The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrowes

Author:  Grace Burrowes
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Sourcebook Casablanca
Date published:  7 April 2015
Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy on: Amazon, Amazon UK

Noah Winters, Duke of Anselm, spent months sorting and courting the year's crop of debutantes in search of an ideal bride. When the sweet, biddable young thing he selected accepts another's proposal, Noah decides to court her companion instead.

Thea Collins, though, is anything but biddable. She has learned the hard way that men are not to be trusted, especially the handsome ones. When she reluctantly accepts, Noah rushes Thea to the altar before she can reveal her deepest secret. Can she finally move on from her past, or will it come back to haunt her?

Review: 

This is the story of Noah and Thea. Noah is a duke in need of a wife; Thea is a lady's companion and the daughter of an earl. Her parents died some years ago and hard times and the need to support her family forced Thea out to work. 

At the end of the season Noah finds himself with no fiancée and so he decides to offer for Thea, the two marry soon after and this is where something goes mildly wrong. 

You see, Thea did not make it to the wedding night virginal. Ooops. 

Being married slowly Thea and Noah come to terms, getting other her lack of virginity, her troubled family, his challenging cousins, his family history and one man they both managed to annoy plenty. 

Slowly their match that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with mind becomes a match of two friends and even lovers. Like most regency novels the two fall in love in the end. 

Thea and Noah were good together and I liked how their relationship developed even though I did not like the fact that some things seemed to drag for far too long. Also, the writing was fairly done but sometimes I felt as if I was reading something and I didn’t understand what the conversation was about. This made me a tiny bit annoyed- sorry but I could care less if the farmers managed to grow their whatever or not. 

The passing of time was also not very fluid. But what annoyed me the most was the way Thea's past was handled. You see- quite early you learn of the possibility that Thea lost her virginity unwillingly. However, it is hardly ever addressed. She doesn't seem to have a problem having sex with her husband, her husband is too afraid to know the truth and when the truth comes out in two pages everything is resolved and that's it. Which also means the ending felt too rushed for me. 

This was a good regency book, and I liked the characters. I especially liked the development of the relationship between Thea and Noah and how they both grew into their roles- she the one of a duchess, he the one of a husband. 

So nice story and well worth the read. It just fell a little short compared to my expectations. 

An ARC was kindly provided by Sourcebook Casablanca. Thank You 

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: February 28th 2012
Series: Divergent #1
Pages: 485
Buy on: Amazon
Add on: Goodreads, Leafmarks

Rating 3.5 stars

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her. 

My Thoughts:

I was avoiding this book since it came out in 2012. I was seeing it everywhere, I heard about it everywhere, I even recommended it to customers at the bookstore because everyone was reading it. I was avoiding it mostly because, when a new book is coming out I usually refrain from reading it, and the reason? None at all. Its like a bad reflex.

Despite all the raving reviews for Divergent and the two sequels, I dont particularly think this book is 100% dystopian. I would rather categorize it under Young Adult Fantasy with a lot of futuristic and Hunger Games elements – minus the slaying of teenagers.

Meet Tris, a girl from the fraction of Abnegation who's life changes completely when a test categorises her as something abnormal – Divergent. She decides to leave her fraction for Dauntless. A group of people that mesmerized from a young age, when she realized that she is not selfless enough in order to belong to Abnegation. What struck me while the book progressed, was the fact that Tris became amazingly selfish. It seemed that she cared about her previous fraction but not enough. And that was kind of annoying. I liked that Tris decided to challenge herself and chose Dauntless, something that was completely different from what she was before. Although, selfish, she evolves.

Meet Four, a guy that is very intriguing and quiet but absolutely fit, and Tris's instructor. We get a lot of glimpses of him, until he becomes something more to Tris and although, the romance was not that sizzling, I cared for both of them deeply and I wanted (and want) to read more. I'm sure we will get a lot more of Four in the upcoming books.

