Audiobook Review: The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game #1) by Evelyn Skye

Title: The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Publication Date: May 17th 2016

Publisher:  Blazer + Bray (Harper Collins)

Part of a Series?: Yes, Book One in a planned Duology

I Got A Copy Through: I bought it via Audible

Buy Links: Amazon US

Blurb Description: Vika Andreyev can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Long story short? This book was over hyped, not nearly ruthless enough, it had a love triangle based entirely on insta-love and cool magic that wasn't capitalised on.

I should go into the long story, but, first, what is The Crown’s Game you might ask?

Long ago, in Russia, magic was rampant. The people believed and you could find magic under every rock. There were fairies and nymphs and all sorts of magical creatures, but now nobody believes. If magic hit them in the face, they'd probably write it off as somethings their rational brains could comprehend.

Basically, Russia’s magic pool has depleted and only a very few amount of people ever get magic anymore.

Vika Andreyev is one of these people with magical abilities - an enchanter, for use of a better word. And her father, Sergei, is training her to be the imperial enchanter, to help the Tsar and all of Russia. She can summon storms from the sky, she can freeze people, but what Avika doesn't know is that there's another enchanter. Another enchanter, with the other half of Russia’s magic pool. And for her to live, he needs to die.

These rules are dictated by an ancient game called The Crown’s Game. The rules are simple: each enchanter has five turns, and at the end, if the Tsar hasn't decided who his Imperial Enchanter will be, the Game itself will decide, obliterating one so that other can achieve their true potential.

Which is all you need to know. Now, what I didn't like about this audiobook:

1.    The Insta-Love: Yes, love triangles are tedious and overdone, but most of the time, if the rest of the story is intriguing enough, they don't affect me. What did affect me, though, was the RIDICULOUS Instant Love. All it took for Nikolai (the other enchanter) was the fact that his MAGIC called to her MAGIC (Hello? Vika is not her magic) and Pasha to fall in love with her was a couple of glances. I hated it. WHERE’s THE CHEMISTRY, PEOPLE?

2.    The Anti Ruthless Policy: I swear, through half of the book, I felt like I could be more ruthless than these CHILDREN playing games with magic and thrones. Russia seems like a cutthroat world, and these three were in the middle of its future with no ruthlessness or regard for anything except their own whiny feelings!

3.    The Predictability: I FUCKING CALLED EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK. Well, except for one plot twist that I'm being accommodating and giving it a star for, but other than that, I predicted everything and I HATE it when that happens.

What I liked?

The enchantments in the game were very cool, and I love magic with almost no limits. But while there was an awesome amount of imagination out into these tricks, I didn't see how these tricks were showing the Tsar how his Imperial Enchanter could give him advice - POLITICAL ADVICE - that would help him rule Russia.

I also ADORED the Narration! Steve West has brilliant oratory skills, and an even better Russian accent and I felt like I was getting the whole deal!

Overall, a 3 star book that was just overhyped.

Which was the last over-hyped book you read? Which book, in your opinion, has the coolest magic? Have you read The Crown's Game? What did you think?

I can't wait to talk magic with y'all!

REVIEW: The Prophecy of Shadows (Elementals, #1) by Michelle Madow

Title: The Prophecy of Shadows
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Barclay Publishing
Publication Date: January 26th 2016
Part of A Series?: Yes! Elementals Trilogy, #1
I Got A Copy Through: NetGalley

Blurb Description: Filled with magic, thrilling adventure, and sweet romance, Elementals is the first in a new series that fans of Percy Jackson and The Secret Circle will love! 

When Nicole Cassidy moves from sunny Georgia to gloomy New England, the last thing she expects is to learn that her homeroom is a cover for a secret coven of witches. Even more surprisingly … she’s apparently a witch herself. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, Nicole is welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers—and, to her dismay, by Blake—the school’s notorious bad-boy.

