Review: Just One Night (Just One Day #2.5)

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 40 pages
Format: ebook
My Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (you da best Goodreads that I know): After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter. 

My Thoughts: This review is going to be short and sweet just like the novella was. After I had finished Just One Year, I was left wanting just a smidgen bit more. I understood why the book had to end the way that it did, and I actually really liked how it ended because I liked that we kind of got to create what happened between Allyson and Williem. Trust me, I'm very inventive when it comes to endings (I blame the fanfiction). This was the perfect closure to their story and I am just in love with Gayle Forman's writing. If you read and loved Just One Day and Just One Year, you've got to read this too. 

Final Thoughts: The perfect conclusion to a fantastic series. 

Review: The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass 0.5)

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Sarah J Maas
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 10 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads, you the bomb dot com): 
Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out. 

My Thoughts: I read Throne of Glass last year, I'm all caught up and EAGERLY awaiting Queen of Shadows, so you'd think that between these two events, I would have picked up the glorious book that is The Assassin's Blade to go with Celaena on a few more adventures before figuring out what happens to my precious babies (aka Dorian and Rowan and Celaena of course). But no, because I am, apparently, a certifiable idiot. This book is just as amazing - or probably more amazing - as you'd expect from Sarah J Maas. Each book keeps getting better, and this is absolutely no exception. Celaena is as sassy as you'd expect, the story is as tremendous as you'd expect, the plot is as heartbreaking as you'd expect. What I didn't expect? Was to fall even more in love with characters who I knew would break my itty bitty fragile heart (SAM), for the book to flow like it was an actual novel and not 5 separate novels, or for me to still be thinking about the events that took place weeks later. Each novella flows right into the next, and you follow Celaena as she conquers pirate lords, practices general badassery, is betrayed, and as she finds herself in situations she never thought she'd be in. This book tells the reader how Celaena ended up in Endovier (I hope I spelt that right but I am at Tim Horton's and don't have the book on me), and allows for huge insights into her character to be made. We see why Celaena ticks, we get a glimpse into her past, and if you loved the Throne of Glass series (if you don't, I'm assuming that's because you just haven't read it yet) this novel is a must read. A gut-wrenching, beautiful, must read. 

Final Thoughts: Sarah J Maas, who did you sell your soul to? How are you so amazing?

Review: Maybe Not (Maybe Someday #1.5)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Colleen Hoover
Format: ebook, novella
Pages: 129
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

**Part of a series**Itty Bitty Spoiler Alert**

Summary (Maybe from Goodreads): When Warren has the opportunity to live with a female roommate, he instantly agrees. It could be an exciting change.

Or maybe not.

Especially when that roommate is the cold and seemingly calculating Bridgette. Tensions run high and tempers flare as the two can hardly stand to be in the same room together. But Warren has a theory about Bridgette: anyone who can hate with that much passion should also have the capability to love with that much passion. And he wants to be the one to test this theory.

Will Bridgette find it in herself to warm her heart to Warren and finally learn to love?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

My Thoughts: I love Colleen Hoover, I love Maybe Someday. I knew I'd love Maybe Not. It was great to see into the lives of minor characters in a novel that I love. Plus, I wasn't ready to let go of the story or the characters just yet. It was a fantastic way to get more. 

I have to be honest with all of you. I don't really have a whole lot to say about this novella. It wasn't a full length novel and it wasn't like I was suddenly learning all about brand new characters. Since it was so short, I don't want to spoil good moments like how Warren's nephew was adorable when he played dead or all the pranks or the sexy times. It was just fantastic. The whole entire book was fantastic. I loved it and want to read it again...like right now. I think that you should probably read this book but it is definitely not for young eyes. No but, like, for real. Age appropriate, enjoy the sex but otherwise, wait a few years. It's not young adult.

Enjoy!

Review: Happenstance

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jamie McGuire
Format: ebook/novella
Pages: 100
Rating: 6 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads): Erin Easter, one of three Erins in the small senior class of rural Blackwell High School who not only share a first name, but also their birthday. Erin Easter, raised by a neglectful single mom, keeps to herself and admires Weston Gates from afar. The other Erins, Erin A. and Erin M. are the darlings of the community: daughters of the two wealthiest families in town, best friends, cheerleaders, and everything Erin Easter isn't--and they never let her forget it. Erin A. has even claimed Weston since the 8th grade.

