We've got an Open Road Summer

Title: Open Road Summer

Author: Emery Lord
Pages: 342

Publisher: Walker

Source: Bought

Rating: 5/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 
After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own. Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. 

But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence. This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

Oh my gosh, this book. I loved this book so much. You know there are some books where, when you're not reading it you're thinking about it, and if you're not thinking about it, you're reading it? This book totally made it into that category for me. 

Open Road Summer was literally so full of sass, but I loved it! I thought it was great and there were parts where I just couldn't help but stifle a laugh (especially since I was reading this sat in my car during my lunch break - can you imagine how crazy I must've looked, looking down at my legs laughing!). Reagan was such a sassy character, but she was strong too and as a main character, I loved her!

Other than Reagan's sass, I just enjoyed her as a character. Although she made out that she was a broken person, I felt that she wasn't necessarily that at all. She was actually quite strong, and a great leading lady for this book. I enjoyed seeing how she developed and grew into herself, and how she was focusing on becoming 'new Reagan' as opposed to falling back into 'old Reagan'.

Open Road Summer was full of friendship, which as you know, is something I love in books, so this just boosted my love for this book. I loved the relationship that Reagan and Dee had. Dee was almost like a safe haven for Reagan, but in a way, I think Reagan helped keep Dee grounded. I also enjoyed seeing the friendship between Reagan and Matt develop.

Emery Lord's writing style was so clear and consistent and just great all over. Open Road Summer was just straight to the point with pretty much everything, there wasn't much room for guessing about things, which I liked. Plus oh god, this book had such a good storyline and it was just a perfect setting and everything that happened in it was perfect and I am full of love for this book. If I could give it more than 5/5 then I would.  Honestly, this book was one that I couldn't get over for a few days because I just enjoyed it so, so much and I immediately wanted to reread it again. 

Oh, something that deserves a mention of it's own is the 'new chapter' page design. SO CUTE!


See! I love this little detail - it just looks so pretty! I wish more books did something like this at the beginning of a chapter. I think it adds something fun to a book. Obviously I understand not all books are suited for this!

So to wrap this up, if you haven't read Open Road Summer, why not?! If I could give out copies of this book to everyone, I totally would.

Also, did you hear Emery is bringing out another book next year, I believe! I cannot WAIT!


Have you read Open Road Summer? If so, what did you think? If not, are you hoping to read it soon? Is it sat on your TBR list, or are you currently reading it now? Let me know what you thought of Open Road Summer!

What would you do If I Stay?

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 250

Publisher: Black Swan

Source: Bought

Rating: 4.5/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 
Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? 


Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters. 

If I Stay was the first taste I got of Gayle Forman's writing and oh my gosh, it was just delicious. If I Stay was a compelling read for me and it really got me wondering about life. Although I didn't cry, like I heard quite a few people did, it did make me get a little emotional.

If I Stay had a good storyline to it. I really liked how it was set over a 24 hour period, but it featured so many moments from the past. There aren't many books that pan out over 24 hours, so this was something I really liked. Although it was short, this didn't really matter to me as I felt that it was necessary, especially for the situation that our main character was in. Plus, even though the book took place over 24 hours, I grew to know a lot about Mia. Oh, and I just can't get over how beautiful Gayle's writing is. It's wonderful and the whole telling of the events and the thoughts of our main character, Mia, was just amazing. I officially love Gayle's writing style. It's so detailed and it really helps you connect more to the character in the book.

 Family seemed to play a big part in this book, and if you've seen my past reviews, you may have noticed that family and friendships are themes that I really enjoyed seeing and reading about in books. Family as well as friendship plays a big part in this book (as said just a second ago..), and I really loved it. I enjoyed seeing how big a part Mia's best friend played in her life, and her boyfriend also. I also enjoyed seeing that, although Mia didn't feel like she fit in with her family, her relationship with them seemed to be good with them - there wasn't any major fighting, so this made for the book to be a good one! 

I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy of Where She Went soon, as I believe that's the follow up to If I Stay! I did really enjoy If I Stay and am hoping to explore more of Gayle's books, such as Just One Day, which I've heard is very good!

In all honesty, I really enjoyed this book and would most definitely recommend it, especially if you enjoy books that literally grab your heart and don't let go for the duration of the book!


Have you read If I Stay? If so, what did you think? If not, are you hoping to read it soon? Is it sat on your TBR list, or are you currently reading it now? Let me know what you thought of If I Stay!

