Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines : A Review!

Hi!

What's that no more books I did not finish? Well I've decided to give that series of posts a rest for a little bit mainly because I'm at Uni right now and therefore can't cart my book case round with me, making if difficult to track down all the books I didn't finish reading so, for now Books I Did Not Finish is over. I know you're all so disappointed! But never fear, I may slip one in here and there when I'm home for the weekend!

So instead today is a book review and a new release at that!

Simple Perfection (Rosemary Beach# 5)

by

Abbi Glines

Simple Perfection is the fifth book in the Rosemary Beach Series by Abbi Glines (other books in this series are, Fallen Too Far, Never Too Far, Twisted Perfection and Forever Too Far). Simple Perfection is the continuation of Woods (first seen in Fallen Too Far - Rush and Blaire's story) and Della's story from book 1 in the Perfection series, Twisted Perfection.

Did that make sense? A little confusing but let's role with it.

June Book Favourites!

Hello everyone as you may notice I have been working a little on my blogs appearance/ layout. If anything is hard to see/ read please let me know in the comments and I shall fix it.

Welcome to a new 'feature' for my blog, a post that will happen at the end of every month. As a self confessed book nerd I tend to read a lot so I thought I would let you know what books I have been loving throughout the month of June!

1. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Wow. She's only gone and done it again! I am in love with Colleen Hoover, Slammed and Point of Retreat were my favourite books by this author but Hopeless? That just blew both of them out of the water for me. When I first started reading this I thought okay cool it's just another of your typical easy to read good girl meets bad boy high school romance books that you forget about only moments after you put it down. I was wrong, I was so wrong. It's a heart wrenching tale that I just did not see coming. This book has got to be one of the easiest 5 star ratings that I have ever given, it was truly breathtakingly beautiful. I really want to tell you what happens but I can't you'll have to read it for yourself, I mean you get suspicious pretty soon that something isn't quite right, but I didn't expect the twist to be so huge, when we find out what happened to Sky, I had tears in my eyes. I just didn't see it coming. So I can't say more than that if you choose to read any of the books I list in this post please read this one!
A word of advice if you're an emotional reader have a box of tissues handy.

2. Ten Tiny Breaths by K. A. Tucker

Okay I admit it I first read this book back in April, and I fell in love with it, the reason it's in my June favourites is because I wasn't sure if this book was actually as good as I first thought it was so I read it again, and I still loved it.

This is a story about love, loss, friendship, about losing everything and learning how to pick up the pieces again at the end of it all. Kacey Clearly (the main protagonist) lost her mother, father, best friend, and boyfriend all in one night in a car accident. For four years Kacey and her little sister Livie live with their Aunt and Uncle. That is until the Uncle attempts to attack Livie forcing Kacey to take her away from them to start a new life in Miami. She refers to herself as Kacey the imposter, the real Kacey died four years ago in the car accident. All that keeps her together when she feels the panic rising is ten tiny breaths.

Once in Miami we follow Kacey along her journey of healing, this entails 9 stages that Kacey must go through to make her life whole again.
Stage one - Comfortably Numb
Stage two - Denial
Stage three - Resistance
Stage four - Acceptance
Stage five - Dependence
Stage six - Withdrawal
Stage seven - Breakdown
Stage eight - Recovery
Stage nine - Forgiveness
Whilst in Miami she meets Trent a guy who lives in the same apartment block and whilst he makes her feel again he also harbours a secret that could destroy everything Kacey has worked so hard to put behind her. This book is one of those that you find yourself thinking how would I react if something like this had happened to me. It's thought provoking and it stays with you long after you turn the final page.

