*Originally Reviewed on Pages Of Forbidden Love

Arson Gable just wanted to be normal, something he will never be. He can start fires, no lighters or matches needed. He only see’s himself as a freak and wished his unwanted ability would just go away. He lived with his grandmother and they had a very sad relationship.The fact that he still loved her so much but hated her at the same time made reading about their relationship even harder. The way she treated him just broke my heart.

Arson kind of just went through the motion of everyday life. He went to work where Mandy, the character i liked the least, took advantage of the crush he had on her and then he would return home again. Home was anything but normal though and Arson’s past always seemed to be the cause of his grandmothers unkindness. Knowing Arson had a past I didn’t know about yet kept me very interested. A little bit of information was given at a time so I was always wondering what the whole story was.

The story wasn’t told just from Arson perspective. After a while a family moved in next door and the story is told through different point of views. This family also had a past of their own (but who doesn’t?) Emery lived behind a mask, not figuratively but literally. She never took it off and for her that had become normal. I really liked Emery. She always said what she wanted and she was funny and sarcastic. Just like with Arson you slowly are let in on her and her families lives and past.

Although it really wasn’t what I initially expected it to be it was still enjoyable to read. The writing was really good. It was full of great descriptions and damaged characters just trying to get through life. I love how it just shows how no matter who the person is they are going to have their own story, their own past. We all have our demons. There was one chapter though that really confused me but I was lost for only a second and by the time I moved on to the next chapters I was right back on track. I was also bummed that Arson’s ability wasn’t really explained but since this is a series I am sure there is some time for that. I have more questions than I have answers and with Arson’s unexpected ending (it was more of what I expected the whole book to be like when it started but as I got into the book my expectations changed and then it hit me with a bang) I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next one.

*Originally reviewed on Pages Of Forbidden Love

Umm…What?! My exact words (and I said them out loud) the second I finished Justice. Justice starts with Rain Ramey, and her family, getting ready to start her first day at Sloane Academy. Sloane Academy is a fancy/expensive school but Rain has been accepted as a scholarship student. Her mom is excited and anxious for her to be going and she decides to do a card reading. When Rains pulls the Justice card her mom gets extremely distant and distracted. From the moment this happened I knew the day would bring something big and it definitely does. Rains first day is anything but spectacular. She is assigned a “big sister” Laurel Riordan who is a a straight to the point, no nonsense, lets get to business, and we aren’t friends kind of person. She is one of two queen bee’s of Sloane and Rain quickly gets on the bad side of the other queen Carsyn VonShelton. When Carsyn pretends to make nice with Rain though she ends up setting her up and Rains life gets turned upside down. After this everything really begins and Rain has to keep asking herself “Who am I?”

Rain didn’t leave expecting something so dramatic to happen and she is left throughout the book feeling confused, angry, lonely, and so much more. Her school day wasn’t what anyone would wish for, her afternoon was even worse, and the rest of her time throughout the story wasn’t much better. She was left not really knowing who she was anymore or what to really think about her situation. She had lots of questions that weren’t being answered and instead of just pushing them under the rug and forgetting about them she searched for what she wanted to know. The more she digs though the more she finds and the questions pile up further. Nothing is ever truly answered and Rain finds that their is a lot she doesn’t know about multiple people.

I loved that Rain didn’t just take everything that was thrown at her and accept it. She asked questions and she wanted answers. When no one would supply them she sought them out on her own. I loved the fact that things weren’t found so easily though. There are a lot of layers Rain has to and is still going to have to go through to get to the bottom of everything. Oh and the end. What?! I couldn’t believe something else was just thrown out like that with no time (pages) left. It was like bam! It was just this one thing she had to worry about but hey why not add some more drama, more problems, and some more mystery. In case you weren’t sure I in no way think this was a bad thing. It was what has me eager to read the next one.

The whole love aspect of this book was also really confusing but I liked that. I was never really sure who would be her love interest. First she see’s (but doesn’t really meet) River Scott and without even speaking to him she feels like she understands him. When she first see’s him he radiates anger and she is angry herself. Later when they actually speak he becomes a friend (sure we will call him that for now lol) and helps her out a lot. Then there is Owen, Carsyn’s boyfriend, and he is nice to Rain and becomes her science partner (is it just me or is it always science in books haha). Finally she meets Tom and he is charming and also very nice to her. I know, three guys! Sometimes two is bad enough but it didn’t really bother me because she didn’t fall madly in love with any of them. Yes she had connections with them but she didn’t really string them all along while she tried to make a decision like some books go.t played a part in the book but their relationships weren’t really the main focus.

Justice is full of mystery, problems, and drama. If it wasn’t one thing it was another. There was always something happening and there is still a lot that needs to be solved. There are a lot of questions that need answers for Rain and me. I enjoyed the characters. They weren’t always predictable (sometimes but not always) and I found that they all have history. I didn’t like that I felt that Rain was forgetingt to think about some very important things sometimes and that upset me. She would eventually mention them again or think about them but I think it should have been even more. There were some chunks that I would be like “why are you worried/talking about that” aren’t you forgetting about something?” I do want to know the answers to everything and see how things unfold in the future so I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

*Originally reviewed on Pages Of Forbidden Love

I read If I Stay (review here :) ) in July and I really liked it. It was so sad and when it ended I wasn’t ready for it to. It wasn’t a bad ending but I needed to know what was next. How would life be for Mia and the rest of the people in her life now that she had decided to live (to stay)? Obviously things aren’t going to be the same after a tragedy like that and you would have to adapt to a new “normal” but with If I Stay you don’t get to know about the after. Where She Went filled me on what I wanted to know and was everything I wanted. I really liked If I Stay but I can truly say I loved Where She Went.

Where I Went didn’t start off right where If I Stay ended instead it starts three years later. Also, instead of being told from Mia’s point of view Where She Went is told by Adam. I love this. I haven’t read many books from the male perspective but I have really liked all the ones I have read. Now when I read the summary I was like what?! No! but I am not quite sure why I was surprised to read that Mia and Adam didn’t last long after If I Stay. There was no way Mia was going to be the same after the accident and Adam made a very heartbreaking promise (one I was hoping he wasn’t going to have to keep) to Mia to try and get her to stay. It was so sad to hear they hadn’t even spoken to each other in so long and I really wanted to know what happened in between all that time.

“A day might just be twenty-four hours but sometimes getting through just one seems as impossible as scaling Everest.” -Pg. 27

Adam had finally made it big with his band, the people that used to be like family, and was dating another celebrity but you could tell he was still far from being truly happy. He didn’t stay with his band mates and he traveled to shows at different times than them. He even did his interviews on his own and he had major anxiety issues. When Adam has an interview to do, before leaving for a three month tour, the reporter brings up things that have already been taken off of ever interviewers list of acceptable things to talk about. She wants to know what really inspired Adam’s music, the story behind it all. When she brings up Mia (she did her digging) Adam loses it. He can’t take anymore and his manager gives him the day off to try and relax. He only has one more night/morning before he leaves for London but that night/morning is filled with a lot of answers and discoveries.

I felt so bad for Adam. Reading about how he was feeling and where his life has brought him so far made me hurt for him. I loved learning about his relationship with Mia and her family in If I Stay and getting a peek inside his head in this book was amazing. As I read I got to experience his loss and his feelings. It was written so well and it was so easy to understand him. Since the book went back and forth between the past (from right after Mia woke up to after she first left him, what he did after that, meeting his current girlfriend, getting famous, etc) and present I got all the answers I wanted. Even though none of Where She Went was told through Mia I still felt like I could understand her as well and I still felt like I knew what she was thinking and feeling.

I loved how it stuck with going back and forth between the past and present just like with the first one. I love how easily I could feel for both characters still. I loved the beginning awkwardness of when Adam and Mia have there first face to face meeting again. The tension and awkwardness never stayed gone for too long and that was realistic. Even through all that though it is great that Mia offers to give Adam a tour of her New York and he accepts. They were always skirting around what they really needed to talk about and that drove my crazy but it was a great build. I also loved how each chapter had lyrics to the songs that Adam had written along with their title and track number. Plus, I just loved Adam.