Category: 2 star

2 star, YA

Review: Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Everlife #1

firstlife -gena showalterStep one…you die.

ONE CHOICE. TWO REALMS. NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live — after she dies. There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, long-time enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms that will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t where the boy she’s falling for lives? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…

2 Drink Me Potions

Firstlife had impressive ambition with its unique focus on the afterlife but all it really left me was a taste of mild interest.

What I do know and love about Gena Showalter is that there are always very intriguing (and hot!) guys in her stories. So it’s no surprise that the story starts off with two really good-looking guys fighting it out for Ten Lockwood.

While grappling and very sarcastic guys are totally my thing, lately it just hasn’t really hit the spot. And if I had to narrow down why this book just wasn’t doing much for me, I can probably point out 3 things.

1- Kieran, the main love interest, did not make me pity him at all. There was no “aww” factor or anything. Yes, his life sucked once. Does that excuse all his previous poor treatment of girls he was assigned to? No. Did I understand his attraction to Ten? Uh, if a girl doesn’t fall for your charm right away, yeah I guess she’s interesting but man, that romance really fell flat to me and I found myself grimacing half the time reading their interactions.

2- While you’d expect plenty of action occurring, it all boils down to one thing: Ten is trying to escape her tormentors and is on the run. Constantly. Because she cannot freaking decide where she wants to be after she dies. Like a pendulum, she swings back and forth constantly. Although from an outside perspective as a reader, it seems kinda obvious where she should go. So the whole point of the story dwindles to waiting for her to FIGURE IT OUT HERSELF.

3- There wasn’t enough storybuilding or character development left in here. The poor romance line took up so much time and space (of course, you gotta give many pages to Kieran’s attempts at sucking Ten in – and then when she does fall for him, many sappy heartsick moments there too). Ten barely changes over time, no matter how many dangerous situations she puts herself (and all the people around her) in. Honestly, I’m not a fan of hers at all.

So was this book redeemable in any way?

Yeah, sure, in some minute ways. That other hot guy fighting with Kieran? Archer Prince. Totally swoony in his own way. No, it was never a love triangle here ’cause he never tried to get Ten in that manner, but he’s the one redeemable character I liked reading about. Sacrificial in all that he did, taking all the crap Ten gave him when she couldn’t decide on anything, humble and all around amazing guy. If there’s a book on him, Gena, I will DEFINITELY buy it.

Honestly, the world building should’ve been prioritized more. I wanted to know more about Troika and Myriad. Their history. How they came to be. How it’s run. Yes, I get that it’s a trilogy but book 1 is there for us to learn the world a bit more. Otherwise the whole gist of this book wasn’t so much about the afterlife and more about Ten on the run while on Earth – which doesn’t really separate out much from the pack of thrillers who do a WAY better job.

I wonder what book 2 will be like.

Overall Recommendation:
Firstlife fell flatter than I had hoped with precious few moments dedicated to character growth and world building. While the focus was heavy on the romantic tensions between Ten and a certain Myriad Laborer trying to get her to his realm, the rest of the story just kinda fell off to the side. Constantly on the run with people attacking them, Ten and her group of friends don’t really have to do anything at the end of the day. This story felt like a filler waiting for Ten’s ultimate decision on her afterlife realm, with the only highlight being her friend Archer and the crumbs of information we get on what the afterlife is like. Will book 2 be any better? Heck, I sure hope so or else I may die of boredom next.

2 star, YA

Review: Lucky in Love by Kasie West

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

lucky in love -kasie westCan’t buy me love…

Maddie’s not impulsive. She’s all about hard work and planning ahead. But one night, on a whim, she buys a lottery ticket. And then, to her astonishment—

She wins!

In a flash, Maddie’s life is unrecognizable. No more stressing about college scholarships. Suddenly, she’s talking about renting a yacht. And being in the spotlight at school is fun…until rumors start flying, and random people ask her for loans. Now Maddie isn’t sure who she can trust.

Except for Seth Nguyen, her funny, charming coworker at the local zoo. Seth doesn’t seem aware of Maddie’s big news. And, for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell him. But what will happen if he learns her secret?