Girls who get close to Blake wind up hurt. His girlfriend Danielle will do anything to keep them away, even if she must resort to using dark magic. But the chemistry between Blake and Nicole is undeniable, and despite wanting to protect Nicole from Danielle’s wrath, he finds it impossible to keep his distance.

When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, Danielle, and two others in their homeroom are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect—it opens the portal to the prison world that has contained the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes and attacks Nicole and Blake, it’s up to them and the others to follow the clues from a cryptic prophecy so that they can save their town … and possibly the world. 

**MY REVIEW**

Here’s the thing with name dropping* - don’t do it. I understand publicity techniques, but if the synopsis is catching enough I don’t need hints of it being like all these other books to convince me to read it. If I really really liked a series, and you name drop it on another book, I’m quite literally sitting there, expecting the same level from the new book!

*Name Dropping is what is done on the blurbs of books, to get readers to relate it to other books in their heads. For example, "Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo,"

And for The Prophecy Of Shadows, compared to the Percy Jackson series, it didn’t work out too well. When I was in middle school, I got hooked onto the Percy Jackson series. After I finished all five novels, I proceeded onto the Heroes of Olympus series, which I religiously waited on for five years of my life, only to get an ending that was thoroughly unbelievable as equally disappointing. It was here I promised myself that I would go no more…

And then The Prophecy of Shadows came out. Practically in love with Michelle’s Secret Diamond Sisters’ Series, I decided that her new book would definitely be worth a try! And I can quite honestly say that if it hadn’t been compared to Percy Jackson, I would have liked this book a whole lot more than I did.

Starting off with a not so nice Harry Potter reference didn’t help too much, but at the beginning of the book, I could definitely see that I would get into this. All the energy channelling and colours and secrecy was something like my favourite Wicca novel, and everything was right in the world. The characters were introduced well, their motivations hazy, just like I like them and the protagonist denying that she could be so special, and going ahead and saving the day – all elements that I love.

And then came the forbidden bad boy, and the chemistry that not only could I not feel, but I later realized couldn’t feel because it simply WASN’T there altogether. Then the characters weren’t complicated at all, but just plain vanilla and boring. Their GRAND prophecy was printed out on a piece of paper, and then entire book seemed like one big treasure hunt rather than an actual quest. 

Everything was in one city, down one road, and the Five in the Prophecy got their part of it all too easily!

I don’t know what to say really, except that I was expecting something like Percy Jackson, and it didn’t really deliver!

BLOG TOUR: Shallow Graves by Kalli Wallace - Review, Favourite Quotes and GIVEAWAY

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: January 26th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Horror, Zombies, Fantasy, Thriller, Contemporary, Fiction, Mystery, Supernatural
Rate: 3.75 Stars

Synopsis: For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.

When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.

"I don't know," he said. "You live, I guess. Same as everybody else."

"I can't live. I'm dead."

"You're only kind of dead."

I think I can only accurately describe what I feel about Shallow Graves when I say my thoughts are torn in half. Split right down the middle, fifty percent of this book was extremely vague - not bad, per se -  but just out there, off the mark and not at all what I was expecting. The other fifty percent was basically the chemistry filled, family filled, or space related stuff that I did love about the book.

In all honesty, this book kept pushing itself down, and then redeeming itself and repeating the same cycle over and over, and it made for a pleasant, not so pleasant reading experience - one that I'm not sure I want to embark on again.

Let me explain in further detail: 

THE GOOD:

Zeke and Jake - The brothers, 'monsters', inappropriately funny monster humor such as "The first rule of mermaid cannibal club is don't talk about mermaid cannibal club,'' family moments in the past, Breezy's INABILITY TO DIE, that super strong beginning, the actual killing process (yes, I'm that morbid.) and just Breezy's over the top curiosity and need for answers.

THE BAD:

The monsters, the final fight with the Mother, the creep factor, Violet, Mr. Willow, Lyle, the entire congregation of anti monster people and Ingrid.

Sigh. If you were to ask me to sum this up though, I'd say that though this book had an AMAZING storyline, and this amazing set of characters, it sort of missed the mark on what I expected it to be.

