On the Fence by Kasie West | Book Review

Book Review:
On the Fence by Kasie West

Spoilers?

Maybe.

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Title - On The Fence
By - Kasie West
Publication - July 1st, 2014 by HarperTeen
Format - Paperback, 296 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and BeDazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game.

To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high. 

The Rating :

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 4 stars.

via GIPHY

The Cover:

Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

Another simple photograph cover from Kasie West. I love it though.
As to why the couple on the cover are on a bridge is beyond me.


The Story:
Charlie is the kind of girl who grew up with three oder brothers and a cop as her single dad. So she grew up not knowing how to put on makeup or wear dresses. And then theres her next door neighbor who spends most his time at her house hanging out with her btothers. 
And after a night pent talking to himm alone she develops feelings for him.


Relationships:

Charlie x Branden
With Branden being best friends with Charlie's brothers Branden had always been around Charlie. But Charlie didn't think of him romantically. It wasn't till they started sneaking out at night and talking to each other trough a fence. They started to tell each other about what was going on with them , till keeping secrets from each other. 


Overall:

I really wish I had written this review when I finished reading the book, but sadly I did not. So I don’t remember much of the things I wanted to say here. 

I liked that this book told the story of a tomboy and how it was that she grew up like that. Having to grow up surrounded by older brothers and her dad who was a cop made sense. Because you kind of imagine that barbecues were filled with her brother's friends and her dad's coworkers.

I liked that shop she had to work in to pay her speeding tickets. Because it softened her and how it also made her see that she could be girly and comfortable with wearing makeup, though not a lot, and with wearing flowy clothes as well as t-shirts and jeans. And that she could also make friends that weren't just guys.

I liked this book a lot and wish there were books for her brother's stories with their girlfriends since I liked this world and this family.

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By Your Side by Kasie West

Book Review:
By Your Side by Kasie West

Spoilers?

Maybe.

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Title - By Your Side 
By - Kasie West
Publication -  January 31st, 2017 by Harper Teen
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

The Rating:

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

Gif representing my feelings on the book is missing. I just couldn't find one, to sum up my feels.

UPDATE(3/9/2017);
I found one that I think represents what the characters looked to me.

via GIPHY

Book kindly provided by friends. Thank you.

The Cover:

Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

I do adore the book covers for Kasie West's books. Except for the times, the font or the font color made no sense. But this one as perfect.


The Story:
 Autumn get accidently locked in the library with barely any food, no phone, in the freezing cold,  and no electricity. Worst of all she finds that she's not alone and that a boy who goes to the same high school as her is there too. 
Add a love triangle, a bad boy, anxiety, car accidents, and secrecy and you have this awesome gem of a story.


Relationships:

There werent many couples in this, so I'll just talk about the main ones.

Autumn x Dax
I thought they had good chemistry. They were clearly comfortable in each others company even if they barely knew each other and the fact that she didn't let her condition get the better of her when it came to Dax was good.
I think I'm saying that they just fit together. He calms her down and she brings him happiness. They're perfect.


Family Dynamics:
As for Autumn’s family.
They actually cared for her mental health which automatically makes me give them 10 out of 10 points for parenthood. Cause some parents just don't get the emotional and mental aspect of growing up, its like they forget that they went trough that too. 
I also liked her brother. He was perfect. Meaning he actually cared about her too. Like even if he was older than her and was in college he actually wanted to spend time with her. 10 out of 10 points.


Settings:
As for my favorite settings in this story:
The library was my favorite. And I know that's a bit obvious being that the story is centered around the characters being locked in there. But I just didn't find myself in any other setting.


Overall:
I do love this book. And it should be no surprise because I did read PS I Like You, On The Fence, and The Fill-In Boyfriend and I loved them. 
I think I only have two other Kasie West books that I want to read; The Distance Between Us and Lucky in Love.

I don't really know what else to say seeing that at the moment I'm writing this I'm super mega sleepy.

Check out my previous review for
How To Keep a Boy From Kissing You by Tara Eglington.

Get a copy at:
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Book Depository

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Stacking The Shelves - 6

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews where bloggers share what books they got throughout the week!



This week and the one before I decided to take off of blogging and other things to concentrate on my last two weeks of my first semester of my bachelors in college. Which was successful btw. 😄😄  But I did manage to read a few books and get two.

As For Update:

   

I read To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and loved it. I cant wait to get my hands on the second book in the series.
I also finished reading This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer last week as well and even if it was all big words and confusing plots I actually liked it a lot. 

I stated reading No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista and its getting interesting but I don't know if I like it yet.


Haul:

This week I got in the mail two beautiful books. 

