Angela's October Wrap-Up

Clockwork Prince- Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Princess- Cassandra Clare
The Vincent Boys- Abbi Glines
Lev- Belle Aurora
Y the Last Man book 2- Brian K Vaughn
Steelheart- Brandon Sanderson
Room- Emma Donoghue
Romeo and Juliet- William Shakespeare
The Girl of Fire and Thorns- Rae Carson
Six of Crows- Leigh Bardugo
Addicted to You- Kristia Ritchie
Everything Leads to You- Nina LaCour
This Girl- Colleen Hoover


October is super special because I reached my Goodreads reading goal... Yes, I reached book 185! I can't believe it either! So freaking pumped about it. Don't know how I'll be able to top that in 2016... Might have to sell my soul or something. With reaching my goal I kind of took it easy this month. Honestly I'll probably be a little more sluggish about reading till the end of the year. I have a lot of events and movies coming up so those will probably eat away at a good bit of my free time. That's actually a reason this is being posted early. Leah and I are headed to Atlanta for WalkerStalker Con. This is the first time we've ever been and were both excited and a bit nervous since we don't really now what to expect. Of course well be posting about it once we get home so keep an eye out for that post. Enough of that though, lets get on to my tops and flops.

My top picks for October are: Clockwork Princess, This Girl, Lev, and Six of Crows. First Clockwork Princess was just as amazing as the hyped lead it to be. I'm so glad that I waited until this series was completely finished and for some of the buzz to die down before I got into it. Cassandra Clare nails love triangles. This book had me a mess. I did however still preferred The Mortal Instruments series to this one, but to each their own. On to This Girl, the third and final book in the Slammed series. It was so nice to get back into this story and hear everything from Will's point of view. I fell in love all over again. This was another book I was glad I waited on reading. Next is Lev. Thanked my luck stars when Belle sent me an ARC of the first book in her new series. She gives us a leading male like none I've ever read before. Such a good time read and I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy. Lastly, Six of Crows. This would hands-down be my number one pick for the whole month. I liked her Shadow and Bone trilogy (emphasis on like) but this book... What a way to start a series. It blew my freaking mind!!!! I feared with so much hype and with so many main characters things wouldn't live up. It does. It has some of the best characters and world building I've read in the longest time.

As for my flops for October we have: Girl of Fire and Thorns, Addicted to You, and Everything Leads to You. I feel very mislead when it came to Girl of Fire and Thorns. I heard all this buzz about how great and action packed it was, but 150 pages in I had to DNF it. Our leading lady spent most of the book bashing her physical appearance. It got old fast! I tried so hard to push through it, but just couldn't. After DNFing it I so many people comment on my status/review saying that the end of the second book is where it picks up, and then right after someone would say that I was right to put it down. So I have no idea when Ill get back to this one. Might not revisit it until next year. Addicted to You  had the same problem. It was so hyped up in the world of romance reviews. People saying that this is their favorite NA/romance series, and I just could not get into it. I got 75% into the book before putting it down... That really says a lot because if I reached that point in most books I would just keep going. I will say this is a book I will for sure be revisiting in the near future because a part of me fears it might have just been "wrong time" read. Lastly, Everything Leads to You. This was a cover buy for me. I don't usually do contemporary but this book looked and sounded so sweet that I just had to give it ago. Also wanted to try it out because the lead girl in it is gay. This book was so boring! Nothing happens. There's no dramatic events, no plot twist, just one sluggish thing after another. I don't think I've ever DNFd so many books before. Sigh.

Till next month.
Angela

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

I'm sure by now all of you know what Romeo and Juliet is about but if not here's a little synopsis.

Romeo and Juliet is the classic tragedy about two teens from different feuding houses that fall in love. The two met at a party that Juliet's family is throwing. Romeo is talked into going because he is depressed about his breakup... You know what I'm just gonna copy an paste from wiki.

"The play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers."

That's everything I was basically trying to say just summed up more eloquently. If you haven't guessed it by now I just watched the movie on Netflix... Which lead me to re-reading the book... Which then lead me to doing this ridiculous mash up of a movie-book review. I keep referring to this as the"new" Romeo and Juliet movie but it's been out for quite some time. Yes I'm referring to the one with Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld.

