Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

Pages: 304

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Walkers Childrens

Release Date: Feb 18, 2014

When Jonah is forced to move from Hamilton to Cross Pointe for the second half of his senior year, "miserable" doesn't even begin to cover it. He feels like the doggy-bag from his mother's first marriage and everything else about her new life—with a new husband, new home and a new baby—is an upgrade. The people at Cross Pointe High School are pretentious and privileged—and worst of all is Brighton Waterford, the embodiment of all things superficial and popular. Jonah’s girlfriend, Carly, is his last tie to what feels real... until she breaks up with him. 
For Brighton, every day is a gauntlet of demands and expectations. Since her father died, she’s relied on one coping method: smile big and pretend to be fine. It may have kept her family together, but she has no clue how to handle how she's really feeling. Today is the anniversary of his death and cracks are beginning to show. The last thing she needs is the new kid telling her how much he dislikes her for no reason she can understand. She's determined to change his mind, and when they're stuck together for the night, she finally gets her chance. 
Jonah hates her at 3p.m., but how will he feel at 3 a.m.? 
One night can change how you see the world. One night can change how you see yourself.

*Caution: Review is slightly blather because.*

After naming SEND ME A SIGN by Tiffany Schmidt one of my favorites of 2012, I was absolutely aching for her next contemporary and when I heard of Bright Before Sunrise, I almost died. After all, writing two people falling in love in a night was hard, never mind the fact that Jonah practically hated Brighton.

Almost 20 pages in, I already started to sympathize with the characters, especially Brighton. I've never seen a character who was so desperate to look fine or a character who was so...perfect. Or as perfect a heroine could get without being too annoying. She honest-to-God felt bad whenever she even slightly ignored someone or didn't please them or make them happy. She wasn't just pretending to be perfect--it was just in her nature, to make everyone feel as happy as she wasn't. But her flaw was that she kept doing what she thought her father wanted to do and Jonah was right--she repressed herself to be the perfect daughter, though I'm still not sure if she realized she was doing that until Jonah mentioned it.

Jonah wasn't exactly my favorite character at first, especially because he seemed so prejudiced towards everyone in Cross Pointe, but I could see how easy it was to mistake their kindness for snobbier tendencies, but still. Of course, as the story goes on, you start to understand him and his prejudices and you start to love him. He doesn't necessarily go through character development, but his eyes are certainly opened when he realizes the people at Cross Pointe aren't all mean or snobbish or as terrible as he thought. And we readers get to see what he's really like as he comes to Brighton's rescue several times, and in more ways than one.

The side characters were also pretty brilliant, and I loved Carly. While, when we first meet her, she seemed like a bitch. Clingy, possessive, and insecure. The typical mean girl. But through her few scenes, we see that she's more than just that stereotype. She seemed like that sweet misunderstood girl in the story, and I feel like I'd love to see things from her point of view.
Amelia seemed like an awesome friend, and protective of Brighton, but beyond that I can't really say. In the 24 hours of this book, she doesn't really show up much past the introduction, but she did seem like a supportive friend that I would love to have!

While the romance was a tad rushed (after all, they fall in love withing the span of about 5 hours) I did love that they didn't just immediately kiss, and that their love story started out pretty rocky with Jonah using her, then realizing how wrong he was about her. And, perhaps my favorite thing about it, they didn't claim they loved each other or anything and their relationship felt pretty open. We didn't have much resolution, and for once I loved that kind of ending. It just worked with the story! 

So yeah, I absolutely adored Bright Before Sunrise and it feels like the perfect summer read (or reread!) It's a book I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cute fluff or a love story where you fall in love with the characters as they fall for each other. 

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Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads Blurb

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 
Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

There are no words for how much I loved this sequel. In fact, I honestly hadn't planned on writing a review at all...and then I finished it. All. The. Feels.

First of all, Celaena has become my favorite heroine ever. She's complex in a way I've never seen and I love her so absolutely much. Cold, arrogant, and completely badass, she's the kind of heroine we don't run into often. But then there's her softer side, the one that loves books and clothes, and is always in desperate need for a sweet.
And yet, she's always on the edge, waiting for something to tip her over. And, well, when it did, my heart hurt for her. This was the Celaena everyone else had heard about, the ruthless one that crept in the shadows. Was it wrong that I sort of loved this version of her too though?