QUOTES:

''The first time I killed a man, it was an accident."

"They didn't know what I was. They didn't know I didn't need to breathe."

"Dragons?" Rain repeater. "This might all be worth it if dragons were real."

"There was a little voice in the back of my head whispering, an angry stage whisper that said: I am human. I know how we are. But I knew the difference between a truth and a lie, even inside my own head."

Follow the Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Kali Wallace studied geology and geophysics before she decided she enjoyed inventing imaginary worlds as much as she liked researching the real one. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, F&SF, Asimov's, Lightspeed Magazine, and Tor.com. Her first novel will be published by Katherine Tegen Books in 2016. She lives in southern California.

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Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn - ARC Review

Title: Firsts
Author: Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Publisher: St Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: January 5th 2016
Part of A Series?: No - Standalone:)
I Got A Copy Through: The Publisher via NetGalley

Blurb Description: Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.

Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.

When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up.

**MY REVIEW**

“Everyone’s a version of somebody else.”

A girl that does other girls the awkward favour of getting their boyfriends through their first times? Just so that (honestly) these girls she barely knows will have the best possible first time they could have – but with one catch – absolute discretion? In high school? 

First WOAH - I mean pretty original, right? And also, there’s no way that a secret like that doesn’t get out…

I’m always on the lookout for a Young Adult book with a new take on things, and Firsts definitely gave me one. The thing I wanted most from the book was for it to make me believe the story – for Laurie Elizabeth Flynn to make me believe the story she had written, and to understand everyone’s motivations in it. And while she did, while I definitely understood where Mercedes was coming from, she wasn’t the girl I thought she would be, after having the courage to do what she was doing. (Yes, I mean courage, because even if the sex was partially for her, she was also doing it with the intention of helping AND come on, would you? Do what she did that is?)

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t at all about the sex – that part (the why part) I completely understood – but more than anything, I felt like she spent the entire time feeling sorry for herself, and then trying to justify what she was doing, and then feeling sorry for herself again as she pushed the people who cared about her away. I mean, so what if sex is what gives her comfort? Why is that the worst thing in the world? Why is that a bad thing at all? Why is it so shunned? 

During some parts in the book, I felt like she understood what I was talking about – that sex itself was so regressed, nobody likes to talk about it, and no girl in the entire universe should want to do it, because she’s definitely a slut if she does. And then came the self-pity spirals. And then I lost her. Because Mercedes Ayres is a character that I can only describe at this point as someone BEGGING for attention (NOT because of the sex, because of what came after – what she said and did- not whom)

I guess, I just felt, that when dealing with a topic this sensitive, that the girl willing to help other girls because of what was inflicted onto her at such a young age would actually know why she was doing what she was doing and that she could own it, and not use it as an excuse to feel sorry for/ hate herself.

But SECOND, I admire that story. It took guts to write, and that gutsy writing made me feel like the characters were extremely gutsy as well. I liked the characters, especially Faye – who, coincidentally, is what I expected Mercedes to be – and Zach as well *swoon*

I’m not very sure if I explained what I felt with this book, but it’s way too fresh in my head to form anything more coherent…

In the end, however, I just think you should read this book because of the powerful message it manages to send across in the end!

3.75 Stars.

Review: Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Title: Lobsters
Author: Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
Publisher: Chicken House
Publication Date: June 5th 2014
Part of A Series?: Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Guardian Children's Books

Blurb Description: Sam and Hannah only have the holidays to find 'The One'. Their lobster. But instead of being epic, their summer is looking awkward. They must navigate social misunderstandings, the plotting of well-meaning friends, and their own fears of being virgins for ever to find happiness. But fate is at work to bring them together. And in the end, it all boils down to love.

**MY REVIEW**

“For, in the end, it all boils down to love…”

For Hannah, this summer, the summer between everything she knew and everything that is going to be is all about one thing: Finding her Lobster. Finding The One. For, you see, lobsters mate for life, and that’s exactly what Hannah wants, what many of us want! Okay, well, not just one, but someone special. Someone she can call hers.