Ha watching this movie was such a good idea; one of my best. First off all I could think about the whole time I was reading it was Douglas Booth staring at me like this:

While he told me I smelled like roses and was the sun... (accidentally saved this picture as Romeow and I'm laughing so much harder than I should be about it)

So the whole time I'm reading this I'm dying!!!! I don't know if yall have seen the movie or not, but Douglas Booth does a butt ton of running in it and good lord!!!! It is hilarious. He swings his arms a lot and his wrist are flapping around. So anytime there was an action scene in it I couldn't take it seriously. (If a gif or video of Douglas Booth running isn't a thing that's been made someone please for the love of the internet make it!)

Since I know everyone and there mom (literately) has read this book I'm just gonna give you a quick run down of everything that happens in it and the movie... *alarm sounds* Spoiler alert!!! Yes that was meant sarcastically... Romeo meets Juliet and is instantly like BAM "I need to wife that girl up", and Juliet is all like "I need to be wifed up" so these two star-crossed love birds embark on a super secret love affair. After getting married shit starts hitting the fan and drama is thrown all over the place. This resulting in 6 deaths, a marriage only lasting a vast 3 days, and a botched suicide plan that actually turns into suicide! *gasp* Plot twist!! Am I right?!?! 

Oh and I gotta mention this little sidenote: in the movie Juilet's mom is rocking this sick rat-tail look so anytime she comes into play in the book I can only imagine her with her rat-tail up do. The movie sticks really close with the book following the same timeline and plot. This as an avid reader makes me happy. Movie wise I do prefer the Leo D version, but hey that's just me... Ha, okay who am I kidding. I mean how can you not. Leo D is a fine wine and that version is so bad good. Both the book and the movie have a ton of action, fighting, and scandal. All these things blended together made me really enjoy re-reading this. Yes, Romeo and Juliet story now-a-days might be laughed at and not seen for what it really is. Yeah, Juliet is WAY too young to be taking this stud into her room. Even if he is a chiseled jawed brit with great hands. And I'm pretty sure this book (maybe) invented insta-love, but hell I don't even care.

I had a ton of fun re-reading this twisted tale of death and desire. It's why I figured I write a little something something about it. It seriously gives us so much hope. When Romeo sees Juliet wake up, then is so happy, and forgets that he just drank poison; we for a split second too believe in love at first site... Then when he realizes what he's done and our world shatters. Shakespeare crushes our spirits and takes it all away! Then to top it all off Juliet is like "ehhhh I'm gonna die now too". Little girl you DAF, but stabbing yourself is the boss way to go out. At least you didn't go the sissy way like yo man did. Hmmmm it's all pretty brilliant if you ask me. I mean it's pretty crystal that Shakespeare ripped off Nicholas Sparks and Stephanie Meyer! Am I riiiiight or what!?..

(after I wrote this review and posted it on goodreads I was scrolling through when I saw someone else say almost this same sentence... This is the greatest most amazing review ever written in the history of reviews so I had to put the link in here for it. click here for the worlds most bizarre review I think I've ever seen. I want this guy to write the book he describes.)

Watching this movie was so bad that it made reading the book even better. Romeo and Juliet gives us everything we both hate and love in books. Insta-forbidden-love, quotable moments, something that makes us questions our morals, death, soap-opera like drama that all starts out at a sweet dance party. Ahhhh ta be young and in luv. Wow none of this review made any sense.

Movie rating-would be 4/10 but the sexy centipede face thing that Doug has going on bumps it up to a 6/10
Book rating- 9/10

Later.
Angela

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six dangerous outcasts and one impossible heist. Kaz is offered a chance at a heist that could make him rich beyond belief. To pull it off he'll need an incredible crew.


Side effects of reading Six of Crows are, but not limited to: Shortness of breath. Heart palpitations. Nausea. Weak knees. Dehydration. Dizziness. Headache. Heartache. Constant sweating. High blood-pressure. Congestive heart failure.

“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”   

Six of Crows is 185th book I've read this year. Yes, that means this is the book that put me at my goodreads reading goal this year. I am so happy that this is the book that made me hit my mark. It was the perfect book to reach my goal with. The world has been shouting, praying, and calling for diverse reads... Leigh Bardugo has answered. I liked but didn't love the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but it has nothing on this novel. With how much hype is surrounding this book I was oh so worried about reading it. However if Six of Crows isn't my top pick for the year, it will without a doubt at least be in the top five. It was amazing.

SoC is a novel with six main characters, depending on how you look at it five plus perspectives, breath-taking flashbacks, seamless world building, and twists that will make your tits drop. 

"A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who has become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse."

A direct quote and the most perfect sum up of the characters. Each one is so different from the other. Each one is a different race, different background, and has so many layers. Each one has a handful of amazing different aspects, and things about them that will constantly surprise you. I can't believe I'm about to say this but... Squad goals! We have Nina this wild-loud-in your face-curvy firecracker who will have you in stitches. Matthias who is this perfectly wounded warrior who will surprise the crap out of you. Wylan who is this lovable nerdy cutie-pie that had me blushing for days. Jesper the comic relief. And then there are my two favorites... Kaz and Inej. Ahh just loved these two so much. These two gave me everything I wanted in characters and more. Inej background story is lovey, her physical appearance sounds both breathtaking and unique, and her set of skills are completely bad-ass. She is basically a freaking ninja. Oh God, and the stories and quotes from her father!!! Break my heart why dontcha.

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns you heart.” 

Kaz though. Oh Kaz! He was my favorite of favorites. His thought, his flashbacks, his story, his composure, his street smarts, his everything. I have none-zero-zip-nada complaints about him. How did Leigh managed to give us such a naughty character, make him have a limp, "force" him to wear gloves all the time, and still managed to have me swoon over him was beyond me. I want to have his babies. His bad-ass babies. I really have no complaints character wise. All these characters and their personal stories will shock and then steal your heart. Each will give you a taste of who they are and what they have become and it is truly stunning. I need to shut up about them before I spill all their secrets (which I really want to do right about now). I do really want to comment on my favorite part of this book. This is something that others might have over looked, but it is something that meant a lot to me. That's Inej and Nina's friendship. They aren't two girls that hate each other then become friends. They aren't two women who see each other as fierce competition or having to fight over a man. These two women see each other as equals AND THAT is how all women should see each other. Real women pick each other up not tear each other down. I don't think people realize how important that truly is. This needs to be highlighted in more books.

Even if the characters would have faltered (they don't) it wouldn't have mattered because the plot and world building are so solid. I heard a few people/reviews say the "middle of the book is kind of slow"... WHAT THE F ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!?? Every part of this book is flawless and demands your respect. There wasn't a moment I wasn't on the edge on my seat. Leigh gives you all these twist and turns without leaving you guessing on what your surrounding look like. She's built a world with so many stunning features. SoC is go go go, nonstop action novel that wont let you up for air. It is a roller-coaster ride of emotions and Wtf just happened moments. The first three parts of this book set the bait out, parts four and five has you snapping for the treat, and part six hooks and pulls you in. My jaw was on the floor for 99% of this book.

You might think you know what coming, BUT YOU WILL BE WRONG! So many well planned out plot  twist. So many ground shaking moments. So many heart crushing scenes. And that ending!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO PEOPLE!!! You can't leave us hanging like this!!!! OMG and I didn't even get to mention the romance!!!! I want to talk about it. Oh goodness do I want to talk about it! But I wont, and if you've ever read any of my review you know this is unheard of. I love love and not wanting to talk about it must only mean one thing... That it's really really good! Even with the massive amount to sexual tense and stolen glances it still doesn't even overshadow the plot. I'm not just talking about the romance with a certain pair, I'm talking romance among several. Like I can't even believe how much gooey lovey dovey moments she gives us and yet didn't drown us in it. Perfect just perfect. 

This book was EVERYTHING it was hyped up to be. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love, and I have been left a mess.   

This review was a lot longer than I ever imagine it would be. It is filled with cut off and run on sentences... I don't care either. I just had to get my jumbled thoughts down. This book is epic and everything. I already want to re-read it and I could quote it all day long. If Arrow wasn't coming on in a few I would just keep going on about it. If you read Six of Crows and didn't like it then there's only one thing to say about you... You have bad taste. 

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Auto-Buy Authors

Awhile back we talked about our "auto buys", and we got into what draws us to buy books, may it be covers or genre... Well we never really mentioned our auto buy authors so below were going to breakdown some of our favorite auto buy authors.

