BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: THE ACADEMY

Damn, this book is made of pure awesome!

This is one of those days wherein I get to thank my goodreads friends again because I never would've found out about this book without them soooo.. thanks!





Reading THE ACADEMY has it's perks. Here are some of them:

✔A girl posing as a guy? Come on! Tell me you're not at least a bit interested in that!
✔There's sci fi parts
✔There's medieval times parts (historical or something)
✔You get to read about an all boys school (I don't see many books with this kind of setup)
✔Scenes are just soooo cute you could just squeal!
✔The girl may not be kickass, but she's smart! So you know, it makes up for her lack of strength.
✔You root for the girl errmm.. guy!
✔You keep on rooting for her errrmm him and yet you want to bash HER head because SHE doesn't wanna say that she's a SHHEEEEEE!!!!


 


This novel has a very interesting plot and setting. It' set to be in a very futuristic era, but then there are places wherein it's very old fashioned. When I say old fashioned, it's OLD OLD.. like Victorian times or something. It's fascinating, really. What lured me here is its striking resemblance of the plot of HANA KIMI, a japanese series.


 



You see... they are also room mates and the guy also felt the need to protect the girl posing as a guy. Maybe the only difference is that no one wants to kill the girl in Hana Kimi. Oh well.


 


--I'm actually amazed by North's character. He was questioning his sexuality and he was going crazy with it. When he couldn't take it anymore, he practically threw himself to Kris when they were on a break. To be honest, I loved that scene! ahhaha! that was plain precious! ^__^


If by some miracle, Kris turns out to be Asian, this is what she'd look like to me..

 



 and they'd look like this:




 





awwwww... Anyway.. I had fun reading this. I was laughing out loud at some point because hey, her hardships as a poser is such a hilarious thing to read about and imagine. It's very light hearted and even if there are serious scenes, it's still totally cute. I guarantee a happy ending too! So everyone! Let's read this! ^________^

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: RULE(Rule #1)

100 stars!!!!


DING DING DING!!!



WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER! ^_^













Honestly, this is one of the best bad boy meets good girl books! I recommend it to everyone. Let's all read this!

The story is all about our hero, RULE. He's every mom's nightmare. He has so many tattoos since he's also a tattoo artist himself. He dresses the part too, complete with the mohawk and crazy hair colors. He lives his life the way he wants to and that's always how it has been. Rule may look like and act like the world's biggest badass, but he has his demons. His twin brother died 3 years ago and his mom blamed him for it. Even though he was always second best to his twin, they had a good family back then, and now they didn't. Their mom is practically batshit crazy now because she's (as Shaw says) rewriting an imaginary history wherein Rule is the villain. As expected, Rule didn't take this lightly. In fact, he always doubts people's feelings for him. They always gotta prove that they care for him.

Enters our heroine princess, Shaw. Yes, I'll call her princess, and that's a real compliment because she's just too good to be true! I mean, I love her character because hell yeah, she's rich, but she's not a snob. She doesn't rub her money on another person's face. She's very patient with everyone, she's kind, loyal, headstrong and she loves as hard as she can. She has been in love with Rule ever since she was 13. Unfortunately, Remy, Rule's twin, used her as a pseudo-girlfriend in the eyes of the Archer family (view spoiler)[ since he was gay and didn't wanna come out (hide spoiler)] so Rule has been seeing her only as his brother's girl. LOL.

One night, sparks fly and suddenly, Rule is looking at her in a different way. He was even willing to KINDA date her, which was in his case, such a big deal because he didn't really date. Rule knows that a relationship with Shaw changes everything and she couldn't be just one of "those girls". On the other hand, Shaw has been struggling because she couldn't tell Rule that she loved him... A LOT. And that's where the complications rise. It was beautiful, even with the complications. I love how the author showed both of their imperfections. I love how their redeeming qualities also showed after everything. I love how Rule has been taught by Shaw that he could be loved just like everyone else.

