Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: April 4th, 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Paperback

Pages: 388

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

I decided that I was finally going to pick up Alex, Approximately because I have recently been hit hardcore with ALL the reminders of the boy that I used to talk to online and was just SO in love with in high school.

I was going through my old email that I used to use MSN Messenger for, which is where I primarily talked to this person. I had saved conversations that I was dissecting via email with my friend who spent that school year in Texas. I sent pictures of him to my mom after she moved away and I told her just how SEXY he was. *ultimate face palm*

It also inspired me to to decipher my old, scribbled out journal entries about him, which is a whole new level of cringe. I was just so very head over heels. Oh my goodness.

Anyway, all of that finally inspired me to pick up this book about Bailey, who moves across the country to live with her dad in the beach town where Alex, the boy she has formed an online relationship with, lives. She calls herself an Artful Dodger, meaning she has turned dodging social/confrontational things that she doesn't want to deal with into an art form. So, naturally, she doesn't tell Alex that she moved to his town.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There really wasn't as much emphasis on the online relationship part of the story as I thought there would be. In the beginning, Bailey spends a lot of time scoping out the town, trying to see if she can figure out who Alex is and make sure he's not some kind of creeper. But as she starts to get to know one of her coworkers from her summer job more, she starts to look for and talk to Alex less.

I loved the relationship between Bailey and Porter. They both work in a museum for their summer job. Bailey usually works the ticket booth, Porter is security. Bailey doesn't really care for Porter at first, but he grows on her as they get to know each other more. I also really liked the friendship between Bailey and her fellow ticket booth worker, Grace. They were a fun set of friends.

The story was interesting. I liked watching Bailey and Porter's relationship grow. I liked learning about the traumatic parts of their pasts that they don't really talk about with other people. I liked the conflict with Davy. I liked the family relationships in the story. I just overall adored this story.

The only complaint I have, doesn't have anything to do with the story, but more the writing. In the first couple of chapters, the Artful Dodger thing gets SO repetitive, it started to drive me nuts. Like, the fact that Bailey is an Artful Dodger is so relatable, but like... I got it. I didn't need to hear the term 900 times in like 20 pages. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but repetitiveness in books is probably my biggest writing style pet peeve.

Overall, I really liked this book. I would recommend it if you're looking for a cute, fun, summer-y romance. It doesn't have as much of a focus on the online relationship as I was expecting, which was what I was looking for going in, but it was still so much fun.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Guest Post // First and Last Lines of Iconic Books

Reading the first line of a book is like reading a written invitation addressed to you. If you like what the invitation says, you read on. If you don’t like it, or it doesn’t interest you, you close the book and read a different story. Authors know the importance of those first few words. Some authors even devote several months of time to develop the opening line of their book. Famous author, Stephen King revealed that he has spent up to several years on opening sentences, claiming that the extra time has contributed to the success of his works. 

Though formulating the ideal first line is critical, formulating the last sentence of a story is arguably just as important. While opening sentences invite you in, the last sentence wraps the story up and leaves you with an impression that can last a lifetime. Invaluable created this visual that highlights the beginnings and endings from famous novels. 

What are the first and last lines of your favorite stories?

Bookending Autumn 2019 #1 // Sweater Weather

Bookending Autumn is a quarterly event, running under the umbrella term “Bookend Events," aspiring to bring the book blogging community closer together! Bookending Autumn has a theme of fall/autumn and all things Halloween, but you DO NOT need to stick to this theme at all!

If you're curious about this event, here is a link to the announcement post.

The theme for the first day of Bookending Autumn is Sweater Weather!

The most basic of prompts for Day 1! It’s officially sweater weather, so break out those cardigans from the back of your closet. Name some books that make you feel warm and cozy, like a nice sweater in the fall.

I'm probably thinking too hard about this, but I don't know what a warm and cozy feeling from a book is so I am just picking books that give me a warm and FUZZY feeling. Which is basically just another way to say I'm listing some books that are my favorites in some way!

