The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Goodreads synopsis 

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual. 

This year, it is my turn. 

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power. 

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Review

I give  ★★★★★

Let me just say, this was an amazing book. 

A lot of comments are just running around my mind right now but let me just say:

Ivy is such a great protagonist, she's just like arghh I don't know how to put it into words!

 “I want to be someone strong and brave enough to make hard choices. But I want to be fair and loving enough to make the right ones.”

Okay, so something happened to her mom. Her sister, her dad and herself, Ivy, have a plan in motion: to marry the president's son and kill him. Kill the boy, no matter what for her dad to take over because the president's rules discourage freedom, and more importantly, punishment means throwing civilians over the fence. What happens over the fence? We don't know. We know it's dangerous but nobody who went there ever came back. THIS I LIKE.

She was raised for this, she was raised and trained to kill Bishop, the man she has to marry, or rather "boy" because he's only... what? 18? Despite the fact that he seems a lot mature. But the person who was supposed to marry him was her sister, which makes it even greater. I love the fact that it's not all happy family, bla bla it's family first bla bla, the kind of stuff you see everywhere. It was more of a "I should listen to my guts and not my family," sort of thing. I liked that even though she was doubting the whole plan, she still went through the steps, like she found no reason to stop. She explained each step, and us, the readers, understand what she had to do, but what we understood most were her doubts. She questioned his character throughout the whole book, and never quite let her guard down. But he is not like his dad!! 

Bishop is such a nice, intelligent character. Okay "nice" doesn't say much, but he's so nice, like person-wise, like doing the right thing and all that. But then with the neighbors, he didn't take direct action to "fix" the problem (trying so hard not to spoil) and they get into these arguments which just fires up their relationship and makes them so "couple-like" and I think this book is too great and it finished too fast.   

What I liked about the beginning was that it got straight to the point. That marriage. And the ending was just too much for me to handle, but I love love love cliffhangers that just overwhelm me. This book has a good cliffhanger, I'm telling you, it's perfect.

Okay okay, enough with the goody goody, I'll admit this book lacks a bit of chemistry between them but for people who have just met, the slow pace is the right pace. 

It's a shame I finished this book so fast, my eyes could not leave the pages. There's a lot but too little on Ivy and Bishop's relationship. The author set this idea in our head that Bishop had to die so the good guys win. We anticipated that Ivy wouldn't go through with it, yet this book, as predictable as it seemed, still managed to surprise me. 

We got the fact that he was a good guy, but we knew so little, Ivy knew so little. Bishop kept leaving and sort of just disappearing. His intentions were mysterious, and we don't even know how much the guy knows or if he was surprised or suspicious about Ivy towards the end.  

SPOILER ALERT!

What Ivy wasn't trained to do was pretend she was happy with him, or the least affectionate and that was a problem we witnessed she was struggling with due to the lack of warmth and tenderness coming from her sister and father. Especially the father, since he seemed to be the most important figure she looked up to. She was trained to stay loyal to their plan however her own instincts became an obstacle as predicted, what surprised me was the fact that her family didn't show any signs of attempting to save her in the end, even if she could've easily betrayed them in a worst possible way. Despite the fact that they were the one who manipulated her into going through the plan blindly with missing facts about what had really happened with her mother. 

I found the reasons behind her father's takeover rather foolish, when the king had absolute no control over what happened.  

Ivy is a loyal, determined, and impulsive protagonist, definitely the right characteristics for her role in this dystopian world of conflict. Which might make Bishop the antagonist, who is reserved, calculated and definitely patient. 

The world they lived in lacked the details we needed to imagine, but it the small bits we got on how the houses looked and the fence were enough to provide us with information that would help create their world. It was simple, and I suppose the focus was more on the characters rather than the world they lived in.

I understood Ivy's reasons for doubting the plan and for making the decisions she made. It felt like her reaction to everything was carefully expressed and she's a wise protagonist. I was really happy with everything. I was pained to see how Bishop kept thinking she was better than that, even when she showed him no reason to believe she was otherwise. She held her emotions carefully despite how painful it was. No character deserves to pick who to betray, and even though her actions may have made it seem like she was betraying Bishop, I wouldn't have thought of a better decision. More importantly, there's a whole new thing To look forward to, it's not just a moment, but a whole new world. I am beyond excited for the next book!

