Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! This time around two titles I’ve been looking forward to read… The first, Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover, turned out to be a new favorite, but sadly A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World by C.A. Fletcher somehow just didn’t work for me.
Title: Heart Bones
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: August 19th 2020
Publisher: Hoover Ink
Finished reading: September 19th 2020
Pages: 338
“Damaged people recognize other damaged people. It’s like a club you don’t want a membership to.”
Colleen Hoover titles can go both ways for me, but I’ve enjoyed her recent titles without fail so I have been highly anticipating her newest story Heart Bones. Both the blurb and the first reviews sounded fantastic, so I had high hopes it would be a good one for me as well… And the CoHo magic struck again, because I absolutely loved this story. Beyah’s character won me over from the very beginning, and I really liked Samson and the other main characters in play as well. They are realistic, flawed and so easy to warm up to that you cannot help but root for them almost immediately. I wasn’t even that bothered by the sexy scenes as I was too busy wondering how the plot and characters would evolve, and that is a true achievement as I normally hate any form of sexy time in my stories. The writing is engaging, flows easily and is packed with emotions. It’s a story about two broken individuals being drawn to each other and finding a connection that seems impossible to break… Both have their secrets and past, and there were definitely a few reveals I didn’t see coming. Heart Bones will mess with your heart and feelings, but the journey is oh so worth it. A new CoHo favorite to add to the list!
Title: A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World
Author: C.A. Fletcher
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Science Fiction
First published: April 23rd 2019
Publisher: Orbit
Finished reading: September 26th 2020
Pages: 384
“If we’re not loyal to the things we love, what’s the point? That’s like not havign a memory. That’s when we stop being human.”
I have been looking forward to A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World ever since I read the first reviews last year. I love a good dystopian story every once in a while, and add an animal character in the spotlight and I’m immediately sold. I was fully expecting to find a new favorite, so that’s probably why I felt even more disappointed when I ended up having a completely different reading experience instead. It’s unpopular opinion time again! Don’t get me wrong: I still love the premise of this story and the idea behind this dystopian future as well as its development was interesting. I also like the idea behind Griz’ character and the dogs… But somehow, the actual story just didn’t work for me personally. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style somehow; I wasn’t able to warm up to the tone or the way the story was told in the form of Griz’ memoir written after the events. Somehow I wasn’t really a fan of how the plot developed either… I found the story to be considerably slow, and while I did enjoy the development of the dystopian world, I didn’t exactly have a good time following Griz’ story itself. I can’t put my finger on the why, but the story just wasn’t able to grab or hold my attention and I found myself skimreading more than often just to get to the end. I know I’m in the minority though as most people do seem to love A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this story somehow definitely wasn’t for me. I definitely need a different dystopian read now to properly satisfy my dystopian cravings…
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It breaks my heart that you didn’t love A Boy, I fully expected you to! Maybe try The Book of Koli to satisfy your dystopian needs?
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I feel so sad that I wasn’t able to warm up to A Boy And His Dog! I fully expected to love it… And it’s funny that you mention The Book Of Koli; I was actually deciding between that one and The Boy On The Bridge for my next dystopian read the other day, but I have a physical copy of the second so The Boy On The Bridge won. xD I still want to read The Book Of Koli some time soon though!
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You read a lot and you can’t love them all 🤷♀️ I hope that other boy, with a bridge instead of a dog, treats you better 😉
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Haha true, but I still feel sad I wasn’t able to enjoy it better… The Boy On The Bridge seems more to my liking so far though.
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I want some CoHo magic! I think I’m going to wait though so I can some day have the paperback of this one! Great reviews!
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If the paperback will have the same cover it will look stunning on your shelves! The story itself it worth it too. xx
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I didn’t love A Boy as much as I’d hoped to as I’d only heard people raving about it. I thought it was good, but I didn’t find any of the twists shocking which probably took a lot of the joy out of it. I can imagine the surprises would be stunning if you didn’t see them coming! 🙂
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It does make me feel a little less bad that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t love A Boy And His Dog… It might just not be the right time for me, although I did crave a dystopian story and I’m enjoying my currently dystopian read a lot better.
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I enjoyed heart bones too. My first coho lovely reviews. I like your shorties. They are longer than my normal review
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I’m glad to hear you enjoyed Heart Bones! CoHo can be a hit or miss for me, but I did love her recent work without exception. xx
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I’ve read a few mixed reviews about A Boy but I still want to give it a go (at some point!) Great little mini-reviews 😀
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Most people seem to love A Boy And His Dog though, so definitely don’t give up on my account. xx
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Fab reviews Yvo! I’m gutted you didn’t enjoy A Boy, but it was a slow burner which I don’t normally enjoy. Have you read Year One by Nora Roberts? I didn’t enjoy it but most people did, so I know how you feel. xx
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I guess A Boy And His Dog was just too slow for me? Or it might just not have been the right time, although I did feel like reading a dystopian story. I haven’t read Year One yet, although it is on my TBR somewhere… I’m not sure whether to read it any time soon now considering you didn’t enjoy it either. xx
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I think you’d enjoy it more than me because it ws the fantasy elements that I realy didn’t like! xx
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That’s good to know! It might just work for me then. xx
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I’m so happy Heart Bones resonated with you as it did. Shows what a good writer she is when you can tolerate the sexy times and look beyond them.
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Oh yes, she is one of the few authors who can pull off those sexy scenes without bothering me!
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I haven’t read any Colleen Hoover but you make me want to try!! Great post xx
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She’s a great author for when you are in the mood for some contemporary romance! She does tend to include heavy topics in her stories, so no fluffy romance, but I really enjoyed most of her titles I tried. xx
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