I'm not sure why I keep doing this to myself. I go into these Kasie West books looking for a cute, fluffy, sweet romance.
I am almost always underwhelmed by them. Maybe it's because I really enjoyed the first book of hers that I read, which was P.S. I Like You. I thought it was a cute take on the 'You've Got Mail/Shop Around the Corner' trope. Ever since then, I have just found myself disappointed with her other books.

I did think that this was better than By Your Side, which I thought was utterly unbelievable and ridiculous. But really, it wasn't as good as I'd wanted it to be.

Things I liked:
1. The book cover. Super cutesy. And the models they have portraying the characters are great.


Things I didn't like:
1.My biggest problem is that Maddie, the main character, is an idiot. We are supposed to believe that she is super intelligent, but almost every decision she makes is just idiotic. She wins the lottery and decides to give her always-bickering parents two million dollars and her deadbeat lazy brother a million dollars, thinking it's going to magically solve the fact that they are all miserable and manipulative people. And then she's shocked when her parents continue to argue and her brother becomes an even bigger deadbeat. She throws money around at people she's never even spoken to in the past and is shocked when a jackass she goes to school with casually calls her out for buying friendships. She trusts the word of some distant relative who she'd never spoken to before and gives him half a million dollars for an 'investment opportunity', and is then shocked when he turns out to be a cheat.

She spends a lot of this book shocked.

I'm sorry, but I can't stand when authors make characters so ridiculously stupid. And maybe it's not the character being naive as much as the really poor foreshadowing. Every time she decides to make a purchase for someone else, it's totally obvious and predictable that it's going to blow up in her face. I get that she's only 18, but her common sense level is closer to that of a 10 year old.

2. I didn't like any of her friends either. Blaire was a judgmental bitch and Elise was more concerned with having attention lavished upon her than being there for her friend. I didn't feel like we got enough insight on Trina. The author obviously wanted us to mistrust her, which is why I was so sure the entire time that she was going to turn out to be a stand-up person. I would've liked to see some real friend moments between them that didn't include talking about money or spending it...but that would've spoiled the 'reveal' that Trina wasn't a piece of shit.

3. The romance. Now, I didn't HATE this romance, but I didn't like that Maddie kept inventing reasons to not tell Seth that she'd won the lottery. And then when she realized that Seth actually DID know (because OF COURSE HE DID. That would be big news and I doubt he'd be able to avoid it if he WANTED to.) she freaked out and assumed the absolute worst...because she's stupid. Or at the very least, her judgment is seriously flawed. I actually felt like Seth deserved better than her. Although I have to say, the date he planned for her was stinking cute.

4. Maddie's family was the worst. Her parents were so busy being completely self-involved that they allow their college-aged son to be a complete and utter deadbeat. I'm just saying, if my son was a free-loading lazy bum, I wouldn't let my other child give him a million freaking dollars.
Also, there is emotional manipulation as well. Maddie feels like she can't go away to college because her family will need her. At first I thought it was just her being kind of silly, but then her mother actually asks her to be there for them and it's obvious that she is, at least is some respect, feeling pressure to stay close to home.
Maddie's brother Beau is a lazy piece of crap. Sorry, not sorry. And none of his issues are even close to resolved. Instead, we get one short scene where Maddie tells him to get his shit together and he basically makes a joke of it and she just accepts that...and that's the end of the damn scene, and the end of his arc.
Oh, and the fact that her parents don't help Maddie find a financial advisor to help her is absolutely absurd. Yes, she's technically an adult, but any good parent would have helped guide her instead of just being completely selfish.

5. All of this comes down to poor execution in the story-telling. Relationships and situations are not well-developed and there are so many dangling storylines and questions that I have that shouldn't have been brought up at all if they weren't going to be properly addressed. The writing is just really lackluster and messy.


A few other things:

1. Maddie gets accepted to all of the colleges that she applied to except her first choice, which she never heard from. Then she learns that her first choice rescinded their offer because of a gossipy article written about her. It's at this point that she realized that someone must have thrown away her acceptance letter and that someone sent the admissions office the article. The book ends with zero resolution to this. She never learns what happened to her original acceptance letter. Also, we are expected to believe that some stupid rumor-filled gossip magazine article would cause UCLA to rescind their offer, but Stanford would be totally okay with it...alright...suuuuure...

2. The dialogue is very stilted and it is often lacking emotion. The last page of the book is a conversation between Seth and Maddie and it's just their words with zero description. I wanted more depth all around.

3. Maddie doesn't want to click a link from an unknown source because she's not 'stupid enough' to click it and put a virus on her phone. Two minutes later, she gets another text with the link and clicks on it. 🙄 Also, we never find out who texted her the link to let her know that the article was a thing.

4. I liked that Seth was Vietnamese, but I felt like there could've been more of an emphasis on his culture. We learn that his home is a multi-generational home, and that's about it. My biggest problem was that the only time we ever really hear about his heritage is after some moron says something ignorant or racist to him. It was very clumsily written.


5. This is super nitpicky...but I'm going for it anyway. At the very beginning of the book, Blaire tells Elise that she has 'popular envy.' It should be 'popularity envy'. 'Popular envy' suggests that the envy itself is popular. 'Popularity envy would suggest that the character is envious of popularity...which actually MAKES SENSE. Again, I know that it's super nitpicky, but you can't tell me that these characters are super intelligent and then have the supposedly smartest one making ridiculous grammatical errors.

All in all, I felt like this book was more of the same from Kasie West. Clueless main character, clueless presents, underwhelming romance. I think I'm just about done with this author.

***UPDATE 1.5 stars The more I thought about this book, the more I disliked it. The premise was completely ridiculous and I really disliked the characters. I find that with Kasie West books I almost never like the protagonist enough to ship her with the romantic interest. I feel like Dax deserves better.***

Original review below

Quick, light read. I had a issues with it, mostly stemming from the initial premise of the book: two teens trapped together in a library over a long weekend...so somehow neither of them has a phone, but there is also no phone anywhere IN the library? And Autumn goes up to the roof and rings a big bell that doesn't get anyone's attention...why don't they just go up in the daytime and call out to passersby? Unless this library is out of the way of town or something...which shouldn't have been difficult to mention.
And the library doesn't have any emergency exits?! Or a security system? I feel like most buildings like that would probably have some sort of motion-activated alarm...but what do I know?
And when all else failed...why didn't she break a damn window?! I'm sorry, but if some neglectful librarian didn't do a proper sweep of the library before locking up for the weekend then I wouldn't feel guilty in the slightest for getting out in any way possible.
I just feel like it could've been set up a little more realistically. As it was, the beginning felt a little clunky. As readers, we had to suspend disbelief a little further than should be expected from a contemporary realistic fiction.


Also, Autumn felt very young to me. When I realized that she was supposed to be a senior in high school I found it very surprising, as she came across as relatively immature.

In the first couple pages, after she realizes she's stuck without her cell phone, she actually thinks, "How did people pass the time without their cell phones."
...while she's in the middle of a fully-stocked freaking LIBRARY! Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier...

I did think the romance was cute, and liked Dax as a character. I kind of wish we could've had his POV as well, instead of just hers. I actually felt like he was a far more compelling character. As far as the side characters, they were relatively one-dimensional and I didn't feel like they had very distinct personalities.

I appreciated that Autumn suffered from anxiety and that it was an integral part of her character, but I do feel like it was used as a plot device in a couple of instances. I don't know that it was portrayed authentically. I did like her describing it to Dax and her relating it to his feelings regarding his freedom.

All in all, I wasn't blown away by this book, but I didn't hate it either. It was fine.

It’s official. Celeste Ng is an auto-buy (or at least auto-read...I’m trying to buy less books in 2018) author for me. I read Everything I Never Told You last year and really loved it. I was nervous going into this book that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. I’m so glad that it not only lived up to the hype, but exceeded it.

What I liked:

1. The writing. This is what it comes down to for me. Ng has this amazing ability to craft a very layered story with complex characters that feel 100% real. They’re flawed, some more than others, and they truly feel justified in their actions and feelings. She uses flashbacks and inner dialogue masterfully. What could come across as info-dumpy in another writer’s hands just works to enrich these characters and the world they live in and it’s beautiful.

2. Nostalgia. This is very specific to me personally, and may not have the same impact on other readers. This book takes place in the late 90s (1998, to be specific) and much of the story revolves around a group of teens. I was the same age as these characters, so when they would talk about fashion, music, movies, etc. it really made me feel nostalgic. It felt totally authentic to many of my experiences growing up in the 90s.

3. Characters. As I already stated, these characters are flawed. Every last one of them. That is what makes them so interesting to read. Even the character I disliked the most (Mrs. Richardson, I’m looking at you, you judgmental, self-righteous hag) started out with what she thought were good intentions. And all along the way, as her actions escalated, her ability to justify every rotten thing she said or did was entirely authentic to the foundation of that character. And even the characters I liked and rooted for (Izzy and Mia) did truly awful things. It’s a testament to the writing.

