THE SELECTION, THE ELITE & THE ONE BOOK REVIEW

THE SELECTION, THE ELITE & THE ONE BOOK REVIEW

Saturday, May 2, 2015

I got these pictures from Pinterest. There are so many fanarts there that I can't decide what to put here but these flower ones are gorgeous. Credits to the owner of these. (I was the one who edited)

My review is a wee bit late because I have been so busy. This is an April read, but the review only finished today. HA, forgive me on that.

THE SELECTION

Verdict: MAXON MAXON MAXON *o*

Title: The Selection

Author: Kiera Cass

Published by: HarperTeen on 4th April 2012

Series: The Selection #1

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Format: Paperback, 327 pages

My copy Source: Borrowed

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

It pains me to think that it was no struggle to worm your way to the ending because, yes, the start screams the ending already. Even from the start, with Mer being a total "No no Maxon, Yes yes Aspen", you could still make out that her having no cares about the selection would catapult her into the Prince's heart. Like duh?! That's super cliché dude.

The thing about this first book is, despite the predictable things hanging around and despite knowing where everything will land, you just have to have to read the book because of the "kilig factor" (If you don't know kilig, it's the feeling you get when there's a romantic thing going on between cutiee couples). The kilig factor is what made this book come alive. The chemistry between the characters are undeniable and Maxon, even if his dialogue came off as gay-ish at first, still made it easy for you to fall in love with him. He's a real charmer and swoon worthy, and as I will tell you later, if it's not for him, I would have not read the second, let along the third one because I had a feeling that the book would just circle into indecisiveness and frustrations.

Aspen- 0 (Who's Aspen?! KIDDING!=)) )

Maxon-1

What did I like about this book? Oh yes, the princess theme, the air of royalties around. I dreamed to be a princess you know, and one of the reasons this book drawn me in is because one of the 35 girls will be crowned princess and yes, yes, PRINCESS to Prince Maxon, is just EVERYTHING you could ever ask for. I coyld marry Maxon over and over for all its worth. Another thing is, it's so close to The Hunger Games, what with the caste system closing in on THG's districts, but without the bloodbath of course, and as you know THG is one of my all time favorite series. So YUP, thumbs up! (Also, when I watched Jimmy Kimmel's funny Baby Bachelorette, it reminded me so much of this series. LOL)

But well, as I have read in one of Kiera Cass' interviews, she never thought of it. I'm sorry Kiera that I thought they were kind of similar.

"Te first time that I watched 'The Bachelor' was actually after I wrote the book. I did watch a lot of Miss America pageants! The biggest comparison I can think of to 'The Hunger Games' is the idea of a lottery and the fact that it takes place in the future, but the series never crossed my mind. I've written a light, girly book; 'The Hunger Games' stories are far more epic and intense," she said.

Cass likewise reveals the characters that inspired her to pen the story:

"'The Selection' was born after thinking about Esther and Cinderella. Esther is from the Bible, and her story is that after the Queen offends the King, he decides to have a beauty pageant to replace her. Esther is one of the hundreds of girls scooped up to take the Queen's place. I always wondered about her heart. Before she was taken away, did she maybe like the boy next door? And Cinderella, well, she never asks for a prince, just a dress and a night off. So, when she gets the prince, is she happy? Did she get what she actually wanted?"

I actually gave this book a 3.5 rose rating because I like it but have a lot of issues with it, not one of my favorites but I will definitely recommend it to people who love royalties and girly stuff.

So anyway, if you don't know yet, the news was already out that The Selection will be turned into movie. I'm actually excited to see it on the big screen, because, of course, MAXON!

YA fans can celebrate today! Another YA series with a huge fandom is coming to the big screen!

Warner Bros. won the rights to Kiera Cass’ “The Selection,” the first in her five-novel series of the same name. (The last two books involve descendents of some of the lead characters, and there are other related companion novels.)

In “The Selection,” 35 girls are chosen to compete for the heart of Prince Maxon. But when America Singer is selected, it isn’t quite the dream she hoped for; she must turn her back on her secret love with a boy named Aspen and enter the fierce competition for the crown.

But there’s more to Prince Maxon than she thought, and maybe the life she dreamed of can’t compare to what the future has in store.

