Top Ten, Katie Cotugno

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

This book will be released October 3,
2017 in the US

I have read Katie Cotugno before, I read 99 Days, which makes Top Ten the second novel that I read from this author. I enjoyed 99 Days a lot, I remember that at first, I thought that I wouldn't like the story, but as I continued reading it, I started enjoying it, and I would like to mention that in Top Ten I think that it happened in exactly the opposite way, I liked it a lot at the beginning, but as the story continued, I started getting annoyed by the main character and started to lose interest as the story progressed. 
Top Ten tells the story of Gabby, a teenager that has always preferred not getting involved with other people at high school, and Ryan, probably the most popular guy in high school being the hockey star. They become friends in an awkward attempt to escape realities and before they can realize it, they share a friendship that has changed their lives and they have become the other´s most important person. 
But that is until they start realizing that they may be liking each other as more than friends, but that idea seems to far away from their reality since they are both in different relationships that already feel like so much work. 
Will Gabby and Ryan be able to let go of their friendship and start a new relationship?
As usual, I´ll start by talking about the characters. 
I really liked Ryan because he gave us a new type of popular jock. I actually found Ryan cute and adorable! Which is unusual for me and for anyone that has read several YA novels that involve jocks, they are supposed to be ONLY hot. But Ryan is the exception, he is HOT and ADORABLE, which creates the type of boyfriend every girl wishes for. I liked that he was the first one that realized that he was completely in love with his best friend, which seems to be first because we are not really used to knowing how the male lead character feels like. In my opinion, Ryan was very similar to Peter Kavinsky from To All the Boys I´ve Loved Before by Jenny Han,  who I absolutely adore, again because he is cute and hot, being a high school jock and all. Also, the whole vibe of not having a perfect family and a perfect life like the main character is very similar. 
Gabby was a character that I didn´t like at all! In fact, I started to find her annoying because she was always ready to criticize others and judge them but got very angry when other told her the truth that she wasn´t willing to accept. I saw too little character development throughout the four years of her high school career, she always had something that she didn´t like and found wrong in her life. So, for me, Gabby didn´t really do it for me.
On the other hand, I liked the idea of having Chelsey and Shay as supporting characters because I believe that for example, Shay was the character that pushed Gabby for some character development and seeing the type of people that both main characters were surrounding themselves with showing us how the characters were changing as we read along, I would say they were the piece that completed the story perfectly.
But although I didn´t like the main character, I did enjoy other things about the story. For instance, I liked the structure of the novel a lot. I liked both sides, although they weren´t in the first point of view, they did give us a piece of their minds, which made it easier to understand them and their actions. Also, the structures of the chapters were very nicely-planned because they are told in different time periods of their relationships and they are a list, which is something that only Ryan and Gabby understand, it´s their THING.
I enjoyed the way popularity was portrayed in this novel because it was realistic, just like the whole high school environment. I really enjoyed that Gabby wasn´t immediately popular because she was friends with Ryan, in fact, everything stayed the same way, which showed how personal their friendship was for both of the characters. 
In addition, I really liked Cotugno´s writing because it is very sweet and touching in an emotional way, I believe her words were very carefully chosen and that she was able to describe feelings in a very beautiful way. 
I believed that Top Ten is the perfect mixture of To All the Boys I´ve Loved Before, with a little bit of Love, Rosie and a fun activity in a Morgan Matson style. 
Overall, Top Ten is a fairly enjoyable reading about high school and the popularity.
I apologize for the short review. Also, I would like to thank the publisher for providing an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for a review. 

3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, Jennifer Ryan

The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir by Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan opens a portal to the past and guides you through the heartbreaking moments and shows you how people thrive to survive what we have created and decided to call "war."
This has been the first time that I have read a historical fiction novel because I have never really had the opportunity, I mean, I am barely 16-years old and I absolutely love young adult novels and contemporary novels that are romantic, but on the other hand, I absolutely love history! I have always believed that history is so interesting and powerful because we tend to learn from our mistake as a society and history probably provides all of these factors and it always shows us different lifestyles and I believe that a lot of people that enjoy literature, probably enjoys history because we can learn about it as a story. So, once I joined Blogging for Books and I read about the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, I thought that I should give it a try, and honestly, I am so glad that I made that choice because I fell in love with every element in the story and I ended up adoring Ryan´s writing. 
The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir tells the story of a group of powerful women that live in the town of Chilbury in England during World War II. We get to meet every person that lives in the small town through different perspectives. We have the perspective of Mrs. Tilling, whose son will be leaving for war; Ms. Edwina Paltry, who writes to her sister describing her all the illicit jobs she has to get done for money; Kitty, a 13-years old girl that is trying to become her town´s hero during war while being desperately in love with Henry, who likes her older sister;  and Venetia, who writes to her best friend about her encounters with Mr. Slater, a handsome painter that doesn´t even bother with glancing at Venetia´s direction. 
Once everyone leaves for war, the town is left heartbroken and on top of that, the Chilbury Choir cannot continue because all the men left, but Ms. Prim decides to open a ladies choir in town to help everyone get through war and promises that the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir can place in competition, and just like that, the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir is formed and demonstrates that the women that were left behind can still do things by themselves. 
And while the war continues, these powerful women will discover themselves with every note they sing. 
I want to start this review by talking about the characters. I loved every single one of them because each one of them showed a different side to the war. Also, the characters were all from different age gaps, which made it easier for the readers to feel identified with. Personally, I loved Kitty because she is the youngest, but she is probably the one character that really tries to be part of everything, she has this amazing way of taking everything and everyone that surrounds her into her own world, and she wants to be a grown-up so much that it reminded me of myself because when I was 13 too, which was only like three years ago, I felt the same thing, so seeing how a character really wants to become a hero was inspiring at some point. 
Although I really liked the many characters the novel had, I did feel confused from time to time because there were too many and I really liked that there was a map at the beginning, but it had so many elements that it made me go back and forth because it was very detailed, which I liked a lot, but it was a bit confusing. Yet, I really appreciated how much effort the author put into this story because it really showed and made it like we were traveling back in time. 
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the plot and the story itself because it has a pull-factor that makes you keep reading since it is a pretty fast-paced reading. 
I really liked how Ryan portrayed feminism, which is something that is wildly talked about today because it demonstrated that WWII wasn´t mostly about fighting, it also included everyone that lived in the countries that were involved, and seeing the lives that continued while people came and went, made it more lively and real. 
Also, I absolutely loved how the author wrote about WWII because she takes into account the different experiences that different people have during the war, mothers have to let go of their children, lovers have to say goodbye to their loved one, children will have to continue living without a father and so forth, Ryan did a great job showing the heartbreaking moments of war, which I think is one of the biggest themes of this novel. Another thing that I found very interesting about her portrayal of war was the way the characters held onto small moments with those they love like in real life. Ryan also shows that the war not only ends things, it starts things, like the Chilbury Ladies´ Choir, which gives hope to people because, at the end of the day, the one thing that keeps going is the small things that give us hope. 
Before I end this review, I want to talk about how much I liked Jennifer Ryan´s writing because it is beautiful, it really touched me while portraying the story perfectly. I enjoyed the different point of views because as I mentioned before, it tells us the story of the village through different eyes. Also, I loved how the whole story is written through journals and letters, it reminded a little bit of Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern (review for that one coming soon!). And lastly, I loved how three-dimensional she made the characters, they seemed very real to me because they all had different things they were holding onto and different things that they hoped for while having several flaws, like real human beings.
The Chilbury Ladies´ Choir by Jennifer Ryan is a beautiful and inspiring historical fiction novel that will transport you to its small village during World War II to show you the beauty of life and holding onto the past while trying to grasp the future before it is too late. 
Also, I would like to thank Blogging for Books for giving me the opportunity to review this amazing novel!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