Much to my chagrin, there's...there's no love triangle in this. Which, I guess, is a good thing, except I was on the wrong side of it. Dorian didn't really pop up as much as I wanted, and I will always be on his side.
Chaol and Celaena's relationship was sweet and it was deeply explored in Crown of Midnight (a little too much perhaps?) and I loved how they were both independent but had a small weakness when it came to each other.
We learn a lot more about Chaol than before and it turns out it's not only Celaena who's deciding where her loyalties lie. Chaol's been loyal to his kingdom for years, but Celaena makes him ask questions he doesn't really know the answers to.

As for the plot, there are no words for how much I loved it. While the main focus seemed to be the romance, there were still so many creepy happenings, more riddles, more clues, and, well, more blood. There were some twists that shocked me to the core, and others that made me giggle hysterically. The giant twist was predictable to me though, but I still sort of loved it. And it explained so much about Celaena. Although, you know, it's making me practically dying for book three.

There are honestly no words for how much I loved Crown of Midnight and it absolutely killed me every time I had to close the book for classes. (School, getting in the way of bookish needs since 1234) It's a brilliant sequel, enthralling from the first page. Maas is practically magical in the way she tells Celaena's story and you can't help but fall in love with all our characters and the world all over again.
I'll just be here, rocking in my corner, waiting for book three.

Pages: 432

Genre: High Fantasy

Series: Throne of Glass #2

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

Release Date: Aug 27, 2013

Rating: 10/5 stars

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Goodreads Blurb

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.
Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

I had such high hopes for Wild Cards, but it fell a bit flat. It followed a typical New Adult book, and maybe it's because I've been reading a lot of New Adult lately, but Wild Cards just seemed so...cliche. I know bad boy falls for good girl is usually Elkeles' books usually go, but somehow, Wild Cards didn't make me fall in love with it like Perfect Chemistry did.

The beginning was absolutely amazing and it hooked me right in. I was in a book slump at the time, but Wild Cards made me suddenly enthusiastic about reading again with it's hilarious pranks and meetings, the witty banter, and the awesome characters! But, once Derek and Ashtyn met (so really early on actually) things just spiraled down from there.

It was insta-love at it's finest, I think. I was so desperately hoping for a hate to love relationship, but instead, it was hate with a reluctant insta-love. But still insta-love. They couldn't stop thinking about each other, they were weirdly defensive/protective of each other from the start...basically a lot of signs of insta-love. And that was some major points off, especially for a romantic contemporary.
But that wasn't all of it. They just rushed into a romance, despite so many reasons not to and I, personally, have no idea how they were really attracted to each other besides looks. By their first kiss, they barely knew anything about each other and they didn't really have a basis for their relationship.
But it was actually pretty sweet and I did enjoy reading about it (most of the time)!

Speaking of their relationship, I didn't really...get those? I mean, Ashtyn's dad was pretty horrible, and yet...the end...if he felt that way why would he be so negligent? And Derek and Ashtyn's relationship was so hot and cold that sometimes I actually wasn't sure if they were together or not. It was just super sudden. And then Brandi was just sort of...awkwardly there. I did, however, love Ashtyn's relationship with her teammates. And seeing Landon getting one uped and duped was just hilarious and made me squeal happily. He was horrible.

So while I didn't absolutely love Wild Cards like I'd hoped to, it's still a pretty good summer read that I'd recommend to hardcore fans of Perfect Chemistry! I've been reading a lot of NA lately, so maybe that's why I started comparing it, but Wild Cards just wasn't really for me. While it was witty and hilarious, the romance sort of turned me off!

Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary/Romance
Series: Wild Cards #1
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Release Date: Sep 24, 2013
Rating: 3 stars

Taste Test by Kelly Fiore

Goodreads Blurb

Nora Henderson has been basting baby back ribs for as long as she could reach the counter of her dad's famous barbecue joint. When she's accepted to Taste Test, a teen reality cooking competition, Nora can't wait to leave her humble hometown behind. On set, run-ins with the maddeningly handsome and talented son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, make Nora wonder if it's him or the win she really wants, but as she and Christian emerge as front-runners for the final prize, Nora can't ignore the mysterious accidents plaguing the kitchen arena. Someone is conducting eliminations of their own, and if Nora doesn't stop them, she could be next to get "chopped" for good. 