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Goodreads

At the point of writing this post, Well Met was the most recent book that I read and I absolutely ADORED it. I'm not sure why exactly I loved it so much, but I did. It is definitely my favorite romance novel (let's just ignore the fact that I haven't read very many, hahahaha). I would die for Simon Graham.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads

If we're going by books that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, can I really NOT include The Darkest Minds? My favorite book and series ever? I mean, at this point, it can probably just go without saying, but if I can convince someone new to my blog to read this series, the repetitiveness is worth it. :)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads

Delirium is the book that got me to be an avid reader. It's the first series I ever remember going hard on and binging like a boss. I was ready to leave my house at 2 am to go to Walmart to buy Pandemonium after binging this book. Requiem was the first book I ever preordered. It arrived a day early and I binged that one as fast as I could so I could say that I read it before the rest of the plebs could. It's the first time I ever remember being SO disappointed by the end of a series and the series that made me realize that I hate open endings. But I love it. I kinda want to do a reread of this series, but I'm terrified that I won't like it as much.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Goodreads

I am including this one because Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite Disney movie and I think that this book is probably my favorite retelling of it. Which is funny because when I picked it up, I really didn't think I was actually going to like it. I am SO ready for A Heart So Fierce and Broken! 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Akira Himekawa

Goodreads

This year I have really gotten into reading mangas, so I think it would be fitting to include a manga! And The Legend of Zelda is my all time favorite game franchise (and almost the only game franchise I even bother to play). AND before Breath of the Wild came out, Ocarina of Time was my favorite Zelda game so this particular manga was really fitting to include in this list. If you know the storyline of any of the games that have a manga, you really won't get a whole lot of new information from this, but the mangas give Link a personality, which I loved.

But I will THROW my money at Akira Himekawa if she ever comes out with a Breath of the Wild manga series. That game is my jam.

What are some books that make you feel warm and cozy like a fuzzy fall sweater?

Review // Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: September 3rd, 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

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Summary (from Goodreads):

All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

That's it, that's the review.

But if you wanted a little bit more than that, I loved this book. I loved the Ren Faire setting. I loved the characters. I loved the enemies-to-lovers romance. I loved that I actually read a book where I can swoon over Simon Graham aka Captain Ian Blackthorne and I'm not cradle robber. I want to read this book for the first time all over again.

This book follows Emily, who I thoroughly enjoyed as a main character. Her life is pretty much in complete upheaval after her breakup with her long time, rising attorney boyfriend and losing her apartment. So the timing is perfect, however unfortunate it might be, when she has to move in to her sister's guest room and take care of things for her while she heals from her nasty car accident. Running errands and carting her niece around gives her a purpose while she figures out what she wants to do with her life now.

On top of that, she has to volunteer for the school's Renaissance Faire as her niece's chaperone so that she can participate. And that's how she meets Simon, who she gets off on the wrong foot with almost immediately. The Ren Faire is his life and he doesn't care for Emily's lighthearted and less serious approach to it.

Simon, as a love interest, I adored. He took over the organization of the Ren Faire after the death of his brother, who started it. He is a stickler for the rules and making sure everything is perfectly the way his brother had it. But when the actual Ren Faire rolls around, in character, he is a lot more fun, flirty, care-free, etc. And then you get to see another side of him when him and Emily finally get to know and LIKE each other. I don't know what to say, Simon was just...

I liked the enemies-to-lovers romance. Real life Simon is not Emily's favorite person, but when she meets Captain Ian Blackthorne, she can't believe they're the same person and it makes her start to get more curious about the man behind the persona. And I loved it.

Besides the romance, Emily is also forming lots of other relationships in this new, small town. Her sister is 12 years older than her so they've never really been close. As Emily puts it, by the time she was starting to get 'interesting', her sister was off to college. So in this arrangement they have going on, she's finally getting to have a relationship with her sister. And by being her chauffeur, she is able to get closer to her niece who is only around ten years younger than she is.

Besides familial relationships, she is also forming friendships with the rest of the Ren Faire volunteers, particularly her fellow tavern wench, Stacey, and the attractive coach-in-a-kilt, Mitch.

Before long, she starts to consider that after she's done helping her sister, maybe she could stay and make a life in Willow Creek.