In Twenty Years, Allison Winn Scotch

In Twenty Years by Allison Winn Scotch

Six students from Penn lived together in a small apartment almost twenty years ago, and before they left, they all made a promise to stay friends and to meet again in twenty years. So, when five of them gets a package from Bea, a friend that has passed away and that was always so happy to keep the group together, saying that she has purchased the apartment and that she wants them to gather for her 40th, the five of them decide to visit, even when their own lives are falling apart.
Catherine, the CEO of a domestic empire, who is struggling to keep her company; Owen, a stay at home dad, who is married to Catherine after they were the cutest couple in college; Colin, a plastic surgeon that is trying to keep Bea´s secret; Annie, a stay at home mom that tries to show an ideal life in social media to cover her loneliness; Lindy, a famous rock star who is struggling to find herself and the music she loves; and Bea, the brightest and the most passionate person anyone has ever met.
They all gather these fourth of July trying to celebrate Bea, one of their best friends, some of them may not be in the best terms with each other, but one thing is clear: Bea is the missing link that they all need, what they need in order to become a family again because that´s how family works, when one person starts disliking someone, there will always be someone else that will bring them back together. And Bea is exactly what they need and they are what Bea needs.
This is the type of novel that you would expect to read when you love novels that narrate stories about a group of people in college, in my case, I have only read one in Spanish, which I absolutely loved, and I am not saying that the characters are similar or the plot, but it follows a group of people that were once inseparable in college, where many dreams start and many ends. It was interesting to read a story that narrated the beginnings and the endings of relationships.
I really liked the different characters because they brought different aspects of adult life, for example, we could see how sometimes your dreams don´t work out and you find an alternative like Owen, or how sometimes those dreams change like Annie´s, or how those you dream of when you are younger can actually come true like Lindy´s. Also, seeing how characters with different traits and dreams could be connected by a friendship that was shared years before, was beautiful because it showed that people change and that is almost inevitable, but small moments and things that become meaningful to us will always stay like that because they will be saved in a special place inside us that may change the way the moment was truly.
I enjoyed the way the characters were created because you were able to see the good and bad sides of each character, they felt very human-like since some of them struggled with things that others didn´t and they all had their different points of view.
I liked how every character was struggling on their own and was afraid to show others about it because it happens in real life too, people are always afraid to show others what they are struggling with because we have evolved into a society that is supposed to not show others what makes us seem weak. Also, this side of the characters really adds to the story itself and the experience because every character has a secret of their own that you start discovering while reading the novel.
On the other hand, I loved the different themes and topics In Twenty Years included, it shows how we tend to act around others and how we change throughout the time and how our lives only change because we decide to make that turn.
I enjoyed learning about their journey from college till their forties because it is a part of life that no one really talks about, especially at my age because we are so eager to go to college that we don´t usually think about what happens next, so reading about it kind of gave me an idea of what could happen and it definitely made me start thinking about my own future because not everything may work out for me. 
Another theme that I liked reading about was how sometimes life is so easy but we decide to take the difficult route to the things that we want or the route that consumes too much time that sometimes makes us wonder and formulate all these what-ifs. 
Moving on, I loved the writing because it was so beautiful and it taught me a lot of meaningful things that really added a nice touch to the novel that already taught you a lot about friendships, dreams and growing up.
I liked how each chapter was about a different character, although the characters didn´t really narrate the novel, they still got their minds read by a third point of view. 
As much as I liked the novel, there were several things that I didn´t enjoy too. I didn´t really like the pace of the novel because it was too slow for me. I mean, there were too many times that scenes were lived again by a different character and it was kind of tiring at some point, but nothing too extreme. Also, I feel like there were many characters that I didn´t get to know too well, like Colin, who was a character that I really wanted to read about since he was the closest to Bea.
On the brighter side, I liked the way that Bea was still present in the story because her being there was like the linking part of the group and it was beautiful to see how a person´s heart can still be there if there are people that want her to be there. 
In general, this was a very pleasant reading, you will be crying and laughing with the characters because they are full of life and they have different personalities and comments that will keep you going for a long time! 

