Review: After the Game

After the Game by Abbie Glines

Rating: DNF (Did Not Finish)

I think this is going to have to be my last Abbi Glines book. I found her earlier works to be hit or miss for me, but all the more recent ones I've tried have just been bad. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I DNF'd this at about 15% and then skimmed the rest of the way through just to see if there was any redeeming qualities or a worthwhile resolution. There wasn't. The reason I decided early on to skim rather than actually read this book was the writing. There's no flow and the whole thing reads as a poorly written fiction project for a high school writing class. There's too much detail for the inner-monologues, almost like the author forgot she was writing in first person, not third, and the dialogue is completely unrealistic. I also really hated that the text conversations were not stylistically set apart (i.e. italics, etc.), because it was confusing to read a sentence or two before realizing it was meant to be a text message between characters. I continued to skim through the book, though, in order to see if there seemed to be a good story underneath the bad writing, only to be disappointed on that front as well. There are so many problems with the plot of this book, I could hardly stand it. I'm going to start with Riley. Her whole story line was a mess, from start to finish. Riley is raped at 15, becomes pregnant and has the baby, is run out of town as a liar, and she's perfectly fine? Give me a break. There's no way that she wouldn't be dealing with some major psychological issues after trauma like that, and it's upsetting to me that Glines didn't take this opportunity to address some of that and add some depth to the character. Also the fact that Riley's mother wants her to stop holding on to her anger and bitterness and spend time with Brady, even though he was one of those people who wouldn't listen and called her a liar is so not cool. Honestly, it's written like Riley's parents are so great because they took her away from the town, but in reality, they should have worked harder to get justice for their daughter. The "resolution" to this story line was also horrible. At the very end the rapist "just wanted to see" the baby, and is so sorry, and Riley forgives him. Gross. It's almost like Glines forgot that part of the story line and had to rush to some conclusion at the end.  I also didn't love that this book made being a teen mom seem like such a breeze. It just didn't seem to accurately depict what that life is really like, and again was a missed opportunity to add some much needed depth to characters and the plot. But Riley wasn't the only one with issues in this book. There was a total 180 degree character shift with Brady's dad, for no apparent reason other than to cause some conflict to make Brady's life more dramatic and less perfect, which was weird. There was also a concerning amount of toxic masculinity to deal with throughout the book. Even though Brady's dad is the cheater, Brady thinks his mom is weak for not "dealing with it" or however it was put, in the way that he thinks she should. Riley isn't accepted into the group until Gunner invites them to the party, which, considering he's her ex and her rapist's brother is problematic on so many levels. It reads almost like Gunner forgives Riley, but for what? For not just keeping her mouth shut that his brother raped her and got her pregnant? And now everyone else is going to treat her well again, because he's going to? That's messed up.  Basically this book is a disaster from start to finish, and I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone.

Review: The Accidentals

The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen

Rating: 4 Stars

I really enjoyed Sarina Bowen’s new young adult novel. I don't pick up too many young adult novels anymore, but since I've enjoyed Bowen's other work, I thought I would give it a try and I'm glad I did. The story was well-developed, with good pacing throughout. The characters were flawed, but that only added to the story. Obviously the main plot point was pretty out there, but the way Bowen handled the emotional development of the characters as they progressed through the plot was extremely believable. Even though there was conflict, there wasn’t a lot of drama just for the sake of the drama, which I really like. The major plot was dramatic enough without adding overly dramatic side elements. I also liked that as Rachel didn't ever seem to hate either of her parents; she was rightfully angry, but learned to forgive and move on. I guess I just really appreciated that the story never turned into a soap opera. The progression of emotions Rachel went through felt very true to life. This was a fast and easy read, perfect for anyone who enjoys young adult fiction and emotional coming of age stories.

Review: The Risk of Rogues

The Risk of Rogues by Sabrina Jeffries

Rating: 3 Stars

I enjoyed the final installment in Sabrina Jeffries' Sinful Suitors series. Because it's a novella the story moves to the resolution extremely quickly, but that doesn't detract from the story. The characters are not as well-developed as if it had been a full-length novel, but I didn't feel like the characters were in any way flat. I really liked that the heroine was strong enough to look out for and stand up for herself, and that the hero understands and respects that. This was a quick and easy read, bringing closure to the series. Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy of this book.

June Book of the Month Readathon Wrap-Up

This month I participated in the Book of the Month readathon. Just a note: this was not started by the official Book of the Month page, it was started by another book blogger/instagrammer - booknerdnative. And what a great idea it was! I'll admit, I'm terrible about keeping up with my Book of the Month picks, and while I only made a small dent in my pile, I really enjoyed most of the books I read. Keep reading to find out what specifically I liked or didn't like about each of the seven Book of the Month picks I read in June!

When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

Rating: 2 Stars

This is the book equivalent to cotton candy. It was and fun and easy read, but there wasn’t much substance. It felt like the whole story was surface-level only, and I would have liked if there had been more depth to the story, or the characters, or both.

Overall it was okay, especially if you’re looking for something light and easy, but it didn’t make me feel any sort of emotion.

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

Rating: 4 Stars

I really enjoyed this book, even though the subject matter was very hard to read about. Early on, I sort of got a picture about what was going to happen, but it didn’t come fully clear until the end, which meant I couldn’t stop reading!

Weir did an excellent job of creating believable characters with depth. I don’t know how I would react if I were in Essie’s place (thank goodness), but I believed how she reacted. It felt real and raw and rough. I hope Weir continues to write, I would be interested to read more from her.

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Rating: 4 Stars

This was an extremely enjoyable read about a woman who overcomes great hardship. I really appreciated that Center stayed true to life in that everything wasn't magically fixed by the end of the  novel. I felt that the characters and the plot were all well-developed.  

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Rating: 4 Stars

This was an extremely fun, steamy, perfect-for-summer read! I enjoyed the reverse Pretty Woman plot and the diverse cast of characters. The heroine is autistic, which makes it a buzzworthy book by that point alone. However, the author is also on the spectrum which lends wonderful (and needed) authenticity to the character. The hero is a young man just trying to help his family and not turn into his deadbeat father, which may sound like a cliche trope, but Hoang approaches it in such a way that I really felt I understood Michael and where he was coming from. Not to say I didn't want to shake him sometimes, but I felt for him. I also enjoyed the fun cast of secondary characters, particularly Michael's Vietnamese family. Diversity in romance (and all publishing) is so important, but diversity for it's own sake can often come off as flat or forced. I didn't feel that way at all about this book, so I suggest if you enjoy fun and sexy romances, be sure to put this one in your beach bag!

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong

Rating: 2 Stars

This was a fairly quick, easy read. Nothing to write home about, in my opinion. The writing was fine, but the style didn't work for me. It was written as journal entries, which I often enjoy, but it didn't seem to work in this instance. To me, this story would have been better served as a narrative, not as a diary.

I never felt any real connection to any of the characters, and everything came across as very superficial. If the characters and/or plot had been more fleshed out I would have enjoyed it more.

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

Rating: 3 stars

This was a pretty good debut novel. Ritter is a good writer, and I think she had a good story to tell with this book. It was a thriller that wasn't too terribly scary, but it went off in a direction I didn't really expect, which I appreciated. I would pick up another if Ritter continues to write.

The English Wife by Lauren Willig

Rating: 4 Stars

This was a great mystery that kept me guessing until the end. It was exactly the kind of mystery that I enjoy; the kind where I think I’ve figured out what’s going on and the author parcels out important information a little bit at a time to keep up the suspense and surprise.

So there you have it! And I have to say, if you're thinking about trying Book of the Month Club, I can't recommend it enough. Just look at all these good books!