Book Review: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Source: OwlCrate sub box (August 2016)

Synopsis:

Signed, sealed, delivered…

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…

Review:

I read this book as part of the OwlCrate-A-Thon reading challenge in February. I gave it a bit of a lower rating on Goodreads because it felt a bit juvenile, a bit more junior high than high school.

I liked this little romance, don't get me wrong. It was cute. Like, super cute. Too cute.

I liked our main character, Lily. She's funny and sweet, and super loyal - all qualities I like to think that I possess. I did not like Cade, and to be honest, I wasn't super fond of her friend Isabel. She's sweet and all, but... I don't know. Something about her I didn't like.

I adore writing letters, it is one of my favourite past-times apart from reading and binge-watching Netflix... So the fact that this story revolves around passing notes in class (uh, yeah, I did that!) and writing love letters, I was into it. I had fantasies in high school of a story like this playing out for real in my life: me writing notes on a desk and somebody answering, and we fall madly in love... *stares dreamily into space* 

So, aside from the fact that the main element of the story is something I love, and the fact that I like and relate to the main character, and dreamt of something similar happening to myself in high school... despite all of this, I couldn't give the book more than three stars, because I didn't like who Lily's secret letter writer was. It was predictable, I saw it coming (I mean, who else could it have been, really?), and I didn't like it. I mean yes, he was a different person in his letters, and yes it was sweet how they seemed perfect for each other on paper, but... I just didn't ship it, ok guys?! 

Like I said, it was super cute. I would highly recommend it to a high school student who loves romance (or an adult who loves high school romance...), but I didn't completely love it.

Goodreads rating:

Book Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

 

 

Source: OwlCrate sub box (February 2016)

 

Synopsis:

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” At first, they’re just momentary glimpses—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

 

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It came in my OwlCrate subscription box in February 2016, and I was not immediately interested in it. In fact, the only reason I read it when I did was because I used it for part of the OwlCrate-a-Thon reading challenge in February (2017). I was convinced that this would be a weird book, and, in truth, it is. But not creepy weird, just blow-your-mind kind of weird!

I don't know why, exactly, but I've kind of made a habit of not doing any research into the books that come in my OwlCrate box before I read them. I guess I feel like the fact that somebody read it and recommended it is enough. They are a bit hit-and-miss with their books, for me, however. For the most part, they include books & authors that I have never heard of, and the covers don't typically draw me in (admittedly a pretty big factor for me). Some of them have been good, others have not. But I continue to give them the benefit of the doubt!

 

This is not a book I would have picked out for myself, based on both the cover art and the synopsis, but it was actually quite good. It is a bit of a thought-provoking book, and I like when a book forces me to think - not necessarily about hot, current issues, but just thinking in general. Why this book makes you think is because it raises questions regarding the space-time-continuum, and the whole story/situation revolves around an incident that caused a tear in said continuum which needs to be addressed if "he" is to live.

 

Certain aspects of the book were predictable (I totally called Grandmother's identity!), while others were not (did not see that ending coming). I like that type of story: I like not being able to tell what the ending will be right away, but I also want to be able to say, "I knew it!" sometimes.

 

The romance was sweet, the Native American stories were informative and interesting, and while I didn't understand a lot of the scientific parts I definitely appreciated the weird sci-fi elements. I also think that the ending, while unexpected and a bit shocking, is vague enough to be open to interpretation, and that both frustrates and satisfies me. :)

Goodreads rating:

 

Book Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

by Rainbow Rowell

I found my copy of this book at a thrift store, and I was so excited! I had received this beautiful exclusive necklace in my OwlCrate box a few months before, which I adored!, and after finally finding and reading the book this necklace now has so much more meaning to me and I love it.

This was also my first Rainbow Rowell read. My best friend adores her books, so it was high time that I was finally introduced. :)

The story is about the unlikely romance between the big, red-headed, strange Eleanor, and small, quiet, Korean-American Park, and it is quite possibly my favourite love story of all time (well, for the moment, anyway). I try to steer clear of typical high school romance novels because they're usually just so cringe-worthy, and I just don't want to be reminded of that excruciating period of my life. This book, however, did a very good job of keeping the love story sweet and real.

Eleanor, who was living with friends of her mom's for the past year, moves back in with her mom & step-dad. She's the new girl, with a flaming red mane and questionable sense of style. She's an immediate magnet for the wrong kind of attention as she steps onto the school bus, and doesn't make matters any better by trying to find a seat. Park eventually concedes to let her sit with him because he feels bad for her and is frustrated by her weirdness. That's all it took. They continue sitting together, morning and afternoon, and eventually start reading his comic books together. Then talking about music. Then they start talking about other things, start seeing each other outside of school. It really is just the sweetest development. But, of course, all good things come to an end. In this case the end is Park helping Eleanor to run away, and possibly never seeing each other again. Although, the ending is kind of left to interpretation. Which is both fun and frustrating.

I adored both characters of Eleanor and Park. I was initially irritated by Park's parents, but really liked them in the end. Eleanor's family, however, I never really cared for. All in all, if you hadn't noticed, I loved this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Young Adult fiction, contemporary, stories about high school, and clean romance.