And then she does, find someone that is- someone different, someone sweet, someone who likes hot Ribena (yes, it really is a thing) - rather briefly, and in a toilet and loses him just as quickly. With her best friends since literally forever- Stella, Tilly and Grace- they set off on a mission to locate Toilet Boy…

For Sam, life seems pretty bleak. After messing up on his French A- Level that may just cause him to lose his place at Cambridge and getting dumped by his girlfriend, there is not too much to look forward too. That is, until he meets this mysterious pretty girl in a toilet that he doesn’t feel the need to be ‘cool’ around, and then loses her, to some guy in a waistcoat…

It all seems rather silly to tell his mates- Chris, Robin and Ben- but the connection lingers on. in his mind, and unwittingly, in his heart.

For Sannah (yes, Sam and Hannah!) are going to learn that nothing is easy in the world we live in, especially not love. Especially when this love is based on a five minute conversation in a bathroom. Especially when we have our self- created social misunderstandings to navigate through. However, all we have to do is believe, that it will all boil down to love!   

Lobsters in a fun, light read that highlights what each and every teenager goes through today- social awkwardness, peer pressure, understanding yourself and the need to find someone that wants to as well! From London, to Greece to a crazy music festival, here is a love story that may not be perfect, but is most definitely real!

I couldn’t say I had any major problems while reading it, but, there were a few times- just once or twice- where I felt that the tale was just dragging along, especially in the end. Moreover, the book is told entirely in British/ European slang, and being from India, I felt a little confused and weirded out at times. These are all, however, minor problems and didn’t keep me from enjoying it!

I would recommend Lobsters mostly to older teens, due to the content, or anyone who wants a light read that will leave you smiling and thinking about life and what we go through to find our Lobster!

REVIEW: Dead Ringer by Jessie Rosen

Title: Dead Ringer
Author: Jessie Rosen
Publisher: Full Fathom Five
Publication Date: November 11th 2015
Part of A Series?: Yes 
I Got A Copy Through: The Publisher via Netgalley 

Blurb Description: From the moment Laura Rivers steps foot into Englewood High, she notices the stares—and they aren’t the typical once-overs every pretty new girl endures. The students seem confused and…spooked. Whispers echoing through the halls confirm that something is seriously off. “That new girl looks just like her,” they say.

It turns out Laura has a doppelgänger, and it isn't just anyone—it's Sarah Castro-Tanner, the girl who killed herself by jumping into the Navasink River one year ago.

Laura is determined not to let the gossip ruin her chances of making a fresh start. Thanks to her charming personality and California tan, she catches the eye of Englewood’s undisputed golden boy, Charlie Sanders, and it’s only a matter of time before they make their relationship official.

But something is making Charlie and his friends paranoid—and Laura soon discovers it has to do with Sarah Castro-Tanner.

What really happened to Sarah? Why is Charlie unraveling? And how does Laura Rivers fit into it all?

After all, she’s the dead ringer for a dead girl.

**MY REVIEW**

Being the new girl is bad enough. But for Laura Rivers, being the new girl is the least of her problems. 

Almost all of Englewood High sees just one thing when they look at their newest California girl- the face of the their saddest story. The face of Sarah Castro- Tanner, the only girl in this small sleepy town who committed suicide. Terrible, right? Especially for the new girl. And things only get harder when she falls for Englewood's golden boy and star quarterback- Charlie Sanders.

But the girl with the dead girls face is in for a few surprises- for Englewood's star boy has a closet full of dark, incriminating secrets, and a few revolving around the girl who's face she shares...

I thought Dead Ringer had an absolutely brilliant story line- but it didn't live up to what I thought it would be. The story itself was great, but the writing was a bit stiff and I could see the inexperience of the author. The dialogue was awkward, and the descriptions mediocre. The chemistry was nonexistent. And the worst part? All the twists came at the most inopportune moments- they could have had such a great impact, because as I said the idea of the story was gorgeous, but the actual execution could have been so much better!