Weston is a well-liked star athlete, and the son of two prominent attorneys. He struggles daily with the pressures of living up to his family name and secretly empathizes with Erin Easter's feeling that she belongs somewhere else; in a different life. Not until he begins sneaking nights out with Erin does he gain the courage to buck expectations and acknowledge his feelings ... both for his future, and for her.

But when a shocking tragedy rocks the tiny town, Erin's life is turned upside down in the best way possible. But when the truth is revealed and everything Erin thinks she wanted falls into her lap, life only becomes more complicated.

My thoughts: This was another novella that could be a full length novel. I think it loses something because it isn't. Kristen informs me that this is to be a series or is a series or whatever which is nice; however, I forgot what it was about after reading it. There wasn't enough of it to stick with me for the week I was camping. I lost it. It was in one eye out the other, as it were... I wish that it was more. This novel itself could have been expanded to a full length, still ending in the same spot for future novels. Perhaps, I imagine the author with more free time than they really have. I'm not sure but it still makes me sad to read short novella's like this when they could be so much more. I know it's the author's choice but I'm still sad about it.

Having a book be so short, you get thrown too fast into the action. Everything happens far too quickly. I don't get a feel for the characters fast enough. I can't figure out exactly what's happening fast enough and everything seems fake. This isn't because it is, I just don't have the time in this novel to figure it all out.

Also, I don't trust whatshisface...Weston. Nope. Too fast. All of it is too fast. Sigh. I don't know what else to say?

The idea was wonderful and the writing was good. It was entertaining and a fast read. It wasn't a waste of the 45 minutes it took to read it. The potential was there...

Check it out? Give it the hour you need to read it.

I think I'll be looking for the next one in the series just to find out what happens.

Review: Finding Cinderellla

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Colleen Hoover
Format: ebook/novella
Pages: 90
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (found on Goodreads): A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

Sometimes I think...

The summary of this novel is almost longer than the bloody book is!

Anyway, this novella is not at all what I expected. I wish it would have been a full length story because I would have read it no questions asked. I believe there was enough material here to expand on that it could have been a full novel. Thinking about it makes me sad because I love Colleen Hoover. She is wonderful. Her books are super entertaining; her novellas are no different, apparently.

The characters were basically perfect. My only thing is that there could have been so much more to them if Hoover had given herself the time to dive into each character.

HOLY UNFORESEEN PLOT TWIST! I'm not usually surprised but this one got me. In my mind, this was so much out of nowhere that I had to put the ereader down for a moment to compose myself. How did I not see it coming? I don't know. It was a good twist.

Again, the novel could have really looked at how the plot twist affected the characters but the author did wonderful with the time she did have. I believed that the characters would react the way they did. 

This novel, though not consistently happy during the novel, made me happy while I was reading it. I would reread this one. I think I will. That's how good I thought it was. And anyway, it's only 90 pages so what have you got to lose? One recommendation: read Hopeless (or whatever the first one was, I get the two confused constantly...) first.

Read it.

Enjoy.

Review: Finding Cinderella

Reviewer: Kristen 
Author: Colleen Hoover
Pages: 90 
Format: eBook (novella)
My Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (I cherish you, Goodreads):A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

My Thoughts: Aw man, I don't even know where to begin. I love me some Colleen Hoover and all the uber fine male characters she has introduced to us. (It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out how to word that sentence - for some reason, I kept wanting to refer to the male characters as man-meat.) This book was such a cool premise, and I had a deep-harboured love for Six that wasn't quite satisfied in Hopeless or Losing Hope. I'm so glad that we finally got to explore her world a little bit more, even if it was through the eyes of Daniel. Who, may I say, was an excellent narrator. 

There were plot twists I didn't see coming, and explanations that I didn't know I needed until I read this. It was such an excellent novella, and I really don't know what else to say. If you've ever read any of Colleen Hoover's novels, you know that she spins figurative gold with the words she uses to create incredibly realistic worlds. Not only worlds though, but characters too. Every stinking character that I've read by Colleen Hoover feels like someone I could actually know, or someone who I'd want to know. 

I didn't expect the story to go the way it did, or for me to love a story as much as I do that was only 90 pages long. I'm greedy, and I wanted more, even though the story doesn't really call for more. Colleen Hoover has quickly become one of my favourite authors. 

Final Thoughts: Love me this book.