BOOK REVIEW: Love May Fail – by Matthew Quick

Title: Love May Fail
Author: Matthew Quick
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
First published: June 4th 2015
Publisher: Harper
Finished reading: July 31st 2017
Pages: 419

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”

I liked Matthew Quick‘s unconventional writing style and characters in Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, so when I was desperately looking for something different I turned to his work again. I found a copy of Love May Fail on my shelves and decided to pick it up; and I definitely got what I was looking for. This book is by no means conventional! I’m still not sure what to make of this book even days after finishing it. There were things/elements I liked or appreciated and there were others I wasn’t so sure about, but what is true that Love May Fail is different. Both the writing style and tone are very unconventional, blunt, brutally honest but also refreshing. That said, there was also a lot of swearing and negativity involved… So this unique feel can go both ways. The same thing goes for the characters. Most of them earn points for brutal honesty, uniqueness and having that ‘spark’, but I don’t think I actually liked them. Portia had all those elements (she definitely has balls), but somehow I never actually warmed up to her. It is true though that at least she was able to provoke strong emotions, even if those were mostly negative. I couldn’t stand Mr. Vernon though. What is true though is that important themes as mental illness, depression, suicide, midlife crisis and hoarding play an important role in the story and seems to be portrayed quite realistically. Matthew Quick isn’t afraid to step on a few toes and says things as they are in a blunt and brutally honest way. And I don’t think I have ever read about a hoarder before! In short I can applaude the diversity. I also liked the novel writing bits and insight in the publishing world. Still, I can’t say I actually loved reading Love May Fail. It won’t make it to my favorites list, but there is no doubt there is something about this story.

A little warning: don’t read Love May Fail if you are sensitive to darker themes, adult content and swearing.

After Portia Kane finds her pornographer husband cheating on her with a girl half her age, she decides she has had enough. She is having a meltdown; escapes her fabulous life in Florida and then returns to her mother’s house in South Jersey. There she realizes things in her hometown haven’t changed all that much and she will have to face the memories of her unhappy childhood. Her mother is still a hoarder and Portia doesn’t know how to help her get better… So when she finds out what happened to her favorite English teacher, she decides to do something to help him instead. But how to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped in the first place?

If you are looking for something different, there is no doubt that Love May Fail will deliver. There is nothing conventional about this story and I guess it is kind of refreshing. Love May Fail won’t be for everyone since it has a lot of trigger warnings for darker themes, adult content and swearing, but I’m sure the right person will appreciate the brutal honesty and blunt, raw and ‘out there’ feel of it all. I personally ended up having mixed thoughts about this one, but I do believe this book can go either way.

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BOOK REVIEW: Confess – by Colleen Hoover

Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult
First published: March 10th 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Finished reading: July 16th 2017
Pages: 320

“Selflessness. It should be the basis of every relationship. If a person truly cares about you, they’ll get more pleasure from the way they make you feel, rather than the way you make them feel.”

Spoiler alert: I seem to be having a love-hate relationship with Colleen Hoover‘s books. I know contemporary romance normally isn’t my thing at all and you might ask yourself: why on earth pick up a book belonging to a genre that’s not for you in the first place? Well, mostly because Colleen Hoover is one of the few authors that has been able to give solid proof (a.k.a. November 9 and It Ends With Us) that I can actually love a contemporary romance story. So when I was looking for something completely different to read, I turned to CoHo again and decided to pick up on of her novels still on my TBR. I mainly picked Confess because I was curious about the anonymous confessions incorporated into the story. And now I’ve finished reading it, I still think this is the strongest element of this novel. I just love the idea of the anonymous confessions made into art, the symbolisms and the fact that the actual paintings are shown in the novel. The confessions, both anonymous and those of the main characters, play a big role throughout the story and the title is definitely spot on. I initially received mainly positive vibes as I was reading Confess and I really thought it was going to be another winner for me, but unfortunately this feeling didn’t last. It wasn’t the writing style, which was just as good as ever and one of the reasons her books are just so damn readable. BUT. And here come two big issues… 1. The characters. 2. Instalove. I was able to tolerate the main characters initially, mostly because the writing style is very enjoyable and I was intrigued by the confessions and paintings. I even forgave the cliches initially… But this all went south when both Auburn and Owen started to annoy me. Even worse: other characters started popping up that provoked even worse feelings and that was not even the end of it. Because Confess suffers from a very heavy case of one of the most annoying romantic tropes: instalove. Auburn and Owen… Sorry, I just wasn’t able to believe it and it was really hard to keep taking the story seriously when I couldn’t take serious their (inter)actions. I was about halfway through when Confess had officially lost me to an instalove overdose. Which is a shame, because Confess does touch some very important topics and brings to light just how toxic and manipulative human beings can be. I can really see why people would love this story, but Confess was most definitely a solid case of ‘not-for-me’.

