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ACReads

ACReads

I have no idea what I'm doing so, I'm just testing this site out while I figure out if I want to move permanently from Good Reads.

Currently reading

My Name is Rapunzel
K.C. Hilton
Benajah's Keeper (vol. 1)
Aeryn Dougan
Losing Hope
Colleen Hoover
The Lover's Dictionary - David Levithan This book reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys, #1) - Abbi Glines This review was originally posted on acreads.blogspot.com.

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Ashton has always felt the pressure of trying to live up to her perfect boyfriend's expectations of her. Sawyer is the perfect boyfriend - caring, attentive, gentle, would never dream of pushing Ashton too far, and places her in the envy of every girl at their high school. When Sawyer goes away for the summer, Ashton fills the void left by his absence with his cousin, and her one time best friend, Beau. Beau is everything that Sawyer isn't - unafraid of saying things that push Ashton out of her comfort zone and a bad boy to end all bad boys. As the summer progresses, Ashton realizes that being around Beau brings out her true self - away from the picture perfect reputation that she has built for Sawyer... and can't help but develop feelings for him.

Alright.

Let's get it out into the open.

I loved this book... but I am so conflicted about it. Simply put, Ashton and Beau's relationship is built on the foundation of Ashton cheating on Sawyer... and that is unacceptable in every way. I personally have very strong feelings about cheating and infidelity and had a very, very hard time separating myself from those feelings while reading this book. I do not condone it in anyway and I think that Ashton and Beau could have (and SHOULD have) conducted themselves in very different ways...

But, hot damn.

I think that the only reason that I was okay with the way that the story played out was because I accidentally spoiled myself about 25% into the book - here's a bit of advice: Do not read the tag line for The Vincent Brothers! I knew that something good came out of the Sawyer, Ashton and Beau mess and so, I allowed myself to carry on.

The scariest part about reading The Vincent Boys is that I could easily place myself in Ashton's position. She feels incredible pressure to live up her parents' and Sawyer's mile high expectations and loses herself in the process. Ashton is terrified of letting them down but once she tastes the freedom that Beau offers her, she gets sucked in. Beau reminds Ashton of the carefree and rebellious girl that she used to be and helps her realize that she still is that girl, underneath the fake persona. While Ashton is knee deep in her summer fling with Beau, she begins to justify it to herself - and I was right there with her. Abbi Glines has an incredible way of writing a sympathetic main character... who is easily relateable, even in horrible situations.

This was, once again, a great summer read. I read it in little over a day and was completely wrapped up by the story. I can't wait to read The Vincent Brothers to see what happens in some of the other character's lives.
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging  - Louise Rennison This was a re-read for me. I originally read this when I was in early high school and my best friend introduced it to me. Simply put, I adore this series. Georgia is a silly fourteen year old absolutely obsessed with boys... But while she is quite vain and shallow, she is also her own person and marches to the beat of her own drum. She is hilarious and sometimes witty. Again, I really loved this book... Even ten years after reading it for the first time. I longer forward to making my way through the rest of the series... (And now that I am older and wiser, I am disturbed by the she difference between her and Robbie!)
The White Princess - Philippa Gregory As a general rule, I really do enjoy Philippa Gregory's writing. I am a sucker for historical fiction... and especially when the historical fiction centers around Tudor England or the era that preceded the Tudor rule (namely, the Cousins War). However, one problem that I typically encounter with Gregory's writing is that it runs dry about half way through her books... and her books are usually around 500 pages (15 CDs? Hello?!) and that can cause some serious problems. So when I received The White Princess as an audio book - I was initially concerned but ended up being very pleasantly surprised.

I have never listened to an audio book before so the entire process and experience was totally new to me. I couldn't help chuckling the first few times that the reader, Bianca Amato, did a male voice but found that I became totally engrossed by the story. I came to the point that I couldn't wait to make longer car trips so that I could hear more of Elizabeth's story. By the way, Amato did a fantastic job. I found that listening to the book, rather than reading it, kept me from becoming trapped in the slower points of the story and kept me riveted the entire time. I truly think that listening to Gregory's books is the better option for me.

