'We were Liars', E. Lockhart

Goodreads * Amazon UK * Amazon

Book summary: A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Disclaimer: I've read the book in Polish translation. Translation can always affect my overall opinion of the book.

After closing this book I was like... did I really just read what I think I did? I have very mixed feelings about it. At first I was a bit sceptical after reading some unflattering reviews so I was surprised to discover I kind of like the author's writing style. It was my first Lockhart's book and I'm willing to give her another shot. It was a fast and pleasant read. What I didn't like were the attempts of making the text more dynamic and expressive by dividing it into short lines. The other thing that didn't really hit the mark for me was rough language used to describe Cadence's headaches.

If you don't have any idea what this book is about then... well. It's about a very rich family with a private Island and numerous of houses. Cadence, Johnny and Mirren are cousins who spend every summer there. The money and prestige talks don't really appeal to them. In the year fifteen Cadence had an accident - and she doesn't remember what had happened. After a short break she returns to an island to discover some things have changed and she promises herself she will discover what happened to her and why her cousins and boyfriend Gat haven't uttered a word to her since the tragedy.

Maybe I was clueless enough not to see little tips throughout the book but I was completely startled by the ending of this book. If you'll guess what's going on there then you probably won't like this book as much as people as baffled as I was. Although the idea itself wasn't necessarily original (I've seen an American movie with similar ending long time ago - won't reveal the titlte to not spoil you the fun) it was definitely a strong point of We were Liars.

I would totally recommend this book for those who like a twisted mystery, astonishing endings and are willing to cope with rich and wealthy environment. If you let this seemingly plain story talk to your sensitivity you may also find some universal truths lying beneath. 

- with a minus

'Girl Online', Zoe Sugg

Goodreads * Amazon UK * Amazon

Book summary: I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

Disclaimer: I've read the book in Polish translation as an Advanced Readers Copy. Translation can always affect my overall opinion of the book.

I was very curious about Zoella's book. Everyone was talking about it everywhere: goodreads, blogs, youtube... I don't like to read popular books when everyone else does but I've decided to pick it up and check what the fuss is all about.

The story itself is really sweet but a bit typical. Shy and lacking confidence teenager from Europe has a chance to live an adventure of her life going to New York and meets a handsome musician. She experiences the taste of first love, gain self-confidence, finds the strength to stand up to her frenemies. All that with a leitmotiv of writing a blog.

The book was advertised as written by a blogger about a blogger. If I'm honest - personally I think there was too little about the whole blogging thing. I was expecting more chapters in style of blog posts, more descriptions of the whole online life... To get only that what is in Girl Online was a bit disappointing.

I can say that I liked Penny and her best friend Elliot, but other characters seemed a bit like a background to me (even Noah was a bit flat). 

The thing that didn't quite please me was the typical storyline. Other than that the book was nicely written and sweet. It was a relaxing and fast read. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone not interested in YouTube life or not being a teenage girl though. It's a bit too naive for older readers - but you should totally pick it up when you're tired of reading more demanding books.

+

'Bad Romeo'', Leisa Rayven

Goodreads * Amazon UK * Amazon

Book Summary: When Cassie Taylor met Ethan Holt at acting school, sparks flew. She was the good girl actress. He was the bad boy about campus. But one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing, Cassie and Ethan's romance seemed destined. Until he broke her heart and betrayed her trust. Now the A-list heartthrob is back in her life and turning her world around. One touch at a time. 

Cast as romantic leads once again, they're forced to confront raw memories of the heartbreaking lows and pulse-pounding highs of their secret college affair. But they'll also discover that people who rub each other the wrong way often make the best sparks

This book just doesn't sit right with me. Just... doesn't. I was hoping for something really good looking at how people were excited about it. At least for something bearable... And first pages of the book got me hooked but then... like a huge SLAM of the door on my face... what's going on here?

I disliked both main characters. They were irritating, self and sex obsessed. Ethan had hurt Cassie in the past (erm... will I ever know what happened, in details, please?) and she still chases after him... because her body wants him. But he treats her horribly all the time... and she still chases him. Enough.for.me.

Also, I've found the way of narration a bit confusing when we were jumping from past to present tense... and from present to past again... 

This book was so frustrating I had to put it down. Twice. I had to force myself to finish it.

To be honest, I think that Leisa Rayven missed her chance to write a very good and beautiful book. Her writing style is nice and I hope one day I'll read her again, but not in this series.

The story around this toxic relationship filled with poor sexual "tension" just made me angry, sad and a bit disgusted.

and a *half*

received via NetGalley for an honest review

'Love Hurts' Malorie Blackman and others, collection of short stories

Goodreads * Amazon UK
Random House Corgi Childrens

Book Summary: Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.

Love Hurts is an anthology of short stories written by well known authors (like Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak or Jenny Downham). Most of these stories are simply extracts from already written books. We can read a bit of If I Stay, We Were Liars or The Infinite Moment of Us - most of chapters are parts of different titles, but there are some separate stories as well.

If you didn't read original books it's easy to get confused while reading extracts, because they're simply out of context and we don't know the background of characters or events. On the other hand you can get to know different writing styles, read pieces of bestselling books and decide if you'd like to pick them up or not.

I'm not sure if making a book out of parts of other books is a good idea. I think readers would enjoy it more if these were separate short stories. I have to say that my favourite story was Malorie Blackman's standalone Humming Through My Fingers. It was a solid and touching read. 

I wouldn't call this book a waste of time but it certainly wasn't what I expected it to be. I would recommend it only to those who want to get to know writing style of different authors and decide whether they would like to read their works. If you expect an unique read like My True Love Gave To Me you will be disappointed.

Swoonuary! A Valentine's Day Special with the Bookish Groupies - means February is about LOVE

Hello beautiful ladies, and welcome to the Bookish Groupies first annual event, Swoonuary! 

Are you in the mood for a sugary sweet romance? What about a contemporary so cute, you're left squealing like a school girl? If you are, then perfect, because that is what Swoonuary is all about! After reading quite a bit of fantasy and science fiction lately, the girls and I are ready to dive back into the land of hook ups & heartbreaks, happily ever afters, and happily never fucking again . . . well the last part might be something I'm looking for, but you get the idea. All month long, we've decided to read both romance & contemporary novels in Lieu of Valentines day, the day for all things cheesy. But what fun what it be if we didn't have other bloggers join us? That's where you all come in . . . 

To read more CLICK HERE :)

I was invited to this event by Tika and I'm very happy to take part in it :) You can do that too! February is this one month a year when everyone is talking about love... so why not read about love? I'm very excited to finally cross some cute'n'sweet (or sometimes sweet'n'sour) romance books out from my to-read lists :)

What I'm planning to read:

Summer series by Jenny Han

I own the complete trilogy in Polish so I've decided to give it a go in February. I think it will be a light and relaxing read after all my exams and perfect for the season (although it's still winter :))

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven

It's unfortunately on my DNF list so I've decided to pick it up again this month. Hopefully I'll finish this time.

The Right Side of Mr. Wrong by Jane Linfoot

which I've received from Isabell for a guest review. I've been slacking on reading it because of my exams so I think now it's the right time to speed up my reading :)

And hopefully I'll read even more than that :)