In this hilariously sarcastic novel, we follow Audrey who just broke up with her boyfriend, Evan. He’s in a band and all he talks about is himself, the band, and did I mention himself? Oh, yeah, right. As she does, her boyfriend came up with a new song for his band and it’s all over the radio, which is totally okay for Audrey if it wasn’t about her and their break-up!
What made me love this book so much is the humor, the sarcasm, and just plain Audrey herself. I just loved reading her so much, and I just can’t enumerate all the thing you should love about this book.
The strong points in this book for me besides the characters are their love for music. Really, I just found myself listening to all the songs they’ve mentioned in this book. Victoria’s and Jonah’s characters are just as adorable, although I found Victoria annoying somewhere along the book, but in the end, I just loved them.
Robin Benway has made a very great job writing this book as it truly has made me laugh out loud the whole time. The lesson for me is that, we can’t run away from our problems. Sooner or later, we just have to go out there and face it. That’s just the way life goes.
“The more you start to love someone, the more you ache when they’re gone, and maybe it’s that middle ground that hurts the most, when you can see them and still not feel like you’re near enough.”
I know it’s been a while since I last read a Nicholas Sparks novel, but this year, I found myself chain-reading his books. One of the things that I love about reading a Nicholas Sparks novel is that it always feels like catching up with an old friend, and it just draws me closer to him every time. I don’t think there will ever be a book by this author that I will hate.
In The Best of Me, we follow Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier, two high school sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. More than 20 years later, their paths cross again in the same place where they made so many memories years ago. As they look back and catch up on the years they’ve been apart, they realized that their feelings for each other has never changed.
This book was gripping and overall emotional. It’s a combination of the magic of true love and tradgedy, but it’s amazingly written just like any of his other novels. It just made me admire Nicholas Sparks even more; the way he writes is inspiring and I cannot stress enough how much I loved it.
The ending may not have been what the readers wanted, but it has still moved me in so many ways. Truly, this book has turned into one of my favorites.
“Because you aren’t just someone I loved back then. You were my best friend, my best self, and I can’t imagine giving that up again,“ he hesitated searching for the right words. “You might not understand, but I gave you the best of me, and after you left, nothing was ever the same.”
Nicholas Sparks has done it again with yet another well-written book. I loved how he mixed a little bit of mystery and suspense in this one, and just can’t put the book down. It left me at the edge of my bed, eager to find out what will happen in the end.
In See Me, we follow Colin Hancock, a 28-year old with a dark past that he just wants to set aside by trying to make things right and Maria Sanchez who has a very traumatic past that made her return to Wilmington in the first place. As soon as Colin and Maria’s paths collided, challenges and disturbing events have taken place.
I’ve never been into reading mystery and suspense books before, but I’ve always wanted to give it a try. In See Me, I got just what I wanted as it was not as intense as the other books that really focuses on those genres. It’s a great start, for me, at least.
What I liked most about this book is how well Nicholas Sparks has written it despite trying to mix genres along with his usual romance-chick-lit books. There are lessons in this book about life and how people can change if they only put their hearts into it. Most of the time, I found myself having realizations about growing up and why we all even bothered to speed things up when we were little.
Overall, this book was amazing in many ways; I don’t even have the words to explain all of it other than that Nicholas Sparks has proved to us again that he is a master when it comes to writing.
“While she’d been certain that things would be better once she was settled in, she’d slowly come to realize that job stress simply came in different flavors, and this one wasn’t much better tasting than the one before it.”
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I know what I’m getting myself into when I started reading this book. In fact, I’ve been resisting reading it for a long time since I bought it for I keep asking myself if I’m ready to jump in another tearkjerking ride that Nicholas Sparks’ novels are known for.
Trying to take a break from the city and her always busy life, Theresa Osborne takes a much-needed vacation at Cape Cod when she stumbles upon a corked bottle with a scrolled-up letter inside.
When she arrived back to Boston, she agrees with her friend, Dianne, to publish the letter in her column. Soon after, her cloumn turns up two more letters written by the same person, Garrett Blake.
Intrigued, Theresa finds herself travelling to North Carolina, where she finally meets the mysterious Garrett Blake and discovers that her suspicion about Catherine is true. After spending most of her stay in North Carolina with Garrett, they develop a unique relationship that they tried to keep even after Theresa went back to Boston.
Throughout the story, we watch the couple fall in love even more with each other, and how they learned to compromise for something they really want to work out. Somehow, whether we admit it or not, we all have a Garrett inside of us. By relating to Garrett’s experiences and struggles, we are drawn and connected to the couple’s story.
All in all, I find this book a compassionate story of a person looking for love and a person who never thought he’d ever be capable of loving someone again. Garrett and Theresa’s story is heartbreakingly beautiful with all of the lessons its readers will learn; both Garrett and Theresa gives each of us hope that everything will work out.
