I've seen this title floating around for years now, but didn't pick it up because I was wary of another YA dystopian series. I gave it a go and it certainly falls under summer reading/brain candy fare. The characters and dialogue are somewhat trite - it was the first time in a WHILE that I felt like I was truly reading 'YA' meant for a younger audience. But I still found the story enjoyable. Maybe it's because I've never watched The Bachelor and this book is filling that void in my life? Regardless, I'm for sure going to finish out the series because I do want to know what happens and it was a super short and easy read.

It's a good thing that I have a rule about getting through at least the first 100 pages of a book, as things got a little too gamer-geek tech-speak at the beginning. I'm glad I stuck it out, because this was really fun - a rollicking good yarn. (I think that's the first time I've used the word 'rollicking.') Nowhere near as original and awesome as Ready Player One, but it will also make a great movie!

Keeping with the summer reading binge of fluffy books, I picked up The Husband's Secret. But with Liane Moriarty, I feel as if there is some heft to her stories and I find them really, really enjoyable. It's helpful that she writes characters that are my contemporaries: middle aged mommies. (Sigh.) The crazy situations in which the women in her novels find themselves are so compelling and I can't help but placing myself in their shoes. Of the three Moriarty books I've read (in addition to What Alice Forgot and Big Little Lies), this included some tough subject matter (losing a child, would you cover up a murder?) which she dealt with deftly.

I quite enjoyed this YA novel, as it was SO evocative of my early teen years. (We didn't summer at a beach house, but our old house had a pool and we did go on spring break trips to Florida where my older brother and I were allowed to bring along a friend each. I was always crushing on my brother's friends - so I could easily relate to Belly being the younger sister always feeling left out.) But there's something relatable for everyone in this sweet coming of age story about first love.

It's just as good as the first one and I blew through it and have picked up the last one from the library. They're excellent beach reads.

I was quite curious to read this coming of age novel, as the cover is plastered with a half dozen book award stickers. I enjoyed it, but didn't LOVE it. The main character is rather detached, which I usually find hard to read. Luckily, every supporting character is given such wonderful detail. The subtle story arc and lyrical writing made reading this book seem like I'd picked up a book of poetry, which is lovely but not necessarily page-turning material. However, I appreciated the heartwarming and satisfying conclusion.

I was glad to have this series to read over the summer and to have closure for all of the characters. But, in order to move the plot along, Jenny Han made her protagonist rather insufferable. Belly grated on my nerves in a lovable way in the first two books - but in this final installment, I 'just can't even' with her (and Jeremiah's) antics. Their characters should be growing in emotional intellect, and instead they've regressed and become almost two totally different people from the first two books. It was a little disappointing, but it's a sweet series, nonetheless.

This story has such a unique concept, yet I felt it was lacking in execution. The main character, Aza, has a respiratory condition so rare that it's named after her. We come to learn that she's not of this earth, a sort of human-bird hybrid species that live in our skies. Following her revelation and learning of her new world, you would think it'd be an amazing adventure to read about. Alas, I felt as if too much complicated detail was foisted upon me in a short amount of time. I wasn't caught up in any of the drama, and there was little character development beyond Aza and Jason - her love back on earth. I like the bird imagery, but I really, really don't like live birds in general. So, it was hard to get into a story about bird people. *shudder*

These books pretty much fit the bill of the first one with light, easy, brain-candy fare. It's like watching an HGTV show: it fits a formula, and there's just enough tension to make it interesting, but you know EXACTLY what's going to happen. Sometimes, that's comforting and I get to have a little 'Bachelor' drama in my life without have to actually watch The Bachelor. Total win.

These books pretty much fit the bill of the first one with light, easy, brain-candy fare. It's like watching an HGTV show: it fits a formula, and there's just enough tension to make it interesting, but you know EXACTLY what's going to happen. Sometimes, that's comforting and I get to have a little 'Bachelor' drama in my life without have to actually watch The Bachelor. Total win.