The plot was okay, pretty simple in my opinion, and there were some subplots and things for consideration that ended up playing a major role in the progress of the book and the series. I am not crazy about it but I care enough to inhale the next two books in the series AND the book about Four.

At last, what struck me as odd is that people target this book towards teens of 12-17 of age but the violence in it is kind of much and at times shocking. From attacks, to catcalls, to suicide to extreme violence and fights. So I am not so sure if you would like your kid, cousin, niece whatever reading that if they are below 14 (again in my opinion).

So, yeah, dystopian or not this book is really good and it would appeal to the fans of The Hunger Games.

Book Review + Blog Tour: Beautiful Girl by Lida James

Author:  Lida James
Number of pages: 251
Publisher: The Studio, A paper Lantern Lit Imprint
Date published: 28 October 2014
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Buy on: Amazon, Amazon UK

Darkness has a way of catching up...

Sophomore year at Dutchess College has just begun, and Nicole is still haunted by memories of her first love, Zach. As the changing leaves fall on the stately Hudson Valley campus, she takes solace in running—pushing herself to go harder, faster, to be the best. With the wind blowing through her hair, she can almost convince herself that she is beautiful, that she will find love again.

So when Nico runs, quite literally, into the maddeningly elusive Justin, she’s convinced she’s found the guy to make her forget her ex—despite the warnings of her friends and her straight-edged running partner, Luke.
But when Nico is attacked in the woods after a wild night of partying, everything changes. Suddenly, Nico begins receiving anonymous threats, and she no longer knows where to turn for help—or whether even her close friends can be trusted.

All she wants is to be one of the beautiful girls—the ones who never have to chase perfection. But in order to uncover the truth, she’ll have to face a past she had hoped to leave behind forever. She thought she could outrun the darkness, but darkness has a way of catching up…and only one boy can save her. 


Review:

So, this was an interesting read. I shall simplify:

Why you should read the book

First of all, the writing. While I would not claim it to be the most beautiful writing I had ever encountered (Not even close), it is beautiful. Every few sentences or paragraphs there will be a description that will cut into me like a sharp knife. Something that had me thinking- "yeah, I know that. That's how I think of that". 

Secondly, this book has many issues from drugs and anorexia to stalking and death threats. Really, this book covers many subjects and it takes them all seriously. Self insecurity in a major level as well. 

Thridly, the characters in this book are somewhat complicated. Some of them are flawed more than the others. Others are simply lost. Some of them are admirable and some are just jerks. However you look at that they are varied and tehre is plenty to love, hate or connect to in one degree or the other.

Fourth, there are all kinds of relationships in this book- from true friendships to healthy romantic relationships to abusive relationships and fake friendships. I really loved how the author showed the various relationships there are in a person's life, and while showing how some of them are wrong  and one should not stay in them she did not once judge them. Rather, she let us watch, she let us know how the character felt and she let us come to our own conclusion. 

Fifth, this is a a story of hope. I'll explain in a bit.

Why you shouldn't read the book

first of all, this seems like a thriller from the cover to the name to the synopsis. When I requested for it I thought I was in for a New-Adult thriller. Something serious and edgy. I did get something serious and edgy, but the thriller aspect of it was not the main one and it wasn't that unpredictable.

Also, as I said there are various characters and they are quite varied. One thing they have in common is that they are very likeable and a little hard to relate. Yes, they have human problems. Yes, I can understand them. However, connecting on a deeper level- for more than just scene or a feeling is a lot harder. 

As I already mentioned this book deals with many issues and while it deals with all of them seriously, I have to admit the book was quite ambitious touching so many subjects. It is like when someone is trying to throw those 10 balls in the air and catch them all at the same time. What I mean is that at the end of the day with so many issues and subjects to cover you are left with nothing. It's like when you can't see the forest because of all the trees.

My thoughts 

This was a nice read, an intriguing one, Fact is some of the issues are grandeur, but some I think most people deal with in their life- like the need to be beautiful, to connect, to belong, to be loved. Those are things that many of us experience at different points in life. 