Angela's:
For some reason everyone thinks my favorite author is John Green. I don't know where this started, but anytime I start talking books with someone they always say "well isn't John Green you're favorite? What would you recommend from him?". Even though I do love John Green he's not my favorite author. My all time, number one, favorite author is... Colleen Hoover. If my house was on fire and I could only save one authors books; without a doubt it would be hers. If my house was on fire and I could only save one book it would be Ugly Love! I love her books that much. I have other authors I'm going to mention but I would gladly drop any of their books if she published something while I was reading them. I have never rated one of her books lower than 5 stars on goodreads. Even her "worst" book is better than most people's best. She constantly brings something new and original to her books. They all have these beautiful-stunning-crazy insane twist, some of the most relatable characters of any author, and stunning plot-lines. I have never witnessed an author do what she does. She finds these amazing new ways to bring other forms of art into her work. In Slammed she brought us slam poetry, Maybe Someday she gave us an album to go with it, Confess she works in art, and those are only some of the amazing things she's given us. She is an author who has completely changed my life.

 My other choices are:

• Cassandra Clare- She's excellent for anyone starting off with YA. She writes amazing action packed books. Her series only get better each book, and writes some of my favorite supporting characters. Her Mortal Instruments Series is one of my all time favorites. 
• Rick Yancey- He is who a lot of people would consider a "gender neutral" author meaning he writes books that people wouldn't considered directed directly to one gender. And honestly I wont lie when guys ask me for book recommendations he is one of the first authors I say. Plus he does POV changes like a boss. If you haven't read The 5th Wave Trilogy you are seriously missing out. It's currently listed as the #1 most anticipated movie of 2016.
• Jennifer L. Armentrout- She is an author who can do anything. Romance, adult, Sci-fi, Ya, paranormal... You name it she does it. My two favorite series by her are The Lux Series and The Dark Elements Trilogy.
• Sarah J. Maas- When I want an author who writes YA but is willing to dangle the story close to Na Sarah J is my go-to girl. She writes these unbelievably strong female characters, has crazy skills when it comes to world building, and crushes romance. Both Maas and Armentrout manage to write love triangles you'll go wild for. ACOTAR and The Throne of Glass Series are flawless!
• Christina Lauren- Need smut? Look no further than these two. They have never let me down. Much like CoHo they always bring bitchin plot twist. They are my auto-buy-go-to adult author picks. They have a ton of books out but their Wild Seasons Series is by far my favorite.

Leah's:

OK, so I promise Angela and I actually really do like vastly different things. What it boils down to is that we both have ridiculously good taste when it comes to favorite authors. That being said, my favorite author, as well, is Colleen Hoover. Listen, guys, if you have read this blog at all y'all know how much we love her. If you have read any of her books, you don't need me to explain why she is such a fantastic author. Y'all can bet every dime you have that any book that CoHo releases, we are going to read it. I have never felt feels about a book like I have with CoHo's books (minus The Fault in Our Stars). I love her for all of the same reasons as Angela. My tops favorite books by her are different, though. My absolute favorite CoHo books are Slammed and Maybe Someday. They are solid gold in my opinion and if you think differently, we probably can't be friends.

My other choices are:

• John Green- This shouldn't be a surprise. John Green is in a very close second place. We all know my love for The Fault in Our Stars. No book/movie moves me like that one. Hands down. I don't LOVE all of John Green's books, but I give them all a chance because he is such a witty writer. Seeing his panel at BookCon in NYC is one of the highlights of my life.
• Sarah J. Maas- The way that SJM writes is so compelling that it is impossible for you not to get hooked. Even with stories like ACOTAR (which I really didn't love.. I'm just not a big fairy tale retelling fan), I loved the characters so much that one became one of my top book boyfriends ever. This lady knows how to do characters.
• Jennifer Armentrout- No one can write witty, romantic, action, and fantasy like JLA. I don't think an author can make me laugh 'til I cry and then cry until I can't cry anymore like JLA.
• Sarah Dessen- This is a new one for me! I recently discovered Sarah Dessen over the summer when on my YA contemporary binge. I know one thing for sure- Sarah can crank out YA contemporary romances like no one's business. I don't even have to read the synopsis of one of her books to know I'm going to buy it and love it.
• Amy Tintera- Is this a surprise? Well, it shouldn't be. Amy Tintera wrote one of my favorite series EVAH, Reboot and Rebel. She is a kick ass writer and is the only author that has ever made me even consider liking cyborg/robotic fantasy anything. Amy has a new book coming out next year in a completely different fantasy theme, and I have only read a small snippet on what is about and you're darn tootin' I'll be reading it! Can't wait. 

The Paper Swan by Leylah Attar

"They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. They lie.
For 21 days she held on. But on Day 22, she would have given anything for the sweet slumber of death.
Because on Day 22, she realizes that her only way out means certain death for one of the two men she loves."

"You can either choose love or you can choose hate, because where one lives, the other will die"

The Paper Swan I think so far this year has one of my favorite covers and titles. Then I read the synopsis and I knew I had to have it. It took me forever to find but at least it is mine...

This book messed with my mind yall. We start off with our main character leaning on the ground after getting kidnapped and about to have her head blown off. After reading that I was a little set back and confused. From the full synopsis on goodreads I thought this was going to be a book about a girl who dies and then has to choose between two guys and I assumed that one would be from when she was alive and one would be when she was dead. You know what they say about people who assume... Well that's what happened to me. It is not at all what I thought it was going to be... This is both a good and bad thing. The story bounces back and forth between present and past. It also switches POVs throughout the story. I thought all these things would turn me off, and the first half of the story it kind of did. 

We start with Skye's point of view and with her having been just kidnapped. Skye is this full of herself-snarky-rich brat. The first half I hated her!! No that's an understatement, I loathed her on a whole new level. Every time she spoke I wanted to peel my skin off. However by the end of the book I was completely on her side. Why the dramatic change? Because later on the Pov switches to her childhood and we get to see her and how she grew up as a child. Seeing these beautiful scenes with her, her nanny, and childhood friend Esteban living in Mexico are heartbreaking and so sweet. It slowly over the course of the book made me see her in a new light. Also the entire last half of this book had me loving her. She goes from this vile nasty human to this touching sweet realistic one. Then we have the kidnappers POV, Damian. He was beyond creepy when we first met him. So SO creepy. Then we get his backstory and a light shined on why he is the way he is, and it will floor you. I want to go so deep into his story and what got him to this dark place, but I wont be able to. He was another character that went from one that I wasn't easily relating to, to this amazing character with an extreme amount of character development. 

The best part of this novel was it's setting. I've never (at least I can't recall) have read a book set in Mexico. This automatically set the story apart from others I've read. Loved this. As far as the books pace it was constantly go go go. Again, another plus. It is a constant stream of action and thrilling moments. But the things I found flawed weren't just with characters in the first half. It was a lot of the scenes in the first half. Things would happen and I would seriously just think... 

Then something predictable would happen and I would just get annoyed all over again! Thankfully Attar made a huge comeback with the last half of the story. You start to realize how important those moments that might not have been your favorites at first really are. Things start tying together and all these little moments you didn't realize were bread-crumbed through out the book are revealed and it will just shatter you. The last half of this book is a complete five star read.  It makes up for so many things I thought were lacking in the first. Plus the twist are a 100 times stronger in the second half as well. The Paper Swan made me angry, then happy, then killed me, then had me crying, then had me falling in love with the story all over again. 

The Paper Swan was thrilling and gripping story about love and revenge. This story is bold and not one I will easily forget. 
 
8.5 Stars 
-Angela 

Lev: Shot Callers by Belle Aurora

"From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman's club, he can't take his eyes off of her.
For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can't process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.

When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn't hers, she falls apart. She's tired, lonely and hasn't eaten in days.

Lev offers her an ultimatum... A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.

Mina takes her chances with Lev.
After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose." -Goodread synopsis


Belle was gracious enough to send me an arc of her new book. This however didn't change the way I felt about it...  How did I feel about it??? I freaking loved it. Belle is just a horse of a different color. She is a writer that is so unique and fun.  

We follow two main characters. Mina and Lev. Mina is a runaway who became homeless just hoping to make it to the next day. Starving, living on the streets, and starting to turn desperate. I loved her character. She is a charismatic character with a slow start. When I say slow start what I mean is that at first she is this innocent lovable character and then throughout the novel she starts revealing all this little piece of herself. As Mina grows we really get to grow with her. I liked sweet Mina but I loved Sassy Mina. Sassy Mina was so on point. Speaking of on point characters, lets talk about my favorite... Lev. He was what made this novel so unique. I have never read a character like him before. Especially not a leading male. Loved everything about him. He has this whole Beautiful Mind-GoodWill Hunting thing going on. So perfect!

The way he reacted to both people and situations kept me hooked. It really didn't hurt that he sounded like a Nick Bateman look alike. Swoon! I even found myself liking his thoughts and view better than Mina's. There were so many layers to his character that it will constantly keep you guessing. These two have the most adorable relationship as well. It was refreshing to read a guy who was so sweet, without even knowing he was doing it. Sometimes I got a little annoyed by one or two things they did, but then one of them would do something that would recover the situation, and I would fall for them all over again. I knew I was sold when Lev pulled a total If I stay moment.

So so sold. The smutty moments between the two will also have you reaching for a fan and a glass of ice water... The ice water is to pour over your head, yeah they're that good. When it came to side characters there are only two I really want to touch base on. Those are Nas and Sasha, Lev's brother and sister. Nas is probably one of the best secondaries I've read in the longest. Everything she said had me in stitches. She suffers from HBIC syndrome and I loved it! Pretty sure we'll be getting a spin off from her POV in the future and I can't freaking wait! Sasha another character that I was really surprised I liked. He was suppose to be like the token dick, but after getting a small snippet of his POV I realized how much I liked him... and of course he has layers that we "didn't see coming". My first thought when we randomly got his point of view was "wow this is random and I don't think I like how it feels slipped in there (that's what she said)"... then after marinating on it for a bit I realized I actually liked the that it was placed in. This leads me into the plot.

Like I said, there were a few moments when other people's POVs were thrown in. This was a turn-off, but only at first. Some of the POVs, even though I understood their value, at first just didn't rub me the right way... Some later on I came to like more but some still sit in that "I don't know how I feel about this" unknown zone. The actual pace of this book mirrors that of a roller-coaster ride. It's up, down, left, right, and looping all over the place. My emotions and thoughts were ping ponging  back and forth. Action packed with tons of light hearted scenes. I like when authors can give a steady flow of predictable moments that are perfectly balanced with wtf events. I like when they can mash the unrealistic with realistic. And I like when an author can take characters that might not seem the most likable and then makes you fall in love with them, and that's what Belle does.  

Lev is a fun, wild, new adult book, and for sure drop kicked me out of my reading slump. If you want a good time read Lev is it. 

10/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s world shattered when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. She remains silent even after moving in with her Aunt and Uncle. West Ashby has secrets of his own. When they become to much he decides he needs to talk to someone, and who better to talk to than someone who wont reveal it. 

Until Friday Night is Abbi Glines newest release, so this makes like what her 50th book or something insane like that?? It's also the first Ya book I've ever read by her. I didn't even know she wrote Ya. Anyways, when I read what this book was about all I could think of was how sweet it sounded. Then the reviews started pouring in on Goodreads and all of them were either one star/listed as DNF or five stars/listed as a favorite. This is ultimately why I decided to pick this up. I wanted to read for myself why so many people were torn about this one and I totally get it too.

UFN follows high school student Maggie Carleton, who after having a traumatic experience has decided not to talk. Our other main character is West Ashby, (whose name is completely adorable btw). He is Mr. jock-popular-high school-man slut (of course right). Maggie is shy, timid, and polite. While West is the complete opposite. Maggie between the two is the character I liked right away. Her thoughts are strong and she's intelligent. West however wasn't as enjoyable. It took me a long time to like him. He would think these strong sweet thoughts, but then would do these horrible nasty gross actions. Without a doubt him and his friends are the reasons people were putting this book down (Ill get to that in a minute). These two of course start falling for each other. With Maggie's cousin Brady being on the same football team as West automatically says that she is off limits for any of his friends. This doesn't stop the two from constantly being drawn to one another. 

As far as the plot goes on, it heads exactly where you think it will. There's no wicked plot twist or event that you wont see comings and to me this was completely okay. However this story flaws lie with a lot of events that played out in the first half of this book. I'll just kind of rattle off why I know people couldn't push through this, but why they should. People kept bringing up "sexual harassment", I think that's a really strong word to use, but at the same time I get it. The guys in this book are huge DICKS! I also think it gives jocks a terrible name. I don't know if since I wasn't cool in high-school and didn't really hang out with "jocks" that I might not get this, but I don't remember anyone ever saying they were anything like this. I could be wrong though, like I said I didn't really have any sporty friends in school. The things these guys would say and do... Vomit straight vomit. The way they treated people, especially Maggie, was awful. West would just continued to fuel my hate fire for him as well. He would say what one of the guys did was "being too cold" towards someone but then would do something worse! In one scene he hears his mother crying and he's like "this is why I can't be nice to girls"... Let me be clear it has nothing to do with his mom being a nasty person or in a nasty relationship... So when this happened I seriously screamed "WTF WEST THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!!!! HER CRYING IS THE REASON YOU SHOULD BE SWEET TOO GIRLS AND TREAT THEM LIKE THE PRINCESSES THEY ARE!!!!! YA DICK!"... Plus things with his Ex girlfriend were annoying and the way he turned into a stage 5 clinger wasn't helping his case either... Seriously though don't even get me started on his ex girlfriend... laksfl;aksj;lfkas;kldjf SO ANNOYING AND OVER THE TOP!!!!

