The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

Rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis: If I'd known right then that this was the kid that would grow up to break my heart beyond repair, maybe I would've stayed upstairs on the phone with Tess. Maybe I would've gone to bed early. Maybe I would've begged my parents to take me with them - even though those doctor dinners are pretty much the most boring things ever. But I didn't know. Couldn't know. So instead I shrugged and said something really genius like 'Um, whatever.' And proceeded to fall totally, madly, crazy in love. 

Review: I'm not entirely sure what I thought about this one. I mean I did really enjoy it - I breezed through it actually - but something was a little...lacking. And I think it was the character of Brie. I just didn't connect with her.

It started out as a really promising book. Brie has literally died of a broken heart - her heart has actually broken in two. Stuck in the afterlife with Patrick, the guy who looks like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Brie has to work through the stages of death - from denial all the way through to acceptance. From there, things get a little bit...strange? I thought Brie would be someone who maybe wouldn't take death in her stride per say, but wouldn't be overcome with revenge so fast and so much. This need for revenge takes up most of the book and you can tell that she's got everything wrong. Brie makes all these assumptions and it's pretty obvious that she's wrong about them.

I also hated the way she treated Patrick. He was by far my favourite character - he seemed to have a bit of life to him (no pun intended) whereas all the other characters didn't really seem real to me. Brie is horrible to Patrick again for most of the book and it just got irritating after a while because it's obvious he's trying to help her and she just keeps pushing him away so I was quite glad when he just stopped showing up to help her. Unfortunately, Patrick disappearing means Brie is free to make all sorts of bad decisions so it's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of situation. She won't listen to what Patrick is telling her but she actually needs him there to tell her she's being stupid.

The plot was also a little off for me. We seemed to spend so much time on Brie's need for revenge that all the other plot points seemed a little far fetched. One minute, we're in a city alone with Brie and Hamloaf and then suddenly her dead ex-friend turns up, obviously looking for trouble (but surprise, surprise, Brie doesn't realise). That plot point was really out there and I thought it needed more set up. We spend so much time watching Brie obsess over what she can't change that when we get to the important things like the soul-stealing thing, it just feels confusing because it hasn't been set up well enough earlier on in the book. Likewise the major plot point with Patrick (this is the only plot point I didn't guess until just before it was revealed). All we had to go on was this nightmare that Brie used to have about a motorbike and that was it. There was no set up so it just came out of nowhere which was really disappointing to me because I would have loved to have spent the whole book on this plot point and the history between Brie and Patrick. I think a duel POV would have been so much better - maybe Patrick watching over Brie? I don't know but it was disappointing that so little time was actually spent on what could have been, to me anyway, the entire book.

So while I did enjoy this book there are a lot of things that I didn't like about the book. To me, Patrick was the only like able character in the whole book and the plot needed more work. A relatively quick read but I wouldn't pick it up again.

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Bloodlines by Richelle Mead



Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis: Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires. But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds if far worse. The sister of the Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathising with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

Review: Okay, so I picked this book up at my local library because I've heard so many amazing things about not only the Bloodlines series but also the Vampire Academy series which Bloodlines is a spin off to. This was the only book they had at the library but I picked it up anyway and I'm really glad I did. Despite not having read any of the Vampire Academy series the plot is easy to pick up straight away. There are a lot of references to events which happened in that series obviously because it's a spin off but Richelle explains everything so well that, if like me you haven't read the VA series, you can still follow the plot of Bloodlines.

Bloodlines occurs just after the events of the last book in the VA series with Sydney being torn out of bed in the middle of the night by her dad for Alchemist business. Alchemist's are people who protect humans from the dangers of vampires and Sydney isn't exactly popular with them right now. After helping Rose in the VA series, she's seen as being a vamp lover and her allegiance is called into question by everyone close to her. I loved Sydney as a character - she's tough in her own way but there's a vulnerability to her that made her relatable. She's not used to praise because her dad is so strict and rarely (if ever) praises her and because she's been home-schooled, there's a real naivety in how she handles social situations which leads to some decidedly funny moments. Despite her desperation to not be seen as a vamp lover, she can't help but care for the vampires under her care - and even those who aren't. Jill and Eddie do seem to become like siblings to her in some way, and she really does seem to care about them which is really sweet. What I did love about her was that she is selfless. Her whole life has been dedicated to the cause of being an Alchemist that selflessness is ingrained in her but it's a really interesting characteristic for Sydney to have because it provides so much conflict within the plot - her selflessness to help not only Jill but Adrian as well throws more confusion as to where her loyalties actually lie.

Her relationship with Adrian is brilliant. It's a typical hate at first sight relationship with Adrian being so hot and cold so fast it's actually quite impressive. He's sarcastic and witty and they both give as good as they get but, Adrian shows from the start that Sydney does mean something to him. He overhears Kevin arguing with her and, while he doesn't step in, he does offer some support in his own way. Watching the relationship grow over the course of the book is really interesting but what I loved is that even after we've gone through a few chapters with Sydney and Adrian getting along, Richelle reminds us that their personalities are quite similar in a lot of ways and, no matter the situation, an argument is likely to be close behind the pair.
It was almost heart breaking to see Sydney struggle with her relationships with both Adrian and Jill. She really does try to do the right thing - looking out for Jill's love life and trying to help Adrian stay in college but it always seem to backfire on her and you really do feel for her because we can see the good intentions behind the actions but obviously Jill and Adrian don't until after the fact.

