Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch | Book Review #79

Book Review:
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Spoilers?

A smidge.
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This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.

I read this one on October 24. 34 days after.

Title - Love & Gelato 
By - Jenna Evans Welch
Publication - May 3rd 2016 by Simon Pulse

Copy - Hardcover, 389 pages

Genre - Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

“I made the wrong choice.”

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

The Rating:

My Review:

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.

Love the cover to bits. Its definitely the reason I got it.
 But I do love the UK edition more.
The Story:

Lina's mom dies and leaves her with a question and a problem. She gets sent to Italy to live with a man her mom talked about in her last days who may or may not be her father.


Overall:

From the beginning I didn't think she would go anywhere with Thomas because it was so obvious that she was going to end up liking Ren.

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Bad Girl Gone by Temple Mathews | Book Review #78

Book Review:
Bad Girl Gone by Temple Mathews

Spoilers?

None.
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Disclaimer:
This book was sent to me by the publishing company in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.

I read this one on September 25. 5 days after.

Title - Bad Girl Gone 
By -Temple Mathews
Publication - August 8th 2017 by A Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin's Griffin      
Copy - Hardcover, 261 pages

Genre - Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, Ghost

Sixteen-year-old Echo Stone awakens in a cold sweat in a dark room, having no idea where she is or how she got there. But she soon finds out she's in Middle House, an orphanage filled with mysteriously troubled kids.

There is just one problem: she is not an orphan. Her parents are very much alive.

She explains this to everyone, but no one will listen. After befriending a sympathetic (and handsome) boy, Echo is able to escape Middle House and rush home, only to discover it sealed off by crime scene tape and covered in the evidence of a terrible and violent crime. As Echo grapples with this world-shattering information, she spots her parents driving by and rushes to flag them down. Standing in the middle of the street, waving her arms to get their attention, her parents' car drives right through her.

She was right. Her parents are alive but she's not.

She's a ghost, just like all the other denizens of Middle House. Desperate to somehow get her life back and reconnect with her still-alive boyfriend, Echo embarks on a quest to solve her own murder. As the list of suspects grows, the quest evolves into a journey of self-discovery in which she learns she wasn't quite the girl she thought she was. In a twist of fate, she s presented with one last chance to reclaim her life and must make a decision which will either haunt her or bless her forever.

The Rating:

My Review:

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.

Simple cover. Bright red color which is rare in my collection. But I just don't like the design even if in person it looks better than the image.


The Story:

Echo is dead but she doesn't immediately realize that. Not until she finds herself surrounded by ghosts in a strange mansion who constantly scare her whenever they can.

Echo joins up with the other dead kids and goes off to figure out what happened to her and get revenge.


Overall:

In this story I found myself liking some of the side characters more than Echo and the boy. Their stories were better than hers. Although her story was great.

I mean I read it in one day so I must have enjoyed it.

I wish I remembered more, but I can't. I might later go back and remember what my thoughts were.

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The Prettiest One by James Hankins | Book Review

Book Review:
The Prettiest One by James Hankins

Spoilers?

Not really.
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This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.

I read this one from Nov 22 - Nov 25. 62 days after.

Title - The Prettiest One
By - James Hankins  
Publication - October 1st 2015 by Thomas & Mercer
Copy - Paperback, 399 pages

Genre - Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

When Caitlin Sommers finds herself alone in a deserted parking lot with blood on her clothes and no memory of the past few months, it seems like one of the nightmares that have tormented her for years…but it’s all too real. Desperate to learn the truth about where she’s been and what has happened to her but terrified of what she may find, Caitlin embarks on a search for answers. Her journey takes her from the safe suburban world she knows to a seedy town she’s never heard of, where a terrible truth from her past lies hidden—a truth she can’t quite remember yet can’t completely forget.

The Rating:

My Review:

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 didn't get much from the cover itself but it does have a tiny bit of a mysterious look to it. With the two side profiles looing like orange smoke it is a bit creepy and you think that it somehow is involved in the story inside.


Story:

Caitlin has vanished for 7 months and now she's at the door to her house with her husband confused by her sudden appearance and the fact that he's acting like she was never away.


Relationships:

Caitlin x Josh
I thought their relationship was weird from the start. Like there was something Josh was keeping from Caitlin. So I didn't really like him for her despite him being her husband.
Katie x Bix
I did like these two so much more and cheered for them when ever Bix talked about her or to her like he loved her still.



Overall:

This book was a wild ride.
No. Seriously it was so good.

I was expecting one thing before I started reading it and then the first few pages I expected something else. Then that happened three more times. It was like this book had too much to offer but in a good way.
It is one of the more stronger books I've read so far. I don't want to spoil it but I will warn you that it is not just a story about a wife who disappears and loses all memory if the even. It's about so much more.

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Boo by Neil Smith | Book Review

Book Review:
Boo by Neil Smith

Spoilers?

None.

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This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.
I read this one on November 28, 2017. 70 days after.