2 Drink Me Potions

I have to say, I was really disappointed to give any Kasie West contemporary novel less than 4 stars, but man, was this a hard one to continue with at times.

Lucky in Love mostly continues in the same writing fashion that I’ve come to love from Kasie West. But with a main character that I just couldn’t stand with on most decisions and a lackluster romance that didn’t really do much for me, I was left with only disappointment and resignation.

Maddie, full name Madeleine that’s pronounced the French way of “lynn” instead of “line”, was a studious girl who wanted nothing more than to win a scholarship to pay for university. Although she studied WAYYYY harder than I ever did (like, she and her friends “hang out” by having study dates at one of their homes), I initially felt some sort of kinship with her based on similar outward characteristics.

Then she won the lottery. Which of course we knew was coming.

What I didn’t expect was the amount of HORRIBLE DECISION MAKING that accompanies sudden fame, attention, and money. It’s like she wasn’t thinking! I will start by listing out some example things she thought was great and all.

  1. She decides to get a new car which isn’t a bad thing if you can afford a new vehicle after 50 million dollars has just dropped into your lap. But even with good intentions of getting a practical vehicle, she easily gets sweet-talked into buying some VERY flashy sports car after getting the chance to “test drive” it for a moment. Just drops a ton of money there.

  2. She tries FIXING things in her family way too much. She thought wiping away the family’s financial problems would 100% fix her parents’ inability to communicate without fighting. Of course, when she realized that didn’t necessary stop all the fighting, she goes and buys a $20K necklace for her dad to give to her mom to say that he bought for her. Like, what the heck? You’re ENABLING. And doing so in a very expensive and wasteful manner.

  3. Attitude problems seem to come with becoming rich. She didn’t seem to be one of those girls that looked down on anyone who was less fortunate, yet her 2 best friends were shut down as merely being “jealous of her money” when they were worried about her spending and the new people she was associating with now that her status had changed. And boy does her status change! You should read what she decides to do for her birthday party. It’s a wonder these 2 friends even still saw the same old Maddie inside.


Maddie’s naivety with money and how that affects people just really got under my skin. She drops big, FLASHY purchases here and there and doesn’t think there’ll be ramifications with those actions. She wants people to treat her the same but she doesn’t really ACT the same now, does she? I couldn’t understand her sometimes. I just couldn’t feel for her when things got bad because hey, it was YOUR decision to spend like this and treat people like this.

And then there’s Zoo Seth, the love interest. I liked him. On his own as a character. He’s Asian, so yay, that’s an awesome diversity I don’t see too often. He’s funny and easygoing and a really good friend, even when Maddie’s all awkward and really not easy to be around. He could’ve had more character development as I felt he was really just summed down to one little secret he didn’t divulge until the end that wasn’t much of anything, really. But compared to Maddie, he’s like godlike. The chemistry was kinda present, yet with all my annoyances with Madeleine, it was kinda hard to root for their burgeoning romance. It wasn’t much of victory when they resolved their issues and got their happy-ever-after ending. Honestly, at that point, I couldn’t have cared less.

Just because this book still has “Kasie West” on it and there were some VERY MINOR redeemable moments, I didn’t have the heart to bring this down to a 1 star. But really, if I were you, I’d skip out on this one if you only want good memories of Kasie.

Overall Recommendation:
Lucky in Love was harder to get through than I expected as the protagonist made all the worst decisions for the dumbest reasons that just made me wanna scream sometimes. Maddie’s win from the lottery did help her grow (in the end), but there were too many stumbles along the way and very stupid purchases that honestly had me rolling my eyes. With that kinda struggle, it’s no surprise that the romance with Seth Nguyen didn’t hit me much so all that’s really left in this book is how Maddie even remotely “learned her lesson” about money and its consequences in relationships and life. Which was not what I signed up for no matter how good the moral. You’re better off with any other Kasie West book. Promise.

2 star, YA

Review: The Academy by Katie Sise

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

the academy -katie siseFrankie Brooks knows what she wants in life: to become the world’s next great fashion editor. All she needs to do is get into the elite American Fashion Academy in New York City. If she gets in, her life plans will be going right on schedule. Anna Wintour, watch out.

