Angel Reads

01 Feb

Book Review: Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews 1 Comment

Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard

Pages: 384
Publish date: February 8th, 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillian Australia
ISBN: 9781509852864
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Eden McKinley knows she can’t count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it’s a bit of a surprise when Bonnie runs away with the boyfriend Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. Especially when the police arrive on her doorstep and Eden finds out that the boyfriend is actually their music teacher, Mr Cohn.

Sworn to secrecy and bound by loyalty, only Eden knows Bonnie’s location, and that’s the way it has to stay. There’s no way she’s betraying her best friend. Not even when she’s faced with police questioning, suspicious parents and her own growing doubts.

As the days pass and things begin to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her best friend and herself.

Goodbye, Perfect:

I received an arc of Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard from Pan Macmillian in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

There are going to be some spoilers in this book review. It’s really hard to talk about Goodbye, Perfect without spoiling certain themes.

I hadn’t picked up a book from Sara Barnard before I read Goodbye, Perfect but now I am intrigued. I have a love/dislike relationship with this book. For the most part, I really enjoyed the book, but then there were parts that just didn’t sit well with me.

Goodbye, Perfect follows Eden who thought her life was going pretty well and then her best friend runs away. 5 Days before GCSEs Bonnie runs away with a boyfriend that no one knew about – one that shouldn’t be her boyfriend, their music teacher Mr Cohn. And Eden is the only one that knows of Bonnie’s location With the police and Bonnie’s family burning questions down her back – will she tell where Bonnie is or will she kill is a secret.

Eden was a pretty easy character to get along with. While it was hard to know why she hides things about Bonnie’s location, I can understand why. Eden is 15/16 and at that age, your friends are your life. It’s how you survive high school a lot of the time. Throughout Goodbye, Perfect the reader is able to see the struggle that Edge goes through holding in all these secrets. What makes it worse is that Bonnie’s lies keep on piling up and I think that puts a lot of pressure on Eden as well.

Goodbye, Perfect deals with the theme of student/teacher relationship. And it has a very honest outlook on the situation, but also very scary. Throughout the novel, the reader is able to see that Bonnie believes that she loves Mr Cohn. And nevertheless will do anything for him. There is also the fact that Mr Cohn also believes he loves Bonnie. But doesn’t realise what he is doing is wrong. Maybe. If Bonnie was over 18, and Mr Cohn wasn’t her teacher. I wouldn’t give a damn about the age gap – however being in the position of power is a whole new level.

Family was another massive theme of Goodbye, Perfect. Eden has a pretty good support system. Eden and her little sister are adopted, and they have pretty amazing parents. You don’t see that much in the novel, adoptive families that are great, so it was nice to see. Even though Eden has a rocky relationship with her older sisters, it was great to see them bond. It was nice seeing them getting to both know and understand each other. Eden boyfriend was also adorable! Them two together just melted my heart. While their relationship didn’t take over the book. It was there and he not only supported Eden but was just there for her.

Goodbye, Perfect also deals with growing up and trying to find your place in the world. I loved seeing Eden be a normal teenager; struggling with where she fits in. I liked that Eden wasn’t ‘smart,’ I loved seeing her study and not fit into the ‘norm’ of young adult students. I thought it was brilliant that she failed and had to try again – it made her that more real.

Overall, Goodbye, Perfect was a hard read. It explores family, friendship and doing what’s right. Eden struggles with the boundaries of friendship and how secrets can hurt a lot of people around it. Goodbye, Perfect is an emotional read that pushed characters to their limits. If you are looking for an intense and emotional read then this one is for you.

27 Jan

Book Review: Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews 5 Comments

Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

Pages: 400
Publish date: January 30, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
ISBN: 9780373212378
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

When Drix was convicted of a crime–one he didn’t commit–he thought his life was over. But an opportunity came with the new Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves–Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence–and each other to finally get what they deserve.

Say You’ll Remember Me:

I received an e-arc of Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry from Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

If you have been around for a couple of years, you would know that I love Katie McGarry books. I’ve read every single one of hers up to this moment, and really enjoy all of them. I am a massive fan of the ways that she deals with characters and their lives. And Say You’ll Remember Me is heartbreaking, beautiful and just hits you in the right places.

Say You’ll Remember Me follows Drix a convicted teen who is now part of the Second Chance Program. When Drix was convicted of a crime that he didn’t commit he thought his life was over. But with this second chance, he wants to take. He wants to do something right with this life. Then he meets Elle and something about her changes Drix. But he also changed Elle. Elle’s a governor’s daughter and has had her life handed to her, but when she wants to do something more.

Say You’ll Remember Me had a really interesting concept. A lot of Katie McGarry’s novels deal with teens that are on the outside, that are pushed away by society. Drix has been convicted a crime that he didn’t commit, but no one knows that. It was really hard throughout the novel to see the hardship that Drix had to go through. He wants to do so well, but society is pushing him away. They want him to fail.

I really enjoyed Drix as a protagonist in Say You’ll Remember Me. His not the usual protagonist that you see in young adult novels and I think that’s why I really enjoyed him. Throughout the novel, the reader is able to see that Drix will do anything for his family, for those that he loves. He will even tear himself apart so that his family can get what he wants. I loved Drix’s honesty throughout the book as well. Not so much with his family, but with himself.

I thought I wasn’t going to like Elle. I thought she was going to be a spoilt rich kid – but she wasn’t. Getting to know Elle’s story was fascinating. I loved that she was into coding and wanting to follow her own path. But she had this pressure not only from her family but the public around her. She was a ‘star’ and ‘beauty’ in their eyes. It was hard to see Elle try and be another person, while also trying to do the things that she loves. A lot of teens have pressure to look a certain way because of society and Elle is full of that. She wants to make everyone happy, just like Drix.

I really enjoyed the romance between Drix and Elle. While it was slow, from the start the reader is able to see that they enjoy each other company and like each other. But, there is so much standing in their way. It was really hard seeing Drix and Elle push each other away for various reasons. You could see that they cared for one another, but understood that sometimes life gets in the way.

Family is a massive theme in Say You’ll Remember Me. Both of Drix and Elle don’t have the best family life and it really shows throughout the book. Drix’s relationship with his parents is barely there, they do more bad than good. Now the only family he has is with his brother and sister. I really enjoyed seeing them bond and rebuild their relationship with one another. Elle’s relationship with her parents is very stressed. They expect so much from her, without asking Elle want she wants.

Overall, Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry is intense and takes you on a journey. It’s heartbreaking and uplifting. It explores family, social standards and second chances. With classic Katie McGarry romance Say You’ll Remember Me is an exploration of teen love and it’s ups and downs.

About the Author

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie is the author of full-length YA series, Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road. Her debut YA novel, Pushing the Limits was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine’s 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick.

23 Jan

Books I Really Liked But Can’t Remember Much About

Posted by angelreads Features, Top Ten Tuesday 7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. Each week they post a new Top Ten list that members at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone join as you please. This week’s topic is Books I Really Liked But Can’t Remember Much About.

This week was so much fun! I’ve read a lot of books over the past few years. And for the most part, I remember the book. But there are times where I know I loved the book, but can’t remember much that happened throughout the book.

There have been times when I pick up and book and halfway through remember that I already read it and enjoyed it. Or other times when I am reading a new book in a series and have to go back and refresh. So today I thought I would share some of the books that I liked, but can’t remember much about.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake: This was a 4.5 Star read for me back in 2014. I know I adored and fell in love with the characters and the world. But apart from major plot points. I don’t remember much about the book and duo at all.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles: One of the first contemporary bad boys that I read and loved. 2014 was when I started to read more YA contemporary and I loved trying so many things out – probably is now, I can’t remember much about the books that I read.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi: One of the first dystopian novels that I read and again like the other books today – feel in love. I think that if I read it again, I would know what was happen and things would seem familiar. But I couldn’t tell you what happened at the top of my head.

Angelfall by Susan Ee: One of the many Angel books I read when they started to get really big. I know that I loved it because of how different the Angel’s were, I remember it being dark and really interesting. I never finished the series, so I might do a re-read this year.

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly: When I finished this one I remember really falling in love with the world. It’s a historical fiction Esq book and I love that sort of thing. It was full of crime and mystery. But I don’t know what exactly.

Gambit by C.L. Denault: I picked this book up out of nowhere, I was offered it for review by the author. I don’t remember what happened in the book. All I know was that it was different and I really enjoy the world that was created.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black: I recently just read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black and loved it! But now I can’t remember what I happened in the book. I think I remember the way that the world work, but I don’t know the plot. One thing I did remember was the quotes before each chapter that I loved!

And that is it for that post! What are some of the books that you loved, but can’t remember what happened? Do we share any that’s the same? Let’s Chat!