Confess book review

Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 10 dirty little secrets out of 10
What It's About: Auburn is new to Dallas (ugh, Dallas) and one day she meets an artist named Owen, who sells paintings inspired by the anonymous confessions that people leave for him. They, of course, start falling in love, but they both have big, MEGA-secrets that they're afraid to confess to one another (see what I did there?)
Recommended For: I don't really know. I can't think of another book/movie that centers around confessing things.

Review: So yesterday morning, I finished Ugly Love and I wanted to jump into another Colleen Hoover book, so I started Confess last night at about 11pm and I finished it at 4am. It's finals week, and I chose reading this book over studying. That's how un-put-down-able this book was. It gripped me right from the hella depressing beginning and I just didn't want to stop reading. What kept me going for the first half was the mystery of what Auburn and Owen were hiding from each other. But then once I found out what was going on, I couldn't stop reading, because I had to see how all of the drama was going to wrap up by the end of the story. I don't want to say too much about this book, because there are mystery elements that I don't want to spoil for you. Basically, this isn't really a romance. I mean, yeah there are cute shippy scenes, but this is more of a drama than a romance (I'd divide it 10% luck, 20% skill, 30% romance and 70% nail-biting drama). The romance was well-done, even though there was some insta-love. I liked the addition of art and putting the art into the book. I hate when books spend two paragraphs describing how a piece of art looks, when the message of the art would be way easier to understand if the reader could see the actual art. I do like this book more than Ugly Love, just because Ugly Love was really hard on my emotions at some times, but I can't rate this higher than Ugly Love because I gave Ugly Love 10/10 #ReaderProbz. Anyway, Confess is a very interesting, gripping book and I'd HIGHLY recommend picking it up.
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Ugly Love Book Review

Title: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Rating: 10 orange juice jugs out of 10
What It's About: Tate moves in next door to Miles and the two decide to start a "no strings attached" sexual relationship, but then they start to fall in love with each other, but Miles' tragic back story is preventing them from actually being together.
Recommended For: Fans of J. Lynn's "Wait For You" series

Review: This isn't the first Colleen Hoover book I've read, but it is the first contemporary NA book of hers that I've read and I'm starting to see what all the hype is about with her. Normally in contemporary romance, the tragic back story for whichever character is suffering from the "I want to love you but my past is getting in the way" trope, is very cliche. "My daddy didn't love me," "I've had my heart broken before," "I'm just not good for you." They're all so played out. But with Ugly Love, there was a really, REALLY tragic story behind why Miles couldn't let himself pursue a romantic relationship with Tate, and it was the first time I'd read about the complicated love interest being complicated for this certain reason (which I'm not going to spoil). I think that this back story worked even better because of the way that the book is written. There are chapters in the present from Tate's point of view, where she talks about how frustrating it is that Miles won't tell her anything about his past, but those chapters are alternated with Miles' flashbacks to six years ago. The flashbacks lead to a climax where we finally find out what happened to Miles, and it's much sadder than you think it's going to be when you start the book. Another thing I really liked about this book was that even though Tate is the main character, this is Miles' story. He's the character that grows the most and goes through all the development, Tate is just a catalyst for that to happen. Normally, I'd be like "why is the girl only here so the man can get his shit together?" but the moral of this story is the most important part, and the moral comes from Miles' character arc. The lesson he learns is what's supposed to stick with the reader, and it's a good thing that the romance was a little sidelined so that the reader could focus on what Miles was going through. It's not often that we see New Adult books that go beyond "hot 20-somethings have sex and there are mild inconveniences thrown in." There's an actual story to be told with Ugly Love. And it's a pretty great story.

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Rebel Belle Book Review

Title: Rebel Belle
Series: Rebel Belle (book 1)
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 9 Salmon Fantasy lip gloss tubes out of 10
What it's about: A popular southern belle (Harper) becomes the Paladin (guardian) of a boy (David) she hates, because he's got the power to fuck up everything in the world, and people want to use him to do evil things.
Recommended for: Vampire Academy and That's So Raven fans (that's something I never thought I'd say)

