Angela's July Wrap up

Darkfever- Karen Moning
Bloodfever- Karen Moning
Faefever- Karen Moning
Dreamfever- Karen Moning
Shadowfever-Karen Moning
Clipped Wings- Helena Hunting
Inked Amor- Helene Hunting
White Bird in a Blizzard- Laura Kasischke
The Cage- Megan Shepherd
Dirty Rowdy Thing- Christina Lauren
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Jonathan Foer
More Happy Than Not- Adam Silvera
The Devil's Intern- Donna Hoise
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist- Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Untethered- Jax Spenser 
Singularity- Jax Spenser 
Freefall- Jax Spenser  
Coherence- Jax Spenser 
Redshift- Jax Spenser
Maud's Line- Margret Verble   
Fractured Suns- Theresa Kay
World War Z- Max Brooks
IM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm no longer sick! If you couldn't tell by the ridiculous spike in my reading from June to July. So happy to be back in the game!  If you can't tell from just eyeballing, there might have been a tiny common variable between the books I chose mainly to read this month. I read a lot of Book to Films. I decided to pick up books that I knew were movies and hadn't read yet so I could read them then watch them. I'll probably follow this trend into next month as well since I still have a few I'd like to knock out. The books to films I choose were: White Bird in a Blizzard, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and World War Z. I had already seen WWZ and Nick and Norah as movies so picking up the books were really fun. With the other two I got to read them then see the movie and it made it even better. Both White Bird and Extremely Loud were amazing books and the movies were the same. Both surprised me by how well they played out.

I also managed to knock out a few TBRs I had planned and a pretty hefty series. So that leads me into my July favorites. I had the best kind of problem when it comes to my favorites this month, I have so many! The entire Fever Series- (especially ShadowFever), Dirty Rowdy Thing, The Devil's Intern, and Fractured Suns top my list this month. When I started the Fever Series I had no idea how much I was going to love it. The first two books were good but the last three were phenomenal! It had everything I ever wanted in one series.  Dirty Rowdy Thing kept true to the Christina Lauren ways and had me swooning all over the place. They are so creative with their books and never let me down. The Devil's Intern was hands down my biggest surprise read in July. I had no true idea what this book was about. Tying time travel with a boy who is living in Hell seems like it would end up a cluster F, but this book was amazing. Lastly Fractured Suns. No clue why I was so nervous to start this book. Think I feared it would suffer from second book syndrome, but NOPE! This book blew me out of the water! The cover reveal is in August and that's when I'll have my review up for it. Each of these books knocked my socks off. I want do too mention the duology I read this month, Clipped Wings, it might not have made my favorites list but this series was still great, and it did end up having one of my new favorite leading males in it.


When it comes to my least favorites this month I only have two. Maud's Line and The Cage. Maud's Line was just not my cup of tea. If you like a little bit more of realistic-historical-fiction this book might be something you're into. I however ended up not liking it and barely making it through the whole thing. I will eventually put a review up for this I'm just struggling a little with getting all my thoughts together on it. As for The Cage, well it was the definition of let-down. When I started writing the review for it I ended up stopping and deleting it because it just got a little nasty and out of hand. When I heard that it was a book about Aliens taking humans and throwing them into a Zoo like cage it had me so interested. However the idea, though great, wasn't executed well on paper. It was another book I had to struggle to get through, and ended up annoyed  that I even ended up reading it.

Till august
-Angela

Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Layla has a big problem. A Lilin is running around topside wreaking havoc all around her. That's only one of her problems. Being torn between two worlds and two boys causes some issues as well. 

It's been a long time since I've gotten behind the wheel of a Jla book, and it's been a long time since I devoured a book this fast. Started it at 3 finished it at five. Every Last Breath is the third and final book in the Dark Elements Trilogy, if you haven't read the first two please do not pass go and do not pick up two-hundred dollars. GO BACK NOW AND READ THE FIRST TWO!!!! Every Last Breath does not let down.