The View: Since You've Been Gone

Title: Since You've Been Gone 

Author: Morgan Matson

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Source: Bought

Rating: Amazing

Good Reads // Amazon 

Summary (Good Reads): 
The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just... disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try... unless they could lead back to her best friend. Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough. Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a Stranger? Wait... what?

Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go Skinny Dipping? Um..

What I thought of Since You've Been Gone..
This has been hot on my TBR list since I first heard about it, and I couldn't wait for it to be in my hands. I've never actually read anything by Morgan Matson before, so this was a completely new experience, but boy, did I enjoy it!

Since You've Been Gone is a light, funny story and absolutely perfect for the Summer season. The story focuses on Emily and the way she copes with Sloane's disappearance for the most part, but it also focuses on Emily growing as a person and learning not to rely so much on others. At first it bugged me a little, because you can see how much the main character relies on her best friend, but really, Matson portrays best friendship perfectly as they always seem to rely each other, and in some cases, one will rely on the other more. I really enjoyed seeing Emily's self confidence and worth sky rocket upwards as the book progressed. 

I really enjoyed following Emily's journey to completing the tasks on the list that Sloane had left her. There were some on there that actually seemed like good fun, and I almost wished that I could be a part of the story, helping and encouraging Emily with some of the tasks. I also really enjoyed seeing Emily's relationship with others grow. This was a big thing as I love books that involve friendships, so this was great for me! I also thought it was really great of Matson to portray falling in love as it really is. There are so many books out there that show the character falling straight in love, but as we all know, in reality, it's not like that. The love in this book is something that you can predict happening within the first few chapters, but the relationship between the two characters just flows so well.

Also, can I just add, the playlists that Matson included in this book had so many good songs! With the likes of Taylor Swift and The Beatles, I was loving this little feature!

So is there anything I didn't like about this book? Well no, actually. I really can't think of any faults that Since You've Been Gone had. Having now read SYBG, I really would like to check out more of Matson's books, and already have Second Chance Summer on my TBR list!

All I can say is, and this is not really anything to do with the books in terms of it's content, but more to do with myself personally, I think I would've read this in a much shorter time space, had I not been revising for my exams and such, as this really didn't give me a lot of time to read, and made my reading a bit choppy. If/when I read this again, I hope to read it where my pattern isn't so chopped up due to exams or other circumstances as I know that this would make me enjoy it even more than I did, plus it would give me a chance to read more in one sitting!

ps. Me and Frank Porter share the same birthday!

Have you read this book at all? What did you think? Did you enjoy it? If you haven't read it, would you consider it? Let me know what you all think!

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme featured over at The Broke and the Bookish.

There are so many books that I'm looking forward to that I hope to read this summer, despite that fact that I should be doing work for my AAT studies, plus I'm going on holiday and starting a new job! I'm really hoping I can read all, if not, most of these over the summer, however I am on a book ban at the moment...

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

1. To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han - After hearing so many great things about Jenny Han, and in particular, To All The Boys, I immediately went to go and snatch it up. It's now patiently waiting on my bookshelf waiting for me to devour it and I can't wait!
2. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick - I've heard some great things about Fitzpatrick's writing, so it's only natural that I had to add at least one book to my TBR list for summer. Besides, look at the gorgeous purples in the cover!
3. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - It's no secret that I loved Anna and the French Kiss, so I really can't wait to see what Perkin's has next for us! I am actually currently reading Lola and the Boy Next Door but still can't wait for this to come out so that I can get my hands on it!
4. Trouble by Non Pratt - This is one that isn't necessarily a summer book, but it seems like a great contemporary and I can't wait to get into it, plus I've seen good reviews for it, which means that I'm really looking forward to it!
5. Wish you Were Italian by Kristin Rae - I saw that quite a few people were raving about this, so after hearing the story was set in Italy, it went immediately to my TBR list. I love Italy, so real can't wait for this to transport me back there, even if it's only for a short time!
6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - So with BEA just passing, and seeing all the excitement that was surrounding Heir of Fire, I figured I should probably see what all of the fuss is about! I'm hoping to purchase this soon so I can finally see what I've been missing!
7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - I loved Eleanor and Park, and have heard some really great things about more of Rowell's books. As I already have this one sitting on my shelves, it seems only fair that it's added to my TBR list. Plus, the cover is a gorgeous mint green which totally reminds me of summer!
8. Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour - I read the first chapter as a 'sneak peek' last month and it captured my attention, so I'm hoping to carry on and read it all over summer! All I need now is to actually grab a copy..
9. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord - Um, this is a total no brainer! The story line sounds great and it's set in Summer! Plus, I've seen so many good reviews for this book that I really want to read it this Summer!
10. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson - I've heard/seen a lot of praise for Jandy Nelson, and actually saw this in my local Waterstones and had my eye on it before I even knew how many bloggers loved her work, so I've added this to my TBR. It just seems like it has to be done!
11. Pointe by Brandy Colbert - Now I know that this is a Summer TBR list, but I'm putting this on here as my Summer to Autumn transition book. As the summer winds down, I want to read something that is a little grittier, which this book seems to be, but it also seems like an enjoyable read. I think it'd be perfect for end of season Summer!