Nicole also dealt with them and she became stronger, yes, she was far from perfect (in teh start and in the end) and she still has a lot to work on by the end of the book but her story is a hopeful one. She learns. Which says something considering how annoying I found her at first when she tried to act like this "Big Girl" who can handle things and ignored the warning of teh people around her- but aren't we all like that sometimes? Despite the darkness the story keeps on reminding us there is hope- you learn, you keep in going, you grow stronger, There is always hope.

An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Book Review: A Match Of Wits by Jen Turano [Review by Sharon]

Author:  Jen Turano
Series: Ladies of Distinction #4
Pages: 352
Publisher: Bethany House Publisher
Date published: 1 July 2014
Buy on: Amazon, Amazon UK

Rating: 3.5 stars

"Lively and Humorous Historical Romp from an Acclaimed Author

Two years ago, Zayne Beckett's departure from New York City to meet up with his almost-fiance caused Agatha Watson no small amount of grief. So he is the last person she wanted to stumble upon in her travels as a reporter with the New York Tribune. Looking worse for the wear, he clearly needs to be taken in hand and taken back East to his family. Even though she's over him, Agatha can't help feeling sorry for him and realizes she'll have to be the one to get the stubborn man back home.

Zayne has no desire to be taken anywhere. Content to sit and mope over his recent bad fortune and the desertion of his not-quite-fiance, he's prepared to drag his heels all the way back to New York. That is, until he and Agatha find themselves slipping back into the strangely enjoyable bickering and bantering of their old friendship.It isn't until they arrive in New York City that Zayne realizes Agatha's determined nose for news has earned her a few enemies. When his attempts to repay her for helping him go sadly awry, Agatha proves herself just as stubborn as Zayne. Everyone else may think them a match, but nothing could be further from the truth--until Agatha finds herself in real trouble. Have these two stubborn, too-smart-for-their-own-good people been meant for each other all along?"

Review

Well this was one cute funny ride. I mean, I never knew NY city was like that.

When I think of historical romance I usually think of dukes and seasons and courting and all wonderfull things but I never thought what happens in the USA around that time. Maybe because I'm ignorant, mostly because I didn't care.

But this book was a wonderful discovery, it was funny and well written and I liked Agatha and Zayne and thier interaction. Agatha was such a busy-body with crazy ideas she drove me insane but I liked her still.

And Zayne with all his brooding smar ass hero attitude was fun. I just loved it!

Then, why just 3.5 stars and not 4?

First of all, and spirited as Agatha was I kinda felt it was a bit over the top (which, yes, made me hold back in half a star) but what disturbed me even more was the religion- "God, and god and god" and sometimes "the lord".

I do not mean to disrespect anybody, each person is entitled to his/hers believes and all. And though I am not a religious person I am not exactly a not religious person if that makes sense?

I do believe in god, but I also believe in myself and in the people around me. Anyhow, it is not my intention to talk about religion.

What I'm trying to say was that I felt that religion was a big issue in the book so very very big it was almost suffocating. Starting with Agatha's belief and Zayne's lost one which he retrieves by the end of the book.

So yeah, that part was not for me. I did however love the feminist spirit of the book and all the fun moments.

A review copy was provided by Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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

Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: August 5th 2014

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Series: Lux

Pages: 543

Rating: 3.5 stars

Buy on: Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

 

My Thoughts:

 

 I dont read a lot of ya paranormal books anymore and its weird because I used to six months ago or so but I read this one just because I was expecting its release like crazy and cause I read the previous books in the series last xmas.

As always Jennifer Armentrout did a wonderful job with her world of aliens and humans.
Opposition starts with so much intensity it was crazy, I thought that my heart would break from agony. Every scene is packed with action and anticipation and with such love that I was swooning over my kindle like crazy. The new characters were badass and funny at the same time and yet so real. I felt for them from page one...even for the villains. BUT....yup you were waiting for it.