Auburn Reed has been having a rough couple of years and has moved to Dallas to try and rebuild her shattered life. She has been fighting for a long time and her goals seem to be very close now… But it seems like life will be never easy for her. Auburn was just looking for a second job to get more money, but she ended up finding a whole lot more when she walks into a Dallas art studio and meets the artist and owner Owen Gentry. They share an instant attraction and Auburn decides to take a chance and put her heart first. But Owen has been keeping secrets from her… Secrets that might ruin the last thing in her life that is important to her.

First of all I have to say that Confess by no means is a bad read, and I’m probably partly to blame for this story and me not being a right match. The writing style is just so readable and I do love the idea of the confessions turned into art and the way confessions are incorporated into the story itself. Confess isn’t just another sappy romance story and has a few very dark themes, but in the end it was the instalove overdose and inability to tolerate the main characters that ruined the reading experience for me. Oh well, I guess we can’t like them all… And what I said before is true: Colleen Hoover is always able to provoke very strong reactions with her stories whether they are positive or negative. And that is always a good sign.

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ARC REVIEW: The List – by Patricia Forde

Title: The List
Author: Patricia Forde
Genre: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Dystopia
First published: April 16th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Finished reading: July 14th 2017
Pages: 336
(Original title: ‘The Wordsmith’)

“There’s always truth in dreams. Don’t you know that? We have to learn what they mean, that’s all.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I admit I wanted to read The List as soon as I saw that absolutely stunning cover; yes, even before I read the blurb which only confirmed my desire to read this story. The List was actually originally published two years ago under a different title, but will be republished next month with this stunning cover. Now I have read it there is no doubt that this debut novel by Patricia Forde is based on a very fascinating concept. The List is set in a dystopian world where most of the world is destroyed by the Melting, most people now forced to live in the city of Ark and their surroundings because there is nowhere else left. The founder of Ark is Noa (see the biblical references yet?) and he has restricted the use of language to just 500 approved words… His belief of humanity being able to use/abuse words and words bringing doom to the human kind is fascinating and I would definitely have given The List a full 5 stars for originality. The so-called List speak is fascinating (although that might just be the philologist in me talking) and the List itself plays a central role in the story. The worldbuilding is intriguing and even though the plot itself isn’t all that exciting I’m sure it will be fitting enough for the age group. The List is ment as a Middle Grade read and I admit I don’t have a lot of experience reading stories for this age. Still, I do believe the tone doesn’t always felt right (too adult) and I personally had difficulties connecting to the writing style. As fascinating as the concept of this story sounded, I don’t think I enjoyed actually reading about it as much as I would have hoped… I also struggled to connect to the characters and personally didn’t like Letta at all. She seemed quite bland as a main character and I’m not sure if she will be able to win over the target group either; this has most likely to do with the lack of character development in general. The ending itself wasn’t really satisfying either and it took me a lot longer than expected to finish this story. In short, while I loved certain elements of The List (the concept, the List-speak), I also struggled with other elements and all in all unfortunately I ended up having mixed thoughts.

After the Melting, only the lucky have survived and most of them live in the city of Ark. To keep things running smoothly the founder Noa has speech constrained to 500 approved words; if you speak outside the approved lexicon you will face banishment. Only a few people are able to speak freely, and only in private: the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta belong to that group. When her master dies, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith and charged with collecting and saving words. But she doesn’t realize something sinister is going on in Ark… Something that will have devastating effects if not prevented.

The List is without doubt based on a very fascinating and original concept I would easily have given the highest rating for. The language elements are very interesting as well and this was definitely my favorite element of the story. That said, it did take me way longer than expected to read this Middle Grade story and I had difficulties connecting to both the writing style and the characters. I ended up having mixed thoughts about The List, but I guess the story can go either way for you.

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ARC REVIEW: Four Days – by Jamie Campbell

Title: Four Days
Author: Jamie Campbell
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: October 5th 2015
Publisher: Eltham Press
Finished reading: June 17th 2017
Pages: 135

“In tennis, inches add up to miles. In life they add up that way too. The trick of it is to understand that fact.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I read Jamie Campbell‘s other short novel The Thankful back in January and enjoyed it, so I found myself looking forward to Four Days as well. This short novel actually has a complete different focus and is more of a contemporary romance story packed with sports and roadtrip elements. Four Days has less romance than I would have expected initially and is actually more focused on the main character Luci trying to deal with a broken relationship and her tennis career not going as well as she would have liked. Luci has to rediscover herself and the roadtrip can be seen as a symbol for this journey. I’m a big travel fan, so I really enjoyed the descriptions of the different parts of New Zealands the characters were driving though. And although I’m not a big fan of tennis myself (I prefer rugby!), I liked the way these elements play a big role in this story. Four Days definitely has a huge dose of sports incorporated into the plot! The story is also quite easy to read and I liked the fact Dutch words were used here and there. It might just be the philologist in me, but I always love when different languages are incorporated into the prose, although of course it’s important that the story is still understandable for those who don’t speak the other language like is the case with Four Days. All these points sound positive, so why only a three star rating, would you ask? Two things. First of all, I wasn’t able to connect fully to the characters and some of their actions were a bit annoying. I’m not sure if it’s because it didn’t feel natural or for a different reason, but I wasn’t sure if everything was all that credible. But the biggest reason would be the adult content. I have a huge aversion for any story that includes adult content and trust me, some of the scenes in Four Days are pretty steamy. This is 100% me though and I’m sure romance fans won’t mind them at all. But as this review is about my personal opinion and feelings, the rating reflects just that… There were a lot of things I did like about this story though, so definitely give this one a try if you like a good road trip/sports contemporary and don’t mind the steamy scenes!

Luci Wijn has been having a lot of bad luck lately, both in her personal and professional life. Her partner cheated on her and her tennis career isn’t going as well as she would have hoped… Is the invitation to her friend’s wedding in New Zealand the escape she needed? Luci has to play in Auckland afterwards anyway, so she travels to the other side of the world to share her friends happiness even though she doesn’t feel great herself. But then there is a strike at the local airport, and her friend’s cousin Jamie has to step in and drive her if she wants to make it to Auckland in time…

Four Days is without doubt less of a romance story and more of a road trip and sports-focused contemporary read. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the local scenery and the writing style was quite enjoyable to read. I liked the Dutch words popping up every once in a while and how sports played such an important role throughout the story. I wasn’t sure about the characters though and the steamy scenes were a huge turn off for me. But like I said before, if you don’t mind those you will probably enjoy this story a lot!

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ARC REVIEW: Can’t Buy Forever – by Susan Laffoon

Title: Can’t Buy Forever
Author: Susan Laffoon
Genre: YA, Romance, Mystery
First published: June 1st 2015
Publisher: Page Publishing
Finished reading: June 16th 2017
Pages: 218

“Coincidences don’t add up, choices do. We build our life one choice at a time for better or for worse.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I’ve had Can’t Buy Forever on my TBR for longer than intended, but the cover and promise of a 1950s setting kept calling to me and I finally picked it up a few days ago. I found myself looking forward to it despite the low rating, especially since I’ve been in the mood for historical fiction lately… But I ended up being far from impressed. Honestly, I don’t think I would have made it to the end if this wouldn’t have been an ARC; unfortunately it was a tough battle just making it to the last page. Part of the problem might have been me and others might enjoy this story better, but I will explain below why I ended up having to give Can’t Buy Forever such a low rating.