What books are on your Summer TBR list this year? Have you had chance to read any of the above? What did you think?

Book View: We Were Liars

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Source: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary (from Good Reads):
We are the Liars.

We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury.

We are cracked and broken.

A story of love and romance.

A tale of tragedy.

Which are lies?

Which is truth?

You decide.

I am currently ill at the moment, so didn't read this as fast as I wanted too because being ill really knocks the life out of ya! Plus, when I was near the end (like 5 pages away) , I kept getting interrupted by my family!! Anyway..

My Thoughts

Before I read this, there was a lot of hype around this book. I mean, it just came out in May, so what do you expect? But I saw quite a few people saying 'book of the year'. Other than seeing people's reactions, I literally knew nothing when I went into this book, which is a good thing.

I enjoyed the story line that this book had. I did find it a bit confusing, and in one chapter, I found myself a bit disorientated and basically had no clue what was going on until you know, I realised what was happening! Other than that, I did actually quite enjoy this book. I'll say this. It is a mystery, which is why I enjoyed it. I feel like I was constantly trying to piece the story together, and in this book, it really worked well. I particularly liked that twist at the end. That was totally unexpected for me. Maybe others that read it knew it was going to happen, but I definitely did not see that coming.

We Were Liars featured a whole lot of themes in it. I feel like I'm back in high school when I say that, but it was really easy for me to identify themes in this book. The main ones I picked out were family, friendship, love and corruption. I love books that feature families and/or friendships, so this was great for me! I specifically liked how these themes crossed over a bit, like love within family, mixed with corruption. I think Lockhart did a great job of bringing so many different themes together as it worked so well.

Although I did enjoy We Were Liars, I felt that there were parts that weren't great. There is the inclusion of little fairytales, which were a nice added feature, but I did get a bit fed up as I just wanted to read the story! One other thing that brought this book down for me slightly was the fact that at times, I felt kind of confused. Maybe that's just me, but I think it has more to do with the fact that this book went between past and now quite a few times!

I have to say, I was slightly disappointed but I think that's mainly because this book had a lot of hype around it, which I'd seen, so in my head I evaluated it a lot harder than I should've. Thinking about the book without thinking of the hype though, it was a good book, which is why I have given it a 4.5!

Final Thoughts

I did like We Were Liars and I think I would read it again, but I think it also requires a lot of concentration as you are pretty much solving a mystery. Although, personally, I hadn't really worked it out until just before it was said in the book, but that's good. This book keeps you guessing and guessing.

Would you recommend?

I would. Although I'm not head over heels in love with this book, I did enjoy reading it! I'd totally recommend it, particularly to those who enjoy young adult contemporary books that involve a dash of mystery!

Have you read this book? What did you think? If not, do you want to read it? Let me know your thoughts!

Ps. what do you guys think of  my reviews? I feel like mine are so basic and just terrible!

Book View: Eleanor & Park

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Orion Books
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5/5

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor... never to Eleanor.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.

I am literally the most terrible blogger..or just really slow reader! Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I'm currently studying for 3 of my AAT exams, so once those are over, I should have plenty of time to get reading. One of my goals is to read faster. Anyway, on to the review

Thank you to Rainbow Rowell, for ripping my heart out and making me cry, just to shove it back in and make me happy all over again. Basically, that ending. I totally wasn't expecting that, if I'm honest.

My Thoughts

I did really enjoy Eleanor and Park. It's one of those books that I know I'll be coming back to probably either later this year, or next year. I think it affected me, but I hadn't really noticed. It had completely creeped up on me and I cried. At 12am, I was up reading this book with tears down my cheeks, because this book really got me.

