Review of "Populatti" by Jackie Nastri Bardenwerper

Populatti by Jackie Nastri Bardenwerper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Received as a free ARC from Netgalley.

You think Facebook has a play in today's bullying? Imagine if it was private and monitored only by teenagers.

This book is about Livi, a seemingly normal--but insecure--teenage girl who's at the top of her High School's society because she's friend's with the right people.

Jackie has a flair for writing teenagers, and while I was sitting here questioning Livi's choices and self-contradictions on every page, I could still recognize my own adolescent voice in Livi's experiences.

Livi is on the Honor Council at her school, meaning she helps decide if students are suspended or not. It's only briefly explained in the book, but it helps paint the picture of the Main Character. She's a good student, basically.

However, when the adults aren't looking (Not that her doctor parents are much present in the book) she uses her time on the social networking "Populatti". Livi's friend Crystal is a child-genius, and in order to ace her way into a good college, she created this secret network. Completely without adult supervision or moderating.

When Livi's place on this exclusive, invite-only social network is threatened, she has to figure out where the truth ends and the lies begin. She's fed information from her best friend's but over time, she realize that her so-called friends may not be as great as she'd hoped.

What I liked: There was a lot of great teen-angst coming from Livi. That's not always easy to pull off. And I especially liked how naturally the author portrayed Livi's thoughts.


What I didn't like: Unfortunately, there's a few things I absolutely didn't like.

1. I know my version was an ARC, but I sincerely hope the publisher/Author has looked through for formatting mistakes. There was quite a few, along with jumbled sentences switching place. The start of every chapter, didn't really work on kindle on my phone, and it was only a tad better on my tablet.

2. It dragged on. And not in an entertaining way. The middle was too... bland. And my interest faded after the first 30% and didn't pick up until after 60%. The rest of it, however was intriguing, though.

3. I'm a bit sad it ended when it did. After taking a long break from the book, I was just getting into it again, and was looking forward to seeing the aftermath of Livi's choices. However, this opens up a possibility for a sequel, and I guess that's also good.

Conclusion:

All in all. It's an okay book. It tackles issues with online-bullying, and I would certainly give this to my sister to read once she starts going online.

I think my issues with the book has more to do with formatting, and my age than the content of the book, because it's a light read that leaves you thinking.

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Review of "Matched" by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading the description, I was like:




But, after reading the book, I was like:



Warning: May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. I expected a dystopian novel, with a girl desperately wanting to break free and make her own choices. A thrilling tale of sticking it to the man, while being clever about it. And finally, I expected a sweet romance, about how love is the one thing that can't be controlled.

But what I got, was a poorly executed excuse of a love triangle. The girl was torn between her childhood friend whom she swears she loves, but haven't dared think about in that way and the mysterious quiet kid she barely remembers, but he's so dark and silent--he gotta be exciting.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good love-triangle as much as the next person. But for me to enjoy it properly, I need to be invested in the feelings. And this book didn't really give me that personal attachment to the characters.

The book is about Cassia. She's going to her Matching, where she'll find out who the society wants her to spend the rest of her life with. When she finds out it's her best friend, Xander, she's overly thrilled. She's never thought of him like that, but she knows: she loves him.

She gets a micro-card with information about her Match, and happily, arrives home.

But when she comes home and wants to see what important information the society thinks she should know, something goes wrong. It's not just Xander's face on the screen anymore, now she also sees Ky, the silent, average boy from further down the street. At first, she believes the lies fed from the Officials, but as time goes on, she knows: she loves Ky too!

There was a number of things that bothered me about the book. I'm just going to take it from the top.

The Characters:

Cassia: In the start, I actually liked Cassia. I could relate to her excitement over the Match--I was excited, as well.

But then she started thinking. And by gods, she's annoying! She asks a question almost every other page. Which is good, if it did anything else than to remind the reader that she can't make up her mind between Xander and Ky.

