Tag: life drama

YA

Review: The Fine Art of Pretending by Rachel Harris

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Fine Art of Pretending #1

the fine art of pretending -rachel harrisAccording to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you’re friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player.

With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time.

But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.

4 Drink Me Potions

The Fine Art of Pretending feels like a guilty pleasure, equivalent to indulging in chocolate for a day. The storyline is predictable and it’s not hard to figure out major things that would happen with the main characters.

However, it’s the “how” that always makes me want to read faster. And that’s what happened here. Brandon and Aly have been best friends for 3 years, ever since Brandon turned down Aly when she admitted she had a crush on him. Granted, they were really digging the friend zone at the beginning of the book, but it was obvious that Aly may still unconsciously harbor more feelings than that.

I read this book in a heartbeat (or I wanted to, at least). It was definitely entertaining with the amount of drama their fake relationship caused. The only problem I mainly had was Brandon’s ignorance of his own feelings. I felt it took way too long for him to even admit that he could possibly care for Aly as more than a friend. Yes, he was definitely very physically attracted to her (which I initially found disturbing as it would seem he could only like her when she was all dolled up), but he kept denying any feelings. When he finally admitted it to himself, I was all but ready to pump the air with a giant “YES”. Only to fall back and realize he didn’t want to tell her ’cause of course, he just wants to stay friends.

‘Cause all relationships eventually end. Sure, they do. But so do friendships.

But no, Brandon’s very comfortable in dating fast & furious style.

Yep. That really bothered me. It could’ve done better without the tremendous dragging it took for Brandon to finally understand that he wanted a relationship with Aly. And how that happens was also very anti-climatic. After all the buildup of not wanting one at all for so long, it was like a light bulb just went on suddenly and he decided, “yes, I need a relationship with her now. Let me go find her”. That could’ve happened eons ago, in my opinion. This revelation was terribly slow.

Other than that, I found the romance entertaining enough. Their reactions to finding out that they loved each other were hilarious as it was so obvious to everyone but them. I really wished there was more time to see them acting as a couple as that was what kept me reading. It’s a shame it had to end.

Two other minor problems were probably the lack of family interactions and Aly’s intense need to become a Casual. She’s definitely not built for hookups, but I guess there wouldn’t be a story if she wasn’t so darn stubborn on being noticed by guys. Heck, I’m glad Brandon finally understood he loved her for more than just her new makeover.

As for family, there’s so much talk about how important family is to both of them, yet there were rarely any conversations between family members. For example, Aly’s mom was catering the food for the senior class’s camping trip, yet I swear only Brandon was ever shown to have a conversation with her. I assumed Aly’s mom was staying over somewhere at that camp too during the trip’s duration, but I don’t recall Aly having ever talked to her. Weird, right?

Anyway, just minor grievances. In the great scheme of things, it was still a lovely read. A guilty pleasure, as I said before. Predictable, cute and romantic, with tons of drama (that could’ve been resolved a little faster, but whatever).

Overall Recommendation:
The Fine Art of Pretending is one of those cute, romantic books you just wanna curl up with in bed to read all night long. Aly is a fun character, set and determined to be different, but I’m glad she finally grows up and develops into a character that’s confident in who she is no matter if she’s not quite Casual material. Or rather, maybe she just finds she has a bit of both Casual & Commitment traits.

Brandon sounds like a true guy in his POV of the story. It’s nice to see what he’s thinking, although sometimes it seems he just lusts for Aly and not loves her for who she is. He also develops, which I’m glad as he’s dead set against relationships. He’s loveable and protective of Aly and I just want to smack him for making them both miserable. Of course, that’s where the drama lies in so who am I to say that he can’t do that? I just wish he didn’t drag on for so long.

All in all, this is one guilty pleasure to dive into. Predictable, yet there may be a token or two of wise character insight and growth that translates into anyone’s life. A definite read to give a shot for.

YA

Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

how to love -katie cotugno Before:
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After:
Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

I just wanted to say that How to Love has left me feeling like a wreck….in the best possible way.

Have you ever loved someone for so long that you feel it in your bones? Where it becomes such a huge part of you that it’s like a part of your chemical makeup, and you can’t remember a time when you didn’t love them? Loving someone also doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll always be happy, but that sometimes they can make you feel miserable too. That’s just how love is, in the realest sense. Love is never meant to be easy or simple. It gets complicated and messy, with the huge highs and the deep lows. Reena and Sawyer’s story has captured that aspect in so many ways and more. It wasn’t built on one giant, perfect moment, but on many little moments that accumulated and totaled into something great.