For me, this book was primarily a love story, but also it was kind of a life story. I liked how there was a back story to the characters that we met, such as Park's parents.

Rainbow Rowell's writing in this book is just so..clean and just nice to read. I felt that the book just flowed so well and it was such a joy to read. It was a love story, but I didn't feel like it was mushy, and enough to make you want to roll your eyes. Rainbow has done a really good job of portraying love as a teenager properly. However, my only issue with this is that it kind of happened like 'love at first sight'. I don't necessarily have a problem with this, because I know that in books, you can't drag it out and in books, it just happens, unlike in real life. Don't get me wrong, I think Eleanor and Park are made for each other, but the relationship was so fast. Also, the dual story telling (there must be a proper name for this) was so well done, and I actually enjoyed being in both Eleanor and Park's heads, as opposed to just being in one, or being like a fly on the wall.

One thing I've gotta say is, I must've really got caught up in this book (and again, not noticed) because I totally kept forgetting that the book is set in 1986. I don't know why, but I just felt like I could relate to it so well, and I felt so connected to the characters.

Another thing, as somebody on Good Reads had said, which I also noticed, this book didn't really deal with racial abuse (Park is half-korean). Obviously back in the day, where this book is set, there was still lots of racial abuse going on, but this is something Rowell hasn't really dealt with. Although, she did deal with verbal abuse and at times, domestic abuse. The verbal abuse was definitely more present, but I liked how it showed the way that the characters dealt with it.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed reading Eleanor and Park so much, and just want to read and know more about both Eleanor and Park. Rainbow Rowell, please give me answers. But yes, Eleanor and Park was honestly great. It wasn't really soppy at all, which I oh so enjoyed. Basically, Rainbow Rowell pulled this off so well, and just made me feel so connected to this book, and even more so with the characters. By the end of the story, as I said on Good Reads, all the feels were felt while reading this book. 

Would you recommend?

Definitely, definitely. This is on my must reads shelf for everybody that likes contemporary YA. I am telling you, you have to read it. 

Have you read this book? What did you think? If not, do you want to read it? Let me know your thoughts!

Book View: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Title: Don't Even Think About It 
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.

So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

First of all, big thank you to Hachette Children's Books for approving me for this book - my first approval on NetGalley, woohoo!

Holyyyyy smokes this book was so good for me, I loved it and cannot wait for the second one to come out! I'll be waiting a long time though as this was only released this month. I think I might be a little late to the party as I've seen quite a few bloggers with ARCs, but what the heck! I really liked this book and  wanted to get my thoughts down about it as soon as possible so I don't forget anything.

My Thoughts

I really liked the story line of this book. I mean, it's a book about telepathy (not a spoiler because it mentions in the blurb!) which is one of those 'super powers' I always wanted as a kid…as well as having the ability to become invisible! But honestly, I thought it was a great storyline. It didn't focus on one person, it focused on all the characters which I thought was really nice. I think it focused more on some of the characters obviously, but there was a nice contrast between them, and seeing how they came together over their power was really nice to see. Also, some of the thoughts people had and some of the things in the book did actually make me giggle a little - I love it when books do that!

I thought this book was quite fast paced. It seemed like there was always something happening, which is good because it did keep my attention, but the book went by so fast, which kind of makes me sad because I wanted to keep reading for a little longer. I'm not sure how many pages there are in the physical copy of this book, but I had a Kindle version (Kindle app!) and that had just under 2499 pages. 

I have to say, for me, this book did come across as very teenagers. You know, that's not a problem at all, but it makes me want to recommend it to my younger sister and all her friends. 

So why did I give this a 4 if I liked it so much? The ending of the book seemed so sudden to me. Yes, the book is fast paced, but I felt that the ending was abrupt. I am wondering if this was the whole point, and if it was to work as a cliffhanger, but I do think the ending could've been dragged out a little over 2 or 3 pages. It just seemed so sudden to me. That said, again, I did really enjoy this book. 

Would you recommend?

Um, yes, duh! I totally would recommend this book. It's a great read, I love the cover, and it made me laugh! So yes, I'd definitely recommend this book to anybody that likes YA that's contemporary, but also features paranormal elements, as well as an added dose of comedy. 

Have you read this book? What did you think? If not, do you want to read it? Let me know your thoughts!