As much as I want to load this review with spoils that would turn you rotten I wont.
ELB picks up right where Stone Cold Touch left off. The Lilin is still out and causing chaos. Layla is still confused about what she is. And of course we are still waiting on the answer of who the hell does Layla pick. Gargoyle Zayne or Crown Prince of the Under World Roth... I like everyone else mainly was waiting to find out which dude she be choosin. Clearly being team Roth I was on the edge of my seating waiting for the moment when the big question was answered... And boy do we get an answer. No I wont tell you what happens... I will give you (of course) a run-down of what I thought.

Layla is still one of my favorite Fems and brings the thunder in this book. Finally putting on her big girl panties I was so happy with her character development. She goes from a strong physical character, to a strong emotional character. She starts making decisions and realizes becoming an adult means having to make tough choices, but you have to make them. Good or bad outcome it must be done. Then we have sweet sweet Zayne. Who again continues to be a strong male presence and someone you want to cheer for... Even if deep down inside, in this case, you'll want the nice guy to finish last... sorry. I overall liked his character in this book, even though at one point I did think the direction something was taken was a little cheese. On to Roth... HOLY HOT DEMON BABIES EVERYWHERE ROTH... WHOOSH... SWOON! I'd walk through hell for his hottie! He blew my mind in this book. Didn't think it was possible for him to get any better, but yup WRONG. Every time he was present I had to make sure I was sitting down; just got so weak in the knees. If getting pregnant by reading was possible... Well I wouldn't need Maury to tell me that Roth IS the father.

"And my desire for you increases every waking second in a way that should frighten me, but really just excites me. But most of all, I love you... Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow, a hundred decades from now, I will still be in love with you..."

I thought Layla had a lot of growth, but she has nothing on Roth. I will give this tiny bit of information... There is a drunk Roth scene and oh Lord did I love it!!! He was on my list of favorite fictional guys but has definitely moved up. On too my favorite topic when it comes to Jla books.
Yes, her side characters! Jla write some of my favorite side characters. Doesn't matter how big or small their rolls are I always love them. My two favorites hands down were Tony the seer who happens to require you to bring him dinner when you visit and Cayman, Roth's right hand man. Both had my sides splitting! Especially Cayman. I didn't remember loving him so much Stone Cold Touch, but he loved him so much in Every Last Breath. Every sarcastic sentence that oozed from his mouth was perfection. Every character in this book is so easily liked.

The plot of this book went very different than I thought. It was a lot heavier on the smushy romance (no this isn't a complaint) and saved a lot of the action for the last half of this book. Knowing this was surrounding a love triangle I knew there was going to be a lot of smutty goodness but had no idea what I was in for!  I was actually happy with how this played out, because I wont lie I was worried. I think if anyone else besides Jla would have attempted to do such heavy romance and hold off on the action till the end it might not have played out as well. When the action does come, though a tiny bit predictable, still hit home and cuts deep. I again wont lie, though I wanted action, that wasn't why I choose this book. I choose it because I knew it was going to be a fun, hilarious, romantic read, with a well written triangle. Going into it wanting that and then getting it has me left completely stratified with the ending to this wondering and different paranormal trilogy. I highly recommend this series. Was getting in a bit of a slump and as usual Jennifer pulled me right back out. This was the perfect summer romance read.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

if you see thie and think... Ew this is cheese... stop right there. Jla might be the Queen of bad covers, but she has all right too be when she constantly crushes books.

HIDE: Omnibus by Jax Spenser

When Keegan finally gets away from his brutal mother on his sixteenth birthday/ Things should get better but turn bizarre when his father picks up a hitchhiker in the desert. 

When I was contacted by Jax to read this novel I was really excited because... well obviously, Aliens. I was also really interested in it because I liked that it was a bind-up of a five part series. When this book arrived I was so happy with the way it looked (if you're an avid reader than you'll get what I'm saying). It's that shiny, thick spine, glossy style a lot of indie authors use, and it's personally one of my favorite styles. Also loved the cover art on both the bind-up and of the individuals. That aside, on to the actual review.

Omnibus is a bind-up of: Untethered, Singularity, Coherence, Freefall, and Redshift. All following sixteen-year-old Keegan Roe. Keegan suffers from blackouts and from a rough up bringing. After a turn of events he ends up with his father on a trip that ends up somewhere they didn't plan. 

