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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert | Discussion with Ely

Jun 10, 2021

Welcome back to another buddy read discussion! I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen one of these discussions, but we are back and ready to go. This time Ely and I are going to be talking about Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) by Talia Hibbert. You can check out our other buddy reads here on Angel Reads and on Earl Grey Books.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) by Talia Hibbert

Pages: 373
Publish date: November 5th 2019
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780062941206
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

Enjoy a drunken night out.
Ride a motorcycle.
Go camping.
Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
And… do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.

But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

Get A Life, Chloe Brown:

Angel: I cannot tell you how excited I was when we decided to include this in our buddy read discussions. I needed a push to pick it up as it’s been on my tbr for a while now. I’ve talked about this before, but I don’t read many solely contemporary romances. If they are contemporary it normally has some sort of theme like an MC romance or sports romance.

So I was a little hesitant to pick Get a Life, Chloe Brown up, but I also had heard fantastic things about it. From both online and in person. And I had the best time reading it.

Ely: I mean, you know that I’ve never had particularly good luck with contemporary romances in the past but there’s definitely something about this one that sets it apart from the rest.

A: There were a few things that stood out to me about this book from the start. First and probably the most important to me was the disability rep. Both Ely and I thrive for books especially romance ones that have disability representation. And this had it and it wasn’t hiding or shoving it aside either.

The second is the ‘Rebel without a cause’ nature of the male protagonist and love interest. Was that what caught your interest as well?

E: Oh absolutely. I think it was especially because Chloe lives with chronic illness, specifically chronic pain and fatigue that really caught me since we both have experiences with those too. What did you think of the rep now that we’ve read it?

A: I loved it so much. As you said both of us have chronic illness and pain and man did I feel it. I felt the isolation, the fear and everything else that comes with having a disability. Also, I loved how it was explored and I felt everything that Chloe was feeling from the start. I loved that Chloe was shown pushing herself a little – and not in a bad way. She wanted to do it in her time and her time alone.

In saying this I do wish it was explored just a little more as something as simple as going to a doctor’s appointment.

E: I completely agree. It actually made me really think about my own approach to being chronically ill and disabled and kind of convinced me that it’s time that I start pushing myself a little more and to not let myself get so bogged down in things. It is a little unrealistic that she went this entire time without a doctor’s appointment. I’ve got at least one a week at this point, even if it’s just a telehealth appointment and I’ve had most of my conditions for years!

Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

A: And while this may seem like a small thing for people, for something with a disability its part of our lives. But’s not a major deal, because everything else was really well done. While we are talking about Chloe and as I said earlier I felt that I was really about to connect with her. She was an easy protagonist to get along with. I understood what she was going through and that made for such an easy read. What did you think of Chloe?

E: It’s a huge part of our lives! I really liked Chloe, even in the few moments where she was kind of rude or being a bit of an idiot. There is something deeply likable about her. Maybe that has something to do with the disability angle.

What about Red? How did you feel about him?

A: It actually took me a little while to start like Red. I don’t know exactly why though. Maybe because of the strong barriers he puts up. As soon as he and Chloe start to flirt and connect it goes. Red was fun and entertaining. I adored the way that he treated Chloe. He didn’t treat her like she was a baby or that she was helpless, but he also learnt her limits.

I also love that we get to see him grown throughout the novel. The reader does get to see him change as the walls start to break down. We see him become stronger. I think he also had this great combo of having these ‘bad boy’ vibes but also being very sweet. What did you think of him?

E: I love the way he treated Chloe too. I did literally send you a message talking about how much I wanted my own Red. I just thought he was really sweet, and I loved that he was a painter.

Also, I do feel like we still never really got to see the whole of him. I do have to say that I think a lot of things are kind of brushed over in here like they’re mentioned and made to seem important but they don’t go too far. Did you feel that too?

A: Oh absolutely! I think that is one of my concerns with the book. We learn all these things especially about Red, but then I feel nothing comes from it. Red had a pretty abusive relationship. And while we get one conversation, we don’t get to see him deal with it. It’s briefly spoken about, but not enough especially since the relationship that he and Chloe and getting into it.

Another thing that I felt that Get a Life, Chloe Brown lacked was a support system. I feel that we don’t get to see enough of Chloe’s sisters. Or Red’s friends. We only really get to see Red and Chloe together and then that is it. Did you feel the same?

Photo by Scott Goodwill on Unsplash

E: That’s exactly how I felt! I feel like we had such a dramatic prologue as well but then we don’t really hear about it until quite a way through the book, we’re kind of left wondering what happened. Looking back at it now, I feel like there isn’t so much of a plot as an exploration of a relationship. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Oh, Chloe has no support. There are mentions of it, but I feel like her family are always these like distant characters who we’re aware of but never really get to see. I mean, we get to see Red’s mum, what once?

A: That was the next thing that I was going to say. I felt that there weren’t many things going on. And it’s not a bad thing. I didn’t feel bored per se – but like I was waiting for something more to happen.

We know she doesn’t any friends, and that she lost a lot of people after her health issues. I did get a sense that her family was pretty good with everything. But then we never see them. Which I felt strange about as the series is about the sisters. I think so, I don’t even remember her name.

And while I didn’t love these things, I thought that the romance was fantastic and they were absolutely adorable together. How about you?

E: I definitely wasn’t bored. I love their romance and while reading it I didn’t really think about the other stuff too much, I was just happy with how adorable and lovely the whole thing was.

A: Exactly! I smiled so much while reading it that is for sure. I love books that make me feel like that. Plus add to that good disability rep and we have a winner. I know I have already ordered the next 2 books at work because I can’t wait to read the other sisters stories. You have ordered them in as well right?

Photo by Anastasiia Pyvovarova on Unsplash

E: I ordered them immediately after finishing this one. It seems like they might arrive tomorrow. I really have no idea what their stories hold for us!

A: I sadly won’t be able to get mine till after lockdown. But it’s okay. I think that is what makes me most excited It’s all open and I cannot wait to dig in.

Well, thank you for joining me again. This was definitely a hit for both of us. Our next buddy read is Lore which I’m really excited about, and then One Last Stop.

And there we go. Have you read Get A Life, Chloe Brown yet? What did you think of it? Are you planning to? Let’s Chat!

I Read Sarah J. Maas Again After I Swore I Never Would

Apr 13, 2021

– There will be spoilers for all 5 books in this post –

Well, I never thought I would be writing this post. And I mean never. If you know me in person, then you know that I don’t have a fantastic experience with Sarah J Maas. I read the first book in both her main series – years ago – when they were first published. And then I saw not only a pattern in her characters but in what she does with these characters – and it was a pattern that I didn’t like. So I stopped reading it. But BookTok and Instagram hate me, and I need to know what the fuss was about in regards to ‘The Court of Thorns and Roses’ series. Normally I don’t give into books that are hyped, but this time it got me.

It was the series that I enjoyed the best when I first read them. And if anything it is the one that I would have continued out of them both. So after many years and many books. I went back into the world of ‘The Court of Thorns and Roses’ series and read all the books – and I mean all.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve made my way through the series re-reading the first book and for the first time reading the rest of the series – and let me tell you it was an adventure. I didn’t know what to really expect going into the rest of the series. As I said I read A Court of Thorns and Roses back when it first came out and really did enjoy it. So my re-read of it was a nice refresher back into the world and the who is who. From then on it was a new experience for me – and an experience it was.

Photo by Rhett Wesley on Unsplash

Feyre is an interesting protagonist and I don’t love her. I don’t hate her at all. But there is something that is holding me back from loving her. I like she is badass and would do anything for the people that she loves, and eventually her people. But there were times throughout the series that she seems flat.

Rhysand is an interesting character. He is enjoyable to read and get to know throughout the novel, but I feel like Maas hasn’t given him many faults. He does some pretty shitty things to Feyre under the mountain, but it’s kind of washed aside. I like characters that are complicated and feel real. And Rhys doesn’t feel like that.

Cassian is one of the characters that just made the story I feel. He is a person that connects all these characters, that is someone in their lives and that makes for some great connections. I think he is one of the characters that we also know the most about – maybe because he lives to talk about himself. But I think that has a lot of say about how Maas sees him and his part in this world that she has created.

Azriel is a very interesting character and while I love him, I also have no idea where his story is going to go. What is going to happen to him? We got to see him a lot more in Silver Flames. And by that, we get to see a different side to him and I’m intrigued to see where it’s going to go.

Mor and Amren are two of my favourite characters from this series. They are snarky and fun to be around. And the polar opposite of one another. That is why I think they work so well together. Mor is interesting and I hate that she hasn’t told Azriel everything yet – I think it’s a piss poor excess and I just want everything out in the open. Maybe it will happen in the next book, but who knows really. And while I loved Amren, she did get on my nerves a little. But I can get that go.

Maas did crap on a lot of the characters in this series and I think that Elain and Nesta got a lot of it. I feel like we don’t know them at all. I just finished A Court of Silver Flames and I still feel like Nesta hasn’t really grown. Her character development literally happened in the last few chapters. There were a few things here and there that moved her characters along a little – but honestly, it wasn’t enough for me. I really enjoy unlikable characters – but Nesta just had no personality.

Elain I know nothing about. I know that may change in the next book, maybe. But I feel like she has been in the series long enough that the reader needs to know more. I also despise what Maas has done with the sister’s relationship. Again I think it’s just been thrown apart and adds nothing to the story. I just wish there was more to these three.

Photo by photo-nic.co.uk nic on Unsplash

Another character that is the main focus and I think treated horribly is Tamlin. Now don’t get me wrong, he did some horrible things – unforgivable things. But his character arc is one of the main reasons why I stopped reading Sarah J Maas. She does this thing where she makes the ex of her main protagonist into a horrible person – who does some shitty things – and no matter what they do, they aren’t redeemed. I’m all for the protagonist being with someone else, that isn’t my concern at all. But it’s the way that the ex is treated after.

Tamlin get’s no redemption from either Maas or any readers. I don’t fully understand everyone’s hate for him. Sure I don’t like him, I don’t think he is a great match for Feyre. But I also feel like it’s taken too far. A great example of that is in A Court of Frost and Starlight. Everyone has left him, he has lost everything and yes it was his fault. But Rhys just keeps on knocking him down and down. I feel the reader gets it by this point. And it just becomes too much.

Another thing that I think is done well in this series – are the side characters. They are entertaining creates great banter and friendships. However – there are so many characters that Maas has created that I got confused quite a bit. There is just so much going on, add to that so many characters and courts, that even though I read these books back to back, I had to google heaps.

Okay let me be straight with you – there is not a lot of that happens in each book. For nearly all the books nothing is happening for 50% of the book. I can understand that happening with the first book, trying to build the world and the characters. But it’s like we are restarting it again in A Court of Mist and Fury and that got really frustrating. I just wanted more for each book. For how long they are, there wasn’t enough happening.

One of my favourite things about these types of fantasy is court intrigue – I love it. And that was a highlight in this series for me. I thought that was done really well. And I wanted more of that. There was so much more room for it, especially in the second and third book. I do think things are happening in the world and we will see it in the remaining books.

I would love to know more about the other courts as well. We get to see a bit of them throughout the series, but I feel like there is so much more that we could know. That could help move the series along. One of my favourite scenes from this series is when all the High Lords and Ladies meet. I think it was a fantastic scene and was done really well. We get to see the interactions between the Courts and their people. The banter, the hatred and everything in between.

Photo by Jackson Hendry on Unsplash

One of the main reasons why people made me want to go back into this world was the way that readers talked about the romance and the smut. And after finishing all the current books, I’m a little confused. I thought there would be more. I have a feeling that people were making a big deal about it all because a lot of the readers mostly read young adult before jumping into this. I’ve been romance for the last couple of years and I have read books that are full of smut. While I do say this, there were some pretty hot scenes.

The romances are very intriguing and we see many different ones throughout the series. Mates are a really big thing in this series and Maas does not let us forget it. I think Feyre and Rhys are great together and I liked that we get to see them both fall for one another – but I also feel like it went from 20% to 100% very quickly. I needed more of them just being together before it was all Mates and High Lady. However, I do love that Feyre does become High Lady though.

The newest romance to his series is between Cassian and Nesta and I still have a lot of thoughts on it. Again I feel like it was all or nothing with these two. Nesta isn’t a character that I love, but I do think that Cassian can bring out a different side to her and I liked seeing that. Plus they are hot together. I’m intrigued by what Maas is going to do with the other characters and their romances. I’m not sure how she is going to do it all. Who is going to end up with who? But please I just need Lucien to get a happy ending.

One thing that I really did love was the relationship between Rhys, Feyre and their High Court. The banter is fantastic and some of my favourite scenes is just them talking with one another and having a good time. I love that we get to see how much they care for one another – what they would do for one another. Each of them would sacrifice their own lives, just so they would be safe. This shined through the whole series and as each book goes on we see how close they all are, even Feyre who has just joined them.

As I said before I hate Feyre’s relationship with her sisters. It made me angry, frustrated and I just wanted more. I love the idea of found family, but these three have been through a whole heap of shit and then Maas throws their relationship in the bin. I do hope that this is worked on throughout the next few books, but who knows.

Maas’ writing in this series is okay. There is nothing that makes me want to talk about it all the time. And with all books being as long as they are, I thought that more would have happened in them. I don’t love what she does with her characters, I wish that she would give them better character arcs. And I felt that at times there were many things that fall flat. I do think that she has created an interesting world, that is for sure. It’s interesting, has fantastic court intrigue and some great characters.

Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash

Another thing that Maas has been criticised about is her lack of diversity. Especially in the Court series. There is so much that can be delved into here – and really all that I want to say is that I am disappointed. Disappointed in a well know, accomplished, NYT bestselling author doesn’t have diversity in a fantasy series where there is heaps of room for it. This makes me frustrated and angry. It’s the one thing that I always look for in a book and it’s just not here.

After finishing A Court of Silver Flames there is still a lot going through my head. There is a lot of processes, especially with everyone’s theories. I enjoyed the first 3 books the most, but I still had a lot of problems with them all. They all followed the same arc and Maas never tried to do something different. A Court of Frost and Starlight is an okay filler – but honestly adds nothing much. And Silver Flames. I’m still not sure what actually happened in this one. There is so much more that I could talk about here in this post, but I think we will be here for a long time if that does happen.

I will continue to read the series, but mostly out of curiosity more than anything. I want to see what happens. If more characters lives are going to be thrown to shit, or if they are going to get some peace. It was an adventure, one I didn’t think I was going to take again, but I had a good time. Do I think that these are the best books out there? No. Do I think they deserve the love that they are getting? No? Would I recommend them? Probably not. Are they fun to read – hell yeah.

Have you read ‘The Court of Thorns and Roses’ series? What did you think of them, are you planning to continue the series? Have you read anything else by Sarah J Maas? How do you feel about hyped books? Let’s Chat!

Tropes In Books I Hate To See While Reading

Apr 11, 2021

A few weeks ago I share the tropes in books that I love reading, so today I thought I would share the ones that I hate.

I don’t hate a lot of things, dislike maybe. But hate not as much, so this post was a little hard to decide which posts I hate and which ones I don’t particularly like to read. But I narrowed it down. There is a mix of romance tropes and plot and arc tropes here. So let’s go, like normal these are in no order.

Love Triangle: This is one that I never liked at all. I’ve read books with it, simply because nearly all the early YA had it. I could not really escape it. But it was just never for me. I couldn’t make myself love it. It’s rarely done well or worked for me, one of the only ones that I can think of that I enjoyed – quite a lot is The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.

Flipping a Characters Personality: This is a trope that I have notice come up over the last few years and it’s something that just does not sit right with me. I understand that people do change and obvious they are allowed to change how they think and feel about things – but there has been a few times where characters have changed completely and I just can’t read it. The concept makes me frustrated and makes me lose interest very easy after that.

Photo by Matias North on Unsplash

Parents are Dead/Whole Family Dead: I need some more family bonding people! I understand the concept of dead parents or parents that just don’t give a shit. It enables the protagonist to get away with a lot of things, espieally if they are teens. But I adore books that have great representation. Weather it’s just one parent, or a guardian. I love it when the protagonist has that great relationship. It makes for a fantastic read. I just want to see more family bonding. Espeically in fantasy.

‘I’m not like other girls’: This is another one of those tropes that has been going around for some time now. And I just don’t love it – like at all. It just makes me frustrated. I’ve seen it so much and I need something more. While it’s a bigger YA trope than anything, I do see it a lot in romance novels as well. I want something better, especially for a our female protagonists.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Mates: Well I don’t hate this one, but if it’s not done right – it’s not great. I’ve been reading a lot more fantasy/supernatural romance over the last few years, and this is something that I have noticed come up a bit. I’ve read some that are done really well – like Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. It’s done really well here, but then there are others that are done well at all.

And those are some of the tropes that I hate to read! How do you feel about these tropes? Do you hate them or do you like reading them? What are some tropes that you hate? Let’s Chat!