Little Librocubicularist

Rating: 3 stars

Who is Annabel apart from being Lena's mother? What really happened to her? And why did the cure not work?

I was hoping all those questions would be answered upon reading this short story, if not clearly, then atleast give readers a hint, because is all about Annabel Haloway. Sadly, my questions weren't completely answered.

Here, Annabel was portrayed with many different faces - a rebellious and reckless teenager (I love her like this!), a strong and passionate woman, and a very loving mother (So sweet and kind, like a mother should love). It was all there. A brief story about her past and how she met Conrad Haloway, which was disappointing by the way. Nothing really much happened to them. But there were still some parts I found cute, though lacking in some ways.

Included also were the days of being imprisoned in the Crypts and the escape of Anabel, which weren't really that exciting at all.

Now, why wasn't she really cured? I still don't know. I'm still hoping this will be answered in the 3rd book.

That's it, I guess. 3 stars :) A bit disappointed because I expected more.

The "Then" and "Now" chapters are back! :D

Rating: 4 stars

An incredibly intense book about life, love and loss. Whew!! What a story!

Book blurb to follow :D

** after a few days **

I think I can’t really say much without giving away any significant part of the book. But here goes nothing...

So basically, it’s the “messed-up-girl-who-meets-a-handsome-guy-and-helps-her-feel-again-but-turns-out-to-have-secrets-too” story. I have read quite a number book synopses with a plot like that. Although the reasons, the experiences and the turn of events are different, it all boils down to the general plot, which was mentioned earlier. Well, I actually kind of like these kinds of books. They are extremely emotional and usually have this sizzling yet sweet romance. Then, lessons are learned about life, love and one’s self.

This book is not far from that. It was actually a great story, with a strong and nice beginning. I really liked it. The moment Camryn leaves was the mark of the books awesomeness!  I loved everything from there up until the point when... *secret, no spoilers* Camryn and Andrew’s coincidental or destined bus ride was great. Andrew’s playful attitude and Cam’s cranky and wild responses was very fun to read. Even after the terminal incident, it went nice. I just love the first half of the book.

The weak point that let me down a bit was when they had their first intimate physical attachment. I was really disappointed with that. It was just.. ugggh!! The only nice thing I can think about when that happened was it was nice of Andrew to consider the fact that Cam must first know what she really wants and ... before they really do it. And it continues after that. It never really picked up the awesomeness it had before. So, bummer!

The ending was okay... just okay. Not great. Not awesome. Not strong. I would have wanted it to play out differently. Maybe a more sorrowful ending. (Yes, I like sad stories.)

Overall, 4 stars :)

Rating: 4 stars

Yay! My firs read in 2013! :D

Even though I still like the Gallagher Girls series better than Heist Society, I think the latter series has great potential to reach GG's level on my list. What can I say? Ally Carter has a way of making readers love her stories and her characters. I know I'm really starting to like the Heist series, and I definitely enjoyed reading Uncommon Criminals.

Ally Carter, as usual, was able to put in a bit of action, a pinch of humor, a subtle yet very satisfying romance, friendship and family drama into one hellava-book about theives!! *clap clap* I don't know how she does it.. Maybe she's a really a Gallagher Girl, or she's secretly stealing paintings from Henley. Whatever! Hahahaha.. But seriously, her books are awesome!! :D

So... Uncommon Criminals. Here, Kat struggles with a lot of things - her own issues, her family, the heist-gone-wrong, and HALE! Kat and Hale's relationship is really interesting, even though there aren't sooo much sweet talks and smooching. It was subtle, but very satisfying. Aside from that, one of the great things I love about Ally's books is there is always something about families.

*Sorry, the entire blurb got deleted because my phone shut off while I was typing. So I have to start again. I'm a bit pissed off with my phone right now. I'll try to add more later.

Do not judge a book by its cover or its Goodreads summary/plot.

The book was okay, even though I was expecting something entirely different. I thought I was in for some cute and funny love story. But I was wrong. I did not love the romance between Elena and Thane. It was unnatural, I guess. There was a failure in expressing both of their emotions that will make readers gush. And besides, the romance part wasn't the priority of the book.

Even the real story was a bit disappointing... Too many unanswered questions, weak foundation and weak ending. It was okay for some parts, but I got bored with the other parts of the story.

Gaaaaaaaaaah!! :D
NOAH SHAW!!! <3 *sighs*<br/>
So, I extremely like the book. It had the perfect balance of mystery, thrill, humor and the playful stomach-wrenching romance I was looking for. One moment your laughing at some nonsense exchange of words between Mara and Noah, then next, you shiver because of the eerie situation Mara's in. Seriously! I laughed, I got creeped out, I felt the worried excitement when they were out and about, I smiled a lot (because of Mara and Noah, but mostly Noah), I felt sad.. Gaaaah! Mixed emotions. But it was good. The book was really good at stirring up emotions.

I can't even begin to tell you how I reacted when I finished it. I was feeling a bit sad, and it just shifted to disbelief and shock. And questions swirled in my head and I just screamed (not too loud, though) GAAAAAAH!

Hahahahahaha.. :D

Wow! That was fun!