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Dating You/Hating You, Christina Lauren

Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

Okay, so I loved this book so much that I want to marry it. It met all the high expectations that I had for it when I first discovered it at Barnes and Noble abandoned on one of the tables and I thought that we were destined to meet. Now, I believe that we were destined to meet each other and for me to fall in love with it.
Carter and Evie meet at an awkward Halloween party at their best friend´s house, and they were basically paired by the couple and they immediately like each other because they seem to have a clear understanding. Well, that´s until they both realize that they are both agents in competing agencies, the problem doesn´t really matter at that point because they adults and they are allowed to like whoever they want. The real problem starts when their agencies merge into one and Carter is now working at Evie´s agency, and their boss makes them compete for the SAME job because apparently there´s only one available. So, after being all flirty and heart-eyes with each other, their relationship turns into a war, where they attack one another trying to follow their passions and the only thing they have left. Carter and Evie start to develop a hot love and hate relationship, which could end with their careers. 
As I mentioned before, I LOVED this book because the story was great, the characters were fun and I absolutely loved Carter and the writing was amazing! 
Dating You/Hating You has a good title because it immediately makes you curious about the type of story it will tell. I mean, even my US History teacher liked the title! But, the title shows only a part of the story because the whole novel talks about many different topics that are not always found in contemporary novels. 
I really enjoyed the insight they gave us to Hollywood because we are very used to reading about famous or rising actors and actresses, or famous singers, but we never really get to read about stories involving people that love Hollywood, but are not dealing personally with the audience, like in this case, the agents that support talents. 
Hollywood is such a big media platform today because I think that pretty much everyone knows what it is since we have had the tendency of wanting to recreate what we are shown as right or correct by the media, and seeing how bad it may be on the inside, was different. I mean, I am aware of the fact that the media is probably horrible because it is managed by people that are eager to be famous and become richer, but seeing it portrayed in a book, where everything is supposed to be fictional was very disappointing since it made me realize how bad we were acting as a society. So, I found it very interesting to read about a story where main characters loved Hollywood, but they also had to deal with its bad sides, like sexism, which is something that Evie, our main character goes through and no one really seems to talk about. I do believe that it is something that happens a lot today, but no one has the courage to talk about it and confront it. 
Also, I thought that putting the main characters was agents was super creative and fun because as I mentioned, it is something that is not mentioned a lot, but it also fits very well the romantic comedy setting that I believe the story wanted to create. 
Adding on to the romantic comedy theme, I loved the part where Carter and Evie start getting competitive because it was so much fun! I thought it was very creative because the things they did to get the other one to be angry were things that were pretty simple but clever, and the best part was that it showed how much they cared about each other because they somehow managed to remember everything they did and what they liked and disliked. This novel has scenes that are just so funny that I was about to laugh very very loud in front of everyone in class. So, if you do read this, please read it in a place where you don't have high expectations like at work.
I loved the relationship that they shared because it was fun to read about, they had their funny moments, but also their sad and real-life moments. I believe that the part that I liked about the most was the way they appreciated their small moments and they cherished them. Also, the way they started falling in love and dealing with it was something that I enjoyed since they fell in love very quickly but softly like it wasn't rushed or forced at all, so I really liked that.
I really liked their first encounter because it seemed like something that would happen only in YA novels, so it was fun to get a little bit of that in a contemporary novel.
Now, I have so many things to talk about the characters because of Carter. 
Carter, Carter, Carter...
I LOVE HIM! 
I think I fell in love with him ever since he was described at the beginning because Evie describes him as the ideal person that every girl would see themselves with. He´s very attractive, but not in the Hollywood style, but more in the type of guy that you would dream about. Also, he has these amazing green eyes that would take your breath away and even though, I have not met him in real life, I was breathless every time he appeared because his green eyes were just SO beautiful. I couldn't stop thinking about him because I became too obsessed with him, a little bit in the sense of Peter Kavinsky, but unlike with Peter, I was never mad at Carter, which made it even worse. 
But aside from Carter being super hot and adorable, I think that the part that I liked the most about him was the way he started growing up on his own throughout the novel, I am aware that he is older and that he is over 25 years old, but I think he grew up in the sense that he realized that there are better ways to live a life and there are many things that may be affecting someone, even though you don't realize it, so I liked reading about someone that is older but learns something new.
On the other hand, I loved Evie too. She is very professional, but she is also really funny and she will keep you laughing the whole time because she has the best comments for everything. 
It was interesting to see a woman that is over her thirties desperately holding on for her dreams because at my age, you are too stuck with the idea of going to college and getting a career that it seems hard to imagine where you are really going to be later in life and what you will want next, so reading about Evie being older and chasing after something she is passionate about was very new, yet inspiring.
The other characters that surround Carter and Evie were fun, it was nice to read about Steph and MC because they had a very different reality compared to our main characters, they were already settled and they had a kid, reading about different stories at the same time was very fun and refreshing.
As I mentioned before, I really liked the writing of this novel, it includes text messages, which I absolutely loved, and it includes both points of view and the thing that I liked about that was that it gave each character a different personality because whenever you were reading, you could always know who you were reading, sometimes they mentioned some characters in a different way, but mostly it was the comments they made, for example, Evie made me laugh the whole time!
Even though the novel is not that long and it stands by itself, the authors did a great job opening a door to their story and giving us a very good insight because I felt like a read a complete story and that I traveled to a different world. 
I had the amazing idea of reading this novel in my second week of school and it was absolute torture because I kept thinking about Carter as I mentioned, and I just couldn't put it down, I was so eager to finish this book that I think I only lasted like 3 days with it, so I think that it is a pretty fast reading, but please clear your schedule because you will be eating those pages. 
In general, Dating You /Hating You is a fun, flirty, sexy and sweet reading, you will want to devour it if you love a good romantic comedy movie and you will want to read this novel over and over again, just keep in mind that it includes scenes that are meant for an older audience. 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua 

