Review: Touch by Jus Accardo

Author: Jus Accardo

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Pages: 284

Rating: 3/5

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.

Before I begin let’s just take a look at how hot that guy is!! Hot hot hot. I’ve been ignoring this book for so long now. Not because it didn’t sound good, no, it was because all my friends who’ve read it says it’s bad. So I decided to read it and see for myself. My answer is: meeh.

Touch is action packed from the beginning to the end.The book starts out with a great action scene, the beginnings of an intriguing mystery, and I really liked Deznee’s punky look and sarcastic attitude. Unfortunately, I felt as though she believed everything she was told, asked far too few questions, ran away with Kale far too quickly. But on the other side I might have done the same if my dad was just like her dad.

Her dad is a cold and evil man. He has told Deznee so many lies, one of them is so big that if it had happened to me I don’t think I’d ever forgive him. This man isn’t afraid of using people, even his daughter, to get whatever he wants. So I understand why Dez runs away. In the beginning I had a hard time believing that a father could be so cold with his daughter. Never really loving her, never understanding her and never being there for her.

Dez on the other hand is FIERCE and isn’t afraid of much. Well she is but she’s good at hiding it. She is an adrenaline junkie, snarky, sarcastic, rebellious, badass and makes it her life mission to annoy her father to death. Amen to that sister. What I really loved about her is that she doesn’t care what others think about her. She even start reputations about herself just so they can reach her father. All she really wants is someone who cares about her. That’s how I see it anyway.

Kale is a Six. That means he’s one of people who have special abilities. Some abilities are better and more valuable than other. His happens to be deadly. Every time something living touches his skin it dies. This goes for everything and everyone except Dez (and we don’t get to know why..). Kale is very very sweet but oh God so innocent! I understand that he has been locked away his entire life but still! You’d think he knows the basic social rules but noo. He did have other people where he was locked up. Doesn’t that help? Besides that he’s very kind and protective. Kind of like a puppy when I think about it.

Together, Dez and Kale make an amazing team. Every minute with them was a surprise and a happy moment. She got to see his true self and fell in love with him because of his beautiful heart.

The best part of the book was the addictive quality of it. They’re always on the run or making very risky plans. It was exciting and it  hard to stop reading. The climax was also very satisfying. It wasn’t abrupt and it wasn’t overwhelming. It ended in a way that makes it obvious the story is not over but there is no cliffhanger. While I did enjoy it, I don’t think I will be rushing to the bookstore to get the second one. It’s good but not great. There are other books that I’m more anxious to read before the second one.

Free Book!!!

I have a GoodReads account (ABookUniverse – add me!!) and a friend recommended a book to me. Significance by Shelly Crane.

Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who’s had a bad year. Her mom left, her dad is depressed, she’s graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has.

Then she meets Caleb.

She saves his life and instantly knows there’s something about him that’s intriguing but she is supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally. They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she’s ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb’s enemies know he’s imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

Obviously I checked it out to see what it’s about and where I can buy it, when I noticed something. IT’S FREE! It’s free on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The actual book, as in the physical copy is not free, but the nook/kindle edition is. I know this might be a problem for some of you who don’t have a kindle but don’t worry. I have a solution. I don’t have a kindle either but I do have a computer (which I assume you all have) so what I did was download the kindle app on my MacBook and then read the books there. I know this works on PC (is that what the other computer called? Or is it windows? Or is that what the program is called? Sorry 😦 I don’t know computers) because I also installed it on the family computer which isn’t a MacBook. If you have problems with downloading it, feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to help you 🙂

The review for Touch by Jus Accardo will be up tomorrow but I’ll start to read Significance today! I’d love it if you also read it so we can discuss it together when the review is up!

Anyway, maybe you all already know this but I just wanted to share this with you guys so you can know that there is a free book out there ❤

LINKS TO GET THE BOOK

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Spoiler free review: Existence Trilogy by Abbi Glines

I have decided to not review each book in this series, but instead review this series as a whole. I read the books back to back and to be honest I think I have forgotten what happens in each book – they’ve kinda blurred into one so I think this is the best course of action.

I will be presenting the three book covers + the description of the first book because the others do contain spoilers. The review however will be of the entire series and also be spoiler free!

(I’m sorry it’s so long)

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Author: Abbi Glines

Publisher: Wild Child publishing

Pages: 161

Rating: 2/5

What happens when you’re stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course.

Pagan Moore doesn’t cheat Death, but instead, falls in love with him.

Seventeen year old Pagan Moore has seen souls her entire life. Once she realized the strangers she often saw walking through walls were not visible to anyone else, she started ignoring them. If she didn’t let them know she could see them, then they left her alone. Until she stepped out of her car the first day of school and saw an incredibly sexy guy lounging on a picnic table, watching her with an amused smirk on his face. Problem is, she knows he’s dead.

