Love, love, loved this!!! I must own a copy for my coffee table!

I may be a bit biased and this is why...

A little over a year and a half ago, my husband and I were in NYC for his heart surgery. We got all the touristy things done that we could, three days before his surgery. It was the best and scariest time of my life. We were so in love, trolling the city. Both of us nervous and scared about what was looming ahead. Yet, so excited to be somewhere that we always wanted to visit. Then his heart surgery came and it was a defining time in my life. It was traumatic and insanely stressful. I was in a huge city, alone. Taking the bus to and from the hospital and walking to my Airbnb apartment. Honestly, I was more worried about my husband than myself. It was so crazy how calm and peaceful I felt, commuting, sleeping, and being alone. That's a moment that I know, God was truly carrying me. I will Always and forever love NYC. It has become a part of me that I'm proud of. It's a part of something in my life that challenged me to grow and be a person that I never thought I could be. Taking care of my husband and handling everything on my own was a huge growing experience. New York will always have a piece of my heart.

Now... That may be why I am so biased about this book. I read this in one sitting tonight! The stories are just so amazing and human. You just never know what someone is going through! All the diversity in that city is just amazing.

These stories will make you cry and laugh. Some will just break your heart and others will make you feel so happy. Love this!

Like I mentioned in the review of the first book, I'm going to be so random and all over the place with these reviews. I just cannot even handle all the thoughts running through my head. This story is so original.

This book was everything. I'm not even kidding. I feel the pace was a bit faster and I know that some people were upset because she was back and forth so many times but really, what would you do? She's completely in love with BOTH men. How is that a choice to be taken lightly? I absolutely believe that there is more than just one person that can make you unbelievably happy and we get to see it here.

We start when she's landing at her college that's across the country from everyone she knows and loves. I commend that she made the choice to take the hard road and actually continue on the path because it was the whole point of the second chance. We get to see how tough and strenuous the long distance relationship is for her and James. The whole time, she knows she's going to eventually meet Austin but she just can't let James go. I don't blame her, he's amazing. We had a whole book (first one) to fall completely in love with James. In this second book, we get to do the same with Austin. I admit, it's not as much as a whole book but at least we get a sense of why she loved him so much. We then go through the agonizing events that lead up to her choice. I wont lie, I was so tempted to just look up the ending and see who she would choose. I had no idea and I really couldn't stand the heartbreak of either guy.

This book is a lot more fast paced and we get a lot more character development from everyone. I mean it takes talent to be able to keep tabs on so many supporting characters in a natural and unforced way. I will admit that the ending of this book was wrapped up rather quickly. I was half way through this book wondering how she was going to get through the rest of this story, so quickly.
The last 1/3 of the book, I was a mess. This book tore my heart open and had it spilling all over my face (tears). The twists and turns of this story are fabulous and I promise you will not be disappointed. Hamstead did a marvelous job with these characters and the way you just feel everything they are going through. Cadence is a tough cookie because I honestly don't know what I could have done. The way these characters grow and develop in this book is just amazing. I honestly have not read a book/duology this good in quite a while.

In recap, great duology and I highly, highly recommend it. Make sure you have both books on hand because you will not want to stop. You will need to know what happens. You will also give your husband and loved ones extra hugs and cuddles. It really makes you appreciate what you have. Tomorrow is never promised, so always remember to treat every day like it is your last. I will definitely be reading the next thing Katie Hamstead comes out with!

I would like to thank Katie Hamstead and YA Bound Book Tours for providing copies of these ebooks for review. Receiving them free, has not influenced my thoughts and opinions, they are my own.

Okay, I’ve been on a bit of a reading hiatus and just have not been into it. I needed to just read these and get it done to put up my reviews. These books turned into so much more than a deadline. This will be the most random, all over the place review. I just am having the hardest time coming up with how to review these books because they were just so good. I devoured both books in one day. I did absolutely nothing else but read these. So here is the first book…

The premise was so interesting to me but I wasn’t sure how Hamstead was going to pull it off but she nailed it. So in the first book, the emotions hit you from the very beginning. We get Cadence in the hospital after a horrible earthquake that took her husband and child from her. When you go to the morgue with her, you feel what she feels. Hamstead does an AMAZING job making you feel everything in this book. An angel then appears to her, offering her a second chance to save them. Of course, she jumps on this but the catch is that she has to go back into time ten years. Guys, she has to do high school and those horrible teen years all over. No sweat, right?! The thing is she gets to make up for all her regrets and what if’s. All these new changes help her keep her family intact and then open up a path to a new love.

Oh how I loved James. The way he pursued her for months, never giving up. The way these two loved was just breathtaking. You could feel all the emotions they were having and let me tell you, it could be so intense. The whole time Cadence is just fighting it so hard because she knows; she’s doing this for one reason, to save her husband and daughter.

When she finally gives in, it’s just beautiful. I had no idea who I wanted her to end up with. I remembered the beginning and her love and devastation over the loss but James tested that. You have this whole book to completely fall in love with his character.

Hamstead did an amazing job with the character growth of not only the main characters but all the supporting characters too. Their families were just so much fun. Cadence’s dad was something else too. Man, James really put up with so much to be with her. You really get how much he truly loves her, which makes this so much harder on her and us, as readers.

I wasn’t sure how she was going to get all of high school in this book but she did a great job with it. I admit there are times that things are in so much detail, that it kind of drags a bit but I never got bored. I was always just enthralled with the story and I would look up and an hour was gone. If flowed well and I think that Hamsted has a talent with words. The way she can just make you feel everything and just keep you sucked into the story.

I enjoyed how every year the Angel would come back and show her the choices she made differently and the two different paths. It was so interesting to see the paths change of those around her. It really makes you think about all the “what ifs” and regrets in your own life. All these small choices make such huge ripples that you would never even think of.


This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. It will take you all over the place emotionally and you will not want to wait to read the next book. I recommend having them both on hand, so you don’t have to wait.

I want to thank Katie Hamstead and Bound Book Tours for review copies of this book. It has in no way, influenced my opinions and thoughts on this book.

This is the second book and it was good but not as good as the first. This book does the same, where it spans over just a short time. This book she is trying to learn more about the world and figure things bout but no one will help her. She is still really mistrusted and has to start figuring things out on her own. She starts to travel back to see her grandpa and see if he can help her figure things out since they are all keeping her out of the loop. I really didn't like the love interest in this book. I didn't like what she did with it. It was so back and forth and for a while I was kind of tired of it. The girl gets annoying at certain points because she's tired of his hot and cold attitude towards her. Although, when she says it has to stop it's out the window once he starts to be affectionate towards her. It's like once he smiles and she's thrown her good judgment away. At the end of the book, things come to light that make more sense but I'm still generally confused on what's going on with the rest of the plot. I will definitely be reading the next book when it comes out.

I loved the first two books in this series. This third book kind of fell short. Don't get me wrong, it was still good. I just kind of feel like there was a lot of filler that kind of made it boring at times. I'm glad that the two main characters finally admitted their feelings to each other. I do have to remember though that these are teen books. Anyways, I liked how it all wrapped up and I did enjoy this series.

I want to thank Katie Hamstead for providing me with a copy of this ebook to read and review. These are my own thoughts and opinions. Now, lets get to the book...



First, I want to point out that I love the cover! I didn't really get to see it when I got my ebook, so I was surprised when I went to add it to my goodreads account. Love it. I'm a huge Disney princess fan and have always been one. My favorite is The Little Mermaid but I love them all. I'm not saying this is Disney or princess-y but just stating my love for them and the fairytales. When I read the description of this book, it sounded like something right up my alley. It's loosely based on the story about Sleeping Beauty. I love retellings of fairytales.



The writing in this book is fantastic! I started this book and it immediately sucked me in. I'm not kidding. I could not put it down and I spent half the day reading this book. I had to know how it ended. I love how Apolline is on a different planet and we get to see how she grew. She becomes a strong, independent, funny women and it made it so easy for us to root for her. I like that we go her whole story and how she meets Allard. I really loved Apolline and Allard. As soon as, she meets him, I was so excited! You fall completely in love with them from the beginning. Especially, knowing who they are to each other when they do not. Hamstead does a wonderful job making sure this isn't just a "love at first sight" romance. You get to see them fall in love and not in just two seconds. That is SO refreshing to me and just so much more realistic. It's a journey and it was so sweet. They both know they are betrothed to someone else and fight their attraction so much. The secondary characters are also fantastic. I love Charlie and how protective he is of Apolline. The relationship between Apolline and the fairies was also a lot of fun. Even Beau and Nathanial are great and they only have a small part in this book. The characters are all what you want from any good book. They will not disappoint. I can't wait to see more about them later. :)



I love how Hamstead wrapped up the ending. All these little pieces throughout the book that you don't think mean much, make a huge impact in the end to save Apolline.

Even though this is a retelling, Hamstead does a wonderful job making it her own and added plenty of plot twists. It's full of action and flows really well. Her new world kind of reminded me of the Marissa Meyer, Lunar Chronicles series, which I adored.



If you like fairytales and want a fresh new take, this is definitely a must read for you! I really enjoyed this and I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series! Thank you so much for letting me read this to review!

I wanted to love this book so bad. I did not love it. It was a lukewarm like. It took me almost a year to finish this book. Yep. It just sat in a stack of books that I needed to read and I could only read a little at a time before I had to stop.



This book had SO much potential but it fell flat for me at many points. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the story. I will most likely read the next book, hoping this was just a rough start. This definitely felt like it was a Game of thrones type of book.

There are some really graphic instances in this book. One of the things that it reminds me of GOT is the abundance of characters. There are so many characters in this book that I sometimes felt lost and had to backtrack a bit. It could be that it just took me so long to read this.



Regardless, I feel like the story itself was great. I really liked Kelsea and her character. This is one thing the author got right. Kelsea is just a badass. She doesn't put up with anything and can take care of herself. I also loved her because she is a good person, truly. If she saw anything bad happen to anyone, she would do everything in her power to stop it or fix it. That's a great character and someone you want to root for.



Now, this is where this book dropped to just 3 stars.. For one, it is very slow, almost painful. Reasons I just had to walk away so many times. I'm not a quitter and I finally just forced myself to finish it. The last 150+ pages really pick up and drag you back into the story. At some points, the author just over does it on the details. I started to get lost and just feel my eyes glaze over. The last thing that I didn't like.. there are so many holes. I know, it's a series. I just didn't like that everything was introduced and nothing was explained. Especially, since this book was so long. I felt like she had so much detail on the things that didn't matter and not enough about the important things. For example, what happened in the past? What is going on with the stones?



I will most likely read the next book because I need to know all the answers. I'm being a bit more hopeful that it wont be as painstakingly slow. We will see. I guess, I liked it enough to read the next at somet point.

This is the third and final installment of the Winner’s Trilogy. This book starts us off at beginning of the war between the East and the West. We also have Arin and Kestrel on two different paths. Kestrel has been caught and captured. We find her on her way to a brutal work camp. Then we find Arin in the thick of the war. He’s leading ship battles and mostly, trying to convince himself that he doesn’t love Kestrel anymore. He believes that she has betrayed him.

I absolutely loved the first book but then the second book fell flat for me. I had high hopes for this book and it did not disappoint! There’s a lot going on in this book. We have the two main characters both vying for their lives on different parts of the country. We also have the war raging on. I loved Kestrel in this book. She is the absolute definition of a fighter. She fights to her very best and tries so hard to stay alive. Then later in the book, I love how she never just gives into what everyone is telling her. Even though, there are many frustrating points when you just want Arin and her to be together, I respect what the author did here. The characters in this series are just so amazing. I particularly, loved Roshar in this book. His commentary and character growth in this book were refreshing and surprising. I really didn’t think I was going to like him as much as I did. I almost liked him more than Arin.

Once we get to the middle of the book, this book grips you and does not let go. I loved the times when Kestrel is trying to find herself and how caring he is. He is so patient with her and you can feel how much he loves her. I really enjoy the fact that Rutkoski, really made their relationship realistic. They are going through ups and downs that are so much more like real situations, lack of communication and personal struggles. These are things that everyday couples experience and it was nice to see her add some reality to it. She really had a run with my emotions in this book. Rutkoski, really had a gift with her writing.

Really, the only complaint I have is that this book was a bit long. There are times that it drug out a bit but that’s okay. It wasn’t terrible and it never lost me.

Overall, I think that Rutkoski did a fabulous job finishing up this series. I always dread the last book because most of the time, it’s a big miss. She drew me in and never let me go. I am sad to see this series go but at the same time glad it ended well. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! Loved this series!

I was expecting more from this because most of these things I have seen in other books or on pinterest. I would say that if you have bored teens at home, this would be good. A lot of these projects are pretty easy and things they would like. I love crafts and I've done most of these on my own. It's a good book if you have teens, otherwise I would just skip out on this one.

I did like that it does have instructions. A lot of books these days, just have pictures and you are on your own. I do want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a temporary download to read and review this book.