The world building was really intricate. Obviously this world has already been set up in VA but it was still amazing to see how much work Richelle has put into this world to make it believable and it really pays off. The tattoo plot point was really interesting. As an Alchemist, Sydney has a gold 'tattoo' on her cheek which she obviously thinks nothing of, but once she gets to school she finds out that a lot of the kids have paid for similar tattoos to either give them a boost in sport or to just give them a high. When this plot point was first introduced, I'll admit I was slightly sceptical because it did seem a little strange even for a vampire book, but Richelle really made it work. It was intriguing and different and yet it seemed to fit seamlessly into the world that she's built which is something that's quite difficult to achieve.

The only reason this book got 4.5 stars rather than 5 is that it's obvious from the outset that both Lee and Keith are up to something and that Lee's father is somehow involved. While I didn't guess the ending in it's entirety - I didn't guess Lee's background for example - I did know that Lee would show up and would try to hurt Sydney in some way and Keith was just a moot point from the very start. Whether that was intentional on Richelle's part - I think Keith's character definitely was - or not, I did see it coming and, while it didn't stop me from ploughing through the book and thoroughly enjoying it, it was slightly predictable and so this stopped me from giving a full 5 stars.

I would definitely recommend Bloodlines - it's a fast paced, exciting read that is different from a lot of vampire books I've read. I can't wait to read the rest of the series to see what happens!!

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My June TBR

So, long time no see. I'm so hoping that this post marks the start of me getting my reading life back for at least a few months now that life has kind of slowed down a little bit. We have a couple of weeks left in June and there are 6 books that I want to read in that time and here they are.

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead: I haven't actually read the Vampire Academy series that this series that comes before Bloodlines, but from the first couple of chapters I've read of this book, I don't really think you need to (although I may be proved wrong). Either way, I've heard amazing things about this series and I'm excited to see what it's like.



The Retribution of Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkin: This is another series that I've been meaning to read for a while now and I'm really looking forward to it and to understanding and becoming part of the hype surrounding the series.






The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenburg: I've seen this book for a while now but just never picked it up but I'm intrigued to see what this book is like because if the gorgeous cover is anything to go by, it's gonna be good.



Ultraviolet & Quicksilver by RJ Anderson: I kind of picked this one up on a whim. I actually picked up Quicksilver, not realising it was the sequel to Ultraviolet so I'm just waiting for that to come in at my local library but it sounds really interesting. There's no real blurb to the book which automatically catches my attention and I can't wait to see what this series is like.

So these are the 6 books (the Mara Dyer series is a trilogy - I can count!) that I'm planning on reading for the remainder of June so lots of reviews to post. I'm hoping this will become a monthly thing but I'm not sure it will - it's quite rare to have a stack of books just lying around waiting for me to read them. We will see. Until next time guys


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Top Ten Tuesday

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is the ten books you would love to see as a TV show/movie. As usual, go and check out The Broke and the Bookish and lets get started.

1. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout - so this is kind of cheating because there is an Obsidian movie currently in the works but since we don't know anything about it yet it's going on the list.
2. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa - I would love to see these books turned into movies but I would be wary of it if it did ever happen because fantasy films seem to be either amazing or awful. If it was done well though, it would be amazing.
3. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - I'm not a huge horror fan - I'm quite easily scared and as such, I've never seen a horror movie in my life - but this is the one horror book that I would go and see in a movie. Cas' sarcasm would be amazing to see on the big screen.
4. Evernight by Claudia Gray - I think this would actually be better as a TV show. We could spend so much more time getting to know the characters and learning about the school and their lives. I think Evernight would make an amazing TV show and I would love to watch it.
5. Dark Visions by L.J. Smith - I didn't really like the Vampire Diaries as books - the TV show is way better - but this book introduced me to L.J. Smith and I loved it. I'm not sure whether a movie or TV series would suit the books better but either way it's definitely on the list.
6. Angel by L.A Weatherly - This is a series that I completely fell in love with and would love to see brought to life. Alex and Willow's story is so sweet and I love them so much.
7. City of Halves by Lucy Inglis - this is very similar to the Mortal Instruments but I loved this book so much. The characters are so lifelike and funny and I just love it and need to see it in real life.
8. Clarity by Kim Harrington - intriguing plot and characters. I could watch seasons and seasons of this if it was a TV Show.
9. Saving June - the music in this book would make a great movie soundtrack. I'm thinking this would be kind of like If I Stay or Fault in our Stars kind of emotion, especially at the end, with the added bonus of about ten million times more sarcasm.
10. Gravity by Tess Gerritsen - despite the recent movie of the same name and the fact this isn't actually YA, I would love to see these characters brought to life. You really get to see the complexities of a shuttle launch and the added mystery of the disease/organism kept me gripped from cover to cover and I'd love to see this as a movie or TV show.

That's my list - what's yours?