This could be your last memory...

I love reading stories from a males point of view so again this added on too the reasons I was happy to read this. I wont lie however, I did have a little bit of a love hate relationship with Keegan. When I read the first two parts he got a little on my nerves. By part five I did end up liking him. I think I was just waiting for that moment when he finally grew a pair and just did something kick ass... Really wanted him to take control of his destiny. He does have a great deal of character development, but never exactly hit the mark I was hoping for. Hoping that when we get more into the story and when we get a part 6-whatever number that we can get a more grown up, tougher Keegan. At first his memory loss was something that I feared wouldn't grow on me either, but it did and I was real thankful for it. By the end it really turned into such a unique player in the story. The only side character I really think you need to know about is Lizzy Bruce. She was my favorite part/character in this series. She's had a lot of the characteristics I was hoping that Keegan would show. She was interesting while still maintaining to have such mystery surrounding her. She's probably who I'm most looking forward to seeing in the future.

As far as world building and plot I think this is Jax's real strength. He paints the perfect picture of a creep town, with vivid, and odd characters filling it. The pace of this story does start out slow but by the end you'll find yourself thankful that it took a cooler speed. The first two books Untethered and Singularity are all about introductions and world building, Freefall and Coherence are all about getting you hooked and placing Easter eggs, and Redshift really brings it all home. Redshift really sold me on this series. I loved the way all the memories, flashbacks, and little details finally get revealed. I thought I had a lot of things figured out, and was happy with the little twist that came into play. Hide takes a new spin on an old topic and gives it something extra. With how the story is left off I was left with a few remaining questions and wanting more... Not a bad problem as I see it.Seriosuly though that ending killed me I really nee to know what is going to happen next. By the end I was left thinking...

The Hide Series is a fun, light, brain twisting read that will have you craving more.

8/10 Stars 
-Angela  

Paper Towns Movie Review

As usually just left the theater and came straight home to do a review. Before I get started on all the juicy details there are two things I want to go right ahead and get out of the way. First, yes, WE GET BLACK SANTA!!!! and Two the cameo that was hinted at is as perfect as people said. Seriously when "it" happens everyone in the theater died. So happy, so cheeky, so John Green. Loved both of these things. 

On too the movie and the review. If you don't know Paper Towns is about a boy named Q who is just floating through his last few weeks of high school. He mainly just hangs out with his two closet friends, pining over his crush from childhood from afar, and living within the comfort zone he has made for himself. That is until his crush, Margo, sneaks into his room one night asking him to come with her to right 9 wrongs. 

First casting for this film was spot on. We know that Nat Wolff (Q) is going to be adorable, sweet, and entertaining. It's a given, he's just so charming. He nails awkward teen boy right on the head. We know Cara Delevingne (Margo) was going to be fun to see for her first "real" on screen performance. And yeah, she was great to watch... But there is no doubt in my mind who really stole the show. Justice Smith (Radar), Austin Abrams (Ben), and Jaz Sinclair (Angela). These up and comers really made this film. Especially Austin Abrams, who brought so much comic relief to this film. The moments he is on screen are so hilarious. There wasn't a second he was present that I didn't find myself laughing. Both Austin and Justice brought so much life to Radar and Ben. If anyone else would have been casted I don't think the film would have been as fun as it was. Nat, Justice, and Austin have so much on screen chemistry there's no way you wont fall in love with these three. They're the perfect band of misfits. All these characters managed to capture all the teenage angst you're hoping for. 

Paper Towns is a coming of age story that manages to avoid labels therefore avoids a lot of the usual cliches. Don't stress though it is for sure a John Green film. It's relate-able, fun, and of course packs a powerful message.  The pace of the film matches that of the book. It starts off with a bang, levels out in the middle, then delivers a strong ending. Like TFIOS, Paper Towns stays pretty close to the reading material it's based off. Though there is one big change from the book to film, there is no question as to why it was changed. It gave the story more of a push (in my opinion) to a more a proper ending. Even the small/"big" changes were perfectly done and I feel readers of the book wont be disappointed in the things that are altered. If you're not a reader than the ending might be something you wont see coming...the story ends in a way that manages to defy expectations and eschew the "teen-movie-romcom" norm. The ending was personally my favorite part of the film. The prank scenes are fun and will have you laughing, the little details are much appreciated, and the heavier moments hit hard much like the book.