Not only does he not go away when she ignores him, but he does something none of the others have ever done. He speaks. Pagan is fascinated by the soul. What she doesn’t realize is that her appointed time to die is drawing near and the wickedly beautiful soul she is falling in love with is not a soul at all.

He is Death and he’s about to break all the rules.

Author: Abbi Glines

Publisher: Wild Child publishing

Pages: 213

Rating: 2/5

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Author: Abbi Glines

Publisher: Wild Child publishing

Pages: 195

Rating: 2.5/5

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Review:

The reason I even picked up Existence  is because of the book cover. It’s gorgeous. I was really put off by the blurb though. ‘What happens when you’re stalked by Death? You fall in love with him, of course.’ Weeeell, not really sure that’s what I would do if I got stalked by death, but hey! If that works for you then shoot. No but seriously, I started this book thinking it was going to be a dark dark book, since it’s about death. But instead it turned out to be a very quick and easy read. These books got me out of the reading slump so hey! That says something about how easy they are to read.

When I was reading the first book, Existance, all I thought about 95% of the time was what the hell is going on here? I just COULD NOT understand how DEATH could be in a rock band? HOW, dear God, is that even remotely close to okay? He’s death for crying out loud! But noooo in these books death is in a band and millions of girls have his poster on their walls. I can’t buy it.

Also I had a very hard time getting past the names Pagan and Dank. With all the names in the world, this was what we got stuck with? I didn’t even know how to pronounce Pagan. Was it “pay-gone”, “page-an” or something entirely different? I had to listen to an excerpt of the audiobook to get it right. And also, DANK? I read it as Dark just because it made more sense (not really but still better than Dank). In the third book we learn that his name has a meaning but it still doesn’t make it “good”.

The characters are very very dull and boring. Lets start on Pagan…. She’s a moany, whiney, selfish, bitchy waste of space. Through pretty much the whole first book she’s seeing this guy called Leif, star quarterback and really good boyfriend, sweet, kind & thoughtful. Pagan decides she doesn’t love him and she only has eyes for Dank. Which is okay, a person can be wonderful and still not be a good match for you. However she decides to string him along for the whole story. She uses him to make herself feel better and the poor guy doesn’t have a clue. This is the same girl who actually has the balls to call another girl ‘Kendra’ the school slut? Pfft. At least she’s honest instead of trying to pretend she’s a timid, good little girl. She does, however, get a liiiittle better throughout the series. But only because she stop whining.

Miranda, who is Pagans best friend is supposed to be this loud, funny, quirky girl. Instead she’s annoying. I don’t know exactly where it went wrong with her character but she is the typical YA book best friend.   You know what I’m talking about. The best friend who is the opposite of our heroine.

The only character I liked was Dank.. He saw things for what they were and didn’t complain like Pagan did. Well at first anyway. As the series continued he kinda stopped being death and started to become obsessed with Pagan. Which is, well it’s not okay but I like romance so I didn’t mind it too much. Also while we’re at it. I think this series highlight is the romance. I enjoyed the moments when Dank and Pagan were together. What I didn’t like was the dialogs. They were soooo cheesy. The sentences were short and it felt like it became unrealistic after a while. I’m pretty sure no one talks like that in real life.

I forgot to mention something. Pagan sees souls. This could have been a rather fascinating concept. I mean, it’s explained that in this world, souls basically reincarnate over and over, with no memory of who they once might have been. You could do this without skipping down Special Snowflake Street (i.e., Pagan is the chosen one, or something), by simply having a subplot about how Pagan’s ability to see all these ghosts is a hangover from the souls who have reincarnated into her. Maybe Dank tells Pagan that like some other people, she is clairvoyant and/or acutely aware of her past lives and the people who are passing into the next world. It’s a better sell than the heroine just being able to see spirits and whimpering about how they’re ruining her life, when they’re not threatening her in the least.

If I wrote all these bad things, how come I gave the series a 2/5? Even though I didn’t like it so much there were other people who absolutely loved it. To be honest, this series was actually fun, mindless brain candy. It was a cute enough love story. Even though I thought the ending was much too convenient, I did enjoy the actual moments when Pagan and Dank (still can’t get over those names) were together. I went in having very low expectations. I just wanted to read so I could get into the whole thing again. It’s not perfect and it’s not meant to be a deep novel. So I did enjoy it. It was a lot of the “extra” stuff that I could have done without but still you have time over, and don’t know what to read (and if you’re okay with getting annoyed several times) then Existence is for you.

Seven Deadly Sins Tag

I haven’t been tagged by anyone ( 😦 ) but I found this tag and thought it’d be fun to do. Basically the gist is that you must answer seven questions about the Biblical seven deadly sins:

• Lust
• Gluttony
• Greed
• Sloth
• Wrath
• Envy
• Pride

Exciting, right? Let’s begin! 

