Books by J

I knew I'd love this book since the very first page, Katy is a book blogger (relatable). She moved to West Virginia with her mother after her father dies. They happen to have moved opposite to a house with two alien sibilings, Dee and Daemon. 
Dee is a bubbly and a fun character, her loyalty and her love towards Katy are amazing characteristics, on the other hand, Daemon is arrogant and snobby. He is a complete douche and Katy can't seem to resist his charm. This whole book is about an almost forbidden love story between an alien and a human, it's beautiful in every way possible.. 

One thing I loved about Obsidian are the conversations exchanged between Daemon and Katy, they are witty and sarcastic and you can sense the tension between these two. Unlike everyone else, I actually didn't hate Daemon, I admired him and I liked how much of a jerk he was ( I have a think for jerks idk).

I couldn't help but compare Obsidian to Twilight; the parallels are way too much. I compare Daemon to Edward, Katy to Bella and Dee to Alice. There are also some other parallels, but these belong in the spoiler section. 
This is definitely a 5 star kind of book and I would recommend it to everyone, I genuinely can't wait to read the rest of the books. 



SPOILERS.
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Maybe someday by Colleen Hoover is a truly compelling story, I couldn’t put it down. It tells a story that fate is inevitable and you cannot deny the inevitable. Sydney and Ridge met through the love of music, he used to play the guitar on his balcony and opposite to him, she would sit and listen. Sydney had a boyfriend (Hunter) and so did Ridge (Maggie), but with Hunter being a jerk of a boyfriend, she ended up breaking up with him and leaving her slut of a roommate Tori because they were both cheating on her for two years. She found herself homeless and in the mercy of Ridge, her cute neighbor with amazing guitar playing skills. She didn’t realize then that they were both falling in love..

This is a perfect story of forbidden love, trying to avoid something such as fate is definitely impossible. I’ve never read anything by Colleen Hoover before, but I felt her words in my heart; her beautiful combination of words makes you understand the characters and feel for them. The descriptions are accurate, it makes you have a clear image of them in your head even more than any author does. The two characters’ point of views were corresponding , the similar POVs (since it’s the same author) was perfect, but I guess she intentionally made them more compatible by creating similar POVs. Ridge completed Sydney’s words most of the time and they both had similar mindsets which made them even more perfect for each other.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE! It’s truly an amazing love story. So cute and will make your heart swell besides, it definitely made me cry.

Have you read Maybe Someday? Comment below your thoughts and continue reading this post for a discussion of the book aka SPOILERS.

-J

Okay everything about this book was perfect, the way they both feel about music, the fact that they appreciated music and felt it, even though Ridge was DEAF. They both realized the severe attraction they felt for each other and tried to deny it and fight every urge they had not to surrender to themselves and to their feelings. They had to remind themselves of the routine.. Ridge kept reminding himself of Maggie, that he loved her because his heart cannot belong to two. They tried to find flaws to repel them from each other, but failed.

 The feelings development in this book is super cute; you could tell that the love story will be a great one from the very beginning. Ridge and Sydney cannot help but fall in love with one another, their chemistry is great and the intimacy they feel is natural. They were meant for each other.
They felt the pain of desire, wanting someone but even the thought of being with them is wrong. They both tried their very bests not to turn into another Tori and Hunter, they didn’twant to do that to Maggie too because she was sweet and no one deserves that.

 The way both of them described their kiss as relief was beyond me, this is another technique Colleen used to emphasis on them being soul mates. Their trail of thoughts followed one another and they think alike throughout the book.

The difficulty of keeping yourself focused and not straying away with your thoughts and feelings towards someone is shown in both Ridge and Sydney, they are good people and they feel guilty by even thinking about each other inappropriately, thinking and NOT even acting on the thoughts.
When I knew that Maggie was sick, everything in me collapsed, in Sydney too. We now know what Ridge is going through and how much of a terrible person he would be if he left her for Sydney. The realization hit me instantly-even before it hit Maggie-, Ridge was hanging on due to her disease, he loved her disease and loved being her hero and he didn’t love HER. Life wasn’t fair to both of them. Love isn’t fair.

I loved Maggie’s character, she was a strong independent woman and she loved Ridge too much that she wanted him to be happy. Her reaction to their betrayal just proves how big her heart is. If I was in her place and saw Sydney after kissing my boyfriend, I would’ve punched her right in the face, but Maggie collected her anger and went. She was the bigger, more mature person. Maggie actually gave up Ridge because she knew deep inside that he loved Sydney as much as he loved her.
As much as I knew what Ridge and Sydney were doing was wrong but I couldn’t help but support it, their love is real and genuine and once you find something as amazing as that, you simply can’t let it go.

Ridge is a great guy, he made me believe that good guys really do exist, he kept his faithfulness towards Maggie even though he was torn and tortured, his heart broke into two and so did he. He also gave Sydney up for Maggie, he did the right thing even though everything inside him told him not to let her go.

I can shamelessly say I cried when he was letting Sydney go, he SPOKE for the very first time in 15 years so he could properly say goodbye.. this is incredible and if that’s not true love, I don’t know what is. Syd loved his voice, she loved him and she compensated his father’s love with her own.. She loved his voice and I loved the way she described his voice, even though his dad hated it and hated him for speaking. It was enough for him, she made him happy and so did he. She learned how to sign so she would communicate with him and he worked on his talking so he would be better at it.
In the end, I was taught that sometimes the moment of epiphany comes late. As late as five years.. it’s okay to realize you don’t love someone even after being with them for 5 complete years. It’s okay to wait for love and you should accept that things change, even if you don’t plan for them to. Love always finds its way of reuniting those who should be reunited even with something as simple as music.

I haven’t read Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush Hush series, so it was my first time experimenting with her writing style. Although this book is completely different from Hush Hush, I actually really liked it.

Black Ice is a thriller/mystery novel about a girl Britt and her bestfriend Korbie going on a camping trip in the mountains. Korbie’s dad insisted that Korbie’s brother (who also happens to be Britt’s ex- boyfriend), Calvin tags along as a chaperone. As the two girls where driving alone up the mountain, the car stops and a snowstorm hits; so the girls walk for miles till they reach a shelter to stay the night in until the snowstorm comes to an end. When they finally reach one, they were introduced to two hot guys in their early twenties; Shaun and Mason. Britt and Korbie both call shotgun on Shaun and start flirting with him, the next thing they know they both were being taken hostages and they were being used to find an escape off the mountain. Britt was the useful one, who has been training and was familiar with the mountains and had survivor skills, while Korbie was being pathetic and whiny and utterly annoying. As things progress, Britt begins having feelings for Mason, but she was unsure of it since he’s the guy who held her captive and she was doubting her emotions all the time claiming that she maybe is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. 

One thing that I really did admire in Black Ice was the incredible progression of the situations, it was very fast-paced and it kept me on edge the whole time; I finished the book in one sitting! Although, I didn’t feel like the writing style was my favorite and I disliked all of the characters, I was actually a huge fan of Becca Fitzpatrick’s development of Britt’s character in the end and her ability in writing a thrilling and an exciting novel.

I honestly did feel like the book was being boring towards the middle, I had the urge to stop reading several times, but I didn’t  let that get to me. I can say that I skipped - well actually not skipped, but skimmed over- some parts that I found really irrelevant.  As I said before, I disliked the characters, I felt like Korbie was a waste of characters (and oxygen), I felt like the girls were so immature at times that you wanted to smack them.

This book gave me serious trust issues, I did like that I couldn’t trust ANYONE at first and towards the end, it really confused me but I pieced the puzzle and I figured out the murderer before it was mentioned. The murder aspect and the setting were the reasons I liked this book and gave it a not so low rating.

SPOILERS. 

I don’t know why the hell Britt is still friends with Korbie, she is extremely mean to her and always trying to be better than her. When Britt found out that list, it should have been an indication that this friendship is a fail anyways, she should have confronted Korbie right away; but then again, Britt doesn’t always make the smartest decisions.

 I hated Calvin so much, since the very beginning, Korbie and Calvin are more like each other, they were both willing to cheat, the fact that Korbie was like “yeah but Bear isn’t here” made me so angry at her! Cheating runs in the family I believe.

Britt also annoyed me. She is the fictional character of 13 year old me, she humiliated herself and was dumb enough to create a love story with Calvin and convinced herself that he loved her as much as she loved him when in fact, he was an a-hole who didn’t deserve her. The fact that she was 17 and she still didn’t realize that she needed a reality check is annoying! She was incredibly immature and it reminded me of how I was years ago. Calvin was a carbon copy of my ex-boyfriend, except for the fact that my ex wasn’t a murderer and wasn’t a cheater; but he actually was a douche and treated me terribly. Yet again, I was 13!!! I knew nothing, I was a kid, I can’t fathom the idea of Britt being so infatuated with a complete air-head who used her multiple times and CHEATED ON HER, he didn’t want to declare her as his girlfriend which surprisingly enough, she didn’t disagree to! Oh Britt.

I really liked the mystery factor, I was so confused and couldn’t trust anyone , I thought that Shaun was creepy at first and his hospitability was an act, but I was mad at Britt and Korbie for not getting the clear picture and fighting over a guy WHO THEY JUST MET and could be a murderer (which he was).  I hated that the girl drama blinded them to a point where they couldn’t realize where the real danger is, it was right there.

To add to the list of characters I didn’t like, KORBIE’S DAD. Who kills a dog for barking? He was vicious and again it imprinted on Calvin. I couldn’t blame the guy.. he had a psycho parent and I didn’t expect that he would turn out perfectly fine, he had to be somehow unstable.

Overall, I really liked this book. I gave it 3.5 stars

If you have read Black Ice tell me in the comments down below what your thoughts were!

Have a great day everyone :)x

-Jay  

Warning: I don't recommend you read this 
review if you haven't read Delirium and Pandemonium as this review contains spoilers of the first two books.

This book.. omg where do I start? This is an alien apocalyptic piece of art.. it starts with a normal family; Cassie Sullivan, her brother Sammy, her mom and her dad but terrible things happen to all of them due to that weird alien invasion on Earth. Cassie finds herself completely alone at the beginning of the book then she starts mentioning and explaining her past; her crush on Ben Parrish, the creepy guy who wanted to kiss her and a lot more..

When I first started reading this book I was confused and bored out a little bit, I couldn't get through this but I did.. when I encountered Evan Walker I swear to you, I was done with this book in a span of 20 hours afterwards. HE IS THE DEFINITION OF A PERFECT MAN.

It is one big emotional roller coaster with this book, I was first bored with it, then I was completely and utterly heartbroken. It's very fast-paced and you will get addicted (mark my words).

I had my mouth wide open the whole time throughout this book, it made me have faith in humanity and that we're invincible. It made me want to live more in the moment and cherish it. I admired Cassie for wanting to honor humanity, she is a truly remarkable -bad-ass- character..

I've always believed that love is the strongest emotion and the weapon that could make or break. The 5th Wave made me fall in love with love, it conveys the power of love to do anything, the importance of fulfilling a promise and the insistence on restoring humanity all gathered in this masterpiece.

One thing that really surprised me is the ending, how inevitable is fate? You cannot run away from it, you just have to face it. Unexpectedly, and in a very strange situation, strangers meet, they bond on a more personal level. One day you fantasize about a person the next few months, you're BFFs with them. It's weird to even think about.

I recommend this to everyone! If you love dystopian themed YA books then this is your book, EVEN if you've never read sci-fi/fantasy before. I haven't and it is an honor that this book is my first sci-fi read.

If you have read the 5th Wave, comment down below what you thought! :) I would love to read you guys' opinions.

I loved this book, the only problem I had with it is that when I read it around my family members and laughed out loud, they looked at me as if I lost it. Pfft. Seriously though, this book is hilarious and inspiring at the very same time. Ellen is such a kind hearted person and you can tell that she is more than a comedian through her writing. She loves her wife and her life and is at a happy place and most people strive to accomplish that."Happiness is a journey, not a destination."

Ellen takes us through her journey to become who she is now through comedy and satire. She highlights some serious topics as well, she believes in honesty and hard-work. 

One of my favorite quotes that she mentioned in the book is :

"You have the power to change your own mind-set so that all the negative, horrible thoughts that try to invade your psyche are replaced with happy, positive thoughts." 

which is true, happiness is a state of mind and you get to control your own mood. It doesn't depend on anyone but yourself.

This was a truly inspiring read and I recommend it to everyone.

The Book Thief is narrated by 'Death' and it's about a girl, Liesel Meminger, who is abandoned by her sick mother to a foster family, the Hubermanns when her brother Werner died.  She discovers something about herself that she can't resist books, although Liesel can't read and write, Hans Hubermann - her accordion playing foster father - taught her to read and write slowly till it became something Liesel can't live without. She has found books to be her only exit to her problems and a way to escape.. 

Liesel's family were poor, they couldn't afford her love for books so she has found a way to steal them. The book thief is in fact; Liesel Meminger. 

During such a hard time such as World War II, Germany has suffered dozens of bombings and raids, they would all cram up into a basement and Liesel would read to everyone. Her passion apparently soothes them, they forget themselves within the words of Liesel as she reads her favorite books to them out loud. 

The idea of books feeding the soul and easing the pain makes this book escalate to be a book-lover's favorite because it's true. Books really do bandage the pain, the power of words to make or to break is unbelievable. It also taught me that there is always some good in the bad, how to keep a promise and the power of love.

Another thing I've loved about The Book Thief, is that it focuses on an era filled with cruelty and dictatorship; during World War II in Germany. Hitler and the Jews, a long-lived struggle that I had a few ideas about but this book cleared the picture for me and it taught me a lot. It makes you feel how the Jews were humiliated for being something that doesn't define who they are, it's just a small drop in an ocean of great qualities that they had and not noticed. The ongoing cruelty of anyone who is in such a position is never-ending. It has been an issue for thousands of years. Hunger, suffering and endurance are portrayed in this book in a way that breaks your heart.

I've loved Markus Zusak's writing as well, he made me visualize every detail and feel the pain of the weak.

I give this book 5 stars, I wouldn't change anything about it. I recommend this to everyone, such a breath-taking read. 

Feel free to comment on this post if you've read The Book Thief and please let me know your thoughts on it as I'd love to know! or even tweet me @JumanaAbdallah