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Book Review: The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Apr 11, 2016

The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Pages:320 (Kindle)
Publish date: May 21st 2013
Publisher:Simon Pulse
ASIN: B008J4N5GA
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

The Book of Broken Hearts:

I received a copy of The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler for review, in celebration of all her books now being available in all English-speaking countries digitally. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I have wanted to read a Sarah Ockler book for such a long time, years in fact and I just never had the chance to pick them up, so I took this as an opportunity to finally read her books and wow, I am so angry with myself for not picking them up sooner.

The Book of Broken Hearts is such a beautiful novel about family, friendship, love and that sometimes you do have to think about yourself.

The Book of Broken Hearts follows Jude and her journey of self-discovery, love and what it means to be family.

Jude has been told all her life to stay away from the Vargas brothers, that all they would do is break your heart. she has seen firsthand what these brothers can do, and she swore that she would never fall.

I adored Jude as the protagonist, we just clicked with each other. She has this presence about her that alone kept me reading. Her need to look after her family is powerful throughout the novel, and it was great to see. Her sheer determination to look after her father was incredible to see in a YA novel.

Jude’s father is suffering from Alzheimer’s and while trying to keep her father from hurting himself, she tries to rejig his memories with rebuilding his old motorcycle. But to do that she needs someone who knows what they are doing and is cheap. Guess who it turns out to be…Emilio Vargas.

If it wasn’t for her father, she would have steered the other way, but if it will help him she will do it.

I loved the relationship between Jude and her father, even though at times he does forget who she is, she is so determined to not let him go. She also tries to hide all this from her friends and anyone actually. I don’t think she did this because she was ashamed, but more like she didn’t know how to explain it to people.

Even though I liked her father, that is pretty much where it stopped with family. Throughout The Book of Broken Hearts I wanted to scream at her mother and sisters. Jude was looking after her father so much and at times I felt that she didn’t care in a way. And her sisters were too concerned about what happened in the past. I understand that they don’t want their little sister to go through what they did – they didn’t care how Jude felt. By the end of the novel, I liked them – but that was about it.

Can Emilio be mine? Please. He was a smart ass, but not a horrible one that I wanted to kill. It was just enough that had me smiling and loving the banter that he had with other characters.

The romance was so slow burning, that I loved it. Jude and Emilio were so adorable together. I loved how it did start off as something that wasn’t even a friendship, however, as The Book of Broken Hearts went on, we get to see it form into something more.

The ending of this book killed me. I was crying so hard. It doesn’t take much for me to cry, but I was sobbing.

Sarah Ocular’s writing is beautiful, it was simple but so strong. She knows how to captivate an audience and keep them close until the end.

With beautiful writing, captivating characters and an intriguing storyline, The Book of Broken Hearts is a beautiful novel that needs to be read by anyone, but more importantly teens growing up and having to make choices for themselves.

Have you read The Book of Broken Hearts? Did you love it? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat.

Book Review: Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke

Mar 31, 2016

Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke

Pages: 288
Publish date: February 4th 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
ISBN: 9781471405082
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

There was no sign of a struggle, they whisper to each other. She took her phone but left her laptop behind.
Apparently, she’d met someone online, they write to each other in class, phones buzzing.
She ran away. She was taken.The first time Aiden Kendrick hears about Lizzie Summersall’s disappearance is when the police appear at his front door. He and Lizzie used to be friends; they aren’t anymore. And when Aiden finds out that Lizzie had been talking to strangers on Facebook; that the police think she went to meet one of them, he begins to wonder how well he ever really knew her, and Aiden doesn’t know it yet, but with Lizzie’s disappearance his life is about to take a twisted and desperate turn.

Follow Me Back

I received a review copy of Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke from Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review, this has in no way included my thoughts and feelings about the book.

When I asked to review this book, I was expecting it to blow my mind – however it fell short. I was waiting for something more, something big to happen and something did happen, but it was not what I was expecting and it was a letdown.

Follow Me Back follows Aiden as he deals with the disappearance of Lizzie Summersall. Aiden and Lizzie used to be friends – well more than friends and as the novel goes on we get to find out more information about the two of them.

I have a like/hate relationship with Aiden. I liked him at points, but he was really annoying. For a lot of the book he was just complaining. A girl was missing, a girl that he knew quite well. And all he cared about was about she wasn’t with him anymore. However, I did like that we predominately had a male protagonist. You don’t see that much in YA and it was interesting, in that sense.

I didn’t like that it changes POV in the middle of the book. Most of Follow Me Back is told from Aiden’s point of view, but then it changes to so many different people. It would have worked so much better if it was told just from Aiden’s.

I also didn’t like how the internet was portrayed in Follow Me Back. I understand where the author was coming from. The internet can be horrible, however the way that it comes across to me is everyone on the internet is horrible and that you should never meet people that you talk to online.

