BLOG TOUR: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Review)

Title: The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Publication: February 28th 2017, Balzer + Bray

Format: e-ARC
Source: For blog tour purposes (Thank you JM of Book Freak Revelations) 

Order it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)



SYNOPSIS:

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Review:

When my friend JM of Book Freak Revelations invited me to read The Hate U Give for a tour, I was not hesitant to say yes to it. It would mean going back to blogging again after some time but for this book, how could you not say yes?

I've been so detached from anything book related lately that it feels like I only get book news from my friends. When I heard of The Hate U Give however, my life, as if, was put into a standstill. Nothing mattered as much and I knew for a fact that I had to read it.

BLOG TOUR: The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon (Review + INTL GIVEAWAY)

Title: The Sun Is Also A Star

Author: Nicola Yoon

Publication: November 1st 2016, Delacorte Press

Format: ARC
Source: JM of Book Freak Revelations

Order it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)



SYNOPSIS:

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

/

Review:

Chance meetings are in ways, hard to comprehend sometimes. In a way, you wouldn't really think that can actually happen in real life, the same way as you'd think that falling in love at first sight would be the same. And for a chance meeting between two completely different people, with different goals in life yet in a way share a common ground, makes for something that is truly remarkable though, yes, unimaginable in ways.

Review: Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Title: Me and Earl and The Dying Girl                              

Author: Jesse Andrews

Publication: March 1st 2012, Harry N. Abrams

Format: Hardbound, 295 pages             

Source: Borrowed from Eriele of This Is Not Your Book Blog                       

Order it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

Review:

Death is inevitable. That is what this book's about really and of course the aggressiveness of the voice in this novel that is Greg Gaines. Me and Earl and The Dying Girl is a fascinating read.

BLOG TOUR: A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (Review + Dream Cast + Giveaway)

Title: A Study In Charlotte                                

Author: Brittany Cavallaro

Publication: March 1st 2016, Katherine Tegen Books

Format: e-ARC             

Source: Fantastic Flying Book Club. Thanks as always *heart eyes*                       

Pre-order it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Book Store / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

The last thing sixteen-year-old Jamie Watson–writer and great-great-grandson of the John Watson–wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s enigmatic, fiercely independent great-great-granddaughter, who’s inherited not just his genius but also his vices, volatile temperament, and expertly hidden vulnerability. Charlotte has been the object of his fascination for as long as he can remember–but from the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else.

Then a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Holmes stories, and Jamie and Charlotte become the prime suspects. Convinced they’re being framed, they must race against the police to conduct their own investigation. As danger mounts, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe and the only people they can trust are each other.

Equal parts tender, thrilling, and hilarious, A Study in Charlotte is the first in a trilogy brimming with wit and edge-of-the-seat suspense.

Review: 

I've been yearning for Sherlock for 2 years now and watching every episode or movie has been helping. It's kinda like Sherlock on cocaine...but rather, staring at a laptop and screaming "MOFFAT YOU DUMBASS". I'm sorry. I just had to put that. Anyway, when I discovered that there's a novel that features teenage Holmes and Watson set in high school solving a murder and Sherlock is a GIRL? I just had to read it.

Review: Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Title: Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda            
Author: Becky Albertalli

Publication: April 7th 2015, Balzer + Bray

Format: Hardcover, 303 pages             

Source: Gifted (Thanks soooooo much, Alia of Ponderings of Psyche)                       

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

SYNOPSIS:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Review: 

Okay, I just had a glass of milk and ate half a packet of double stuff Oreos so let's do this! I've been meaning to write a review for this book for a while but can't find the proper words but because of the Oreo energy, I think I'm ready. This book blew me away.

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Title: This Is Where It Ends                               

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Publication: January 5th 2016, Sourcebooks Fire

Format: e-ARC, 288 pages              

Source: Netgalley (Thanks to the publisher!)         

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

10:00 a.m.

The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.

The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03

The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05

Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Review: 

I've been severely excited for this book since Book Expo America. Talk about a long time and when I got the chance to review it, I was stoked. I wanted to review it earlier but stuff happened. You know the drill. But I really was clamoring for the need of it and then I got to read it.

This Is Where It Ends is not the type of book you should be reading if you are prone to heart attacks or get shocked too easily. I think that's the power of this novel: complete and total paralysis because of the shock value. A lot of the tension is built up pretty well and at some point you're actually quite scared to turn the next page.

The Round Up: The "Okay, I Got Busy" Edition (January)

Hi there Misfit booknerds!!! January was indeed a busy time for my blog wasn't it? I had so many posts it's like a total miracle *pats self on the back. I would say that this month had been quite the rollercoaster but I'm glad to be active again

Oh! By the way! This is also my first recap post ever. WOOOHOO!! Is there a way to actually do this right? Oh well.

Reviews: 

Review: What's Broken Between Us by Alexis Bass

Title: What's Broken Between Us                               

Author: Alexis Bass

Publication: December 29th 2015, HarperTeen

Format: e-ARC, 304 pages              

Source: Edelweiss (Thanks to the publisher)        

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:   

A year and a half ago, Amanda Tart's brother got behind the wheel drunk and killed his best friend. Today, he's coming home from prison.

Amanda's been the one living with the fallout, made worse by her brother's recent unapologetic TV interview. People think he's a monster. Still, she loves him. It's her dark secret, until she starts getting close to Henry again--whose sister is paralyzed from the accident. 

A year and a half ago, her brother destroyed his life. Now Amanda has to decide if she'll let his choice destroy hers.

                                 

Review:

I don't really like writing negative reviews because it leaves a bad after taste in my mouth and I feel like I'm gonna be sick but I've always been honest with everyone when it comes to my reviews and this books is the first of probably a few that's going to be coming along the way, that I did not enjoy very much.

What's Broken Between Us is probably one of those books that started off really mysterious and cool and then got slapped in the face by an array of characters that felt a little too over the top.

Review: Fans of The Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Title: Fans of The Impossible Life                               

Author: Kate Scelsa

Publication: September 8th 2015, Balzer + Bray

Format: e-ARC, 368 pages               

Source: Edelweiss (Thanks so much to HarperCollins!)   

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them.

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby.

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, "Fans of the Impossible Life" is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

Review:

This book is sad. Absolutely sad and I can't believe that the first book I've read this year was this depressing. And I've had a really difficult time coming up with these proper words to say to it.

Fans of The Impossible Life features the distressed life of three teenagers: Jeremy, Mira and Sebby using the first person, second person and third person narrative respectively. Each character has a different story to tell but all interconnected with each other. The narratives focus on the school and every day lives of the characters and how even the most fun of situations are laced with underlying depression and sadness.

DNF: '89 Walls by Katie Pierson

Title: '89 Walls                                

Author: Katie Pierson

Publication: June 5th 2015, Wise Ink 

Format: e-ARC, 264 pages               

Source: Netgalley (Thanks to the publisher!)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

College is not in the cards for Seth. He spends his minimum wage on groceries and fakes happiness to distract his mom from the MS they both know will kill her. It’s agony to carry around a frayed love note for a girl who’s both out of his league and beneath his dignity.

Quinn’s finishing high school on top. But that cynical, liberal guy in her social studies class makes her doubt her old assumptions. Challenging the rules now, though, would a) squander her last summer at home, b) antagonize her conservative dad, and c) make her a hypocrite.

Seth and Quinn’s passionate new romance takes them both by surprise. They keep it a secret: it’s too early to make plans and too late not to care. But it’s 1989. As politics suddenly get personal, they find themselves fighting bare-fisted for their beliefs—and each other—in the clear light of day.

Misfit Review:

36%

I really wanted to finish this book, with all of my heart, but it just got too complicated and I dunno, threw me off almost immediately.  I think what made me like it, first and foremost was the talk on American politics, but it was also the reason why I didn't continue it. I'm quite curious about how politics was, especially how it worked in other countries. And in this sense, it was also set in 1989, a time I wasn't even born into, and Taylor Swift was probably still trying to get out of her Mom.

{BLOG TOUR} Review + Giveaway: This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

Title: This Monstrous Thing                                

Author: Mackenzi Lee

Publication: September 22nd 2015, Katherine Tegen Books

Format: e-ARC, 384 pages              

Source: From author through Fantastic Flying Book Club       
Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…

Misfit Review:

Take the essence of Frankenstein and mix it all up with elements of steampunk, then you've got yourself one interesting rendition of a classic novel.