1. The supposedly 1950s setting is almost non existent except for a few mentions of a date or important event here and there. As a historical fiction fan I felt a bit disappointed by this, especially since the setting is especifically mentioned in the blurb. If you leave out those few time references, this story could have easily been set in the present as well… Such a shame, because a well developed historical setting would have added credibility and dept to the story.

2. I had a lot of problems with the main characters in general. I wasn’t able to connect to them and this made following the story a lot harder. Furthermore, Odessa acts a lot younger than the 18-year-old she is supposed to be… She cries all the time and her feelings for Nicholas are cheesy, not credible and it almost feels as if I were watching a ten-year-old having her first crush on a senior quarterback.

3. The crying. Seriously, how many times do Odessa and the other characters cry during this story?! Once it started to annoy me I just kept seeing those crocodile tears mentioned, and it really started to get on my nerves. It also made their feelings less credible and more cartoonish.

4. It has a love triangle. Or in fact various love triangles if I am more specific. And you all know now much I despise those… I can tolerate them if they are done right, but these examples were quite cringeworthy and the feelings just felt unnatural.

5. I don’t feel there really is a plot and the events themselves don’t really seem credible or make sense. I mean, Roark is supposed to get away with all he does?? And Odessa just accepts all what happens? And we as a reader just have to accept everything that happens as well without a proper explanation? The lack of plot or at least a proper idea of what is going on also made it a lot harder to follow; it just didn’t feel like a coherent story at all and almost like a delusional ramble of one of the main characters on their deathbed.

6. I wasn’t able to connect to the writing style at all. I don’t see the lack of grammar and mistakes mentiones in many reviews I saw on Goodreads, but the sentences don’t flow and it was really hard to keep track of the story and read more than a few pages at a time. The writing style was one of the reasons I considered a DNF various times during this story… And I’m still wondering if that would have been a better choice.

Enough of the negative… There were some interesting aspects about this story, especifically Nicholas’ history and the gypsy references. I can’t go into details without revealing too much, but a focus on those and further development of those elements would probably have improved the story considerably. Without a proper explanation, the credibility of it all was simply lost. I really wanted to like this story, but as you might have guessed of this rather lenghty (for me) list, unfortunately I just couldn’t.

Odessa Drake decides to change her destiny and moves in with her widowed great aunt Flo in Mineville, New York. Her aunt owns a boarding house and Dessa spends her days helping her out, working to keep the house running when she isn’t at school. Then Nicholas shows up and he is given the attic for lack of other space; four years later, he is one of the few boarders still in the house. They have grown fond of each other despite the fact that Dessa really doesn’t know a lot about Nicholas… But Nicholas has a reason to keep the past buried, and things might become dangerous when he gets too close. What secrets does he keep and how do they affect Dessa?

I was actually looking forward to Can’t Buy Forever as the blurb sounded quite interesting, but unfortunately I ended up having a completely different experience instead. I won’t repeat all the details I’ve mentioned above since I’ve already talked about each point extensively, but it does become clear it was far too easy to find things that didn’t work for me in the story. Was it just me or is the book to blame as well? I won’t be the judge to read the sentence, but at least I’ve put in my two cents.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Murder Of An Angel – by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Title: The Murder Of An Angel
(Confessions #4)
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Genre: YA, Mystery, Fiction
First published: October 15th 2015
Publisher: Cornerstone Digital
Finished reading: May 5th 2017
Pages: 304

“There were three sides to this story: hers, his, and mine. But who cares about theirs? My side had been vetted and psychiatrically approved.”