3. Entwined With You by Sylvia Day

The long awaited third book in Sylvia Days best selling Crossfire series, and oh boy was it worth the wait. Now if you are familiar with this series you will know that this was supposed to be the final book, however Ms Day has decided to continue the series with what I believe is at least two more books. Normally hearing news like this would have set me off in a blind rage, and it almost did. That is until I got my hands on book 3 devoured it in a matter of hours and realised that I was very happy with the way it ended, and whilst I'll probably remain curious as to what happens next for Gideon and Eva I don't feel I need to read the next two books to get the closure I wanted, that was delivered in spades by Entwined With You. Sorry I can't say more than that I don't want to spoil for anyone that hasn't read it yet, all you need to know is that I was extremely happy with the ending and that in itself is a huge spoiler if you've already read books 1 & 2.
The Crossfire series is of course recommended for fans of (don't hate me! please!) Fifty Shades of Grey, however (PLEASE hear me out!) as one of the reviews on the back of my copy of Bared to You says "A well written and sexually charged romance with characters who have real depth . . . I would highly recommend Bared To You because it's what Fifty Shades of Grey could have been" and I can honestly say I have never agreed with a review more. Also this book is a little bit more light hearted than my first two favourites.

That is all for my June Favourites I hope you enjoyed ready this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please checkout these books if you're even the slightest bit interested. Like I said if you  read only one of them it should be Hopeless, in fact I wrote these mini reviews in my order of preference. Also I have attached the Good Reads link for each book, all you have to do is click on the title of each book and it will take you to it's page so you can do a bit more research, if you'd like.

See you next time.

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Book Review: The Declaration by Gemma Malley

This book was one that I bought with some money I received for Christmas. I'd been thinking about buying this book for a while and I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but the minute I saw the re-release version I snapped it up as quick as I could. (I pretty much despised the original cover).

Okay so The Declaration is a dystopian novel set in the year 2140. In this world, people have stopped dying. Whilst scientists looked for cures to the worlds big diseases like cancer they released the drugs they developed could also put a stop to ageing. They named the drug longevity.

As a result people were no longer allowed to have children unless they opted out of taking the drug they called it a life for a life. But there were those who still wanted to have Children it is stated that in some countries these children are simply 'put down' but in this country they are sent to Surplus halls were they are trained and beaten into submission to become a diligent work force for the people who are known as Legals in order to repent for the sins of their parents who are sent to prison.

Anna is a Pending Surplus who lives at Grange Hall and is coming to the end of her training before she is sent to work for a Legal, the House Matron tells her that she could become a valuable asset should she continue to follow the rules and 'know her place'. She hates her parents and deems them selfish for the crimes they committed she feels she deserves the life she has been dealt and doesn't challenge anything that is expected of her. Her orderly life however is soon thrown in to chaos when she is charged with looking after a new surplus by the name of Peter. He claims that he knows her parents and that everything she has ever been told is a lie. His plan is to escape and take her with him to her parents. He wants Anna to leave her existence as a Surplus behind her and escape with him back to the outside world. If she accepts her life will constantly be in danger as people try to track her down where is they find she could be simply sent home or she could be killed.

It would be safer for all involved in she stayed put at Grange Hall and lived the life that was planned for her by the authorities. But Anna is soon forced to make a decision but will she listen to her heart and go with Peter in search of her parents or will she stay safe in the grey dark corridors of Grange Hall destined to be a slave for life.

The Declaration is and eerie book that kept me gripped until I finished which was around 5:30 am it was a gripping tale that spoke of the importance of family and love and raised ethical questions of would be write to live in a world where everyone lives forever and no one is born.

Malley's writing makes the book especially creepy as she makes you believe that this is an event that could happen what with it being set in the not too distant future.

As with all YA novels of the day there is the romance, the peril the good guys and the bad guys. And who could forget the pre-requisite twist that every book has to keep the reader hooked. It has certainly hooked me and I will be buying the sequel very soon.

If you’re looking for an exciting new dystopian novel but you've read the like of Divergent and The Hunger Games this is the book for you. It has been out longer than those two but hasn't yet received the recognition it so clearly deserves.

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My Problem With Young Adult Novels.

Recently I've noticed that there seems to be an on-going trend of one particular plot device going on in the majority of young adult books, whether their genre is paranormal, dystopia or just plain chick lit. That plot device is the love triangle. It's highly annoying.

