ON THE ISLAND.

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


WOW, this was a good story. It's a little unsettling at parts because you really want them to get off this damn island! I mean... how much can one person suffer before they give in to their suffering??! I thought this was a great example of how you find love in the most unexpected places and that even at your lowest point in life, when you're not completely alone, you still have something to look forward to. Looking for many more books from this author; this debut novel was fantastic!



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eBOOK GIVEAWAY!

"Tough Critic Book Reviews" is doing a giveaway for Jamie McGuire's "Eden" which will be available for ebooks on May 1st. I absolutely LOVE this series and have been so impatiently waiting for it to release! If you want in, follow "Tough Critic Book Reviews" blog here.

The review is as follows:

"Eden picks up exactly where Requiem leaves off. I mean literally! Jared and Nina fall asleep in Requiem and wake up in Eden; you don’t miss a thing! So what exactly does our leading lady wake up to? One word, J-A-R-E-D! Oh sweet angel babies! The things that come out of that boy’s mouth; that sweet, beautiful, angelic mouth. His wedding vows shot straight to my heart (and maybe a few um “other” places) and melted my very soul. He even had me saying, “I do”. OH. MY. GOD! I’m seriously going straight to hell for having these thoughts about a half angel. He’s so passionately devoted to keeping Nina safe, I get turned on just reading his name.

The last half of the book is non-stop action!! Once everything came to a head, I almost started to hyperventilate. All I could think was, “There are not enough pages left! Oh my God where’s the rest of the book!! It can’t be almost done!!” I finally came down off my brief period of psychosis in order to bitch slap Nina for her complete FUBAR of the situation. Of course she has Jared to save the day…again.

From start to finish, sharing Jared and Nina’s story has been quite the ride. We get to experience their first kiss, their first fu—fuuun date ;-) The entire story is epic. Providence brought us the passion and excitement of many firsts. Requiem brought us an action packed sequel and Eden did exactly what a final book is supposed to do; it brought completeness.

Since I was given Eden as an ARC, my final page had the word PROOF written in big bold letters! I can’t help but smile about how ironically fitting that is; the perfect ending. This entire series is PROOF that Jamie McGuire is a literary force to be reckoned with. The word Eden represents beginnings and I hope this is just the beginning of what Ms. McGuire has in store!"

How good does this book sound??! TOO EXCITED!

So if you'd like a chance to win this book, check out the giveaway at http://toughcriticbookreviews.blogspot.com

LOOKING FOR ALASKA.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow. This book had one MAJOR twist that I did NOT see coming. Although, I have to admit that I predicted the outcome of where this search "for Alaska" was going after the whole doodling fiasco... Anyway, I think that John Green has a very unusual way with words. It's brilliant actually. I say unusual because, as an adult, how does one write a book about teens in a teenage voice that is so accurate you would have thought he was a teen when he wrote it? Now I know that most teenagers aren't as pretentious or precocious as the ones in this book were... but the witticisms were so funny and so just EXACTLY what you would expect these characters to say when all you know of them is that they are teenagers that attend a boarding school. I really loved the sarcasm and also the deeply emotional parts were also rather enjoyable. John Green has become one of my favorite contemporary authors.



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DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.

I thought I’d share a story with you all.

I was browsing around Barnes & Noble (which I do often even though I never buy books because I have a kindle but I like the atmosphere and love the smell of books) and I was perusing the Y.A. section when a guy approached me. He asked if he could make some suggestions. I said sure. So he swept his hand over The Hunger Games trilogy and said “These are pretty good but they’re kind of intense.” I looked at him like he was kidding because on what planet are there people left who haven’t read these books?! I don’t live under a rock! (Ok, I’m being harsh.. but I seriously frequent that store AND that section, so to me it was blasphemous.) Anyway, I told him I read them then he points to the Mortal Instruments books and says “I heard these were pretty good” and at this point I’m confused as to why he is even giving me suggestions that he hasn’t even read PLUS I’ve already read them so I say “You mean you haven’t read them yet? You should, they’re good!”

Then he preceded to name books and I had read them all save for a few fantasy ones that I probably would never pick up anyway and then I tried to suggest a book to him since it was right in front of me. “The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green. Now see, I assume this guy is a bookie (my technical term for book lovers.. I know there’s a double meaning there but food lovers are foodies so why not right?) and that he will appreciate a good read. And then he tells me that he doesn’t like the cover, it doesn’t look interesting.

O_o Is this dude for real?!

So I all but shout, “Don’t tell me you’re one of those??!” and he shamefully admitted that yes, he was. And I told him that he was missing out on some pretty brilliant shit! I mean.. it’s John (fucking) Green! Anyway, he went on to talk about Hush, Hush (which I’ve also read) and how he thought it was going to be awesome because of the cover and he was disappointed (I told him to give the 2nd and 3rd books a chance because they get better), and all the time I’m thinking that I want to smack this guy because he’s not going to read “The Fault In Our Stars” because he thinks the cover sucks! What an idiot. Anyway, just thought I’d share because honestly, TFIOS is the best book I’ve read this year (I’m on book number 12 by the way) and it’s a shame that someone won’t experience it all because he isn’t fond of clouds or that particular shade of blue.

the end. (RANT OVER.)

ANGELFALL.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh goodness! I can't believe it took me so long to finally get into this book. I kept adding it to my "currently-reading" list and then removing it when another book I wanted to read was available. I read so many great reviews that I was surprised to find myself re-reading the first chapter over and over and OVER again. I just couldn't get into it.. that being said after Raffe comes into the picture I could NOT put this book down! It was so good... action-packed and (I'm not going to lie) a little demented. How someone could imagine the chilling things described in this book are beyond me but kudos to Susan Ee for being successful without being too graphic and borderline horrific without making me completely lose my lunch. Great story and a very different take on angels than I've read in the past. This book hardly focuses on lovey dovey romance and much more on the darker aspect of love during war.



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