Denise DiNovi and Alison Greenspan of DiNovi Pictures’ will produce alongside Pouya Shahbazian.

Deadline reports that Katie Lovejoy will be the writer to adapt “The Selection” to the big screen. She doesn’t have a lot of experience — she’s written an episode of “Dracula” and has two projects in development, a drama titled “Arsonist’s Love Story” and a TV series titled “Critical” – but she seems super enthusiastic about the project, which is a big plus in my book.

I hope she works with Cass on getting the details right. Movie adaptations are always better, I think, when the author has a hand in them!

THE ELITE

Verdict: Unputdownable

Title: The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass

Published by: HarperTeen on 23rd April 2013

Series: The Selection #2

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Format: Paperback, 323 pages

My copy Source: Borrowed

The Selection began with thirty-five girls.Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

I did say that I did not love the first book but liked it on so many levels but this book? Well, it put me at the edge of my seat that I could have finished it in a span of 5 hours if it weren't for the school hours that gave me less time to squeeze in reading this one.

That said a lot about The Elite because the second half of it was intense compared to the first half which I have already forgotten right away because of the palpable intense scenes compared to the first half which is in fact too boring to be remembered.

So Aspen is actually cool in this book. HE ACTUALLY REAPPEARED! I thought for a while there that Aspen's dead =)) But then, Aspen, even if he can't give the whole world to America, he is willing to give his world to her. So one point for Aspen on this book!

Aspen-1

Maxon-1

The Selection actually made me fall in love with Maxon, who is 3/4 the reason why I pursued the next one but clearly, Maxon is such an ass in this book. Well, I couldn't blame him though because America is shitty in sorting out her feelings that I kind of abhorred her fickled mind. Oh, and so is Maxon's. Stupid royalties.

Anyway, I think I'm starting to hate the way characters were shaped. They were poorly constructed because they don't have strong aspects in them and just when you're about to see a flame forming from a spark, it just shies away and leave a smoke at its wake. It's depressing to think how one character could be this strong just to be put back down again stripped off of their fire. Yes, all the characters are frustrating.

Aside from that, some characters are just going along blindly and just, yes, yes, I'll wait, I understand, blah blah. Fuj, I'm talking about you Aspen! You are not fighting, you're just waiting for an opportunity for the ground to crack so you can catch Mer when she falls.

I hate how the characters are now forming (or deforming?)  but despite those, this book became my favorite among the three because this is where everything about the country was slightly revealed and I am ever so curious of what it's about. This is where the series actually presented some real conflict, and I love that there's something that will pique one's interest in this series. SOOO, 4 roses, dear. I can't give it a 5 because, no it just can't have it.

THE ONE

Verdict: Uhhh? What the hell happened?

Title: The One

Author: Kiera Cass

Published by: HarperTeen on 6th May 2014

Series: The Selection #3

Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Format: Paperback, 323 pages

My copy Source: Borrowed

Of all the three books, I think this was the most bullcrap of all.

It was a push and pull for the first half and basically the second half is the desperation to finish the America and Maxon's story. It's not justifying, it's not memorable and it's not satisfying at all. This is the ending you'd mostly regret unfolding. Everything in the end is an easy way out. 

WHY?! WHAT?!! UGH! I am most interested in the conflict of the government but then again that's it? That's all I'm going to get? HUH, damn. 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

CELESTE- Oh the bitch, I always knew there's something beneath the surface and to just get her killed in cold hands was just a foolish attempt at shocking the readers with a boom. It didn't help at all. It was nonsense and it was bullcrap all the same. What the hell is all the mess in the ending? Ughhhh

KING CLARKSON- Wait, I think Kiera just found the easy way to end the series by killing the most intriguing antagonist in the story. I think it just didn't do anyone justice by killing him because he could have put a little bit more spice on the ending if he was still alive and witnessing all the changes unfold before him and he can't do anything about it and just, no, you should have thought better.

QUEEN AMBERLY- What happened to her is the cruelest. She didn't even had the chance to spend closer time with her soon to be daughter. The author should have had her mingle with the elites more often so it would be okay to kill her if she wants to. At least she got the chance to have a daughter in the elite.

MAXON- Well, Maxon's like a typical immature teenage boy one moment and a total swoon worthy gentleman the next. Well, you are one unstable character but I like you.

ASPEN- Another poor attempt to make a love triangle is when the author introduced us to Aspen not even trying so hard to make us love him because he's just going to be dumped and missing for the 3/4 parts of the series.

Those characters above are just some of the people I remember that were just a waste of a supposed good character :( Yeah, poor side character building for most of the characters that was not Maxon and America. But even though those two were the most important, they have the most frustrating actions that made their characters unstable and they made me want to pull my hair out most of the time.

Well in the end, Maxon still wins. DUH!

Aspen-1

Maxon-2

3 roses for this book. I hope the next 2 books will do better with a new main character. The 4th book will come out on May 5th so you can check out the sneak peak below and my The Heir's Dream Cast.

All in all, the series are all light read, ideal for a summer read beside the pool. The series didn't become a favorite but it's still pretty cute and swoon worthy. :)

Here's a sneak peak on the 4th installment of The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. Another set of characters, and another person to fall in love with.

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

Book Review: The Sword And Its Servant by Victor Salinas

Book Review: The Sword And Its Servant by Victor Salinas

Friday, February 20, 2015

"It seemed wrong to want to die, unless the pain of death is less than the pain of prolonging life."

Title: The Sword and its Servant
Author: Victor Salinas
Published by: Understone Group, LLC on 20th May 2014
Series: Grauwelt #1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Setting: Grauwelt [Fictional]
Format: Kindle [Received in exchanged for an honest review]

The links between the Nine Worlds of Creation are deteriorating. The Gates of the Underworld are closed. A veil of shadow shrouds all the land. Rumors of a dead savior reemerge.

Einsa finds herself without memory of her past and her origin, held prisoner by the Lowa, a species of warped monsters bent on using the Children of Mann for their horrendous genetic experiments. She and her companions are merely lab rats waiting to be plucked by their captors - until they decide to make their escape. Einsa's only hope for survival in the fallen world that awaits her rests with Klinde, an ancient and infamous warrior who is just as cunning and bloodthirsty as the enemy.

I've never really considered myself as a fan of dark fantasy, probably because I never tried to finish one because I am not at all interested, but this book made it easier for me to like one; with all the characters that are out of the ordinary. It is actually my first time reading a dark and gruesome fantasy that I never really thought that I would totally be immersed in.

At first, I cringed at the thought of a Lowa, a breed of a big wolfish hound or something, dominating the first half of the story,but then I got used to it and I started to get fond of Ghesdalt, one of the Lowa, and I hate that I tried to like him and face the fact that it would be short-lived after all. I hate it and I hated Ulf, his brother, and I'm not gonna hide that fact.

What got me interested in this book, is that, it is not trying hard at all. The words flow like it is a world that you can never imagine yourself stepping into. It is a world unimaginable, it is basically an extension of our childhood nightmares. Remember the time when you were a child and you were so afraid to take a peak under your bed or open the closet door for the fear of monsters lurking just beyond the darkness? You can't imagine my surprise when I found out that under the bed or behind the closet door is a portal to a world that is called Grauwelt. A world I wouldn't dare visit, not in my lifetime.

What I liked about this book is, it's full of surprises, unpredictable, fast-paced, and filled with unimaginable characters. It's laced with the horrors of our childhood, our childhood's worst nightmares. You will never know who are the loyal ones to the throne and conversations are never safe, for the breathing castle seem to have ears that reports back to its master.

As I have said earlier, I grew to like and hate some characters and I'm gonna tell you I don't love any character at all. I hate the main human character, Einsa, she's not as strong a pursuit as I wanted her to be, and I don't feel her bravery throughout the book at all, even though there were a lot of fighting scenes that include her limp arms that just want to suck the power out of the sword. I hope she gets stronger in the next books and I hope I can feel a strong presence now that she's had a lot of gruesome fights out of her prison cell.

This book is twisted in a way that the perception of good and evil are kind of unconventional. Hell is not a place of pure evil, I don't know, the evilness is not depicted in the story because Hel helped mann by gifting them the children of Hel and defeat the Great Hund. I think the evil lurks somewhere above hell, in Grauwelt, where the Lowas are residing, or just, it lurks somewhere whose intentions are as dark as Grauwelt itself. Though with the children of Hel, I can't decide where they are in the scale of good and evil, right now I'll put it somewhere in between just leaning a little bit closer to evil.