Paper Towns isn't my favorite John Green book... because lets be real, nothing compares to TFIOS. I think the film surpassed the book, and for that I'm thankful. Paper Towns is a film about living each moment, about seeking a great perhaps, and about seeing people for more than face value. All these wonderful values are laid out for us and delivered so strongly. Really satisfied with the film and it has me very excited about seeing the soon to be Looking for Alaska. The casting, direction, and soundtrack were all stunning. Very happy with the way this sweet film played out and I don't think John Green fans will be disappoint. Great summer film.

9/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Angela's Out of Control TBR Pile

If you couldn't tell from the title my TBR pile has gotten out of control! Between the sales on bookoutlet, publisher sent, and the book events we've gone to recently I've acquired an insane amount of books! Right now I'm sitting on 26 books to be read. This isn't including the E-books I've been sent for review as well. Seriously yall this is getting out of hand. Didn't help that last month I got real ill and fell incredibly behind in my reading. -While I typed that I said all of it in my head with a British accent, no clue why... Probably has to do with the amount of British TV shows I've been watching on Netflix... Anyways, these are the current books on my shelf. 

Mila 2.0- Debra Driza

Sea of Shadows- Kelley Armstrong

This is Not a Test- Courtney Summers

The Fury- Alexander G. Smith

Broken Hearts, Fences and Other Things to Mend- Katie Finn

A Little Something Different- Sandy Hall 

Stone Rider- David Hofmeyr

When the Sea is Rising Red- Cat Hellisen

Of Triton- Anna Banks

Of Neptune- Anna Banks 

The Trylle Series- Amanda Hocking 

Switched 

Torn 

Ascend  

Whispers of the Fallen- J.D Netto

Rebellion  

Thrones & Bones- Lou Anders 

Frostborn 

Nightborn 

Reckoning- Kerry Wilkinson 

Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell 

Blackout- Robison Wells 

Undertow- Micheal Buckley 

No Place to Fall- Jaye Brown 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown- Holly Black 

Illuminae- Amie kaufman 

The Memory Painter- Gwendolyn Womack  
Thicker than Blood- Claire Riley 

Yeah. Kind of out of control. Hoping by the end of December I can have 5 or less on my shelf. Highly doubt this will happen but we shall see... Biggest issue is what should I read next??!!  

Dream-Cast Ladies Addition

If you follow us on any social sites than you should know that once a month we put up a post about our choices for Fictional Book Boyfriends/Dreamcast... Well we thought it would be fun to show yall some of our lady choices. Hopefully this will be something we can continue in the future. Same as with our other post, if we have a review on our blog for these books just click the titles.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
35 girls are chosen to be a part of a bachelor style contest to marry the prince.

 

Holland Roden as America Singer

Legend by Marie Lu

Girl has to choose to fight for either her country or love.

Hailee Steinfeld as June Iparis

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 

Female assassin must compete against fellow criminals in hopes to win freedom.

Natalie Dormer as Celaena Sardothien

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover 

Girl moves in with musician neighbor. 

Imogen Poots as Sydney 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi  
Government seeks untouchable girl to use as weapon. 

Odeya Rush as Juliette

The Devil's Intern by Donna Hosie

"How did you die?" It's the most popular question in Hell, and Mitchell Johnson has been answering it ever since he was hit by a bus and ended up in the Underworld.

"I  just love books about guy's who are working in the accounting department of Hell as the Devil's intern and then over hears about a way to get out and get their life back by using time travel..." said no one ever! However, that is only because nothing like this has ever been written. The Devil's Intern was a really great surprise. 

When I first heard about this book I only knew that it was full of dry humor (my fave) and about a boy who was working as, yes you guessed it, the Devil's intern. I had no idea about all the other little nuggets that would be thrown into it.