But in this final book of the lux I felt like something was missing. Something essential, that truth is, I cant place what it was. It made the book suck a little bit for me and to be honest I was anticipating this book like crazy only to find myself a little disappointed. Maybe more that I expected. Although, like I said before it was packed with action it lacked what the rest did and that left me wondering if the author just overused the same conversations and phrases over and over. I felt like I went through deja vu with some scenes and that was so so so lame and...common.

Now, everyone knows that I am a sucker for romance BUT I hate it when I have a nice romance scene that is cute and sweet and balloons and rainbows and then suddenly I have this overly sexy scene that I feel like I am reading a preview or a cutout of something close to 50 shades. NO JUST NO that shit aint right. The main characters didnt seem to grow or get more mature after what went through (and they went through hell) and that is so shallow. Like you are completely immune to anything and nothing registers in your brains.

Other than that ,the pace of the book is really good, you dont even feel the 500+ pages because the pace is really good and there is always something thats going on that keeps you glued to the pages.

This is a good book but not what I was entirely expecting for a series finale.

Efterpi

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: April 2nd 2009
Series: If I Stay
Pages: 201
Rating: 3 stars
Buy on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

My Thoughts: 

I was avoiding this book mainly because it was being compared to Lovely Bones and then some people were saying that it will appeal to Twilight fans. I loved twilight ,dont get me wrong ,but I didnt want to read something similar, or worse, a fan fiction.

When I started If I Stay, I couldnt really get into it. Maybe its me, but the writing seemed to me simple and more like 5th grade-ish. Like a kid trying to write a composition. Seemed to me that the emotions were flat and didnt give me the excitement I was expecting – the excitement I expect from every book – to connect with the main characters. I thought of giving it up and I am glad I didnt because then the twist came and the writing transformed to something astoundingly amazing and lively.

I was captivated by the beauty of the words the author was using, how the sentences were so alive and gave me goosebumps from the horror and amazement of what I was reading. Memories blended with the present creating a serene (almost) and yet gloomy atmosphere. If Lovely Bones was all about death, If I Stay was all about the celebration of life and the choices we make and how things can change within a millisecond.

Although the writing was beautiful and the characters well crafted and lively and the plot down to earth (if you exclude the paranormal element), I still felt like something was missing. Mia seemed cold to me, like literally, she felt nothing, or she was trying to suppress the feelings that overwhelmed her. Towards the end of the book, I think Mia had an epiphany of some sort and she started feeling everything and then the book became an emotional roller coaster because from 0 feelings you go to a crazy amount of feelings and all the things that you were reading all this time come down to crush you and yes, you tear up.

And now, in order to make an excuse for the rating of If I Stay, I will say that this book confused me a lot when it comes down to how it is written. I didnt know if it was like that on purpose or its just me so I decided to compromise and give it a decent rating.

Efterpi

For Colored Girl You Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuff by Ntozake Shange (book review by Eleni)

Author: Ntozake Shange
Release Date: September 1975
Publisher: Scriber
Pages: 85
Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy on:Barnes and Noble

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it is to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975 when it was praised by The New Yorker for "encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had," for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.

Review:

  When I watched the movie For Colored Girls who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuff I loved the way the plot flew and the poems...oh the poems were amazing. Two years later I picked the book expecting to find poems in it but what I found was a play. This particular book is not available in Greece so I read it last month in the USA. 

   I am not really good with reading plays and sceenplays, a reason I never really liked reading Shakespeare, but what I liked was the words. Written freely and with misspelled words and other errors I would consider it a waste of time, but no...the book is meant to be performed and not read, its meant to be seen and not read but above all this play has a story to tell, a very painful one.

   ''Reading'' about five different girls with the colors of rainbow I saw the difficulties of life, the pain of love and the pain of loss, the crash of hope and the ray of hope through the tunnel in an era of hatred and racism towards black women. This book is art, while reading you can actually visualize and you can hear the songs and see the dances but above all the author asks you to FEEL. 

    I loved every word of this book and although I had to re-read a few parts in order to comprehend through the slung and errors that did not stop me from finishing this play.

Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone (book review by Eleni)

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Release Date: October 8th 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Series: Time Between Us #2
Pages: 368
Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy on: Amazon , Barnes and Noble

Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds. 

It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?

Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.

Review:

These days its hard to find a really good book to read and lately i have been reading a lot of boring books. I expected a lot from this book due to the fact that the first one was indeed amazing ,this one lacked the enthusiasm of Time Between Us and somehow the narrative seemed slow and boring. Maybe because it was from Bennett;s point of view?

We have the classic love story with the distance of a decade in the middle of everything and that should make the whole plot a lot more intriguing and have more feeling in it but unfortunately I didn;t feel the rush at all. I want a book where I can feel the characters , i want to be able to develop feelings for them and want them to do certain things. In the first installment of the series I couldnt wait to have Bennett and Anna fall for each other, in this one I should have felt the urge to see them together..and I didn't and thats because of the writing.

The plot was great it had a lot of doubt and frustation and sadness but not in the detail a reader should expect..something which ruined the book for me. Other than that it was an okay book , it had equal amount of drama and fun in it ,lots of stupid stuff too and the classic i-dont-want-to-do-this-but-i-have-to-because-you-think-its-right-for-me-to-be-a-{insert word here} . Its a teen book like all the rest and besides the fact that it was boring in a level of apathy i read it because I wanted to see what will happen in the end ,seriously I will read book three because i think it will be great but i pray that someone intervene with the author and make her do some great changes in the development of the characters.

Entwined with You by Sylvia Day book review by Eleni

Author: Sylvia Day
Release Date: June 4th 2013
Publisher: Berkley
Series: Crossfire
Pages: 356
Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy at: Barnes and Noble , Amazon

From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside–so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.

No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession…


Review:

Finally I finished the Crossfire Series (although it's n0t the last book I wont continue with book number 4).

My personal opinion is, now that I read all 3 books, that Day dragged the story a looootttt. Actually there is not anything really new going on in this book except from the suspect for the death of Nathan. 
Sex is the same, obsession is the same the only thing that kind of changes is where everything takes place and how Eva falls harder for Gideon than ever before and agrees to marry him. 

What I didn't like is that in this installment of the series I didn't have the chance to connect with any of the characters of the book and that was more than just a little disappointing. The only one that I continue to have feelings for is Eva's mother - that bitch needs to die. 

Actually I dont' have anything more to say about this book and if you need more well read the reviews of the first two books - it;s pretty much the same. 

Again I wouldn't recommend this book to someone under the age of 17 due to messed up sexual content.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen Book Review by Eleni.

Author: Sarah Dessen
Publication Date: June 4th 2013
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Pages: 435
Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy at: Barnes and Noble, Amazon

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going?

Review:

     The book for me was a piece of art. Although I am not familiar with Dessen's novels I have to say that she did a great job when it comes to character development and realism.  All the characters have human traits and no one is perfect there is so much diversity that I believe anyone can relate himself to one. Not lot of authors have the ability to do that. 
      There is the girl that cares about all, the b*** who is also sentimental deep down, the overly attached - overly worrying mother and of course the awesome but douche boyfriend and the cool friends and sister. I found all the characters funny and clever (except a certain person who in the end turned 160 around) thus the book has a good sense of humor and i like funny books.
      What I didn't really like was the story. I saw the whole book but I continued reading because I went through a same phase when i was leaving for college a couple of years ago. I liked that Dessen showed how a departure of one person can change not only his life but others too. How everyone is start seeing this person and how they try to figure out how to treat him. As an adult or as a child? Through my experience this is the worst thing that can happen to a parent - the kid wants freedom the parent refuses to see that due to fear of what might change.
   The writing was really really good and I felt like i was walking around Colby and i liked that a lot!!!
I am sure the book will appeal to anyone that is ready to leave for college and also likes summer readings.