I found this unreal and annoying simply because I have met with people that I talk to online in real life. There are those who are not who they say they are, but not everyone.

I liked that the author used internet slag in Follow Me Back however, at times it got too much and I felt that I was reading old conversations my 14 year old self.

Even though this book was a ‘thriller,’ it was slow. The pace of the whole book was slow and took ages to find out what was really happening. Nevertheless, I liked how the book had many twists and turns. I had no idea who to believe, what to believe.

There were a few surprises here and there and I did like that, however there were other parts that were quite predictable.

The ending, sort of confused me. It was left kind of open ended and it some things did tie up, but there was so much left in the open especially between characters. I wanted to know more.

In saying that, I also felt disconnected from the characters of Follow Me Back. Aiden didn’t really have a character arc and there was no reason for me to connect with him. I also felt that way with Lizzie, I wanted to know what happened with her, however I didn’t really…care.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Follow Me Back it kept me entertained and focus while I was reading it. Though the main protagonist was annoying and acted like everything was about him, Follow Me Back does delve deep into the dangers of the internet and that sometimes it can be a dangerous place that can do harm.

Have you read Follow Me Back? What did you think of it? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat.

Book Review: The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris

Mar 30, 2016

The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris

Pages:297
Publish date: April 5th 2016
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
ISBN: 1633920682
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

One class assignment. One second chance at love. The school player is all in. Now he needs to win back the sweet commitment girl who’s forever owned his heart.

Justin Carter has a secret. He’s not the total player Fairfield Academy believes him to be. Not really. In fact, he used to be a one-woman guy…and his feelings for her never went away. Too bad he broke her heart three years ago and made sure to ruin any chance she’d ever forgive him.

Peyton Williams is a liar. She pretends to be whole, counting down the days until graduation and helping her parents at the family ranch. But the truth is, she’s done everything she can to get over Justin, and salvation is just around the corner. With graduation one short month away, she’ll soon break free from the painful memories and start her life fresh. Of course, she has to get through working with him on one last assignment first.

For Justin, nothing ever felt as right as being with Peyton, and now that fate’s given him a shot at redemption, he’s determined to make the most of it. And for Peyton…well, Justin Carter has always been her kryptonite.

The Natural History of Us:

I received an e-arc of The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris from Spencer Hill Press via Inkslinger PR in conjunction with The Natural History of Us Blog Tour. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This is the first YA book from Rachel Harris that I have read, which is totally wired because I love her stuff. I have only read her NA books before this one. So when I received this for review, I was very excited and I loved it.

The Natural History of Us was a fun, emotional read that is sweet and adorable. You want to find out what happened? What is going to happen? And how everything is going to be fixed?

The Natural History of Us follows protagonist Justin and Peyton. Two people that were torn apart and with a school assignment are brought back together. They have their ups and their downs it’s not just about their relationship, but so much more.

The Natural History of Us is told in two coinciding parts. The first is before the incident. We don’t know what the incident is, we just know one part and as the novel goes it slowly unfolds. Then we have the ‘now,’ the pairing of Justin and Peyton for the assignment and how everything goes from there.

It was certainly a smart way of doing this. Instead of telling how Justin and Peyton used to be, it’s shown. At first it was a little confusing just to get used to the two time placements, but I quickly got used to it.

I loved the characterisation and character arcs of both Peyton and Justin through The Natural History of Us. The characters grow throughout the novel and we can see it.

Peyton, was a likable character and protagonist. She wasn’t annoying, though at some points I wanted to give her a knock on the back of her head, as a ‘come on,’ however we all have those moments.

I loved Justin, I just want to be his best friend and he needs one. I am not saying that his friends are horrible, because they are not. But he needs someone to be there for me, for him to tell everything. He had that in Peyton, until everything went south.

I liked that setting of The Natural History of Us. I don’t know what it’s like to live on a farm, but the way that it’s presented in the book, let me use my imagination and it was fun.

Nevertheless, there were also some amazing things that happened in The Natural History of Us. That made you want to cry. They weren’t the amazing that is the best thing in the world, but the amazing, that I am glad that Rachel Harris used them in her book.

I love Rachel Harris’ writing style, it’s easy to read and you know that when you start her books, you are going to finish them pretty quickly because you want to know what is going to happen next.

Overall, The Natural History of Us tells us a story of how two people that have been torn apart can be brought back together. With writing that is captivating, a story line that is intriguing and characters that you want to be friends with, The Natural History of Us is a book for every contemporary fan or not.

Have you read any books from Rachel Harris? Have you read The Natural History of Us? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat.

About Rachel Harris:

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Vibrant settings, witty banter, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing.

An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers!

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