The Five Love Languages (Singles Edition) by Gary Chapman
Overall message is still powerful despite its imperfections.
AngelFall by Susan Ee
** 4.8/5 **
Let me start off by saying, I'm a little bit of a harsh critic I rarely (if ever) give a YA book 5 stars. But this one reallyyyy gave me a run for my money. Angelfall really blew every expectation I had out of the water. Because angel books are my favorite I get really disappointed when I don't like one. That definitely wasn't the case here. We find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic world with a war between the humans and the angels. Whatever preconceived notion we've ever had of sweet faced cherub angels is completely smashed in this book. The angels are basically the bad guys and the human world has been completely turned upside down by them. Penryn, the novel's protagonist, finds herself on "the enemy's" side when she aligns with what appears to be a fallen angel named Raffe in order to rescue her sister who has been kidnapped by other angels. Penryn is a fantastic heroine. She's brave, she's an organic character and she's just a badass in every sense of the word. Where many other authors may try to write this kind of heroine and fall short, Susan Ee nails it.
If you're impatient like me, this book is great because it jumps right into the action. There's no lagging, no fillers, no slowness. From beginning to end there was never a dull moment. There is some romance in it but there is so many excellent themes it's not overwhelming. There is literally so much going on in this book it's crazy to think it's so short. I could not put it down. The ending was unexpected and brilliant. I really just fell in love with all the characters. My emotions ranged from: NEED TO FINISH, NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS to wahhhh why is it over though? Which is always the tell tale sign of an excellent book. I'm really glad I decided to order the second one because I'm dying to see how everything is going to be resolved! Highly, highly recommend it. Ugh, for an English major I really fall short and can only end this with a succinct: "Swoon"
1
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
** 2.7/5**
I just finished this book. I had high hopes since it's a re-telling of beauty and the beast, which is my favorite fairy tale. But I did have some issues with it. I found the world extremely confusing (even being someone who does know quite a bit about mythology)I didn't fully understand the ending or what happened and I found myself lost very often in the book, having to go back and re read certain parts to better grasp what was going on. I had trouble feeling sorry for the world or relating to the world that Nyx was trying to save because I felt I knew so little about it.
I did enjoy the characters (for the most part) and the twist (which I won't give away) but my confusion overruled any attachment I could have for the book. I spent more time trying to figure out what the author meant than I did enjoying what I was reading and every time I started to get engrossed, I'd stumble upon yet another part where I found myself lost.
Even though, I actually enjoyed her writing I couldn't give it a higher rating since the majority of this book was over my head.