Half Bad (Half Life trilogy 1) by Sally Green (review by Sharon)

Author: Sally Green
Series: Half Life trilogy
Number in series: first book
Number of pages: 417
Date Published: 3 March 2014
Publisher: Penguin
Buy: Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository
Rating: 3 stars!

"Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.
You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.
You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.
You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.
You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.
All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

Easy"

Review:

I found that the title is really quite befitting the name. Because this book is half bad. But more on that in a minute

Some of you would do the comparison to Harry Potter. Since they both deal with witches in England I guess that comparison is unavoidable. Yet, whatever issues I might have with the book (and I have), I think such comparison don't do this book justice. 

Fans of Harry Potter, don't hate me. 

Half Bad has some of the elements that were so lacking for me in HP. 

You see, Harry Potter talked about the fight between good and evil, and they both played their roles until the very end. It was quite simple, really. It lacked in conflict. Furthermore, Harry never got dirty he remained the golden child, the pure soul until the very end. 

In Half Bad good is not that good and Evil has a soft side too. It is not your element or your lineage that determine it. It is who you are inside. You can be the son of a criminal and mother Theresa. It does not matter. What matters, in the end, is who you are inside. 

Nathan's story is not an easy one to read. It is a dark one from start to end, and I'm really not sure if even one drop of hope really do exist there. Nathan is branded bad from birth, his surrounding ridicule him. Yes, some support him. But they are so few, and even though their support is better than nothing. It is still not very helping. I can't fathom the pain this child had gone through (and probably will continue to).

The world is fairly interesting, there is an new concept on witches' lore. 
Nathan is an interesting narrator. As many mentioned he is sarcastic. Though school wise he is regarded as dumb the child has other skills- like surviving in nature. He is also quite perceptive. 
However, I DNFed the book at about 40%. I did skim through it to the end. But 40% was as far as I could endure. And even now I regret that fact. 

I will start with what bothered me. Nathan's voice- he is a boy, but sometimes I really felt that it was a woman who wrote the book. He was a bit to weepy for a boy [perhaps that's not the right way to explain it, but in lack of other ways to explain it'll have to do].

Secondly, I'm not sure at what time that story takes place. There are cellphones…but I felt very confused about the time as the witches' world felt stuck in the ancient times. 

Thirdly, the love interest. I can understand what Nathan would find in Annalise. But really the girl felt quiet and dull to me. I know, she's young and she's just as much a victim as Nathan is. And yet, she felt dull. Sometimes I wondered what she's doing there. 

Last, but not least- be careful what you wish for 

I'm sure you heard the saying. Well, while I read HP I kept thinking I wanted a darker story. I got it here, and now I'm sad to say it was too dark for me with the tortures…it was so dark that at some point I simply didn't want to continue reading it. Before you read the book, pay attention to that. It is not a happy story, or a simple one. And I appreciate it a lot. 

The more I think about it the more I regret not being able to finish it. And I certainly will try again when I'm in a more befitting set of mind. Maybe, once I'll do that I'd be able to appreciate it better and what bothered me before will not bother me again. Maybe not. 

Another thing I have to mention is that the UK's cover edition is really beautiful. 

This book is not for everyone, but I have a feeling that if I'll be able to finish it and if the two other books will be just as good, then this will be one of these books I hold close to my heart. The kind that are not simple, the kind that is very tiring, the kind that makes you think and teaches you a valuable lesson, the kind you know has affected you deeply, the kind you will always be able to talk about. 

A review copy was kindly provided by Penguin through NetGalley. This has not changed or affected my opinion in anyway. I'm, however, grateful for the opportunity to read such a book 

Book Review:His by Aubrey Dark

Author: Aubrey Dark
Release Date: October 23rd 2014
Pages: 256
Format: ebook
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Rating: 3 stars


I never meant to be here: tied up in bed next to a serial killer. When I followed him home, I was just playing Nancy Drew. Trying to find out
his secret. His kiss was intoxicating, and I thought he was harmless.

I was wrong.

Nancy Drew never ended up in a basement, handcuffed to a radiator, teased to the edge of insanity, begging to be let go.Soon, I stopped begging to be let go. Soon, I started begging to be HIS.

Author's Note:
This is a dark romance novel with mature themes that might make some readers uncomfortable. 

My Thoughts:

To be honest, I don;t know what I expected from this book. I don;t know if I expected more violence, more abuse, more sex or just more. Despite the fact that Kat was an idiot and indecisive, I found myself enjoying this book a lot.