4. The commentary on society. There are some very important philosophical and societal questions this book poses: What makes a mother? Biology, or love? How important is connection to one’s culture? There are also conversations about race and prejudice that are important and are still being discussed today.
I also like that this story explores so many different family dynamics. There are the Richardsons, the standard nuclear family (mother, father, kids); Mia and Pearl comprising the single-parent home; and the McCulloughs (not sure if I spelled that correctly, I listened to this on audiobook), a middle-aged couple going through the heartbreaks of infertility. The way Celeste Ng was able to weave these stories together was wonderful.

What I didn’t like:

1. The ending felt a little rushed. We spent 300ish pages learning all about these characters and relationships and backstories, and then it felt like everything was wrapped up very quickly. The ending is also quite open. We don’t exactly know if any of them get a happily ever after or ever have to face the repercussions of their bad decisions. I still thought it was strong, but I wanted to know what happened to these people, which should tell you how I feel about them.

2. I listened to the audiobook, which I thought was narrated pretty well. That being said, there are so many characters in this book and so many different points in time with the flashbacks and flash forwards that I was occasionally confused about whose perspective we were following. I had to rewind a few different times. I feel like if I’d been reading a physical copy I wouldn’t have had any issues with that, but just wanted to give a heads up to anyone thinking about listening to this on audiobook.



Possible negative for prospective readers that didn’t actually bug me:

1. Plot. There is no real plot to this story. It’s woven loosely around the custody trial of a young Chinese baby who was left by her biological mother outside a fire station, but in reality that is just a vehicle to explore the characters, the choices they make, and the society in which they all live. So if you are a person who needs to have a fast-paced story with a solid plot, this is probably not for you.

I really love this story and am so ready for whatever Celeste Ng comes out with next.

***UPDATE***
Re-read 3/7-3/8 2018 - I was wondering how I would feel about this book when I reread it, knowing now what I didn’t know then. I stand by the 3 star rating I originally gave this book. There are a lot of issues with this book as far as problematic content. That being said, I still enjoy this book, especially knowing how much more I enjoyed the second and third books. I’m really intrigued to see where the story is going to go with the new trilogy.

I listened to the audiobook for this reread. I enjoyed how they addressed the fact that there are things crossed out throughout the narrative. However, the narrator used a very childlike voice for Juliette, which didn’t work for me at all.

***ORIGINAL REVIEW***This was a super quick read for me. I went into this book with a little background into the style of the writing, which I think helped me accept the stranger aspects of the narration. Near the halfway point her narration became clearer in any case, so that also made it easier to understand.

I do have some other issues regarding this book. The world-building is a little murky. We aren't told exactly when this is supposed to take place, but it doesn't seem like it's TOO far in future. Society has devolved because of food shortages, pollution, and disease. There are militaristic groups in charge (it isn't clear if they work for some sort of government or if they are just independent groups). Entire city streets are abandoned, and there are compounds housing many of the people. And yet, Juliette remembers a time when things were more normal. And according to her it was only a few years prior. I guess it's just difficult to believe that things could turn so bad and change so completely in such a short time frame.

The characters were a little over-the-top. Now with Juliette I can understand it. She has this potentially fatal ability that makes it impossible to have physical contact with another person. She's spent the last couple of years isolated from the rest of society, from juvenile detention to a very scary asylum. It would make sense that she was off-kilter in her thoughts, speeches, and actions. I'm not sure about Adam. The insta-love these two had going had me rolling my eyes at times, especially when a 17ish year old boy is spouting all this flowery dialogue. I'm sorry, that just isn't realistic.

Warner creeped me out quite a bit. I've heard people talk about this series and how much they love Warner, but as of the first book, he comes off as a psychopathic stalker creep. He also speaks in a way that doesn't seem authentic for a 19 year old guy. I really am interested to see how his character develops in the next couple books.

As for the plot, there really isn't much of one to speak of. I mean, a lot of things happen, and one event leads to another and another, but this felt more like a superhero origin story than anything else. I guess that would be my other issue with this book. It felt like it didn't quite know what kind of book it wanted to be. A dystopian? A paranormal romance?

Even with all my critique, I still enjoyed this book. I am interested to see where it goes from here and if the character development is really as successful as most people seem to think.

3.75 Stars

I listened to this story on audiobook. I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I thought the author did a fantastic job creating a unique and interesting world that is part space opera, part noir, mixed with some political intrigue. The first third and last third of the book were really interesting and kept my attention no problem. I did think the middle third of this book dragged quite a bit. I just found myself becoming really distracted and felt like some of the scenes could’ve been trimmed or cut with little to no effect on the story.

