Gimme a Call - Sarah Mlynowski

Goodreads summary:

A new life is just a phone call away!

Devi's life isn't turning out at all like she wanted. She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn't join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.

Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!

Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn't some wacko—she realizes that she's been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she's already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self?

Except . . .what if getting what you think you want changes everything?

Fans of Sarah Mlynowski's Magic in Manhattan series will love this hilarious novel with a high-concept premise.


My review:

4/5

I think that the concept of this book is fantastic. I always wonder about the impact of a simple choice, so books about the different lives a person could be living because of some decisions they make are must-reads for me. This one is different from everything else I've read, so I was really interested about it and I wasn't disappointed.

I loved how the younger and the older Devi felt like two different people - which they are, in a way. They're the same person, but their life experience makes them two separate people, which we often forget about our younger self. This book really made me realize how much a person, including myself, can change in a few years only. Also, I've always wondered about what I would think of my older self and vice-versa, so seeing something like that in a book was very interesting to me.

Although it's not explained all that much, I loved seeing the relationship aspect of this book. Devi's relationship with Bryan has done bad things to her life, but it's not all black or white. Through this experience, older Devi learns a lot about life and about her relationships with everyone around her, which was nice, since it's like her younger self taught her a few things. I do wish that we could have seen more of Bryan, since 1) he seems dreamy, and 2) he's from Québec, where I live. I wasn't expecting that, but it made me like him even more. His relationship with Devi sounds pretty intense because of how much in love they are, but I would have loved to see some of it, because it sounds extraordinary.

I loved this novel more and more as I continued reading it, so I would absolutely recommend it. It's not too serious, but it makes you think about your choices in the present, but also in the future. I'll make sure to look up the author's other novels now, since it's the first one I read from her!

Summer in the Invisible City - Juliana Romano

Goodreads summary:

A sparkling coming-of-age story about self-discovery, first love, and the true meaning of family, perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.

Seventeen-year-old Sadie Bell has this summer all figured out: She’s going to befriend the cool girls at her school. She’s going to bond with her absentee father, a famous artist, and impress him with her photography skills. And she’s finally going to get over Noah, the swoony older guy who was her very first mistake.

Sadie wasn’t counting on meeting Sam, a funny and free-thinking boy who makes her question all of her goals. But even after a summer of talking, touching, and sharing secrets, Sam says he just wants to be friends. And when those Sadie cares about most hurt her, Sam’s friendship may not be enough. Sadie can see the world through her camera, but can she see the people who have loved and supported her all along?

Set against a glamorous New York City backdrop, this coming-of-age romance is a gorgeous summer read—one whose characters will stay with you long into the fall.


My review:

3/5

I've been interested by this book from the second I read its summary - it's the reason why I immediately bought it and started reading it, which almost never happens to me. I'd say that the three main reasons why I was so attracted to this novel were the city where it's set, NYC, the main character's passion, photography, and the romance aspect.

I was a bit disappointed about the setting of this novel, because I feel like it lacks descriptions. I couldn't imagine where the characters live and I really wish I could've, because I've never been to New York and it intrigues me a lot. Also, since Sadie's into photography, I feel like a book about her should have been a bit more focused on her surroundings and the little details around her.

On the other hand, I loved everything about photography. Passionate people really inspire me, so I love reading about them, whether they're real or not. Sadie is a character with a fantastic passion and I think that this book shows it really well. There are loads of descriptions about the photography process and her inspiration, which I loved. I'm not that much into taking pictures, but I am an artistic person and I can recognize beauty and inspiration, so I loved learning about such a passion.

The romance aspect of this novel isn't that big, but it's definitely cute. I love that Sam and Sadie appreciate each other for who they truly are, because it's something that doesn't seem that easy for Sadie. They've only known each other for a few days or weeks, but their chemistry is real and it's amazing.

There's one aspect of this novel that I hadn't really been expecting, or at least not in this proportion, and it's the one about finding yourself, I guess. For the biggest part of the story, Sadie idolizes people, from her classmates to her father, which leads to very bad decisions. As the story progresses, she starts realizing that everyone's pretty much the same, including her, which makes her feel a bit more confident, especially about photography. It's an interesting aspect, because I can definitely relate to that, and I think that a lot of people could as well.

The story didn't develop the way I expected it to, which I'm not sure if I liked, but overall, I'd recommend it.

Crossing the Ice - Jennifer Comeaux

Goodreads summary:

Falling hard never felt so good.

Pair skaters Courtney and Mark have one shot left at their Olympic dream. They vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team.

The heart doesn’t always listen to reason, though…

The more time Courtney spends with sweet, shy Josh, the harder she falls for him. But they are on opposite sides of the competition, and their futures are headed in opposite directions. Will their friendship blossom into more or are their paths too different to cross?


My review:

4/5

This is the perfect kind of cheer-me-up book, believe me. It has great romance, an interesting plot, and a passion shared by most of the characters, which I love in books. There's just something about passionate characters that I adore, and I was more than satisfied with this book. While the characters in this particular novel are very intense, sometimes a little bit too much, about their Olympic dream, it was refreshing to read about ambitious characters who take sports seriously.

I might as well be dead from all the feelings this book gave me! The romance is swoon-worthy and it's really well done. I loved the chemistry between the characters and I do think that this is more than your typical forbidden love story.

The only disappointment I had regarding this book is about the fact that it's part of a series - I know, it doesn't really make sense. I should have known this beforehand, but I didn't really look up this book before reading it. It's not that I dislike series, but I do prefer some types of books as stand-alones rather than as series. This novel could have been a stand-alone, in my opinion, so I'm not entirely sure if I'll read the rest of the series, even though it's probably really good. It's just me being weird, really.

I'd definitely recommend this novel, especially if you're into ice skating!

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

My Summer TBR

I've had a reading slump for my entire first month of summer vacation, so I really haven't been reading as much as I hoped to. Now that I'm getting back into it (slowly, so we're not going to get too excited in case it's a fail), I hope to read a lot more this summer, because it's definitely the best time for me to tackle my TBR pile. I'm going to make a list of books I want to read this summer to help myself whenever I'm looking for a new book to read, but this could also help some of you guys who want to know what to read next! I'm also open to recommendations, as always. Like all of my blog posts, the pictures will take you to the books' Goodreads page. 

YA

Summer in the Invisible City by Juliana Romano

This book is a new release that intrigued me a lot from the very beginning, so I couldn't resist buying it. It's set in NYC, where I've never been, and a lot of it is about photography, which is an awesome passion. I'm actually already reading this, because I simply couldn't wait.

When We Collided by Emery Lord

I've loved both of Emery Lord's first novels, so her newest one is definitely on my TBR. It doesn't seem as light-hearted as her other books, but her writing feels like summer and her romances are always great, so now's the perfect time for me to read it!

Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein

I was desperate to find a cure for my reading slump, so I started browsing new YA releases that sounded light and adorable. This one popped up and it intrigued me, even though it sounds predictable. I'll let you know what I think of it!

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Being away from Goodreads and blogs, I forgot that this novel was coming out this summer, which I wasn't proud of. If you didn't know, I'm the biggest Kasie West fan, because she's my go-to when it comes to light-hearted YAs. She writes the cutest stories and her love interests are always so swoony, so I cannot wait to pick this up. Also, it comes out only a few days before I go on vacation, so I know it'll be part of the entire library I'm bringing there!

The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer

This book came out about ten years ago, so it's not a new release, but I've been dying to read it for a really long time. In fact, even before I started reading Strohmeyer's novels, I watched the movie adaptation for this book and I loved it. Since then, I've probably watched it 5 more times, so I was really happy when I found out it was actually a book. I finally got my hands on it, so I can't wait to read this.

Wrecked by Maria Padian

I received this in exchange for a review and I think it sounds really interesting and different from the other YAs I mentionned, so I'm excited to read it!