Meet Kat, twenty something university student, working at the local public library with her friend Jules. Kat in contrast to Jules, is simple, introvert and simple...or so we think. We get to know the background story of Kat as the book progresses. The author cuts to the chase pretty fast, when Jules dares Kat to kiss the first guy she will see in front of her...Gavriel.

I really wanted to like Gavriel a little more than I did, but something was missing.[ Lately, it seems that a lot of books miss something and I start to wonder about the quality of the books that I read.]

He was dar and disturbed and a total psycho with a dark background, pretty much the same as Kat's, but I think he softened pretty fast and easy.

There is a lot of attraction, pretty much since page 5, but despite all the tension there isn't anything huge there. It was kinda of insta love,for me at least, which I hate but the story progressed steadily. If that makes any sense. The annoying thing was that the days in the book seemed like they were the same. Same routine for Gav and Kat, only some actions changed and the conversations that were pretty interesting. Gav had some interesting ideas for what each person is and how he sees humans. Also, I don;t think I will see a doctor with the same eye again.

The characters were complex but Kat turned me off a lot with her indesicive character and what she thought she knew and what she didn't. She did not know if she pretended to like the murderer or not for pretty much 80% of the book. The story is told in alternative POV's which is awesome and something I L.O.V.E.

The writing was very good and the sentenced inviting and I really enjoyed reading this book. Some sentences and phrases seemed to repeat themselves over and over in both POV'S as well.
I don;t want to discuss the ending which was explosive and then a little weird and dump.

So, 3 stars for this good dark romance!! Hope you enjoy.

Book Review: The Day That I Met You by Lena Manta

Author: Lena Manta
Publisher: Psihogios Publishing House
Release Date: 2001
Pages: 378
Language: Greek
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Rating: 3 stars

When did she stop being happy? She didn't remember anymore
When did she begun being unhappy? Was she?

She was 35 years old. She was married. She was a mother. She was beautiful. She was rich. Ingredients for happiness and success. He was 40 years old. Good looking. Faithful husband. Rensponsible father. He never forgot any anniversaries or birthdays. Maybe because of his well organised agenda and secretary. Organised and careful. The key to their succesful life. 

Can laughter and routine become a reason to divorce? And what will happen laughter comes back to her lips...from the window of the neighbor next door? What will happen when she will have to choose between the life she knows today, the recklessnes, the need not to know what will happen tomorrow and the life she has scheduled up next years vacations? And moreover between a crazy love, filled with challenges, in addition to an old one that has nothing to offer to her anymore?

My Thoughts:

It's been sometime since I read a book in my native language- Greek. I forgot the beauty of the words and the sentences and how different it can actually feel to read a book that you can fully understand.

This book tells the story of a 35 year old housewife in the bring of breakdown. She is a wreck emotionally and she wants out. She wants something different because she is tired with the routine and the chores and her life that lacks romance and walks under the stars. In other words, she wants what every married woman wants after 10 or more years of marriage- a change.

Her husband is simple and a man of few words. He plays an important role in the book as to how his wife will choose the company of the neighbor next door. Although, he doesnt say much in the book he changes a lot while the book progresses and he becomes more understandable.

Although, the neighbor that will have an affair with the housewife plays an important role in the book we dont know anything about him except the fact that he loves her and that he can make an amazing Greek coffee.

You will want to know their names but they dont have one. Throughout the book you won't read their names once, it doesn't matter, this is a story that needs to be told and people need to understand that routine can be destructive for any marriage or friendship.

The emotions were vivid at some points of the book and flat at other but the words that the author used were simply beautiful. The story progresses fast enough for the reader to feel anything other than confusion...thats what the wife feels in most of the book. Confusion and lack of interest in anything.

Its a story about forgiveness, the power of love, understanding and the fact that birds and butterflies wont last forever once reality and every day life kick in.

ARC Review: Eight Days A Week by Amber L. Johnson

Author: Amber L. Johnson
Publisher: The Writer's Coffee Shop
Release Date: November 6th 2014
Pages: -
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Buy on: Amazon

Rating: 3 stars

Gwen Stone has secrets she’s not ready to reveal. After a recent promotion at work, she needs a caretaker for her children. She’s frenzied and in a lurch and pretty much ready to hire the first person who comes along. So she does.