Title - Boo
By - Neil Smith
Publication - May 12th 2015  by Vintage   
Copy - ARC Copy, 310 pages   

Genre - Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery

* Winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.
* Nominated for the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award.
* Nominated for the Sunburst Award.
* Nominated for the Alex Award.
* Longlisted for the Prix des libraires du Québec.

From Neil Smith, author of the award-winning, internationally acclaimed story collection Bang Crunch, comes a dark but whimsical debut novel about starting over in the afterlife in the vein of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones.

When Oliver "Boo" Dalrymple wakes up in heaven, the eighth-grade science geek thinks he died of a heart defect at his school. But soon after arriving in this hereafter reserved for dead thirteen-year-olds, Boo discovers he’s a 'gommer', a kid who was murdered. What’s more, his killer may also be in heaven. With help from the volatile Johnny, a classmate killed at the same school, Boo sets out to track down the mysterious Gunboy who cut short both their lives.

In a heartrending story written to his beloved parents, the odd but endearing Boo relates his astonishing heavenly adventures as he tests the limits of friendship, learns about forgiveness and, finally, makes peace with the boy he once was and the boy he can now be. 

The Rating:

My Review:

My review in a gif. Which equals 2 stars.
[need to add the gif later]

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 cover of the green chalkboard locker  and the chalk lettering is very distinct and very reminiscent of school. But what does stand out is the pair of eyes on the locker vents.


The Story:

After a school shooting Boo wakes up in a new place where he is among other children who have died and woken up there too. Now he has to live there with the possibility that the other kid who shoot him was there too.
 

Overall:

I got this book a long time ago and I really thought I was going to enjoy reading it too. But even though trough the first reading I went to 100 pages, I didn't like it. I don't know if it was the characters I couldn't relate too, or the story I couldn't follow but after those 100 pages I stopped reading.
Since Hurricane Maria I decided to read all those books I had been holding up on reading  so I took this book and picked it up to finish up. Now that I have I can say that I didn't like it. It just wasn't my type of book.
The story of Boo was an interesting one but I can't say I liked it all.

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The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack

Book Review:
The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack

Spoilers?

A tad.
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Disclaimer:
This book was sent to me by the publishing company in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.
I read this one on September 26, 2017. 6 days after.

Title - The Fortune Teller
By - Gwendolyn Womack
Publication - June 6th, 2017 by Picador 
ARC copy, 368 pages
Genre - Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Semele Cavnow appraises antiquities for an exclusive Manhattan auction house, deciphering ancient texts—and when she discovers a manuscript written in the time of Cleopatra, she knows it will be the find of her career. Its author tells the story of a priceless tarot deck, now lost to history, but as Semele delves further, she realizes the manuscript is more than it seems. Both a memoir and a prophecy, it appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred.

The more she reads, the more the manuscript begins to affect Semele’s life. But what happened to the tarot deck? As the mystery of her connection to its story deepens, Semele can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. Only one person can help her make sense of it all: her client, Theo Bossard. Yet Theo is arrogant and elusive, concealing secrets of his own, and there’s more to Semele’s desire to speak with him than she would like to admit. Can Semele even trust him?

The auction date is swiftly approaching, and someone wants to interfere—someone who knows the cards exist, and that the Bossard manuscript is tied to her. Semele realizes it’s up to her to stop them: the manuscript holds the key to a two-thousand-year-old secret, a secret someone will do anything to possess.

The Rating:

My Review:

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 appreciate this cover so much for its warm orange color but it is very mysterious as to what the book is about.


Relationships:

Semele x Theo
Their relationship was one I didn't completely expect but was delighted it did happen. They have such a grand connection that it was simply meant to be.


Settings:

There were so many locations mentioned and visited in this book that it is hard to pin point my favorites but I probably like old Egypt. Probably because the library sounded so amazing and because my mother has loved Egypt since I can remember. Someday I wish to take her there.


Overall:

This book seemed to me like it was going to be like most historical fiction books I 've read but once I started reading it I couldn't stop -not that I would have wanted to since I wanted to finish it the same day I picked it up. It was filled with just about all the things that would make this book a great movie. It goes into the past smoothly and introduces character that have such important, to the story, lives.

I don't much remember what I had in mind to write here since it was among the first books I read.

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Books Read Since Hurricane Maria

I live in Puerto Rico and with the passing of Hurricane Maria we were left with no water, no electricity, and no internet, and after a couple of days, there was little food. It got better after a while and now we have running water but I have to travel to three towns over to my university to use their computers.

But there is one thing that has kept me sane and that is reading. And since the day after the hurricane passed I decided to take to reading the books that I had been leaving behind in my to be read pile. Most were even read, start to finish on the same day.

In no particular order.