Review: Starting with the characters, they were so fun. Harper is a really cool heroine, and it makes sense for her to feel wary about being David's Paladin, and to be fair, she shouldn't have to give her life for him. And like what any teenager would do after finding out they have super strength, she goes home and googles about superheroes and then waits for the wise man to come into her life and tell her what the hell is going on. David is kind of an asshole for a while, but you start to warm up to him around the middle of the book, which is the entire point. The characters in the supporting cast were distinct and felt fleshed out, even when they were just minor roles. I think that the sort-of love triangle was very well done, since it was obvious that Harper and David are meant to be the central love story. The mythology/fantasy elements were pretty new, and I didn't feel like I'd seen several books where a person had to protect someone else with mystical powers (the only thing that comes close is Vampire Academy). I like that it's a present-day contemporary style, but it's got magic put into the story, but it doesn't take place in a big city or a suburban town that "every girl" can relate to. I think making this one of those old-timey, southern settings was a good choice because it made the story even funnier. The characters and setting were very good, but I feel that the pacing was a bit off. Everything's going steady and then nearly halfway through the book, we stop for a HUGE information dump. The action picks up soon after, but that exposition was too much at once. I think a bit could have been sprinkled through the last half of the book. But despite that, Rebel Belle was fun, charming, and very different from other YA fantasy books. I really enjoyed reading (well listening - it was an audiobook) to this!

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May TBR List

So April... not exactly what I would call a good reading month. But this May, I will be picking up lots of new books at the RT Booklovers Convention, and college will be ending and I'll have way more time to get some reading done at the end of the month. This is a list of four things that I plan on reading this month.

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - This has been on my TBR list for several months and this book cannot get here fast enough. This is the first book in a new series, and it is not related to Maas' Throne of Glass series. It is a high fantasy about fae and centers around a young woman who has to go live with this dude who really sucks IMO because she killed some other dude (murder has consequences, kids) but then she starts to fall for him and sexy times ensue. This is a New Adult spin on Beauty and the Beast and I need to get my tiny fingers on it ASAP. 
2. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins - I'm currently listening to the audiobook and I'm loving the book so far. It's got a contemporary tone but with fantasy elements, but not in a magic realism way. It's about a girl who is one of the "southern belle" types and on Homecoming night, a janitor gives her superpowers and now she has to protect this kid she hates from the people that want to kill him. 
3. The Lost Herondale by Cassandra Clare - This is the second ebook in the Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy series and I really just want to read it because it's a Shadowhunter book, not because it's about a Herondale (seriously, enough with the Herondales already). I don't know too much about what this one is about. There's, of course, the missing Herondale, which makes me think that this will just be about the legend of that Herondale, rather than the actual person. 
4. Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen - This is a book set in the 1920's and it centers around two best friends who move to New York City and get caught up with the wrong crowd as one of the girls searches for her father, who is probably a notorious alcohol smuggler. I love the 20's style, The Great Gatsby is my favorite classic, and I find stories about Prohibition to be interesting. Hopefully this book will live up to my expectations. 

That's the very small list of what I'm going to attempt to read this month! Bye now *flies off into the dark land known as Studying For Finals*

"Shadowhunters": Beyond the Pilot

With all the (FAKE) scripts of the pilot for Shadowhunters floating around the internet, some TMI fans are wary of the series because it seems like the first episode may be a hot mess. Though we should all remember that the scripts that have been seen by fans are FAKE.

What I want to point out to fans is that even if the first episode is complete horse shit, the series can get much better. Never judge a series by its pilot! Many shows, especially those about the supernatural, need about 4-6 episodes to really get going. Teen Wolf, Once Upon a Time, The Vampire Diaries, even older shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, took a little bit to gain their footing. If you compare the first few episodes of Teen Wolf (cheesy, over-dramatic, cringe-worthy) to how the show ended after season 3B* (Emmy-worthy performances, intense and shocking plots, action packed and interesting) it just shows that a rocky start does not mean a series is doomed. The Vampire Diaries started off with a mysterious bad boy having things to signal his presence... such as fog and a fucking bird. And the diary reading. Never forget the dairy reading. But in the 3 season run the show had**, it grew into a glorious thing, filled with twists and turns and of course, The Original Family.

This does go for any show, really, but given that Shadowhunters is such a special project (facing skepticism from people that hated the movie, people that hate the books, the critics who bashed the movie and are not going to be reasonable to the TV series because they hated the movie, and even some fans of the books), the show will need as many viewers as it can get. Book fans will likely be where most of the views for earlier episodes come from, and it's important for us to stick with the show, even if the first few episodes aren't very good. If you want to give up on it after around episode 7 because you're just not liking it, then I'd say that's a reasonable time to do so. But try to get at least halfway through season 1 before quitting.

That's all I wanted to talk about today and I know that I'm getting ahead of myself. As I write this, we only have one cast member attached, with the next two being announced in a handful of hours. But I think that the earlier that fans hear/talk about ratings and sticking with the show, the easier it'll be to get through to the fans.
For more information on Shadowhunters, follow me here, on my tumblrs (silverforthedemontowers and itsleightaylor) and/or instagram (silverforthedemontowers)
*Seasons 4 and 5 never happened. As far as I'm concerned, the series ended after season 3B.
** Yet another series that ended after its 3rd season. How tragic.