Andrew Lyons needs to get out of his sister’s apartment, and a Craigslist posting may be the answer to his prayers. But what he thought was an ad for a room rental turns into a job offer he can’t refuse. Accepting the nanny position could change his life, if only he had a clue how to be a grownup.

A working mother, a shirtless manny who looks good in a towel, two children who need more than than a babysitter, and hours of kids’ TV can only spell disaster for everyone involved.

Because a manny should always mind his own business.

And he definitely shouldn’t fall in love with his boss. 

My Thoughts:

This eARC was provided by the publisher in an exchange for an honest review.

Eight Days A Week is an amazing fast read packed with lots of humor, sarcasm, sadness and change. Lots of change.

Meet Andrew an arrogant 25 year old teenager. He is selfish, arrogant, a poser and worst of all immature...left alone to babysit two kids. Not the best combination for most but he ends up doing one hell of a job.

Meet Gwen, a ''mother'' of two (you will understand the quotation when you read the book), career woman with lots of stress for her two little kids and job, until Andrew comes in the picture.

The plot takes flight from there and everything evolve into a beautiful love story and a man that changes himself, he becomes someone better because he needs to and wants to, and he wants it a lot. The background story of Gwen and the kids its truly amazing delivered in a way that made my heart swell from sadness and love at the same time.

The characters are so well developed that I actually cared about what would happen and how things would progress for them. It is, of course, visible that all of the characters in the book reach their personal growth and get what they were looking for, so for me that is simply amazing. It is not easy for an author to do that,but when it happens and better yet,when the reader understands it I love it.

The book was delivered in a writing so beautiful and livid, that had me turn the pages on an impossible speed. The plot was well crafted and I felt that I had all the time in the world with them. A little turn off was the fact that for me Gwen and Andrew grew into each other fairly quickly, kinda like a insta lovish, thus the 3 stars.

I totally recommend this book, because it is a page turner, fun and amazingly pleasant.

Book Review: Promise Me This by Christina Lee

Author: Christina Lee
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: InterMix
Series: Between Breaths #4
Pages: 300
Rating: 3 stars
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A new love will test the boundaries of passion between a privileged boy next door and the tattooed, blue-haired girl who helps him embrace his wild side... 

Nate has developed quite a playboy reputation around campus. It's not that he doesn't respect or trust women; he doesn't trust himself. The men in Nate’s family are prone to abusive behavior—a dirty secret that Nate’s been running from his entire life—so Nate doesn't do relationships. But he can’t help himself around one girl…

Jessie is strong, independent, and works at a tattoo parlor. Nate can’t resist getting close to her, even if it’s strictly a friendship. But it doesn't take long for Nate to admit that what he wants with Jessie is more than just friendly.

With Jessie, he can be himself and explore what he’s always felt was a terrifying darkness inside him. Even when Nate begins to crave her in a way that both shocks and horrifies him, Jessie still wants to know every part of him. Testing their boundaries together will take a trust that could render them inseparable… or tear them apart.

My Thoughts

I received this eARC from Penguin Group Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Although,it took me some time to get into the story and it was kind of predictable, I enjoyed Promise Me This. The writing is really nice and it made the characters more real and more likable. The story is being told by two POV;s and I always love that in a book, it just makes it much more interesting. I loved Jessie and her awesome character. The fact that she was off the wall and so much different than other heroines of similar books was pretty awesome.

In comparison to other NA books, this one was kind of original when it came to the main characters and they relationship they developed. Yes,like other stories these two are attracted to each other without giving anything away. Jessie seems to be the bad girl from the good family with the dark side on sex and Nate is the good guy from the broken family with a shy and more closed and restricted personality when it comes to sex because of his past.

The relationship between those two does not have any ups and downs and tough break ups like in other books of this genre. Everything seem smooth and Jessies helps Nate a lot when it comes to finding his personality,trust himself and realize that he is not danger to anyone.

At some points the feelings were flat and did some scenes lacked that anticipation. The conversations were okay,some seemed forced and others were extremely good while others lacked something, as for the humor better not to discuss it. It was bad. 

This is part of a series that I think it helps if you read the first three books in the series but you can also read it as a standalone.

Book Review: The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Release Date: 27th September 2011
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Pages: 466
Rating: 3
Buy on: Amazon
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Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can. 
She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. 
There is.
She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. 
She's wrong.

My Thoughts:

It had been some time since the last time I actually read a ''real'' young adult book and The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer made me love them and hate them at the same time all over again.

The story was promising and it promised a lot to me and it had me captivated with just one small sentence. If I love something that is horror films and horror books (Stephen King) and I love the paranormal element, it's what makes me pick up a book most of the time.

The writing was magical. The author achieved an incredible description style that requires few words and leaves the rest to the imagination of the reader, letting the scene free to be comprehended and imagined different from each one of us. It was scary and the element of horror was there.

Mara and Noah as the main characters of the story were real. What I didnt like a lot was the cliché ''troubled girl meets amazingly-rich-British-womanizer-guy who of course happens to hide a secret of its own. Cliche much?(It took me a while to get to like Noah). The conversations between those two were clever and funny with a lot of humor and sarcasm hoping along on the way. The entire story plays around the same school as Twilight, Hush-Hush and every other paranormal YA book out there. Somewhere here I started noticing that the story started taking a different turn.

For me the horror element in the story had a lot of potential. It could take 15 different routes and explote 15 different things and it still would be awesome as long as Mara did not become one of those girls that kind of revolve around their crush. Suddenly, everything was around Noah. Feminism was a book  Mara closed and threw in the garbage in the name of love.

Her mother from an annoying b*** became a lenient girlfriend that did not object Mara going out as long as it was with Noah (15 mins ago she could not even get out of the house to go to school without the usual interrogation).

Apart from the sizzling romance...ok I am joking...the emotions were strong. Fear was there, in a lot of scenes I was trembling with anticipation although, it was pretty obvious what would happen next. Curiosity on Mara's part made me cringe because she was curious about the most obvious get-the-hell-away situations ever. Ugh!

This is your classic Paranormal book that will appeal to all the fans of Hush Hush, Twilight and all the rest of this genre, despite the romance that made me gag at times I will be reading the second book of the series because the ending left me curious and I need to know what will happen.

Until next time.

Book Review: Dirty Rocker Boys: Love and Lust on The Sunset Strip by Bobbie Brown (with Caroline Ryder)

Author: Bobbie Brown with Caroline Ryder
Release Date: November 26th 2013
Publisher: Gallery Bookes
Pages: 272 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
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SHE'S MY CHERRY PIE. Tastes so good, make a grown man cry.

Who could forget the sexy 'Cherry Pie' girl from hair metal band Warrant's infamous music video? Bobbie Brown became a bona fide vixen for her playful role as the object of lead singer Jani Lane's desires. With her windblown peroxide mane, seductive scarlet lips, and flirtatious curves, she epitomized every man's fantasy. But the wide-eyed Louisiana beauty queen's own dreams of making it big in Los Angeles were about to be derailed by her rock-and-roll lifestyle. . . .

Ever wonder what it 's like to f*** a rock star?

After her tumultuous marriage to Jani imploded, and her engagement to fast-living Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee ended in a drug haze-followed by his marriage days later to Pamela Anderson-Bobbie decided it was time Hollywood's hottest bachelors got a taste of their own medicine. Step one: get high. Step two: get even.

In a captivating, completely uncensored confessional, Bobbie explicitly recounts her encounters with some of the most famous men in Hollywood: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, Mark McGrath, Dave Navarro, Sebastian Bach, Ashley Hamilton, Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, Orgy's Jay Gordon, and many more. Who's got the most titanic dick in Tinseltown? Whose bedroom did Bobbie (literally) set on fire? No man was off limits as the fun-loving bombshell spiraled into excess, anger, and addiction.

Bobbie survived the party-barely-and her riveting, cautionary comeback tale is filled with the wildest stories of sex, drugs, and rock and roll ever told.

My Thoughts:

This book contains strong language, descriptive sex, drugs, booze and disturbing scenes.

It was one of those boring evenings that I had nothing to do but youtubing random things...from how to's tutorials to music to top 10 things etc etc and then I found myself watching the first season of Ex Wives of Rock. Two of those ladies seemed familiar to me. One of them was Athena Lee which I had seen live with her then husband James Kottak of Scorpions at a Scorpions concert in Greece in 2008. Yay. The other one was Bobbie Brown and I remembered instantly from the video clip of Warrant, Cherry Pie.

To be honest I;m not into reality shows, I think they are stupid and pretentious and that there is no reason for someone to go on live TV with their personal lives especially if they are famous (they are all over the tabloids anyway). That , I realized when I was in the 7th episode of the show. Yay. And here;s how I ended up reading this book.