The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee & The Brownstone’s Mythical Collection: Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton

Lately I've been getting into journaling and it helped me out a lot during my semester. It helped me be more organized and in control. So for next year I'm going to get prepared. I bought more stickers and tape. I also bought a set of 10 or so notebooks for when I'm traveling or stuff. 

I got inspired by this girl who does the most awesome journal entries.

The Rainbowholic

Books To Read:

    

This next week I want to get my hands on and try to finish How To Keep a Boy From Kissing you as well as the books above. And since I don't have any big school responsibilities I can actually read these books.
😎😁😎

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Below those covers I have the books I borrowed from my friend.
Books Borrowed:
This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista

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I usually add the links on the goodreads but  that is a lot more trouble when there are a lot of covers. So I will make a list and link them here.

This is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista
The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee
The Brownstone’s Mythical Collection: Arthur and the Golden Rope by Joe Todd Stanton
How To Keep a Boy From Kissing You by Tara Eglington

If you are interested in getting your copy of any of these books please use my affiliate link.

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The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West | Book Review

Book Review:
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Spoilers?

Yes!

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Title - The Fill-In Boyfriend
By - Kasie West
Publication - May 5th 2015 by HarperTeen
Format - Paperback, 343 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

The Rating :

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 5 stars.

via GIPHY

The Cover:

Although they say never judge a book by it's cover I believe the cover should represent what the book is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

The photo they used for the cover was perfect. It made me picture the couple as Gia and Hayden. But what I thought made me eek alittle,  was the font. If they used another font maybe it'd be all awesome but I just hated it too much. 

Or no- actually I think it's the font for the artist name that I don't like. Looking at it now I do like the title designs. It’s the artist's name, the font and the green color. No thank you.

The Story:

It's the story of a girl, Gia, who gets dumped at the parking lot when her promise starting. She had already told her friends that her boyfriend was going with her and they had never met him and believed he wasn't real. All because of salty Jules, who spent the duration of Gia and  Bradley's relationship saying that he may not be real. 

Gia's is not boyfriend-less and about to go in and tell her friends that she got dumped but decide to make a total stranger in the parking lot a deal. He has to be her pretend boyfriend, a fill-in Bradley, and she will owe him a favor. One thing leads to the other and she ends up wanting to know more about this fill-in boyfriend.

Relationships:

There weren't that many couples in this book but the ones that were established I appreciated them.

Gia x Bradley

While we don't really know much about Bradley we do know that he is older than her by a few years, a college student. And that they rarely saw each other. Hence why her friends never met him and believed he wasn't real.

Even with that I never found myself feeling sorry for her being dumped by him. And even after we do find out a bit more about him -I didn't much care for him.

Gia x Hayden

They are so cute. He cares so much about her and she likes him so much but with the bundles of lies that were created, not just by her, it was difficult for them to see that they liked each other. All throughout the story I just wanted them to stop playing pretend and just be. That's how much I liked this book couple.

Family Dynamics:

As for Gia’s family.

Gia’s family was so horrible to me. 

Gia was immature and like total popular girl in high school cliche. Her mom was Mrs. perfect who wore makeup all throughout the day and was always dressed up. The dad was always agreeing with whatever mom would say as to not get into fights. Oh! And Mr. Im also so duche was horrible. How in the hell do you make a video making out your younger sister to look bad infront of his peers and post in online. Like what the fu*k.

What was worse is how she would always try to give him another chance to be a better big brother and he would always keep messing with her.

Even if not everyone in the Montgomery home changed, at least Gia became aware of how she acted. She started being more kind to people and not bossy to her friends like she used to. So this is good.

As for Hayden’s Family

We didn't see much of his dad but we did meet his mom. She's an artist and she's amazing at it. She gives great advice and is nice. You see how her being like that made Hayden and Bec the way they are. This was even a conversation between Gia and Hayden where he said he wasn't like his dad or his mom, that he was a bit of both. 

Settings:

Some of the paces I liked and would love to be around is the beach. I just liked the way it was described in the scenes that took place there. 

I think I also would like to go to old man’s house and smash some car windows. That is such a great way to release anger and stress that when I was reading this I was cheering them on. 

Is that weird?

Overall:

Okay, so, at one point I just wanted to toss the book across the room of trough a window, but I'm glad I did not. Well I didn't because it want my book and the feelings were internal but you get what I mean.

I hated Gia’s family and Jules was a horrible human being and biggest manipulator ever. All the time I was wishing Gia would just confront her head on, but I'm glad she didn't. Mostly because if her friends were so easy to go convince that they should go against her, then they weren't really friends.

I loved the natural progression of Gia and Hayden’s story. It had it's ups and downs but they liked each other a lot. I was glad they talked it out and believed in the other despite the world being against them. 

I'm also glad that Bec tricked them in the end. She's such a good cupid. And she was so awesome. Hands down my favorite side-character in this book.

I’ve read a couple of books between this one and now so I barely remember what I was going to say about it. Maybe I’ll remember and do an update.

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Amazon US  |  Book Depository

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What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle | Book Review

Book Review:
What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle 

Spoilers?

Yes!!

Title - What Happens Now 
Authors - Jennifer Castle

Publication - June 7th 2016 by HarperTeen
Format - Hardcover, 384 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mental Illness Source - borrowed

"I know what it is to want something so badly, you feel like your cells aren’t properly bonded together without it. I also know what it’s like to get that something. And honestly, I’m still not sure which is worse..." Ari Logan is battling to win her war against depression and the dark night she hurt herself on purpose. It’s not easy: her best friend is drifting away, her mom’s emotionally checked out, and she spends her days playing caregiver to her handful of a half-sister, Danielle. But it’s summer, and anything is possible... That’s when Camden Armstrong steps onto the beach of Ari’s local swimming lake. At first, Ari quietly longs for Camden from afar, seeing in him everything she wants to be. When the two discover a true connection the following summer, Ari lets herself fall not just for the quirky and self-assured Camden but also his friends, tumbling into their world of independence, adventure, and shared sci-fi fandom. As Ari’s romantic dreams come true, she must unlock the mysteries of the very real and troubled boy behind her infatuation, while also struggling with her own demons, obligations, and loyalties.

The Rating :

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 4 stars.

via GIPHY

The Cover:

I want to start reviewing the covers as well. Because although they say never judge a book by its cover I believe the cover should represent what the bool is going to be like or at least some aspect of it.

As for this particular cover, I think it was perfect. It's a scene that looks like it was made out of clay and it is of the lake and Ari and Camden on the dock. I love it.

The Story:

The first half of this book, the half  were Ari is infatuated with Camden, this half was perfect.

The way she talked about her feelings for him, and how she just described how she felt was so relatable. How to her, he wasn't just a crush, he was Camden. He was the Possible.

After they did get together as a couple it didn't have the same flame. Yes, I was happy for her but then it was just all too boring, too normal.

Relationships:

This book had a bunch of relationships both in family and in couples.

Like Ari x Camden. Eliza x Max. Kendall x James (though they didn't get together, it did hint at something). Then the families. Like Ari and her family. And how her little sister was more of a daughter. And how Camden could never say no to his mom. Then there was the way the  friendship between Camden, Eliza and Max was a sort of mess. They were friends, but also Eliza used to date Camden, and now she's with Max.

Family Dynamics:

Ari's Family. The whole problem with Ari's family was that her mother was always away working. And even if Ari had an awesome step dad, Richard, who was kind to them both. She still had to take care of thing around the house and be a big sister/mom to her little sis, Danielle (Dani), who was so adorable and cute and smart. 

During the whole book I was so hoping that they would just sit down and settle things. Tell each other what they feel and figure things out because the lack of communication between them was ruining their family. I was glad they settled things in the end.

As for Camden and his family. Well, he never knew his dad, and I don't think even his mom knew who he was. His mom was always traveling, moving them around. Even if this created a unique bond between them of understanding and love, it also made it hard for Camden to feel like he belonged anywhere. Which made him think of Eliza and Max as his family. And that later on in the story created a conflict between them and Ari.

Settings:

I adored the lake. During the time when I was reading this I just wished there was a place like that in my town because the heat was so unbearable. Sadly there is no such thing. But I still, imagined what it would be like and that was fun. And then there was the hidden waterfall place that was also awesome.

I also liked Millie's. I just wanted it to exist near me so I could visit and shop for materials and such.

I think another place that I liked, and this is weird, but I secretly wanted to go to Camden's house, and go to is room to see the skylight, because I thought that was just so cool. 

Overall:

I liked it! I truly liked how real the characters were. Specially Ari and her family because those things actually happen. How raw it was too. Because it did talk about depression and self-harm, and tough stuff that happen in families that could scar you for the rest of your life.

I want to say that I liked the ending and even though I didn't want it to happen, the way it did happen was lovely and adorable. And also just before that was way adorable and made me feel happy for the family.

I also liked the whole Silver Arrow ting. how they got together and got dressed up to go to the con and take photos in costume. Viva la Nerd!

The weird thing was that if you're a fan of something for so long how do you not look them up on your computer or sneak out to the library and search for all things Silver Arrow and know about conventions and cosplaying or even fangirling. That to me was weird because the first thing I do when I like something is to find out more about it.

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