My Thoughts: My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

Sixteen-year-old Jackie Howard is devastated when her parents are killed in a car accident. She has no one to turn to except for her mom's best friend Katherine Walter. Jackie quickly discovers that Katherine is no stranger to being a mom-she's got twelve boys! And every single one is a handful...

Adjusting to life with the Walter boys is not going to be easy, especially when two of them start to show an interest that definitely goes beyond brotherly.

**Review Copy received from publisher.

Ali Novak's debut My Life with the Walter Boys was an incredibly fast read. I think I had in done in a day. Which is pretty quick for me- I am the slowest reader ever! When I first read the synopsis of the story, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. But at the same time, I was pretty apprehensive. This was a story that I was pretty sure could get kind of corny. Having read it, and stewed over it some, I have to say, that I really liked it. It did get corny, and eye rolling at some points, but for the most part, it was enjoyable. However, there are a couple of things that I was unsure about.

The story begins with Jackie moving from her New York Home to a ranch in Colorado after the death of her family. She is off to live with a friend of her mother's who is mother to twelve of her own kids. My Life With the Walter Boys is essentially about Jackie adjusting to her new life. But wait... her new life now consists of eleven boys and a love triangle.

Let me just get this off my chest straight away. I hate love triangles. I have always hated love triangles. This is no exception. Specifically because this one is SO freaking stupid! I don't even think I am going to talk about it. Other than, it's dumb and shouldn't have even been part of the story. The whole romance aspect of this novel was little pathetic. Sorry to say. I think it all happened to fast. One second the boys were indifferent to Jackie, and the next they were in love with her. The same goes with her as well.

What also kind of bothered me about the romance love triangle was the circumstances. Jackie was living with the family, for all intents and purposes she was now part of said family. I know that there was no biological relationship between them at all, however, it felt weird to me that the first instinct for some of the boys was attraction, and that they felt it was appropriate, almost normal, to act on this attraction. What I guess I am trying to say is, there was no internal struggle, not fighting the lust, no guilt for the situation. If there had been some of that, I am pretty sure I would have appreciated this aspect of the book more.

In my last review of Something Real- another story about a large family, I mentioned that I was disappointed with how the author approached the relationships between the siblings. I am pleased to say that in the case of My Life with the Walter Boys, Ali Novak did a great job. I loved the relationship the brothers (and one sister) had with one another. They each had their own unique identities and personalities and they all got along (for the most part) with one another. I really loved seeing them all interact with each other and I could see the familial bond.

Overall, despite what I have said, I really did enjoy My Life with the Walter Boys. I just wanted more. I think, had the author hashed out some of the details more it would have been a stronger story. There were just a few things missing that kept the book from being great. Apparently Ali Novak was fifteen when she wrote this story, and posted it on Wattpad- now I have no idea what Wattpad is (well I sort of do) . Which explains a lot about the content of the story. I did like the book, and I will probably (most definitely) be reading the sequel, My Life as a Walter Boy.

~Happy Reading Everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday- Books that made me Swoon!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and Bookish!

This week's topic...

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Swoon

1) Unearthly by Cynthia Hand- Slow burn romance. Hands down one of the best romances I have ever read. 

2) My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick- SO good! But Jase is SO sweet. And I loved this book. I was smiling like crazy throughout the majority of the story. 

3) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer- Scarlet and Wolf- Nuff said. 

4) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin- Noah Shaw... who betty! 

5) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins- Cricket!!! 

6) Incarnate by Jodi Meadows- This book is SO underrated I think. I loved Sam and I loved the relationship between him and Ana. *Sigh* 

7) Crash Into You by Katie McGarry- Isaiah and Rachel... Hello... 

8) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo- This may be an odd choice, but the Darkling was hawt! What can I say- The scene with Alina and him in the closet (or was it a hallway, maybe an empty room... whatever) was totally swoon worthy. 

9) The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han- I know I sound like a broken record.. but seriously. This is one of my most favourite books out there. I love it. And I love the romance. 

10) Altered by Jennifer Rush- Again, I know that I sound like a broken record, but this book was full of smexy! Sam (another one), was all kinds of swoony. What can I say. 

That's my list for this week. I hope you enjoyed! 

~Happy Reading Everyone! 

