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Book Review: Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga


Title: Here We Are Now

Author: Jasmine Warga

Published: November 7th, 2017

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Rating: 🐱🐱🐱🐱

Find the Author: Goodreads 


Disclosure: I was sent this book for review. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.


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‘Funny and heartfelt… fans of Sarah Dessen or Rainbow Rowell will adore this novel’ – Culturefly

‘Fans of High Fidelity and Nick + Nora, get your hands on this book ASAP’ – Popsugar

Despite sending him letters ever since she was thirteen, Taliah Abdallat never thought she’d ever really meet Julian Oliver. But one day, while her mother is out of the country, the famed rock star from Staring Into the Abyss shows up on her doorstep. This makes sense – kinda – because it turns out Julian Oliver is Taliah’s father…

When Julian asks her to go with him to his hometown to meet the family she has never known, Taliah embarks on a three-day voyage of discovery – of her father, of the past her mother has never shared with her, and of herself.

From the bestselling author of MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES, this is a beautiful and heartwarming novel of music, family, and friendship.

First Thoughts… This is definitely new territory for me. My first review with a sparkly new blog design! I am so honored that Jasmine’s was the first to be featured with the new outlook on Pretty Little Memoirs’ future as a YA Blog. I own Jasmine’s previous book, My Heart and Other Black Holes, but haven’t read it just yet. I’ve heard amazing things, but because I bought it myself and it didn’t go straight into my ARC pile, it got lost somewhere along the way. So when the lovely people at Hodder sent me Here We Are Now, I was over the moon.

My Review… I had major cover crush while reading this. It’s lively and modern and So. Freaking. Cute. So that was enough to pick it up the other day and read a couple chapters before going to sleep. A few chapters turned to reaching the middle of the book, the realization, and the happy shrug to delve back in anyway. The night became darker but the storyworld Jasmine had created only grew brighter. For Taliah, meeting Julian Oliver sounded like a dream. Well, it was a dream. He’s a famous rock star, so why would she ever think meeting him would be imaginable? Even though she’s been told her Dad is dead, something inside her can’t help wondering if maybe it was Julian. With her Mother away out of the country, Taliah’s world is shook-up when Julian shows up on her doorstep. After all, he is her father. 

Despite her not knowing where she belongs in his world – or life – Taliah goes with him to say goodbye to her dying Grandfather. The tangled feelings around this are muddled for Taliah. She’s not sure how to feel about a Grandfather – and father – she never knew existed. There’s a lot that she has to go through and figure out for herself, reading in between the lines of the past and to Julian. There is a romance element (slight instalove, but it didn’t take away from the real meaning of the story) and although that wasn’t a huge part I liked, it did show another side to Taliah, away from the chaos of her newfound life. 

Overall, I thought that Here We Are Now was one of those books that I would tell my friends, “Hey, this is a great book. You should read it”. I find myself telling this to friends of mine on a regular basis, so it’s a high regard to have if it’s one of them (and I don’t say it about a lot of them!). The true message of the book wasn’t about Taliah’s love life or drama, but one about family. And I think that’s a pretty amazing thing to read about. Also, can I just say, major plus points for a YA book including diverse characters in this book?! Definite applause (and about time it wasn’t so rare in mainstream YA). I am so glad to have read this.

Have you read Here We Are Now?

Let me know what you thought on Twitter, Facebook, or by commenting below!

happy reading!
                                                       

Book Review: “Cursed” by Jennifer L. Armentrout

*NO SPOILERS REVIEW*

Title: Cursed

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published: May 9th, 2013

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Find the Author: Goodreads

I received this for review from Hodder & Stoughton for review. As always, my reviews are fair and un-bias.




Dying sucks
…and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand.
After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.
Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things–including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden’s adopted father, a man she’s sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister’s hand again. And hell, she’d also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn’t?
But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not’ve been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life.
For real this time.