Taste Test was a delicious (I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it.) read that I enjoyed (and almost died laughing over.)

The number one thing that hit me was definitely the writing style. Or, rather, the other things included. We got "interviews" with all our characters that I definitely enjoyed and giggled over. It let us see what front some of them were putting up and how they felt about what was going on! It was both hilarious and sort of sad sometimes. In the way that I want to be "LET ME LOVE YOU" to them.  And then we got recipes. That I really want to try but would probably burn (even if it's not burnable.) I really love how Fiore included these little extras to make our reading experience way more enjoyable (and for all you actually decent cooks out there--can you pretty please make a few of them then send the food to me? I will love you forever, because some of these look absolutely scrumptious.)

The relationships between these characters also took center stage. Whether it was the absolutely amazing father-daughter dynamic Nora and her dad had, the unrequited love between her and Billy (BFF), or her hate/love (literally. Mainly hate?) with Christian, all of them were wonderfully written! Nora's weren't the only relationships that played a role though--Gigi (the new BFF) and her friendships and familial ties, Joy's little trysts, and Christian's own relationship with his dad were also ones that were pretty fleshed out! I do wish we spent a little more time on them though, rather than spending a majority of the book focusing on Christian and Nora's chemistry.

Of course, that doesn't mean I like it. Trust me, I was cheering these two on from the start! They were absolutely HILARIOUS by themselves, but together? I think I died of laughter several times. Their witty banter was filled with snarky remarks that had me crawling around on the floor clutching my stomach. Kelly Fiore definitely played on the phrase "There's a thin line between love and hate" because that was definitely true here! I never knew whether they were going to end up kissing or if it would end with Nora slapping him.

I did love the pacing, though I couldn't help but wish we focused more on the show in the first half. We glossed over several of the "incidents" and we only really read/experienced a few and it wasn't really the main focus. The culprit was also pretty predictable, though I really didn't expect the reason why! The ending, I loved though. (But can we get an epilogue? I DON'T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE.)

The characters were probably the thing I liked the least. Nora wasn't really written well and seemed a little flat and she seemed to judge harshly and quickly. She definitely wasn't my favorite character and I can't help but wish she was a little less...impulsive sometimes.
Christian, I loved, though he did seem excessively cruel at times. But his snark was absolutely HILARIOUS and I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him by the second time we met him. He was absolutely adorable and a fun character to read about!

Taste Test is a cute and fun read I'd definitely recommend to people looking for an laugh out loud book that brings out their Giggle Monster. A perfect read for anyone who needs a break from the paranormal and dystopian!

Pages: 352

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Release Date: Aug 27, 2013

Rating: 3.5-->4 stars

Endure by Carrie Jones***

Goodreads Blurb

It’s all-out war (and no-holds-barred romance) in the climactic conclusion to Carrie Jones’s bestselling series.

Zara is at the center of an impending apocalypse. True, she’s successfully rescued Nick from Valhalla, but it simply isn’t enough. Evil pixies are ravaging Bedford, and they need much more than one great warrior; they need an army. Zara isn’t sure what her role is anymore. She’s not just fighting for her friends; she’s also a pixie queen. And to align her team of pixies with the humans she loves will be one of her greatest battles yet. Especially since she can’t even reconcile her growing feelings for her pixie king . . .

Unexpected turns, surprising revelations, and one utterly satisfying romantic finale make Endure a thrilling end to this series of bestsellers.

Yet another eARC from NetGalley! I swear, I am addicted to NetGalley now!

Endure is the fourth book in the Need series, and I read the rest of the series about two years ago, I guess. I loved it…until the third book. Entice was a kind of disappointment, I have to admit. Sure, it was supposed to be one of the biggest parts of the series, where Zara finally becomes a pixie to save Nick (and succeeds), but I don’t know…it lacked the action, the anticipation, of Need and Captivate. At least, that’s how it seemed. Endure definitely made up for that missing part, though.

