UGH NO.


Okay so overall I can't help but be disappointed with this book because my favourite guy from the very start didn't win. I thought the end result was so predictable - I had figured out that it would probably happen literally the moment he showed up in the book, I had just kept a small hope it wouldn't - and because of that I just feel so blah. I also agree with everyone who said the romance suddenly magnified when they 'declared' their love. It was like one look and suddenly Eadlyn went a bit crazy, it was very strange and felt all a bit rushed, especially as there hadn't been that much interaction, in my view, in The Heir. I also think some of the guys whose characters had been built up were let down in The Crown -

Kile suddenly became way more romantic, I thought he lost a bit of himself suddenly when he started spouting off about building her things, Fox became a strong contender for me at the end of The Heir but suddenly he was a bit vapid and weird. And then Henry, my beloved Henri :( I loved him so much and he was, and is, a beautiful character. But it was like all of a sudden Eadlyn just kept pointing out so many things wrong with him rather than focusing on their connection which was obviously there. STUPID Eadlyn. I just really wanted Henri to win (I also think he should have been a bit more annoyed about Eadlyn duping him into an almost marriage and being 'in love' with Erik) I just can't buy Eadlyn and Erik, they just seemed so forced or something and I just can't. No.

I felt like the end of this book was very rushed and it seemed to take a while to get to a point and then all of a sudden everything happened at once. Also, I don't remember his Marid guy ever being mentioned in The Heir? He showed up out of no-where. There was so much information we were still getting such as the breakdown of August and Maxon's friendship, and then Lady Brice and it just seemed to spill out and I felt like throwing my hands up in the air and saying 'whoa, whoa, what?' Also Maxon's 'reveal' to Eadlyn at the end was a bit unnecessary.

I definitely came out of The Selection series a lot happier than I did with The Heir and The Crown. Long live the Queen, not.

3.5 stars

Elsa has what she believes is the best job in the world - up at the crack of dawn, but looking after horses all day as a groom to her friend Sophia, who is an eventer. When Elsa and Sophia's favourite horse Nobby is transferred to a more experienced rider, the girls are devastated, and Elsa is left confused when the new rider starts making eyes at her and is determined to woo her. Can Elsa resist Frederick's charms? And would Sophia forgive her if she literally slept with the enemy?

This is a great book for anyone who is looking for a bit of a romp in a horse-mad world. The majority of this book is all about different shows that Elsa and Sophia attend with their horses, and some of the language can be quite technical so people who have limited knowledge of horseriding may feel a little bit lost. I loved being in the center of the eventing world, and getting a taste of what it would be like to be a part of it.

There's not a lot of action in this book - it's mainly just the horse shows, horse banter and then a lot of chemistry between Elsa and Frederick. I definitely could see the charm in him and I liked the flirty, back and forth he had with Elsa. I wasn't mad about the styling choice in this book to switch suddenly from third person Elsa's POV to a paragraph or two of Frederick's thoughts and feelings. I haven't experienced that before in many books, and I think it would generally be frowned upon as it can leave a reader a bit confused sometimes with who they're following, and who is the main character. I think there are other ways that other characters' thoughts and feelings can be described without having to suddenly switch to their POV in the middle of a page. There are editing issues here as well as I believe this book is self-published. It's nothing too major, and can be overlooked easily if you're enjoying the rest of the story.

The ending of the book isn't necessarily a cliff-hanger but it did leave me unsatisfied and very determined to jump straight into book two.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Arthur meets Ben at a New York City post office, and never gets his number, he knows he can’t just not see him again. So he puts up a missed connection flyer after some cyber stalking, and suddenly Ben is in life and a wonderful relationship starts. But Ben is, literally, holding baggage from a past relationship and Arthur’s time in New York is limited.

This was the cutest, loveliest book I’ve read in a while, and I honestly felt head over heels for all the characters in this and all the love stories being told. I did not want to put this book down and I absolutely flew through it, enjoying every moment of my reading experience with it.
Love.

Arthur and Ben are both great in different ways - at first I felt like I liked Arthur better (he definitely reminded me a lot of Simon Spier, and I hope Becky somehow makes them related to one another), but gradually I found myself really falling for Ben and how on the outside he seemed like this hot, tough, cool dude but he was really a massive nerd on the inside who wrote fan fiction and played the Sims (when he made an Arthur Sim, I almost lost it, I swear).

One of my favourite characters in this book was actually Dylan. Just his general demeanour had me laughing out loud so many times, and I loved his easy, acceptable friendship with Ben which definitely bordered more on brotherhood than just friendship. It was honestly so lovely to read. Both boys had really wonderful relationships with their parents and they were all open and honest with one another which I so appreciate because I think for many average teenagers, that is the type of relationship they have with their parents. Not everything is cagey all the time.

Even though this was very cheesy romantic at times, I do think it had a wonderful dose of reality put into it that helps the reader think that stories like this could happen in real life, and not everything also has to have a clear cut ending.

This book made me laugh, it made me aww, it almost made me cry and it made me warm with fluttering butterflies for Arthur and Ben. I loved it.

I received a free e-copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dogtology is a humorous look into the curious lives of dog lovers, and how everything for them will always revolve around their dog and how interesting human behavior can change once someone admits they are a dogtologist.

I really liked this at the start, the first half was funny and kept my interest. I defintiely had some laugh out loud moments and as a very proud and open dogtologist, I did see myself reflected in some of the funny musings around dog owners/lovers/enthusiasts. After a while though I got a bit bored and weary of the book, as it did end up being a little bit repetitive. I do think this could have been about 50 pages shorter for what it is which is just a funny book about dog lovers. I do think some of the language and references used were very US-focused which didn't relate as well for dog lovers outside of the States.

This is a fun book to flick through and have on your shelf to pick up now and again but not one to be taken seriously.