Bobbie went on and on about her book and how it failed with one of the publishers etc etc. During the show she says how Pamela Anderson stole Tommy Lee from her and how she was married with the late Jani Lane, lead singer of Warrant. I was intrigued ,because, if I like one thing its autobiographies.

The book was a drama, coming from a broken family, Bobbie was one thing but rebel. She was shy and she had boyfriends but not as many as we would probably think. She came second at the beauty pageant
competition and from then her fame skyrocketed. Agents called her from Los Angeles to model for them and soon 20 year old Bobbie found herself in the City Of Angels, a shy Louisiana girl turned into the most sexy and confident woman and then her downfall began.

It seemed to me that Bobbie had so many opportunities to make big in the scene but her desperation for love and acceptance came first. From what I realized she didnt want to be alone almost never, she always had a boyfriend and if she didnt, she would have sex with someone. She did a couple of video clips for some bands and when she landed the deal with Warrant she became so famous but that only came back to bite her in the ass. She got pregnant from Jani Lane and they rushed into a marriage that none of them was really sure if it would work (and it didnt). That experience alone it would mess up any sane person out there. Jani was over the top, came home drunk, cheated, lied, didnt have sex with her (which she hated) and she became such a b*** that it was disturbing. In the end their marriage failed and Bobbie with a 2 year old kid was moving back and forth all the tme between Louisiana and Cali. But while I was reading all of this and It was a big portion of the book I felt nothing. It was written in non descriptive way, with sentenced composed by a five year.

Meet Tommy Lee. I wont say a lot about this but in my opinion this was the most explosive relationship ever. Both made huge mistakes and both had issues and drugs didnt help at all.
It was like every rock relationship should be like. Sex, drugs and rock n roll with a touch of continuous fighting.

Bobbie Brown was a really kind, sensitive and a good woman that went after the wrong men. Men that she hoped they would provide what she needed but eventually they didnt.

The writing was ok if you consider she used a ghost writer but the dialogues didnt seem real, like they never happened or they were changed. The emotions were kind of flat for a memoir and in the end it left a bitter taste because you realise that Bobbie wasted 15 years of her life, her best years like someone would say, on finding the perfect boyfriend, drugs and constant self sabotaging. She would have made it big if she was a little more down to earth. I just felt sorry for her.

Efterpi

Mini Review Monday: The Ghost Bride, The Lake, The 10th Circle

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
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3 Stars

I was so excited about this book. I couldnt wait to read it, and I was let down...epicly.
It starts great. The description of the houses, places, smells, food, people, city, landscape is so well crafted that it will leave you breathless. I smelled the food that was beign described to me. The story started off so good that I instantly loved the book, until I hated it a few chapters later. The main characters were amazingly human, mysterious, enjoyable to read about. Until everything changed. There is a lot of mystery and sub plots in The Ghost Bride, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Initially, we have to deal with a couple ones but later on we found ourselves between the underworld and the living world and so many mysteries in both of those worlds, that it was hard to keep track of what was happening. It was confusing and awkward and I soon found myself being bored and eventually gave it up without completing it.
I am not saying that the books sucked completely because the characters alone were great and the way the story is being told but it is much too crowded with information that it gives you a headache.

The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto
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3.5 Stars 

I don;t know what to say about this book. I dont know what I was expecting when I picked it up but definitely not what I read. The books narration is pretty simple and to the point but the characters themselves are so so so so so complex. We get to see the Japanese culture and how two completely different people find each other, first from apathy and then grow closer because of love. It was a weird trip to the mysterious and yet fascinating Japan. Confusing, interesting and so much different from what I read before.

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
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3.5 stars
 

I've seen the movie years before I read the book and I was not really disappointed by either. The movie was really close to the book, so it felt like I was revising some things haha. Although, I didn;t finish the book, The 10th Circle was well written, the plot well layed out and the characters were ok. A lot of drama and some hair pulling -seriously?- moments but other than that on ok book. It's all about realizing that one tiny white lie or misunderstanding can cause so much trouble and sadness to everyone around you and what a great damage you can make to yourself above all.

Efterpi

Mini Reviews and Giveaway

The Redemption of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen (book 2 in The Coincidence series)

Goodreads

4 stars

In the coincidence of Callie and Kayden I experienced something more than deep pain and the power of trust. I experienced love, true and strong love. It was a book about a blooming love and a new beginning.....in the Redemption of Callie and Kayden I experienced the exact opposite. Pain, fear and heartbreaking. The book felt like an emotional roller coaster in Six Flags (ever heard of Goliath...yeah you got it).The book is solely dedicated on Kayden's oint of view, how he decided to cope with what happened in the first book and how he decided that help and support was needed in order to do what he had too. The Redemption of Callie and Kayden is all about strength and how to find it. Facing your fears and comforting your demons and past. The characters themselves were amazing and although the plot had a few pitfalls I loved loved loved the book more than anything.

