<a href="A Different Blue by Amy Harmon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reading this book was very, very different than Making Faces, which is the book that got me hooked on Amy Harmon. However, I really, really liked it. Amy Harmon takes a love story and makes it entirely not basic. At all. This novel is so deep, so thick with layer after layer, that the constant discoveries kept me reading. Originally, I wasn’t attached to the main character, but her story kept me intrigued, and through that, I became very attached for her, rooting for her until the very last page. My favorite thing about this book was the development of the main character. For me, that’s my number one must have in a good read, and this book had it completely and fully from start to finish. Sometimes the books that take me a little while to get into are the books I end up feeling most connected with in the end. That was definitely the case for this one.

View all my reviews” title=”I need to read more Amy Harmon book.”>I need to read more Amy Harmon book.

<a href="An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An Abundance of Katherines originally struck me as being a very young read, but after getting quickly into the first couple chapters, my understanding for Colin and his oddness and brilliance grew, and I was hooked. John Green truly captures characters. No one is kind of nice, kind of interesting, or kind of funny. He develops inside jokes and goes in depth with character flaws and flourishes. Each character in this story was written with a vivid, colorful, fine-lined painting of their souls. No lines blurred. No traits crossed. They are straight-cut creations, and each of their stories are so distinct until blended. In a John Green book, when stories start blending, the painting is unbelievable. This story is one of those paintings. I don’t know if he’s capable of writing a story any other way.

Also, I loved the location of this book. Priceless.

<a href="Looking for Alaska by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Looking for Alaska has three completely different main characters to fall in love with. The story is real and vivid, creating an image of innocence with a moment of tragic realization. The tragedy in this story is heartbreaking, like most of John Green’s written tragedies, but, like John Green’s other tragedies, there’s an acceptance created through the characters, reflecting on you and making it easier to cope. Books like this are healing from the inside, out, even if you feel there is no healing to be had. Loved it, thoroughly.

View all my reviews” title=”John Green is my favorite man-author. “>John Green is my favorite man-author.

<a href="Making Faces by Amy Harmon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Making Faces by Amy Harmon is my new favorite book. I read a lot, and I connect a lot to different kinds of books, but this kind of book, this story, this heartfelt world that she created- was beyond any connection I have ever had with a novel. She first got me with the quote, “Everybody is a main character to someone.”- This was said early on in the book and stuck with me throughout. It, of course, was true for this story- there could have been several main characters- I personally had three. Three characters in one story that I loved, cried for, laughed at, cheered for and wanted to hug.

I knew right away that the chapter names were the items on Bailey’s list, but what was so genius was that his selflessness gave him the ability to accomplish the list, even if the item checked off was for or involving another person. The simplicity of how he lived his life mixed with the complexity of his thought process and understanding and acceptance of his disease was equally heartbreaking and wonderful to experience.

Fern, I loved. She was the perfect friend through and through, and her interactions with Ambrose were so sweet, honesty and pure- I LOVE THEM. Ambrose and Bailey couldn’t have been more opposite figures in Fern’s life or more opposite characters, and yet, they were both “heroes” as was Fern, a “heroine”. It’s pretty genius to be able to create all that in one story and then intertwine it all so perfectly.

The outcome was bittersweet- through life and death, everyone was always growing in the book, so it made the tragedies easier to accept.

My absolute favorite quote, and a quote I’m strongly considering getting tattooed on me (I have no tattoos), was- “Victory is in the Battle”- that completely resonated with me, and the author, I felt, tied that theme into so many different circumstances between the different characters throughout the book.

“And so we endure. We have faith that there is purpose. We hope for things we can’t see. We believe that there are lessons in loss, power in love, and that we have within us the potential for a beauty so magnificent that our bodies can’t contain it.”- Like I said, it’s my new favorite.

<a href="In the Fields by Willow Aster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“I’m an open wound with her. I ooze and bleed. Scab over. Heal. She picks it open again. Scab. Heal. Scar.” – The intense emotion in In The Fields mainly came from the maturity and unfortunate circumstances of the sweet, young main character, Caroline. Forced into a role far beyond her years, she adapts and then is forced to overcome the unimaginable, and what I loved most about the story is that she did it all so gracefully. She is a true, strong heroine.

“He leans down and kisses me, and every nook, chink, crack, fissure, cranny, fracture-crevice-that has been broken or dried up or closed off or frozen or dead…sparks back up in full, living, breathing color.”- I love the imagery created in this story and the obstacles of prejudice that Caroline must overcome to be with her true love. It’s beautiful, touching, well-written and a perfect time piece to enjoy with idioms like lily liver goat that completely captured me into this time period and location. I simply loved it.

<a href="Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again, Colleen Hoover captivated me. I loved everything about this book, except for that it ended.

I heard rumors that she’ll continue writing Six and Daniel’s story- I really, really hope she does 🙂 I love them. I love Six. She may be my favorite Hoover character as of yet ❤

<a href="Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a FIVE STAR book that had too many 3 and 4 star parts. I loved the overall book, but it took me awhile to get into, and then, the ending broke my heart and dragged it through the mud.

All in all, I would recommend the Divergent series to anyone who loved the Hunger Games. I enjoyed all three books, the first two being five bright stars, making the third one worth it. However, be warned, you might not love the way the story ends.</3 Sometimes that's life- I think that's what she was going for. Definitely nailed it.

View all my reviews

Happy 2014

The end of 2014 was really busy for me (Holidays are like that), and as I’m updating my reading list, I realized I didn’t read one book in December. Not one. But, as for the books I did read, I chose my absolute favorites: The Fault in our Stars by John Green, every single Colleen Hoover Book, Tarryn Fisher’s Love Me With Lies trilogy and The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay.

The stand alone books that stuck out for me are: Wait For Me by Elisabeth Naughton, Geoducks are for Lovers by Daisy Prescott and Seeds of Hate by Melissa Perea (Loved this- it’s actually only a stand alone right now because the next book in the series hasn’t been published yet, so I guess it’s not really a standalone at all, but I loved it a lot.)

 

Commitment. Commitment comes in many forms. For me, I’m already married and committed in most things I do. HOWEVER, when it comes to committing to a huge book series, I tend to invest a lot: my time, my heart, my emotions, and a good portion of my brain for the entirety of the series. One of the series I’ve committed to that I LOVE is Jillian Dodd’s The Keatyn Chronicles. They’re lots of fun, and I read them immediately when they’re released- that’s one kind of committment. Another kind of commitment that I fear I’ve never engaged in to any degree is Harry Potter. To me, those books are so intimidating, BUT so many authors I admire have read, loved and raved about the series- so – I think I’m going to start them. I’m going to try not to make it a marathon and just enjoy them. Cheers to 2014!

Here’s my list from 2013- I enjoyed 95% of these books 🙂

The Underworld from the Fallen Star Series (1/13)	Jessica Sorensen
The Vision from the Fallen Star Series (1/13)	Jessica Sorensen
The Promise from the Fallen Star Series (1/13)	Jessica Sorensen
Divergent  (1/13)	Veronica Roth
Insurgent (1/13)	Veronica Roth
The Coinsidence of Callie and Kayden (1/13)	Jessica Sorensen
The Lost Soul Book 1 (1/13)	Jessica Sorensen
Hopeless (1/13)	Colleen Hoover
The Perfect Game (1/13)	J. Sterling
Someone to Love (1/13)	Addison Moore
Chance Encounters (1/13)	J. Sterling
Wait for Me (1/13)	Elisabeth Naughton
Ten Days of Perfect (2/13)	Andrea Randall
Stolen Fury (2/13)	Elisabeth Naughton
Stolen Heat (2/13)	Elisabeth Naughton
The Stranger I Married (2/13)	Sylvia Day
The Opportunist (2/13)	Tarryn Fisher
Dirty Red (2/13)	Tarryn Fisher
Slammed (2/13)	Colleen Hoover
Point of Retreat (2/13)	Colleen Hoover
Stalk Me (3/13)	Jillian Dodd
Kiss me (3/13)	Jillian Dodd
In Dreams (3/13)	J. Sterling
Fallen Too Far (3/13)	Abbi Glines
Never Too Far (3/13)	Abbi Glines
That Boy (3/13)	Jillian Dodd
That Wedding (3/13)	Jillian Dodd
Reason to Breathe (4/13)	Rebecca Donovan
Barely Breathing (4/13)	Rebecca Donovan
Date Me (4/13)	Jillian Dodd
Reckless Abandon (4/13)	Andrea Randall
Love in all the Wrong Places (4/13)	Audrey Harte
True Love Story (5/13)	Willow Aster
This Girl (6/13)	Colleen Hoover
Forever Too Far (6/13)	Abbi Glines
The Final Piece (7/13)	Maggie Myers
Geoducks are for Lovers (8/13)	Daisy Prescott
Thief (8/13)	Tarryn Fisher
The Game Changer (8/13)	J. Sterling
The Forever of Micha and Ella (8/13)	Jessica Sorensen
Losing Hope (8 /13)	Colleen Hoover
The Fault in our Stars (8/13)	John Green
Left Drowning (9/13)	Jessica Park
Love Me (9/13)	Jillian Dodd
Seeds of Hate (10/13)	Melissa Perea
The Sea of Tranquility (10/13)	Katja Millay
In the Stillness (10/13)	Andrea Randall
Out of Breath (11/13)	Rebecca Donovan
Adore Me (11/13)	Jillian Dodd
Saltwater Kisses (11/13)	Krista Lakes

<a href="Saltwater Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story by Krista Lakes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short and sweet, I chose this book as a free rental. It kept me entertained, so I decided to rent Rainwater Kisses, it’s sequel-ish – seems like a cute, fun series but can also be read as a standalone.

It says off the bat that it’s a billionaire love story, so I wasn’t expecting anything more or anything less. For a light, fun read, it kept me wondering what would happen next. The characters weren’t extremely well-developed, but they didn’t need to be for this story.

<a href="Adore Me by Jillian Dodd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book 4.5 of the Keatyn Chronicles gets five very bright stars from me. I ADORED the sweet, innocent romance between Peyton and Damian and truly hope it growns into MUCH MUCH more.

In this novella, Keatyn was battling between what to do, staying at Eastbrooke, messing with Vincent to finish the drama once and for all… and then Aiden gives her a mason jar full of dirt. Possibly not meaning anything to most, it means a lot to Keatyn, and they end up in paradise together over Thanksgiving break, which makes her decision that much harder.

Like most Jillian Dodd books, the ending left us wondering what’s going to happen next. Aiden is insisting that he stay with Keatyn or go where she goes. Personally, I really hope she accepts that proposal and that they both ward off Vincent together and live happily ever after. The End. ❤