The Fault In Our Stars:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for quite a while; before it was known it would be a movie, but I never could bring myself to read something that was going to be inevitably sad.  Since the movie has come out and so many people have praised it, I decided it’s time to jump on the band wagon and read the book.  I won’t watch the movie because I don’t want to knowingly watch something that will make me ball my eyes out.  At least with the book, when I knew a sad part was coming I could put it in the freezer for  awhile and then get it back out when I’m not so invested in the moment.  (anyone get the freezer reference?  Hint: Friends.).  That wasn’t the  case though. I didn’t end up putting my kindle in the freezer because I couldn’t put the book down. Period.

The Fault In our Stars was an amazing love story about a teenager who loves poetry and has cancer, who ends up befriending (and falling in love) with a teenage boy who has cancer and shares her same love for poetry and literature.  The story takes you on a journey of a teenager’s mindset when she has to deal with the thought of dying so young, leaving he parents behind. Would her parents still be parents if their only child died?  How will the boy she now loves deal with losing another lover one so early?  Even though their love may end early, they have their own infinite love for their own lifetime. 

If only we could all be so lucky to find that kind of love, whether for a fleeting moment or for 80 more years.  This book was FILLED with amazing quotes, and to share just a few of my favorite:

“Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,”  This is in reference to a moment when one cancer patient got dumped by the woman who promised to love him forever.  We all make promises in the moment, forgetting about all that we may have to endure in the future.  

 

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” What an amazing way to describe falling in love.  It does sneak up on us doesn’t it? 

 

 

 

Just Listen

Just Listen

I’m just sure I like Sarah Dessen. I read her books every once in a while but they are all the same and really geared towards teenagers.

Annabelle is a teenager who’s mother pushes her to model, who’s two older sisters are models and have their own issues that push back on Annabelle, and who’s father puts up with it all.  She had best friends once, but a nasty rumor left her friendless.  Through the struggles, she becomes friends with a non-socialable boy named Owen.  Throughout the year, the truth slowly comes out about what really happened to Annabelle and Sophie’s boyfriend, Will Cash.  She probably wasn’t his first victim, and definitely was not his last.  Now that Emily has come forward and press charges, maybe people will just listen to Annabelle finally tell her side of the story to her former friends. Can they ever be friends again?

This was a good book. Annabelle went through something that a lot of girls have to deal with. She also kept quiet about the rape, similar to other girls. I hope this book will bring to light the seriousness of the situation and help girls come forward when someone violates them.  

 

This World we Live in

This World we Live in

This is the 3^rd book of the series, and I liked this book better than the 2^nd, but not as good as the first.  This book linked the first and second book together and tells a story of families coming together and trying to survive.  

To quote Amazon:

“It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.”

 

The Dead and Gone

The Dead and Gone

The second book in this series, this was not as good as the first.  The Dead and Gone tell a story of a boy named Alex, who has two sisters and brother. Their parents disappeared after that dreadful day in May when the moon shifted and everything changed forever.  Never knowing what happened to their parents, Alex began rummaging dead bodies looking for them.  Eventually, him and a friend discovered dead bodies have good loot worth a trade-in on food.  They would go in the mornings before school and scour the bodies, trade it in for food to feed their family.  This is a great book about the will to survive, and to keep your family alive.  

I actually have been thinking about the first book I read a while back since the big scare of Ebola has surfaced.  I remembered beginning a series about how people have to fight to stay alive when everything in the world was trying to kill them.  I thought ‘maybe I should read these books so I will know how to keep my family alive during the Ebola apocalypse’.  Ha. Funny, I know. But It got me into reading again. 

 

Tell No One

Dr. David Beck met his wife when they were 7 and inseparable.  They celebrated each of their 12 wedding anniversaries at the very same place they met, his grandfather’s campsite.  On their 13^thanniversary, they continued the ritual, but this time, something happened.  Beck heard Elizabeth scream, and then he gets hit on his head and almost drowning.  Waking up in the hospital to the news that his wife is dead is not anything a man wants to hear about his wife.  Especially when he got injured trying to save her and still did not succeed.

8 years later, David Beck still goes on dates but cannot let go of his late wife, Elizabeth.  While working one day, Beck receives an email in code, but he deciphers it and determines that Elizabeth may be alive!  At this moment, Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn’t. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope. 

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret–and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.

I recently read my first book my Harlan Coben, and it was pretty great.  I decided to seek out another. I enjoy the murder/mystery books.  Honestly, I didn’t find this one as captivating.  It had so many twists and plots and part of the story that no one would add up in the real world. It was just hard to believe some of this would actually happen.  But, overall I did enjoy it still, and will find a 3^rd book to read by Coben.  I rated this a 3 out of 5. 

 

Missing You

NYPD Detective Kat Donnavan hasn't really dated since her fiancé, Jeff, dumped her 18 years ago; 2 years after her father was murdered and she was consumed to solve his murder. Her friend, Stacy, signed her up for a year's subscription for a dating site. Who does Kat first stumble across?! A picture of her former fiancé. 

Brandon Phelps is a teenager who believes his mom has been kidnapped, despite her texts, emails and calls confirming she is ok. Brandon contacts Kat to help find his mother, since he discovered she was going away on a weekend trip with her new online friend, Jake. Jake and Jeff are the same person.

  

Titus is a business man  who is out to earn money the easy way, by kidnapping rich people and torturing them. 

Can Kat handle the death of the man who confessed to her father's murder, flashbacks from her old relationship, and tracking down the whereabouts of Brandon's mother?? 

This is my first Harlan Coben book to read, but it definitely will not be the last. I'm a slow reader and it usually takes me more than a week to finish a book. Missing You took me 2 days. That could be record-breaking for me! 

The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom

After reading this quick read, I thought I would give my quick review of it. 

Paige and her four girlfriends, who also happen to be neighbors, have a long friendship behind them. One day, they get the news that one of their girlfriends, Karen, died in a freak accident, alone. 

Paige decides to do some of her own investigation after Karen confided a dark secret to her only days before the accident. The local cops know that they have an open and shut case. Ruled: accident. Paige isn't so sure. 

Paige is determined to track down her best friend's killer.

This book is a very easy read, but also very boring. Paige is an extremely self-involved mother of 2 who does not take anyone else's feelings into consideration. She is strong and hard-headed. There are parts where I feel like I'm watching an episode of Desperate Housewives with the secrets and can plotting amongst some of the friends.