                                                                                                                                    
 

Twisted Together by Pepper Winters (book 3 in Monsters in the Dark series)

Goodreads

4.5 stars

I wont say anything about this book because it will ruin everything. The review will be a spoiler itself but for those of you who read the first two installments and still trying to decide whether or not to read the first one just grab it and devour it as slowly as you can. Like every good thing these series come to an end too. It was the most heartbreaking, sad, agony filled book I ever read. Sometimes I could not believe what I was reading others I was appalled by horror and found myself appraising the author for the greatness she created. The Accidental Reader is hosting a giveaway with the eARC of the first installement of the series.

The Possibility Of Us by Lisa Burnstein

Goodreads 

3 stars.

I received this book as an ARC from Entangled Publishing through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

I really dont have a lot to say about this book, only that I saw it coming from page one. The characters were really really good and I felt their pain and yearn throughout the book but what didn;t really work for me was the cliché plot. I tried really hard to love the book but it;s just not for me.

The Accidental Reader is giving away 1 eARC copy of Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters.Read Review Here.

 Before you enter the giveaway make sure you read the giveaway policies under our Policy page.

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With the Band by L.A. Witt (book review by Efterpi)

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS ADULT MATERIAL.

Author: L.A. Witt
Release Date: March 22nd 2011
Publisher: Loose Id
Pages: 252
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
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Hard rock band Schadenfreude is finally on the verge of the success that’s eluded them for the last several years. With Aaron McClure as their new lead singer, nothing’s going to stop them…except maybe a steamy, secret relationship between Aaron and bassist Bastian Koehler. Aaron knows all too well what can happen when band members get involved with each other. After all, his last band was a casualty of his last relationship, and Schadenfreude forbids band members from dating for that very reason. But Bastian is too hot to resist, and besides, it’s just sex, so what’s the harm?

Bastian has just gotten out of a long relationship with his volatile ex-fiancée when Aaron catches his eye. The sexy singer is irresistible, and in spite of the potential for strife within the band if this comes out, Bastian can’t help himself.

Their passion in the bedroom is rivaled only by their ambition as musicians, though, and pretty soon, it's going to tear them, and Schadenfreude apart, if they can't get back to playing with the band.

Review:

To be clear before we go on with this review ,I have never ever in my life so far read one single book of gay romance or M/M or whoever you guys call it..this is my first and from what I have heard from other bloggers its a really good read in comparison to other M/M novels out there..and it was...it really was.

Once the book start we get a little background on Aaron, the main character of this book. He is on the way to Seattle, returning from Los Angeles after his band broke up because of him and his boyfriend. Pure drama in my opinion.

Once Aaron meets up with his brother in order to join their band since they fired their singer, he comes face to face with Bastian...German btw. The attraction is instant but the problem is that Bastian is straight so that leaves Aaron alone in the shower masturbating over Bastian. To keep things short Bastian (bisexual) makes the first move and we find both of those rockers in a sequence of pure lust and cheek-blushing sex scenes. So hot I could feel the steam coming off my Nook's screen.
The writer seemed to be doing a great job with the descriptive part of the book but seemed to be doing exactly the opposite when it came to actual dialogues and dropping a little of background info on both of the main characters.

 The good thing with the first page though was the writing, it had me hooked on the book until the end. And after page three or four things went south...really south in a bad way. What struck me the most was the repetition of words and phrases in one single page that made me want to scream from frustation and annoyance. This is Writing 101 there Witt, seriously wasnt that the first thing you learned?

Conversations seemed to circling around the same context of ''How are we going to come forward to our families and friends?'' ,''What will they say?'' etc over and over again it made it tiring and really annoying at times. All the sex scenes started with ''We should stop..'' and ended in pure sex.
Bastian and Aaron didnt seem to be talking about anything else but the situations mentioned above and when they did they cut it short because of more SEX. Seriously?

I also hated how the band responded to the revelation of their relationship and how this thing kept dranging on and on and on. We live in the 21st century for fucks sake, I mean how hard is it to stomach the fact that two people are gay and in a relationship fucking their brains out in secrecy every night?