As a HUGE fan of Jennifer’s other standalone books and series, I was waiting for the moment when Cursed was next in my TBR pile. Mysterious and curiously eerie, Cursed was a different turn from Jennifer’s other novels and toward gifted characters out of the shadow of mythology and something other than what I’m used to with her writing (in a good way). Ember is our heroine in this novel, and after dying in a horrific car accident, is brought back to life by her little sister, who happens to be specially gifted. 
But with coming back to life, Ember got some side effects. Anything Ember touches…dies. 
Ember feels outcast by her new ability, but tries to control it being the sole guardian for her young sister, and because she’s changed into something different than solely “normal”, she has a no-touch policy for everything in place. Everything feels weird for Ember and she finds herself shunned from everything she used to know. 
But then Hayden shows up and changes everything she thought she knew about herself, her gift and her sister’s gift. He tells Ember that he’s been watching her and keeping an eye on her gift, curious and hidden away. Even though Ember thinks he’s a little crazy, she’s more than interested when he says he can help her control her power. Except if she wants that, then she also has to trust his adopted father, who “collects” children like her sister and her. People with gifts far stranger than she could have imagined – although she does find common ground there. 
But then there are more unveilings, like her “death” and how it’s far from an accident. Someone wanted her dead – and still does – and there might not be someone she can trust, even though it’s hard to resist Hayden’s claims. And charm.
Heart-stoppingly brilliant, addictive and thrilling, Cursed is a standalone book by one of my favourite authors that I wish was a series so I could read and read MORE about these characters! I was fascinated by how different Ember was from Jennifer’s previous heroines and how Cursed kept my attention throughout. Although it’s not my favourite book from Jennifer, it sure is one of the best. 
If you’re a fan of books “out there” with unique and interesting plots that weave between the normal and supernatural, Cursed is definitely the book for you. It was for me.

 The Hayden/Ember moments or the ending! This is a spoiler-free review, but believe me, this book is worth reading for the plot and conclusions itself!
 What did you think of Cursed? 

Did you think it was one of Jennifer’s best novels?

Let me know in the comments!

happy reading! (and happy 2015!)
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Book Review: “Lips Touch” by Laini Taylor

Title: Lips Touch (Lips Touch: Three Times)

Author: Laini Taylor
Genre: Young Adult – Supernatural/Paranormal
Release Date: October 24th, 2014
Published by: Hodder & Stoughton


★ I received this from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. ★ 



Three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers’ souls:

Goblin Fruit
In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today’s savvy girls?

Spicy Little Curses
A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.

Hatchling
Six days before Esme’s fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?
 

Laini Taylor is quite popular in YA literature right now, with her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series rising in popularity in the genre at the moment – so with the arrival of Lips Touch in my mailbox, I was super excited to get to read the powerful storytelling of Laini’s.
 
The book opens with the addictive Goblin Fruit, a story about a girl named Kizzy. Her family is quite unordinary and she is as well. But the most attention-grabbing sentences are the opener, ones that tell of the kind of girls Goblin’s like, how they used to rope them in with tempting fruits in past times. But in the modern times, there is a sharp turn on the story and Kizzy is almost blindsided with what extents the Goblins would go to tempt her. Of all the stories in Lips Touch, Kizzy’s is my favourite. The way each scene is crafted so bewitchingly just stole all my attention.
Then, in Spicy Little Curses, we meet the ambassador to hell and a demon, and their tale of a curse cast upon a young English girl in India. Her voice is cursed, and knowing that her voice spoken aloud would be disastrous for many, she keeps her lips sealed. But then she falls in love, and it changes everything she knew and cared for. Suddenly, she’s thinking about talking, about singing…she’s thinking maybe the curse isn’t true. Spicy Little Curses is gracefully written and the most creative of the stories.
And finally, in Hatchling, just before Esme’s fourteenth birthday, one of her brown eyes turns to blue. But it’s far more perplex than she could ever have thought. Everything she knows is on the line when her past suddenly comes into light, the howling creeping up on her, enchantingly setting the scene for her destiny to be revealed. Hatchling was charming and ingenious, the most page-turning of the three. I was turning pages fast, dying to find out the end, forgetting the real world.
Overall, Lips Touch was what storytelling is all about. Laini Taylor has captured every dark, lips touching, fate and destiny awaking, fairy tale and sealed it up in a magical, visionary novel. The illustrations that map out the story before we read are beautiful and elegantly drawn that they held my attention like the very words on a page. It was imaginative, passionate and by far one of the best books I’ve read this year. 5 stars completely.
 
 
Goblin Fruit! Everything Goblin Fruit.

YA Fans everywhere.

 

 

Have you read Lips Touch?

What did you think?


Tell me in the comments, on twitter or by using the hashtag #LipsTouch

 

happy reading! 

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Book Review: “Day 21 (The 100 #2)” by Kass Morgan

Title: Day 21 (The 100 #2)

Author: Kass Morgan
Genre: Young Adult – Science Fiction / Dystopia
Release Date: September 25th, 2014
Published by: Hodder Paperbacks


I received this from Hodder in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. 
                                                                       

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan’s The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can – together.

Now a major TV series on E4. In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan’s The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can – together.


It’s been 21 days since The 100 landed on Earth. They’re the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries… or so they thought. Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group together. Clarke strikes out for Mount Weather, in search of other Colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself.

Kass Morgan’s name is on my favourite YA Authors list and I don’t see it moving anytime soon. I was won over by the amazing The 100 when I read it in August last year and it quickly crept up as being one of my favourite TV show adaptions, too! I was enthralled by everything The 100 and with the arrival of Day 21, it was a happy day for a girl who loves to read. 