Midnight in Berlin by James MacManus

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison

Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax

If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harbison

The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank

Tornado Weather by Deborah E. Kennedy

Her Name is Rose by Christine Breen

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Sisterhood is Dead by Lindsay Emory

How to Tame a Beast in 7 Days by Kerrelyn Sparks

Ivy and The Lonely Rainclouds by Katie Harrett

 Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Once Upon a Dream, A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell

I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Rashkin

The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash by Candance Ganger

The Boy Who Knew Everything by Victoria Forrester

After Hours by Claire Kennedy

My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack

Bad Girl Gone by Temple Mathews

Love, Charms and Other Catastrophes by Kimberly Karalius

The Body Reader by Anne Frasier

Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forrester

 Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

The Steel Kiss by Jeffrey Deaver

The Mother's Promise by Sally Hepworth       

Happy Halloween Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

The Witches Supermarket by Susan Med augh

The Monster Diaries by Luciano Saracino

Finding Serendipity by Angela Banks

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

All The Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani

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Ivy and The Lonely Rainclouds by Katie Harnett | Book Review

Book Review:

Ivy and The Lonely Rainclouds by Katie Harnett

Spoilers?

A little.
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Disclaimer:
This book was sent to me by the publishing company in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the books I read after the passing of Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. With no water, electricity or internet I took to reading my books.
I read this one on October 12, 2017. 23 days after.

Title - Ivy and the Lonely Raincloud
By - Katie Harnett
Publication - August 15th, 2017 by Flying Eye Books      

Genre - Picture Book, Children's

Everyone loves the warm sunshine—except the lonely raincloud. No one wants to be his friend! But one day, he stumbles across a grumpy little florist . . . could she be looking for a friend too?

In this charming tale, a solitary raincloud finds a way to make a sad little girl happy again, by using the very thing that most people dislike about him—rain!

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.

This is such a lovely cover. It has bright muted colors that aren't too loud but just perfect. The colors are just the right shade to convey the story of the girl and the raincloud.

The Story:

When a raincloud ventures away from their daily life they find a little florist that's not in the best mood and together they find mutual ground by helping each other out.

Illustrations:

Since I already talked about the cover, I'm going to give the end pages a go. They are adorable. Clouds of various grey tones with itty bitty eyes. They look like they're watercolors too which I adore. And they beautifully weave into the story brilliantly.

The illustrations are done in a variety of colors that go so well together. I love it.

Overall:

This book came at the right time. Just when I needed a good short beautiful book to read and lift my spirits up. And Ivy and The Lonely Raincloud did just that.

I wish I could say more of what I think but I left my book at home and am currently using the universities computers since my home still doesn't have any energy.

via GIPHY

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Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda | Book Review

Book Review:
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda

Spoilers?

Maybe some.

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Title - Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening 

By - Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda
Publication - July 19th, 2016 by Image Comics
Format - Paperback, 202 pages

Genre - Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Steampunk, Horror, Fiction

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

Marjorie M. Liu -  (Author)

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu's extensive work includes the bestselling "Astonishing X-Men" for Marvel Comics, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to writing full-time, Liu was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Sana Takeda - (Artist)

Sana Takeda is an illustrator and comic book artist who was born in Niigata, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. At age 20 she started out as a 3D CGI designer for SEGA, a Japanese video game company, and became a freelance artist when she was 25. She is still an artist, and has worked on titles such as "X-23" and "Ms. Marvel" for Marvel Comics, and is an illustrator for trading card games in Japan.

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 cover was what made me pick it up and eventually buy it. I think that if I hadn't seen the really nostalgic looking cover I wouldn't have gotten to see that this really cool graphic novel was there amongst Superman and Batman comics.
By nostalgic, I mean that the cover looked like some of the comics my brother used to have and a little like some of the art out of a Final Fantasy art book.


The Story:
This graphic novel is about a girl named Maika that is being sold as a slave to a group of rich powerful men, but then she gets sent to a scientist lady that is doing experiments on whatever slaves they caught in order to harvest their magical energy. 
I'm not going to say much more than that as to not spoil the story. But after reading the first few pages I was interested in the story and read until the last page.


Overall:
One of the thing that attracted me to this book was the cover and the quote by Neil Gaiman on the cover. And I'm not interested in everything he does but that quote from him and the cover together made me interested and the very next day I went again to walmart and bought it with some money I had saved up. 




via GIPHY


The illustrations in this book gave me some Ghibli feels, specifically from Princess Mononoke. Because of the spirits and the boar monster in the beginning that looks like the monster that is inside of her. 
But aside from the Ghibli vibes, it also gave me some nostalgia. Mostly because when I was younger I played my big brothers Final Fantasy games and stuff. And this story had that feel from the buildings, and the worlds and even the creatures are reminiscent of Final Fantasy creatures. 

I'd say that if you like the more fantasy side of Ghibli, old school Final Fantasy, and even Saga then you'll like this graphic novel.

via GIPHY

Most of the pages are filled with illustrations that are detailed and some that are gruesome. The colors go from dark/blueish to lighter pages that have yellows and oranges; like golden even. But the entire book gives off this 'rainy day' tone to it.


I'd say that even if this is full of dark and gruesome bits and it even goes to 'f*cked up' levels, I would love to continue to read the rest of this series.

The illustrations are awesome, the characters are well created and it's so strange and different from what I've been reading recently that it is easily one of my favorite reads of the year. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda are awesome and kickass creators.

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