Under Review

Title:  To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han

Genre:  Contemporary, YA, Romance

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 15th 2014
Hardcover:  355 Pages

What It's About: "Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control" 

What I Thought: This book was fantastic. Out of all the contemporaries I have read, this was the best. Keep in mind, this was also my first Jenny Han book. As I started the book, I couldn't help but exclaim how much I loved her writing. It lead me to keep reading. This book was very hard for me to put down. The story was so appealing. I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed the fact of how different this YA book was. Family is a great part of this story. I loved that because usually family isn't a huge factor in a YA book. Lara Jean being with her family really stood out to me. It showed a lot about her personality and made this story feel very realistic. The sisterly bond Lara Jean has with her sisters is wonderful. This story felt so realistic because of those main components.  After Kitty and Lara Jean get in a fight, the letters are sent out which led me to think that Kitty was obviously the person who sent the letters. I was glad that the story wasn't just about the letters because that was my prediction. Lara Jean actually gets something great out of this terrible situation. The hardest part while reading this was choosing which boy I felt Lara Jean should be after. I was torn between both Josh and Peter as Lara Jean was.  It was very obvious that Peter was developing actual feelings for Lara Jean halfway into the book which made me very happy. He came around the house more and Kitty started to enjoy him. Josh was always there for Lara Jean when she needed him and I didn't want to see their friendship end. I'm glad it didn't but when they kissed I wasn't sure to be happy or disappointed. Margot had the right to be angry but she should've heard Lara Jean out before she jumped to conclusion. Margot was annoying but I could understand why. She needed to know when it was time to be a sister and a "mother". For Christmas, Kitty got the puppy she had been asking for and I couldn't have been happier for her! I could relate to Lara Jean so well - another reason why I loved this book. Lara Jean was the first fictional character I could relate to.  This book made me very happy at all times and I cannot wait until the next one! 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and it was AMAZING. By far the best contemporary I have ever read. 

 I have seen this done by a few bloggers and I decided to try it out! This is created by Tynga's Reviews 

"Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!"

While on vacation, I purchased these two lovely books at a used bookstore down the street from my hotel!

Title: Beautiful Disaster (#1)

Author: Jamie McGuire 

Genre:  New Adult, Contemporary, Romance 

Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 14 2012
Paperback:  416 Pages

What It's About:  Abby Abernathy is starting a new beginning.  She is trying to delete the dark memories of her past.  She and her best friend, America are entering their Freshman year of college. Once she arrives her new beginning starts with a challenge. He is Travis Maddox the Eastern University's Walking One Night Stand. They fall over obstacles left and right but little do they know they are actually soulmates. This is the first book in the trilogy. 

My Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What I Thought:  This was my first New Adult book and I loved it! I mean, I never put it down. I liked how realistic this book felt. Since I have finished my freshman year of college this year, I could relate to the characters. This was such a different romance story from others I have read and I liked that, a lot. At times I was getting frustrated with the characters specifically America, Travis and Abby. Also, I was indecisive about who I "shipped" more Travis&Abby or Abby&Parker. Depending on where I was in the book I was for one of the ships. I started to dislike the fact that Abby was kind of playing mind games with Parker but at the same time I realized that she just wanted to try something different. I absolutely loved both Parker and Travis' admiration for Abby.   Travis always wanted to protect her, which was very heart warming. I love that they were friends first, the jokes they had were hilarious! My heart melted when he bought her Toto for her birthday. Adorable!! Aside from them, America bothered me the most. She would break up with Shepley out of nowhere! That made me angry.  Ending the book I was disappointed at the end when Abby proposed to Travis because I wanted there to be a cute proposal from him. But, I feel that this proposal really suited their relationship. I did like the fire scene added because it adds some suspense [when reading I was nervous] but it could be argued that it wasn't needed. If I wasn't already aware of Beautiful Oblivion focusing on Travis' brother,  Trent I would have been more concerned about him in the fire. But, I will say that I had been thinking during that scene that maybe Trent doesn't make it and the book is just written anyway. Although, I did enjoy it and I am planning on finishing out the series! 

Title: The Geography of You and Me 

Author: Jennifer E. Smith 

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: April 15 2014
Hardcover: 337 Pages

Starting July 14, I will be participating in the Booktubeathon hosted on Youtube by several different Booktubers. This readathon is from July 14 - 20th. There are reading challenges which can help you create your TBR. Unfortunately, mine doesn't fit every challenge. But, I am doing this for fun! For more information click here. All of the books I have mentioned in this post can be found here.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley