Book Review: Pivot Point

"Pivot Point" by Kasie West(Pivot Point #1)

Publication Date-February 12, 2013

Genre-Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Contemporary

Hardcover Edition-343 Pages

Rating-4/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes

No Spoilers!!

Introduction

Hello guys! I am back with a review. I am reviewing "Pivot Point". Even though this is Kasie West's first book, this is not the first book I read from her. I actually read "The Fill-In Boyfriend" earlier this year and loved it so much! I've been dying to read more of her books and I thought I would continue with this one because I wanna read her books in publication order and also because I've been wanting to read this book for years. I'm so glad I finally read this book because I really enjoyed it. I didn't love it as much as my first book by her but it was still good. Let's get on to the review. 

Goodreads Summary

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through... and who she can’t live without.

Plot-5/5

The premise of this book is really what made me interested in reading "Pivot Point" years ago. It's such a cool idea. I wish I could see the results of choices made in the future. It was such a unique and different idea. It was also very creative so I had to give the plot a perfect rating. 

Setting-5/5

I normally rate the world of the book but since this book reads like a Contemporary, it doesn't take place in a different world. It takes place in America. 

Writing-5/5

I obviously love Kasie's writing. Her writing style is very simple but she's so good at writing dialogue and that's why I love her. 

Pacing-5/5

The pacing was great in this book. This book basically tells two different stories, so I can't really judge the pacing in this book. I loved both stories though. 

Cover-5/5

I really like the cover. It's very cool and unique, that's all I'm going to say. 

The Characters-4/5

I really liked most of the characters. First, let's discuss Addie. I really liked her character and I found her relatable. She's kind of shy and not popular. She loves to read and I loved that about her. She was a really good, caring  person and you know I love nice characters. Overall, I just loved Addie. I loved reading from her perspective. 

I liked Addie's best friend, Laila. She was very out there and into boys but she was a good friend to Addie most of the time and I liked her character. 

The reason I didn't give this section a perfect rating is because of Duke. He's Addie's love interest in one of the stories. He's your typical popular, arrogant, football player with blonde hair and blue eyes. I sort of had mixed feelings about him. Duke was nice in the beginning but you find out something about him later on. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but it made me dislike him by the end of the book. 

But I absolutely loved Trevor! He is Addie's friend in the other story. I just loved his character so much! He is a football player, but he's shy and a geek at heart. He loves graphic novels and loves to draw. He is such a nice, sweet guy and I loved him. I wanted Addie to be with him instead of Duke. 

As for the side characters, they were well developed but I'm not going to say anything about them because that would take forever.

Ending-4/5

I didn't love the ending of this book. It wasn't a good ending and it was kind of sad. I do want to see what happens in the sequel.  

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed this book but I didn't love it like I loved "The Fill-In Boyfriend". It was good but not amazing. I feel like her other books won't compare to it but I'm biased because that was my first book from her. Hopefully her other books will amaze me too. There is a sequel to "Pivot Point" and I will probably read it sometime in the future. I'm not really dying to read it so it might be a long time before I get to "Split Second". I think this book is worth a buy because I bought my own copy years ago and just got to it. So yeah guys, that was my review. Thank you so much for reading. I'll have more posts coming soon so stay tuned. Bye and happy reading! :)

Book Review: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

"Forest of a Thousand Lanterns" by Julie C. Dao (Rise of the Empress #1)

Publication Date-October 10, 2017

Genre- Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings

Hardcover Edition-363 Pages

Rating-4/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes, especially if you love books set in Asia

No Spoilers!!

Favorite Quotes:

Page 115-"Some of us must rely on friends to see the best within us. That is how we find balance."

Page 116-"We all have our battles to fight, but we can choose to overcome them."

Page 144-"Being underestimated can be a blessing in disguise," Xifeng said. "That is to say, it gives us a chance to astonish those who doubt our true worth."

Hey guys, I hope all of you are doing great. I can't believe it's the end of October, this month flew by so fast. There were so many books I wanted to read this month, but unfortunately I couldn't get to them. I pre-ordered this book and started it the day it came in the mail. I was really excited to read this book and it got some good buzz lately. So today I am reviewing "Forest of a Thousand Lanterns". When I found out this was a Snow White Evil Queen retelling set in Asia, I knew I had to read it. I'm always looking for books set in Asian countries. This book didn't disappoint me, let's get on to the review. 

Goodreads Summary

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Plot-5/5

The plot of this book is what sold me to read it. I love Fantasy books but I really love books set in Kingdoms and I just love the royalty side of Fantasy the most. I was especially sold when I found out this was a Snow White retelling because I love reading fairy tale retellings. Also, the book is set in Asia so how could I not love it? I'm not going to describe my feelings on the plot more because I would mention spoilers and I'm not spoiling you guys. 

World-5/5

Honestly, this book doesn't have a lot of world building in it. Since it was set in Asia I'm going to automatically give it a perfect rating and also because I loved how most of it took place in a castle. It was a very unique setting, it's never read a book like this before. 

