October 2015 Wrap-up

I read a total of 6 books this month. I know, I could have done better, but I was just too busy with work as usual. Don't say I didn't try, because I've spent half my lunch and dinner breaks reading!

Let's start from the top...

We Were Liars / E. Lockhart ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆ (reread)
In one sentence: Read this book without knowing a single thing about it.

This was my favourite book of last year (": After rereading it, I understand my 2014 self now, because it still hits me the same way it did the first time I read it. Despite what everyone who's read it says, I never saw it coming and that's why it left an impact on me.

Love Fortunes & Other Disasters / Kimberly Karalius ⋆⋆⋆⋆

In one sentence: A town that is literally obsessed with love. 

I've done a full review for this, which you can read here.

Fire & Flood / Victoria Scott ⋆⋆ (reread) 

In one sentence: A deadly race with the grand prize of a Cure that can be remedy to any illness, with only the help of companions called Pandoras.

RANT COMING. The first time I read it, I enjoyed it but after a reread I caught many things that I did not like, and things that did not make sense. The writing was really cheesy, no joke, which of course made the main character unlikeable since it was first person. And the names were kinda terrible. Harper? Ransom and Levi? Jaxon with an X??? GUY???

I did not see any reason why the Triggers made such a big deal of Tella and her fox, which I honestly thought weren't all that great. The part where she chopped off her hair suddenly? It seemed so fake to me, just the author trying too hard to make the main character look like a 'badass'. It didn't work.

And the goddamn romance, what the hell? Did I miss the part where Guy saw what's so amazing about Tella??? I'll say this clearly: Tella freaking sucks. She's really lousy and weak and the whole book just makes me think that the author imagined herself into Tella, just delusional and thinking she's a badass heroine or something. 

AND THE REVELATION AT THE END DID NOT MAKE SENSE. Will not rant it here in case I spoil it for potential readers. But honestly now I'm really not sure if I wanna continue with the sequel or not.

Night Film / Marisha Pessl ⋆⋆⋆⋆

In one sentence: The daughter of a horror filmmaker is found dead, speculated as suicide, which journalist Scott Mcgrath doubts and seeks the truth like his life depends on it.

Full review also done, which can be read here :)

Survive the Night / Danielle Vega ⋆⋆

In one sentence: Casey is fresh out of rehab and is dragged to an underground rave where she finds her friend's body, mutilated and being fed on by rats.

This is a YA horror, which is actually sort of 'rare' for now. This book had a slow start, which left me wondering where the hell is the gore??? When the gore came, though, I was just stumped. That's it??? I was really expecting more.

The characters were obviously not well-made, what you'd call 'cookie-cutter characters' and it was full of horror tropes which I'm still not sure whether I appreciate or not. Unlike Night Film, that so-did-it-really-happen? ending just didn't work for this book.

The Sky Is Everywhere / Jandy Nelson ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
In one sentence: This is a book about a girl who knows she should be mourning her sister's death instead of falling in love.

So I gave this book 5 stars only because the love triangle got to me... Shall not elaborate on that and go too deep into my personal life, heh, but I loved everything about this one. I loved the intimacy between Lennie and her Gram and uncle Big, as well as Toby and Joe. Maybe I am biased because I love contemporary but at times I felt Lennie's life mirroring that of mine, past and present.

She lives with her grandmother and uncle, which reminded me of my years from 2012 to 2014. She was caught between someone who understood her pain, and someone who made her forget it. She is hopelessly in love even after a terrible loss... Like I am now. 

All these books mentioned above can be found at Popular (: