Review: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer

Review: Sarah Strohmeyer
Publisher: Balzer & Bray/ HarperTeen
Page Count: 320 pages, paperback
Date Published: April 23rd 2013
Find it on Goodreads: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True
Source: Purchased

From Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Smart Girls Get What They Want, comes this romantic comedy about one girl's summer job from hell. Think The Devil Wears Prada set in Disney World.
When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?
Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.
Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?

This is a great book to read if you're in the mood for a fun book. It's light and funny and cute with a unique aspect to it that is really entertaining. Sadly, How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True didn't meet my expectations, but I still enjoyed it.

This was a very... overly dramatic book. The theme park took the fairy tale character thing to the extreme! ESPECIALLY the queen. She was extremely needy and bossy, but she also grew to care for Zoe and that was really nice to see. As a main character, I liked Zoe. She was kind and loyal and smart but also knew how to have fun. I really enjoyed watching her grow and interact with the other characters. I also really liked the romance between Zoe and Ian. It was so cute! There was one point where I just couldn't stop... I don't know how to describe it other than this:

and:

SO CUTE!

I also really liked the plot. It started with Zoe and her cousin going to Fairyland Kingdom for summer interns and it turned into this huge story of betrayal and secrets and it really played on how far one will go to win the big prize. There were lots of things I really liked about this book, but something about it didn't make it perfect for me. It was cute and funny but I also got a bit bored and it was quite predictable at times. But, it entertained me and I was looking for a fun, light book and that's what I got! I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes books that are fun and quick that also touches on betrayal and back-stabbing. AND with a super bossy, crazy boss with a dog that eats caviar!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Used Reaction GIFs

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.This week's topic  is : Top Ten Tuesday FREEBIE! Okay, so I'm kind of doing a random one, just because I'm in the mood to add GIFs and so, here are my top ten  fourteen favourite reaction GIFs for books.

IN LOVE (probably with a male character...)

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE

FRUSTRATION

BORED/CONFUSED

 MY HEART IS BROKEN INTO A MILLION PIECES

 So, if you follow my reviews, you know that there are some that are FILLED with reaction GIFs and I wouldn't be surprised if you've seen one of the above in a review (except for the new "Those Little... Daleks" one...I am so excited to use it though, so I had to add it in!) There are so many more I love and I know this is more than ten, but well.... oops! Okay, so leave me a link to your TTT this week! I'd love to see which topic you chose!

Happy Tuesday!
~Kristy

Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Author: Holly Smale
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Publishing
Page Count: 378 pages, paperback
Date Published: February 28th 2013
Find it on Goodreads:  Geek Girl
Source: Purchased

Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. 
She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. 
As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. 
And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

Geek Girl was a really cute book about accepting yourself for who you are and learning that even the smallest of lies can turn into a huge mess. A light read that I enjoyed a lot!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book is set in England! It's kind of rare to find a YA contemporary set anywhere other than the USA, so it was a nice change of scenery. The slang and some of the vocabulary was different from what I am used to and I loved it! I also really liked Harriet. She was an uber smart teenager, tired of everyone hating her for no reason other than the fact that she's smart. So, she becomes a model. I will admit, I found this aspect to the book a bit outlandish, but who knows, maybe that's what really happens. I wouldn't know!

This book focuses a lot on lies and how when you tell too many, there will be consequences. It's a good lesson book but it's also a lot of fun. I think my favourite part of this book was the fact that I learned that cats have  32 muscles in each ear! SO RANDOM BUT SO COOL!!! I didn't mind most of the characters, but I did find Toby, Harriet's "stalker" to be a bit... odd. I suppose that's to be expected as he's a stalker, but it was outrageous how comfortable Harriet was with him just having a hiding spot in her yard or knowing what happens with her a minute after it happens. It was a little much, in my opinion, but entertaining none the less. That's what most of the book was for me. I felt it to be a bit too much at some times, with rushed scenes and  super prolonged scenes, but I still found it fun and cute. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the sequel!

.5

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Stacking the Shelves (39)

Stacking the Shelves is a book haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews -This is a great way for us to share what books we added to our shelves each week

Traded:

Thank you Christine!!

I traded this copy of The Boyfriend App with Christine before I found out I won a copy from StoryCrush, so now I have two ARCs! I might be giving one to a friend, but if not, maybe one copy will show up in a future giveaway?? 

Leave me a link to your haul this week and I'll check it out! I'd love to see what you got this week in books!

Happy reading!
~Kristy

TGIF: Carrie Underwood Concert

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GUYS I JUST GOT HOME FROM THE CARRIE UNDERWOOD CONCERT AND AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 Okay, so for my 16th birthday, my best friend, Jenna, surprised me with Carrie Underwood concert tickets... I HAD NO IDEA. My mum kept it a secret and told all of the people I usually babysit for to not book me that night and I was totally clueless the whole time.... OH MY GOODNESS. Guys, it was an amazing concert! This was her last stop of the Blown Away Tour and I must say, it was absolutely incredible. She puts on a great show. Carrie has an adorable accent and amazing outfits and her voice is just to die for, obviously.