It's hard for me to actually comment on the story itself. If you read the synopsis (or if you didn't), you'll know that The White Princess follows the story of Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII, mother of Henry VIII, and the last true York princess. Gregory takes the facts of Elizabeth's life and embellishes in a way that is historically accurate for the time period, as well as honorable and respectful of the historical figures that she has chosen to focus on. Was Elizabeth's story interesting? Absolutely. This woman endured so much and found the will to keep moving forward. Her brothers were the missing boys from the Tower of London and heck, she was the mother of Henry VIII. I do think that this is one of the better books out of The Cousins War series.

I think that if you're a fan of historical fiction -especially English historical fiction- you would enjoy this story. If you're like me and get overwhelmed by the who's who of historical fiction, do what I did and take sometime to do a quick Wikipedia scan and get a general timeline and family tree down. I found that it helped me tremendously. And I definitely would recommend checking out the audio book - I enjoyed it, immensely.
Froggy Style - J.A. Kazimer (Originally posted on www.acreads.blogspot.com)

Once again, I have to give a huge thanks to my good friend, Bunny, for lending me Froggy Style. If not for her, the name J.A. Kazimer (probably) wouldn't have meant anything to me nor would I have been introduced to this amazing series. Thanks, Bunny! Secondly, if you haven't read the first book in this series - Curses! - please stop reading this review and go grab a copy! Seriously, do it. Now!


Froggy Style follows the story of Prince Jean-Michel La Grenouille who is about to turn 30 and kick start a curse that was bestowed on him as an infant. Maybe you guessed it by the title of book or maybe you're just that good at French, but our Jean-Michel is none other than the Frog Prince himself. Forced to abandon his bachelor ways, Jean-Michel must find and marry his One - that is, the one young lady who is able to break his curse and save him from eternal frogdom. But of course, nothing is that easy and Jean-Michel's trip to Cin City (ha, ha!) is filled with mystery and less than savory characters... much in the spirit of Curses!

Froggy Style was a great sequel to Curses! RJ and Asia make a small cameo but the story revolves almost entirely around a new cast of characters, plot twists, and general shenanigans. Each of the new characters that Kazimer introduced felt totally unique and stood apart from one another. I think that this is worth mentioning because, let's be honest - how many fairy tale retellings have we read? A ton. Kazimer was able to successfully create new characters who stayed true-ish to their fairy tale origins but who also fit perfectly into the world that she created... and none of them felt repetitive! My hat goes off to Kazimer - simply put, it is her amazing writing skill that makes these books as great as they are.

I have no idea if Kazimer has plans to write another story set in the F**ked Up Fairytale but I really, really, really hope that she does. I have never read a story that feels quite like this series - a perfect blending of beloved fairytales, Shrek, and adult humor - and I cannot get enough of it! Again, I must caution you - if you are sensitive to strong language and sexual allusions - please steer clear of this... But if the idea of an adult version of Shrek sounds amazing to you? Go out and get this series - now!
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - April Genevieve Tucholke Oh. My. Glob.
Scarlet - Marissa Meyer This review was originally posted on www.acreads.blogspot.com.


I have the hardest time writing reviews for sequels because, in my mind, it really boils down to this - did this book make me want to continue the series or not?

AND OH MY GOD YES, YES, YES - I WILL BE DYING UNTIL CRESS IS RELEASED!

Scarlet picks up almost exactly where Cinder leaves off... but instead of focusing solely on Cinder's story line, Meyer introduces us to a few new characters who help expand the world of The Lunar Chronicles and add new dimensions to the story arc. Admittedly, it has been almost an entire year since I read Cinder and so a lot of the details were pretty fuzzy for me but thankfully, Meyer rehashed the story in a way that didn't make me cringe. You know what I mean, right? When an author takes about three paragraphs to obviously summarize the preceding books. And once I got over the initial awkwardness that come with a sequel, I hit the ground running.

Now, I loved Cinder and Kai's voices as much as the next Cinder fan and wasn't too sure how I would take to another main character. Scarlet is a fiery young woman (17? 18?) who is obsessed with tracking down her grandmother after her disappearance. Though many people have written off Scarlet's grand-mere's inexplicable vanishing as a woman who simply doesn't want to be found, Scarlet is convinced that something much more sinister has happened. After a turn of events, the young woman teams up with a mysterious and violent street fighter named Wolf who seems to be the key to locating her grandmother. As you can probably guess, Scarlet's story becomes intertwined with Cinder's and the two inevitably meet... but I'm just going to leave it at that.