I thought The 100 couldn’t be beaten in this series – but Day 21 went and did it, knocking it right off the shelf (pun intended). In The 100, it set the scene for the second book to swiftly pick back up on all the chaos and heart-racing action.
It’s been Day 21 days (like the book title) since the Hundred stepped onto the unknown surfaces of Earth. But the drama doesn’t just happen on Earth, there’s still a ton of anarchic things happening on the ship. We get the story through the eyes of the narrators from the last novel; Clarke (my favourite), Bellamy, Wells and Glass, and it’s actually refreshing to get to see everything in a panoramic style, so that none of the action with each different character goes missed. Even when the POV’s changed, I was still gripped to the increasingly action packed storyline that became hard to put down. 
The plot picks up right from where The 100 ended, but before long, wars with a new unfamiliar enemy stir up and the Hundred are faced with more dilemmas and commotion than previously. Their loyalties are tested, Bellamy for his sister’s safety, Glass for the love of her life; Luke, whereas Wells is the foundation of keeping the group stable and Clarke is the determined and courageous girl she has been from the first book, trying to find Mount Weather at what ever the cost. 
Overall, Day 21 is an addition to The 100 series that is unmissable, breathtaking and out of this world. The rollercoaster of the ship, the newfound land of Earth and characters that burst out of the pages with lively and electrifying personalities, make this series a 5 star one by far. If you haven’t started The 100 series, you’re missing out on something heart-stopping and thrilling on your bookshelf. Kass Morgan has written yet another stunning dystopian novel that’s sure to be on everyone’s shelf this year. 5 stars and more. 
And with that ending – I can’t wait for book three! 



Clarke’s POV moments have always stolen the book for me, but I loved getting to see the action on the ship in Day 21, and the incredible POV of Glass really crept up on me as a new favourite.


YA Dystopia and Science Fiction fans! And of course, for fans of the show!


Have you read Day 21?


What did you think?


Tell me in the comments, on twitter or by using the hashtag #Day21 or #the100



happy reading!

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Book Review: “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown

Title: Red Rising

Author: Pierce Brown 
Genre: Young Adult – Dystopia/Fantasy
Release Date: September 25th, 2014
Published by: Hodder & Stoughton 


I received this from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. 

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. 

 Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. 
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow– and Reds like him– are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’ s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’ s ruling class. 
There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

This book definitely intrigued me right from it’s synopsis. I’m a HUGE dystopian fan, so I’m always looking out for new ones in the genre – and Red Rising looked like it fitted everything I look for in my dystopia literature.
Dystopian books seem to be literally everywhere at the moment with all the success of YA books turned-to-film like Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent, and I won’t be the only one to say how I would immediately go and see Red Rising on the big screen. 
Darrow, our main character, is a Red, a helldiver – an extremely dangerous type of miner on Mars, unlike the Golds, who are better than them in the society. He married his childhood sweetheart at sixteen and like all the Reds around him, he works everyday, making the surface of Mars ready for the future population to live on. He does this because ultimately, he knows it will someday benefit his future children and not just his future family, but others. It’s not long before he finds out that everything he knows – and everyone around him – has been a massive lie. Mars is already habitable and has been for a very long time. Now, he is thrust into being the one to save the Reds – he must become the best Gold he can, whilst pervading their system. He has to be the best he can be – better than all the rest – to attack them from the inside of their own region. But the Golds are lethal, treacherous people, who kill or be killed.
Red Rising is a thrilling ride of dark, gritty and remarkable characters and plot. Pierce Brown has created a dystopian world full of phenomenal twists and a roller-coaster of betrayal and a mystic, enigmatic tale. He created a magnificent hero of Darrow, a character that just joined my top favourites in a series – competition for Katniss and Tris!
Overall, Red Rising is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner – they would join the already growing fans of the series and tear them from the shelves. This is definitely going to be the next big thing in YA literature!



The quote that stuck with me was definitely:

“Love and war are two different battlefields.” 

Fans of YA and Adult dystopia and fantasy. If you’ve finished The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner, PICK THIS UP! 

Have you read Red Rising?


What did you think?


Tell me in the comments, on twitter or by using the hashtag #RedRising

happy reading!

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Bookish News: Hodder & Stoughton’s New Chapter 5 Book Club

Chapter 5, Hodder & Stoughton’s community for fans of young adult fiction, is delighted to announce the launch of a new online book club.


The Chapter 5 Book Club will feature a different book each month, with the books being a mixture of Hodder titles and other classics/favourites of the genre. The monthly discussions will be hosted primarily in a Goodreads group, with accompanying activity across Chapter 5’s social media channels.


Additional perks for participants will include giveaways and exclusive author content.