Classics

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I've always wanted to read this novel, but when my teachers started talking about it non-stop last semester, I knew I had to read it as soon as possible, so I'm hoping to get to it this summer!

1984 by George Orwell

I've started this book last fall, but I stopped reading and never got back to it. Since I loved Animal Farm and I've heard so many great things about this classic, I just have to read it this summer.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

I'm going to be honest here: I've never read a thing Hemingway has written, so I have no idea what to expect with this book, However, I'd really like to have an opinion for myself, so that's what I'll be doing this summer.



Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I've read quite a few of Austen's books and I've loved all of them, so I want to keep going and this novel is the next one on my list. I downloaded the audiobook for it, so I might listen to it when I'm in the car.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  by Mark Twain

I'm not sure if I'll be able to read it this summer, but I plan on doing it in the future because it'll be part of the season three of Crash Course Literature, which I love. Also, this will be my first Mark Twain book!

Romeo and Juliet  by Shakespeare

Since I have yet to read one of Shakespeare's plays, I decided on this one, because someone lent the book to me ages ago and I want to be able to give it back to that person (I'm the annoying person who has tons of books lent by other people, but it's simply because I didn't ask for them and I never feel like reading them. Also, I think everyone forgets about the books they lent to me). I'm actually really excited to read this!

Series

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare

It must have been three years since I started reading this series and I still haven't finished it, so it's about time I read this. I think I'll bring it with me on vacation to motivate me.

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Okay, so I won't lie, this book is pretty much the biggest reason why I'm finally going to finish TMI, because it sounds amazing and I really want to read it. Since I've heard that it's better to have read CoHF before reading it, I've been trying to refrain myself from picking it up, but it's a big struggle for me.

The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead

I really want to read this novel, since I loved the first three books in the series, which I read this year. It's only a matter of time before I pick it up!

The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey

I'm one of the only ones who liked the movie adaptation for The 5th Wave, so I really want to keep on reading this series, especially since it's the final book and it recently came out. It's one of the ebooks I always have on my phone and e-reader, so I'll pick it up whenever I'm somewhere I can read and I have one of those with me instead of a physical book.

Destined for Doon (Doon #2) by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

I've had this book for months and I always want to read it, so I think it's finally time for me to do it. I really liked the first book, so I'm hoping that this will be just as good!

Hearts, Fingers, and Other Things to Cross (Broken Hearts & Revenge #3) by Katie Finn (also known as Morgan Matson, if you didn't know)

As a big Morgan Matson fan, I had to read this series, and I really enjoy it so far. This is literally the perfect summer book, so I can't wait to continue with this series!

Shattered (Slated #3) by Teri Terry

I have honestly loved the first two books in this series, so I bought the third one pretty much as soon as it came out, but I never read it (which is really stupid, I know). Since I own it, I should read it this summer, because I have to know what happens with the story (even though I admittedly don't remember much of it now).

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas

I love this series more with every new book I read, so I am dying to pick this one up. It's been out for quite some time now, so I really have no excuse not to pick it up!

Re-reads

Sapphire Blue & Emerald Green(Precious Stone Trilogy #2 & 3) by Kerstin Gier

This is one of my favourite series of all time and I recently re-read Ruby Red, which got me out of my reading slump, so I just have to continue reading the series.

Rainbow Valley (Anne of Green Gables #7) by Lucy Maud Montgomery

LMM is my favourite author, and this is my favourite series, so I'm almost always reading one of the eight novels in it. I don't remember much about the last two, since I didn't read them as many times as the others, so I'd love to do it this summer.

Out of my Comfort Zone

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkings

I don't usually read thrillers, but I've heard great things about this one. Also, there's going to be a movie adaptation of it, so when I saw it on sale for one dollar, I had to pick it up. Again, it'll probably be part of my vacation library!

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

I would read this book simply because of its gorgeous cover and title, but I also think that the summary is incredibly intriguing. It's not really my usual genre, but I think I'll love it anyways, and since they're doing a movie of it, too, I can't wait to read it.

