Angel Reads

21 May

Discussion: Please STOP Hate Reviews

Posted by angelreads Discussions 2 Comments

I am not one to give negative feedback. It is not sometime that I was made to do, I just cannot let myself write something that I don’t want to read myself.

Feedback is good, the good and the bad. But when someone bluntly reviews a book without any thoughts and just shams the book, makes me so frustrated.

Someone has spent year’s possible working on the book and to have someone just sham it like no tomorrow would tear this author to shreds. And yes, I understand that when you put your work out there in the work that it is open to criticism. But for someone to just tear your work to pieces isn’t right.

There is a way to go about. Criticism is good. Saying what you didn’t like what you read is perfectly fine. Saying that you didn’t like certain characters is fine as well, but saying that this author is horrible and that they should not be writing isn’t.

When you review books, there is some sort of professionalism about you. You may not be getting paid to review books, but there is some protocol to follow, it may be invisible but it is there.

I don’t know how people go be so hateful in their reviews, I am not even the author and I cringe at what I read sometimes. It’s horrible. How can people sit behind a computer screen and just let their fingers type such hate.

There is a difference between negative and hate reviews. Negative reviews say what THEY didn’t like about the book, and what THEY think could have worked better. While hate reviews, just pull the book and even the author to shreds.

I don’t like all the books I read, and there are certain aspects of books that I don’t like. But I say that I didn’t like it and what I think can be fixed I don’t say that because of this the book was horrible and never should have been published.

I don’t see much of this on blogs, but I defiantly see it in places like Goodreads and twitter. It’s fine to say that you didn’t like the book, I have no problem with that at all. But it’s when a review is hate driven and not constructive criticism.

Another factor is when a reader doesn’t like a particular author and they just read a book just so they can write a hateful review and you can tell when it’s those types of people. They don’t give the book a light of day, they simply don’t bother.

There are some authors that I personally don’t like, after I see them on twitter or interviews, but that doesn’t mean I will hate their books. It is simply wrong. Like I have said, I am not one to give a negative review and a hateful one at that.

I don’t know how people have the heart to hate on a book that an author has spent quite a bit of time on.

Nevertheless to the people that are giving hate reviews, please stop for a minute and think about what you are writing. You may not like the book and that is totally fine, write about what you didn’t like and what you think would be better don’t just write a review full of hate.

16 May

Mini Book Reviews: Bad Boys and Messy Love

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Mia and the Bad Boy by Lisa Burstein

Pages: 181
Publish date: May 19th
Publisher: Entangled: Crush
ISBN: –
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

This good girl’s about to meet her match…

Ryder Brooks is living the dream—he’s famous, loved by millions of girls, and miserable. All he really wants is to write his own music, not Seconds to Juliet’s sugary sweet pop. In order to do that, though, the “bad boy” of the band will have to play by the rules. And that includes behaving with his new—and super cute—über-good-girl tutor.

Mia Reyes is in fangirl heaven. Tutoring her favorite member of her favorite band? It’s a dream come true…until it turns into a complete nightmare. Ryder is nothing like she thought. He’s crude, arrogant, and pretty much a total jerk. And the worst part? She’s roped into pretending to be his girlfriend so that no one finds out he’s being tutored. Fake kisses, plenty of PDA, and even sharing his hotel room…

But sometimes even the baddest of bad boys needs a little redemption.

Mia and Bad Boy:

I received a copy of Mia and the Bad Boy from Entangled: Crush via Netgalley in exchange for a review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts on the book.

Mia and the Bad Boy is the companion to Aimee and the Heartthrob and the second book in the Backstage Pass Series, however it is not written by the same author as Aimee.

Lisa Burstein is the author of Mia and the Bad Boy and I quite enjoyed here writing style, it’s very similar to the author of the previous book but still has that same vibe. I also think this works since the book isn’t about the Amiee and Miles but his band mate Ryder Brooks.

Ryder is quite different from Miles, like the title says, his is the bad boy of the group, but he has his secrets and one of them is that he didn’t pass high school and to pass them he is in need of a tutor. The fact is that Ryder has gone through tutor like he has girls.

Then Mia comes into the picture. Mia is the female protagonist of Mia and the Bad Boy and while she says she is this good girl, the way that she acts is quite different. Mia wasn’t as ‘innocent’ as she was made out to be. For not having a boyfriend or even a first kiss, she knew how to flirt and so it didn’t make sense that she was placed as this ‘good girl.’

The chemistry between Mia and Ryder was really well written, expect for that fact that they pretty much fell in love in a month. So the romance moved quite fast, but they were cute together. Ryder brings out the ‘bad side’ in Mia and Mia brings out the good in Ryder, their dynamic was fun to read.

Overall, yes the romance moved fast and Mia wasn’t your typical bad good, but it was fun to read. If you like some cheesy romance and everyone does, then you will like Mia and the Bad Boy. It is also such a quick read that I finished it, in one sitting.

There are many ups and downs, but then again, there is also fun moments and certain moments that you might not expect. I hope that there will be additional books in this series about the other bad member of Seconds to Juliet as like I said they are fun reads.

Those Girls by Lauren Saft

Pages: 336
Publish date: June 9th
Publisher: Poppy (Little Brown)
ISBN: 0316403660
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US

Some girls will always have your back, and some girls can’t help but stab you in it.

Junior year, the suburbs of Philadelphia. Alex, Mollie and Veronica are those girls: they’re the best of friends and the party girls of the school. But how well does everybody know them–and really, how well do they know one another? Alex is secretly in love with the boy next door and has joined a band–without telling anyone. Mollie suffers from a popular (and possibly sociopathic) boyfriend, as well as a serious mean streak. And Veronica just wants to be loved–literally, figuratively, physically….she’s not particular. Will this be the year that bonds them forever….or tears them apart for good?

Those Girls:

I received a copy of Those Girls from Poppy via Netgalley in exchange for a review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts on the book.

Okay before I start, for me Those Girls should not be classed as YA and if it was, it should be aimed at the older spectrum of YA and there also be some sort of warning for language and sexual content.

I would not normally say this, however when I started to read Those Girls I really did get the shock of my life. I had to step back for a minute and re-check that it was a young adult book because wow the language that was being used was a slap in the face.

Those Girls follows three girls Alex, Mollie and Veronica through their lives in junior year who seem to be best friends on the other hand, throughout the story the reader gets an insight on how they feel and exactly how bitchy they are.

Alex would be my favourite of the girls. While my dislike for Mollie and Veronica are probably person dislike of their life. It’s all about sex, sex and more sex. With boyfriends and sometimes with others.

The one thing that I disliked about the book was all the bitching. By the end of Those Girl I just wanted to slam my phone against my head. I really had enough. These girls were supposed to be best friends and all they do is talk behind each other’s backs or even if they don’t speak to someone about them they were thinking it.

The sexual content was a little too much for me, considering it was a young adult book. It wasn’t fully graphic, but way more than a young adult book has to be.

Those Girls is like Gossip Girl on steroids. Yes I didn’t like a lot of what the book was about and things that happened. Nonetheless it was still fun to read. If it was classed as a new adult book, I don’t think I would have such a problem with it, but hey.

Lauren Saft is an intriguing writer and some pretty interesting characters that were fun to read about, then again, I wouldn’t want them to be my best friends in real life. From boy trouble to family trouble to very creepy teacher trouble, Those Girls was an interesting read and if you don’t mind the language and content then I think you will enjoy it.

12 May

Book Review: Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews 2 Comments

Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry

Pages: 496
Publish date: June 1st 2015
Publisher: Harlequin (Australia), TEEN
ISBN: 9781743690956
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU –Harlequin Books

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she’s curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn’t mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They’re the good guys. They protect people. They’re…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club’s most respected member—is in town, he’s gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it’s his shot at his dream. What he doesn’t count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.

No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

Nowhere But Here:

I received an e-copy of Nowhere but Here in exchange for an honest review from Harlequin (Australia), TEEN through Netgalley, this has in no what influenced my review.

If you know me well, you would know that I love Katie McGarry and I haven’t even read all her books yet. But when I saw Nowhere but Here on Netgalley I requested it right away because come one, anything Katie McGarry writes is pretty awesome.

I adore Nowhere but Here. It was brilliant and different to other McGarry books but still has the emotions and intriguing writing style of McGarry. Let me just say this, I want to have physical copies of all her books but I have no money and I want to cry and just, frustrating but anyway back to the review.

“Our fears are what strifle us and we’re only scared of what we don’t understand. Fear can be handed down generationally, kind of like eye colour. I love your mom, but I also love you. I don’t want to see your mother’s fears turn into chains that drag you down”

Nowhere but Here follow like all McGarry books two protagonist and I love them both. Emily is shy however has a devious side to her. She is timid but stands up for what she believes is right, Emily seems one dimension the outside but once you dig deeper into the book, you see that she has many layers to her.

Oz is my new book boyfriend. Holy hell. Oz is quite different from other Katie McGarry book, his family isn’t that dysfunction, and he loves them to pieces. He is caring, loving and would do anything for his family. Oz can be a hard head at times but that’s because he cares so much about his family that if anyone messes with them he wants ‘revenge’ in a way.

Emily and Oz come to together when, Emily and her family arrive in snowflake after an email from her biological father, which invites them to her grandmother’s wake. But everything is not what is seems.

It is quite rare when I love family in young adult novels. Everyone seems to be from a dysfunction family, or controlling parents but I adored Emily’s father’s side of the family.

“Because nobody deserves to be thrown into the middle of a tornado”

They all might not related by blood but they all treat each other like they are blood related and it’s so eccentric to see. I quite enjoyed Eli, Emily’s father. At the start you want to hate him for what he did to Emily and her mum but after things start to unfold the reader is able to see that he loves Emily with everything he has. I also liked the contrast of what Emily things of her father and what Oz thinks of him. It’s wired to see but it’s awesome as well.

I loved so many characters throughout the book that we would be here forever with me naming them all.

Katie McGarry hit a new high with Nowhere but Here, since it wasn’t just about the romance of the protagonist but more about family and finding yourself. We don’t see that a lot in young adult and it’s refreshing.

McGarry’s writing is as always brilliant, you just want to read page after page and not put it down. It’s simple and not difficult to read but has so much power and drive to it that it would appeal to both young adults and adults as well.

McGarry also knows how to write steamy characters, come on the tension between Emily and Oz was dazzling. Anyone could see it and it was awesome.

Another thing that I adore about Katie McGarry is that she knows how to break my heart and rip it in a thousand pieces.

Nowhere but Here is another stunning piece of work from Katie McGarry and I’m so excited to read more of this steamy, family orientated, beautiful series. If I could give it more than five stars I would.