Ky Markham: Again, with Ky, I liked him at first. He was a bit mysterious... But then he started talking, sending Cassia's hormones around the globe--but without actually saying anything. It's a touch that simply sends her over the clouds. I don't know if he just has magical hands, or whatever it is.

Her Parents: "Follow the rules. They work for us.", "Follow the rules unless grandpa asks for a favor." "Follow the rules because Society is Da Bomb!" Ugh. I get the deeper reasoning behind their mood-changes. But, I shouldn't have to be confused about it. Their explanations are so... empty. No feeling, no personal investments--nothing.

The Plot:

The Society: For the most part, I actually liked the way the Society was built up. Some of it, managed to even solicit a reaction from me. Like when Cassia watched the books being burned: It hurt me on a deep personal level, and I kinda just hated everything there.

But, some of the actions just seemed so random. For example: (view spoiler)[At the end of the book, Cassia's Official tries to pass the whole book off as an 'experiment', but it's apparently a lie. However, what then doesn't make any sense to me, is some of the events: like the relocation, or the removal of artifacts. If they're going to spend so much time explaining what horrible society it is, then they should also explain everything when it's time for the big reveal. (hide spoiler)]

The Love Triangle: There was NO chemistry between ANY of the characters. Even Xander and Ky could at any given moment, still have met just five minutes prior, and it would still have made sense. There was no proper descriptions of the past, but just a few memories told in a matter-of-fact way.

The Writing:

This one is something I normally don't comment on at all. I like to write myself, and I know how much hard work that goes into writing a whole book. However, when I pay 10 dollars for an e-book I expect it to be good. Especially, because Penguin has a track-record of being experts of tightening up books. However, some of the filler-thoughts, and awkward phrasings in this book is not what I would expect from Penguin.

I kid you not, at some point in the book, Xander and Cassia is having a simple, bittersweet moment. She leans her head on his shoulder, and then...

Xander bends his head to rest on her.

Let me take that one more time. He bends his head. Not, arches his neck, or leans down, or simply rest his head on top of her. No. He possess the power to bend his skull in order to rest on top of Cassia's head.




However, with all that said. I still enjoyed the premise and the Society. I'm not too keen on the book itself. I won't be reading the next book anyway, but others may enjoy it more than I did.

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Review of "Ocean's Gift" by Demelza Carlton

Ocean's Gift by Demelza Carlton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Take a plunge into a tale of mermaids, global warming and down-and-dirty fun.

"The ocean gave him to me..." These are the first words that meet you when you start reading 'Ocean's Gift', and you are instantly plunged deep under water with a mermaid mourning the loss of someone she holds dear.

With a humor that caused me to both blush and giggle all through, Demelza Carlton, tackles the ever-growing threat of Global Warming. The story features a young electrician as he meets three mermaids, and we follow him through his working holiday as a fisher.

The tone is light, and despite the serious theme of the book, it is an entertaining book.

Demelza Carlton obviously has a gift for writing. At first, I was hesitant because of the first POV. For some reason, I have taken a disliking to stories, where I feel as if I'm a mirror of the character. This wasn't the case with this book, and it took me in total one day to finish all 200+ pages. I simply couldn't put it down.

I strongly recommend this for both women and men, who like to dwell into serious subjects, along with getting down and dirty on occasion.



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Review of "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read "Warbreaker" after it was uploaded for free on Wattpad--and I couldn't put it down again.

Siri and Vienna are siblings, and because of a treaty Vienna has to travel to Hallandren to marry the God King. However, their father changes his mind in the last moment and sends Siri instead. This doesn't go over well with Vienna, who out of spite, travels to Hallandren to save her sister.

While Siri is introduced to the intimidating God King, and he otherwise colorful life of the Court, Vienna encounters a secret rebellion. As time goes on, Vienna meets Vasher who's mysterious and has a really cool sword. All along, Siri meets the Returned, and befriends the God King.

This story has it all. There's magic, action, adventure and romance.

Note: After reading this free work, which is also available at Brandon Sanderson's website, I discovered a greater love for Brandon's writing.

Strongly recommend it for fantasy lovers. Both hardcore readers who has followed Tolkien, but also to new readers who want a great introduction to the Fantasy genre.

It's THAT good.

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Review of "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book back in 2010 and it helped me realize my love for reading and even writing. This summer--after watching the movie--I decided to binge read all books in the VA series.

I personally like vampire books. They're fun and they have a bit of everything in them: fantasy, magic, action, romance, adventure. And this book added something else: A pretty awesome back story.

Vampire Academy starts with a scream. And then it just goes from there. Slowly but surely we hear about the secret vamp society. How there's four kinds of humanoid beings: three of them more vampire than human.

There's the magical vampires: Moroi, they don't kill. They control element, and they go to school, dealing with pretty much the same issues as any of us--well mostly.

There's the not-quite vampires: Dhamphirs, half human, half vamp. It's cross-breeding at its best, and they have the best of both kinds. Well, except for the possibility of having kids with their own kinds. Nevertheless, they are strong, pretty, and very much alive. They work as protector for the magical Moroi.

There's the evil creature from the deepest pit of hell: Strigoi. The true killers. They burn in daylight, can't be killed and doesn't possess feelings. They're the kind of vampires from your nightmares.

What I especially loved about this back story is that we get a seemingly believable reason for why anyone could ever think a vamp was hot--even when they're ruthless killers. And I personally think separating bad vamps from the good ones was very beautifully done.

Rose Hathaway.. I can't decide if I like her as a character. Sometimes, I think she's a tad over the top, but other times it feels like we could be besties--you know.. If that thing could happen.

<.<

>.>


*cough*

I love her little crush on Dimitri. Normally, the whole student/teacher thing is a turn-off, but I didn't think it was overplayed. They were well aware of the rules, and didn't just jump each other because #YOLO. While the feelings may have been obvious, I respected that they didn't act on it.

All in all, I absolutely loved this book. It had a bit of everything, and I adored how Lissa and Christian came together.

Would highly recommend it to people who want to read about a vampires in an amazing well-crafted world.

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Review of "Flirting Games" by Stella Wilkinson

The Flirting Games by Stella Wilkinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was actually quite excited to read this. Both because of the title, the blurb and the fun-looking cover.

Are you tired of having the hot-heartbreaker-guy sifting through your friends? Let him fall for you! It's sure to end well...

Ellie is this book-typical character that's fun, exciting, has any guy to choose from, and is protected by her big brother's reputation.

I liked her. For the most of the book, and while I could add in my own reasoning as to why she chooses to act the way she does, then I found that it would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't needed to.

Nate is the boarding school's resident bad-boy, and he's good at the love 'em and leave 'em approach.

Together, they make up a somewhat sweet duo. I particularly enjoyed their study-sessions.

What I didn't enjoy was the many shifting point of views. I mean, I get that Nate and Ellie was useful for the book, but to have her big brother--who wasn't even in the book, but only mentioned--to appear as a main character annoyed me. Especially since the book was so short.

I would recommend it to anyone who wants a light-fun read.

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Review of "Arousing Love" by M.H. Strom

Arousing Love: A Teen Novel by M.H. Strom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book.

Despite the notion that an 18-year-old boy pursues a 15-year-old girl is somewhat frowned upon, the author made it work.

The story centers around Zach, who falls in love with a girl over the summer. She's staying at a camping site with her religious family and they develop a sweet little summer romance. As often happens with teenagers, they do of course test boundaries and while some parents will frown upon the content, I very much appreciated the way it was portrayed.

One of the issues I often have with reading books involving religion is that it almost always come off as preaching to me. This wasn't the case with "Arousing Love". Sure, we did feel the scolding from Joanna's father as he explained his view, but at the same time we also experience how they're willing to give the boy a chance.

I didn't feel like the book was trying to teach me about religion, because if I wanted that, I'd have read something else. But instead, I saw the religious topics as simply being part of the character. As someone who grew up around Jehovah's Witnesses, I could recognize the fact that being religious didn't mean being fanatic.

