This week I manged to read six books. Four physical books; one an ARC. And two e-books; both e-ARC's.
For the One(Gaming the System #5) by Brenna Aubrey ***
I was eagerly anticipating this release because of William. From the past books I figured he was on the autism spectrum and I'm all over a romance book that has mental health so front and center. William has Aspergers. And I think Brenna did a fantastic job of capturing William's social difficulties and need for routine. William can obviously come across as rude and abrupt, especially when he can't look people in the eye(in case you didn't know, eye contact can be really intense and overwhelming). But he's also really driven, caring and wonderful to the people he loves. All and all William is a great character. Jenna no so much. It's unfortunate that this book is told in alternating POVs because I will admit to having to skip through some of Jenna's inner thoughts. Jenna's supposed to come across as this compassionate wonder type. But I just saw her as a bitch. She starts off using William(which of course he doesn't see because of obvious reasons and also being in love with her). Then as she gets to know him and understand that he has autism she fails to take that into consideration when talking to him. William speaks his mind and doesn't understand metaphors and the like, and so many times Jenna is quick to just tell him he's pissing her off when doesn't get what she's saying. I can understand being frustrated but you have to keep William's emotions in mind. AND my biggest issue was how she was constantly pushing him to have sex. William is wonderful and stead fast in his desire to not have sex with Jenna knowing she's not sticking around. Yet Jenna just keeps pushing him and saying it's just sex. Well to him it isn't. God, she just all around pissed me off. Especially the ending after the "fall out". Just UGH! So well I loved William and wished for someone much better for him, that's not what happened. Jenna and her terrible personality definitely hindered my enjoyment of the book.
The Rose and the Dagger(The Wrath and the Dawn #2) by Renee Ahdieh *****
Well I did have some minor issues with this finale(like why does the loyal side character have to die, but the person that continually fucked everything up get to live? Or I how I didn't find the conclusion to the curse flushed out.) they are sooooo easily overlooked because everything else is glorious. Khalid and Shazi are wonderful and romantic and amazing complex characters. The writing is beautiful. The story is intriguing. I JUST LOVE THIS DUOLOGY WITH ALL MY HEART.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid ****
Review to come.
Charged(Saints of Denver #2) by Jay Crownover ***
Review to come.
Rebel Belle(Rebel Belle #1) by Rachel Hawkins ****
As expected, a really fun and humourous read. Harper is a really driven and sassy queen bee type. But I love how she's not a mean girl. The books starts off with a bang, and Harper is kicking ass in a dress like it ain't know ones business. The juxtaposition of her proper southern belle attire and attitude with her new strength and fighting powers is great. I love me a hate to love romance(as you know) and the relationship development between Harper and David is on point. From arguments to unintentional flirting to cuteness through all the banter, LOVED it. Totally the kind of book you fly through in a couple of hours.
Summer of Sloane by Erin L Schneider ****
I've been anticipating the release of Summer of Sloane for a while now. So well I was in the book store this week I picked it up to read the first chapter and was completely hooked. So of course it came home with me. And of course I devoured it in a few short hours. Summer of Sloane is a few things. It's about being true to yourself. It's about learning when it's right to forgive. And it's totally about the really vivid setting of Hawaii. I LOVE Sloane. She's just plain old awesome. There's so many good relationships in this book. Like all of them; parental, sibling, friendship, romantic. They're complex, complicated and real. Summer of Sloane is a really positive book in that category. The writing and story is super easy. Everything fits. I was impressed with how forgiveness was handled, especially based on the actions surrounding the main plot. And also how the two people involved weren't just paired together afterwards(vague, I know; but spoilers). The thing holding me back from giving the final star is the ending. It was a little rushed and lacked a solid completeness. Which unfortunately happens way too many times in these short YA contemporaries. I was also not 100% onboard with the final romance. I liked it. I liked him. I just didn't care for his behaviour near the end and found Sloane was too fast to forgive him and put a little of the blame on herself just because of his past. Which if the book had had twenty more pages, I might be singing a different tune. All in all a really solid debut from Erin Schneider. Really looking forward to her future books; in which I'm hoping we'll see a companion to Summer of Sloane with a certain someone.
What did you guys read this week?
Happy reading!
Brittany
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