Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Confess by Colleen Hoover

Rating: PG-13

Genre: NA Romance, Contemporary, Drama, YA Fiction

Score: 4.5 Stars

Page Count: 320

Stand Alone Novel

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: March 10, 2015

 

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…  

 

Review:

PROS:

1. So I had so many people recommend Colleen Hoover books to me ranging from her very first book to this latest one. I was really interested in this book in particular because of it's setting in the city of Dallas, my home town and it's art theme. Two of my favorite things combined into one story. Sounds like a winner to me! I thought this book would be a great start to getting into Colleen Hoover's books and so I picked it up at the bookstore a few weeks ago and finally got around to reading it. So here's the review!

 

2. First off, I really liked all the characters in this book. They weren't my favorite group but they definitely had really great development. I thought that they were all pretty realistic though a little too dramatic at some points. I really liked Auburn in the end after I got to know her character and past a little bit more. She's a very determined character who's just a little afraid of change. I was also really interested in Owen's character because he seemed like a very dynamic character and was very creative but also seemed to be hiding a lot from a lot of people. The side characters were great as well and I really enjoyed reading about them.

 

3. The writing for this book was so beautiful and incredibly praise worthy! I knew that Colleen Hoover was a very hyped author but I didn't really understand why until I read this book. Her writing was so beautiful and she described some of the most dull things in such an amazing way and is definitely on my ever-growing list of favorite authors. I loved how she used the simplest ways to build up her characters and story and she was able to weave everything together seamlessly and it was absolutely amazing how she was able to do that. Needless to say, I'm already obsessed with her writing!

 

4. I really enjoyed all the mystery and the twists and turns behind the characters and storyline. I couldn't help but become invested in the story because of how much I wanted to find out what was going on and what certain people were hiding from each other. Secrets came out and confessions were made and overall, this book had me on the edge a few times. 

 

5. Lastly, I really loved that the book included pictures of some of the art work mentioned in the book and I was amazed by the art work. The colors were beautiful and it was really cool to see the actual paintings that Own created and I thought it just brought the book to life a little more. It was a really great read and I highly recommend this book if you want to get into some of Colleen Hoover's books but don't know where to start.

 

Follow Colleen!

Facebook

Twitter

Website

Goodreads

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!



Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Contemporary

Score: 4.5 stars

Page Count: 377

Standalone Novel

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: March 10, 2015

 

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late.
In this edgy and compelling novel, Lauren Oliver creates a world of intrigue, loss, and suspicion as two sisters search to find themselves, and each other.

 

Review:

PROS:

1. This book pretty much had me from the beginning when I first heard about this book back in January. I love psychological thrillers especially in book form and even though I don't read many of them, I was excited to get my hands on this one since not only is it a psychological thriller, but it's also in the category of YA which is something you don't see very often. I read this book in just two sittings so I loved it needless to say! If you loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, this is perfect for you. Here's the review!

2. The characters in this book really stood out to me, specifically our main characters, Dara and Nick. The story follows the two sisters as they recall what happened before the night of the accident that caused the two to become estranged, but also followed them through the summer, a few months after the accident. It was really interesting to see just how different the sisters were from each other, how Dara and Nick were complete polar opposites from each other. Dara is more of the wild-child and loves being in the spotlight and constantly craves the attention from people around her. Nick, however, couldn't be happier waiting in the sidelines and almost never does anything to count as being wild other than staying up past bedtime. The diversity between the two sisters was great to read since you got to know both characters in different ways.

3. The writing in this book was very interesting and very cool when it came to the layout. The story is written in two POV's, one Dara and the other Nick, but it also had another story going on while theirs played out, which was the story of Madeline Snow and her disappearance. I loved reading this book because not only do we read from Dara and Nick's POV, but we also get journal entries from Dara in the book, e-mails, internet chats and even a webpage taken from the website made to keep people updated on any new developments on Madeline Snow in the book. It felt very real as the book also had a picture of the young girl and even had pictures of Dara and Nick as well as pictures from FanLand where Nick works. It was a really cool book to pick up and I don't regret doing so.

4. The last thing I really loved about this book was the epic plot twist towards the end of the book. After reading it, I had to stop reading for a minute to quickly go over the entire book as everything fell into place again when I thought it was already in place to begin with. It was really mind blowing and had me in shock. Of course, if you read a lot of psychological thrillers, you might be able to guess what the plot twist will be when reading the book. I didn't catch on because the story and characters were built up so well for me that nothing seemed all that suspicious until a few pages from the plot twist. For me, it was probably one of the best that I've read ever so far and hands down the best this year. If you love psychological thrillers and mysteries, I definitely recommend this one!

5. This book also deals a lot with broken relationships and how everything can sometimes get complicated in just a single moment. I loved that the book had a deeper meaning and appreciated how the book was about two sisters who are completely different from each other, don't always get along and even might be jealous of the other but are still friends and are there for each other no matter what comes in between them. I loved how the book was also about forgiveness and what exactly you're willing to do and how far you're willing to go to protect someone you truly love and care about. Having a sister myself, I related a lot to this story and recommend this book to anyone who has a sister or knows someone with a sister.

Follow Lauren!

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

YouTube

Website

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

 



Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (THG #1)

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Drama, Action

Score: 3.5 stars

Page Count: 374

Book #1 of The Hunger Games series

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Published: September 14, 2008

 

The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.
When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature

 

Review:

PROS:

1. After being encouraged to finally read this book by pretty much everyone I know, I finally did so and read it to make everybody happy. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't excited to read it but I wasn't exactly over-the-top about reading it either. Most of the hype that surrounded this book when the first movie came out ruined the book for me and made me stay away from it. What's worse than hype you guys? Nothing, that's what. But, I read it nonetheless so here's my review!

 

2. The first thing I came to love about this book was the world in which everything takes place. I liked how messed up and cruel the system of things was and it seemed a decent enough world that no one really wants to live in. It was pretty complex in a way but simple to understand. It was interesting to see just how exactly they justify the cruel way in which their world and government works and it honestly was a pretty cool dystopian world.

 

3. I really liked how much the book focused on the survival element of things. Most of the book takes place and follows Katniss as she struggles to make it out alive and in one piece back home. I liked seeing her actions as she tried to survive and outsmart the other "contestants" in order to stay alive for as long as possible. You even pick up a few survival tips from reading the book and it was pretty interesting.

 

CONS:

1. Even though I liked the book for the most part, I didn't really like any of the characters. I couldn't connect with them and honestly didn't really care what happened to them. Katniss, for me, was a hard character to like since she was always expecting someone to betray her or turn their back on her. It was a little annoying and I couldn't relate to her. The other characters, Peeta, Gale, Rue, Prim and whoever else, lacked personality and I couldn't relate to them either. They were an okay group of characters but they definitely weren't my favorite.

 

2. I was also expecting more from this book but didn't get that. I was expecting a lot of action and suspense like I was led on to believe but the book fell short of my expectations and I didn't get any excitement. It was also really slow for the first half of the book which I could've let slide were it not for how long the slowness progressed. The romance in this book was just flat-out annoying to me and I would've been happy if it was taken out completely. It was just way too forced into the story and it didn't flow well with the storyline. Don't get me wrong, I love a little romance in a good dystopian but for this book, it just didn't work.

 

Overall, it was a cool book and I'm sure it picks up in the next two installments of the series. I might pick up the second book in the future but as of now, I'm in no hurry to continue on with the books.

 

Follow Suzanne!

Website

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!