Top Ten Tuesday- Books That Made Me Cry

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and Bookish. 

This Week's Topic. I am pretty easy to cry when it comes to books. But the following are ones that really hit me where it hurts. I believe 80% of the books featured this week I have talked about a lot... so maybe I like reading books that make me cry. I hope you enjoy! 

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

1) Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma- This book killed me. There is one particular scene that broke my heart and I tear up thinking about it now.

2) If I Stay by Gayle Forman- This whole books is sad. How can it not be. How do you chose whether to live or die. I remember listening to the audiobook at work, and having to blink a bunch of times to clear my eyes, and then take a bathroom break to get myself together. 

3) The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak- If you follow me on Twitter- and have been since the beginning of January, you will have seen me fall apart over this book. Just read it. It's a beautiful story. 

4) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green- Uhhh... A book about two kids who are battling cancer falling in love. 

5) Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta- This book is full of misunderstandings and missed chances. It's cause for a lot of really sad realizations. Heartbreaking. 

6) Change of Heart by Jodie Picoult-  I have a hard time with injustices and when people make sacrifices due to certain these injustices. Change of Heart is full of this. And well- I cried. 

7) Dreamland by Sarah Dessen- This story is sad in general. But there is a pretty intense moment between the protagonist and her mother that has me bawling every time. 

8) Precious and Fragile Things by Megan Hart- My heart hurts when kids are hurt and then they turn into adult who are so incredibly broken. This is what Precious and Fragile Things is all about. The whole time all I could keep saying "that poor boy. that poor poor boy."

9) Lullabies for Little Criminal by Heather O'Neill- Again, this story is about a little girl who makes some disastrous decisions at such a young age. Again, there is a moment between her and her father that had me inconsolable. It's a very powerful story. 

10) My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi- Another sad story. But what got to me about this one was once again, the relationship between the girl and her dad. 

~Happy Reading Everyone! 

My Thoughts: Something Real by Heather Demetrois

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.


**Review Copy Received for Review**

Did you know that I can't watch reality TV? There are a number of reasons why I can't. 1) I get so stressed out, that my stomach cramps. It's silly, I know. The last time I watched Survivor was when Boston Rob was playing and finally won (Like back in 2010/2011), but it made me so sick that it wasn't going to go the way I wanted. It was then that I decided that I couldn't watch reality tv any more, and 2) I don't like how scripted and over the top reality tv is. It's so dramatic and that is not reality. Which I find really annoying. In saying that, I was really intrigued by Heather Demetrois' novel, Something Real, which centres around a family who is in the reality tv spotlight.

Something Real tells the story of  Bonnie Baker, a seventeen year old girl whose family has been in the spot light since she was born. Bonnie and her family are the stars of Baker's Dozen a reality show that follows the family around 24/7. Why? Because Bonnie is one of thirteen kids. However, the show has been off the air for the past four years and during that time, Bonnie (who is now known as Chloe) has been able to build a somewhat normal life for herself. All this is jeopardized when the cameras return and the show is brought back to life.

The whole time I was reading Something Real, I felt SO bad for Bonnie and her siblings. They were surrounded by cameras all of the time. They were very rarely granted privacy, and if something needed to be hashed out, it had to be for the viewers pleasure. For this reason Bonnie and her brother Benton do not have the kind of parental relationship that you might expect to have with your parents. This is partially due to the fact that they have not seen their father in over four years, and now their mother (who has since remarried) focuses the majority of her attention on the show and her book deals.

Bonnie has twelve other siblings, and I was looking forward to seeing how they interact with one another. But we didn't really get much of that from this book. Bonnie and Benton have the closest relationship (they are both dealing with pretty private issues that they are trying to keep out of the spotlight). I really liked their relationship. But other than that,  there was not a lot of interaction between Bonnie and the other kids. This was a little disappointing.

I have to say that there was nothing incredibly spectacular about this book. It was a good story, but it wasn't anything amazing. It was entertaining at the time, and I enjoyed the characters. I did not like the love story to much. It felt almost like instalove. Which I really hate.

Overall, Something Real was enjoyable and entertaining at the time, in a light and fluffy kind of way, it wasn't the most memorable read. But sometimes that is okay.

~Happy Reading Everyone!

These Are a Few of my Favourite Things (3)

It's been a couple months since I have shared my favourite things with you. I have a number of things that I have been loving and I am excited to let you know what they are.


Movie

The Wolf of Wall Street

I just saw this movie this past weekend, and I liked it WAY more than I expected to. The story was fascinating, and Leo was great. I laughed my way through the whole movie. I should warn you, it has a lot of nudity, drug use and swearing. Also, if you are easily offended than stay away. The film's run time is three hours and I did not find that I got bored once while watching. The pace was good, and as I mentioned earlier the plot was so intriguing. All in all, this was a pretty great movie.











Honourable Mention: American Hustle- This movies was great. Jennifer Lawrence is amazing. I love her. Bradley Cooper is amazing. Great film.



TV

Sherlock

So I resisted watching this show for so long. I am kind of obsessed with British television., so it's surprising that this one stayed away for as long as it did.  I watched the first two episodes a while ago, and I liked the show, but I wasn't crazy about it like everyone else. Then I watched the third episode in the first season and I was hooked. I loved it. How did I stay away. Why did I stay away. I am glad I did though. Because watching episode 3 of season two and then waiting two years for any kind of resolution- not okay. I am sure you have all watched this show, but if you haven't... what are you waiting for?









HitREcord on TV

So... My love Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing and is back on TV with a show called HitREcord on TV. If you want to know what it's all about I have posted the first episode below. He explains what it's all about. But really it's brilliant and you should absolutely check it out. I believe it airs on Pivot every Saturday.

Honourable Mention: Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor. Matt Smith's final speech had me bawling like a little baby. I was at my mum's on Christmas day and watched it with my family, and they could not understand why I was such a mess. My brother kept saying that it was going to be okay, and my nephew kept giving me hugs and patting my back. 

Beauty 

Bare Face Cleansing Oil from Julep- I really love using a cleansing oil at the end of day to remove any makeup I have on. And I have been loving the cleansing oil from Julep. It removes my makeup beautifully and leaves my skin feeling SO soft and it doesn't break me out. I use a foaming cleanser to clean my skin. The system is great. 

Twilight Woods Triple Moisture Body Cream from Bath and Body Works- The triple moisture body cream from BBW is absolutely amazing. If you haven't tried it, and you are looking for really intense body moisturiser this is it. I have terrible winter skin right now (it's been -50 degrees Celsius here a number of times already), and this has saved my life. This scent is amazing and I absolutely love it. I also have the body mist and the candle. It's so yummy. 

Book

The Silver Lining's Play Book by Matthew Quick- What a fantastic book. If you haven't already read this book you need to get on it. Even if you've seen the movie. It was such a pleasure to read. I'm working on a book to movie post, that should be coming your way soon. But this was a phenomenal book. 

Those are my favourites of the month, I hope you enjoyed. 

~Happy Reading Everyone! 

My Thoughts: Cress my Marissa Meyer

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

**Review Copy Received from Publisher**

Okay, lets just get this out of the way. Cress was amazing. What did you expect? It was fantastic. The Lunar Chronicles gets better and better with every book.

Now...

When I first read Cinder back in 2012, I was apprehensive about reading a book that seemed to be so far out of my comfort zone. I initially thought that I would never read this book about "robots and moon people." I thought that I would be bored to tears. Then I read it and was blown away by how amazing it was (my thoughts). Then Scarlet came around. Again I was nervous about this one. I had really liked Cinder, and to be honest, second books in a series are rarely good, and did I really like Cinder as much as I remembered? Still, I read Scarlet (my thoughts) and well, who was I to doubt?

Anywho, to say I was excited for Cress would be an understatement, and to be honest, I am not sure what I can say in this review that I haven't already said about this series.

In Cress we meet... Cress... a Lunar girl who has been living in solitude on a satellite for the past several years (I think it's been seven). Cress is what the Lunar's call a shell (as in she has no magical abilities), therefore her parents sent her away when she was born to be disposed of. Poor Cress, who is stuck alone on a spaceship, which later crashes to earth, and lands in a desert. Being stranded in the desert never sounds like a fun time, but Meyer does a good job of putting you there with Cress and she has you experiencing what Cress is experiencing. This is her first time on earth, everything is new to her and she is feeling very vulnerable. I could feel Cress' anxiety building as the time in the desert stretched from hours into days and so on, it made me anxious. I couldn't stop reading.

However, like many of Marissa Meyer's female protagonists, Cress is strong and fierce in a way that suits her. Does that make sense? She's incredibly intelligent but she's also a gentle individual, and she's got these ideas about things that are a bit fantastical, but she's sweet and sincere and loyal. Cress really wants to do the right thing, and she wants to help where she can. But, at the same time, she' been isolated for the majority of her life, this means she's not sure of where she fits in, and whether or not what she can contribute is needed or appreciated.

As I mentioned in my review of Scarlet, Thorne was a favourite of mine. And I was happy to see that we get to see more of him in Cress. Anyone who doesn't like Thorne... I dunno. What you see most about Thorne is that he's funny, and really arrogant, but, he's also really charming and loyal and he's a bad ass fighter. Of all the leading men in The Lunar Chronicles so far- Thorne is my kind of guy.

Overall, from the convoluted review of Cress by Marissa Meyer you should have gotten that this series is a must read. This being the third book in this series is perfect. It moves the story along wonderfully and introduces new characters in a way that isn't overwhelming. Cress was full of adventure and high pressure situations, but it was also full of wit and humour. It made reading it absolutely delightful. I am a fan, and I am both excited and a little sad that Winter brings the end of The Lunar Chronicles. But I think it's going to be amazing.

~Happy Reading Everyone!

My Thoughts: One Tiny Lie by KA Tucker

Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents' tragic death and Kacey's self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would...and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.

Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?

As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.

I always love it when  a book surprises me. I find that there is nothing better than going into a book with really low expectations and coming out the other side blown away. That is what happened to me with One Tiny Lie. I had read the first book (Ten Tiny Breaths) in K.A. Tucker's series back in the summer, and while I enjoyed it, I didn't find that it was all that unique. It sort of followed the typical NA pattern- girls experiences traumatic event, girl falls apart, girls runs away, girls meets boy, boy is also broken, boy and girl fall in love.... this may sound like I didn't enjoy Ten Tiny Breaths, but you are wrong I really liked it, more than I liked others of the NA genre. However, it was definitely Tucker's characters that made me love her books.

One Tiny Lie is told from the perspective of Livie- Kacey's younger sister. It is set three years later and Livie is now a freshmen at Princeton University. Which has been her dream school, since forever. Now, please, don't roll your eyes at this college setting. Because it's actually kind of refreshing and Tucker puts a different spin on it- I can't pin point exactly what it is, but it made the whole story a but more fun and interesting to read. Livie has always been the more reasonable sibling, the more logical, well rounded sibling. She is the complete opposite to her sister and has never really lived a life without feeling like everything was her responsibility. However, at the insistence of her sort of therapist she begins to branch out and experiments with being a normal eighteen year old college student, in other words, acting her age and living on the wild side. This is not something Livie has any experience with, and she is completely out of her comfort zone. However, always obedient and dutiful, she complies.

As I mentioned earlier, I really really liked this book. It was really a surprise for me. There were so many things in this book that should have bothered me, and for the life of me, I can't think of a single one. Livie, the younger sister, who has always had her head on straight, begins to lose it. She doesn't know how to party, she doesn't know how to date, she doesn't even really know how to have friends her own age. And these are all things that she has to face when she gets to Princeton. Specifically, when ends up drunk her first night, and makes out with handsome stranger, Ashton.

The relationship between Livie and Ashton is SO complicated. But at the same time, SO simple. Does that even make sense? Both of them are making incredibly stupid decisions when it comes to one another, but at the same time, you are kind of rooting for them. As a reader you can almost over look their infidelity (almost). I in no way condone cheating, I think it's the nastiest thing you could do to someone. But without spoiling anything...

Overall, One Tiny Lie is really Livie's story about finding herself and breaking free of this mould that she created when her parents died.  It's about pushing boundaries and testing the limits. Livie is a fantastic character who grows up so much in this book. She feels so much and wants to do the right thing. She is so conflicted and she has to deal with that. K.A. Tucker writes amazing characters and I loved my experience with this book. And I can't wait to dig into the next book in this series Four Seconds to Lose.

~Happy Reading Everyone!