The Chapter 5 Book Club launches on the 1st September 2014. The first month’s book, selected via a poll on the community Facebook page, is Angelfall by Susan Ee and the schedule for the rest of 2014 can be viewed at here.


GOODREADS | TWITTER | FACEBOOK


Doesn’t this sound AMAZING?!



happy reading!

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Book Review: “Roomies” by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando



Title: Roomies

Author: Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando
Genre: YA / New Adult – Contemporary
Release Date: December 24th, 2013

Other Books by Authors:  Sara – Sweethearts, How to Save a Life Tara – Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life, Dreamland Social Club

Published by: Hodder & Stoughton / Little Brown & Co (USA)

With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the copy of this novel! As always, my reviews are non-bias and fair.


GOODREADS  | TARA  | SARA

It’s time to meet your new roomie.
When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl’s summer — and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room. 
As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex.
With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they’ve never met.
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.


It is so clear that this is the must-have book at the moment. About 80% of the Blogs I follow have mentioned this in the past few weeks and it’s all over Twitter and Goodreads about being the first, sort of “Older Young Adult” book, verging on “New Adult”, but more of a coming-of-age novel in between. So when I got a copy in the mail, I was extremely pleased to get to join in with all the buzz. *happy dance.*


It was apparent even just a few chapters into Roomies that it was in a league of it’s own. With it’s witty humour, realistic glimpses into the changing lives of teenagers on the verge of a life-altering move away to college and breaking old ties to those they were leaving behind. 
Elizabeth and Lauren are both in the Summer before leaving for College; UC Berkley. When Elizabeth gets Lauren’s contact information from the College to introduce herself and organise things like TV’s and Microwaves, Lauren is far from welcoming. She requested a single room, and after the request was denied, her disappointment comes across in the short and unwelcoming email to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is an only child, so she was really excited to get a room-mate, but Lauren has five younger siblings so she was looking forward to getting her own space without any complications whatsoever. 
So it’s noticeable straight away that these girls are nothing alike and have completely different outlooks on life and friends and family. But, after getting off on the wrong foot, they seem to steadily get on track and start to peer into each other’s lives over the course of the few weeks through emails. 
But it’s still not so straight forward for them…

I enjoyed reading Roomies far beyond belief. I thought that I could honestly relate to so many things in Elizabeth and Lauren’s POV’s. Whereas Elizabeth had a group of friends and a boyfriend; who I didn’t like, at the start of the novel, Lauren had a more simple group of friends and a big family instead. But as Elizabeth grows in herself and more toward a more independent person, she drifts away from her friends and towards her love interest from a few chapters in; Mark. I much more preferred her with him, but still as College grew nearer, she would be leaving someone who she had just begun to know, behind. 
Lauren had a very hectic life with five younger siblings, who she looks after quite a lot. So at the start of the book, she’s still trying to organise her life and craft it into something that she can carry with her, but struggles with the people she would have to leave behind–like who would look after her siblings? Who would help around the house? These things effect her, though someone who brings out a different side to Lauren is Keyon, a boy she works with. They have a good friendship, not so much when they were in school, but since they’ve been working together. I totally rooted for them the most in the book, because there wasn’t that “insta-love” that I hate, it was a very sweet and believable thing. 

I usually wouldn’t pick favourites, and it was a very close competition, but I did slightly prefer reading Lauren’s story. Elizabeth’s story was very thought-provoking and enthralling, but Lauren’s just felt a little more real and honest. But that’s just me, obviously. Everyone will have their own favourites or characters they felt more connected with. Keyon and Mark were both two of my favourite characters along with the girls in the novel, and maybe beyond that as well. They seemed to honestly care very deeply for Lauren and Elizabeth, and the ending was so heart-warming and sincere, but sad at the same time. Even though I knew all long that they would leave, it was hard to see their stories end. 

This was one of my favourite books of the year, hands down. I did a post not too long ago about my favourite new-to-me authors of the year, and even though I have read Sweethearts by Sara Zarr, I hadn’t read anything by Tara Altebrando yet, so this would’ve put them on that list firmly.
If you’re looking for something to read before you go on an adventure, or are in the same position as Elizabeth and Lauren, moving away, then this will be a winner with you. Or if you’re an older YA reader, or just love a good Young Adult/New Adult novel, you will treasure this one. I very rarely want to re-read a book, because I’m always eager to move on to another, but something compels me to want to dive back into Roomies. 
Unique, thought-provoking and honest, Roomies is a five-star coming-of-age novel that I recommended HIGHLY. And it’s out in two days time; the 24th of December! The perfect Christmas gift!


Have you read Roomies?

What did you think? 

Tell me in the comments or at @LittleMemoirs on twitter!
happy reading!
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