REVIEW; Frosh: First Blush (Frosh #1), by Monica B Wagner

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New-Adult, Contemporary, Young Adult

Recommend: Yes

Book 1

NO SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

At Hillson University the drama is like no other; Ellie, an aspiring journalist, will learn just what it means to "do what you need to do to get the story". Grant is a star football player trying to live up to everyone's expectations. Devon is Queen Bee, and will stop at nothing to get Grant and parade him around on her arm. And then Charlie is about to change his nerdy, shy attitude in order to catch Devon's attention. What could go wrong? 

My Thoughts:

I quite enjoy books that move between a lot of POV's. In this case the story revolves around the four main characters - Ellie, Grant, Devon and Charlie. It reminds me of reading series like The It Girl about 7-8 years ago. 

I think a main thing to note from the start, is that this is rather predictable. Nothing really happened that was a huge shock or was a twist, so if that's what you're looking for, keep looking. But it does serve for a good light summer read that I read in one day. 

Ellie: She is a typical innocent and fresh heroine, starting university with high hopes and dating not on her agenda. I feel she was a little weak though. It all felt too convenient, with how Tanner instantly took a shine to her (although there were other reasons) before he even knew who she was and simultaneously Grant also noted her as a woman of interest quite early on. But why do these heroines always have to be so naive and dis-trusting. I'm so tired of a heroine seeing/hearing something and totally jumping to conclusions. I understand there is need to keep a plot turning, but can authors not think of other ways? Like, I really felt sorry for Grant because she was pretty cruel to him, even if it was out of defense, she still didn't even allow him a chance to explain his side of anything, and that to me is such a frustrating trait. 

Characters: There were a lot of characters in this, with their own agendas, and at times I did get confused with the secondary characters and how they were all inter-related with different main characters. But they all had a substantial difference to them, so every character felt like they served purpose and were distinct. I enjoyed the suspense and secrets surrounding Devon's drama and uncovering her family secrets. I really liked Charlie though. He was such an adorable character and I always loved reading about his nerdy t-shirts. I think he was the one I felt for most and was really rooting for, being the underdog and letting Devon treat him like shit but then he'd stand up for himself and it would be amazing! 

I don't really like when there is cheating in books, and there wasn't really in this, but the love triangles gave me a headache. Ellie liked Grant, but also Tanner liked Ellie. Charlie liked Devon who was after Grant. Then Grant went out with Devon and Ellie with Tanner and it was just a bit messy for my liking. Appeared more like high school drama than university... 

I read a similar review that actually mentioned legal drinking age and I feel that's a really good point. At this point, all the characters are underage as per American law. Whereas in Ireland (where I grew up) and the UK (where I now go to Uni) the legal age is 18. So by the time I got to uni I was already 18, and one of the youngest in my year, and most people had those rebellious alcoholic years behind them (save a few dodgy nights!) but on a whole, most people drink responsibly so the drama levels are not the same. 

Overall:

I'm sure a lot of NA readers would enjoy this, but personally feel it's more suited at YA due to the maturity levels and drama. I can't really relate to the characters and the scheming as being that of 18+. 

Goodreads

REVIEW; Home Tears, by Tijan

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: New-Adult, Contemporary 

Recommend: Yes

Standalone

NO SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

Dani has just returned to her home town, after everyone believing she had died. The love of her life had left her for her sister so she left for 10 years. When she returns, her family aren't overjoyed to see her except for her Aunt who gives her a place to stay. 
Jonah, a bad boy back in high school, befriends Dani, and the two begin to test the waters of a relationship. But the more time spent back home, Dani begins to uncover some hard truths about her family and she wonders if she was better off letting them believe she had died. 

My Thoughts:

I think unfortunately something was missing for me to entirely love this. I did read it in a day and found it just as captivating as other Tijan books, but I wasn't in love with the characters like I usually am. I didn't form those emotional connections...

Dani: I really felt a lot of sympathy for her and liked how we got some development with her character. She has been through hell with her ex Jake, not just marrying one of her sisters but also having dated the 3rd sister. That for me, was a little extreme. Now she's back in town and they all couldn't be more uncomfortable with her return and refused to try and even understand the grief that Dani harboured. She must be one of the most resilient characters ever. I know if I were here, I would not have returned to the shit storm that awaited. 

Jake: I hated him. What an absolute ass. I feel like he should have stayed the hell away from Dani as he was meant to be marrying her sister, who couldn't be less pleased with her return and who feared Dani would steal him back. Jake had no backbone and Dani was much better off leaving him in her past...

Jonah: He was pretty cool! An apparent reformed bad boy, everyone loved him and I loved how well he complimented Dani. He helped her grow and spread roots and pushed her to mend relationships as they both fought against the town's judgement. He was a real core in Dani finding herself and having someone to confide in who had her best interests at heart. 

So, we had sister drama. We had boy drama... now onto family drama. 

Dani starts to dig and finds out that there was a lot more family drama than just a death and a guy who slept with each sister. As she aims to uncover the truth about her mother and her family, it's woven beautifully with her own journey of forgiveness and allowing herself to love again (because of Jonah).

Overall:

I can't really explain it well, but this was a beautiful read about betrayal, forgiveness and secrets. It sort of highlights what's important in life and in family units. It explores the journey of Dani recovering from lies and heartbreak and allowing herself to have a new beginning and new chance. 

Goodreads

REVIEW; Bad Mommy, by Tarryn Fisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Romance, Psychological Thriller 

Recommend: Yes

NO SPOILERS!!! 

Summary:

Fig lost her little girl and believes that her soul is present in a girl she watches at the park. She learns where the girl lives, and conveniently moves into the house next door, befriending parents Jolene and Darius. She wants everything that Jolene has - her child, her husband, her house, her style. As the imitation reaches new levels, so does the danger. 

My Thoughts:

Well where to start with this whirlwind of a book. I think this was definitely the best book I've read this year - it has to be. I love Tarryn Fisher's books and they usually hit me pretty hard, but this was on a whole new level of crazy (or maybe on par with Marrow). 

We know Fig has lost a child, and her relationship disbanded as her partner didn't want to try again while Fig couldn't cope with the loss. She slowly becomes fixated on a little girl she sees in the park, following her therapist's advice that she would meet her child's soul again. 

But Fig is an obsessive person, and moves into the house next door to Jolene and her young daughter. Fig is envious from the start; of Jolene's life including her home, her husband and her sense of style. It starts of rather minor, with Fig buying similar home decor, or vising places that Jolene has posted on her social media. But her stalker tendencies are dismissed by Jolene, but her husband, Darius, can't let it go. 

This book is told from three different POV in three distinct parts; Fig (The Psychopath), Darius (The Sociopath) and then Jolene (The Writer). And HOLY SHIT! It's hard to know who to believe as the plot twists and totally blindsides you and makes you feel sick with worry and... it's just a book that is impossible to put down. To the reader, it appears like Jolene and Darius have a happy, tight marriage. But after Fig's meddling, is it all for appearances? Can we trust Darius? There are just so many times that I had to stop and try and piece together the puzzle and THE ENDING! 

The ending of this will never escape my memory. This wins the best ending ever and it absolutely punches you and guts you. I even ran out of the room to my mom to tell her how it ended because I was so in shock. Even now, what wonderful literary wisdom to write that way. 

As victim to emotional blackmail in a relationship with a narcissist, I feel like this is an important read. It really highlights how blind love can be when you are being lied to and how you need to be stronger to rise above it all, now matter how much it F's you up. I got chillsssss...

Overall:

Wonderfully psychotic and captivating - one of my favourite reads from 2017 with some twisted characters brought to life with magical writing skills.

Goodreads

REVIEW; Tangled Beauty, by K.L. Middleton

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Genre: New-Adult, Suspense, Romance

Recommend: No

Book 1

SPOILERS 

Summary:

Sinclair is asked by her best friend, Jesse, to pretend to be his girlfriend at a family event. He can't come out to his parents as he risks being cut off. Visiting the grand home for the weekend, Sinclair meets Jesse's attractive lawyer brother, Reed, and sparks fly. Meanwhile, Sinclair also has a secret admirer who will stop at nothing to get his girl.

My Thoughts:

All right, so this is definitely a quick read, coming in at well under two hours. As a quick read, it fills the gap nicely. 

Writing: This needs to go back to the Editor's desk for starters. Names were spelled incorrectly, punctuation missing (at the end of a chapter once). The pacing is horrendous. Set over the course of one weekend and leading up to a big party, the suspense is slowly built just for it all to go off in one big explosion and then a chapter at the end to round it all off. Totally unbalanced.

Story: What a whirlwind. I feel the thriller aspect of this should have been excluded. It read like two totally different plots; the plot with Reed/Sinclair happening with all the family drama as a romance novel. And then a chapter here and there from Michael (who we don't know anything about, other than he is watching Sinclair) to add in the suspense and create totally unnecessary drama. I feel there was a substantial plot in the romantic drama alone, without trying to just add a kidnapping/murder on top randomly. 

Characters: The only character I liked was Jesse. Sinclair is very one-dimensional, with no idiosyncrasies or personality. Reed appeared to be mature but was a character you could find in most NA books - reformed player. Throw in two characters with similar names - Sela and Sera? And then Jack! Jesse's father was an absolute slimeball. He was probably necessary for the whole romantic dealings and lying, but I didn't understand how Jesse and Reed were so accepting of his actions. Reed admitted that Jack had hit on every woman he brought home. He knew right away he couldn't trust his fiancée but yet let them just continue behind his back. Sinclair knew Sela was cheating on Reed, but yet believed her when she called Reed's name to make Sinclair jealous. Ugh - there was just no brain involved in any of this! 

They were all cliché characters. The proud, rich parents that were homophobic - and no real issue explored about how this is wrong etc. Slut-shaming. Reed is supposed to be a lawyer and busy with his clients, suggesting his is rather successful and there is reference to how he has earned his money. In parallel though he is well known for his female company - surely that's not an image that bodes well for a lawyer? 

I feel like there were some decent topics just thrown about in this novel (homophobia for one) as if that made it a good novel. It doesn't. There was no character development or issues explored in any detail to allow for reader thought or moral dilemmas. It was all just so shallow. 

Overall:

Cut out the thriller story-line and there is a premise for a great novel. Sadly, it would need to be packed out properly, with character building and development and the pacing of everything totally revised. Do not recommend. 

Goodreads