These events along with a lot of others ones had me considering not finishing this either... But I really hate not finishing books so I pushed forth. Thank God I did too. Once West actually starts hanging out Maggie things take a very dramatic turn. He turns from a sour grape to a ripe peach. He starts treating himself and others the way they should be treated. Starts realizing that he was being a creepy jerk turd and starts to change his act. This was the West I was waiting for the whole time! Once he changes to, he goes from zero dark crazy too a total swoon worthy book boyfriend. He's not the only one who has a ton of development either, Maggie herself takes on new life. Once she starts standing up for herself and not taking crap you'll start falling more into the story as well. All these changes really jump start the plot and gets this love story going. 

I wish the first half of this book was as strong as the last half. I consider the first half a one star/dnf but the second half a 5 star/favorite read. If you pick up UFN, get into it, and then think about putting it down, please reconsider. It does get better. By the end I was completely sold and was thankful for pushing through. Until Friday Night might not be the strongest book ever written, but it was a quick fun read that I think some are being a little hard on. I also easily think this could be made into a cute movie.


8/10 Stars 
-Angela 
 

Angela's September Wrap-Up

Amber to Ashes- Gail McHugh
Queen of Shadows- Sarah J. Maas
Darken the Stars- Amy A. Bartol
Thicker Than Blood- Madeline Sheehan
The Devil's Dreamcatcher- Donna Hoise
Saga Volume 5- Brian Vaughn
Everything Everything- Nicola Yoon
The Paper Swan- Leylah Attar
Until Friday Night- Abbi Glines
Dark Wild Night- Christina Lauren
Illuminae- Amie Kaufman
Sleepless- Cyn Balog
East of West Volume 1- Jonathan Hickman
East of West Volume 2- Jonathan Hickman
Suicide Squad Volume 1- Adam Glass
The White Rose- Amy Ewing 

September has come and gone and all I have to say is... THANK GOD!!!!! I was super busy life wise and it did take away a lot from my reading. I might have done alright number wise, but I definitely feel a slump coming.

I'm just going to jump right into things...
My top picks this month are:  
Queen of Shadows, Darken the Stars, and Dark Wild Night. Queen of Shadows... Just OMG. It was crazy... Crazy amazing!!! Being the 4th book in the series I feared it was going to be a bit of a filler book, but Maas didn't disappoint. Darken the Stars was another book I feared wouldn't live up to the hype I had built in my head, again was so happy when it surpassed my expectations. Then we have Dark Wild Nights which I think of everything I read this month would be my number one.Writing duo Christina Lauren have never let me down, and in DWN they blew my mind again. They gave me a smutty, funny, sweet read, with guy who doesn't suffer from "dick turn nice guy syndrome", who happens to own a comic book store as a lead! So yeah, basically everything you've ever wanted ina man they gave me in this book. Insanely good. LOVED LOVED LOVED it... I actually can safely say that about all three of these novels.  

My fails are:
Thicker Than Blood, The Devil's Dreamcatcher, and The White Rose. Thicker Than Blood was a case of mistaken identity. Thought it was going to be about a love triangle, but turned out to be about zombies. So yeah that happened. Then The Devil's Dreamcatcher was a book I was so excited about. I loved The Devil's Intern so freaking much! It even made my top five summer reads... For some reason though I just couldn't get into this one as much as I did the first. Lastly The White Rose. I really didn't love The first one (The Jewel) that much, but when Damaris from Good Choice Reading sent me an Arc of this I figured I'd give it a try... Mistake. This book was BORING!!! I ended up Dnf-ing it. When I think about it it might be what put me in such a funky mood...

I plan on knocking out some heavy reading the first weeks of October because Leah and I will be doing some events and traveling! Praying to the book Gods that my reading will be even better then. Doesn't hurt that I have a HUGE book hail coming in. So much for my book buying ban!

Well were off to see an early screening of The Martian so see yall soon!

Angela