I remember when I was little, watching her very first audition on American Idol... Remember this?

WELL...

Oh my goodness. She's incredibly talented and incredibly gorgeous? What?!!!

 Growing up, Carrie was my favourite country singer. Yes I had other favourite singers, but Carrie was definitely top 5 out of all for the longest time. And then I would get teased because I like Country music and it was weird, supposedly, so I only listened to her music at home or in the car with my mum. But I still always loved her music. Now, seeing her live after basically 9 years of being a huge fan was just unbelievable. Her music is beautiful and so is her heart. What she did with this tour was donate 1$ from every ticket sold to Red Cross. AND, for all the Canadian shows that she played, she donated that money to the CANADIAN Red Cross! (Bonus points, Carrie!) They donated One. Million. Dollars. :O So cool!

I forgot to write down her set list, but basically she sang songs from both her new album and some of her older stuff. Her performances of the classic stuff like Before He Cheats and Wasted were so amazing and I will admit, I teared up when she sang Temporary Home and then followed with Jesus Take the Wheel. Those two songs... AHHH! She modified All-American Girl a little bit to suit her life now and it was super cute, because instead of "She was falling for the senior football star" she put "hockey star" and added in an "All-Canadian Girl" because well, Mike Fisher. Ahh I can't even describe how amazing this concert was. I am a total concert-junkie and to have finally seen one of my all-time favourite artists was wonderful.


Do you guys like Carrie Underwood? Are any of you country music fans? Have you gone to any good concerts lately? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Friday!
~Kristy

Blitz: Surface by Tiffany Duane

Bound to the water bound to land, a Siren’s soul will never be safe on either side of the ocean’s surface. Hidden beneath the rolling waves lies the secret to Theia’s past and as she unveils each haunting truth, she realizes the last seventeen years of her life have been a lie. Now, drawn into a mysterious new world and with nowhere to turn, Theia must place her trust in Luc, a beautiful boy who stops her heart with each dazzling smile, but even his unearthly charm can’t hide the truth—he has secrets— dark secrets binding him to his world—an underwater world where Theia will never belong—a world determined to destroy her soul.

Goodreads

Amazon

Tiffany Daune doesn't get why people want to grow up or why anyone would ever stop eating candy. Her purse is filled with books, lip gloss and a few pieces of Lego bricks. She writes best with a dish of chocolate chips on hand and finds licorice makes a better straw than plastic.
She lives on an island and believes mermaids may be raiding her candy stash, thoughshe hasn't caught them, yet.
Surface is her first novel and pairs well with gummy sharks.

Website

Goodreads

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Excerpt:

Theia tucked her legs up in the chair, pulling as far away as she could from Luc. "Then why would you take the risk, by helping me?"

He avoided her question and instead jumped up and crossed the room, keeping his back to her.

 He chose an etched decanter from the shelf, swirled it around, and then pulled the stopper. A pop resonated in the air followed by a sweet aroma, like fresh honeydew. Theia inhaled the fruity scent. She was amazed how strong the aroma was even from across the room, and with each breath she took it seemed to grow bolder.

Luc then picked two tarnished goblets and stood before her. He handed her one goblet and she took it in her hands. The metal was cool in her palm, but when he poured the sparkling green liquid from the decanter into her cup, her hands became warm.

"Drink it," he said, eyeing her carefully.

"I'll pass." She held the cup up for him to take.

"You'll need your strength." He nudged the cup back. "It will help heal your wounds."

Theia scanned her arms and legs; she looked like she had been spun in a blender. "What is it?" she asked, as she peered into the cup.

"It's seaweed. But not surface greens; that stuff's garbage, tainted by your air and all the pollutants on the surface."

Theia rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I live in a wasteland."

She studied her drink. There was no way this was seaweed. At first she didn't notice any color, but, when she raised the cup up and the liquid moved, it shimmered to an emerald hue. She swirled the cup again and with each churn the cocktail deepened until it turned black, the scent increasing as well, overwhelming her with a desire to taste it on her lips. It was either delicious or deadly.

"You still haven't answered my question—if I'm so taboo, why bother?"

Again, Luc ignored her question, instead pouring a second goblet full of the liquid. He held his cup out to her.

"Let's drink to a new friendship." He grinned as he clapped the goblets together so they made a loud clang and then paused as he waited for her to take the first sip.

Theia held her breath, closed her eyes, and, as she raised the golden cup to her lips, prayed Luc was on her side.

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Review: The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

Author: Sarah Ockler
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 352, Hardcover
Date Published: May 21st 2013
Find it on Goodreads: The Book of Broken Hearts
Source: e-ARC provided by Publisher (thank you!!!)

When all signs point to heartbreak, can love still be a rule of the road? A poignant and romantic novel from the author ofBittersweet and Twenty Boy Summer.
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.
Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?
Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?
Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

The Book of Broken Hearts fits its name well. It broke my heart and put it back together and I loved every part of it.