One of Us Is Lying, Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I don´t usually read mystery novels because even though, I am attracted to that theme, there is always something that holds me back, so after reading that One of Us Is Lying was a mixture of The Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars, which is completely true, I decided to take a chance and try something new for my first week of school, and I enjoyed every single word and I was immediately drawn towards the characters. 
One of Us Is Lying starts with Brownyn, the smart girl that is for sure going to Yale after graduation, walking to detention with Simon, the creator of About That, which is the gossip app of Bayview High where every gossip is posted, when they enter the classroom, they notice three other teenagers. Cooper, the athlete, Addy, the beauty queen, and Nate, the criminal. They argue that they were wrongfully accused and that they shouldn´t be there, but something worse happens. At the end of detention, only four of the five teenagers come out of the room alive. 
While Cooper, Nate, Brownyn, and Addy were arguing with the teacher about the cell phones, they are distracted with a car crash outside the window, and before they realize it, Simon is dying because he had an allergic reaction. The four teenagers run around the school, trying to save Simon, Cooper runs to the nurse to get EpiPens while Nate is desperately trying to save him, but everything seems to have been too late when the ambulance comes, and Simon passes away. 
The four high schoolers are left in shock and try to recover from the shocking event they had to witness, but soon, they all become suspects of killing Simon because everyone has a secret that could ruin them if Simon ever published them on About That. Brownyn would have to say goodbye to Yale, Nate is on probation and a wrong move could make him to jail and be treated like an adult instead of a juvenile, Addy will have to say goodbye to her popular reputation and her boyfriend, and Cooper will have to say goodbye to his scholarship to the school of his dreams. After investigators realize that all of these teenagers have something to lose with About That´s entry, they become suspects and the four of them instantly gain fame in the country. Having all eyes on themselves, they start connecting their own dots while being covered on national television, getting to know each other better and forming the Murder Club, learning what real love is like, among others. But how did Simon die? Was it a group murder like they said the first days? Did someone dislike him that much? Did someone care about their reputation so much that they killed someone? 
This novel is simply PERFECTION! 
I loved everything about it. I loved the writing style of the author. I loved the characters, the plot, the themes, just everything. 
I absolutely loved Nate, Brownyn, Addy, and Cooper because they were so easy to like, although I will admit that Addy was the last one that I accepted. I loved how they are so diverse, they all tell different people´s story in high school, not everyone is going to be popular, not everyone is going to be super smart or really good at sports, you could even be the outcast of the school like Simon. I think although the main characters all portrayed very stereotypical characters, most of us can relate to one of them, maybe not completely, but you will find a character in this novel that will make you think that you are or were like that in high school. For example, I could relate with Brownyn because I am mostly in academic clubs and I want to get into an Ivy League university. 
Also, the characters were all flawed, I mean they all had a weakness, they feared something that other didn´t and that was the key factor in creating the Murder Club and showing us that fear isn´t something to be ashamed of by showing us all these powerful characters that had more strengths than weaknesses, like all of us. 
I think that the characters are very smart and they all have their own strengths and the things they are good at and they complement each other so well that they are able to create a complete picture, which is something that I will talk about in the next paragraph. But, seeing how McManus used all these different stereotypes and personalities to show us that somewhere in life we will find a place where we are accepted and needed, was very reassuring and very comforting because this is a young adult novel, where most readers are trying to discover themselves too. 