But I loved her! I love a strong female lead and Scarlet was definitely her own person. I loved that she fearlessly put her own life on the line and refused to back down until she found out where her grandmother was... And did I mention that she is totally kick ass? Oh, and Wolf... Don't get me started on Wolf... (/drool). He is a perfect blend of damaged, brutal and mysterious... and his story was the biggest shocker for me. Meyer reveals a lot about her characters but nothing threw me off my guard quite like Wolf's story did - I did not see that coming. And, much like how I felt in Cinder, there were times when I simply did not think that the characters were going to be able to make it through.

Basically, I love The Lunar Chronicles. Besides the amazing characters, Marissa Meyer has built a world that feels eerily like Firefly - and that is my favorite part about this series. The world feels a bit like a Western but with all the bells and whistles of a futuristic science fiction. Simply put? This series is wonderful. If you're a fan of Firefly or even just a fan of fairy retellings - check Cinder out. I will be anxiously awaiting the release of Cress! (*Prays to the God of ARCs*)
Waiting for the Storm - Marie Landry (This review was originally posted on www.acreads.blogspot.com)

I have been having a fantastic summer as far as finding adorable, light hearted summer reads and Waiting for the Storm is no exception! I was sent a copy for review in conjunction with Xpresso Book Tours and once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it!

Waiting for the Storm is the story of Charlotte - a young woman, right out of high school, who just went through the absolute horror of losing her mother to a brain tumor. After her mother's funeral, Charlotte and her family leave to spend two months on the island where her mother spent her childhood summers. Charlotte's father and sister have never been more distant and seem to drift even further apart every day. Alone, Charlotte is left to figure out how to navigate life without her family. As the summer progresses, Charlotte slowly picks the pieces of her life back up and even opens herself to the possibility of falling in love.

This was such a sweet and touching story about learning to live again after the unthinkable happens. Both Charlotte and Ezra, our lead love interest, have secrets to open up about in order to be able to live a somewhat normal life again. I enjoyed that Landry chose to center her characters' struggles around issues that we don't often see in YA - that is, the death of a parent and the debilitating depression of a parent. These issues are very real and I've seen them in my own life... so I was able to sympathize and even forgive the characters because of them.

And, being a perfect summer read, I can't neglect to mention the romance. Charlotte and Ezra's relationship was sweet and, wait for it - believable! Too often, contemporary YA is filled with intense romance that happens in the blink of an eye... and isn't what you would expect from a pair of seemingly "normal" teenagers. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance story but it is also nice to step back and read about teenagers who move at an appropriate pace. Ezra was sweet, patient, and adorable - everything that I love in a contemporary YA book boyfriend!

Overall, I loved Waiting for the Storm and am so glad that I signed up for this blog tour. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to read this book. I hope that my review has inspired you to give this book a try.
Waiting for the Storm - Marie Landry (This review was originally posted on www.acreads.blogspot.com)

I have been having a fantastic summer as far as finding adorable, light hearted summer reads and Waiting for the Storm is no exception! I was sent a copy for review in conjunction with Xpresso Book Tours and once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it!

Waiting for the Storm is the story of Charlotte - a young woman, right out of high school, who just went through the absolute horror of losing her mother to a brain tumor. After her mother's funeral, Charlotte and her family leave to spend two months on the island where her mother spent her childhood summers. Charlotte's father and sister have never been more distant and seem to drift even further apart every day. Alone, Charlotte is left to figure out how to navigate life without her family. As the summer progresses, Charlotte slowly picks the pieces of her life back up and even opens herself to the possibility of falling in love.

This was such a sweet and touching story about learning to live again after the unthinkable happens. Both Charlotte and Ezra, our lead love interest, have secrets to open up about in order to be able to live a somewhat normal life again. I enjoyed that Landry chose to center her characters' struggles around issues that we don't often see in YA - that is, the death of a parent and the debilitating depression of a parent. These issues are very real and I've seen them in my own life... so I was able to sympathize and even forgive the characters because of them.

And, being a perfect summer read, I can't neglect to mention the romance. Charlotte and Ezra's relationship was sweet and, wait for it - believable! Too often, contemporary YA is filled with intense romance that happens in the blink of an eye... and isn't what you would expect from a pair of seemingly "normal" teenagers. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance story but it is also nice to step back and read about teenagers who move at an appropriate pace. Ezra was sweet, patient, and adorable - everything that I love in a contemporary YA book boyfriend!