As for the characters dont expect a lot of depth and a lot of intuition they are just plain. I couldnt even bond with Aaron on Bastian.

The ending was really disappointing because for an unexplained reason it was rushed and cut short.

Three stars it is for the sex scenes and how hot they were.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (book review by Eleni)

Author: John Boyne
Release Date: September 12th 2006
Publisher: Fickling Books
Pages: 224
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Barnes and Noble

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

REVIEW:

This is another book that I read during my experiment with World War 2 Literature and I have to say that I am little dissapointed. I made the mistake and watched the movie first before reading this book and usually the term ''the book is always better than the movie'' is true although it does not apply in this situation. The movie itself was not great but I expected the book to be for that reason only.

The first thing that I noticed was the writing of course. It was very good but no great but you get in the story pretty quickly. The author did a great job telling the story of a nine year old boy in Nazi Germany, son of an SS Officer , a boy who only wanted to explore everything, even the darkest corners of his home ,a boy sourounded by the world;s darkest time and humanities lowest point and be totally oblivious to what exactly was happening around him. 

When he moved with his family to Poland, a few kilometers from Auschwitz he could see the chimneys of the most notorious death camp and yet he simply could not comprehend what this was...for him it was a farm with people that were wearing pajamas all day and the only thing that he wanted to do was find new friends in this new ''neighborhood'' and play with them. Until he meets one of the boys in that ;;farm;;.

A story nicely told with a tint of sadness and a friendship evolving in the two different worlds with just a wired fence to separate them, a sad ending and message so well passed, this is a book that should stand along with other novels about the holocaust with the exception of a few mistakes by the author.

How can a boy growing up in Nazi Germany does not what Heil Hitler means and how can he possibly believe that this is a form of saying hello? How can the author refer to the English name of Auschwitz (out-with) when this book is supposed to be taking place in Germany - Poland and the main characters speak German? Also there are some plot holes in the story that there are not hard to pass but anyone can notice them. Due to those little mistakes the book loses some of its just thus the 3 stars.

Crossed by Allie Condie (book review by Eleni)

Author: Ally Condie
Release Date: March 13th 2011
Publisher: Speak
Series: Matched #2
Pages: 367
Rating: 3 stars
Buy at: Amazon , Barnes and Noble

The Society chooses everything. 
The books you read. 
The music you listen to. 
The person you love. 
Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him. 
And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.
But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems...
A rebellion is rising.
And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.

Review:

Personally, I wasn't so impressed with this one. And that's why it was so hard to rate this book. I didn't know if it deserves two stars or three but in the end i decided with three so the following reasons.

It's not an amazing book lets be clear about that. It is more like a cliche boy loves girl , girl loves boy, they risk everything for each other and one of them ends up doing something he considers wrong just to please the other person.

I expected this book to be a little more adventurous than the first one but in the end it was blant and boring. It was really really really predictable and for not even a second I didn;t doubt my guesses...and in the end I was right. But the writing was really good and although I wanted to drown myself, I continued reading because at some point I felt something for the main protagonists of the book. It was not strong but it was there so I finished the book.

As with all the young adult books , this one is not an exception of the rule , it follows the pattern of every second book - the couple loses each other and they both begin a journey of finding each other and themselves. Lame but what can we do. 

The characters were okay and the descriptions were really good too but the plot needed a little more adventure and action and also the characters needed stronger targets. Stronger motivations for doing what they were doing.

Other than these I don't have anything else to say about this book. It wasn't exciting and I expected a little bit more than that.

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (book review by Eleni)

Author: Natsuo Kirino
Release Date: March 13th 2007 (1st published in 2003)
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 480
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon ,Barnes and Noble

Tokyo prostitutes Yuriko and Kazue have been brutally murdered, their deaths leaving a wake of unanswered questions about who they were, who their murderer is, and how their lives came to this end. As their stories unfurl in an ingeniously layered narrative, coolly mediated by Yuriko’s older sister, we are taken back to their time in a prestigious girls’ high school—where a strict social hierarchy decided their fates — and follow them through the years as they struggle against rigid societal conventions.

Shedding light on the most hidden precincts of Japanese society today,Grotesque is both a psychological investigation into the female psyche and a work of noir fiction that confirms Natsuo Kirino’s electrifying gifts.

Review:

This book confused me so much when it comes to the rating. It;s one of those books that belong in the in between and I really didn't know how to rate it. So I closed my eyes and gave it a 3. 

