The Boy Most Likely To - Huntley Fitzpatrick

Rating: ★★★★☆

GOODREADS

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS

1. SWOON SWOON SWOON

2. CUTEST plot-twist

3. You'll want summer and a hot boyfriend to run across the beach with

4. Original story

5. Heartbreaking at times

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

Oh Huntley Fitzpatrick, you have my heart. Always. Forever. After My Life Next Door, I couldn't wait to read the companion novel The Boy Most Likely To. You don't have to have read the first book, but do it anyway because it's amazing!

In The Boy Most Likely To we follow Alice and Tim, small town badasses with her being a notorious heartbreaker and him an alcoholic with coping issues. Together, they are a match made in hell, but when Tim moves into the garage of Alice's family, they are drawn to each other.

I read this book when summer in the UK was starting (what a lovely week of summer we've had), and I was preparing to go on a trip to see my boyfriend in the States. Perfect circumstances. The Boy Most Likely To is extremely swoon-worthy and gave me serious envy of every teenager growing up in America. Being 17 and able to drive to dates (on the beach, at night) makes it all sound so much more romantic. 

Though the premise is quite cliché, Huntley Fitzpatrick is a genius at navigating that comfort level of knowing what will happen and throwing in the unexpected. Though you can predict the ending, the journey there is insane and filled with plot twists that I did not see coming. I found the beginning a bit slow, because I was worried that I'd stay cliché, but trust me - it doesn't. 

Both Alice and Tim are narrators and both are really well written. Personally, I gravitated towards Tim. Though both of them have some serious, way beyond the usual task of teenager, decision to make, they still stay fun and also go through the things all teenagers go through. I was just so touched by Tim's voice and how he feels about love that I could never stop rooting for him.

I love the realistic vibe of this novel. Though Tim and Alice immediately have a connection, it's not love at first sight and not a story about how love can conquer anything. Sometimes, love gets conquered. Sometimes, it breaks your heart. And trust me, in this book you will cry.

Overall, I have little to fault The Boy Most Likely To on. Like I said, the beginning can seem cliché, but that's literally only the first 20 pages. After that it's amazing and flawless and now I want to be on the beach, after running, with ice cream and romance.

The Crown - Kiera Cass

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 279 pages
Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

It's been a while, but I'm back! If you follow my Youtube channel, you'll see that I have still been reviewing the Bailey's Women's Fiction prize, which has been amazing so far - and is almost ending!

However, amongst all those literary books, I craved some YA and I was ecstatic when I was approved for The Crown on Netgalley. Because, in case you missed it, The Selection series is my guilty pleasure. While I see everything that is problematic with it, and the author and agent, I still can't keep away. I don't want to focus too much on the drama, but more on the story.

First of all, if you don't like clichés, don't read this series. The Crown is the fifth, and final, instalment in the series. While books 1 to 3 focused on Prince Maxon's Bachelor journey to find his wife (and I'm sure there are some prologues and short stories books too, but I never really read those), book 4 and 5 focus on Maxon and the lucky winner's daughter Eadlyn bachelorette journey - and The Crown was the winner of the cliché competition.

In this dystopian world, the royal family likes to pawn off their own children by featuring them in a bachelor-like match making show where random citizens are chosen to participate and in the end there is a wedding that keeps the whole population quiet. The Crown focuses on Eadlyn's decision who to get married to and if she wants to marry at all.

In the Heir, book 4, I already didn't really like Eadlyn. While she laments constantly how everyone sees her as cold, mean and rude to everyone, she actually doesn't really do anything to prove people wrong. She is cold, mean and rude to her family and suitors. While in this novel, she does some growing up, mostly with her way nicer attitude to her family, she's still those things.

SPOILER PARAGRAPH: Not to ruin the ending completely, but towards the end, she decides to just pick someone to get married with because it will save her crown. Even though she doesn't love any of the guys left. And is pretty sure she never will. She almost subjects these perfectly nice guys to a life of misery. Though she sees her mistake, it takes her a remarkably long time for an intelligent woman.

And while there's a certain attempt at empowering women in this book, Eadlyn's final 'I'm going to stand for something' moment falls remarkably flat in the main scheme of things. There's also a massive threat looming throughout the book, however it is fixed in one line in a way that confused me. If it was so easy, why did it take 300 pages?

So why do I still love these books? Because they're easy. It's like that cheesy Backstreet Boys song (everyone has one; mine is I Want It That Way) that you shouldn't be singing if you're older than 15. But you do. And you probably always will. There's SO much wrong with The Crown, but the predictably of who will marry who, the easy to read style and the strategically placed plot twists, as on queue as in a soap opera, makes this irresistible to me.

If you're heading to the beach this summer, you want this book. You don't need to think; you can just gush and ship couples and enjoy the book version of a Lifetime movie. However, because of all its flaws, I can't give it five stars. Though it is enjoyable. I can't wait to read a novel that is as easy and enjoyable as The Crown series, but with way less problematic elements. 

The Square Root of Summer - Harriet Reuter Hapgood

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Macmillan Books
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 304 pages
Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion of the book. 

The Square Root of Summer is one of the biggest releases in the YA world this year, so when I got the chance to read it, I immediately jumped on it. My expectations were high, since I've been hearing about this since YALC last year, and I've left the book with warm fuzzy feelings.