When it comes to Sarah Ockler, it only takes one book to know that her books aren't all sunshine and unicorn fluffy. There is a deeper part to her books and they are really touching. In this book, Jude, our MC, decides to restore her father's old motorcycle to try and see if it will help his Alzheimer's. She hires a mechanic and realises that he is Emilio Vargas, the youngest brother of the family she swore to her sisters she would never get involved with.

The thing with this book is, I'm kind of biased towards a few aspects of it. I am a huge sucker for motorcycles. My dad has one and I remember growing up with him working on it in the shop and me taking rides in the side-car on sunny days. I LOVE motorcycles. If I can convince my parents/when I turn 18, I definitely want to one day own one. So, with this book having a lot to do with motorcycles, it drew me in and kept me there. Also, I know someone with Alzheimer's and I know how tough it can be to see a loved one forgetting things so quickly and stuff like that.

The summary makes this book sound a lot more boy-related and a lot less than what it's really about. Yes, there's a boy and yes he's adorable and charming, but this book really focuses on family. There's a lot to do with Jude and her sisters and their relationship, as well as with her father. Her sisters kind of annoyed me at times, as they were kind of controlling of Jude, but I also understood, I guess. With Jude's Papi, it was different. I loved his sass and his attitude, but his meltdowns were quite sad and definitely broke my heart. That was one thing I loved about this book. It wasn't just about the broken hearts you get from the boy/girl who breaks your heart. It's about all the relationships and how they can all break your heart. Yes it's rough and yes it's painful, but maybe that broken heart will bring someone into your life to help mend it.

I really liked Jude as a protagonist. It took me about 50 pages to really enjoy her voice, but once I got into the book, I really connected with her. She's witty and sassy and totally awesome but also scared and emotional and it was nice to see two different sides of her. Then there was Emilio. At first I was kind of thinking he was another typical bad boy, ugh, but I realised, with Jude, that he was a lot more than that. He had many layers to him and wasn't as simple as I thought.

In all honesty, I cannot describe my love for this book enough. It was filled with the character's culture (Argentinian-American) and infused with emotion and humour. Yes, that's right, it was also funny, to put the cherry on top. Do not be fooled by the synopsis. The Book of Broken Hearts is touching and compelling and poignant. Yes it made me cry (just a little, I swear!) but it also made me laugh and that's my type of book. I highly recommend picking this book up.

Happy reading!
~Kristy

Review: Click to Subscribe by L.M. Augustine (TOUR+GIVEAWAY)

252 pages, ebook

Published May 9th 2013
Find L.M. on Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Blog

 1,135,789. That’s how many subscribers sixteen-year-old West Ryder has on his web vlog series. But he only has eyes for one of them. 

As one of the internet’s most prestigious video bloggers, West talks about high school relationships under the name “Sam Green.” As far as he knows, no one from school, not even his best friend, Cat, has seen his videos. But the highlight of the whole thing is Harper Knight, who comments every day at exactly 2:02 in the afternoon. He doesn’t know anything about her aside from the occasional deep philosophical messaging on why pizza tastes so delicious, but as stupid as it sounds, he might be falling for her. So when they finally agree to meet in real life, West’s hope for romance seems more and more in reach. But that all changes as soon as he arrives at their meeting spot and sees Cat walking toward him, wearing the same “I <3 Sam Green” T-shirt Harper promised she'd have on.
To his alarm, West realizes he is falling in love with the best friend who has always been a sister to him.

This was a really cute book. It wasn't too fluffy, but it was definitely leaning towards it. Corny but cute, that's how I'd describe it. Corny in a good way. Mostly.

There are quite a few things that  I liked about Click to Subscribe. One was that the protagonist was a male and he has a vlog channel! I've never really read about anyone who does something like that on the internet. Obviously, I watch vloggers on YouTube and all that, but I've never read a fictional book about a person who does that. It was kind of cool. I also liked the dialogue between West and Cat. They were awkward and weird and reminded me a lot of my friends and I. They were quite cute. The thing is, I also found this book to be pretty predictable. I knew what was going to happen, it just took a while for it to get there. West, c'mon man. YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HER. GO GET HER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! 

I also really liked the fact that there was a more serious side to the book, involving West's father. He was an alcoholic and didn't work or do much of anything. The interactions between West and his father were tense and there was one scene where it was very powerful. I thought the writing was, while yes a little cheesy, pretty good and I really enjoyed the story. It was a quick read and it's a good book for a day when you need something light. 

Thank you so much to the author and Bookcase to Heaven for sending me a copy of Click to Subscribe to review! I enjoyed it very much! Now scroll down for an awesome giveaway!

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Happy reading!
~Kristy

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.This week's topic  is : Top Ten Covers of Books I Read. These aren't in order, nor are they necessarily THE top ten, but they're the ones that came to my head immediately or something like that... I dunno.. Just look at the pretty covers!!!

Okay, so I'm cheating slightly with Invisibility, as I'm currently reading it, but other than that, I've read all of these and LOVE their covers! I adore the typography on The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and am so happy I own the UK cover, even though the US cover's nice as well. Anyways, leave me a link to your TTT this week and I'll check it out! Because yes, I do judge books by their covers... sometimes. *cringes* Don't hit me!

Happy reading!
~Kristy