This novel not only shows how to completely different people could totally fall for each other, it also shows how people deal with grief, and that is a beautiful thing because it's proof that we're all human. Rule's mom admitted something in the end and that made a whole lot of a difference for my Rule. I just bet he needed that the most!

The ending was really good. I love their getting-back-together scene! It rocked and y'all should look forward to it! ^_^

So that's it.. ANOTHER WINNER FOR ME!

I applaud for this book! I LOVE IT! ^_^

book.fave.rave: BAD REP

I FEEL RAW




Yes, this story bared my heart out.

Bad Rep gives out a raw, unforgiving, flat-out truth, undeniably on-your-face emotions. It has no stops, no breaks and it totally didn't care whether I, as a reader, get pissed at both characters! In a way, this is a bold move by the author.

I totally get now why the title is BAD REP. I swear, I didn't at first. I even thought that the title was about the guy. As it turns out, it was all about Maysie, our lovely heroine. She's one insecure girl! She cares too much about what other people thinks which is just way too bad because she picked the wrong guy to fall in love with. Jordan, our hero had a girlfriend at the start of the story. He's a hot bartender slash drummer. These two become attracted right away to each other. Another story wherein insta-attraction worked for me. But then, let's go back to the "girlfriend" of Jordan. So his girlfriend goes back in town and then BAM! Everything goes into chaos for Maysie. She becomes the school pariah and a lot of crude people called her a whore just cuz she gave in to the attraction. It was kinda unfair because hey, she tried her best to stay away. I think she even felt what Emma Stone felt in this movie:



~~Oh, the plot is not the same btw. Still, maybe "Olive" in EASY A felt the same way as Maysie did. There were even pages that I just skimmed through because I can't really take what's being done to her and what she thinks about her self. She really has a lot on her mind, that girl. She thinks too hard and cares too much about what others say and feel about her that it really becomes too annoying for me to read her internal monologues. I hated her cowardice when it comes to her reputation at first. Why only at first? ...it's because I realized that if in some other parallel universe, this happens to me, I think that I'd also feel what she felt to a certain degree and thus, maybe I'll also do the "running away" act.

MY FEELINGS ABOUT THE CHEATING PART: I would always say that I hate cheaters. I avoid books with cheating guys because it doesn't sit well with me. However, I'd like to make an exception for Jordan. I mean, he said that he and Olivia were already falling apart way before he met Maysie... so maybe, this would justify what happened. . .maybe even for just a bit? PLUS...they suffered a helluva lot once things blew up.

Anyway, as expected.. they passed a really rough road when they got together. It was bound to happen, with the way they started. There were tons of rumors, tons of characters that I wanted to rip to shreds because they were just way too frikkin mean! I'm just so happy when Maysie finally grew imaginary balls and got over her fear of having a bad reputation. I'm happy for Jordan cuz finally, the girl he loved vowed to stay with him and loved him back.

This novel is just RAW because I think it really captures how people would react to a certain situation. I feel like it could be true! What happened in their story is not all hearts and flowers. The things that happened to them ranged from kinda bad to worst before it all became good. But still, I gotta give credit to the author because she made me feel a lot of things while reading this. She was spot-on with the feelings and reactions! Good job, Ms. Walters!


P.S. Somehow, at the end of this novel.. with Jordan going on a roadtrip, It reminded me of S.C. Stephen's Thoughtless series. Maybe if you liked that, you'd like this too.

book.fave.rave: PLAY WITH ME

And that's how you make my heart flutter! Thank you very much! ^_^



Just AMAZING!

MORE! MORE! MORE PLEASE!