London + a cute and fun love story = one sweet book!!!

I really did enjoy reading Meant To Be. It was entertaining and easy to read. It will also give you meaningful lessons about love, life and tour you all around London. :D I am currently at a loss for words so I'll just end there. :) 4 dazzling stars.

3.5 STARS

Upon reading the summary of the book, interest immediately sparked in my brain. A teenage girl entangled in an eerie circus mystery and drama sounded like a page-turner, which I always like. And I am very thankful that the author provided me an ecopy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Showtime was a very descriptive book, which is great because it was able to give a vivid picture of what Marvelle Circus was like. Every detail of the scenery, of the set and of the performance was clearly depicted. It was as if you were watching the performance yourself. However, there were times that the lengthy descriptions weren't as pleasing as they ought to be. (Sorry, sometimes I just get tired with extremely long descriptions.)

The element of mystery was nicely built-up but didn't work for me as well as I thought it would be at first. Maybe because halfway through the book, it was still hard to tell which direction the plot is really going. It was confusing at times, whether the story was mainly about running away from her family, or the missing girl, or the mysterious guy, or the feature performance of the circus itself. I cannot figure it out. But in the end, the pieces were fitted together wonderfully. It wasn't predictable, and it will keep you guessing. But mostly, it will keep you in the dark and not reveal anything major.

The last few chapters to the end was beautiful and intense at the same time. Polarity was majestically showed through beautifully written words. The grandeur of the show was vividly showed. And the mystery and thrill heightened at the end. The book was wrapped up nicely leaving any reader, though a bit alarmed by the revelations, still satisfied.

The characters were well-developed too, each one different from another. My concern, character-wise, is Laila. She's very observant, but it would have been better if readers were able to feel her emotions, not just see what her mind thinks of. Thus, making the romance part of the book a bit bland. I do not know why, but Laila and Dex did not seem to have chemistry (from my perspective). I just didn't feel it throughout the book, except for the end. I did have doubts with their blooming relationship, but in the end it all played out well.

The downside of the book for me is that it was a bit hard get into it. I had a hard time finishing it, maybe because I wasn't anticipating anything. But all in all, it was a good book.

Too much canoodling going on! Hahahahaha.. I'm not complaining, though. Disregarding the fact there's a lot of sex happening, it was a pretty awesome book. There's something about dealing with family and friend relationships, acceptance, self-discovery, and a whole lot of stomach-wrenching sweet romance. It was a fun read and quite insightful as well, regarding lives of different people and families. So to sum it all up, 4 stars :)

A cute and funny story about a rockstar gone mental disguising as a normal high school boy for his punishment. The plot was very attractive/interesting and it is definitely my kind of story.

What I like about this one mostly is the plot, really. Hunter Kennedy, handsome rockstar, suddenly becomes your neighbor (in disguise) and you are to assist him in adjusting to school and to his new life. What would you do? Just pure bliss with the plot. I instantly loved it. The characters were fun as well. I liked quirky and dorky BFFs Vere and Jenna. On the first half of the book, I really loved Vere. I just like dorky and geeky people. But there were some things that she has done that made me like her less and less. Jenna! Jenna is a wonderful BFF. Very funny! Promise! Hunter Kennedy is nice and really good looking. He has a lot of baggage but he manages. There were some parts, though, that he sounded too girly. I don't know why, but he did. His relationship with Vere was built up nicely. I liked the fact that they somehow talk a lot.

I would have liked it so much if the kissing, the confession and the end were told differently. I expected a lot of sweetness and drama from those scenes. It wasn't as sweet or cute as I wanted it to be. Soooo.. 3.something stars. :)

A short sweet tale of young love. Awww.. Honestly, when people get sick and tired of complicated, twist-filled books, they should delve into the world of "make-my-stomach-tingle" teen romance. Come on! We need those once in a while. And Play With Me sure fits in that category.

I read this because of a goodreads friend. She said it was uber "kilig" and she even gave it 5 stars. And it was! It was a quick and fun read. It was sweet and hilarious at the same time. It didn't really have much of a complicated plot, but it worked. Just what I needed at the moment. I had a great time reading it. :)

P.S. RYAN HUNTER! A bit dangerous but sweet! My kind of guy. Hahahaha.. :D

The book revolves around the lives 3 groups of people - Jack and Schuyler's search for the gatekeeper, Mimi and Oliver's journey to hell to rescue Kingsley and a blast from the past, a continuation of Allegra's life/love story - which were told in alternating chapters of the book.

I have never been fond of Jack and Sky's relationship. Too cheesy and melodramatic. (Yes, more of that here.) I'd rather read about the love/hate relationship of Mimi and Kingsley. And initially, I thought I would love the book because there will be a lot of Mimi-Kingsley moments. I was wrong. Their reunion wasn't as good as I hope it would be. On the other hand, Allegra's high school love story was cute and I really did like that. In this book, her story continues. It was okay in the beginning, but as it progressed, I got a bit bored and annoyed.