If I was going to complain about anything, it would be how quickly Emily just jumps to the worst possible conclusions about things without talking to people first. There is one big thing in particular that I'm thinking of where she jumps to the worst conclusion about something that is going on when she has literally not a single, solitary shred of evidence or real reason to believe that worst thing. It was a little bit annoying. But that just can't damper my enchantment with this novel.

Overall, this book was so so so good. Everything about it was just *chef's kiss*. I would highly recommend this book if anything I've said sounds like it could remotely be up your alley. I'm not entirely sure what exactly stood out to me so much to make me feel so strongly about it, but I am here for this book.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review // The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

The Devouring Gray #1

Publisher: Titan Books

Publication Date: April 2nd, 2019

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 368

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?

Four Paths is a small town in a woodsy part of New York that was founded by four families in the 1800's and who's descendants are now responsible for keeping the rest of the town safe from the Beast with different powers that are passed down through each founder family.

Recently, the town has been experiencing an influx of deaths caused by the Beast and the town is starting to become disenchanted with the founders and question what exactly they're doing to keep everyone safe because it certainly doesn't seem to be working. 

This book mainly follows four characters, one from each family.

Violet Saunders has just moved to Four Paths, her mother's hometown, after the death of her sister, Rosie. She is thrown into this whole founder family thing and has to figure it out without the help of her mother, who seems to have no idea what's going on. I liked Violet, but I felt like she just accepted literally everything anyone told her at face value. 

Justin Hawthorne is basically the town's golden boy. He is popular, athletic, the son of the town's sheriff. He basically spends the whole book trying to help everyone and make up for his past wrongdoings. He is also SUPER "woe-is-me" throughout the book about everything.

Isaac Sullivan was probably my favorite character. He's kind of like the destructive, bad boy one in the group. He's probably the one with the most interesting (read: sad) past and the one that I am the most curious about in the future of this series. I want all the good things for Isaac Sullivan.

Harper Carlisle is the outcast of the group, having been shunned after failing her ritual and losing her arm. She is angry, and rightfully so, but it didn't feel like there was all that much to her beyond her anger and her basically hating that she still wants Justin Hawthorne after everything he put her through.

Overall, I liked the characters, I just wish that there was more to some of them. But I liked seeing how they all came to be friends or at least tolerate each other after Violet came to town.

I would have liked to know more about the Beast and where it came from. You don't even really get to know what the Beast even IS in this book and I feel like it raises some questions about who is really the bad guy in the grand scheme of things in this town. So, interesting, would like to know more.

There really wasn't a lot of romance in this book. There are no pairings by the end of the book. But there are some feelings brewing and I liked one of the pairs more than the other, but for a book with so many characters that are bisexual, there don't seem to be any main m/m or f/f pairings in the works, which is a little bit disappointing.

I have not seen Stranger Things, but I feel like the Raven Cycle series is an adequate comparison, it has a similar vibe, but maybe doesn't feel QUITE as atmospheric or eerie.

I enjoyed this book for the most part but, I felt like some of the writing wasn't my favorite. Some of the pacing was a bit off for me. Like for example, one minute, Violet was leaving her house with her aunt sitting on the porch with her cat, Orpheus, and then it felt like the next minute, Violet was in the woods and Orpheus was already there.

And the other thing for me was each character being explicitly described by their skin color. Besides the fact that this felt unnecessary because I only remember one small character being black, there are only so many points of view I needed to know that one character was white from. I am pretty sure there were at least two points of view that we first saw Violet from and they both said something along the lines of "there was a white girl standing there". I'm not saying trying to say that this is a bad thing, it's definitely not. I'm just saying that there are probably more ways you can describe a person besides JUST black and white. Which, later in the book this did get slightly better, but it was really prevalent in the beginning.

And I just want to know how a cat that seems to be fairly active can spend the entire book with a piece of red yarn tied around his ear? Like, it's adorable, but it just kinda... sounds fake.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was interesting and I am pretty sure that I would die for Isaac Sullivan. If you liked the Raven Cycle series, this is definitely worth a try. I am excited to see where this series goes.

Have you read this book yet? What did you think of it?