Gottie's summer starts with the return of her childhood best friend Thomas, her dealing with the almost 1-year anniversary of her granddad's death and suddenly seeing more of her ex. This would be enough to drive anyone crazy, but Gottie starts losing time. Somehow, she's transported to the previous year at random moments and is forced to deal with all her worst memories. She dives deeper into the scientific world of time travel to figure out what's going on and how to stop it, but can she do this before the whole summer passes her by ? 

What I love most about this book is the depiction of Gottie. In a world of YA characters that are obsessed with literature, it was nice to see a character who loves science and time travel. Instead of focusing on how weird it is that she can time travel, Gottie tries to figure out how this is possible and what laws of nature are working to get her in this situation. Even though I'm clueless about time travel, I loved reading about it and seeing Gottie so focused on trying to figure stuff and changing it.

Because I'm not a huge fantasy reader, the plot was very original for me. I'm not used to the combination of time travel and contemporary romance, so I enjoyed it. Even though, and that's my only criticism of the book, I wish the time travel made more sense in the end. I don't believe in it, neither does Gottie, yet we never really figure out how it's possible and what's making it happen. Some people might like this opening ending, but I felt unsatisfied and like I was cheated a little bit. I wish I had more closure and answers.

Overall, The Square Root of Summer was a fun and enjoyable read perfect for this time a year. It's contemporary with a twist and has characters that are well-rounded and surprising in many different ways. Though it wasn't perfect for me personally, I still liked it and I think a lot of people will really love this. If you're a contemporary reader who wants to ease into fantasy, this is perfect. If you're a fantasy reader who wants some contemporary influences, this is also perfect. 

Plain Jane - Kim Hood

Rating: ★★★★☆

Publication Date: April 11th 2016
Publisher: The O'Brein Press
Genre: YA
Pages: 304 pages
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I've reviewed Kim Hood's first book Finding a Voice last year and I wasn't too crazy about it. I thought the topic was amazing and important, but the writing just didn't go in depth enough for me to really connect with the characters. With Plain Jane, Hood tackles other important topics, physical and mental health, but this time the writing makes it incredibly easy to connect to all the characters. 

As the title suggest, Jane feels like she's plain and nothing special. Her younger sister Emma has cancer and all the focus is constantly on her and her treatment. While Emma is practically famous in their small Irish town, Jane wants nothing more than to explore more than the live she's living right now. With practically no parental help, Jane has to figure out if she really does like her boyfriend, how she can achieve more than her classmates and she also has to try to keep her more and more confusing thoughts in check.

Though Jane thinks she's plain, very early on in the narration the reader gets the idea that Jane's thoughts aren't that usual. Hood subtly weaves in more and more doubt in the reader's mind about Jane's mental health and about the way she observes things. Though first person narration is often considered inferior (even though I love it), in this book it works perfectly. We see what Jane sees and hear what Jane hears... or thinks she sees and hears. The unreliability of the main character is one of the biggest strength of this story. 

I also love that the focus of this story is on Jane and not Emma. Though we are introduced to Emma's cancer struggles, it is never the main focus of the story. It's all about how the cancer influences Jane and how it switches the focus on how everyone is so distracted by Emma that Jane flies under the radar and is a 15 year old living with the freedoms of a college student. This obviously plays a huge part in her development and, also new for YA, the parents are never blamed for it. They really try to be there for Jane, but it's virtually impossible for them. For once, the fact that the parents don't play a direct role in the story is normal and explained instead of a mystery.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Plain Jane. I think at times, I still would have liked more depth in the story and for the whole plot to be slowed down. Certain elements are still rushed, but I really related to Jane and I loved reading this story. There are important topics in here, but it doesn't read like a mental and physical health instruction booklet - it's just a great story that sticks with you after you've finished it. 

When We Collided - Emery Lord

Rating: ★★★★★

 

Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: YA
Pages: 352 pages
Goodreads

I received this book for review from Bloomsbury. Though I am extremely grateful, this in no way influences my opinion.

When We Collided starts out as a typical YA novel. Quirky female character from the big city goes to a small town and meets a cute local boy with issues. Though it seemed predictable at the start, something about Emery Lord's writing kept me reading. There was immediately an undertone of a deeper story and I couldn't wait to find out exactly where these characters would go.

To say I wasn't disappointed is an understatement: I was blown away. I won't reveal much of the plot here, because I think the element of surprise is a great bonus if you read this story, but I can tell you that the characters are amazing. When We Collided alternates between the perspectives of Vivi and Jonah. Vivi initially kind of annoyed me, because she wanted to be special for the sake of being special. However, as early as the end of chapter one, some things just don't add up about her and I couldn't wait to find out what made her the way she is.

Jonah on the other hand is a completely different story. I immediately fell in love with him and that feeling only grew during the story. There are so few guys in YA who are narrators and genuine good guys - now we finally have Jonah. After the death of his father, he has to take care of his family and I loved how realistic this was portrayed. His mother is depresses, so clearly all the older sibling step up and take care of the younger ones, but they complain about it! They hate it at times, are angry and resentful towards their mother, which are natural feelings that are rushed over in other YA novels. Jonah might be somewhat of a hero, but only because he has to be, not because he necessarily wants to be. 

Clearly, when unpredictable, big city VIvi and responsible Jonah 'collide', sparks are about to fly. Thanks to Emery Lord's realistic writing style, it's never a cliché love story and the plot is tight and exciting enough to keep you reading until the very last word.