Left Drowning by Jessica Park

"Weighted down by the loss of her parents, Blythe McGuire struggles to keep her head above water as she trudges through her last year at Matthews College. Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own." -Goodreads synopsis

From the synopsis we hear that Blythe is struggling with her parents death and is trying to get back on track. When the book starts with her falling into her dorm room drunk I thought this novel was going to start out a little on the dark side. We have our lead being a hot mess, then something sweet would happen, and then after several shenanigans she would snap out of it... This is not the case for Left Drowning.

Blythe is a mess for all of, I don't know, two chapters. When she sobers up that quickly I oddly found myself being rather disappointed. I didn't get all the deep struggles I was hoping for. This made it a little difficult for me to connect with her on a personal level. Blythe is constantly describing herself as boring and generic and I think she might be right. Nothing about her was sparkling. She just wasn't the leading female I was wanting. Now on to Chris, clearly our love interest. At first I really liked him. I thought he was charming and seemed sweet enough. The fact that he is so involved family wise was a big plus for me. However, the further the story went the more I found myself slowly falling out of lust with him. By the middle of this book I was completely over him. Things with Chris and Blythe just started being goodish when Chris goes off and does one of my biggest bookish pet peeves ever! I'M TALKING ONE OF THE BIGGEST NOPES! This one thing is what completely broke any connection I might have had with the characters and their story. Almost anything else could have happened and I wouldn't have complained. I might have even kept the book at a higher rating. Seriously getting re-mad just thinking about it. For spoiler reasons I can't say what it is, but yall it's bad. I almost set the book down after it occurred. If it wasn't for the well written smutty scenes I probably would. Complete deal breaker. Another character problem was I ended up finding myself more interested in the side characters then I was with Chris and Blythe. I love when I fall for a side character, but I don't like when I'm secretly wishing the book was about them instead.

In my opinion there are two major plot problems. First Left Drowning feels like something I've read oh so many times before. It's just nothing new. The entire story was just event after event of things I completely saw coming. Right when the flashbacks start happening I knew how this book would end. There's no way you'll miss it. Park does mix it up a tiny bit with some small shock, but it was still something I suspected might happen. The second biggest problem was how convenient things were. Blythe stays in a fancy hotel, is walking down the hall, and then bam Chris is there. So you're telling me not only did you both book the same hotel, but you're on the same freaking floor. Ha, nope. Then Chris's fathers profession isn't mentioned till towards the end of the book, but all of a sudden he has this never before mentioned or hinted at part time job. Again, no. These are only two examples of events thrown together to try and make things more dramatic. It ends up just making everything messy. The story went from somewhat strong to a completely cluster F.

I heard Left Drowning listed as one of the biggest NA tear jerkers out there... I have no clue how or why it is on that list. I didn't fall in love with Left Drowning's characters. I didn't fall in love with it's plot. And most importantly I didn't fall in love with it's love story. Something was just missing and I was expecting more.

2/10 Stars
Angela

Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A Tucker

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind. Kacey just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and they no longer have to keep a low profile.
 
How to start... How to start... Ok so Ten Tiny Breaths follows the story of Kacey Cleary, a girl who is trying to get her life back on track after a traumatic accident. Shortly after which, her and her sister move to live with her aunt and uncle. After that fails they decided to run away and move to Florida. I was drawn too this story for two reasons... The cover and the ratings. Almost everyone I'm friends with on GRs gave it 4 stars or higher... Which I'm kind of confused about. 

The characters in this book are just above okay. That's it though, just okay. Kacey is our leading lady. From the start I didn't like her. I get she has this hard outer shell because of what happened to her, but her attitude was 90% of the time just too much. If anyone said hi to her she wanted to fight them. She automatically assumed every guy wanted to sleep with her. We get that you're a fiery red head and all but calm your tits. Just because a guy says good morning doesn't mean he wants to jump your bones. Seriously, she spends pages and pages talking about punching people in the face... WE GET IT YOU TOOK A FEW KICK BOXING CLASSES!!! Towards the middle of the story I started to like her a lot more, but by the end I was hating her again. The whole "don't hold my hand" thing was so pointless. It seemed like it was going to be important, but was dropped so early on. 

Livie, Kacey's sister, just barely formed as a sub character. At first when the story started from the way Kacey talked to her, to the way the author portrayed her, I assumed both girls were a lot younger. I thought Livie was idk 8, and Kacey 17. Turns out ones 15 and ones 20. (So that was awkward to discover.) Livie was BEYOND annoyingly naive. Then there's Storm and her daughter Mia. This is going to sound harsh since Mia's all little and cute but still could careless for her character. Storm was the only lady in this book I actually liked. She was the perfect blend of sassy and sarcastic. 

As far as males go there's only one you really need to know about, and that's Trent. Oh Trent where to start with you... Should I start with your sexy dimples? Should I start with your six pack abs? No, I think I'll start with the fact that your character was SO, SO predictable! That and the fact that all he has to do is smile at Kacey and her Vagina bust out her pants. I'm all for girls getting weak in the knees over a guy but this chick took it to the next level. She can barley walk the whole novel. Something serious happens between the two characters toward mid-end and all ya boy has to do is say "whoops my B" and Kacey is back in love with him. I wont say what it is, but trust me it would take more than a couple of lopsided dimple smiles to make me forgive him. I just didn't like his character. I wont lie I like guys that are moody bad boys. Trent tries to wear a wolf mask but turns out he was just a sheep. I don't want my guys just showing up thinking looking hot is enough... I want some kind of emotion from them, even if it's just because they have some crazy in their eyes. I JUST WANT SOMETHING!!! Trent is the character that makes Kacey start "returning to her old self" but I have no idea what was it about Trent which made her decide to let her guard down? He does nothing but stalk. (yeah I've found stalking hot in other tales, but not this one.) On top of all that this boy turned out to be some kind of super natural human... He can literately make a girl climax by just looking at them. Yeah couldn't make that part up if I tried.

As far as the plot went, it went slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen that would make my jaw drop, and it sadly never came. I figured out pretty early on what the "big reveal" was going to be. I was hoping there was going to be more to it and there wasn't. If someone didn't see it coming than I would naturally assume they had never read another ya/na novel before. The plot basically rinse, lather, repeats itself over and over again. The plot builds about as much as the story does... So yeah not at all. THE ONLY, ONLY thing I liked about this book was the meaning, and the way the phrase "Ten tiny breaths" was revealed. 

“Just breathe. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them...”

 

The meaning behind it was BEAUTIFUL! And I applaud Tucker for giving us such a wonderful quote with a powerful meaning to back it up. But even that sweet little nugget couldn't save this story for me. Everything down to the ending of this book just didn't reach me. I found myself having to do the tiny breath routine just to get to the ending. I wish this book would have lived up it all the hype and constant recommendations I was getting on it. Sadly, to me, it was just boring. 

3.5/10 Stars
-Angela 

(Ten Tiny Breaths BookDepo) 

Burn by Maya Banks

Ash McIntyre has always explored his wilder side of well... you know. He demands control. His two best friends, Gabe and Jace, are both settled in their relationships with their new wife and fiance. So Ash has been left on his own. When Then Ash meets Josie, things seem to take a dramatic change.

I'm just gonna come right out and say it... I was pretty disappointed in this book. I was so excited for the final book in the Breathless Trilogy because it was about Ash, who has only made small appearances in the other two. He was who I was looked forward to seeing in the other two books. They constantly were saying how he was the polar opposite of Gabe and Jace... Turns out they were wrong... So wrong. He was exactly like the other two boys. So much so I felt like I wasn't even reading a different book. In Rush we got to see Gabe and Mia's interesting and commanding relationship. In Fever we got Jace and Bethany's dark turned sensitive relationship. Both those books were so different from one another. I felt like Banks just took Gabe and Jace and tried to mash them together to give us Ash. It didn't work out.

The only thing that was different in this book was the small twist towards the end and the girl. Josie was actually different from the other two women featured in one and two. She was suppose to be like the other two women so I guess it was nice that at least someone ended up different.

Burn was also a lot less steam than the other two. The flow of the story was nice and it kept a pretty steady pace, but overall was just lacking the spark that we got from before. Some parts of this book were five star quality while others were more like two. I find myself going back and forth when I was trying to rate this on Goodreads... One second I put it at a four right after I put it as a two.

I didn't like the build up between Ash and Josie. The reason I liked the other two guys was because they were all dominant and in control... and owned that. Ash was like that at first but then slowly started slipping... 

Levering himself upward, he kissed her forehead and then smoothed the hair from her face before kissing her lips. "Was that good for you?" he asked. "If it was any better, I'd be dead," she said ruefully.

No! Just no. The Ash I've read up until now doesn't ask how it was for you, because he knows he's good. None of these men ask the women. tisk tisk. Josie was also suppose to be strong willed and when the painting thing is revealed she should have stood her ground longer. I just didn't get them. Sigh. Pretty sure I spent most of my time shaking my head and saying no than I did actually enjoying it. 

I love Maya Banks writing, covers, and how she has her books set up. But Burn was not my favorite of hers. She could have given us so much in this book, and there was so much I wanted. She could have came hard with Ash and really made him the wild card she said he was from the get go. The small twist at the end of the book didn't really make up for the lack of everything else. Come on Maya you can't give us these amazing covers, an amazing first and second book, and then hand us this and expect us to just take it.... Ugh... Guess now that I think about it I'm more disappointed than I originally thought.... Hopefully the next series I pick up from her wont have an ending that let me down so much. 

4/10 Stars 
-Angela

Captive by Aimee Carter

Captive by Aimee Carter

For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate the Prime Minister's niece, her frustration grows as her trust in her fake fiancé cracks, her real boyfriend is forbidden and the Blackcoats keep her in the dark. With all this happening she is also accused of treason and is forced to face her greatest fear: Elsewhere. A prison where no one can escape and people are hunted by the wealthy. Kitty is learning the hard way that she can't trust anyone. 

I waited for this book for what seemed like forever, and I feel a little more than let down. The cover is just as lovely as the first (and has the same stunning surprise when the duster is removed), but the book is close to half the size of Pawn.

Like the first book Captive kept a steady pace through out the course of the novel, but sadly I think it suffered a small case of second book syndrome. People kept saying they didn't see some events happening but I did.  

I really loved kitty's spark and fireball personality in the first book and in this one she kind of fizzled out. Also it always seemed like she was purposely doing things to get others killed. I want to like Kitty, I really do and I'm hoping when the third book comes out she wins me over again. Sadly Kitty isn't the only one I'm not a fan of..... Benjy. I almost always go for the underdog or the best friend love interest, in his case I just don't care if he dies or not. I'm still, not so secretly, pulling for Knox. I mean with a name like Lennox Creed you sound like a total badass. With that being said Knox became pretty confusing in this book and my love for him also kind of burned out as well (yes a lot of flames were put out in this book). I just didn't understand most of his motives. Kitty is constantly questioning Knox (with good reason), but we never really get the answers we crave. Plus I don't remember Kitty and Knox hating each other this much in Pawn.

Though the plot was fast-ish paced and kept a nice flow I just felt like something was missing. I didn't get something I wanted.  Elsewhere was a lot more brutal than I thought it was going to be which made for a nice surprise and did give this story a little bit of an edge. When I was reading Captive I felt like it was a book I had already read before. Just nothing too new was brought to the table. There was just a lot of issues and "what the's" in this book.  

I will say I really enjoyed the ending of this book, but that's about it. It has it set up nicely for book three. So I will be continuing this series in hopes that book three blows Pawn and Captive out the water. (Fingers-Crossed!!) 

5.5/6-10 stars

-Angela