So anyway, it's one of my firsts and I'll give it three roses because, although I loved the world the author has created, I was expecting more out of the characters that has been limited through changing POVs and I wasn't as drawn to them as I expect to be because it's a fantasy and I should be dreaming of it but no, I did not. There's also a lot of confusion with the names of the places, characters and species but thanks to the author, who is generous enough to have a glossary for all of us to truly understand the story better. And for the record, I am looking forward to the next book because I am intrigued about the other children of Hel and I wanted badly to meet them all.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Friday, February 6, 2015

"She was a cyborg and she would never go to a ball"

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel & Friends on 3rd January 2012
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction
Setting: New Beijing
Format: Ebook, 400 pages

Cinder is a cyborg, but the prince doesn't know that.

The prince has his eyes set on Cinder and he wants to take her to the ball but she has other plans for the night of the event.

The Lunar Queen, Queen Levana has her plans of marrying the Prince so she could take over the Earth.

There's a lot of things that could happen on the streets of New Beijing but with the death of the emperor, Prince Kai must immediately take over the throne while maintaining the peace between the earthens and the lunar. He is not yet ready and Queen Levana went to Earth with the sole purpose of being the empress to the throne. And with a sudden turn of events, someone that everybody thought was dead resurfaced, someone that could actually dethrone the Lunar Queen and end her dominion, not only to the Lunars, but to the Earthens as well.

I have been seeing this for quite a while in the past, I guess? And I don't actually know why it didn't spark my interest to try and read it. Maybe because it's about cyborgs and futuristic stuffs that is not really one of my interest. But O-M-G, after reading this, I keep on telling myself, "Why? Why did you ignore this book for a long time?" And it actually remind me of the series by Marie Lu, The Legend Series, if I'm not mistaken, because of the whole pandemic stuff and the government taking these infected people trying to save them when actually there's no cure? I'm not sure, I haven't finished both series yet, but this one reminded me of that series. Maybe I'll give it a go again some other time.

Okay, I never really thought I would love a cyborg-related novel. I'm mostly into hot aliens (Hi baby Daemon Black) and angels (Hi baby Patch Cipriano) and other romance novels but not the sci-fi thingy. But this one definitely would be an exception.

There has been a lot of reviews lately about this book and they were all good reviews and it made me want to read it. And the fact that it was Cinderella (please don't mention a cyborg Cinderella because it's not a welcoming concept) *Pfft, you loved it even if she's a cyborg*, OKAY, a cyborg Cinderella! I never thought I'd be welcoming that stuff. I am really an avid fan of disney princesses and fairy tales and I love spin-offs and retellings of stories so I did gave this one a chance.

I LOOOOVE this book, I cannot tell you how much I L-O-V-E this book and please don't get irritated but you should try it too, okay? Please read it and tell me that I'm not alone and you loved it like I did!

It's an easy read and although I'm not swooning over the guy protagonist, it's okay because I enjoyed the book even without the hot guy that I would actually want to find in a YA novel.

I loved how the author told the story of Cinderella in a futuristic society and with a twist that made me laugh when I read it because the highlight of Cinderella was really the glass slippers that she left and in this story, it was sort of funny that I was really impressed at Marissa Meyer's imagination. *bravo* Now it got my mind worked up wondering at the twists that she could incorporate in Red Riding Hood's story which was the story of the second book called Scarlet.

I'm looking forward to the next installment of the series, oh em gee. Please stop this agony, I have a book list that I want to finish. I hope I finish all four so I could get my itchy hands on Scarlet as soon as possible.


Gosh, I'm excited to know all these characters that I haven't met yet. And I'm intrigued with the Queen's story. How about you? Do you love The Lunar Chronicles? Because, I'll tell you I'm starting to love this fairy tale with futuristic twists.

Book Review: Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Book Review: Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

"Many girls have been romanced under the moon, and I don't mean to say moonlight is overrated, but few I think have known the magic of a sunrise kiss."

Title: Love , Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers on 14th of August 2007 (first published on January 1st of the same year.
Series: Stargirl #2
Genre: Young Adult, Children, Contemporary, Romance
Setting: Pennsylvania
Format: Ebook, 288 pages
My Copy Source: Internet

Following Stargirl's adventures from when she left Mica highschool all of a sudden to her new life in Pennsylvania where she was back to homeschooling. In this sequel, she meets new people, a new bestfriend and a potential new boyfriend.

This book was dubbed as the world's longest letter where we see a brand new story now in the eyes of Stargirl, whereas in the prequel, we heard Leo Borlock's POV.

Stargirl writes letters to Leo everyday in which she's still debating whether to send it or not but still she continues to write everyday and it served as her journal for her journey. She was devastated to the point of losing pebbles in her wagon everyday. She contemplates on a lot of things as she misses Leo everyday.

Now, I was stunned. Though I liked the first one a little more than this, but it doesn't make me love this less. There were two  different Stargirls that I have met. The first one being the sure and confident one, and doesn't care what others have to say as long as she is herself (although somewhere in the middle, she's lead astray, she still managed to get back to being Stargirl, the quirky and weird one). The second one, which I had the pleasure to meet, was another story. She's the unsure and the unhappy one, although she still managed to keep the sadness to herself to show the world a happy and cheerful facade that some might hate and some might adore.

In this book, I saw the vulnerable side of Stargirl, whereas in the first one, in Leo's POV, she's everything that the second book's Stargirl is not. I also met new people in Stargirl's life that I came to love, especially Dootsie, the spoiled but adorable kid (that I sometimes want to grab in the hair) and Charlie, the oh so loving husband who never leaves Grace's side even she's already lying in a tombstone and other characters that I adored like Alvina and Perry, and let's not forget Betty Lou, the woman who never left the comfort of her home (Just like in one of Spongebob's episode).

I can blab as much as I want here but all I can say is, this is even more magical than the first book. If you think Stargirl is MAGICAL, I dare you to try reading Love, Stargirl and you'll probably be "pfft-ing" the bunny hop at the Ocotillo ball. It is so far the most magical ending that I want to witness in real life. And I can also say that it's not only the ending that's magical, it's all of what she's done, experienced and seen. It's the night blooming Cereus and the mockingbird and the Thursday trips and all sorts of unconventional. (I am actually referring to a different kind of magic because this book is different than the first one.)

So I'm just gonna go back to my first-few-pages-impression of this book. I wasn't actually thrilled when I read the first few pages of it because I never thought Stargirl could be such a person, or a human for that matter. I thought her magical and rare but in this book, as I have said earlier, although she is still the kindest person in the universe, she is just a normal person who can be unhappy to the point of zero pebbles in her happy wagon. But the thing is, I witnessed the other side of her and I understood that even someone like her could still feel pain (though I already know that!). It's like she undressed herself and left her mystery and magic somewhere to be a real person. And I liked that, I liked knowing what's deep in her heart and what's buried in her thoughts and this book gave me that.

The first one may be different because it's how other people see Stargirl but this book is where you unravel a girl who is loved then hated then missed by people who once knew her. This book is not about her magic because it's about herself, so I'm sorry to the people who hated this one, but I really do think that finding the magic again is not the key to loving this book. It's about walking with her as she become more and more unsure and less and less confident but trying to seek answers just like a child who is contemplating so hard and in the end finds the answers to her never-ending questions and you'll finally see the real magic of Stargirl.

I am really hoping that there is another sequel. I want to know if Stargirl and Leo will be together, or just what happens next after Pennsylvania? I hope they will also make a movie. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

"I liked knowing what's deep in her heart and what's buried in her thoughts and this book gave me that."

Book Review: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Book Review: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Monday, January 12, 2015

"And... I see. I hear. But not with eyes and ears. I'm not outside my world anymore and I'm not really inside it either. The thing is, there's no difference anymore between me and the universe. The boundary is gone. I am me and it is me. I am a stone, a cactus thorn. I am rain." She smiled dreamily. "I like that most of all, being rain."

