Make-Up Reviews! :$

"I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. It's the way I take them OFF that makes me better than you." -Jessica park, First Comes Love

So I've been out of it for a while; we were out of power, then the internet wasn't working and just a whole bunch of other stuff that kept me from logging on. (and a sidenote: I'll be out again, seeing as how I'm going to Europe in a couple of days, and it's kinda hard to log in when you have no connection)

But when I'm not logged on, I'm reading, so I have different reviews to make up for the time I wasn't here. 

I read Starcrossed and Dreamless by Josephine Angelini, Illusions and Destined by Aprilynne Pike, Easy by Tammara Webber, First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky, and Thomas & January by Amelie Fisher. 

Starcrossed & Dreamless

This was an interesting take on the Greek Gods. In Starcrossed, we meet Helen who lives a perfectly normal, secluded life with her dad (she knows absolutely nothing about her mother). That is, until the mysterious Delos family comes to town. 
The entire bunch is as good-looking as... well, Greek gods. But that doesn't stop Helen from hating their guts for no particular reason except that they're from a different House. 
Once they get over the whole murderous rage thing, Lucas (one of the Delos boys) and Helen are extremely attracted to each other, but like in any YA book, and any Greek story, the hero and heroine can't be together. But as the tension builds, it gets harder to resist. 
I'm not entirely sure about the plot because I don't understand if it's trying to recreate the Iliad (due to all the allusions they make to it and the repeat of the characters), but it also went off on this entirely different thing & the whole issue with the Houses was pretty confusing. The Lucas-Helen problem was also pretty frustrating, since they kept making these decisions but couldn't stick to 'em.
The way the story developed was interesting though, and the plot twists kept surprising me, especially at the end! *** 3 stars :) 
Favorite Quote: 
“She decided that if Lucas was gay then she was going to have to get a sex change operation. He would be so worth it.” 
― Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed

*spoilers ahead! do not read if you haven't read Starcrossed*

Dreamless picks up where Starcrossed left off: badly for Lucas & Helen since they can't be together due to the fact that they're "cousins" & Greek tragedies are known for the chaos that comes from incestuous relationships. But, fear not! there's a new guy in the picture. Put your hands together for... Orion! (Whom I really like by the way. Is it bad that I'm rooting for the other guy?)

Orion helps Helen in the Underworld and he's a friend to her when she can't be with Lucas. There's also a new bad guy! duhn duhn DUHN! 

The plot grabbed me more than Starcrossed and the characters have improved; Helen is considerably more bad ass, Lucas is more sensitive-mysterious, Claire was more prominent, supportive & funnier, and Matt was awesome in the first book and he was awesome now too. 

Also, if Helen doesn't want Orion, can I keep him? 

The action in this book was much more dramatic, and that ending will have me reading the third book. **** 4 stars! <3

Favorite Quote: 

“Helen decided that the saying about "time healing all wounds" was a bunch of bull and probably only worked for people with very poor memories. The time she's spent apart from Lucas hadn't healed anything. The distance only made her miss him more.”
― Josephine Angelini, Dreamless

Illusions & Destined 

Illusions is the third book in the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. The entire concept is super interesting. I wasn't too fond of the love triangle 'cause David seemed more like a friend, not a boyfriend. I'm team Tam all the way. But the flower people (in the literal sense) are totally captivating! I didn't like Spells too much, I don't know exactly why, but it bored me & I had given up on the series 'till I stumbled on Destined in goodreads & it got me curious. yay! for curiosity! who says it killed the cat? It got me back on this series!

I expected the ending for both Illusions and Destined, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the plot as it unfolded. 

I don't hink I can review them separately, so I'll just say that everything I loved about Wings came back three-fold. The characters' chemistry, the drama, action, the cleverly placed remark that makes me giggle like a two-year-old. & that ending!! the letter really gave me closure but (spoiler! skip this part if you don't like 'em) I'd love an epilogue for Tam & Laurel! (hint, hint, ;) Ms. Pike) 

**** 4 stars for Illusions

***** 5 stars for Destined 

Favorite Quotes: 

“He'd been back for about two weeks, and everything in Laurel's life had been thrown into Chaos. Sexy, sexy chaos.”
― Aprilynne Pike, Illusions

“I think I could have won state today. Apparently, you put a troll on my heels and I turn into a superstar.”
― Aprilynne Pike, Destined

Easy

Easy by Tammara Webber was easy to choose... Incredibly easy. (For those of you who read it, you'll see what I did there) 

but, WOW!! Emm... I don't know how to review this book; it was a gratifying read to say the least. Nice to read something that's not just fluff. This book dealt with a variety of real-life issues. From the more common and less threatening ones like stupid boys & broken hearts to serious and dangerous ones like rape, murder, and a person's future.

I loved Lucas and Erin. Erin's back bone got Jacqueline through a lot and Lucas' support was great. I also admire Jacqueline for not giving up.

The writing style was great and the characters were unique and refreshing. I'm going to cut my review short because I feel like I'll just get repetitive about the things I loved... which is the entire book. :-) 

4.5 stars *****

Favorite Quote:

 “You're full of contradictions, Ms. Wallace." 

I looked up at him and arched a brow. "I'm a girl. That's part of the job description, Mr. Maxfield.” 
― Tammara Webber, Easy

First Comes Love

APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! A STANDING OVATION PLEASE!

This book is going down in my all-time favorites! I'll be re-reading this over and over and over again. Where to start? The characters of course! I love how Dylan was so eccentric and her point of view on life was different, but it makes you think. And Gray. Poor Gray. No wonder he was like that. He needed someone like Dylan to bring him back to life & boy did she! 

I love the way the story progressed; you could see each one opening up to other and their little adventures made me jealous. I'm even inspired to take a page from Dylan's book & be a bit more spontaneous. 

Teh same way Dylan brought Gray to life, Gray centered Dylan. He gave her a home and I loved that. This was such a great read, I don't even know how to describe it properly. all i kow is great is not strong enough. 

***** 5 SHOOTING FLAMING STARS!!! 

Favorite Quote: 

"Take life seriously. That you have to do. Don't take yourself seriously, that's the key. Let it all go. Don't care for a second what people think of you. In fact, go out of your way to keep them guessing." 

-Katie Kacvinsky, First Comes Love

The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

wow. I didn't expect this book to be so intense. I started off my summer with it and was expecting a light, fun read.
But that's not to say that it disappointed me, on the contrary. It was AMAZING. 5/5 stars
before i begin my review, I would just like to say I don't judge anyone who's ever cheated on someone -I'm sure they've had their reasons- I just don't understand why they're always stuck between two people, why can't they just choose one.?

Like with Ashton: it was so obvious that Sawyer wasn't for her; maybe if she was just honest with him & told him she was in love with Beau ever since they were little, she could have avoided a lot of pain and humiliation.

So, the Vincent Boys is about two cousins (who we later learn something VERY interesting about, but no spoilers) who are both in love with the same girl, Ashton. Sawyer is the All-American-type: everyone loves him, he goes to Church, to the nursing home, he's the football team quarterback, etc. & he's the one who has Ashton as his girlfriend. Beau is the bad boy: always getting drunk, breaks the rules, and he's got a smile that does crazy things to a girl. He's the one who has Ashton's heart.
Sawyer:

Beau:

Except Sawyer got to Ashton first, so Ashton feels like she needs to be perfect, because Sawyer is that way (except no one's perfect, as Ashton later finds out) & because her dad is the pastor and her parents expect it.
Beau is the only one Ashton can be herself with, and when Sawyer leaves on a trip, she and Beau take advantage of their time alone.

But, the problem is Sawyer comes back a week earlier & Ashton and Beau aren't willing to give up on each other; yet Ashton DOESN'T BREAK UP WITH SAWYER! even though she KNOWS she's in love with Beau.

Then, Sawyer and the whole town find out what was going on, and Ashton has to face every one alone, because Beau has been out of town; trying to deal with some news (some VERY shocking news that you should read this book in order to find out). & Sawyer doesn't defend her at ALL -which if he was as PERFECT as they make him out to be, he would have -even after everything. So the WHOLE TOWN gets involved and Ashton has to go through some intense humiliation practically alone, because everyone is attacking her, even though no one was part of that relationship (this really bothered me about the town, why did they have to get in the middle?). When Beau gets back, he realizes what happened & sets out to fix it, albeit not in the smartest way possible, but he gets the job done... sort of. Read the book. Seriously. I'm not joking. Why are you still reading this, when you should be reading The Vincent Boys? GO!!!!

Coffee, please!

"Why do we drink coffee? As kids we hate it. It's disgusting. But somewhere along the way we learn to accept the bitter flavor, even crave it. When does that happen exactly?" -Coffeehouse Angel, Suzanne Selfors

I recently read a book (which is not uncommon, since I'm always reading) that mentioned the above quote. But I was unhappy with the answer the book provided to its question. You see, I have come to depend on coffee. It is a stimulant, as my friends constantly remind me, which is highly addictive, and I am definitely hooked. I think I've been hooked since midterms of sixth grade. The probability of my liking coffee was very high since my mom drinks about three cups of coffee a day & my grandma always gives me 'cafe con leche' whenever I visit, ever since I was three, & when I was 5 and my mom took me to the grocery store, I'd go directly to where the coffee beans were and proceed to smell them. Add all of this to the fact that I go to a college prep school, live an hour away -making me spend at least four hours a day on traffic-, participate in two different soccer teams, JSA, book club, futsal, and track&field, PLUS I'm taking two more classes than are actually needed, and the result is that coffee and I have become inseparable. It has become a permanent fixture in my life; so much that I have a magnet in my locker that says "no coffee, no workee" that one of my friends got me. Even more so, two nights ago, I had a dream involving coffee. So even when I'm asleep, coffee -which is supposed to hold sleep off- is present.

The thing is, my best friend, cannot stand coffee: she hates the smell, the taste, the color; EVERYTHING. & she has very similar circumstances to mine. While another friend of mine, with similar circumstances as well, shares my love for the drink.

Coffee is often associated with matureness & growing up. So if that's the case, am I already an adult? Is my best friend still a child? I don't think that's it. Because, even though I'm older than her, my best friend is much wiser and mature than I am.

Obviously, coffee is just a drink. You can't define a person by what they do or don't drink. However, coffee has become such a big part of my life that I feel it HAS become a part of my definition.

The question that follows is: How do I define myself?

Which is actually a question that terrifies me, because I can never find a precise answer. There are things and people in my life that have become a part of me, but are they part of my definition? Do I describe myself? I live in fear that in my college interviews, that's the question that they'll ask me & I'll just spaz out & not answer, and not get into college because I didn't know myself.

THEN I think: Well, isn't that a stupid question, people change every day; its impossible to define a person for even a moment. But, then again, there's no such thing as a stupid question. So this is my attempt at figuring myself out & here I am sharing it with you.

As this blog progresses, you'll see my rants & my venting about whatever frustrates me, my joy in whatever is good with my life at the moment, any other feelings I may be going through, books I have read that have impacted me, quotes that I like, pictures that I found funny or that I want to share. In a nutshell, this blog will be my way of defining myself. This way, if a college interviewer asks me that question, I can just direct them here.