Like all Natsuo Kirino's books you get to see the story from multiple POV'S and I guess that's a good thing but not in Grotesque. At some point the narration becomes really boring while we get to know the background of Yuriko's murderer , and my opinion is that it was unnecessary for the author to do so in this book. I would like the book a lot better if it was based on two POV's instead of 3. It would me more mysterious and more fast paced and enjoyable rather than painful. Although , I wanted to commit suicide from boredom I couldn't put the book down because it was enjoyable from a whole different aspect...modern Japan.

While the main protagonist lives her life and tells the story of her sister Yuriko we get to see a Japan so much different than the cuteness and the happiness that we know. It's a Japan dark and grey where people judge from appearance and are nosy and above all they see mixed Japanese as ''bastards'' . You get to know the ''goods'' and bad's of prostitution and why people choose this kind of life. Kirino did a really good job with the writing in this one, although the translation had a lot of mistakes and at some points you couldn't make sense, blending fiction with reality in a book that was really intriguing and in the end sad. 

I didn;t enjoy this book as much I did with Out and Real World but I have to give it to her for her writing and the way she makes you see the real world people live in.

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan book review by Eleni

Author: David Levithan
Release Date: August 27th 2013
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 208
Rating: 3 Stars
Buy at: Barnes and Noble , Amazon

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

Review:

I finally finished the book after a hectic week and i dont know how to rate this book.

The book starts with a gay prom and how it got organised. We get to ''meet'' the main characters of the book that soon we will follow through their battle with anguish, inner demons etc.

I loved the fact that all the characters are being connected in the book through on event: The Big Gay Kiss (thats how i call it). Two boys decide to break the world record of the longest kiss by kissing for 32+ something hours in the front lawn of their school. And thats when everything start.

The gay couples around the book deal with their demons. Some of them try to make their families acknowledge  the fact that their gay, others avoid their families after being discovered and some of them battle with the social life that surrounds them. What they have is common is that each one of them finds refuge in the end.

What i found weird in this book is the narration. Some dead boys narrate the whole story referring to their selves as ''we'' which is kinda pathetic in the beginning but you will get used to it as i did. I liked the way Levithan chooses his words and tries to pass a message through this book: You are not the first one going through this, others been there too and there is always help even if you cant see it.

Also, i felt a little detached from the main characters probably because of the narration and if there was one thing that i would change in this book that would be it. Other than that everything was great and totally gayish but also gloomy at some point.

Definetely a good gay book that i would recommend.

Towering by Alex Flinn book review

Author: Alex Flinn
Release Date: May 14th 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 304
Buy at: Barnes and Noble , Amazon.
Rating: 3 stars

At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.

Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her. 

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.

Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now. 


Review:

I finally finished reading Towering no...it's not that good. I thought that Flinn created a nice retelling of a classic story that every kid heard before going to bed but i was wrong. This book is nothing like beastly...it's inferior to it.

Let's start with the characters:
To be honest although i am a die hard for romance novels i hate insta-love. I want the characters to make each other suffer a little before confessing to each other, i want to feel this agony, this craziness that makes me turn pages like crazy in order to finally read the part where they get together and i didn;t experience that in this book...not at all. When Wyatt met Rachel it was boring and predictable...it lacked the sparkle. The author wanted us to feel the same thing as Wyatt and Rachel but her attempt fell flat. And no it's not the fact that i have read so many books that i find nothing fascinating anymore, because with Easy by Tamara Webber i was shivering with every scene i read.
Their relationship seems superficial and the only part that gives you a slight glimpse of their actual connection comes for a couple pages and then fades away in the author's rush to finish the book.

The Plot:
It was pretty good for a fairy tale retelling...modernly. I didn;t see the twist coming and to be completely truthful with you i didn't even had the slightest suspicion of what would happen.That was great of her.
Now what put me completely off was the ending. Although Flinn made a great job with keeping you reading ,choosing carefully her words did a terrible mistake (unforgivable) with the ending.

The Ending:
I found the last few chapters of the book completely stupid. It dind;t make any sense and i felt like the author wanted to get the book out of the way as fast as she could. It was rushed and not well written and i really wanted to give up on the last 20 pages. Why would you write a whole book and just change your attitude towards the end???? It was disappointing.


I don't know if i would like to spend my time reading this book on reading something else but i now know that i wont be reading any other books of Flinn unless something really good comes up. Although it kept me reading i would prefer it if it was a written a little more careful.