Title: Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Published by: Scholastic on September 2002
Series: Stargirl #1
Genre: Young Adult, Children, Contemporary, Romance
Setting: Arizona
Format: Ebook, 149 pages
My Copy Source: Internet

Stargirl is not your typical type of girl. She's not the bitch-y type and she's not the school girl type either. She's neither anything that you can think of when you think of girl types. She's beyond words, beyond any stereotypical girls you may know from anywhere.

She's home-schooled for fifteen years and doesn't have an idea of what people normally does. That explains why she's different, but doesn't hinder her either to show who she really is.

Then she met Leo Borlock. He was fascinated by this weird girl and he learned her ways. But at some point, not everybody can accept her and Leo was faced with a decision: stand by her or stand by them. 

I haven't been a reader long enough to leaf through every pages of books ever written but I can tell you I love the ones that make me cry. Especially when I still cry even when I'm just retelling the story to other people.

My sister is not an avid reader and I never stop convincing her to try and do so, that's why I'm very fond of retelling my recent book adventures with her. But I tell you, I only tell those stories that I like so it means that if my sister knew that book, I must have loved it well enough that I have told her the story after I finished it.

As I have been blabbing just seconds ago, I told my sister about Stargirl and how she is like this and like that while recounting her weirdness and adventures and I was crying while telling her pieces of what I could still remember. I may not have cried buckets like I did in Allegiant (Veronica Roth's 3rd installment of Divergent Trilogy) but the tears I've cried for Stargirl is pure heartache and just... heartache.

Stargirl is different, she's magical and at first I don't want to believe that she's real, just like the students from her school, who made up stories as to who she really is. They can't grasp the idea of someone being different from them so they thought she's an alien or whatsoever. And as much as I wanted to scream at them, I knew how they felt. I knew that if we all live in the same situation as them, we would all be weirded out by the girl who has a pet rat, sings and dance with a ukulele around the cafeteria and cheers every basketball team who scores the point even if it is the opponent. It's just hard for us to accept something different because we are all scared to be on a different side of everything that is the same.

I love how this book was written. It makes my imagination twirl around every word and every movement of Stargirl makes me want to crawl into the book and join her in her adventures, and dance numbers and just everything that she does. This book is written simply, the words are just there to tickle our imagination but it is truly compelling and magical that at some point you may wonder what comes next, Stargirl? What other unusual thing are you gonna show us? Yet we are still surprised by her compassion for everything that we're afraid to do because no one will accept it. We are still in awe that she can surprise us with things that she does for other people.

It's everything that she is that is the child in all of us. And at some point, we all want to change a person just so they can fit our expectation of a friend or a lover, but somehow changing a person erases who he/she really is. All of us are the people behind Leo and somehow, while reading this book, we all secretly want to be Stargirl. The girl who showed the world that she can be who she wants, she can try to be who everybody wants but in the end would still love to be the girl that she really was and really is. We all want to and you'll know what I mean after reading this book.


This book is about individuality that we are yet to discover within ourselves. I think the book invites us to be better and hope that somewhere out there, kindness still exists in all of our hearts. It teaches us that happiness doesn't just come from the things that come through our doors, but rather, it comes from the ones that we offer on the hands of other people. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you should. I'm off to read the next one called Love, Stargirl and I hope it's as promising as this one.

"We always say we love to be unique but we can never really accept something that is different from what we normally are."

Book Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Book Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Sunday, December 28, 2014

"Artists are inspired by blank canvasses."

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Published: Dutton on 14th August 2014
Series: Anna and the French Kiss #3
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Setting: Paris, France & New York, USA
Format: Ebook, 352 pages
My Copy Source: Internet

Isla has a crush on Josh and it has been going on forever. And ever since that summer when Isla was kind of 'high', she had the guts to talk to Josh about stuff that she would never talk about if she were her normal self.

She spent her highschool days crushing on Josh from afar. She never thought she'd stand a chance.Besides, he has a girlfriend and she'd be shy even if he doesn't.

Talking to him was inevitable because she was too mortified by what had transpired in the Cafe the summer before school started and she never had the chance to apologize.

Friendship sparked between the two of them and eventually, they fell in love.

Can they juggle between the reality of their relationship and school if there are things that are already out of their control? Is their relationship worth fighting for over the distance between them when everything around them has already gone nuts because of their relationship?