How to Keep Rolling After a Fall - Karole Cozzo

Goodreads summary:

After a cyber bullying incident turns her life upside down, a handsome wheelchair rugby player shows a former mean girl that everyone deserves a second chance.

The party was at her house. The photos were posted to her Facebook account. That's all the evidence anyone needed to condemn Nikki Baylor for a cyberbullying incident that humiliated a classmate and nearly resulted in the girl's suicide. Now Nikki's been expelled from her old school, her friends have abandoned her, and even her own parents can't look her in the eye. With her plans for the future all but destroyed, Nikki resigns herself to being the girl everyone hates - almost as much as she hates herself. But then Nikki meets Pax, a spirited wheelchair rugby player who knows what it's like when one mistake completely shatters your life. Refusing to judge her because of her past, he shows her that everyone deserves a second chance... and everyone deserves to be loved.


My review:

4.5

WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK! I absolutely loved it.

I've had my eye on this novel for quite some time now, but I never got around to reading it. Now that I finally read it, I wish I had picked it up even earlier, because I experienced so many emotions while reading this, it was crazy.

I was expecting to really dislike the main character, Nikki, since she's done awful things, but I was perfectly able to forgive her. I'm quite a forgiving person, so it helped, but I also think that seeing her side of the story makes it a whole lot different. I could relate to her, because when you're in a group, it's hard not to follow the leaders, or simply to say no when everyone says yes. Because I could understand her point of view, I quickly got over my initial anger and I was sad to see the way everyone treated her. I really disliked Nikki's former group of friends, but since she realized what kind of people they truly were, I think that she's simply better without them, so maybe she needed something like this to realize how bad her friends were.

On the other hand, Pax is such a sweet character! I loved how forgiving he was towards Nikki from the very beginning, even though it was really sad to see that he was the only one who didn't hold Nikki's actions against her. He was a bit hard to read, but I understood him more easily after he explained himself to Nikki. I loved his positiveness and his desire to make Nikki happier, which is why she needed someone like him so badly. Their relationship isn't easily, but I loved the way it flowed and seeing them together made me happy, no matter what kind of relationship they had. They truly bring the best in each other.

I think this novel has a lot of important themes. I loved the romance aspect of it, but I think my favourite part of it was the importance of mistakes, guilt, forgiveness, love and friendship. I've never been close to a situation like the one in this novel, but I think that reading this novel has made me more open, if not to bullies, to hearing everyone's point of view. I truly believe that everyone makes mistakes and that some of them can be forgiven, and this book reinforced that idea.

I thought that the ending was a tad bit too abrupt, especially since I loved the story so much that I happily could've read a hundred more pages of it, but this seems to happen to me a lot these days. It does bring my rating down a little bit, but I guess perfection doesn't exist!

I would very highly recommend this book. It's probably one of my favourite novels that I read this year!

Jane Blond International Spy - Brianna and Stan Schatt

Goodreads summary:

Fourteen year-old Jane Blond thought getting through high school was difficult enough with her dad in prison and her mother dating. Throw in being bullied by the popular girl who has everything, and it’s completely unbearable. But when terrorists kidnap a boy she cares about, she knows she is the only one who can save him. Jane must rely on her courage and cunning as well as on a computer genius, a teen with Asperger’s, and a parrot with an attitude.


My review:

3/5

I was expecting more from this book, but I was just not able to connect with the characters as much as I wanted to... I thought the summary sounded great and I wanted to read about a younger character thrown in a crazy situation. It didn't quite meet up to my expectations.

The first negative point I found was the fact that the writing style is quite confusing. The verb tenses keep changing, which I found annoying, as someone who's a tiny bit obsessed with grammar and writing in general. I was able to look past that, though, but I never really got to connect with the characters during my time reading. I think it's because the writing felt a bit choppy to me (but it might just be me, because I've read great reviews of this novel), but I guess it was just not the book for me. I'm older than the characters, so it's no surprise that I found some of them a bit whiny and immature, but some books still manage to make their younger characters relatable for me, so I was hoping this would be one of those,

I think this book does have promise - my younger self would probably have loved it, it seems like the writing works with a lot of readers, and the whole idea behind it is great (honestly, I love the summary because characters with similar names to famous people are so funny to me). 

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Prom and Prejudice - Elizabeth Eulberg

Goodreads summary:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn't interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be - especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles's friend, Will Darcy, who's snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn't seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it's because her family doesn't have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk - so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

My review:

4/5

This book is amazingly thought out. As a fan of Pride and Prejudice who has watched and read many of its adaptations, I loved this one and I would absolutely recommend it to other fans. 

I loved how the plot is changed to work in today's world. The whole prom issue is very similar to marriage in the era P&P was written, so everything else seemed to work perfectly. I could see so many similarities in the story that I was basically marvelling the whole time and it was awesome. The characters are pitch-perfect and although their concerns and relations can be different in this adaptation than in the original book, their impact on the story is the same and I couldn't imagine a better adaptation.

The only reason why I couldn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to was that, after watching and reading The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, I felt like reading this was a betrayal and I couldn't help but compare the two of them. Otherwise, I'm sure I would only have thought good things about it. 

I think every P&P lover who also likes YA has to read this book. It's great!