Writing-4.5/5

This is Julie's debut novel and she really impressed me with her writing. Her writing style is beautiful, I really like it. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that this book is written in third person. It would've been so much better if it was in first person, especially because your reading about an evil villain. I like books in third person but I prefer them in first person because it's harder for me to connect to the characters. This is her first book so I'm cutting her some slack. 

Pacing-5/5

I thought the pacing was pretty good. It never felt slow and I was never bored while reading it. 

Cover-5/5

I really like the cover. I love the green, it's so pretty. I like the flower and the snake. The snake has a meaning in the book so I liked that the cover actually goes with the book. 

Characters-4/5

How I feel about the characters in this book is kind of complicated. A lot of the characters I liked but didn't love. I wasn't really attached to them. 

First of all, I had mixed feelings about the main protagonist, Xifeng. I understand she's supposed to be an anti-hero/evil villain. I found her unlikable in the first half of the book but I started to like her more in the second half. I liked her but I didn't love her. I'm not used to reading anti-heroine stories so that's probably why I couldn't connect to her. I liked her at some parts but then other times I didn't care for her. I just have mixed feelings about her. I also found myself rooting for her though at times. Guma I couldn't stand. She was so mean and abusive. I liked Wei, he was a nice guy. I was rooting for them and wanted them to be together. I hated Lady Sun, and I liked the Empress. I really liked the Crown Prince and I wanted to see more of him, he was barely in the book. I liked the Emperor. I liked the side characters including Hideki and Shiro. So basically I liked the characters in this book but I didn't love them. I didn't have a huge attachment to them and I didn't really care who died. I wasn't emotionally attached to anyone. 

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. I guess my expectations were too high. I still don't know how I feel about the book to be honest. This review was hard for me to write because I didn't know what to say about it since I didn't love it or hate it. I still found it very enjoyable and I'm glad I read it. I thought it ended really well and I found out there's a sequel. I'm curious to see what she does with it because I thought the book ended perfectly. I do want to read the next book but I'll have to wait until next year. So yeah, I recommend this book if you love retellings or reading about asian characters. I think you should borrow this book before buying a copy just to see what you think. Even though I bought my copy(I preordered it) I don't think it's worth buying but you'll probably love this book more than I did. So I gave this book 4/5 Lily Pads because I really liked it but it wasn't worth 5 stars to me. So anyway, that was my review. I'm sorry that this review is kind of lame and all over the place. I didn't know how to review this book, it was just hard for me. Thank you so much for reading this review. I'll have more posts coming soon so stay tuned. Bye and happy reading! :)

Book Review: A Torch Against The Night

"A Torch Against The Night" by Sabaa Tahir(Ember in the Ashes #2)

Publication Date-September 8, 2016

Genre-Young Adult, Fantasy

Hardcover Edition-454 Pages

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? If you loved the first book, you have to read this one!

No Spoilers!!

Favorite Quotes

Page 158-"Always so afraid of the darkness within." Mamie takes my hands. "Don't you see? So long as you fight the darkness, you stand in the light."

Page 380-"Perhaps grief is like battle: After experiencing enough of it, your body's instincts take over. When you see it closing in like a Martial death squad, you harden your insides. You prepare for the agony of a shredded heart. And when it hits, it hurts, but not as badly, because you have locked away your weakness, and all that's left is anger and strength."

Intro

Hey guys. I promised you I would write a review for "A Torch Against The Night" once I finished it and here it is. This book took me a long time to read, but it was so worth it because I loved it so much! I loved the first book, but this one was even better. This review isn't going to be as long as the first one because I already said most of my thoughts in my Ember review. I also don't wanna spoil you so don't worry, this review is spoiler-free. I'm not going to describe the plot because of spoilers. So let's get on with the review. 

Plot-5/5

At the end of the first book, I pretty much predicted the ending and knew what would happen in the second book. I'm so happy I was right because the plot of this book was awesome. I loved that Laia and Elias were together more and I loved the journey they went on together. I'll admit that the first book had more of a plot but this one was great too so I gave it a perfect rating. 

Writing-5/5

Of course I loved the writing in this book. She's becoming one of my favorite authors because I really like her writing style. Also like with the first book, I loved that this book was also in first person narration. I loved that we also got Helene's pov this time too. I liked reading inside of her head. 

Pacing-5/5

The pacing was pretty good in this book. I wasn't bored. It wasn't as fast paced as the first book but it wasn't a boring sequel at all. The ending was awesome!

Cover-5/5

I bought the UK hardcover for this book because I like the UK cover so much better. The American cover isn't bad, but I think the gold and the colors are much prettier on the UK cover. The blue font for the American cover is boring to me so that's why I own the UK edition. Both covers are gorgeous though. 

World-5/5

I really like the world and setting of these books. They are very unique and different from other YA Fantasy books I've read. I would not want to live in this world though, it's horrible, lol. 

Characters-5/5

I'm not gonna go into too much detail about the characters because I already talked about them in my review for the first book. I still love Laia, Elias and Helene. Elias is definitely my favorite character in this series. He is so amazing and he's such a good person. I feel so bad for him because he's been through so much and doesn't deserve all the cruelty and harsh treatment. I just love him so much! He's definitely my new book boyfriend. Laia is so much stronger in this book, I love how kick butt she is. I liked Helene in the first book but this book made me like her even more. I felt so bad for her too. I'm not going to talk about the side characters because I would have to spoil the book for you and I'm not doing that. I try to keep all my reviews spoiler-free. 