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1. GREED:

What is the most expensive book in your library and what is the most inexpensive?

Answer: Most expensive that I can recall would have to be the Outlander 20th anniversary edition ($33) by Diana Gabaldon. That book is gorgeous, all red and gold with beautiful details. It’s massive though so still haven’t read it yet.

Most inexpensive is (I think) White Hot Kiss ($9) by Jennifer L. Armentrout. One of the most badass female characters is in this book!

 (Have you seen the new covers for this series? They suck! Like honestly the old ones were better)

2. WRATH:

Which author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Answer: I actually, weirdly enough, can’t really think of one! Maybe Veronica Roth? You who’ve read Allegiant know what I mean. Still though, I think what she did was brave and don’t really “hate” her for that. But if I had to choose I’d choose her.

3. GLUTTONY:

What book have you deliciously devoured over and over again with no remorse whatsoever?

Answer: Oh this one is easy. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I’ve read this book countless times and I have no regrets what so ever haha. It truly is amazing and I recommend to to each and every one of you. I GUARANTEE that you’ll like it.

(I put the old cover ’cause I really really hate the new one)

4. SLOTH:

What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

Answer: I’m going to have to go with Outlander by Diana Gabaldon here. Like I said before it’s massive, God knows I’ve tried to read it but it’s soooooo slow. I’ve seen eight episodes of the show and it really is great but the book oh my god I can’t. But I will, I will. It’s summer now which means no school so I’ll have plenty of time to read it.

5. PRIDE:

What book do you most talk about in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

Answer: I don’t feel like I ever consciously talk about a book to make me sound like an intellectual reader? But if I absolutely have to say something then it’s about classics in class with my teacher so he’ll like me more. Stupid, I know, but he says  teenagers should read more, so he makes us have literature discussions and that’s when I take the opportunity to “show off”. But that’s class so it doesn’t really count. It’s necessary to sound intelligent. On daily basis (like I said), I don’t feel like I ever consciously talk about a book to make me sound like an intellectual reader.

6. LUST:

What attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?

Answer: Oh you know 😉 I’m really into the whole bad boy thing. This could go on for awhile. In guy characters, I tend to like the dark, tortured, sarcastic ones. Think Jace Lightwood of The Mortal Instruments or Adrian Ivashkov of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series. I like the fighters, usually, and the ones that are quick and clever. I like the guys that usually withhold their emotions but are so deep and beautiful when they share them. Of course, a guy like this in real life would probably make me roll my eyes but in books, I’m a sucker for the “bad” boy. The guys that are bad boys but deep down, so good.

7. ENVY:

What books would you most like to receive as a gift?

Answer: Hmm, I don’t really know? Perhaps any book that’s limited edition or special edition (isn’t that the same thing?). I really don’t know though since I feel like I have all the books I want. But hey, as long as someone buys me a book I’m grateful. A gift is a gift, I’ll just be happy someone thought about buying me something.

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That is it for this tag! I tag each and every one of you who read this. Blog or no blog. If you have a blog and you decide to do this (you should, because you´re tagged) I’d love if you’d leave the link to your blog so I and other people can read what YOUR answers are to the seven deadly sins book tag. If you don’t have a blog it’d be lovely if you’d answer the questions in the comments because I really would like to know your answers!

Gif Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 456

Rating: 5

“No.” I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again….
“I dare you…”
If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does….

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won’t let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all….

I’ve got an idea! I want to review this book in gifs! I think it’s going to be a fun and creative way to share my opinions and thoughts I had while reading this book. Obviously I won’t do it again if you don’t like it, but lately I’ve started to feel like loong reviews with a lot of text are getting a wee bit (do i dare say this) boring..? Let’s try to do this once in a while (once again – I’ll stop if this isn’t something most of you don’t like) and see how it turns out shall we? This time I’ll do in Nina Dobrev gifs because let’s face it, the girl is gorgeous *shrugs*

It’s been two years since I read Dare You To so bear with me if this review isn’t top notch

Let’s go!

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Dare you to is the second book in the pushing the limits series. The thing is, Katie, the author, writes about different characters in each book of this series. First book was about Noah and Echo, and now it’s about Noah’s best friend Beth and also Ryan, a guy who hasn’t been in the previous book. Book #3 is about Noahs and Beths best friend Isaiah plus a unknown girl. You see my point?

This is something I did not know when I finished pushing the limits, I was expecting the second book to also be about Echo and Noah. Characters I really grew to love in the first book. So when a friend told me where Katie was going with this series, I was like:

Whaat..?

And since I was nowhere in hell ready to give up on Noah and Echo I was all:

It didn’t make it easier when I heard that it was going to be about Beth.. BETH! The whiny, emo wannabe in pushing the limits who kept on being this annoying bitch to both Noah and Echo. I begged the book gods to make Katie write another book about Noah and Echo (which she later on did.. but that’s another review) but with no luck. You could say I was about 110% done with this series when something happened…

The cover was released, which made 15 year old me all:

This made me frustrated. The synopsis? Good. The cover? Even better. So why was I frustrated? Beth.. God, I remember how strongly I disliked Beth but I came to the conclusion that I needed to read it to get to know her. Give her a chance and learn her story. So I did. As soon as the book came out I walked into that bookstore with only one mission in mind. Get. The. Book.

I started reading the book the same day I bought it. And you know what? I didn’t stop until I finished it. Which meant, I read until 6 am, slept for two hours and got up looking like this:

Let’s just say “I woke up like this” got a new meaning and it’s not the flattering one Beyonce is talking about..

That wasn’t even the worst part! The worst part was trying to shut my brother up who wanted to tell my mother what I’d been up to all night… Snitch…

Hehe.. shut up or you will die brother *fake smile*

Anyway..

God, it was so worth it! The book was just.. WOW! Beth? Beth wasn’t even an issue! Well yeah she was in the beginning but then as the book went on I saw a side of Beth that I did not know existed. She’s BADASS!! The tough girl that no one messes with. Wish I was like that.. But on the inside Beth is.. well on the inside Beth has a war going on. She has had a hard life trying to protect her mom. A messed up drug addict who has never been there for Beth. She’s done nothing but make her life a living hell. Living with her boyfriend who absolutely LOVED to hit her and would more than gladly hit Beth too if the chance was given. Beth was full of fear, loyalty and low self-respect resulting in a girl with an attitude I’d like to slap. But still, I’d like to applaud to Beth for being so strong

But what happens, you might ask. Well, when an altercation ends in Beth taking the fall for her mother with the law, Beth ends up in her Uncle Scott’s custody. Beth hasn’t seen Scott in years since he left Beth and she does not welcome his return. She has nothing but resentment and anger at him for abandoning her to the hell her life has become. But as usual, things do not go as we want so Beth moves in with Uncle Scott who’s rich and lives a life Beth hasn’t even dreamt of. Obviously, she hates it there. She’s still forced to go to school though which is where she meets Ryan for the second time.

Ahh.. Ryan..

  

I should be honest – I wasn’t sure about Ryan to begin with. I’m into bad boys. You know, like Daemon Black from the lux series or Noah from Pushing the limits (I LOVE THEM SO MUCH) but I think that in a world full of bad boys, a good guy was more than needed. Still, there is a lot more to him than what’s on the outside. Even though his life seems perfect, on the inside everything is falling apart. His father is constantly pressuring him. Nothing matters except baseball. Nothing. Ryan is a great pitcher, the best. But that is not the only thing he excels at. He is also a fantastic writer. Good enough to final in the state competition. But if it interferes with baseball, his father won’t let him do it. Ryan is caught in at a crossroads in his life. His dad wants him to jump into the majors- but what about what Ryan wants? Would going to college and playing ball be the worst thing? Not only that Ryans free will is taken away by his own father, his family is a wreck too. His parents only talk when there are other people around and he has a brother that no one talks about since the day he said something that could (according to Ryans father) ruin the family’s reputation.

Not the healthiest family..

As you can already guess, Beth and Ryan fall for each other. It happens slowly yet fast. It’s hard for them to be together yet so easy. They are each others opposites. They are simply a perfect match.

Do I love how Beth and Ryan bring the best out of each other?

Yeah..

Their love grows and it saves them from themselves. I loved the two of them together. Ryan is willing to fight for Beth. To stand up for her, something he has never done in his life.

But why did I give it a 5 och of 5? Even though it doesn’t seem that way, Dare You To is dark. It tackles subjects that are sadly common between some teenagers. Heck, at some points Beth is suicidal. Getting so high just to numb everything. This shows that this book isn’t just a boy meets girl and everything is about the two of them kind of book. No, this is so much more than that. You can read about real and raw emotions people every age is feeling. It puts you in a position that makes you uncomfortable but still opens up your eyes to what some people are going through. Everything is not sunshine and rainbows in this world. It’s time everyone becomes aware of that. That is why I love this book so much. It makes you aware of that.

So ladies and gentlemen

 

to read Dare You to by Katie McGarry

I’m 17 now and I was 15 when I first read this book but I’m pretty sure my opinion won’t change a bit if I reread DYT. I just wanted to review it so that I can get the word out that this series is amazing and should be read by everyone.

I’ve already read all the books that are out and could if you want to, review them all. If you’ve already read Dare you to make sure to leave your thoughts in a comment so we can discuss it.

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Finally …

Did I do good? 

I hope you enjoy reading this review just as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would like to do more gif reviews but I’m not sure it’s something you would like. So is it? If not, could you tell me what I did wrong? I love getting feedback because it means I’ll become better so don’t be afraid to tell me 😉

Until next time…