A World Without You by Beth Revis

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

“Here is something I’ve learned: You never know all of a person; you only know them in a specific moment of time.”

This book started off as a really refreshing and interesting take on mental health and mental illness. It had the potential to be AMAZING. There was this fantastic plot twist that just somehow failed to land? Instead it got dragged on for many chapters and everything sort of became repetitive and exhausting to read.

However, I did like the ending. It was realistic and bitter sweet; it almost makes you forget about how exhausting the last 100 pages were. Almost.

 

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover 

My rating: 3/5 stars

Is it possible for a Colleen Hoover romance to exist without a plot twist ? The answer is no. & that is one of the things I love most about her books. The plot twists are always much deeper than you expect them to be & you can tell that CoHo has very carefully planned everything out.

This is one of the few CoHo books I hadn’t read prior to this month. It’s also one of her much older ones & I can confidently say that her writing gets much better with each book she writes.

This story is actually a 4-star read, however, there were way too many aspects that were so corny (literally rolled my eyes so many times); that I simply can’t bring myself to actually give it 4 stars. So its a 3/3.5 from me!

I was thinking of reading the sequel but after finding out the sequel is pretty much the same story but this time told from the other main character’s point of view…I think not.

 

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

My rating: 5/5 magnificent stars!

“Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life because we all overcometh the world.” – Auggie.  

Wonder follows the story of August Pullman aka Auggie; a 10 year old boy who was born with a condition that has pretty much left his face deformed. Despite over a hundred surgeries to reconstruct his face, he still doesn’t look like the average 10 year old, which makes it hard for him to fit in.

*Heavy sigh* I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved this book. Nothing I say will do it justice.

By page 3, I had decided that Auggie was the coolest most adorable 10 year old ever. And by page 58, I had already mentally rated this book 5 stars.

Who knew the world of middle-school could be so dramatic and terrifying and unpredictable and epic! I think we’re all so used to looking at kids as these, precious, innocent little angels but sometimes; they can also be such horrible, evil tiny humans! Intentionally or unintentionally.

Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year!

In case you didn’t know, Wonder has been adapted into a movie and will be hitting theaters November 17th of this year. Check out the trailer here!

 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

My rating: 4/5 stars

I’m going to keep this review short and simple: I really frexing enjoyed this book!

And if you don’t know what “frex/frexing” is; its’ apparently the new curse word of the future haha. Well..it’s definitely the curse word used on Godspeed: a ginormous spacecraft carrying thousands of people from earth; travelling across the universe for centuries (ha, see what I did there ?); towards a new planet where humans plan to settle down and rebuild.

A suspenseful read with greatly developed main characters. I will be reading the sequel in the near future.

 

 

 

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: 4.5/5 freaking stars!

“The Universe owes you nothing. It has already given you everything, after all. It was here long before you and it will go on long after you. The only way it will remember you is if you do something worthy of remembrance.”

What a fantastic read! Blown away.

First off, I would like to point out that the only reason I deducted half a star was because the book did start off a little slow. So many secondary characters were introduced right at the beginning. It was a little confusing trying to follow all the different conversations taking place;  and trying to remember all the characters. It was chaotic.

However, once its gets going, it GETS GOING.

I loved the intensity of this book. I loved the uniqueness of it. Kaufman and Kristoff have produced such an engaging story that is told entirely in the format of email messages, IM chats, surveillance footage descriptions and detailed maps.

The last 250 pages put me through an entire array of emotions: hurt, deceit, suspense, betrayal, rage, panic, loss…

Illuminae definitely lives up to the hype that surrounds it. I will certainly be reading the second book in the series (Gemina) as soon as possible!