However, the reason this book didn't get five stars was largely due to the ending. I did wish for them to get a happily ever after, but in a way, I just couldn't feel as connected to the ending as I did with the rest of the book.

I would recommend this as an easy vacation-read about young love.

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Review of "After Math" by Denise Grover Swank

After Math by Denise Grover Swank
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this particular book. However, as good as the set-up was, I still felt let down near the end.

May contain spoilers. You've been warned.

The story is told from Scarlett's POV. She's grown up in a trailer-park, and finally escaped when she went to college. Scarlett is described as extremely smart, and she has a job as a tutor at the school. When the school's star-athlete Tucker is in danger of losing his scholarship, he asks for her help. At first she's reluctant, but when it's revealed that her help might be the turning point in a new research lab, she agrees.

Over the time we find out that both Tucker and Scarlett has issues.

She's deeply plagued by her past, and lives in fear of turning into her mother or sister. (The former has a bad history with boyfriends, and the latter got pregnant as 16 year's old)

While he's adopted and basically only loved for his soccer talent.

They form a sort of friendship, and I liked that it wasn't insta-love, but at the same time I was much too annoyed at how long they took to finally admit there was anything deeper between them, and then even longer to actually act upon it.

Tucker's history confused me almost as much as Scarlett's. While both of their pasts must have troubled them both deeply, I still believed it was overdone compared to how small scale it was. We only hear about their past, but doesn't really see how they interact with those fragments that torments them.

For example:

Scarlett's issues is rooted in her mother's dysfunctional relationship. I get how that can make any girl wary of guys, but at the same time, Scarlett seemed to change her mind often about whether she was wary or frisky. It might have helped to see her interact with either her sister or mom--or even her nephew/niece--but no such luck.

Likewise, Tucker has his own issues. I liked how the book was set-up in a way that kept the reader guessing what his deal was. However, when we finally found out about the many brothers and sister--and about Tucker's own regret--it seemed to be resolved so quickly, that the suspense almost seemed wasted on me. We didn't see him interact with any of his brothers, but was only briefly told what had happened as Scarlett was briefed on the status.

Despite all that, it was an entertaining read. I loved Scarlett's relationship with her roommate, and how protective they were of each other. The scenes between Tucker and Scarlett was sweet, especially when he ran with her.

A good read if you're up for some sweet romance, and some quirky lines. Would recommend to people who enjoy college-reads.



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Review of "The Hazards of Skinny Dipping" by Alyssa Rose Ivy

The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If I could, I would give this book 4,5 stars. However, I rounded down, rather than up because of the things that bothered me.

  Warning: May contain spoilers.

What to do when you discover that your crush has extremely poor skills in the bedroom?

Innocent Julie is going away to college. Her cousin, Amy, gives her a list of challenges to do in order to prepare for the full college experience.

Her story starts as travels up to her family's beach house, to cross off the last challenge: skinny dipping. A little nervous, she jumps into the water, only to see that her neighbor is arriving while she's still naked.

Dylan is hot, preppy and a few years older than her. When he sees her, he promptly jumps in the pool with her, and things heat up from there. It doesn't take long before Julie is in his bed, incredibly unsatisfied, and finally, she skips out on him.

Unfortunately for Julie, Dylan thinks she rocked his world, and as she starts college, he quickly claims her as his girl. Julie, who has had an idol-crush on him for years agrees hoping his skills in bed could be improved. Only they don't, but as time goes on, it takes additionally months before she realizes that Dylan is a controlling ass. In the mean-time, she joins a sorority, get a job, and makes some new friends.

One of the things that bothered me about this book, was how Julie was described both as innocent. I kinda would have wished she was more awkward around Dylan, since that would explain her hesitating to dump his poor-skilled ass. Or maybe, if every guy didn't try to bang her, that could have been awesome as well.

I also think that Julie's reaction to Amy and Reed's friendship was waaay overdone. It almost seemed melodramatic compared to how she dealt with other issues throughout the book.

Nevertheless, it was a fun read. I laughed at some parts, and I can't say I'll never read it again. However, I didn't particularly find any of the side-characters interesting enough to want to continue the series.

Would recommend to anyone who likes a light-read about the college-experience.

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Review of "Finding North" by Rachel Dunning

Finding North by Rachel Dunning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was actually excited to read this longer work from Rachel Dunning. I was a big fan of her humor in Girl-Nerds Like it Harderbut somehow this really didn't pull me in at all.

Warning: May contain spoilers.

Leo is, in lack of better words, really horny. She hasn't lost her V-card yet, but she's definitely excited for when it happens.

She lives this upper-class life, which all the riches that wealth provides, and on several occasions go out partying, despite being only 17-years-old. Although, I can't judge. I did the same, but legally, here in Denmark when I was 17.

At a club, she meets the older Conall. He's handsome, suave and it doesn't take long before she decides that he's a good candidate for helping her get rid of her virginity. He's friendly, and I grew to like him a bit throughout the book.

Generally, Leo just sounds whining, and kinda like a bitch. Despite Kayla's obvious crush on random-hook-up guy, it doesn't stop Leo from fantasizing hard about him. She basically pleads for Conall to just do her, but then get extremely prissy when he says that Englishmen doesn't just jump the first and the best.

I don't know. I just couldn't connect to Leo. Like, I wanted to understand her so well. She's young, excited, and rich. She wants to travel the world, but can't before she get her trust-fund (which is less than a year away.

And the plot-twist with the attempted rape and drug-over-lord just annoyed me. I would have preferred if it had been evolved deeper--especially with such hard topics--but no such luck.

I don't know who I could recommend it too. I still enjoy Rachel Dunning's writing, but I much prefer her other series.


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Review of "Burned" by Krista Lakes

Burned by Krista Lakes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to love this book, I really did.

First, I gotta ask: What's up with the italics at the start of every chapter? I kept hoping it was some sinister dark plot-twist, but I didn't quite get it.

Holly is home after discovering her college life was a tad-too-wild. Falling right back into her old group of friends, she comes up with a plan to help her friends achieve their dreams. What follows is a sweet romance.

The premise was good, and I absolutely adored how Holly slowly realized her crush for Andrew.

Their shenanigans were amazingly planned, and Krista Lakes definitely managed the mischief and feelings of being a new adult.

But then came the last half of the book.

I get that a friend's vow is important, but I couldn't get past the fact that Luke shunned his friends for being together. They're adults now. After rekindling his dad's high-school love, one would think he had more faith in romance. And it really bothered me because Luke was my favorite. The way he protected both Holly and his brother.

For some reason, we didn't see Holly hang out much with her best female friends.

And then Andrew goes all judgmental on her. Despite the fact that it wasn't Holly's fault. At all.

^I hope I didn't reveal anything. But to put it simply, the latter half of the book started to bug me.

I liked it, but I didn't love it. Would recommend for anyone who wants to hate character choices. =/

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Review of "Summer Unplugged" by Amy Sparling

Summer Unplugged by Amy Sparling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short, cute and light-read. 3,5 stars.

Warning: May contain spoilers.

Bayleigh is a typical teenager. Well, at least in the sense that she can't live without technology. So when her mother finds out that she's been sending topless pictures of herself to a boy, she's sent to a farm. No phone, no laptop, no social life.

Except for the boy next door, who ruins the fields and is a nuisance to her grandparents.

In a way, I can understand that Bayleigh needs someone to connect to, and while Jace sounds like the typical bad-boy, he's certainly not the worst to be around. However, it just went by too fast.

I realize that it's a Novella, but even then, there was plenty of opportunities to remove some of her whining, to get a better flow between characters.

It's a nice little fun story. But it didn't blow my mind, or make me want to buy the sequel.

Would recommend as a summer-read about teenage-rebellion and consequences.

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Review of "College Collage" by Scott Haworth

College Collage by Scott Haworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Do you feel like you are missing out because you're not in College? Don't worry, this book can give you an almost play-by-play of the experience.

I can't decide whether this book is pure genius, or if it's a bad attempt at a new adult read. I honestly can't. Never in my life have I been more annoyed at a book's character's as I was while reading this. No seriously, my friends had to tolerate my rage all through the day.

The following review may contain spoilers. Proceed only if you don' mind.

The story is told from Nick's POV. We follow him, from his first day of college and until graduation. Here we're introduced to his roommates, and the otherwise agony pleasure of his college days.

At first, he completely loathe his two roommates. One, Chris, is a christian guy, who seems to be Nick's favorite victim of passive aggressive behavior. But not to worry, the party-boy, Drew, also receives quite a spectacular amount of Nick's sarcasm.

Out of the three characters, the only one who seems like a straight-up guy is Chris.

Nick hates almost anything. And if he doesn't hate it, he strongly dislike everything else. Throughout the book, he's annoyed at pretty much anything. The college, his roommates, his classmates, his teachers, the teacher assistants, the parties, religion, non-religious people, the girl's he deem slutty and even the girl's he deems too uptight. He's annoyed at the two girlfriend's he ends up having, and he's even annoyed at himself on a few occasions.

Basically, Nick is a major pessimist.

Before the half-way point of the book, he meets a muslim girl, Adara, at a Halloween party, and somehow ends up hooking up with her on the same day. Adara is a sensible, adventurous girl who wants to experience american culture to the fullest. I'm not too sure how her character is a correct portrayal of Muslims, but I gathered it could happen--and probably has--that a muslim would experiment with another culture. On several occasions, she doesn't wear her scarf, and she has sex with Nick quite a few times, along with partying hard. Around halfway through the book, she is discovered by her brother, who pulls her back to Saudi-Arab, and she sends an email to Nick, explaining she had fun but that she won't be coming back to College.

(view spoiler)[Then Nick shows his first real feelings for her. At earlier points in the book he seemed to be with Adara only out of convenience--she wasn't as bad as the rest. I felt bad for him for at least a minute before he turns around and acts like a dick to Drew who helped him get home by postponing his own return to his family.

After that, the book shifts a bit, and Nick's own pessimism is pushed to the background. Now, instead we're introduced to a horn-dog version of Drew. He sleeps around, and nothing is sacred--not even Chris' girlfriend Candy. I got annoyed at that, because Drew had seemed like a straight-up friend, despite using the word "slutty" to describe any girl he meets.

All while Nick finally gets a new girlfriend, Amanda, who he doesn't like at all. In fact, the only reason he's with her is because she says she's been raped. We later find out she's been lying about this.

The Climax of the book seems to be after Drew chooses to sleep with Candy. In response to figuring that out, Chris shoots himself and moves out of the apartment. After hearing that Chris survives, we suddenly shifts a year into the future. (hide spoiler)]

The book is riddled with Nick's opinions, and while I agree with many of them, it often seemed like a tool to shove opinions down my throat. Also, as we follow Nick around to his classes, I personally think there are way too many filler scenes where we hear Nick being annoyed at his school life. Complete with direct dialogue from a class that has no importance to the actual plot of the book.

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it wasn't so... bleh. A lot of the things I cared for was skipped. Like the tender moments that made Nick and Chris friend's for life.

With that said, I adored Chris, though. His character was definitely the person I saw develop most in the book, and he made me crack up the most. Chris was the entire reason I finished the book, and he bumped this book up from a one-star.

Chris was awesome. More Chris, please!

I don't know if I would recommend this book to anyone I know. If you have nothing to read, I suppose you wouldn't be completely off with this book, but I wouldn't recommend it over so many others.

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Review of "Animus" by Ophelia Bell

Animus (Dragon Erotica): Sleeping Dragons #1 by Ophelia Bell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tired of normal sex between humans? Jump a statue to wake a very old horny dragon.

Animus is... special. I think I liked it, hence the three stars. But I'm not actually sure--my mind still a bit mushy after trying to picture what I read (It's a gift--and sometimes a curse.)

Anyway, Animus is about this crew of treasure hunters deep in a jungle. This particular crew fits well together, both mentally and apparently also physically.

They find a crypt on an expedition, surprised to see dragon people etched on the drawings on the wall along with statues of naked dragons with genitalia.

After the initial look, they all go to bed only to find that they're all incredibly horny--and that's where the fun starts. Especially since no one can get a release. (Meanie Dragons!)

The plot thickens and hints at a somewhat interesting twist in the sequels.

I don't know who I'd recommend it to, but it was entertaining enough. Give it a shot if you're generally into erotica, it might surprise you :)

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Review of "Stardust" by Mimi Strong

Stardust by Mimi Strong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Food-girl meets Wannabe-Vamp-Guy.

NOTE: If you're low on naughty-bits synonyms, this book offers you classics like "taco shop", "hotdog stand", "cucumber" and "peaches".

Stardust is an light-read with a few good lines, some amazing side-characters, and a seemingly good plot. It continues in the sequel, ending on a cliffhanger.

We meet Peaches Monroe, a sassy, smart-but-boring, plus-sized girl. In an attempt to cover up an air vent leading to a bakery, she stands on a stool when super-famous Actor Dalton--who plays a vampire on TV--stumbles into a bookstore, knocking her down so she literally falls into his arms.

After that, the glorious Dalton invites himself to accompany Peaches to her cousin's wedding.

Over the course of the next 200+ pages, we find out that Dalton Deangelo is perfect . He has a perfect body, perfect face, perfect hands, his ears are perfect, his lips, perfect, his touch is perfect. Everything is perfect.

All while Peaches is boring, sassy, low on self-esteem--but confident--she is book-smart, but boy-dumb. And apparently her exposure to super-star Dalton Deangelo makes her hooha tingle with excitement for any action.

And so forth, every single character trait she has, she has the exact opposite whenever she needs it.

Example: She is book-smart, often telling how high grades, and how many books she's read. Now, I'm no librarian myself, but whenever I read books, I often find myself comparing them to my real life. If she's so book-smart, then even though she's boy-dumb, she should be able to recognize a cheesy line when delivered. Of course, that's just me.

Another example is her low confidence. She's obviously gorgeous--or in any case do-able--seeming how every guy wants a piece of her. And she knows this, flirts back and show off her assets, but two pages later she's in her closet, crying because she can't fit her jeans, and she's so fat, ugly and disgusting, for then to change back to frisky, sexy Peaches who don't mind sexing it up at all.

Also, Peaches really loves food. And not just in a food-critic fashion, but in a let-me-compare-everything-especially-genitalia-with-fast-food-names way. I mean, I get it, she's on a diet--it sucks.

Mimi Strong has an engaging voice, and the book is for the most part okay. There a few cutesy moments and hilarious lines. But it's rarely the times that are intended to be fun(the fun names for sex, the side notes, the excuses in parenthesis or the forced flirtation)

My most favorite part of the book was the character Adrian Storm. Somehow, as annoyed as I was for Peaches flirting with him, gushing over how hot he was(especially since she was with Dalton) then I didn't really mind--they were that natural.

Peaches friendship with her roommate is good too--except when Peaches again can't decide her character traits and acts either melodramatic, or bitchy.

I really can't stress the fact how confused Peaches made me. I wanted to like her so badly, but then she ends up turning me completely off from her character with just a sentence.

Dalton... He has potential, but I just thought his behavior was too rehearsed, cheesy or erratic. Half of the time he annoyed me more than else.

All in all. An Okay book. I wouldn't say it blew my mind. It had some entertaining moments, but didn't make me roll around laughing. I've read better, but also far worse books. Not bad for a weekend read if nothing else is pulling at you.

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