I enjoyed this a lot. Liza and Tony have been friends for like, forever, and Liza had it in her head that they were bound to be together forever. She was always doing things for him and him alone. She totally believed that eventually, Tony will look her way. Personally, I didn't like Tony's character from the start because hellooo? How could he be so dense? It's either he's ignoring Liza's efforts or he's just plain dumb. Anyway, just when Liza was all set to prove to Tony that she's the perfect girl for him, fate has another plan for her. She gets to meet Ryan, my new ya crush ;p.. and everything changed. She started to hang out with Ryan and finally realized that things are hotter with him than with her best friend. The drama was just so cute. Yeah, it was cute to me.. haha, I swear I was giggling silly at the fight scene inside Liza's room. It was just so cute when two boys fight for one girl like that. Anyhoo.. I'm glad that Liza opened her eyes to the better catch and things became well with Tony too.

This was such a nice, fluttery, light and happy read.

I wish this was longer. Although I don't think that there will be a sequel, I'd still hope for one. :)

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: INDEPENDENCE (Significance #4)

WHAT A GOOD WAY TO START MY YEAR

I have been following this series for like.. forever, I guess. And I can really say that I'm one of the biggest fan. I'm one of the biggest, shameless stalker of Ms. Crane because of this series. I'm so proud of this story I could just scream and not just cuz it's new year!


THIS BOOK MAY JUST AS WELL HAVE A SIGN THAT SAYS:

I love how Maggie and Caleb grew.. and now, I sure love how their story ended. Albeit, it wasn't as eventful as I thought it would be, it's still sweet and definitely satisfying. I know that Marcus is just plain human and it would've been soooo easy to defeat the guy, but hey, the had to have a bad guy eh? I'm just glad that things worked for the better. Bish and Jen didn't die, Kyle and Lynn had their own love story even though Kyle was still a jerk at times. Even Maggie's dad had his own love life. I kinda wish that Beck didn't have to be such a selfish brat and Maggie's mom didn't have to be such an insecure, thieving loser... but hey, we don't get everything that we want, don't we? What's important is that Maggie and Caleb were finally married and everyone lived happily!

Somehow, while reading this book... this song of Edwin McCain came to me:





Lying here with you
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Everything you are is everything to me
These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more

I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have's come true
And right here in this moment is right where I'm meant to be

Here with you here with me
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I've got all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more

I could not ask for more than the love you give me 'Coz it's all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more


~~It's a very meaningful song for Maggie and Caleb. I bet that it's really what they feel for each other.

Gah.. it's all so surreal that this series is now ending... This is even more surreal than when I read Ms. Chelsea Fine's AVOW since I've been reading the Significance series for a longer time. I wish that more series are made like this. Great job, Ms. Crane! It was worth the wait. ;)

book.fave.rave: FIX YOU

It's one of those days that I thank my friends and people whom I follow on Goodreads.


I found out about Fix You here and I am so happy that I gave it a shot.
The story may be kind of short, but it's intense and emotionally gripping.

I just can't imagine being in Zoey's shoes. Of course, I can totally imagine the part wherein I get to have the guy that I've been secretly in love with for years and years.. but the illness part? I just can't. I think that the author was spot on about how a person would feel when faced with this kind of challenge in life. The frustration, the sadness and the sudden urge to live life to the fullest... it was all here.


The two characters were amazing with each other. They supported one another. I love that about them. I am so happy with Rob's character. He was just.... THERE. Yes, he was just there. He was with Zoey all the way and I can't help but appreciate that about him. Zoey's support system (her girl friends) were all also very good. I was laughing out loud at some of their conversations. It was a good thing that she had these people while dealing with her illness.

Naturally, the plot was good, albeit short. Aside from hot scenes, this novel gives out scenes that made me teary-eyed or downright made me cry.

I recommend this book to those who are not opposed to emotional scenes, cheesy moments, flashbacks, best friends-turned lovers plot or the illness plot.

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: TRAPPED (The Iron Druid Chronicles #5)

I'M SO HAPPY!!


I'M VERY VERY HAPPY!!



I'M JUST TOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I know that this is a fantasy/adventure book and I'm not supposed to capitalize on the love part.. BUT, DAYYMMM.. If that wasn't worth the wait!


