her husband, once again, at Christmas. He leaves to go to his family as planned & Georgie can't get in touch with him. Until she finds an old phone at her mom's house that reaches him... except its the Neal from when they were dating.

Georgie remembers the person he was then. Sees why she loved him. The person she decided to marry. But should she change things with this phone call & let him go, let him be happy in life?

I loved the idea of this story. Would you go back & change anything if you could.
But I felt like a lot of the story was misssed. & a lot of strange things added in. Like the story of Georgie's sister Heather... & a pug's pregnancy... & we miss out on the relationship Georgie has with her writing partner, Seth, that causes so much turmoil in her own marriage.
Something else trivial I couldnt stand... double parenthesis. (like this) (And this)... it was ALL OVER THE BOOK. It just drove me nuts for some reason. haha

I did enjoy the book. It wasn't the best. Definitely wasn't the worst.

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