Dare You To by Katie McGarry - Book Review

Title: Dare You To 
Author: Katie McGarry 
Publication: May 28. 2013
Series: Pushing the Limits #2 
Format: Ebook 
My Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Summary:

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."  

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....  

"I dare you..."  

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does...

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. 

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all...

My Review:

I loved this book! This was a great add on to the series. I did love Pushing the Limits much better but this was a great second. I cried toward one of the ending chapters and I thought the writing was amazing. I love Katie McGarry's writing style and I would love to start the next book as soon as possible. I also really like how Katie does the dual point of views, fantastic. 

- Beth
Remember Beth from Pushing the Limits? I did. I am glad this book was written about her and Ryan because I loved looking at both sides point of view. Beth was very aggravating throughout most scenes but I still loved her character. Even though it was stupid to believe her mother would ever change. From Pushing the Limits, I thought Beth was horrible, but we see much better sides of her through this book. 

- Ryan
I love Ryan. I love him, I love him, I love him. He is so sweet and so nice and so handsome. He had a great sense of humor and I wish I could write like him, it was beautiful. There is so much to Ryan, especially with his family, that he doesn't show to everyone. I was stunned with how his parents were, I am grateful my family would support me in anything I did. Ryan is an amazing guy and I am so glad Beth found him, or he found her. 

Overall, this was an amazing book. I laughed, cried a little, and was in love with this book. I am so excited to get to the next book, I want to read more of Katie's writing and the third book looks promising. I was close to giving this book 4 stars instead but only because of Beth's attitude. Obviously, I understand why she acts like that but it gets annoying after awhile, but I felt that the book overall deserved 5 stars.

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington - Book Review

Title: Embrace 
Author: Jessica Shirvington 
Publication: March 6, 2012
Series: The Violet Eden Chapters #1  
Format: Ebook 
My Rating:  ♥♥♥♥

Summary:

It starts with a whisper: "It's time for you to know who you are..."

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice.
Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, EMBRACE is a compelling novel of good and evil, seductive desires and impossible choices. A centuries old war between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity chooses a new fighter. It's a battle Violet doesn't want, but she lives her life by two rules: don't run and don't quit. If angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden.
LINCOLN: He's been Violet's one anchor, her running partner and kickboxing trainer. Only he never told her he's Grigori--part human, part angel--and that he was training her for an ancient battle between Angels and Exiles.
PHOENIX: No one knows where his loyalties lie, yet he's the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln's lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray.
Two sides: Angel or Exile.
Two guys: Lincoln or Phoenix.

The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...



My Review:

“Did you ever think we would be anything other than unbelievable?” 

I really liked this book. There were really great scenes, I only really got this book because I loved the cover and didn't know what the book was about at all, but I enjoyed it. I thought this was a great book and the writing was great. I was annoyed with Violet many times but I forgive her only because of why she did it. I am excited to get onto the next book in this series.

- Violet
As I said, I didn't really like Violet but now I love her. She is an exceptional main character and is smart and amazing. I cannot wait to see her journey in the next books.

- Lincoln I absolutely love Linc~ He is an amazing character and I feel that he deserves much more than her but if she is better in the next books I might reconsider that but I still feel that the perfect girl for him is me. Haha, no. I don't know how many times he had apologized and I was just begging for him to stop. I still am in love with his character and I am curious to see how their partnership is going to go through in the next book.

- Phoenix I did not like Phoenix. I just did not like him at all. I always had an iffy feeling about him, I didn't like him. Please do not come in the next book! Please, please, please!!

Overall, the story captivated me. I think the main reason I only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because Violet was bratty the entire book! It was at the last few chapters that I began to love her. I am glad with the way this book ended and as I said many times throughout this review, I am anxious to see how this series continues.

Beating Heart by A.M. Jenkins - Book Review

Title: Beating Heart 
Author: A.M. Jenkins 
Publication: August 25, 2009 
Series: None. 
Format: Ebook
My Rating:  ♥

Summary:

This house 

is mine 

and 

I am

its beating heart. 

She is a ghost: a figure glimpsed from the corner of your eye, a momentary chill, and a memory of secret kisses and hidden passion. He is 17 years old: Evan Calhoun, warm and alive, and ever since moving to this big abandoned house, he has dreamt of her. Ghost and boy fascinate each other–until her memories and his desire collide in a moment that changes them both. 

Combining verse fragments with chiseled prose, A. M. Jenkins captures the compelling voice of a long–dead ghost and the perspective of a modern teen, twining mystery and romance in this evocative, sensual, and unrelentingly engrossing novel.

My Review:

This book was not at all what I was expecting. I was utterly confused when the ghost would talk and I am just so confused. I did not like this book at all. I have no idea how to say how bored I was through this book and how annoying it was. I felt like I was reading two people do a role play instead of reading a novel. I was expecting so much from this book, mostly because I love ghost stories, but this was just horrible. After reading many reviews, I was also excited to start because most people rated it 5 or 4 stars so I thought it was going to be great, boy was I wrong. I can't even begin to explain how much this book annoyed me. 

- Evan
Evan is a very annoying character, I thought he was so stupid and I was just glad the book was over. I could not take anymore, I just did not like it all. I wish I could say something, anything good about this book but there is absolutely nothing. And he treated his little sister horrible, I did not like Evan's character. 

- Libby
I think the only good thing about this book. She is adorable, but I just didn't see where this book was going through the ending. 

Overall, this book ended very weirdly. Many things were left unsaid and didn't make any sense at all. Thank god this was a standalone and a short read because I could not take anymore. I was so glad it ended when it did. As you can see, I thought this book was horrendous.

August 2014 - Wrap Up

Here are all the books I read during the month of August 2014. I started off the month pretty good but went downhill from there because of school starting. I hope next month is much better! I read a total of 9 books. Not very proud of that, but it's better than nothing.


 
❀❀❀ Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar ❀❀❀

Oh please, don't even get me started. I was very disappointed by this book. I was hoping for something better but this was just horrible. All the characters were obnoxious and annoying. I can say that I gave this book 1 star but it deserved .5 of one. The show is enjoyable rather than the book. I won't be in a rush to be continuing this series anytime soon. 

 
❀❀❀ Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne ❀❀❀
 This was an enjoyable read. I thought it was a cute contemporary. I was really bored throughout the book though, but it was a very short and cute read. 

❀❀❀ The Distance Between Us by Kasie West ❀❀❀
Another book by Kasie West that I loved! I really enjoyed this book, I thought the romance was spectacular and I just loved every chapter through this book. I am a huge fan of Kasie West now. I didn't expect this book to go like that but the book was better than I imagined it would be. 





 
❀❀❀ Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout ❀❀❀
I loved this book. It was much better than the first and I have high expectations for the next book in the series. I have fell in love with this series and Daemon. I am stunned with how this book ended, why such a cliffhanger Jennifer? I was expecting as much but it still isn't nice. I am thrilled to get onto the next book as soon as possible. 


 

 
❀❀❀  Split Second by Kasie West ❀❀❀  
A great installment to the Pivot Point series. I loved how this continued from where we left off on Pivot Point. I love this series and I'm devastated that it has come to an end. I fell in love with Tucker, I want more from him. I loved every minute of this book. I also enjoyed the dual point of view between Addie and Laila. 



 

 ❀❀❀ The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ❀❀❀  
This was a devastating book, an emotional roller coaster. I watched the movie before reading the book so I have some idea of what was going to happen next but the ending still struck me the same way the movie did. I used an entire box of tissues because of this book. It was simply amazing. 

❀❀❀ Incarnate by Jodi Meadows ❀❀❀ 
This was a pretty great book. I went into the book without knowing anything that was going to happen and I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning was great, the chapter was not dull and continued to impress me. I gave the book 4 stars because some scenes were a bit dull and I did not like some things that happened but the book itself was great. I cannot wait to start the next book. 

 ❀❀❀ Insurgent by Veronica Roth ❀❀❀ 
 I was a little confused when I started the book because there were so many characters I had forgotten in the last book that were brought up again through this book and I was over here like, "Who are you again?" But Veronica did help me out with remembering everybody, there were just so many characters. I thought this was a great add on to the series and I am thrilled to start the last book in the series. Everyone says they cried, for a reason I shall soon find out.





❀❀❀ The Iron King by Julie Kagawa ❀❀❀
I loved this book! Throughout many books, there are always chapters that bore me but that did not happen at all through this book. I enjoyed every little page. I was very impressed with how much I enjoyed reading this, I can happily say I will definitely be continuing this series. Julie Kagawa's writing is phenomenal, this was my first book of hers and I was no disappointed. I was expecting a little from it but I am just astonished on how much I liked this book.




I think this was a pretty good month of reading. Not adding the total amount of books I read, but mostly through the ratings. The only books I did not really like this month are the first two I started through the month. I cannot wait to start next month!