Thus, How to Love truly was a roller coaster ride for me. I was initially so angry at everyone, mad at Reena, mad at Sawyer, mad at Allie and mad at all their parents. They all did things that made me want to shake them into comprehension. But there were also those moments that touched me, that made me smile at the tenderness of their budding relationship, both in the past and in the present. That’s just how great of a story it was. I could be angry at the characters, but I was captivated by it all the same.

Both Reena and Sawyer were by far from perfect. And that is what’s so amazing about this story. If only Reena had expressed her feelings for Sawyer from since they were young, maybe it would’ve turned out differently. If Sawyer wasn’t so messed up at the time they were dating, maybe he would’ve done things differently. And although they could’ve done so many different things, their imperfections still knit together a story of falling in love, not once, but twice.

The only reason I couldn’t rate it a 5 stars was because I so, so, so wanted it to continue on. I wasn’t ready to leave them there. I wanted to know more, see what else was on the horizon for them. But I guess this leaves it up to the imagination, and if I were to imagine what would happen for Reena and Sawyer now, I’d like to think that they could get over any hurdle together after all that they’ve been through, that their love was stronger than all else and they’d finally come home.

‘Cause after all, maybe they really are like homing pigeons. And maybe they are each other’s home. Where they belong.

Overall Recommendation:
How to Love is one of those novels that has left me breathless, excited and sad that it’s come to a conclusion all at the same time. A complicated and messy love story of two people who thought they screwed up so badly, only to find that they still had it in themselves to love each other so strongly. This book makes you want to believe in a love like that, makes you want to find a love like that for yourself. I can honestly say that this book is not overhyped at all. It’s every bit as good as everyone says. Please, do yourself a favour and dive into this story.

YA

Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg and Siobhan Curham

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Girl Online #1

girl online -zoe suggI had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has – I can’t believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! – and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes…

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family – and the panic attacks she’s suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love – and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover – and her closest friendship – forever.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

Girl Online started off really slowly, to be honest. Penny Porter was first introduced as someone who could be klutzy, says all the wrong things when she’s around guys, and suffers from panic attacks from a car accident she was in. I like that there was an effort to introduce us into this girl’s life, but come on! I was waiting desperately for the appearance of Noah in New York (and it took a while to get there).

However, once in New York, the pace picked up a bit. There were many sweet moments between Noah and Penny, and I found it lovely to see how he seemed to accept and even enjoy the quirks that Penny was so embarrassed of. I was originally going to rate this a 3 stars at most, but their romantic night together before she left back to the UK was way too cute to not enjoy. Think fairy lights wrapped inside a tent with a picnic set out on comfy cushions within. Doesn’t that just sound swoon-worthy? And with a guy who looks like Noah does.

As the blurb implies, there’s something that Noah is keeping from Penny throughout their time together in New York. And ya know what? It’s like the most OBVIOUS secret ever. What with the few clues that were dropped into the story, I’m surprised Penny herself couldn’t figure it out. So don’t think that plot “twist” is going to be even somewhat surprising.

My favourite part would definitely be the actual blog pieces that Penny wrote as Girl Online. They are actually great topics that is relevant to anyone, and I can really see people responding to such a personality on the internet. It’s totally obvious that the author has experience blogging (or should I say, vlogging?). Either way, I LOVED them, and they tied the story together very well.

All I can say is, Girl Online is a fun read that’s not meant to be surprising or unpredictable. The whole plot pretty much went the way I thought it would. However, it’s the way the authors wrote it that kept it enjoyable. And for once, it’s a nice change of pace to see a protagonist have such a healthy relationship with her family, and with parents who still clearly love each other very much.

Overall Recommendation:
Girl Online is basically everything that one would expect of the book from reading its blurb. Romantic, possible heartbreak from a hidden secret, and a really hot (but mostly such a sweet!) American guy. For a debut novel by a vlogger (with the help of other writers), it was very enjoyable. With a loveable, supporting family and set in the gorgeous backdrop of Manhattan, this romance story takes a while to dive into the fun but trust me, it’s worth the wait. And in between, it may teach you a life lesson or two about facing your fears, toxic friendships and finding yourself.