First the characters were amazing. Each one so different than the next. First we have our main man Mitchell Johnson. The witty, nerdy, funny, hungry, guy who got hit by a greyhound and is now interning in Hell. Then you get the side characters: Medusa, Mitchell's best friend. Alfarin the surprisingly sweet Viking Prince. Then the 17th Century peasant Elinor. The banter between these characters is so much snarky goodness. Their relationship is so bizarre that it makes it work in the most perfect way. This is all before you throw in the element of the Devil himself... who happens to be a total drama queen who doodles black hearts around evil plans and hates Vegans. 

“Can we go back and sit down? Dancing is for girls.”

“I am a girl, Mitchell,” replies Medusa, “and try telling The Devil that.” We both look over at the master of Hell, who has cleared the dance floor with his moshing.”

Reading the four of these characters together would be reason enough to pick up this book, but I haven't even mentioned the plot. 

The plot falls just below "fast paced" and hit a new level that I don't even know if there's a word invented for it... I'll just say perfect for now. The pace is perfect. From the moment we are introduced too not only Mitchell's character, but to the world itself, is just non-stop. There is always something happening. The fact that she has it so Hell is kind of like the real world will have you cracking up. Hell sounds a lot like living in the south. It's insanely hot, traffic jams are never ending, and everyone's just working for the weekend. The big thing I need to mention is the clear elephant in the room.. The time traveling aspect. When I was reading and this started coming into play, I will not lie I became super nervous. Thank the dark lords that I kept reading. It was the biggest and best surprise. It starts happening and I was still so/so about it, then the closer it came to the end of the story the more impressed I became with it. The more time travel we got the more all these hidden treasures come out. It didn't hurt that with a lot of these scenes the author managed to nail her comic timing. There's one scene when they go to like a KFC and send Alfari the Viking to order their food and he pulls a total Thor and it had me in stitches.
 

Even when the plot calls for things too get a little heavier and more serious, Hoise makes the story flow and work. At one point in time I was getting teary eyed and was floored by the emotional turn the book took.  From start to finish The Devil's Intern was one surprise after another. A genius idea for a book, a well played out story line, characters you will fall in love with, and twist you wont see coming. All in all when I picked this book up I wasn't excepting anything more than a quick quirky read, but what I got was a well thought out, warm, hilarious, and fun read. The Devil's Intern had me laughing, crying, and on the edge of my seat. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in this series.... Yeah another surprise right? Sounds like a total standalone, it's not! And lets just say with how it ends I can't wait to see where she takes this story.


10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Hadley is having a pretty bad day. Every little thing that can happen happens which cause the perfect storm of a series of unfortunate events that lead her to miss her plane by four minutes. It's not like she was super pumped to get on the plane in the first place, though. She is supposed to be on her way to London to be a bridesmaid in her dad's wedding to a lady she has never met, a lady who he left her mom for, and more importantly a lady who he left her for. She is going on this trip against her will, because both of her parents think it is for the best. Unfortunately she missed her plane and now she is stuck in the airport for three hours until she can catch the next flight to London. While in the airport, she meets Oliver. Oliver is a sweet British guy who offer to watch her bag for her and eats dinner with her since they are both stuck in the airport. As fate would have it, Oliver and Hadley also are sitting a seat away from each other on the plane. When a sweet old lady gives up her seat so Oliver can sit next to Hadley, they spend the next seven hours chatting and getting to know each other. Things feel perfect until the plane lands in London and their little fairy tale is over. They get separated in customs and end up not seeing each other again. The rest of the book follows Hadley as she deals with her dad's wedding, learns a lot about love and herself, and does a lot of growing up in a very short time.

The book itself takes place over the course of 24 hours. Since the book is on a timeline, I found myself really stressing out when things would happen and hours would tick by. It gave a really unique angle for the story and it made me feel like I was right there with Hadley dealing with the longest, best/worst day of her life. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It's sweet and cute and a very easy read. If you have ever watched any Rom-Com ever then you can predict where everything is going to go, but it was enjoyable regardless. I have been really digging contemporary YA romance lately, so this fell perfectly into that category. Not life changing, but definitely a great fluffy read. If you're looking for a good beach or pool read, this will keep you occupied for an afternoon and you will get out of it exactly what you think you will.

What really pushed me to finally read this book was when I found out that Hailee Steinfeld and Robert Sheehan have been cast as Hadley and Oliver. Going into the book with those two in my head was PERFECT. The casting is spot on, and I am absolutely ecstatic to see how this goes from page to screen next year. The things that Oliver says made me absolutely swoon, and when you put Robert Sheehan's face with those beautiful words..... All I can say is: Panty dropper. Hailee Steinfeld is going to be so funny and quirky as Hadley. I think she will really bring the character to life and be able to show all of the moments that can only be described as being a seventeen year old girl. So even if contemporary YA isn't your thing, I would still encourage you to read this if only to see how it is in the book before it becomes a movie (it's always way more fun than way!).

“He’s like a song she can’t get out of her head. Hard as she tries, the melody of their meeting runs through her mind on an endless loop, each time as surprisingly sweet as the last, like a lullaby, like a hymn, and she doesn’t think she could ever get tired of hearing it.” 

4/5 stars

Fictional Book Boyfriends pt 8

The month of Freedom is here!!! And you know what that means... Suns out Guns out. Tank tops will be out in full force! God Bless living in a southern beach state am I right??? This also means that it's another month we get to talk about our favorite topic; fictional book boyfriends. Some also refer to these as dream-cast or as of most recently Iflist. We get to slap some mandsome faces to some of the fictional leading guys in the books we've been reading. To see reviews for these books all you have to do is their titles and to see our past post just click here. 

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 

King takes a different bride every night and then kills her the following dawn.

Nicolas Simoes as Khalid

Swoon! What a lady killer!!!...  Wait? Too soon???

Velvet by Temple West 

Girl gets vampire bodyguard who thinks dating is their best cover story.

Nick Palladino as Adrian

Wouldn't mind a flash-back to 1999 and doing a Drive Me Crazy movie theme with this hottie.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The smutty and oh so good version of Beauty and the Beast.

Drew Van-Acker as Tamlin

Feel free to perform whatever freaky earth replenishing ceremony you want on us.

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Guy suffering incurable disease gets sent to live in a home with others suffering.

Evan Peters as Lane 
*cough cough* suddenly feeling a little ill.

 Just Listen by Sarah Dessen 
Reformed truth obsessed bad-boy helps girl face old friends. 

Max Irons as Owen
 Seriously what girl doesn't like a bad boy...

I'll Give You the Boys Giveaway

It's giveaway time!!!! Our Hush Hush giveaway went so well we figured it'd be about time to do another one. There will be different rules this time around. First this giveaway isn't going to be international. We plan on doing a huge giveaway at the end of the year and that one will be open to everyone. Below will be a list of what will be included and all the rules.  You must do all the following to be entered to win.


ITEMS: 

• One hardcover copy of I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson 
• One hardcover SIGNED copy of To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• Two collectors buttons for Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
• One mystery item  

RULES: 
Like we stated above, sadly this time the giveaway wont be international it'll only be for US and CAN. Promise the one at the end of the year will be worth following and waiting for if you can't enter into this one.

•  Follow our instagram page- @southernbredbooks
• Re-post the picture using the tag #illgiveyoutheboys 
• Subscribe to our blog (picture to right shows how)

Again this is only for US and CAN and you must do all those things to win. Pretty simple and easy. Once our instagram hits 2k in followers that will be when the cutoff for the giveaway ends.
May the odds be ever in your favor.

xoxo
-A&L 

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

When MacKayla's sister is murdered she ventures to Ireland in search for answers. The quest to find her sister’s  leads her down a path she never expected and is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn what's going on and figuring out what she is. 

So rather late than never, right?? I've put off reading this series for a while, and I figured since I've been getting deeper into longer series lately and with the 7th book coming out this year that I would finally pick this up and get into it. That being said I'm going too have to be honest... I'm having a little bit of mixed feels about this. My rating might be a little higher than what I think it actually should be, BUT I have a reason for it. The reason? It's addictive and the writing style is something in it's own.