Nick seems to loathe Zara now that she’s a pixie, despite the fact that she changed to save him. He denies it over and over, but when he leaves, Zara doesn’t know what to think. She’s more isolated than ever. Betty has run off, Nick has gone away, her mom is in another state, and Mrs. Nix is dead. Her mother-in-law, I guess, is helping an evil pixie king capture Zara for their own gains. Her only comfort now is found in Astley, her pixie king, the one who turned her, and one of the only “good pixie kings” and her best friend, Issie. To make matters worse, she now has to deal with Loki, a volcano god that is now after her. How does she know this? An ice giant told her with his dying breath. As a quote from Zara, it was “Twilight Zone creepy”. Zara feels like she’s being stalked. Others find out about pixies. Astley is poisoned. That’s only the first 75 pages. She’s afraid, confused, and has every right to be.

I am completely Team Astley. At first, it was Nick, yeah, but by the middle of Entice, I switched sides. Astley is Zara’s rock. He’s always there for her and always makes sure she’s safe. He’s willing to do almost anything for her, and yet, she still pines for Nick. Zara’s still a bit weak and wimpy, but she’s a lot stronger than when she first was introduced as a character. Not only do I, the reader, think so, Astley, Nick, Issie, Devyn, Astley, and everyone else does too! Nick just lost his glory in my eyes. He’s hurt Zara over and over again. When he found out she was the daughter of a pixie king, when he found out that she might become a pixie queen, and when he found out that she turned pixie. Pixie, pixie, pixie! Nick has an old prejudice, and it definitely gets annoying.

I don’t know exactly what’s different for me in the writing of Endure compared to Entice, but Endure seems more…real? I guess? I think the genre of the book changing is what did it. Instead of all the foolish fun I sensed in books 1, 2, and 3, Endure is more of a post-apocalypse book than just a plain-old fantasy/paranormal. Entice was where Zara went and got changed into a pixie, went to Valhalla, and rescued Nick, but Endure is where things hit home. Of course, there are still some parts where everyone still seems to take it as a joke. For example: “Somebody fake screams. Someone else shouts, ‘Die, you pixie scum!’”  It just made me loathe those people. I mean, they know they’re on the verge of the end of the world, but they’re joking about this? Really? No. Just no.  I admit that some got me laughing, but others were just plain no-at-this-time-jokes. But you can still feel the danger, see their fear and desperation. At one point I seriously panicked. It was impossible! Carrie Jones could absolutely not do that!

 I had a lot of suspicions about a few characters in this book. Such as the mysterious woman who (minor spoiler) attacks Zara in the snow. I’m a major geek on legends, whether it’s Greek, Latin, Norse, or just superstition. I guess that was one of the reasons I got clued in, but I’m not saying anything else!

Anyways, as an overview, the plot is original, which we all know is pretty hard to do these days with all these great books coming in, but that’s how it’s been for all books in the Need series. There’s still the love triangle, and more than once Nick and Astley are on the verge of literally fighting for a girl, but the Need series has Norse mythology, Valhalla, and were-tigers and were-eagles! How cool is that! And it has pixies. Ok, so maybe the “pixies” are actually faeries (I mean, iron? Invitation to come in? Flying?), but they’re different because of the king needing a queen, the link between the pixies in one…kingdom. These are what makes the Need series so unique and completely lovable! And the ending? Well…it scared me half to death (for those of you who’ve read Endure, excuse the pun), but the epilogue…it was exactly what I expected from this book! And that is absolutely not a bad thing

Quick Summary: I loved Endure! Entice ruined the series for me, but Endure redeemed it! It was fun, dangerous, humorous, and deliciously so. Hurt, passion, love, sacrifices, and betrayal are gathered in this one book. Many of the main characters are as lovable as always, if not more so! As the fourth book in the series, it ends in a heartbreaking fall (Quite literally). I was a bit confused as to what happened, but after about 5 minutes pondering that section, I finally got it. Call me slow. But Endure was one of the best ending sequels I’ve ever read.

Pages: 288

Series: Need #4

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Rating: 5 stars