The characters were well-developed. There was a lot of moral ambiguity to these characters, which I liked. They aren’t perfect or stereotypical. They had flaws and no one was all good or all bad.

I think I’ll probably continue with the series, even though I had a bit of difficulty slogging through the middle bit. There was enough here that I liked that I really want to continue.

I first read this book back when I was 12 or 13 years old (a long, LONG time ago). I don’t remember exactly when. But I do remember this book completely enthralling me. At the time, I’d never heard the word ‘dystopian’. The whole concept of this book seemed completely new and unique to me. Of course, I know now that there have been many books before and since that fall into this sub-genre, and it continues to be intriguing to this day.

Reading this as an adult has been an interesting experience. I still love so much about this book. The conversations surrounding choice and knowledge and community are all really intriguing, even as an adult. There are definitely some things I wish were expanded on as far as the world building goes. But then I think about the fact that this is a book for children, and I shouldn’t view it through the same lens as an adult or even YA books of the same genre.

I still really love this book, especially the nostalgia I feel when I think back on it.

3.75 Stars I enjoyed this quite a bit. I listened on audiobook. The voice actor does a fantastic jobs with all the male voices. Different accents and inflections really made those characters come to life. I will say that I didn’t necessarily feel the same about the way he voiced the female characters, although he still used different accents for them. There were a couple of instances where two or more characters, one male and one female at least, would be talking and I would lose track of who was saying what because they sounded so similar. In any case, I do recommend the audiobook.

The characters are well-written, as far as our protagonists go. I have to say I feel like Magnus’ father is a little one-dimensional, at least at this point. Magnus was probably my favorite among the main characters (Magnus, Cleo, Lucia, and Jonas), but I also like Jonas quite a bit. I hope Cleo gets a little more...badass? She was fine, but something about her just didn’t really allow me to connect to her. Lucia was the most boring of the four, IMO.

The plot isn’t particularly unique, following a relatively routine story. True, there is much more violence and death in this book as compared to other YA fantasy series, but the basic concept didn’t feel very original. That said, it was well-written and I enjoyed the political intrigue.

As far as the world building, I kind of feel the same about that as I did about the plot. It was good, but it felt run-of-the-mill to me. I still enjoyed learning about these different cultures and how they fit together, but I feel like I’ve read similar stories in the past.

I am very curious to see where the series goes from here, and am eager to go into the next book soon.

I just had my heart stomped on and couldn’t be happier about it. What a phenomenal book this was. I have to admit, I’ve been hyped for this book since the cover reveal months ago. It quickly became one of my most anticipated books of 2018.

That being said, I did try to temper my expectations before jumping into this book because it was so hyped. Fortunately, this book deserves all the hype it gets. CBB is beautiful, hopeful, and heartbreaking at the same time.

I will say, the plot of this story isn’t necessarily the most unique I’ve ever read. In a world where magic has been all but eradicated, a young girl discovers a way to bring it back permanently for her people. I’ve read books with similar concepts before. However, where this book excels is in its world-building and character development, which eclipses any issues I had with the less-than-original plot.

I absolutely love these characters. Zélie and Amari are such wonderful female protagonists. I love the fact that they are so different, and yet they are able to overcome those differences to work together for a common purpose. They are both strong in their own way, and they complement each other so well. I think Amari may actually be my favorite character in this book, which is funny because for the first hundred pages or so I wasn’t a fan of hers.
Inan was such a complex and disturbed character. He’s definitely someone I rooted for, even as he struggles with his own brand of morality. The one thing you can say about him is that he is doing what he thinks is best for his kingdom, even if you don’t agree with his actions. I liked that the author didn’t back down from exploring him and his justifications for his actions.

The world-building is another strength of this book. I felt like her descriptions were really well done and I could picture the world around me perfectly. The world she created felt so real, the culture so complex. We learned about traditions, customs, art, mythology, politics, class structure, and so many other things that just went into creating a rich world. The one thing I would critique is that I wish we’d had a pronunciation guide for some of the names and other words the author used throughout the book.

In the author’s note, Adeyemi talked about how she drew inspiration for this book from all of the horrific stories we see in the news on a far too regular basis about unarmed black men, women, and children being gunned down by people who are supposed to be protecting them. I think that inspiration is absolutely apparent for anyone who lives in our society today. I think she did a wonderful job creating a beautiful, empowering story out of something so tragic and frankly unacceptable.

And lastly, can we talk about the cover one more time? How stunning is that cover?!?! I. Just. Can’t.

I need the next book, like, now.