The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Now I picked this book up based on the recommendation from a friend. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this seeing as I haven't read YA adventure books in a long time, but I decided to give it a chance. It was also the book I picked for the TBR February challenge. Now when I started I told myself to keep an open mind. Our hero Thomas is enjoyable to read. The writing was just right. I find when reading this kind of adventure novels the author can be a little much. It is they are trying to hard, almost as the are trying to be along the lines of JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien. Dashner I found had a good flow throughout the story and was organized. Now for the challenge I had to also watch it's adaptation. As a standalone the movie was good. It had a clear beginning and end as well as a twist to let you know there would be more. To compare the two obviously I prefer the book, it was just better organized. In my opinion I thought certain parts of the movie were just cut and pasted together, versus any real flow. I gave this book 4 out of 4 stars.Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
This book I could just not put done. This started a trend of new adult contemporary romances. Boy do I love a good romance, and this was a good one. I fell in love with Miles and Tate. I'm a sucker for the tortured ones when it comes to my books. They just have the juiciest stories and make me fall in love. Now I had read Hoover before and know that I enjoy her writing style. It's smooth and consistent. Her male protagonist are just so dreamy and torture they pull my heart strings. There is a twist in the story that I did not see coming and rarely does a book make me tear up, but I so did and that how I know I found a good one. This is a book that I'll always recommend to those looking to get out of YA, but are not ready for full on adult romances.(Forewarned the next books are all just going to be me gushing about how much I love them.)
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
Another great one by Hoover. This just my be my favorite that I have read by her yet. My love for it is up there with Ugly Love. Now for this book she paired up with Griffin Peterson and wrote a soundtrack to be paired with it. This is suppose to heighten the reading experience. SO obviously I bought the soundtrack and listened to it while I was reading. It made the experience that much better. As the songs came up in the book I would listen to them and eventually sing along. Out of the musicians I have read Ridge might just be my favorite. He is extremely talented and has a quality that you don't realize until it is brought up(now you're just going to have to read it to find out). The struggles were real and heartfelt. I really sympathized with Sydney and wanted here to just keep going. Ridge I just loved, I could see his struggles and wanted him to just see everything clearly. The ending was just perfect and I was completely blissed out when I finished it. I gave this one 5 stars out of 5Ripped by Katy Evans
I liked the change of hero for this one. The fact that he wasn't an underground fighter or apart of the organization was a nice change. I like Pandora and her personality, she's feisty, but can be really sweet. Obviously her tough girl act ca just be an act based on how she was raised, but I felt she was a really powerful character. She wasn't flat and wasn't whiny which is always a plus for me. Now our hero Mackenna is your typical rockstar when on stage, he really knows how to work a crowd. He also is Pandora's ex-boyfriend from when they were teenagers. So right away you know there is a story there. Why did they break up? what was wrong? there's just so many questions. They both see things differently. The attraction is there and has never gone away, but why aren't they together. As the story unfolds you'll learn that certain characters are at fault and Pandora doesn't know. She blames Mackenna for leaving and he was just trying to do the right thing. Now though he is done denying himself what he wants and she isn't ready yet to trust him. As things go along you see who is in the wrong and how they work their way back to each other. The fights are true and the love is steamy. Katy Evans knows how to write those juicy stories and I couldn't put it down. I gave it 4stars out of 5
Razed by Shiloh Walker
Now this is an adult contemporary romance. I was gifted this for Christmas. Which personally you can't go wrong with getting a romance book for me. Since it was romance I knew there would at least be some parts that I truly enjoyed and that it would by a roller coaster of emotions. Our couple is Keelie Jessup and Zane Barnes. Keelie is a tattoo artist and Zane is a photographer. This is a second installment i the series, and I haven't read the first one, but I found that it wasn't a problem. The characters overlap, but the issues all seem to be standalone, which I enjoyed. Being that I either read paranormal romances or new about romances I never really read an adult contemporary romance. Being that it was my first I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other. I really enjoyed that the struggles were realistic and that they were overly dramatized. The writing wasn't difficult to read, I could tell that Walker really understands her style and her characters. Which as a reader I like when an author doesn't force the characters into certain roles. I really love Zane and how he over comes the barriers that Keelie has put up between them. All in all I just really liked the book and I plan on picking up the first in the series and continuing on with it. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.Taking Chances by Molly McAdams
Now I never write reviews on good reads, but this book I just had too. First of all it was a struggle to get through in the beginning. The characters all seemed to have too perfect scenarios and drastic struggles. On top of it I didn't think the writing was that great. The trio, Chase, Brandon, and Harper had a lot of drama. Which I didn't really enjoy since the story starts with her being 18 and it's her first year of college. Within the first week she falls for both of these guys and starts dating one of them and then cheats on him with the other, then she gets pregnant. Ugh right there it is already too much. Then half way something life changing happens, the baby daddy dies and she is felt alone pregnant. I just can't,mind you i actually liked the baby daddy since he was the tortured bad boy. Then Harper is left to mourn and deal with her feelings with the other guy. now I know I'm making this sound tragic which it is, but when reading the second half there were some good qualities, there was some actual development of the couple, which the first part had lacked. When I had finished it I felt that if this was taken and split into 2 different books, where some actual development could happen I may have actually enjoyed it. Or if McAdams had just started the book with the accident and then should Harper coming back and falling in love again, I would have enjoyed it more. Personally though I just don't like love triangles and probably never will. Just give me my one couple and all the sappy moments and a happy ending and I'll be happy. I ended up giving this 2 out of 5 stars.