Alasdair loses his brother and decides to bring him back to life. And with a life that you take, consequences are bound to come for you. I love how edgy and gritty this novel is. It does present a very dark ages of sorts, set in old European bound culture, yet adding the element of clockwork. 

Review + Giveaway (US + INTL): The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis

Title: The One Thing                               

Author: Marci Lyn Curtis

Publication: September 8th 2015, Disney-Hyperion

Format: ARC              

Source: Won from giveaway! (Thank you so much Erin Dealey on Twitter and Marci Lyn Curtis!)   

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

Maggie Sanders might be blind, but she won't invite anyone to her pity party. Ever since losing her sight six months ago, Maggie's rebellious streak has taken on a life of its own, culminating with an elaborate school prank. Maggie called it genius. The judge called it illegal.

Now Maggie has a probation officer. But she isn't interested in rehabilitation, not when she's still mourning the loss of her professional-soccer dreams, and furious at her so-called friends, who lost interest in her as soon as she could no longer lead the team to victory.

Then Maggie's whole world is turned upside down. Somehow, incredibly, she can see again. But only one person: Ben, a precocious ten-year-old unlike anyone she's ever met.Ben's life isn't easy, but he doesn't see limits, only possibilities. After awhile, Maggie starts to realize that losing her sight doesn't have to mean losing everything she dreamed of. Even if what she's currently dreaming of is Mason Milton, the infuriatingly attractive lead singer of Maggie's new favorite band, who just happens to be Ben's brother.

But when she learns the real reason she can see Ben, Maggie must find the courage to face a once-unimaginable future... before she loses everything she has grown to love.

Misfit Review:

We take a lot of things for granted, that's for sure. And if we lose a thing that means a lot to us, then we'd feel like nothing else matters anymore, that we're incomplete and we cannot function anymore. The One Thing serves as an eye-opener, that even in times of pain and obstacles, there is hope and you are not alone.

Review: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Title: Never Always Sometimes                               

Author: Adi Alsaid

Publication: August 1st 2015, Harlequin Teen

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Check out the tour)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids — the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow; like No. 5, never die your hair a colour of the rainbow, or No. 7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule No. 8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule No. 10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

Misfit Review:

Things I NEVER got to do in high school:

1. I NEVER had a lunch spot.

2. We didn't have prom, so I NEVER got to be prom queen (WTF?) and I NEVER got into student council.

3. I NEVER attended any beer parties coz I NEVER got invited into any of them.

4. I NEVER hosted a BEER party coz my Dad would've killed me or disowned me by then.. Plus I don't drink liquor. HA!

5. I NEVER dyed my hair a different color. Catholic private schools weren't lax about that kinda stuff.

6. I NEVER got to streak, skinny dip, or do anything else that could result in a viral nude pic, coz why? LOL

7. I NEVER hooked up with a teacher coz hello, Catholic school... The horror. (We also never got substitutes, so... too bad)

9. I NEVER got to go on a "life-changing" road trip coz I never looked for myself then.

10. And, I NEVER dated my best friend... coz well, I didn't swing that way... also, I didn't have male best friends in high school.

{BLOG TOUR} Mini Review: All We Have Is Now by Lisa Schroeder

Title: All We Have Is Now                              

Author: Lisa Schroeder

Publication: July 29th 2015, Scholastic (Point)

Format: Paperback, 272 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Thank you Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again)         

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

What do you do with your last day on earth?

Just over twenty-four hours are left until an asteroid strikes North America, and for Emerson and everyone else who didn’t leave, the world will end. But Emerson’s world already ended when she ran away from home. Since then, she has lived on the streets, relying on her wits and on her friend Vince to help her find places to sleep and food to eat.

The city’s quieter now that most people are gone, and no one seems to know what to do as the end approaches. But then Emerson and Vince meet Carl, who tells them he has been granting people’s wishes—and gives them his wallet full of money.

Suddenly, this last day seems full of possibility. Emerson and Vince can grant a lot of wishes in one last day—maybe even their own.

                                      

Misfit Review:

I'll be keeping this short and sweet since I don't literally have the time to be doing reviews... (why do I do this to myself?) All We Have Is Now discusses the issue of "What if the world ended? What will you do?"

{BLOG TOUR} Review + Giveaway: Overboard by Elizabeth Fama

Title: Overboard                               

Author: Elizabeth Fama

Publication: June 9th 2015, Creatspace (First publication, January 1st 2002)

Format: Paperback, 186 pages

Source: from the Author! (Thank you so much, Beth! and Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again for the tour)         

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble |

Synopsis:

She swam up for what seemed like an eternity, with her chest so achingly empty it felt as if it had collapsed, seeing only white bubbles in front of her face until she broke the surface.

One moment of rashness, and fourteen-year-old Emily Slake finds herself amid hundreds of panicked and drowning people in the dark ocean waters off Sumatra. Miles from shore without a life vest, she resolves to survive. But in facing the dangers of the ocean, the desperation of her fellow survivors, and her own growing exhaustion, Emily must summon wits and endurance she's not sure she has.

Striking out on her own, Emily encounters Isman, a frightened young Muslim boy, floating in a life vest. Together they swim for their lives, relying on Emily's physical strength and Isman's quiet faith.

Based on a true story, Overboard is both a riveting tale of survival and a sensitive portrayal of cross-cultural understanding in a time of crisis.

Misfit Review:

If a book has left me in a rollercoaster of feelings, it would have to be this book. Filled with values and morals, Overboard just threw me off into an abyss of feelings, where I am now dysfunctional because it is just so good.

Review: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Title: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak

Author: Brian Katcher

Publication: May 19th 2015, Katherine Tegen Books

Format: e-ARC, 336 pages 

Source: From the publisher (Thanks HarperCollins!)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Book Award-winning author Brian Katcher’s hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens recovering from heartbreak and discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world acciantal first date.

It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip.

If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents.

Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon.

But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more…

Misfit Review:

Refreshing and a little maze of new knowledge on geekdom, The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is something that you should read. Here are more reasons why you should dive into it.

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Title: Emmy & Oliver                               

Author: Robin Benway

Publication: June 23rd 2015, HarperTeen

Format: e-ARC, 352 pages

Source: From the publisher (Thanks HarperTeen!)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

Misfit Review:

When someone important in your life comes back after many years, knowing that them disappearing has caused great trauma to a lot of people, is it alright to just go back to the way it was or will the change be too much to handle?

Emmy & Oliver is a rollercoaster of feelings, brought about the traumatic experience of Oliver being kidnapped by his Dad one day, at age 7. After 10 years, Oliver comes back home and Emmy, his best friend, is both happy and worried. Things have changed. Oliver's mom won't rest till his Dad is arrested, Emmy's parents are way too overprotective of her and Caro and Drew, Emmy's best friends (Oliver's friends once), are gonna have to learn to adapt to everything again. It's a mixture of happiness and uncertainty for everyone and on whether everything should be done-over or should it be a start over.

{BLOG TOUR} Review: We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Title: We All Looked Up

Author: Tommy Wallach

Publication: March 26th 2015, Simon and Schuster UK

Format: Trade Paperback, 384 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Thanks again, Dianne of Oops I Read A Book Again)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnesand Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

Before the asteroid, we let ourselves be defined by labels:

The athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever.

But then we all looked up and everything changed.

They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we'd been, something that would last even after the end.

Two months to really live.

Misfit Review:

Many times, I find contemporaries tiring and repetitive in formula, while some just go beyond my expectations. We All Looked Up proved that it will definitely go beyond my expectations indeed, but it did bring up some casualties.

So the plot goes around as an apocalyptic few months left for the world because an asteroid called Ardor is going to fall from the sky and presents distress among people, especially the focus of the story, the teens in Seattle, who try to make the coming of the end worthwhile by throwing a party and making sure that they didn’t leave the world with any regrets.

DNF Review: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

Title: The Night We Said Yes 

Author: Lauren Gibaldi

Publication: June 16th 2015, HarperTeen

Format: e-ARC, 304 pages

Source:  Edelweiss        

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnesand Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:

A fun, romantic read, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Susane Colasanti!

Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life.

But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan. And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of.

Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future. In alternating then and now chapters, debut author Lauren Gibaldi crafts a charming, romantic story of first loves, lifelong friendships, uncovered secrets, and, ultimately, finding out how to be brave.

Misfit Review:

35%

I love my sweet, romantic stories with music and cute guys but with The Night We Said Yes, it just felt too formulaic. This is going to be a very short DNF review, and if you guys haven't noticed, I have never done a DNF review. So this is the very first. Sad to say that it lead to this.