Confession: the only reason I decided to read the fourth and final book is that I can cross another series off my list that way. Confession: I still think this series should have stopped at the first book. Confession: I really wish I could turn the main character Tandoori into chicken tandoori food so I don’t have to listen to her any longer. Confession: there is a considerable amount of whining included in The Murder Of An Angel and that might make you want to throw your kindle/book against the wall. Confession: I don’t think the plot of this final book really lives up to the first either book. Confession: I actually think the conclusion is quite weak and there is a lot of repetition going on in the plot. Confession: Tandoori thinks she is pretty darn important, but she’s basically an unstable brat. Confession: I guess at least it’s a superquick read, although I’m not sure if it’s because of the pace or writing style. Confession: the fact that this series reads fast is probably the only reason I made it this far. Confession: if you ask me, stick to just reading the first book if you haven’t read the series yet. It will save you a lot of pain. Confession: I’ve grown tired of this format, so this will be my final confession. Done. Finito. Over and out.

WARNING: Possible spoilers! Please don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the first three books of this series yet. I’ll keep the summary super short but it’s impossible to keep it completely spoiler-free…

After all that Tandoori Angel and her family have been through during the last year, the next murder case just could be her own. But she is not sure the new treats are real, or if the stalker she’s convinced will take her life actually just lives inside her head… Because let’s face it: she’s not exactly stable. A series of events lead her to believe it might all be real, but is this true or is it all the result of her own paranoia?

In case my confessions weren’t clear, I didn’t exactly enjoy this final installment of the Confessions series. I actually really enjoyed the first book, but things went downhill from there and the last two books are basically pretty bad. It just seemed like more books were squeezed out for monetary reasons as the plot was weak and didn’t add anything substantial to the story at all. The main character Tandoori becomes intolerable and the romance/love triangle subplot plain annoying. I kind of wish I would have stopped after the first or even the second book, but I guess it’s too late for that… It is true though that The Murder Of An Angel is again a superfast read I managed to finish in less than a day. And thank the stars for that.

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ARC REVIEW: Anything For Her – by Jack Jordan @_JackJordan_

Title: Anything For Her
Author: Jack Jordan
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
First published: June 1st 2015
Publisher: JJP
Finished reading: May 3rd 2017
Pages: 370

“What I’ve learned, Dominic, is that it isn’t us that’s weird, for not following the rules – it’s those who cannot think for themselves that are the weird ones.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and JJP in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I actually added this title to my list shortly after reading and enjoying My Girl last year, and I’m still not sure why it took me this long to finally pick it up. I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and I really like Jack Jordan‘s writing style. It’s fast, it’s entertaining and it manages to catch your attention right from the first page. Anything For Her starts out strong and stays that way during the rest of the story. The whole mystery around ‘that night’ is intriguing and definitely makes you want to keep on reading… I don’t think I agree with the choices the main character Louise makes, but it is without doubt a very suspenseful read with quite a few plot twists. I sort of saw some of them coming, but others managed to surprise me and all in all I had a very good experience reading this book. In fact, I think I enjoyed this debut even slightly better than My Girl… Although both titles are more than recommended. The characters are without doubt interesting as well even though some are not all that likeable, and it was quite easy to relate to most of them (not the cheating husband though; he deserves the worst). If you are looking for your next psychological thriller read, Anything For Her is a great choice.

Louise and her family used to have a perfectly happy life, up until that one fateful night… Only Louise and her daughter Brooke know exactly what happened that night, but the consequences affect all of them. Louise has grown distant and Brooke is depressed; her husband ended up cheating on her with her own sister. But things can always get worse… Because one day Brooke is suddenly missing. What has happened to her? And does it have to do with that night?

If you like suspenseful reads that are both well written, keep you on the edge of your seat and entertain you along the way, Anything For Her is a great choice. The characters are maybe not all that likeable, but they feel realistic and ‘that night’ will haunt you right until you find out the complete truth. There are some very interesting plot twists as well and I liked the ending, which was quite original. Recommended!

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