Review: Wishing For Someday Soon by Tiffany King

Genre

YA Contemporary Romance

Publication Date

March 25th, 2012

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Format

Ebook

Paparback

Seventeen year old Katelyn Richards is a stronger person than anyone will ever know, and that is just the way she wants it. Behind her normal facade lies the reality of a broken home life. Thanks to her abusive mother, a string of deadbeat stepfathers, and an unsympathetic system, Katelyn has learned that the only one she can count on is herself. Her life’s mission has become to shield her nine year old brother, Kevin, and to give him the future that they both wish for. A life with no more abuse, no worries about where their next meal will come from, and no more wondering if they will have a roof over their heads. 
When her mother moves them again, this time to a small town in Montana, Katelyn’s resolve is shaken when she meets Max, a cute boy from her new school, who gets a glimpse into her real world. Max slowly manages to break through Katelyn’s wall of distrust, stirring up feelings she never saw coming. Now with her world more complicated than she ever intended, Katelyn struggles with the decision to follow her heart into the arms of the first boy she has ever loved. A decision that could risk the promise she made to protect Kevin, and to give them the ‘someday soon’ that is so close within their grasp.


Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

As soon as I found out about Wishing For Someday Soon I instantly went on Amazon and purchased it, it was just one of those books that called out to me. It then sat in my Kindle haunting me as I tried to ignore it and get through a pile of books so I could reward myself with reading it. I'm not very disciplined. One night I just couldn't ignore it so I snatched up my Kindle and began reading.

I was swept away, for the most part. There were just a few aspects that fell a little flat for me. The part that had my heart clenched and eyes filling with tears was the sibling relationship between Katelyn and Kevin. It was so unbearably sweet and sad all at the same time. Kevin absolutely made the story, in my eyes. His maturity and innocence rolled into the heart-tugging package of a little boy.  Katelyn was a great character as well, I loved how she was determined to stay strong all for the sake of her little brother. They were all great characters, really. I never found them flawed beyond their characteristics.

The romance was set at a perfect pace. It helped lend a feeling of hope and happiness to a sad story that sometimes resonated hopelessness through Katelyn. I absolutely loved Max, and their budding relationship was so natural most of the time. The only downfall, for me, was that sometimes the conversations between Max and Katelyn were not natural. Maybe it was the wording and the way that it came off, it just didn't flow with me, it didn't portray the proper amount of emotion and frustration that I should have felt during these conversations. It was almost as if they were scenes that were over-thought, too over done.  It was the only thing that bothered me, but it's a big thing when it comes to a book that focuses on romance. The only reason why it's not getting 5 stars.  

Tiffany King is a strong author that has the power to write fabulous stories that pull you in via characters and well thought-out plots. Wishing For Someday Soon is the perfect story for most readers, it makes you feel, it makes you think and most importantly it shows you that hope and love can appear in unlikely situations that can unravel a perfectly placed facade. 

Review: Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

I was fortunate to get a copy of Breaking Beautiful from Netgalley!

Publication Date

April 24th, 2012

Publisher

Bloomsbury Children's Books

~ Walker Books for Young Readers ~

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Formats

Hardcover

Ebook

Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.

When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.

Review
Genre: YA Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars


A haunting tale of re-discovering courage, overcoming fear, and finding hope.


Sometimes, reviews are really difficult to write. I'm stuck in what to sat about Breaking Beautiful, not because I didn't like it, but because I LOVED it and it's going to be hard to convey the proper emotions that were wrung from me as I read this book.


Allie induces pure compassion as I tried to piece together a shaky past. She's beyond damaged, but I was still able to see a little flicker of hope as the story continued on. The undeniable pain that Allie experiences drips out of the pages, wrapping cold, invisible hands around your heart. The characters are all flawed in their own ways, not from any lack of the author, but because they were supposed to be flawed. Nobody was perfect. They were all brought to life in an extremely life-like manner, reaching beyond the pages to convey a story that was focused on one individual, but wide enough to show the many facets, good and bad, of a population encompassed by a serious issue.  As I got to know each character I discovered that each of them represented a different side of our societies. I'm not going to go into specifics and to keep it short I'll say this, present in this novel are characters that do or don't have courage, characters that can or won't make a difference, characters that react or turn a blind eye, there are characters that are oblivious and characters that refuse to look further. They are all there in Breaking Beautiful, they all have something to add to the story and an array of emotions to evoke. These aren't flat, barely-there characters, these are characters that could quite literally get up and walk right out of your book.


The plot line is set-up in such a way that it allowed me to get a sense of things to come, but still kept the future twists to be a surprise. The flashbacks are integrated into the present time story adding a goosebump generating aspect that can't be ignored. I was propelled to different levels of suspicion that never went away until all was revealed. Jennifer Shaw Wolf writes with extreme perfection, capturing each minute detail, never skipping over the ugly. Any author that ensnares me into a story, has every single one of my emotions flying in such a way that my chest is vibrating, has exceeded their job. This is an author that has gone above and beyond to bring something so consequentially infecting to readers.


I wholeheartedly recommend Breaking Beautiful to every reader. This is a book that needs to be sitting on your shelf, ready to enjoy whenever you get the urge to revisit Allie and her courageous battle. An impactful read that will definitely touch the heart of many.

Review: Celia On The Run by Sarah Mandell

I received this book for an honest review

Nick Novaczek is a cautious soul, a 17-year-old with a boring life, a predictable future, and a quiet thirst for danger. On the eve of his beloved grandmother's funeral, danger finds him by the motel swimming pool. Her name is Celia and she's everything he's not. This foul-mouthed beauty is hitchhiking across the country to make amends with her estranged father and doesn't carry an ounce of fear or hesitation in her tattered suitcase. She's bad news all around, but for a rule-follower like Nick, she's intoxicating.

