Book Review: Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Love & Gelato

by Jenna Evans Welch

Source: Bought a hardcover copy online

 

Genre: Young adult, romance, contemporary, fiction

 

Synopsis:

“I made the wrong choice.”

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

 

Review:

I don't typically enjoy contemporary YA romance because I generally find them to be cloying and unrealistic. This was probably still unrealistic, and definitely cutesy, but for whatever reason, it wasn't too much for me and I was able to enjoy it.

I personally found it equally sad and happy. The story follows Lina's summer adventure to Tuscany, Italy from America, following her mother's death. It was Hadley's dying wish that Lina would go to Italy to get to know her father, Howard, whom she has never met. Lina's journey has a rough start, but she quickly makes some new friends and discovers Italy and all the wonders it has to behold - especially gelato!

Upon her arrival, Lina is given her mother's journal, which had been sent to Italy before she died. The inscription inside the front cover, "I made the wrong choice" prompts Lina to read it to find out more about this choice her mother made which she regretted, and to try to figure out what her mother saw in Howard.

Through the course of the book, Lina uncovers her mother's secrets, gets to know Howard, and falls in love - both with the city, and with the boy who shows it to her. It's a bittersweet feeling as we simultaneously watch Lina and her mother (through the journal) fall in love, and then learn the truths that change everything.

(Possible spoiler warning for this paragraph)
There's an air of mystery around Howard and Hadley's relationship that made me want to keep reading to know more. The friendship between Lina and Ren is sweet, and it was both frustrating and cute to watch them struggle with their feelings for each other. I really loved all the characters, but Lina and Howard were my favourites.

I gave this book 5 stars because it made me feel a range of emotions and I didn't want it to end. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA and romance.

I have always wanted to go to Italy, the language and culture has always intrigued me. But the descriptions in this book, of various landmarks and famous places, just made me want to go all the more! My best friend and I are tentatively planning a trip to Europe in 5 years (for our 35th birthdays!), so if that ends up happening, Italy will definitely be in the running for possible destinations!

 

My Goodreads rating:

 

The Friday 56 - #1

Heyyyyy! Have you noticed a lot of posts lately?

I've decided that I'd really like to have a bit more content on my blog, but I can't keep up with the reviews, and my reviews are usually too wordy anyway, nobody wants to see one of those every day! And much as I would love to just have an everyday chitchat-style post, as if we were sitting down for a coffee (for you, something cold and sweet for me) together, I'm just not quite there yet; I'm not quite comfortable enough in my writing style to make my very random ramblings quite so public without some themes and/or guidelines.

So, the next best option is to participate in some more weekly memes! Top Ten Tuesday is on hiatus until mid-August, and I am really not very good at coming up with my own theme ideas. As you may have noticed, I did It's Monday! What are YOU reading? this week (and hope to do a couple per month), and now I'm going to try doing some Friday 56 posts, a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice. So, without further ado, here is my very first (hence the #1 in the title) Friday 56 share:

"Did a shadow fall across the moon or did the moon simply go out, extinguished as abruptly and completely as a candle? There was still the sound of leaves, a terrified, terrifying rushing. All light was gone, Darkness was complete. Suddenly the wind was gone, and all sound."

This quote comes from page 56 of A Wrinkle in Time. I'm really not sure how I made it to nearly thirty without having ever even heard of this book series... But there you have it!

 

 

 

I just finished this book yesterday, and it was alright. Not quite as good as I had hoped, based on reviews I had heard. I'm still really excited to see the movie that's coming out next year, because that trailer looked awesome, and I'm sure they could do some fantastic theatrical things with the material. The text itself wasn't the most interesting to me (I'll try to do a review of it sometime in the future), but I love the theme and concept of the story, so I'm sure I'll adore the movie.

Book Review: Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Wildwood

by Colin Meloy

illustrated by Carson Ellis

 

 

Source: Borrowed from the library near my work

 

Genre: Young adult, children, adventure, fantasy

Synopsis:

For fans of The Chronicles of Narnia comes the first book in the Wildwood Chronicles, the New York Times bestselling fantasy adventure series by Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In Wildwood, Prue and her friend Curtis uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Wildwood captivates readers with the wonder and thrill of a secret world within the landscape of a modern city. It feels at once firmly steeped in the classics of children's literature and completely fresh at the same time. The story is told from multiple points of view, and the book features more than eighty illustrations, including six full-color plates, making this an absolutely gorgeous object.

Review:

This book was a bit different. It was compared to The Chronicles of Narnia, which I have not read, but I thought it sounded and looked pretty interesting because of that comparison. It is apparently aimed at a middle-grade age group, but could definitely be read and enjoyed by anyone. In fact, I am not ashamed to admit that there were at least two words in this book that I was not familiar with. If this was going to be read by a middle-grader I think I would recommend a read-along with an adult just for the vocabulary, and also there is a semi-intense fight scene near the end which I considered a smidge violent, keeping the target audience's age group in mind. Parents should be mindful of that and the sensitivities of their child before reading.

 

I did find most of the book slow and a bit (I hesitate to say...) boring... :/ Character development was a bit lacking as well. I liked the characters well enough, but you don't necessarily feel invested in their stories.

 

And I see from Goodreads that I'm not the only one to have that opinion. However, I loved the premise of the story, and the world inside the forest was really interesting, and there were fun parts, so I still rated high. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the adventure, it's just that the delivery left a bit to be desired. Also, it is a massive book for this age group... just saying.

 

I believe there are two other books, and I look forward to borrowing and reading them at some point as well. I'm interested to see what will happen, if we'll see the same characters again, or if new characters will be introduced. I also think this would make a great movie, very similar to Narnia.

 

Carson Ellis, the illustrator, also illustrated The Mysterious Benedict Society, which are some of my favourite middle-grade books! So the illustrations were definitely reminiscent of those books, but even without the illustrations, the book did have a similar feel to the Benedict Society books.

 

 

My Goodreads rating:



It's Monday! What Are YOU Reading? #3

It's Monday! What are YOU Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

Good morning, friends! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty good. I always finish work early on Fridays, so I headed straight home to finish reading Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller, enjoy the lovely weather, and more or less waste the afternoon. Saturday I had a completely lazy day, but I did get a few things done in the late afternoon. Yesterday was pretty quiet - had a typical Sunday morning and then spent most of the afternoon/evening alone reading, watching TV, and doing laundry. So it was a semi-productive weekend!

 

As I mentioned, I finished Daughter of the Pirate King on Friday, for a reading challenge I was doing with a Facebook group. It was a great read and I really didn't know what I wanted to read after that! I was on such a high!

 

So today  I am reading (which I started over the weekend) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I don't really make a habit of reading several books at once, I tend to get the storylines confused. But Saturday morning I saw the first official trailer for the new A Wrinkle in Time  movie (which looks amazing, by the way!!) so I decided it couldn't wait. Both books were on my original summer TBR list, and I am loving both so far. They are definitely different enough that there's no real danger of getting the stories mixed up.

I have also been poking away at a book I picked up at Winners-HomeSense a week or so ago, called The Tricky Art of Co-existing: How to Behave Decently No Matter What Life Throws Your Way by Sandi Toksvig. It's an etiquette book, which is kind of my guilty reading pleasure, even though non-fiction is really my least favourite genre. I own several etiquette books, from different time periods. I just find it really interesting to see what is considered the "proper" way to conduct oneself, through the ages. I especially like the wedding etiquette book (the one that started it all) I have from the 1920's.

 

So, what are YOU reading this fine Monday? Let me know in the comments below! Have you read any of these books, if so what were your thoughts (without spoilers)? What are your book-related guilty pleasures?

 

Well, that's all for now! I'll be in touch again soon.



Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab | Product Review: Green Leaf Baby

Hey guys! This is actually a combined review post, because the only pic I had on hand of A Darker Shade of Magic was with my new book sleeve (haha!). I pre-ordered this sleeve on Etsy from a Canadian seller (gotta support small Canadian businesses!) called Green Leaf Baby, and it arrived a couple weeks ago. It doesn't seem to be a product that she normally sells, but I really like mine, and I would definitely request another one from her in the future.

This one is made with an adorable Harry Potter print. It has these cutesy images of the four house mascots (lion, badger, snake, bird) and little wands doing spells. It's super cute! The lining is made of a soft grey minky material - so soft!

My only "issue," if you can call it that, is that I kind of think that book sleeves should have some sort of closure (zipper, Velcro, a button...) just to make sure the book doesn't slide out, especially with that super soft lining. This sleeve is big enough for all the books I've put in it so far, it's even a bit roomy (hence the need for some sort of closure).

Ok, now, on to the book review! :)

A Darker Shade of Magic

by V.E. Schwab

Source: Bought a paperback copy online

Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

Review:

I seem to start all my reviews the same way, but how many ways are there of saying, "I really enjoyed the book" or "This was a really good book"...?

I was excited to read this book. I've been hearing (good) things about it for over a year. It was the book featured in OwlCrate's first box (which was several months before I started subscribing). When it was chosen in one of my Facebook groups as the book to read and discuss for June, I was super excited! I kind of missed the discussion that happened, but anyway... I'm so glad I read the book.

I did find the story a tad slow at times, but I was never uninterested in what was happening, or in the characters. I really liked the character development - I loved the protagonists and hated the villains, as one is expected to do. I felt like I was supposed to like Rhy's character, because everyone loves him, but I really didn't. There's just something off about him. When he was flirting with Lila, my skin crawled. Ew. Just, no.

I totally fell in love with Kell, and I feel no need to explain or justify that. I wonder if anyone else would agree with me on this, but I felt a pretty strong Newt Scamander vibe (as portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) from Kell. He just has that same tall, lanky, kind of shy thing going on, the magical aspect, the smuggling, plus his coat... Newt's coat wasn't as magical or as significant to the story as Kell's, but it's iconic of him, and that's what I kept thinking of when I imagined Kell and his coat. In fact, I'm pretty sure Eddie Redmayne would be a good Kell... There is a Darker Shade of Magic movie in the works, by the way, so that's pretty exciting! :D

In my Goodreads review, I mentioned that I wanted to be Lila when I grow up: Lila is one of those characters (spunky, full of life, knows what she wants and how to get it, etc) that is the polar opposite of myself and just makes me wish I could be more confident and adventurous like her. Granted, she didn't have any real attachments to begin with, but when she packed up everything and ran off with Kell to a foreign world - not even knowing if the magic would take her - I just wish I could be so brave.

 

*sigh*

Anyway... I think there might have been something else I wanted to say, but I waited too long between writing sessions, and I forgot. Typical. So, suffice it to say that I really enjoyed this book, I highly recommend it, and I am looking forward to reading the sequels soon! :)

My Goodreads rating:

Book Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows

by Leigh Bardugo

Source: Purchased a paperback copy

Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court 

(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage 

(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward 

(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

Review:

Ok, this book... I had heard such good things about, I was just expecting to be in love with it from the start. I wasn't. "It picks up after about 100 pages," they said. "Give it a chance," they said.

Admittedly, things did start to pick up right around 100 pages, and admittedly, it was pretty good in the end. But I was seriously struggling at the beginning. I would say the first three-quarters of the book was super boring and uninteresting to me. In the last quarter was where most of the action happened, where some exciting stuff started happening, and you're left needing to read the sequel, because hello?

After a while, I liked the characters. I identified most with Nina, I think, which is also perhaps why I was more interested in the ending. Inej was also a favourite. I didn't care for the male characters because I found it really difficult to come to terms with the fact that they're all teenagers. These boys - especially Kaz - didn't feel like boys to me, so every time she said one of them was 19 or something, it totally threw me. Nina seemed older than her age as well, but I was able to accept it. Inej and Wylan were the only characters who I felt fit their age.

I enjoyed the Mission Impossible aspect, once it got underway, and I like how they kept facing obstacles, like even though they had this detailed plan, it didn't go down like that.

I wish there had been a bit more explanation about the Grishas and their powers, but I guess there's a whole other series about that, so maybe at some point I will read those.

Like I said, in the end, I liked the story, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Crooked Kingdom, when I have the time. I would recommend it, but with the warning that you might not love it for even the first half, but it definitely gets better after that point.

My Goodreads rating:

Progress Report: June 2017

Seriously? How is it July already? Where did June even go?!

I'm just going to take a quick moment, since we are the first, to wish all my fellow Canadians a very Happy Canada Day! And the 150th, to boot! We've got all our sweet Canada 150 swag over here, gonna go check out some awesome fireworks later after a big family supper!

So, June was a pretty average reading month for me, I only read 5 books. I could have squeezed in another if it hadn't taken me so long to read Six of Crows. So, this month I read:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio - a very sweet and touching middle-grade story about a little boy with a facial deformity, going to school for the first time, and how he overcomes bullying and and whatnot. So, so excited for the movie.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - another stinking cute romance by Rainbow Rowell. Can't go wrong with her books, if you like that sort of thing. This one features twins (one of my favourite things), romance, and self-discovery, so it hit the spot for me.

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands - another middle-grade book, perfect for adventurous boys and girls. It's got mystery, murder, code breaking, science, explosions, etc. It just threw me off that it's set in the 17th century, but aside from that hiccup, great read!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - I think this book was slightly overhyped for me. It's about a gang of street kids who perform an impossible rescue mission in dangerous territory. I couldn't get into it at first, but the ending was great, and now I'm looking forward to the sequel.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab - This one is full of magic and adventure, and I absolutely fell in love with Kell, who gave me really strong Newt Scamander vibes (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). Also, I want to be Lila when I grow up.

Now officially halfway through the year, I am currently at 39 books read for the Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge, which is 75% of my goal of 52, which I had increased it to a month or so ago. But, seeing as I am consistently reading 5-6 books per month, I think I might increase my goal again, but to what?