On the whole, there's not much more I can say- reviewing Dead Ringer makes me feel like I have to be as blunt as I can be! I am a little sad, because that story could have been so much more, and also, it could have been finished in just one book- but then again, that's up to the author!

All in all, I just wish it was a better executed story!

Review: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

Title: Belzhar
Author: Meg Wolitzer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
Publication Date: October 1st 2014
Part of A Series?: Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Guardian Children's Website

Blurb Description: If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks.

She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.

But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead.

Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss.

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer comes a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance.

**MY REVIEW**

“I was sent here because of a boy. His name was Reeve Maxfield, and I loved him and then he died, and almost a year passed and no one knew what to do with me.”

Intriguing, right? A school for ‘emotionally fragile, highly intelligent’ children called The Wooden Barn. A Special English class that is rumoured to have changed the lives of many for the better. A group with numerous problems. And a special place where they all feel better, and learn to face their problems.

An imaginary one world, for anyone but them, called Belzhar. It’s the Code name for Bell Jar, renowned author Sylvia Plath’s novel that this group is reading in their English class in which their teacher gives them the journals that will transport them to their special places.

I absolutely loved the idea. Five heart-breaking stories, and a place where it all gets better. But, as soon as I started reading it, Belzhar started disappointing me. I simply couldn’t feel the chemistry between Reeve and Jam, and for this whole novel to be based on their unrequited love, I simply couldn’t go on. Forty one days of awkward flirting, and Jam is left depressed for a year? The facts just didn’t add up.

But then I gave Belzhar another try. And while this time it was better, as I learned to focus on other problems rather than just Jam’s, the book got to me and at times, I simply had to put it down with the intensity of it all.

But never Jam. I thought I could forget all about her, and her numerous silly endeavours, but then, the finale was her story. The whole story. Which made me want to shake her up and ask her “Why, Jam, WHY?”

All in all, while I didn’t get the protagonist and her story line AT ALL, the other teens whose stories were being told, made it an extremely worthwhile read!

3.5 Stars! 

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: September 10th 2013

Part of A Series?: No

I Got A Copy Through: I bought it! 

Blurb Description: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

**MY REVIEW**

If there is one emotion that Fangirl left me with, I would have to pinpoint it as confusion. Pure, and utter emotional turmoil- with the afterthoughts of (after pondering over how one single book, with a few hundred pages of black and white text, could leave me in such a state of bewilderment, for only about the hundredth time) nothing but the characters and what their lives would turn out to be.

Cath is shy, socially awkward- an introvert with a passion. Fanfiction. Wren is her twin- outgoing, friendly, wild. Reagan is Cath's roommate, Levi is her ex- boyfriend, and Nick is her writing partner. Her father is a workaholic, with well, let's call them issues, just to not be too descriptive.

And this is their story. Well, Cath's mostly but theirs as well.

Cath is in college- and is extremely nervous to be there. How in the world was this going to be easy for her, she wasn’t boisterous like Wren, nor did she make friends easily. Or at all. How was she supposed to navigate through the huge campus, to the cafeteria, and around all these new people and parties? Even her own twin doesn’t want to have anything to do with her.

But, with Rainbow Rowell’s exceptional writing, we see the real Cath. The Cath that slowly comes out of her shell. With Nick, her writing buddy and all the evenings and nights they spend writing in a notebook, because computers lose the purity of actually writing. With Reagan, who realises that Cath has no friends, and decides to take her under her wing. And then there’s Levi.

Sweet, Perfect Levi.

And Fangirl is also and fangirling. Fanfiction, over the Simon Snow series. And how Cath lives for writing her version of the story. How is becomes more important that writing her own stories, and how she must learn to change that.

"You don't push through every moment. You pay attention. You take everything in. I like that about you- I like that better. I like your glasses," he said. "I like your Simon Snow t-Shirts. I like that you don't smile at everyone, because then, when you smile at me..."

Fangirl was the first book of Rainbow Rowell’s that I've read- and I definitely want more. I loved the way she made Cath grow her relationships, intensify them and create problems within them; how not once did the characters do something that you couldn't imagine they would do, but still leaving one those cute moments where you could smile and others when you'd be shocked at the turn of events. 

A book that you will devour in one sitting- because leaving this world will simply be impossible- READ IT! - 4 stars.

BLOG TOUR: One Two Three.. by Elodie Nowodazkij- EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY

Author: Elodie Nowodazkij
Publication date: June 26th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Blurb Description: When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love.

Last year, Natalya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive.

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career.

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present, and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell.

But when upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself.

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

***  Goodreads *** Purchase:***  Amazon *** B&N *** IBooks *** Kobo 

----

AUTHOR BIO

Elodie Nowodazkij was raised in a tiny village in France, where she could always be found a book in hand. At nineteen, she moved to the US, where she learned she'd never lose her French accent. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Modern Language & Linguistics, and later earned master's degrees in German Cultural Studies and European Studies. Unbeknownst to her professors, she sometimes drafted stories in class. Now she lives in Germany with her husband and their cat (who doesn't seem to realize he's not human), and uses her commuting time to write the stories swirling in her head. She's also a serial smiley user.

Author links: ***  Website *** Twitter ***  Facebook 

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Prom Impossible by Laura Pauling- Review

Author: Laura Pauling

Publisher: Redpoint Press

Publishing Date: May 1st 2014

Blurb Description: 1 girl + 1 prom + 3 guys = Prom Impossible!

Cassidy decides her senior year, including prom, will be about Michael Greenwood, the boy destined to be her soul mate. One problem. He hasn’t figured that out yet. 

But certain events meant as innocent pranks—that weren’t completely her fault—introduce her to Zeke, the reformed bad boy. And cutting deals in the boys’ bathroom with Jasper, the hottest guy in school, lands her in a complicated web of half-truths that spirals out of control. 

At the end of the year, she’s dateless the day before the big night but risks a lot more than her pride if she can’t find a way to fix her mistakes. 

PROM IMPOSSIBLE is a modern-day Shakespearean romantic comedy in the world of teens, true love, and life.

**MY REVIEW**

Prom. You know what this is right? I mean, it’s only what every girl in the English speaking world dreams about- or thinks about (ponders over) at the very least!

Cassidy is one of the obsessive ones. You know, one of Those Girls. With all her dreams about The One (both the guy and… the dress!) and ideas of the perfect prom, her senior year and the summer before is going be the pinnacle of her life.

She has to wait just a bit more for that, thought, with a small prank that involving pyrotechnics blowing out of proportion, she is sent to adventure camp (I never truly got what this was- due to lack of explanation)  which is where she meets the Bad Boy- Zeke. (although- he's not really a bad boy- he just looks like one.)

Desperate to get back soon to the boy of her dreams- Michael Greenwood a Lord of the Rings nerd with Spock’s pointy ears and make him realise that she is indeed his dream girl- summer passes by in a flash and she comes back only to find out that everything she knew has changed- with her friends a little too estranged and her dream boy now besotted with her best friend.

And from there we go. Drama, Drama and of course, Drama with a little cherry on top.

Prom Impossible is a fun book. Nothing out of the ordinary- but funny and ‘I have to see who she ends up with’ in a very intriguing way! Oh, and you can wipe love triangles out of your head- it’s more like a love square (or a web- interlinked with lies, peer pressure and Prom!)

While the ending scene was simply brilliant and had me laughing out loud, there were a lot of scenes that had me sighing in exasperation. When Cassidy got herself further and further into the hole she dug herself, rambles and lies unnecessary. I found it well, kind of ridiculous. And childish. And unnecessary. And it made the book D-R-A-G. 

All in all, a book that has the potential to make you laugh and also hit your forehead in exasperation.

My Verdict:

This is for the ones that covet drama! Or prom! 

*I received a copy from Xpresso Tours Review Opportunities. Thank you!*