Twenty-four hours after speaking to Celia for the very first time, following one extremely lucky night, Nick is hopelessly hooked and "borrows" his parents' car to join her cross-country mission, even though her story is full of holes. It's the mistake he's been waiting his whole life to make. Together, they dodge a train, jump off a bridge, and scam everyone in their path. Nick is blossoming into a teenage fugitive, just like Celia, and he's never been happier. She may not be who she says she is, but she's got his vulnerable heart.

After weeks of detours, with hundreds of miles left to go, their wild adventure starts to unravel. The money dries up, Celia's dark secrets start to surface, and it's clear they both want vastly different things out of this partnership. Celia is all about no strings attached and severing whatever they may have between them once they reach their destination, while Nick is head over heels in love and wanting a future with the girl in his passenger seat. They seem to reach a new low on a daily basis, but she won't turn back, no matter how desperate things get. After all, this is her trip and Nick is just the driver. Celia's got a charming smile to pay her way, a willing accomplice, a hidden agenda, and an endless supply of lies. Not to mention a gun.

Review
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!
Love, love, LOVED this book! This isn't a pretty little romance, it's a dark coming of age novel that takes you on an adventure across the country with two characters that elicit powerful emotions.

Celia On The Run is mostly told from Nick's perspective, a boy that so desperately wants to live life and not just watch it pass by as he has been for the seventeen years of his life. It was really refreshing to see the roles reversed as Nick is the shy, not-so-sure character and Celia is the bad-ass with confidence, attitude and a lack of self-preservation(in a way). Nick's confidence surges after his one night with Celia, and he instantly starts becoming his own person as he experiences new and, most of the time, dangerous situations. Celia's character is a mystery that we slowly get familiarized with, severely wanting to unravel the secrets that are hidden.

Celia On The Run is courageous, mostly dark and even horrific at times, gut-wrenching and exhilarating. I was gripping the edge of my seat the entire time, experiencing the ups and downs right alongside Nick and Celia. I was reluctant to set my Kindle down for even a moment, I even read while brushing my teeth! I was thoroughly invested in the story. Sarah Mandell did an excellent job of keeping the suspense, drawing in the readers and then slamming them with suspected and unsuspected outcomes. There are tender moments that left my heart stuttering, but they were slightly overshadowed by the dire situation that was ever present on the cross country trip. This only added to the tender moments, making them as sweet as can be. Sarah Mandell's writing style takes you to each scene without any trouble, letting the story play in your mind as your eyes scan the words on each page. The growth is both subtle and not, individual and as a whole. It gives you hope for a happy ending that you will never be sure is in Nick and Celia's future.

My only complaint is of the cover. I like the current cover, but I feel like it could have been better. I have a very distinct image in my head when I think about Celia On The Run, a cover that would have tied into the story more and would possibly draw in future readers.

An uninhibited view of sensitive topics done in a tactful manner that plunges you into the world of the not-so-well-off youth of America. If you are sensitive to swearing, violence, drugs and sex then this might not be a story that you will like, but it is a necessity to this story and it would not carry the same impact without it. I encourage males and females of the proper maturity to dive in because Celia On The Run is a dynamic, touching and intense adventure.

Celia On The Run is currently available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble 

Review: Reason To Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

"No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"


He knows there's something more to the girl sitting in the back of the class the moment he sees her. She's beautiful, intelligent, and athletic - but she slips quietly through the crowded halls, trying not to exist. Determined to get to know the elusive girl, Evan soon discovers. . .

Emma Thomas is hiding a terrible secret.

Reason To Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl's fragile grasp of hope.



Review
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!
I've been wanting to read Reason To Breathe for quite some time, the only reason I have waited is because I was waiting for the sequel, Barely Breathing, to be released. I couldn't hold out any longer.

Emma is such a strong character, she will endear herself to each reader as she slowly starts to blossom, finding her true reason to breathe and gradually letting the wall down that she painstakingly built up around herself. Evan, oh Evan. He is a knight in shining armor, really, but in the subtle ways he lets Emma crawl out of her own shell without forcing her. He will leave readers breathless with his charming, calm determination. Sara, Emma's best friend, produced a lot of emotions from me. The reader will undoubtedly connect with Emma, but they will also connect with Sara(some readers even more) because of the struggles she deals with concerning Emma. I found myself completely breaking down when Sara would witness the evidence that Emma tried to hide. She was helpless to do anything without pushing Emma away and Rebecca Donovan did an exceeding job conveying the role of the powerless friend. The reader will be incapacitated to become anything less than invested in the story of Emma, Evan and Sara.

Reason To Breathe produces sorrow, compassion, fear, helplessness, anger, but there are moments that are heart-lifting as well. Rebecca Donovan captures each emotion between the pages with an effortless simplicity that is also overshadowed by the deep layers begging to be examined. Rebecca Donovan does a successful job of making the story as humanly as possible. Reason To Breathe is not a feel-good novel, it is not an easy read, but it is a much needed look into a realistic situation that has been brushed under the rug too many times. I can honestly say that I will forever be impacted by Reason To Breathe, in fact it is nearly impossible for me to think about this book and characters without feeling the sting of tears in the back of my eyes. There are only a handful of books that have made me bawl my eyes out, Reason To Breathe is now on the top of that list.

I highly recommend Reason To Breathe for all readers regardless of age or gender. This is a must read!

Reason To Breathe is currently available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords

Make sure to add Barely Breathing, the sequel, to your tbr pile, it's expected to be out in May