Now, moving on to the relationships the characters shared, I want to talk about Nate and Brownyn´s relationship because at first, I didn´t really care about it, but as the novel continued, I loved it! They were like this perfect couple that was brought together by this misfortune, life something good that came out of all their suffering aside the friendship they created among the four of them. 
I loved the Murder Club because they all had something different to bring to the group and balance it perfectly. I loved that they created a bond that became really close to them. I know that at some point, they were able to realize that teamwork is important, even when the other person may have thought about throwing you under the bus. I am perfectly aware of the fact that they became a group because of human nature, I mean, when you are in need of something that you know for sure you won't get by yourself, you start joining others and creating a group where everything will be gaining something, but it was really beautiful to see that they also gained a friendship that only they will understand and cherish because other won't understand it. I mean, who would think that you can become best friends with the people you were accused of killing a peer? So, seeing how this also, crossed expectations in our modern society was very inspiring. 
I greatly enjoyed the different sides to a high school lifestyle that were included because they described our journeys so well, from boyfriends to drama to friendships to academics, to pressure and much more! I loved the way that each of these was encountered by at least two of the characters each because they all showed us a new perspective that you could relate to. From someone that is currently attending high school and being a junior, I can definitely identify myself and the way the high school works. Also, I found very interesting how aside from the different stereotypes, we could see how each teen had a family that was different from the others. For example, Brownyn´s family was perfect, her parents graduated from Yale and they are both very successful and they have lots of money, while Cooper´s family is not that wealthy and they seem to be holding onto Cooper´s grandmother and the only way he could go to college is by an athletic scholarship. So, it gave us a perspective of high school and life itself. 
Reading this novel was like riding a roller coaster because it has its high and low moments, and that´s what you will enjoy the most. I almost cried reading some parts, I was eating the words because I was so eager to see what was coming next and I was smiling like an idiot most of the time because of Nate, my new boyfriend. 
I personally believe that having the opportunity to experience different emotions while reading a novel will always make you feel satisfied because you will develop an affection towards the story and the characters, and I believe that´s the exact thing that happened. 
I think that the pace of the novel was good, the days went by slowly, but the actions and scenes happened very quickly, which created the perfect effect of absorbing you in the story and making you so excited and eager to read what was next in the novel, I was basically eating the words. 
I loved the different point of views because at the beginning you start creating a profile of the suspects and kind of by reading their PoVs, you start learning new information and getting closer to them, which makes it way easier for you to fall in love with them. So, McManus did a great job giving a personality to every main character. 
In conclusion, One of Us Is Lying is like binge-watching your new favorite TV show, you won´t stop reading it! It is action-packed, mysterious, swoony and hot, you will want to read it over and over again, small moments will complete your life and you will be eating the pages of this novel that is a good mixture of the Breakfast Club, Pretty Little Liars and Thirteen Reasons Why, which makes it the perfect novel! 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua