Review: The Summer of Sloane

Title:  Summer of Sloane
Author:  Erin L. Schneider
Rating:  4/5

Summary:

Warm Hawaiian sun. Lazy beach days. Flirty texts with her boyfriend back in Seattle.

These are the things seventeen-year-old Sloane McIntyre pictured when she imagined the summer she’d be spending at her mom’s home in Hawaii with her twin brother, Penn. Instead, after learning an unthinkable secret about her boyfriend, Tyler, and best friend, Mick, all she has is a fractured hand and a completely shattered heart.

Once she arrives in Honolulu, though, Sloane hopes that Hawaii might just be the escape she needs. With beach bonfires, old friends, exotic food, and the wonders of a waterproof cast, there’s no reason Sloane shouldn’t enjoy her summer. And when she meets Finn McAllister, the handsome son of a hotel magnate who doesn’t always play by the rules, she knows he’s the perfect distraction from everything that’s so wrong back home.


But it turns out a measly ocean isn’t nearly enough to stop all the emails, texts, and voicemails from her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend, desperate to explain away their betrayal. And as her casual connection with Finn grows deeper, Sloane’s carefree summer might not be as easy to find as she’d hoped. Weighing years of history with Mick and Tyler against their deception, and the delicate possibility of new love, Sloane must decide when to forgive, and when to live for herself.

Review:

Want to kick off the summer with a basic contemporary young adult book?  This is it.  After reading this all I want is a summer romance, on a beach, in Hawaii.  Actually, I'll take any one of those three, but all together seemed to work for Sloane!

I have to get it out, there are two things that drove me nuts about this book:  Mick, and the fact that apparently teenagers with drama can't talk directly to each other about their drama.

Other than that I really enjoyed it.  I especially liked that Sloane wasn't the perfect stereotypical beauty.  She's short and spunky, she has panic induced asthma attacks, and she's got a mean right hook!

I love her interactions with Finn and Luce.  I just wish there would have been more interaction with her twin brother Penn.  I also wish there was a little more than the nod to the lesbian couple that she worked with, but I get that there can only be so many main characters in a book that's less than 300 pages.

But the drama with Mick!

Highly recommend as a way to kick off your summer reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #6

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title:  The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love
Author:  Sarvenaz Tash
Expected Publication: June 14, 2016

Summary:

John Hughes meets Comic Con in this hilarious, unabashedly romantic, coming-of-age novel about a teenager who is trying to get his best friend to fall in love with him from the author of Three Day Summer.

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy...
Archie and Veronica...
Althena and Noth...
...Graham and Roxy?

Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.

But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.

When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be...even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.

I am a HUGE comic book geek.  Seen all the movies, read half the stuff, have tons of memorabilia, and I cosplay at comic cons.  So, yeah, I cannot wait for this book to come out!!

Review: The Rose & The Dagger

Title:  The Rose & The Dagger
Author:  Renee Ahdieh
Series:  The Wrath & The Dawn (#2)
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

Review:

Oh my god, this series!!

I don't go for retellings very often, unless it's Alice in Wonderland related, but this is definitely my exception.  I can't decide who I love more in this story: Shahrzad, Irsa, or Khalid.  One of my favorite aspects of this story though is the introduction of the close family bond between Shazi and Irsa.  I would say I envy their bond as sisters, but I'm probably just as close if not closer with my own sister.

And the curse!  And all the magic!

I don't know how to review this book without giving away important plot aspects.  Shazi's relationship with Khalid is something I dream of, they fit together so perfectly and balance each other.  The country is in turmoil and the evil uncle is almost as bad as the mislead father.

I also approve of the ending.  It will rip your heart out first though, just warning you.  For once I approve of an epilogue thought!

Go Read This Series!!

May Wrap-Up & June TBR

May:

So, May was great for stacking my shelves with new books.  I also almost caught up on my Goodreads reading challenge!  I was very, very behind on that.

Books bought:

My Heart and other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielwski

Doctor Who

Star Trek: The Classic Episodes by James Blish

From the library*:

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Shuriken and Pleats, Vol 1. by Matsuri Hino

The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Fodor's Florida 2016

Summer of Sloan by Erin L. Schneider

*The books from the library are only from the last few days or weeks, I work at a library so I'm constantly getting things out

June:

I don't like to plan my reading too much, but here are a few that I have out of the library I'm determined to read this month:

  

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So what are you planning on reading this month?