As always I'll talk about our characters first. Our two leads are MacKayla Lane (aka Mac) and Jericho Barrions. I was really surprised by these two characters. First off I thought I was going to hate Mac, because lets me honest her name is dumb, but I actually really liked her. She was witty, funny, and spoke to her age. My favorite thing about her was that she was "average". Besides the obvious "powers" she has she spoke and thought to someone who was twenty-two. I liked that she wants and average life and really isn't looking to be some special star. Also her loyalty to her sister was a massive plus. Next we have Jericho, who everyone made out to be the biggest heartthrob in history... And sadly I was a little disappointed in his character. Though I did enjoy the mystery surrounding him, I also felt like we get very little out of him. Until the last few chapters I didn't think he was really anything to write home about (those last like two chapter though, swoon). I just don't know if I'm in love with this fictional mystery guy just yet. I hear as the series goes on and more surfaces about these characters that people fall more in love with them.

Without giving away anything too revealing about the plot line Mac is basically pulled into a whole new world. A place where objects hold dark powers, murders are a normally un-blinked at event, and  people alive and dead have powers beyond belief. Though this might make the tale out to sound really gripping there are only a handful of action packed moments. My belief is that this book really is setting up the others to be over the top with "omg" moments. This is a snowball of a book. At first starting slow and then working it's way to a really interesting and cliffhanging ending. I will warn the first half this book, though interesting, isn't as action packed as the last half. The characters are interesting along with the story line. If it wasn't for Moning's writing and verbiage I might not have given this novel the rating I did. However, the way she presents even the most random and odd events won me over (seriously, there are a few moments I was so thrown off by what was happening, and really had to scratch my head). Another thing I have to confess is I thought that this book was going to be a lot more smutty than it was, and it wasn't. I'm still confused as to why it was in the romance section because I feel it is way heavier in the paranormal/fantasy room than it is in romance. I feel this series is setting up to be epic.

Am I looking forward to reading the rest of this series? Yes. Am I completely sold on it... 

8/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Movie Review

Recently Leah and I had the pleasure of sitting in on the Papertowns panel with John Green, and while we were there he said something that just stuck with me about books that become movies. He said that a great book to film adaptation, though the book and film will without a doubt be compare, however can stand on it's own. That you should leave the theater loving it as a movie and try not too completely compare the two. As avid readers and girls who constantly see books that become films there are two things I can say about that statement: that it is completely correct, but that it is really hard to do. When it comes to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl this statement took new life for me. This film holds it's own.

Leah and I just left the theater and I knew right away I needed to come home and talk about the film we just saw. If you read either of our reviews on the book than you know that both of us just thought the novel was alright. It was comical, light, but the ending I think is what kind of let both of us down. It's comparison to TFIOS was off, the high remarks on goodreads had us both a little confused, and there was just something we both felt was missing. I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we now know what was missing. Me and Earl, and the Dying Girl movie gave us everything we wanted and more. The film had so much more emotion and depth than the novel. I know that everyone who sees the trailer is thinking "wow didn't we just dehydrate ourselves and spike Kleenex sales enough last year with TFIOS", please don't think that. The only thing that they have in relation is a sick girl. That's it.

This film blew me away. It's a film following quirky, interesting, and relatable characters. Best part is that it's a film about making films... Which would have most thinking this would lead to an awkward play-out, but it actually gives this film something so unique. The characters though quirky are ones you will be cheering for and falling in love with. Greg (Thomas Mann) is cruising through life, trying to keep a low profile, and just make it out of high school. His only real friend, though he wont admit it, is Earl (RJ Cyler). The bad boy loner from the poorer side of town. The two have been friends forever and making parodies of movies since they met. Making films like "A Sockwork Orange" and "Rosemary's Baby Carrots". The relationship they