For this review, instead of putting a quote at this part of my review, I’m putting an excerpt from Nicholas Sparks’ interview with the New York Times about this novel:
“Message in a Bottle was inspired by my father after the death of my mother. In 1989, six weeks after I was married, my mother and father went horseback riding. They were avid riders and very comfortable on horses, and were simply walking the horses along a scenic trail. For a reason that no one can explain—we assume it was the horse, a rather skittish Arabian—my mom fell out of the saddle, off the horse, hit her head on a rock, had a cerebral hemorrhage and died.
My mother and father had married at the age of twenty-one and my father was absolutely crushed by her death. They’d been married twenty-seven years and my father didn’t have the slightest idea of what it meant to be a grown-up without my mom. A lot of people wear black to a funeral. My father wore black every day for four years. He pretty much became a recluse. He pulled away from his family and friends, he stopped going out, he stopped doing pretty much everything. All he did was go to work and back home again. It was heart-breaking to watch.
After four long years of worrying about him, my father finally started taking baby steps out in the world again. He started reconnecting with family and friends, eventually he started to date again—think more years passing—eventually he met someone in particular, eventually he fell in love again. And then one day, about seven years after my mom had died, I got a call from my father. “I’m engaged,” he said.
Now, I was happy about that, not because I didn’t care about my mom—I adored her—but because I’d been so worried about my father. Kids worry about their parents the same way parents worry about their kids, and I was glad that he’d finally found someone.
Two days after that phone call, my father was driving home late one night, fell asleep at the wheel of his car, crashed, and died.“
I’m leaving you with that. It’s heart-breaking, and I have no words for it.
I’m so glad I’ve finally finished this series because it’s been a long time since I last read the first book. I’m not really happy about not having the cover that matches the first two, but I couldn’t find it in any bookstores so…
Okay, so let’s start with the fact that this series has been one hell of a ride. I loved how this book was easy to read and that there aren’t and slow spots. It’s fast-paced and it will surely keep you at the edge of your sit from page one up to the end. It’s so amazing, that it took me this long to write a review about it!
Every Last Breath picks up right where Stone Cold Touch left off, they are still looking for the Lilin and it’s still causing a lot of chaos topside. Layla is still trying to figure out what she truly is and not to mention her feelings towards Roth and Zayne.
I like how each character has developed all throughout the series. I think I fell in love with Cayman a little bit in this last book and if JLA decides to make a novel about him, I would love to read that!
I honestly don’t know how to write this review without giving out spoilers but oh my, God, you just got to read this book! It’s full of adventures, love, and action! This book is one way to end a paranormal romance like that. I cannot even stress it enough. Read it, just read it.
“You make me wish I had a soul so I could be worthy of you.”
Eleanor was this new girl in town and she has a very complicated life. With her Mom being too scared to stand for them, her siblings who’ve changed since the last time she saw them and her very awful evil stepfather. Plus, the way she dresses caught all the bullies’ attention in her new school. Great, just great. And the she met Park. And somehow, things got even more complicated… but still beautiful.
I loved this book! I knew I had to read it the moment I read the excerpt from goodreads. I loved how the story reminds us of how awkward it felt when we first held hands with our first love and how it confusing and weird the feeling was.
I admire Eleanor’s character. How strong and true she is. She doesn’t try to be someone else and she tries to ignore what everyone says about her. And Park, I loved how he somehow changed throughout the who story. He is just so adorable! I love how he was willing to get in all those trouble just to protect Eleanor.
This is a really great book! I find the pacing a bit slow during the first few chapters but still… I loved it so much! I really recommend this book to everyone.
Okay, so here’s the thing, I don’t know where to freaking start! Oh my goodness, I loved book one but this one is faaaantastic!
In White Hot Kiss, I was totally on Team Roth because he’s just totally awesome, I mean, I don’t have any hard feelings on Zayne, in fact, I kind of liked him during the first few chapters of White Hot Kiss. Okay, but then I’ve read Stone Cold Touch, and I just can’t decide whose team I’m on anymore!
So Stone Cold Touch picks up where White Hot Kiss ended, which was a freaking ~cliffhanger~ (yes, I’m looking at you, JLA!). Layla is still upset with Roth and for leaving her, and what makes it worse is that most of the Wardens don’t trust her anymore for being friends and hanging out with a demon. Also, there have been accidents (or are they?) going on in the school and everyone’s just freaked out about it.
And then, Roth returns. But things are still getting worst and everything seems to be spiraling downward.
This book did not let me sleep at all! I liked the development on Layla’s character and how she manages to deal with everything that’s being thrown her way. While Roth and Zayne kept snapping at each other, I can’t totally decide which team I’m on in this book. They’re both so irritating in an adorable way (if that even makes sense).
The twists and turns kept me seating at the edge of my seat and the ending… Jeez, the ending got me so shocked. I am just as shocked as Layla, I didn’t really see that coming!
“I don’t deserve you.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong… That’s where you’ve always been wrong. You deserve everything.”