What Lies Within by James Morris

This is a book I received to review and I still haven't read it, which I feel really bad about. The only reason for that is that I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, so I never have the urge to pick one of them when I'm looking for a book to read, but I'll push myself to do it this summer, I swear.

The Choices We Make by Karma Brown

This is a little bit more like something my mom would read, but for some reason, it really intrigues me. I've also received it from its publisher, so it's one more reason for me to read it this summer!

There are a lot of books on this list, but I know I can easily read that many if I don't get any more reading slumps. I can't promise I'll only read these books though, especially since I already have some that I know aren't on this list but that I want to read, so I'm not sure if I'll tackle this entire TBR, but I'll try to! I'll make a readathon of my entire summer if I have to. Good luck on your summer TBR, everyone!

I'M BACK!

Hey guys! 

Before anyone mentions it, I'm going to state it clearly: I've been a terrible blogger. Awful, despicable, but mostly, just ABSENT. I do think that it's fine for me to be less active during the school year, because I am in college, so I should really do my best when I can, but the thing is that I didn't get back to it when I had the chance to do it. I could give you a thousand reasons for that, none of them being a lie, but the most important thing is, I believe, that I am incredibly sorry about that, and ashamed of acting like that, so I'll do my best to change the way things are right now. 

To do that, I have planned a few blog posts that I've been imagining over the past months, so I hope you'll enjoy those. I also have reviews planned, obviously, because reviewing is what I haven't been doing over the past six months or so. I hope I haven't lost all of my abilities in that specific kind of writing, because it's something I simply love doing. 

I hope all of you are doing well and will hopefully like the content to come!

Laurence

GIVEAWAY - Finding Daylight by Mara Dabrishus CLOSED

Hi everyone! As some of you may know, Mara Dabrishus, the author of Stay the Distance and Finding Daylight, was kind enough to offer a chance to win your own copy of her book a couple of months ago on this blog. She recently published another book, Finding Daylight, which is just as good as the first one is, believe me. I have both reviews on my blog, as well as an interview with the lovely author, which you can find here:

Stay the Distance's review  -  Finding Daylight's review  -  Interview

The rules of this giveaway are pretty simple:

One print copy of Finding Daylight, by Mara Dabrishus, is available for free giveaway. To enter the contest, all you have to do is comment with your e-mail address. If you're not comfortable with it, you can always just leave a comment and send me a message to let me know you still want to enter the giveaway. That's it!

The contest is open to the United States and Canada. Deadline is April 30. Only one entry per account.

I wish you all the best luck and I hope you'll discover an amazing author if you hadn't yet!

  

My Favourite Childhood Books

Hi everyone! Lately, I've seen quite a few videos about childhood reads on BookTube, namely ReadbyZoe's most recent one, which inspired me to do the same thing in a written form. However, you'll quickly realize that many of them are actually written for a much older audience than I was at the time (I only wanted big books, basically). Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this post and think about the books you enjoyed reading when you were younger! I'd love to know about them.

1. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (the obvious one)

As most of you probably know, I'm Lucy Maud Montgomery's biggest fan mainly because of her Anne series. I read the first book when I was about 8 years old and I never stopped loving this series. As of today, I've probably read LMM's books a hundred times (which isn't even an exaggeration), so I would highly recommend her books, especially this one. It's about a young orphaned girl who is adopted by a family who only realize when they get her that she's a girl, even though they had asked for a boy. Anne is my favourite character ever and I've wished I could be her countless times. Gilbert Blythe, another character in this series, was my first book crush and I swear you'll fall in love with him if you give this book a chance. It's set in the early 1900s and it's written in a poetic way that makes those books perfect for adults as well as children. 

2. Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Continuing the way I started this list, I have to tell you that this other series by Lucy Maud Montgomery caught my heart quite early in my life (in 2007, if I believe my library's archives). This book, although it might sound similar to Anne of Green Gables because it's about an orphan, but Emily's story is completely different from Anne's. It's much darker (but only because Anne is such a positive anc charismatic character while Emily's life is really sad and she doesn't have as much positivity as Anne does), but it's still written in the beautiful way LMM's other books are written and it presents incredible characters that you'll remember forever.

3. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

As a big fan of this TV show, I had to read the books, especially since they were some of my mother's favourite books. I think they might have been some of the favourite books I read, since I owned the three first of the series and my mother read them to my sister and me. I actually pretended I was Laura while my sister said she was Mary and we'd act some scenes together. I received a nightgown that looked exactly like one of Laura's dresses from my grandmother, who made it specially for me with a cap. I went to bed with little braids to look like Laura's TV show character and the nightgown was destroyed by the time I stopped wearing it, so you can probably see how obsessed I was with this series.

4. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

I started reading this series pretty young and it followed me throughout the years, so much that I actually got to review the most recent book of this series (which made my ten-year-old self very happy). It's one of the first series I recommended to my sister when she started reading, which brings back many old memories of us fangirling together. It's something that I would recommend to any young girl, because it makes you fantasize about being a princess in a realistic way. 

5. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

I'm one of those weird little girls who didn't care about the types of books she read, so I read this book when I was 7 or 8 years old - before the movie even came out. I loved this particular book, but since I was so young, the sequels got too complicated for me and I ended up giving up on the third book. I do plan on rereading this series one day, maybe when I have children, because it made me wish so hard that I could have my own dragon (I pretended I slept under my dragon's wings when I was younger).

6. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

I have no idea what age I was when I first read this series, but I know for a fact that I was way too young, because the last one kind of freaked me out when I read it (my parents never put a veto on what I wanted to read since I read so much, but I wish they had a few times, because some books kind of traumatized me). I do remember that I wished I had such a large group of close friends, since it's always only been me and my best friend, as well as a few other friends, instead of me and my three best friends, like it's the case with the girls in this book. I wanted my own pair of jeans like that, too, and I truly think it's a fabulous idea for a series.

7. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I wasn't as young when I read this book, maybe 12 years old, but I'll count it. I did read this after watching the movie (which gave me a huge crush on Alex Pettyfer, haha), but I remember loving the complexity of the books, which was much more interesting than the movie. I think I read the first three books of this series, but I would have read all of them if they were on sale where I live (which they sadly aren't. They release one every three year or so and it sucks). 

8. Stolen Voices: Young People's War Diaries, from World War I to Iraq by Zlata Filipovic

This is one of the first non-fiction books I read and it really stuck with me through the years. I couldn't believe how sad those kids' lives were when I read this, especially since a lot of them were my age. It made me open my eyes to the world I lived in and I think it's one of the reasons why I'm so interested in history today, especially during wars. I would highly recommend it.

9. The Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant

As a young rider, I had to at least watch this TV show, which I very happily did. Steph, Carole and Lisa were my models and I wanted nothing more than to be as good a rider as they were, even though it's a known fact to all riders that they'ra actually quite bad in the version I watched (I was 5, so give me a break). When I discovered that there were books of this show, I was the happiest I'd ever been. I flew through all of the books I could get my hands on and they were my favourite ones. This is making me quite nostalgic, because I almost forgot about them and my 7-year-old self would probably never forgive me for that!

10. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

You didn't think I'd do such a post without including Harry Potter, did you? It's definitely one of my childhood favourites, so a list like this one wouldn't be complete without it. I watched some of the movies first, because they came out when I was quite young, but I went to every single one of their theater releases (which scared me of the theater for quite a while, because they were scary movies for a young kid and the loud noises made it even worse) and I read the books as soon as I learned how to read. I've always been called 'Hermione' as a joke in my family because of my love of books and my obsession with school and being right, so I remember loving her hair (which is embarrassing) and when I'd take off my Laura Ingalls braids, I turned into Hermione for the day, which was awesome (I mean, cosplaying two characters pretty much at once, how awesome is that?). Basically, I would completely judge you if you told me you haven't read/watched this series (sorry not sorry).