Overall, I loved Waiting for the Storm and am so glad that I signed up for this blog tour. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to read this book. I hope that my review has inspired you to give this book a try.
The Selection - Kiera Cass Let me just say, I had a total knee jerk reaction to this book before I picked up. Take an ultra-hyped book + dystopian + a series + a girl on the cover = not good for Alyssa. But I was wrong... I was really, really wrong. That isn't to say that I had an easy time getting in to - up until page 80-ish, I was sure that I was going to have to put this under "Did Not Finish." I really did not like the beginning... it was slow, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into, and it felt like a typical YA dystopian story. But I am so glad that I stuck with it.

It ended up being a one day read.

I really enjoyed the main character, America. She tells it like it is and remains true to herself despite the fact that her feelings towards her situation changes. She realizes that she's growing and changing and accepts it while refusing to sacrifice who she is. She's up front and blunt and I really loved that.

And the boys...

Prince Maxon? Aspen? Despite the fact that they're both idiots at different points in the story, I love both of them. Seriously - I don't know who I'm gunning for! The Selection felt like the princess version of The Bachelor with a hint of The Hunger Games in the back ground.

I need to know what happens next.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Selection. It was a nice blend of a contemporary romance with dystopian... and just a smidgen of fantasy (you know, princesses and all). If you're hesitant about reading The Selection because of the hype, here's my advice for you. Stay away from reviews for about a month and then go pick it up. You'll still know that a lot of people loved this book but it won't be fresh in your mind.

P.S. - Max Irons as Prince Maxon?!
Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Laini Taylor This book is... different, simply put. We're introduced to Karou - a young art student in Prague who has no idea who she is. She fills her sketch books with exquisite drawings of seemingly fictional mythological creatures... but who are actually real and are the only family she has ever known. When something unthinkable happens to her adoptive family of "monsters" - as Karou lovingly calls them - Karou is cast into an other worldly and age old conflict.

First and foremost, Laini Taylor is a beautiful story teller. Much like Paris in Anna and the French Kiss, Taylor is able to make Prague feel like a character and active presence in Daughter. The city feels magical and her descriptions were so vivid that I could imagine the scenes playing out, movie style. Her characters were incredibly well developed - even after a few pages, I could feel that they were more than a typical cardboard YA cut out of a character.

Laini Taylor just writes in a... vivid way. Does that make sense?

And what I loved most is the richness of her story. It is abundantly clear that she has thought this story out - past just the first book - and has an epic story to tell. Underneath Karou's story is that of an age old struggle between angels and demons that feels well developed and lore-rich. I love any story that has a history and lore behind it (probably the reason why I love World of Warcraft as much as I do, truth be told...) - and Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a perfect example of that.

There was only one reservation I have about this book... In the last third of the story, a huge revelation is revealed about Karou and I just don't know how I feel about it. I'm not entirely sure how Laini Taylor is going to marry the character of Karou that we know and this new aspect of her... but I'm going to have to trust her.

That being said, I don't think that this book is for everyone. If you are a fan of fantasy or have the same love of lore that I described before, I think that you should give this book a try. I'm excited to see where Karou goes in the sequel.
Serenity: Those Left Behind - Will Conrad, Brett Matthews, Joss Whedon Review to come.
My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick Review to come.
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) - Sarah Mlynowski Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) stands as yet another success story in my quest for "Perfect Summer Reads." Although the premise sounds a tad outlandish and over the top (two teenage girls successfully lie to their parents and live alone for half of a year), Mlynowski was able to execute it in a believable fashion. More often than not, I feel as though I need to suspend reality when reading contemporary YA - either the parents are just too absent or the characters get into incredibly ridiculous shenanigans - but I didn't have to for this one. I just kind of nodded my head, said "Okay," and went with it.
(Seriously, though - if you are an author and want to write stories about young adults with zero chaperons... just set your story in college... you heard it here first!)

That being said, this book was light and fun with just a sprinkle of serious development put into the mix. April has a lot of fun in her few months parent free and a lot of times, I was laughing out loud. There were also moments of seriousness in which the girls were forced to accept that they were probably too young to be living on their own without hands on help from a parental figure. Oh, and the boy drama... Oh, the boy drama. This is the key ingredient to making a perfect summer read for me... you have to have good romantic drama and Ten Things delivered.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was written in a series of flashbacks mixed with the present to give well rounded view of April and the situations that she was dealing with. Mlynowski teetered on the edge of the plot being just too ridiculous for a couple of teens but actually was able to make it believable. All in all, if you're looking for a read similar to The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, definitely give Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) a read - I adored it!

This review was originally posted on http://acreads.blogspot.com.
Prada & Prejudice - Mandy Hubbard This review was originally posted on my blog: www.acreads.blogspot.com.

Prada & Prejudice is the story of 15 year old Callie who goes on a school trip to London after her best friend moves away. Callie quickly realizes that without her security blanket of a best friend, she'll need to leave her comfort zone and actually attempt to make friends. Her only problem? For most of her life, Callie has been a total snob - making fun of the "popular" kids - and now she realizes that she'll actually need to make an effort with the other girls on her trip. In a misguided attempt to capture their interest and hopefully snag an invite to hang out with the girls, Callie drops $400 on a pair of sky high red Prada heels. As she's walking back to her hotel, she trips and bumps her head....... and wakes up in 1815.

I usually find a lot wrong with Jane Austen inspired stories that drop a modern day girl/woman into the Regency era... but Prada & Prejudice was actually not that bad. It was a tad unbelievable how willing the family that Callie stays with was in accepting a young girl who so clearly had no grasp on social norms... but I decided to let that go and just roll with it. When I could get over this initial speed bump, I found the book to be very entertaining and light.

It is very loosely based off of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Callie is a head strong and stubborn girl, much like our beloved Elizabeth, and the seemingly pretentious and brooding Alex makes our Darcy. But these characters had their own quirks and stood apart from Austen's characters... and I appreciated that Hubbard didn't force them into unnatural scenarios so that they felt like Austen clones. I can see the inspiration behind Callie and Alex... but also enjoyed that they were also different from Elizabeth and Darcy.

Besides getting a look at the behind-the-scenes Regency era, the best part of Prada & Prejudice was the character development. When we first meet Callie, she is misguided at best but also really dang snobby in the way that only 15 year old girls can be. But over the course of the story, Callie is forced to look at her behavior and come to the realization that, even if she doesn't agree with everything around her, she doesn't get a free pass to act like a jerk just because she is unhappy.

Is Prada & Prejudice the best Jane Austen/P&P re-imagining that I've read? No, but I don't think that it is supposed to be. It was fun, light, and kind of perfect for the summer.
Entwined with You - Sylvia Day This review was originally posted on www.acreads.blogspot.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars


This is a hard review for me to write because I'm always so nervous when it comes to sequels and third (and fourth and fifth) books in a saga. I loved Bared to You and Reflected in You and I feel like I've been waiting for Entwined with You for ages. Honestly, I think the only way to fully wrap my head around the third installment of the Crossfire series would be to re-read the entire thing from the beginning but ain't nobody got time for that.

Entwined with You picks up right after Reflected in You leaves off... so for those of you who have read the series, you know what was just revealed.... and it was a big deal. Despite the fact that this giant revelation is sitting in Gideon and Eva's laps, they decide to turn their focus to their relationship and have a lot of sex. I mean, a lot of sex. More so than what I remember from the first two books and while I do enjoy my fair share of steamy scenes, more often than not I was rolling my eyes and thinking, 'Come on now, guys. Let's stop humping and get to talking!"

That being said, I did appreciate all of the attention that they paid to bettering themselves as a couple. Gideon and Eva had been through a lot in the past book and it was nice to see them trying to work through it all. And, after the roller coaster that was Reflected in You, I enjoyed a relatively drama-free ride. There were definitely tense parts that tested Gideon and Eva's relationship but compared to the previous books, it was smooth sailing. They were both able to admit areas that they needed to work on and seem very committed to seeing their relationship through.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever good for long and I fear for the two in the fourth and fifth books. As much as I enjoy their story, I would have been okay wrapping things up with Entwined with You. I'm afraid that Day is going to pull out ridiculous plot lines that will eventually ruin the love I have for this series. But, let's be real - I could always say that I won't be reading the next book... but that is not going to happen.