But after Frankie messes up one too many times—hey, it’s hard keeping up with classwork and an acclaimed fashion blog—her parents come up with entirely different plans for her future: Military school. How is Frankie, the least athletic person in the world, who knows absolutely nothing about the military, going to survive a whole semester at the famed—and feared—Academy?

With students who seem to be totally uninterested in her, a course-load that’s even more difficult than at her old school, and the weird athletic War Games competition Frankie has to join—her life is way harder than it used to be. And no one, including her roommate Joni, seems to understand Frankie at all.

As she learns how to cope in about a million drills, a hundred different specialized classes, and is maybe even falling for super-hot and super-smart cadet Jack Wattson, can Frankie prove to everyone that being a fashionista doesn’t mean she can’t succeed?

2 Drink Me Potions

**The Academy comes out May 22, 2018**

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

I’m not sure quite what to make of The Academy but if I could sum it up in two words, it’d be discipline + fashion-obsessed.

Do those 2 words even go together? Have you ever really thought of them in the same context? ‘Cause I didn’t. Before.

Frankie was kind of a naive and spoiled girl at the beginning of the book. She didn’t like to the follow the rules, but at least she felt guilty for the things she knew she did wrong. And it wasn’t a matter of me hating her or anything. Frankly, sometimes I felt for her and was totally on her side of things with the injustice of her situation, and sometimes I just wished she’d get it into her head that she should listen to what people are saying to her. It was all very confusing sometimes!

Being sent to military school for an amateur fashion blogger sounds like a recipe for trouble. She’s free-spirited in some sense, and everything that flows through her brain wasn’t altogether very serious at first. Yet her character lacked the fun and lightheartedness of other fashion-loving protagonists like those seen in The Devil Wears Prada or the Shopaholic series.

Going into the book, I was rather excited. I needed some lighter fluff after the heavier sci-fi/fantasies I’ve been diving into lately! And for the most part, The Academy delivered enough of that for me. The plot centres on Frankie finding her way through military school and where she fit into it all. Her upbringing in her community that reared her towards self-thinking and sometimes pure selfishness/disrespect for others wasn’t ALWAYS her fault, but it was nice to see her develop an attitude of pride for her country and those who serve for the greater good of all. I liked that this didn’t mean she had to give up her love of fashion in order to do that, which to me is a greater message that says you can grow and become better while still maintaining the good in that you love doing.

The love interest, Jack, was nice. Yep, nice. I can’t think of too many other words to describe him. Physically he’s strong and tall and the kinda guy you’d want to hover and protect you from the bad in the world. Personality-wise, he’s sweet and worthy of putting your trust in him.

But. Yes, there’s a but. It’s like something’s missing. It’s like this is your general packaging of an altogether great-guy-that-your-protagonist-should-totally-fall-for. He has some back story that makes us feel for him (and the main character), but he’s just not too memorable. Their LOVE STORY isn’t too memorable.

The relationships with the few other secondary characters were all right too. I personally liked Frankie’s roommate, Joni, a lot. Out of any other name thrown out into this story, she’s really the only other person who features greatly. Frankie’s friendship with her kept her grounded when the going got tough, when it seemed their TAC officer was out to get her or all the training in the world just couldn’t help her get any better. I liked that there was emphasis on another relationship besides the romantic side that got highlighted because friendships are just as important.

I mean, there’s not too much more to say about this book. It had a good message to send out. Frankie grew up a bit and became someone I could be more proud of than she was initially. And then it ended. Very abruptly, I might add. I’m not sure if the author was planning on adding anything else after, but I suppose it left it a bit more open-ended for you to interpret/imagine how it could’ve turned out. It was happy, don’t get me wrong! But all together, at the end of the day, not too memorable after the last pages were closed.

Overall Recommendation:
The Academy did its best to create a fun story that also had a good message at the end about learning some discipline while maintaining the good pieces of who you are even as you grew for the better. Frankie was an all right protagonist, although she could be rather naive and wrong in her actions at times. While the romance and friendships created in this military school were nice, some of it lacked that extra umph that would’ve helped translate this story into something more memorable. When all is said and done, this book was fast-paced and NICE, but not profound enough to make it stick out in a genre full of similar stories.