This series has so much hope.

Marked (House of Nigh, #1 by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire Water, Earth and Spirit. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is mis-using her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny – with a little help from her new vampyre friends

Goodreads Synopsis 

Review

I give ★★✩✩✩

I'll admit, I've been avoiding reviewing this book because I was so unhappy with it, 2 stars is me being super generous, and the ending kind of earned it a star. Like the fact that she became this person that sort of brought everything together and fixed an issue the "mean girl" (Aphrodite) But it just doesn't leave me wanting to read more even though the ending is kind of a cliffhanger. 

This is such a childish book. 

1. I'm so tired of hearing the phrase "Hags from hell." 

I get it! I get it, no need to repeat it in every damn page. I don't care how evil or stupid these girls are, I already get the fact that, that group of characters don't like those girls, but stop for the love of God.

2. Who cares I just may have created a weird bond with my ex, but let me just whatever it and not tell anyone. 

I'm sorry what?

3. Let me go for that one guy I almost saw getting a BJ in the hall that other night because why the hell not?! 

Yeah, Erik Night is the one.

4. Let me still act like a total child even with the most powers out of everyone ever met in universe.

So unlike anyone ever met in their world, Zoey has an affinity for all 5 elements: air, water, earth, fire and spirit. WOW. If only Nyx marked her brain too and talked some sense into her judgemental mind. 
5. Big deal she likes blood, she's a vampire, what's so embarrassing about that, it's like me saying "Uh, I hate Nutella, let me not tell my friends cuz' I'm ashamed of it." 

She has a weird mark, why would it be a surprise that she developed a little faster.  And what world involves vampires who don't drink blood, this is waaaaay out of my comfort zone, which was fine because I was looking for something a little different, instead I ended up with a children's book in my hand...

6. We were given very little information on her parents and the religious people to understand what was so wrong with them. 

7.  For a protagonist I see no character development in the future. 

I read a book to learn 

8.  The antagonist is no different than the protagonist, Aphoridte just picked a stupider group of friends.

Wasp and Warlike? What the actual hell?! Just say their name for the love of God, I don't even remember it because stupid Zoey decided it was easier to call them names that aren't even names or words. Way to complicate them characters.

9. What isn't wrong with Zoey's friends.

It feels like they all lack personality. 

The Twins: Oh wow they just said the same thing lets do that every time we're mentioned to prove our point. Let's call ourselves twins even if we're not related, because what makes twins twins is the fact that they always have the exact same thoughts and answers. I know twins that are quite human and not each others' parrots. The Casts made them fake characters, know what that is? I just invented it, it means you can have no emotional connection to them. The lack of thought put into these characters made me very, very, VERY PISSED. 

Daemon: Has this crush on Erik Night and everyone needs to remind him that "he's not playing for your team." We get it friends, we get it, he's just being a guy with a mini crush, can't he do that?! However the way the Casts describe him may seem offensive to those who are gay and "act all girly." Because no, no Daemon isn't this way, but let's discriminate those because they aren't the kind of gay people we would want in this perfect little book.

Stevie Rae: So she's a sweet, country girl with a country-girl accent. I have nothing against this one except... Oh wait nevermind, she's stupid.

10.  MODERN TIMES 

Blowjobs are a normal thing: no they aren't Zoey. Not everyone wants to do that. And if they do it's none of your damn business. And in the HALL?! So much idiocy...

Skinny like Paris Hilton: I have no idea how Paris Hilton even looks like, that's an irrelevant reference to a known pop star (she's a singer right?!) so I had no idea how anorexic-looking Aphrodite was. 

They made religious people seem like these really absurd, closed-minded people with no goals in life but to worship whatever they worship. Also humans are just... I don't even know, like if you're not. Vampire, you're either an idiot or a religious person. Okay....

What is up with everyone famous being a vampire because humans aren't gorgeous enough?! It's not about looks, I've seen singers look not so pretty and sing like .... Amazing...

This is definitely a vampire world I will never read about. 

Ahhhh i'm frustrated with this book, it took me so long to finish it. It's so damn boring and there's no real thinking behind it and I'm praying that the next 3 books have a more mature tone to them, at least the last one. I made the terrible mistake of buying the first 4 books. NEVER BUY A BOXSET FROM AUTHORS YOU NEVER READ FROM.

Upcoming Reviews

My new books:

My beautiful books have arrived a few days ago, I was so excited to finally get them. Paper Towns would by my first John Green book and the House of Night series seemed just amazing, I've been meaning to buy them for a while now. The four books, Marked, Betrayed, Chosen and Untamed were the only ones I found in the box set on Bookdepository.com, I highly recommend this site, it definitely surprised me with an early arrival!

Ignite Me (Shatter Me series #3 by Tahereh Mafi)

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.

Review

I give  ★★★★★

It felt odd not knowing what had happened to the battle. And she got shot, and my all time favourite character had saved her, and it was all too beautiful, and then it all shattered so fast because everything was not alright after that, and things got worse and this book did not stop being interesting for a second. I absolutely loved it. No words can describe how amazing this book was. 

And she thought Adam was gone and I was so happy he was out of the picture. 

Juliette became such a different character, in Unravel Me, she was slowly changing into this warrior and then in this book she was finally one. The character development is so great, that the person she'd become in comparison to the one she was is so different that you wouldn't tell its the same character. 

Juliette's point of view had proven a point that most characters don't. She looked at Warner as this monster, evil person without knowing his true intentions and the idea of him that she'd first interpreted had been all wrong and she only realizes this (and we realize with her) in this book. 

There are so many Warner moments that have completely warmed my heart, and I wish I'd left a sticky note in every one of those pages with those moments. I'd probably fill this page of quotes because there are so damn many of them, so so so many and yet not enough. I wish this series had never finished, I wanted to see how Warner and Juliette rule the world.

I had a feeling this was what it was, I didn't know Juliette didn't know of, now I don't know if it was mentioned in Destroy Me

"Juliette. love,"' he says softly. "There were no speakers in that room. That room is entirely soundproof, equipped with nothing but sensors and cameras. It is a simulation chamber."

"No," I breathe, refusing to beliebe. Not wanting to accept that I was wrong, that Warner isn't the monster I thought he was. He can't change things now. 

Yeah you gotta accept that, hun. 

Because Warner is just P.E.R.F.E.C.T

His intentions and him all together.

The thing about this book from the other two, yes she had stayed at his house in the first book, but this time it's so different. I was happy with the second book because there were so many Warner moments, but then this book is just like full-on Warner and she hardly doesn't see him and she takes his side and stands up for him, sort of, in front of ADAM. 

"It's not charity," I snap. "He cares about me-and I care about him!"

Warner nods, unimpressed. "You should get a dog, love. I hear they share much the same qualities."

I was so done, it was final, my choice was definitely Warner, always, always Warner.

And then...

"You're a coward," he whispers. "You want to be with me and it terrifies you. And you're ashamed," he says. 

"Ashamed you could ever want someone like me. Aren't you?" He drops his gaze and his nose grazes mine and I can almost count the millimeters between our lips. I'm struggling to focus, trying to remember that I'm mad at him, mad about something, but his mouth is right in front of mine and my mind can't stop trying to figure out how to shove aside the space between us. 

"You want me," he says softly, his hands moving up my back, "and it's killing you."

"You deserve so much more than charity," he says, his chest heaving. "You deserve to be alive."

He's staring at me unblinking. 

"Come back to life, love. I'll be here when you wake up."

YAS!

This is only 58 pages in.

Warner aside now, Kenji happens to be a favourite of mine too.  Favourite part was when Lily, one of the girls says she's one of the only talking girls and Kenji answers with this about Juliette. DIED.

"Oh she talks," Kenji says, shooting me a look. "Cusses like a sailor, too."

"I do not cuss like a-"

But it is also in this scene that I start disliking Adam, the fact that he can't understand that they can work together to achieve the common goal, and for his brother. He wants Juliette, but they can't just run away and I was amazed at all this because he's a soldier and then he just wants Juliette and to run away and for what? A little happiness and constant running and hidding. 

"STOP!" Adam explodes. "Stop trying to get me to understand a bunch of bullshit! I can't deal with you anymore." 

Excuse me? What did he just tell her, because I just felt an imaginary hand slap Juliette's face, and for what? Just because his fairytale dreams didn't come true? 

Not team Adam, no, no, how could I have even considered it at the beginning of the first novel. 

KENJI AGAIN!

This character is so so so easy to understand, he is loyal and his mind is clear and Juliette knows she can trust him, and I'm surprised she didn't fall for him, maybe in a world without Warner, she would have. He is so down to earth and great and I would definitely trust his judgement, in the book, and if I'd ever meet someone like him. His honesty and charisma is just-Wow. 

"So tell me again why you like Warner so much? Did he, like, take all of his clothes off or something?" 

"What?" I gasp, so glad it's too dark for him to see me blushing. "No," I say quickly. "No, he-"

"Damn, princess." Kenji laughs, hard. "I had no idea."

OMG THIS! IMPORTANT!

"That's because you're not fragile," Kenji says. "If anything, everyone needs to protext themselves from you. You're like a freaking beast," he says. Then adds, "I mean, you know-like, a cute beast. A little beast that tears shit up and breaks the earth and sucks the life out of people."

"Nice."

"I'm here for you."

"I can tell."

"So that's it?" Kenju says. "You like him for his personality, huh?"

"What?"

"All of this," Kenji says, waving his hand in the air, "has nothing to do with him being all sexy and shit and him being able to touch you all the time?"

"You think Warner is sexy?"

"That is not what I said."

I laugh. "I do like his face."

"And the touching?"

"What touching?"

Kenji looks at me, eyes wide, eyebrows up. "I'm not Adam, okay? You can't bullshit me with your innocent act. You tell me this guy can touch you, and that he's into you, and you're clearly into him, and you spent the night in his bed last night, and then I walk in on the two of you in a freaking closet-no wait, I'm sorry, not a closet- a child's bedroom-and you're telling me there has been zero touching?" He stares at me. "Is that what you're telling me?"

"No," I whisper, face on fire.

"You're growing up so quickly. You're getting all excited about being able to touch shit for the first time, and I just want to be sure you are observing sanitary regulations-"

"Stop being so disgusting."

I can't this book is too damn amazing, just re-read it, I have no words, I might as well just quote the entire book because it is freaking amazing!

Throne Of Glass (Throne of Glass series #1 by Sarah J. Maas)

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. 

But will her assassin's heart be melted?

Review

I give  ★★★★★

Third-person perspective is extremely different.  I still get into the mind of the character, but her thoughts don't matter as much as her actions. Also knowing what the other people think is so different. 

This novel starts out when they take her, so we don't get much insight into what she does at the mines, just when she talks about it with the Prince or Chaol, Captain Westfall. There is a love triangle going on, I knew it as soon as both guys were introduced. Now it only depends on who she'll end up with. The "Shatter Me" had an unpredictable ending, so I can only hope that who I choose as my final favourite  will remain Celaena's lets say "lover".

She has such a strong character, I fell in love with her personality as soon as one could. She is not thoughtless or even stupid. She considers all of her enemies and I think she has a good sense of judgement when it comes to those around her. She thinks of what benefits her, and her only, but then she has these small acts, or well excessive acts of selflessness, like saving Mr. Thief and  telling him to leave because he was in danger. And she likes books! So little characters in novels are actively enjoying their hobbies. 

“No. I can survive well enough on my own— if given the proper reading material.”

But she does, and the piano playing. It is great, however I wish I was given more information  on her past "lover", which would be so unusual for an assassin to have. 

I was a bit conflicted about the fact that she fell for the Prince, or at least liked him in that way, maybe or maybe not it was for her own benefit but for an assassin, assuming she kills without blinking an eye, her heart is all over the place. Or at least that is how it seems. 

"Say my name, Say, 'Very well, Dorian'."

She rolled her eyes. "If it pleases Your Magnanimous Holiness, I shall call you by your first name."

This book made me smile more than I can remember. It has these little moments that just warm my heart from visible acts of humanity, or how she is in fact still young for all of this. 

Chaol is such an uptight person. There are rarely any non-serious moments with him, but even those serious, he just, he just, I don't know I have high hopes for him but my head is stretched between both of them, Chaol and Dorian. I like Chaol because he seems mysterious, and stronger than Dorian, who just gives his heart away without even hesitating, and he seems so oblivious sometimes, it makes me wonder if he actually cares about what is happening in the world, and if he does why not show that?

A Chaol momento:

“How long was I asleep?" she whispered. He didn't respond. 
"How long was I asleep?" she asked again, and noticed a hint of red in his cheeks. 
"You were asleep, too?" 
"Until you began drooling on my shoulder.”

Ok, Nehemia. These names confused me completely. I was convinced Nehemia was the same character as Kaltain. So I was basically against Nehemia halfway through the book. What is up with these names? I could not even remember most and then Nehemia gives Celaena another name for the sake of their friendship? Elentiya, like I'm going to remember that by the time I start the next book. 

Despite the names, I've enjoyed this book and it is why I think it deserves 5 stars, I would not give less. Never, Let the next books not disappoint me. 

Unravel Me (Shatter Me series #2 By Tahere Mafi)

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Review

I give  ★★★★★

I wasn't sure where this book was going, with the underground people and all that. All Juliette ever did was feel sorry for herself

"I'm a monster."

Oh don't touch me.

"Adam are you ok? Did I kill you?

"I could've killed you, I could've killed you, Adam-"

ENOUGH!

Gosh, halfway through this book this woman won't stop feeling sorry for herself, so what if he dies? It's not her fault. None of this is!

And all of this stops as soon as Kenji finally says: 

"You have to live with it, just like the rest of us." 

"You and Kent need to sort out your drama ASAP."

And I think this guy saved Juliette from all the imaginary slaps I would have given her if she felt sorry for herself one more time.

Juliette also catches a glimpse of Warner's humanity at the beginning of the book. I had to read "Destroy Me", a novella on Warner's point of view to see what he'd been doing for the first 100 pages of "Unravel Me".

I loved so much about this book, especially that Juliette improved so much and developed into this new person, with courage. It was a slow improvement, and I suppose I didn't see her greatest potential here but her character was different. She got up and she faced her abilities. She ends her relationship with Adam as an act of protection, and I suppose without being in a relationship with him, she is more able to be independent. Especially when she faces Warner's father, that was so great. 

All I know is that my hand is around Anderson's throat and I've pinned him to the wall, so overcome by a blind, burning, all-consuming rage that I think my brain has already caught on fire and dissolved into ash. 

I squeeze a little harder

He's sputtering. He's gasping. He's trying to get at my arms, clawing limp hands at my body and he's turning red and blue and purple and I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it so, so much. 

I think I'm smiling.

This is the real juliette we all want, and a glimpse of her is what we get to see in this book. I loved this scene, mostly because it all took me by surprise and I would not stop reading, I was a machine with no stop button and it was beautiful. 

And then my favourite parts come along, where Juliette needs to visit Warner for information until those visits just sort of become a necessity. I loved those short moments. I knew it would be the beginning of something more between them. 

"He hasn't moved an inch since I stepped into this room. He's resting on his side, his back to the wall, his left arm tucked under his face, his right arm against his torso, his entire body perfect bare, strong, smooth, and smelling faintly of soap. I don't know why I can't stop staring at him." 

This is so sweet, she's finally discovered that she's physically attracted to him! Ah. Finally. 

I suppose this book is more about the development of her relationship with Warner, and it could not have made me happier. It was such a great book, with tiny little events that complete the entire story. 

Kenji is another favourite character. He's just so down to earth, honest and funny. He definitely makes things a lot easier for Juliette, and I would give him so much credit for his friendship and advice. He's made me laugh countless times and I don't know if this book would have been the same without him.

"I mean, I just have to say-the last line? 'I wish I could love you less'? That was genius.Really, really nice. I think Winston actually shed a tear-" 

DIED.

This book is about choosing between Adam and Warner, I only hope that your choice is as good as mine. And the next one is better.

My Life Next Door (By Huntley Fitzpatrick)

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

Review

I give ★★★✩✩

Can I just say the book cover gives me the impression that they are some tiny humans near a ginormous fence. I like it. 

Where do I begin? Well, I'm quite surprised with myself for giving so low, honestly now.  I was 20% into the book when I said I could not put it down. This book got me hooked, up until the 200th page. If it weren't for my brother telling me something was going to happen, I would have found it very difficult to continue. This book was constant. The characters were beautiful, with the exception of Mr. Clay and her selfish mother. 

Maybe for some of you reading is just a form of entertainment, well I wanted this book to be  my source of completely shutting the world out, it just disappointed me so much towards the end. 

Let me start on the Jase guy, Mr. Perfect boyfriend, brother, son, and friend. He takes things slow, he understands, he helps, he volunteers to help around the house, he gets two or God knows how many jobs to help out his family, he puts money away to buy a car and ends up selling it to benefit anyone but him and he helps Tim with the job at his father's shop. He is amazing, maybe, just maybe too amazing, and maybe that is why I haven't felt a connection to him, he's too inhumanly selfless, and don't get me started on Samantha. 

I get that you know a lot about your science and your astrological signs but knowing it all just won't do it. She's too perfect, until she isn't because of her perfect mother, who again, is not perfect because clearly just shutting out problems, not associated with her is not the perfect way to go at life. Samantha does not act like a spoiled brat, even though she may be, but living under her mother's strict rules kept her from becoming one. But since she's so good, I start to wonder is that really how she may have turned out? Her mother is being an ignorant selfish strict mom, and Samantha somehow still turns out perfect, even with a missing father. This just doesn't add up. And after all the sacrifices her mom made, making sure both of her daughters being raised properly and whatnot, it just seems like not enough credit is given to her, and to fall in Clay's scumbag trap should've been obvious, IT WAS OBVIOUS. Not to mention letting anyone tell her how to be a parent, which she did let Clay do.

As soon as the car incident happens, I just knew this perfect little story I was reading was over. Because everything turned gray. 

Nan was a big shock, like, what? Why? For 12 years she kept this act, no, no, no, impossible, 12 years is a lot, and 12 years Samantha never noticed her hate towards her? There must have been something, Gosh, eyes betray every feeling we try to hide, and Samantha being such a smartass should've been able to tell. Nan also should have noticed that Samantha did not have it all, she was literally cursed by being the daughter of a strict, selfish witch. And Samantha not telling her best friend about Jace, what was up with that? 

I suppose most of my favourite moments were those when Samantha was excited to meet Jace by the window, I just found that adorable, also this idea of watching another, completely different, family from afar, yes it sounds like something a stalker would do, but wanting to be a part of that family was just beautiful. That was worth my 3 stars, because if it weren't for that, this book would have made top 10 least favourite books. I suppose it is a better book than "The summer I turned pretty." since they are both sending out that summer vibe I was looking for. 

Fifty Shades Of Grey (By EL James, #1)

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

 

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Review

I give ★★★★★

I would have given less. Why did I not? 

Ana's story began from the very beginning, straight to the point, straightforward all the way. I didn't like a lot about this book, but I don't exactly rate unfairly. Obviously, it's all my opinion. This is my first '"erotica" book to ever read and finish, and I found some scenes, okay, most scenes disturbing; that doesn't mean it wasn't written properly. It captured my attention and I wanted to read more to see where her relationship with this mysterious guy was going. I liked the fact that it kept me going. I was curious to know more about him, because she's just so simple compared to him. It balances out their characters. They complete each other. After a while of reading constant sex scenes, it got less weird. It was still all strange but I didn't close the book and gave up. 

The voice of Ana sounded extremely childish at times, and I liked that because she's young and inexperienced and small things matter so  much, like her fear, excitement, nervousness; it all created a realistic feeling of being inside a young girl's head. Especially that inner Goddess of hers with those pom-poms. 

Christian felt like such a mature person compared to her, which I was so  thankful for. He is such a mystery it's overwhelming. I suppose most people are eager to read more on their "sexy time", instead what I wanted most was for him to let her touch him. Like his face or just hand or arm or anything really, the fact that he wouldn't let her, I would say I was a lot more frustrated than she was, and she kept insisting and I wanted to find out if he would let her and he's so closed and keeping everything to himself.. ugh! Share your mind with us, Christian. Throughout the book, all I wanted to do was find out what was in that little messed up head of his and to find out if he would ever hurt her or if she would ever leave him and my questions were not entirely answered. Not yet. 

I loved the ending and I was so happy, I definitely want to read the next book. 

I can't wait for the movie, the actors  seem the perfect fit.