Leaving Paradise- Simone Elkeles

Title: Leaving Paradise
Author: Simone Elkeles
Source: Bought new
Series: Yes
Rating: 4.5/5















Goodreads Summary

Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

These books are like super sweet cookies, I absolutely love them but I try not to have too many. Simone Elkeles is an author I know that her books will always be good. I am so terrified to read the next books in her series because I am terrified I will not love it as much. I of course was not dissapointed with this book. I purchased this on a whim. It was on sale for $2 so I thought why not.

Caleb is just getting out of juvenile jail where he spent a year of his life after he got behind the wheel of a car and hit Maggie Armstrong. He is learning to re-adjust to his life on the outside. His family does not know how to treat him. I found that Caleb was a little bit of a jerk in the beginning. He falls back into the groove of his old life and seems to fall in the same crowd as before. Maggie feels like an outsider since the accident. She is doing everything in her power to leave Paradise as soon as possible. Maggie was a frustrating character. I felt bad for the things she had to go through but at times I felt like she pulled the poor me card a lot. I completely understand she feels like nothing will ever be the same but I wanted her to realize how much she was missing out on my hiding in the shadows.

I loved the plot. Bad boy getting out of jail and starting at the high school of the girl he hit? Drama galore and of course a good story. I always know how these books are going to end but I am still always so eager to read it because I know I will be sucked in instantly. I loved the twists this book had, so much more of that night was revealed. Information starting to fall into place making everything make more sense.

This book was an amazing deal at $2 and for someone looking for a contemporary I highly recommend this book. It was a one sitting book, and I think I will finally get over my fear and read the next book in this series because I have to know what happens next with Caleb and Maggie and of course between Caleb's sister and Maggie. So much stuff needs to be said still. I gave this a 4.5/5.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jamie The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten Tuesday topic is books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread. I am so bad for this. I do this a lot but I am trying to remedy this.I have way more than 10 but I choose the top ten ones that I know I convinced my fiancee I NEEDED to have immediately.


1) Unravel Me- Tehereh Mafi

2) The Evolution of Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkins

3) The Space Between Us- Jessica Martinez

4) Nightshade- Andrea Cremer

5) Beautiful Disaster- Jamie McGuire

6) The Demon King- Cinda Williams Chima

7) Fourth Comings- Megan McCafferty

8) Shine- Jeri Smith-Ready

9) Forever- Maggie Stiefvater

10) Easy- Tammara Webber

Stacking the Shelves (63)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This week I bought more books and got more books from the library. It's an addiction that I am still unwilling to give up.

Bought New (Kindle)

Remberance, Vengance, and Timeless by Michelle Meadows

Small Medium at Large- Joanne Levy (A little over $2, why not)

Escape from Sobibor- Richard Rashke

Perfectly Dateless- Kristin Billerback (Free on Kindle)

Borrowed from the Library

Blankets- Craig Thompson

Anya's Ghost- Vera Brosgol

Zita the Spacegirl- Ben Hatke

Audition- Stasia Ward Kehoe

What did you get in your mailbox?

Cinders and Sapphires- Leila Rasheed

Title: Cinders and Sapphires
Author: Leila Rasheed
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Yes
Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Summary

 

Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting . . . at Somerton.

 

Thoughts

I have not watch Downton Abbey (yet) and I heard a lot of reviews that referred to this book as being like the show. It was a slow start for me and took me quite awhile to get into it fully. I loved the prologue but chapter one was a little bland to me, once I got farther in and the drama started I could not put this down. I finished this at work between phone calls because I had to know what happened next. I had five pages left I was dying to read. This book makes me excited for the sequel and the TV show.

Characters

All these characters were amazing. I never got frustrated with any of them, I thought Ada was a great female protagonist at a turn where women are starting to get more rights. She is stuck between wanting to honor her family and follow traditions and becoming a independent women, she tries to do the right thing but she is not as innocent as she first appears. I loved her relationship with Georgiana. Rose was also such an amazing female character struggling with being a house servant and wanting more for herself. Of course there is the boys too, Sebastian and his brother Michael. Sebastian has his own secrets he is trying to keep while Michael struggles with his feelings for someone he knows he could never be with. Charlotte, oh that girl deserves a paragraph to herself but I will keep it short and say she is such a sneaky, horrid character.
 

Plot

I loved the storyline for this, again it did take some time to get into the setting but the description made me feel like I was there at Summerton learning about all these characters and getting an insight into their lives. I loved the big moments in history that were covered in this novel, having a foreign student attend a prestigious school and allowing women the right to an university education. I loved the setting and the plot, there was so many twist and turns in this novel and it gave a stark insight into what was considered acceptable in 1912.
 

Conclusion

I wish more people would read this book, I think anyone with an interest in historical fiction would enjoy this book a whole lot. I loved the point of views from everyone. Ada was the main protagonist but a lot of other characters got their own voice to show a twist in the plot from their point of view. I wish the pace was a little quicker in the beginning so I am giving this a 4/5 due to the pace being a little slow in the beginning but this was a solid book and I hope more people read it and love it as much as I did.

Beautiful Creatures (Graphic novel)- Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Yes
Rating: 4/5

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Thoughts

So I have the hardcover of this sitting on my bookshelf. It's signed by both authors and I got it for super cheap on Bookcloseouts but I still have not read it. I don't even want to admit how long it has been sitting there. It's bad, so to encourage myself to get to this faster so I picked up the graphic novel at the library.

I really enjoyed that this was a graphic novel but I can also understand how the novel itself got mixed review. I think if I would have read the novel before the graphic novel I might not like it as much but this has fuled in interest in getting to this book soon.

Characters

I hope that I will get more out of the characters from the novel, I felt like I got a lot of the story but I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I liked that it was from the point of view of Ethan. This provided a completely different view to the story. Lena was a character I am not completely sure I understand or like. I found her a little frustrating at times but she did seem to care for Ethan and her family which made me like her a lot more than I thought I would in the beginning. I really liked the secondary characters, I loved how the authors brought all the characters together in such an intricate way and I look forward to reading the novel and finding out more about Ethan's and Lena's families.

Plot

This was quite a plot driven book for me,  the art made the story flow. I loved the mix of supernatural elements with a historical twist. It was really unique and I was completely sucked into the story. I loved every bit of it. The twist in the story kept it from just being a YA romance novel. I saw so much potential in this story and the art brought it to life for me and kept me hooked until the end.

Conclusion

Once I read the novel I will compare the two, I the graphic novel helped me to focus on the plot and I hope reading the novel I will be able to get more out of the characters. I thought this was really well done and I read it in one sitting.  I gave this a 4/5 and I hope I will love the novel and movie just as much.