Enjoyment-5/5

Even though I was kind of frustrated because this book took me forever to read, I also didn't want it to end. I loved the ending but I need more. I can't wait for the next book. I enjoyed reading this book, this series is so great but it's also heartbreaking. I couldn't imagine living in that cruel world. Overall this book was an amazing sequel. It's so worth a buy and I highly recommend Torch if you loved the first book. I obviously gave this book 5/5 Lily Pads. 

So that was my review. Thank you so much for reading! It really means the world to me. :) I'll have another post up soon so stay tuned. Have a great day and happy reading!

Book Review: The Hating Game

"The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne

Publication Date-August 9, 2016

Genre-Adult, Fiction, Romance

Paperback Edition-362 Pages

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes!! If you love romance books, you have to read this book!

No Spoilers!!

Favorite Quote:

"Gamins resented the notion of books as units. Books were, and always would be, something a little magic and something to respect". 

Hey bookworms! I know it's been a while since I last posted. The reason why is because I recently read a book but I didn't finish it. I never write reviews for books that I don't finish. I also haven't been reading much lately until I picked up "The Hating Game". I buddy read this book with my good booktube friend, Rachel. Here is the link to her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHwH-WfFqH-lXWg5ToMptgg

I absolutely loved this book! This is probably one of the best romance books I've read in a while. Read on to see more of my thoughts. 

The Plot (Goodreads summary)

Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

My Opinion

Plot-5/5

I loved the plot of this book. The main characters work at a publishing company which is my dream job. I love reading about characters that love books. I also love reading about characters that take place at work. This book has the hate-to-love trope which is one of my favorite tropes so overall I had to give the plot a perfect rating because it has everything I love in a book. 

Writing-5/5

I love Sally's writing style. This is her debut book and I thought her writing was amazing. She's really good at writing dialogue, I loved all the conversations in this book. They were really sweet and it also made me laugh at times. 

Pacing-5/5

There was never a dull moment in this book. Every single word and every single page was amazing! This book kept my attention the whole time. It was never slow or boring. I also found this book very addicting, I didn't want to put it down. When I wasn't reading it, I found myself thinking about it and wanting to pick it back up. 

Cover-5/5

I love the cover of this book! I love that Lucy and Josh are on the cover and the blue is stunning! I also like the UK cover too. 

Characters-5/5

The characters are amazing in this book! This is a debut novel but you wouldn't be able to tell because the character development in this book is so amazing. Let's talk about our main character Lucy first. I loved her character. She works at a publishing company and she is very kind and a pleasant person to be around. Everyone at work loves her and she's just a very likable girl. I just loved her so much! She loves books and she was just such a good person. She's a hard worker and she stands up for what she believes in and she can be sassy at times. 

The other main character is Lucy's coworker, Josh. They hate each other and have to work near each other every day. Josh isn't the most likable guy. He's mean and doesn't really show emotion. Everyone at work is scared of him and he's just not pleasant to be around. Basically he's the opposite of Lucy. I actually really liked Josh. He was a good guy and he can be nice at times. He is incredibly shy and I liked that because I rarely read books with a shy guy in it. In the beginning he's not that likable, but he becomes a better, nicer person by the end of the book. I love him because he's nice, caring and very sweet to Lucy. He was so sweet, I want a guy like him. 

I loved their relationship. They went from "hating" each other, to liking each other. I loved watching their relationship grow and them developing feelings for each other. The romance was so sweet, and I was rooting for them throughout the whole book. They are such a good couple. I really liked that even though Josh isn't a very likable guy, Lucy liked him and was nice to him. She wanted to get to know him. I liked that Lucy fell for a different type of guy. Usually in romance books we see the girl fall for a popular, likable guy. Josh isn't really nice at first and he keeps to himself most of the time. It was just so unique that she liked a unlikable guy. It takes a special kind of person to love someone like that, and Lucy was that girl. She saw the good in him that a lot of people and his family never saw. That's why I loved their relationship. They are such a strong pair. 

As for the side characters, I liked them. I'm not going to describe them in detail because the side characters are barely in the book. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, I loved this book so much! I've been wanting to read it for a while and I'm so glad I finally read it. "The Hating Game" is definitely one of my favorite books now and it's also on my "Favorite Books of 2017" list. If you love romance books that take place at work or just romance books in general, you need to read this book. I highly recommend this book to everyone. This book is definitely worth a buy. I'm so going to reread this book in the future. I really wish there was a sequel though because I want more. I wanna read more about Lucy and Josh. I can't wait for Sally's new book "The Comfort Zone" that comes out in February. I feel like she's going to become an auto-buy author for me. Obviously I gave this book 5/5 Lily Pads. So that was my review. Thank you so much for reading. I'm currently reading "A Torch Against The Night" by Sabaa Tahir so stay tuned for a review for that book once I finish it. Have a great day and happy reading! :)