For example I think it was last year I bought Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini I liked the idea behind the modern retelling of the Iliad. The overall story was really good and ultimately I enjoyed it, I didn't like that it ended with the same cliff hanger as that of the first mortal instruments  book does [SPOILER - if you haven't read either] the idea that the two main characters who you've been cheering for to be together all the way through are somehow related, when actually they aren't (stupid idea if you ask me I don't see the point in this except to frustrate the reader). However I like the book and I wanted to read on so I patiently waited a year for the release of the sequel. Then I went on Good Reads and saw the dreaded plot of LOVE TRIANGLE. I wanted to throw my laptop across the room. Safe to say I haven't even bought this book yet, I don't want to read it. My biggest problem with this concept of a Love Triangle is that it completely undermines everything Helen says to Lucas in the first book and I quote:

 '"Correction, you're a jealous idiot, and that has to change right now," Helen replied seriously, still feeling light-headed, but fighting her way through it.
 "You have no reason to be Jealous. I told you that I don’t want anyone but you. I never have."' 

And then there's also:
 '"Just so you know? Just so we're clear. I care about you too. And if this hug is all I can have, I’d prefer it over anything from anyone else.'"
Now if you ask me, you can't have two characters like that being practically "devoted" to each other but then throw in a love triangle. I want to know how the story ends, so who knows maybe I'll read the last book. I haven't decided yet.

A similar situation occurred with the book Blood Red Road by Moira Young, it's a fantastic first book, and I absolutely loved it. I liked how the main characters problem wasn't about falling in love; she was trying to save her brother. Obviously there is a bit of a love story in there and it's really sweet, but then what happens?  I go on Good Reads and I see this:

Yayy another love triangle that I really don't understand because of quotes like this from the first book:

"Are we ever gonna see him agin? says Emmi.
One day I says.
One day soon says Tommo.
I hope so, I says."
I mean clearly Saba wants to see Jack again, she misses him she loves him, he loves her, what exactly is this news about Jack that it talks about that makes her want to sleep with someone else, when might I had she hadn't even slept with Jack yet. It just seems out of character if you ask me. This book was officially released today (30th October) I haven't decided if I'm going to read it yet. I want to, but I don't want to spend my money on a book that's going to frustrate me (I paid that price by buying all six books in the immortals series by Alyson Noel, but that's another story.)

Another problem that I have with the Love Triangle thing is that I have yet to read a book where the girl doesn't end up with the guy she met in the first book. I've never seen her pick the other one. Bella didn't pick Jacob, Ever didn't pick Jude (Immortals series). So it just seems like a waist of words to me to have a love triangle but the reader knows who she's going to end up with anyway. I actually wouldn't mind a love triangle if the girl picked the other guy, at least it would mean there was a reason for it to be included.

I have a current favourite book or books. They are Divergent and Insurgent both by Veronica Roth. I absolutely ADORE these books, I love the story the relationship is cute. Four and Tris are perfect. They have their problems with trust etc. especially in the second book, but it doesn’t lead to a love triangle. It's Four and Tris in both books there is no love triangle (YET!) book 3 is still being written, I pray Veronica Roth doesn't right one in that book, they are perfect without it. I mean [SPOILER] Both Tris's parents die in the first book, and then her brother becomes a traitor who nearly helps in killing her. I think that would be great cause for someone to go a little crazy but instead of Tris making a mistake and a love triangle forming, Four (or Tobias whatever you want to call him) takes care of her and it's so sweet
 '"I don't . . ." I sound like I am being strangled.
"My family is all dead, or traitors how can I . . ." I am not making any sense. The sobs take over my body, my mind, everything. He gathers me to him, and bathwater soaks my legs. His hold his tight. I listen to his heartbeat and, after a while, find a way to let the rhythm calm me.
"I'll be your family now," he says.
"I love you," I say."

It's not just the fact that there's no love triangle, but the story is really good, I find it fascinating, so if you're like me and are growing impatient with the seemingly never ending YA novel, Love Triangle plot line give the Divergent series a go.

That is my rant over.

No copyright infringement intended, all quotes belong to the respective authors; Josephine Angelini, Moira Young and Veronica Roth.

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