have though odd has always worked out for the two of them. That is until one day Greg's mom forces him to hang out with his classmate Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who has been diagnosed with cancer. As you can probably guess Earl and Greg are asked to make a movie for Rachel. This starts the blossoming friendship of three loners. Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, and Olivia Cooke nailed the characters. They took characters that in the book I felt no real connection too and made them into characters that brought me to tears by the end of the film. That is not the only thing that changed from the book. There are several scene changes that also made the movie a heck of a lot better than the book. It's as if J. Andrews listened to the readers reviews took them in and made the changes needed while keeping the things we loved. So happy that the accidentally drug scene was left in as well as the pillow masturbation talk. Another very present change is the over all connection and friendship between Greg and Rachel. In the book Greg and Rachel really don't have much of a friendship in my opinion. In the film however their relationship and friendship is something so beautiful. So having the characters take a different direction made it easier for audience to connect with them. My favorite change however was the complete change of the ending.

As I said above, when reading the book when it came to the ending I was highly letdown... When it came to the movie it was my favorite part. The unique composition, the beautiful cinematography, and the way it was taken to a new emotional depth that we didn't get out of the book. When I say a new depth I mean oceans

deeper than what the book gave. This went from a mediocre book to an absolutely stunning film. And saying stunning is truly an understatement. A strong indie movie with a casting of new comers really gave this film everything it needs to be a knock out. The filmmakers truly deserve a round of applause for taking a trope filled genre that has recently been increasing and becoming a bit tired and giving it new life. This film deserves way more hype than it is getting. Every movie mark was hit: perfectly placed dry humor, great casting, unique elements, and a film that could have easily been dark was made light and loving. It's been a long time since we've seen a movie that made us laugh till we cried and then just flat out cried.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film more about the journey than the destination and it is well worth the climb. This is a summer must see. This review only gives a light shade of how I felt towards the film. Simply put: This movie was how book to film should be done.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Clipped Wings by Helena Hunting

Tenley and Hardin are complete opposites when it comes to life. Yet they boy share one thing in common... They both have past they wish to keep secret.

This is a case of the right book at the right time. I felt myself slipping into a slump with the other book I was reading so I set it down and picked up Clipped Wings. I think my favorite thing about new adult books is that they are some of the best to pick up when you need to get out of a reading slump. Though Clipped Wings is overall your basic NA novel, I did enjoy that there was a little something different about it, and something that surprising related rather close to me.

Clipped Wings is about a rocky secret keeping relationship between Tenley and Hayden. Tenley is a college student working on her thesis while working at the book store she lives above. Hayden is the bad boy with the dark past who has now straightened out his life and is working/owning a tattoo parlor across the street from his aunts bookstore... So you see where this is going. After several visits to the store Hayden takes a liking to Tenley and after a series of events talks her into coming in for a tattoo session. Tenley though shy and guarded at times still managed to be both funny and charming. As far as leading ladies went I was really pleased with her, and how she is written. Hayden however was the character I oddly ended up relating to the most. Not only is he a total babe, but also a total sweet heart. The reason however I contacted with him was because much like him I am often discriminated against because of the amount of tattoos I have. People see them and then automatically assume you're up to no good. So naturally I felt a connection to him and how he sees the world seeing him. I also can't mention Hayden without mentioning his love of cupcakes and how much it made me love him. But, too be completely honest I really enjoyed everything about his character. He turned out to be a lot more swoon worthy than I originally thought he would be. At first I thought I knew how his character would be, but once he started to actually to reveal himself and start to win over Tenley I was completely sold. That sweet tattooed dreamboat stole my heart.


The story line is told in dual POV which I digged. I enjoyed getting to see both of their struggles along with hearing both of their thoughts on one another. I also liked how the book, though it's deeper message was about working through struggles and learning that its okay to lean on people, still found a unique way of bringing tattooing into the picture. Hot guys, talks about tattoos, and a story line that wasn't choppy had me sold. Though the plot is rather predictable it was still written so well that I was able to set that aside. The plot keeps a steady pace through-out the novel and the romance is always on point. I will say I thought this was a stand-alone but it turns out there is a sequel. With an ending I did see coming, I still wasn't disappointed because it does leave it off so the next book is actually a mystery. Really looking forward to seeing how this series ends because right now I'm so clueless and curious about how everything will wrap up.

 

8.5/10 Stars 

-Angela