I have been rooting for those two from book one which seems like a million years ago after everything that happened. Finally, not only were they able to make Granuaile into a full blown druid, they were also able to see just how much they meant to each other. I'm glad that they "got it on?". LOL. It made them both happier, I guess. The story is still awesome with a lot of magical action parts plus Oberon's mean humor. ;) There were a lot of conflicts with the Norse, Greeks and even Dwarfs! It's one crazy ride! Still, my Atticus was able to surpass every one of them with his bright mind, quick wit and sheer luck.


I enjoyed their adventures a lot! Especially since I was able to listen to one great recording again. I swear, Luke Daniels has the best voice in the entire audiobook world. I think I'm in love with his voice!
I'm patiently waiting for the next one since the end of this book is pretty much ominous. hmm..


Anyhoo, this is a great book! Let's all read it!! ;)

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: SHADOW'S CLAIM (The Dacians: Realm of Blood and Mist #1)

This is probably the most frustrating book of KC.

And still, I love it.


I love how mysterious Dacians are. The way of their life is surreal. I was so curious about how their mist worked and so far, this book was kinda enlightening.

The characters were all fairly interesting. They have their high and low points.

The heroine is just so plain stubborn. She's dense and all she cared for was herself (At first) and getting what she wants. She wants her best childhood friend to be her man. Unfortunately, the guy couldn't even give her the time of the day. He's just too busy being his happy-go-lucky self too pay any attention to his long time friend. I kinda understand why she may have confused her feelings with that guy at first but continuing to do so in the middle was sooo frustrating I could just cry for Trehan. It's a good thing though that she changed her mind and heart near the end or else I would've strangled her character.


It's a good thing that the hero is a very very patient man/vamp. He took his time being sweet and loyal to Bettina even at times wherein she did not deserve it. He helped her out at every turn. His jealousy to me, was kinda reasonable up to a point. It went chaotic at the conflict part but I'm happy about how they were able to resolve it. I was so happy at what he was able to achieve at the end of this book. At least now, he wouldn't be all alone in that library of his. ;)

Plot = 10. It really is, mesmerizing, reading about Morgana, Salem, etc. I sure hope that Salem could also have his own story. =)

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: AVOW (The Archers of Avalon, #3)

FINALLY!

Now I can eat that kitkat since my favorite star crossed lovers has finally experienced a break from all the heartache (literal and figurative).

It's surreal how I waited for the last installment of this series. I was thinking about every possible ways on how they's be together, but I never thought that this would be how it ended. I feel sad and I also feel very very very happy. Nate is really a good character and I sure feel sorry for him :( Still, the happiness overrules my sadness so all is well.

First off, let me indicate that:

I AM VERY VERY VERY HAPPY because TRISTAN, MY LOVE SMILED A LOT!!!


This is indeed a big deal for me because my dear, dear Tristan has already suffered enough. I can just imagine how happy he was when he found out that he can already touch Scarlet although technically, the curse just shifted and he may as well die too. Still, his character became lighter in this book and I appreciate that a lot. Secondly, Scarlet became such a badass! It's like I was waiting for her to bloom like this. It was awesome reading about her skills .. and how hot Tristan thought it was when she holds his weapons. Oh how I loved reading about their first life together..and their second.. and third.. and so on and so fort. It's like a slow building of excitement and then finally, everything was okay. I was smiling all throughout. I was laughing out loud, thanking the author out loud, screeching out loud and giggling out loud with all the wonderful scenes.


Reading this series has been a really good experience. :)


I'll wait for another one of Ms. Fine's fine books. ^_^

BOOK.FAVE.RAVE: THE EDGE OF NEVER

See? It's not so bad to take a peek at the ending!

Had I not seen the ending, I would've shunned this book near the end. It's one of those books that make you fall hard. It's also one of those books that makes you want to trade places with the characters because they're in some place nice and you wanna see what they see. Yes, this is all about the road and places to go without really knowing where you would end up. Many people dream of doing it but only a few succeed on putting it into action. Camryn and Andrew are one of those.. well, in the fiction world, that is.

First off, I would like to share my embarrassing experience that I got by reading this book. You see, there was this part near the end wherein Camryn was reading Andrew's letter. THERE! That's the part wherein I cried childish tears! Complete with the hiccup and tears.


Where was I when I did this?


I WAS IN A FRIGGIN JEEPNEY! (It's one of the main modes of transportation in my country that holds about 14-16 people)
Even if I was wearing my darkest tinted shades, I was so obvious! It was silly as hell, but hey, I couldn't help it. If I had not taken a peek at the ending, I would've thrown my nook on some random passenger. That would've been careless and most embarrassing.

So there, done with sharing and caring.. off to new heights with my Andrew!


Andrew and Camryn both had to get away. I honestly thought that was gonna be a light hearted novel that's all about road trips and such. It was indeed light hearted. As light hearted as it can get when the heroine had faced a series of unluckiness in life and when the hero's dad is dying with Cancer and wasn't letting anyone grieve the proper way.

I learned to love Andrew the moment he had his first POV. I considered him as a happy-go-lucky person who deep inside wants a seriously happy ending. He's hot as hell (as the book says) and he was protective of Camryn even when they didn't know each other yet. He may have issues with his dad but it all makes sense in the end. He was always ready to go with Camryn. He was also always crying that I shook my self for not seeing it that he was also sick! BRAIN TUMOR SUCKS! sooner!

On the other hand, our heroine is a tortured one. I mean, she had a lot of misfortunes before she decided to just run away and try to experience new things. I admire her for her courage in doing the unthinkable. She literally blurted out the first place that came to her mind, as Andrew says, IDAFUCKING-HO. Camryn's character could also be seen as somewhat needy and one who has trust issues. Well, lemme just say that in the end, I liked her character more. She has been through one boyfriend dying she doesn't need another one who'd die too! . There's always a time that I wanna have some of the traits that a character has. This time, I wanna have Camryn's tenacity. Not breaking down when life seems so out of sorts is a really good trait.


THEIR TATTOO IS PROBABLY THE BEST TATTOO FOR MY FICTION WORLD THIS YEAR.

It's great to know that a fiction guy can still be romantic and kinda cheesy over a tattoo. I'm so happy that Camryn also got hers! Oh well, what else can I say?

✔It's love at first sight.
✔It's one of those insta-love that works for me.
✔It's one of those stories that touches the heart of a romantic like me. ✔ It's one of those books that can make you cry, laugh, be frustrated, angry or even disappointed (kinda like how I feel for Nat, no offense). ✔It's also one of those books that you wish had a longer ending because the ending just seemed so... abrupt? Albeit, it's a happy ending, I still wish it was longer.

Anyway, here are some tips that I got from this book for living your life to the fullest:

✶ Try not to plan anything when you go on a road trip. The surprise makes it all more exciting.
✶ Talk to nice looking people who sits next to you.
✶ Be vigilant of people who lurks around and always seem to look at you funny.
✶ Follow your heart when it comes to decision making. It may go wrong at some point, but at least you can say that it was your decision and you stood by it.
✶ Let go of the past and start forgiving. Giving people second chances has a good rate of success.
✶ If you're a parent, try not to ask impossible things from your kids. It's one thing to be a "cool parent", it's another thing to teach your kids to be stones.
✶ If you're a son or a daughter.. or you're a member of a family, consider the feelings of your family member.
✶ Don't let the moment pass you by. If you're gonna do it, do it now. ✶ Trust is really a core value that is earned and should be kept safe.


~~Christmas is near so I want to share one of my wishes to Santa (and the author) now.

Dear Santa, Please let the next book be about Asher? Please pretty please? He's such a good boy, I wonder how he'll be if he gets to have his very own story.


P.S. My friends also like Blake, so if he's next in line, we'll take it! ~


~THERE IS A NEXT BOOK RIIIIGGHHTT? RIGGGHHHHHHTTTTT? **persuasive wink**


-->This review was posted on my goodreads account last November 26, 2012

book.fave.rave: HIS PURRFECT MATE (Mating Heat #2)

This was a hot, refreshing read.

Of course we all know that it'll be hot if it came from EC.. the refreshing part was surprising to me though. It's not everyday that i get to read about a heroine who attaches herself to the hero when frightened. I don't mean "attached" as in she calls a lot or texts a lot. Shannon literally ATTACHES herself to Anton when she's scared. Now call me crazy but I really think that it's cute... endearing, even. She's helpless because she cannot shift. She can't do shiz to safe her life... but damn if Anton didn't make up for the heroine's lack of power. These two are just plain sweet and hot. I kind of like the idea that Shannon is totally protected by Anton because she can't protect herself.


I like it that for once in a paranormal setting, the heroine isn't "da bomb" (or strong, powerful etc.).

The story is even good. The conflict? I never saw that one coming. Yes, I was shocked. I like the ending as well.

I'm glad that I read this. I think I'm gonna be reading more shifter novels. They're all kinda intriguing. It's my first time reading about shifter puma's and I must admit, I researched about them while reading this. ;p See? intriguing! :

book.fave.rave: PERCHANCE

YAY FOR THE SWEET!!!


Honestly? I would be a very happy girl if I could just read every book with a guaranteed happy ending.

This one's like that. :)


Perchance is a cute, sweet and romantic YA novel. It's about two people who went to a new place with heavy hearts. Suddenly, everything changes. They find themselves in love. They become the highlight of each other's days. Somehow along the way, they also manage to become better people.

Cooper is indeed one of the most endearing, patient and sweetest YA character that I've ever come across. His everyday thoughts about Remi were just the sweetest thing! I could just bundle him up in hearts and sunshine! He's also big on the "grand gesture" which is kinda rare to most YA guys nowadays. I can't help but admire his patience with Remi, especially when Remi pulled her disappearing act. I am so amazed by his plan and the way he handled not being with her. On the other hand, Remi, even with her trust issues, has her moments. She sure know how to make a grand gesture all on her own.

The beauty of this book lies in the conflict itself. I found myself asking things like "If I were Remi, would I have done this too?" or "What will I do if I were in her place?". I wasn't even worried. I totally knew that they'd end up together again. Hah! The power of faith in my author.


All in all, this is a good read. It's full of surprises, sweet moments and... stalkery? HAHA. I'm glad that I gave it a shot. ;)

book.fave.rave: A SECOND CHANCE (Keller Family #2)

This is a really emotional getting back together story.


I was blown away by their family dynamics. They were so good to each other that I found my self looking forward to scenes that they have as a family. One scene that is burned in my memory is the "hair shaving" scene. I swear, I cried at the scene. It's just so emotional and a very important one. The significance of the act is not lost to me...and maybe for everyone else that has read it too.

The topic of illnesses is really hard for me to read. I'm the kind of reader that gets attached to characters that I would always want a happy ending for them RIGHT AWAY. But this time, I waited. I waited patiently and I waited a lot. I waited a lot for Carlos and Maddie to get back together. Hell, there weren't even any hot scenes here but still i waited. Suffice to say, I totally was looking forward to their reunion. I just didn't know that Carlos would wait until the end. Ugh, that man! I was frustrated with him because he already knew in his heart that he still loved the woman but he still went on with the marriage! Hmpf! His wife had to dump him first!

Anyway, everything went well in the end. I just wish that it was longer. I wanna see how the kids react to he news that their beloved parents are back together again.


P.S. I just wanna say how I would love Eduardo as a brother, a son, a boyfriend even! That kid is soooo sweet it rivals his dad!