So if you’re a paranormal-fantasy-YA-romance fan, then this is the book for you! Read it! JLA is amazing. *hearts everywhere*
This book was heartbreakingly beautiful, I don’t even know where to start. It’s really difficult, but CoHo readers will surely learn something from this book. It is both an eye-opener and a very difficult book to read and it made me feel all sorts of emotions.
“There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.”
In this book, we follow Lily Bloom, who is haunted by her past. It opens with her father’s death and how she managed to cope up with everything that’s currently happening in her life. Then she meets a gorgeous neurosurgeon, but as soon as she tries to make something out of her attraction with him, her first love suddenly appears back to life out of nowhere. From there, we will see how Lily conquers every challenge she has encountered and how tough she came out through it all.
“All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”
Want to know a naked truth? I really related to Lily. It may not be in the exact same way, but it made me feel for her. It made me realize how far I’ve conquered and how strong I turned out to be… just like her. I cannot thank Colleen Hoover enough for this book, it’s heartbreaking and beautiful all at once.
“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
I recommend this book to everyone who has gone through “hell” in life and to everyone who thinks they can’t go through another day. Read it and just keep swimming.
Here’s a quick confession: Even though I admire and adore Colleen Hoover’s writing, I’ve only read three (including this) of her books. Why? Because her books are way too expensive! But, well, each book deserves all that, given that she writes so well.
Rating: ★★★★★ First Read: May 2014
Re-read: March 2017
It was my first time re-reading a novel, to be honest. I’ve always wanted to do so before, but I just didn’t have the extra time given that I’m always exhausted when I get home from work and the weekends almost always feels like it’s too short.
With Love Letters to the Dead, since I’ve only read it through an e-copy version back in 2014 when it was first released, I was really eager to re-read it. It’s really one of my most favorite contemporary novels, and I’m so happy that I finally got my own copy of the physical book.
This book was just so beautifully written, it makes my heart ache in a good way. There are books that you like, but there are books that you can relate to and love and cherish and will keep touching your heart.
When I first read this book three years ago, I didn’t even know where to begin with, so I ended up not writing a review at all, in fear of not giving the book its justice. Right now, I still don’t know where to start or what to say.
Ava Dellaira brings us a story of Laurel
— a girl who just wants to find and pick herself up after her sister’s death. Her life has been full of tragedy, but her hope and love for a lot of things keeps her going most of the time.
“I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won’t be as good as everyone imagines we could be.”
Her letters to renowned dead people was really interesting and lovely and the way she talks to them through her letters really kept me turning the page. I can also totally relate to her when it comes to not telling the people I love what I really feel towards something. It has always been like that for a lot of people, I guess, because it’s really hard opening up your thoughts, your pasts and your problems to people and her reason was just the same as mine. I am always afraid that if they knew, they would leave.
“You can be noble and brave and beautiful and still find yourself falling.”
Each of Laurel’s letter revealed pieces of what really happened that night when May died and also a part of her personal story
— how broken she feels deep inside, how her family ended up the way it did, and I also liked that in each of her letters, we’ve seen how the her friends grew throughout the book.
I also liked her relationship with Sky. It wasn’t perfect, just like every love story, but it was beautiful and heartbreaking and lovely all at the same time.
“When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.”
I literally have moments when reading the book that I felt like it was dragging because it is such a page-turner. One of my favorites in this book were the poems Laurel shares from her English classes because I am also a big fan of poems and Elizabeth Bishop.
Love Letters to the Dead sucked me straight from the first page until the end. It is a beautifully written book that is deeply moving
— it gives its readers hope and is filled with realizations about life. I recommend this to readers who loved Perks of Being A Wall Flower and The Fault In Our Stars and mostly to anyone who’s looking for something that will change their perspective about life and love.
“Truth is beautiful, no matter what the truth is. Even if it’s scary or bad. It is beauty simply because it’s true. And truth is bright. Truth makes you more you.”
There are just some books that will give your life a huge impact and The Little Prince is one of them. This is a children’s book and I feel quite ashamed that I haven’t read it before, but as the saying goes, ‘better late than never.’ I’m just glad that I finally got to read this very deep and poignant classic!
This classic tale reminds each and everyone of its readers of how innocent and fragile we once were and how everything has changed now that we’re older. Its intended readers are children, but I actually think that it’s secretly for us, the adults.
“All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.”
There are parts of the book that I felt abashed for the Little Prince pointed out a lot of truth in his observations about the grown-ups. I know deep down that we are the odd adults he is talking about. Growing up, we forgot the little things that are really the ones that mattered the most.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
The Little Prince is the story of each and everyone of us when we were kids. How our imagination, fragility, curiosity and our innocence kept us going. And now that we are grown-ups, the Little Prince is reminding us that we shall not forget what we once were and to keep it dear to ourselves, because those moments were priceless.
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
So, when you see that star, think of the Little Prince. Think of your childhood and think of yourself because we all little princes and princesses deep within.
Rating: ★★★★
Lenn of Spades ♠ 