Mini ARC Review: No Regrets by Claire Kent

Author: Claire Kent
Publication Date: July 22nd 2014
Pages: 280 approx.
Format: ebook/ e-galley
Add on Goodreads, Leafmarks

Rating: 2 stars

On my last birthday, I made one vow for the year. Live with no regrets. Eleven months have passed, though, and nothing has changed. I still sleep alone, spend my life working, and never move out of my comfort zone.

Then the loss of my dog throws my whole life out of orbit, and I end up in bed with a very hot and slightly-too-young veterinarian, who has recently made a vow of his own. Live with no strings. Josh is more than happy to help me with the things I’ve been afraid to try. Semi-public sex. Spanking. Anal sex. He’s a willing partner for everything I’ve wondered about, as long as I don’t demand more.

He’s serious about his no-strings philosophy. As serious as I am about living with no regrets. I can’t help but fall for him, even though I know better. So my biggest regret might be a broken heart.

My Thoughts:

I received this title by the author/publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will sum this book in one word: Predictable.

Meet Leslie, a thirty something well off woman, single, with a dog who just died and a vow not to have regrets about anything she does anymore. She meets the sex god Josh and together they share a passionate night (they only met that very morning).

I get it that this is a short story but it was really stupid and predictable. I finished the entire book with difficulty since I could not even concentrate. The writing was good but it lacked something important that I cant place. Although, the sex scenes were sexy and hot, for me personally, it lacked something. 

I mean from the book description you can actually tell what's this story is all about. I give this book two stars because of the writing and for the author's attempt to write a book.

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.

Mini Reviews Monday

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young

5 stars

Goodreads

This book had me captivated since page one. It was really easy to get into and the sarcastic, beautiful and smart characters had me immediately. The story developed slowly in order to get to know all the main characters and when it finally came into momentum I was swooning like crazy.

It is a sad, heart breaking story about two people, each with their own issues , which were down to earth, and overcoming their fears each in their own way. The story deals with real life situations and problems and that made it even more believable. An amazing read.

Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden

4 stars

Goodreads

 

I watched the movie years before I picked this one up and I regret the fact that I didnt do it earlier. The story was so much better and different than the movie itself and a lot more sad. Although, the book seemed to me like a real memoir it is a work of fiction that it is so well written. Astoundingly captivating. I liked the fact that the author although, he was saying a story the premise was based (and was subtly visible throughout the book) on how women got used for entertainment for men , worked their entire lives for their mistresses ,with no life of their own and how far can someone go for a revenge. The characters were so alive and perfect, each with it own bad habits and faults but with perfections as well. This is a great book that everyone should read.

Rush by Maya Banks

1 star

Goodreads

I dont have almost anything to say about this book because it was a DNF/Dropped. If you read 50 shades of Grey then you have read this book as well. Dont even bother. It is a fanfiction of the actual 50 Shades and to be honest I couldn;t read any more than page 47.

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