So I was asking myself, "why put Allegra's story in here when it happened years ago? They could have put it in another companion book or something." Then, I realized that maybe that was the point of the book. Lost in Time, the book not only deals with the present but in the past as well. Or maybe it has something to do with being in hell - here is only now. Time is different there. Whatever! Enough of that.

Anyway, the bottomline is, this is not the best book in the series. It had some good points and I liked it, but there were issues with the character mixed feelings with one another, their emotional distress and the slow pacing of the book. I kept waiting for something big and exciting to happen, but nothing came. Sorry! I felt detached from the book.

If I could sum the whole book into a few words, I would fail. A lot of things happened in the book. I don't know, but sometimes, I think the plot is all over the place. I guess it was generally about Amber's relationship with Liam, the boy who sneaks in her bedroom window. But as I've said, a lot of things happened. At first, it was all about discovering and revealing their feelings for each other. Then, it went to keeping things a secret. After that, the family problem came. I even thought that the "bonus" to Amber and Liam's relationship was going to be another problem. And there was a part that made me feel like the story revolved around sex.

It wasn't bad, though. It wasn't that great either. But I still liked it, even though the story had the exaggerated romantic relationship going on. Too much lovey dovey and too much sweetness sometimes. Ugh! Ants!!! Hahahahaha... But honestly, there were some really cute and sweet moments between them too, like the thing with the "Angel". I liked that.

Another part to take note of are the characters. Character traits are exaggerated much. Seriously, Jake and Liam can't be that good looking, can they? Hahahahahaha... The fact that almost all the girls in their school seem to be obssessed with the thought of sleeping with both of them is annoying and disturbing. And the bet? Ugh! Kill me now!! Hahahahaha...

Honestly, there's nothing very significant to learn in the book. Nothing really inspiring or tear-jerking. It was entertaining and I did like it. I guess 3 stars would do. :)

PS The title is cute, but I think it does not suit the story very well. Maybe it does. I don't know. Hahahahaha.,

What can I say about the book? It was good. Not good like "I'm crazy about it" good but good enough that I enjoyed reading it. Actually, I really like it a lot. The character crossover was fun! Anna and St. Clair made the book so much better (I think). And somehow, they are very significant people in the story too.

The characters were quite unforgettable. Why? Because:
(1) Calliope and Cricket? Really? Cricket? The name is sooo unique. Never heard of a guy named Cricket before.
(2) Johnny Ocampo. Though he was almost inexistent throughout the book, I'll remember him because he's a Filipino.
(3) Lindsey Lim, the Korean bestfriend. I am slightly fond of Korean dramas and music, but I've never heard anyone with a surname of Lim. Mostly it is Park, Kim, Lee... Lim is for Chinese people (I think).
(4) The gay parents. I have nothing against it. And I think it was nice and somehow added to the uniqueness of the book.
(5) Lastly, Lola. She's weird and quirky. She's colorful and unique. She's expressive. And I really love how she dresses differently from others, with matching wig and all the flare.

The plot was nice, too. It wasn't that complicated. There was some sweetness, some drama and a touch of humor. I like it. Soooo... 4 stars :)

Imagine Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, the usual talk of the town due to their huge wealth or their scandalous misadventures. Lexington, daughter of "rags to riches" owner of a famous media company, is a little bit of both. She is spoiled, bitchy, selfish and all nasty things you can think of. But on her eighteenth birthday, instead of getting her much awaited billion dollar trust fund, she gets punished. She is to work 52 different jobs for a year, one job per week, in order to get her money.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father is a great book. Though the theme of "teach bad girl some lesson and let her realize her faults and fall in love along the way" is not really new to me, I did have fun reading the book. The family issues and relationship dilemmas were resolved, and there was a sense of self-actualization on Lexi's part. But there's a part of me that felt the lack of something in the book. I think it ended too quickly. But all in all, it was great. Somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars :)

A wonderful story about life, love and loss. I had hesitations with this book at first (because it deals with a student-teacher relationship) and I had doubts with Layken and Will's relationship (it went quite fast), but I'm glad I read it. It turned out alright and the ending seems to justify the whole book. It was meaningful and had a lot of very inspiring messages. It made me appreciate poetry a bit more, especially slam poetry. :) Emphasis on life :)

4 stars :)

Soulless brings another perspective to the origin of supernatural creatures we have come accustomed to. The book said that the existence, more specifically the transformation, of vampires, werewolves and ghosts is a result of the human's excessive soul. But one lady seems to be the opposite of these supernaturals, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, preternatural, soulless extraordinaire.

The book was unexpectedly humorous and quite enjoyable, especially Miss Tarabotti's intellectual spur of snarky remarks. The plot was new to me, thus making it unique and exciting. Also, I have come to love stories set in 19th century London - the gowns, hats and parasols, waistcoats and top hats for men, proper etiquette and even the way they speak. Gail Garriger had brought the story quite well. Clap! Clap! Clap!

The characters are great as well. They are not that forgettable especially Miss Tarabotti and Lord Maccon. I must warn you though, the romance between these two is fascinatingly fun, but they may be too naughty for some people's taste. Let's just say that control and curiosity are very much an issue when these two are alone at the same place.

So... A little over 4 stars :) I will definitely read the next books in the series.