Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

January 26, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Superlatives #1

Tia and Will’s lives get flipped upside down when they’re voted Yearbook’s Biggest Flirts in this sassy novel from the author of Endless Summer and The One That I Want.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laidback swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing Will away drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirts with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will’s new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…

2.5 Drink Me Potions

Biggest Flirts had such a huge potential for me to love it. I love stories where the least likeliest people find out that they can be more than what their surface selves are like, and see that they’re meant for each other.

Tia had just met Will, the New Guy. Now, Tia is a rather strong protagonist. She is very open with boys and looks forward to hook ups rather than relationships. She absolutely gets terrified of any position of authority and tries her best to weasel out of them. She’s smart, but only lets it come out when she’s upset and wants to “put things in order”. Like on a multiple choice test. Or cleaning out her house. It’s a different look for a main character that isn’t seen so often, plus she actually has a vivid personality that isn’t necessarily reminiscent of someone else. I didn’t have a problem with that.

Now, what I did have a problem with was the way she would string Will along. She knew he wasn’t the type of guy that only wanted meaningless hook ups. He wanted a relationship, one with her in fact, and he would do anything to chase her for a date.

Their cute flirting in the first week of school made sense, since Tia had secret feelings for him too. But NO! It didn’t matter that she herself knew she felt something…more for Will. No boyfriend. Period.

And to make things worse, when she saw him with another girl, she wasn’t making it easy on him to find someone else. Yes, Will was also at fault for still carrying feelings for her, but she turned him down. Repeatedly. A guy can only handle so much rejection, right? Apparently not Will.

So for most of the story, I’m waiting for her to admit that he’s the exception she should make in her no-boyfriend rule. It was torturous though! It was obvious that Will loved her, but love is a scary concept for Tia Cruz.

Just when it was getting good (finally!), the story just ends. ENDS. I’m so upset at that! I feel like I didn’t have enough of the two of them, together. The flirting between them was the only highlight for me in this story. I sat in suspense for 300+ pages to find that the story stopped way too soon.

All I can say is, I hope the next book, Perfect Couple will be less torturous for me. This was a disappointment, and I literally skimmed the last bits of the book to see if my eyes were REALLY deceiving me at the way it ended.

Overall Recommendations:
What could’ve been a really good romantic story of a girl who won’t let anyone close to her heart, and a sweet new guy who had such good chemistry with her, it turned out to be a major disappointment.

Tia was a flawed and realistic girl, wonderfully made, but she literally led Will on for the longest time. Although she said no with her mouth, her body language clearly showed she wanted to say yes. Ughh, it was torturous to wait out for her decision about him, but the ending wasn’t worth that wait. It cut off the story too soon, just as it was finally getting exciting.

Biggest Flirts may just be my most disappointing read so far. Don’t carry too many expectations at the beginning and it may be somewhat decent.

Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

January 24, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Does life go on when your heart is broken?

Since her mother’s sudden death, Emma has existed in a fog of grief, unable to let go, unable to move forward—because her mother is, in a way, still there. She’s being kept alive on machines for the sake of the baby growing inside her.

Estranged from her stepfather and letting go of things that no longer seem important—grades, crushes, college plans—Emma has only her best friend to remind her to breathe. Until she meets a boy with a bad reputation who sparks something in her—Caleb Harrison, whose anger and loss might just match Emma’s own. Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death—and maybe, for love?

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I haven’t read an Elizabeth Scott book in a long while, and just so happened to pick this one up randomly the other day. I didn’t know what to expect, but I do recall my huge love-hate relationship with her novel The Unwritten Rule.

Heartbeat is pretty much what you would expect from just reading the synopsis. Emma’s mother is dead and she feels horrible about that. But it gets worse because her mother’s gone, yet her body is being preserved to keep the baby alive inside of her. Now, that kind of thing doesn’t happen very often where the mother dies but the fetus manages to survive until hospital care arrives. For the most part, I wasn’t sure who I was more annoyed with: Emma or her stepfather Dan.

Emma is torn with grief and anger. Particularly anger and hate. She’s mad at Dan, mad at the baby, and mad at herself. Nothing seems to matter anymore. I’m still not sure if I like her all that much. She was just so full of bitterness for most of the book. Then along comes some guy who seems to totally understand this sense of loss and bitterness at the world. A car stealing and former druggie is the only person in her life that seemingly gets it. I just wasn’t feeling the romance as much as I’d like.

As for Dan, I understood he cared for the baby a lot, yet I was pissed that he did seem to completely forget Emma needed him too at this time. I don’t know if I disliked him more because we also see him in Emma’s POV which wasn’t all that objective.

The storyline is predictable and so was the ending. If you go into this book not expecting anything grand or hugely touching, then it can be a somewhat pleasant read. As long as you don’t wanna punch one of the characters occasionally for what they say.

Elizabeth Scott herself said she wasn’t a huge fan of “message” books. For someone who doesn’t really care if you get a moral or lesson learned at the end of the story, this one sure seemed like the opposite of that. Ah well, either way, our protagonists learn something as predicted, and yada yada yada.

I don’t know what else to say about Heartbeat. If you’re bored and want a somewhat emotional story with grief-ridden characters, then this is an option. The biggest feeling I can sum up from this book is meh. There could’ve been more to the plot which would’ve boosted it a little for me as the story is rather short.

Overall Recommendations:
Heartbeat is nothing special, but one of those average stories of characters dealing with loss. It doesn’t stick out from the pack of similar storylines, but it still has its moments here and there that drew out an emotional pause from me. If you’re bored, well go for it and it may be enjoyable.

Review: The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter

January 23, 2015June 3, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: White Rabbit Chronicles #3

I have a plan.

We’ll either destroy them for good, or they’ll destroy us.

Either way, only one of us is walking away.

In the stunning conclusion to the wildly popular White Rabbit Chronicles, Alice “Ali” Bell thinks the worst is behind her. She’s ready to take the next step with boyfriend Cole Holland, the leader of the zombie slayers…until Anima Industries, the agency controlling the zombies, launches a sneak attack, killing four of her friends. It’s then she realizes that humans can be more dangerous than monsters…and the worst has only begun.

As the surviving slayers prepare for war, Ali discovers she, too, can control the zombies…and she isn’t the girl she thought she was. She’s connected to the woman responsible for killing—and turning—Cole’s mother. How can their relationship endure? As secrets come to light, and more slayers are taken or killed, Ali will fight harder than ever to bring down Anima—even sacrificing her own life for those she loves.

4 Drink Me Potions

What an ending! she says sarcastically.

I know, I know. I’m giving this book a 4 stars, which is still oddly higher than book 1, Alice in Zombieland.

It’s not that the ending wasn’t great, but as the ending of the series, I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. There was the suspenseful sequel, Through the Zombie Glass, that made me feel this didn’t live up to the climax that it was supposed to be.

The Queen of Zombie Hearts focuses mainly on Anima, the company hoping to use the zombies, and not so much on the zombies themselves. From the beginning, it seems happily-ever-after wasn’t something for these zombie slayers. I feel so bad for them. Showalter has made me love them all so much, even when some of them seem like the least likely type of people that I would want to care about. More people die in this book. I have to give her kudos for keeping it real, unlike some action stories where all the secondary characters just miraculously live through each and every battle nearly unscathed.

The pacing was okay, albeit a little slow in places near the middle. I actually found myself missing zombie attacks, but ah well. For a girl who doesn’t really enjoy zombies, they sure were fascinating in this series. Come on! They’re zombie spirits! That makes a difference from the average zombie story.

Cole and Ali’s relationship are intact, I am happy to say. Of course, there are still other people who are hating on her for stealing away Cole, and I just want to tell them to suck it up and move on. Grrr stay away from my favourite couple!

The problems the group had to solve weren’t as dramatic or as suspenseful as the previous books, and the visions were somewhat predictable in how they were going to come true.

Okay, this review is starting to sound kind of pessimistic, and I just want to say, IT’s NOT. I think. I’m just sad at the ending. It built up to a dramatic point with Anima…and then it just got resolved. In like 20 pages. *snap!* Just like that. It was over.

When I got to the last page, I was thinking, “Noooo, this can’t be it.” There were sadly, loved ones gone and I had so wanted to see the aftermath of that. I know happy endings aren’t always present in novels, so I would at least like to see what was going to happen to those left behind. I’m just in a funk or withdrawal from having this series end. So yeah, if this is sounding sad, that’s probably why. Pinch me. I still loved it. I just hoped it would have gone longer.

On that note, some things I did enjoy were guessing at Anima’s inside source. Kat was her usual perky self, and I loved her willingness to stick by the slayers’ side even in danger. There wasn’t a lot of Nana in this one, but her lingo is still just as weird by text. I’m not sure “fo sheezies” will ever, or had ever, been popular…

And my favourite part? Gavin, the “he-slut”, seems to be falling for a girl. *tries to contain my glee*. If you read my review for Through the Zombie Glass, you’ll know that I have some strange liking for him. He’s just charming, and he has a gooey centre somewhere underneath that player outlook. Sigh, I wish there would be a separate book with him and his potential girl, whom I shall not name ’cause it’s rather mind blowing.

As the end of a trilogy, it did wrap things up yet left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Yep, I think I’m going into Ali Bell/Cole Holland withdrawal. Probably more for Cole.

Overall Recommendation:
It may not be as action-packed as its two predecessor in the trilogy, but it sure leaves us wondering what is going to happen next. Showalter is not afraid to kill off secondary characters, even those we may have come to love so hard. That in itself should keep you in your seat and reading till the very last page.
As always, there are plenty of zombie fun in the story, although this one centres more on Anima and humans instead. Ew, I know right? Mindless zombies are cooler than cruel humans any day. But if you loved the series as a whole so far, you HAVE to finish it with The Queen of Zombie Hearts. HAVE TO! Enjoy, and hopefully, don’t go into Cole Holland withdrawal like I am. Or maybe..I’m just in Gavin withdrawal…